Charles Lewis: Washington becomes second state to approve assisted suicide
Posted: November 05, 2008, 6:32 PM by Kelly McParland
Full Comment, U.S. Politics, Charles Lewis
Washington has become only the second state in the U.S. to make physician-assisted suicide legal and now joins just a handful of jurisdictions worldwide that allows the practice.
The measure, known as Initiative 1000, was approved by nearly 60% of voters Tuesday and mimics a similar law in Oregon passed 10 years ago.
It allows doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients. They cannot administer the medication, but can be present when patients take their lives.
Eileen Geller of the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide, and a hospice nurse, said proponents of the initiative made it sound that it was only the Roman Catholic Church providing funds.
“It was an occasion for Catholic bashing,” she said.
A Seattle newspaper said the pro-initiative forces raised more than US$5-million and the anti forces US$1.3-million. Ms. Geller said national groups wanted to use “Washington state’s initiative process to advance an experiment in assisted suicide so they could watch Washingtonians kill themselves to advance their agenda [of pushing this across the country] and eventually allow people to die for any reason at any time.”
The Washington State Medical Association also opposed the measure.
“Our doctors could not reconcile the act with their oath,” said Tom Curry, chief executive of the doctors’ organization.
Over the past 15 years, he said, there has been a tremendous improvement on palliative care.
It is not clear how doctors will respond to the new law, he added, but the association is asking physicians to be especially clear now about what options — including pain control — are available to patients.
Actor Martin Sheen, a religious Catholic known for supporting liberal causes, including the presidency of Barack Obama, also opposed to the measure. He made a TV commercial that warned the bill was “dangerous,” and would prey on the poor and the disabled.
Meantime, backers of the initiative charged the Catholic Church was pushing its weight around by forcing its agenda on non-Catholics.
“The Catholic Church is a right-wing extremist organization,” said Robb Miller, executive director of Compassion & Choices in Washington. “We were not Catholic-bashing, but pointing out what group was funding the other side.”
Mr. Miller said that voters in his state have had the benefit of seeing how things have worked in neighbouring Oregon for the past 10 years and how the objections of opponents are not true.
One main argument against I-1000 was that those without health insurance would be more likely to choose suicide as a way not to be a burden on their families. Oregon government statistics show that over 10 years only one patient who asked to die did not have insurance and most had a university degree.
For example, in 2006, of the 65 patients prescribed medication, 35 took it, 19 died from their disease and 11 were still alive at the end of the year. Three hundred patients have died since the law was passed.
Mr. Miller said many patients want the lethal drugs as more of a psychological insurance against the prospect pain. He himself managed to obtain lethal drugs in 1994 when he was diagnosed with cancer.
He said knowing the drug was there was a great comfort. He also said his partner suffered an agonizing death from AIDS in 1996, which also got him involved in the debate.
Moira McQueen, a moral theologian who heads the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute in Toronto, said people who oppose assisted suicide do not always do it from a religious perspective.
“I think this is a human issue, not a Catholic issue — though the Catholic Church and others have a clear stance on it. You don’t have to be talking about God all the time when it come to this issue. We can talk about it as being responsible for our community and the common good.
“We look after our babies when they’re born, it’s natural we look after dying. And we have the capacity to do it. If we didn’t we’d all be up the creek.”
National Postclewis@nationalpost.com
(1) Washington has become only the second state in the U.S. to make physician-assisted suicide legal and now joins just a handful of jurisdictions worldwide that allows the practice.
(2) It allows doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients. They cannot administer the medication, but can be present when patients take their lives.
(3) The Washington State Medical Association also opposed the measure.
(4) It is not clear how doctors will respond to the new law
(5) Over the past 15 years, he said, there has been a tremendous improvement on palliative care.
(6) One main argument against I-1000 was that those without health insurance would be more likely to choose suicide as a way not to be a burden on their families. Oregon government statistics show that over 10 years only one patient who asked to die did not have insurance and most had a university degree.
(7) “I think this is a human issue, not a Catholic issue
(8) Mr. Miller said many patients want the lethal drugs as more of a psychological insurance against the prospect pain.
(9) “We look after our babies when they’re born, it’s natural we look after dying. And we have the capacity to do it. If we didn’t we’d all be up the creek.”
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Standardizing Arguments
Ninth-graders at work
In the United States, it is the day after the presidential election,. In Canada, it is the day that parents of ninth-graders take their kids to work.
The tradition was started in Ontario in the early 1990s by The Learning Partnership, a non-profit champion of public education. Take Our Kids to Work Day has since gone national, and today some 250,000 students are expected to participate with their parents (or someone else's parent) at 75,000 workplaces across the country.
Workplaces of all kinds are involved, from newsrooms to bank branches, from hospitals to police stations, and from training facilities for carpenters and electricians to the Ontario Legislature and city hall. Some employers have special programs geared for the students; others just let them shadow their parents.
The goal, says Veronica Lacey, president of The Learning Partnership, is to stress the importance of career choices for the students. As early as Grade 9, they start deciding what courses to take in order to achieve their career goals.
But over time, adds Lacey, "the day has evolved into something deeper and more significant." Students get to see just how hard their parents work for a living. They come away with a new respect for hard work and a realization that "all work is honourable."
The Star salutes the students and parents participating today in Take Our Kids to Work Day.
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/530789
red - reason
green - Thesis
purple – conclusion
(1) But over time, adds Lacey, "the day has evolved into something deeper and more significant." Students get to see just how hard their parents work for a living
(2) In Canada, it is the day that parents of ninth-graders take their kids to work.
(3) Take Our Kids to Work Day has since gone national, and today some 250,000 students are expected to participate with their parents (or someone else's parent) at 75,000 workplaces across the country.
(4) Some employers have special programs geared for the students; others just let them shadow their parents.
(5) to stress the importance of career choices for the students. As early as Grade 9, they start deciding what courses to take in order to achieve their career goals.
(6) The Star salutes the students and parents participating today in Take Our Kids to Work Day.
In the United States, it is the day after the presidential election,. In Canada, it is the day that parents of ninth-graders take their kids to work.
The tradition was started in Ontario in the early 1990s by The Learning Partnership, a non-profit champion of public education. Take Our Kids to Work Day has since gone national, and today some 250,000 students are expected to participate with their parents (or someone else's parent) at 75,000 workplaces across the country.
Workplaces of all kinds are involved, from newsrooms to bank branches, from hospitals to police stations, and from training facilities for carpenters and electricians to the Ontario Legislature and city hall. Some employers have special programs geared for the students; others just let them shadow their parents.
The goal, says Veronica Lacey, president of The Learning Partnership, is to stress the importance of career choices for the students. As early as Grade 9, they start deciding what courses to take in order to achieve their career goals.
But over time, adds Lacey, "the day has evolved into something deeper and more significant." Students get to see just how hard their parents work for a living. They come away with a new respect for hard work and a realization that "all work is honourable."
The Star salutes the students and parents participating today in Take Our Kids to Work Day.
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/530789
red - reason
green - Thesis
purple – conclusion
(1) But over time, adds Lacey, "the day has evolved into something deeper and more significant." Students get to see just how hard their parents work for a living
(2) In Canada, it is the day that parents of ninth-graders take their kids to work.
(3) Take Our Kids to Work Day has since gone national, and today some 250,000 students are expected to participate with their parents (or someone else's parent) at 75,000 workplaces across the country.
(4) Some employers have special programs geared for the students; others just let them shadow their parents.
(5) to stress the importance of career choices for the students. As early as Grade 9, they start deciding what courses to take in order to achieve their career goals.
(6) The Star salutes the students and parents participating today in Take Our Kids to Work Day.
Bdelygmia - Rhetorical Device
Bdelygmia
Definition: Is a ramble on, or expression of hate towards a person or thing.
Why would it be useful to use? Bdelygmia is used all the time, and people just don’t notice it. If you were arguing a point, for say that broccoli was bad, you could use bdelygmia by naming all of its defects, and bad things about it instead of naming the good things about it. For example you could say that broccoli tastes bad, looks funny, is green which looks like grass, and who eats grass? Its hard, and the little flower things on the end get stuck in your teeth. By doing this you did not say anything in good about it, even though we all know there are benefits to eating broccoli, but the point was proven.
Example:
Mel: Wow im looking forward to this winter so much I love this season!
Megan: What why would you say that any other season is better then winter, its cold and you slip everywhere, its always dark, and the sun barely ever shines through the grey clouds.
- This would be a bdelygmia because Megan obviously dislikes winter, and to prove her point, she lists many of its bad qualities.
Example 2:
Megan: Wow Mel have you heard this new song by Eminem? I love it its so pump up!
Mel: No, and I don’t want to hear it, I hate rap music, all they do is talk while a beat plays in the back, its such a sexist style of music and all the songs are so depressing about drugs and death.
- Mel finds all the bad qualities of this style of music and uses them in her discussion to persuade Megan that Rap is terrible music, she does this by using bdelygmia.
Media Example:
In the media, this rhetorical device is used all the time between brand names like Lysol and Oust, but this can most commonly be found in the Canadian elections. As you see the many commercials for each primminister , there is always a few for the Liberal party that point out all the bad parts to the Conservatives, making that Party look bad, and trying to make the watchers vote for the Liberals. These Commercials are perfect examples of Bdelygmia, pointing all the flaws of others out to prove their point, and win over voters.
Definition: Is a ramble on, or expression of hate towards a person or thing.
Why would it be useful to use? Bdelygmia is used all the time, and people just don’t notice it. If you were arguing a point, for say that broccoli was bad, you could use bdelygmia by naming all of its defects, and bad things about it instead of naming the good things about it. For example you could say that broccoli tastes bad, looks funny, is green which looks like grass, and who eats grass? Its hard, and the little flower things on the end get stuck in your teeth. By doing this you did not say anything in good about it, even though we all know there are benefits to eating broccoli, but the point was proven.
Example:
Mel: Wow im looking forward to this winter so much I love this season!
Megan: What why would you say that any other season is better then winter, its cold and you slip everywhere, its always dark, and the sun barely ever shines through the grey clouds.
- This would be a bdelygmia because Megan obviously dislikes winter, and to prove her point, she lists many of its bad qualities.
Example 2:
Megan: Wow Mel have you heard this new song by Eminem? I love it its so pump up!
Mel: No, and I don’t want to hear it, I hate rap music, all they do is talk while a beat plays in the back, its such a sexist style of music and all the songs are so depressing about drugs and death.
- Mel finds all the bad qualities of this style of music and uses them in her discussion to persuade Megan that Rap is terrible music, she does this by using bdelygmia.
Media Example:
In the media, this rhetorical device is used all the time between brand names like Lysol and Oust, but this can most commonly be found in the Canadian elections. As you see the many commercials for each primminister , there is always a few for the Liberal party that point out all the bad parts to the Conservatives, making that Party look bad, and trying to make the watchers vote for the Liberals. These Commercials are perfect examples of Bdelygmia, pointing all the flaws of others out to prove their point, and win over voters.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Biased sample
A Biased Sample
A biased sample is a logical fallacy based on statistics. This happens when a group of people’s opinions are cut out and not included, or when the survey has been asked to a not so random population. The selection of the surveyed has been flawed, or purposefully flawed.
A syllogism is an argument that is proposed by two others, such as if no black rabbits are friendly, and there are no old rabbits, you would conclude that there are no black old friendly rabbits. This same thing can be brought into the biased sample. For example, if we were to have a bag full of marbles and out of the 100 marbles in the bag, 90 of them are green. If we were to pull a single marble out of the bag, it would be safe to assume that our marble would also be green.
Proportion Q of the sample has attribute A
Therefore Q of the population has A
As a whole the Biased sample does not have a Latin translation, but while looking I found that “sample” can be translated into Latin can be translated into exemplum, so it would then become Biased Exemplum, but as a whole there is not direct translation into Latin.
This would become a very useful tool when in a debate. By forming a survey and only asking a certain group of people to fill it out, you are able to control the outcome of the survey. This would become a valid piece of information, and proof towards the point that you are trying to make, even though this survey has not been sent to a full range of different people. It becomes your secret vantage point.
Examples of a biased sample would be:
Example 1: if you have asked all your friends at school that don’t drive where they want their prom to be, down town or close to where we live, and soon the results come in as the second option of closer to home. This is a bias sample because the whole student body wasn’t asked their opinion, only the ones that would need rides had been asked, and in turn has given an unfair survey.
Example 2: People that travel a lot were given a survey while flying to fill out about air transportation satisfaction; this will be a biased sample because we do not know the opinion of those who don’t fly. They may not fly because the flight is too turbulent and they don’t like that, or how they were treated poorly once and have never gone back, whole the people on the plane that travel often will most likely give a decent rating to the airline.
An example from popular child’s movie that many can relate to would be from beauty and the beast. As Belle leaves the castle to go and help her sick father, she has learnt that the beast has a kind and gentle soul, and all the appliances in the castle know this as well. But as Belle has returned to the town, the townsmen have all been convinced that the Beast is a terrible thing and must be destroyed before he hurts anyone. This becomes a biased sample because the townsmen do not take into consideration the opinion of everyone living in the castle or of Belle herself that has experienced What the Beast is like herself. They have cut a whole side of the opinion of the “survey” off, and in turn getting the results that they were looking for
A biased sample is a logical fallacy based on statistics. This happens when a group of people’s opinions are cut out and not included, or when the survey has been asked to a not so random population. The selection of the surveyed has been flawed, or purposefully flawed.
A syllogism is an argument that is proposed by two others, such as if no black rabbits are friendly, and there are no old rabbits, you would conclude that there are no black old friendly rabbits. This same thing can be brought into the biased sample. For example, if we were to have a bag full of marbles and out of the 100 marbles in the bag, 90 of them are green. If we were to pull a single marble out of the bag, it would be safe to assume that our marble would also be green.
Proportion Q of the sample has attribute A
Therefore Q of the population has A
As a whole the Biased sample does not have a Latin translation, but while looking I found that “sample” can be translated into Latin can be translated into exemplum, so it would then become Biased Exemplum, but as a whole there is not direct translation into Latin.
This would become a very useful tool when in a debate. By forming a survey and only asking a certain group of people to fill it out, you are able to control the outcome of the survey. This would become a valid piece of information, and proof towards the point that you are trying to make, even though this survey has not been sent to a full range of different people. It becomes your secret vantage point.
Examples of a biased sample would be:
Example 1: if you have asked all your friends at school that don’t drive where they want their prom to be, down town or close to where we live, and soon the results come in as the second option of closer to home. This is a bias sample because the whole student body wasn’t asked their opinion, only the ones that would need rides had been asked, and in turn has given an unfair survey.
Example 2: People that travel a lot were given a survey while flying to fill out about air transportation satisfaction; this will be a biased sample because we do not know the opinion of those who don’t fly. They may not fly because the flight is too turbulent and they don’t like that, or how they were treated poorly once and have never gone back, whole the people on the plane that travel often will most likely give a decent rating to the airline.
An example from popular child’s movie that many can relate to would be from beauty and the beast. As Belle leaves the castle to go and help her sick father, she has learnt that the beast has a kind and gentle soul, and all the appliances in the castle know this as well. But as Belle has returned to the town, the townsmen have all been convinced that the Beast is a terrible thing and must be destroyed before he hurts anyone. This becomes a biased sample because the townsmen do not take into consideration the opinion of everyone living in the castle or of Belle herself that has experienced What the Beast is like herself. They have cut a whole side of the opinion of the “survey” off, and in turn getting the results that they were looking for
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