Alternative Valentines

Since I don't have a Valentine this year, I've pulled together a list of alternative Valentines for myself:


My sweet beloved cat Pepper.  Almost three years ago (when I was blonde) we met in an animal shelter -- it was love at first sight.  She is the best cat that has ever lived, bar none, and I will fight you on that.

Liz Lemon.  Not technically a Valentine.  We'll be co-celebrating Anna Howard Shaw Day.

The abyss.  I looked into it, it looked back into me.  We've been making eyes at each other ever since.

Ladybugs.  They're kind of stalker-y obsessed with me.  They swarmed my room in Huntsville and now they're all over my room in Austin; I even found one in my bed yesterday.  Move on, ladybugs, it's not going to happen.  Don't make it weird.

And, most importantly, Jesus.  (Or, more accurately, the personification of my relationship with the Triune God).  I mean, duh.  In the light of Christ's overwhelming love for me, buying him a box of chocolates it the least I can do.  He's not here to eat them, though, so I'll have to do that part myself.

Writing Overload

I really did sit down last night with every intention of writing a personal blog post.  However, I spent most of my Tuesday and Wednesday engrossed in a marathon of research, spreadsheeting, and typing up very dry data (trying to make it interesting); by the time I got home, I would rather have pulled off my keyboard keys than write another word.  So instead of writing about myself, I'm using this post as an insight into my job and reposting that blog entry here.

From the Grassroots Leadership blog:

Meet the private prison industry's lobbyists who could shape immigration reform

In the last two years, major private prison companies Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the GEO Group have spent at least $4,350,000 on lobbying the federal government, primarily to win immigration-related contracts.  What does that kind of money buy you?  Some pretty lucrative contracts, apparently.  In 2011, the federal government paid $1.4 billion to the two corporations, nearly a third of their total profits.

In fact, a 2011 report by Grassroots Leadership and Detention Watch Network found that private prison corporations operate nearly half of all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention beds.  What's more, private prison corporations are benefiting greatly from the criminalization of migration through programs like Operation Streamline.  

It’s no surprise – or secret – that immigration reform which reduces detentions and deportations would be a threat to private prison corporations' business.  Business Insider reported on February 2nd that in 2011, GEO Group CEO George Zoley told investors:

"At the federal level, initiatives related to border enforcement and immigration detention with an emphasis on criminal alien populations as well as the consolidation of existing detainee populations have continued to create demand for larger-scale, cost efficient facilities."

That same year, CCA stated in its annual earnings report that immigration reform

“could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them."

So who are these wealthy private prison corporations looking to to win them immigration detention contracts?   Below the jump are just some of the some the major lobbyists for private prison interests in Washington: