linky

[electricland]

"Come on, Christianity. Stay classy."

At the risk of sounding callous, and while end-of-life decisions are never easy to make, one way to handle this might be that the province of Manitoba starts charging this family for life support. They're asking that the hospital provide care its doctors have deemed medically unnecessary and futile.

Chickens! My grandmother and her sister kept chickens one year and sold the eggs for pocket money. I think they were about 10 and 12 at the time. One day the chickens got out and, as my granny told the story, there were chickens all over Forest Hill.

Comments

[texaslawchick.livejournal.com]

There's a big Mexican family a couple of houses down from mine that has chickens. They also have a rooster that is a late sleeper and doesn't really crow until well into the morning. I like it when he crows. It's comforting.

I wouldn't be surprised if others in my neighborhood have chickens. We've got a lot of hippie and yuppie types that are into gardening and organic food. We're by and large a pro-chicken neighborhood. If it weren't for the dogs' likely propensity to eat the chickens, I'd consider having some.

ETA: I've never understood why the price tag of futile care isn't highlighted more often. The Texas law specifically requires the family to start ante-ing up when they get upset about a medical staff's decision to terminate futile care. The hospitals almost always relieve the family of the burden, but dammit, it's a HUGE consideration in terms of the allocation of resources.

(I also don't understand why the pro-life folk don't build and fund their own hospitals, if they feel so strongly about the subject....)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

The friends I stayed with in Cornwall have chickens. (Maran hens, to be precise. They're French. Black with white speckles.) They are very fond of them, and I thought it was a wonderful idea. I suspect the city of Toronto would not permit me to do anything of the sort these days. Although (one of) my cousin(s) started an organic smallholding up at the cottage, which included chickens.

...*checks (http://www.toronto.ca/faq/animals.htm#permittedanimals)*

...huh. The bylaw says nothing about chickens!

Re the price tag, I think Texas has the right idea there. Right now the taxpayers of Manitoba are paying for the family's decision. I'm sure there are other things that money could be used for, not to mention other patients that bed and that equipment and those health care professionals could be helping.