Go Home, Drug War, You're Drunk!

Read the story: NYPD Spent 1 Million Hours Making 440,000 Marijuana Possession Arrests Over Last Decade

"We cannot afford to continue arresting tens of thousands of youth every year for low-level marijuana possession,” Alfredo Carrasquillo, a civil rights organizer with the activist group VOCAL-NY, said in a release. “We can't afford it in terms of the negative effect it has on the future prospects of our youth and we can't afford in terms of police hours."

It's bad enough that the United States alone has already squandered over a TRILLION dollars fighting The War on Drugs; now we get a glimpse of all of the time that is wasted on it as well.

Just think of all of the other things that could have been properly addressed with this kind of precious time and tax-payer money!

• Schools
• Health Care
• Elder Care
  
• Veteran Support
• Early Childhood Education
• Mental Illness Support
• Substance Abuse Rehabilitation
• The Environment & Green Jobs
• Homelessness and Affordable Housing
  
• Infrastructure
  
• Fraud

Law Enforcement Officers could be solving exponentially more homicides, assaults and cases of child abuse and paedophilia.  Instead of building and staffing more jails we could be funding laboratories and skilled workers that process crime scene evidence and expedite the processing of sexual assault forensic exam kits. (Something that is obviously lost on the likes of Ol' Sheriff Joe!*)

We must evaluate where our priorities lie as citizens of our communities and as members of the Human Race.  Ask yourself where *you* want your hard earned taxes to go.  Where do *you* want police to focus their attention?  "Herbal" offenses?  Or on actual crimes that really do hurt us all?

Visit the updated website for the NORML Women's Alliance of Canada and get involved!

Along with the NORML Women's Alliance of Canada, there are many, many organizations working to reform and change our drug policy laws.  Check them out today!

Moms for Marijuana

NORML Women's Alliance

NORML

NORML Canada

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Canada

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Sensible BC

Drug Policy Alliance

Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Marijuana Policy Project
Dads For Marijuana International

Unconventional Foundation for Autism

SAFERChoice

Marijuana Majority

*Sheriff Joe! ~ Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office spent so much time and money seeking out non-violent people that he prompted an internal investigation which discovered at least 32 reported child molestations in which the sheriff's office failed to follow through, even though suspects were known in all but six cases.  El Mirage, a community near Phoenix, alleged there were many cases in which sheriff's investigators wrote no follow-up reports, collected no additional forensic evidence and made no effort after the initial crime report was taken.  Arpaio's office eventually reopened more than 400 of its sex-crime cases countywide after finding they were inadequately investigated or not examined at all. Read about this tragedy here at THINKPROGRESS: Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Failed To Investigate Over 400 Sex Crimes, Including Molestations Of Undocumented Children

Additional Info

Count the Costs - 50 Years of the War on Drugs

Unless present policy is redirected, we will perpetuate the same problems, tolerate the same social costs, and find ourselves as we do now, no further along the road to a more rational legal and social approach than we were in 1914. - "Drug Use in America: Problem in Perspective", issued 40 years ago today. (March 22 1973 - March 22, 2013) From "Shafer Commission Report on Marijuana and Drugs, Issued 40 Years Ago Today, Was Ahead of its Time"
by Eric E. Sterling.  Please read this, it is an amazing article! 

"Ironically, these policy failures are often cited by law enforcement as a justification for continuing current policies. Just as the costs of enforcing marijuana laws are cited as a cost of drug abuse rather than public policy, these social problems are misrepresented to the public as evidence that marijuana use requires criminal sanctions rather than regulation. Policy failures brought about by this lack of effective controls is not a valid justification of current policies. The statistical data cited in this report on the supply, availability, use, price, and value of marijuana demonstrate that the amount of lost taxes and other fiscal costs of current policy are increasing and proliferating over time."
From Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws by Jon Gettman - Read the full report of the tremendous annual cost of marijuana prohibition in the October 2007 issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform

14 Reasons Why Marijuana is Good for the Economy (HuffPo Slideshow, scroll down the page)

Making Money Off of Crime: It's Criminal!

"Shabby Justice"

First, read/watch: Conrad Black: Privatizing Prisons 'A Catastrophic Idea' (VIDEO, PHOTOS) on the Huffington Post.

I replied to "otherguy58" on HuffPo (click to enlarge)

“He can contribute because he *has* been all of those things. Who better to learn from than somebody who has actually served jail time? It would be stupid to not listen to him, I have before and wrote about it: http://nblo.gs/4lIby

If our goal is to "correct" people then we must continually strive to improve our correctional system. We don't call it "Punishment Service of Canada" because the priority is to rehabilitate people while they serve their sentence and before they reintegrate into society. The majority of jailed offenders are not kept in jail forever, don't you believe that we owe it to ourselves to stop recidivism?  I, as a Mother, want people who are released from prison to have been given the tools to never re-offend thus making the country I live in a much safer place for my children.  Don't you?

The worse thing we could EVER do is make our incarceration system private and for profit - this is a public service that our hard earned taxes go to because we like having professionals in Fire and Police Departments, ambulances, jails, hospitals and mental health facilities, public schools etc. These public servants are properly trained to help us live our safest and healthiest lives. The Correctional Service of Canada is a necessary public service with the priority of public safety and therefore should forever be exempt from making profit for privately owned businesses and corporations. Making Money Off of Crime: It's Criminal!”

*****

I know taxes suck but where I don't mind mine going is toward healthcare, public safety, (cops, fireman, court and jail workers, probation officers, mental health workers* etc) education (child and youth programming throughout all communities) public transit and infrastructure (roads, highways bridges) and social services for families and people in need as lower poverty rates translate into less crime.

All of the above aid me, you, and our families every day.  Public servants help to keep us healthy and safe and if something does happen to us they are there.  Their goal is a job well done, not boosting their funds.  All of us benefit when these different service agencies are given support and are at the top of their game.  As professionals in their respective fields they contribute to effective work, policies and positive outcomes. 

Private corporations could care less about the people they contain and spit out, after all, they love it when people come back for another stint.  Their main objective is to make money, every new and returning prisoner raises their stock on Wall St. and taxpayers end up footing the bill.  Canadians deserve to have our safety be a top priority and leaving this task to private companies is just asking for tragedy and economic failure. The Americans have been down this treacherous road, let's be smart and not follow.

*****

Excerpt from: Private prison companies look to Canada as industry faces lawsuits in US

US states are beginning to rely less on privately run prisons, but Canada may be a land of opportunity for the two biggest firms

"US private prison firms are targeting Canada for fresh opportunities as pressure builds at home on the troubled multi-billion dollar industry from human rights groups and legal actions, and as more states look to scale back their reliance on them.

Two of the biggest operators in an industry once regarded as recession-proof, Geo Group and Management and Training Corporation (MTC), have been lobbying various government departments in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.

With a massive prison overhaul plan already underway – as well as the passage in March of Bill C-10, a suite of crime legislation that most observers agree will see more Canadians face prison time and keep those already locked up behind bars for longer – it seems the American industry's interest in its neighbour to the north could not come at a better time.

The private industry's lobbying of Canadian lawmakers has some Canadian prison watchers worried. "There is something unethical with having corporations seeking profits from locking people up," wrote a group of former high-ranking Canadian justice officials to the Kingston Whig-Standard newspaper in March."  ~ Read the whole article here.

From "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High"

90% Full Prisons Guaranteed!

Private Prisons-Commerce in Souls

For-Profit Prisons Promise Investors Growth

Making Investors Rich!

More links:

Lobbyists Behind Omnibus Crime Bill Aimed at Privatizing Prisons ~ 404 System Error Democracy Not Found

Right and proper  With a record of being tough on crime, the political right can afford to start being clever about it

 In Prison Reform, Money Trumps Civil Rights By MICHELLE ALEXANDER

*There is a higher rate of mental illness in the poor than in the rich (source Brill 40)
~ Death in Remand: Stacked Deck
"Forty-nine per cent of all prisoners admitted to a B.C. jail between 1997 and 2004 had a diagnosed mental illness. Fully half of those were also addicted to alcohol or drugs. In total, 56 per cent of provincial prisoners in B.C. during that time, both on remand and sentenced, were either mentally ill, addicted to something, or both. There's obviously a spectrum there. "Mental illness" covers a broad swath. But even still, it's hard to overlook the connection.
Remand rates are going up at least in part because of the judicial response to breaches of bail and probation condition. At the same time, the justice system is dealing more and more often with the sort of people most likely to breach.
It has to be asked: Are we setting them up to fail?"
~ Tory crime bill will make matters worse for mentally ill: expert

ENOUGH! Forget Oil - Plant In the Soil!

"ENOUGH!"

Added to the screenshot of Huffington Post's Front Page

June 19th. 2012

(click on photo to enlarge)



Third pipeline leak in Alberta in three weeks

I am sharing this asking Canadians to PLEASE check out
Franke James' most awesome Visual Essay "What is Harper

afraid of?" posted on Dogwood Initiative.  Above is

the animated version, go read the original and all of the

other awesomeness on Franke's website
My Green Conscience, Canada is lucky to have her!  Although,

the Harper Government doesn't think so!


Banned on the Hill (and in Europe!)

Harper government targeted artist for her green

conscience, internal documents reveal

Anti-Gateway comic gathering steam

Activist Artist vs. Pipeline



Meanwhile...

Hemp is our answer to depend less on Big Oil, save our trees 

and forests, use less water and reduce use of
pesticides. 

Hemp has been decriminalized in Canada since 1997, there 

is no excuse to not utilize this plant
for the benefit of our 

ecosystems and environmental health. I know we've come a 

long way since '97 but there's
still much work to do!

I hope you signed Franke James' letter to your Member of

Parliament at the bottom of her Visual Essay
regarding Bill C-38. 

Also, don't be afraid to ask
your MP: "What about Industrial
Hemp?" 

More on my blog about Hemp, click here.

UPDATE: Ecocide in Arkansas!



Huffington Post

Arkansas Oil Spill:
Exxon Shuts Pegasus
Pipeline After
Rupture

NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil was working to

clean up
thousands of barrels of oil in Mayflower, Arkansas,

after a pipeline
carrying heavy Canadian crude ruptured, a

major spill likely to stoke
debate over transporting Canada's

oil to the United States.



Exxon
shut the Pegasus pipeline, which can carry more than

90,000 barrels
per day (bpd) of crude oil from Pakota, Illinois,

to Nederland, Texas,
after the leak was discovered on Friday

afternoon, the company said in a
statement.



Exxon, hit with a $1.7 million fine
by regulators this week over

a 2011 spill in the Yellowstone River,
said a few thousand

barrels of oil had been observed.



A
company spokesman confirmed the line was carrying

Canadian Wabasca
Heavy crude. That grade is a heavy

bitumen crude diluted with lighter
liquids to allow it to

flow through pipelines, according to the
Canadian Energy

Pipeline Association (CEPA), which referred

to Wabasca
as "oil sands" in a report.



The spill occurred as
the U.S. State Department is considering

the fate of the 800,000 bpd
Keystone XL pipeline, which would

carry crude from Canada's oil sands
to the Gulf Coast. Environ-

mentalists, concerned about the impact of
developing the

oil sands, have sought to block its approval.



Supporters say Keystone will help bring down the cost of fuel in

the United States.



The
Arkansas spill was the second incident this week where

Canadian crude
has spilled in the United States. On Wednesday,

a train carrying
Canadian crude derailed in Minnesota, spilling

15,000 gallons of oil.



Exxon
expanded the Pegasus pipeline in 2009 to carry more

Canadian crude
from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast refining hub

and installed what it
called new "leak detection technology". 

Read the rest of the article here.



And via The Raw Story:



"The ExxonMobil Pegasus tar sands pipeline spilled around
185,000 gallons of tar sands, undisclosed toxic chemicals and
contaminated water in Mayflower, Arkansas yesterday.


Like many tar sands pipelines, Pegasus was actually an older
pipeline
which had its flow reversed. This is also the case for
the Seaway
pipeline in Texas and proposed tar sands pipelines
East through Canada
to New England.

Forcing the evacuation of 20 homes and shutting
down sections
of the interstate highway; hazardous materials team from
the
Office of Emergency Management has contained the spill and is

currently attempting a cleanup.



1000s of gallons of crude oil
erupted from the breach around

3:00 p.m. on Friday, spilling through a
housing subdivision and

in to the town’s storm drainage system, fouling
drainage ditches

and shutting down Highway 365 and Interstate 40.



Residents were evacuated to avoid health hazards from crude

oil fumes
and to keep stray sparks from igniting the standing oil.

Emergency
workers contained the spill by hastily constructing

earthen dams. Read the rest at The Raw Story.

Can you imagine if this was your backyard?  Your HOME?

~Mayflower Arkansas photos from www.facebook.com

UPDATE! 2/4/2013: LOOK---> The Arkansas Oil Spill
Photos the Keystone Cabal Doesn't Want You to See

"Women On A Mission to End Prohibition!" NORML Women's Alliance of Canada at the 2012 Global Marijuana March

As I wrote about in my last post - "Women Will End Prohibition (Again!)" - The NORML Women's Alliance of Canada was selected to be the Grand Marshals of the 14th. Toronto Global Marijuana March. Held on the first Saturday of May every year, the peaceful protest is attended by upwards of 20, 000 anti-prohibitionists and people celebrating the Cannabis plant and all of Hemp's wonderful benefits and uses.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, after a week of heavy rain throughout Southern Ontario it was quite a relief that the bright and shining Sun had come out to greet us!   Preparing to begin our trek throughout the streets of downtown T.O. and before our group had a chance to completely assemble, our Alliance was split up at the launch point - the energy of the growing crowd pushed forward and the marchers were raring to get started! Fortunately it all worked out as those of us not right at the front remained to accompany our Prohibition-era Ford from Good Fellas Limo.  Complete with our very own "Al Capone" Chauffeur, the sweet ride was able to idle throughout the parade route and catch the eye of interested onlookers.

Michelle our Belle - the most photographed woman of the day! 
And our very own "Al Capone" - Thanks Harold!

The Torontoist reports:

The day’s most creative protest was staged by the National Organization for Reforming Marijuana Laws (NORML) Women’s Alliance. The NORML women dressed up in 1920s costumes and were followed by a car of a similar vintage, driven by a man dressed as Al Capone. According to NORML media spokesperson Andrea Matrosovs, the Women’s Alliance wanted to make plain the connection between the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and ’30s—which was a boon to organized crime—and marijuana prohibition today.

“When women gathered together in the ’20s and ’30s, they made things happen,” she said. “And it was to the benefit of families, and the dis-benefit of organized criminals.”
Matrosovs was somewhat unique among Saturday’s demonstrators. She doesn’t smoke marijuana at all. Her interest in legalization comes purely as a result of her social-science background and the time she spent as a high school teacher.

“If we could legalize, regulate, and tax, then we could take those revenues that are currently going to organized crime and direct them to good things,” she said. “My background is as an educator…and it bothered me that our youth were being funneled into alcohol, because that’s legal in our society at age 19, where marijuana isn’t.”

*****

 

MyETVmedia interview with Jodie Emery of Cannabis Culture and the NORML's Women's Alliance at the 14th. annual Toronto Global Marijuana March @ Queen's Park.



The Grid covers the Global Marijuana March:. 

"An estimated 15,000 people gathered at Queen’s Park on Saturday afternoon for the Toronto Global Marijuana March, and The Grid was there to find out why the event is so popular.

"Along the way, we encountered members of the NORML Women’s Alliance of Canada, who gathered in elegant 1920s costumes to protest the current prohibition of marijuana..."

*****

Our very own 1920-30's Nurse - On Duty!

Got a giggle...

Pretty pot leaf/CN Tower flying foam

Yes we do!  That's our Twitter handle: @NORML_CWA

"Dads for Marijuana" was also there.

The awesome black and neon signs were made by Jack Skidd.

NORML MariJane GanjaGirl, her smile can light up a room.

Kelly, our fearless leader!

Puff Mama with the Killin' Time Band

Once again, my camera failed me but not before I took the above pictures* leading up to the start of the March.  I'd like to thank Wendel Grant and Alison Myrden for letting me share some of their great photos (below) from the awesome day, Thanks!  (To see these great pictures enlarged, "Click" on them.)

NORML Women getting approval from the growing crowds
and passing motorists.

The Grand Parade Marshals!

Leading the way!

Alison's Photos

Alison and the NORML Woman's Alliance marching alongside Jodie Emery.

Cannabis = Zero deaths.  Ever.

Kelly and Alison - NORML Women inspiring us all!

It was a privilege to gather with such an incredible group of people who honestly care about our fellow human beings and Mother Earth.   Kudos to you, my fellow NORML Women, I'm glad to have marched alongside every single one of you.  Just like the Sabine's contributed to end the Noble Experiment all those decades ago, NORML Women will campaign** to bring about an end to the unjust Drug War today.  We're "Women On a Mission to End Prohibition" -  take that, Steve! 

**What's up next for the NORML Women's Alliance of Canada?
The Treating Yourself Expo in Toronto May 25, 26, and 27th. - See you there!  Also, don't forget to LIKE our new Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter.

*For more than 300 great photos from the event see the2012 Global Marijuana March Flickr page by Cannabis Culture Editor Jeremiah Vandermeer.

The Smarter Brand of Justice - Actor Russell Brand Solves the Failed War on Drugs in 1 Minute & 35 Seconds

Via George Stroumboulopoulos:

Russell Brand's Latest Role: A Defender Of Harm Reduction Drug Strategies

"Addressing members of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee in the U.K., Brand argued bluntly that treating drug addiction as an illness rather than as a criminal activity is not only a humane approach, but a sensible one that will "prevent people from committing crimes." (Seriously, go read the whole Strombo Health post.)



Forty years after Nixon's War on (People Who Use Certain) Drugs infected countries the world over, the truth is being recognized and shared everywhere; prohibition has failed and government cannot incarcerate people out of addiction.

Four Decades of overly punitive criminal convictions haven't achieved their goal of reducing recidivism and an ever-expanding mountain of expert research and evidence correlates that Harm Reduction programs like Rehab, Therapy and even Yoga, trumps imprisonment significantly in terms of reaching and maintaining sobriety.  Plus, these Harm Reduction strategies also cost less than keeping (primarily non-violent) drug offenders locked up where they are less likely to have access to adequate therapeutic and job skills programs. 

Also worth discussing, what will become of us now with the passing of Bill C-10?  I hope Canadians are prepared for the influx of recreational cannabis users, small time pot growers, and illegal substance abusers (some who are sadly victims of mental illness and childhood abuse) into our taxpayer supported penal institutions.  Rehab spots behind bars were scarce before, and I'm afraid we ain't seen nothin' yet!  Correctional Service of Canada and the Justice Department might as well change their names to Punishment Disservice of Harperland and the "Tough on Crime!" Ministry respectively.

Drug abuse, whether it is for illegal drugs, alcohol, prescription drugs, etc. is uniquely personal.  Treat the person as a patient and they have a fighting chance to manage and successfully beat their addiction(s).  Criminalize and convict them, and it further damages their mental state and exponentially hinders their potential for recovery.

Just because a person uses drugs does not mean they are undeserving of compassion, and realistically our drug policies must reflect that truth.  So Thank You, Mr. Brand, for bringing even more attention to the failure of the War on Drugs, your passionate testimony is much appreciated by those of us campaigning for the reform of our national and global drug laws. 

Departing Harperland

"Whoever controls the media,
controls the mind."
~ Jim Morrison

First, READ THIS.

And then THIS.

Now, can anyone please tell me where Canada went? Does Stephen Harper ^NOT realize that Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of the press, along with the right to freedom of expression? Or maybe the query should be, "Does he even care?".

You know, at first I wasn't quite sure about it when the other parties started to refer to the Tories as the "Conservative Regime", but now I'm certain that the label fits. This is not the Canada I was born and raised in, and it's certainly not the political, social and undemocratic environment I wish for my sons to grow up in.

For the love of every single Canadian* and our beautiful country, please realize that May 2nd. is a gift to all Canadian citizens of voting age. On this day each one of our voices are equal, in the basic yet effective form of a checkmark on a paper ballot.

We have the opportunity to oust the Guilty of Contempt Harper led Conservatives from Parliament. Then, we can begin to repair and mend the damage the Tories have thrust upon us, I know collectively we are strong and we can achieve this goal together!

In our National Anthem we sing "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee", so let's honour that pledge and defend this most awesome land from coast to coast to coast.

I'm tired of living in Harperland, I need my True North Strong and Free!


Don't let Parliamentary crime pay! Peter Russell, constitutional expert, talks about the Harper Government's contempt for parliamentary democracy and what is at stake in the Canadian Election 2011.


2007 From CBC's "The Hour." Stephen Harper and Media Control


Sing it!!!
By therealg8g20: "This is a song that was performed by Richard Underhill in Kensington Market in 2008. I found the raw video on Youtube and asked the author if I could make a new remix with the footage. Perhaps this can become the theme song for those of us who are concerned about the direction this government is taking our country in. I'm hoping that it will inspire those who are not happy with the leadership of the Harper government, but haven't gotten involved yet, to get active, get organized and get involved! Maybe we can make this video go viral!" Vimeo Version: http://vimeo.com/13803436

for the love of every single Canadian* - Seriously. Read it. Please.

UPDATE 4/14/2011: Check out more at http://shitharperdid.ca/
http://www.leadnow.ca
and http://sowhatdidimiss.blogspot.com/

Hey Americans: Want a Job? Just Go To Jail!

One of the great things about social media is connecting with intelligent people who you'd otherwise never get the chance to "meet". Facebook and Twitter have brought thousands of new friendly voices into my realm over the past few years and they are what I lovingly refer to as my "Mad Posters" - meaning, they/we love to share news and videos and education regarding not just the Drug War, but injustice in whatever form it happens to take throughout the world.

"Posting Links" is one of the best tools that social activism has, on any given day I am gifted with personalized judicial and ecological news from Canada, the States and beyond. With the click of a mouse a daily itinerary is before me and I appreciate those who take the time to "Pass It to the Left".

While much of what we share is from news outlets and other mainstream media, what I cherish the most are contributions from everyday people passionate about making a difference. On Saturday a "Note" was posted on Facebook and it was so informative that I asked the writer, Lydie Meunier, if she would let me post it here to share with all of you and she graciously accepted.

Lydia brilliantly opens our eyes to scheming corporations and the U.S. Prison Industrial Complex coveting much sought after jobs and profiting greatly from free and cheap inmate labour. It's also a shocking glimpse of what will happen here in Canada if the Conservatives are re-elected and allowed to proceed with their fear driven crime agenda and American style prison plans.




GUEST POST
U.S. Unemployment Exacerbated by the Outsourcing of Jobs to Prisons
By Lydie Meunier

SLAVERY IS BACK IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Call your Congress Members and Ask them to Put a Stop to this Infamy!!!

I know that many people don't want to look into prison labor and the impact it has on unemployment figures because this is a disturbing issue. And yet, Jobs are outsourced to prisons, and slavery is being reinstated because corporations are counting on, and taking advantage of folks' apathy and disdains for prisoners... Meanwhile jobs for law abiding citizens are taken away from them to be given to cheap prison labor.

Today, prisoners are being exploited by corporations, paid more or less 40 cts/hour, more often less than more, sometimes paid nothing at all (see current situation in Georgia prisons not covered by the media), in lieu of the minimum $7.25/hour that corporations would have to pay to law abiding citizens. The difference, quite clearly, contributes to major corporate profits, while law abiding citizens are still unemployed and continue to lose their jobs.

On the FREE National market (vs. the WALLED industrial complex market), only 9% of our GDP comes from manufacturing. You can not sustain a middle class lifestyle with a service economy. To turn that 9 % into a much higher number, we need to introduce a new Bill in Congress to stop the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to prisons (outsourcing to prisons is now called "insourcing").

When you consider the major corporations that employ prison labor (furniture factories, Microsoft, Boing, IBM, Starbuck, Victoria secret, BP, Sodexo, medical supplies, road signs, military supplies, etc.) you quickly realize that moving jobs back to law abiding citizens would surely help diminish unemployment figures!!!

The way these prison partnerships typically work is that a manufacturer wanting to increase profits moves their equipment, technology, materials and unfinished goods to a factory setting within a prison industry facility. Once up and running, the same products come off the assembly lines and are shipped as before. The difference is this, private sector employees of the company have been terminated or laid off. A handful of employees are usually kept on long enough to train inmates and prison supervisors in the manufacturing used to make the products. Once that is accomplished, they are also eliminated and their positions taken over by a prison industry supervisor.

This insourcing of labor creates quite a number of unemployed citizens. Burdens are placed on state and community social help programs, unemployment compensation, etc. So while the corporation saves lots of money in labor costs - no more unemployment insurance premiums, less expenses in lease of facilities (usually leased by the prison operators at $1.00 per year), and no more employee benefits such as medical insurance, vacations or paid time off - the communities they vacated are left to fund the unemployed left in their wake. In addition the local government loses taxes that were paid by the corporation, previous landlords of the facilities once leased to the corporations are left with vacant property and local shops and other businesses suffer a drop in sales due to the newly unemployed workers left behind.

Efforts to involve Union officials, management and labor leaders in rectifying this issue have been unsuccessful for some reason. Politicians and Union leaders are too busy arguing about outsourcing of our jobs overseas and seem to not have any interest in eliminating or addressing insourcing. The next time you or your neighbor loses your/their job; before looking toward China or India to see if you can see your job making its way there, look the other way and see if perhaps some criminal that stole your car has just as easily stolen your job and income as well.

Source: INSOURCING- A new concept about private sector job losses, by Bob Sloan, November 10, 2010

The prison industrial complex shows the fastest growth in profits, with politicians and judges and lawyers, and the top 2% investing in its stocks, which constitutes the most corrupt conflict of interests: for each incarceration, the private prison industry is not only paid big bulks by our tax money, it also disposes of the people as private property subcontracted to corporations. Meanwhile, we keep paying for the prison industrial complex to sustain itself with our tax money, oblivious to the fact that we are also paying with the loss of our jobs!!!!

Wake up folks!!! This is not only a national disgrace, it is a national scandal!!!

The United States has the highest incarceration rate!!!! Do you want to know why? Follow the money!!!

Here is a report for you to read to understand the mess this country is in regarding employment politics by regressing into slavery The prison industry in the United States: big business and a new form of slavery

Civilian Inmate Labor Camps designed to manufacture army supplies Jobs that used to be performed by law abiding citizens

Insourcing - Transfer of Private Industry Jobs to Prison Industry-Made in USA

PRIVATIZED PRISONS - PRISON LABOR IS SLAVERY

Here are more links related to more recent news in Georgia where prisoners have been forced to work without pay for their labor, a violation of the 13th Amendment, which prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude:

The Largest Prison Strike In American History Goes Ignored By US Media

Prisoner Strike Enters New Phase, Needs Our Support

Prison labor on the rise in US

Corporatocracy can best be described as: "A type of government in which huge corporations, through bribes, gifts, and the funding of ad campaigns that oppose candidates they don't like, become the driving force behind the executive, judicial and legislative branches". It explains why prison labor is ignored by politicians and main stream media!!!!!

Federal PIECP and Program Violations: Discussions on the use of prison labor in the U.S. and corporations that eliminate private sector jobs with inmate labor

While we are busy believing that prisoners need to pay their debt back to society, corporations are cheating society by "hiring" prison labor

Prisoner Advocate Elaine Brown on Georgia Prison Strike

Mass Incarceration in America

Private Prison Industry Helped Draft Arizona Immigration Law

Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law

Private Prison Lobby Behind Arizona's Immigration Law

Rachel Maddow: Exposing Private Prison Industry Role in Shaping Arizona's Anti-Immigration Law - August 14, 2010 - Corporate Con Game

PRIVATE PRISONS AND THE ARIZONA ANTI-IMMIGRATION LAW - Dec 13, 2010

VALLEY OF THE DRY BONES: HUMAN BODIES FOR PRIVATE CELLS (2002)

Prison Labor: A Dynamic Sector - Covert Action Quarterly #54 - Fall 1995

Prison Labor - Policy Report 2002

BP Hires Prison Labor to Clean Up Spill While Coastal Residents Struggle - 2010

Prison labor cheats society - 2001

As Prison Labor Grows, So Does the Debate - Published on Sunday, March 19, 2000 in the New York Times

Prison Industry Funnels Donations To State Lawmakers Introducing SB1070-Like Bills Around The Country

The Prison Industrial Complex: Does It Create A New Form Of Slavery? How Much Labor Is Done In The Prison System?

"One might think an enterprise able to pay unskilled workers just 21 cents an hour would be able to manufacture goods it could sell at rock-bottom prices. Unfortunately, that is not so when the enterprise is Ohio's Penal Industries system." Penal Industries Costs Out of Line - February 3, 2011 - The Intelligencer

"ACLU 2010 report presents the results of a yearlong investigation into modern-day "debtors' prisons," and shows that poor defendants are being jailed at increasingly alarming rates for failing to pay legal debts they can never hope to afford." American Civil Liberties Unions - 2010 - See 2011 update

Last year, officials in McIntosh County, Okla., south of Tulsa, issued about 1,500 debt-related arrest warrants, up from about 800 a year before the crisis, according to a court clerk. More than 950 borrowers got similar warrants in Salt Lake City courts last year. Maricopa County, Ariz., officials issued 260 debt-related warrants in 2010 Welcome to Debtors' Prison, 2011 Edition

Other people's suffering makes such a lucrative opportunity for investment Private Prisons Have Future Growth All Locked Up - Oct 20, 2009

Prison Valley - A web documentary exploring the Prison Industry

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

The United States continues to have the largest incarcerated population and the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world.
- Human Rights Watch, World Report, 2008