31 January 2010
British hopes were shattered today when Andy Murray lost, in three sets, in the final of the Australian Open Tennis Championship against an invincible World Number1, Federer. Murray’s record against Federer is good, 6 wins out of 10 matches but never when it comes to a grand slam Not since 1936 has a Britain won a tennis grand slam but Murray is getting closer all the time.
A BBC survey of over 1000 people found that 73% of them were in favour of assisted suicide in a case where a relative or friend was terminally ill and suffering. However, only 48%, of those surveyed, thought that assisted suicide was acceptable in cases where the patient was not fatally ill even if that person is in severe pain. This survey was a prelude to the BBC Panorama programme, scheduled for Monday night, which will highlight the case of the Kay Gilderdale who assisted her daughter to commit suicide by injected her  but who  was cleared of a murder charge. (see 27 January entry).
This was followed up by  a radio interview with a mother who had assisted her son, who was suffering from Hodgkinson’s disease, to commit suicide and was not charged. The point being that the son had witnessed his father die of the same disease  when he reached the point when he could not swallow. The son was determined that he would not suffer the same fate and, it appears, from the leniency of the sentence, that the court was sympathetic with the mother’s act of assistance.
I have made my own position clear on this issue. If, and when, my throat is affected, before I reached the point where swallowing, breathing and speaking become difficult, I intend to slip away quietly, hopefully with a decent bottle of Bollinger, a log fire and a good cigar surrounded by my immediate family. With the rate of deterioration in my hands and arms it is also clear that I might need some assistance from a member of the family. I am fairly confident that by that time the law will have changed to permit such assistance without the threat of prosecution.
However, persuading a member of one’s family to provide help for such an act might be a different issue.
It has been my practice throughout this blog after such a serious note to lighten up a little and add some more jokes, anecdotes, etc. So under Jokes you will now find the following: Dirty Old Grandmas; Funny Chain of Title; Health Insurance — Send the Bill to My Brother-In-Law; If You’re over 50, You’ll Think This Is Hilarious!!! and a few more that I have called More Oldies. Under Anecdotes you will find a fascinating catalogue of the quality of the health giving properties of Bananas; a very interesting Aussie view on Global Warming – Myth or Fact. and something described as The Top 10 of Everything, which speaks for itself. All well worthwhile spending a little time looking at. Under Photos you can see yours truly with the famous kilt and smoking stick and two other entries. One for the dog lover, Adopt a Dog and one that should make you realise the important things in life, 45 Lessons in Life. Finally, under Videos the most fantastic time piece you will ever see The Clock to which, I suspect, you will return  many times. To round things off there is another rather rude video involving farting, just so we don’t take ourselves too seriously.