The inalienable right to take a life

Life did not deal Piergiorgio Welby a good hand. The president of a patient’s advocacy group who recently published a book and even had his own blog, Mr. Welby reached a point where he felt that his life was no longer worth living. The reason was because Mr. Welby suffered from an advanced case of muscular dystrophy which confined him to a bed and required that others take care of his basic needs for subsistence.

The Great Mulato Hope

When Elbridge Thomas Gerry signed the Declaration of independence it is recorded in a letter by Benjamin Rush that he was beckoned by fellow signatory Colonel Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, with a wry yet stern reminder that the Colonel would have a great physical advantage over Mr. Gerry when they all hung for treason. “From the size and weight of my body"- remarked the Colonel - “I shall die in a few minutes; but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead”.

The sturdy fabric and steely determination which was so much a part of the makeup of such men is only externally mimicked today by many of those revered in the political arena. Among one of the newcomers who is a perfect example of this facility to project admirable character qualities without the life experience credentials typically required to enact such poise is none other than the 45 year old junior senator from Illinois, Barack Hussein Obama, who has been called “a political phenomenon”.

The Immortal Story

A few years ago my wife and I had to rush our two year old beautiful daughter to the Hospital. She had been vomiting uncontrollably for hours and was unable to hold any food in her stomach; it seemed we had spent an entire day fighting an uphill battle in our efforts to keep her hydrated.

The Underestimated Power of Shame

"Think twice about what you are going to say, especially if you are going to say what you’re thinking” goes the old adage.  This is a virtue that seems to garner very little support in this era when airing one’s dirty laundry in public is considered a noble character trait and lack of self control is, at worst looked upon as an excusable pecadillo and at best encouraged as a form of self-expression.