A Trend Toward Tyranny

     Welcome to the land of the enslaved and the home of the powerless - wait - I mean the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." Yeah - in the United States ONE IN EVERY 100 ADULTS LIVES BEHIND BARS! A (CLICK) Trend Toward Tyranny if I may. (CLICK) here to read the Pew Center on the States. This may sound like hypocrisy to the uninformed but, in fact, this is the norm in a country of legalized usury where corporate crime is rewarded.

From the previous link (worth visiting):
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Bursting at the Seams
     The United States imprisons significantly more people than any other nation in the world. In fact, the Pew Center on the States reported in 2008 that an astounding one in every 100 adults in the U.S. now lives behind bars!

     Because we’ve been trying to “incarcerate our way” out of crime for so long, federal and state prisons and county jails are experiencing near-crisis levels of overcrowding. At the same time, operating budgets have been severely cut, as has funding to build new facilities. And over the next two years, researchers predict the situation will get even worse.

     Based on current projections, by 2011 the U.S. prison population will increase by 13% – which is triple the growth of the entire population as a whole – to more than 1.7 million . Supporting that increase in incarcerated people will cost American taxpayers and local/state budgets an estimated $27.5 billion. At that time, another 4 million people will also be on probation or parole."

     The net effect is that states, counties, courts, sheriffs, and administrators are actively looking for ways to:

Trim incarcerated populations
Remain fiscally solvent
Continue protecting public safety"
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     The answer so far has been to keep locking more and more and more people up. As long as enough jails can be built, staffed, and supplied what's the problem? These are LAWBREAKERS! They need to be PUNISHED! It doesn't matter if many of them are guilty of inhaling the smoke from a plant does it?

     We all knew how stupid this exercise was from the beginning - after all Prohibition never worked. Since history repeats itself - here we are - the very people who choose to ignore history - repeating it! What a surprise - well not really. Prohibition never stopped alcohol consumption - but it did generate one helluva' demand for Thompson machine guns! Is it fair to say that the current demand curve for weapons parallels the ever-increasing budget for the phony "War on Drugs?"

     Like most government scams designed to line the pockets of crooks - on both sides of law enforcement - this scam too is doomed to fail as the money runs out. And it is. Look (CLICK) here for some signs of the money running out. From the article:

     "ATLANTA (AP) - The recession is hitting home for inmates, too: Some cash-strapped states are taking aim at prison menus.

     Georgia prisoners already didn't get lunch on the weekends, and the Department of Corrections recently eliminated the midday meal on Fridays, too. Ohio may drop weekend breakfasts and offer brunch instead. Other states are cutting back on milk and fresh fruit.

     Officials say prisoners are still getting enough calories, but family members and critics say the changes could make prisoners irritable and food a valuable commodity, increasing the possibility of violence." 

     But who cares about starvation and malnutrition in a country where we torture people? They are just sub-human right? Using the ethics lead of the U.S. Federal Government on human rights we'd might as well start torturing them in addition to feeding them garbage. After all I have a full belly.  Confessions and convictions become easier that way.

     What are proper calorie requirements for sub-humans anyway? After all, a U.S. soldier's requirements should be a good yardstick - especially since they, too, depend on their suppliers for their very sustenance.  United States soldiers are a good match because those responsible for their safety and well-being who are contracted by the U.S. government to provide said sustenance are in the war game for profit alone (like jailers) and also don't give a damn about the troops (like the jailers). If you think I'm exaggerating take a look at (CLICK) this article reporting another such incident by the usual suspects. From the article:
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     "You thought the lack of armor-plated Humvees was bad.

     US soldiers are now being forced to steal water in Iraq. With supplies tight, and the       number of trucks carrying potable water even tighter, troops have resorted to                   stealing water from civilian contractors. Many have also reportedly suffered from          dysentery because they were forced to drink untreated water from Iraqi wells.

   ...Who’s supposed to be maintaining the water supply? At least in some parts of Iraq,      it’s the US engineering contractor KBR. KBR is a spinoff of Halliburton, which it      separated from in 2007."

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     (CLICK) here for information provided for U.S. Army soldiers. From the article:

     "For Soldiers to get enough energy from the food they eat and to obtain the variety      of foods needed for nutritional balance, they eat three meals a day. Even snacking    between meals can contribute to good nutrition if the right foods are eaten.
Another dietary guideline is to consume enough calories to meet your energy needs. Proper weight is maintained as long as the body is in energy balance, or, when the number of calories used equals the number of calories consumed."
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     Luckily for the corporate bosses running many prisons cutting costs is as easy as eliminating food for prisoners since they can be treated as subhuman. It seems the war profiteers and the prison industry have similar ethical standards.

     When I read articles like those discussed above I am more inclined to believe that the U.S. Federal 'guvmint' IS capable of mass incarcerations of its citizens whether the reason for their incarceration is just or unjust. Meanwhile back at the ranch - the disconnect that is the US Federal Government plods along the same idiotic path of waste while the dealers get richer, and richer and richer. After all, who except for a drug dealer can afford a SUBMARINE?