Economy's so bad that ex-con wants back in prison

I've heard of former prison inmates committing crimes so they can go back to prison for medical care, but going back for the food is something else.

A jobless Taiwan man who has been out of prison for two years asked police to send him back to prison so he could eat, according to a Reuters story.

Taiwan is in a recession, but it must be a lot worse than America's recession.

The 45-year-old convicted arsonist was found lying on a street in a Taipei shopping district and was nostalgic for the 10 years he had served behind bars. He had also contacted police separately with the same request, a police spokesman told the China Post newspaper.

Police brought him a boxed lunch but declined to send him back to prison.

"We advised him to keep looking for work," the police spokesman said. "I don't know why he can't find a job. Maybe employers think he's not suitable or that he's too old."

Or that he might burn their business down.