August 2009

Betsey Wright, a former chief of staff for then Governor Bill Clinton has recently been arrested and charged with attempting to smuggle a box cutter, a pocket knife, tweezers and tattoo needles into Arkansas death row. In all, she faces 51 felony charges.
Ms Wright not only broke the law, she was rather stupid, it seems. With 51 felony charges, she’s sure to serve jail time. There are those who’ll say she asked for it. Perhaps, but isn’t there a better way? Shouldn’t the law make a distinction between a contract murderer and Ms. Wright? Her contraband was confiscated, the potential harm averted. Even if it hadn’t, what was it to be used for? Given the restraints of death row, could these tools really have led to an escape? But that’s not even the point. The point is that people like Betsy Wright shouldn’t be sentenced like common criminals. Could they not perform community service of some kind? Could they not be made to serve society in some way instead of being incarcerated at taxpayers’ expenses?

Now that we’re familiar with the idea of carbon footprints, we can add another even more crucial item to our list, our water footprints. The idea is still new, proposed by a Dutch hydro-engineer, Arjen Hoekstra . At a recent conference in Sweden attended by some 2000 scientists, activists and political representatives, he tried to keep a low profile. Nevertheless his idea of “water footprint” became the center of debate. According to his formula, our water footprint is both the water we actually consume, and even more important our virtual footprint, or the water used to manufacturer the products we use. Using his formula, a cup of coffee requires 140 liters of water, a hamburger 2400 liters and a pair of jeans 10,000. How far the idea will go is not yet known, but the fact that our consumerism has consequences for already scarce resources is becoming even more inescapable.

For many the prospect of death is too horrendous to contemplate so that any example how to handle it needs to be hailed. In this case the example is set by Senator Ted Kennedy writing a letter to the Massachusetts legislature to ask a law be changed so that should he be unable to someone may be appointed to finish his term rather than wait the 4 to 6 months for a special election. Some may see politics behind his action. Yet, given his brain cancer his request holds every indication that he’s facing the death that is before him and taking care of those things that are important to him before he goes. The courage and clarity it speaks of are not only moving they do become a vibrant example of how to face our last chapter.