We Know What You Are Thinking

Due to the nature of my work I travel extensively which like all things has its positives and negatives. One thing I always enjoy when traveling is reading the local newspaper wherever I am staying -- please don't be like the woman Jimmy Buffett mentioned in his book, "A Pirate Looks at Fifty", who Buffett overheard say to her husband while she was sitting in an open air cafe somewhere in the Caribbean, "Henry, they don't even have a New York Times here!!!" Now that is no way to live - travel to a foreign destination and expects its culture to be exactly like your home area.

Now that is the lighter side of this posting since the topic I am covering today is the "death penalty" concept. What inspired this was an editorial in the Rocky Moutain News newspaper (April 22, 2006 I believe) which read - "A life sentence, not death: A proper fate for Moussaoui" which of course referred to the jury decision for Zacarias Moussaoui, the "19th hijacker" from the September 11th attacks who apparently majored in Hate Studies at university.

As I read the editorial I was reminded of some TV reporting on this case where someone posed the question -- "the decision for the jury is whether or not to apply the death penalty for a crime that Moussaoui PLANNED to commit."

The key word there is PLANNED in case you missed it. If you have ever seen the film, "Minority Report" (yes a Tom Cruise film I watched to the end unlike the incredibly poor "War of the Worlds but I digress.......) you know the concept presented by the film. Essentially the future world is a utopia where crimes have been eliminated because the "justice" system has three people floating in water telling (forecasting) the special police agents like Mr. Cruise which citizens PLAN to commit crimes and when by looking into the future via a telepathic power apparently unknown in our current, primitive society.

http://www.usfca.edu/pj/minorityreport_bergman.htm -- "Minority Report"

By NO means would I ever defend Moussaoui's role in the September 11th attacks or his hate-filled speeches but I remain extremely concerned that an American jury was on the brink of applying the death penalty - which is rather final I think you will agree ;) - to a human being who PLANNED to harm others. Busting rocks in the Big House is clearly a better option.

I could say more but the Pre-Cogs already know what I want to say,

Todd