I tend to hang with a number of folks with similar stories (I've been a Recovering drug addict for 46 years, and only mention it now, occasionally, because I'm not looking for a job -it's usually not relevant to HN discussions).
Thank you for sharing this. I would be excited to read your autobiography.
I find stories like yours inspiring, and reassuring in a way. I'm increasingly worried about this trend toward being tough on crime in response to growing public disorder, increasing maximum sentences, and generally taking a no-holds-barred approach because good society has been wronged.
I've been a victim myself, from petty theft to assault when I intervened to stop a hate crime, by people out on bail with long court records. After being assaulted I really did start to question my beliefs on this. But I still very much genuinely believe that people can change and should be given a second chance, even though some won't take it seriously, and for others it might take a very long time.
I've met quite a few people with criminal records, or records as youth offenders, who genuinely did become better people over time. A former classmate of mine used to deal cocaine and is now a personal trainer with a wonderful personality and sense of morality. Another used to be a lookout for a stash house and has similarly moved on from that life.
I guess that's what I find so reassuring about stories like yours. I've seen people change and move on from what was probably the worst chapter of their lives, and become people I'm genuinely glad to know. I worry that in our societal desire to be tougher on crime, we're becoming less willing to give people that chance. And I think stories like yours are a good reminder of why we shouldn't lose sight of it.
People can change when you have a justice system that is aimed at reforming offenders rather than simply locking them away or punishing them. America's justice system is the opposite of that, socializing even petty criminals that incidentally land in the system into doing more crime. That's why America has so many more people locked up compared to other countries, which is significantly more expensive in the long run, too...
the fact that you're quick to tell me you're a pardoned felon but not why gives me a creepy feeling, and I say that with a lot of felon friends and family..
probably not the detail to omit to try to hook a readership..
technical aside : on low bandwidth connections your site acts really inconsistent and weird; it appears to be downloading those on-hover sound files.
I read the first chapter of your autobiography, looking forward to reading the rest. For the current audience reading this, do you mind spoiling/summarizing how you got into software engineering? Had you dabbled in it before your conviction, and did you study it while serving your prison sentence?
I believe I've located a news article which gives a brief description of the altercation, at https://archive.is/utJqE
It says that his mother told police that "her son hit her husband after the couple confronted him about being involved in a robbery. She told police her son had property in his room that they believed may have come from the robbery."
This could be a crazy violent act that deserves making someone a felon, it could be an act of self defense that was unfairly prosecuted, or it could be something in between.
ASPD perhaps which would also explain his fast life type strategies of high risk high reward low impulse control decisions. Which in this case led to success.
Reminds of the veritassium video where it said being persistent is more valuable than being consistent in the sense that you only need to win the lottery once to be rich forever. Whereas you can consistently work a job for an indefinite quantity of time and never be rich.
Thanks for sharing this!
I tend to hang with a number of folks with similar stories (I've been a Recovering drug addict for 46 years, and only mention it now, occasionally, because I'm not looking for a job -it's usually not relevant to HN discussions).
Thank you for sharing this. I would be excited to read your autobiography.
I find stories like yours inspiring, and reassuring in a way. I'm increasingly worried about this trend toward being tough on crime in response to growing public disorder, increasing maximum sentences, and generally taking a no-holds-barred approach because good society has been wronged.
I've been a victim myself, from petty theft to assault when I intervened to stop a hate crime, by people out on bail with long court records. After being assaulted I really did start to question my beliefs on this. But I still very much genuinely believe that people can change and should be given a second chance, even though some won't take it seriously, and for others it might take a very long time.
I've met quite a few people with criminal records, or records as youth offenders, who genuinely did become better people over time. A former classmate of mine used to deal cocaine and is now a personal trainer with a wonderful personality and sense of morality. Another used to be a lookout for a stash house and has similarly moved on from that life.
I guess that's what I find so reassuring about stories like yours. I've seen people change and move on from what was probably the worst chapter of their lives, and become people I'm genuinely glad to know. I worry that in our societal desire to be tougher on crime, we're becoming less willing to give people that chance. And I think stories like yours are a good reminder of why we shouldn't lose sight of it.
People can change when you have a justice system that is aimed at reforming offenders rather than simply locking them away or punishing them. America's justice system is the opposite of that, socializing even petty criminals that incidentally land in the system into doing more crime. That's why America has so many more people locked up compared to other countries, which is significantly more expensive in the long run, too...
the fact that you're quick to tell me you're a pardoned felon but not why gives me a creepy feeling, and I say that with a lot of felon friends and family..
probably not the detail to omit to try to hook a readership..
technical aside : on low bandwidth connections your site acts really inconsistent and weird; it appears to be downloading those on-hover sound files.
I read the first chapter of your autobiography, looking forward to reading the rest. For the current audience reading this, do you mind spoiling/summarizing how you got into software engineering? Had you dabbled in it before your conviction, and did you study it while serving your prison sentence?
Minor feedback: please don't have your site make noises. It's distracting.
>What I'm doing now is writing an autobiography. The main theme of it is hope.
Hope to work hard and win the lottery ticket when the game is stacked against you? What hope?
I'm happy for your personally, but it doesn't sound like a message of hope.
Telling people that you are a convicted fellon without disclosing what you did is a red flag to me.
Especially if its for the purpose to drum up interest for your autobiography.
your website uses the exact tech as the openAI website that they had for Astra. Interesting
I don't know anything about this Astra thing but his site looks very AI-generated!
https://openai.com/index/gpt-6-astra/
What did you do?
https://buford.bg/books/buford-versus-oklahoma-1
Doesn't go into the why, however. Presumably future chapters will.
I believe I've located a news article which gives a brief description of the altercation, at https://archive.is/utJqE
It says that his mother told police that "her son hit her husband after the couple confronted him about being involved in a robbery. She told police her son had property in his room that they believed may have come from the robbery."
I've read it and besides the "why", I'm also wondering about the long-term impact on the person who was hit (Buford's father).
I guess this means chapter one's a good hook.
Unfortunately there is no chapter 2 for me to pay for…
Tldr:
Hit his dad on the head with a metal baseball bat with other family members around.
This could be a crazy violent act that deserves making someone a felon, it could be an act of self defense that was unfairly prosecuted, or it could be something in between.
Well it happened when they accused him of being part of a robbery that took place. So, kind of looks like it might be the first one.
ASPD perhaps which would also explain his fast life type strategies of high risk high reward low impulse control decisions. Which in this case led to success.
Reminds of the veritassium video where it said being persistent is more valuable than being consistent in the sense that you only need to win the lottery once to be rich forever. Whereas you can consistently work a job for an indefinite quantity of time and never be rich.
most people who win the lottery aren't rich forever.