Gordon Ramsay teaches prisoners to cook

Gordon Ramsay teaches prisoners to cook. LINK: Youtube

Appleton Mn "Prison May Reopen"

The privately run Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton may reopen and house prisoners from California.

According to a news release from the owner, Corrections Corporation of America, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation intends to award a new contract to them to manage about 3,200 offenders in Appleton and at the company's Colorado facility.

Appleton Mayor Ron Ronning, a 16-year employee of the prison, told the West Central Tribune that he's hoping the prison will reopen early in 2012.

The 1,600 bed prison closed in February. The company didn't give a specific time frame for employees being rehired there.

At full operation, its economic value was estimated at $45 million a year. LINK

Prison artist who sketched Bernie Madoff says the con man is unremorseful

Bernie Madoff, 71, seems to be doing well in North Carolina's Butner Federal Correctional Complex. He plays games like chess and bocce ball, and works in the kitchen as a pot and pan scrubber.

The most interesting bit in this Wall Street Journal article is about K.C. White, a talented artist who was recently released on a bank robbery charge, but was in prison when Madoff started serving time. He drew Madoff's portrait in prison.

In this highly entertaining video interview with White on Philly.com, White said Madoff is unremorseful for his crimes:

Bernie Madoff, the $19 Billion Con, Makes New Friends Behind Bars, Via: Boingboing

Top 15 Best Prison Movies

“Joint. Clink. Hoosgow. Pen. Big House. Whatever you call it, filmmakers have long had a fascination with prison. Lock a guy up for all or part of a flick and you’ve got all kinds of inherent drama just waiting to bust out. The fear of confinement exists in all of us. Preying on that fear has produced a host of memorable films over the years. Be it intense drama, thrilling action, dark science fiction or ribald comedy, a trip to the pokey rarely disappoints. Here are the fifteen very best prison movies.” w/ photos + videos. LINK

Al Capone’s Prison Cell

When notorious gangster Al Capone was incarcerated at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, he was treated with deference by guards, and maintained powerful connections from behind bars. Link, Via: J-Walk Blog, Via: Neatorama

(image credit: Mike Graham)

Prison vs. Work

IN PRISON: You spend the majority of your time in a 10X10 cell.
AT WORK: You spend the majority of your time in an 8X8 cubicle.

IN PRISON: You get three meals a day.
AT WORK: You get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it.

IN PRISON: You get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK: You get more work for good behavior.

IN PRISON: The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK: You must often carry a security card and open all the doors for yourself.

IN PRISON: You can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK: You could get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON: You get your own toilet.
AT WORK: You have to share the toilet with some people who pee on the seat.

IN PRISON: They allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK: You aren’t even supposed to speak to your family.

IN PRISON: All expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required.
AT WORK: you get to pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON: You spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out.
AT WORK: You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON: You must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK: They are called managers.

LINK

folk arts - art gallery in Prison

FOLK ARTS are crafted of materials indigenous to the place from which they spring.
IN PRISON - where resources are slim to none, inmates create with soap, cigarette wrappers, toilet paper, pebbles, toothpicks, pop cans, white bread, and much more!

Toilet paper sculpture done by Keith Dwy. Prison toilet paper is the coarse cheap kind, malleable when wet, hard and durable when dried. One toilet paper artist, paroled to a half-way house, discovered that the relatively luxurious toilet paper available on the streets was too weak for his sculptures. He contacted an aquaintance on the prison staff to get the name of the institution’s supplier. LINK