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| East Asia |
| Doomsday cult doctor to hang for Tokyo gas attack |
| 2003-10-29 |
| A doctor who helped lead the sarin nerve gas attack on a Tokyo underground train station will be hanged. Doomsday cult lieutenant Tomomasa Nakagawa, 41, has been sentenced to the death penalty for the attack in 1995, which killed 12 people, and another earlier attack that killed seven people. He has also been found guilty of taking part in earlier murders. Nakagawa is the 10th member of the Aum Shinri Kyo sect to be given the death sentence. Closing arguments are being [presented] in the trial of the sect’s guru Shoko Asahara, who is also facing a possible death sentence for allegedly organising the subway gassing. Asahara has claimed he is innocent, and his lawyers have argued that Aum disciples acted on their own. The subway gassing was the worst case of urban terrorism in Japan’s history. Raids of cult headquarters and confessions of leading members later revealed the cult had numerous plots to overthrow the government and operated labs to develop chemical and biological weapons. At its height, the sect claimed 30,000 members, about a third of them in Russia. It still exists under the name Aleph, but its membership has dwindled to about 1,000 or so. |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #13 I ad not heard of Bucky Balls so I went looking and found these links: 1. R. Buckminster Fuller:THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE 2. Bucky Balls - Andy Gion |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-29 6:23:39 PM |
| #12 mhaflau LOL . It's just a noose woven from Fulleriene(?) I don't even know if a cord has been built yet... It's just that hangning seems so... vaccuum tube. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-10-29 1:40:27 PM |
| #11 mhatlau: argh, you beat me |
| Posted by: Spot 2003-10-29 1:30:19 PM |
| #10 The really interesting thing about the death penalty in Japan is how it's administered. The condemned are not told the date of their execution and often are made to wait years. The warden just shows up one day with a noose. They are indeed serious. |
| Posted by: Spot 2003-10-29 1:28:25 PM |
| #9 Not only that, they have an interesting way of carrying it out. The date of Execution is kept secret, even to the condemned. Prisoners have spent years in jail never knowing when the sentence would be carried out. The first they know about it is on their way to the Barber Shop for their monthly haircut, when they take a left rather than a right. It is considered more humane that way. Of course, there was that prisoner that dropped dead of a Heart Attack on his way to the Barber shop the week after they moved it…. |
| Posted by: mhatlau 2003-10-29 1:22:31 PM |
| #8 (gulp!) Dare I ask? Shipman - I know about Bucky-balls (the geometry, chemistry applications, etc.), cuz Fuller's up there with Tesla as one of my heroes but, um, what is a bucky-ball noose? (I just know I'm gonna regret being so naive...) |
| Posted by: .com 2003-10-29 12:34:06 PM |
| #7 I didn't realize Japan had the death penalty either. Hanging.... kinda low-tech. Maybe they use a bucky-ball noose. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-10-29 12:12:16 PM |
| #6 Hey, I like the idea of a shame/honor culture--to a degree! I don't think enough shame exists in American culture today, nor personal responsibility. However, taking that to the point of seppuku is a little too much... except perhaps for the lefties that feel ashamed just to be Americans. Unfortunately and conversely, honor seems to have branched off independently from shame and self-respect and become perverted way beyond scope, but that's an OT rant I won't go into just now. If you've ever seen daytime TV and watched some slimeball justify his actions because he was "dissed", you'll know where I'm going... |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-10-29 11:18:20 AM |
| #5 Japanese have death penalty, eh? Wonder how long it will take our Hollywood |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-10-29 11:16:40 AM |
| #4 "I didn't know Japan had the death penalty in this "enlightened" age." Yes they do, and most Japanese I know support it. They are very serious about people being held responsible for their actions, that's why they also have such a high suicide rate. They are a shame/honor culture, but in a good way these days. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-29 11:02:05 AM |
| #3 I didn't know Japan had the death penalty in this "enlightened" age. Hang him high! |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-10-29 10:50:40 AM |
| #2 "It still exists under the name Aleph, but its membership has dwindled to about 1,000 or so." Proof positive that some people are just too stupid to live. |
| Posted by: .com 2003-10-29 9:55:48 AM |
| #1 Asahara's as innocent as Charlie Manson was |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-29 9:43:57 AM |