The "not invented here" syndrome

Lew Hartswick wrote:

Yes, this is sickening. While I don't totally agree that it is better for the guilty to go free than the innocent be convicted, when it comes to death penalty cases, the UTMOST care has to be exercised by all involved to not taint the system at all. It seems it is a lot more than just the police "going along with" the DA ("prosecutor" in some states), but an entire separate layer of coercion, corruption, and just a strong drive to find "somebody" to pin a crime on. Police in both Illinois and Missouri (where I live) seem to have developed all sorts of tricks to extract confessions from people under all sorts of mental duress. Detectives are even sent to schools to learn these systems of mental manipulation, so that they can get confessions from people who are not mentally strong enough to resist the tactics. Many of these confessions are, of course, actually true, and they greatly aid the police in closing serious crime cases. But, it is the ones that aren't true that are the start of the problem. Locking people in a small room, with no food, no water, no bathroom, no contact with the outside, no legal representation, etc. for as long as it takes to get a confession is not legal, and yet it is done all over the country, every day. Then, the last 5 minutes, when the guy says "Yes! Yes! I did it!" is played for the jury. The jury will never be told that the part they heard was after the guy was chained to a chair for 17 hours!

Jon

Well, I use Linux on all my computers, including this one. It works great. It has been up over 400 days once without a reboot. Crashes? Hmm, I cannot recall the last time a program crashed.

Jon

Oh, another one! Edison worked on the telephone! A. Bell had a problem getting enough gain for long-distance communications, and Edison developed the carbon-grain microphone as the solution. Yes, Bell's patents were good, first and broad, but Edison's invention should have given him ownership of that improvement, at least. I'm still not clear on how Edison failed to maintain control of that development. I'm sure he went to his grave kicking himself over that one!

Jon

You actually keep all those pallets of stuff in your GARAGE? I figured you had a warehouse somewhere to have it all delivered and sorted.

The garage wasn't a problem for the last 5 years when we had a 15-passenger van. Without about $5 - 10K modification to our 2-car garage, there was no way it could fit in, mostly just the height and width of the door. Now we have downsized to a Toyota Siena, and the garage got a cleaning-out. Now the dozen or more bikes are on the porch! Not my problem!

Hey, Iggy, if you ever run across a surface mount pick and place machine in your excursions, let me know. I missed a pretty good one on eBay by $75 to some sniper! Affordable ones don't come up real often.

Jon

I wish. I was thinking about doing that, and decided against it. I actually want to reduce this business, though good deals are very difficult to pass up. I am simply tired. Screw the money.

Can you show me some example of what you are talking about.

But the electric light bulb was a CANADIAN invention. He just perfected THAT and got the credit. More light bulbs out there than telephones (by a small margin)

Okay, so I'm late and catching up, but Gunner wrote on Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:29:23 GMT in rec.crafts.metalworking :

Nothing works "instantaneously", and the body takes a dim view of any lethal event. The best one can do is develop a cocktail of chemicals which include something to calm the brain and nervous system, and something to interrupt and terminate a critical life function. Even then, the body will respond with the usual "we're running short of ..." messages, and will attempt the "emergency" measures hardwired to correct the problem. E.G. you put someone in a room full of nitrous oxide, and while the higher functions go sideways, and the "person" is getting totally stoned, getting the giggles and laughing uproariously, the brain will notice the decline in blood oxygen levels and begin the "increase airflow" routines, and the person starts gasping for air, all the while thinking this is the funniest thing to ever happen. Hard to say if they, the "person", suffered, but the body was well aware it was dieing.

tschus pyotr

-- pyotr filipivich Monotheism, someone has said, offers two simple axioms: 1) There is a God. 2) It's not you.

I had a close call with this years ago. The closest I've ever come to dying. I just got sleepier and sleepier until I staggered out into the fresh air. No headache, no choking, just sleepy.

If you *ever* start getting sleepy and there's even a faint chance that you're breathing excess nitrogen or insufficient O2, get your ass out into fresh air. Don't curl up and go to sleep.

Who are you and what have you done with my good friend Igor?

And carbon monoxide makes 'em cherry red. Seen it a couple times as an EMT, not good.

High explosives produce a shock wave which is faster than neural conduction, I've been told. Not that you can ask the guy afterwards. But both are measurable.

For years, I have been meaning to try Linux. I will do it this year.

b.

Can anyone actually provide some cites to any executions based on erroneous convictions?

Gunner

"Aren't cats Libertarian? They just want to be left alone. I think our dog is a Democrat, as he is always looking for a handout" Unknown Usnet Poster

Heh, heh, I'm pretty sure my dog is a liberal - he has no balls. Keyton

Hang on... I'm getting lost in this thread.

Do you mean you will try Linux as a quick and painless method of killing?

Interesting. When did Joseph Swan emigrate?

Mark Rand RTFM

Cool. You might like "Innovation as a Social Process" by Carlson.

true enough, but I doubt that would really serve as a means of execution. I mean, it is so hard on the witnesses, spectators, and hardware.

tschus pyotr

Yes, read all about my forebears and the Swan-Mawson business with lamps here:

Hah. I hope it is better than that.

I would have moved to try it earlier but from scuttlebutt, I hear it is still not a viable alternative to XP. I will give it a chance soon.

Gates really needs competition.

Since most efforts to find out the truth are dropped when the prisoner is executed, we probably will never know. Here's one site that discusses the problem. I have no idea of the veracity of this.

Jon