Why Choice is an Illusion?

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Trump, Zelensky and More

Zelensky is in Washington and is meeting with Trump in person later today. Following his meeting with the American president, Trump is also expected to host a parade of European leaders including the head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Prime Ministers Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni of Britain and Italy, respectively.

Zelensky’s message appeared to be a rebuttal to Trump claiming on Monday Zelensky has the power to unilaterally end the war.

“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “or he can continue to fight. Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”

Trump in turn appeared to be pressuring Zelensky to accept Ukraine losing its claim to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia invaded and colonized in 2014, in response to the Ukrainian president highlighting in remarks on Sunday that the Ukrainian constitution limits his ability to agree to ceding land.

Monday, August 18, 2025

Elaina Plott Calabro Pictured Below: "Canada Is Killing Itself."

Even mainstream secular outlets are noticing the horrors and abuse of legalized euthanasia. 

It’s almost back-to-school time in many parts of Canada. Will students be painting coffins in the playground? Will they have field trips to and pajama parties in funeral homes? These are some suggestions, mentioned on the podcast Disrupting Death, for how Canadians might normalize for children the country’s Medical Aid in Dying regime.

MAID is physician-assisted suicide, which, not very long ago, most of us would consider medical malpractice, or another M-word: murder. It is the current euphemism of choice, intended to make people feel more comfortable with doctors’ being called on to kill. It turns out that it is not only children who need some hand-holding to accept the unnatural and, frankly, downright evil. The former Hemlock Society, for example, an American right-to-die organization, is now known as Compassion & Choices. It wants you to believe that sometimes the only merciful thing in the face of suffering is to expedite death. Never mind that assisted suicide also saves money, and that it often preys on people at their most vulnerable. 

A major reporting piece in The Atlantic, “Canada Is Killing Itself,” ... should alarm Americans, too. During a panel discussion in Manhattan recently, a doctor explained that young trainees are increasingly wondering why suicide is taboo. We live in the day of “my body, my choice,” after all. So, who’s to say when suicide should be prevented? New York Governor Kathy Hochul is supposed to decide before the end of the year whether to sign a bill legalizing assisted suicide in the Empire State. I was in Albany on the day the state senate voted to pass the bill. Many of the Democrats who wound up voting for legalization acknowledged that, where assisted suicide is legal, there have been some reports of abuse. Calabro notes cases of individuals who are suffering from homelessness, mental illnesses, and even “hearing loss” who have requested or successfully applied for MAID in Canada.

European leaders to join Zelensky at White House as Trump envoy reveals major concession from Putin

https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/live/trump-zelensky-recap-trump-says-hes-trying-to-arrange-meeting-with-putin-and-zelensky-to-discuss-russias-war-in-ukraine-150650809.html

European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he meets with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, and Trump's special envoy revealed Sunday a major concession that Vladimir Putin has made in hopes of reaching a peace accord.

The leaders joining Zelensky include French President Emmanuel Macron, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to the BBC.

On Friday, Trump met with Putin in Alaska to discuss how the three-year-old war could end.

The U.S. has been engaging in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the ongoing war that began in 2022. 

Sunday, August 17, 2025

What’s in a Name ? It’s Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide, Not “Medical Aid in Dying”

“That which is called a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”*

Thus runs the amazingly fertile thought of the single most quoted speaker of the English language. And within the context of Romeo’s love for Juliet we are happy to approve.

However the exact correspondence of words to their objects is crucial to coherent thought, and doubly crucial when those words are found in written texts of law.

When two words are assumed to refer to the same object, but actually point to different things, we have a problem. And when one key word is legally enshrined, and charged with marking the limits of stable policy –but is none-the-less in a state of dynamic flux– we have another.

Sadly, with “Assisted Suicide” and “Medical Aid in Dying” (and indeed with all of the terms surrounding the assisted death debate) we have both of these problems in spades.

What 17 Years of Dog Sitting has Taught Me about Animals — and People


By 

My first pet sitting job fell in my lap when my neighbors Chuck and Betty came looking for dog care. They owned a zesty Shih Tzu named Dusty and didn’t mind paying someone to give her personal attention and several walks a day when they were out of town.

While they were away, their home’s AC broke down, so I installed a giant oscillating fan in the living room to survive the sweltering afternoons. On an impulse, I scooped Dusty up and stood in front of the fan, swaying gently. I wasn’t sure if she’d enjoy the direct breeze, but she didn’t squirm.

I set her down after a bit, but half an hour later she was back, standing at my feet, looking up hopefully. I repeated our cooling off routine, and from then on, she let me know whenever she needed a repeat of our refreshing drill.

Holding Dusty in my arms, relishing the satisfaction of providing her with exactly what I knew she wanted, at the exact moment she asked, was my first taste of the profound joy that can fill your heart when you live and bond with someone else’s dog. I’d shared many such moments with my own dogs over the years, but I hadn’t expected that thrilling flash of interspecies communication while I served as the temporary help.

Friday, August 15, 2025

Diane Coleman’s Last Review: Life After, “A Wonderful Film.”

https://notdeadyet.org/diane-colemans-last-review-life-after-a-wonderful-film

Ian McIntosh, Executive Director Not Dead Yet:

To the best of my knowledge, one of the last tasks Founder, President and CEO of Not Dead Yet (NDY), Diane Coleman completed, days before her sudden passing last November, was to watch Reid Davenport’s Life After.  

Diane intended to write a fulsome review. And although she could not publish her thoughts in time, she left one of sorts, complete in its brevity, in an email to the film’s creators, saying that Life After is: “a wonderful film”.

In this arena and in our community, there’s no higher praise.  As Diane’s successor, serving as the Executive Director of NDY, and as a self-confessed cinephile, having seen the documentary several times now, I can confirm that like everything else Diane weighed in on: Of course, she’s right. Life After is a wonderful film for too many reasons to expand upon here and now.

But Multimedia Films, the production house for Life After, notes on its website a synopsis of the documentary, which in part reads:

“In 1983, a disabled Californian woman named Elizabeth Bouvia sought the ‘right to die,’ igniting a national debate about autonomy and the value of disabled lives. After years of courtroom battles, Bouvia vanished from public view. Sundance-winner Davenport embarks on a personal investigation to find out what really happened to Bouvia and reveal why her story is disturbingly relevant today.”

Trump Says No Deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war was made with Putin

 

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Alaska to Take Center Stage at Trump-Putin Summit

https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/russia-at-war/alaska-to-take-center-stage-at-trump-putin-summit

Alaska will take a rare step into the spotlight as it plays host to the high-stakes summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, creating a key backdrop for a meeting the administration hopes will open a path towards ending the Ukraine war. 

The 49th state has usually taken a place on the periphery of U.S. national politics, especially in recent years. But the setting here is notable as Trump and Putin descend on the former Russian colony for a meeting the former has long sought as part of his promises to end the fighting in Eastern Europe. 

Alaskans believe it is fitting that talks between the two nations will come to their shores.

“You can see the impact of Russian colonialism on Alaska to this day,” said Brandon Boylan, a political science professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“If President Trump was going to host President Putin in the U.S. and it wasn’t going to be at the White House, I’m actually not surprised it’s here in Alaska, given the very rich history that Alaska has between the two states,” Boylan said. 

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

National Guard Troops Arrive in Washington After Trump Declares Federal Control

By Joseph Lord, 08/12/25 

National Guard troops started arriving in Washington on Tuesday to begin enforcing President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the city’s law enforcement and security. They’re part of an 800-member deployment ordered by the administration.

Trump announced on Monday that he would activate the guard and take over the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, citing a crime emergency in the city.

Speaking ahead of the National Guard troops’ arrival, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president’s emergency proclamation “is only the beginning.”

She said: “Over the course of the next month, the Trump administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law, undermines public safety, and endangers law-abiding Americans.”

Leavitt said Tuesday that the addition of National Guardsmen to the federalized D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) would assist to “end violent crime in our nation’s capital as part of the President’s massive law enforcement surge.”

DeSantis Names State Sen. Jay Collins as Lieutenant Governor

Florida is now the only state in the country to have military veterans as both governor and lieutenant governor.

After roughly six months, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis finally decided on his next lieutenant governor: state Sen. Jarrid “Jay” Collins [pictured here].

The governor said on Aug. 12 in Tampa that he considered two things when making his decision. First, the person had to be “strong on policy,” with a “record of delivering big conservative results.” Second, the person had to be “somebody that’s going to run towards the fire,” not sit on the fence or fear criticism.

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Trump: "We're Gonna Take Our Capital Back"

By Leif Le Mahieu

President Donald Trump promised on Monday to clean up crime and vagrancy in the nation’s capital by shifting more responsibilities over the district to the federal government. 

Trump made the announcement during a press conference at the White House, where he laid out a number of executive actions he was taking to fight violent crime, decrease homelessness, and otherwise clean up Washington, D.C. 

“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,” Trump said. “
This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re gonna take our capital back. We’re taking it back.” 

Trump on Monday invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act and declared a public emergency. This granted him to move the D.C. Police Department under the control of the Justice Department. DEA Administrator Terry Cole will head the department, per Trump’s orders. 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and U.S. District Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro all appeared alongside Trump at the news conference.

Monday, August 11, 2025

Richard Egan Regarding Submissions to the Northern Territory Inquiry

Colleagues  

The Northern Territory in Australia was the first jurisdiction in the world to legalise euthanasia by statute. The Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (the ROTI Act) was in operation in the Northern Territory from 1 July 1996 until it was suppressed by the Commonwealth’s Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 on 27 March 1997. 

Four people were killed under that Act by Philip Nitschke. It gave him a taste for killing. His death cult Exit International is responsible for hundreds of deaths including  the suicides of depressed young people with no physical illness.

The Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 prevented the Northern Territory legalising euthanasia or assistance to suicide again for 25 years until it was repealed by the Restoring Territory Rights Act 2022 which came into effect on 13 December 2022.

The Law and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Legislative Assembly is currently conducting in an inquiry into voluntary assisted dying [sic] in the NT. Submissions are due by 15 August 2025.*

Delta Hospice Society Continues its Goal to have a Euthanasia-Free Hospice.

By Alex Schadenberg, 

Terry O'Neill reported for the BC Catholic on August 6, 2025 that the Delta Hospice Society, that has existed in Delta BC, for more than 30 years, is now be seeking to purchase property in Alberta in order to establish a euthanasia-free hospice.

O'Neill interviewed Angelina Ireland who is the executive director of the Delta Hospice Society who stated: 

“We are actively looking for a property, and we have the money — hundreds of thousands of dollars — to buy,” Ireland said in an email interview. “It is a desperate situation in this country, and the Delta Hospice Society has been stalled, stonewalled, abused, and vilified long enough.”

A B.C. location remains the society’s first choice, but Ireland has been unable to get assurances from B.C.’s NDP government that it would not force the society to allow euthanasia in the proposed hospice.

Sunday, August 10, 2025

Trump Threatens to Federalize D.C. over Lax Approach to Minors Committing Crimes

President Donald Trump on Wednesday floated the idea of sending the National Guard to Washington, D.C., as part of his potential plan to take over the federal city to crack down on crimes committed by minors.

Trump threatened to end D.C. home rule on Tuesday if the city did not step up when it comes to prosecuting minors who commit serious crimes. Trump claimed the city's lenient attitudes toward underaged criminals had emboldened them.

The threats come after former 19-year-old Department of Government Efficiency staffer Edward Coristine was assaulted by an alleged group of juveniles over the weekend who were apparently trying to carjack a vehicle in Northwest D.C.

Trump was asked whether he would consider taking over Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department as a means to boost law enforcement activity in the capital, to which the president responded he was considering it, NBC News reported.

“We’re considering it. Yeah, because the crime is — is ridiculous,” Trump told reporters. “We have a capital that’s very unsafe, you know, we just almost lost a young man. Beautiful, handsome guy that got the hell knocked out of him the night before last. 

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Alex Schadenberg: Re-Defining Death

On July 23 I wrote about The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) media release from July 21, 2025 concerning the organ transplant system in the United States. The US Health and Human Services examined 351 organ donation approvals and determined that in 103 cases their were concerns that the dead donor rule may have been violated.

Organ donation is a difficult topic to write about since organ donation can save lives. I have been writing about issues related to organ donation for many years. It is a scandal that death is sometimes caused by organ removal rather than organs being retrieved from a dead donor. 

In 2023, an effort to legitimize harvesting organs from living people was prevented when the Uniform Law Commission stopped the effort to revise the UDDA. The revision to the UDDA was designed to give legal cover when organs are taken from people who have not yet died but have an irreversible condition.

On July 31, Wesley Smith published an article about a group of physicians who wrote an article that was published in the New York Times calling for the re-definition of death. If they redefine death, then organs can be taken from live donors who have been declared dead. Smith wrote: