He was just a coward and that was the worst luck any many could have.
Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
Oh another Hemingway craze…
Medical Law - End of Life
Currently studying for tomorrow’s medical law test and this case appeared in a bulleted form on one of the “end of life” slides (very cheerful topic indeed!). Decided to research the case - and the summary offered on one of the family law websites made my eyes teary (the end, in particular, also in bold).
The case is NHS Trust v MB [2006] and for those keen on law (and those keen judgment readers!) the citation is EWHC 507 (Fam):
The 18 month-old child suffered from severe spinal muscular atrophy, an incurable and degenerative condition. Currently the child was severely disabled, unable to make any voluntary movements other than with his eyes, and, very slightly, with eyebrows, corners of mouth, thumb and toes. He could not breathe unaided, and had been ventilated for over 6 months; he could not swallow and had been intubated for over a year. He had a relatively short life expectancy measured in months rather than years. However, the child was conscious, with sensory awareness and seemed to have full cognitive function. The trust caring for the child, concerned about the discomfort, distress and pain suffered by the child on a daily basis, queried whether the childs life had become intolerable and sought authority to discontinue ventilation. The parents opposed this, arguing that the child had a reasonable quality of life based in large part upon his interaction with his family.
The judge held that it was not currently in the best interests of the child to discontinue ventilation, although it would be in the childs best interests to withhold procedures which went beyond maintaining ventilation and which required the positive infliction of pain (eg cardio pulmonary resuscitation, blood sampling, administration of intravenous antibiotics). Notwithstanding that the child suffered almost relentless discomfort, periods of distress and relatively short episodes of pain, he also continued to have relationships of value to him with members of his family and to gain other pleasures from touch, sight and sound. These were precious and real benefits, the only benefits the child was destined to gain from life, and were not outweighed by his suffering so as to justify ending his life. As the child’s condition deteriorated, withdrawal of ventilation might eventually be in childs best interests.
NEW GIRL on We Heart It - http://weheartit.com/entry/54996699/via/jemimaboltonx
Lived in Battersea for three years before moving to Clapham Common and then Clapham Junction … somehow I am not too sure about the roller-coaster surrounding the Battersea power station. Let’s preserve history … not make a theme park out of it. As if there are no other alternatives but Thrope Park wanna be in Battersea - next to a beautiful Battersea Park. I am no artist, and this may be a brilliant idea, but history prevails. No roller-coasters please.
"There we were, thick as thieves
Frightened by shadows and the autumn leaves
We wore stolen hats, fitted soles
Aided by lies amongst the media foes"
Frightened by shadows and the autumn leaves
We wore stolen hats, fitted soles
Aided by lies amongst the media foes"
Thick As Thieves, Kasabian.
Fizzz fizzz fizzzy fizzzy stomach… Because there’s nothing better than to snap a photo of a can…
Put yourself in peril, don’t get comfortable. Relate.
Don’t get comfortable by Jay Rogers
"Decadence is a difficult word to use since it has become little more than a term of abuse applied by critics to anything they do not yet understand or which seems to differ from their moral concepts."
Ernest Hemingway (via titsandquotes)
Damn right!
"Where would the revolutionary project, the revolutionary idea, or revolutionary practise be without the will to rekindle the real war that once went on and which is still going on, even though the function of the silent order of power is to mask and smother it, and even though it is in its interest to do so?"
Foucault, Michel, Society Must be Defended, ed. Bertani and Fontana, trans. Macey (Picador: 2003) p.79 (via fuckyeahdialectics)
Following the abstract to my dissertation I may insert some of the above from Foucault. After all, what I am doing is exposing how the current policy making structures in environmental governance have grappled with the three entities of law, science and public participation. I characterise the struggle for authority and then (most risky of all in the dissertation!) I propose what I term a partnership model based on a certain theory of democracy (one which I am yet to choose - probably deliberative democracy); co-production; boundary work between the state actors and NGO’s; and more. Soooo when Foucault speaks of “rekindling” - that’s exactly what the partnership model of mine would do.
I am all for exposing conflicts in environmental governance, for that is how unforeseen paths are opened up. And personally…I hate anything which masks the true realities of something (life, law, anything). Say no to facades.
I am hash-tagging this to get as many thoughts and responses from any tumblr who is keen on law; environment; philosophy of Foucault (or who is not keen on his philosophy). PM tumblr account.
