Delaying a Decriminalized Death

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell is currently exploring alternatives that would postpone the execution of convicted serial killer Michael Ross.

She told the Associated Press that her office is actually looking at their options and what's available to them. In a sense, they’re looking for excuses not to kill the guy in order to prevent a death penalty debate.

Forty-Five-year-old Ross is on death row for brutally raping and murdering four young women during the ‘80’s in eastern Connecticut. He confessed to killing eight women total throughout Connecticut and New York.

If Rell is successful in delaying Ross' planned Jan. 26 execution until after the "next" legislative session, state lawmakers will have a chance to eliminate Connecticut's capital punishment law. This would potentially stop what would be the state's first execution since 1960.

Rell, a Republican governor, has said that she supports the death penalty in heinous cases, according to the Associated Press.

So the question is posed: How many young women have to be ruthlessly murdered before it becomes heinous? Obviously in Connecticut, four is too few.

Ross needs to fry, plain and simple.

What other options are there? Let him rot in a prison cell for the rest of his life? Set him up with a lengthy sentence? -- there's an idea -- then he could get out and create more non-heinous cases.

There is no sense in preserving a life that’s ended so many. A person who consciously takes a life, especially in the manner of Ross’s, is not worthy of their own.

"A society that sentences killers to nothing worse than prison -- no matter how depraved the killing or how innocent the victim -- is a society that doesn't *really* think murder is so terrible." -- Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe

The WWB

It’s finally happened: the NBA has joined forces with professional wrestling to form a new multimillion dollar franchise, World Wrestling Basketball.

At least, that’s what appeared to have happened Friday night during the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers game, which took place in Detroit. The Piston’s Ben Wallace shoved Pacer’s forward Ron Artest after Artest fouled Wallace hard under the basket.

After separating Wallace and Artest, a Pistons fan felt it prudent to hurl a cup of beer at Artest, which landed squarely on his chest while Artest was lying on the scoring table trying to stay out of more trouble. In a frightening rage, Artest lurched forward into the crowd attacking who he thought the assailant was. What followed was a no-holds-barred brawl involving players from both teams and fans. Innocent bystanders – including an elderly woman – were shoved to the ground during the unruly riot.

The NBA took swift action against the two clubs, handing out suspensions and bans. Artest was suspended for the entire season, while other brawlers from the Pacers like Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O’Neil were suspended for 30 and 25 games respectively. Wallace was suspended for a meager six games.

“The line is drawn, and my guess is that won’t happen again — certainly not by anybody who wants to be associated with our league,” said David Stern, commissioner of the NBA.

According to MSNBC, Artest will lose approximately $5 million in salary and O’Neal will squander nearly 25 percent of his $14.8 million salary. And for what?

This incident proves one thing: the NBA is full of egotistically selfish dirt bags. The days of respectable role models like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird are history; and the NBA opened the floodgates to such intolerable behavior by allowing players to be drafted before finishing college and high school.

With so many young players still struggling to grow out of their childish adolescent behavior, it was only a matter of time before the pot boiled over.

The NBA took the right step by applying such lengthy suspensions and pay cuts. But something else needs to be done. The league should set up a “no tolerance” policy in which players are forced to follow a specific code of conduct. If a player doesn’t adhere to any part of the code, they should be fined…heavily: put a dent in their wallet and ego.

The fact is that the NBA lacks discipline and is rapidly losing the dignity and respect it once had. These players are supposed to be role models. Instead, they’re uneducated fools. And the fans are no different.

"The liberals live in a dream world."
~Lcpl Lucien Lafreniere Weapons Platoon India Co. 3rd Battalion 6th Marines, Camp Lejune NC

from Afgahnistan.

Safe for another four years

The nation has spoken.

Projections? Exit Polls? They're all meaningless. Why? Because They all indicated a tighter race and a much more divided America. An extreme hatred for President Bush has conjured up a belief that John Kerry, the baby-killing Democratic Presidential hopeful from Massachusetts, had a chance to take the wheel and steer the county in a new direction.

Like it or not liberals, America doesn't want to go in that direction. So much doubt and dismay has been displayed over the re-election of Bush, the clear-cut winner of the 2004 Presidential Election.

Some liberal students on the campus of Central Connecticut State University have grieved over the existence of the electorial college. Perhaps they need a lesson in government procedures before they run their mouths. Not only did Kerry win California, the state with the most electoral votes at 55, but he won all of New England. If anything, the Republicans should be damning the electoral vote since most of California is fiercly conservative. But regardless, Kerry won the most populated areas of the country and it still wasn't enough.

Then the lefties moved to curse the popular vote, which almost saved them with Al Gore in the 2000 election. Too bad, Bush won there too: a piercing 51-percent to Kerry's 48-percent. That's 59,459,765 to 55,949,407. That hurts. If anything, Democrats should be cursing Ralph Nader for stealing 1-percent of the popular vote. Once again, the country has spoken.

The final point brought up by liberals cursing anyone who voted Republican is the unfounded rumor of Bush instituting a draft for people 18-26. This is remedial government 101: Bush can't istitute a draft all by himself. For it to pass, Congress has to draft a law to authorize it. I thought politically active college students are supposed to be up on such processes.

The Senate had two bills which surfaced in January 2003: Senate Bill 89, introduced by Senator Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC), and House Resolution 163, introduced by Representative Charles B. Rangel (D-NY). According to Rod Powers's article on drafting at about.com, both bills would require two years of military service for every male and female in the United States, between the ages of 18 and 26. Might I point out the hefty "D" attatched to both the individuals' names?

As recent as October 5th 2004, Resolution 163 resurfaced and was swiftly defeated by a vote of 402 to 2.

Democrats are simply scared and looking for a "you've-doomed-us-all" reason to throw in the faces of Bush-backers. There will be no draft. Democrats: you lost. Get over it and work together with Republicans instead of pouting over unfounded beliefs.