Damned Gangs

Sometimes, you read about a story in the paper that's awful enough to fry your frites and make you lose faith in humanity.  Then, you remember that basically the story of humanity is one of countless horrors interspersed with acts of decency and kindness.  Any alien force judging humankind would understandably be torn between sparing us and zapping us into a fine stew.

One example of the sort of thing that could make you want to give up faith in humanity is this story about a gang-related torture and murder of a 15 year old kid in Montgomery County, Maryland.  The killers--who were all convicted of first degree murder--are facing life in prison.  Sadly, life in the gang-controlled prisons is really not the deterrent it should be.  And ever since Maryland outlawed the Iron Maiden, the Spike Chair, and the Tarantula Cage--thank you very much, liberal State Court of Appeals!--the most suitable forms of justice are not available. 

If this were some sort of cool movie, the gang members would be intercepted on their way to prison by an avenging former cop who had to leave the force because he played by his own rules, then chained together by the necks and dragged at slow speed along the highway behind his car until they dropped from exhaustion and eventually became one with the blacktop.  Sadly, there's likely to be no real justice for the murderers.  One can only hope that they never see freedom again.