Assisted-dying advocate and former pathologist who served prison sentence for murder helped 130 people to kill themselves Jack Kevorkian, a retired pathologist who helped dozens of ailing people to end their lives, has died in a Detroit hospital after a short illness. He was 83. Kevorkian, who claimed he had helped about 130 people to kill themselves between 1990 and 1999, died at William Beaumont hospital in Michigan, close friend Mayer Morganroth said. Nicknamed Dr Death, Kevorkian came to prominence in 1990 when he used his homemade “suicide machine” in his rusted Volkswagen van to inject lethal drugs into an Alzheimer’s disease patient who sought his help. He had been hospitalised since last month with pneumonia and kidney problems, Morganroth said. An official cause of death had not been determined, but Morganroth said it was likely to have been pulmonary thrombosis. “I had seen him earlier and he was conscious,” said Morganroth, who added that the two spoke about Kevorkian’s pending release from hospital and planned start of rehabilitation. “Then I left and he took a turn for the worse and I went back.” Nurses played music by Bach for Kevorkian before he died, Morganroth said. Kevorkian was freed in June 2007 after serving eight years of a 10 to 25-year sentence for second-degree murder. His lawyers had said he suffered from Hepatitis C, diabetes and other problems, and he had promised in affidavits that he would not assist in a death if he was released. In 2008, he ran for Congress as an independent, receiving just 2.7% of the vote in the suburban Detroit district. He said his experience showed the party system was “corrupt” and “has to be completely overhauled from the bottom up.” His life story became the subject of the 2010 HBO movie You Don’t Know Jack, which earned actor Al Pacino Emmy and Golden Globe awards for his portrayal of Kevorkian. Pacino paid tribute to Kevorkian during his Emmy acceptance speech, saying that he had enjoyed trying to “portray someone as brilliant and interesting and unique” as Kevorkian and that it was a “pleasure to know him”. Kevorkian said he liked the movie and enjoyed the attention it generated, but doubted it would inspire much action by a new generation of assisted-dying advocates. “You’ll hear people say, ‘Well, it’s in the news again, it’s time for discussing this further.’ No it isn’t. It’s been discussed to death,” he said. “There’s nothing new to say about it. It’s a legitimate ethical medical practice, as it was in ancient Rome and Greece.” Eleven years earlier he was sentenced in relation to the 1998 death of a amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – or Lou Gehrig’s disease – patient, a videotaped death shown to a national television audience as Kevorkian challenged prosecutors to charge him. “The issue’s got to be raised to the level where it is finally decided,” he said. For nearly a decade, he escaped authorities’ efforts to stop him. His first four trials, all on assisted-dying charges, resulted in three acquittals and one mistrial. Murder charges in earlier cases were thrown out because Michigan at that time had no law against assisted-dying. The legislature wrote one in response to Kevorkian. He was stripped of his medical licence. Assisted suicide United States guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A new strain of the drug-resistant “superbug” MRSA has been found in British cows and it appears to be spreading to people. The strain, identified in cows’ milk by researchers studying udder infections, is genetically very different from the dozens of other strains of superbug identified, reports the BBC . Pasteurisation…
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Poll suggests beleaguered economy weighed down by onerous €78bn bailout will be the latest surrendered by a leftwing leader Portugal goes to the polls on Sunday under the yoke of a painful €78bn bailout and with socialist prime minister José Sócrates set to become yet another leftwing casualty of Europe’s economic crisis. Polls this week showed the opposition centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) of Pedro Passos Coelho between five and eight points ahead as Portuguese voters choose a government to see them through dire economic times. Passos Coelho is expected to seek the support of the rightwing Democratic Social Centre (CDS) party to form a government if predictions that the two parties will jointly win almost 50% of votes prove true. If Socrates is ejected the 27-member European Union will be left with five left-led governments: in Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Austria and Cyprus. Spain’s socialists suffered a 10 percentage point defeat in municipal elections last month, suggesting they will also lose power at a general election due by March. That could leave just four leftwingers, representing 4% of the EU’s half a billion citizens, at the helm of the member states. Europe’s pronounced tilt to the right is most noticeable in its approach to both the economic crisis and immigration, as well as in a tendency to shift power towards the European council and away from the European commission, according to the analysis of José Ignacio Torreblanca of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The right blames the crisis on government deficits, while the left sees the origins in the private sector and the markets,” he said. The handling of the bailouts of Portugal, Greece and Ireland and their accompanying austerity plans reflected both the right’s power in Europe and its insistence that government indebtedness is to blame, Torreblanca said. Both Sócrates and Passos Coelho have accepted the basic conditions imposed by the EU and the International Monetary Fund for the country’s €78bn bailout. These require major cuts to public spending on health, education and pensions in a country with faltering growth and 11% percent unemployment – and a credit rating that is the second worst in Europe after Greece. Sócrates has accused Passos Coelho of a “radical agenda” to curb free healthcare and schooling. A recent Bank of Portugal report warned of “particularly severe” economic hardship over the next two years with an “unprecedented” drop in family income. A strike by drivers that prevented rail commuters getting into Lisbon and Oporto on Friday morning is part of a growing undercurrent of resentment amongst public employees, who stand to suffer most from the austerity measures. Alvaro Santos Pereira, a university economist and blogger, warned that Portugal could only pay back its loans if it grew at more than 3% a year, redistributed the debt contained in private-public partnerships and cut its deficit to zero. “If these conditions are not met I fear that, unhappily, a restructuring of Portugal’s debt will become inevitable,” he said. A snap election had to be called precisely because Sócrates failed to get further austerity measures through parliament. Portugal Europe European Union Giles Tremlett guardian.co.uk
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Document says most decisions reached through informal channels rather than formal coalition machinery The deputy prime minister’s office is ineffective, Liberal Democrat junior ministers are spread too thinly, and many policy decisions are made in regular evening phone calls between Nick Clegg and David Cameron, according to one of the most thorough studies of the coalition’s workings so far undertaken. The study, conducted by the respected Constitution Unit, involved interviews with more than 60 key players in Whitehall. It found most decisions were reached through informal channels as opposed to the formal coalition machinery set up by the government when it began. The report said the key bilateral meeting of the week is between Cameron and Clegg and takes place on Monday morning every week, attended by chiefs of staff and senior officials. There are preparatory meetings for the bilateral talks on Thursday or Friday. Cabinet colleagues and officials can ask for items to go on the agenda to get resolved at this level, and the report disclosed that Cameron and Clegg often talk by phone on Sunday evenings ahead of reaching a decision in the formal bilateral on Monday. The Constitution Unit said it did not find the two parties were at ideological odds or involved in frequent personal disagreements. Its report said: “The informality of coalition decision making is based on high levels of trust between the leadership of the two parties. Trust, and the importance of compatible personalities, is essential for coalition government.” The high levels of trust have made it difficult for the Liberal Democrats to demonstrate their influence, the report suggested. It said the deputy prime minister’s office has been ineffective in coalition brokerage, whilst its special advisers had been outnumbered. And it singled out the home office as a department in which the Liberal Democrat minister Lynn Featherstone has little influence partly due to ideological differences with the home secretary, Theresa May. The report found: “The Lib Dems are still reeling from the loss of their state funding, given only to opposition parties. This has led to the loss of many of their staff. It may help explain their under-powered performance, particularly with the media. “By going for breadth over depth, and seeking to place a minister in every department, the Lib Dems have spread themselves too thinly. “Their objective was to influence every aspect of government policy. They may have achieved this, but it is very difficult to demonstrate to the public.” In some of its harshest criticism, the report found: “The deputy PM’s office has not established recognisable priorities for the Lib Dems; Lib Dem junior ministers struggle to play the cross-departmental role envisaged for them; special advisers do little to help, because (outside Cabinet Office and No 10) they do not have the confidence or experience to operate as coalition brokers.” Discussing the failure of Liberal Democrat ministers to follow policy across their departments, the unit found that “in practice, many Lib Dem junior ministers have been unable to perform this role: they lack the capacity to monitor policy across a whole department”. It added: “Lacking special advisers of their own, various ad hoc solutions have been reached, including additional support within their private office, relying more heavily on their parliamentary researcher, or calling upon the already overstretched Lib Dem policy unit”. The unit’s report also reveals something about how the civil service has tried to accommodate working for two parties simultaneously. It reveals: “Papers for cabinet committees must state what has been done to ensure collective approval – that the policy has been checked against the coalition agreement; cleared with the Treasury; and with the parliamentary business managers. It says the six key civil servants or political advisers are Jeremy Heywood/Chris Wormald, as the senior civil servants, Oliver Letwin/Douglas Alexander as politicians and Ed Llewellyn/Jonny Oates as political advisers. They are tasked with ensuring issues “do not jump between the different tracks”. In a sign of the ideological unity inside departments, the unit said: “There have been very few – if any – cases where ministers in departments have divided on party lines. “Indeed, across whole swathes of policy the coalition partners have discovered little difference in their policy responses when confronted with the hard choices of government. “Serious disagreements are more often between ministers of the same party, in classic interdepartmental disputes (eg Ken Clarke vs Theresa May on justice versus security; Vince Cable vs Chris Huhne on business disliking climate change policies). Issues are seldom presented in terms of reconciling Lib Dem and Conservative views – it is generally about reconciling technical issues or conflicting interdepartmental interests.” If the secretary of state does not wish to involve a junior minister, the coalition agreement cannot make it happen, the report found. It suggested the Liberal Democrats will have to do more to strengthen their backbench committees in parliament to strengthen the party’s visible influence. Liberal-Conservative coalition Nick Clegg David Cameron Lynne Featherstone Oliver Letwin Douglas Alexander Vince Cable Chris Huhne Kenneth Clarke Theresa May Conservatives Liberal Democrats Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Black Entertainment Television is refusing to pull a violent Rihanna music video that has drawn fire from groups including the Parents Television Council. The video for Man Down opens with the singer shooting a man in the head. It’s later implied that he may have sexually assaulted her. Rihanna defends…
Continue reading …Green tea just got unhealthy—at least in Japan. The country has banned the shipment of green tea leaves from a wide swath of tea-growing regions north of Tokyo after excessive levels of radioactive contamination were detected. The ban, the latest to affect produce from around the Fukushima nuclear plant,…
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Health and Safety Executive seals off damaged parts of Chevron plant at Pembroke Dock, where four workers died Safety experts have sealed off smoke-blackened sections of the Chevron refinery at Pembroke Dock, south-west Wales, where four workers have died in a huge explosion. Three male painting contractors and a female fire-watch officer are believed to have died when a large storage tank blew up, rocking local houses and sending a plume of black smoke into the sky on Thursday evening. A fifth worker was seriously injured. The Health and Safety Executive has taken charge of the section of the large complex, which has a good safety record but is at constant risk of serious accidents. Dyfed Powys police are also investigating as well as informing relatives of the victims. Names may be released on Friday by Chevron, which has halted all but essential work on the site as a mark of respect. Core refining operations have not been affected by the loss of the tank and serious damage to a similar one alongside, but the plant’s general manager, Greg Hanggi, said that all 1,400 staff were “hugely shocked” and support and care was being arranged by the company for all who needed it. The firm is conducting its own inquiry into what happened. Wales’s first minister, Carwyn Jones, sent a message of sympathy and described the shock across the country. The Welsh secretary, Cheryl Gillan, said: “I am deeply saddened by the news and send my condolences to the families and colleagues of those who have tragically lost their lives. Our thoughts are also with the injured. “We’ve been in contact with Chevron and Milford Haven Port Authority and have asked to be kept fully informed about the investigation into this tragic event. It is essential to understand how this tragedy occurred.” The refinery dominates the town and underpins the local economy. Accidents in the dangerous processes involving volatile fuels and gases have long been part of the area’s history in spite of all precautions. The last serious one was in 1994, when an explosion and fire damaged property in Milford Haven, seven miles away. Tony Spicer, 75, a retired welder at Chevron who lives close to the plant, said: “At a refinery you are working within a time-bomb and at any time something can go wrong. I think that an accident and loss of life is inevitable from time to time. It’s not always human error, it is just something that can happen. “If the refinery finished tomorrow, a lot of people would be out of work and it would hit the local economy. Everyone from the milkman to shopkeepers would be affected,” he said. Another pensioner, Huw Morgan, 83, whose cottage at Newton is a mile from the refinery, saw the explosion from the summerhouse in his garden. He said: “There was an enormous black cloud of smoke going up like a mushroom. You could see it just mushrooming up.” Work on the nearby power station being built for npower has also stopped as a mark of respect. An npower spokesman said: “We were very sad to hear of the incident at our neighbouring Chevron site. Our thoughts are very much with the families of those involved. “The explosion has not directly affected our site or the work taking place, but together with our main contractor, Alstom, and the trade unions, we have decided to close our site for the day as a mark of respect. The site will return to normal activities tomorrow.” Mid-Wales fire and rescue service, whose 10 fire trucks had the blaze under control within an hour and a half, said that there had been no health risk from fumes and debris flung out by the explosion. Assistant Chief Fire Officer Chris Davies said: “Material released into the atmosphere as a result of the blast was immediately dispersed. The wind was blowing offshore, away from residential areas. Members of the public can be reassured that there is no ongoing risk to health as a result of the incident.” The injured worker is being treated for serious burns at the Morrison hospital in Swansea, where he was airlifted by the Wales air ambulance service. A fuel tanker close to the storage tanks was destroyed by the fire. The refinery was known as Texaco until 2005 and is one of the largest in western Europe. Earlier this year the Texan oil conglomerate Valero agreed to buy the site for $730m (£458m) and another $1bn (£611m) for assets including Chevron’s petrol stations in the UK and Ireland. Simon Hart, Conservative MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, said: “This is a really important business but it is a dangerous one. But credit where credit’s due, the refinery has had a long, good record. We should not go around dishing out blame until the investigation is over.” Wales Oil Oil and gas companies Energy industry Chevron Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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• Jobs created fall 39,000 short of predictions • High energy prices take toll on economy • No evidence for impact of severe weather US employers hired far fewer workers than expected last month, pushing up the jobless rate, as high energy prices and the effects of Japan’s earthquake took their toll on the world’s largest economy. Companies added 54,000 workers last month, the labour department said, the weakest reading since September and only a third of the 150,000 increase forecast by Wall Street. Revised figures for March and April mean that 39,000 fewer jobs were created than previously estimated. Private employment rose by 83,000, the smallest increase since last June. The overall jobless rate picked up to 9.1% from 9%. The labour department said last month’s tornadoes and flooding in the midwest and the south did not materially affect data collection. It said that while some workers in those areas may have been temporarily displaced from their jobs, it found “no clear impact of the disasters on the national employment and unemployment data for May”. James Knightley at ING said the figures were “undeniably weak” but saw reasons for optimism. “In terms of what is driving the weakness in the labour market we feel that the lagged effects of rising energy costs plays a major part,” he said. “This has hurt household spending power since they are spending more of their income on fuel and gasoline, leaving less money to spend on other goods and services. This is damaging businesses from the revenue side, while their costs too have been increasing because of higher fuel bills. “Consequently, with profits being squeezed, hiring has slowed and job layoffs have increased. However, retail gasoline prices have since fallen 10% in response to developments in oil prices. This should help improve household finances and spending, while also boosting confidence.” He added he hoped that employment and the overall economy would improve in the second half of the year. “However, the fact that we are still so far away from the 5%-6% unemployment rate that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has suggested is desirable implies that rate hikes remain a long way off. That said, we still believe the first rate hike will come earlier than October 2012, which is what Fed funds futures are currently pricing.” Kathy Bostjancic, director for macroeconomic analysis at research organisation the Conference Board, talked of “choppiness” in the economy. “With households worried about high gas and grocery prices, and the slow pace of wage gains, spending could even slow a little more this summer,” she said. “Employers spent a great deal of time and attention reducing costs over the past few years and are reluctant to add to their cost structure unless they can be certain the economy will not hit a soft patch. This degree of caution could remain in evidence right through Labour Day.” US unemployment and employment data US economy Economics Ben Bernanke United States Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …“I chose not to be here today because I refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence,” Jaycee Dugard told her kidnappers via a statement read by her mom as her captors were sentenced yesterday. “Everything you ever did to me was wrong and I hope one…
Continue reading …Former high-ranking Black Panther Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt has died in Tanzania at the age of 63. Pratt had been living in a small village with his wife and child, attorney Stuart Hanlon tells the Los Angeles Times . There was no immediate information on the cause of death. Hanlon helped Pratt…
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