The Russian gas pipeline bypassing all transit countries to Germany by being routed under the Baltic Sea goes live today.
RT: After 13 years of planning and two years of construction, the Nord Stream pipeline will deliver its first supplies of Russian gas to an estimated 26 million homes in the EU on Tuesday.
graphic: http://english.ruvr.ru
Barbaric and anachronistic punishments – straight out of medieval times – of stoning, lashing, amputation of limbs, mutilation and beheading are not only common but are enshrined in the law of several Islamic countries. Of course even nations which pride themselves on their civilised behaviour still resort to the most exquisite tortures they can devise – whether at Abu Ghraib or at Guantanomo. But at least in most countries barbaric behaviour and cruel and unusual punishments are not enshrined in law.
Now Russia in a burst of machismo is trying to compete with Saudi Arabia.
The Russian Duma today approved a proposal to castrate pedophiles by 332 votes to zero. President Dmitry Medvedev had introduced the proposal in May this year. This means that anybody convicted of offenses against children under 13 years and deemed to be mentally ill will be subjected to chemical castration.
The law must still be approved by the Senate before it becomes effective. Russia is now one of the few countries where castration may be carried out as a punishment and joins Poland which is the only country in Europe which does so.
A measure of how civilised we really are must be the extent to which we allow or tolerate or excuse or justify barbaric behaviour. And physical punishment to be imposed on the mentally ill sounds to me like a society which is taking an easy way out and abdicating its collective responsibility.
The k2p blog 