Strollerderby : assisted suicide

Morning News: Search for Missing NFL Players Continues

Madeline Holler — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Two NFL players, missing since they set out Saturday on a fishing trip, are still the subject of a search off the Florida Gulf Coast. Authorities continued to look for four missing boaters and included Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper and NFL free agent Corey Smith, who had played most recently for the Detroit Lions. Large waves and rough weather made for a difficult search, which was conducted mainly by air.

President Obama will call off his search for a secretary of Health and Human Services. He is expected to announce today is intention to appoint Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to the post. Sebelius had been her state's insurance commissioner for two terms and is a popular Democratic governor in a very, very red state. While she knows all about crossing the aisle, some say she'll need to quickly get up to speed on legislative process and Washington politics.

Women the world over are better at handling money, according to the results of an international survey. They're also more vulnerable to suffer financially if they pool their money with men.

The Chicago Tribune investigated infant car seat safety and uncovered crash-test results that will scare the crap out of you. In fact, two of the most expensive seats had the worst outcomes.

An Australian hospital study shows that there has been an increase in post-partum hemmorrhage. Between 1999 and 2004, the rate of adverse maternal outcomes increased more than 20 percent -- nearly all of it due to PPH.

Washington state will soon allow terminally ill patients with fewer than six months to live to ask their doctors for a lethal medication. Washington is the second state, after Oregon, to have a voter-approved initiative to allow for the so-called "death with dignity."

Start thinking of an alternative to waffles and pancakes -- the maple syrup supply is dwindling. Poor sap harvests due to a colder than normal spring the past couple of years has cut the supply. Prices will likely be double for the next few years.

Photo: CNN.com

British Parents Defend Son’s Suicide

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:30:00 GMT

After becoming paralyzed in a rugby training session, Daniel James repeatedly reiterated his desire for death to his friends and family. Last month, the 23-year-old Brit traveled to Switzerland, where he died at an assisted suicide clinic.

It goes without saying that Daniel’s parents, Julie and Mark James, are filled with grief. But they have stated that they respect their son’s decision. They wrote in a statement that his death, though a huge tragedy for those he left behind, was “no doubt a welcome relief from the 'prison' he felt his body had become and the day-to-day fear and loathing of his living existence.”

Helping someone take his life is illegal in Britain; prosecutors are looking into the circumstances of James’ death, but have not yet stated that they will press any charges.

Photo: MSNBC

Ozzy and Sharon's Suicide Pact: How Far Would You Go to Protect Your Kids?

Karen Murphy — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:52:00 GMT

As parents we all want to take the best care possible of our kids. We make sure they eat right, have enough sleep, stop licking the lead off the windowsills, and enough with the TV already. We take it upon ourselves to be their nurturers, their caretakers, and help them develop into people who can eventually navigate the travails of life on their own. That's what parenting is. But how far would you go to protect your kids from unpleasant or harmful experiences?

Far enough to commit suicide?

Sharon Osbourne would.

Her father died last summer of a degenerative brain disease and it was tremendously difficult for her to watch his decline. “I saw my father suffer from the day he came back into my life in 2002 to the day he died in July. There's no way I could go through what he did, or put my kids through that.”

So, the obvious answer is...suicide?

For Sharon and Ozzy, yes.

Moral and ethical questions aside, and assuming you've no compunction about suicide to begin with (and I haven't), somehow the notion of suicide being a "final gift of love" doesn't sit well with me. Suicide, and any death, is hardest on those left behind. I can't imagine that if the real reason was indeed to spare adult children the burden/difficulty of dealing with a drawn-out decline and eventual death, that suicide, hastening death, would be the answer. And in my mind, suicide is more about the person doing it than it is about anyone who might be left behind.

Jeez, how'd I get on THIS topic?

But seriously, as part of parenting, I think it's important to explore these tougher questions from time to time. Your kids are the only kids you'll have, and it's up to you how you play such a situation if it should arise.

P.S. You do have a will, don't you?