Kaletsky on America
Anatole Kaletsky in The Times is one of my favourite commentators and I usually read what he says.
Today’s missive, The New World is slipping behind the times, is unlikely to go down very well with those conservative Republicans whose main aim seems to be to take America back to the good old days, when men were men and preachers were preachers. Women, blacks and other second class citizens did what they were told.
This paragraph is one of many, that doesn’t pull any punches.
The US is the only major country not even to have considered adopting the metric system, and which still uses fahrenheit instead of celsius and refuses to publish railway and airline timetables using the 24-hour clock. And then there are the scarily anachronistic social views, ranging from the death penalty to creationism over evolution.
America is going down a very small dead-end. We had better not follow them!
You have to admire Kaletsky to get the death penalty, metrication and evolution in one paragraph.
Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich says he is pro-life with respect to abortion.
Does that mean that he is against the death penalty?
I doubt it!
He has one of those special mirrors so he can shave both of his faces at the same time.
Amanda Knox and the US Justice System
I have no idea if Amanda Knox was guilty of murder or not.
The Americans put a lot of support behind her in an effort to persuade the Italians to free her, from a possible miscarriage of justice.
But then so many of the people in US jails have been failed by their own justice system. Several have been executed lately who didn’t get a trial with the care shown by the Italians.
But then Amanda Knox was white and intelligent, whereas most of those who suffer injustice in the States are black and illiterate and defended by lawyers, who aren’t the best to say the least.
But then the victim in the Amanda Knox case wasn’t American. We also don’t know how much pressure was put on the Italians. After all their economy is rather rocky and if the United States withdrew support, it would have been serious.
The Funeral Expenses of Troy Davis
The execution of Troy Davis in Georgia has been rightly condemned by many.
I have just received an e-mail, which says that his family are responsible for the expenses of his funeral.
The Great Advantage of Rick Perry As US President
He would be able to talk to President Ahmadinejad as an equal as they both have the same views on capital punishment.
This even extends to their views on the execution of juveniles!
The two are made for each other!
An Eloquent and Moving Letter Against the Death Penalty
This letter was published in the Times yesterday.
Sir, As a young police officer in 1953 I had to attend the Chester Assize Court when an 18-year-old was tried for the murder of his mother. He had quarrelled with her about a girlfriend and strangled her with his tie as she sat at the breakfast table. I watched in horrified fascination as a minister of religion placed a black cap on the judge’s head and the death sentence was passed. I recall reading later that it had been carried out.
Nothing will ever convince me that this boy’s death prevented anyone else being murdered. Since that moment I have been opposed to the death penalty. Even when the Moors murderers were convicted, I did not change my convictions. I am in my eighties now but it is an abiding memory. Perhaps if those wanting to bring back the death penalty had been there they would not be so keen.
As an aside here, C used to visit Holloway Prison in the 1970, where she met Myra Hindley amongst others. One of the warders she met, was one of those, who had taken Ruth Ellis to the gallows. That warden’s views had been totally changed by that horrific experience.
The Vengeance Tendency Hi-Jacks the E-Petitions
According to this report on the BBC, there are dozens of e-petitions calling for the government to bring back hanging. So the spiteful and vengeful in the UK population celebrate the suspension of the death penalty in Japan in an appropriate way.
I am one of the few people in the UK, who has met someone, who was sentenced to death in the UK. He was later reprieved and went on to be well-known on television for his work. How does the vengeance tendency square with such miscarriages of justice? I suppose it’s alright for someone to get hung to discourage the others, even if they are innocent. Unless of course, you happen to be that person.
I think I’l start an e-petition to stop the NHS wasting taxpayers money on homeopathy! Perhaps the money saved could be used to pay for the death penalty. After all for many the result is the same!
Japan SuspendsThe Death Penalty
Japan and the United States are the two major countries of the western world, who still have the death penalty. There are reports today, that the new justice minister, Eda Satsuki has effectively susoended capital punishment. There’s a detailed report here on UPI.
He is also quoted in The Times as saying “Human beings are rational creatures. I think it’s wrong-headed to claim that taking the life of a person is the expression of a rational nature”.
I’ll agree with that.
The Anonymous Widower 