Political - what has gone wrong that the RATES of this is increasing

You mean like the ending of Prohibition put organized crime out of business?

--
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence 
over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
                                       (Richard Feynman)

No, they just retreated to their core business of politics.

--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.

...

d

t is

Probably not.

You, on the other had, are the kind of brainless idiot who would put forward this kind of implausible statement without a shred of supporting evidence. It serves exactly one function - it identifies you as right-wing nitwit.

What makes you think that? And what difference are these alleged - but unspecified - differences in population density or economic activity making that might make it sensible for you to put people in prison for a lot longer than anybody else?

What you need to do it to learn how to think, rather than using moronic slogans as a substitute for argument.

t.

Except that it doesn't deter criminals - never has and never will.

hat

But criminals don't think that far ahead - it seems to be one of the cognitive defects that shows up very frequently in convicted criminals.

Your proposition seems to be that this kind of cognitive defect is heritable. There are some heritable defects that work that way, but the ones we know about don't explain any significant proportion of criminal behaviour.

h

You aren't being harsh as such, it's merely an incidental side-effect of you being stupid and extravagant.

ll

And your evidence supporting this fatuous idea is?

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

The same applies to, for instance, Switzerland and the US. The US is far different than any of Europe. The only reasonable comparisons can be made between states; even better in places were the laws have recently changed.

I see you really don't have anything worth saying. I figured as much.

What a stupid statement.

You are a true retard. We do NOT put people in prison for longer than anybody else.

We put people we catch at crimes in prison. If your country is simply filled with incompetent utter retards, you not only do not catch the bad criminals, but you do not send them away for ANY time, much less "enough" time.

You are about the most retarded "would be" intelligent idiot I have ever seen in my life.

Bullshit.

FUDiots like you... at the top of the list.

Attempting a rational discussion with Nymbecile?

You must be desperate for something to do. :-)

..

s

prison policy. Indeed, the mere number of sentences imposed here would not= place the United States at the top of the incarceration lists. If lists we= re compiled based on annual admissions to prison per capita, several Europe= an countries would outpace the United States. But American prison stays are= much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher. ... "Rises and fal= ls in Canada's crime rate have closely paralleled America's for 40 years," = Mr. Tonry wrote last year. "But its imprisonment rate has remained stable."

hen including those people on parole and probation. =A0Remove all the drama= tic language and comparisons and you're not left with much. =A0Stalin had a= much higher rate of execution, deliberate starvation and death from exposu= re and brutalization, as well as general terror. =A0If you really want fewe= r people in jail, that's one way of managing it.

You mean fewer people - unless you intend to calculate according to weight = rather than number. =20

You seem to be labouring under a common misapprehension i.e. that Prohibiti= on failed. It is an oft-repeated MYTH and used to provide support for many= a misguided notion.=20

=20 (Unless you actually enjoy the suffering, violence and damage caused by alc= ohol abuse - =20 Bleeding in the digestive tract Brain cell damage Brain disorder called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome Cancer of the esophagus, liver, colon, and other areas Changes in the menstrual cycle (period) Delirium tremens (DT's) Dementia and memory loss Depression and suicide Erectile dysfunction Heart damage High blood pressure Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) Liver disease, including cirrhosis Nerve damage Poor nutrition Sleeping problems (insomnia)=20 Alcohol use also increases your risk for sexually transmitted infections (S= TIs) and violence.) And have you seen the effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome? The poor children= . =20

Mark Robarts

This is a good point. He isn't qualified to speak on the subject. (BTW 'Gopniks' are known for wearing short haircuts and sports jackets alongside leather shoes, as well as the abuse of alcohol.) Check the author's background in Wikipedia.

Emotive writing, lacking in substance is his forte. Something of a dilettante, wondering, 'What can I write this week which would go down well with the set who read the New Yorker?'

Bomber

growth is

American prison policy. Indeed, the mere number of sentences imposed here= would not place the United States at the top of the incarceration lists.= If lists were compiled based on annual admissions to prison per capita, = several European countries would outpace the United States. But American = prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher. = ... "Rises and falls in Canada's crime rate have closely paralleled = America's for 40 years," Mr. Tonry wrote last year. "But its imprisonment= rate has remained stable."

and then including those people on parole and probation. =A0Remove all = the dramatic language and comparisons and you're not left with much. = =A0Stalin had a much higher rate of execution, deliberate starvation and = death from exposure and brutalization, as well as general terror. =A0If = you really want fewer people in jail, that's one way of managing it.

weight rather than number.

Prohibition failed. It is an oft-repeated MYTH and used to provide = support for many a misguided notion.=20

alcohol abuse - =20

(STIs)

children. =20

Wow, that is a wild response. Prohibition did fail and was repealed because of it. The issue of damaging affects never was in question, that is why prohibition was tried at all.

?-)

O> >

But did you read the article? Just because people like Bill Sloman repeating something over and over does not make it true. Check it out.

Bomber

eating something over and over does not make it true. =A0Check it out.

Prohibition did reduce - but not eliminate - alcohol addition in the US. One of the reasons it was repealed was that the criminal organisations who were supplying alcohol to those that still drank had become a considerable social problem.

The analogy with the current US war on drugs is striking. Most countries are moving away from outright prohibition to "harm reduction" where registered addicts can get clean drugs from the medical profession. The US does this - to some extent - in programs where heroine addicts can get into a methadone program.

I don't know of anything equivalent for cocaine addicts, or people who like party drugs like ecstasy.

The Dutch approach to marijuana is to tolerate the people who sell it retail, in small quantities, on the basis that somebody is always going to be selling the stuff, and it's easier to keep an eye on them if they aren't worried about being arrested. Politicians keep on trying to fine tune the system to minimise complaints from adjacent countries, whose citizens pop over the border as "drugs tourists" to buy Dutch cannabis, which is cheaper and of better quality than they can get at home.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

repeating something over and over does not make it true. Check it out.

OK i read it. It is revisionist history from a neo-prohibitionist. = Sorry. The fundamental problem with prohibition is that the politically powerful were all alcoholics. They knew that it would attach them to the big = money available from organized crime, and continued with it because of that. And the populace still wonders why drug laws are so crazy.

?-)

something over and over does not make it true. Check it out.

So are todays drug laws just Prohibition ??

If drugs were legal, would the drug money flow to "the other organized crime" (i.e. politicians ) ?

repeating something over and over does not make it true. Check it out.

I think so - and look at all the other drivers of organized crime (my extensive knowledge of which comes from watching the entire series of the Sopranos...). Drugs, gambling, prostitution. These are all activities better controlled by legalisation and regulation.

Well I suppose there is also loansharking and protection rackets for them to fall back on.

--

John Devereux

epeating something over and over does not make it true. Check it out.

rry.

ful

oney

'Although organized crime flourished under its sway, Prohibition was not re= sponsible for its appearance, as organized crime=92s post-Repeal persistenc= e has demonstrated. Drinking habits underwent a drastic change during the P= rohibition Era, and Prohibition=92s flattening effect on per capita consump= tion continued long after Repeal, as did a substantial hard core of popular= support for Prohibition=92s return. Repeal itself became possible in 1933 = primarily because of a radically altered economic context=97the Great Depre= ssion.' Source cited above. =20

repeating something over and over does not make it true. Check it out.

responsible for its appearance, as organized crime?s post-Repeal persistence has demonstrated. Drinking habits underwent a drastic change during the Prohibition Era, and Prohibition?s flattening effect on per capita consumption continued long after Repeal, as did a substantial hard core of popular support for Prohibition?s return. Repeal itself became possible in 1933 primarily because of a radically altered economic context?the Great Depression.'

Well of course once their primary cash cow went away they had to diversify into the other fields of endeavour I mentioned.

--

John Devereux