Taliban cut off fingers of 2 Afghan voters
By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 6 mins ago
KABUL – Taliban militants cut off the ink-stained fingers of two Afghan voters in the militant south during the presidential election, the country's top election monitoring group said Saturday.
Two voters who had dipped their index fingers in purple ink — a fraud prevention measure — were attacked in Kandahar province shortly after voting Thursday, said Nader Nadery, the head of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan. Kandahar is the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.
Rumors that militants would cut off voters' ink-stained fingers spread before the vote. A Taliban spokesman had said militants would not carry out such attacks, but the Taliban is a loose organization of individual commanders who could carry out the threat on their own.
Millions of Afghans voted in the country's second-ever direct presidential election, although Taliban threats and attacks appeared to hold down the turnout, especially in the south where President Hamid Karzai was expected to run strongly among his fellow Pashtuns. At least 26 Afghan civilians and security forces died in dozens of militant attacks.
If results show that vastly more people voted in the north than the south, "then we will have an issue," Nadery said.
Fewer votes in the south would harm the chances of Karzai to win a second five-year term, and increase the chances that his top challenger, former Foreign Minster Abdullah Abdullah, could pull off an upset.
If neither candidate gets 50 percent in the first round, they will go to a second round runoff. Initial preliminary results won't be announced until Tuesday, and final results won't be certified until mid-September.
Nadery said his group saw widespread problems of election officials who were not impartial and were pressuring people to vote for certain candidates. Election monitors also saw voters carrying boxes of voter cards — so many votes could be cast — to polling sites and saw many underage voters, he said.
On Saturday, one of the longshot presidential candidates displayed torn and mangled ballot papers that he said had been cast for him and tossed away by election workers who support Karzai.
Mirwais Yasini, a parliamentarian, stood behind a table piled with ballot papers that he said his supporters had found ditched outside Spin Boldak city in southern Kandahar province. The ballots bore the stamp of the Independent Election Commission, which is applied only after they are used for voting.
"Thousands of them were burned," he said.
Both Karzai and Abdullah claimed to be ahead in early vote counting. Karzai's campaign insisted Friday he would have enough votes to avoid a runoff. Abdullah countered that he was leading but suspected there would be a runoff.
Election officials called on the candidates to refrain from such claims, which could delay the formation of a new government.
Officials of Afghan and international monitoring teams agreed it was too early to say who won or to know whether fraud was extensive enough to affect the outcome. Fraud complaints are being filed with a commission that will rule on all allegations.
Though monitors with the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan were present in all 34 provinces, international monitoring groups were restricted by security concerns. The Washington, D.C.-based National Democratic Institute only had observers in 19 provinces, passing over many violent areas of the south and east.
European Union observers had difficulty getting to polling stations in southern Kandahar province because of rocket attacks, said Sandra Khadhouri, a spokeswoman for the delegation. The EU had observers in 17 provinces.
"That elections took place at all is a notable achievement," the EU said in a statement. The delegation said threats and violence meant that voting could not be considered free "in some parts of the territory" but that the process so far appeared "good and fair."
The National Democratic Institute also said it saw orderly voting, but said the vote also "involved serious flaws that must be addressed in order to build greater confidence in the integrity of future elections."
The group pointed to the lack of a voters' list and the fact that members of the Independent Election Commission are appointed by the incumbent, suggesting a likelihood of bias.
It said violence disrupted voting in the south and southeast, which appeared to repress turnout, especially among women.
___
Associated Press writer Amir Shah contributed to this report.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
2-month-old killed to stifle 'religious' dissent Reports cite victim being used for 'target practice'
FAITH UNDER FIRE
2-month-old killed to stifle 'religious' dissent
Reports cite victim being used for 'target practice'
Posted: August 20, 2009
9:30 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Editor's note: The following contains disturbing and graphic descriptions of attacks on Christians.
An international Christian group has reported a horrifying episode of Christian children being abducted and killed in an apparent effort to stifle "religious and political" dissidents in Laos during the runup to a visit by U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.
Webb, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, recently visited several nations, including some that often have earned high rankings among nations that persecute Christians. His trip included visits to Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
Now comes a report from International Christian Concern about the newest atrocities.
"International Christian Concern has just learned that Lao soldiers captured, mutilated and decapitated a two-month-old girl during recent military attacks against Hmong and Laotian civilians," the group said. "Survivors of the attack said the infant was used for target practice."
(Story continues below)
ICC cited reports from the Center for Public Policy Analysis that claimed eight children were captured and 26 Hmong and Laotian civilians were murdered during a series of four major attacks over the past month – apparently designed to stifle "religious and political dissidents" ahead of the visit from Webb.
"Christian Hmong were most certainly among those attacked as they are often targeted specifically by the regime," the report said.
The report included a statement from Vaughn Vang, the director of thet Lao Hmong Human Rights Council.
"We are told, by some of the Lao Hmong survivors of the recent military attacks in Laos, that the LPDR (Lao Peoples Democratic Republic) soldiers of the LPA (Lao Peoples Army) used the … Lao Hmong girl, while she was still alive, for target practice … once she was captured and tied up; they mutilated her little body and continued to fire their weapons, over and over … until her head just eventually came off after so many bullets severed her head."
The rest of the children, ranging up to 8 years old, remain missing and Vang's concern is that they likely would be tortured and killed by soldiers.
The ICC report said the decapitated child's body was found next to her mother, also a torture victim of the soldiers.
"Unfortunately," the ICC said, "this level of brutality against women and children is not uncommon for Lao soldiers. It is standard procedure for soldiers to surround and isolate pockets of Hmong people and starve them out to be killed when they venture out to forage.
"Philip Smith, the Executive Director of CPPA, told ICC of video footage smuggled out of Laos in 2004 that documents the aftermath of the killing and brutalization of five Hmong children, four of them girls, on May 19th of that year. That footage was used in an extremely graphic documentary, "Hunted Like Animals," by Rebecca Sommer," the report said.
The videos are available at RebeccaSommer.org, but ICC warns the clips are "highly graphic." The website warns that no children should view the clips.
"Rights groups have rightly called the acts the Lao military commits against children and civilians war crimes," said Natalia Rain, ICC"s regional manager for East Asia. "Let the international community not be guilty of the same by its silence in the face of a regime who has already been allowed so much room that it has reached the heights of sadism in the torture and decapitation of a two-month-old little girl."
Webb said in a website statement the U.S. needs to "re-engage with Southeast Asia at all levels."
"Our relations with Laos," he said, "have never been fully repaired since the end of the Vietnam War more than 30 years ago."
During his time in Laos, his schedule included meetings with the nation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense.
According to the RebeccaSommers.org website, the Hmong people of southeast Asia, many of whom cooperated with American forces during the Vietnam War, still are hunted and killed for actions of four decades ago.
Open Doors USA ranks Laos No. 8 on its 2009 World Watch List of nations that persecute Christians.
The World Watch List is compiled from a specially designed questionnaire of 50 questions covering various aspects of religious freedom. A point value is assigned depending on how each question is answered. The total number of points per country determines its position on the World Watch List.
"It is certainly not a shock that North Korea is No. 1 on the list of countries where Christians face the worst persecution," said Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA. "There is no other country in the world where Christians are persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner."
The organization estimates 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation.
2-month-old killed to stifle 'religious' dissent
Reports cite victim being used for 'target practice'
Posted: August 20, 2009
9:30 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Editor's note: The following contains disturbing and graphic descriptions of attacks on Christians.
An international Christian group has reported a horrifying episode of Christian children being abducted and killed in an apparent effort to stifle "religious and political" dissidents in Laos during the runup to a visit by U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.
Webb, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, recently visited several nations, including some that often have earned high rankings among nations that persecute Christians. His trip included visits to Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
Now comes a report from International Christian Concern about the newest atrocities.
"International Christian Concern has just learned that Lao soldiers captured, mutilated and decapitated a two-month-old girl during recent military attacks against Hmong and Laotian civilians," the group said. "Survivors of the attack said the infant was used for target practice."
(Story continues below)
ICC cited reports from the Center for Public Policy Analysis that claimed eight children were captured and 26 Hmong and Laotian civilians were murdered during a series of four major attacks over the past month – apparently designed to stifle "religious and political dissidents" ahead of the visit from Webb.
"Christian Hmong were most certainly among those attacked as they are often targeted specifically by the regime," the report said.
The report included a statement from Vaughn Vang, the director of thet Lao Hmong Human Rights Council.
"We are told, by some of the Lao Hmong survivors of the recent military attacks in Laos, that the LPDR (Lao Peoples Democratic Republic) soldiers of the LPA (Lao Peoples Army) used the … Lao Hmong girl, while she was still alive, for target practice … once she was captured and tied up; they mutilated her little body and continued to fire their weapons, over and over … until her head just eventually came off after so many bullets severed her head."
The rest of the children, ranging up to 8 years old, remain missing and Vang's concern is that they likely would be tortured and killed by soldiers.
The ICC report said the decapitated child's body was found next to her mother, also a torture victim of the soldiers.
"Unfortunately," the ICC said, "this level of brutality against women and children is not uncommon for Lao soldiers. It is standard procedure for soldiers to surround and isolate pockets of Hmong people and starve them out to be killed when they venture out to forage.
"Philip Smith, the Executive Director of CPPA, told ICC of video footage smuggled out of Laos in 2004 that documents the aftermath of the killing and brutalization of five Hmong children, four of them girls, on May 19th of that year. That footage was used in an extremely graphic documentary, "Hunted Like Animals," by Rebecca Sommer," the report said.
The videos are available at RebeccaSommer.org, but ICC warns the clips are "highly graphic." The website warns that no children should view the clips.
"Rights groups have rightly called the acts the Lao military commits against children and civilians war crimes," said Natalia Rain, ICC"s regional manager for East Asia. "Let the international community not be guilty of the same by its silence in the face of a regime who has already been allowed so much room that it has reached the heights of sadism in the torture and decapitation of a two-month-old little girl."
Webb said in a website statement the U.S. needs to "re-engage with Southeast Asia at all levels."
"Our relations with Laos," he said, "have never been fully repaired since the end of the Vietnam War more than 30 years ago."
During his time in Laos, his schedule included meetings with the nation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense.
According to the RebeccaSommers.org website, the Hmong people of southeast Asia, many of whom cooperated with American forces during the Vietnam War, still are hunted and killed for actions of four decades ago.
Open Doors USA ranks Laos No. 8 on its 2009 World Watch List of nations that persecute Christians.
The World Watch List is compiled from a specially designed questionnaire of 50 questions covering various aspects of religious freedom. A point value is assigned depending on how each question is answered. The total number of points per country determines its position on the World Watch List.
"It is certainly not a shock that North Korea is No. 1 on the list of countries where Christians face the worst persecution," said Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA. "There is no other country in the world where Christians are persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner."
The organization estimates 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
People never cease to amaze me.
Just thought you would find this interesting. It is from the order barring discovery of the names of all the defendants in the September 11 attacks. Here you have seasoned attorneys, some of the best in the business, and they did not make a 120 deadline that essentially cost them the one thing they were hoping to obtain for their clients. Their clients were foregoing literally millions of dollars in settlement money from the compensation fund because they are more interested in the truth of who is behind the 911 attacks. This litigation has drug on now for almost eight years and the plaintiff's own attorney shoots them in the foot. Go figure.
This is excerpted from-
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------- x
IN RE SEPTEMBER 11 LITIGATION :
::
------------------------------------------------------- x
ALVIN K. HELLERSTEIN, U.S.D.J.:
OPINION AND ORDER
DENYING MOTION TO SET ASIDE CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
21 MC 101 (AKH)
I hold that the Martindell standard applies to Plaintiffs’ motion because the Aviation Defendants have reasonably relied on the CPO. Their reliance has been reasonable because Plaintiffs have never objected to the Aviation Defendants’ confidentiality designations within 120 days, as required by Paragraph 5.1 of the CPO. Had Plaintiffs done so, the CPO would have shifted the burden to the Aviation Defendants to justify those designations. However, as the periods have lapsed with no objections, the Aviation Defendants have become entitled to rely on the CPO in settling cases, producing documents and witnesses for depositions, and reconciling discovery disputes. See Allen v. City of New York, 420 F. Supp. 2d 295, 300-01 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (“The classic situation in which a party ‘relies’ on a protective order is where the party creates material during the course of litigation on the understanding that it will be kept confidential.”). Plaintiffs do not address their failures to object within 120 days of particular confidentiality designations. In fact, they have not challenged any designations through the procedure established by the CPO, which they proposed with the Aviation Defendants in 2004. They note that they filed their initial motion to set aside designations promptly in October 2007, after the Aviation Defendants had produced only 50,000 pages of discovery. However, they cannot explain why they have ignored the CPO procedure, and why they seek to set aside the Aviation Defendants’ designations now, after about one million pages have been produced.
This is excerpted from-
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------- x
IN RE SEPTEMBER 11 LITIGATION :
::
------------------------------------------------------- x
ALVIN K. HELLERSTEIN, U.S.D.J.:
OPINION AND ORDER
DENYING MOTION TO SET ASIDE CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
21 MC 101 (AKH)
I hold that the Martindell standard applies to Plaintiffs’ motion because the Aviation Defendants have reasonably relied on the CPO. Their reliance has been reasonable because Plaintiffs have never objected to the Aviation Defendants’ confidentiality designations within 120 days, as required by Paragraph 5.1 of the CPO. Had Plaintiffs done so, the CPO would have shifted the burden to the Aviation Defendants to justify those designations. However, as the periods have lapsed with no objections, the Aviation Defendants have become entitled to rely on the CPO in settling cases, producing documents and witnesses for depositions, and reconciling discovery disputes. See Allen v. City of New York, 420 F. Supp. 2d 295, 300-01 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (“The classic situation in which a party ‘relies’ on a protective order is where the party creates material during the course of litigation on the understanding that it will be kept confidential.”). Plaintiffs do not address their failures to object within 120 days of particular confidentiality designations. In fact, they have not challenged any designations through the procedure established by the CPO, which they proposed with the Aviation Defendants in 2004. They note that they filed their initial motion to set aside designations promptly in October 2007, after the Aviation Defendants had produced only 50,000 pages of discovery. However, they cannot explain why they have ignored the CPO procedure, and why they seek to set aside the Aviation Defendants’ designations now, after about one million pages have been produced.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
HEALTH CARE REFORM
The current national debate about health care reform should concern all of us. There is much at stake in this political struggle, and also much confusion and inaccurate information being thrown around. My brother bishops have described some clear “goal-posts” to mark out what is acceptable reform, and what must be rejected. First and most important, the Church will not accept any legislation that mandates coverage, public or private, for abortion, euthanasia, or embryonic stem-cell research. We refuse to be made complicit in these evils, which frankly contradict what “health care” should mean. We refuse to allow our own parish, school, and diocesan health insurance plans to be forced to include these evils. As a corollary of this, we insist equally on adequate protection of individual rights of conscience for patients and health care providers not to be made complicit in these evils. A so-called reform that imposes these evils on us would be far worse than keeping the health care system we now have.
Second, the Catholic Church does not teach that “health care” as such, without distinction, is a natural right. The “natural right” of health care is the divine bounty of food, water, and air without which all of us quickly die. This bounty comes from God directly. None of us own it, and none of us can morally withhold it from others. The remainder of health care is a political, not a natural, right, because it comes from our human efforts, creativity, and compassion. As a political right, health care should be apportioned according to need, not ability to pay or to benefit from the care. We reject the rationing of care. Those who are sickest should get the most care, regardless of age, status, or wealth. But how to do this is not self-evident. The decisions that we must collectively make about how to administer health care therefore fall under “prudential judgment.”
Third, in that category of prudential judgment, the Catholic Church does not teach that government should directly provide health care. Unlike a prudential concern like national defense, for which government monopolization is objectively good – it both limits violence overall and prevents the obvious abuses to which private armies are susceptible – health care should not be subject to federal monopolization. Preserving patient choice (through a flourishing private sector) is the only way to prevent a health care monopoly from denying care arbitrarily, as we learned from HMOs in the recent past. While a government monopoly would not be motivated by profit, it would be motivated by such bureaucratic standards as quotas and defined “best procedures,” which are equally beyond the influence of most citizens. The proper role of the government is to regulate the private sector, in order to foster healthy competition and to curtail abuses. Therefore any legislation that undermines the viability of the private sector is suspect. Private, religious hospitals and nursing homes, in particular, should be protected, because these are the ones most vigorously offering actual health care to the poorest of the poor.
The best way in practice to approach this balance of public and private roles is to spread the risks and costs of health care over the largest number of people. This is the principle underlying Medicaid and Medicare taxes, for example. But this principle assumes that the pool of taxable workers is sufficiently large, compared to those who draw the benefits, to be reasonably inexpensive and just. This assumption is at root a pro-life assumption! Indeed, we were a culture of life when such programs began. Only if we again foster a culture of life can we perpetuate the economic justice of taxing workers to pay health care for the poor. Without a growing population of youth, our growing population of retirees is outstripping our distribution systems. In a culture of death such as we have now, taxation to redistribute costs of medical care becomes both unjust and unsustainable.
Fourth, preventative care is a moral obligation of the individual to God and to his or her family and loved ones, not a right to be demanded from society. The gift of life comes only from God; to spurn that gift by seriously mistreating our own health is morally wrong. The most effective preventative care for most people is essentially free – good diet, moderate exercise, and sufficient sleep. But pre-natal and neo-natal care are examples of preventative care requiring medical expertise, and therefore cost; and this sort of care should be made available to all as far as possible.
Within these limits, the Church has been advocating for decades that health care be made more accessible to all, especially to the poor. Will the current health care reform proposals achieve these goals?
The current House reform bill, HR 3200, does not meet the first or the fourth standard. As Cardinal Justin Rigali has written for the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-life Activities, this bill circumvents the Hyde amendment (which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions) by drawing funding from new sources not covered by the Hyde amendment, and by creatively manipulating how federal funds covered by the Hyde amendment are accounted. It also provides a “public insurance option” without adequate limits, so that smaller employers especially will have a financial incentive to push all their employees into this public insurance. This will effectively prevent those employees from choosing any private insurance plans. This will saddle the working classes with additional taxes for inefficient and immoral entitlements. The Senate bill, HELP, is better than the House bill, as I understand it. It subsidizes care for the poor, rather than tending to monopolize care. But, it designates the limit of four times federal poverty level for the public insurance option, which still includes more than half of all workers. This would impinge on the vitality of the private sector. It also does not meet the first standard of explicitly excluding mandatory abortion coverage.
I encourage all of you to make you voice heard to our representatives in Congress. Tell them what they need to hear from us: no health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform. Insist that they not permit themselves to be railroaded into the current too-costly and pro-abortion health care proposals. Insist on their support for proposals that respect the life and dignity of every human person, especially the unborn. And above all, pray for them, and for our country.
Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless
Bishop of Sioux City
Second, the Catholic Church does not teach that “health care” as such, without distinction, is a natural right. The “natural right” of health care is the divine bounty of food, water, and air without which all of us quickly die. This bounty comes from God directly. None of us own it, and none of us can morally withhold it from others. The remainder of health care is a political, not a natural, right, because it comes from our human efforts, creativity, and compassion. As a political right, health care should be apportioned according to need, not ability to pay or to benefit from the care. We reject the rationing of care. Those who are sickest should get the most care, regardless of age, status, or wealth. But how to do this is not self-evident. The decisions that we must collectively make about how to administer health care therefore fall under “prudential judgment.”
Third, in that category of prudential judgment, the Catholic Church does not teach that government should directly provide health care. Unlike a prudential concern like national defense, for which government monopolization is objectively good – it both limits violence overall and prevents the obvious abuses to which private armies are susceptible – health care should not be subject to federal monopolization. Preserving patient choice (through a flourishing private sector) is the only way to prevent a health care monopoly from denying care arbitrarily, as we learned from HMOs in the recent past. While a government monopoly would not be motivated by profit, it would be motivated by such bureaucratic standards as quotas and defined “best procedures,” which are equally beyond the influence of most citizens. The proper role of the government is to regulate the private sector, in order to foster healthy competition and to curtail abuses. Therefore any legislation that undermines the viability of the private sector is suspect. Private, religious hospitals and nursing homes, in particular, should be protected, because these are the ones most vigorously offering actual health care to the poorest of the poor.
The best way in practice to approach this balance of public and private roles is to spread the risks and costs of health care over the largest number of people. This is the principle underlying Medicaid and Medicare taxes, for example. But this principle assumes that the pool of taxable workers is sufficiently large, compared to those who draw the benefits, to be reasonably inexpensive and just. This assumption is at root a pro-life assumption! Indeed, we were a culture of life when such programs began. Only if we again foster a culture of life can we perpetuate the economic justice of taxing workers to pay health care for the poor. Without a growing population of youth, our growing population of retirees is outstripping our distribution systems. In a culture of death such as we have now, taxation to redistribute costs of medical care becomes both unjust and unsustainable.
Fourth, preventative care is a moral obligation of the individual to God and to his or her family and loved ones, not a right to be demanded from society. The gift of life comes only from God; to spurn that gift by seriously mistreating our own health is morally wrong. The most effective preventative care for most people is essentially free – good diet, moderate exercise, and sufficient sleep. But pre-natal and neo-natal care are examples of preventative care requiring medical expertise, and therefore cost; and this sort of care should be made available to all as far as possible.
Within these limits, the Church has been advocating for decades that health care be made more accessible to all, especially to the poor. Will the current health care reform proposals achieve these goals?
The current House reform bill, HR 3200, does not meet the first or the fourth standard. As Cardinal Justin Rigali has written for the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-life Activities, this bill circumvents the Hyde amendment (which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions) by drawing funding from new sources not covered by the Hyde amendment, and by creatively manipulating how federal funds covered by the Hyde amendment are accounted. It also provides a “public insurance option” without adequate limits, so that smaller employers especially will have a financial incentive to push all their employees into this public insurance. This will effectively prevent those employees from choosing any private insurance plans. This will saddle the working classes with additional taxes for inefficient and immoral entitlements. The Senate bill, HELP, is better than the House bill, as I understand it. It subsidizes care for the poor, rather than tending to monopolize care. But, it designates the limit of four times federal poverty level for the public insurance option, which still includes more than half of all workers. This would impinge on the vitality of the private sector. It also does not meet the first standard of explicitly excluding mandatory abortion coverage.
I encourage all of you to make you voice heard to our representatives in Congress. Tell them what they need to hear from us: no health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform. Insist that they not permit themselves to be railroaded into the current too-costly and pro-abortion health care proposals. Insist on their support for proposals that respect the life and dignity of every human person, especially the unborn. And above all, pray for them, and for our country.
Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless
Bishop of Sioux City
Right-to-die teenager Hannah says 'I want to live'
Birmingham Post
Aug 18 2009 By Alison Dayani
A critically ill Herefordshire teenager who won the right to die changed her mind and is now “feeling brilliant” after a heart transplant.
Hannah Jones’ father Andrew revealed that the 14-year-old leaukaemia and cardiomyopathy patient changed her mind because she was “enjoying her life” and wanted more of it.
The teenager, from Marden, won the right to die peacefully at home after years of illness instead of having the life-saving transplant doctors wanted to give her in January.
But when her kidneys suddenly stopped working last month, Hannah did a U-turn and signed a consent form.
She is now recovering well from surgery at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Father-of-four Mr Jones, a 44-year-old auditor, said: “I’m obviously really happy with her decision, but me and her mother didn’t put any pressure on her.
“Hannah’s change of mind came because she has enjoyed her life so much over the past year that she wanted more of it.
“I’m over the moon that the transplant was a success but it was a major operation and she has someone else’s heart inside her, so she’s just trying to get used to that.”
The father said he had been by Hannah’s bedside with wife Kirsty, a 43-year-old former nurse, and their other children Oliver, 12, Lucy, 11, and Phoebe, five, since the operation three weeks ago.
Transplant surgeons took six and a half hours to implant the new heart and Hannah was left in intensive care for two weeks following the operation.
But the new heart could add a further 25 years to Hannah’s life.
When the teenager was struck with kidney failure, she was unable to receive dialysis as her heart was only beating on one side and too weak to cope with treatment, meaning the heart transplant was her only hope and she was placed on the transplant list.
Hannah said: “I’m tired but I feel brilliant compared to before.
“It seems really weird because I can feel the heart beating in my chest much stronger than before - and I know it’s different.
“I can also feel my pulse better and I can feel the blood being pumped up through my body into my neck.
“I’m still quite nervous but I’m really glad it’s all over.
“The thing I am most looking forward to is getting out of hospital and going home to be with my family. I also want to see my cat Tails McFluff because I’ve really missed him.
“My big dream is to go on holiday next summer and swim in the sea with my little sister Phoebe.”
Hannah underwent six operations in the past two years, which only kept her heart working at 10 per cent capacity, and the youngster was adamant that she could not face more surgery despite only having six months to live.
Hannah’s mother Mrs Jones said: “The last thing she said to me before the anaesthetic kicked in was ‘I love you mum’.
“When she woke up ten days later she couldn’t talk to start off with, but the first things she managed to say out loud was ‘drink’.
“The doctors have said her recovery is going brilliantly so far which is fantastic and it’s just a waiting game really.
“It will be fabulous to have all the family reunited back at home where we belong, I’m really looking forward to that.”
Aug 18 2009 By Alison Dayani
A critically ill Herefordshire teenager who won the right to die changed her mind and is now “feeling brilliant” after a heart transplant.
Hannah Jones’ father Andrew revealed that the 14-year-old leaukaemia and cardiomyopathy patient changed her mind because she was “enjoying her life” and wanted more of it.
The teenager, from Marden, won the right to die peacefully at home after years of illness instead of having the life-saving transplant doctors wanted to give her in January.
But when her kidneys suddenly stopped working last month, Hannah did a U-turn and signed a consent form.
She is now recovering well from surgery at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Father-of-four Mr Jones, a 44-year-old auditor, said: “I’m obviously really happy with her decision, but me and her mother didn’t put any pressure on her.
“Hannah’s change of mind came because she has enjoyed her life so much over the past year that she wanted more of it.
“I’m over the moon that the transplant was a success but it was a major operation and she has someone else’s heart inside her, so she’s just trying to get used to that.”
The father said he had been by Hannah’s bedside with wife Kirsty, a 43-year-old former nurse, and their other children Oliver, 12, Lucy, 11, and Phoebe, five, since the operation three weeks ago.
Transplant surgeons took six and a half hours to implant the new heart and Hannah was left in intensive care for two weeks following the operation.
But the new heart could add a further 25 years to Hannah’s life.
When the teenager was struck with kidney failure, she was unable to receive dialysis as her heart was only beating on one side and too weak to cope with treatment, meaning the heart transplant was her only hope and she was placed on the transplant list.
Hannah said: “I’m tired but I feel brilliant compared to before.
“It seems really weird because I can feel the heart beating in my chest much stronger than before - and I know it’s different.
“I can also feel my pulse better and I can feel the blood being pumped up through my body into my neck.
“I’m still quite nervous but I’m really glad it’s all over.
“The thing I am most looking forward to is getting out of hospital and going home to be with my family. I also want to see my cat Tails McFluff because I’ve really missed him.
“My big dream is to go on holiday next summer and swim in the sea with my little sister Phoebe.”
Hannah underwent six operations in the past two years, which only kept her heart working at 10 per cent capacity, and the youngster was adamant that she could not face more surgery despite only having six months to live.
Hannah’s mother Mrs Jones said: “The last thing she said to me before the anaesthetic kicked in was ‘I love you mum’.
“When she woke up ten days later she couldn’t talk to start off with, but the first things she managed to say out loud was ‘drink’.
“The doctors have said her recovery is going brilliantly so far which is fantastic and it’s just a waiting game really.
“It will be fabulous to have all the family reunited back at home where we belong, I’m really looking forward to that.”
Tens of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics rally for religious freedom on feast of the Assumption
Catholic World News (CWN)
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Aug. 17, 2009 (CWNews.com) -
Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics in the Vinh diocese celebrated the feast of the Assumption on August 15 by marching in a rally with banners invoking the protection of the Virgin Mary and demanding the end to government persecutions. Meanwhile in Hanoi thousands of other Catholics organized their own protest against the conversion of property that was owned by the Church, and confiscated by the government, into a state park.
At the massive rally in Vinh, Bishop Paul Maria Cao Dinh Thuyen thanked his flock for their union and communion and their support for the quest for justice of the diocese. He expressed how excited and happy he was to see “half a million" people marching to show their support for the Church. Days earlier, police in three different provinces had been put on high alert in the wake of huge protests joined by an estimated 500,000 Catholics. Those demonstrations drew enormous crowds despite efforts by police to intimidate participants and to dissuade bus drivers from taking people to the rally. Thousands of local Catholics had spent Friday night walking for tens of kilometers to join in the demonstration. Tensions between the Church and government officials remained high in the Vinh diocese. Catholic businessment reported that mountains of trash had been dumped on their property. Police raided the home of one prominent parishioner, looking for a parish priest-- Father Peter Le Thanh Hong - who is wanted for "trampling on the laws of the country” and “inciting the faithful into the illegal constructing a house” on a site once owned by the Church. The diocese of Vinh has serious concerns about the priest's safety, because roving bands of thugs have been roaming the streets, calling for his death.
In a separated development, more than 3,000 Catholics in Hanoi gathered at a park that the local government had hastily built on the land once owned by a Redemptorist monastery. Catholic activists believe that the construction project was rushed forward to end their protest over the confiscation of the property; that protest had been going on for more than a year.
Public protests began in January, 2008, after Thai Ha parishioners discovered that local government officials had secretly sold the land to other private owners. The protests first took place outside a surrounding brick wall surrounding the land, built decades ago, on which protesters had hung icons and crosses, until the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Assumption last year. After days of drenching rain, part of the wall collapsed on that day. Also give way, possibly causing injury to participants at the prayer vigils, parishioners removed several feet of the wall and moved the icons and statues to a more secure location. State media called the action a rebellious act that should be punished immediately and severely. Within days, dozens of parishioners were jailed and 8 of them were tried three months later in a criminal court.
The government bulldozed the wall and surrounding area shortly after the incident that gave rise to the charges, announcing that the area would now be converted into a public park.
Catholic activists announced that every year, as long as the land has not been returned to them, they will light up the park with a candlelight vigil on the feast of the Assumption to commemorate the historic event, and to remind their children and all people of conscience the injustice that they are still facing.
Feature Stories
(Subscribe to RSS Feed)
Aug. 17, 2009 (CWNews.com) -
Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics in the Vinh diocese celebrated the feast of the Assumption on August 15 by marching in a rally with banners invoking the protection of the Virgin Mary and demanding the end to government persecutions. Meanwhile in Hanoi thousands of other Catholics organized their own protest against the conversion of property that was owned by the Church, and confiscated by the government, into a state park.
At the massive rally in Vinh, Bishop Paul Maria Cao Dinh Thuyen thanked his flock for their union and communion and their support for the quest for justice of the diocese. He expressed how excited and happy he was to see “half a million" people marching to show their support for the Church. Days earlier, police in three different provinces had been put on high alert in the wake of huge protests joined by an estimated 500,000 Catholics. Those demonstrations drew enormous crowds despite efforts by police to intimidate participants and to dissuade bus drivers from taking people to the rally. Thousands of local Catholics had spent Friday night walking for tens of kilometers to join in the demonstration. Tensions between the Church and government officials remained high in the Vinh diocese. Catholic businessment reported that mountains of trash had been dumped on their property. Police raided the home of one prominent parishioner, looking for a parish priest-- Father Peter Le Thanh Hong - who is wanted for "trampling on the laws of the country” and “inciting the faithful into the illegal constructing a house” on a site once owned by the Church. The diocese of Vinh has serious concerns about the priest's safety, because roving bands of thugs have been roaming the streets, calling for his death.
In a separated development, more than 3,000 Catholics in Hanoi gathered at a park that the local government had hastily built on the land once owned by a Redemptorist monastery. Catholic activists believe that the construction project was rushed forward to end their protest over the confiscation of the property; that protest had been going on for more than a year.
Public protests began in January, 2008, after Thai Ha parishioners discovered that local government officials had secretly sold the land to other private owners. The protests first took place outside a surrounding brick wall surrounding the land, built decades ago, on which protesters had hung icons and crosses, until the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Assumption last year. After days of drenching rain, part of the wall collapsed on that day. Also give way, possibly causing injury to participants at the prayer vigils, parishioners removed several feet of the wall and moved the icons and statues to a more secure location. State media called the action a rebellious act that should be punished immediately and severely. Within days, dozens of parishioners were jailed and 8 of them were tried three months later in a criminal court.
The government bulldozed the wall and surrounding area shortly after the incident that gave rise to the charges, announcing that the area would now be converted into a public park.
Catholic activists announced that every year, as long as the land has not been returned to them, they will light up the park with a candlelight vigil on the feast of the Assumption to commemorate the historic event, and to remind their children and all people of conscience the injustice that they are still facing.
Compounding Cowardice at Yale
Monday, August 17, 2009
[Candace de Russy]
First, the Yale University Press opted to pull the Danish cartoons of Muhammad and other illustrations of him included in Jytte Klausen's forthcoming book, The Cartoons that Shook the World.
Now, as Winfield Myers notes, Yale is refusing to identify the "authorities" behind whose skirts it hid to excuse the suppression of the cartoons:
[The] New York Times . . . said that . . . [Yale] "consulted two dozen authorities, including diplomats and experts on Islam and counterterrorism, and the recommendation was unanimous" that no illustrations should appear. . . .
Not only is Yale withholding the identity of the experts from the public; it refused to share them with Klausen herself. . . . Klausen was told she could read a summary of the experts' opinions "only if she signed a confidentiality agreement that forbade her from talking about them." She refused and called it a "gag order."
Inside Higher Ed subsequently published a statement by Yale in defense of its decisions. And a lame defense it is, as Myers rightly interprets it:
This statement smells of cowardice and compromise. We wanted to do the right thing, it claims, and publish the illustrations which, after all, are the subject of the book. But after we spoke to these experts (and you can't just ignore the advice of experts), we figured we'd skip out on our obligations to our author and readers and hide behind their advice, which we appreciate an awful lot.
[Candace de Russy]
First, the Yale University Press opted to pull the Danish cartoons of Muhammad and other illustrations of him included in Jytte Klausen's forthcoming book, The Cartoons that Shook the World.
Now, as Winfield Myers notes, Yale is refusing to identify the "authorities" behind whose skirts it hid to excuse the suppression of the cartoons:
[The] New York Times . . . said that . . . [Yale] "consulted two dozen authorities, including diplomats and experts on Islam and counterterrorism, and the recommendation was unanimous" that no illustrations should appear. . . .
Not only is Yale withholding the identity of the experts from the public; it refused to share them with Klausen herself. . . . Klausen was told she could read a summary of the experts' opinions "only if she signed a confidentiality agreement that forbade her from talking about them." She refused and called it a "gag order."
Inside Higher Ed subsequently published a statement by Yale in defense of its decisions. And a lame defense it is, as Myers rightly interprets it:
This statement smells of cowardice and compromise. We wanted to do the right thing, it claims, and publish the illustrations which, after all, are the subject of the book. But after we spoke to these experts (and you can't just ignore the advice of experts), we figured we'd skip out on our obligations to our author and readers and hide behind their advice, which we appreciate an awful lot.
Monday, August 17, 2009
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