A History of Violence

Acting upon the recommendation of a roommate, the two of us ventured to the Far East (Chinatown) this evening to check out the Crime and Punishment Museum. The facilities and exhibit were rather impressive. The expectations were quite high as per the 4 3/4 Stars rating the gallery received on Yelp, the points of interest reviewer application for my cell phone. Expectations were met and exceeded.

The exhibits in the museum were a macabre display of the two sides that have made up the endless battle between criminals and authority figure. The chronicle of punishment began in a dim-lit dungeon with shackles and inquisition tools of torture and ended in a modern forensic laboratory with gadgets from the 21st century. Across the centuries we saw weapons, crime scene photos (often very graphic), prisons, guns, more guns and even the set of America's Most Wanted.

The most compelling and disturbing display was the room dedicated to capital punishment and execution. The lethal injection Droid that was designed to completely remove human accountability and blame from the equation. The robot hypodermic needle scorpion, something straight out of T2 (Terminator 2), looked more like science fiction than a cog in the penal system. This battlebot has actually been tossed around the table as another way to remove any moral responsibility for taking the life of another. As the saying goes, if you can't pay the time, don't do the crime.

Andy & Zach