Huge well done to Boston Police and FBI.

1000 cats were saved in China when a truck crashed. They were found inside in cramped cages on their way to a restaurant to be eaten. Locals fought to save them from the cages.

After over 55,000 deaths in Mexico since the president’s election six years ago, it finally seemed as if police had made a breakthrough. They claimed to have arrested El Gordo, the son of drug baron El Chapo, leader of the Sinaloa cartel. However, in an embarrassing mistake, the police were forced to release the man on disovering thar it was not El Chapo’s son, but an ordinary car salesman.

The arrest had been hailed as the most important in years by authorities. But he u-turn and admission of their mistake has further undermined an already unstable police force. It would seem that the drug cartels are still very much in control.

For the majority of us, regardless of the technical legality of suicide, we have the option to choose to die if we want to. Whether it’s right or not, if someone doesn’t want to live then they have the choice not to. But some people do not have this luxury.

Tony Nicklinson suffers from locked-in syndrome, meaning that he has full cognitive function but is entirely paralysed below the neck and unable to speak. Right now he is fighting in court to have the right to have a doctor legally end his life. In Britain, euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal, mainly due to the complications involved. The difficulty lies in successfully attaining whether the patient truly wishes to die and that they are making an informed decision, and are in no way being forced into it.

In Nicklinson’s case, he has had seven years of paralysis to contemplate his decision. It is clear that he is of sound mind, and described his life (through the limited communication he can manage through blinking and slight head movements) as “dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable”. Due to his paralysis, Nicklinson is unable to take his own life, but also unable to bear living it.

If an ‘able-bodied’ person has the right to end their life, why shouldn’t everyone of sound mind? If it can be ascertained that the decision is their own and is fully thought through with solid reasoning behind it, then shouldn’t we allow everyone the right to die with dignity?

The result of this court case will set a precedent for the legal standing on euthanasia and assisted suicide in the UK. Personally I hope that Tony Nicklinson is permitted the same human rights as everyone else, even if his wish is to die.

Usually on my blog, I like to celebrate beauty wherever I can find it: people, animals, architecture, nature, design… But I don’t want to ignore the fact that a lot of shit happens in this world, and it’s usually due to humans. Most of the time, there’s nothing we can do, but it’s important that people know it’s happening. People are too sheltered. Graphic images might be upsetting, but they’re representations of fact. Bad things happen. People do bad things. And there are always people who are in need of help. If the only thing I can do is spread awareness, then that’s what I’m doing.