Have The Homeless Become Invisible?

 This says it all.....


 


Peace, and please LOVE one another!

Avops.

You Know What Doesn't Work So Well? Private Prisons

 

04/10/2014

Kenneth Quinnell

The myth put forth by private prison corporations like Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the GEO Group that private prisons are cheaper than public prisons is shattered by a new report from In the Public Interest, thus undercutting the primary rationale for prison privatization efforts across the country. When pushing for contracts with the many states that use private prisons, these corporations claim they are the better option because they can run prisons more cheaply than the government can. But this report not only dispels that idea, it highlights some of the less-than-savory activities the corporations engage in because of the perverse incentives created by these contracts.
The report details several methods through which private prison companies mislead governments and the public about their supposed cost savings, particularly hiding costs of private prisons, inflating public prison costs, benefiting from mandated occupancy minimums and delaying cost increases until after contracts are signed.
Numerous studies have shown that private prisons are more expensive than their publicly run counterparts. The report details a series of meta-analyses of individual studies conducted on the comparative costs between public and private prisons, and all of them found that cost savings, at best, were minimal for private prisons—in many cases, private prisons were more expensive. One of the few studies that showed private prisons to be more cost-effective was funded by the prison companies and is currently the subject of an ethics inquiry at Temple University. A close examination of many of the states that have invested heavily in prison privatization has shown the failure of the "private prisons are cheaper" idea:

• Arizona: The state found private prisons can cost up to $1,600 per prisoner per year, despite private prisons often only housing the healthiest prisoners.
• Florida: Three separate multiyear studies found the majority of the private prisons in the state failed to meet the legally mandated 7% cost savings, while half of the private prisons failed to save any money at all.
• Georgia: In 2011, private prisons cost the state $45.81 per prisoner per day, compared with $44.51 per prisoner per day in publicly run prisons.
• Hawaii: The state found the projected savings of using private prison contractors were based on bed capacity rather than the actual number of people incarcerated and that indirect administration costs were not included.
• New Mexico: Over a five-year period, the state saw its annual spending on private prisons increase by 57% while the prisoner population only increased 21%. A significant portion of the increase was because of automatic price increases included in contracts with the private prison corporations.
• Ohio: The state expected the private operation of the Lake Erie Correctional Institution would save the state $2.4 million a year, but it has turned out to instead cost the state $380,000 to $700,000 a year.

As the report notes:

To maximize returns for their investors, for-profit prison companies have perverse incentives to cut costs in vital areas such as security personnel, medical care and programming, threatening the health and safety of prisoners and staff.

There are several different reasons that savings fail to materialize. CCA and other companies explicitly seek to increase their profits by changing the details of previously signed contracts. They do this by raising the per diem rates the state pays for each prisoner or by requiring occupancy rates of 90% or higher or the state pays for the empty cells in order to reach the required level. Private prison companies cherry pick their inmates and refuse to house more expensive prisoners. Many contracts exclude those higher-cost prisoners, such as those in maximum security, on death row, female prisoners or prisoners that have serious medical or mental health conditions. Companies also make their costs look lower by inflating the cost of public incarceration when making their sales pitch. They can do this by leaving out overhead costs in their prisons, not including costs the state has to pay in either public or private scenarios in the private prison cost but keeping them in the public prison cost calculation, and leaving out the additional costs of overseeing and monitoring private prisons that the state must engage in if it properly oversees its contractors.
At its national convention last year, the AFL-CIO came out in opposition to the privatization of prisons and the profit motive being used to increase incarceration.
Read the full report.


Information used in this blog is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

One Thing Big Pharma, Big Medicine, Big Tobacco and Thier Government Buddies Hate!

Source

So. You smoke tobacco... I did for 38 years. Now my lungs are pretty much shot and my chances of ageing gracefully are gone. My choice, my consequence.
They say hindsight is 20/20 but I sure wish I had never made the choice to start.

If you smoke...  QUIT NOW!.

Easier said than done.. I know. Having tried everything under the sun with limited success, I understand the difficulty in kicking this useless habit.

Truth is.. a lot of Big Businesses profit enormously from peoples use of tobacco products.

They don't want you to quit. They PRETEND to want you to quit. They have all kind of "quit smoking" aids they will gladly sell you. They know their snake oil "quit" products are mostly worthless but it puts a few more fiat dollars in their bank accounts.

- Big Medicine profits from your illness, i.e. cancer, emphysema.
- Big Pharma profits from an endless list of drugs to keep you breathing till your cash runs out.
- Big Tobacco profits from... well, all the various tobacco products they sell the addicted folks.
- Their Government Buddies profit from passing laws to keep the above groups making obscene profits. Don't forget the taxes generated too.

That brings me to the thing all these groups mentioned above hate.

Personal vaporizers for nicotine replacement or the:

P.ersonal
E.lectronic
N.icotine
I.halation
S.ystems

Seriously though.. these devices have caused more people to drop tobacco than anything I have ever seen. It actually amazes me! So simple and so effective.

Now these are NOT e-cigarettes!

See the difference:

This is an e-cigarette - WORTHLESS!

Personal Vaporizer

More types of personal vaporizers

 Personal vaporizers use a tank that holds a liquid containing pharmaceutical grade nicotine and a FDA approved flavoring. The carrier liquids for the nicotine and the flavoring all have a VERY good safety profile when ingested into human bodies. If you want to know more, go here..

Now, inhaling anything except pure air is probably not a good idea but... the vaporized liquids used for "vaping" are a LOT less toxic than the over 4000 chemicals in your average tobacco smoke!
The big thing to me is, there are no combustion products, no carbon monoxide, no smoke particles, and no tar.

Remember, this is something to use if you are a tobacco smoker and want to quit. It is a "healthier" alternative. It is NOT something to start up just to be cool!

I make no claims as to the safety or consequences of using Personal Vaporizers. I present this information for those seeking a viable method to break the bonds of tobacco slavery.

And... possibly piss off some Big Business and Big Government somewhere as a bonus...


Peace,
Avops

Information used in this blog is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

A Must Read If You Care About EMF

Source

I came across this today.

It  is one of the most comprehensive essays on Electromagnetic Frequency Radiation I have read to date. If you like this kind of information then take a click Here for the article, and visit:

new illuminati

Have great day my friends.

Peace,
Avops


Information used in this blog is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

A Few Thoughts On A Few Things

Due to popular demand.... OK, not really demand, just a request from Dublinmick to post something since it has been a while...

Here is what’s on my mind today.

ON LIFE.... The Grim Reaper decided it was time to pay me visit just to let me know about our mandatory future get together. The SOB made me take an ambulance ride and spend 6 days the hospital.
It wasn't THE time yet, but ol' GR likes to make sure that I know he will make the collection at the appointed time.
It's kind of weird... but no matter how many times he visits, I always get this panic and fear thing going. I know, we all got to die and you would think as we get older and lose more of our loved ones, the fear would diminish a little... but.. it don't!
So much for that! Odds are good I'll be around for a while yet (grin).

ON TODAY.... Well, it was a really nice, sunny, blue-skyed day here today. Everything is still recovering from a really wicked winter and looks like shit.. but, some heat, some sun, and some time, and the great outdoors will look at lot more appealing again.
I was actually pretty amazed not to see any "chem-trailing" today! Usually, on the nice sunny blue sky days the bastards get out there and cover the blue with whatever it is that they are spraying.

ON THE USA.... I really don't know what to think any more... is it all propaganda, is it really falling apart, is it just our collective imagination? (Seriously, I know it's pretty fucked up, everyone is just in denial)
I have no answers as to fixing this mess we are in. I'm more than convinced that it is all playing out as per the Divine scheme set in motion at the beginning of creation.
I see all morality being consumed by a lust to please ones most base desires... no thoughts about the consequences of our actions!
I guess what I see... is that Love has taken leave of this world....
Politically speaking... I really don't have any political feelings any more. I am convinced that other than the Love or Kindness I can show one of my fellow humans, not much of what I say, feel, or do will amount to a fart in a wind storm!

ON GOD, THE SPIRIT, AND THE TRUTH..... As I age (damn, I hate ageing), I find myself thoroughly convinced that the purpose of this life is to get to know the Divine and to diligently seek his will in the brief flash of existence we are allowed to enjoy!
I really don't have the desire to convert anyone to my way of thinking..... no one could convince me until I found it through my own searching. So please refrain from the "there is no God" bullshit... I'll just ignore you anyway.
All I know, is that when the breath leaves this body... I'll still be here. Just different is all.
I DO want to be on the right side of the Divine though... so I will keep on searching, and, yes, praying that my faith is strong and my heart is true....


............ OK then, that is about all I got for now. You all be be good. And be kind to each other!!

Peace,
Avops