Last Meals...are the really needed?

I came across an article in the Washington Post by Eva Rodriguez that really struck something in me. Eva makes the argument that Texas revoking the traditional last meal for men before they are put to death is an awful idea. She explains that they made the decision after a inmate (Brewer, abused and murdered a man and dragged him down a road attatched to his truck) ordered two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, three fajitas, a meat lover’s pizza, a pint of ice cream and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts...all of which sat there and were not eaten. This obviously irked a few Texas officials, who then pressed for the change in the system. Rodriguez explains that state officials shouldn't be surprised by these actions  from someone who murders another person. And further explains that we have become numb to inhumane things such as the the death penalty and not giving someone one last meal before doing so. Texas puts so many to death that it has become routine and mundane. Rodriguez believes we as a nation not just Texas should be concerned with this and make an effort to rise above what is wrong and reinstate the last meal, while also really focusing on how many we are giving the death penalty as well....

While I agree with Rodriguez that the last meal should be given, I don't think we should order that much food for one person...I'm sorry but the amount of food Brewer ordered is ridiculous....we are to treat them with a certain amount of humane behavior but we are not supposed to cater to inmates who have murdered someone. And yes, I do believe the death penalty is inhumane thing...make that person spend the rest of their life in prison because we should not be able to take a life of somone after we are punishing them for doing the same thing. Overall, Rodriguez is correct, we do need to make sure we rise above what these type of people do because we are supposed to be better than someone that can take another persons life and sleep in peace at night. We should be able to give a last meal to someone that is about to face death, but it shouldn't be a buffet line for one. And while in the article it says that Texas is not cutting it due to tax dollars, I think yes...the amont of food ordered should also be taken into account because of the tax dollars being spent. So go ahead and throw them a bone and give them a steak dinner before taking their life. It's the humane thing to do in a very inhumane situation.

Illegal immigration hitting closer to home than you think...

What initially drew me to the foxnews article was the ID fraud charges. Upon reading the full article I was actually even more uncomfortable. The fact that there is basically an entire business built around stealing from an American citizen to give to an illegal immigrant is extremely alarming. This particular fraud scheme,(located in Mississippi) had a hierarchy to the "buisness",  from managers to runners (gathering information and sending it via cell phone). One example was of them selling a packaged deal of a social security card and matching identification card. 11 were charged, while at least 80 identities (yikes!) were stolen to create the false documents. Not all locations were released, however, Texas and Pennsylvania were mentioned.

I can stand behind someone wanting to be American and coming to our country and taking the correct steps in becoming a proud citizen. In fact, at my church they offer citezenship classes free of charge. However, I will not feel for those that are smuggled into our land without having the responsibilties of every other American. I think this a great article to read because living in Texas, we are clearly more vulnerable to a situation like this being so close to the border. Also, I think this might help others understand why some people are so worried about illegal immigration and the increase of it as of late. We worry about our economy and not having enough jobs for everyone yet there are people here working day in and day out and not paying one cent on taxes. I feel as though The US government should really continue to focus on illegal immigration as they did with this particular case as well as the Howard Raid.

Here's what happened days after the Howard Raid...