any last requests?

copyright amnesty international

all this talk of death penalties in the name of freedom of/or creative expression led me down the gallows path. it's so not very pretty. according to amnesty international statistics: china, iran & saudia arabia commit 90% of all world executions. quite the record to be proud of. texas the traditionally bloodthirsty US state, pales in comparison. they just mostly don't like black people. no wonder michael jackson was dermatologically nervous.


“according to iranian human rights campaigners, over 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the ayatollahs seized power in 1979. altogether, an estimated 100,000 iranians have been put to death over the last 26 years of clerical rule.” -- outrage campaigner peter tatchell, 2005.

copyright ISNA: two gay teens are hanged for their "crime"

iran & capital punishment have a long close relationship. it's not a regime which encourages leniency or tolerance. the bastardisation of islam continues [would you like my address intelligence gooks?].

internet censorship map: copyright the nut graph

meanwhile in australia we're dealing with issues of internet police state & ridiculous censorship controls which are potentially only a step away from these extremities. it's important to protest it now.


iran is in the internet black & users can't access any sites which have any "western cultural influence" or ridicule religious or political figures. while it might seem worlds apart it's only a few shades away.

 copyright: luvatious skull

spare a thought for the iranian bloggers who are next on the chopping block. yes, bloggers are about to join the death penalty ranks. but only if they write something the state doesn't like.


weirdly all this talk of death makes me hungry. what better way to break than with a delicious snack? it's a death row custom after all.

 

final US meal requests have a 40USD upper limit: copyright james reymolds

although the tradition of taking final meal requests for death row prisoners is age old with jesus' last supper being a mere historical dip in the ocean. he was preceded by the romans, greeks, chinese giving the condemned a final meal. a forced yet accepted complicity. the aztecs took the whole thing a step further by feeding their captive human sacrifices for up to a year before killing them. way to work up an appetite.

front entrance of evin prison: copyright fariba amini

i'm not sure that happens here. noone really does. one thing for sure in the infamous iranian evin prison there'll be no thickshake & cheese hamburgers on a sun-kissed orange dish. in any normal circumstance i'd argue that this is not necessarily all bad. but this really shouldn't be normalised. not even in states run by islamic extremists [no wonder i hate religion, all religion]. 


this jail is where the majority of the condemned prisoners in iran end up [if they're lucky] before their very public humiliation. 

guantanamo bay: copyright denver anarchist black cross

it makes guantanamo bay look like a ski resort. the CIA borrowed some of their interior design blueprints but added stylin' jumpsuits. prisons are a growth industry. perhaps the controllers of state know something we don't. sure as hell there's a great calling for failed airline designers who want to move on from bad staff clothing lines.

studying eating habits via last meal requests as per what US death row prisoners deem to be comfort food or treats is interesting. perhaps if they'd grown up on non antibiotic ridden fruit & vegetables they might have led healthier lives? that's a whole lot of fried yellow. still being poor limits choice. irresponsible use of statistics  could argue that "fried chicken made them do it."

if i'm ever in evin prison or simiar i think that will be my defence. after all, nothing else seems to make sense. whether i can keep my food down though is an entirely different question.