WHAT A TOUCHING CHRISTMAS STORY CONCERNING THE MARINES AND TOYS FOR TOTS!
What would you expect from Marines? (A friend sent me this clipping from his newspaper in Florida, but I think this actually happened a couple of years ago, touching, no?)
If this had happened in Britain, the marines would have been arrested and remanded (probably in custody) on charges of grievous bodily harm, if not attempted murder. The knife-wielding thief would have been bailed and on conviction given a community service order. He would certainly have applied for, and been given, substantial compensation for his injuries.
The USA has a reputation over here for not being soft on offenders, and this elicits general admiration.
I sympathize with John Nolan - what he says is no exaggeration - and like TJM I like happy endings. However, I know you Americans like to boast that everything in the US is bigger, like Texas, but no one can doubt that - even by US standards - that must have been some massive big curb that guy fell off. No witnesses, I'm sure!
Okay, LOL, Father McD!!! Thanks for the laugh. Somehow it seems like the criminal should have just put the computer into the collection box and walked away. :-)
Yes, Bee, “Slipping and falling off the curb” – this must be the new euphemism for “Being beaten to a bloody pulp.” Although we somewhat instinctively approve of this kind of “rough justice” (even I do at some level, probably that of the reptilian brain; it’s in the Genes), why am I reminded of all the police shooting cases? Now, of course, no-one should approve of what the alleged thief did (the stealing and the stabbings) and the criminal justice system should deal with him appropriately. But even Old Testament justice says “an eye for an eye” not “two eyes for an eye” or “several broken bones, three broken ribs, five missing teeth, and a partridge in a pear tree.”
Come to that: Why not just cut his hand off? Oh, sorry, I forgot, that’s too barbaric.
6 comments:
If this had happened in Britain, the marines would have been arrested and remanded (probably in custody) on charges of grievous bodily harm, if not attempted murder. The knife-wielding thief would have been bailed and on conviction given a community service order. He would certainly have applied for, and been given, substantial compensation for his injuries.
The USA has a reputation over here for not being soft on offenders, and this elicits general admiration.
I just love happy endings!!
I sympathize with John Nolan - what he says is no exaggeration - and like TJM I like happy endings. However, I know you Americans like to boast that everything in the US is bigger, like Texas, but no one can doubt that - even by US standards - that must have been some massive big curb that guy fell off. No witnesses, I'm sure!
Okay, LOL, Father McD!!! Thanks for the laugh. Somehow it seems like the criminal should have just put the computer into the collection box and walked away. :-)
Yes, Bee, “Slipping and falling off the curb” – this must be the new euphemism for “Being beaten to a bloody pulp.” Although we somewhat instinctively approve of this kind of “rough justice” (even I do at some level, probably that of the reptilian brain; it’s in the Genes), why am I reminded of all the police shooting cases? Now, of course, no-one should approve of what the alleged thief did (the stealing and the stabbings) and the criminal justice system should deal with him appropriately. But even Old Testament justice says “an eye for an eye” not “two eyes for an eye” or “several broken bones, three broken ribs, five missing teeth, and a partridge in a pear tree.”
Come to that: Why not just cut his hand off? Oh, sorry, I forgot, that’s too barbaric.
Sorry, I meant Jan – goodness, I am having a hard time with the identifiers today.
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