Executions in the US--some statistics

As the end of the calendar year is (by convention) approaching, let us take a look at some numbers on the number of executions by death penalty in the US, the only western world country in the top 5 hit list for executions. Those countries are: China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.

I collected some data from a prosecuting attorney's site, from the Texas Executions Information Center, and from the Death Penalty Information Center, and made a few plots. Here they are:

Executions were quite low before the 80s. At some point, they started picking up, and, in the 90s, they sky-rocketed. In the 00s they went down a bit.

Texas remains the champion, thanks, in part, the the Texas ex-governor (and then president of the US) George W Bush.

Some times, the wrong person is executed, as, for example, last year in Texas. In fact, the largest number of provably wrongful executions have taken place in Texas. (Not surprisingly, given the zeal they show in the subject of executions.) For a comparison, in the UK, a person called Timothy Evans was wrongfully executed in 1950. This played a major role in the abolishion of capital punishment in the UK in 1965. In the US, by comparison, wrongful executions have not caused any change in the law.

"Bush Candidacy Puts Focus on Executions" gives an account of what I mentioned above: the concern of people about Bush's zeal for executions. 


"A Role Model for Executions" talks about the executioner-to-be, G Scott of New Mexico who went to Texas to find out how to do his job. Scott said he came to Texas because he wanted to learn from the very best. Florida State Representative Chris Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat,claimed "They're [Texans] our role model for killing people,''

"A Closer Look at Five Cases That Resulted in Executions of Texas Inmates" describes five extroardinary execution cases. One wonders how many such cases actually exist.

I remember how impressed I was, about 10 years ago, when I learned that a single man, Charles Thomas O'Reilly, the Texas Executioner for 33 years, did not express any regret or remorse for leading 140 prisoners to their death. Here is an article from Huffington Post on this person.

Giovanni Battista Bugatti, the official executioner for the Pope from 1796 to 1865.

Gun statistics

Gun-related murder rates in the developed world  (source: Washington Post, "The U.S. has far more gun-related killings than any other developed country")

Guns in America (source: BBC News)

Gun homicides and gun ownership listed by country (source: The Guardian)

• Interactive map
• Get the data
• More data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian

Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the US

And since we are touching the topic of guns, here are some facts about guns, taken from is a recent article from the Washington Post.

1. Shooting sprees are not rare in the United States. 
2. 15 of the 25 worst mass shootings in the last 50 years took place in the United States. In second place is Finland, with two entries.
3. [Wrong info]
4. Of the 11 deadliest shootings in the US, five have happened from 2007 onward.
5. America is an unusually violent country. But we're not as violent as we used to be.
6. The South is the most violent region in the United States.
7. Gun ownership in the United States is declining overall.
8. More guns tend to mean more homicide.
9. States with stricter gun control laws have fewer deaths from gun-related violence.
10. Gun control, in general, has not been politically popular.
11. But particular policies to control guns often are.
12. Shootings don't tend to substantially affect views on gun control.

Guns in churches

When George W Bush became governor of Texas, he allowed people to carry guns in churches to protect themselves from the devil. Back then I found it completely absurd. And still I do.

I decided to look around and see what's up with guns and churches in the US. Here are a few findings.

(This posting is for the benefit of many non-American friends, especially Swedes, who doubt it when I tell them that religion and guns go hand  in hand.)

 Pastor Urges His Flock to Bring Guns to Church (New York Times, June 2009)

This guy is a pastor for the New Bethel Church in Louisville, KY and is passionate about gun rights. He shoots regularly at the local firing range, and his sermon two weeks ago was on “God, Guns, Gospel and Geometry.” And on Saturday night, he is inviting his congregation of 150 and others to wear or carry their firearms into the sanctuary to “celebrate our rights as Americans!” as a promotional flier for the “open carry celebration” puts it. Rest of the story here.

Ark. House OKs bill allowing guns in churches (Fox News, February 2009)

The Arkansas House on Wednesday approved a bill allowing concealed handguns in churches, despite hearing arguments that lawmakers should put their faith in God, not guns.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, said she introduced the measure after a series of church shootings across the country. She said it would be up to each individual church whether to allow the concealed guns.
Pyle said at least 20 states have similar laws allowing churches to decide whether to permit concealed guns.
The rest of the story here.

Texas church offers firearms classes to defend against imaginary bands of Mexicans (AlterNet, December 2012)

The Times of London reports that several American  churches are now offering concealed firearms training in order to attract worshipers to their pews. One of these churches, Heights Baptist in San Angelo, Texas offers a particularly unusual reason why they are now training their parishioners to pack heat — in order to  prevent worship services from being disrupted by armed Mexicans: In Texas, where it’s legal to carry guns into any church without a specific no-firearms policy, Heights Baptist in remote San Angelo began offering concealed carry classes in June. The class was a response to security concerns among congregants. Pastor James Miller told NRA News:

“We’re about 150 miles from the border with Mexico and we’re very unsure about our insecure borders — about what’s coming into our cities.” 
“Personally, I feel more secure that should our worship time be interrupted by a life-threatening intrusion, that we would at least stand some kind of a chance in stopping either a mass killing or terrorizing experience.”
“Jesus advises his disciples to sell their cloak and buy a sword. He instructed his people to be prepared to defend themselves.” 

Story here.

Guns in church (Huffington Post: a keyword search)

Guns In Church, The Debate Over Armed Preachers Heats Up 
Want A Gun? Go To Church
The Gospel Of Guns: How Churches Use Firearms To Attract New Members 
Louisiana Moves To Allow Armed Worshippers

When I lived in Texas I was afraid of people carrying bibles. I used to think that a bible in one hand is accompanied by a  gun in the other. I don't think I was wrong.

A God's Undertaker, by John Lennox: a very brief review

I bought this book a few years ago, after the debate between John Lennox and Christopher Hitchens on the subject with the (rather silly) title "can atheism save Europe?", organized as part of the 2008 Edinburgh festival. I bought it because I found Lennox's arguments profoundly stupid, especially for someone who is professor of mathematics.

The most fundamental problem with the book is that Lennox cannot avoid "using" mathematics to "prove" that (his particular version of) god exists. Indeed, for most mathematicians, it will be clear, after scanning the book, that Lennox proves nothing. Rather, he takes the standpoint of a learned academic who tells the layman: "look, I'm a mathematician and know how to multiply numbers; therefore, when I tell you that the probability that the Universe appeared without design is 10^-40 then I know what I mean because I'm a professor of mathematics!"

This is the kind of arguments that Lennox uses. Although they can be dismissed immediately, they appear to be sophisticated to the layman, This is the only reason that Lennox appears eloquent. He disguises the same old tiresome arguments (e.g., god-of-the gaps) in "mathematics" and "science".

I pointed this out to Lennox twice, in person, but, of course, he can't reply. One of my questions was: "How come you chose to defend, support, and propagate the particular religion you speak about, i.e. your Northern Irish version of Christianity, and can't see that this is an event which is highly correlated with the fact that you grew up in Northern Ireland and that your parents had the same religion?" His reply was: "My parents were so liberal that gave me all sorts of books to read when I was little. They even gave me the Communist Manifesto. And I chose Christianity after studying lots of references."

Problem with this reply: Yes, you, say, were so enlightened and lucky, but can you say the same for everyone who adopts a religion? Can't you see the correlation between one's upbringing and one's religion? (Hint: examine the probabilities...)

Usurping morality and peace

“I invite even nonbelievers to desire peace. Let us all unite, either with prayer or with desire, but everyone, for peace.” 

This is part of the Christmas message by Pope Francis today. A fine message, excepting the use of the conjunction `even.' What does "even nonbelievers" mean? Let's analyze it. First, "nonbelievers" refers to those who do not believe in god (or gods). As usual, a religious person sets apart those who "believe" and those who "do not believe". As *if* the verb "to believe" were a virtue and as if the world population can be split into those who believe and those who do not. Believers, even those who believe in mutually contradictory things, are put together into one category, and nonbelievers into another. Second, the word "even" points out to the fact that concept "peace" (and morality--but not mentioned here) has been usurped by the set of believers. Implicit in this message is the assumption that believers desire peach but nonbelievers may not. This is a total absurdity. Desiring peace or being moral has absolutely nothing to do with a religion or with believing in Ahura Mazda or Krishna.

Although the Pope's message is nice, it is rather trivial. Of course, we should desire peace. There are many reasons for striving for peace, but neither religion nor belief is any. Yes, some people may fool themselves by thinking that if they pray then there will be peace in Syria, but this is a delusion.

So, Pope Francis, please think about the rationality of your message. It makes no sense without the ad hoc assumption that the concepts of morality and peach are owned by the ad hoc set of believers. I know it's not your fault and that all your predecessors made this assumption, but the fact that lots of people make such mistakes does not make your statement rational.

"Offensive" art in Sweden

Some Swedes find certain types of art offensive. And they take action. They remove it, change it, or vandalize it. Here are four examples.

1. Recently, the Swedish parliament removed this painting by the baroque artist G E Schröder

because it "offended feminists and Muslims".

2. A few years ago, a group of Swedish vandals smashed the photographs in an exhibition "History of Sex" by the New York Artist Andres Serano in an art gallery in Lund. While destroying the photographs, they shouted “we don’t support this,” plus an expletive. A woman tried to stop them but was frightened by the axes carried by the perpetrators. 

3. A couple of years ago, when it was decided that some pedestrian crossing signs should be changed to female one, some Swedes found the female clip art too offensive (it had short skirt and pointed breasts) and replaced it by another female with shorter breasts and longer skirt. Full report on this in my previous posting.

4. Recently, I was told that some people removed some lovely portraits of 18th c. astronomers (like Celsius) from the department of astronomy at Uppsala University because they were men. According to those who removed the paintings, there should have been women too. Unfortunately, there were no women professors 2 centuries ago.

Patriotism

Some time ago, I came across a collection of sayings about patriotism which make perfect sense. One thing that one can do, as a simple exercise, is substitute "patriotism"/"country" by "religion" and the aphorisms still make sense. So when I hear someone say things like "my country is the best", I get a stomach-ache. (And I don't care if that country is the US, Greece, the UK, Sweden, Russia, or the Republic of Vanuatu.)

“Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.”
- George Bernard Shaw

“Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.”
- Bertrand Russell

“Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.”
- Oscar Wilde

“Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him?”
- Blaise Pascal

“Patriotism in its simplest, clearest, and most indubitable signification is nothing else but a means of obtaining for the rulers their ambitions and covetous desires, and for the ruled the abdication of human dignity, reason, and conscience, and a slavish enthralment to those in power.”
- Leo Tolstoy

Jenny Strömstedt and gender-neutral toys

Some time ago, a certain Jenny Strömstedt, a journalist of sorts, working for one of the world's worst "newspapers" (called Expressen) wrote an article criticising the Telegraph (respectable British newspaper) for making fun of her because she supported the decision of the American company Toys-R-Us to produce a catalogue, for the Swedish market, with "gender-neutral" toys.

I looked at the Telegraph article and then looked at the Expressen article and immediately saw that the politically-correct, gender-neutral, and so on, Jenny Strömstedt's article was accompanied by an advertisement on breast enlargement for women. I immediately thought that I should write to her to tell her that this alone makes her article appear silly. A politically-correct, all-feminist, gender-neutral "journalist's" article next to a "breast augmentation" picture. I told her to change jobs. Of course, she didn't reply.

For the sake of book-keeping, here is my letter to Ms. Strömstedt:

from:     Takis Konstantopoulos
to:     redaktionen@expressen.se
date:     Sat, Dec 8, 2012 at 11:38 AM
subject:     A message for Jenny Strömsted
mailed-by:     gmail.com

Dear Ms Jenny Strömsted,

I read about your argument against the Telegraph writer Thomas Pascoe who criticized the Swedish toys catalogue for attempting to mingle the roles of boys and girls. I read about it here: http://www.thelocal.se/44824/20121203/#.UMKGmqyBorg

I am not going to comment on the topic which, of course, is weird, but on the fact that the appearance of your article in Expressen immediately weakens its weight. Indeed, Expressen is not a serious publication; it is a low-quality tabloid, a paper full of offensive advertisements, big sensationalist titles, full of disagreeable colour images, void of any content, a paper which my American friends would immediately classify as "trash". In comparison to the Telegraph (which itself is not the best newspaper in the UK), Expressen can only be used for cleaning windows by those who are interested in reading a newspaper (I am aware that there are many who, unfortunately, are amused by trash publications, and I feel sorry for their lack of intellect).
Thomas Pascoe wrote an article in a rather respectable newspaper. You wrote in a newspaper favoured by the poor in the spirit. I would be ashamed to have anything published by the Expressen. If you think your article has any merit please try to publish it in a serious forum. Not in Expressen!
Sincerely yours,
Takis Konstantopoulos

P.S. I am now looking at the URL of your Expressen article

http://www.thelocal.se/44628/20121124/#.UMKNCayBorg

and that of the Telegraph article.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/thomaspascoe/100021481/swedens-insane-anti-discrimination-laws-have-created-a-generation-of-lost-women/

The second contains a couple of small size discreet *still* advertisements. The Expressen URL contains dozens of *animated*  (hence annoying) advertisements including one on bröstforstöring (breast augmentation). This is not a good place for a feminist article. Unless breast augmentation is for men too. I doubt it though, because, below your article, there is, clearly a woman with rather large breasts who obviously wants to make them bigger. Now, this contradicts the spirit of your article doesn't it? Like I said, seek an alternative publication venue!
PPS. For your information, here is the advertisement below your article.

breast_270x180_46937.jpg
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Pet care after the Rapture

Yesterday, I became aware of an organization called After the Rapture Pet Care. They state [underlining is mine]

As the Apostle Paul describes in Thessalonians [...], at some point in the future Jesus will come in the air, catch up the Church from the earth, and then return to heaven with the Church. This is known as the Rapture and it will be glorious. But what of our pets? Who will take care of our pets when we’re gone?

Carol began recruiting other non-Christian animal lovers nationwide to volunteer to take care of left-behind pets if the Rapture occurs.

I believe we’ve come up with a plan that is affordable, unique, Biblical and practical.

Our non-Christian administrators will activate our rescue plan.

I found it so hilarious, that I wrote a message for them on their site. It was immediately removed (this is called Free Speech as practiced by Christians). My message went like this:

This is funny from all points of view, and so typical of Christian Americans. As Christians (Christian fundamentalists, in fact), you believe that this Rapture will happen ... tomorrow. (It does not occur to you it may happen in 12 thousand years.) You also believe that you will go to heaven whereas the others, including your pets, will remain on the earth. (How stupid can that be?) As Americans, you believe that money will solve everything. (It doesn't occur to you that money may be worth nothing in 12 thousand years, not does it occur to you that, maybe, just maybe, the Rapture will destroy the monetary balance on the planet.) Oh, yes, you also believe that it is dollars that will be traded after the Rapture. But, as someone of your kin said, "blessed are the poor in spirit."

It takes a low intelligence person to believe in this literal intepretation of the Rapture. But it takes an abysmally low intelligence person to think that post-Rapture monetary system is inevitable. I don't know if these people think of god as the god of the bible or as this god.

P.S. They are not the only ones. Here are a couple of other post-rapture pet-care organizations:
eternal-earthbound-pets.com
postrapturepetcare.com/
 

Golden Dawn's images

The arrested Golden Dawn members (members of the Greek parliament) and their collaborators maintain (see also here):

The Golden Dawn  has no connection with the German National Socialism of the thirties, but is a genuine nationalist movement. For this very reason the Golden Dawn never formally adopted National Socialist symbols but only ancient Greek ones.

Asked about the Nazi symbols and guns found in his house, an arrested Golden Dawn member claimed that he is just a keeper books of Greek but not German history and the other material are simply collectibles ("I am a known collector".)

To test the veracity of their statements, I searched over the Internet, and found the following.  Click on the images below for larger versions.


Items found in Golden Dawn's members' houses:

   



 



 



 



 



 



 

Images from old Golden Dawn meetings:

 



   

Symbols used now or in the past by Golden Dawn:

 



 



   





Front covers from various issues of their magazine:

 



 



 



 



 



 
















Sample articles from their magazine:

 



 





 Sources:    1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10