Just in time to really start thinking about spring, the new issue of Saskatoon HOME is out now! Always fun to see what this magazine has to offer as we celebrate what’s interesting about this city. I got to write about some intriguing people and visit some interesting properties. It’s available in hard copy and downloadable on line; also at many stands throughout the city.
I always get my copy at Sobey’s. If you’ve got an idea for a great story about life in Saskatoon, let me know.
Came across this wonderful photography project by Sigga Ella from Reykjavik that carries a very cool message about perceptions, misconceptions and what makes us uniquely us.
Check out the intro: Sigga Ella is a photographer from Reykjavík, Iceland whose recent photo series looks to shed light on the ethical questions of where we are headed as a society with today’s ability to choose who is born based on prenatal testing for genetic disorders such as Down syndrome. She chose twenty-one people from ages 9 months to 60 years, both male and female, to show that they are more than a 21st chromosome anomaly – they’re people.
It all started with a radio interview Ella heard where people were discussing those very questions of choosing who gets to live and who doesn’t. “Where are we headed? Will people choose not to keep an embryo if they know it has Down syndrome? I had a lovely aunt with Down syndrome, aunt Begga. It is very difficult for me to think about the elimination of Down syndrome and her at the same time,” Ella explained….
Our three plus grandboy during the holiday visit. As responsible grandparents, we kept telling Xander not to put his tongue on anything metal when he was outside at -30. Tough request given his orthodontic circumstances.
Jim, Erin and Ben.
Grandboy Xan
A white Christmas for a California kid.
I’m still not clear why Robert Latimer got front page space in our daily to comment on the the Supreme Court’s ruling to wipe out the ban on assisted suicide. If I understand it, the intent of the ruling (the intent, mind you) is that a narrowly construed group of fully competent, clear-minded, consenting people who choose to end their lives can do so. That’s not what happened in Tracy Latimer’s case. She didn’t ask for help to end her life. It was her father’s decision. As long as we have a society that believes people with disabilities are better off dead, for whatever reason, the lines will continue to blurr between assisted suicide and murder. As long as we have media that report about people “who suffer from Down syndrome” or “who are afflicted with autism,” the public will view people with disabilities as having lives too difficult and assume that death would be a welcome relief. As long as Canadians say, “I would never want to live like that” when they see someone with a disability, it’s easier to assume the person with a disability doesn’t want to live like that either. Further scary bits: parents and caregivers of someone with a challenging, life-long disability who become frustrated, exhausted, angry, depressed, or suicidal themselves. Where is the “oversight” who protects the vulnerable person in those situations?
Read the ruling: http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/14637/index.do#_Toc410917621
Andrew Coyne in the National Post offered a very thoughtful piece about the ruling:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/06/andrew-coyne-crossing-the-rubicon-supreme-court-seems-eerily-complacent-about-ramifications-of-assisted-suicide-ruling/
From Inclusion BC: http://www.inclusionbc.org/press-room/whats-new/supreme-court-decision-assisted-suicide-puts-people-disabilities-grave-risk
Karin Melberg Schwier 