Standing up to the executioner

The Australian: Standing up to the executioner :

"Yuan's date with death, 8.30am on October 14, came and went. At 11am he was allowed to see his wife and one-year-old son who had been waiting at the prison since early morning, fearing the worst. 'I didn't know his execution had been halted until then,' says his wife Zhou Ma. On the morning of his reprieve, Yuan smiled and laughed, and told his son to wait for him."

We are all looking at it. Entire countries have got up this morning to look at the death penalty and what that might mean. Everyone has got their eyes and ears open and we are scouring everywhere to find out what the rules are, what capital punishment means and how it is applied and why and where and how many. We are gathering facts and information because, quite clearly, we have decided as a world we need to sort this out. The comments are coming thick and fast. The advantages, disadvantages, the critical information. Journalists, amnesty, lawyers, Mr and Mrs Citizen, young and old...so many of us today are putting the information into the melting pot and yes, as a planet, we look like we might actually sort something out. The debate is very healthy and dynamic because we are starting to wake up to the fact that we are Planet Earth and what happens in one place affects somewhere else and the point of view of one country has an impact on others and that there are many ways of thinking about things but we do actually have points of common interest...for heaven's sake keep it going!