Also, the crash at the ending of No Country for Old Men makes a great deal of sense if you think of the whole movie as a parable about Capitalism and Javier Bardem's character as the "rational" invisible hand. At least, that has been my interpretation of the movie.

I'm pretty sure that quote is actually narrated during a voice over right as he places the mud in the hole at Angkor Wat.

If geography were kinder, we could all game together and savor the wonders of an artfully crafted story woven together from the threads of each of our imaginations. Then again, I don't actually know where you live, but judging by my encounter tables, it your type is listed as Very Rare and the chances of running into…

Also, on the point "
Execution says that we as a society value the rapist/torturer so little
that we have no problem with ending his life.  Why in the world should
we encourage the latter while discouraging the former?"
The answer seems to me pretty simple. The life of anyone is valued contingently not universally. I for…

Regarding points a and b, it is true that I assume that killing a person before their sexual capabilities diminish will therefore decrease their reproductive output on average when we take such individuals as a group (keep in mind they are dying of a highly unnatural cause and many murderers on death row are young).…

@avclub-63706c2231765ca840e9a60a76fae00a:disqus  I would say that personally there can be degrees of certainty that make me comfortable with taking the very minute chance that the person is innocent when executing said person.

As long as it reduces their differential reproductive success (which it would since it would be ending their life prior to the end of their reproductive capabilities in all likelihood, unlike their sexual competitors), and so
long as there is a genetic predisposition (which admittedly is very debatable), then it…

I think what he means is that you can never be 100% that a guilty verdict is actually correct. So, it stands to reason that innocent people will be punished by the Justice system. So, if you are OK with killing a rapist conceptually, it doesn't mean you are therefore OK with the State killing people found guilty of…

I think the reasons for making suffering a goal is twofold:

Alternatively, if all such people were violently murdered on a consistent basis, over time one would expect the genetic predisposition for such behavior would diminish and possibly disappear due to the extreme selective pressure against such behavior.

No, I'm pretty sure it's because of all the reasons Judge gave. Statute of limitations as a concept was invented prior to the existence of DNA evidence. Arguably we have suitable technology now to justify re-evaluating the initial reasoning of the statute of limitations, but in the context in which it was conceived it…

People can act however they want for the most part. Of course, people can also think whatever they want. So you can see how we got here. 

I could be wrong on this, not being that schooled in French, but I imagine the phrase you were looking for is "c'est la vie" (that's life/such is life). Sais la vie would translate to something like "know life", and which I believe would be grammatically incorrect. Again, this is based on a very rudimentary knowledge…

I got the sense that she was already familiar with the portal gun from events prior to the clip. He reaction to the appearance of the gun implied a certain familiarity. We don' know why she is locked in the prison after all.

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times?!? Stupid penguins!

Um. OK. I certainly agree with that. I just kind of fail to see why that point is meaningful in relation to the previous discussion. As I mentioned, it is false to claim that no one in the government knew what was coming. Brookley Born, who was the head of a market regulating agency, did see it coming as far back as…

Also, Brookley Born saw the problem as far back as the 90's.

Neither Bernake nor Greenspan saw it coming. However, Warren Buffett did. He called derivatives "Weapons of mass destruction"

First, let me clarify that I am not a big believer in government economic intervention. I tend to agree that things like the Fair Housing Act, or the War on Poverty distort markets and create speculation, which is ultimately harmful to just about everyone. I just don't buy the right wing line about fair housing. Low…

@Damian