Pro-Choice in Matters of Life and Death

The other night I watched one man take his life - or rather his death in his own hands, so to say. I watched a documentary made in 2006 by Canadian Oscar winner John Zaritsky on National Public TV around midnight. I am so glad I happened to come upon this as I am absolutely pro-choice in life and death. I am for options. I am most certainly against unnecessary suffering. 

In the documentary Craig Ewert, 59, chose assisted suicide from fear, justified fear in my opinion, over the serious potential of suffering helplessly due to the effects of Lou Gehrig's disease. He had to face a future that eventually would lead to his inability to move any muscle, not even an eye. He rightly worried about how to communicate his needs in such a state. To follow this man's, an accomplished English professor's last day was deeply moving and odd in the realization that no, Mr. Ewert would not chose death if he had better options. No, this man was not without conflict, but he stuck to his decision as time was of the essence. Too soon he may no longer have been able to swallow the overdose of sleep medication by himself a requirement by Dignitas, an organization that offers the option of euthanasia legally in Switzerland. Oddly this very scared, yet heroic man passed away in an apartment on a street that shared the name with my Mom, where my parents had lived in their very first apartment in Zuerich. 

The social worker present for Mr. Ewert's last choice, a middle aged man, employed by Dignitas, shared a story in the documentary where in he described how he sang Beatles songs upon request for one man in his charge. Surely a kind of guy to my liking, present for another in whatever form it may take, to the best of his ability. Human beings deserve a dignified exit of their choice, under no pressure, but in the compassionate care of another human being. "... it is known that 21% of people receiving assistance by Dignitas and 65% of women attending Exit do not have a terminal or progressive illness" - Wikipedia

Personally I had the honor of having been present to a few patients dying in a care facitly, two beings right under my hand. It is an awe inspiring powerful experience. It is certainly an aspect of living we tend to be too protected from, too walled off. After all death is natural, we all share the fact that we will die. I have performed the last ritual washing and preparing in my function as a nurses aid in the nineties and I insisted on doing so as a last service to my Dad only a few years ago.
 

While I tend to refuse to be a casual onlooker to personal misery, say on TV as regards war scenes and the like, I watched this documentary with unflinching eyes, because this man, Craig Ewert, chose to share his last choice with us, wanted to be seen, heard and understood in his last, most controversial to some decision. This choice, the whole shebang of sharing what led up to the decision and execution, and Mr. Ewert submitting himself to the taping and telling of his story was an act of true heroism in the face of death. It deserves our attention, consideration and admiration.

Hero

Sumo

To the rescue!

Eloquence

Eloquence does not make for a good president, or a good husband, but it will lift our spirits and  may appeal to the very best in us, if we let it. Of course it can do the opposite and appeal to the worst, think of Hitler. My Mom, a WW II veteran, knew this and did not ever place her trust in words again, ever, or politicians for that matter. Cynicism can not be the most productive stance in life. 

Thinking back to when I was a child, I remember the Klu Klux Klan making front page on my Mom's weekly magazine. I remember wondering why there could possibly be such hatred for cute looking Negros, or Negerlis as we would call them with no malice. I had a brown doll with red lips and kinky hair. Of course I had no idea then that Oprah, growing up in the south, about my age, had no doll to her likeness and would bemoan the lack of such dolls for black kids for decades yet to come. The fact that I did not care much for any kind of doll did not make matters any better either. I knew what I wanted. I wanted to be with my mom, with real live people, not fake, dead imitations of them. Dolls held little interest for me. Of course this came from a girl that had missed her mom badly for the first few years of her life.

Looking back what I now miss and would have wished for would have been true discussions, explorations and explanations of all the myriad mysterious matters of living life. Like why would God not permit African babies in to heaven if they had died prematurely, without proper baptism? Or how could anyone enjoy heaven, knowing that others were still suffering? Or why would one people want to drop bombs on another? Or why did bridges not collapse, or maybe rather when might they collapse? And what makes buildings stand straight rather then lean like the tower of Pisa?

Yes, young minds have still the ability to wonder. Sadly my Dad thought it a waste of time to ask questions and think out loud, or stare in to the air. And my mom was in to sharing feelings, not so much ideas. With her I would argue if a shade of turquoise was actually the color blue or green. While I did not grow up in the era where children were to be seen, but not heard, my parents did, so I was not met in my puzzlement, which contributed to a profound sense of aloneness and also a lack of comprehension, which left me naive for far too long. What a waste! The best we can do is to relate to kids for real and explain the business of living to the best of our ability in age appropriate terms. We need to promote emotional and intellectual literacy. Kids deserve to be heard, and they deserve our legitimate, not flippant answers to their questions.

Dr. King seemed to have been a compulsive sex addict. I feel for his wife, any wife of such, but will I let this detract from the importance of his message? My mom allowed such gossip to inform her negative opinions of such as Dr. King and President Kennedy. I wish to not become a cynic. President Obama swayed us with his eloquent use of words in to hopes for change that turned out to have no basis in the reality of his political marriage to the middle road. His words now still can ring beautiful, heart felt and true, but knowing the source better, they no longer reverberate in my heart the way they used to.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was a masterful story teller and joker, his charisma brought him a world wide following. Much of what I read and listened to then still holds water now. That is the words still ring, but the source, now defiled leaves a bad aftertaste. Guns and poison and mind control, how was it possible for such to become part of a peaceful, spiritual community? I still wonder, but reject the notion that the guru was not to blame and knew nothing. So these days when Osho gets quoted, without any qualifiers, I resist, I will not swallow, I will not take it in, I refuse. What else is one to do? We can not ignore for long what we do know? The source does taint that which springs from it.

Eloquence, charisma, Dr. King, President Kennedy, President Obama, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, my mentors, they all had it, but what does it all mean?

For one we can not take their words alone, but have to include their actions in our assessment. For two, we ought to allow for personal failings. Charismatic personalities seem larger then life, but they are still human. We ought to refrain from making them in to the Gods they are not. We ought to use what they contribute, but leave the rest. Most importantly we need not fall from too great heights if we keep it all in perspective. Charismatic personalities are a sign of the times, they fill a need. Hunger can make us blind but for the object of our satisfaction. I propose to keep our eyes wide open, our glasses clear so as to see the world for what it is, rather then what we would like it to be. 

Heroes are not those that are larger then life, but those that participate in life to the best of their abilities. Heros are those that rush by to assist a shooting victim undeterred by concern for their own safety, but driven to do what needs to be done. Heroes are those that manage to do the right thing at the right time, with or without eloquence.

Hero: Keith Olbermann

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Keith Olbermann's impassioned, powerful repudiation of 
violent speech must be heard and must be shared.

Julian Assange - A Hero

Since late November, 3 weeks now, I have been following Wikileaks and Julian Assange, reading and listening mainly to the progressive point of view. I feel pressure to take a stand, to declare myself for or against, but I am having trouble doing so. Maybe it is not just a matter of being for or against, maybe life in general is more nuanced?  Good try, but won't fly! While usually I feel free to express myself in most ways, the threat of being viewed by the US (far reaching) powers as abetting in espionage (no matter how ridiculous the sound of it) as unworthy of employ (and I am not in a position not to care) or as a distriutor of stolen goods, is strangely unsettling to me, surprisingly so.

"This is what it looks like when power squirms. When the US government warns its employees to steer their eyes away from the WikiLeaks documents even though they're on every front page and news site. When Sweden and Interpol, possibly in response to US pressure, pursue trumped up charges against the WikiLeaks founder. When Mike Huckabee calls for alleged leaker Bradley Manning's execution, Sarah Palin says Assange should be "hunted down," and Congressman Peter King (R-N.Y.) declares that WikiLeaks should be designated a terrorist organization." Mother Jones

WWII Germans could claim ignorance from a lack of information and I might add naivete along with a blind trust in a patriarchal system that made them stand by passive when those atrocities happened. In our current so called information age we have no longer such excuses available to us. The information is out and available to anyone looking, in great part thanks to the net. Preserve net neutrality! There comes a point one has to take a stand. So here I stand symbolically in solidarity with Julian Assange first and foremost and his organization Wikileaks!

Allegations of rape are very serious, but in the context used against Assange they are ludicrous and offensive to those real victims of violent sexual abuse. Come on, invoking a law that makes a case for rape of a man, naked, standing behind, who knows maybe rubbing up against a woman he had sex with earlier! Invoking broken condoms and unsafe sex as if they were felonies? What happened to the ability of adults negotiating the terms of sexual intercourse between them? Have you ever heard of a rape victim throwing a party for the perpetrator? To lock a man in to solitary confinement for 10 days, a man that voluntarily presented himself to the authorities and has not been presented with clear charges of a crime committed, is a stunning deed to say the very least. Check out Michael Moore's open letter to Sweden where he accuses Sweden of negligence in legal proceedings of rape charges, 9 out of 10 times, while at the same time Swedes have the highest per capita rape reports! (I live in the US state with the 2. highest per capita rape reports, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It may mean that victims actually bother to report to the authorities, an important step forward.) Rape charges are serious and very offensive, but as I have pointed out before (the cases against Al Gore and Roman Polanski) not all rapes are equal.

Women Against Rape, Katrin Axelsson:

"There is a long tradition of the use of rape and sexual assault for political agendas that have nothing to do with women's safety. In the south of the US, the lynching of black men was often justified on grounds that they had raped or even looked at a white woman. Women don't take kindly to our demand for safety being misused, while rape continues to be neglected at best or protected at worst."

There are rumors that Anna Ardin, 31, one of the complainants, might be a spy. Someone will have to make a movie out of this saga. Of course for Julian Assange these smear campaigns, as he seems to call them rightfully so, are anything but entertaining. He is now out on bail under electronic monitoring through ankle bracelets and has to report in daily.

Meanwhile like in court, plant seeds of unreasonable doubt, here on the messenger of those unwanted revelations and deter attention from what truly matters. Those leaks while at first mainly diplomatic fluff, embarrassing maybe, but lacking in seeming significance have though grown in importance and cover a wide array of countries and subject, and not all bad for the US either.

One cable falsely states that Michael Moore's movie Sicko was banned in Cuba, while in truth the movie was shown to a wide Cuban audience, yet the main media did not rectify those claims did not do their homework and that is exactly why we need Wikileaks. This phenomena is a sign of our times, of a troubled media and enough discontented ones that create a demand for such endeavors like Wikileaks. (As Assange told the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year, "How is it that a team of five people has managed to release to the public more suppressed information, at that level, than the rest of the world press combined? It's disgraceful.") The more the merrier I say to the split of one former ally in to a similar organization that wants to act as a simple distributor of leaked info with no vetting of any kind. This will require for other media to not distort or suppress info of a sensitive nature. Time only will tell on how it will work, but the truth sooner or later will have to come out. I am for transparency, especially in the public and political domain.

So I change my mind, I redact my former statement, I take a stand, and declare Julian Assange a HERO. A hero because of his courage to oppose power and secrecy and his commitment to inform and  so uphold the fundamentals of a real democracy based on educated voters. With an IQ of a genius almost, he is no fool, he knows some of what he got himself in to, but he is a man of principle, willing to put his body on the line. So I stand among illustrious company in my public support of Julian Assange, runner-up for 2010 Person of the Year .

Joe Biden called Julian a "High Tech Terrorist" so I had to look up the word terrorist: "The word was originally applied to supporters of the Jacobins in the French Revolution, who advocated repression and violence in pursuit of the principles of democracy and equality." In this sense Julian certainly is not a terrorist. He offered the material for vetting to the US and to a few chosen main media outlets. He does not advocat violence and certainly is not big on repression be that information or his own sexuality for that matter as it seems (a lame attempt at humor.) Leaked information inspires terror only in those that have something to hide.

Astrologers world wide have been erecting and studying charts for Julian Assange in an attempt to gain insight. This is one of them, likely not perfect, but workable and fascinating. Accordingly Julian is living his Aquarian destiny: 

Another Hero Stepped Forward

Michael Moore with 2 others offered bail for Julian Assange. The court according to a Swiss newspaper source accepted, today Tuesday December 14th. The next court hearing is set for January 11th.

Michael Moore's sites seem unaccessible currently, let's hope because of the interest this news incited. But he makes his website available for Julian Assange's support, financial and other is my understanding.

I applaud the stepping forward of another hero, Michael Moore, who is taking again a courageous stance and will not be silenced and will not stop showing the public what matters.

BBC News:
"Mr Stephens said he had not been given any of his post - including legal letters - since being remanded in custody.
"He has absolutely no access to any electronic equipment, no access to the outside world, no access to outside media," he said.

 

The lawyer said the only correspondence his client had received was a note telling him that a copy of Time magazine sent to him had been destroyed because the cover bore his photograph."

What an effective way of silencing Assange, but not for long!

Update: Bail was granted and then challenged by Swedish prosecutors. They have 48 hours to present their objections. According to Swiss news 10 people participated in posting bail, but the court claims to need a week to process checks! Delaying tactics every which way one looks.

"It is not the rebels of the world who create the problems. 

It is the problems that create the rebels." -John T. Grubesic

Failed State?

First I heard of Iran as "a failed state" now, after a failed attempt at blowing up an airplane over US soil, it is Yemen that is considered "a failed state." What is a failed state? A state in turmoil? A state that failed to embrace and or implement capitalist principles? A state that is not run under the tight-fisted control of a tyrant? A state that does not serve it's people? A state on the seeming verge of disintegration? A state with questionable morals? A state that failed to deliver on it's promises?

It is not Somalia, not Zimbabwe, not North Korea, and certainly not the United States?

We need only one terrorist attack on US soil and the power will be back in the not so capable hands of the Republicans. Meanwhile we have a handsome Dutch hero, but get to see nothing much of him, instead endless speculations from little information, yet. I want to celebrate the guy that was thinking not just on, but also off his feet. Wow, what chutzpah to tackle that Nigerian wanna be terrorist. And I seem to be wrong as regards my earlier posts. Education makes one not less likely to engage in extremist terrorist activities. So what makes these guys with brains turn to terrorist measures? The jury sure is still out on that one.