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World Prison Population (Mapped)

libertyforlife.com — NOTE: 90% source data used on this site comes from official government sources. This is not a 'conspiracy theory' and is simply factual evidence of collusion. Please feel free to come to your own conclusion...

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  • andymc1989, on 06/12/2008, -22/+1279Australia didn't get included because the whole continent is a prison :P
    • dodgejon, on 06/12/2008, -6/+63First there was Escape from New York. Then Escape from LA. Now Escape from Australia. Snake has been a busy badass.
      • CuriousRead, on 06/13/2008, -4/+9dodgejon - cool name man.

        i have the same name. i looked up how many people in the US have the name Jon Dodge, with that exact spelling. 14.



        • RobotLeAwesome, on 06/13/2008, -1/+8Maybe he just likes Dodge vehicles; haha who am I kidding, they suck!
        • dodgejon, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3Jon Dodge it is!
      • RobotLeAwesome, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Snaaaaaaaaaake!!!
    • Aharoni, on 06/12/2008, -0/+38This world map is pretty weird altogether. Just look at the Mediterranean sea, its... warped.
      Israel is totally absent, along with several additional countries in the middle east.
      • Scruffydan, on 06/13/2008, -1/+11They could be using a less common map projection... or it could just be a messed up map

        EDIT: I just want to clarify, a funky map projection would only account for the strange shape of Mediterranean etc, not the missing countries.
      • iri1978, on 06/13/2008, -0/+7They have put together a bunch of maps from this site:
        http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/worl ...
      • kutateli, on 06/13/2008, -0/+13lol Mexico is completely removed.
        • longbow486, on 06/13/2008, -5/+3no its part of the US now
        • skyteria, on 06/13/2008, -3/+4no the Us is part of mexico now.
        • ManOfVirtues, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5Like hell it is.
        • demonhunter7, on 06/13/2008, -3/+1is not completely removed... some southern states of Mexico are there.
      • PyrotekNX, on 06/13/2008, -0/+6The missing countries are where there wasn't an data available.
        • dougmc, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Or, maybe they're not missing at all -- they're white, meaning 0-49 prisoners/100,000 people. Since the water is also white, it would make them seem to be missing.

          No idea which it is -- missing data, or just few prisoners. Of course, the missing name for a big country like Mexico suggests missing data, but they could have just forgotten.
        • geekchick82, on 06/13/2008, -0/+10-49 per 100,000 would be the lightest pink, not white.
      • faatbuddha, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2The Mediterranean shape is due to the fact that Africa is way larger than it should be compared to Europe.
    • bysin, on 06/12/2008, -12/+282Thats not fair. China just kills their prisoners. Of course they have less people in their prison.
      • SpectreFire, on 06/13/2008, -24/+6Hell of a lot better than letting criminals live a fairly decent life in a Federal Pen.
        • XBSHX, on 06/13/2008, -1/+31Right... except for our flawed justice system that locks up some completely innocent people.
        • SpectreFire, on 06/13/2008, -5/+15And lets terrible terrible people off almost scott free.

          There's no such thing as a perfect justice system.
      • Oppslagsverk, on 06/13/2008, -6/+2The picture said prisoners per 100 000 inhabitant. They have lots of prisoners, and I would assume that not all of them are accounted for either. 90% came from official government sources, not 100%.
      • nick111, on 06/13/2008, -2/+13Yea, but they don't kill 1/100 of their population.
      • kuzotz, on 06/13/2008, -5/+11We're no different than china because we kill ours, and falsely accuse a lot of them. Also we target minorities in our countries because Americans are taught to be afraid of black people. Also on a side note China doesn't have ***** abusive MPs like we do.
        • Tebixan, on 06/13/2008, -5/+2We give ours much more of a trial than China does, of course mistakes will be made with regard to false accusations, that's unavoidable in any country.

          Don't get me wrong, there are major problems with the US judiciary system, but don't act like China is some kind of shining example of fairness when it comes to crime & punishment.
        • bloosteak, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1China applies the death sentence to non violent crimes, which is a good thing imo. Corruption is no worse than say the murder of a person. Either way people suffer.
      • dstz, on 06/13/2008, -4/+4Don't they have much less government approved kills by inhabitant than Texas? oh yeah but let's check the straw in the neighbors eye than the truss in your own.

        Especially when ***** NAZI CHINA (thanks for my wallet) I HATE CHINA OH SO HORRIBLE COUNTRY (thanks for our low inflation) I HATE CHINA (though I like and give billions to Egypt Pakistan or Saudi Arabia) is the point.
      • Kvasaari, on 06/13/2008, -1/+7Texas kills more of its prisoners than China, FYI.
    • dvsbastard, on 06/13/2008, -0/+69FYI, "At 30 June 2007 there were 27,224 prisoners (sentenced and unsentenced) in Australian prisons, an increase of 6% (1,434 prisoners) since 30 June 2006. This represented an imprisonment rate of 169 prisoners per 100,000 adult population."

      Source: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/451 ...
      • BeefBaron, on 06/13/2008, -0/+927,224 out of 21.5 Million.
        Not too bad.
      • DarkyP, on 06/15/2008, -0/+1Thanks mate. Not having Aus (Or Mexico, or Israel) on the map was annoying me no end! :D

        We started off a much darker red though, eh? FYI, on the First Fleet, 736 of the 1300 peeps were convicts. History lesson over...
    • Malarie, on 06/13/2008, -0/+21No, Its the creation of the Prison Industrial Complex!!
    • digitronix, on 06/13/2008, -28/+26The U.S. pretty much started out as a penal colony by the British. Apparently, it still is.
      • XXXXXXXXXXXXXX, on 06/13/2008, -10/+3Most of it wasn't, but okay.
      • LavaHot, on 06/13/2008, -6/+28I think you mean Australia....
        • digitronix, on 06/13/2008, -1/+8No, I mean America.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_colony

          A penal colony is a settlement used to detain prisoners and generally use them for penal labour in an economically underdeveloped part of the state's (usually colonial) territories, and on a far larger scale than a prison farm. The British Empire used its colonies in North America as such for more than 150 years and parts of Australia for a further 75 years. ...

          The British used North America as a penal colony both in the usual sense and through the system of indentured servitude. Most notably, the Province of Georgia was originally designed as a penal colony. Convicts would be transported by private sector merchants and auctioned off to plantation owners upon arrival in the colonies. It is generously estimated that some 50,000 British convicts were sent to colonial America, representing perhaps one-quarter of all British emigrants during the eighteenth century.

          When that avenue closed in the 1780s after the American Revolution, Britain began using parts of modern day Australia as penal colonies.
        • JoeDiggsIt, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3Which is larger? Australia or Georgia? Ok...
        • dvicklund, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Well whaddaya know. I learned something today.
      • reddoggie, on 06/13/2008, -5/+14Erroneous. Australia was started as a penal colony for the British, *not* the US.
      • Asrrin29, on 06/13/2008, -5/+5riiiiiight, and the Boston tea party was to discuss crumpets and biscuits. We to teach your kids history UK.
        • transfuse, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3'We to teach your kids history UK.'
          Wait, what...?
      • gwhardyiv, on 06/13/2008, -0/+6Just Georgia.
        • Taiyoryu, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Georgia was setup as a prison colony to buffer the colonies north against the, then, Spanish colony of Florida.
        • TGMD, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2But not the same as Australia.

          They sent undesirables, not prisoners per se.
          Also, they gave up on it quicker.
      • Pittance, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3Actually, digit is correct, somewhat. After the colonization of America, before the revolution, when people were found guilty in Britain and were going to be executed, their sentences were sometimes commuted for various reasons. One example was that a women committed a crime that called for execution, but proved she was pregnant. So instead they sentenced her to indentured servitude to a british man going to the colonies and forced her to never return under pain of death. Evidently this was somewhat common in certain situations.
      • DarkyP, on 06/15/2008, -0/+2Digi, if you're interested, the British shipped about 60,000 convicts to the British Colonies in North America (many of whom arrived before the Mayflower) whereas Australia received 150,000.

        Also, they both received the same kind of people. Felons, though the term must be used loosely, as the punishment for many petty crimes was transportation. Not mental patients, not social outcasts, I'm just talking about convicts.

        For everyone: Australia started off as a penal colony. We (and by 'we', I don't mean me, I mean my ancestors) struggled with harsh conditions, and survived. Us Aussies are taught all about this and are taught to be proud. Funnily enough, America started off quite the same, yet you all seem ashamed of your humble beginnings. Read a history book people, get a different perspective! (In the nicest possible way!)
    • nimajneb18, on 06/13/2008, -3/+77thats brittish planning for you: send all the bad guys to a country with great beaches and weather all year round
      • SSUK, on 06/13/2008, -0/+24And big *****' spiders. But the beaches do sound good...
      • Elephant789, on 06/13/2008, -3/+5Great weather? Isn't it hot there?
        • kuzotz, on 06/13/2008, -0/+7that's great ***** weather. It doesn't get ***** cold!! but Australia gets harsh winters.
      • priestess355, on 06/13/2008, -0/+16Don't forget the hot women!
      • arjung, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3actually, sydney beaches are pretty cold. i was only there in december once (their summer), but i prefer florida or mexico.
        • happytedium, on 06/13/2008, -1/+8Sydney beaches aren't very good. You gotta check out Perth and Queensland beaches imo :)
      • HorseloverFat8, on 06/13/2008, -1/+9Brittish?
      • elperegrino, on 06/13/2008, -2/+3we have weather all year round here too.
      • Pittance, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1And you know, the giant ***** desert in that country. Or the fact that for the british, there was precious little resources there that they wanted (other than land). But I would have colonized it better and made something else a prison colony.
    • Weejay, on 06/13/2008, -13/+2HAHA, sir you just produced (should I say handcrafted) my favourite Digg comment ever.
      • Kidtuf, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5HAHA, sir you just produced (should I say handcrafted) my least favourite Digg comment ever.
    • nimajneb18, on 06/13/2008, -9/+15Be that as it may, it is still the best prison-country in the world
    • maasox74, on 06/13/2008, -3/+15Seriously, I would be interested to know how Australia ranks.
    • sfacets, on 06/13/2008, -18/+2Australia is a serious Police-state. I would be interested in seeing it compared in terms of prison concentration.
      • skywake, on 06/13/2008, -0/+9***** Australia is a police state. If anything we should have tougher laws because as it is you can commit bloody murder and get 10 years.
      • sfacets, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1I see the usual ignoramuses who have never set foot outside of Australia are here to digg me down.

        Learn about other cultures and how they compare. Australia is undeniably a surveillance culture.
      • attackpanda, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1You call that a police state?

    • jah008, on 06/13/2008, -2/+22It was worth stealing the loaf of bread to get a free ride to Aus out of england!
    • hazer, on 06/13/2008, -7/+29A prison you wish you lived in bitches!
      • kuzotz, on 06/13/2008, -13/+2Austrailia is like a big Arkansas, and as an African American. I would like to visit, but I bet you would confuse me with an aboriginal and treat me like *****. So if I do go I'll make sure I'm in foreign services so I get diplomatic immunity bitches!!
    • Fockzhound, on 06/13/2008, -5/+8It's there. No screen is yet able to render pure black.
    • graeh, on 06/13/2008, -2/+2When I manage to break free of this continent - from these frustratingly vigilant armed kangaroo guards - I'll come for you!

      I'LL SHOW YOU - THAT'S NOT A CONTINENT - THIS IS INCONTINENT!

      (I think I tried to do something with sort of, Dundee, and urination, but I think despite my best intentions, it got away from me)
    • thetanman, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1OH SNAP!
    • Ogopogo, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1.. looks like Mexico and Afghanistan are the countries least likely to put someone in prison.
  • guillebravo6, on 06/12/2008, -34/+9crazy, US and Russia have a lot of crime!
    • zyryx, on 06/12/2008, -6/+130no, the US just puts too many people in jail for stupid *****...
      • MarkusX, on 06/12/2008, -1/+27Exactly. Many things could be punished/handled in a different way, but our American justice thinks it's easier to just lock them away.
        • Y2JCrisis, on 06/13/2008, -0/+7The original idea behind prison was to take criminals out into the country and reform them through clean living and good honest work. That got perverted somewhere along the way into a punishment system.
      • usuallyquietbob, on 06/13/2008, -1/+31no, its the cold war baby... we gotta beat those ruskies in everything
      • craprock, on 06/13/2008, -1/+58Well, the 35 year old single mother who downloaded an album off limewire deserves her 20 years, ya know?
        • BaudiIROCZ, on 06/13/2008, -2/+10Just like an 18 year old kid deserves jailtime for getting caught with some weed.

          The war on drugs is filling our jails with non-violent criminals and ruining our country.
    • datastorageguy, on 06/13/2008, -3/+13Has anyone stopped to think that there is more than one variable here? Some countries have lower prison populations because they are in complete disorder.
      • fatpeasant, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Of course, look at Sudan, they have a genocide going on but low prison rates!!! (they just kill the people instead of sending them to prison).

        But its obviously not that way in most of the European countries and places like Canada and many other, they just have lower crime rates than that of the US and Russia.
    • chrisbudden, on 06/13/2008, -0/+9Must be because of GTA 4
    • e36wheelman, on 06/13/2008, -3/+1The west and central African countries are barely shaded because they don't imprison people, they murder them. Also look at North Korea, no shading because they execute drug users and traffickers (and a few other offenses) by firing squad.

      But we're the bad guys because we imprison people...

      And why doesn't this map have Mexico?
    • supertommy90, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1Duh
    • specialK16, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1Wouldn't that have something to do with the size, the population and the density of the country?
    • tommgunn, on 06/15/2008, -0/+1In soviet russia...
  • pitchblack16, on 06/12/2008, -18/+15yup seems pretty insane
    • plimpton777, on 06/13/2008, -9/+6Let's not forget, there was one candidate who wanted to reverse this trend, and pledged to declare amnesty and free all non-violent drug offenders in his first day in office. That man was Ron Paul.
      • Whaines, on 06/13/2008, -5/+13Let's not forget, Ron Paul has no chance of winning.
        • sparsely, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2If true, it's largely because of people such as yourself.
      • mempko, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1Don't forget Mike Gravel too
    • Soulbow2, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Gabon has no prisoners?
    • starsarebent, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Strange. The ocean has no prisoners. I think this is because Aquaman. He takes no prisoners.
      • elamr, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Not to worry. Its mostly us black folks.
  • dodgejon, on 06/12/2008, -35/+19Just about 3.5% of the US population is in prison. Thats about 10.8 million in jail. At about $65 dollars per inmate per day, taxpayers pay $705,250,000 daily.......250 Trillion annually.
    • bocaJWho, on 06/12/2008, -3/+52US GDP is about 13 Trillion, so I am going to say that your numbers are pretty far off. And/or you don't know how to multiply.
      • dodgejon, on 06/12/2008, -11/+19I intended to write 250 billion... Thanks for the cocky remark.
        • joemommasfat, on 06/12/2008, -6/+18I heard it was 435% of the population, which is about 6 thousand-bazillion people, at a cost of 50 gagillion dollars a year. ZOMG

          But now that we're done making things up, we actually have about 2 million people in jail, out of 300 million. Not even 1%.

        • nick111, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1@joemommasfat You're attempting to trivialise a catastophe. Don't.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_the_United ...

          What's the matter with you? This is ***** shameful.
        • joemommasfat, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3It's not shameful to correct somebody who was exaggerating the facts.

          That's not trivialization. It's accuracy.


      • ericmerrill, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1If somebody shanked you, they'd only make you a fraction closer to being right. For being so wrong, you have the higher ground here!
    • Hellman109, on 06/13/2008, -0/+9250 Billion by my count...
    • CannedMango, on 06/13/2008, -1/+21It's actually a little under 1% (2.2. million people)... but that's still an insane number.

      http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3321586
    • colto, on 06/13/2008, -3/+1284% of statistics are made up on the spot.
    • RRJackson, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5Those prisoners are working for American corporations from Microsoft to Victoria's Secret to Starbucks. If anything we're going to see the percentage incarcerated increase. And you can blame Reagan. If the Cold War hadn't ended all that cheap labor from the former Soviet Union, China and India wouldn't have become available and things like this wouldn't be exploding so we can remain competitive. People wonder why pot is illegal. It's a license to expand the workforce.
    • Asystole, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4It seems like he got that figure from this wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_ ... - but misinterpreted it slightly. Basically it says 3.2% of the population is in prison, on parole or on probation.
  • ironeus, on 08/01/2008, -34/+66Not surprising that 2 superpowers offering great opportunity have the highest number of people taking advantage of the system. What is surprising is the fact that both countries probably disagree with one another politically and socially on more issues than any other government, and are in the same predicament.
    • Alegoo92, on 06/13/2008, -0/+18Yes but the amount of people you have in prison doesn't necessarily reflect your principles/values.
      • Cyberdactyl, on 06/13/2008, -2/+5This map offers little information other than the number in prison...duh.

        For the mid-continent African countries, the brutal treatment of people is done OUTSIDE the prison system to deter crime, without the "need" to imprison. For the US, the ACLU has made the prison system (3 squares a day, ease of drug access, medical care, amenities in cells, etc, etc.) little deterrent to avoid crime.
        • mizike, on 06/13/2008, -2/+4"the ACLU has made the prison system...little deterrent to avoid crime."

          WTF!
        • gobbleplex, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3With the widely known problem of prison rape, I don't know how you could consider prison to be "little deterrent to avoid crime".

          A little sodomy with your morning tea?
    • groovechamp30, on 06/13/2008, -2/+30Russia isn't a superpower.

      The US doesn't imprison people because there are more people taking advantage of the system, they imprison people for longer and for minor offences.
      • svendm, on 06/13/2008, -0/+8It's also a question of prevailing political attitudes.. The notion of being "tough on crime" has lead to politicians competing on how 'tough' they can be by increasing sentences.

        The entire political debate regarding criminality in the USA has turned towards whether you're "tough on crime". NOT whether you're actually REDUCING crime. Yes, in some cases, raising sentences reduces crime. In many others, it doesn't. And the answers are right there, if they'd just bother to ask a criminologist or anyone else who studies the actual numbers.

        Most western countries haven't bought into this pissing-contest, and look at the whole thing more pragmatically. Perhaps the USA will too one day.
        • Hizeh, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Longer jail sentences have never been an effective deterrent to crime.
      • PussInBoots, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1last time I checked they still able to nuke the ***** out of us
    • Sverre, on 06/13/2008, -6/+50Excuse me, are you really saying that you think US and Russia has the best social welfare systems, and that so many people are in prison because they are exploiting these...?

      Allow me to formulate a different hypothesis: Western Europe has relatively few people in prison because of good social welfare systems that take care of the weakest in society, thus reducing their need to turn to criminal activity.
    • cutekelvins, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4Any explanation for India. They seem to be odd one out.
    • raypatrick1, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1the colour of power is the same, no matter how diverse the political extremes and or history, its curious isn't it? but makes sense though, as power in all it's forms only has as I said, '' one colour '' (colour = British English spelling)
    • davebo27, on 06/13/2008, -0/+6Yeah but the thing is this is PRISON data, not a map of murders of crimes convicted. So this is essentially stating that the US has a very unforgiving justice system, not that there are more crimes committed in the US.
    • caborobo, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1To say that the USA and Russia are in the same predicament is down-right ignorant.
    • stealthc, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1Which people are taking advantage of the system? The people in prison?
  • pinkpackrat, on 06/12/2008, -54/+86The USA is #1 in prison population in the world--if drugs were legal and guns were not the statistics might go down. In America a huge percentage of the prison population is poor minority young men in on drug related offenses. Wonder who gets thrown in jail in Russia?
    • rvandy, on 06/13/2008, -5/+92People who piss off Putin.
      • nickallen74, on 06/13/2008, -3/+34Correction, Putin is the president of Germany so I doubt that.

        Kind regards,

        John McCain
        • HumanRecall, on 06/13/2008, -10/+3Horst Köhler is the President of Germany

          Dmitry Medvedev President of Russia


          Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is No longer President of Russia !

          He is currently stepped down and his the Prime Minister of Russia- Due to constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive Presidential term. Following the success of his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the 2008 presidential elections, he was then nominated by the latter to be Russia's Prime Minister and took the post on May 8, 2008.
        • justastatistic, on 06/13/2008, -3/+9^ Someone is not up-to-date with the internets.
        • bono4u, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Our former chancellor did kiss Putin's ass and both are not any longer very popular in Germany. But at least Germany is not in the Iraq war. Germany did not have to go to the chinese kiss their asses for credits. Without the chinese money USA would have some serious problems, well even with it.
      • HumanRecall, on 06/13/2008, -2/+6Dmitry Medvedev President of Russia !!
      • BabyWookie, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Err... Actually, it's mostly people who get drunk and do stupid *****. There are too many of those in Russia.
    • PolishLogic, on 06/13/2008, -27/+96Yes, because the first thing a criminal will say to himself is "damn, I can't use a gun when I commit a crime, because that would be illegal".

      Fail.
      • ericmerrill, on 06/13/2008, -9/+20"Damn, I don't have a gun I got from the pawnshop without any real documentation/my daddy's dresser, and being a criminal, I'm not smart enough to go through the difficult process to obtain one illegally. I'll just shank everybody like they do in Ireland."
        • possiblyneil, on 06/13/2008, -1/+7We have plenty of sawn off shot guns here buddy
        • Combat, on 06/13/2008, -2/+4Pawn shops have to do the same paperwork and background checks that every other store does.

          FAIL
        • ericmerrill, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1Actually, sir, I speak only for Arizona, but it is easier- a different process- to purchase a gun through a pawn shop than through a regular authorized dealer.
      • nick111, on 06/13/2008, -11/+19If you look at actual empirical country by country evidence amoung western nations though, gun crime is lower in countries that have stronger gun laws.

        You're full of theories you people. At the end of the day though, whatever it is you're doing clearly isn't working as well as what other people are doing.

        So um... Fail.
        • jasonuher, on 06/13/2008, -1/+7I have only found one such study, and it was performed in a country with a population smaller than Rhode Island, with baggage checks at every customs station. Your implication that because it worked there, it will work in the US, where more people pass through customs every day than in an entire year there, fails.
        • Tebixan, on 06/13/2008, -1/+6Then you're not looking very hard. I've pulled stats for plenty of ***** like you disproving your estranged logic, and I don't feel like doing it anymore, so google it yourself. Just type "gun control homocide rates". Don't bias it for yourself by typing "libers r stoopid, I luv guns" and using that study.

          Time and time again, every single ***** study done shows that nations with strong gun control laws have fewer gun related crimes, homocides, and suicides. There are a couple exceptions such as Sweden, don't pretend like that's the rule. In the vast majority of cases, the % of guns per household is very closely linked to violent crime levels in that nation.

          I don't get whether you NRA people are incredibly selfish, or just incredibly stupid.
        • UnterDenLinden, on 06/13/2008, -1/+6What about Washington DC, where they have had a gun ban since 1976, and the murder rate has gone up 134%?
          Or New Jersey in 1966?
          Both are US statistics, which have a lot more relevance than foreign ones.
        • Tebixan, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3In DC and Jersey you can drive 15 minutes to the next state, buy a gun at a flea market with no background check, and drive it back home in time to shoot someone before dinner. All without the police even giving you a second look.

          The idea is it's easier to smuggle guns into America from Virginia than from Mexico.
        • PolishLogic, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3@UnterDenLinden

          Well done.
        • cawpin, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2"gun crime is lower in countries that have stronger gun laws."

          Gun crime is lower, maybe. The overall violent crime rates (murder, rape, assault) are much higher. Just look at England and Australia.
        • PolishLogic, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1@Tebixan

          While I have no reference point with guns specifically, I will say that it's not very difficult to smuggle things in from Mexico, period. Sure, it's probably more difficult than just state to state, but not much more. Bringing things into the US from Mexico is about as easy and bringing a joint into a concert.
      • kuzotz, on 06/13/2008, -9/+2eric you're an idiot. Most people who are criminals do it to put food on the table, and live in areas that aren't economically blessed. I mean imagine not being able to have the mobility to look for work elsewhere, and imagine that there is no work where you live. Now you're starving, and you need to find a way to feed you, and your family. This is what usually happens.
        • insonh, on 06/13/2008, -1/+5no most do it because their ***** who believe working an honest job is for suckers

          the biggest crime areas are large cities
        • Kythas, on 06/13/2008, -0/+8Ahh, an apologist rears his head. Next we'll hear how it's not the criminal's fault he commits crimes, but society's fault for not providing properly for the criminal.
        • SuperVepr308, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4Yes, the "disenfranchised" criminal. We need to stop "marginalizing" them and embrace their craft.
      • SuperVepr308, on 06/13/2008, -0/+7Well said, Polish. Anti-gun people are idiots and quite often jackassess. Ignore them and buy as many as you want. That's what I do.
    • Vhaeos, on 06/13/2008, -7/+24Wouldn't making guns illegal increase the amount of people in jail? You know.. because we'd be putting people who want their guns in jail.
      • Angostura, on 06/13/2008, -2/+8You're assuming no change in the murder/armed robbery rates.
        • thugok, on 06/13/2008, -1/+4And you're assuming people won't just use other weapons to commit the same crimes.
        • smashhell, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Less likely yes,
          ... you know when you put too much power in people's hand .............
        • Naieve, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Do you know how many guns there are in the USA?

          Good luck not being able to find one.

          And if it's illegal, the Mexicans will be glad to sell them to murderers.
        • esfisher, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2You are also assuming that someone willing to commit murder/armed robbery would not be willing to obtain a firearm through the black market.
    • VegaObscura3, on 06/13/2008, -23/+87Please read this entire post before you click the red button over there. Having guns is an important part of our rights. I believe we should be allowed to have guns for one reason. I don't believe we should have them for defense against one another. I don't believe we should have them for hunting. I don't believe we should have them for display or shows of skill. The real reason the founders of this country insisted that we have the right to bear arms is so when the government becomes so corrupt it is oppressing and enslaving its people, we have a way to overthrow the government. Okay, now you may click the red button.
      • QuorumCall, on 06/13/2008, -14/+7I dugg you up even though I believe that a person does not need to have ANY reason to own a gun.

        It's simply not the government's job to tell us what we can and cannot own.
        • mlavergn, on 06/13/2008, -4/+1That is exactly the opposite of what a government is for. Governments exist to pass laws. Laws exist to constrain what you can and cannot do / own. Using your logic, you'd be perfectly content with me living next door to you and owning a nuclear bomb or having a big Sarin container in my yard. The political system you're dreaming of is called anarchy and if you want to live in an anarchist country, Sierra Leone in Africa is about as close as it gets. You'll want to bring a flak jacket and plenty of guns though, because life expectancy there is about 25 years. On the bright side, you get the complete political freedom you describe.
        • Codwhy, on 06/13/2008, -4/+1i bet you wish you had slaves too, *****
      • ericmerrill, on 06/13/2008, -2/+14As much as I disagree, I can't bury this, because you said it like such a gentleman. Thank you for that; if we all had your tact, Digg would be Athens pt. II, or the Canadian parliament.
        • x0mb13, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Im just curious how it is you disagree. For one, Vega is accurate about why we have the right to bear arms, that`s not even open for debate, its just history. Banning guns wont prevent their use for crimes, or their acquisition. Just like now, criminals aren't killing people with registered guns, so all this legislation and hoops to jump through hurt your common gun owner more than they protect people. Trying to completely control a substance or anything never works, people find ways, and usually at a higher expense to everyone than would have been experienced otherwise.
        • ericmerrill, on 06/14/2008, -0/+2I agree with the historic part; but times have changed, and the gun-owning populace would not be able to overthrow the government, let's face it. There are no militias.

          It's incredibly easy to get a gun in Arizona, and it scares the ***** out of me. There wouldn't be so many guns in circulation if they weren't so easy to get ahold of. A society without guns would be, to me, better and safer. I know there will always be guns, but I'll settle for less.

          I mean, they're trying to legalize carrying a concealed gun on college campuses here. How can anyone say this isn't a bad idea?
        • x0mb13, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1I think you are right about an armed populace still being a controlled populace. I also agree that a society without guns would be better and safer, but that`s just too idealistic. I don`t hunt or shoot for sport but I feel that people who do enjoy that have a right to it, even if it can occasionally lead to an accidental death. For those reasons I find it hard to advocate a total banishing of guns

          That's crazy too about the concealed gun on campus, there is probably some moron touting the old argument, "if everyone had a gun it would always be safe" trying to make the claim this is going to prevent a school shooting or something.

          It`s a tough topic, like most things there doesn`t seem to be just one good answer.
      • Gizza, on 06/13/2008, -1/+28"The real reason the founders of this country insisted that we have the right to bear arms is so when the government becomes so corrupt it is oppressing and enslaving its people, we have a way to overthrow the government."

        Well hop to it then, what are you all waiting for?
        • Codwhy, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5we're still hoping we can turn it around without resorting to that.
        • Huangism, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3no it is too late, the US is doomed
        • xerigen, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1Try to create your own private militia and be shot down by the John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007. It's impossible to do and the US will eventually fall into oblivion, unfortunately.
        • TonyLocNE, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1@xerigen
          What in that act specifically denies the ability to create a private militia? I am honestly curious because I know of several militias aside from the one that everyone knows... Blackwater USA
      • BrentyD, on 06/13/2008, -11/+4F22's, F/A18's, Nuclear Bombs, yeah a ***** gun is really going to "overthrow the government", with that amourment the only way is to vote for the right person
        • Findeton, on 06/13/2008, -0/+8Well, it's better guns that nothing. And if big and dispersed through the country revolts with guns against the government, what would the government do? nuke all the country? No, they can't. So guns may be enough to overthrow the government.
        • omgbanana, on 06/13/2008, -0/+17If the United States was in such a position that a bomb was not only ordered to be dropped on one of her own cities, but there were soldiers actually willing to do it, you'd need that gun to protect yourself against the raping and pillaging.
        • shtonkalot, on 06/13/2008, -0/+11What a pity you can only choose from a handful of morons when you make that vote.
          It's hard to vote for the right person when there are only the wrong people to choose from.
        • smashhell, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2LOL ! You're funny !
          But i'm sorry, you thought there were Nukes in the days of our founding fathers ? The Strongest Weapon we had back than IS a gun. Better go study your history now huh ?
        • ltethe, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Now who's being dumb? You've had 5 years of watching Iraqis give tanks, F-22's, and aircraft carriers a run for their money with little more then a gun and an RPG.

          It's not an equal battle, but from the iraqi side, I'm sure it's more promising to fight the imperial bastards with a gun, then a rock.

          If push came to shove, and the government sent the military to do some domestic pacification, I can assure you that a ***** ton of Americans would be able to resist a military occupation as well, and almost certainly better then the Iraqi's have resisted our occupation.
        • rhinopig, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Not sure why BrentyD is dugg down. He's making a good point (although perhaps slightly exaggerated). No the government probably isn't going to nuke us, but just taking the kind of equipment (and formal training) police/national guard have, if you really think you are going to be able to overthrow the government with a hand full of low powered guns, you're an idiot. I'm sorry (I really am. I'd like the option), but the only way an untrained civilian force is going to have a chance to overthrow the government is if they have access to the same equipment the government has.

          @omgbanana Ever heard of the Milgram experiment? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment I doubt as many would drop as bomb as would administer a lethal shock, but I'm sure you'd be able to find enough soldiers who would. But yes, if that happened there probably would be much looting and raping going on.

          @smashhell That's his whole point. The founding fathers couldn't predict nukes, so they made an amendment for reasons that are now essentially moot.
        • rhinopig, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1also, @Itethe. Good point, but they haven't kicked us out yet.
      • Findeton, on 06/13/2008, -1/+8So... What the hell are you waiting for?
      • carlgorn, on 06/13/2008, -6/+1Good point if we were living in the 1800s. The ruling class still has more guns that the population in their control, plus the have automatics and we have handguns. They would own.
        • RonBurgundy76, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2That's assuming that the military would turn on their own people.
        • Codwhy, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3Blackwater =(
      • sodade, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3I agree with you, but I think that we need guns to protect us from the destitute when things fall apart.
      • Kythas, on 06/13/2008, -0/+17"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws only make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assassins; they serve to encourage rather than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

        Thomas Jefferson
        • SuperVepr308, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4TJ kicked ass then and his words still kick ass now. Good quote.
      • ExtraEye, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3doesn't make much sense. If you wanted to overthrow the government violently it wouldn't matter whether guns were legal anymore or not...
        • ltethe, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3A government that allows you the legal right to rebel is one to appreciate.

          A government that allows you the appearance to the legal right to rebel, is one to grumble about.

          A government that denies you the ability to rebel. Is one that deserves a rebellion.
      • jaxontyler, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1If's funny how people look at the map and want to blame guns. All I have to say is look at Sudan, Iraq and Pakistan. Half their populations are running around with AK's and they have less than the US.

        GG.
        • saigumi, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3Ok.. I can see where you are going, but this is about people in prison, not people who committed crimes. In that area, there are less laws, you pretty much have to kill someone before anyone bats an eye. Then, they don't put those people in prison, a shallow grave on the side of the road is about all they get.
      • wrestlingnrj, on 06/13/2008, -0/+6I dugg you down solely for the fact that I believe that people who are properly trained should have the right to be able to carry a gun on their person for their own defense as well as the defense of others. Hopefully it will never have to be used, but better safe than sorry.
        • Codwhy, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Yeah, better to have one and not need it then to need it and not have it
        • Hudak, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2no offense, but personally i think if you live in a society where you feel the need to carry a gun for personal defense, you are living in one seriously ***** up society

          ...and not some great model for the rest of civilization

          ...so having the right to carry a gun, in my mind, is predicated by a ***** up population and furthermore carrying a gun will only create a situation in which it is necessary to carry a gun, so you are shooting yourself in the foot if you want to live in a safe environment
      • SuperVepr308, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2I clicked the green button. Nicely said, my man.
      • Huangism, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1well your crappy gov't has already enslaved you, and i still don't see anyone shooting up the white house
      • bullhead2007, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4Well that's actually not the only reason.

        We have the right to bear arms to protect from enemies WITHIN and enemies WITHOUT. Meaning if China had a massive land invasion we'd have guns to protect our homes. This country was created with guerilla warfare after all.
      • inchrnt, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2While that was definitely the intent of the founding fathers, I don't think hand guns and hunting rifles would be of much use against a modern government. I also don't think any modern government would be stupid enough to incite that kind of reaction from it's populace. Modern politicians seem more than adept at pacifying their populations while siphoning billions into corporate coffers. When you're a parasite, you don't openly attack your host.
    • silfiriel, on 06/13/2008, -2/+3Yeah, cause in Russia all the rich people are in jail!
    • ANTITH3SIS, on 06/13/2008, -4/+13USA is also #1 in resources though, I'm sure. Willing to bet that not many African nations have the money to run prisons, and therefore the rate of people is lower. Not saying that USA doesn't have a problem, just saying take it with a grain of salt.
      • Bravesguy18, on 06/13/2008, -1/+7Yeah just look at Mexico. It is almost white. Prison rates have nothing to do with crime rates.
    • Lihtsaltjobu, on 06/13/2008, -9/+0Well. I know that Russians get thrown in jail in Estonia.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Night

      Damn assholes. Might aswell nuke Russia.
    • craigatkinson, on 06/13/2008, -2/+4This was a bait and switch post. I've noticed typically on digg that anti-gun posts get dugg down. However, this post had a pro-drug message to it as well. It was as if all the diggers thought to themselves, I give up my guns and I get drugs? Deal!
    • myass666mlong, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1mafia yeah mostly mafia and immigrants
    • itzdiceman, on 06/13/2008, -3/+12Well, the US has a high percentage, but not the highest population.

      US: 300000000/100000 = 3000
      3000*500 = 1,500,000 people in prison.
      China: 3000000000/100000 = 30000
      30000*100 = 3,000,000 people in prison.

      China has double the number of inmates the US does. In addition, given China's isolation policy, I am inclined to believe that the number they reported is much lower than the actual. Guilty until proven innocent is their policy.
      • numb, on 06/13/2008, -4/+1Wrong, the US has the highest percentage as well as the highest absolute number of citizens imprisoned. Here's a fairly recent article regarding this:

        http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/23/america/23p ...

        FTA:
        The United States has, for instance, 2.3 million criminals behind bars, more than any other nation, according to data maintained by the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College London.
        ....
        The United States comes in first, too, on a more meaningful list from the prison studies center, the one ranked in order of the incarceration rates. It has 751 people in prison or jail for every 100,000 in population. (If you count only adults, one in 100 Americans is locked up.)

        The only other major industrialized nation that even comes close is Russia, with 627 prisoners for every 100,000 people. The others have much lower rates. England's rate is 151; Germany's is 88; and Japan's is 63.

        The median among all nations is about 125, roughly a sixth of the American rate.
        • itzdiceman, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4My statement, based on the article you're posting under, is not wrong at all. Basic math.

          However, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and use your article.

          From YOUR article:
          "China, which is four times more populous than the United States, is a distant second, with 1.6 million people in prison. (That number excludes hundreds of thousands of people held in administrative detention, most of them in China's extrajudicial system of re-education through labor, which often singles out political activists who have not committed crimes.)"

          But I see now that you "accidentally" left that out. You shouldn't have to qualify your prison percentage with "industrial." And the fact that you and the article consider China not industrialized only lends to my other statement of China's poor record with reporting internal statistics.
        • numb, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1First of all, I did not post the complete article because it would be a waste of space. Anyone interested, such as yourself would click the link to read the whole thing anyway.

          Your math is still speculation as well. If you're speculating that the "hundreds of thousands" are ~700,000 or more then yeah, they have more people prison. I'm not saying it's impossible, just that it's not proven.

          It's a good article, and worth reading. I stand by my choice to post it even if people are digging me down because they don't like what it says.
        • numb, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Oh and one more thing about your "basic math." You derive your numbers by claiming the population of China is 3 billion which is completely false. The population of China is actually only 1.3 billion, LESS THAN HALF of the number you used in your calculations.

          Here's how your "basic math" works if you use the real population numbers:

          US: 300000000/100000 = 3000
          3000*500 = 1,500,000 people in prison.
          China: 1300000000/100000 = 13000
          13000*100 = 1,300,000 people in prison.

          You can find the population of China in the CIA factbook here:

          https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world ...
      • gavin422, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4China's pretty big, but it does NOT have 3 billion people. That would be pretty close to half the world's population.
      • laplie, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Its not "500" it's "500+". Big difference
      • Huangism, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2who cares if there is more prisoners in china than US, the percentage is the real concern. would you rather walk on a street knowing 1/10 is behind bars or 1/5?
    • triskele, on 06/13/2008, -4/+13I was about to digg you up, but then I saw your anti-gun statement. Nice try.
    • SwedishNinja, on 06/13/2008, -8/+17Yes, let's make guns illegal so that law-abiding citizens won't have them when drug-addled crackheads break in to your house at 4 in the morning to rape your daughter and steal your TV and fried chicken.

      Idiot.
    • christophe971, on 06/13/2008, -7/+5In Soviet Russia, the jails get in you!
    • cheekiej, on 06/13/2008, -6/+2in my personal opinion (and i'm not saying people should agree with me) i think guns should be illegal because then you wouldn't have so many horrific high school massacres. if you tell people that it is their constitutional right to bear arms, then give a gun to every tom dick and harry who has even the slightest mental problem, you have serious problems. too many young people with their wholes lives ahead of them are being stripped of their lives. there are other ways to defend yourselves against crime. if young people are educated to think of the consequences of their actions and know that they won't be let of with probation or a suspended sentence, then maybe the crime rate overall will go down.
      • cgbspender, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2"too many young people with their wholes lives ahead of them are being stripped of their lives."
        THERE is your problem. You dont need a gun to go insane and kill people.
      • cheshireluna, on 06/13/2008, -1/+5"if young people are educated to think of the consequences of their actions and know that they won't be let off with probation or a suspended sentence, then maybe the crime rate overall will go down."

        Columbine - shooters committed suicide.
        Red Lake High School - shooter committed suicide
        Virginia Tech - shooter committed suicide.
        Northern Illinois - shooter committed suicide.

        These shooters had every intent to kill themselves and take as many people with them as they could. Legal consequences don't mean dick if you're dead, so why would they care? Maybe if someone in a crowded lecture hall had been legally carrying, the only life lost would have been that of the shooter. Guns don't kill people. Crazy ***** do. Saying that guns kill people is like saying that pencils are responsible for spelling errors.
        • Screwy1138, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4My keyboard is responsibil for my speling errrors
      • TonyLocNE, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2Actually, the school shootings are more reason we should be able to carry concealed weapons at school. Anyone with a carry permit could have stopped those ***** dead in their tracks.
        • cheekiej, on 06/14/2008, -1/+1if they didn't have a permit....if it wasn't your constitutional right to have a gun you wouldn't have so many psychos with guns!

          digg me down....
    • Mandragon03, on 06/13/2008, -2/+7Making guns illegal increases crime. Do the research before making an ass of yourself.
    • numb, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4
      US incarceration timeline (graph):

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_incarceratio ...

      It's not pretty.
    • hmunkey, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Yeah, but drugs are illegal in India too and look at their crime rate.
    • russ3, on 06/13/2008, -1/+4Making guns illegal would keep people out of jail? It would jut mean that people would get arrested for holding a gun rather than firing it.
    • gavdog2020, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Legalizing drugs won't all of a sudden make drug dealers turn into law abiding people. They sell drugs because they're illegal and it's quick, easy money. Remember when alcohol was made illegal? A black market sprung up, criminals seized the opportunity, and people started going to jail. When you're raised in a poor ghetto, you don't learn how to make money through proper channels. Unfortunately, these poor ghettos are spreading in America.
    • attackpanda, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1In Soviet Russia, guns control you!
    • doodlebumm, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1Likely the poorer countries do other types of punishment for crimes, like death and caning. These both
      seem to cause lower residivism rates, and reduce prison populations significantly.

      If we make everything legal, then we wouldn't have to have a prison system at all.

      Anyone who thinks that we need to make guns illegal is stupid enough to think that criminals are going to obey that law.
    • stealthc, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1Actually, when guns are legal crime goes down.

      But I do agree with you on the drug war.
  • britoca, on 06/12/2008, -9/+297USA #1! lol
    • provost, on 06/13/2008, -2/+11whew.. i sure feel safer now.
    • benroy, on 06/13/2008, -7/+24I'm an American and I can honestly say that I agree with you.
      I am ashamed of my government but proud of my country.
      This really is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
      I hate the war in Iraq but I had no say in the matter.
      I hate the "patriot" Act and the suspension of Habeas Corpus. But I had no say in the mater.
      I disagree with our confusing and inept voting process. But, you know...


      Our great nation has been hijacked by oil-fed, power-hungry, back-room-meeting-having, warmongering, rich, white, old men who own too much stock in the corporations that keep us happy in our disposable, credit-debt ridden lives, to give a flying ***** about the citizens that they're 'supposed' to represent.

      At this point in time I have to say that I'm ashamed to be an American.
      But it is by not any fault of my own, nor that of my neighbors.
      The American *People* want what everyone wants.
      To be left alone to live our lives on peace, without a government telling us when we can and cannot fart.
      • spaceddaisy, on 06/13/2008, -2/+23I'm only speaking for myself here, but know that most of those people abroad don't hate on the American people. If we have something negative to say, it's about your government and it's (foreign) policies, not about all the people in your country.

        I myself am against most of the things the US government has done the last decade or so, but on the other hand I love visiting your country, it's beautiful and so are the people! I even fell madly in love with one of your men and am in the process of trying to get my ass across the ocean.

        Don't be ashamed, you have a great country, we don't blame Americans personally, we blame the government.
        • Codwhy, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5Ahh..thats a relief.

          seriously, its sad when you start to question how welcome you are in the rest of the world, simply because your government is run by inhuman pricks
        • LoveAndSeagulls, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5GIRL ON DIGG
        • elamr, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Wow, thanks. Good to hear compliments about Americans every now and then.
      • RC155, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3"....Our great nation has been hijacked by oil-fed, power-hungry, back-room-meeting-having, warmongering, rich, white, old men..."

        You forgot Zionist NEO-CON
    • ICSU, on 06/13/2008, -2/+14Better map
      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67 ...
      • gavin422, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2My god, that's a terrible map. At least give me something that shows a logical progression (e.g. blue to red, or different shades of brown), not just a big mess of colors.
    • phike, on 06/13/2008, -1/+6America........land of the free, yet we take away freedom more than any other country.
    • Wiini, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1China would be pulsating black if it weren't for the fact that they simply execute most of their prison population, thus keeping their color in the pink.
    • ShaggyRogers, on 06/13/2008, -1/+1U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
  • db0255, on 06/12/2008, -2/+111OK I know this has nothing to do with the point of the map, but does Canada really have that many lakes?
    • Arcesius, on 06/13/2008, -0/+28Go to google maps and check for yourself. The short answer is yes...
    • aneconcept, on 06/13/2008, -1/+54yes, yes we do. where else would all our hockey players practice on?
      • fuzzybeard, on 06/13/2008, -3/+2Ice arenas. Thank you, global warming!
      • starsarebent, on 06/13/2008, -4/+0HAHA you're from Canada. Canada sucks. Not the country, just the people. See, the problem is, you're all obsessed with the "A" sound. You say AYE after EVERYthing.

        "Want to go to watch hockey, aye?"
        "Sure, Aye!"

        Still don't believe me? How do you spell Canada?

        "c-A-n-A-d-A, Aye?"

        Every other letter is A.
        • matterball, on 06/14/2008, -0/+0I don't see that as a problem, eh.
    • SeventhSon, on 06/13/2008, -0/+47According to Environment Canada, there are 31,752 lakes Canada.
      • serif69, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Psssh. That's only three times as much as Minnesota.
    • Heavypettingzoo, on 06/13/2008, -1/+17Not only are there many lakes, but there are many CLEAN lakes... almost no mercury or other toxic pollutants. You can actually eat the fish you catch in them:)
      • thewidowmaker, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2if you can get to them that is
    • Zippo, on 06/13/2008, -0/+15That's why everyone wants us to bottle our water... we have 7% of the world's fresh water.
    • airedale, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3I guess you haven't watched Ice Road Truckers... thats all they drive on!
    • raypatrick1, on 06/13/2008, -2/+0hahahahahaha!!!
    • guitarchitect, on 06/13/2008, -0/+0yep, there's plenty here... over 31,000 that are larger than 3 square kilometers - do away with the size requirement and I've seen estimates hundreds of thousands (i've seen some saying upwards of 3 million, but that probably includes small ponds and the like)
    • Baskins, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1So when the battle for control of fresh water sources begins, Canada will finally get some air time on the world stage. And.....guess who's going to be the primary target for ~persuasion~ to join the empire when that time comes??
    • wishninja, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1yea and the fishing is awesome.
  • MollyDee, on 06/12/2008, -1/+12I'm not surprised at the stats. What is really sad is the poooor efforts at rehabilitation for the folks that are in prison. The system is in dire need of revamping. We are sponsoring someone who is on probation and have become very disillusioned with the entire process. Yes, people need to be punished, but there are those who want to turn their life around and need help in doing so.
    • CiDaemon, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2"help in turning their lives around?"

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_Technique

      Solved.

      x.x
    • SillyRabbits, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1Despite people's best intentions, studies have shown that efforts of rehabilitation are seldom successful. Recidivism rates are startling. Depending on the crime, 70-80% of those released from prison are back in less than 3 years. That's not people going back out and committing crimes. That's people going back out and committing crimes and getting caught again, and then being convicted in court, and then being physically shipped back to prison in that period of time. Often, they are rearrested multiple times during that span before they are finally locked up again. Part of the reason the US has so many is because they are simply locked up again - in recent history and other parts of the world, people like this were/are dealt with much more harshly.
      • XtheXlanternX, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1A lot of my family works in the prison system in Ohio and I have two of my best friends who went to prison for a few years, and just from their experiences, there is really no "rehabilitation" that goes on. The prison puts up a whole bunch of press releases and factual information on their site about all these things they do like giving people apprenticeships so they can learn a trade or take classes to get an education. In reality, however, they are all done half assed. The apprenticeships are a joke-- the electrician "apprentices" spend all day looking for lightbulbs that need changed. The only education you can get is a GED, if you don't already have one.

        The problem is they put nonviolent small timers with little to no record in for short to medium lengths of time with hardened career criminals. Personally, I think they need to put more people on probation and put second/third time offenders in prison for very long periods of time (and lessen the drug laws -- at least for non violent persons). For example, get caught stealing something--probation two years. Get caught a second time-- 10 years. These people who should be out on probation knowing they are going to get the hammer dropped on them if they get arrested again instead get sent to prison for 6mos-1yr and learn all the tricks from the pros. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard from my friends who went to prison over cocaine possession about how to steal things or how to avoid the cops or whatever that they learned in jail. They're not dumb and they shouldn't have gone to jail in the first place... but a lot of the people who do go to prison aren't so fortunate to know better.
    • Tallon, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2I agree. But there's a lot of factors to consider as to how you would rehabilitate them. It's hard.
  • dougvfr750, on 06/12/2008, -1/+28That translates to a lot of license plates
    • doublejay1973, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1you're closer to the truth than you might realise A large prison population is a great source of cheap labour.
  • UltramegaOK, on 06/13/2008, -14/+182America, ***** YEA!
    • aneconcept, on 06/13/2008, -2/+26so lick mah nuts, and suck on my balls!
    • FrownyFace, on 06/13/2008, -4/+13woah, dude keep it down with the swearing you could get ten years without parole for that.
      • jacko87, on 06/13/2008, -2/+4Comin' again to save the *****' day yeah, America! ***** YEAH!
        Freedom is the only way YEAH!
        Terroists, your game is through
        cuz now you have answer to
        America! ***** YEAH!
    • Iwantawii, on 06/13/2008, -5/+6MATT DAMON!!!!
      • m0tbaillie, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5"Derka derka derka, muhammed jihah"

        "...." *glares*

        "harpa sherpa sherpa muhammed jihad"

        "......."

        "Ohhhh, derka derka derka!"
    • elislider, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4coming again to save the ***** day YEAH!
  • nova912, on 06/13/2008, -9/+2U S ey
  • TomTruelle, on 06/13/2008, -7/+279Nigeria = 0-49

    I wish it were higher. Extremely ***** tired of receiving those "Hi this is Aboul and I have a business proposal for you..." emails.
  • rvandy, on 06/13/2008, -4/+35Providing an extensive support network for offenders once they are released is FAR less expensive that re incarcerating them, which is what happens to most convicts released from jail. There are several simple solutions to the massive waste, injustice and ineffectiveness of the US prison system. The most logical first step is to decriminalize all aspects of marijuana and turn its production into a regulated industry. The second step is to eliminate jail sentences for other drug criminals - providing job training and a support network for them is much less expensive than incarcerating them, and much more effective at reducing recidivism. For white coller/fraud type crimes, force them to repay as much as what they have stolen within their ability for the rest of their lives. If you've stolen 10 million dollars from investors, you may not be able to pay them back in your lifetime, but having 25% of your after-tax wages garnished for the rest of your life certainly seems life an effective deterrent to me. It seems that most European countries have figured this out, and have lower crime rates, as well as spending far less on their corrections. The current US prison system is a massive waste of tax money, completely ineffective, and continually propogated and expanded by Republicans because they'd rather utter the phrase, "Tough on crime" than to allow empirical evidence to penetrate their complete detachment from reality.
    • Infidelcastr0, on 06/13/2008, -1/+6There you go with that logic stuff, careful with that kinda talk it scares the simpletons.
    • jayscot, on 06/13/2008, -3/+2I don't see the dems doing any different...they have control now don't they?
      • thugok, on 06/13/2008, -0/+251% is meaningless. Unless you have a 2/3 majority all you can do is impede the other party. Not to say the Democrats wouldn't also do stupid ***** with it, but just having 1 or 2 more reps. than the other side is ineffective.
    • myass666mlong, on 06/13/2008, -3/+1ask spanish or sweden ?? they hate the system of their gov. and tolerance ahahha
      and who are the most happiest countrys usa russia
    • kuzotz, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2randy if we do that then how will all the private prisons make money?

      Seriously this is 21st century slavery. IT's the main reason why all the prisons are privatizing. Its the main reason why laws are starting to be broadly defined so more people break them.
    • cgbspender, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Of course it is a massive waste of tax money and by that a prospering business.
    • whyufail, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2Big wall of text that could have simply been summarized with: "THE MAN is telling me I cant liquefy my braincells! LEgeliz itz!"
      • andbruno, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Were you just trying to show to others what a moron you are?

        You did a bang-up job at it. I now know. So do many others.
  • AEdgett77, on 06/13/2008, -3/+81Australia no longer exists
  • scotishstriker, on 06/13/2008, -8/+2what about NK?
  • dawnraid101, on 06/13/2008, -3/+46Where the ***** is New Zealand? and Australia, you cant just miss out a whole continent.
  • aussiepro, on 06/13/2008, -11/+1too right dawnraid101, what a joke...

    give us Australia!

    christ almighty..meanwhile, go to http://www.mobgizmo.com
  • swabfalling, on 06/13/2008, -1/+12See that hot pink area? Thats me.
  • chemam, on 06/13/2008, -0/+142they didn't even bother with mexico...
    • CiDaemon, on 06/13/2008, -6/+6they did, it's just in the "white" region of the scale...0-49 prisoners per 100k. Same with afghanistan, north korea, and some of the african pacific coast countries.
      • ep53, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3Look at the key....They have light pink (0-49), i.e. Sudan, Chad, India, Nigeria etc...
      • coyote1284, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Yeah, but every citizen of North Korea is a prisoner to their own country, where the punishment for recieving news from outside the approved propoganda is immediate death.
      • generalalcazar, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1My guess would be that a white zone means that the data was unavailable.
    • ericmerrill, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2Is it sad that I live in Arizona just a few hours from the border, but I didn't even notice that until you said that? I noticed Australia and NZ missing right away. Oh dear.
    • wutname1, on 06/13/2008, -7/+1it changes to rapidly
      • hwy9nightkid, on 06/13/2008, -3/+2it changes too rapidly!

        you go to grammar jaaaiiillll
    • serif69, on 06/13/2008, -1/+25That's because all of their prisoners are in America.
    • adidos, on 06/13/2008, -6/+3That's because Mexico was so red, it's actually shown in infrared light...which is invisible to the human eye.
    • jtorkbob, on 06/13/2008, -0/+5I was thinking it meant no data reported.

      Actually look here:
      http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/worl ...

      It is 198 per 100k, twice canada, less than half of USA. Make of that what you will.
  • Ch0chi, on 06/13/2008, -11/+4Where's Australia?
    • neftaly, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2More importantly, where is NZ?
    • Viriatus2, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3got nuked by the USA. They were mistaken by Iran.
  • alphasixtyone, on 06/13/2008, -1/+28notice the middle east/mediterranean area is all ***** up, austalia, new zealand, new guinea, mexico, cuba are all missing. makes me kind of not trust this map
    • smpx, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3It makes me trust it more, since it just doesn't put information it doesn't have.
    • anniegarrison, on 06/14/2008, -1/+1This bugged me too, but otherwise it looked accurate. Where's Australia and New Zealand? I'd have expected Britain's incarceration rate to be higher, though.
  • Ganja420, on 06/13/2008, -0/+46so the lesson here is be more like Mexico??
    • groovechamp30, on 06/13/2008, -2/+10No be more like Sweden.
    • hwy9nightkid, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1What if you're half of both?
      • Da7e, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1If your Mexican/Swedish, just try not to end up in jail and ***** up our reputation.
      • Tyrghast, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3If I were mexican/swedish i would be... beautiful...
      • hwy9nightkid, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1gee thanks :)
    • Andrewe1, on 06/13/2008, -1/+5thing is, criminals in mexico are OUTSIDE prisons...
      • agush, on 06/14/2008, -0/+0Hahaha im mexican I actually loled

        but really your theory doesnt sound outrageous at all...
    • beezneez, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2Send your Criminals to the US?
  • isparadiselost, on 06/13/2008, -14/+8It's all about freedom! Just listen to the ***** fed to you regarding the fact that the US is the most free country in the world. Then look at the stats and realize the smoke being blown up your ass.

    There's a revolution calling. Shoot AP rounds in .308 or better and aim for the eye. It'll take a year or two to reclaim our country but it can be done.
    • TheStrongForce, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3What are you talking about?
      • AsgardsAvenger, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3How to fight zombies, I think....
        • TheStrongForce, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Just put the zombies in jail.
    • Yokohamalion, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1You tard. America has alot of people in prison because people are free to assholes.
  • zephyear, on 06/13/2008, -13/+138just legalize marijuana

    tada, prison population drastically cut
    • fuzzybeard, on 06/13/2008, -5/+23True; but the downside would be a HUGE jump in the price of corn-based products (yeah, ethanol, I'm talking about YOU!) due to competition between ethanol producers and Frito-Lay, producers of the quintessential stoner snack food Nacho Cheese Doritos.

      /Doritos is in spellcheck, but Obama *still* isn't? WTF?
      • Undead, on 06/13/2008, -0/+4Hemp can be used as a biofuel. So then who really cares about ethanol from corn?
        • Codwhy, on 06/13/2008, -0/+9I dont understand why you would get buried,

          Hemp can be converted into biofuel much more effeciently then corn, and it produces much less waste.

          Its so good for everything that the other industries just cant handle it, and push legislation to keep it away from their profits
    • dudefather, on 06/13/2008, -17/+4legalize anything remotely illegal

      tada, no-one in prison
    • nephilimx, on 06/13/2008, -6/+1Dealers will loose most of there profits because everyone is growing and proberly change to harder drugs, I doubt it will lower jail rates much.
      • triskele, on 06/13/2008, -3/+6I don't know about you, but I have no problem putting crack/cocaine/heroin/designer drug dealers in prison. Marijuana has yet to kill a user. Can't say the same for the aforementioned substances.
        • BabaRamDass, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3So by your logic, you have no problem putting skydivers, rock climbers, or even the ordinary automobile driver in jail? These are all activities that can kill you.

          It's not about how deadly a substance or activity is; it's about freedom. As long as all I'm doing is lines of coke and not stealing, hurting, or threatening others then how do you justify putting me in prison? You can't. Unless you're an authoritarian.
      • Codwhy, on 06/13/2008, -1/+8Saying that most marjiuana "dealers" would switch to harder drugs because they can no longer make profits shows that you dont smoke or know anything about a majority of pot smokers/dealers.

        most pot "dealers" are just people helping out their friends with the reward of getting to smoke for free.

        its pretty nice actually :D
      • andbruno, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Almost all the people in jail for marijuana are PETTY USERS. Legalizing marijuana would remove a hefty portion of our prison population.
    • whyufail, on 06/13/2008, -7/+3just legalize marijuana

      tada, national IQ drastically cut
      • GhostyBoy, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2You negate your statement about intelligence by saying something so stupid.
      • BabaRamDass, on 06/13/2008, -1/+2For someone who uses no capitalization or punctuation, I don't think you ought to be giving us a discourse on the merits (or lack thereof) of smoking pot.
      • ltethe, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1We don't count the IQ of people in prison?
      • ltethe, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1We don't tabulate the prison population's IQ?
    • 8BenCFC8, on 06/13/2008, -0/+0Agreed. Most people in prison in America are there for victim less crimes (like possession...). Also, it's hard to say that there are accurate numbers here, because some parts of the world don't keep track of who they have in prison...
    • wishninja, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1or they could replace them with pedophiles.
  • Infidelcastr0, on 06/13/2008, -2/+24The solution to this should be obvious, legalize most or all drugs, less ridiculous laws and less enforcement, give released inmates the proper support, do something about poverty and lack of education. Obvious enough but it will never happen. We wouldn't want all those "undesirables" walking around on the street being "different" now would we.
    • Radica1Faith, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1I wouldn't legalize all drugs. I mean come on, Meth serves no purpose.
      • zombies187, on 06/14/2008, -0/+2It gets your house really clean, but at what cost?!?
  • NikoKun, on 06/13/2008, -1/+47About half of America's prison population was put there for drug related charges. Marijuana being by far the most common.
    If we would legalize Marijuana, we could easily cut down on this horrible statistic... But then again, that wouldn't be very good for the profits of the private prison industry now, would it? LOL -_-
    • FreeTalkLIve, on 06/13/2008, -1/+4It would also put black market marijuana dealers out of buisness.

      • Codwhy, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2BLACK MARKET MARJIUANA DEALERS

        with their violent outbursts of devouring food and laughter.

        what monsters
      • narcofiche, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3Since the state of California made marijuana legal for medical purposes, most people no longer have to search for a 'guy.' A drug dealer's job is to push drugs, and they usually end up pushing drugs like cocaine and speed because they're highly addictive. If we decriminalized marijuana then most people would just be content buying it in dispensaries and not have to fall into the drug trap.
        But what will most likely happen is the legalization of a synthetic marijuana pill to sell, rather than people growing it themselves. But even that is one step closer to complete legalization.
    • cdigioia, on 06/13/2008, -2/+1As much as I hate special interests, I don't think the private prison lobby is anywhere near as powerful as you make them out to be...
      • kuzotz, on 06/13/2008, -1/+6They are. You also have a lot of Charter Schools popping up, and their sponsors usually hold private prison stocks in their portfolio. Also I live in a state where the private prison industry is really ***** strong. Oklahoma. We take in prisoners from other states, and also 30% of our population is made up of prisoners, and also our dropout rate is 30%, and this is all thanks to gov. keating. I am glad we voted his ass out, and voted in Brad Henry.. Which right now we just started to change how our economy operates, but it's going to take a long time to fix this system. Also if you aren't white, and you don't live in the metropolitan area then more than likely if you get arrested it'll be on false charges.
    • Undead, on 06/13/2008, -0/+3To Quote Corporate Avenger :
      "The war on drugs is a war on people. It's a really sad state of affairs when a human being's freedom is treated as nothing more than an asset or liability. Prisons are big business in this country. The war on drugs is nothing more than a war on people. It's a bullsh!t war, it's a war over money.
      Join us now as we make our plea, set all drug offenders free."
    • groves2004, on 06/13/2008, -0/+0Half? According to the Dept. of Justice it is just under a quarter, granted still a large percentage but nowhere near half. I had to post a comment because you hit 2 of my pet peeves, fabricating statistics and ending sentences in LOL. (Yes i know that sentence ends in lol)
  • Nugget21, on 06/13/2008, -15/+8Um 'world map' should surely include Australia you stupid yankees
    • Zed00, on 06/13/2008, -7/+6The last time we "stupid yankees" cared about Australia was when Quigley Down Under came out.
    • sfacets, on 06/13/2008, -4/+3We'll have the last laugh when we walk out of Iraq, leaving you all alone in the dark.
    • CobaltBlue, on 06/13/2008, -0/+7What does a map made at Kings College in London have to do with yankees?
      • innocentsinner, on 06/13/2008, -1/+3Probably American students who are studying overseas, of course.
    • Undead, on 06/13/2008, -0/+0I'll give you something to yankee.
  • microview2007, on 06/13/2008, -9/+2Do the crime, do the time. Don't want to do the time then change the law you lazy *****. You voted for the law makers. Oh? You were high at the time and couldn't make it? Now who's problem is it generation X?
    • Airloss, on 07/18/2008, -1/+6I don't remember voting to make marijuana illegal.
      • microview2007,