Killing US ~ How We Die vs What We Fear...

Curious how what we die of is only loosely connected to what we fear, write about, and search for...

History of War Deaths ~ Global Rates since 1400

Oxford's Max Roser spotlights Global Deaths In Conflict Since the Year 1400 which shows the rate of warkills over the past ~600 years...

Fallen.io ~ Halloran Spotlights WWII in Context

Thanks to Zack Beauchamp at Vox for spotlighting The Fallen of World War II by filmmaker Neil Halloran...

Right-to-Die ~ PBS on Euthanasia in Belgium...

PBS NewsHour's Megan Thompson reports on The right to die in Belgium which...

"Has the world’s most liberal law on physician-assisted suicide, which is not just for the terminally ill. Patients with psychiatric conditions -- and now, even children -- can request euthanasia. Surveys in Belgium show overwhelming public support, and many doctors say it gives patients with constant and unbearable suffering a practical and humane way to die peacefully. But even in a country with a far-reaching acceptance, controversy still exists."

Hitchens on Islam ~ "God Is Not Great" ~ Ch 9...

Christopher Hitchens on Islam -- reading Chapter 9 of his God is Not Great ~ How Religion Poisons Everything...

"Hitchens asserts that there is no evidence for any of the "miraculous" claims about Muhammad, and that the Koran's origin was not supernatural. Hitchens contends that the religion was fabricated by Muhammad or his followers and that it was borrowed from other religious texts, and the hadith was taken from common maxims and sayings which developed throughout Arabia and Persia at the time. Hitchens also identifies similarities between Islam and Christianity, as well as identifying plagiarisms of the Jewish faith."

Hitchens further clarifies about Islam... And more generally, how ridiculous religion is... Protecting Danish cartoonists -- pointing out that we must judge religions by their extremes (and extremists)... Finally, Hitchens debates Islamite...

How Doctors Die ~ Desiring Quality Over Quantity

Dr Ken Murray, Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at USC, writes at Zocalo Public Square about How Doctors Die...

"Doctors die, too. And they don’t die like the rest of us. What’s unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little. For all the time they spend fending off the deaths of others, they tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care they could want. But they go gently. Of course, doctors don’t want to die; they want to live. But they know enough about modern medicine to know its limits. [...] Almost all medical professionals have seen what we call “futile care” being performed on people. [Instead, doctors want] a life of quality, not just quantity. Don’t most of us? If there is a state of the art of end-of-life care, it is this: death with dignity."

Listen also to Dr Diana Hsieh's Philosophy In Action radio show interview with UChicago Medical School geriatrician Dr William Dale speaking about End-Of-Life Medical Choices.

R.I.P. Sheik Umar Khan ~ Sierra Leone Ebola Doc

Exceedingly sad to hear that Sierra Leonean Dr Sheik Umar Khan, one of the leading fighters against epidemic Ebola, has also succumbed to that deadly virus after treating over 100 afflicted countrymen. This just underscores that this currently West African-centered situation is in fact a global public health emergency. More must be done ASAP.

When Time Stood Still ~ Surviving Hiroshima

The BBC's Vibeke Venema shares a special report When time stood still: A Hiroshima survivor's story of immediate pain and bitterness, but ultimately recovery and transcendence.

Stabilized Zapruder ~ JFK Motion Pano + SloMo

Kottke spots stabilized Zapruder film...

Murderous Mao ~ China's Evil Founder-Dictator...

So-called "Modern" China still worships their founder, the absolutely vile and evil mass-murder Mao Zedong. In addition to raping young virgins, this pedophilic verminous swine and his killer Communist Party regime have slaughtered at least 50 Million of his own Chinese people directly and millions more in Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, Taiwan, and other neighboring regions. And on this 60th Anniversary of the "end" of the Korean War, let's not forget that it was the illegitimate and vicious surprise Chinese assault against authorized UN forces which gave us the current "Lil Kim" idiot in-charge of North Korea. But most PRC Chinese citizen don't know this because their history has been whitewashed by the fearful, revisionist, and criminal Communist Party leadership -- Mao's minions -- still currently in control. Today's PRC is a corrupt evil dictatorship that doesn't deserve to be considered as a legitimate state -- indeed, their entire leadership starting from the top should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. Hearken to the massive evidence...

Death Map ~ Humane Borders, Better Future?

The Guardian's Edward Helmore writes that 'Death map' of deserts aims to save lives of desperate Mexican migrants...

"...over the past decade, more than 2,000 corpses, often desiccated, with the bones scattered by animals, have been recovered [...] Humane Borders is one of several groups working to reduce the number of migrant deaths. Yet even as the numbers of Mexican -- and increasingly Central American -- migrants attempting the hazardous crossing appears to have declined, the number who die trying remains troublingly consistent.The crossing to America is simply becoming more dangerous. [...] a new project known officially as The Arizona OpenGIS Initiative for Deceased Immigrants -- Younglas call it the "death map" -- may begin to reduce the deaths and help families of the missing recover the bones of their members."

P.S. Weaponized Drones for the Border Patrol will not help.

Good Riddance ~ When Dictators Die, Rejoice!

The criminally incompetent caudillo Chavez has finally been killed by cancer. He was such a verminous and thieving socialist swine that this is indeed cause for mass celebration. Which scumbag dictator is next? Mugger Mugabe, moron Morales, killer Kim, asshole A'jad, or perhaps one of the American "exceptions" -- Mao's minions, Saud's spawn, or others on the supposedly "right side" of things? As far as I'm concerned, when any and all dictators die, good riddance.

A Lesson In Dying ~ Nurse's Cancer as Lessons

NYTimes photos and video A Lesson in Dying by Poh Si Teng and Ilana Panich-Linsman and related story As Nurse Lay Dying, Offering Herself as Instruction in Caring by Abby Goodnough spotlights nurse Martha Keochareon's final actions helping fellow healthcare pros understand illness from a patient’s perspective...

"I have cancer,” she said after introducing herself, “and I’m wondering if you’ll need somebody to do a case study on, a hospice patient.” Perhaps some nursing students “just want to feel what a tumor feels like,” she went on. Or they could learn something about hospice care, which aims to help terminally ill people die comfortably at home. “Maybe you’ll have some ambitious student that wants to do a project. [...] Ms. Keochareon wanted more as she prepared to die. The project she envisioned would be not just for students, but also for her -- a way to squeeze one more chapter out of life. Spending time with the dying is not fundamental to nurse training, partly because there are not enough clinical settings to provide the experience."

ANC Hypocrisy? ~ Bloody Rulers of Modern SA...

Al Jaz reveals the hypocrisy of today's ANC rulers of South Africa...

Capital Punishment ~ US + Evil = Probably Wrong

Embarrassing to see (via the Economist) US amidst a mostly sordid cast of evil-doing countries headed by dictators and despots...

Stupid Design ~ Tyson on Universe vs Humans;-)

IEET posts Intelligent Design is Stupid by Neil deGrasse Tyson...

Final Words ~ Last Things Said Before Death...

Moving piece by Kerry Egan in CNN Belief blog...

"I am a hospice chaplain. I visit people who are dying -- in their homes, in hospitals, in nursing homes. [...] What do people who are sick and dying talk about with the chaplain? [...] Mostly, they talk about their families: about their mothers and fathers, their sons and daughters. They talk about the love they felt, and the love they gave. Often they talk about love they did not receive, or the love they did not know how to offer, the love they withheld, or maybe never felt for the ones they should have loved unconditionally. They talk about how they learned what love is, and what it is not. And sometimes, when they are actively dying, fluid gurgling in their throats, they reach their hands out to things I cannot see and they call out to their parents: Mama, Daddy, Mother."

Read the rest, heartwrenching stuff including Kerry's discussion of her learning experiences and personal faith beliefs. I'm not of her creed but I honor her humanity and admire her goodness. In any case, I personally think dying and specifically death due to aging are the ultimate genetic disease -- a devilish DNA defect we all inherit from ancestors who were never naturally selected for longevity, nevermind immortality. Maybe with enough investment in life sciences and biotechnology we can end this scourge?

Killed by Incompetence ~ Latest MIT Death...

Very sad to hear MIT alumnus Phyo Kyaw was slaughtered Tuesday 12/27/2011 by a criminally careless truck driver while riding his bicycle at Mass Ave and Vassar. While this death is quite tragic -- and ought to be a capital case against the truck driver and a bankrupting civil case against the liable owner -- it's also a direct consequence of gross incompetence and complete safety neglect on the part of urban planners, traffic engineers, lawless drivers, absent or uncaring police, AWOL lawmakers, and for those rare court cases, spineless judges. Specifically, we have in Cambridge and Massachusetts today...

• Unsafe and totally inadequate bicycle lanes;
• Hazardous & poorly designed intersections;
  
• Unenforced speeding, red light, & cross-walk rules;
• Minimalist punishment of traffic & safety violations;
• Total absence of driver safety culture;
• Rampant road-rage & driving-while-distracted;
• Missing traffic intersection video recording & tracking;
• Inadequately strict driver-fault liability rules;
• Too few indictments, scarce convictions, & liberal sentences;
  
• And more.

In a just world, those directly and indirectly responsible would all be held criminally culpable for this death -- and for the many other related and entirely avoidable safety incidents between motor vehicles and the bicyclists and pedestrians they threaten daily. Let's look at the evidence: the photos show the murder victim's bike is crushed under the wheels of the JP Noonan-owned truck which is completely on the wrong side of the road. That driver should get the electric chair and yet the latest press reports indicate he's not even being charged. Even worse, an MIT campus policeman told me yesterday -- with a completely straight face, mind you -- that the word is "the bicyclist just ran into the truck" and that's why he died. So this vicious murder by means of criminally negligent and reckless driving is actually either an unfortunate "accident" or it's really the victim's own fault. Are you F#CKing kidding me?! This is completely appalling.

Road Kills ~ Witness the Automotive Slaughter...

Population Control ~ NYTimes on Horrible Things