News – Dealing with Criminals

North America

Stanley Tookie Williams was executed last night/this morning. This particular event has drawn up the talk on the Death Penalty again. Another of those highly charged subjects. One radio commentator, on a largely conservative station, made an interesting observation about Williams. He made clear he had no sympathy for Williams, then asked if killing him was a good idea, because the man had turned himself around and was providing a service to society through the books he wrote and his determination to turn youths away from gang life. He asked what does killing Williams do for society in contrast to what he does in life. And what of the message his death sends. Do wrong and then seek to find redemption if you want, doesn’t matter. We’ll kill you anyway. What impetus is there to seek redemption then? It’s an interesting set of questions to consider.

Personally, I think the Death Penalty has a place in society. But it is misused in the now, because our penal system is focused, wrongly, on punishment rather than rehabilitation. We cage the drek of society together and let them fester like an infected wound, most becoming worse than they started before being released. The system is counterproductive when it comes to making the people safer and life sentences create a drain on the resources of society.

I think we need a full revamp of the prison system, with a focus on rehabilitation. The goal should be to return criminals to society in time. There should be no life sentences, because those in this system who would deserve life in prison would be those who cannot be rehabilitated and are a danger to society as a whole. In which case they should be either exiled or put to death. Preference set on exile, death being reserved for those who are a danger to those around them.

Bush says he’s not a bubble boy, as some have opined. Personally, I’m inclined to believe he is at least in part, based on his previous statements. Considering he prefers to get his info from his advisors, who are a cluster of cronies. And considering he doesn’t make decisions based on polls, I can believe he’s out of touch with public opinion. I wonder how many of the dissenting emails the White House is likely bombarded with actually get to the president, compared to the positive? I’ve always wondered that. It’s one reason I don’t bother emailing the White House. I know my concerns will be ignored, likely tossed out by some screener, never to be read. I can believe that Bush is shielded from public opinion and some grim facts.

Robert Blackwill, who was deputy national security adviser during Bush’s first term, says: “Of course torture should not be widespread and of course there should be extraordinarily stringent top-down requirements in this respect. But never? … I wouldn’t say never.” I would, we’re above such crude methods. Torture is the way of the barbarian.

Laura Bush says that George is committed to rebuilding New Orleans. Could have fooled me, I haven’t seen any progress yet. At the very least, there should be teams down there cleaning all that mold up and at least clearing the way for reconstruction while the actual construction is planned. Mind you, I still think that New Orleans shouldn’t be rebuilt. At least, not those areas that were flooded.

The Pentagon decides to add peacemaking to their mission. Good luck on that.

Kip Hawley, assistant secretary for transportation security, defends the allowance of scissors and screwdrivers on planes. She brings up a good point, that a lot of things that people can bring on planes can be used as weapons if someone were determined enough. Pencils, pens and the like can do some serious damage, just as screwdrivers and scissors can. We need to balance the need for safety with the need for people to take things with them on flights ad the time it takes to search for these items at security screening stations. While some items can be dangerous, their likelihood of being used in such a way is more negligible than others.

The Democrats want to have energy independence by 2020. We could do it, if we really wanted to.

The RNC does more photo doctoring to make misleading ads. Yay for quotes taken out of context, which will cause the DNC to do the same, which will cause the RNC to respond.. haven’t we seen this sort of thing before?

Is a reliance on snitching bad for our law enforcement agencies? If so, maybe the snitching should stop.

Middle East

Internal violence leads to a closing of election offices in Palestine.

A report accusing Israel of a rush to annex Arab areas of East Jerusalem is shelved so as to not upset Israel.

Jalal Talabani, current president of Iraq, says he won’t seek reelection.

Bush says about 30k Iraqis have been killed since the war started. Mind you, this is after having it said some time ago that the military doesn’t keep track of Iraqi deaths. So take the number as such.

Australia

Cultural unrest recently broke the surface in Australia. Three nights now, with police trying to still the unrest. It involves Muslim youths, who are reported to have been an issue. Mind you, wrong done by these youths doesn’t justify a violent response. As we see, violence begets violence. Native Australians need to find a better way to deal with subversive elements in their country.

General

The Blogs look at the riots in Australia, a lawsuit that suggests the government might keep some laws secret from the public, and the legacy of the late Richard Pryor. Richard was a funny man.

A review for King Kong. Looks like a good movie with a good mix of CGI flash and depth(for a movie of its kind, mind you).

Today’s Papers has another killing of an anti-Syrian activist, the Supreme Court agreeing to review the Texas redistricting pushed by Rep. Tom DeLay and various tidbits in the one page news.

Amusements

iPods making kids deaf so quickly that soon the only way to get them the hell off your lawn will be to post it on a sign

You’d think a farmer who recently paid $380,000 to his neighbours for sickening them with a manure spill would be a little more diligent about dealing with the stuff. You’d also be wrong

Bad: Woman climbs fence to pick flowers. Worse: It’s the fence keeping lions in

Man who swallowed a 1.5-carat ring and a one-carat wrap has police waiting for him to take a 2.5-carat crap

School includes “Christmas Witch” in holiday program. Lawsuitarity to ensue

Thanks to Sprint, now you can watch three hours of movies on your phone’s one inch screen. Ian Holm to be rendered as a pixel

An 11-year-old boy’s nose has been reattached after it was bitten off …… and swallowed by a dog

Today’s “cyclist with no pants on” story brought to you by Orange Park (pic)

10 stoner ideas for bringing peace to Iraq

Teacher lies about needing time off to join his National Guard unit to aid New Orleans flood victims so he could get a few extra vacation days. What could possibly go wrong?

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this headshot. Difficulty: Keep it family friendly

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Help a Friend of a Farker fix his tattoo. It was supposed to be a Nautilus… It looks like something subtly homoerotic. He’s going to have it fixed, please photoshop some suggestions. Link leads to image of tattoo (possibly NSFW)

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this man holding up his gigantic rock