On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:37:19 -0700, "Dave Bugg" >
wrote:

>Joe Cilinceon wrote:
>> "Dave Bugg" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>>>
>>>> His point, which you pretended not to notice, is that we imprison
>>>> people for ***SOME*** things which are absurd, like possessing
>>>> enough cocaine for one person, not a party.
>>>
>>> Is is against the law to posses any amount of illegal narcotic or
>>> not?
>>>> We act as if we're protecting
>>>> people by arresting them, but meanwhile, if you drink enough, you
>>>> can wreck your liver, which makes you more susceptible to liver
>>>> cancer. Who gets arrested for possession of booze?
>>>
>>> Is it illegal to possess booze?
>>>
>>> Change the laws, or obey them.
>>> --
>>> Dave
>>> www.davebbq.com
>>>
>>
>> The point is we have some stupid, poorly thought out laws on our
>> books in this country. They are not based on protecting the general
>> population from each other and keeping an orderly society but
>> protecting us from ourselves. If a cop followed the average driver
>> for 1 mile he could write him with several tickets easily. One of
>> which could get you jail time. If you enjoy it odds are it is illegal
>> somewhere in this country.
>
>That is not the same as stating that America loves to imprison people. The
>great thing about America is that you can work to change laws that your
>disagree with.
>
>Again, ludicrous examples are the fiction of the desperate.

as of 2004:

According to the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's
College London, the U.S. currently has the largest documented prison
population in the world, both in absolute and proportional terms.
We've got roughly 2.03 million people behind bars, or 701 per 100,000
population. China has the second-largest number of prisoners (1.51
million, for a rate of 117 per 100,000), and Russia has the
second-highest rate (606 per 100,000, for a total of 865,000). Russia
had the highest rate for years, but has released hundreds of thousands
of prisoners since 1998; meanwhile the U.S. prison population has
grown by even more. Rounding out the top ten, with rates from 554 to
437, are Belarus, Bermuda (UK), Kazakhstan, the Virgin Islands (U.S.),
the Cayman Islands (UK), Turkmenistan, Belize, and Suriname, which
you'll have to agree puts America in interesting company. South
Africa, a longtime star performer on the list, has dropped to 15th
place (402) since the dismantling of apartheid.

<http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040206.html>

what does this mean? that americans are more criminal than the rest
of the world. (i suppose you could argue that's a benefit of freedom,
but i wouldn't) or does it mean that americans like to imprison
people?

your pal,
blake