L u k e n . o r g

And the stock prices of publicly traded companies that build and operate prisons are on the rise. So what happens when these stocks stop reflecting a "growth company" and become a value stock? Well it’s obvious, incarsurate more people..

PrisonSucks.com: Research on the prison industrial complex U.S. incarceration rates by race, June 30, 2004: * Whites: 393 per 100,000 * Latinos: 957 per 100,000 * Blacks: 2,531 per 100,000 Gender is an important "filter" on the who goes to prison or jail, June 30, 2004: * Females: 123 per 100,000 * Males: 1,348 per 100,000 Look at just the males by race, and the incarceration rates become even more frightening, June 30, 2004: * White males: 717 per 100,000 * Latino males: 1,717 per 100,000 * Black males: 4,919 per 100,000 If you look at males aged 25-29 and by race, you can see what is going on even clearer, June 30, 2004: * For White males ages 25-29: 1,666 per 100,000. * For Latino males ages 25-29: 3,606 per 100,000. * For Black males ages 25-29: 12,603 per 100,000. (That’s 12.6% of Black men in their late 20s.) Or you can make some international comparisons: South Africa under Apartheid was internationally condemned as a racist society.

* South Africa under apartheid (1993), Black males: 851 per 100,000
* U.S. under George Bush (2004), Black males: 4,919 per 100,000

What does it mean that the leader of the "free world" locks up its Black males at a rate 5.8 times higher than the most openly racist country in the world?

Well VZ, ATT and Bellsouth, are you prepared for the firestorm that’s to come overy your illegal actions? I guess when your bottom line is affected, you’ll start to reconsider just what you’re willing to do. This is an interesting report from GArtner warnning multi-national corporations that there is significant risk in using US phone companies as prime contractors because your data ma not remain private.

Gartner warns multinationals over NSA data snooping – vnunet.com Gartner has warned that multinational businesses should "re-examine the risks" of using US service providers in light of claims that leading telcos divulged millions of phone records to the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Well it’s about time. Somebody in the government remembers his duty to the law.
FCC commissioner Michael J. Copps believes his office should open an investigation into whether AT&T (nyse: T – news – people ), Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ – news – people ) and BellSouth (nyse: BLS – news – people ) broke the law when they allegedly surrendered phone records to the government. It was reported last week that the National Security Agency–which claims to employ the U.S.’ premier cryptologists–requested the records shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Copps believes the companies’ alleged involvement could have violated Section 222 and other provisions of the U.S. Communications Act. FCC Commissioner Copps Eyes Phone Record Probe – Forbes.com

White Verizon, ATT and Bellsouth simply rolled over and willingly assisted the NSA in violating privacy law, Qwest actually stood it’s ground, if he reported stor is true. They should be commended

USATODAY.com – Lawyer: Ex-Qwest exec ignored NSA request WASHINGTON (AP) — Telecommunications giant Qwest refused to provide the government with access to telephone records of its 15 million customers after deciding the request violated privacy law, a lawyer for a former company executive said Friday.
And here’s another article with more detail

In a followup to my previous post, 60% of Russian children are unhealty due to nutrition, sickness and mental issues. Russia shouldn't feel too bad. In the US, a large percentage of our kids are overweight fatbodies, increasing diabetics, and just plain dumb and out of control ….. 

The solution in Russia is more medical assistance and attention, in the US the solution is to just slap the hell out of some of these parents…. 

BBC NEWS | Europe | Survey: 60% of Russian children unhealthy
More than half the children in Russia are in poor physical or psychological health, a government survey has revealed.

The results of the survey of 30 million children by the Russian Ministry of Health will add to fears of a looming demographic crisis in the country.

Pretty cool layouts for the office. Definitely geared to the "INformation Worker", but I doubt many large corporations would adopt these types of setups. They won't even spring for ergonomic keyboards that help lower hand/wrist injuries. Go figure….. 

Photos: Microsoft's workplace of the future | CNET News.com

How he had the ability to lump in an arms race with population decline in the sape paragraph is beyond me. But hey, bring back the good old days of the cold war. "Remember to Duck and Cover". I'm going long on Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon myself, best poised to benefit from a new arms race. But is ir fair to say that our defense budget is 25 time that of Russia, if we have a much higher GDP, and our hammers, coffee pots and HMMV's cost way more that "normal"? 

So here is Russia's plan. Increase the birthrate to have a broader tax base, to fund a bigger military to be staffed and operated by the increase in the population, and increase their chances of survival after the next major fallout. Sounds like a plan to me. And to think, we want to get rid of our "undocumented workers". We need them to stay ahead of the Russians. You can't count on the white man in America, they have low sperm count, and only product 2.3 children. We need a masive buildup, and what better way than importing from south of the border. We'll solve many problems at once, instant population buildup, increased tax base, a larger military, double digit returns on my long holdings of defense stocks (hey, it's all about my beach house), and did I mention the food? Just awesome. 

But seriously, Russia now has under 143 milion people, and is loosing 700,000 people per year due to immigration (out of the country), high mortality and lower birth rates. Let’s address one issue, people aren’t going to stay in Russia if there is an opportunity for a better life elsewhere, and they have the means to leave Russia. With now real democracy and hope, no real freedom and opportunity, there is no plan that can be put in place to turn around Russia’s population misfortune.
When true reforms take place, when people feel safe and see opportunities, they’ll be willing to stay in Russia and have families. Short of bringing back the Communists and shooting people in the back while trying to flee the country, Russia has little hope of turning this around.

Just a little sarcasm to start my day, you can read the full article below on the link. 

BBC NEWS | Europe | Putin warns on population decline
Mr Putin also said Russia should follow America's suit and spend more on its army to be able to defend itself.

He described the US as a "fortress", saying its defence budget was "almost 25 times that of Russia's".

We must, at least, stimulate the birth of a second child
Vladimir Putin

Russia looks to its fathers

"Their [America's] home is their castle – well done! It means we should build our own house strongly and reliably," Mr Putin said.

He also warned that it was "premature to speak of the end of the arms race" in the world, saying that in fact it was "going faster" and was rising to "a new technological level".

This is one hilarious satire here. But believe me, if the RIAA could get away with it, they sure would try…

The Recording Industry Association of America announced today it would be expanding its crackdown on copyright infringement by suing family members, hitchhikers and carpoolers. Lawyers for the RIAA maintain that the radio in each car was never meant to be listened to by anyone else except the original owner of the vehicle.
Therefore, any additional passengers who listen to music on the radio in another individual's car are doing so illegally and without the express permission of the copyright holders of the respective songs
that are broadcast.
RIAA attorneys were preparing to go to Federal District courts across the country to have subpoenas issued to every car maker in America in the hopes of forcing them to disclose the names and addresses of all
purchasers from the last 20 years.
"We think this is a no brainer," said an RIAA spokesperson who declined to be identified. "These drivers have been illegally sharing music on their radios and their passengers have been getting a free ride for way too long," he continued.
Legal representatives for the RIAA also warned that they would especially be targeting the "big fish" like charter bus drivers and RV owners who blatantly turn up the radio volume allowing others to hear.
In addition, RIAA lawyers said they were hoping to get a court order to exhume the bodies of Scottish physicist James Clerk-Maxwell, who developed the theory of electromagnetic waves and Guglielmo Marconi,
who discovered and harnessed wireless radio in order to sue both corpses for unfair business practices.
– Corey Deitz

RIAA Claims Music On Car Radios Meant Only For Original Vehicle Owner!!!!

Yup, in November, George Bush will singlehandedly pass control of the congress to the democrats. Thanks George, for all your tunnel vision, lack of vision and puppeteering, which  has irreperably damaged my party….

USATODAY.com – Sour news for GOP in poll

USATODAY.com – Young Americans geographically challenged
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the damage from Hurricane Katrina, nearly one-third of young Americans recently polled couldn't locate Louisiana on a map and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi.

Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn't find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic.

• One-third of respondents couldn't pinpoint Louisiana on a map and 48% were unable to locate Mississippi.

• Fewer than three in 10 think it important to
know the locations of countries in the news and just 14% believe
speaking another language is a necessary skill.

• Two-thirds didn't know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.

• Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.

• While the outsourcing of jobs to India has
been a major U.S. business story, 47% could not find the Indian
subcontinent on a map of Asia.

• While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in
the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75% were unable to
locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.

• Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.

• Six in 10 did not know the border between
North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world.
Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between
the United States and Mexico.

 But they can tell you who's the finalists are on American Idol and what Brittany Spears had for breakfast. Truly, a sad, sad state of affairs. The second bullet is pretty much in like with the ultra-right beliefs.