Capital Punishment

Oct 10
Capitol Punishment in the United States is a very important issue. It is the execution of an individual and has been used for ages. Some claim it is fair payment for whatever crime warranted death. Others point out methods that are overly cruel and the executed may be innocent. The execution itself can be quite expensive depending on the method.



Supporters bring up several claims in favor of the death penalty. If you have been sentanced to die, you have commited a horrible crime against the public. In a country that values freedom, taking a life would require an act that we simply cant forgive. Murder, rapists, and other such acts warrant death. They also claim that killing the guilty person is cheaper in the long run then keeping him in a prison and feeding him with taxpayer money. In the case of rights to life, it can be said that by commiting a death-worthy crime you have lost the rights of society, and that death can only be paid in death. Simply killing them also ends any possibilty of the guilty escaping. It also frees up space in prison for less serious offenders. The promise of death is usually enough to keep normal people from commiting such crimes.

Opponents have their views. A society that decries murder cannot kill a person. Since the law that decided who dies is man made and so flawed, there is always an innocent who is executed. That tends to sour views of the law and the government that allowed the death. Methods of punishment, like the electric chair and hanging, are extremely painful and do not always kill the person. Failure means more cost and pain. Excessive use not only brings into question how many deserved it, but can also raise some disgust among the general public. As of September 2011, Texas has executed 1,226 people. While many of them may of deserved it, such a number brings into question the number of innocents caught in the web.

 

 Capital punishment is needed. There are some people simply to dangerous to keep alive. Rapists, serial killers, child molesters, and such are all great dangers to the public. Many of them cannot be reformed. Killing them frees up space, saves money in the long term, and removes the threat for good. The victims and their families may also have peace of mind knowing the person who harmed them is gone for good. A firing squad would be my choice for exectuting people. The only person in Nevada to be executed by shot, Andriza Mircovich, was shot by a machine. Using a firing machine to execute the convict is better, it spares the firing squad and moral qualms they may have. When a person is convicted, they should be given a period in which they, under watch, will work to prove their innocence. This will hopefully reduce the number of innocents killed. Even then, capital punishment should only be used on the worst offenders and the unrepentant.

Facts:
1. As of September 21, 2011 Texas has executed 1,226 people.
2. The death penalty is given by humans, and therefor is flawed. Of a 1000 people executed, it is unknown how many were innocent.
3. How come life in prison doesn't mean life? Until it does, we're not ready to do away with the death penalty. Stop thinking in terms of "punishment" for a minute and think in terms of safeguarding innocent people from incorrigible murderers.

JESSE VENTURA, I Ain't Got Time to Bleed

The U.S Energy Crisis

Oct 3

 The United States is currently experiencing an energy crisis. The country relies on oil from other parts of the world, and much of the oil in the U.S is in areas that would be ruined by digging for it. The Gulf disaster with BP hasnt helped that road much either. Some are calling for an increase of fracking, collecting natural gas by breaking the rocks in the ground using chemicals. This method would reduce dependency, but its current method endangers the water of homes near the fracking sites. The solution to energy is simple.



 The solution is green energy. Solar panels, wind turbines and such. The current attempts to promote green energy has failed do to the promoters, the government. Two government sponsered (with taxepayer money) green energy companies, Solyndra and Evergreen Solar have failed or fled abroad. Why? Government. The extreme regulation by government on the private sector is the cause of the problem. Their taxes and rules here make places like China look far more attractive to businesses. A reason other energy compaines havent fled is probably due to America's vast amount of fossil fuels and offshore oil. If the goverment would scale back its taxes and regulations, the private market would breath. The private sector, seeking to make more money, would invest in the green, clean, and more infinite energy. Business from abroad would then return to a more business friendly U.S. It must also be considered that the population may run through natural gas and oil too quickly to develop proper green industry in the current conditions.



 Opponents to this view would disagree. They would claim that developing green energy business would take to much time, and that oil and fracking are already available. This is true. Despite its current danger, if fracking was refined it could provide energy for some time. In that time, green energy could be built up. Opponents would say it is not absolute that the solution I listed would happen. What is not considered is the fact that private business exist to make money, and money is to be found in green energy. Oil can only last so long, wind blows almost every day and the sun shines everyday. Thats why its DAY. Fracking will eventually end as well once the natural gas is used up. It can be said that the Chinese government is subsidizing their green industry. The Chinese have been Communist, a different form of society then the capitalistic America. Add to the fact that industry is fleeing to China for cheap labor and to escape taxes, the reason why the Chinese government has more control is clear.

 The answer is clear. The government cannot pick and choose in a free market, and the natural resources of the earth are finite and, in some cases, dangerous. To solve our energy crisis, we must turn to green, renewable energy.

Facts:
1. The Obama Administration gave Solyndra $353 million under the promise to create more jobs in 2009. Solyndra is now bankrupt as of 2011. It is also known that Solyndra stockholders and executives had donated to Obama's campaign. An example of why government must stay out of industry.
2. The BP oil disaster and the cases were fracking caused water to become laced with flammable gas shows the dangers of using natural resources. While green energy may have its dangers, I would take a sunburn at a solar panel over gallons of crude oil in the Gulf.
3.Ours is the most wasteful nation on Earth. We waste more energy than we import. With about the same standard of living, we use twice as much energy per person as do other countries like Germany, Japan, and Sweden.

-Jimmy Carter