Japan photos

I've posted pics from the Japanese portion of our Korea-Japan trip this August. We only had a few days, and we spent them mostly in and around Kyoto.

Saddam

Saddam Hussein was executed this past Saturday. I have thought about it a lot these last few days. I will respect the opinion of anyone who says he had it coming, since surely he -- if anyone can be said to deserve it -- deserved it. For me though, I am against capital punishment. I am against killing, period. I am against it when Saddam kills Shiites and Kurds and political opponents. I am against it when a criminal kills somebody. I am against it when George Bush sends American soldiers to kill Iraqis, Afghans, etc. And I am against it when a judge permits a state to kill a criminal. I'm not religious, but I seem to have absorbed a lesson that many religious people appear to have overlooked (since, after all, the religions of the World seem pretty unanimous in this): thou shalt not kill. [ Here's a memorable bit of humour on the subject, from the Onion after the September 11th attacks ].

Normally, I think Christopher Hitchens is a blustery, irritating (though intelligent) blowhard. He's only good at doing outrage. For the past few years, he's distinguished himself as the only pro-Iraq-war pundit I've followed who still manages to be outraged at all the people who disagree(d) with him about Iraq. Still, somehow, this week with his bluster he's managed to sum up my own feelings about the Saddam execution (and the accompanying mobile phone video) better than I could. Here's the article. Here's a quote:

At one point, one of the attending magistrates can be heard appealing for decency and calm, but otherwise the fact must be faced: In spite of his mad invective against "the Persians" and other traitors, the only character with a rag of dignity in the whole scene is the father of all hangmen, Saddam Hussein himself.

Yes, well done Mr. Maliki: you've managed to make people feel pity for the "Butcher of Baghdad".