>I'm curious to hear what people think of Saddam opening up the
>prisons.
Speaking of prisons, just got the Bureau of Justice Statistics "Prisoners in 2001" in the mail. It reports that 3.5% of black men in the U.S. are sentenced prisoners - i.e., not merely in local jails awaiting booking or trial or sleeping off a binge, but serving time in a state or federal prison - and 10% of all black males between age 25 and 29. Truly fucking remarkable numbers.
A mere .5% of all white men, and 1.2% of those in their late 20s, are in a similar situation.
The pub is available at <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/p01.htm>.
Doug