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Hello Everyone, As my report date draws near, I have a few updates that may be of interest to you all. First, I have sent a letter to the medical director for Alderson confirming Bureau of Prison Policy regarding hormone treatment (it is allowed) and asking that he assure me that the policy will be followed at Alderson. I have been out of town, but have not to my knowledge received a reply from him yet. Secondly, I have received my prisoner number, which is necessary for anyone who wishes to write to me. From April 8th through approximately July 8th my address will be: Jessica Carr #91389-020 If you forget or lose this number, it is possible to find it again by going to www.bop.gov, clicking on the inmate locator and entering my first and last name (the gov't recognizes me as Jessica Carr, not Jesse). I am having a lot of last minute fears and doubts, but mostly I am ready to go, feel strong in my convictions, and am confident in my ability to get through this ordeal with relatively few difficulties. Future emails will most likely come not from me, but from my direct support person, Sarah. Sarah can be reached at sarah.saunders@o... with any questions and will provide notification to the list in the case that I am mistreated or denied hormones. She will also pass along letters and general updates. As I write this, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation continues to train officers, currently mostly from Colombia. In Colombia, the Government is pushing for the right of Shell Oil to drill on the u'wa nation's land. These indigenous people have threatened mass suicide rather than be forced from their land by the military. Under the guise of the drug war, the Colombian military is conducting, as we speak, aerial fumigation which spreads dangerous chemcicals that have been banned for use in the United States over vast stretches of land. Though supposedly aimed at coca (cocaine) crops, the pesticides are causing birth defects, skin lesions, and the destruction of food crops necessary for the survival of the Colombian peasantry. Resistance to these acts is met by harsh reprisal by both military and paramilitary groups. Extensive ties between paramilitaries and the regular military have been established, including in many cases identical personnel (in other words, 'army' members are also 'paramilitary' members). This allows the Colombian government to claim the best human rights record in South America while its military contracts human rights abuses out to paramilitaries instead. I say, along with thousands of other U.S. citizens, No Mas! No more! Stop the atrocities being committed in our name, with our tax dollars, equipment, and training. I thank you all for standing with me through this witness. In Struggle, |