Why are millions being spent on pampering for prisoners?

I definitely believe that we have got it all wrong when hard working law abiding citizens end up paying vast sums to keep prisoners in a state of relative luxury. I am all for human rights and that people should be treated with dignity and respect but I draw the line where prisoners, who have committed crimes against society, end up being housed and fed in better conditions than many ordinary citizens who struggle to put food on the table every day. 

Once convicted and sentenced then a person should only be allowed basic human rights where they are given a roof over their heads (albeit a cell), three meals a day (enough to satisfy their essential nutritional requirements without fancy fare) and time to exercise (in an open courtyard), and where they have access to books and work opportunities (making vehicle number plates or on chain gangs picking up litter on road side curbs.)  I am against big flat screen TV's, steak for dinner, etc. 

In a recent article in the Saturday Star (31 July 2010) a brand new prison spent R260 000 on 50 flat screen TV's so that inmates could watch sports from their cells. These have to be moved at a cost of R800 000 because inmates are unable to watch TV whilst in their cells. That's enough to build 20 RDP housess or feed 1000 people for 50 days.

So how do the prison officials justify the TV's. Apparently the TV's are an integral part of the disciplinary process where naughty inmates have their TV privileges withdrawn. They were naughty in the first place that's why they are there! I say that, as an example, an inmate that has been incarcerated for murder, who's victim cannot watch TV anymore, should not be allowed TV at all! 

They should only be given enough to live without fills or luxuries. They need time to reflect about what they did. Time to haunted by there misdeeds. Time to repent. And certainly not in an environment that is better than most law abiding tax paying citizens enjoy! Yip something is definitely wrong!

BP = Best Practice that went Wrong!

I have been meaning to make a few comments about the BP spill in the gulf or rather the American’s reaction to it. It is a huge ecological disaster and I don’t want to negate the impact that it has had on the environment now and into the future. I do however take a slightly different view about the American bashing of BP. It has occurred to me that had it been an American company then there may have been less of an outcry. Interestingly enough it now appears as if American sub contacting companies were the direct root cause of the incident yet very little fuss has been made about their involvement in the spill.  I also suspect that because it happened on the America doorstep a bigger fuss was made. If it had been somewhere else in the world then it would only have had a mention on American news.

It is important to put this spill into context of simple economics. America is the world single biggest guzzler of energy. Most of this energy comes from fossil fuels such as oil and coal. Americans expect and demand that this energy be cheap. In fact most believe that cheap energy is a right! And the energy that they have been gobbling has been cheap. This cheap energy has spurned the great American business machine on to world domination. This simple economic equation has assisted America become the world’s largest economy. I wonder what will happen to the American economy, already showing technical weaknesses, when energy becomes relatively expensive. I would suggest that the Americans are living on borrowed time. The oil crisis of the 70’s almost brought America to its knees when energy became expensive overnight.

It is this hungry appetite for oil that has pushed oil companies, such as BP, to continue to find new oil reservoirs. Those that remain are harder to find, drills are going deeper, into hospitable environments like the gulf and barren ice lands. The risks have increased exponentially and the opportunity for an environmental disaster has increased despite improvements in engineering, operating and safety standards. The gulf alone has had more than 5000 incidents with over 100 injuries and deaths over the past 10 years. It must be noted that very little publicity has been attracted. It was only a matter of time that an incident of this magnitude would occur. And I suspect that there are more incidents that may still occur.

The question that needs to be answered: Are Americans so naive, insulated and ill-informed to believe for one moment that their insatiable appetite for oil has no risk attracted? Well unfortunately there is! If you want your huge V8 car to run then understand the risk when filling the tank. The rest of the world has already learned the risks. They have not had cheap energy.

Hats off to BP. They have acted with integrity and honour. I’m not sure that an American company would have been as transparent or have put aside $20billion to cover the costs of the disaster. Just maybe the Americans will begin to understand the world with its complexities and realities beyond their narrow jaundiced view. Oh well I guess that green card will be withdrawn.