Roger Kusch, a former top-level German politician, has invented what he calls a “suicide machine.” The machine is aimed at patients who are terminally ill and want to die. Unfortunately it seems that the medical community, German politicians and churches are having a cow about Kusch’s presentation of the killing machine.

From my point of view the machine sounds good, those who know they are going to die are able to suicide painlessly? I know, it sounds morbid, but think about it. What is worse than dying? Suffering as your health fades, your mind fades and then you’re a vegetable that depends on the care of others to sustain life for those last days.

I have had people close to me pass after a long illness, and I loved every minute I got with them, but for the pain involved, physical as well as emotion, it might not be worth it to some. True, not everyone who is dying has the same experience, but from what I have seen… It isn’t a walk in the park.

Some jerk named Wolfgang Huber, the head of Germany’s Lutheran Church, says that, “society must help terminally ill patients deal with their pain rather then accepting suicide as an option.” Well my question is, does he have a disease that is only giving him 6 months to live? If not, he needs to sit down and shut up. The only people who should get to vote for or against the use of a suicide booth should be the terminally ill community. Huber says, “it is against the spirit of our ethics, the spirit of our ethical tradition, the spirit of the Christian image of a human person and against the spirit of our law.” Well screw that, spirits and Christian’s can suck it and believe in God when they are the ones on the chopping block of life.

Kudos to Kusch:

“To those who criticize me, I say: it is none of your business,” Kusch said angrily when confronted with the criticism. He says churches and politicians are using phony and cynical arguments and that he believes a majority of Germans have already accepted assisted suicide as an option.

“There are people who are suffering, and who can’t deal with the pain anymore, and I want to help those people.”

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A new, less invasive, technique to detecting diseases quickly and more efficiently. The new technology involves a laser and a tube for you to breathe in. That’s right, you breathe into a tube and the laser detects your ailments.

To use the device, a person breathes into a tube into which a laser is shining. Mirrors positioned around the tube reflect the laser signal to enhance detection of compounds. The laser signal bounces off the different chemicals in the breath sample, and the device is able to detect the unique light signals of specific compounds.

But the new laser technique provides a way to assess the levels of many different compounds in the breath at once, offering a more accurate picture of whether a person has a particular disease.

The advantages of the laser technique — known as optical frequency comb spectroscopy — is that it would provide a painless and non-invasive way of detecting certain diseases. In addition, it could enable physicians to detect some conditions earlier when they may be more easily treated, Ye said.

Totally awesome, it is said that they hope to do this with routine check ups as well. Basically the laser allows you to find out what is wrong with you faster, without the need of waiting for those pesky, and often hard to determine if they are doctor worthy, symptoms. No one likes a hypochondriac.

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