Justice is harsher in America than in any other rich country. Between 2.3m and 2.4m Americans are behind bars, roughly one in every 100 adults. If those on parole or probation are included, one adult in 31 is under “correctional” supervision. As a proportion of its total population, America incarcerates five times more people than Britain, nine times more than Germany and 12 times more than Japan. Overcrowding is the norm. Federal prisons house 60% more inmates than they were designed for. State lock-ups are only slightly less stuffed.

America incarcerates more people per capita than Russia, Iran or China. Think about that for a second.

This article doesn't even touch on the privatization of prisons. Still an amazing read.

The Economist: Too many laws, too many prisoners

General prison

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One witness described how BP mixed a large quantity of two chemicals and injected them into the well to flush out drilling mud. But the chemicals aren't usually mixed together, and the injection of more than 400 barrels of dense, gray fluid were about double the quantity normally used for the task, said Leo Lindner, a drilling fluid specialist for contractor M-I Swaco.

The reason for the action: BP had hundreds of barrels of the two chemicals on hand and needed to dispose of it, Lindner testified. By first flushing it into the well, the company could take advantage of an exemption in an environmental law that otherwise would have prohibited the discharge of the hazardous waste into the gulf, he said.

I didn't think this story could get any more atrocious in regards to the environment, unfortunately it seems I was wrong.

Small leaks spring at BP oil well; cap to stay in place for now

General bp, environment

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Anyway, the letter that offended you was written because I don't want to see that sort of mentality creep into Scouting. I don’t want the Eagle standards lowered just to encourage less enthusiastic kids to "go for it," or satisfy a parents desire to see their precious little snowflakes bring home another "trophy." And frankly, I don't think the best way to inspire and motivate kids like you is to blow a bunch of sunshine up your butt.

Mike Rowe is always worth a read, but this letter was dead on.

The most valuable thing I ever learned in scouting wasn't knots, first aid or community service; it was how to deal with people.

Mike Replies To A Slightly Offended, Not Very Enthusiastic Scout.

General, TV scouting

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http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/05/changes-in-european-debt-2000-09/
Absolutely amazing growth from the countries not in the red (given that we don't know how much more they progressed from this given visualization).  still staggering how much more in debit the greater part of Europe is.

Quitting Facebook: What Happens When You Deactivate?
I liked this article because it focused on the differences in how Facebook will keep your information (and it's ability to disseminate it to it's partners?) if you decide to deactivate vs deleting your account.  I deleted my account a few weeks ago because I believe that my views on privacy don't necessarily mesh with those of the execs at Facebook (and I only see them further diverging down the road.). MC also has a pretty good read on the facial recognition aspects of allowing "life cataloging" and it's future problems.

After dark, the dirty work at Disneyland begins
 Gone are Mickey and his friends. In their place are about 600 custodians, painters, gardeners and decorators, working to ensure that the 85-acre park meets the squeaky-clean ideals that Walt Disney himself extolled even before he launched the park 55 years ago.

http://singularityhub.com/2010/05/05/harvard-can-preserve-organs-for-10-days-restarts-heart-outside-body-video/
Prof. Hemant Thatte has developed a cocktail of 21 chemical compounds that he calls Somah, derived from the sanskrit for “ambrosia of rejuvenation”. Using Somah, Thattle and his team have accomplished some amazing feats with pig hearts. They can keep the organ viable for transplant up to 10 days after harvest – that’s incredibly longer than the 4 hour limit seen in hospitals today..

Staggering when you think about it. 



post was written on iPad, please excuse it's grammatical coolness.     

General, Tech disney, european debt, facebook

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Can't wait for Plastic Beach.



Bill Watterson, creator of beloved 'Calvin and Hobbes' comic strip looks back with no regrets
I didn't realize that Watterson was so reclusive.
"I think some of the reason "Calvin and Hobbes" still finds an audience today is because I chose not to run the wheels off it."
Interesting read.


Americana: More Change You Can Believe
"The goofy debates and pre-election speeches are absolutely meaningless without any means to hold elected officials accountable for reversing/explaining themselves in office."
Everyday I see more and more that all politicians are just poop with sprinkled glitter.


The Chromium Blog: 40,000 More Extensions!
"I'm happy to report that as of the last Google Chrome release, you can install any user script with a single click."
Native support for GreaseMonkey scripts. Cool stuff.


Voicemail Codes to Remember for ATT Phone Users
Hacks for meshing with Google Voice.

General, Multiplicitome google, chromium, politics

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