Execution

My grandfather died peacefully in his sleep.
(Unlike his passengers who died screaming.)

Dying in my sleep is how I want to go. There is a famous poem/prayer:

"Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And if I die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take."

This is how it's meant to be. Go to sleep every night of your life and one night you just don't wake up. Pass over into Spirit peacefully.

If I had to be executed I'd choose lethal injection, it's the closest thing to a "natural" death. The first injection puts you peacefully to sleep. The next two injections stop your diaphragm from moving and stop your heart. You just don't wake up again.

The electric chair would be horrible. Strapped in the seat, then the hood comes down over your head and you're left in that musky darkness knowing you'll never see the world again. The first bolt of electricity hits your brain and kills it so your consciousness is gone. The electricity that passes through your body kills your heart and lungs.

If the procedure in The Green Mile is anything to go by, you sit there with that hood over your face and the last words you ever hear are "Roll on two".

The gas chamber would be just as bad.

Hanging. You get walked into the room, noose goes round your neck, bag over your head, then that's it.

Firing squad.
Guillotine.
Axe man - the English variation.

And nobody would ever choose crucifixion as their prefered way to go.

So if I had to have it done, and I had a choice, I'd choose lethal injection.

This most humane version of a most inhumane act has some bizarre quirks. When the condemned man is strapped onto the table the prison warden is there to ask if he's comfortable, to make sure the straps aren't too tight. And when the IV is put in they swab his arm with disinfection. A standard medical procedure, it's done to prevent infection.

Everyone knows that Arnold Schwarzeneggar is now the Governor of California. One of his first duties was the appeal case of a gang leader on Death Row. After taking advice, Arnie decided there was no grounds for granting clemency and signed the Death Warrant.

Arnie now has the power of life and death over criminals in the state of California, a power most European kings don't have over their subjects in their own countries.

A couple of examples of what an insane world this has become.