Good posts, everyone.
Well, regarding the goat farm idea, we'll have to talk about it at Christmas. I've put a goat farming book on my wishlist at Amazon.com - maybe that book will help us with the discussion.
Regarding Christmas, I'll take off Friday and maybe Thursday.
Re: euthanasia, I think it's a complex issue - I think that consenting adults (of sound mind, etc.) should be able to ask for it. Regarding children/babies, the issue gets more complex - you have issues like: diseases that seem incurable now, but might be cured in the next 5 to 10 years. Would you euthanize the babies, even though a cure for their disease is on the horizon?
One suggestion I've read that if it were so horrible to let a baby live (that you would consider euthanasia), why not let it live long enough to make the decision on its own, instead of letting someone else make the decision?
I think this kind of decision needs to be made by a society as a whole - by putting the issue out there in articles, editorials, TV reports, etc. Then a collective decision needs to be made (via ballot initiative, letters to Congresspeople, etc.)

I had posted the following on 12/2, but withdrew it because I thought it detracted from the goat question. I'll note that Hewitt is a bombastic type...

This post is a follow-up to Hannah's reply to my post on Holland practicing euthanasia on children up to age 12. It seems like the children's parents don't have much say in the process:
"A parent's role is limited under the protocol. While experts and critics familiar with the policy said a parent's wishes to let a child live or die naturally most likely would be considered, they note that the decision must be professional, so rests with doctors." Link here.
So parents' wishes might not be considered at all, and if they are, their wishes don't seem to carry much weight. As radio talk host Hugh Hewitt describes, "Death by Committee."


- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 12/06/2004 03:48:00 PM