Death Penalty And A Funny Poem

    

    

Tucson Weather Today

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"Since governments take the right of death over their people, it is not astonishing if the people should sometimes take the right of death over governments."
--Guy de Maupassant

After watching and listening to the various TV News reports about the recent botched execution in Oklahoma I was shocked at the media response, especially those using the incident to promote the seemingly inhumane aspects of the death penalty and using it to call for abolishing the death penalty.

After all, this event was just another one of the many examples of governmental and institutional incompetence.

More at Botched Execution

Don't get me wrong; I am neither for or against the death penalty. I don't have to have an opinion; I am not a judge. But...

It seems a bit surprising (to me) that after all these years Medical Science could not have developed a simple and effective method to painlessly perform a surgical procedure that will almost instantly transform a living human being into a non-living cadaver.

As they do in most hospital-based major surgeries, a doctor can administer sufficient anesthetics to render the patient unconscious and completely oblivious to pain. The doctor can then surgically sever the nervous system between the brain and the remainder of the body, stop the beating of the heart, and thereby deliver the patient into a permanent state of death.

I'm just sayin'...

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Yesterday I found a funny poem that was featured at The Writer's Almanac. It was titled The Pig. Since it is in the public domain and the poet is unknown, I am reproducing it here:

 The Pig
 by Anonymous
 
 It was the first of May
 A lovely warm spring day
 I was strolling down the street in drunken pride,
 But my knees were all a-flutter,
 And I landed in the gutter
 And a pig came up and lay down by my side.

 Yes, I lay there in the gutter
 Thinking thoughts I could not utter
 When a lady passing by did softly say
 'You can tell a man who boozes
 By the company he chooses' --
 And the pig got up and slowly walked away.

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Did You Know . . .?

Standing for one hour, watering your plants, and kissing for 10 minutes a day burns about 120 calories each.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

After nearly five decades as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover died, leaving the powerful government agency without the administrator who had been largely responsible for its existence and shape. In 1956, Hoover initiated Cointelpro, a secret counterintelligence program that initially targeted the U.S. Communist Party but later was expanded to infiltrate and disrupt any radical organization in America. During the 1960s, the immense resources of Cointelpro were used against dangerous groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, but also against African American civil rights organizations and liberal anti-war organizations. One figure especially targeted was civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who endured systematic harassment from the FBI.

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WORD FOR TODAY

humane  [hyu-MAYN]
adjective
characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Engelbert Humperdinck
(born May 2, 1936)

Engelbert Humperdinck is a British Indian pop singer, best known for his UK number-one hits "Release Me" and "The Last Waltz", as well as "After the Lovin'" and "A Man Without Love".

Christine Jane Baranski
(born May 2, 1952)

Christine Baranski is an American stage and screen actress. She made her stage debut in 1974 and her Broadway debut in Hide and Seek in 1980, The Real Thing in 1984 and Rumors in 1989. On television, she is known for her role as Maryanne Thorpe in the sitcom Cybill and her portrayals of Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in The Big Bang Theory and Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife. Her film roles include, 9 1/2 Weeks, Legal Eagles, Reversal of Fortune, Addams Family Values, Jeffrey, The Birdcage, Bulworth, Cruel Intentions, Chicago, and Mamma Mia!.

Theodore Meir Bikel
(born 2 May 1924)

Theodore Bikel is an Austrian-American actor, musician, and composer. He made his film debut in The African Queen (1951) and was nominated for an Academy award for his supporting role as Sheriff Max Muller in The Defiant Ones (1958).

Stephanie Kay Panabaker
(born May 2, 1990)

Kay Panabaker is a retired American film and television actress now working as a zoologist. She portrayed "Alice Brand" in 7th Heaven; "Melissa Rue" in ER; "Sara" in Port Charles; "Carrie Bauer" in The Brothers García; "Ellisha" in Medium; "Lindsey Willows" in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

In film, she appeared in Dead Heat as "Sam LaRoche".. Panabaker's breakout role came when she starred in The WB's Summerland as "Nikki Westerly", in the 2004-2005 season. She also appeared as "George" in the 2007 Nancy Drew: The Mystery in Hollywood Hills.

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"You do not cut a check in the state of Kansas to John Doe, executioner. The executioner is paid in cash so there's no trail to him"
--George Plimpton

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This Is Who I Am

    

Technological Progress And More

     

Tucson Weather Today

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I despise these pre-recorded telephone robots. My phone rings; I pick up and say "Hello." This irritatingly bouncy and overly-friendly voice starts up and proceeds to tell me  about this wonderful product or service I simply can't do without. I try to interrupt, since I have no need for that product or service, but it's a robot so it pays me no attention, and just rattles on and on.

So I hang up.


 The head of Smithfield Foods Inc., CEO Larry Pope, is trying to ease concerns that the proposed takeover of the world's largest pork producer by a Chinese company would pose risks to the U.S. food supply.

This doesn't bother me. I eat very little pork, and even then it's usually only a slice or two of ham (with cheese, either American or Swiss) in a sandwich. I much prefer chicken or turkey sandwiches, anyway.


In a report that undercuts years of public health warnings, a prestigious group convened by the government says there is no good reason based on health outcomes for many Americans to drive their sodium consumption down to the very low levels recommended in national dietary guidelines.

What? I don't have to limit my intake of salt? Wow!

NY Times story


A factoid you probably didn't know . . .
NASA's Asteroid Initiative involves using a robot to capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable lunar orbit where astronauts can visit and explore it.

This initiative seems to me somewhat unnecessary, and a bit dangerous for Earth. Don't you think?

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TRIVIA

Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, July 13 in 1955, nightclub owner Ruth Ellis was convicted of murdering boyfriend David Blakely.

During her trial, which began in June 1955, Ellis stated “It was obvious that when I shot him I intended to kill him.”

Ellis was later executed by hanging and became the last woman in Great Britain to be put to death for committing a crime.



WORD FOR TODAY

progressive
adjective
1. Moving forward; advancing.
2. Proceeding in steps; continuing steadily by increments: progressive change.
3. Promoting or favoring progress toward better conditions or new policies, ideas, or methods
4. Progressive Of or relating to a Progressive Party: the Progressive platform of 1924.
5. Of or relating to progressive education: a progressive school.
6. Increasing in rate as the taxable amount increases: a progressive income tax.
7. Pathology Tending to become more severe or wider in scope: progressive paralysis.
8. Grammar Designating a verb form that expresses an action or condition in progress.
noun
1. A person who actively favors or strives for progress toward better conditions, as in society or government.
2. A member or supporter of a Progressive Party.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Harrison Ford

(born July 13, 1942)

Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. His career has spanned six decades and includes roles in several Hollywood blockbusters, including Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and What Lies Beneath.

Patrick Stewart

(born 13 July 1940)

Patrick Stewart is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career on stage and screen. He is most widely known for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and its successor films, and as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series.

Robert Edward "Bob" Crane

(July 13, 1928 - June 29, 1978)

Bob Crane was an American actor. Crane is best known for his performance as Colonel Robert E. Hogan in the CBS sitcom Hogan's Heroes. The series aired from 1965 to 1971, and Crane received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on the series.

Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin

(born July 13, 1946)

Cheech Marin is a Mexican American comedian, actor and writer who gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s with Tommy Chong and early 1980s, and as Don Johnson's partner, Inspector Joe Dominguez on Nash Bridges. He has also voiced characters in several Disney productions, including Oliver and Company, The Lion King, It's Tough to be a Bug!, Cars, Cars 2 and Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

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Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.
--John Maynard Keynes

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