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Comment count is 21
fluffy - 2014-07-21

When I was in college, the campus foodservice provider was Aramark, and we always joked that it was as bad as prison food.

I had no idea how accurate that was.


infinite zest - 2014-07-21

Ironically when I worked for the Opera, Aramark were the foodservice provider inside the auditorium. Because walking across the street to Morton's takes so much effort, enjoy our -per-person slop buffet and wash it down with Bud Light.

Oh and sit through Rheingold. Prison doesn't sound that bad all of a sudden.


infinite zest - 2014-07-21

gotta admit that Oliver's audience are pretty smart the way they immediately gasped at "recidivism."


fluffy - 2014-07-21

... I like Das Rheingold.

Although I can see how it would be a problem if you're trying to digest Aramark food.


infinite zest - 2014-07-21

Yeah I like the ring cycle too.. I guess I was just trying to think of a long opera.


fluffy - 2014-07-21

Well I hope you're not trying to sit through it all in one night! Aramark or not that'd be hard to stay sitting down for.


Nikon - 2014-07-21

Very insightful stuff, and very depressing to contemplate.


The Mothership - 2014-07-21

In my academic division I worked pretty closely with a number of the faculty teaching classes in Criminal Justice. I've spoken with them about these very issues, and they all seem to say that prison privatization (which I think is one of the biggest crimes perpetrated on America in the last half century, and I don't even know anybody inside) is too ingrained in conservative thinking now, they never thought it could get this bad, and as long as the death penalty is still a thing there are larger issues at stake.


Cena_mark - 2014-07-21

I don't mean to stereotype conservatives, but I'm beginning to believe they don't have the capacity for empathy. As long as they're unable to emphasize the kid doing 5 years for marijuana possession is just a punk who deserves it.


The God of Biscuits - 2014-07-21

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis


Bort - 2014-07-22

"I don't mean to stereotype conservatives, but I'm beginning to believe they don't have the capacity for empathy."

That's close to what I think I see in them: they are capable of empathy, but only to those who they consider "their tribe", which can be very very narrowly defined. Their family, their pets, their friends and neighbors; and a great deal of orthodoxy is required to maintain tribal standing. As soon as you've "left the tribe" you're a potential enemy or even possibly an actual enemy, and at that point there is no empathy.

This is the paradox of small town America: you will find no more loving, nurturing place than a small town, where everybody knows everyone else's business and they will rally together to help anyone in need. Until someone admits they're an atheist and suddenly they're an outsider.

I've got a conservative uncle, and like a good Christian his politics are right wing. As a result he has supported efforts to defund schools, to reduce the power of unions, and to kill Obamacare. He was blithely happy to do so; then I pointed out that those very policies just cost his niece (a cousin of mine) her teaching job, and since there are medicines she needs to survive but can't afford out of pocket, her life was actually at risk. Lessons learned ... ? None. Oh he was supportive of his niece and offered to help however he could, but he never made the leap that, if it's bad for someone he cares about, perhaps it's also bad for people he doesn't even know. (Everything worked out okay-ish in the end BTW. The niece had a laundry list of medical ailments that allowed her to go on disability, as much as she would have preferred to keep working.)

Hooray for primordial instincts! From tribal loyalty to schadenfreude to our capacity for hate, I blame all our worst qualities on our primate ancestry.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2014-07-22

The conservative is more alarmed at the prospect of someone getting foods stamps who doesn't it than someone getting a lethal injection that doesn't deserve it.


Cena_mark - 2014-07-22

Recently the whole Bo Bergdahl thing really showed how rotten the conservative mentality can be. They even insulted the guy's father. They couldn't even put themselves in the shoes of a family who lost their son for half a decade.


BorrowedSolution - 2014-07-21

"As well as viewers like you."

I think John Oliver is my favourite new comedy-journalist.


The Mothership - 2014-07-22

Yea, that last line really nails it home.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2014-07-22

As wonderful as this is, Oliver misses the most crucial link in the chain of evil.

Industries who are who running our for-profit prisons are lobbying congress for things like mandatory minimum laws. Holy shit that is evil!

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/corrections /laws1.html


exy - 2014-07-22

In my state (CA) the regular old prison-guards swing the biggest dick in the capital lobby. They resist privatization, though I think we export a few prisoners out of state to private firms due to crowding. However, they are and have been asking for the same kind of shit, because it's a matter of job security and making money. Now that these guys want to bring it federal, you're right, that's fucked. American politics: imagine the worst possible outcome, and then wait for it to happen.

PS I liked this video enough I think I'll link to it on 54E's prisons tag. Noticed we're getting a decent list of articles there if further reading desired: http://54evil.com/discussions/tagged/prisons


Oscar Wildcat - 2014-07-22

As evil as all that was, the idea of using sugar as an antibiotic is quite legit and has the added benefit that it works on antibiotic resistant strains that are in fact often found in institutional settings. I've used it as a preservative for years but never made this connection until watching this clip. Very clever.

Something to remember if you are ever in an emergency situation and you need to bandage a wound that will remain untreated for more than a few hours.


Adham Nu'man - 2014-07-22

That's cool. Thanks!


Rodents of Unusual Size - 2014-07-22

stars for our society continuing to go downhill with no one doing anything to prevent it


exy - 2014-07-23

What you talkin bout, ROUS. I 5-starred this video! That ought to about take care of it.


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