LASCIATE OGNI SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE

Although I'm retired, I maintain a loose relationship with my old law firm known as "of counsel." It lets them continue to use me in marketing materials. But it means I have to keep up my law license, and to do that I need a number of hours of continuing professional education every year, even if it has nothing to to with any work I might do. 

So I look for programs that are cheap and hopefully interesting. The local bar association ran a bus tour to the old state penitentiary in Jefferson City, the state capital. There was a program on the bus about the history of the death penalty in Missouri and then a tour of the nearly-abandoned facilities. I thought it was gruesome but fascinating. By the way, the title of this post is the inscription Dante describes on the gates of hell.