Would be better if displayed on Wall St.

the headline was a cut above the rest...

Guillotine was designed to be a more humane and civilized execution method than common hanging.

HighZoolander: It's good, but I wouldn't lose my head over it....

He's in way over his head here....

Subby'll never get ahead with a headline like that....



/I'll stop now
//headline was actually quite clever
///slashies! Guillotinies!

I dunno... this headline seems a tad off.

Getting there is probably going to be a pain in the neck.

"Is this some sort of brain scanning device?"

"Some sort, yes. The French called it a guillotine."



/hot

was made redundant three decades ago.


Only 3 decades ago?

Thanks for the heads up...

I am sure it will be chalked full of heady goodness.

dnrtfa

Only the most humane form of execution ever conceived.

I do not understand why it is still not in use today.

Hats off to subby.

Watching_Epoxy_Cure: dnrtfa

Only the most humane form of execution ever conceived.

I do not understand why it is still not in use today.

Probably because they figured out that in some cases the head lives for 30-60 seconds after being severed from the body. Probably pretty excruciating.

We need to fire up one of these guillotine contraptions for the necks of liberal politicians in America. Do you have one in US 110 volt?

lemming42: Probably because they figured out that in some cases the head lives for 30-60 seconds after being severed from the body. Probably pretty excruciating.

You'd think a helmet made of C4 would probably me the most human way.

jingks: You'd think a helmet made of C4 would probably me the most human way.

Huh? A helmet made of C4 would probably be the most humane way.

TheWhoppah: Guillotine was designed to be a more humane and civilized execution method than common hanging.

Bloody good observation.

Very droll subby, very droll.

So the joke is the s being cut off? Is that where we're going here? Meh. Lame. Not funny, I've seen better attempts of humor on antihomo signs posted near Parliament House in Orlando.

I have far, far better things to do.

jclaggett: So the joke is the s being cut off? Is that where we're going here? Meh. Lame. Not funny, I've seen better attempts of humor on antihomo signs posted near Parliament House in Orlando.

For 5 points, Alex, what is the "The National Razor"?

I read it "Hats Heads off to France for their new guillotine exhibit"

Aw man. Why do the coolest submissions' threads always get cut short.

Honestly, if you combined lethal injection with guillotining, it would be without a doubt the most humane form of execution.

Just put the prisoner under prior to execution, that way all the fears of consciousness and pain for a few seconds following decapitation (the only potential pitfall as to the guillotine's humane killing credentials) would be completely assuaged.

That said, I'm against capital punishment in almost all but the most extreme circumstances.

Elektrohed: jclaggett: So the joke is the s being cut off? Is that where we're going here? Meh. Lame. Not funny, I've seen better attempts of humor on antihomo signs posted near Parliament House in Orlando.

That's your comeback? Really? Try again please.

The guillotine was adopted to be a more humane mode of execution than beheading with an axe, not the rope. The axe that was used was generally dull and the beheading was very messy and often required several attempts to get the job done. The heavy blade was supposed to be sharper and only take one attempt to accomplish the task. In this respect, it was a success. The studies done revealed that the head lived approximately 20 seconds after being severed due to the amount of oxygen in the blood in the brain. Whether the head felt pain during this period was never determined.

Noam Chimpsky: We need to fire up one of these guillotine contraptions for the necks of liberal politicians in America. Do you have one in US 110 volt?

Or maybe to neocons who want to be their own death panel by denying health care to those whom they cannot make enough of a profit from.

historian1946: The guillotine was adopted to be a more humane mode of execution than beheading with an axe, not the rope. The axe that was used was generally dull and the beheading was very messy and often required several attempts to get the job done. The heavy blade was supposed to be sharper and only take one attempt to accomplish the task. In this respect, it was a success. The studies done revealed that the head lived approximately 20 seconds after being severed due to the amount of oxygen in the blood in the brain. Whether the head felt pain during this period was never determined.

The guillotine was also a "good" alternative to the wheel.

In France, the condemned were placed on a cartwheel with their limbs stretched out along the spokes over two sturdy wooden beams. The wheel was made to revolve slowly, and a large hammer or an iron bar was then applied to the limb over the gap between the beams, breaking the bones. This process was repeated several times per limb. Sometimes it was 'mercifully' ordered that the executioner should strike the criminal on the chest and stomach, blows known as coups de grce (French: "blows of mercy"), which caused fatal injuries. Without those, the broken man could last hours and even days, before shock and dehydration caused death. In France, a special grace, the retentum, could be granted, by which the condemned was strangled after the second or third blow, or in special cases, even before the breaking began. Afterwards, the condemned's shattered limbs were woven ('braiden') through the spokes of the wheel, which was then hoisted onto a tall pole so that birds could eat the sometimes still-living individual.

historian1946: The guillotine was adopted to be a more humane mode of execution than beheading with an axe, not the rope. The axe that was used was generally dull and the beheading was very messy and often required several attempts to get the job done. The heavy blade was supposed to be sharper and only take one attempt to accomplish the task. In this respect, it was a success. The studies done revealed that the head lived approximately 20 seconds after being severed due to the amount of oxygen in the blood in the brain. Whether the head felt pain during this period was never determined.

Actually, in France at the time, executions were carried out via a very large, sharp sword. It was actually not uncommon for wealthy nobles facing death to request a French executioner for this reason - they'd decapitate the person successfully every time, which was usually not the way that the English axe-executions ended up.

However, at the time of the Revolution and subsequent "Reign of Terror" the head Parisian executioner complained of having to sever too many heads, dulling the otherwise sharp sword blade, and therefore requiring replacements at an unsustainable rate. It was apparent that there was a need for some far more efficient method for carrying out killings en masse. The guillotine merely filled the role demanded by the extraordinarily high execution lists at that time.

Will there be cake?

borland502: Will there be cake?

Let them eat said cake!!!

borland502: Will there be cake?

The cake is a lie

Oldiron_79: borland502: Will there be cake?

The cake is a lie

Therefor your argument is invalid??

das: Oldiron_79: borland502: Will there be cake?

The cake is a lie

Therefor your argument is invalid??

The cake is not a lie. I have seen it.

On a different note...heeeeressss Languille!

The following report was written by a Dr. Beaurieux, who experimented with the head of a condemned prisoner by the name of Henri Languille, on 28 June 1905:

Here, then, is what I was able to note immediately after the decapitation: the eyelids and lips of the guillotined man worked in irregularly rhythmic contractions for about five or six seconds. This phenomenon has been remarked by all those finding themselves in the same conditions as myself for observing what happens after the severing of the neck ...
I waited for several seconds. The spasmodic movements ceased. [...] It was then that I called in a strong, sharp voice: "Languille!" I saw the eyelids slowly lift up, without any spasmodic contractions - I insist advisedly on this peculiarity - but with an even movement, quite distinct and normal, such as happens in everyday life, with people awakened or torn from their thoughts.

Next Languille's eyes very definitely fixed themselves on mine and the pupils focused themselves. I was not, then, dealing with the sort of vague dull look without any expression, that can be observed any day in dying people to whom one speaks: I was dealing with undeniably living eyes which were looking at me. After several seconds, the eyelids closed again.

It was at that point that I called out again and, once more, without any spasm, slowly, the eyelids lifted and undeniably living eyes fixed themselves on mine with perhaps even more penetration than the first time. Then there was a further closing of the eyelids, but now less complete. I attempted the effect of a third call; there was no further movement - and the eyes took on the glazed look which they have in the dead.

//LANGUILLE!!!

historian1946: The guillotine was adopted to be a more humane mode of execution than beheading with an axe, not the rope. The axe that was used was generally dull and the beheading was very messy and often required several attempts to get the job done. The heavy blade was supposed to be sharper and only take one attempt to accomplish the task. In this respect, it was a success. The studies done revealed that the head lived approximately 20 seconds after being severed due to the amount of oxygen in the blood in the brain. Whether the head felt pain during this period was never determined.

The_Terminator: Actually, in France at the time, executions were carried out via a very large, sharp sword. It was actually not uncommon for wealthy nobles facing death to request a French executioner for this reason - they'd decapitate the person successfully every time, which was usually not the way that the English axe-executions ended up.

However, at the time of the Revolution and subsequent "Reign of Terror" the head Parisian executioner complained of having to sever too many heads, dulling the otherwise sharp sword blade, and therefore requiring replacements at an unsustainable rate. It was apparent that there was a need for some far more efficient method for carrying out killings en masse. The guillotine merely filled the role demanded by the extraordinarily high execution lists at that time.


From my understanding you're both sort of, kind of right. Yes the guillotine was designed to take the place of the sword, and the axe. The difference in all this being that in France those of the lower class were given no choice and were beheaded by the axe, as dull as it was, made no matter. With the nobility however at times they were actually given some choice in the matter. They sometimes chose to be beheaded by the sword (death by the sword, knighthood and all that) which in some ways was better given that if it was sharp and a large blade tended to cut through fairly quick and cleanly. With an axe, you wouldnt get this. No matter how sharp an axe is, you still get a certain amount of crushing along with cutting, meaning a much cruder cutting (not that it really matters, after all dead is dead).

So essentially its....poor folk, you get no choice, its the axe for you. Nobility, well if you havent pissed off the King, and maybe slip the executioner a few coins, you can get your head lopped off nice and clean with a big old sharp sword.

Hats and heads off to subby.

If the headline remains a pun in French he should submit it to the exhibit.

I was in the lineup for that exhibit when someone cut a head in front of me.

slave2grind: //LANGUILLE!!!

That account always makes me feel sick. The idea of it and the implications are horrifying.

Lord Snoopy's G.P.E.H.: I have far, far better things to do.

Sees what you did there.