A South Carolina lady passes

Eartha Kitt, a South Carolina girl who by the stint of her own ability and charm climbed from the cotton fields of the old South to become one of the premier vocalists of the 20th Century died on Christmas - December 25, 2008. She will be missed by everyone who heard her sing. (Photo by Michelle V. Atkins, New York Times.)

Says it all

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

This week I saw "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," based on a book written by the Irish novelist John Boyne - he drafted the outline of the book in less than three days. The story revolves around an 8-year old boy who moves from early World War II Berlin with his father, mother and sister to a place in the country. This is a new assignment for his father, a senior officer in the SS, who has been made commandant of a killing concentration camp. The family does not know about this and lives a short distance from the camp in a secluded, beautiful house where the father also keeps his office. The boy is a typical 8-year old and takes to exploring. He encounters the barbed wire fence he believes is to keep the animals out of the farm he has been told is on the other side. He meets and befriends a 8-year old Jewish boy who is a prisoner. The story is about their friendship, betrayal and renewed friendship. The story of innocent youth is well dramatized and the end comes so quickly and with such devastation that when the picture ended no one in the local audience moved. The credits rolled for several minutes showing us the minutiae of even who the electrician was before anyone got up and left. It made such a strong impact. I recommend it highly.
(PS: I apologize if you receive this twice. I sent an earlier e-mail to family and friends but did not intend to load up your inbox.)

Bring back crucifixtion

The United Nations Security Council has given the Secretary General 90 days to come up with a strategy for dealing with piracy. I have given some thought to the subject and offer my opinion as to what may have beneficial results: Bring back crucifixion.

This simple strategy against the pirates in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia, and in the Straits of Malacca, is worth trying. Acts of piracy are on the increase. Holding ships and people for ransom are outrageous criminal acts.

There is no indication that any pirates are acting out against "oppression by infidels" or any other reason often quoted by terrorists. Pirates are not terrorists. They are pure and simple brigands, criminals, murderers and all-around low life's. There is no political movement supporting piracy, no claim to desire a Kingdom of Pirates under any law, man or God's.

We know that Caesar crucified pirates who had kidnapped him and held him for ransom, (admittedly he never succeeded in putting an end to piracy.) Although crucifixion has largely fallen out of style in the Western world, as recently as 2003 an Englishman was sentenced in Saudi Arabia to partial beheading and crucifixion. Partial beheading and crucifixion is one of the punishments known under sharia (traditional Islamic law) as al-hadd, the limit, a reference to the ultimate sanction allowed by God.

Although the Englishman's sentence was not carried out,Saudi Arabia reportedly crucified two highway robbers a few years ago.

We ought not to adopt Islamic law totally in the Western world but in dealing with people to whom Western law (arrests, lawyers, courts, trials, juries, prison sentences, fines, parole, and eventual release) has no fear factor then we should deal with in terms they may well understand and appreciate.

Ships can try to defend themselves with heavy water cannons and ear splitting music to ward off pirates. They may also "pour on the coal" and outrun pirates usually attacking in smaller boats. But it is worth considering the potential payback to catching and crucifying a few pirates and letting them rot in the sun for three days to a week.

Dr. C. Truman Davis* more than 30 years ago wrote an essay on crucifixion which describes the grisly procedure in detail and is worthy of reading. Many pirates may not be able to read and thus may not be scared off, but seeing their buddies Ali, Hosea and whoever hanging on a cross rotting in the hot African sun may well send a message to other pirates to consider a new line of work.

(* Dr. C. Truman Davis is a nationally respected Ophthalmologist, vice president of the American Association of Ophthalmology, and an active figure in the Christian schools movement. He is founder and president of the excellent Trinity Christian School in Mesa Arizona, and a trustee of Grove City College.)

"Shut up, your dirty Baathist"

My nominee for Judge of the Week is Iraq's chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al Khalifa who this week told a defendant he had just sentenced to death to "Shut up, you dirty Baathist," referring to Saddam's Sunni-dominated Baath Party.

The judge's order was directed to a former Baath party official Abdul-Ghani Abdul-Ghafur, who shouted "Down with Persian-U.S. occupation" and "Welcome to death for the sake of Arabism and Islam" as the judge read his sentence of death, according to the Associated Press.

In America, we are accustomed to mainly tolerant judges who hold their tongues under difficult circumstances. It is refreshing - for at least a vicarious moment - to see one speak his mind.