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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (7905)	12/24/2006 3:28:23 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 15987

Wow!! I would NOT have guessed that New Orleans murder rate is 25 times as much as Honolulu and 8 times that of New York. The USA definitely gaols people who would NOT be imprisoned in other countries. Martha Stewart would absolutely NOT have got near a prison. Bernie Ebbers, Kenny Boy etc would perhaps have got some wet bus ticket slap on the wrist. People associated with opium, marijuana and cocaine get export awards in some places. In Amsterdam, they treat them as adult choice but do have some laws to manage the situation. I like the fact that criminals are gaoled in the USA. I wish there was more of it here. Recidivist crime is enormous here. Okay, people are up, so I'd better go and plan a conspiracy against the Roman Empire. I'm starting with my cybercurrency to replace the US$ and other fiat currencies run by thieving megalomaniacs. When people do things for each other, I don't see why the State should treat us like serfs and confiscate half the transaction straight away, and diluting the money holder by 10% [or more] a year. Mqurice

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (7905)	12/24/2006 4:46:09 PM
From: Sam	Respond to of 15987

OT---> Of course, the US is reflected as having the most incarcerated people per 100,000... So should we discern from that data that there is far less crime in other parts of the world, including Iraq?.. :0) Or maybe we just make a better effort at catching and punishing criminals? It's because of our drug laws. Back in the late 18th century, most people in jail were debtors; today, most are drug offenders. I know a couple of completely harmless people who spent some time in jail for possession of minor amounts of marijuana. Well, one of them harms himself by consuming too much marijuana, but he doesn't harm anyone else. For the other one, marijuana has been a "way of life" for over twenty years, he got caught with joints 2 too many times, did some time. There are better ways of dealing with harmless users than jail, but we don't seem to have the legal/political imagination to find them and put them into practice. Too much fun for politicians to lump all "drug users" together, and be "tough" on crime.