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:

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Catching Up on the News With Alex Schadenberg (Pictured Below)

First published on June 9, 2025 

Dear Friends:

I have very sad news. Stephen Mendelsohn, a disability leader, long-time opponent of assisted suicide, and member of the EPC-USA board, died on June 1 in an accident. Stephen followed the US state bills and updated leaders on news stories. He will be missed.

In late May, I had a speaking tour in British Columbia (BC) where I had engagements in Vernon, Kelowna, Salmon Arm, and Vancouver over four days. In Vancouver, I visited St. Paul’s Hospital to see the euthanasia clinic that was imposed on the hospital by the BC Ministry of Health. The euthanasia clinic was opened in January 2025.

Background: In June 2023, the euthanasia lobby was pressuring the BC government to force Catholic hospitals (Providence Health Care) to provide euthanasia. They used the story of Samantha O’Neill (34) who requested euthanasia at St. Paul’s. The hospital did not provide euthanasia; they transferred O’Neill to St. John Hospice (operated by Vancouver Coastal Health) and she died by euthanasia on April 4, 2023. In December 2023, based on the pressure from the euthanasia lobby, the BC government expropriated property from Providence Health (at St. Paul’s) to build a killing center.

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

We're Back!

How to Read Your Dog’s Body Language


We're back up and running. 

Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Two Minnesota State Lawmakers Shot, One Killed, in ‘Politically Motivated’ Attack

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing

Two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses were shot in their homes early Saturday, in what Gov. Tim Walz [pictured right] called "politically motivated" 

An unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota," Walz said at a press briefing later Saturday morning.  " My good friend and colleague, [former] Speaker Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark, were shot and killed early this morning in what appears to be a politically-motivated assassination."

Hortman and his wife, Yvette, were also “each shot multiple times,” but both were out of surgery as of mid-morning.

“We are cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt,” Walz said.

The pair of shootings, which rocked Minnesota and drew a wave of condemnation nationwide, appears to be just the latest incident of politically fueled violence in the country, including two Israeli embassy staffers killed in Washington last month.

Saturday, June 7, 2025

New York’s Dangerous Killing Act Must be Rejected

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/3431931/new-york-medical-aid-in-dying-act-consequences/ 

New York‘s "Medical Aid in Dying Act" is under consideration in the state’s Senate Health Committee after passing in the state Assembly in late April. It has 25 co-sponsors in the Senate, and 32 votes are needed to pass it. Democratic leaders have expressed confidence that it will do so, and even some Republican senators are open to voting for it. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) position is ambiguous, but MAID advocates expect her support once the bill clears the Senate.

New York voters also overwhelmingly support it. A recent YouGov survey found that 72% back the measure, including 65% of Catholics

But the bill is a fast-rolling nightmare for the disabled, elderly, and the culture as a whole. Much support for physician-assisted suicide is well-intended. But crossing the bright red line from preserving life to intentionally hastening death has created moral catastrophes in countries that have made the move. New York should heed these examples.

Thursday, June 5, 2025

Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Stalled in Illinois Senate

https://www.cilfm.com/2025/06/04/aid-in-dying-bill-stalls-in-illinois-senate-after-lengthy-house-debate

By Jim Talamonti, Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) — Aid-in-dying [assisted suicide and euthanasia] legislation remains at the Illinois Statehouse after it failed to clear the Illinois Senate before legislators adjourned for the summer.

Lawmakers spent well over an hour on the House floor last week discussing an amended version of Senate Bill 1950, which was initially introduced as “sanitary food preparation” legislation.

SB 1950 took language from Senate Bill 9, or the End-of-Life Options for Terminally-Ill Patients Act, which was introduced by state Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora. Legislators previously spent time debating SB 9 in committee.

House members voted in favor of SB 1950 last Thursday, but senators did not take up the measure before the spring legislative session ended over the weekend.

Black, White and Moving On

Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. I’d like to talk about a more sensitive topic today, and that’s this new appearance or this growing—I would call it—reverse racism or racism among some left-wing elite black leaders, politicians, celebrities. I’ll give you a few examples.

Not long ago Susan Rice, the former top official in the Obama administration, was removed from the Defense Policy Board. That’s a group of grandees that advise the Defense Department. They’re political appointments. And traditionally, when a new president comes in, they get rid of most of the prior Defense Policy Board because they feel they’re partisans.

And in the case of Susan Rice, she was appointed in a late appointment by then-President Joe Biden, who pretty much wiped out all of the Trump appointments. So, her dismissal by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was not unusual.

And yet, she fired back at him and said he was dumb as a rock and ultra-MAGA. But what was interesting, she said, “white male, cisgender.” In other words, she attacked his race. And she said her administration would’ve fired him for the Signal chat scandal. But of course, she was the one that came out on Sunday talk shows and lied five times about the disaster in Benghazi, among other things later in her career. But why inject race into it?

At almost the same period, we had a number of Afrikaners—I should say a very small number, about 60 people—asked for refugee status, felt they had been endangered by black-on-white violence, which is demonstrable and beyond controversy in South Africa. And President Donald Trump allowed them to come in as refugees. And of course, during the prior administration, thousands of people came in as refugees. But because, apparently, they were white, this caused a storm of criticism.

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Euthanasia Enthusiast Kills Himself After Arrest for Aiding and Abetting Woman's Death in Sarco Suicide Pod

    A well-known euthanasia activist [pictured here] has died by suicide months after his arrest in connection with the first recorded use of a Sarco suicide pod.

    Florian Willet, 47, was arrested last year in Switzerland following the death of a 64-year-old American woman who used the nitrogen-filled device to end her life in a remote cabin. He was accused of aiding and abetting suicide and, initially, strangulation.

    He was released from custody in December after officials ruled out intentional homicide. The experience left Willet emotionally distraught, according to those who knew him.

    His death by suicide was confirmed last month by Dr. Philip Nitschke, the director of Exit International, the group that developed the Sarco pods. Willet led The Last Resort, a partner organization that advocates for euthanasia rights.

    “Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence. In its place was a man who seemed deeply traumatized by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation,” Nitschke told Dutch outlet Volkskrant.

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

We Mourn the Death of Stephen Mendelsohn

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC).*

The amazing genius and focused disability activist, Stephen Mendelsohn, age 63 [pictured right], worked tirelessly to oppose assisted suicide as a member of Second Thoughts Connecticut and as a member of the EPC - USA board, has died.

According to a media report Stephen Mendelsohn died when he was hit by a car on Sunday evening (June 1).

Mendelsohn was an incredible researcher. He would read through legislative texts and uncover specific language variations that may not have been noticed immediately. Also, the interventions that he wrote opposing assisted suicide bills often used new talking points and ways to oppose killing by assisted suicide.

Allen West: A Rendezvous with Destiny

The title of this missive comes from the motto of the 101st Airborne Division, the famed “Screaming Eagles.” The motto comes from a speech given on August 16, 1942, as the 101st Airborne Division was activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. Its first Commanding General, Major General William C. Lee, noted that the Division had no history, but that it had a “rendezvous with destiny.” The General also said that the new Division would habitually be called into action when the need was “immediate and extreme” and that it would fall on its enemies like a thunderbolt from the skies.

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

The Explosion of Myocarditis: Dr. McCullough's Vaccine Testimony

https://www.theblaze.com/shows/pat-gray-unleashed/vaccine-myocarditis-mccullough

Blaze TV Staff, 05/25/25.

In a Senate hearing this week about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Peter McCullough detailed his experience as a cardiologist — and after the shots, it’s not a good one.

“The topic today is myocarditis or heart damage from the COVID-19 vaccines. I’m a cardiologist. I know the topic well. I’ve examined thousands of patients with this problem — thousands. Before the pandemic, I had two patients ever with this problem,” McCullough testified.

“There’s 1,065 papers in the peer-reviewed literature on COVID vaccine myocarditis, so let me summarize them for you,” McCullough continued. “The first author is Verma and colleagues. New England Journal of Medicine. Forty-two-year-old man comes into Washington University Hospital with vaccine myocarditis.”

“The infection is ruled out; it’s the vaccine. He’s in the hospital. This is one of the best hospitals in the United States. He died three days after taking Moderna. They can’t save him in the hospital,” he explains.

McCullough went on to tell of another, younger man who died within eight hours of being in the hospital after his COVID-19 shot.

“I can tell you, I’m a cardiologist — that doesn’t even happen with heart attacks. He dies within eight hours. I examined all of the slides,” he says, “It looked like somebody took a blowtorch to that heart, it was so completely fried with inflammation.”

Monday, May 26, 2025

Choctaw Nation Honors Code Talkers Who Helped Turn the Tide in WWI

In 1917, a Choctaw Indian named Joseph Oklahombi walked 21 miles from his home in Wright City, Oklahoma, to Idabel, the McCurtain County seat, to enlist in the U.S. Army.

Oklahombi enlisted at a time when most Native Americans were not considered U.S. citizens—that didn’t happen until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.

The U.S. government wanted him to forget his history, his culture, and his native language, but that didn’t prevent him from fighting for his homeland in World War I.

Shortly after he enlisted, Oklahombi and 19 other Choctaw men became part of an effort that used their language to help win the war for the Allies.

They became code talkers—Native American soldiers who used tribal languages to confound enemy intelligence.