If you want to invest in an industry that is definitely doing gang busters (pardon the pun) then might I suggest you invest in the prison industry.
MSNBC and CNN reported that 2.2 million Americans are in the pokey. That's 1,100 new inmates put in the system each week. 33,000+ people are in local jails, the highest number since 1997 which is a 4.7% growth rate and faster then the state and federal growth rate of 1.6%
And one little fact that stood out in this report, especially when we argue that we are a nation of laws and of civil rights, a large majority of those in jails at the local level (and a place were the feds commonly hold inmates due to overcrowding) are unconvicted.
Men are 10 - 11 times more likely then women to find themselves in the big house, but women are increasing fast. And to no surprise, a racial discrepancy still exists among the incarcerated.
Researchers point the blame for the increase in jail populations on the lack of discretion given to judges due to mandatory sentencing guidelines. So if you want to know why the Grandma with the 3 ounces of pot is sitting in the county slammer, that's why.
On a Tech note: This is the second post off of my new rig. I got the black MacBook and I was amazed at how fast I took to the operating system and all of the neat tricks with OS X. Once I got my media mouse hooked up, I gained a right click button which makes it feel more like windows. I hope to get BootCamp going so I can use some of my windows programs when I need them.
If anyone knows any tricks or recommendations for a new mac (stuff like transferring music, files, and bookmarks) from a Windows based machine e-mail me or leave a comment, Thanks. -MR
