Humane Executions

An interesting thought from Mark Kleiman about capital punishment. I'm in favor of capital punishment, although I'm also in favor of making damn sure that the executed prisoner really was guilty, and too often our criminal justice system demonstrates more arrogance than confidence in the results of its process. Also on the subject of crime and punishment, Steve Martin offers his take on the "72 Virgins" myth of Muslim paradise -- predictably, it's not quite so pleasurable as first impressions might suggest.