Waaaagh!

Ok. File this one under wrong.

Colorado to use inmates to fill migrant shortage
Tough laws passed last year against illegal immigration have created a need for farmworkers.

From the article:
Prisoners who are a low security risk may choose to work in the fields, earning 60 cents a day. They also are eligible for small bonuses.

The inmates will be watched by prison guards, who will be paid by the farms. The cost is subject to negotiation, but farmers say they expect to pay more for the inmate labor and its associated costs than for their traditional workers.

So farmers are upset because they have to pay $.60 a day for a worker - plus the minimum wage for the security guard to watch them - because that's more than they're used to paying. Sixty cents. And prisoners will be willing to DO the work for that sixty cents... And in the mean time we give Apple a hard time for the Chinese I-pod manufacturing facilities...

Along those lines - last week - IBM wanted to charge me several thousand dollars for management modules in 1U servers I'm having deployed in China for remote management - things that could open and close the DVD tray... do a little more than the typical remote login functionality. When I did the ROI, I realized I could pay 3 shifts of chinese workers 4 years of salary before I broke even - to sit there all day and push the button when i needed it.

The 'invisible hand' of capitalism is about to destroy your way of life America... and in the mean time you're so focused on chasing ghosts that you're not doing anything about it.