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Author Topic: Upon Deeper Consideration  (Read 9885 times)

Oilcan

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Re: Upon Deeper Consideration
« Reply #150 on: August 04, 2022, 12:06:41 PM »

Coordinating transit in a rational way with zoning is going to be a bear.



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Oilcan

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Re: Upon Deeper Consideration
« Reply #151 on: August 04, 2022, 12:07:13 PM »



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Hamilton Samuels

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Re: Upon Deeper Consideration
« Reply #152 on: August 04, 2022, 02:35:40 PM »

What if planet Earth was a no-fly zone?

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220519-what-if-we-all-stopped-flying

We did stop flying for several days after 9/11. It was eerily quiet, among other things.
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Oilcan

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Re: Upon Deeper Consideration
« Reply #153 on: November 12, 2022, 12:07:11 PM »

So it appears we have, with the collapse of the Red Wave, escaped at least one form of Hobbesian nightmare.

What others do you think we must prepare for?  Solar flare taking out the grid?  Nuclear war?  Collapse of the bee population?  Malicious design and release of bioengineered pathogen?  Pest infestation destroys world coffee crop?

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bambu.

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Re: Upon Deeper Consideration
« Reply #154 on: December 04, 2022, 09:31:29 PM »

I could be in favor of executing a limited subset of murderers who commit especially depraved (or mass) murders, as long as there is close to zero doubt they did it.  Such as being caught at the scene as in the case of Dylan Roof the church assassin.  Or of there is substantial and uncontradicted physical evidence.

You could even make it part of the sentence that they get 10 years in jail for appeals and such before their execution date.  And have a review board that makes sure that guilt is not in doubt.

A big problem with the system as it is, is that it's poor and poorly educated and minorities who get the death penalty.  Often legal counsel was inept -- there have been death penalty cases where the attorney never handled such a case before, where the lawyer slept through parts of the trial etc.  If the person is clearly guilty or the evidence so stacked against them, any competent lawyer will plea bargain and get their client a long prison term instead of exposing them to the death penalty.  Related, if the lawyer fails to bring up some objections or introduce some evidence into trial, that often precludes any appeals on those grounds.  So the system as it is punishes the poor with inept or inexperienced counsel.

And there are racial issues as well.  Studies have shown that killing a white person leads to more death penalty convictions.  That black defendants get the death penalty more than whites.  That juries without blacks vote for the death penalty for black defendants more, etc.  I assume death penalty is sought more for black defendants and white victims as well.

So given the realities of poor counsel and a weak public defender system, plus the inherent racism in the US criminal justice I find it very hard to practically implement a fair and mistake free death penalty regime.  As it stands it's generally poor and poorly educated minorities who get the death penalty.  For most defendants, it's not too difficult to plea bargain and/or argue mitigating factors and avoid such.

Then there's also issues of mental competency and youth.
A can of worms all around.

At least under the current regime the death penalty is fairly rare, takes around 20 years for a sentence to be carried out -- but I don't think anyone would argue that it's fair and mistake free.

Indeed.
The death penalty is a croc.
The premeditated, cold-blooded killing of human beings by the state is barbaric.
It was barbaric in Auschwitz, and it's just as barbaric today.
Walk the human into the chamber of death alive, and wheel them out dead...time modern America moved on from that. Ask Sabrina Butler, I'm sure she will agree.
Ask the Innocence Project, they will certainly agree.




« Last Edit: December 04, 2022, 09:46:39 PM by bambu. »
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Oilcan

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Re: Upon Deeper Consideration
« Reply #155 on: December 09, 2022, 06:24:26 PM »

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/09/1141635119/the-first-gen-z-member-of-congress-was-denied-a-d-c-apartment-due-to-bad-credit

Ending rental application fees is a good start.  For the non-affluent some of the current practice is predatory. 

And for members of Congress from the working class, they shouldn't have to couch surf the first few months in DC, or resort to sleeping in their offices.  Maybe consider affordable housing as essential to the health of any city, find legal and legislative tools to reward builders who do the right thing and create affordable spaces.  I have a lot of hope for the raised consciousness of Gen Z.
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Oilcan

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Re: Upon Deeper Consideration
« Reply #156 on: March 19, 2023, 04:48:34 PM »

How modern zombie narratives have distanced themselves from the Haitian origins.  And why.  Fascinating read.

https://www.salon.com/2023/03/19/zombie-zonbi-haiti-origins/

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Oilcan

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Re: Upon Deeper Consideration
« Reply #157 on: December 14, 2023, 02:54:29 PM »

https://www.thetrace.org/2023/12/firearm-suicide-gun-owners-nra-research/

Longish article, copublished by The Atlantic and The Trace.  I posted The Trace link, since it is paywall free. 

A story of a gun lover and suicide. 
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