Readers on inmates' last meals, idiot Americans and smoking bans

GUT CHECK, MAY 20, 2009
CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE?
Food for thought: It must not take too much to please you if you are "honored" to feed a condemned, cold-blooded multiple killer ["Dennis Skillicorn's Last Meal Before He Was Put to Death," Ellis E. Conklin].
Tyler, via the Internet

Small burger, please — and hold the chips: It's just wasted food. Reading that inmates eat enough for an entire family puts it over the top. I may be heartless, but the inmates are there for a reason, and I wouldn't give them anything more than the other prisoners get to eat.
Mel, via the Internet

Pass the ketchup: How sick and twisted is our society that we are so interested in what someone ate before meeting their end?
KW, via the Internet

DAILY RFT, MAY 18, 2009
IDIOT AMERICAN
A sandwich short of a picnic: Lock him up and throw away the key ["Missouri Man Swims Lake, Alters Course of Myanmar Politics," Aimee Levitt]. Having just returned from Asia, the papers there are calling him the "Idiot American." I prefer a more apt Americanism: fuckwad.
Robert, via the Internet

Half a bubble off: Fuckwad — at the very least. He had to have done some research. Didn't it cross his feeble mind that he may just be signing her death warrant? If she has been locked up for sixteen of the past nineteen years for winning an election, how did he figure they would react to finding out he interviewed her for a book? Selfish prick should get locked up.
Myke, via the Internet

DAILY RFT, MAY 19, 2009
BATTY STATS, SAYS BAT MAN
Don't get caught up in bat-season hysteria: While there is a need to inform people about the danger of rabies, the usual media hype will focus on the bad and scary aspects of bats, as the truth is not nearly as sensational ["Rabid Bat Season," Keegan Hamilton]. If you look at the stats on those testing positive for rabies, you must consider the source of the test animals. These test subjects are typically found inside living areas of homes, or bats that are found on the ground outside during the day.

No one is out catching bats with mist nets as they fly around eating night-flying insects. Many of those being tested are often already showing signs of sickness. Doesn't it make sense that a sick bat on the ground is much more likely to have something wrong with it?

The percentage of those bats tested is about 5.3 percent positive. However, that is testing many bats that are already showing symptoms of disease. Actual numbers are about one half of 1 percent, as far as bats that have or will have rabies. Considering the species around here may live 25 to 30 years, that's not quite as sensational. That's why we seldom get the facts about bats.
Robert Scheller, via the Internet

DAILY RFT, MAY 14, 2009
SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Who knew? Construction workers are most addicted: There are no private-property rights for a business ["WTF? North Carolina Passes Smoking Ban but Missouri and St. Louis Can't?" Chad Garrison]. A business is a regulated entity in a capitalist system. Private property is your home, your car, your hat. And it is just the construction union that is against a ban. And yes, it is often because they are lazy and addicted, and I can say this because I was a union executive officer. The idea of letting a business buy a license to pollute the air is insane.
Reese Forbes, via the Internet

Lazy butts: News flash: Many people who don't smoke also go to bars to socialize. Smokers have the ability to walk their lazy butts (no pun intended) outside, light up their cancer sticks and come back in. I know smokers are a few brain cells short, thus explaining their habit, but it really isn't that challenging of a concept. Think of it this way, the extra exercise will do you some good. Maybe you can delay driving up our health-care costs for a few extra months.
Laura, via the Internet