I appreciate the counterpoint. I found Nicolaides' writing style interesting. To me, it lacked some in vividity. He seemed very distant from his topic, which may be part of the way he is processing his experience. There was also a great deal for him to tell, so maybe he was trying to be as succint as possible and preserve space. However, ultimately my reaction to the article was "I know that everything he is saying is terrible because he is telling me it is terrible, but I do not necessarily feel that." If he decided to leave the paragraph in and did this mostly/solely in an attempt to gain attention, thinking that prison wouldn't be as bad as it was or that he would be treated differently, (as the alternative take implies) then he is an idiot. Perhaps unfortunately though I assume that the imprisonment, in ways, is paying off. In my society at least (US) the public gobbles up clearly manufactured ploys for attention via the "news" and entertainment industry all of the time.