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[abc125] 12/3/2011 21:22

A 3 part video on the history of US banking entitled 'How to take our country back' by Kirk Mackensie.

[abc125] 12/3/2011 19:10

Q&A with richard russell:

[abc125] 12/3/2011 19:10

Niall Ferguson:The Ascent of Money:

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[abc125] 12/3/2011 19:09

A prophetic interview with Sir James Goldsmith:

[abc125] 12/3/2011 18:48

New Statesman debate on whistle blowing:

[abc125] 09/3/2011 20:05

Bob Chapman. How it will all End : Debt Jubilee or WW3?

[abc125] 08/3/2011 20:57

A possible road map for the current cyclical bull market:

[abc125] 06/3/2011 22:56

THREAD CLOSED AS OF 01.02.13. TOO BUSY DOING OTHER STUFF.

[waldron] 19/1/2011 08:37

source: the connexion

France considers euthanasia law
January 19, 2011
FRENCH senators have made a first step towards legalising assisted suicide, but the proposed law looks unlikely to go much further.

The senate's social affairs committee voted by 25 votes to 19 in favour of the euthanasia bill yesterday, which would allow a "fast and painless" death for patients in the "advanced" stage of a serious illness.

The draft law is a merged version of three separate proposals put forward by senators from the Socialist party, UMP and Parti de Gauche.

It will debated in the Senate on January 25. French newspaper reports this morning admit that the bill's passage through parliament and into the law books is "difficult to envisage".

The first article states that "any mature person, in the advanced or terminal phase of a accidental or pathological affliction that is grave or incurable, causing physical or psychological suffering that cannot be relieved, can request to receive medical assistance to die".

This is the first time that the Senate has considered a law specifically dealing with euthanasia.

Ile-de-France regional councillor Jean-Luc Romero, who is president of the Association pour le Droit à Mourir (the right to die association), said in a statement: "For the first time in our country's history, the first parliamentary step has been passed in favour of legislation for assisted suicide."

However, a group of UMP senators said in a joint statement that the law was "regrettable" and went against existing legislation that "aims to protect the weakest and most vulnerable and offer help to those who are in a dangerous situation".

The 2005 Loi Leonetti governs end-of-life issues and gives patients the right to refuse further medical treatment, but does not permit euthanasia.

[ariane] 28/10/2009 19:13

Swiss to tackle 'suicide tourism'
The Swiss government has laid out the details of proposals to ban or severely restrict assisted suicide as part of plans to tackle "suicide tourism".

More than 100 Britons with terminal or incurable illnesses have used the Swiss centre Dignitas to kill themselves.

Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf has called for organisations like it to face stricter controls.

The proposals will now be subject to consultation, with a draft law due to be sent to parliament in March.

Ms Widmer-Schlumpf said groups like Dignitas would face prosecution if the proposals are passed into law and they do not comply.

'Profit-driven'

As part of the proposals, patients would have to provide two separate medical opinions proving that they have a terminal illness and are expected only to have months to live.

Those who are chronically or mentally ill would find it more difficult to get help in ending their lives.

Ms Widmer-Schlumpf said: "We have no interest, as a country, in being attractive for suicide tourism."

She said organisations involved in assisted suicide were "testing the boundaries of the law" and that deaths by this method should not become a "profit-driven business".

In a statement, the justice ministry said that "suicide must only be a last resort" and that it was committed to protecting human life.

It made it clear that the preference was for restrictions rather than an outright ban, saying "essentially, the Federal Council does not wish to take anything away from the current, liberal legislation".

The proposals are open for public comment until 1 March, after which the government will send a draft law to parliament.

Although there is nothing concrete in the current Swiss penal code which says that assisted suicide is legal, the practice of helping a terminally-ill patient to end his or her life is widely considered as a "humane act".

Unless the person helping is proven to be acting out of self interest, prosecution is extremely unlikely.

Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/10/28 18:39:25 GMT

[grupo] 24/9/2009 06:34

Pillinger speaks out on dying debate

Colin Pillinger, the professor of planetary science who was the lead investigator on the Beagle mission to Mars, explains why he finds the debate around assisted suicide generated by fellow MS sufferer Debbie Purdy "deeply depressing".

"It's just so negative, and it's time to speak out. Basically all anyone hears about multiple sclerosis comes from this one woman.

"It's entirely the wrong message, and everyone comes away with the impression that there are all these people with progressive, incurable diseases just sitting at home waiting to hear if they can go to Switzerland to die.

"It's not like that - there are plenty of us out there with these kind of conditions who want to live and who want to carry on doing what we do - whether it's science or sitting in the garden.


" We should be talking about how to live, not how to die "
Professor Colin Pillinger
"Our lives are not miserable, but you wouldn't know that from the coverage."

Just one story

"The other problem is that rather than talking about funding and finding a cure for the disease, we're talking about dying. The government can say - this is what you wanted, and we've delivered, and now you want £50m for research?

"My daughter has just taken part in the Ironman event to raise money for MS. It would be so sad if we got to a situation where people are dissuaded from fundraising because of all this negative coverage.

"Moreover all this has been completely unnecessary. There is a perfectly adequate legal way to test this, her husband could have just taken the risk. No-one has been prosecuted so far.

"This is a debate that has been dominated by one woman and her story. It's time now for something positive.

"We should look to Terry Pratchett and the way he has spoken about Alzheimer's.

"We should be talking about how to live, not how to die."

Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/09/23 11:05:03 GMT

[grupo] 23/9/2009 18:21

Assisted suicide: Debate around the world

Proponents of assisted suicide believe support for legalisation is growing among lawmakers and the public around the world. In the past year three names have been added to the list of places which permit it. So is assisted suicide bound to become even more common, asks the BBC's Vincent Dowd.

Some say "assisted suicide". Others call it "assisted dying". Each term - and alternatives such as "mercy killing" and "death with dignity" - tends to reflect the differing assumptions which people bring to this intense debate.

Britain is by no means the only place where this debate is current. One obvious reason is that in the West more people are living into their 80s and 90s. Old people (and their families) are the most likely to face difficult choices about quality of life versus sheer survival.

SWISS 'SUICIDE TOURISM'
Imogen Foulkes, BBC News, Geneva Concerns have been raised in Switzerland about so-called "suicide tourism", cases in which primarily British or German patients come to die.
The Swiss Academy for Medical Sciences believes the process happens too quickly, and wants regulations requiring a patient to have repeated discussions with his or her doctor over an extended period. This would appear to rule out the current practice of Dignitas, in which patients from outside Switzerland arrive, see a doctor, and die all in the same day.

The Swiss government has drafted two papers aimed at regulating assisted suicide, one suggesting restrictions to the current law, and another proposing a ban on assisted suicide organisations. The latter is highly unlikely to find support. The proposed restrictions are believed to include a requirement that the decision over assisted suicide must take place over an extended period, during which time the patient must be in Switzerland.

The proposals will go before the Swiss parliament, and it will be months, possibly years, before any change to the law takes effect. Members of the Swiss Academy who have been advising the government believe it is highly likely that laws preventing or at least strictly regulating "suicide tourism" will be adopted.

The existence of the much-publicised Dignitas clinic near Zurich means it is Switzerland which is often associated around the world with assisted suicide. Yet it is the Dutch who have led the way.

In the Netherlands doctor-assisted suicide was legalised in 2002. That change followed a couple of decades when assisted suicide was acknowledged to be getting more frequent but was unregulated.

Now around 2,300 people opt to die by assisted suicide in the Netherlands each year, out of a population of almost 17 million.

If someone in Holland approaches their doctor wishing to die there are stringent safeguards, and a second doctor experienced in the field must be consulted.

The patient must be suffering unbearably and have no hope of recovery. Sometimes that judgement can be relatively clear-cut. Far more contentious would be the case of a clinically depressed patient who believes life is simply not worth living.

However the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) says its members overwhelmingly favour the present system. They say few Dutch doctors exercise their right to opt out of such discussions.

By comparison, and though the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland provides few figures, it is believed that in the last 11 years more than 800 people have died there.

In the US, the issue remains one for the individual states, though there have been failed attempts to outlaw the practice at a federal level.

The first state to permit assisted suicide was Oregon in 1998. This followed a ballot initiative. It is thought that around 400 people there have taken advantage of the law since.

After a long gap, Oregon was joined last year by neighbouring Washington, also after a ballot. The first actual cases were in March this year.

In theory Montana became the third US state on the list in December 2008. But in Montana the position is very different. The change came not after a referendum and all the attendant debate but because of a court ruling.

District Judge Dorothy McCarter ruled that under the constitution of Montana 76 year-old retired truck-driver Bob Baxter had the right to ask his physician to help him die. Mr Baxter died of leukaemia shortly after the ruling was issued.

ASSISTED DYING

Euthanasia: taking deliberate action, such as an injection, or withdrawing medical treatment to end a person's life
Assisted suicide: providing the means, e.g. medicine, to allow a patient to end their own life
The state of Montana has asked the state's Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.

The fact there seems to be a new momentum to the debate in the USA is not accidental - the organisation Compassion & Choices has been lobbying hard to make assisted suicide more acceptable to more Americans.

So far it seems to be having some success. And whether or not Montana ultimately allows assisted suicide, Compassion & Choices have other states on their target list.

Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/09/23 13:36:37 GMT

[grupo] 23/9/2009 15:37

Assisted suicide law 'clarified'
By Nick Triggle
Health reporter, BBC News

New guidance has been issued to clarify the law on assisted suicide in England and Wales - but it offers no guarantees against prosecution.

Instead the director of public prosecutions has spelled out the range of factors that will be taken into account when deciding on cases.

These include whether there was a financial motive, and looking into how the decision to die was made.

The guidance does not represent a change in the law.

Assisting suicide is illegal and carries a jail term of up to 14 years.

However, more than 100 Britons with terminal or incurable illnesses have gone to the Swiss centre Dignitas to die and none of the relatives and friends involved in the cases has been prosecuted.


" There are no guarantees against prosecution "
Keir Starmer QC, Director of Public Prosecutions

This is because the authorities have the power to use their discretion under the terms of the act.

Keir Starmer QC, the director of public prosecutions, was forced to publish the guidance after a long-running legal fight by Debbie Purdy, a multiple sclerosis sufferer from Bradford.

In July, Law Lords ruled she had the right to know under what circumstances her husband would be prosecuted if he helped her travel abroad to die.

Mr Starmer said he hoped his guidance would now bring greater clarity to the issue, although he added all cases would still be investigated by the police.

He said: "There are no guarantees against prosecution.


"It is my job to ensure that the most vulnerable people are protected while at the same time giving enough information to those people, like Ms Purdy, who want to be able to make informed decisions about what actions they choose to take."

Among the factors which would determine a prosecution are:


Whether a person stands to benefit financially from assisting a suicide or if they were acting out of compassion
If the individual wanting to die was deemed competent enough and had a "clear and settled" wish to make such a decision. Particular attention would be paid to issues such as being under 18, and having a mental illness
Whether the person was persuaded or pressured into committing suicide, or if it was their own decision
The new framework will come into force immediately - although a consultation is also being launched with the final policy not expected to be published until the spring.

Ms Purdy welcomed the intervention by the DPP.


" There must be a real danger that this will be seen as giving the green light to assistance from close relatives or friends "
Dr Peter Saunders Care Not Killing
She said it was important to underline that people considering suicide had a duty first to carefully consider all possible options.

"People will know what they must make sure of before they assist, and hopefully that will give people confidence not to make such a decision until the last possible minute."

And Sarah Wootton, chief executive of the Dignity in Dying campaign group, agreed, saying the guidance represented a "significant breakthrough".

But Dr Peter Saunders, of Care Not Killing, an umbrella group of doctors, religious organisations and charities, said there were some features that were "disturbing".

He claimed having details spelt out like this could make prosecutions less likely.


"There must be a real danger that this will be seen as giving the green light to assistance from close relatives or friends, who in many cases might be those who would stand personally to gain from the death of the deceased."

The law is similar in Northern Ireland and new guidance being issued sets out an almost identical framework.

In Scotland there is some uncertainty as there is no specific law on assisted suicide, although in theory someone could be prosecuted under homicide law.

A bill is expected to come before the Scottish parliament soon in a bid to legalise assisted suicide.

Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/09/23 10:22:14 GMT

[grupo guitarlumber] 20/9/2009 13:33

New guidance on assisted suicide
Guidelines on assisted suicide law will be published by the Director of Public Prosecutions this week to clarify when people are likely to be prosecuted.

Keir Starmer QC told the BBC factors that would be considered included whether anyone helping in the suicide stood to gain financially.

He said assisted suicide would remain an offence as the law was unchanged.

The guidelines for England and Wales come after multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy won her legal campaign.

The Law Lords accepted earlier this year that Ms Purdy, from Bradford, had a right to know whether her husband Omar Puente would be prosecuted if he helped her to travel abroad to commit suicide.

'Informed choice'

Mr Starmer told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show the basis for the guidelines to be issued on Wednesday.

"What we're doing this week is to clarify when individuals are more likely to be prosecuted or more unlikely to be prosecuted," he said.


He said other factors would include whether the person had a clear and settled intention to commit suicide and whether they had been encouraged or just assisted to do so.

"The general approach we've taken is try to steer a careful course to protect the vulnerable from those who might gain from hastening their death but also identifying those cases where no one thinks it's in the public interest to prosecute", he said.

Ms Purdy welcomed the clarification, telling the BBC: "That means that people like me can make a proper informed choice.

"I will know in advance what choices I can make to make sure anyone who helps me is not prosecuted."

She said the guidelines would also help to ensure people were not coerced or manipulated into committing suicide.

She said: "I think it's really good that if anyone has a malicious intention they will be more likely to be prosecuted."

It is estimated as many as 115 people from the UK with terminal or incurable illnesses have gone to the Swiss centre Dignitas to die.

Mr Starmer said the guidelines were a "workable model" for the 1961 Suicide Act.

"I certainly think things have moved on since the 1960s and I think the public attitude to assisting suicide has changed in the intervening period.

"Because the decision whether to prosecute or not has to be one based on the public interest obviously it's important to take those factors into account," he said.

The group Care Not Killing, which has campaigned against assisted suicide, said it would be studying the new guidelines.

Its director, Dr Peter Saunders, said: "We would not expect, as has been implied in some quarters, that they will offer immunity from prosecution for assistance with suicide in particular circumstances."

He insisted assisted suicide was still against the law and should remain so. He said it was Parliament's responsibility to decide whether the law should be changed.

In July, the House of Lords voted down a proposal to make it legal to help a terminally ill person die.

Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer had argued assisted suicide was in a legal "no-man's land".

In July five Law Lords unanimously backed Ms Purdy's call for a policy statement from the DPP on when someone might face prosecution for helping a loved one end their life abroad.

Mr Starmer said then that he would publish an interim policy on when prosecutions could occur by September before putting the issue out to public consultation and that permanent policy would be published next spring.

Story from BBC NEWS:


Published: 2009/09/20 12:04:06 GMT

[oliversanvil] 23/8/2009 17:41

I mean of course Endeavors Tech (END)--TADPOLE TECH NOW --move on and invest into ROS-------- Lord of the land