cjh@csin.UUCP (07/08/83)
n people; the last mission had five on board, and several previous have had four. The first ones to be executed will not be glorified, rather they will become answers to trivia questions That depends on your point of view; I suppose you've forgotten the name of Crispus Attucks. (we would not want to execute a person whose guilt is in doubt anyway) Bull. (This is of course the first problem with capital punishment; there is no room for later thoughts.) I would particularly emphasize the "sick"; what sort of person would use one of man's greatest achievements (an achievement with a real future, unlike the closed-ended Apollo missions) as a tool of judicial murder. REM's arguments have some holes, but far fewer than your idea.
Howard.DLOS@PARC-MAXC.ARPA (07/12/83)
First of all, I wasn't serious when I first proposed the idea, but apparently you and REM missed the sarcasm, and even so, I think I proved that my "idea" was practical, while you have proved yourself to be an extremely narrow minded individual who runs off at the mouth at anything that conflicts with your closed minded ideology without listening to what you are saying. Maybe the military is taking a huge chunk out of the program, but they deserve it since it is highly doubtful that there would be a space shuttle without their support in washington. If the shuttle had no possible military applications then it would still be just a brilliant idea. Somehow I got the impression that the shuttle could hold much more than 10 people, which would make 50% at least 5 people. The point is that there was room to spare. Crispus Attucks was not an executed criminal, ( if you think he was then you have a deeply twisted sense of logic ) he happened to be the first casulty in the Revolutionary War. By the way, off the top of your head, who was the first person to be executed by the electric chair? the gas chamber? lethal injection? You don't believe it's possible to execute anyone without thinking that you were wrong? I bet you still uncertain as to who shot Reagan and Lennon. And if you are sure, I bet you would let them go if they promised not to do it again. "sick"?, I remember when man's greatest achievement was the atomic bomb and it was used to kill thousands of innocent people as well as scar generations unborn. My argument might have some holes in it ( if it didn't there would be nothing to argue about ), but at least I thought before I typed, something you haven't seemed to learn yet. I apologize to any individuals who are upset over this comment being made public. However, I believe it is only fair I should respond publicly to any public critisisms.