"The death penalty doesn't work" Says Mountbank. Gee, that's funny. On Monday, Sydney had 22 armed robberies in 24 hours. Armed roberies were rare in my youth. To start with, people in NSW who's employment obliged them to carry or handle large amounts of cash (as well as jewellers, banker tellers and gun shop owners) had a right to carry a concealed pistol. The other reason was, of course, armed robbery was a hanging offence.

Gee redneck must be old. While there were executions for theft in NSW at the time of the First Fleet, that state abolished the death penalty for all crimes except piracy and treason in 1955.

It's worth noting that the USA is the only Western nation that retains the death penalty - clearly it's a wonderful deterrent, given the absence of crime in that enlightened country.

To Mr Mahatma Duck.

1. Yes, I am "old".

2. 48 states of the USA had responded to inappropriate humanitarian concerns and suspended the death penalty by the early seventies. The only holdouts were Florida and Texas.

But today almost every US state has reintroduced it because of the public outcry over the existence of new types of sadistic murderers who are now being created in today's society. The FBI claims that there are now 50 "working" serial killers in the US of which around a dozen are apprehended each year.

The abolishion of the death penalty was a noble ideal, but with violence levels increasing in society which includes the bombing of civilian airliners, the pendulum of public opinion is now swinging back. It is only a matter of time before it is reintroduced here as well.

Personally, as an ex soldier, I see nothing wrong with killing the enemies of my people. As Vegetius once said, "A dead enemy smells good."

Jesus red, remind me not to play you at ping pong. You would have no problem killing your enemies? Killing? As in...death?

I'm sorry, I just find this very curious. Ok, so let's say you're enemies are bad guys. Why are they bad guys? Because they killed people maybe? ...do you...see what I mean..?

Maybe this subject is a little over my head. Being a pacifist (and also enlightened), I'm not quite able to grasp the whole 'kill enemies' thing unless it's on playstation. I mean, does it not strike anyone else as a little...I don't know...caveman? Aren't we a little more grown up these days?

'A dead enemy smells good'. My god, I think I'm going to throw up.

A delicious roast dinner smells good. Marijuana smells good. Sex smells good.

..But different strokes for different folks I guess! I'll stick to my sex, drugs and delicious roast dinners, you go around smelling dead people. As long as it makes you feel fulfilled, that's all that's important.

This may be a little too deep for your marijuana addled brain, Spendocrat, but people who go around killing your people for fun or profit are most definitely bad guys.

I would not like to see the death penalty as a general punishment for homicide, but when it comes to men who plant bombs in civilian aircraft, abduct, rape and murder women and children, or kill numerous people for sadistic fun, the world would be a better place if we genetically eradicated them.

Every people on Earth believes in the death penalty, Mr Spendocrat. Every country has an army and every army is armed. They are not armed with frying pans but with lethal weapons. Those weapons they are quite happy to use on other men for no other reason that they may speak a different language to them, or they may wear a uniform which is a different colour to them.

I thought thay all of this was obvious, but it is hard for me to understand how drug addicts think. Could you please stop smoking that wacky tobaccy? it is not only bad for your lungs, it is very bad for your ability to think straight. It is so debilitating, that it is now recognised as a leading cause of Schizophrenia. You appear to be suffering from an advanced case.

I know that the world is a big bad place full of unpleasant things, Spendocrat. But if you want to dance with the fairies in a brown blurry haze, then please just keep out of the way while the serious people attempt to solve all your problems for you.

I doubt that those that are against the death penalty have ever been on active service and been involved in combat death, or party to a violent crime. Redneck is right here, the death penalty is the only way to ensure that the perpetrator doesn't commit the crime again.

However, it must be implemented with due care and not as it is in the brain dead USA, or muslim countries. Anyone that uses a weapon to rob someone, should be locked away for a very long time. Anyone that kills someone with a weapon during a crime, including some crimes of emotion, should forfeit their life.

It is all well and good to say that we don't have the right to take a life, but we must have a way to deter these sorts of crime. One way would be to introduce a different type of punishment for crimes. First, if you commit a crime of violence, you go to jail, even if it is for 3 months. Your second crime of violence, should get you a free ticket to countries that are in conflict, our government to choose, like Zimbabwe, Sudan, or Iran. The government would pay these countries to take these people, but not support them. This would ensure that people were aware of where they would end up when they commit violent crimes. The criminals would then have to try and survive in a place that replicates their attitude to life.

Security forces, including police should be brought to account any time someone is killed by them. If they have made a mistake, they pay for it. Why because they are trained to operate in situations like that and therefore are more responsible for their actions.

Kill more than one, death, rape more than once, death, bomb someone, death.

One thing that people fail to adress, we should all be legally entitled, to defend and execute someone in the protection of our loved ones and our homes by home invaders.

Lie in politics, death 5 times over, oops sorry no politicians left.