This has long been a topic of interest for me -- how prison labor is farmed out to corporations. I have been especially intrigued in how the War on Drugs fits into all this. Basically, the Powers-that-Be work both sides of the WOD -- the supply side (for example Contra-Cocaine) as well as working the anti-drug side -- not just law enforcement, but also in profiting off of prison labor, especially for-profit prisons, such as those run under Bush crony George Wackenhut. Caroline Winter writes for Mother Jones,

Tens of thousands of US inmates are paid from pennies to minimum wage—minus fines and victim compensation—for everything from grunt work to firefighting to specialized labor. Here's a sampling of what they make, and for whom.

Eating in: Each month, California inmates process more than 680,000 pounds of beef, 400,000 pounds of chicken products, 450,000 gallons of milk, 280,000 loaves of bread, and 2.9 million eggs (from 160,000 inmate-raised hens). Starbucks subcontractor Signature Packaging Solutions has hired Washington prisoners to package holiday coffees (as well as Nintendo Game Boys). Confronted by a reporter in 2001, a Starbucks rep called the setup "entirely consistent with our mission statement."

Around the Big House: Texas inmates produce brooms and brushes, bedding and mattresses, toilets, sinks, showers, and bullwhips. Bullwhips?