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Oct 30, 2001, 2:19pm

If you'll do a little investigating, you'll find out that many of Bin =
Laden's speeches/messages to the world have something to do with =
something that occurred back in 1921, as he keeps saying they've been =
under the yoke of American imperialism for 80 years. What that refers =
to, I'm not exactly sure, but it would have been during the presidency =
of Warren G. Harding, so apparently the recent terrorist actions have =
roots that reach back a long way. What any of that has to do with Bin =
Laden, who was not alive during that time, is anyone's guess. One of =
the really weird things about Bin Laden is that almost all of his =
immediate family (who are fairly well-off and very well educated) =
resides right here in the U.S. They've long ago disowned this fellow =
from their family, and condemned his actions on numerous occasions, but, =
as you can imagine, his actions have made their lives a living hell as =
well. And no, I'm not forgetting the suffering and loss of the people =
whose relatives were on those planes or in those buildings that were =
destroyed in NY, DC, and Philadelphia. I know that they, too, continue =
to suffer and mourn the deaths of their friends and relatives, and that =
they, above everyone else, deserve to see justice done with regards to =
the terrorists who perpetrate these sorts of incidents.

As far as prisons, the courts, and the death penalty goes... the =
European Union has, as a body, unanimously condemned the death penalty =
as a punishment for any sort of crime. They seem to have trouble =
understanding why we here in the United States have no trouble with =
keeping the death penalty as a punishment. To their way of thinking, =
we're supposed to be one of the more advanced-thinking countries, and =
yet we continue to perpetuate what they consider a backward mentality. =
Our use of the death penalty puts us on a list of countries that =
includes Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, etc. Is that the sort of =
company we wish to keep? *shrugs* Russia is currently at the top of =
the list of countries that routinely use the death penalty, the sheer =
numbers of prisoners killed there is outrageous, and yet our own numbers =
of prisoners, our increasing numbers of prisons, and our use of the =
death penalty will shortly rival theirs. Has this method of dealing =
with crime and criminals been very effective? I'm not certain it has, =
and I have no idea what method would work better, but it seems to me =
that what we're currently doing isn't going to lead us into a world =
where we can "all just get along." =20

=C1ine

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