I’ve never been a fan of the death penalty, all morality issues aside. To me, if someone has created a heinous crime, why should he/she get off the hook with no suffering and very little pain? Solitary confinement for the rest of one’s life is the proper punishment - no table tennis, communication with others, or other luxuries. Of course, we - the taxpayers - have to foot the bill, which is unsettling, as well.

Personally, rush to judgment and sanctity of life are two issues too often blurred in a system that harbors expediency as its goal. Texas , known for outsizing wherever possible, unfortunately also sits atop the list of number of executions in the US. At the same time, with a new district attorney, Dallas alone has uncovered exculpatory evidence that has released 19 inmates, serving time for crimes of which they were innocent. ‘Within These Walls’ is a recently published memoir of a former chaplain at the Wall Unit, death row unit, of Huntsville, Texas prison. Author Carroll Pickett said of the book, “It is not so much a story about me as it is a remembrance of a dark and troubling corner of the world…a story that examines that frightening twilight time between life and death, issues spiritual and moral and the most basic concepts of right and wrong.” And, yes, I find so much to try to reconcile with victim’s rights. Again, I return to my familiar refrain, if we put our money into education up front, we would not be paying to incarcerate so many criminals. “Sesame Street” can’t do it all folks. More education=fewer criminals. But, please no “rolling of the heads”. We’ll just have to be satisfied with Senator Obama bowling. Sometimes “Life is just a chair of bowlies”.

Hey, folks, we’re talking about thoughts and wishes, not actions. Lighten up and enjoy the relief of spewing out hateful wishes on people who deserve the worst. Unhappily, the wishes won’t come true. So I would like to see the heads and other body parts chopped off of George Bush, my ex-husband, Osama bin Laden, my next door neighbor, the man who murdered the therapist in New York City, all those talking heads on CNN, and of course, Fox News, Dick Cheney.. I can go on and on.

All the men that got us in this economic mess. I wonder if we of the female gender would have done so poorly at running things? I am sick inside about what is happening. I worry that we will fall into an economic depression as well as a depression of the souls.