Thursday, February 23, 2006

Execution/Death Penalty

There is something about this whole controversy surrounding the death penalty which rings hollow. The most recent controversy involves death by lethal injection. This replaced the gas chamber as it was thought to be more humane than death by asphyxiation. Now it seems that some prisoners have not been completely "under" when the third and lethal dose of drugs is administered leading some people to claim this is inhumane and amounts to torture. Well, considering what some of these criminals have done, I say, so what. But the question remains, should we even execute at all. Wouldn't life without parole in a maximum security prison be more punishment than killing the person. You kill him or her and it's all over. Kaput! Nada! No more worries. To me that is the easy way out. As for the form of execution, most if not all states allowing executions had replaced the electric chair (a shocking experience I am sure) with the gas chamber which has been replaced by death by lethal injection provided they can figure out the right formula. Then you have the state of Utah which had or still may have death by firing squad as one option. Oh lord, if they still do make sure Dick Cheney is not on that squad. Oops, I am getting off track here. If they want something quick and sure why not go back to the guillotine. No lingering doubts, no squirming prior to the heart stopping, etc. Maybe a public execution with the family and friends of the victim(s) would be in order. Would they feel that justice has been served that way?

No, I am not against the death penalty for any moral reasons but neither am I in favor of it. The hard road for any prisoner is life in prison with no hope of parole. Unfortunately our prisons today have got too many leisure time activities scheduled so there would need to be a prison set aside for LIFERS only. Keep 'em in their cells 23 hours per day and allow no contact with anyone else for the one hour out of the cell.

Of course, along with a reform like that you would have to reform the court system and get capital cases through much quicker than is now the case and appeals must be limited. At the same time, if new evidence is found x months or years down the road, by all means, re-open the case but do not waste taxpayers money on endless appeals, etc.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Pocket full of notes...

Today a table on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco caught my attention. The big sign read: "Dick Cheney Safety Committee". Well, it turns out that these were followers of Lyndon LaRouche who are now trying to find a way to oust the current administration. Anyway, I thought the sign was funny if nothing else.

I guess I have a dirty mind but when reading an article in a computer magazine tonight about calls to tech support, it was mentioned that seldom does anyone call these days for help for what amounts to "dirty mouse balls". That really had me giggling.

A few days ago I was thinking about radio or TV announcers on a classical music broadcasts saying something to the effect that "as the conductor comes on stage the orchestra rises" which frequently leaves me with a vision of the entire orchestra levitating off the stage. Then the coup de gras, the conductor mounts the podium. Well, I will leave THAT one to YOUR imagination.

And with that I am outa here for now.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

What's up?

Well, not much however here is a question that I have been pondering and wondering what other people do. If you live alone and use the facilities in the bathroom do you, a) close the door completely, b) close it partially, or c) don't bother with it and leave it open? I am not talking about just washing hands or brushing teeth either. You KNOW what I mean.

Are you a collector of the 50 State quarter collection? I have been doing that and today I got the Nevada entry, the first state quarter to be issued in 2006. I have all the state quarters except for Wisconsin and that one was issued in 2004. I wonder who has all the Wisconsin quaters. Is it all those cheese heads in Green Bay???

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Fools, fools, fools

I can't believe how these simple minded fools in Washington D.C. are acting. First they are glad to see that the Palestinians had a free election. Then they were not happy with the outcome so Bush and Blair get together to start plotting ways to destabilize the new Hamas regime. Now Condoleeza Rice wants to spend $75 million dollars to promote democracy in Iran. What makes these idiots think that any of those countries care one iota about democracy? Sure, they envy us becuase we are a rich country and they might like to have some of the material things we have, that is, if their religions don't prohibit such things, but in countries where democracy is not imedded in the soul, in the psyche of its peoples, it is not of interest and we will never be able to force it down their throats. We are contributing to increased ill will around the world by trying to do so. We need to stop judging other countries by our own standards. We are bankrupting the country trying to do so.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Hunting Protocol

As one letter writer to the SF Chroicle put it this morning: Maybe it's just as well Dick Cheney didn't serve in Vietnam.

As for hunting rules, he (Dick Cheney) needs to review the rules & procedures . Friendly fire can be just as dangerous as that initiated by the enemy.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Oops...

I don't know whether to laugh or cry about this story but it is the sort of thing that leaves you wondering about the people who are supposed to be protecting us. Of course we have been wondering for a number of years but this latest blunder really takes the cake. I wonder if George would ever consider going hunting with Dick after this.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Disco Night at the Olympics

It was a varied and interesting evening for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics from Torino, Italy, but the choice of music for the entrance of the athletes was surprising. Since I danced to a lot of that music in the 70s and early 80s it was enjoyable but had I been one of the athletes I would have been dancing in, not walking in. Perhaps they should have saved that music for the closing ceremonies which are less formal. Then the athletes who feel so inclined, could dance into the stadium. The music covered a wide range from disco to opera including the Grand March from the opera Aida for the entrance of the Olympic Flag and then Luciano Pavarotti's singing of Nesun Dorma. One thing that was pleasing was that the talking heads at NBC did less talking than during the previous Olympics. This time they tended to let the show play out with only minimal comments from the booth.

Friday, February 10, 2006

There goes the neighborhood...

I find this news to be distressing. What is to become of this important bit of San Francisco culture and real estate? First we lose the bowling alley and now we are to lose a couple of hotels, a cinema, and a shopping mall? Yikes, where will this all end?

Saturday, February 04, 2006

AT&T Park

In 2000 I wrote a letter to the SF Muni suggesting that they change or modify the name of their station at 2nd & King Streets by adding Pacific Bell Park to the name and/or eliminating 2nd & King which would not mean too much to people from out of town. They replied that it was under consideration. Well, it is good thing it never got any further as they too would have had to play the name change game from Pacific Bell to SBC and now to AT&T and I wonder how much that would have cost the city. Anyway, next time anyone starts talking about a merger or buyout in the telecommunications business, you better duck & cover, for no telling what the end result will be.

For more informatioin about the name change, click here.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Putting one foot in front of the other

I am slowly recovering from my vacation and catching up with mail, both snail and E. There has been a ton of it. Now I am into my financials for the month and trying to reconcile the ATM receipts from the banks in Thailand with what has been posted to my account. There seem to be three missing postings so I wonder if there was a glitch in Thailand at the time or somewhere inbetween here and there and if they will ever show up on my account. Oh well, I am not going to worry about it right now anyway. I still have to reconcile my January statement from WFB which will be a job in itself especially with all the "foreign" ATM transaction fees on it this time.

Today I will return to the gym but my blood pressure now has me worried as it is starting to creep up again and it was doing this before going on vacation. A year ago when I started going back to the gym it came down but now it going back up and some readings are higher than ever. For instance, one the evening before departure on reading was 178/105. Upon returning to SF, the first reading was 143/100. Earlier today it was 155/83 but my pulse was down to 53 which is lower than normal for me. Normal readings would be in the range of 120/80 or close to it so these are really disturbing to me. Help, I am falling apart.

Ah well, Super Bowl Sunday approaches and I can hardly wait - NOT. My Patriots are not in it and the Raiders and 49ers need complete new teams before they will ever be contenders again. Oh well, it will be a good time to visit with friends and loose a little money on a friendly wager. I guess the Steelers are favored but I will put my money on the Seahawks.

After being so busy the past month with my vacation and with various other activities in December, February will be a very quiet month. I have no activities scheduled with any certainty except for the Super Bowl party at a friend's place. Oh, what to do?