So, um, yeah

[Gooch]

I'd make for damn sure they couldn't track it back to me. I wouldn't bust in a shoot anyone like an idiot. I'd do something much less personal. Granted, the balls question is still valid, and no one knows the answer until it happens.

The balls may be in question, but the brain is not. The brain should always override the balls when it comes to decision making. A pity this isn't always the case.

[Kev]

My sympathies, Tom.

[Mykozo]

A pity this is seldom the case.

Fixed.

[haohmaru]

Here's a partial letter that I wrote to her and that her mom read. I made both of them cry... but they were "good tears"... If you know what I mean.

I had written you something else, but in light of the recent events that have taken place I decided to start over and start anew.

You hear cliche's throughout your life and dismiss them as easily as your morning coffee and hitting snooze on your alarm clock until something happens that brings the meanings of these age-old sayings to the forefront. Life is short. The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Care for the things you care about in life or, in the end, you will have nothing. And the truth is that although many of these sayings cannot possibly make things all that much better and make the devastation of loss and wanting go away, they can help you to begin again and be better than you were before.

I felt a twinge of these things the night that your cell phone went dead and I imagined the worst of possible outcomes and knots developed in my stomach as I wondered what reality was awaiting me. Thankfully, my worst fears weren't realized and the loss that I might have imagined was something that I would not have to face on that day. I cannot possibly imagine all of the things that you have shared throughout your life with your Uncle. The senseless death and devastating loss are something that no one should ever have to deal with but, unfortunately, many have to and equally have to move on and rebuild from the ashes of what was left.

Perhaps the best way to deal with all of these things is to do what your Uncle probably would've wanted you to do. Celebrate his life, his happiness, and all of the things that he brought to the many lives that he touched so deeply. Remember him fondly and remember all of the good things that he stood for and how bravely and unselfishly he tried to protect his family at all costs. Remember that he gave his life so that his children and his wife could survive. He wouldn't have wanted them to join him, he would've wanted them to live, to remember him, and to live life as he did. Happy. Dedicated. Honorable. Trustworthy. And all with the love of a devoted father who made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of those he loved. There will never be an answer to the question why or what those left behind have done to deserve this. There might never be any answers at all and perhaps this is the most difficult thing for each of you to face. You will recover. You will move on and you will be a stronger person for it.

These things can lead us to recognize how insignificant the challenges that we face each day and complain about really are. Who cares now about the rude customer, the professor that cannot speak English, or the guy that just cut you off on William Floyd Parkway? What are these in comparison to the challenges that lie before so many others who have much deeper things to battle throughout the days, the months, and the years. Perhaps it's best for us to take the things that we do have in life that much less for granted than we did the day before. Our families, our lives, our significant others and our dreams are all that we really ever have and are all too often forgotten, underappreciated, or simply taken for granted. Value the things that you have and make the things in life that you find are important that much more important to you.

[kedawa]

Wow, that whole situation is just stomach-churning.
A lot of people I know have lost loved ones to this kind of bullshit, and it's sickening how little gets done about it.

I have to agree partially with diffx in that the death penalty is just not something that the government can be trusted with, but I'd be all for it if there was some kind of definitive proof of guilt.

If shit like that ever happened to me, I'd probably want my family and friends to take brutal bloody revenge - kill the guys who shot me, their girlfriends, their kids, their parents, and anyone else who contributed to creating and encouraging the fucking douchebags in the first place.
Of course, they never would, but that's what I'd want at the time, and it'd be the first thing on my mind if shit ever happened to them.

In the end, all you can do is comfort the living victims and hope that some form of justice prevails.

[Dripdry]

Umm because its state-sponsored murder maybe? Here's a list of countries that also do this for ordinary crimes in the year 2006:



Maybe this is a list you like being on with the likes of the full Axis of Evil, Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Cuba, etc.... I do not however. Even Liberia, whose whole existence is defined from being a US wannabe, took themselves off this ghastly list last year. Id rather not stoop down to the criminal's level.

Ok. But what's their crime rate? How much of the taxpayer's dollars get spent on letting criminals rot in prison?
It's not just a question of morality here, it's also a question (right or wrong) about quality of living for others and, to that end, money. For every criminal they put in the slammer for who knows how many decades, you're actually punishing the families who lost someone. Their tax dollars go to fund the lives of these remorseless degradants. While I'm not saying we should exactly start executing people to save money, what I *am* saying is that our crime rate is so high that perhaps we need to draw the moral and intellectual line: If people can't understand how their vicious and extreme actions affect others right now, from an emotional perspective, and later on from a monetary perspective, then we're sorry, but they have to either shape up right fast or we kill you.

There are a lot of crimes out there, but killing someone in cold blood is the last straw. Sure, we need outreach programs, to help people to understand that their situation isn't that dire. After all, if a society is depraved enough to produce so many killers, would you say it has the responsibility to correct itself and give its more odious offspring half a chance? Perhaps there's something wrong and it's the responsibility of those within society (yeah, that's actually you and me, ladies and gents!) to give a little and grow a little.
However, there comes a time to draw the line.

The same problem is happening with jails as with Social Security. Neither were ever meant to support people. They're meant to house and take care of the "exceptions" in society. Social Security is supposed to be for the people who live well past when they are supposed to and for those who fall on great hardship. Jails are called *correctional facilities* (whether effective or not, I'd say no), meant to correct, not house indefinitely, criminals.

When a method is meant for a certain purpose, attempting to warp it to fit another situation only goes so far. In this case... If the limb is gangrenous, cut it off. It will only lead to the death of the body.
(holy s**t, did I really just write that!?)