Bad Things

Here's a thought--does a terminally ill patient have the right to use promising, but still experimental drugs in attempt to prolong life, or possibly prevent death? The latest court ruling is, 'no.' To be honest, there does seem to be at least some evidence that the lawsuit was filed in an attempt to get the court to legislate from the bench, which I would have to disagree with. We have a legislative branch of our government; the judicial branch should be ruling on existing laws, not creating new ones. Still, perhaps we should turn our attention to Congress to have drug-approval laws relaxed under special circumstances (as in, these drugs may cause unwanted side-effects and may even kill, but the patient will definitely die without them).

Can a woman report a rape, and then refuse to testify against the men who raped her? Not in the military. It seems very unfair, on the face of it, but, let's consider. If she won't testify, then how do we know that she was truly raped? On the other hand, why would she lie about it? I don't have a good answer for either question. It would seem that if she was raped, then she would want to see her rapists punished. By refusing to testify, she essentially gives them permission to rape again--either herself, or someone else. Does she have some reason to forgive these men, and now she doesn't want to see them punished? Unfortunately, even after we get her, and the three men that she has accused, into a courtroom, we still may not know what really happened.

In other news, an elementary school playground is a complete loss after an arson attack in Canandaigua, New York. There has been a rash of similar fires in El Paso, Texas as well. Is this a new arson fad that I wasn't aware of? Who gets their jollies depriving school kids of a place to play? I really don't get it. From what I understand, the Canandaigua Elementary School normally left their playground open to the public, as there aren't many, if any, other playgrounds in the area. I would imagine that, if and when the playground is rebuilt, that practice will change. It shouldn't have to. We should be able to take care of our children.

One bad thing that didn't turn out quite so bad, a night clerk at a convenience store in Albany, NY took advantage of the less-than-stellar intellect of a robber. Good for Hafiz Alam. Unfortunately, he didn't actually prevent the robbery, but he managed to delay the robber long enough for someone to get a license plate number, and the robber was arrested later. Not sure how much, if any, of the money was recovered, but at least there's one less bad guy on the streets.