Terry Sarten: Quality end-of-life care should be nation’s priority
NZ Herald 21 January 2018Family First Comment: So many great points in this commentary!Make a submission today against euthanasia www.protect.org.nzThe current debate around proposed legislation that will allow for assisted dying, euthanasia and the right to die is a deeply profound distraction that suits politicians well.It is simply palliative legislation. The definition of the term palliative includes the words “relieving the pain without dealing with the cause of the condition”.The legislation as it stands suits the Government as the current discourse avoids the more painful subject of costs to the taxpayer of providing effective palliative services.The Government has avoided the option of more funding for effective palliative care and having hospice facilities set up all around the country to ensure access to this level of medical management because they are aware this would be expensive and scare the taxpayer/voters.The current legislative approach has successfully by-passed this angle despite the very clear evidence that palliative care does provide quality end of life care that is responsive to the needs of patients and their families.There are well-researched existing models of palliative care that do provide quality of life and dignity in death for those with terminal conditions. End of Life Care Plans and palliative medical care can make a huge difference to the final days prior to death from terminal illness.I have had the privilege of seeing palliative hospice care being provided to both a family member and a friend of the family. In both situations the care, the caring and medical skill was never less than amazing. At no time was there any sense that this was not in line with the patient’s wishes or needs.Part of my concern with the direction of the current debate is that often it seems to be more about the distress of family as they struggle with the emotions and feelings of helplessness as they watch a loved one heading towards death than about the experience of the person who is terminally ill.This misses the whole issue of the patient’s voice in the matter of their terminal care.The other greater concern is the language adopted by many in the pro-euthanasia debate. The talk of ending suffering, pain and the decision to die being a personal one is too much like the reasons we hear for suicide.When young people speak of suicide as a way to end emotional pain and suffering we are dismayed but somehow the same language about older people becomes more acceptable.This double standard is not helpful as we try to prevent suicide while in fact we seem to be saying that in some circumstances it is okay, such as when you have a terminal illness, but not okay if you don’t.The debate also misses the point that euthanasia is a wealthy, western nations’ construct, a luxury when much of the world is struggling to survive daily life and stay alive. Perhaps this is because wealthier countries still have a strong social bias towards the notion that if you are not contributing to the economy then you are not valued? This in turn gives a negative value to age and illness reinforcing the idea that illness makes a person a burden to society?Voicing the notion of “not being a burden” is often heard here in New Zealand from those who have serious life-threatening illnesses. We can shift that burden by acknowledging the value of quality end-of-life care and pressuring government to fund it effectively. We can be inspired by and support those who choose to say, as Dylan Thomas did, “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light”.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11978689
HealthInternationalLifestylePrint Obesity affects one in 10 worldwide – study by: Associated Free Press – June 12, 2017 Share Sharing is caring! This file photo taken on August 19, 2009 shows two women walk at the 61st Montgomery County Agricultural Fair Gaithersburg, Maryland. A The number of obese people has more than doubled in 73 countries since 1980 and has continued to rise in other countries, leading to a large increase in related diseases, according to a wide-scale study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at a conference in Stockholm on June 12, 2017. (Photo: AFP)WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – More than one in 10 people worldwide are now obese, with weight-related health problems claiming millions of lives every year, according to a major new global study released on Monday.Conducted in 195 countries over a 35-year period, the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at a conference in Stockholm is billed as the most comprehensive research to date on the subject.Obesity numbers more than doubled in 73 countries since the study launch in 1980, triggering a surge in related diseases in what the study authors described as “a growing and disturbing global public health crisis.”In 2015, 107.7 million children and 603.7 million adults worldwide were obese.Even though the obesity rate in children remained lower than among adults, it had grown at a faster rate during the 35-year study period, the report said.Four million deaths in 2015 were linked to having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 24.5, indicating a person is overweight, or of 30 or more, indicating obesity. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in centimetres squared.Of those deaths, more than 40 per cent involved people deemed non-obese — indicating that being overweight, even without being obese, is leading to millions of premature deaths.More than two-thirds of deaths linked to a raised BMI were attributed to cardiovascular diseases, marking a sharp increase since 1990.“People who shrug off weight gain do so at their own risk — risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions,” said Dr Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle, one of the authors of the study.“Those half-serious New Year’s resolutions to lose weight should become year-round commitments to lose weight and prevent future weight gain,” he said. Tweet
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Tweet People clear up the debris at the Tudu Palace hotel complex where three people died on Sunday nightFour bombs have exploded in Maiduguri in north-eastern Nigeria, killing at least three people.Two blasts went off at a hotel and one at a transport hub on Sunday night. There was a fourth blast at a cattle market on Monday morning.Similar attacks have been blamed on the Islamist Boko Haram sect which has been battling security services in the city.The latest bombings come ahead of polls on Tuesday for the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states.Unrest swept across Nigeria’s north following a presidential election on 16 April, which was won by incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner. Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed and tens of thousands fled their homes.Police said the bombs bore all hallmarks of Boko Haram, which has mounted almost daily attacks and killings in the city in recent months.Correspondents say Boko Haram’s grievances are entirely separate to the post-election violence, but there are also suspicions that the group has been used locally by politicians to attack and to intimidate voters.WarningPolice say three people died, including a police officer, at the explosions at the Tudu Palace hotel’s bar and 14 people were wounded.The BBC’s Bilkisu Babangida, in Maiduguri, says a police officer was also wounded in the explosion at the city’s cattle market on Monday morning.On Sunday, a three-page statement from Boko Haram, a group which is opposed to Western education and wants to see Islamic law imposed across Nigeria, was left outside of a newspaper office in the city warning of further attacks, our correspondent says.“We will never accept any system of governance apart from the one described by Islam because that is the only way Muslims can be liberated,” it said.“We do not respect the Nigerian government because it is illegal. We will continue to fight its military and police because they are not protecting Islam.”There were two explosions in Maiduguri ahead of presidential polls, although no injuries were reported at the time.Violence has also marred the election campaign in Borno state, including the assassination in January of the opposition All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) candidate.But our reporter says the latest bombings come as a surprise, as security is tight in the city because of the elections for governor.“From all indications, this is the handiwork of Boko Haram, which has carried out similar attacks in the past,” police spokesman Mai Mamm told AFP news agency.Clashes in Maiduguri between Boko Haram and the police in July 2009 left hundreds of people dead, mainly member of the sect.For the past six months, sect members have been fighting a guerrilla war, killing policemen and people they believe helped the security services in the fight against them.Jibrin Ibrahim, political analyst at the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja, says Boko Haram has been arming itself for some time and is consciously trying to disrupt the polls.“Elections are a demonstration of Western modernity which it is against,” Mr Ibrahim told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme.“Secondly it holds certain members of the political class responsible for the attempt to wipe them out a couple of years ago.”BBC News Share Sharing is caring! Share
News Nigeria: Boko Haram blamed for Maiduguri bombings by: – April 25, 2011 Share 35 Views no discussions
VARYING EXPERIENCE: North Florida has been fueled by senior leadership while Lipscomb has leaned on freshmen this year. Seniors Ivan Gandia-Rosa, Garrett Sams, Wajid Aminu and JT Escobar have collectively accounted for 63 percent of North Florida’s scoring this season. On the other side, freshmen Ahsan Asadullah, Michael Buckland and KJ Johnson have scored 55 percent of the team’s points this year and 78 percent of all Bisons points over their last five.KEY CONTRIBUTOR: Asadullah has had his hand in 64 percent of all Lipscomb field goals over the last three games. The sophomore big man has 33 field goals and 20 assists in those games.SLIPPING AT 75: Lipscomb is 0-9 when it allows at least 75 points and 15-6 when it holds opponents to less than 75.STREAK SCORING: North Florida has won its last seven home games, scoring an average of 81.3 points while giving up 67.9.DID YOU KNOW: Lipscomb and North Florida are the class of the Atlantic Sun when it comes to scoring. The Bisons are ranked second in the conference with 70.8 points per game while the Ospreys are first at 78.5 per game. Lipscomb, N. Fla. meet in Atlantic Sun semis Share This StoryFacebookTwitteremailPrintLinkedinRedditLipscomb (15-15, 10-7) vs. North Florida (21-11, 14-3)Atlantic Sun Conference Tourney Semifinals, UNF Arena, Jacksonville, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. ESTBOTTOM LINE: A ticket to the Atlantic Sun championship game is ready to be punched as Lipscomb and North Florida are set to do battle. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last went at it on Feb. 22, when Lipscomb made only four 3-pointers on 12 attempts while the Ospreys went 15 for 34 behind the arc on the way to an eight-point victory. ___For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25___This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
March 4, 2020 Associated Press 
FRESHMAN guard Kevon Wiggins exploded with a game-high 25 points to lift Munroe College Express to their fifth straight win on Thursday night in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) league in New York.The victory was the first time this season that the Bronx team were able to get over the 100-point mark.They have improved to 10-15 (overall record) and 6-9 in Region XV play.Let by the explosive senior national Guyanese basketball player, the college were able to ease past ASA College-Manhattan 101-77.For Wiggins, who was named the college’s Student Athlete-of-the-Week on Wednesday, his shots were falling.He shot 10-18 from the field, which included four of eight from the three-point line. However, as has become customary, the 19-year-old proved his all-round game with five rebounds, four steals and two assists.The 6’ 3” guard is turning heads with his impressive plays. So far, he has tallied 282 points from 17 games at an impressive 16.6 points per game (his highest average of the season).The Berbician, who had a career-high nine steals on Tuesday night, has a total of 31 steals, 24 assists and 63 rebounds so far.With his latest victory, Wiggins now has seven 20-plus point games this season.
With pressure from the university, the Interfraternity Council advised chapters to cancel Welcome Back Nights events scheduled for Thursday night.In a letter to the IFC executive board, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Development recommended fraternities rethink their plans to hold social events on Thursday.“It has come to the attention of The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Development that events during the period called ‘Welcome Back Nights’ have created an alarming concern for safety in the Greek and university community,” the letter stated. “At the highest request of the Department of Public Safety and with consultation with Senior Administration, it is the expectation that any and all events occurring tonight on Thursday, January 14, 2010 be cancelled.”Though the letter did not order events be cancelled, Eric Ronan, president of IFC, said he strongly suggested the houses follow the university’s recommendation.“I advised them, because of the advice of DPS and the advice of the university, that they should follow the advice of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life,” Ronan said. “But it’s at their discretion.”Ronan said the recommendation from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Development was prompted mainly by the large number of non-USC students who attempted to attend the Welcome Back Nights events on Wednesday.“Our fraternity policy is that only USC students are allowed to come to the events, and, unfortunately, there were a lot of non-USC students trying to get in, and, when they weren’t allowed, that was what caused a lot of the congestion,” Ronan said.Thursday’s DPS incident log noted that DPS officers responded to several instances of large groups of people gathered outside of fraternity houses.DPS Capt. David Carlisle said there were more than 2,000 people on The Row Wednesday night. Carlisle also noted that parties on weeknights are against university policy.SCampus states “formally organized parties and dances may be scheduled only between 3 p.m. on Friday through 5 p.m. on Sunday.” Despite this policy, Carlisle said fraternities can sometimes still host social events on weeknights.“Over the past couple of years there have been gentlemen’s agreements that if they’re inside the house and there’s nobody out drinking and we can’t hear the music outside, we might have an agreement that that’s not a party. But occasionally people become more lax and they turn into parties, like last night when there were more than 2,000 people.”Ronan said he is not sure how non-USC students caught wind of the Welcome Back Nights events.Carlisle said six parties were shut down by DPS Wednesday. He noted, however, that all the fraternities were cooperative.DPS Lieutenant Jim Fairrington said officers did not inform the houses there would be additional repercussions for parties held Thursday, as such a policy was not in place.The letter from the university did say, however, that if DPS exhausted its resources Thursday night, “LAPD will be forced to respond.”Ronan noted that there were no alcohol-related issues Wednesday night.“The only real issue was the volume of people,” he said.Carlisle echoed this sentiment.“There were large groupings at different houses on The Row, but there was nothing outrageous or out of control at these houses,” he said.
The Tipperary County Board has issued a statement this morning about 2 time All-Star and All Ireland winner Noel McGrath.“Noel McGrath will undergo surgery for testicular cancer on Friday 17th April. The Tipperary senior hurling squad, senior hurling management, Tipperary County Board and all Tipperary supporters wish Noel well during this time and look forward to welcoming him back in the Tipperary colours in due course. We ask everyone to respect the privacy of Noel and his family at this time and in the coming weeks.”
After narrowly advancing to the quarter-finals, the Irish team will have to face pool winners Australia in their last-eight match-up today in Antwerp.The game gets underway at midday, Irish time.
I’ve been passionately following since my childhood but it never came. Finally, for the first time, a gold for India! Congratulations @DuteeChand for winning the 100m sprint at the Universiade, the World University Games, in Naples🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/Rh4phsKCEI— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 10, 2019 Dutee Chand has etched her name in history by winning the 100m sprint at the Universiade, the World University Games, in Naples and thereby, became the first Indian to achieve this feat. Chand clocked 11.32 seconds to win the gold as she led the race from start to finish. Running at lane number 4, Dutee was the first one out of the eight athletes to blast off the starting blocks and she made most of it in fending off a late challenge from Del Ponte (11.33) of Switzerland. Lisa Kwa Yie of Germany took the bronze in 11.39 seconds.While the entire country came forward to wish her for this phenomenal achievement, she also received a couple of big congratulatory messages. Prime Minister Narendra Modi came forward to hail the athlete’s achievement. The Prime Minister wrote that it was an exceptional achievement of an exceptional athlete and congratulated Chand for winning a hard-earned and a well-deserved Gold in the Women’s 100 m finals. LIVE TV Written By Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju congratulated the 23-year-old. Rijiju took to Twitter and wrote that he had been passionately following the sport since his childhood and he has finally witnessed someone winning a gold for India. Read the tweet here. Exceptional achievement of an exceptional athlete!Congratulations @DuteeChand for winning a hard earned and well deserved Gold in the Women’s 100 m finals.You make India proud! #Universiade @FISU https://t.co/LVSkbsPZOP— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 10, 2019 WATCH THIS: Dutee Chand’s Spectacular Sprint Which Won Her The 100m Gold At The World University Games In Napoli, Italy READ: ‘In The Future, I Would Like To Settle Down With Her’: India’s Fastest Woman Dutee Chand Reveals That She Is In A Same-sex RelationshipDutee Chand had posted the following Tweet about resilience after her historic win. Pull me down, I will come back stronger! pic.twitter.com/PHO86ZrExl— Dutee Chand (@DuteeChand) July 9, 2019
COMMENT First Published: 10th July, 2019 12:03 IST WATCH US LIVE SUBSCRIBE TO US Last Updated: 10th July, 2019 13:04 IST Dutee Chand Hailed By PM Modi And Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju After 100m Gold Triumph In The World University Games In Naples Dutee Chand has etched her name in history by winning the 100m sprint at the Universiade, the World University Games, in Naples and thereby, became the first Indian to achieve this feat. Karthik Nair FOLLOW US
Holders Connacht are away to Dragons at 7.15pm while at 7.35pm Ulster are in Edinburgh and Munster welcome Ospreys to Cork.Reds number 8 Jack O’Donoghue says the match at Irish Independent Park provides a great opportunity fror some young players to show what they can do.