O/T: Opinion

[Lobby Dosser]

And chain gangs. What happened to chain gangs? Last time I saw or heard of a chain gang was 1961 in Alabama.

[Lobby Dosser]

As are fisherman. I was very surprised to see guys fishing the Indian Ocean in small boats 700 miles from shore. The small boats have mother ships the same way that the pirates do. In any guerrilla action the trick is being able to tell the good guys from the bad. We have a tough enough time with a 1000 mile line of border - I have no idea how to effectively patrol a million square miles of ocean.

Offing the pirates on sight sounds great, but it creates problems for the people and ships already held hostage. You'd essentially be writing them off as well. When the topic of dealing with pirates comes up some people refer to how the Romans dealt with piracy. I'm not so sure that was anything more than marketing and spin.

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Why cite the Romans when we have our own proud tradition.

[Lobby Dosser]

Dumping neutron bombs always seemed like a stupid decision to me. Mostly all you want to do is get rid of the people who are attacking you.

[DGDevin]

Outsourced to China.

[WW]

[krw]

Not exactly the same thing, but prison work crews are still used for cleanup and such.

[Larry Jaques]

By "dumping" do you mean utilizing neutron bombs or getting rid of their use?

-- The general effect was exactly like a microscopic view of a small detachment of black beetles, in search of a dead rat. -- John Ruskin

[HeyBub]

You're right. We can never succeed by killing the workers. We have to destroy the nest.

[RicodJour]

If Somalia had oil there wouldn't be piracy - you can bet on that. What it needs is a working government that can police their own people, and that's not happening anytime soon. The ship ransom's are buying the latest in weaponry and making a lot of big fish in a little pond. Pretty much irresistible to the poor piss-ants.

R

[RicodJour]

If Somalia had oil there wouldn't be piracy - you can bet on that. What it needs is a working government that can police their own people, and that's not happening anytime soon. The ship ransom's are buying the latest in weaponry and making a lot of big fish in a little pond. Pretty much irresistible to the poor piss-ants.

R

[Mike M]

No Kidding, well said

Mike M

[CW]

Fairly recently in Texas.

[Doug Winterburn]

Check out Maricopa County, Arizona. Chain gangs are voluntary and open to women and juveniles. Not really the chain gangs of yore...

[Lobby Dosser]

Around here (Oregon) that seems do be done with short term (less than a year, in general) prisoners from the local jails, not the prisoners from the penitentiaries.

[Lobby Dosser]

Paul Newman!

Last I saw were out of Kilby Prison in Alabama.

[Lobby Dosser]

If Somalia had oil there wouldn't be piracy - you can bet on that.

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But there would still be hostages. See Niger.

[Lobby Dosser]

We stopped building them. Bush the Elder.

[chaniarts]

still common in az

[Josepi]

I saw my first and only chain gang working on a road project on Florida in

1974 Not sure if they were chained but the guns were watching closely.

Death Penalty. I agree the death penalty is too harsh and useless for most crimes.

Second timers and prison guard / cop killers should be an exception but based on televised & publicized US court cases I wouldn't trust an American court decision to evaluate the crime with that serious of a penalty. Public square horsewhipping comes to mind.

Somebody likes to start fights...LOL

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[Stuart]

Yes, and drug pushers and Paedophiles.