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<DIV><A
href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?&did=1726#2005">http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?&did=1726#2005</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Bureau of Justice Statistics released its latest report on the status
of the death penalty in the U.S., <I><B>Capital Punishment, 2004,</B></I> on
November 13. According to the report, the nation's death row population,
executions, and the number of people given death sentences last year all
declined. There were 3,315 people on state and federal death rows at the
conclusion of 2004, 63 fewer than in 2003. Last year, 125 people were sentenced
to death, the fewest since 1973. Twelve states executed 59 prisoners in 2004,
six fewer than in 2003. Those executed had been under a sentence of death for an
average of 11 years, which was one month longer than the period for inmates
executed in 2003. Of those under a sentence of death in 2004, 56% were white,
42% were black, and 13% were Hispanic ("Hispanic" is counted as an ethnicity,
rather than a race). (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics,
<I>Capital Punishment, 2004</I>, November 13, 2005</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">These stats lead one to
some serious speculation. If there were 3,315 people on death row, why weren’t
there 3,315 executions? We spend endless fortunes to try these parasites
and condemn them to death. Then, in most cases, they just sit on death row
until they die of natural causes. If they are the unlucky ones to be executed,
they first spend on the average of 11 years in prison, living free from the
taxes we all pay, working out, studying law, eating, sleeping, etc., (all things
their victims can no longer do) before they receive justice. Why are
we pussyfooting around with these subhumans? They know we don't mean business.
Not much of a crime deterrent if we don't carry out many executions, huh? Other
stats reveal only 1004 people have actually been put to death in the US since
1976. If I were a murderer, I'd have no problems playing the odds. I'd be more
apt to win the powerball jackpot than be executed. But, we all know that the
ACLU, NLG, and other communist organizations will continue to obstruct justice
at every given chance. </SPAN><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'">If we tried, convicted,
and swiftly executed people those people found guilty of murder, rape,
treason, etc--without the games currently being played--only the crazy’s would
want to get executed; the rest would recognize the risks and perhaps be
dissuaded from committing the crime. However, if we continue this lunatic
pacifist approach, trends will continue, and resident vermin will be content to
play the odds. It’s kind of like an adult “spare the rod and spoil the child”…
Permissiveness is far too prevalent in society—from the top down,
pervasive.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'"></SPAN><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> <FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
size=2>--Ed</FONT></FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Lastly, a bit of wisdom from
George Carlin, a man whom I don’t particularly care for sometimes…he’s right on
this time, however…</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT></FONT></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes two
parents.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>I think cops have the right to pull you over if you're breaking the
law, regardless of what color you are.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>I think owning a gun doesn't make you a killer, it makes you a smart
American.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>I think being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does
not entitle you to anything.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><EM><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I didn't wander forty years In
the desert after getting chased out of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have
you! So, shut up already.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></EM></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=starbliss@gmail.com href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com">Ted Moffett</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> ; <A
title=mattd2107@hotmail.com href="mailto:mattd2107@hotmail.com">Matt
Decker</A> ; <A title=ToeKneeTime@aol.com
href="mailto:ToeKneeTime@aol.com">ToeKneeTime@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, May 07, 2006 7:24 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Life Imprisonment:
A Superior Deterrent?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><EM>All:</EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM>Regarding the arguments for the death penalty as a deterrent, which
is a very questionable argument given the empirical evidence regarding the
death penalty as it exists in the USA, what I wrote earlier on this
subject, that I send again at the bottom here, might argue for life
imprisonment as a superior deterrent to crime than the death penalty.
</EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM>Life imprisonment under spartan conditions no doubt is viewed by some
who commit horrendous crimes as a worse outcome than the death penalty
We have seen some on death row in the USA make efforts to block appeals of
their case, requesting to have the death penalty carried out. Indeed,
given the extreme psychology involved sometimes in the minds of
perpetrators of horrendous crimes, carrying out the death penalty in some
cases boils down to state assisted suicide for someone who does not care about
life, theirs or anyones. </EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM>However, I am not suggesting that instead of the death penalty, the
state should "abuse" prisoners given a life sentence till they die of "natural
causes" to establish a superior deterrent to crime than the death penalty,
even if there was a superior deterrent effect if such a program were
carried out. This would be justifying the state committing human rights
abuses, and indeed suggests another argument against the death penalty; that
state sanctioned killing of its own citizens places within the mind of its
citizens the notion that the deliberate and calculated killing of another
human being who is confined and helpless is sometimes a morally justifiable
act, giving moral support to those who wish to commit murder to carry
out "justice" for whatever offence they believe someone committed that
they think deserves death as a penalty... such as, perhaps, the Matthew
Shepard or Dr. Slepian cases? </EM></DIV>
<DIV>-----------</DIV>
<DIV>"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from
religious conviction."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><EM>Blaise Pascal</EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM>----------</EM>-</DIV>
<DIV><EM>How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is
fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness
not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an
individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in
its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such
paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all
contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no
answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them
out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light.
</EM></DIV>
<DIV>
<P>Barry Lopez from "Arctic Dreams"</P>
<P><A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375727485/jjsbooksbuilding/002-0608912-6642455"
target=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375727485/jjsbooksbuilding/002-0608912-6642455
</A></P></DIV>
<DIV><EM>-----------</EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM>Well, OK, Winston (1984) was crushed as a human being by
the<BR></EM>><I> state to make a statement that the state has the power to
destroy (as in<BR></I>><I> destroy the spirit, beliefs and love a human
being followed) a human being <BR></I>><I> who opposes said state, while
they are alive, the point being this is worse </I>><I> than having the
state simply execute its opponents, because it is a<BR></I>><I> destruction
of the very freedom seeking individualistic humanity in the soul </I>><I>
of a human being that constitutes the essence of the opposition of
the<BR></I>><I> individual to the power of the state...</I></DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM>Ted Moffett</EM></DIV>
<DIV><BR><EM> </EM></DIV>
<P>
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