Both of these struck me as very well put:
Crime and Punishment
Why We Have the Death Penalty
This guy seems like a good reason.
If he were in the USA I think he would have been sentenced to death or life without parole or 4 consecutive life sentences. No way would he be eligible for parole in 30 years. He’s only 32 years old.
Also, it appears he worked for the NHS. IIRC so did Shipman, the monstrous mass-murdering physician. What a surprise.
Everybody knows that you have to carefully screen people who apply to be schoolteachers, cops or prison guards, but how about a little more psych review for hospital employees? Hospitals are playgrounds for clever psychopaths. Some elderly patients die. Who suspects?
This kind of event, of which I am sure many more go undetected, is by itself a strong reason not to allow physicians to engage in euthanasia. The scope for abuse, even by practitioners who mean well, is extremely high. In my experience, people who favor institutionalizing euthanasia a la the Netherlands never consider the likelihood that the system will be abused. It’s like handling lit blowtorches around open pools of gasoline.
UPDATE: In the comments, Tim Worstall says that I misunderstood the meaning of “eligible for parole” in the British system. However, from his description it sounds similar to the US system (which nonetheless varies from state to state). How close are the similarities? And how likely is it that the subject of the article I linked to will actually be released at some point?
Becker and Posner on Gun Control
Can Gun Control Laws be Effective? Becker
I find their arguments here disappointing, mostly because they beg the question by assuming that the net effects of gun ownership are negative. Nonetheless the exchange is thoughtful and worth reading, as are the critical comments (particularly those of John Lott, who points out the error in the central assumption about costs).
More Trouble in Okinawa
A crime occurred 12 years ago that seriously damages US-Japanese relations.
Two US Marines and a Navy seaman stationed in Okinawa kidnapped and raped a 12 year old girl in 1995. They were convicted and sentenced to serve time in Japanese jails. I suppose the Marines and Navy had their own version of punishment waiting when the guilty were released from foreign prison.
Rallies were organized to protest the continued US military presence on Japanese soil. Things became particularly tense on Okinawa, where the majority of the US military is based. The governor of the island at the time, Masahide Ota, stated that all US bases should be closed no later than 2015, saying the “Okinawa is ours!”
That all became kind of moot a few years later when North Korea, one of the last of the truly despicable and dangerous Communist regimes on the planet, test fired a missile that soared all the way over Japan to splash down in the sea on the other side.
You didn’t have to be a (heh) rocket scientist to figure this one out. NK wanted the Japanese to know that they could attack their cities at any time, and with impunity.
Suddenly having some American military muscle on hand to counter Communist aggression didn’t seem to be all that bad! Nothing like a remnant of Cold War tensions to clarify who your real buddies were. The most that ever came from all the sturm and drang was an agreement to move the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to a more remote location, and that hasn’t happened after more than a decade.
Now a similar incident is causing the resurgence of the same old problems. This time around, a single Marine is accused of raping a 14 year old schoolgirl when he gave her a ride home.
The current Prime Minister of Japan, Yasuo Fukuda, has publicly stated that “It has happened over and over again in the past and I take it as a grave case.” He has also said that such sexual crimes ” …can never be forgiven!”
A crime most definitely occurred since the accused Marine admitted to forcing the girl to kiss him, and now it is merely a matter of determining the damage caused and the severity of the punishment. But I’m wondering about the “..happened over and over again in the past…” part of the Prime Minister’s statement. Near as I can tell, he is referring to the 1995 case. Seems a bit overwrought to me to refer to a case that was closed more than a decade ago as something that happened “…over and over again…”, but I suppose it all dovetails neatly into his claim that such crimes can never be forgiven.
So the current Prime Minister is beating the anti-American drum while public sentiment once again turns against a continued American military presence on the islands. Does this mean that the US will be forced to seriously reduce the number of bases and troops on the islands?
Almost certainly not. Now that North Korea has at least extremely crude fission bombs, the threat from the old missile test back in 1998 becomes much more serious. Added to that is the fact that China is upgrading and expanding their own military, which certainly ratchets up the tension even more. Japan doesn’t have the military muscle to protect itself against even one of these potential foes, let alone both. They need the US to act as both a deterrent, and for combat power if relations between Japan and the two Communist states deteriorate.
Japan certainly has the ability to build up their own military to the point that they would not need to rely on the US for their security, and there have already been indications that the government there has been at least laying the groundwork in case such a move becomes necessary. But it usually takes decades of very serious effort to create the world class armed forces that Japan would need, and that doesn’t appear to be happening. Until it does, I just don’t see much changing.
As far as the current crisis is concerned, it seems to be a tempest in a teapot. Japanese politicians will talk trash against the US to bolster their approval ratings, one or two minor concessions will be granted by the US so fas as base location or size is concerned, and a whole lot of not much will happen.
Maybe they will finally get around to moving the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
(Cross posted at Hell in a Handbasket.)
Kick in My Door, Get Shot.
Recently, incidents in which police raids target the wrong house and result in the death of an occupant or an officer have begun to receive more attention. Paramilitary tactics developed to surprise, disorient and rapidly subdue heavily armed and violent drug suspects backfire horribly when employed against the law abiding.
These incidents hit home for me because I’ve actually come very close to experiencing such a raid.