Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 14, 2010 2:20 UTC (Tue) by MisterIO (guest, #36192)
In reply to: Citizen Linus by felixfix
Parent article: Citizen Linus

I obviously don't consider the US the "by far most oppressive state on this planet"(it's not even close to that), but it's definitely a moralistic and conservative country. Freedom of speech is a joke. You're free to express yourself as long as what you say(and write or draw) is not obscene(which basically means that you can be censored on almost everything almost completely arbitrarily depending on how the common perception of obscenity changes over time). It's also one of the countries which execute more people (second only to China) and I don't even want to start talking about those states in the US where it's possible to execute even minors! Another thing that I find grotesque is that I read that some schools were considering teaching the crationist theory!

Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 14, 2010 3:33 UTC (Tue) by nicooo (guest, #69134) [Link] (5 responses)

> It's also one of the countries which execute more people (second only to China)

You have to consider the size of the population. Though it's still pretty bad in some states, specially Texas.

Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 14, 2010 16:02 UTC (Tue) by shmget (guest, #58347) [Link] (4 responses)

Death Penalty Stats for 2008 (source Amnesty International)

Country Executions
CHINA 1718+
IRAN 346+
SAUDI ARABIA 102+
USA 37
PAKISTAN 36+
IRAQ 34+
VIET NAM 19+
AFGHANISTAN 17+
NORTH KOREA 15+
JAPAN 15
YEMEN 13+
INDONESIA 10
LIBYA 8+
BANGLADESH 5
BELARUS 4
EGYPT 2+
MALAYSIA 1+
MONGOLIA 1+
SINGAPORE 1+
SUDAN 1+
SYRIA 1+
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1+
BAHRAIN 1
BOTSWANA 1
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 1
Rest of the World : 0

But the point in not the numbers, but the company the US keep.

Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 14, 2010 16:16 UTC (Tue) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946) [Link] (1 responses)

I don't see anyone saying Japan is as bad as North Korea though.

Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 14, 2010 17:01 UTC (Tue) by MisterIO (guest, #36192) [Link]

That's because Japan doesn't pretend to be the leader of the free world.
That said, Japan _is_ better than North Corea, just like are most countries of the rest of the world, USA included.(not sure I wrote this in good english)

Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 14, 2010 17:11 UTC (Tue) by MisterIO (guest, #36192) [Link]

You're right, sorry for the wrong data:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment

Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 15, 2010 8:11 UTC (Wed) by lacostej (guest, #2760) [Link]

in the US, executions where on hold for a part of 2007 and 2008. So 2006 and 2009 are more relevant numbers:

2009: 52
2008: 37
2007: 42
2006: 53

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions-united-states-...

Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 14, 2010 18:27 UTC (Tue) by aleXXX (subscriber, #2742) [Link] (1 responses)

> I obviously don't consider the US the "by far most oppressive state on
> this planet"(it's not even close to that), but it's definitely a
> moralistic and conservative country.
...
> It's also one of the countries which execute more people (second only
> to China) and I don't even want to start talking about those states in
> the US where it's possible to execute even minors!

Then move to New York or Massachusetts, there capital punishment is declared to be unconstitutional :-)
So, this is a decision of the state, not of the country US.

Beside that, New York is a beautiful state :-)

Alex

Citizen Linus

Posted Sep 16, 2010 3:23 UTC (Thu) by nevets (subscriber, #11875) [Link]

It is a beautiful state, if you don't mind a little snow. :-)