Chris Woodhead, who has motor neurone disease, praises ‘dignified’ Swiss Dignitas facility Chris Woodhead, the former head of Ofsted, is considering ending his life at Dignitas , the Swiss assisted-suicide clinic. Woodhead, who was head of the schools’ inspectorate between 1994 and 2000, was diagnosed with motor neurone (MND) disease five years ago and uses a wheelchair. The disease gradually destroys the nerves that control muscles for moving, speaking, swallowing and breathing. Despite his poor health, Woodhead remains one of the UK’s most controversial education commentators. He told the Times Educational Supplement (TES) that a BBC documentary about Dignitas, aired in June, showed that those who ended their lives there did so in a “dignified” way. “I thought it wasn’t a bad way to go,” he said. The programme – Choosing to Die – was presented by the author Terry Pratchett, who has Alzheimer’s disease. It showed Peter Smedley, a British hotelier with MND, ending his life. “It was very dignified,” Woodhead said. “His wife was there and they sat on the sofa together. It was 30 seconds or so, and he was coughing a bit and he looked in some discomfort, but I thought it wasn’t a bad way to go.” The former teacher and Oxford University lecturer said that if he waited too long, he might be unable to swallow the pill used by the clinic. “It is an issue for me, an incredibly difficult issue, in fact, as to what point in time you decide you’ve had enough and you kill yourself,” he said. “The decision cannot be entirely your own: Christine, my wife, Tamsin, my daughter, maybe even my granddaughter, the oldest one – they’ve all got views. If it weren’t for them, I might already have said I’d had enough.” Woodhead said politicians would never “have the balls” to legitimise assisted dying in England. “They’ve decided that there could be a badger cull – maybe they could agree, too, that there should be a cull of the terminally ill.” In the last five years of his parents’ lives, he began to wonder why they could not “just hold hands together and go”, he said. “They became increasingly irascible as they became increasingly desperate about their plight. “Their experience, and my experience watching them, and my experience now, makes me feel that there are no persuasive arguments against [assisted dying].” In 2009, Woodhead said he would be more likely to “drive myself in a wheelchair off a cliff in Cornwall than go to Dignitas and speak to a bearded social worker about my future”. He is renowned for attacking teaching unions and for castigating progressive teaching methods and continues to rage against them. Woodhead told the TES that teaching unions were a “huge negative influence on the public perception of the profession”. He added: “They’re not prepared to acknowledge that anything is wrong, that any changes are necessary.” Woodhead once claimed there were 15,000 “incompetent” teachers and that he was paid to “challenge mediocrity, failure and complacency”. He resigned in 2000. More than 1,000 people have travelled to Dignitas to end their lives. Assisted suicide Motor neurone disease Health & wellbeing Ofsted Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
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Chris Woodhead, who has motor neurone disease, praises ‘dignified’ Swiss Dignitas facility Chris Woodhead, the former head of Ofsted, is considering ending his life at Dignitas , the Swiss assisted-suicide clinic. Woodhead, who was head of the schools’ inspectorate between 1994 and 2000, was diagnosed with motor neurone (MND) disease five years ago and uses a wheelchair. The disease gradually destroys the nerves that control muscles for moving, speaking, swallowing and breathing. Despite his poor health, Woodhead remains one of the UK’s most controversial education commentators. He told the Times Educational Supplement (TES) that a BBC documentary about Dignitas, aired in June, showed that those who ended their lives there did so in a “dignified” way. “I thought it wasn’t a bad way to go,” he said. The programme – Choosing to Die – was presented by the author Terry Pratchett, who has Alzheimer’s disease. It showed Peter Smedley, a British hotelier with MND, ending his life. “It was very dignified,” Woodhead said. “His wife was there and they sat on the sofa together. It was 30 seconds or so, and he was coughing a bit and he looked in some discomfort, but I thought it wasn’t a bad way to go.” The former teacher and Oxford University lecturer said that if he waited too long, he might be unable to swallow the pill used by the clinic. “It is an issue for me, an incredibly difficult issue, in fact, as to what point in time you decide you’ve had enough and you kill yourself,” he said. “The decision cannot be entirely your own: Christine, my wife, Tamsin, my daughter, maybe even my granddaughter, the oldest one – they’ve all got views. If it weren’t for them, I might already have said I’d had enough.” Woodhead said politicians would never “have the balls” to legitimise assisted dying in England. “They’ve decided that there could be a badger cull – maybe they could agree, too, that there should be a cull of the terminally ill.” In the last five years of his parents’ lives, he began to wonder why they could not “just hold hands together and go”, he said. “They became increasingly irascible as they became increasingly desperate about their plight. “Their experience, and my experience watching them, and my experience now, makes me feel that there are no persuasive arguments against [assisted dying].” In 2009, Woodhead said he would be more likely to “drive myself in a wheelchair off a cliff in Cornwall than go to Dignitas and speak to a bearded social worker about my future”. He is renowned for attacking teaching unions and for castigating progressive teaching methods and continues to rage against them. Woodhead told the TES that teaching unions were a “huge negative influence on the public perception of the profession”. He added: “They’re not prepared to acknowledge that anything is wrong, that any changes are necessary.” Woodhead once claimed there were 15,000 “incompetent” teachers and that he was paid to “challenge mediocrity, failure and complacency”. He resigned in 2000. More than 1,000 people have travelled to Dignitas to end their lives. Assisted suicide Motor neurone disease Health & wellbeing Ofsted Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A Texas climatologist says the state may be facing a 15-year-long drought–meaning that the current agriculture-crushing dry spell would last another nine years. Texas state climatologist John Nielson-Gammon said in a statement that he fears the drought–which has already cost more than $5 billion in damage–may be similar to the one that struck the state
Continue reading …A Texas climatologist says the state may be facing a 15-year-long drought–meaning that the current agriculture-crushing dry spell would last another nine years. Texas state climatologist John Nielson-Gammon said in a statement that he fears the drought–which has already cost more than $5 billion in damage–may be similar to the one that struck the state
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It’s not often that a phone swings through the FCC with its carrier branding already in place, but here is the ZTE N860 with a nice big Sprint logo emblazoned across its regulatory label. Interestingly, it doesn’t appear that the N860 (which we hope picks up a catchier name on its way to market) packs a WiMAX radio. Instead this Android smartphone only has test entries for its EVDO connection, but we wouldn’t rule out a 4G hiding in some of the unreleased documents. In addition to its trip through the FCC, the handset also hit up the BlueTooth SIG and we can tell it sports A2DP capabilities – but, beyond that (even what particular version of Google’s mobile OS it’s running) this thing is still a mystery. ZTE N860 heading to Sprint, granted FCC and BlueTooth SIG approval originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Kanye West premieres his debut clothing line this Saturday at Paris fashion week. His latest foray into fashion is the culmination of a long love affair with style. And, like all love affairs, there are good bits and there are ‘what were you thinking?’ bits. Simon Chilvers wades through a history of gigantic shades, women’s blouses and fur jackets
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Kanye West premieres his debut clothing line this Saturday at Paris fashion week. His latest foray into fashion is the culmination of a long love affair with style. And, like all love affairs, there are good bits and there are ‘what were you thinking?’ bits. Simon Chilvers wades through a history of gigantic shades, women’s blouses and fur jackets
Continue reading …Copper thefts from railways escalating out of control, warns union leader
September 30, 2011 No Comment
Bob Crow calls on rail train companies to get a grip, as Essex commuters suffer delays The problem of cable theft on the railway network is “out of control”, a union leader warned as passengers suffered fresh delays during the Friday morning rush hour. Services run by c2c between Essex and London were hit after a theft at Rainham, the latest in a spate of incidents in recent months causing huge disruption to train services across the country. Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said rail firms were partly to blame. “The problem of cable theft on the railways is escalating out of control. If a chunk of the excessive profits of the train companies was invested in visible staffing, track patrols and security, we could get a grip on this criminal disruption to rail services.” Alan Pacey, assistant chief constable of the British transport police, said the threat to railway infrastructure was unlikely to recede because of the scale of demand for copper. The price of copper has more than doubled since 2009 to more than £5,000 a tonne. “The need for copper, particularly in some of the growing economies like China, is going to mean that there is always going to be demand. External analysis predicts the price staying high or increasing so we know we have a challenge,” said Pacey. According to one rail industry estimate, copper theft costs the UK economy £770m a year. Pacey echoed the rail industry’s call for a crackdown on rogue scrap metal merchants who process stolen copper with no questions asked. “The core issue is new legislation around scrap metal dealers and the metal recycling industry, particularly around better licensing and better identification of who is bringing the metal in.” Robin Gisby, Network Rail’s director of operations, said: “Nothing has changed since the 1964 Act. Scrap metal is still a cash business. We believe that the quickest way round this is to make scrap metal a business that is properly accounted and documented.” He added: “We have written to ministers to try and get this legislation changed. We have got to stop the supply chain working in some way. Our view is: regulate the scrap merchants, make them worry about receiving stolen copper, and we will choke off demand.” Gisby said copper wire was being stripped off rail lines in clinical, well-rehearsed operations. “It goes in a container to Hull docks, goes to China, we [inadvertently] buy it back and then it’s back on the railway again.” Network Rail has deployed cameras and listening devices along the most theft-blighted track sections to head off metal thieves but it cannot cover every inch of a 20,000-mile network. “This is quick, organised and mechanised stuff and over 20,000 miles it is not easy to stop.” Gisby urged tighter legislation and tougher sentences for handling stolen copper because of the damage caused to the economy by severe rail delays. “The view is ‘slap on the wrist, don’t do it again’ even though it crucifies the railway. It is hard to get across to magistrates that the consequences of this crime are not just £200 worth of copper.” Network Rail has seen the copper theft phenomenon spread from former mining areas in the north-east and Nottinghamshire to London, with commuters on South West Trains and the Stansted Express services among those suffering severe disruption. Rail transport Transport Network Rail Crime Commodities Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk
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Speaking at the retirement ceremony of Adm. Mike Mullen, President Barack Obama said Friday that the killing of American born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen is a major blow to al-Qaida. (Sept. 30)
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Speaking at the retirement ceremony of Adm. Mike Mullen, President Barack Obama said Friday that the killing of American born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen is a major blow to al-Qaida. (Sept. 30)
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