surely has an impact upon employment opportunities, beyond the basics of economic life, such as access to opportunities by who you know, the history of wealth accumulation among a very few, to the exclusion of everyone else, and laws that have worked to undo advances previously made in this nation to actually have a govt. that serves the people of this nation, not just the rich people of this nation.



From The Sentencing Project's "Prison Privatization and the Use of Incarceration" (2004) - the War on Drugs became the spur to create private prisons because of overcrowding in prisons from the laws enacted (Mandatory Minimums, Three Strikes, Stop and Frisk, sentencing disparities based upon race.)

The current for-profit prison system, begun in the 1980s, has made the U.S. more of a penal colony than China - that's the gift from conservatives that keeps on giving, year after year, with cumulative effects on earning power over a lifetimes, as well as effects on employment options.

http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

-African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population
-African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites
-Together, African American and Hispanics comprised 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population.
-5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites
-African Americans serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months).

This isn't the first time various states have used prison to deny rights to African-Americans. During Reconstruction, whites could arrest blacks (mostly men) and put them on work gangs - and this was never challenged because of the racism that undergirded the practice among the powerful.

Another function of the for-profit prison system is to increase population numbers in rural, predominantly white areas of states, which gives more voting power to those who are elected from those areas - and this, as well, becomes a self-reinforcing form of racism because it is in the vested interests of politicians and certain members of the population to create economies built on imprisoning other members of society.

Kurt Schmoke, former mayor of Baltimore, noted that the war on drugs is really a war on African-Americans and Hispanics, since they are disproportionately singled out for arrest and because, when other avenues to create revenue are blocked, illegal activity is the way for someone to make money outside of the system in place for those who are either part of the elite or the few who get "elevated" to the elite to serve as a sop to everyone else of a particular race or gender so they can ignore the systemic dysfunction that comes from the racism and sexism that is part of the foundation of the history of property.

Both African-American men and women have been harder hit than white females.



In the cases of both race and gender, the legacy of slavery continues to impact people, whether the slavery was based upon race or gender.

The commonality between all African-Americans and all women is that both groups, in American society, were not simply considered second-class citizens, they were considered property.

From the May 13th analog version of The New Yorker. (Critic at Large: Paint Bombs, by Kelefa Sanneh)

David Graeber, former prof. at Yale, now at Goldsmith's College in London is the author of the recent title "Debt: The First 5000 Years." Graeber, a left anarchist, was involved in the Occupy movement. Anyway, the article had this great quote from Graeber that I thought was worth sharing. (fwiw, what makes him a "left" anarchist is his support for and belief in collectives as self-organizing entities rather than right-wing "private capital" as the self-organizing principle...akin to Chomsky's anarcho-socialism, vs. Randomite libertarians.)



If we want to change the conversation from responding to the latest right wing demand, he's just indicated how you do it.

That's the conclusion from a poll by Reason-Rupe concerning public opinion about the way cannabis users should be treated by our justice and law enforcement system.

http://blog.norml.org/2013/05/17/poll-essentially-no-one-believes-marijuana-users-should-go-to-jail/



From the available options, the greatest number of poll participants thought there should be no punishment at all, while the second greatest number thought people should pay a fine (which is the way marijuana is treated when decriminalized.)

The good news is that only 6% of the American population is totally fucking stupid and thinks cannabis should result in jail time.

Happy Friday, all!

http://www.koaa.com/news/new-law-allows-colorado-hemp-crop/

Springfield farmer Ryan Loflin is now watching over one of Colorado's first industrial hemp crops in almost 60 years.

According to the Denver Post , Loflin began planting 60 acres on acreage previously used to grow alfalfa on Monday. He and business partner Chris Thompson also are installing a seed press to produce hemp oil.

http://hempforyou.com/industrial-hemp-a-new-crop-with-new-uses-for-north-america/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130514085016.htm



This research is hard to do. Not because the research itself is difficult, but because the National Institute on Drug Abuse controls who gets cannabis for research. They have consistently denied the FDA access in order to fund studies that may ameliorate one of the most debilitating forms of psychological trauma.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/why-its-so-hard-scientists-study-pot

Why It's So Hard For Scientists To Study Medical Marijuana

This post inspired me today...


(that last line is a paraphrase of Oscar Wilde, btw.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022842398

Read Benda's work in translation. Published in the U.S. in 1959.




Available at The Book Savoury via this link: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=benda&sts=t&vci=53462510&x=74&y=10

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Although presented at a reputable medical association's conference, the study has not yet undergone peer review or been published in a journal. However, the study was composed of 83,000 men and took place over 11 years.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/12/study-frequent-marijuana-use-tied-to-reduced-bladder-cancer-risk/



This study's results follow previous studies (published in peer-reviewed, reputable journals) that indicated anti-cancer properties related to cannabis and lung cancer, breast cancer, and brain tumors. You can read about those in the DU Drug Policy Forum.

Another collectible today.



Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel, written by Aaron McGruder and Reginald Hudlin. Illustrated by Kyle Baker. This is a new book in mint condition. Out-of-print in hardcover.

McGruder is the creator of The Boondocks comic and animated cartoon series. Hudlin is the former president of BET and one of the producers of Django Unchained. Baker is an Eisner and Harvey award-winning cartoonist and graphic artist.

Birth of a Nation is a political satire inspired by recent American political life, especially the 2000 presidential election. East St. Louis, Illinois, with a majority African-American population, finds itself disenfranchised on election day. The city decides to secede, renames itself "Blackland" and become the money-laundering capital of the midwest.

Available at The Book Savoury via this link: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=1400048591&sts=t&vci=53462510&x=44&y=16

Thank you for supporting small businesses!