Why Can't Prisoners (or ex-cons) Pick Our Fruit?

I just read a column by Ruben Navarrette Jr. in which he asks, “Who will pick our fruit?”  His basic point is that we need illegal immigrants to work for farmers and the like, because nobody else will. 

He makes an offhand remark about prisoners doing these jobs,

Some farmers in Colorado and Idaho have turned to prison inmates to fill the void. It’s a cute stunt but not a long-term solution.

I have to ask, why is it just a cute stunt?  Why couldn’t this be a long-term solution?

The prison system in the US is in dire straits.  We have the highest incarceration rate in the world, one in every 32 adults is in jail or on probation.  The majority of prisoners in correctional facilities are there because of non-violent crimes.  It seems to me, that when prisoners are released from jail, they don’t have a lot of success finding steady jobs.  Most of them probably end up becoming repeat offenders because they have nothing else going for them. 

Now, imagine if these huge numbers of non-violent offenders–the inmates and ex-cons alike–were given an opportunity to work, earn decent wages, and make some sort of life for themselves. 

That is what could happen if farmers, manufacturers, and other business owners started to employ prisoners instead of illegal immigrants.  It could be of their own accord, through private organizations, or through some sort of government program (don’t we just love those).  Why give a job to someone who isn’t from this country, when you could be doing a service to both an individual American, and the country as a whole (by cutting down on repeat crime, cutting down on prison time, cutting down on money spent on inmates, etc) by giving jobs to non-violent offenders?  You’d also put an end to the need for illegal immigrants who come here to do these jobs, and make way for a revolution in the illegal immigration debate.

Remember, I’m talking non-violent offenders here.  Illegal immigrants are just as guilty of crimes as someone in jail for stealing or selling weed. 

Why is this just a “cute idea” as Navarrette puts it?  Why couldn’t this become a reality?  I’m not an expert on prison statistics and facts, but it seems like it could be a really good idea.

Any thoughts?  Feel free to agree with me, or put me in my place.

I Shot the Most Powerful Handgun in the World…

And it was freakin’ awesome.

I got a $100 gift certificate to a gun range for my brother’s 21st birthday, and we went there over the weekend to put it to good use.  We ended up spending $214 (it was him, me, and his girlfriend), which is really a waste of money if you think of it (because you’re just shooting off ammo and you get nothing to show for it) but it was ridiculously fun.  I’d encourage anyone to try shooting atleast once, you won’t regret it.

We shot a Glock 23, two AR-15s (one semi, one burst fire), and the big daddy of all handguns, the Smith and Wesson .500 cal.

Image from Popular Mechanics

This thing is a beast.  It’s solid, heavy, and it breathes fire when you pull the trigger.  It didn’t knock me on my ass like I expected, but it still had a pretty good kick to it. 

This is a good comparison to another magnum you may be familiar with,

When the .44 Magnum laid claim to being the most powerful handgun in the world, its standard load produced about 900 ft.-lb. of muzzle energy. Several new loads have since eclipsed that, but the handgun most commonly used by big game hunters is the .454 Casull, which will generate about 1900 ft.-lb.

The 500 S&W Magnum will produce almost 2600 ft.-lb. with its heaviest load, and more powerful loads may well be on the way. 

If Dirty Harry felt that the .44 Magnum would make his day, the new 500 S&W Magnum would certainly make his decade. It is the largest double-action revolver available, and there is no production revolver in the world–single or double action–capable of matching, or even approaching, the level of power it produces.

Yeah, it was fun.

The Largest, Oddest, and Most Useless Government-Sponsored Projects

If you ever want some random examples of why big government projects are doomed to fail miserably, look no further than this list of 5 of the Largest, Oddest, and Most Useless State Projects.

Despite being the undisputed “Limestone Capital of the World,” Bedford, Indiana, always had a hard time figuring out how to parlay its claim to fame into a thriving tourism industry. That is, until Bedford Chamber of Commerce member Merle Edington came up with a brilliant plan.

In the late 1970s, Edington proposed that Bedford build a Disney-style theme park. But, instead of cartoon characters, the park’s main attraction would be limestone, featuring a 95-foot-high replica of the Great Pyramid of Cheops built out of (you guessed it) local limestone blocks.

…

A government-sponsored Limestone Amusement Park.  That’s a great idea.

This list isn’t complete though, they forgot to include the Big Dig.

And people wonder why I’m a libertarian.

This Week in Links, 7/27/07

Greetings, fellow webonauts, it’s good to see that you’ve made it here safe and true.  I hope you delight in this installment of (insert ominous echoey sound effect here) This Week in Links.

Jason Swadley has received the devine touch of the Lord of Mac, and has delivered unto us the 10 Commandments of Mac Optimization.

Scott H. Young explains that there’s more to falling asleep than counting sheep with The Insomiac’s Guide of Things To Do When Falling Asleep.

Learn how to become an autodidact with Dumb Little Man’s 10 Ways To Become a Self Taught Master.

Find out why you don’t enjoy your free time with Why Your Free Time is Boring by Scott H. Young.

Steve Olson shares his advice on how to become a better person with 6 Methods for Building Character and Integrity.

Leo at Zen Habits gives his insight on 18 Practical Tips for Living the Golden Rule.

Get rid of the negativity in your life, like Dustin Wax wisely says, Don’t Be Eeyore.

Katie Konrath asks, Do You Have Trouble Being Creative?

Maeve is right, George Orwell does have some Timeless Guidelines for Writers.

And finally, I stumbled onto a very cool site this week.  Library Thing is a free* site that allows you to catalog all of your books (*the first 200 are free, after that you have to pay a fee).  It’s simple and awesome, and what’s even better is that it’s like a social network.  You can see other people who share your interest in books, and you can find and offer recommendations and reviews.  It’s a great resource for any bibliophile.  Check out my Library!

This Week in Links would be incomplete without a tip from our favorite lady of literature, so here’s what Grammar Girl has to say about Like Versus As:

The background is that traditionally like is a preposition and as is a conjunction. Nevertheless, people have been using like as if it were a conjunction (as I did) for at least 100 years, and grammarians have been raging against that use for just as long. In fact, the Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage states that “probably no single question of usage has created greater controversy in recent years” than the conjunctive use of like.

Superbad Will Be Extremely Hilarious

The summer movie season isn’t going down without a fight, that’s for sure.   Warning: this video is NSFW.

Oh man, I can’t wait until August 17th.   Superbad may very well end up being the funniest movie in history.

7 Ways To Manage Your Video Game Habit

I love video games and I think gaming is a great past time.  It’s fun,  it’s exciting, it trains your hand-eye coordination and reflexes, and some of the more epic and story-driven games can actually be very satisfying works of fiction.

That said, gaming can also become an all-consuming habit.  Video games can’t really be addicting, because addiction involves chemicals and such, but I think they can become a compulsion (as can anything) if you’re not careful.  And even if you don’t take gaming that far, they can still be quite time consuming.

Some people play games in their free time, and some people need to make free time to get away from their games.  Use these seven suggestions to make sure you don’t become the latter.

1. Set aside time for gaming.  The best way to manage your time is to designate certain times for certain things.  The same applies even to playing video games.  This may seem a little over the top for some people, but it would certainly be a start. Especially if your gaming is affecting other things in your life.

Even if you don’t want to set a certain time (every night at 7), it couldn’t hurt to give yourself a set amount of time (an hour or whatever you think is appropriate) and don’t let yourself go over. This way the other important things in your life (family, friends, eating) won’t suffer because you want to play “just a little longer.” This might be a bit more difficult to accomplish with games that don’t allow you to save on the fly, but just make sure to keep track of how much time you’re playing, and plan accordingly.

2. Game with others. If your wife/girlfriend/buddies/children feel neglected because of your gaming habit, try inviting them to join you. Every system has a couple of great multiplayer games. Sports games and First Person Shooters (FPS) are particularly good choices, but you might not want to play the latter with your children (if they’re quite young).

If you don’t mind shelling out a bit of cash, you might want to buy a Wii. Nintendo’s Wii was designed as the perfect party system. There are a multitude of titles out there that will have you swinging your arms around like a crazy person and enjoying a great time with your loved ones. You might even get a workout. Just make sure not to break anything.

3. Rent your games. I know, it’s fun to have a big library of games to show off, but it might not be very practical.  You may want to visit Blockbuster or try Gamefly. First of all, games are expensive, so if you’re constantly buying games it starts to take a toll on the old wallet. Second, all those cases can make your living room a mess. And third, sometimes you will buy a game and beat it in six hours, then never play it again. Are those six hours really worth the $60?

Now, renting could be a double edged sword, because you may become obsessed with beating the game before you have to return it, and (especially if its a long game) you may spend all your free time trying to complete it. Just be careful and don’t let this happen. Follow the rules I already set for you, and you’ll be all set.

4. Concentrate on one system.  I know, this contradicts with what I said earlier about buying a Wii, but that was an exception.  These days, there are so many choices out there.  Do you want a PS3, a Wii, an XBOX 360, a DS, a PSP?  It’s hard to choose what system to buy, or what games to buy, so you might just decide to buy them all.  Well, maybe not, because the prices are absurd lately.  But if you’re rich or don’t care about money, you could certainly buy a lot of stuff, especially games.

Stick to a certain system and you’ll be able to cut out a large portion of time consuming games right off the bat.

5. Finish one game at a time.  I have a friend who buys games that he wants to play, but never plays them because he has a backlog of like 20 other games that he hasn’t finished or even started yet.  And when he buys the game, it just adds to his backup.

Do not do this.  There’s no point.  It’s a waste of money, and it’s a waste of your valuable time.  You end up spending more time playing games because your time is spread out amongst a bunch of different ones.  This causes you to take longer to finish them, thins your concentration, and takes away from the enjoyment you get from each game.

6. Take a break and do something else.  This is pretty self explanatory.  Read, go outside, go to the movies, take a walk.  All the normal “stop being a nerd” cliches apply.

7. Do not ever play MMORPGs.  My experience with World of Warcraft is what inspired me to write this post.  Nothing good will ever come of a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG).  They are very fun, and they are tempting, but they will invariably take you away from your normal life.  This is due to the very nature of this type of game, they can never end.  If they ended, people would cancel their subscription, and companies would not make money.  It’s a vicious cycle.

They’re also a waste of money.  You spend $15 a week (give or take), and you don’t want to waste that money.  So you play the game whenever you have free time, on weekends and nights when you could be having fun with real life friends, and God forbid you join a raiding guild (it’s like a friggin job).  If you do play a MMORPG, do yourself a favor and cancel your subscription.

Sure, I’m a little bitter about WoW, but take my advice still the same.  As with anything, there are extremes, and MMORPGs are no exception.  EverCrack got its nickname for a reason.

Stealing Books With Your Brain

How many times has this happened to you? 

Click to embiggen.

I did this just yesterday.  Gotta love those chairs in Barnes & Noble.  Luckily I didn’t set off any alarms.

Brought to you by xkcd, A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

How Do You Balance Freelance Work With Other Work?

This isn’t a “how to” post.  It’s a genuine question from me to you.  I know that at least a few of you who read Faisca’s Corner have done freelance work, or maybe even work freelance full-time.  And I’m wondering if you would be so kind as to share with me (and my readers) your vast wisdom.

I read lots of information on the intarwebs about freelancing, but sometimes it’s nice to get answers to your own unique questions.

The reason I ask is because I’m becoming more and more interested in doing freelance work.  I actually got my first offer to do a freelance sort of project and I’m so excited (I don’t really want to reveal specifics just yet, but stay tuned if you’re interested in finding out!).  INow I’m just thinking about how I’ll balance work on the project with my full time job and social life.

Should I cut down on the hours I work my regular job and fill in the free time with work on my freelance project? 

Should I keep my normal hours and work on the freelance job for a few hours each day when I get home? 

Should I do freelance work on the weekends? 

What the hell am I getting myself into?

At this point, I need a full time job with a steady income in order to live.  I really can’t just drop it and start trying to do freelance stuff for a living.  I’ve been toying with the idea of freelance writing to supplement my income (I still need to figure out what to write and who to submit it to, but that’s not really the question at hand), but I value my social life and hobbies and I don’t think I want to sacrifice all my free time in order to get projects done.

Is sacrifice a part of freelancing?  It seems to me that people start doing freelance stuff because its something they enjoy (I definitely enjoy writing), so maybe it won’t really be that bad. 

Does anyone out there have some advice for a freelance virgin?  If I get some good feedback I might compile it, along with other tips I pick up along the way, into a new post.

Thanks in advance!

What's In A Name?

A bunch of random letters, I guess.

Brought to you by Spell With Flickr.

Faisca's Top 10 Famous Females

Just what the internet needs, another top 10 list.

What can I say? I’m human. I’m a guy, and I like women. I vehemently disagree with Maxim over the atrocity that is Lindsay Lohan at the number 1 hottest woman (Two or three years ago when she was actually hot, maybe. Right now? No.). So now I’m throwing my list into the mix, because I can. Call it lame, call it degrading, call it what you will.

I call it: Faisca’s Top 10 Famous Females!

Yes, I’m bored. No, this has nothing of value whatsoever. It’s my personal blog and I can do what I want. So there!

Some of them are typical, some not so much. These are also in no particular order except for number 1A and 1B, who are, for all intents and purposes, tied and definitely on the top.

10. Katherine Heigl

I’ve been a fan of Katherine’s ever since she was on Roswell way back in the day. I don’t watch Grey’s Anatomy, but I know she’s in it. And watching her in Knocked Up was fantastic. Whether she’s an alien, a doctor, or pregnant, she’s always really hot.

9. Kiera Knightly

Those who know me personally know that I don’t usually like really skinny girls, it just doesn’t do it for me. But there’s something about Keira that really does do it for me: she’s just beautiful. Besides, she’s in Pirates of the Caribbean.

8. Giada DeLaurentiis

Giada is one of the “atypical” women on this list, but she definitely deserves a spot according to me. She has it all: she’s pretty, she can cook, and she seems like a lot of fun. She’s a girl I could marry, too bad she’s taken.

7. Beyonce

I didn’t even bother adding Beyonce’s last name, there’s just no point. You hear the word Beyonce, you think bootylicious, and that’s all she wrote.

6. Natalie Portman

Natalie bears a pretty close resemblance to Kiera (sometimes), so it’s kind of a no brainer that she’s on here. She’s a different kind of attractive though: Kiera is hot, Natalie is cute. Kiera seems like good one night stand material, Natalie seems like good girlfriend material. She’s also in one of my favorite movie series (though, not the better of the two).

5. Jessica Simpson

If there’s one really “typical” woman on this list, Jessica Simpson is her. But what’s not to like about this girl? She’s got the looks, she’s got the body, she’s got the money, and I know that deep down she has the brains. It’s all an act.

4. Tyra Banks

I’ll admit, Tyra wasn’t really on my radar until America’s Next Top Model came on TV, but now she’s definitely got my attention. People talking about how she’s fat are bullshit, she’s gorgeous and her body is to die for. Get over it.

3. Elisha Cuthbert

Forget about Jack Bauer, his daughter Kim is what 24 is all about. I admit, her storylines weren’t always the greatest, and she hasn’t been around in a few seasons, but I’d watch Elisha Cuthbert run away from mountain lions any day.

2. Jessica Biel

What can I say about Jessica number two on my list? She’s got an amazing body, an amazing face, and if anyone disagreed she could most likely kick their ass. And as she says in her new movie, yeah, they’re real.

Now we come to my top two most gorgeous celebrities (is it weird that they’re both blondes but I consider myself more of a brunette guy?).

1B. Scarlett Johansson

Gorgeous face. Amazing boobs. Sultry look. Exotic name. Scarlettt Johansson is everything any guy could ever ask for in a girl. I’ll admit that I bought In Good Company because she’s in it (also, Topher Grace is one of my favorite actors). Does anyone else own that movie besides me?

1A. Hayden Panettiere

I look forward to Monday nights for two reasons. Because Heroes is on, and because Hayden is on Heroes. If she wasn’t all famous and probably big egoed, I’d ask her out. Sure, she’s a bit young, but she’ll grow up. And she’s still almost my perfect girl (if she was brunette, oh boy). I do get a little weirded out whenever I watch Remember the Titans because she’s like 8 in that movie and she’s so hot now, but I can deal.

So there you have it folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey into fruitless personal opinion and pretty pictures as much as I have.