This is just one of those blog posts that can’t stay focused.
1. Botched Execution. Apparently Arizona had a very “Oklahoma-like” moment this past week when it tried to execute a man guilty of murdering his girlfriend and her father. Click here for the WSJ’s report. It took almost 2 hours for him to die. in April the same thing happened in Oklahoma, but it only took 45 minutes for him to die there. Oklahoma has that effect on people–it makes them want to die quicker.
I am not a supporter of the death penalty, and have blogged about that before (click here). However, I am a big supporter of competency. I worry about reports like this because it highlights the growing incompetency of our society. The inability to quickly and effectively kill someone by a state organization whose sole job is to put people to death is troubling. I know that there are many mitigating circumstances, but it is precisely the point that competency falls apart when too many people try to command the situation. Please note, I have no sympathy for this murderer and others like him. Instead, I worry that we can’t even perform the most basic of civil responsibilities.
2. Solar Flares. The earth was almost destroyed in 2012. No, it wasn’t the Mayan Apocalypse or the pesky rapture that never materialized. It was solar flares. Click here for the article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The newspaper says that if those would have hit earth, and they nearly did, we would still be picking up the pieces. Apparently it would have knocked us back to the Middle Ages.
Apparently we dodged a bullet. What overall lessons can we learn? A) The cosmos is a dangerous place. B. We probably dodge a bullet every day. C. Everything is not predictable. D. You should give thanks for today, because you have electricity and Netflix and smoothies. Tomorrow you might not.
3. Ukraine. It occurs to me that Vladimir Putin is currently playing the role of Kim Kardashian or Miley Cyrus or something. He just can’t help but be in the headlines so he will do almost anything to stay there. The MH17 shoot down was likely a mistake. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to shoot down, on purpose, a civilian airliner. What is not a mistake, though, is that the Russians are giving very powerful anti-aircraft artillery and other weaponry to people who are not really all that expert in using it, and that Russian apparently is firing into Ukraine. Click here for news story.
I told you months ago that Putin was playing poker, not chess. He now knows that he has all the cards, and that the West will fold. At this juncture, it is only a matter of time before Russia annexes all of Ukraine. I suspect it will happen before the end of 2015. The only thing that will stop that is the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine, and I just don’t think that will happen. We will not call Putin, and as we fold he will rake in the winnings.
image from thedailybeast.com