Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Prison Uprising!


The idea of a prison riot is sure to strike fear in the hearts of men, women and children. Before other events swamp the boards, let's take pause to remember the two latest "incidents" at La Mesa State Penitentiary in Tijuana, Mexico, not so far from San Diego, USA, earlier this month. From what I've read, at the time of the uprisings, the prison was holding twice its capacity. Something like twenty people (mostly prisoners) were killed or mortally wounded; one hundred and fifty more were wounded. Horrifying, any way you dice it.


The Tijuana uprising also reminds me that my friends B & G checked out Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay recently. They saw plenty of signs of earlier escapes and uprisings, back when Alcatraz was a prison (until 1963) and also when the island was occupied from late 1969 through spring, 1971, by American Indians / Native Americans. More on this at some point, I suspect.

Meanwhile, hope all are doing well amid the global chaos!

Today's Rune: Possessions.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What the Hell? McCain wants to suspend the campaign? Bush is talking tonight? Obama is pulling ahead in the polls?

Are we all in a prison now?

Sidney said...

We went to Alcatraz a couple of years ago. My current pic on my blog is actually on Alcatraz in fact. It's a fascinating place.

If you are a Netflix subscriber, they now have "Six Against the Rock," online. It is the mini-series based on Clark Howard's novel about one of the most brutal escape attempts.

Charles Gramlich said...

I'd definitely be interested in more on the Native American alcatraz.

JR's Thumbprints said...

Speaking of uprisings, in a few months smoking will no longer be allowed in Michigan's prison system. Word is: there may be an inmate protest at my facility next month. The way I look at it, less coffee and no cigarettes spells out "disaster," especially when you're dealing with a majority of mentally disturbed folks.

the walking man said...

From the report I heard the Tijuana riot was because the prison was holding 3x the amount of prisoners it was built for. (2500 v 8500)

The world when taken all together is always in chaos, sometimes f1 - sometimes f5 in intensity. What did bush say? I fell asleep. From what I read this morning it was all sound bites and platitudes.

No Fear of any kind.