The Death Penalty

Christa Pike’s case has been in the news quite a bit. Everyone seems to be talking about her “botched” execution. Many of the discussions seem to revolve around better ways to execute someone. Much less energy is spent on whether we should be executing human beings in the first place.

The DOD put another log on the fire. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed. Hasan, a former Army major, was behind the Fort Hood murders in 2009. Execution by firing squad has not taken place in the United States in a century.

I taught the death penalty for years, until I switched the segment to the prison system in general. I felt that once you understand the prison system, you basically have a grip on capital punishment.

What I learned in those years is that there are zero valid arguments in support of the death penalty. Zero. They are either wrong or amount to revenge and blood lust.

Here are three:

• The death penalty deters crime.

Wrong. There are no criminological data suggesting crime goes down in areas where the death penalty is used. According to Amnesty International, US states that have the death penalty have higher rates of crime than those that do not have it.

• The death penalty is cheaper.

Wrong. Capital cases are more expensive than non-capital cases. Legal costs, jury selection, specialized incarceration, and appeals all add up to costing the tax payer 2.5 to 5 times the cost, reports the Death Penalty Information Center.

• The death penalty is justice.

Wrong. The death penalty is revenge, plain and simple. The thinking goes: you have committed a crime so heinous that you have made it clear you should be removed from society. So the response to murder is murder? That, and the families of the victims want closure. “Closure” here means satisfaction. They want the perpetrator to experience fear and death. This is not justice. Justice is treating people like human beings and, yes, maybe removing them from society so they cannot harm others—but to get them care.

Another issue concerning the death penalty—and this applies to the prison system in general—is that it is racist and classist. Some 40 percent of those sentenced to death are Black (1977-present). Black men, however, make up 6.5 percent of the population. And those on death row are typically poor, to the tune of 95 percent of them. The numbers are clear: the death penalty applies more to brown and poor people than anyone else. And again, this can be said of the entire prison system. It is basically a storage facility for people we don’t like.

Plum Suit

 

I gotta say, I look pretty snazzy in my new plum suit. I sent this photo to some close peeps, and my father’s wife—who maintains it’s aubergine, not plum—responded to the photo with an egg plant emoji. “Oh dear.” I then urged her son (my step-brother) to explain to her what an egg plant emoji means. Hilarity ensued.

Rebellion

I was wrong for so many years: for basically the entirety of the 1990s, I had an immature, unsophisticated sense of what rebellion was all about. It’s embarrassing now, but I spent my fair share of time at punk and industrial shows. I wore a biker jacket. Long hair for a time. Lived in bars. You get the idea.

I was taken with various symbols of defiance: Keith Richards, Jack Kerouac, Tom Waits, and Hunter S. Thompson. These were my go-to references—especially Kerouac. I was taken in by the aesthetic put on display by these men. It all felt a bit rebellious, which was very attractive to me. They all offered, in their own way, a middle finger to the Establishment. They didn’t adhere to orthodoxy or convention or established standards. 

Punk, too, was rebellious. I discovered the Dead Kennedys in my teens. Lead singer Jello Biafra’s lyrics turned my suburban upbringing upside-down. The DK’s were … well, rebellious. They took a hammer to the vase of conformity.

Then it turned out the Ramones were Republicans, Johnny Rotten was an aging clown, and my beloved Jello Biafra also became a caricature of himself. Punk’s mask fell off. It was not rebellious at all. It was artistically rebellious at the time, sure. But actually rebellious? It was a mode of dress—one that was highly uniform and consistent. Conformist?

By this time I had started to grow up. The year was 2002—age 29, mind you. I ceased to care about all that stuff. I began reading human rights reports. My attention was instead centered on unnecessary human suffering, the mechanics of power, and the writings of Noam Chomsky.

Many “heroes” became buffoons, gave up the hard living, or were dead (Kerouac died a pitiful drunk in 1969, Thompson died a cartoon of himself). Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with hanging up the booze and the smokes (Waits and Richards are both clean living). Nelson Algren was never a hard drinker; he did, however, spend time in bars talking to the defeated and the downtrodden.

And I’m a bit incredulous about the whole hard-living myth anyway. Thompson was seriously well read and wrote a ton; one cannot do that and be, um, compromised. Richards spent an enormous amount of time in the studio and on stage.

They did engage in unwholesome behavior, for sure; but I think much of it is more legendary than anything. We love talking about it. We relish the thought of people having fun, being famous, and getting drunk or acting crazy all the time. We delight in lives we cannot live.

An example of this is Prince. I saw an interview with one of his sound engineers after he died. I think it was Susan Rogers. At any rate, she said that women did show up to the studio a few times. But Prince would start working, and the ladies would get bored and leave. Not quite the lifestyle we hear about.

It’s the mystique of these people. The image is a seductive one. I fell for it: the chimera, the illusion.

Chomsky taught me what a rebel actually is. It’s a person who is not afraid to apply the same standards to his or her own country. It’s a person who asks, How am I contributing to this problem? It’s a defender of the underdog.

Rebelliousness is thinking or behavior that actually runs counter to power’s narrow interests. Monitoring and speaking out about the banks, the Defense contractors, US foreign policy—this all indicates a truly rebellious orientation. 

The centers of power do not want people becoming better educated and talking about what they have learned. And they do not want us caring about one another. Power benefits when people are divided and alienated. Power benefits when people are distracted.

In the 1990s I was distracted. I was preoccupied with the image, the mystique, the pose, the posturing, the persona, the affectation of rebelliousness. There is nothing rebellious about drinking, or smoking, or loud music, or tattoos, or various modes of dress. None of these perturbs power one bit. They are merely activities.

Rebellion is fighting for justice, speaking out for those who cannot defend themselves, and standing up to power. Socrates was put to death because he was a threat. Bars and loud music and hard drinking and black leather do not pose a threat. Power does not care about you engaging in these activities. The FBI has never infiltrated a group based on their record collections.

The 1990s are in a deep hole under much dirt. Rock-n-roll is a balloon that has lost half of its air. The post-WWII concept of “cool” no longer has cultural currency; it is a goner. I for one, am less distracted. I have literally and figuratively sobered up. I desperately hope the culture joins me. Many defenseless, voiceless people need us to actually be rebellious.

Gaza

 

This series by the Guardian, “Gaza: A Week in the Life,” is a heartrending portrait of life right now in the Gaza Strip. The series now features three Gazans and what their days are like.

We forget that this is happening. That these people are suffering badly. And that this savagery was all committed with US authorization. Biden and Trump should spend the rest of their lives in orange jumpsuits; they both allowed these crimes to happen.

Moreover, most Americans are not in support of it. The vast majority of Americans are supposedly concerned about civilian deaths and starvation in Gaza. But I do not detect any concern in my personal experiences with people in general. I just don’t feel any at all.

Our presidents have authorized the leveling of an occupied territory housing over 2 million people. Israeli operations since the Hamas attacks in Oct. 2023 have claimed the lives of over 70,000 Gazans. According to the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, “Gaza ha[s] become home to the largest group of child amputees in modern history….” Meanwhile, Americans post their vacation photos on Facebook.

I have posted here some photos of kids I met in Gaza in 2002. They are adults now, and I shudder to think how many are dead—or their children.

Note: That's me in the Mediterranean with a bunch of jokers. Why I am standing like that we will never know.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/series/gaza--a-week-in-the-life

It Won't Wash Off

This track, “The Fletcher Memorial Home,” is off Pink Floyd’s post-Wall 
album, The Final Cut.

I find this song haunting. I have not heard it for a long while. When I listened to it today, it got me thinking about Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Now, if I’m honest, this doesn’t require much. I think about Rousseau often. But there it is. I almost teared up listening to Roger Waters’s voice. There’s such delicious contempt and desperation in it.

Specifically, I thought about Rousseau’s conclusion regarding modernity. Rousseau argued that humanity had done itself an immense disservice. We lived in relative peace and tranquility in the “state of nature.” And I think he was right. As foragers or hunter-gatherers we were healthier, stronger, ate better, and did not suffer a list of diseases introduced by modernity: many cancers, obesity, heart disease, etc.

We also brought back alpha males. We allowed ourselves to be lorded over by men who had their own priorities. These tribal chiefs, emperors, kings, sultans, and pharaohs became heads of state. They became prime ministers, presidents, dictators. And they started wars. A lot of wars.

Just keeping to the early twentieth century, and just keeping to wars (not including colonialism and imperialism, etc.):

The Boxer Rebellion, the Boer War, the Russo-Japanese War, the Mexican Revolution, the First and Second Balkan Wars, World War I, the Armenian Genocide, the Russian Revolution, the Russian Civil War, the Irish War of Independence, the Chinese Civil War, the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, the Spanish Civil War, World War II.

Humanity brought this on itself. None of this would have happened.

And I also got thinking about American ignorance, and what it has allowed. Korea, Vietnam, various acts of savagery in the Middle East. US foreign policy has depended on the population being out to lunch, so it could carry out its programs (Cold War, etc.) all over the globe. The body count is incalculable. The fear, pain, and suffering staggering.

I agree with Rousseau there is no going back. We must forge ahead. But it is worth knowing all this. It is worth bringing these thoughts to the voting booth. Because we keep committing the same errors. At the very least, Bill Clinton and everyone after him should die in prison for war crimes.

And we the voting citizenry should feel shame and remorse for having given them that job. I relish when Trump supporters aver, “He promised no foreign wars!” How smart they must feel now.

How smart we all must feel.

This post would get more likes if I posted a picture of a cupcake.

Twenty Points on LGBTQ (repost)

Um, just so we're clear, what is "gender ideology"? And who is this left wing?
 

[sigh] I guess I'll repost this:
 

June 12, 2026
 

I have heard on many (many) occasions over the course of my life, folks say things like this about homosexuality: “They can do whatever they want, just keep it away from me.”
 

This is brainless.
 

As a hetero, White, cis-male, I have little business speaking on these matters. All I’m doing here is clarifying terms. Much of the mistreatment, hate, and ignorance of the LGBTQ community comes from people who fit into my demographic. This makes it my problem.
 

This is not about being PC. It’s about being C—and a better human being.
 

Twenty points:
 

1. Most of those “folks” mentioned above are Baby Boomers. Few of them will read this. They’re too busy knowing everything.
 

2. Being gay is not a choice.
 

3. Neither is eye color.
 

4. If you’re heterosexual, you did not choose to be attracted to the opposite sex.
 

5. Therefore, “they” are not doing “what they want.”
 

6. And do gay people really want YOU on the team anyway?
 

7. I have had gay friends, and have spent my fair share of time in gay bars. Number of people who tried to recruit me: zero.
 

8. Gender is a social construct. It is not related to sexual orientation.
 

9. People are assigned a “sex” at birth based on one’s anatomy.
 

10. What we consider ”masculine” or “boyish” is something humans made up. Likewise, for “feminine” and “girly.”
 

11. There is nothing inherently “male” about trucks. Or cars. Or mud. Or blue. Or pipes & cigars. Or guns. Or grilling.
 

12. Trans people commonly feel they do not fall anywhere in this polarity: male or female. Or they identify with the other gender. The former are called “non-binary” (or “gender neutral”), whereas the latter are simply “trans.” Some are “gender fluid” and float between the two
 

13. Again, this is not a lifestyle choice. This is part of how the person feels and how they view themselves. No one is going to “make you trans” any more than they’re going to “make you gay.”
 

14. “Queer” used to be a slur. Now it’s a badge of honor and a term indicating political defiance, e.g., “gender queer.” You do not have to use it. It’s probably better if you don’t. I don’t.
 

15. “Hetero-normative” is the cultural dominance of heterosexuality. Like, being straight is normal and being gay is something else, e.g., “homosexual sex.”
 

16. “Intersex” people are those born with a wide variety of differences in their reproductive anatomy. “Hermaphrodite” is an outmoded term.
 

17. Oh yeah, LGBTQ is an acronym for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.” It often features a plus sign after it indicating the numerous orientations and gender identities out there.
 

18. Gallup reports 9 percent of Americans are LGBTQ.
 

19. The term “sexual preference” is stupid.
 

20. My pronouns are: break up/the/banks. I also use universal/health/care. And sometimes I use lower/income/inequality. I state this not to diminish the concept of identity; I just tire of academics and intellectuals fixating on the smaller problems instead of the larger ones. They prefer cosmetic alterations.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/07/hhs-report-trans-support-authoritarianism#img-1

Lecture

Just want to give folks plenty of notice—if you're in the area.

I'll post it again just prior.