Death penalty inhumane

To the editor:

I am writing about my views on the American death penalty, namely lethal injection. It may not be how it seems. I understand that the procedure includes chemicals that knock the prisoner unconscious first, then another stops the breathing, then the heart, causing death. I don't agree with this preferred method of execution because of the breathing-stopping part. I find it inhumane to suffocate a prisoner like that. I know about the unconscious part, but how do we know? It affects different people in different ways.

The government could be lying to us. (I know how they are—anything to save a few bucks.)  We shouldn't be sinking ourselves down to their level; we need to be more civilized than that, after all, that's what makes our country different from others — we do recognize the Geneva convention. Frankly, I think it would be more humane to shoot them and get it over with than to have them suffocate painfully before they die. Besides, it should be the death penalty, not the "torture" penalty.

I understand that in some cases like child murders it's only fair, but still, this needs to be better regulated. Some people actually favor this inhumane method. I'm sure if they were to see so much as three seconds of actual footage of an execution in progress, they wouldn't be as enthusiastic about it as they are now.

This is why I disagree with the death penalty in general; it's also why I disagree with the death penalty in the Casey Anthony case, as I have written before. I think life in prison for her would be less vengeful. Besides it bothers me to think of a young girl suffocating to death, and the majority of the general public favoring such cruel and inhumane punishment. Sure, she allegedly did the same thing to her little girl, but is it really necessary to sink down to her level?

In conclusion, I hope that the next time someone approves of this kind of thing, I hope they learn to see.

Brent Thompson
St. Cloud

Tough year

To the editor:

This has not been a good year for the meat, dairy and egg industries.

In January, ABC News provided extensive coverage of cow abuse by the dairy industry. The BP oil spill in April called attention to an even larger Gulf “dead zone” caused by the massive amounts of animal waste dumped every day by the Mississippi river. A month later, a U.N. report urged a global shift toward a vegan diet to reduce world hunger and climate change.

In June, FDA asked factory farms to stop routine use of antibiotics that lead to drug-resistant bacterial infections in humans. August witnessed the largest ever recall of more than half billion eggs harboring Salmonella.

Finally, this month, President Obama signed into law the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to replace fatty animal products and other junk foods in school lunches and vending machines. According to the School Nutrition Association, 65 percent of U.S. schools now offer vegetarian lunch options.

For a New Year’s resolution, we should all consider following suit. I found a great website at www.LiveVegan.org with recipes and tons of other useful info.

Tony Wells
Kissimmee