I'm going off on a tangent, and ranting my opinions on this topic, because I think this is much more serious than it seems on the surface.
So, feel free to skip this post.
If I'm crossing lines, mods please snip as needed.
This over-indulged supermodel is smart enough to know exactly that what she is saying. What she suggests is a way of putting more people into the hands of the prison-for-profit system, and, since she thinks it should be world-wide, she's supporting the hells that are prisons in some of the most corrupt political regimes in the world.
For-profit prisons make money from various levels of government based on how many bodies they process and house and, I have no doubt, abusive forced labour of those held prisoner by these trumped up charges. Even the children.
www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-busines...
http://www.afscme.org/news/publications/privatization/pdf/AFSCME-Report_Making-A-Killing.pdf
This is the same for-profit industry that pays judges to throw high school kids in jail for being late for school or truant, even when their marks are excellent and they are late because they are working to support themselves. Further, it seems that these systems are often not held publicly accountable.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/29768470?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21103203150143
This system also pays millions of dollars to judges in kickbacks.
http://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/kids-for-cash-review-1200911791/
The victims of Mark Ciavarella may never recover from the horror of their experience. Including the 10 year old sentenced to two years in detention for accidentally bottoming out his mother's car.
Ciavarella was told to repay $1.2 million in restitution. I wonder how much he was paid for the little boy who killed himself after his release? And he's one of the ones who's been caught. How many have evaded detection or prosecution?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...s-role-in--kidsforcash-kickbacks-8598147.html
And politicians are involved up to their eyebrows.
http://tucsoncitizen.com/cell-out-a...riations-committee-appropriated-by-geo-group/
Sadly, although on its face, it seems ridiculous to jail women for not being able to nurse their children (the women who allow their children to be adopted can't be there for six months, the women who adopt can't nurse them, the women who need certain kinds of medication can't nurse them, women who have to hold down jobs to support their families most often can't nurse them, women who are starving can't nurse their babies--lots of fodder for the prison machine) but I would not put it past politicians and their enablers, both male and female, to put something like this into law if it would put money into their campaign war chests.
Right now laws in the US are being planned in which women can be jailed for having miscarriages because bigots ignorant of the factors involved in carrying a baby to term have decided that any woman who does not carry every pregnancy to term must have deliberately aborted the baby.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/buckhalter-mississippi-stillbirth-manslaughter
This is a logical outcome in a society that sees a woman as a person until she's pregnant and then just sees her as a vessel for a man's seed, even if the man raped her.
http://www.businessinsider.com/rape-victim-sues-state-of-massachusetts-2013-8
I don't see this as a fluffy off hand over-zealous remark made under pressure. All the pressure, that is, of working on a schedule convenient to her with her entourage present to look after both her and her baby. This woman didn't make all her money by being dumb.
I see it as one of many attempts to deny personhood to women as they make the choices needed for themselves and their families. No one should be inserting themselves into the decisions of another person or a family. Such personal, complex decisions should be made solely by the people involved.
To me, it's aggravating that such a nasty comment was made by a celebrity who I now see as just another mean spirited "beauty" who is too selfish to consider the lives other women lead let alone the repercussions of her statements. My bet is that, should there be a public backlash, her PR team will simply issue a stock non-apology in her name while promoting her latest project.
Her comment really bothered me. Not only did it make me consider just what kind of a world it will be by the time my granddaughter is old enough to be injured by such a law, but that it is possible for such a law to be passed.
Please note: I do not believe that the people working in prisons are responsible for the laws that are passed and which they are forced to uphold. The "law-makers" are responsible for the horrors visited on people out of all proportion in relation to the supposed infractions they are accused of committing. Wiping out a conviction is a minor step in righting the wrong (which has happened to many of Ciavarella's victims) . Forcing for-profit prison profiteers to pay for their egregious behaviour out of their own pockets directly to their victims should also be part of the process. And every politician who accepted money from fppps should be forced to publicly apologize to every person injured by their actions. Then they should explain to their supporters why they believe being late for school should result in children never being allowed to attend university or being too stigmatized by convictions to get good jobs. All so someone will make even more money from their sorrow.
Finished ranting.
Back to more seasonal peace, love, and joy.
