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Posted By: pauluk For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 04/30/02 07:25 PM
Gotta share this with you all.

A friend and I were inventing new lyrics for songs and came up with the following.

Sung to the tune of "On Top of Old Smokey."

***
Strapped into Old Sparky,
A-waitin' to die,
And the warden said Now boy,
You're gonna fry!-

We've two thousand volts here,
To light up your eyes,
When we throw that switch, boy,
We'll cook your insides.

You shouted and hollered,
As we shaved off your hair,
But we had to do it,
For our dear old chair.

For you done a killin',
And now you must pay,
So you'll ride the lightning,
In Old Sparky today.
***
Posted By: motor-T Re: For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 04/30/02 08:07 PM
Pauluk:
Excellant !
You have too much time on your hands! [Linked Image]
Unless I'm wrong (as usual), Old Sparky was the Florida Electric Chair, which worked at about 2000VAC.
The music is good, the lyrics will fly.
Now all you need is a studio and a sponsor. The new Beatles [Linked Image]
Posted By: mamills Re: For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 05/01/02 01:33 PM
Paul:
I'll bet you're a riot at parties!! [Linked Image]

This sounds like a good one to include in Sparky's "Job Tunes" thread... [Linked Image]

Mike(mamills)
Posted By: pauluk Re: For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 05/01/02 06:44 PM
Glad you found it amusing! Start singing it one the job though, and I bet you'll get some strange looks from customers.

Scott:
From the info I've seen most of the nation's chairs work on about 2000V AC, give or take a couple of hundred volts, but some drop to a lower level after a few seconds. The data for one (Georgia, I think) said it dropped down to 208V after about 10 secs. I assume that's just two legs from a prison's normal 120/208 Y system.
Unfortunately, Georgia recently retired Ol' Sparky. Apparently some people found it cruel to cook to death someone who killed another. I guess lethal injection will have to do.
Posted By: pauluk Re: For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 05/05/02 11:35 AM
I see that your neighbors in Alabama have just passed a new law to introduce lethal injection from this July as well, although the chair will remain as an option.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center (go here ), Nebraska is now the only state with electrocution as the sole method. It's still an option in AL, AR, FL, KY, SC, TN, & VA. but it does look as though the days of Old Sparky are numbered.

I've been making light of the subject, but on a serious note, it would be interesting to hear if any of you do think that electrocution represents "cruel and unusual" punishment.

Does it inflict needless suffering as some believe, or does it render the prisoner unconscious in the split second that others claim?
Pauluk:

Re: 208 power for the chair

At least at one time, utility companies refused to provide power for electric chairs (not sure if this was for fear of lawsuits in event of a botched/wrongful execution (likely) or a moral stance against the death penalty (doubtful)), so prisons installed their own diesel powered generators for the purpose. Not sure what utility policy is today, though. The electric chair is rapidly being displaced by the lethal injection in most states that have a death penalty.

As far as the "cruel and unusual" issue, personally I would apply that to the death penalty in general, but I really don't think this forum is the right place for a political debate on capital punishment. I haven't seen any credible medical evidence that electrocution renders somebody unconscious immediately, and have only seen this claim made by death penalty proponents. Having recieved a powerful jolt from a high voltage power supply once (radio transmitter), I can say that it certainly wasn't painless! [Linked Image] I can only imagine what the experience must be like given the much lower contact resistance, longer time, and higher current levels involved in a judicial execution.

[This message has been edited by NJwirenut (edited 05-05-2002).]
Posted By: motor-T Re: For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 05/05/02 04:56 PM
NJwirenut, and Electric Eagle,
At least it gets the job done, whether its 'old sparky', or not it punishment not reward.
-Mark-
Posted By: Bjarney Re: For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 05/05/02 08:58 PM
Would a 3ΓΈ connection be more efficient than single phase?
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methodsdescript.html and scroll down to: "Electrocution."

Can't prove it, but in some states the switch operator is supposed to be a card-carrying electrician.
Posted By: pauluk Re: For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 05/06/02 11:05 AM
NJ,

It wasn't my intention to get into a debate on the pros & cons of capital punishment as such; sorry if I gave that impression and I agree that this isn't the place for such a discussion.

I was looking at it purely from the angle of getting anyone's thoughts on whether electrocution is a quick and humane method, bearing in mind that many of us here probably have taken a jolt or two in our time, albeit not at 2kV head to ankle.
I guess we'll just never know for sure.

Bjarney,
Interesting on that requirement. So what happens in those states where they have three buttons pressed simultaneously so nobody knows who initiated the fatal jolt? Three qualified electricians for the job, or is the sparky just required to make the connections, be in charge of the safety disconnect, etc.?
Posted By: Bjarney Re: For those with a macabre sense of humor! - 05/07/02 01:45 AM
Paul, I'm not sure I have a good answer. To complicate matters, I wonder if "chair" facilties need a lockout/tagout program?





[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 05-06-2002).]
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