LET'S GET A CONVERSATION GOING >>>

In case you missed it, I got at least seven irate voicemails yesterday about this April Fools' story - which centered on the fictional announcement that the Northwest Detention Center would be expanding into the Frank Russell building. Kudo to Paul Schrag for doing such an awesome job with it. As Schrag assessed early in the morning yesterday, when my voicemail count was at a more modest two or three, "Satire is a powerful weapon in the war on stupid."

The story - fictional or not - seemed to inspire a lot of conversation about the Northwest Detention Center, which is uniquivocaly a good thing. The NWDC - and more specifically what's going on there, in our backyard - is something we all should be much more aware of.

In that spirit, I thought I'd provide some links to previous coverage of the NWDC in the Weekly Volcano. Schrag, who so masterfully tackled yesterday's April Fools' story, along with a few other Volcano writers, have done plenty of work on the subject - and it's worth taking a look back on.

LOCKED AND LOADED: Geo Group will incarcerate more immigrants - by John Herbert, July '08

ICE ABUSE MAY EXIST: Report shows abuse at Northwest Detention Center - by Josh Norton, Aug. '08

TACOMA TAR PITS: Doing dirt - by Paul Schrag, Dec. '08

BELLY OF THE BEAST: A look inside the Northwest Detention Center - by Paul Schrag, Feb. '09

GOD FORBID?: Finding high ground on the tide flats - by Simon Moon, March '09

UN-AMERICAN: Plenty to say about NWDC, but most of it doesn't make sense - by Paul Schrag, '09