1. | Aug 4, 2014

FK1i3o Thanks for the article post. Want more.

2. | Jul 21, 2014

old friend and coelgalue Bob Gourley asks if we are any closer to achieving aa0cyber deterrence policy. I say: stop burning CPU cycles focusing on a narrow set of legacy futures or start developing new

3. | Jan 20, 2014

contdOf course the death ptlenay deters. A review of the debate.Dudley Sharp 1) Anti death ptlenay folks say that the burden of proof is on those who say that the death ptlenay deters. Untrue. It is a rational truism that all potential negative outcomes deter some - there is no exception. It is the burden of death ptlenay opponents to prove that the death ptlenay, the most severe of criminal sanctions, is the only prospect of a negative outcome that deters none. They cannot. 2) There have been 28 recent studies finding for death ptlenay deterrence. A few of those have been criticized. The criticism has, itself been rebutted and/or the criticism doesn't negate no. 1 or nos. 3-10. 3) No deterrence study finds that the death ptlenay deters none. They cannot. Anti death ptlenay columnists Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune states, "No one argues that the death ptlenay deters none." Yes, some do, But Zorn is correct, the issue is not "Does the death ptlenay deter?". It does. The only issue is to what degree. 4) About 99% of those murderers who are subject to the death ptlenay do everything they can to receive a lesser sentence, in pre trial, plea bargains, trial, in appeals and in clemency/commutation proceedings. Life is preferred over death. Death is feared more than life. No surprise. Would a more rational group, those who choose not to murder, also share in that overwhelming fear of death and be deterred by the prospects of execution? Of course. 5) There are a number of known cases of individual deterrence, those potential murderers who have stated that they were prevented from committing murder because of their fear of the death ptlenay. Individual deterrence exists. 6) General deterrence exists because individual deterrence cannot exist without it. 7) Even the dean of anti death ptlenay academics, Hugo Adam Bedau, agrees that the death ptlenay deters .. . but he doesn't believe it deters more than a life sentence. Nos. 4-6 and 10 provide anecdotal and rational evidence that the death ptlenay is a greater deterrent than a life sentence. In addition, the 28 studies finding for deterrence, find that the death ptlenay is an enhanced deterrent over a life sentence. 8) All criminal sanctions deter. If you doubt that, what do you think would happen if we ended all criminal sanctions? No rational person has any doubt. Some would have us, irrationally, believe that the most severe sanction, execution, is the only sanction which doesn't deter. 9) If we execute and there is no deterrence, we have justly punished a murderer and have prevented that murderer from ever harming/murdering, again. If we execute and there is deterrence, we have those benefits, plus we have spared more innocent lives. If we don't execute and there is deterrence, we have spared murderers at the cost of more innocent deaths. 10) Overwhelmingly, people prefer life over death and fear death more than life. "If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call." John McAdams - Marquette University/Department of Political Science

4. | Jan 11, 2014

Try coming up with a real issue berofe you pretend that one (1) blogger is 1.) a BIG DEAL; and 2.) and I quote RCP . . . posting links one story equals links.The way you breathless posted your comment, I had assumed that the front page was flooded with links to stories about Christie's malfeasance. I had to do a search of the site to even find this one puny blog entry. It definitely ranks up there with Bush & Katrina! Thanks for alerting us to the news. If you want to see what a real pummeling looks like, just Google Bloomberg and Snow Storm. P.S. For the truly clueless, consult your dictionary entry for HYPERBOLE.