*new* 31Oct12
Article on cold case murder of little girl by a former cop
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/national_world&id=8810883
This article is about a 57 year old man was found guilty on september 14
of murdering a seven year old girl back in 1957. I think that it is
scary that this little girl has been dead for over fifty years and the
culprit is just now being convicted. To make it worse this man used to
be a cop.
*new* 31Oct12
sort of the opposite of dying -- much more on the living side:
Unraveling the mystery of why the inhabitants of Ikaria, an island of 99 square miles that is home to almost 10,000 Greek nationals, live so long and so well. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-island-where-people-forget-to-die.html
29Oct12 Scared to Death?
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=163712863&m=163712852
26Oct12 NY Nany kills 2 children
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/nyregion/fatal-stabbings-on-upper-west-side-nanny-is-arrested.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121026
24Oct12
What We Say About Our Religion, And What We Do
by Shankar Vedantam
NPR - October 24, 2012
A recent Pew survey found that an unprecedented one
in five Americans now say they are not affiliated with any religious
denomination. Or, looked at another way, nearly four out of five identify with
an organized faith. Research also shows those Americans overstate how often they
go to church by about half.
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/24/163527979/what-we-say-about-religion-and-what-we-do?sc=17&f=
I post this because I'm curious about what you think your neighbors think. . . about religion which often informs folks' beliefs about the afterlife. If people really aren't going to church, is that because they don't really believe what is "preached"?
8Oct12 NYTimes OpEd about dying
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/opinion/keller-how-to-die.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121008
More about military suicides
The Pentagon and Congress are working on policies to separate at-risk service members from personal weapons, but gun-rights advocates and many veterans are opposed. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/us/with-military-suicides-rising-new-policies-take-shape.html
Also, many stories about last week's murder of Washington & Jefferson College's student-athlete Tim McNerney
* http://www.bringonthecats.com/2012/10/5/3458860/the-national-10-5-12-tim-mcnerney-college-football-usc-trojans-utah-utes
* http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postgazette/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=160299312#fbLoggedOut
* http://www.wtae.com/news/local/washington/Washington-Jefferson-College-athlete-s-death-ruled-homicide/-/10932154/16854700/-/xbtsyt/-/index.html
* http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lenny-reich/take-a-moment-for-tim_b_1941477.html
* To follow tributes for Tim on Twitter search the hashtag #rip5 (see related post about Digital Memorialization)
4Oct12
Talk of the Nation on NPR today has a segment on grief. Here's the link (although I don't think it will be "live" until later today (Thursday) after the show finishes).
http://www.npr.org/programs/talk-of-the-nation/
We talked about this in class: here's the URL
http://theconversationproject.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/jakub-halik-czech-man-lived-without-heart-artificial-heart-six-months_n_1932880.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl19%7Csec1_lnk1%26pLid%3D214237
ReplyDeleteThanks to a revolutionary surgery, a former firefighter from the Czech Republic has become the first man to live without a heart for six months, reports say.
(Credit: Caters News)
Jakub Halik is one of the first people in history whose heart has been removed and completely replaced by mechanical pumps.
He is also reportedly only the second person to have had his heart totally replaced with a pulseless artificial heart. The first person -- a man from Texas named Craig Lewis -- died a few weeks after surgery in 2011.
According to Reuters, Halik had his heart removed in April after an aggressive tumor was found growing inside it.
The father of one was reportedly unable to undergo a standard heart transplant at the time as the drugs required for recovery cannot be taken by cancer patients.
So, a Czech medical team, led by cardiologist Jan Pirk, decided to replace the organ with two mechanical pumps. The operation, which took place at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM) in Prague, lasted eight hours.
"It was hard for me but I didn't have any other chance at all," Halik said of the revolutionary surgery at an August press conference. "It was acknowledged that with the tumor I can survive for about one year and I decided to fight and do it this way."
Since the surgery, Halik has been confined to a wheelchair, and due to the absence of a beating heart, he has no pulse. But other than that, the 37-year-old says, he is practically back to normal.
"I have no pulse anymore," he said, according to Reuters. "This is the only difference but otherwise I am functioning like a healthy man at present."
Halik added that he would like to return to his work as a firefighter if that becomes feasible, writes Czech news website Aha Online.
"Mr. Halik has a very strong personality and I am satisfied with the result. We didn't know how it will go on and from the very beginning it was not easy, his health status was very serious and only thanks to the systematic hard work of the whole team of doctors and nurses Mr. Halik is now in this good condition. He is doing his best, he is training hard because after two months of laying on bed the muscles are getting weak and he has to make them stronger now," Halik's doctor, Jan Pirk, said in August of his patient's extraordinary progress.
Halik has been placed on the waiting list for a heart transplant. The average wait for a heart at IKEM is reportedly eight months.
Though Halik's recovery has been going smoothly thus far, doctors have noted that they are unsure as to how long he can survive without a real heart.
"Every day, a number of infectious complications or embolism could arise," said Pirk, according to Czech news website iDNES.com.
Dr Ivan Netuka, IKEM's cardiovascular surgery department's deputy director for research and science, concurs.
"Experience confirms that the lifetime of [artificial] pumps is 5 or 10 years. But from a biological viewpoint, it's hard to answer the question," Netuka told Czech health website Medical Tribune.
h/t: The Sun
Clarification: This article has been amended for clarity. While a handful of other people have had their hearts completely replaced with artificial ones in the past, Jakub Halik is reportedly only the second in history to have received a pulseless artificial heart.
That is pretty awesome! There are probably so many things that have to be fixed with this idea, but think of the world without any need for heart transplants. Once this medical break through can last longer inside of people, things will dramatically change in the medical field. Very dangerous with the amount of infection or problems going on with the artificial pumps, but with more improvement think of all the people that could benefit from this!
ReplyDeleteHow awesome!!! It is amazing how tumors can be taken out and a heart can be replaced with something like mechanical pumps! Even though it may last for a short amount of time, it is great to see someone fight for their life and prolong their life, especially when they are 37 years old. Hopefully a heart comes about within the year for him. I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that he has no pulse and living! Medical technology has came a long way!
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely incredible to me. The advances we are making in the medical field is crazy! To think that someone is living without the use of a real heart, that his body is running off of completely artificial pumps was unthinkable just a few years ago. It is scary to think about all the infections and other dangerous complications that could happen, but they are certainly out weighed by the benefits of the surgery to this man. It will interesting to see if he outlives the life of his pumps and what will happen if/when he needs to get them replaced.
ReplyDeleteI found the video about Jakub Halik very interesting, but very scary at the same time. I think it is crazy how someone can live without a "real" heart. When I watched the video all I kept thinking about was the heart surgery that I had over the summer and the one that I am going to have in the future. I'm so glad that mine wasn't like open heart surgery or a type of surgery that Halik had to have. I would have been a nervous wreck if I knew what the doctors were doing.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think it is amazing that doctors are able to replace the human heart with artificial pumps and the person still live. I can't wait to see how they replace or update them when the time comes.
http://maysville-online.com/news/national/police-student-took-lsd-before-campus-shooting/article_f6edcef7-b33f-5d87-80d9-23aa765900a7.html
ReplyDeletePolice: Student took LSD before campus shooting
Here's another tragic and also slightly weird story. I am curious to see how everything plays out. The story also mentions that a Facebook page has been set up to criticize the campus policeman's action, which relates to the other blog post about digital legacies. I do not think it is appropriate to set up a page like that, especially when there are many unanswered questions. If I were part of the student's family, I would not appreciate a page that is most likely drawing a lot of attention, even if the page is in the student's favor.
P.S. Sorry I couldn't post the article in full. The blog said it was too many characters! But it is worth reading!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/amanda-todd-suicide-bullying_n_1959909.html
ReplyDeleteSince my topic is suicide I found this interesting. What are some peoples thoughts?
from Brandon
ReplyDeletehttp://cnnradio.cnn.com/2012/10/11/letting-death-happen-is-it-suicide/
Letting death happen, is it suicide?
By Steve Kastenbaum, CNN
(CNN) – Grace Sung Eun Lee is going to die. The 28 year old former bank manager has advanced terminal brain cancer.
The once vibrant, athletic woman is now kept alive by machines which she wanted to turn off. However, her devoutly religious parents convinced her that she was effectively committing suicide, and that she would be condemned to hell.
So she changed her mind Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at the NYU Langone Medical Center said the story is the latest illustration of the sensitive debate over end of life care as it intersects with faith.
[2:30] “Of course you have to wonder if you are being kept alive by machines where’s God’s hand in that and that doesn’t get a great answer in my view theologically. But once started, I don’t think stopping a machine is necessarily suicide even if you know it’s going to lead to your death because the fact is for terminally ill people, they’re going to die.”
Dr. Dan Sulmasy from the University of Chicago spent 28 years of his life as a Franciscan Friar. He says,
[6:06] “There’s no actual philosophical or theological definition of suicide in the scriptures. Let me say that for mainstream Christian religions, they all draw a distinction between killing and allowing to die.”
Grace Lee’s father is a minister at an Evangelical Korean-American church in Queens, NY. He thinks a miracle has already taken place.
[7:27] “I believe this woman will do her best when she gets better and she will continue God’s work. She’s getting better every single day.”
Doctors say moving her to a nursing home and keeping the machines on is only prolonging her death.
Military suicides happen way too much and it is something that can hardly be avoided. People can have an opinion on the matter, but I have sat through these classes before and got counselling on what to look for and people still kill themselves. If they are going to do it, they will find a way whether it is with a privately owned gun or not. These people will find a way. I know this sounds extremely harsh, but I have sat through videos and people are going through what happened leading up to the suicide and I'd say 9 times out of 10 there were no warning signs. The people who are serious and know they are going to take their life are usually quite about it, do not show they are depressed and the next day they are dead. I am speaking just from a military perspective on suicide.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jeramie. If someone wants to commit suicide and they are serious, they will find a way. I am not a service member, but service member or not, I know I would be furious if my government tried to separate me from firearms in order to protect me. There are many constructive and nonviolent activities that can be performed with firearms. The governments job is not to protect you from yourself, maybe from other people infringing on your liberty, but not yourself. The article mentioned educating the family about warning signs, and I believe this is a good idea. If the family decides it is a good idea to get rid of the guns, that is up to them, not the government. The article makes it sound like this is what their intentions are, to let the family voluntarily get rid of the firearms. But if it passes it will be abused and expanded upon. Take a look at this quote from the article,
Delete"The measure, which is being promoted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, would amend a law enacted last year that prohibited the Defense Department from collecting information from service members about lawfully owned firearms kept at home"
So they already want to start keeping records of the lawfully owned arms of the servicemen? This seems like an invasion of privacy. The reasonable solution is to stop this before it starts. If the government is concerned with an increase in military suicide in recent years they should be analyzing the changes in the military in recent years that might be contributing to this increase. Efforts should not be concentrated on last minute prevention by reducing the liberty and privacy of the servicemen.
To Brandon on the Amanda Todd case,
ReplyDeleteThis story is so heart wrenching. I watched the video that she posted and I will never understand why people think it is okay to treat any other human like that. I see such cruel things on Facebook and Twitter all the time. Kids tell other kids that they should just kill themselves. I just don't get it. Suicide is taken too lightly by many people, it seems.
It is definitely an interesting and complex topic, however. I am really looking forward to talking about it in class today!
From Shad
ReplyDeleteI know i talked about this in class last week, and some people didn't believe me. So here is the article about the mother from Texas who killed and ate her new born child.
Horrific: Mother kills, eats baby in Texas
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/30950/horrific-mother-kills-eats-baby-in-texas/#fOWKXlF3TZfPC5xo.99
from Shad
ReplyDeleteQuestions for the Blog related to souls
1. What the hell are we talking about seriously?
2. Why did we bring up ghosts and dinosaurs?
3. If we have a pre-life then why do people say our lives start when we are born, and vice versa if someone believes in an afterlife why do people say we die when our bodies cease to function?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
ReplyDeleteThis story is very relavent to the discussion we had in class today. It is about a teen in 2010, who committed suicide because of the severe bullying she was recieving from classmates at school over social networks. The prosecutor in the case brought charges against six teenagers, saying their taunting and physical threats were beyond the pale and led the girl to hang herself from a stairwell.
This is pretty sad. I think I read something last year about a 7 year old committing suicide because of being bullied. It is a shame to see people who have their whole lives ahead of them doing this. But I think it is a shame that we have to wait until a bullied victim is bullied to death to do anything about it. I just wish there was something more sufficient that could be done to help prevent bullying but it is almost impossible due to all the red-tape in the legal system. It's sad to see someone having to die before they recieve justice for acts committed against them.
Deletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/mumpy-sarkar-suicide-organ-donation_n_892287.html
ReplyDeleteThis went a long with what we talked about yesterday in class, I was curious to see people's thoughts wondering do you think that this was a justified suicide? Could it be categorized as heroic or just a suicide?
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/svu-probing-s-suicide-article-1.1193505
ReplyDeleteSpecial Victims Unit probing suicide of Felicia Garcia, 15, who jumped in front of Staten Island train. Felicia Garcia was distraught after four Tottenville High School football players had sex with her and videotaped it, sources said.
I was watching the news last night, and they were discussing the Nanny who killed the two children of the CNBC executive. This tragic incident shows exactly why it is difficult to trust other people with your children now. The nanny was supposedly recommended by a friend of the family, too. The nanny was obviously not in a right mental state. She tried to commit suicide as well after committing the murders. The mother of the children was understandably distraught when she came home to find her two children with stab wounds, dead after they failed to show up at a designated meeting location. This is an unimaginable horror and a mother's worst nightmare. People are going to be much more cautious about finding a sitter for their children. A witness heard the mother screaming, ‘What am I going to do with the rest of my life? My life is ruined. I have no children, I have no children!’” when she discovered the bodies. This family will never be the same again and will hopefully have much of the community reaching out to them during this loss.
ReplyDelete