Minor Rants

	People who will not accept responsibility for their own actions. But it’s not my fault! Yes, it damn well is, grow up and do something about it yourself.
	People who don't continuously think and question. You’ve got a brain, so bloody well use it!
	Organised religion. Perpetrator of more evil amongst members of the human race than any thing else. Don’t get me started...

 

Death With Dignity

As you may be aware, the Australian Federal Government has perpetrated an act of political cowardice on the people of the Northern Territory of Australia who had passed into law groundbreaking legislation giving terminally ill people the right to die with dignity at a time and place of their own choosing. I have to admit that I feel very strongly about this, and I am yet to hear a rational argument against voluntary euthanasia. If you have one, feel free to tell me.

How's this for a scene out of your worst nightmare: you are terminally ill, suffering with unbearable pain, knowing that things will only get worse for the short time you have left to live, and that your death will be a completely undignified affair conducted in the clinical surrounds of a hospital. That's the situation surrounding many thousands of people every year.

What right does any government have to say you can't terminate your own life with dignity, compassion and minimal suffering? To paraphrase a brave Canadian woman who unsuccessfully fought for the right to die - if it's not my life to do with as I choose, then who's life is it? The implication of this attitude is that the state owns your life, not you. Remember that the emphasis here is on VOLUNTARY euthanasia. It's your own decision to die, nobody else's.

I firmly believe in the right to die, and if you don't, I urge you to think long and hard about it - you or one of your loved ones could be faced with this decision sooner than you think. It's not pleasant to dwell on it, but the alternative is worse.

	The Right to Die Society of Canada has a wealth of information at their intimidatingly named DeathNET site. They also have a list of links and resources in their Euthanasia International Publications list.
	Locally there is The Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Victoria and The Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Tasmania, both worth a look.
	The Northern Territory Rights of the Terminally Ill is the actual legislation. Read it, and you will clearly see that your rights would have been protected.
	The Hemlock Society in the States is one of the more famous right-to-die organisations. Good life, good death.

Phew! Now to cheer yourself up, you may like to download and play a jolly little song from the movie M*A*S*H, "Suicide is Painless" music by Johnny Mandel, lyrics by Scott Preminger. I’d lay odds that 99% of the folks who watched the TV show had absolutely no idea where the theme music came from. The movie soundtrack is still available here.

You may also enjoy an interesting variation on “Suicide is Painless” - the second movement of the Piano Concerto in F Major “Rerun” in the style of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, by Donald Fraser, played by the Hollywood Chamber Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Grant Gershon.

Donald Fraser’s treatment of contemporary tunes in the style of the classic composers is highly recommended. To my knowledge he’s released three albums:

Heigh-Ho! Mozart, which is a bunch of Disney tunes done in the style of Herr Mozart. Heigh ho it’s off to work we go and When You Wish Upon a Star will never be the same again (probably a good thing, really).

Bibbidi Bobbidi Bach is more Disney tunes (as opposed to toons) this time done in a more baroque style inspired by the Bach family.

And being a product of the television generation, my personal favourite is Mozart TV which is a compilation of famous TV theme tunes done with full orchestration and in the style of the classics, mostly Mozart. As with all of these albums, it’s great fun playing them with friends and watch them try and pick the famous classical music.