Don't make murder a crime!
Wow!
Consider this X00 guy. And no, it didn't come from the Margaret Sanger Gazette, or the Auschwitz Express, but from a mainstream publication.
......................................
FORMER Beckley minister George Exoo — who consoled an Irish woman while she quietly took her life with sleep-inducing pills and helium — cannot be extradited to Ireland to face a possible 14 years in prison, a U.S. magistrate ruled Friday. The offbeat Unitarian preacher was freed from jail, where he had been held since June.
Hurrah. This development may be one more small step toward securing the legal right of desperate people to end their lives, when their pain and torment become too severe.
Of course, it’s impossible to stop determined folks from committing suicide by themselves, when they willfully desire it. But conservative lawmakers and fundamentalist groups endlessly try to punish anyone who aids their right to die.
Jack Kevorkian, an eccentric known as “Dr. Death,” spent eight years in a Michigan prison for murder because he helped a Lou Gehrig’s disease victim end his hopeless life. When the physician was released four months ago, the Catholic Diocese of Detroit branded him a “pathological serial killer.”
Oregon passed a 1997 “Death With Dignity” law that lets doctors prescribe lethal doses of sleeping pills for terminal, miserable patients. About 300 dying Oregonians have used it, so far. The Bush administration, backed by white evangelicals, fought the law to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld Oregon last year. Only far-right justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and John Roberts voted to criminalize physician help.
The grotesque Terri Schiavo case, in which Republican congressmen rushed into emergency session to continue life-support machines sustaining a brain-dead woman, spotlighted the thorny topic.
The right to die isn’t a simple issue. But it’s one that must be faced, as more Americans live to advanced age and many suffer terminal agonies of cancer, etc. Solving this dilemma won’t be helped by throwing doctors and ministers into prison cells.
We hope last week’s liberation of the Rev. Exoo adds a bit more legal support for the principle that desperate, dying people have a right to take control of their final days, and to enter the unknown without pain.
Right to die... # Don't criminalize it
8mm
According to a Rider alumnus, a different student commonly made even stronger racial comments, as well as anti-semetic remarks. Matthew Volker, who graduated in May, 2007, repeatedly made statements about Blacks, calling them the "N" word, among others, such as "porch monkey," "shinebox," "reggins," and, "mau maus." He also made comments against Jews, calling them "Kikes." He stated that "Hitler was a great man," "The Jews were taking everyone's money and ruining the economy," and, "The collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11 was because of the Jews." He also stated, "The Holocaust was a good thing, and that we need a final solution." Volker is a self proclaimed Nazi, and an admirer of Adolph Hitler.
Students who heard these remarks did not report his behavior, and in fact, some were quite upset when one student did make a report to Campus Security. The university president, who is a descendent of the Holocaust, was so upset, that he forwarded the report to the Lawrence Township Police Department. Ethan Lefkowitz, class of 2006, reported the incidents, and also said that Volker's remarks became increasingly hostile and were also aimed at him on the computer and the phone, as well as in person. In addition to making remarks about Blacks and Jews, he proceeded to make derogatory personal comments as well. Ethan is a member of the Jewish Community and a resident of Mercer County, New Jersey. He fears that these types of statements may damage his personal and professional credibility among students and alumni........................
Racism, anti-semitism is alive at Rider University
8mm