At Truthout, Victoria Law writes
Public Prisons, Private Profits:
When her daughter was first incarcerated in Arizona's Perryville State Prison, "Rae" sent her money orders bought at the local cash-checking place or from Walmart. But those took too long to clear, leaving her daughter without needed supplies, so she began driving to the post office to buy money orders. Throughout her daughter's four years in prison, Rae has sent her money twice a month - $100 on the first of the month and whatever she can afford (usually $50 or less) on the 15th of the month.
"When she first got there, she was issued two pairs of underwear, which had been worn by someone else," Rae told Truthout. So Rae sent her daughter money to buy her own underwear, bras and socks as well as tennis shoes and a TV set. "It was $300 for the TV," she recalled.
Her daughter earns 35 cents an hour cleaning inside the prison. Although the prison supplies some necessities, like one roll of toilet paper each week and a limited number of tampons or pads, Rae's daughter relies on the money from home to get her through each week. These money orders enable her to buy the additional toilet paper and feminine hygiene supplies she needs each month. It also enables her to buy Tylenol and cold medicine as well as pay the $4 co-pay on each medical visit. "Occasionally she can splurge and buy herself a candy bar, but that's rare," Rae said.
On October 15, 2014, however, Arizona changed the way family members like Rae can send money. Now, instead of paying $1.25 for a money order at the post office, Rae must use one of three companies - JPay, Global TelLink or Keefe - to send her daughter money. To send $50 through Keefe, Rae also needs to pay a $4.75 internet transaction fee. Families without internet access can deposit money by phone - for a fee of $5.75 - or in a storefront transaction for $5.95. (Global TelLink and JPay have different fee structures.)
Despite the added cost, Rae is determined to send her daughter the same amount of money. "I'm going to have to eat the fees and make up the money somewhere else," she said. "I'll have to give something up. So will my husband." The couple has already had to sell their camper to cover the cost of visiting their daughter once a month. They've cut down on going out and other activities that cost money. On occasion, they've also had to choose between sending money to their daughter in prison or helping their son, who is not. "I feel bad that I can't help him because all our money is going to his sister," Rae said.
Only 8 percent of the nation's prison population is held in private prisons. But, as Rae's experience and recent news stories have demonstrated, private companies have found other ways to profit from bodies in government-run prisons. Services that had previously been provided by the jail or prison, such as medical care, transportation, phone and communication services, food, and even money exchanges, are increasingly handled by private companies. […]
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2008—Internet surpasses newspapers as source for campaign news:
The internet is now second only to television as a primary campaign news source for Americans, according to a new survey released by Pew Research.
Many more Americans are turning to the internet for campaign news this year as the web becomes a key source of election news. Television remains the dominant source, but the percent who say they get most of their campaign news from the internet has tripled since October 2004 (from 10% then to 33% now).
While use of the web has seen considerable growth, the percentage of Americans relying on TV and newspapers for campaign news has remained relatively flat since 2004. The internet now rivals newspapers as a main source for campaign news. And with so much interest in the election next week, the public's use of the internet as a campaign news source is up even since the primaries earlier this year. In March, 26% cited the internet as a main source for election news, while the percentages citing television and newspapers remain largely unchanged.
The editorial commentary here is being generous to newspapers; the internet doesn't simply rival newspapers in this study, it surpasses them by 4 percent, and demographics are most certainly breaking in the newer medium's favor. Nearly 50 percent of 18-29 year olds claim the internet as their first or second news source (behind television), and only 17 percent named newspapers. Even in the next oldest co-hort, 30 to 49-year-olds, 37 percent named the internet compared to 23 percent for newspapers. It's not until the over-50's are broken out that newspapers overtake the internet as first or second-choice source for election news.
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