Holland's Dwindling Prison Population

The Netherlands is facing a different kind of crisis: too few prisoners.

"During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison system. The country now has capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees."

Doing some quick math, the incarceration rate in Holland is approximately seven hundredths of one percent. By comparison, the rate in the United States is over seven tenths of one percent. Here's more information on the US prison system. I wonder what Holland is doing differently?

(link via boingboing)

The Pig Panic

From locking up Mexicans in China to the mass slaughter of swine in Egypt, the panic surrounding H1N1 has been widely documented. A little less intense was the Afghani reaction: quarantining the only pig in the country.