Death penalty

Brad Walsh wrote:

> As a Texan squeamish about the death penalty, I wish I could convince more
> people that capital punishment is irrational.

Last time I heard it cost more to put somebody on deathrow than
just lock them up for the rest of their life... and then
there's the 'accidental' deaths; oh dear we just fried the
wrong guy/gal.

> But a common response to the
> above arguments is, "Well we've all got problems. We shouldn't let every
> sicko think he can kill his way into a lifetime of free meals and medical
> care. Besides the Bible...."

Yeah, good old Leviticus; he recommends death for cursing your
parents. A real moderate that guy.

I prefer the Ian M. Banks solution. You kill someone, you get a
drone that follows you around everywhere and makes sure you
don't do it again. He claimed it was social death; personally
I suspected the opposite... but I'm sure the drone would be a
real nuisance; probably it would go around introducing you to
everyone and being really boring... I think this solution could
work ;-)

--
- Ian Woollard (ian.woollard@...)

"Is a planetary surface the right place for an expanding
technological civilization?"
- Gerard O'Neill