Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) ❤
No. of Recommendations: 6
In a post on his Truth Social site Sunday evening, Trump wrote that, “For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
“That is why, today,” he said, “I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
Trump’s directive to rebuild and reopen the long-shuttered penitentiary was the latest salvo in his effort to overhaul how and where federal prisoners and immigration detainees are locked up. But such a move would likely be an expensive and challenging proposition. The prison was closed in 1963 due to crumbling infrastructure and the high costs of repairing and supplying the island facility, because everything from fuel to food had to be brought by boat.
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Bringing the facility up to modern-day standards would require massive investments at a time when the Bureau of Prisons has been shuttering prisons for similar infrastructure issues.
The prison — infamously inescapable due to the strong ocean currents and cold Pacific waters that surround it — was known as the “The Rock” and housed some of the nation’s most notorious criminals, including gangster Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
It has long been part of the cultural imagination and has been the subject of numerous movies, including “The Rock” starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.
Still in the 29 years it was open, 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes, according to the FBI. Nearly all were caught or didn’t survive the attempt.
The fate of three particular inmates — John Anglin, his brother Clarence and Frank Morris — is of some debate and was dramatized in the 1979 film “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clinton Eastwood.
Alcatraz Island is now a major tourist site that is operate by the National Park Service and is a designated National Historic Landmark.
Trump, returning to the White House on Sunday night after a weekend in Florida, said he’d come up with the idea because of frustrations with “radicalized judges” who have insisted those being deported receive due process. Alcatraz, he said, has long been a “symbol of law and order. You know, it’s got quite a history.”
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that the agency “will comply with all Presidential Orders.” The spokesperson did not immediately answer questions from The Associated Press regarding the practicality and feasibility of reopening Alcatraz or the agency’s role in the future of the former prison given the National Park Service’s control of the island.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat whose district includes the island, questioned the feasibility of reopening the prison after so many years. “It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President’s proposal is not a serious one,” she wrote on X.
The island serves as a veritable time machine to a bygone era of corrections. The Bureau of Prisons currently has 16 penitentiaries performing the same high-security functions as Alcatraz, including its maximum security facility in Florence, Colorado, and the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, which is home to the federal death chamber.
The order comes as Trump has been clashing with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, without due process. Trump has also floated the legally dubious idea of sending some federal U.S. prisoners to the Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT.
Bonkers
No. of Recommendations: 0
This guy never stops. We should have a consult with Raymond Reddington and see what he thinks.
No. of Recommendations: 15
Bonkers
Yep. Worth remembering that a major part of why Alcatraz was closed is that it's vastly more expensive to incarcerate prisoners there than any other federal prison. So when it reached the point where massive capital expenditures were needed to keep the prison functional, combined with those really high operating costs, the decision to close it was an economic no-brainer.
So in an administration that's ostensibly trying to eliminate waste in federal spending, this is decision that's hard to justify.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage can rescue the criminals for you.
They've been there before.
No. of Recommendations: 7
"So in an administration that's ostensibly trying to eliminate waste in federal spending, this is decision that's hard to justify."
Yup. I get a good, sardonic laugh anytime Trump and fiscal responsibility are mentioned
in the same sentence.
I've seen an estimated cost of $45 Million for Trump's wet-dream military parade for
his birthday. That is probably low, lol, as I'm sure the tanks and other heavy equipment is
gonna do some damage to the civilian infrastructure it will roll on, and I don't think the
deep thinkers in the Trump admin have thought about that.
Where is DOGE ???? lol, lol, lol, lol
No. of Recommendations: 1
Just drop Spankee off at Alcatraz--with a shovel and a pick. Then, don't return.
No. of Recommendations: 4
"So in an administration that's ostensibly trying to eliminate waste in federal spending, this is decision that's hard to justify."
I believe Trump is using any whack idea to dominate headlines. Period.
"Alcatraz" is just a throwaway line in his non-stop kayfabe.
A red meat squirrel.
A shiny object to distract the masses from focusing on the losses he is suffering in courts.
No. of Recommendations: 12
So in an administration that's ostensibly trying to eliminate waste in federal spending, this is decision that's hard to justify.
I do believe that in Trump’s mind, this is only a minor, if not inconsequential factor.
His entire program (at least that part not dedicated to his self-enrichment or consolidating his own power) is driven by “image”.
And Alcatraz is a powerful image. Hence the announcement of “Alcatraz!”
Like watching a Hollywood movie, we see (closeup) the face of the rock jawed lawman facing down the dangerous desperados. Off to the side, we see the swinging doors of the saloon, townspeople peeping out of windows to watch this showdown, and a horse tied to the railing in front of the general store.
But then the camera slowly pans back. More of the scene comes into view. The view is from overhead, and from a thousand feet up.
And the entire set is seen for what it is- a staged and scripted performance. The buildings are two dimensional, just storefronts with no interior or depth. Walk through those saloon doors and you’re immediately standing in a vacant lot. At the end of the set is a taco food truck.
“Alcatraz!”
It’s all part of the script and set design. There may even end up unfortunate prisoners transferred there from just as secure and less costly prisons across the country. But it’s all part of the script, designed to fit a scripted narrative- to great expense and little effect.
This morning I read the account of someone who just hacked government SIGNAL communications- including shared documents and video clips…….. while all the while, Pete Hegseth continues his impression of a warfighting gunslinger.
Form over substance. The show must go on.
But the more the camera pulls back, the more people see it’s just a show, played out in real time, with real world consequences.
No. of Recommendations: 5
It was, per head, the most expensive prison to operate.
But this administration removed its cognitive dissonance chip, so it's all ok.
No. of Recommendations: 4
In a post on his Truth Social site Sunday evening, Trump wrote that, “For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Well, Donny, you benighted old blathering FOOL. An impoverished and degraded society will breed more criminal activity and that seems to be what you are intent on giving us.
But he has to keep hammering all the topics that stoke fear in his MAGA followers. Along with his propagandistic RW media, this is how he maintains control and distracts from his disastrous performance as POTUS.
No. of Recommendations: 6
Maybe he wants to reopen Alcatraz so he can be sure of a room with an ocean view?
No. of Recommendations: 4
Maybe he wants to reopen Alcatraz so he can be sure of a room with an ocean view?
It wasn’t exactly this idea that my wife and I laughed about last night as we mulled over the truly great potential here. But close……
He could be in solitary confinement- or virtually so.
The only prisoner on Alcatraz island. Give him the run of the place. Even install a put putt green in the exercise yard.
No phone. No internet capability. No visitors.
Just ten guards on duty at all times, not facing inward, but out, armed to the teeth with automatic weapons, anti-ship and anti-air missiles to prevent assisted escape.
Paint his stainless steel commode with a spray can of gold Krylon.
Give him a microwave and a ten year supply of MREs.
Every hour- broadcast the pre-recorded message that warns about sharks in San Francisco Bay, followed by Lee Greenwood’s “Proud To Be An American”.
Bar-a-Lago
No. of Recommendations: 1
Why not reopen Yuma Territorial Prison. That was MUCH more harsh than Alcatraz, and it would be cheaper. Nevermind the ACLU and Amnesty International (both of which would likely object to opening either site).
