Friday, November 19, 2010

The guillotine

It seems American state executions are on the up and up. Well, something had to go up.

They are using all kinds of methods, modern and old. I am wondering why they don't just use the guillotine? People have survived electrocution, hanging, and injections, but I haven't heard of anybody surviving a proper beheading. (It may have stuck occasionally, but it's not hard to build a fool-proof guillotine.) Perhaps it's a desire to inherit nothing from the French?

(By the way, none of this should be taken as endorsement of executions. I think the differentiation between group-sanctioned murder and one-person murderers is a specious one.)


... Harsh subjects today. Tomorrow, funny animal videos. And perhaps the odd jealousy murder.       :-)

6 comments:

ttl said...

Alice Cooper was routinely guillotined as part of his show in the 1970s. And yet he is still alive. His secret? James Randi was his executioner.

Alex said...

I was always a fan of "Hung, drawn and quartered".

Anonymous said...

... Harsh subjects today. Tomorrow, funny animal videos. And perhaps the odd jealousy murder. :-)

YESSS!!!! Nothing to do with Apple!

Tobius said...

I think people do survive the guillotine, just not for long and they no longer have bodies, I seem to remember various experiments being done by some of the french nobility, such as eye rolling after ones head is cut off

Ray said...

Chop! Chop! On to the funny stuff!

Joe said...

The grim reaper demands his pound of flesh.