*First off, can someone tell me what Laura Bush was doing here yesterday? Seriously, I want to know. (Education and stuff is not an answer).

*Ok so fun facts from yesterday’s NYT article, reporting on a new study by the Pew Center on the States.
*1 out of 99 adults are in jail, the most in our country’s history
*1 out of 36 hispanics are in the slammer
*1 out of 9 black males from 20 to 34 are behind bars

Also, if you’re going to commit a crime, commit the crime in Rhode Island. They spend $43,000 per year on inmates. Yes, the state of Rhode Island pays you more to commit heinous crimes than the NYC Dept of Education pays their first year teachers.

Worst state to get caught? Louisiana, naturally. $13,000/year.

Ok so incarceration rates seem pretty high right? Kinda upsetting, no?

Professor Paul Cassell, ex-federal judge and hardened warriorman, says to calm down and remember that violent crime has dropped 25% from 1987 to 2007.

“While we certainly want to be smart about who we put into prisons,” Professor Cassell said, “it would be a mistake to think that we can release any significant number of prisoners without increasing crime rates. One out of every 100 adults is behind bars because one out of every 100 adults has committed a serious criminal offense.”

I actually agree that if 1 out of 100 adults were committing terribly violent crimes (rape, murder, assault with a firearm, etc), then 1 out of 100 people should be in jail. But I have a sneaking suspicion that a big chunk of those inmates are there for other stuff, like DWIs and drug-related arrests. According to the NYT article, Texas has recently passed legislation aimed at reducing their prison populations; they will increase drug treatment programs and consider earlier release for nonviolent offenders. That’s right people, Texas, that bastion of progressivism, has decided prison rates are unsustainable.

*Ok moving on, Badge showed me this!
Play this game.
Then read this article.
Prove to yourself that you are the irrational fool you always thought you were!

*Today’s strip!
…I think i should be offended, but all it makes me want to do is dress in orange and give myself a big bear hug.

*Dammit, every other month I have to read about how we’re on the brink of another war. Seymour Hersh has gotten pretty worked up about the whole war with Iran thing. Should we be concerned yet? He makes his case in last year’s New Yorker, saying there’s been a major shift in Bush’s approach to the Mideast. Containing Shiite influence (Iran, Hezbollah, Syria) is now number one priority, as opposed to hunting down Sunni insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. He quotes some anonymous government consultant, calling it a “sea change” shift in American foreign policy. Hersh says there’s been clandestine operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon and other places. He says these operations are being paid for by the Saudis, who have a mutual interest in a weaker Iran. He also says that the Saudis have been more helpful in the Israel-Palestine peace negotiations because the continued conflict emboldens Iran. (Remember how this past year Bush started talking seriously about peace in Israel and Palestine for the first time in his entire presidency? Hersh would argue it’s because of this new shift in strategy).

I agree with the fact that the most dramatic consequence of the Iraq war (other than the unimaginable number of dead Iraqi civilians) has been the empowerment of Iran, which is now unquestionably the regional power. But I doubt the administration is stupid enough (yes I said that seriously) to divert troops and funds away from Iraqi security to fight off Shiite influence in other places. Sure, they’ve been beating the drums about Iran for years, but all out war still seems unlikely. It’s in the interest of both countries to stay out of direct military conflict – America is stretched too thin as it is, and Iranian leaders benefit greatly by our presence next door. I don’t doubt Hersh’s claims that Saudi Arabia, with the approval of the US, is taking out Hezbollah strongholds. But I think that’s as far as it will go, at least for the foreseeable future - America bitching about Iran smuggling weapons into Iraq and Iran bitching about American ships in the Persian Gulf. The most likely situation is a Mideast Cold War. Hersh quotes Martin Indyk, a senior State Department official in the Clinton Administration who also served as Ambassador to Israel, and says that “the Middle East is heading into a serious Sunni-Shiite Cold War,” implying clandestine and indirect military operations but the avoidance of all-out war between any two powers.

See, now don’t we feel better?

Have a nice day!!