I’ve never gone too far home past my Lola’s house and my Lolo’s grave.
I’ve never seen that blue, the one of the Philippine Sea, and I’ve never even swam with my cousins (who are competitive swimmers). But I’ve seen my Lolo’s poem, his vows to my Lola, hung on my aunt’s wall, and I’ve faithfully listened to all the old stories. Even though the memories don’t fit, I have an old lunchbox where I keep a pen with my Lolo’s favorite Bible verse,
and a flashlight he once gave me. Maybe I’ll print out a poem of his to place in there as well. And I’m more than just one story, one distant set of islands, one lunchbox holding my remaining grief. Sometimes the memories shrink to a single raindrop as I remember long past days. I swear I try to catch every drop in a glass, so maybe one day I can drink it and see my scattered life come together for a moment.
Lessons (Rebellions)
My mom once told me not to wear cropped shirts, as we passed some girls on a street. I giggled and nodded then, my hand reaching upwards to hers.
Now i feel the chill as i walk my dog, midriff exposed. the wind never warned me that its bite would make my stomach blue too. My hands dance downwards with the leash, looping and loosening the gap between the sidewalk and the rope. They too, turned blue with the cold and with the echoes in my bones, of days on jungle gyms the light dipping beneath my head as I climbed trying to catch the last drops of sun. But now i have goosebumps on my stomach and my hands are curled in shivers
because i didn’t keep my mother’s promise. (It was only hers, after all)
Rollercoasters let it ride, but I can’t be so winding theme park laissez-faire.
Bugs Bunny never went to war. Made his 1940 film debut in the animated short, A Wild Hare.
And it was good times for our resident carrot chomper after that.
The boys in uniform, not so much.
They should have sent a talking rabbit to the war.
That would have scared the shit out of the Germans.
Instead of pandering for laughs at home.
One of Disney’s longest tenured employees.
Probably draws a Fabio-handsome pension though.
All the finest carrots from all the best soil.
The war over just long enough to start a new one all over again.
The Dominatrix Always Wins
There are candles that burn out on you and then there are candles put out on you.
Private first class Hot Wax reporting for duty.
The Dominatrix always wins. Not a single losing season among the madams.
Simple as that.
Pierce the flesh and pocket the monies.
Five-inch cockroach killers and not a single off-white pest killer cube van in sight.
Just clothespins pinching the nipples like a brand new way to do the laundry.
Furry handcuffs without the key.
And this final warning of warnings:
there are no safe words when the censor comes for your mouth or mind or body.
Montezuma’s House of Revenge
It was back in the limestone city. Passing this small strip mall near Bath Road.
This martial arts place on the second floor. Over the ESL joint that never taught you why polish and Polish were the exact same word, but completely different when it came to nails.
And the sweat dripping down my face, a most unforgiving summer.
That green sign with black Kung-Fu movie lettering that read: Montezuma’s House of Revenge – Karate, MMA, Ju-jitsu, ninjas
It was that last option that seemed most intriguing.
Blue Antifreeze Snow Cone
I walk by this frozen driveway with the snow knocked off a parked silver Hyundai Elantra.
Look down to this blue antifreeze snow cone sitting there in a bed of fresh white snow.
Think of all the kiddies building snow forts that may never come home for dinner.
Under the silence of a grey bird-less sky.
Some half-witty bumper sticker hanging on by sticky last holdout corner.
While a joyous German Shepherd two doors down tries to catch shovelled snow in its mouth.
Jumping gleefully into the gaping black ice cosmos.
If this is winter, it is hardly the worst of it.
Even that long biting wind taking the day off.
This mortuary still way I watch my own breath like seeing ghosts.
Lean Years
There were some lean years there, let me tell you! he said.
Let me tell you, good sir, that for the poor every year is a lean year.
The Man from Ryoca
He arrived with none of the necessary papers, but all the intent of a happy holiday maker, this man from Ryoca, though none could place it on a map, and the birds in the sky seemed to fascinate the man, dressed strangely for the season, but completely affable so that no one knew what to do with this tall pale gentleman who helped you dig through his luggage as if leading some prestigious archeological team from the university, so that when the questioning began, it was friendly enough; tucked away behind glass like a fine martini, and when the man folded his hands, it was with all the lost beauty of 1000-year-old origami; if you found yourself charmed, you were happier than you’d been in years and hardly alone. A Completely Made Up Poem
He was tasked with putting the garbage out for the night.
Tossing the black bags over the lip of the dumpster in the side alley, listening for that startled shuffle of raccoons that normally came.
You still open? a sudden voice came from behind.
He turned and squinted. Held his hand over his eyes so he could make out the vague silhouettes of three men.
Beat it! he said.
Pulling out pipes from behind their backs, they edged closer.
That’s the plan! the big one grinned.
Blue Steak
She says that is what they order when they want it raw, so I sit up and give her the swanky blue steak of this poem to chew on, waiting for her many complaints to come running back to the deaf ears of this saucy stainless steel mate’s rates kitchen.
She Whistles When She Snores, I Can’t Even Whistle When I’m Awake
Some people have different talents. Think roaming Galileo eyes as sudden baking soda volcano.
I never had a talent, so I never once entered the talent show.
Sat cross-legged in the nosebleeds poking at my belly button over my shirt.
Wondering if I could tickle my spine if I stuck my finger in far enough.
This, of course, is not a talent. No one claps for the skinny quiet kid that keeps fingering his own bellybutton.
But this one beside me now, she has talents. She whistles when she snores, I can’t even whistle when I’m awake.
I sound like a mouthful of crackers without a mouth full of crackers.
Lay awake, barely moving for the full seven hours.
When we get up, she asks If I slept well.
I tell her I did. Take ten hours to drink a single glass of orange juice.
Blame the heavy black bags under my eyes on miniature clothes shopping women that can never get enough.
3 Types
She is looking through my notes again, notices 3 types of handwriting: normal, stoned and drunk.
All completely different. A handwriting expert would swear these were written by 3 different people! Look, she says.
I look. It is true.
No resemblance at all.
The normal being much of what I remember from my youth.
The stoned is small and tight and focussed in the extreme while the drunk is loose and loopy and hard to make out.
This is NOT healthy! she holds up the piece of paper.
For which one of me? I ask flamboyantly.
That is the drunk me speaking. I wonder if we all speak differently as well.
Ryan Quinn Flanagan is a Canadian-born author residing in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada with his wife and many bears that rifle though his garbage. His work can be found both in print and online in such places as: Evergreen Review, The New York Quarterly, Synchronized Chaos, Literary Yard, Red Fez, and The Oklahoma Review.
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Joshua Martin is a Philadelphia based writer and filmmaker, who currently works in a library. He is member of C22, an experimental writing collective. He is the author most recently of the books SCHISMS (C22 Press Open Editions), laminated tongue in aspic (Alien Buddha Press) and automatic message (Free Lines Press). He has had numerous pieces published in various journals including Otoliths, Synapse, Version (9), Don’t Submit!, Synchronized Chaos, BlazeVOX, RASPUTIN, Ink Pantry, Unlikely Stories Mark V, and experiential-experimental-literature. You can find links to his published work at joshuamartinwriting.blogspot.com
Annotation: This scientific article provides some suggestions and considerations that will be included in the criminal executive legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan. also on the basis of the experience of many foreign countries will be discussed the amendment additions that should be applied.
keywords: fine, compulsory public works, execution in the form of fine days, compensation fund.
As we know from criminal executive law, we can study and analyze the system of execution of punishment in the Republic of Uzbekistan, conditionally dividing it into two parts, namely:
Activities of punitive institutions and bodies not related to separation from society;
Activities of punitive institutions and bodies associated with separation from society.
Indeed, to date, the fact that criminal punishments are used more productively in judicial practice, which are not associated with separation from society, is a noticeable aspect.
The fact that the possibility of applying an economic sanction in the form of a fine instead of imprisonment for criminal cases in the field. Economics has been expanded is also a fact, if we say, of our significant achievements. After all, according to him, the type of punishment in the form of confiscation of property contrary to humanitarian principles was excluded from the criminal punishment system. In accordance with this, the classification of crimes was radically changed by the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “on amendments and additions to the criminal, criminal procedure codes of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Code of administrative responsibility in connection with the liberalization of criminal penalties”, adopted on August 29, 2001 at the initiative of the head of state. As a result, 75% of crimes in the category of serious and very serious were transferred to the category of crimes without high social risk and not very serious.
Also, the Criminal Code introduced rules that the punishment in the field of deprivation of Liberty in the event of compensation for material damage, and this principle of humanism and tolerance gives the expected effect in practice. Among them, the penalty of fines is one of those that bring great benefits to the state. A fine is the collection of money from the guilty person to state income in the amount established by the Criminal Code. The fine is appointed by the court taking into account the social danger of the crime committed by the guilty person, as well as his material condition. The convicted person must have practically sufficient access to the payment of the penalty imposed by the court.
In the legislation of Uzbekistan, a fine is assigned in the amount from five to six hundred times the amount of the base calculation, and in the case of minors – from two to twenty times. A fine in relation to minors can be appointed only if its independent monthly salary is available. According to the law, the execution of a fine is carried out by the Bureau of compulsory execution under the prosecutor general’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan. A person sentenced to a fine is obliged to pay the fine on a voluntary basis within a period of one month from the date of entry into legal force of the sentence, and a minor-within a period of six months.
Part 3 of Article 19 of the criminal Executive Code states that if it is not possible for a convicted person to pay a fine in full within the specified period, the court May, according to his petition, delay the execution of the sentence for up to six months according to Part 2 of Article 533 of the code of Criminal Procedure or Of course, when resolving this issue, the judge decides by taking into account certain circumstances of the case and the material condition of the convicted person.
In my opinion, it is necessary to introduce two types of penalty execution. The first of these is the actual execution, the second is the execution of punishment in the form of fine days. The execution of a fine in the form of fine days involves the obligation of the convicted person to regularly enter a certain amount of money into the state budget. The penalty days are the minimum of the day rate depending on the severity of the crime – the five full day rate, while the highest rate is set at three hundred and sixty full day rates. This should be applied taking into account the material condition of the convict and the profit that will fall on the state.
What is the difference between such execution and postponement of payment of a fine or payment in installments, the difference is that the delay in payment of a fine or payment in installments is applied if the material condition of the convicted person deteriorates after the release of the court sentence, and the fine days are applied taking into account the financial condition. Such execution of the penalty is provided for by the criminal executive legislation of most states. An example of this is the criminal Executive Law of France, Germany.
Another of the criminal penalties not related to imprisonment in the criminal executive legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan is correctional labor. According to Article 46 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, correctional work consists in the forced involvement of a person in labor for a period of six months to three years, withholding from ten to thirty percent of his salary to state income, and the punishment is passed in accordance with the judgment of the court in the places.
Such a system for the execution of this punishment should be created in which how much of the money that will be deducted from the convicts serving the punishment for correctional labor should be allocated to the victims. For this purpose, The “Victim Compensation Fund” should be established in Uzbekistan. Then the amount that will be deducted from the convicted person’s salary for victims will be transferred directly to the Victim Compensation Fund. This fund, on the other hand, distributes the amounts received for victims who do not have the opportunity to compensate for material and moral damage. This system is provided for by the legislation of most countries in the world. In particular, the state of Kazakhstan is also used in criminal executive legislation.
It is necessary to clarify the law in order to assist persons who have served the sentence of imprisonment in their later life in labor and domestic affairs. That is, Article 173 of the criminal Executive Code provides for the following norm, namely: “regional, district, city hall:
Helps persons released from serving sentences in the regulation of employment and household finances, as well as in the provision of other types of social assistance;
Every year, jobs for persons discharged from institutions allocate loans, and also encourage individuals and legal entities who put them to work,” the supplement should be included.
The purpose of the introduction of such a norm is a difficult matter for convicts who have served a sentence in our society to find a job. Therefore, in the criminal executive legislation of most states, such and similar norms are established. For example, in the Criminal executive legislation of Kazakhstan, Latvia, such a norm is established.
One of the main tools is the formation of law-abiding behavior in Persons Sentenced to criminal punishment and a respectful attitude to the rules of conduct in society, their social adaptation, assistance in obtaining education and vocational training in preventing the commission of a new crime. Therefore, in recent years, special importance has been attached to measures aimed at obtaining appropriate education of persons serving sentences in the processes of reforming the judicial system, improving criminal and criminal procedural legislation.
As we know from criminal Executive Law, general secondary education of convicts is organized in penitentiary institutions. The administration of the institution provides the convicts with the conditions established by law for their education and independent education, and provides the necessary support. Convicts are not allowed to receive education in higher and secondary special educational institutions, with the exception of convicts in the address colonies, where they can receive education in correspondence departments of educational institutions.
All convicts must be given the right to distance education in higher and secondary specialized educational institutions. The experience of foreign countries in this regard was studied. When studying the legislation on the education of convicts in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, USA, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, Norway, it was found that the establishment of a system of general secondary and secondary special, vocational education and higher education of convicts helped in the social adaptation of convicts who served their sentences. Alternatively, it has been observed that such practice has yielded good results in preventing convicts from entering the criminal path again.
From the above, it can be concluded that almost all proposals and changes made to improve the execution of criminal penalties serve to make the current execution more clear and understandable, as well as to perfect them. Because these proposals are being put into practice in the criminal executive legislation of many foreign countries and give good results.
References
The law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “on amendments and additions to the criminal, criminal procedure codes of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the code of administrative responsibility in connection with the liberalization of criminal penalties”of August 29, 2001 // Bulletin of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan. – 2001. №9 – 10. – 165-m.
Criminal Executive Code of the Republic of Lithuania.
Criminal Executive Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Criminal Executive Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation.
“Where is the Lie” – A Breath of Fresh Air in Independent Cinema
It’s official, a new year has come, blooming seasons, and new films. Luckily for me, I watched a brilliant dark comedy Filipino (flick) -as one might say- that carried all the good ingredients for a good film. “Where is the Lie” is a dark comedy/social satire that features multiple Filipino talents. It stars Ej Jallorina (the main protagonist Janzen), Maris Rascal (the villain Beanie), and Royce Cabera (Theo/Dennis; the heartthrob Dorian Gray whose soul is not as dazzling as his looks). This is the eighth film from Filipino director Quark Henares and the one that scares him the most.
I loved many things about “Where is the Lie.” It featured a trans actress playing the role of a trans woman, a crucial step which Henares, the director -whom I had the pleasure of interviewing- explained was to avoid a “Danish Girl” situation. And authentic and well-crafted the film turned out. Ej Jallorina is in the middle of her transitioning process and Henares explored how she brought her sensitivity and authenticity to a role that could have easily turned mundane. She gave a sympathetic, gullible performance of the main protagonist, Janzen, a young transwoman who unfortunately fell victim to a catfishing situation by a manipulative, beautiful, and tactical girl who looked like Selena Gomez if she had her heart replaced with Amy Dunne.
A scary combination, right?
Hopefully, when people see the film they witness the breath of fresh air that Maris Rascal -a rom-com star in the Philippines- brings to the role. Her range and subtlety of performance interlope with moments of intensity that never seem out of place. After “Where is the Lie,” Rascal will be an even bigger name, not just in the Philippines, but worldwide. Cabera is an independent Filipino film actor playing -mostly- sultry, object-of-desire kinds of roles due to his buff physique and dreamy features. To see him acting through a range of emotions in this film is a refreshing route to a broader range of roles in the future.
Henares mentioned that Jallorina’s audition was an endearing moment for him as she told him how wonderful he was to her when she was a child actor. Henares explained that -at the time- he was working as a PA on one of the sets. Jallorina reminded him of how he acted like an older brother and provided protection and security for her at a rather hectic place to be as a child (20-something-hour shoots were no fun ride for a kid).
Rascal, on the other hand, vied for the antagonistic role. She wanted to challenge herself and break out of the mold that restricted her as an actress. The result was more than satisfying. Henares pointed out that most actresses in the Philippines were less than excited about this role due to the homophobic nature of the original character. Rascal was also outspoken against this person but wanted to portray her in the film. Her audition process included an exercise where she had to insult everyone in the room, including the director, and she did it with unsettling and predatory cruelty without losing the smile on her face.
Quark Henares is a bursting bubble of passion and enthusiasm. The film conveys his directorial style through the vivid color palette, the vibrant scenes, and the perfect choice of actors, each fit for their respective roles with calculated measures and casting choices that shine each in their respective roles.
As someone who fell for catfishing before and discovered a network of pals orchestrating the whole ordeal while using one of them as the “bait”, it was interesting for me to dig deeper into “Where is the Lie.” The film not only outlined the whole ordeal that Henares described as a lengthy Twitter thread that went viral in 2020 (at the peak of COVID quarantine) in the Philippines but the motivations behind it and how each person played a role in the diabolical scheme. Henares said that what made him more interested in the project were the intensified feelings of isolation and fear that made any statement from someone online insight into someone else’s “bubble” of life at the time.
It was a refreshing take and an eye-opener, something that Henares owed to the original hero of the true story for her willingness to help, providing details even during the shooting process.
Henares chose to include the antagonist Beanie’s (Rascal) POV in the film adding more depth and layers to the storytelling. After a rosy, schmoopy romantic start, the film shifted to a sinister, more playful tone with the appearance of Beanie and how she explicitly expressed her malicious, homophobic intentions. The viewer sympathizes with Janzen but secretly spies on Beanie, who is the Kathryn Merteuil of this tale, playing cruel intentions with people she carefully selects via dating apps.
Henares had a different style in mind when he first shot the movie, stating that his initial inspiration was a “Rashomon-like” psychological thriller, with the focus on Janzen and the viewer unaware that she was catfished. However, a collage of a movie started forming as his artistic vision became more solid. He shot Janzen’s plotline like a rom-com, Theo’s storyline like a social commentary, and Beanie’s like a Gone Girl, fourth-wall-breaking narrative.
Shifting between POVs created a dynamic that translated superbly onscreen. One scene, in particular, stood out as it cut between Beanie and Janzen, each in her fantasy of a character that might include a fictional version of a person arousing her. It was shot beautifully and masterfully and increased the tension in the film. Another scene that struck me as fresh and exciting involved girls being girls, an honest and loveable depiction of female friendship on the screen showed many intimate and honest details without overdoing it or painting it as too fluffy. Henares attributed that to being raised by women and having many female friends who created an environment of love and compassion surrounding him. He always felt at peace around them and thus felt comfortable being in touch with his feminine side.
“Where is the Lie” had its premiere this year at Slamdance Film Festival and hopefully will reach audiences worldwide on streaming services soon.
I’m a passionate street and documentary photographer from Nigeria.
I started photography during the pandemic, from taking photographs of my family members at home to taking photographs in church, then exploring my street, and have since travelled to numerous states to take photographs.
I love to show the world the unseen parts of Africa, particularly Nigeria, my native country. I like sharing my work in monochrome because it kills the focus on the colours and makes you pay attention to the subject and the action of the moment.
I served as a volunteer photographer for The UNESCO World Heritage Volunteer Programme 2022 here in Nigeria and my photographs have been featured by a Philippines Professor on her website.
I have the burning desire to pursue a career in photojournalism in the near future.
