The Right of Death, The Gift of Life

 The Right of Death, The Gift of Life

Below are notes I used about fifteen years ago for a Bible class that I presented at two congregations on "end of life" decisions.  At that time, I had no clue I would come down with ALS, or be faced so soon with those kind of decisions.

These are my raw notes, not intended for publication, or really to be seen by anyone but me, but I no longer have time or typing ability to polish them, so I'm just posting them as-is.  Perhaps they will spark thought or discussion. 

These notes are out of date in some ways:

The Terry Schaivo case is no longer "recent."  Millenials have likely never heard of her, and older folks have likely forgotten. 

California passed its "End of Life Options Act" several years ago, as have several other States, so some of you may have legal rights you did not in 2005, which makes the subject all the more important.*

But I don't think the Biblical principles have changed.  

So here I post my study.  Feel free to respond with additional thoughts. 

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Recent events have focused the nation’s attention on issues regarding end of life decisions.

Florida woman, Terri Schaivo, after 15 years in a severely brain damaged condition, had her feeding tube removed, causing complete death.  Her husband fought her parents through State courts, the Florida legislature, Congress and Federal courts for 7 years to have the tube removed.

At the present time, the California legislature is considering a bill to permit a form of physician assisted death for terminal patients.  This is part of the so-called “right to die” movement.  Actually, we all have an inalienable right to die, so we needn’t worry about that right.  We will all die.

This case has raised to our attention, issues that most of us would rather not have to think about.   Yet death is something that faces all of us.  It has been the fate of all humans since Adam and Eve were sentenced to return to the dust from which they were made.  Sooner or later, many of us will have to face the same sorts of issues as did Terri Schaivo’s family, and the decisions are exceedingly difficult ones.

I do not propose to discuss the Schaivo case in terms of whether the actions in that case were right or wrong.  None of us knows all the facts.  The facts are disputed.  We know only what we see in the news media, which is often confused, confusing, distorted or inaccurate.

Rather, I would like to use this time to discuss 

1^st) What the issues are as they affect us directly

2^nd) What the legal options are – what CAN you do.

3^rd) What the Scriptural principles are –Does the Bible tell you what SHOULD you do.

4^th) What should you do to prepare for your death, and for the possibility of life beyond death.

One of the major factors in publicizing the Schaivo case was that many so called right-wing Christian organizations took up the case as a moral crusade, contending that removing the feeding tube was murder, and should not have been permitted by the State.  I would like to look at the basis for their viewpoint, and discuss whether or not that view is Scriptural.

The Bible has a lot to say about life and death.  I think we will find that it has less to say in detail that would dictate the exact decisions we should make.

Medical science and technology has progressed tremendously in the last century.  100 years ago, many of the situations we face today did not exist.  Medicine has given doctors the ability to sustain some form of life well beyond what was possible in previous history.  While we are grateful for he medical care that enhances and extends our lives, this is not an unmixed blessing.  It also presents dilemmas that previous generations did not have to deal with.

Terri Schaivo – brief summary.

1990 Cardiac arrest (heart and breathing stopped), probably as a result of bulimia – severe loss of oxygen to her brain. Resuscitated.

3 years of attempted rehabilitation therapy

Husband studied and became qualified as a respiratory therapist, in part to better care for his brain damaged wife.

After 8 years, Terri’s husband Michael Schaivo was told by her physicians that Terri was in what is called a Persistent Vegetative State, from which there was no hope of recovery, and that the thinking part of her brain was either entirely, or almost entirely, gone.  Michael Schaivo asked the Florida court to act as the surrogate for Terri to make a decision as to whether Terri would have wished to continue to be maintained with the feeding tube.  He did not make the decision himself, but he did advocate to the court that in his view, she would not have wanted her life (such as it was) continued.  The court agreed with Michael, disagreed with Terri’s parents, and ordered the feeding tube removed.  The parents continued to fight this decision in every judicial and political way they could for another 7 years.

 Nothing unusual medically or legally about this case.

The legal issues were all settled – no new legal precedent.

The medical issues are all very common – nothing medically unusual

These things happen every single day without publicity or fanfare.

The only thing unusual was that the family could not agree and took their disagreement to such lengths of legal and public dispute.

Lack of previous written instructions from the patient, which could have simplified things.

The Brain:

Brain Stem controls automatic functions: Respiration, Circulation, sleep and waking.

The Cerebral Cortex, the folds that form the outer top and front of the brain contain consciousness, rational thought, memory, awareness, and everything that we would usually describe as thinking.

Types of incapacity:

persistent vegetative state: persistent vs permanent – not a specific physical explanation of the condition of the brain, but may be caused by several sorts of brain damage.  Vegetative state that lasts for more than a month.  Can occur when the brain stem is functioning, but the cortex is severely damaged.

anacephalic infants are born without a skull, scalp or forebrain cerebellum.  They cannot survive.

Coma: Profound or deep unconscious state – sort of continual sleep.  Completely non-responsive.  Rarely lasts more than 2 to 4 weeks.  May recover partially or even completely.

locked in – rare condition. fully conscious and aware, but completely paralysed.  Able to move only the eyes or eyelids.  May be fully aware of all that is going on around them, aware of pain, but unable to speak or communicate, except possibly by eye blinks.  There have been a very few famous cases where such people were thought to be vegetative, but turned out to have mis-diagnosed.

Partial paralysis – anything short of total.  May lose ability to speak or eat.  May lose ability to some or all limbs, usually able to communicate in some ways.  Sometimes able to recover partial function.

Brain death means total loss of all brain function, including stem and cortex.

These conditions may be brought on by trauma, by sudden internal causes (stroke, cardiac arrest) or by progressive deterioration due to various diseases, including Parkinsons, Alzheimers,

Terminal illness:  Not yet completely incapacitated, but in the last stages of an inevitably fatal illness, with no further real hope of effective treatment.

The diagnosis of these conditions is not always exact.  The outcome of  Coma, locked in condition, or vegetative state cannot be immediately predicted with certainty in all cases.  In some cases, it may be apparent what portion of the brain has been damaged.  In other cases, it may take a wait-and-see approach. Time is part of the diagnosis.  The longer the condition lasts, the less likely there will be recovery.

Three horror scenarios:

1)     “locked-in” conscious and aware, but unable to move or communicate, yet wanting to live and keeping hope alive.  Watching as your feeding tube is removed, and you slowly die of dehydration.

2)     In discomfort and pain, maybe even extreme agony but unable to say so. Wanting and praying for death, but kept alive against your will, unable to stop it.

3)     Brain is just gone, unaware, unconscious, no possibility of recovery, but body keeps breathing for decades, while your relatives don’t know what to do.  Essentially dead, yet having to be maintained at great expense.

Issues:

1)     Definition of Life and Death.  When is a person really alive?

a.      Until the last century, it was simple.  Heart and breath.  Stopped hearts could not be restarted.  If you didn’t breath on your own, you were dead.  Breath and pulse defined death.

Until as recently as 1968, the definition of death was the cessation of respiration and circulation.  First proposal of “brain death”, adopted in the 1970’s.  Other definitions were proposed, but not generally accepted.  What exactly defines whether a body being artificially supported is actually still alive.  Definition depends on what we have the ability to detect.

2)     Uncertain Diagnoses – How much do we really know?

a.      Doctors are not always sure

b.     Sometimes even when they think they are, they are wrong.

3)     Unclear wishes, if not put in writing beforehand.

a.      How far can we go in making a life/death decision for someone else?

4)     Different types of assistance:  Where do we draw a line?

a.      Ventilator.  If they can’t breath on their own, when do we stop helping.

b.     Cardiac defibrillation.  Restart your heart after it stops?

c.      Intravenous feeding

d.     Feeding tube  Many argued that a feeding tube is simply a more convenient way of feeding a patient, and to deny then food was barbarically starving them.

e.      Antibiotics.  Do we want to keep curing other problems which only prolong the agony of dying?  When is it OK to just give up and die, ending your own suffering?

5) Hope for Miracles.  As long as there is any life at all, we can pray for a cure that is beyond the purely natural expectations.  On the other hand, even death does not prevent a miracle.

6) Is it Scriptural to ever end one’s own life?  Suicide in Scripture (discussed later)

7) Is there a Biblical command to sustain life by all available means against a patient’s wishes?  Should we force life sustaining measures on someone who doesn’t want them?

8) Who should make these decisions:  Family? Doctors? Courts? Laws:  Should the government dictate decisions on these matters?

9) What about the doctrine of the “Sanctity of Life”?

10)    Can we be dogmatic? How clear are Scriptural instructions on the subject?

 Legal choices:  The Living Will – Advance Health Care Directive

You have the legal right to choose.  Putting it in writing ahead of time, and designating an agent, is the best way to assure that your wishes will be carried out if you become incapacitated.

Look at the form:

·       Part 1, page 2 Power of Attorney for Health Care.  Note last section, 1.2 including withholding artificial nutrition and hydration.

·       Page 3, details of the agent’s authority.

·       Anatomical gifts

·       Need to carefully consider who would be a suitable agent, able and willing to make decisions if you can’t.  May be spouse, may be someone else.  May need an alternate, if the first choice is not able to act.

·       Need to talk to our designated agent, make sure they are willing, and let them know in detail what you want.  Make sure they have a copy of the completed form.

·       Part 2.  Your instructions:  Under what circumstances should care be stopped.  What kinds of care should be tried. 

·       Understand that this means that you may be alive, possibly even conscious, and be allowed to die under some circumstances where you could be maintained alive for some period of time.

·       Part 3, Organ donation  Which parts of your body, if any, are you willing to donate, and for what purposes.

·       Part 4.Page 5, designate a primary physician.  If you are in a HMO or medical plan, this may already be taken care of.

·       Part 5.  Signature and witnesses. Requires either two witnesses, or a notary.

·       Give copies to agent, physician, other family members, other health care providers.  List who you have given it to, in case you wish to change it later.

You have the right to end your life by various natural means if you wish.  You can stop eating or drinking and refuse food or water.  You can choose to stop breathing assistance, or whatever treatment is offered.  Some may consider some of these actions virtually suicide, in that you could be maintained alive for a considerable length of time.  You do not have the right to be put to death by artificial means.*

 But – what should you choose?  Does the Bible tell us?

1)     The Doctrine of the Sanctity of Life not truly Biblical. Defenders of this doctrine usually refer to Genesis 9:6 “Whoso sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man.” Command not to murder.  Commanded to love one another, and to treat others as we would wish to be treated.

2)     Biblical Suicides:  Ahithophel (advisor to Absalom), King Saul, Samson, Judas, Jesus.  No example truly similar.  Scripture provides no commentary, either approval or disapproval.  There is no direct or explicit condemnation of suicide in the Bible

a.     Judats clearly lacked faith in the mercy of God.  To commit suicide because of problems or depression, when you are still capable of living and serving God and your fellows is to give up on faith, to avoid your duty to serve, to hurt others that love you.  Clearly wrong.

b.     Saul was about to be killed anyway, and Scripture makes no comment as to whether falling on his sword was right or wrong.

c.      Samson: "And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 29. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines."  Samson prayed to die, and God gave him strength to cause his own death.

d.     Job wished he could die, but took no such actions.

Consider Philippians 1:21-23"
  
            I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23. I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24. but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26. so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me."

This passage seems to suggest that Paul was seriously considering ending his life, and appeared to think that under some (other) circumstances, it would be right to do so. He concluded that he still was of service to the church and was still needed, so he decided that he should remain.

3)     Scripture emphasizes that this life is a fleeting vapor, a passing thing,

4)     It is not this life that we should be concerned about, but about the life to come.

5)     We need have no fear of death if we are in Christ.

6)     We should look forward to being rid of mortal flesh, and being re-clothed in righteousness.

7)     Mortal life is not to be sanctified or revered, but used wisely.

8)     One thing I would most certainly NOT want to do is to suggest that suicide is an acceptable course of action under most circumstances. Suicide is a terrible, awful thing in most cases. My point here should in no way be taken as excusing or suggesting it. If anyone sometimes feels it would be a way of decreasing emotional pain, get help.

I think that a person in good health who commits suicide out of psychological depression, stress and mental pain is evading issues and giving up faith. He is causing suffering to those he leaves behind. He has the ability to serve God and to serve others, and he is avoiding his duty. He is denying the power of God to help him overcome his problems. I think that suicide for that reason violates principles of faith, love, and service.  But more importantly, if anyone is actually considering it, you should realize that there is help, there is hope, things can get better, do not despair.

 Doctrine of the Sanctity of Life.  Some would define this doctrine as saying that every human life is of infinite value.  tI appears to me that assigning such value and reverence to the flesh, is more appropriate to secular humanism than to Biblical Christianity.

 Some attempt to polarize the issue:  Either you believe in "Sanctity of Life," or the only alternative must be the so-called "Quality of Life" view, which is then "awful-ized" into contending (falsely) that on that basis you could justify killing someone virtually for just being merely stupid.

 Frankly, it appears to me to be a convenient political slogan on which to hang assertions that would otherwise be complex.  I think it is false for the Christian to assert it as a fundamentally Christian doctrine.

 It appears to me that the the Biblical principles are of the vanity of the mortal condition, and that our focus should be on things eternal, not on the corruptible bodies we now have.

 Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

 Rom 8:10-11  "And if Christ be in you, [u]the body is dead because of sin;[/u] but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

 The Bible speaks of those who are not in Christ as dead already, and of those in Christ as already having everlasting life; which makes the death of the mortal body virtually unimportant.

 John 6:53-54 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

 John 11:25-26  "Jesus said unto her (i.e. to Martha, after the death of Lazarus) , I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

 The Bible speaks of man as dust, destined to return to the dust of which he is made, and this life as but vapor.

 Genesis 3:19  "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

 James 4:14  "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

 Ecc 3:18-20  "I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again."

Our present mortal bodies are described not with reverence at all, but as vile:

"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."  (Phil 3:21)

The Bible speaks strongly against an emphasis on the saving of mortal life: 

John 12:25  "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."

Psalm 90:10-12  "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

I John 2:16  "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, [u]and the pride of life[/u], is not of the Father, but is of the world."

Matt 6:25, 33:  "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? . . .  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

We need have no fear of death, for: 

 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psa 116:15)

 "In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." (Prov 12:28)

 Col 3:1-3  "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

 The Bible tells us we cannot prolong our lives, even if we want to:

  Ecc 8:8  "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: "

 In fact, the expressed thought in Scripture is of the desire and need to be rid of the sinful, mortal, corruptible flesh, and instead to be re-clothed in the image of Christ:

I Cor 15: 47-49 "The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven."

2 Corinthians 5: 1-5  “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

From which I conclude that mortal life is not to be reverenced nor counted of infinite value.  Quite the opposite.  Our mortal life is to be counted as vile, as dust, as nothing, of no value at all.  Reverence should be reserved for God alone.

Based on Biblical principles of treating others as we would want to be treated:

1) If a patient (any patient of sound mind) wants a feeding tube, it should be given to them.

2) If a patient (any patient of sound mind) does not want a feeding tube, it should not be forced on them.

3) If a patient beforehand expresses their desire in writing, that expressed desire should be followed if they become unable to communicate their desires. So if they say "no feeding tube" in advance, then no feeding tube should be installed.

4) If the patient has not expressed their desire in advance in writing (which is probably true of most people), and they become unable to communicate, then is it reasonable for the family to attempt to determine what the patient's will would be if they could express it, though this will be a very difficult decision. It would be hard to withhold the feeding tube if we thought they might want it, but it would be equally hard to force it if we felt that would be against their wishes.

I don't think the Bible gives us clear direction on a requirement that a patient must endure torturous incapacitation indefinitely. It would be require a considerable chain of indirect inference to get to that conclusion. Consequently, these decisions appear to me to be personal matters, at the prayerful discretion of each individual.

The Bible does not give us sufficient direct detailed instruction to tell us exactly what we should do in such cases.  It is up to you to make up your own mind.  But the more important thing than preparing to die is preparing to live – God’s promise of the gift of life – resurrection.

What we do know is that whatever we decide regarding the end of our mortal life, it does not have to be the end of our existence.  As we have read, the Bible emphasizes the hope of the resurrection, with a new body no longer subject to the mortality, the pain, the suffering and the temptation of our present bodies.

Jesus gave up his life to secure for us the way to everlasting life.  He said in John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. ¹⁸No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. 

And in John 10:13  ³Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

We know that Jesus looked forward to the resurrection that God promised him, and we know that this resurrection has been promised to us as well.

We have been offered the opportunity to join with Jesus through baptism  Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: ⁶Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. ⁷For he that is dead is freed from sin. ⁸Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: ⁹Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

 The end of life decisions we must make are important and difficult.  But they are not the most important decisions we have to make regarding our death.  The most important decision we have to make is to prepare for our death by accepting God’s promise of resurrection.  We can make the difficult decisions regarding dying easier in knowledge of the promise of the resurrection, and the faith and hope in that resurrection.

The Story of Jingle Bells

Tis the season to repost the Jingle Bells story, at the traditonal start of the Christmas music season, the day after Thanksgiving.  It turns out that the song "Jingle Bells" was originally written for Thanksgiving. It was first published in autumn 1857.

It is not too surprising that this secular holiday anthem, with no religious content, was composed by a Unitarian church organist, James Lord Pierpont. But it may surprise you to learn that it was composed in a tavern:

The story in the lyrics is really about using a sporty open vehicle to pick up girls. Hence, the line in the last verse about the horse: "240 is his speed" (a fast trotting horse) - making the combination of horse and sleigh the 19th century precursor to a sporty convertible. Appropriately, the song was at one point recorded by the Brian Setzer Orchestra with "one horse open sleigh" changed to "57 Chevrolet." (presumably the 240 morphed to the 283 V8).

The composer apparently claimed success in the pickup process with one "Miss Fanny Bright", but he was married twice (first wife died) and neither wife was Fanny Bright, who was apparently only a casual fling (flung together from the sleigh into the snow). What lessons you may draw from this are unclear, but the composer's view was that with such a sporty and speedy vehicle "Crack, you'll take the lead." It would seem that courting may not have not changed as much as one might guess since the 1850s. 

Notice also that the phrase "Jingle Bells!" was intended as an imperative, exhorting the sleigh driver to alert others on the road to his rapid and reckless approach in an otherwise noiseless sleigh - good advice if you are courting in a Prius I suppose, but I don't think they make Prius convertibles. The singing of "sleighing songs" might have been sufficient alternative to the bells, or today's alternative of a loud stereo system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bells . Also see the article on the composer, James Pierpont.

Nuclear Nostalgia and Re-Coal-ections

Just a mile and a half west of our house is the "Nipsco" Bailly coal fired generating station. The photo above is Google satellite map showing distance from our house. Nipsco ("Northern Indiana Public Service Corporation"), our local electric and gas utility company, just retired the plant at the end of May 2018. It seems like things may be just a bit quieter now, but it always has been a very quiet place anyway. Never saw or smelled anything from it, but it seems good to know it has closed.

Here is a Northwest Indiana Times article about the plant closing: NWI Times article

Nipsco still has two other coal fired plants: one in Michigan City (Indiana), about 8 miles east of us, with its distinctive parabolic cooling tower sticking out on the eastern boundary of the National Park. We cruised around the Michigan City plant on the evening harbor cruise on our anniversary last summer. Romantic, no? The other Nipsco coal plant is inland to the south near the tiny town of Wheatfield, just south of Kouts, where we used to go to church. We would see the stacks as we drove down highway 49 to Kouts.

The Bailly plant was 604 MW, including two units: A 190 MW opened in 1962, and a 413 MW unit opened in 1968, when I was a freshman in engineering school.

Around the time the second unit was starting up, Nipsco proposed building a 644 MW nuclear generating plant at Bailly, a Boiling Water Reactor, which apparently started construction in 1974, but met opposition and got cancelled.

Here's the wikipedia article on the nuke plant: Bailly Wik

Now, the Bailly plant site has only a backup gas turbine peaking plant, a peaceful neighbor down the beach.

If they had gone ahead with the nuclear plant, we could have it for our neighbor. I think I'd rather have a nuclear plant there, than a coal plant. A few, small, rare releases of a little radiation would be preferable to continuously emitting tons of carbon and other junk.

Lyn and I went to a presentation on the Nike missile program at the National Park visitor center last year. The National Park HQ was a Nike missile base back in the 1960s.. On the map above, it's just south of us, across hwy 12 (the clearing south of of 12, west of the road that goes from Dune Acres).

Nike missiles were intended to defend against Soviet bombers. Some Nikes even had nuclear warheads, so they only had to get close to a bomber to destroy it. Now that's a scary thought: Nuclear tipped missiles launching out over Lake Michigan.

Just south of that is the preserved Bailly Homestead farm of a pioneer local family. The Bailly generating plant was named for Joseph Bailly, a trapper and early settler.

And that's some local history from these parts. From an early trapper, settler, farmer, to nuclear missiles.

Seems like I lived through the coal age, the nuclear age, and the natural gas age. I start to feel like a relic, looking back on past, obsolete technology.

When I began my engineering career in 1972, I worked for the engineering/construction firm Bechtel, designing nuclear power plants. I worked on a plant in Georgia called Vogtle until the client ran out of funds and the plant was shelved for a few years, then on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, units 2 & 3 (which we musically referred to as "SONGS"). Those units got completed, and operated for 30 years or so, but were recently decommissioned after a failed repair.

Then I worked on Korea Nuclear Units 5 & 6. Technology export was a big part of the project. We were training Korean engineers while we were designing the plant. I think those units are still running. South Korea is mostly nuclear powered, and in turn is now exporting nuclear technology.

My father in law also worked for Bechtel, as a project manager. He had completed some big coal fired generating plants, like Four Corners and Mojave. The coal age was ending, though. His generation, of coal fired generation, was ending. Nuclear was taking over. I thought nuclear was the coming thing. Seemed like a good thing at the time. We thought we were doing a good thing for the planet. Still think so.

But then the "Three Mile Island" nuclear plant accident happened in Pennsylvania.

I saw that nuclear power had a rough future in the US, and left Bechtel for the City of Burbank, where, among other projects, we "repowered" an old retired oil fired steam turbine using waste heat from an existing gas turbine, getting 10MW for "free" from heat that was otherwise just gas turbine exhaust. Unfortunately, after I left Burbank, they didn't much run it, but it did provide backup local generating capacity that facilitated negotiating for good deals on purchased power. Using that strategy, they could buy excess coal fired power from those distant plants in Arizona, Colorado, and Utah (some of them built by my father in law) cheaper than they could generate locally, even with the highly efficient plant I built for them.

When I left Burbank, I went to UCLA, where they had ambitions of building a similar "combined cycle cogeneration" plant, to also produce steam and chilled water from waste heat. We did build that plant: a 49MW cogeneration central chiller plant, that today is central to UCLA's operation. UCLA now generates most of its own power, replacing power formerly purchased from LADWP.

So, I spent much of my career building alternatives to coal-fired electric generation, with limited success.

Could nuclear come back, to save the planet from climate change? https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-nuclear-power-climate-change_us_5bbe08b0e4b01470d057b4c0

I don't think I will live to see that.

The sad missed opportunity, is that the one way Trump really could "Make America Great Again" is by convincing his loyal throngs that climate change is real, that the regulatory shackles should be released from America's nuclear industry, and America should lead rebuilding a nuclear world . A few of his tweets, and some key appointees, is all it would take. Trump's supporters would lap it up, and some of his opposition would agree..

He could find common ground between industrialists and environmentalists. And he alone possibly could find that common ground. Think of that: Trump could save the planet. I don't think any other president will be in the position to do that. But I think his window is closing, and he shows no sign of that sort of leadership. Instead, he's tilting at windmills, fighting a losing battle to save coal, and winning the battle to kill the planet.

Nipsco's stated plan is to turn to wind and solar to replace coal. They plan to phase out the other two coal plants by 2028. I hope they succeed. My guess is, they will end up with a lot of natural gas firing, or end up delaying the coal phase-out, but we can hope. There are a lot of wind turbines south of here. Gonna need way more. Might work. But this old nuclear engineer feels a bit like a fossil.

The Most Famous Singer You Never Heard Of

Thurl Ravenscroft:   The Most Famous Singer You Never Heard Of

Ever wondered who that distinctive bass is who sings that "Grinch Song" that you likely hear repeatedly every Holiday season?  You know:  "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch . . ."  Feel like you should recognize him, but can't quite place him?

The song is from a 1966 half hour CBS TV cartoon Christmas special, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

The singer was actually inadvertently uncredited (basses just never get any respect - even though most men are basses).  His name was Thurl Ravenscroft.   Boris Karloff is the voice of the Grinch, but the song is sung by Ravenscroft.

Ravenscroft is also familiar, but not famous, as the uncredited, anonymous voice of Tony The Tiger (Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, "Theyy'rrre  Grrrreat). Notice the facial resemblance between Thurl and Tony.

If you've been to a Disney park, you've heard him in the Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree, Mark Twain Riverboats, Pirates of the Caribbean, Disneyland Railroad and Tiki Room. (What a great name for an actor in the Haunted Mansion - Ravenscroft)

In this video, he talks about making the Haunted Mansion attraction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhox48qhnxU

He got his start as one of The Mellowmen, who backed up Bing Crosby, Frainkie Lane, Spike Jones, Rosemary Clooney (Ravenscrift is the bass in her #1 hit "This Ole House", and also on Stuart Hamblin's original version) and other Big Band era singers.

Here's a Mellowmen album:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXS1FKCjUY

The Mellowmen can be heard in several Disney films, including Alice in Wonderland. and Lady and the Tramp.

Ravenscroft is the bass in Bobby Vee's 1960 hit  "Devil or Angel."

It's astounding how many familiar songs, movies, Disney rides, TV shows and commercials Ravenscroft's distinctive voice is heard in, all without you hearing his distinctive and unforgettable name.  Now you know.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurl_Ravenscroft

Bin Laden has Won

18 years later, Al Queada has won.

It took a while, but the Al Queada, Taliban, ISIS strategy of sowing chaos  has worked.

Western democracy has been destroyed.

The USA, Britain, France, Germany, the European Union, NATO, all in tatters.  Ungovernable.  Division so strong that no party can govern, no course can get a majority.  The nations are so divided, little substantial unified action is possible or even attempted.

Putin (Biblical Gog to many) has conquered the West.  He has gotten all he could have wished for, and more. In some of the same ways: By sowing the seeds of division, discord and chaos.

The US is leaving Syria, Afghanistan is next.  Russia and Islamics have pretty much free rein.

Russia and Saudi Arabia have shown that they can murder and assassinate anywhere in the world with impunity.

Free trade is ending as the nations retreat into isolationism, embargoes, sanctions, trade wars. Treaties are shunned. International cooperation, even to the limited previous extent, all but abandoned.

The US piles up debt at an ever greater rate, putting the inevitable reckoning ever closer.  Instead of saving in the last several good years, like the Keynesian Joseph in Egypt, the US has emptied its storehouses, leaving no resources to deal with the next downturn.

The aim of Bin Laden, and of ISIS, was to draw the West into an apocalyptic conflict with Islam (see note 1).  It is working.

It is fairly easy to connect the dots from 9/11 to this collapse:

The immediate effect was to draw the US into two wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, which drained it of resources, and either partly resulted in, or at least exacerbated, the 2008-2009 recession.

It also heightened fears of immigrants and foreigners. Security on travel at airports and borders was tightened.

Then, the collapse of Iraq, the resulting rise of ISIS, the overflow of problems into Syria, with US withdrawal, led to mass migration of refugees, to Europe.

The reaction to economic problems, terrorism and the refugee invasion was xenophobic closing of borders.  The open border EU was not ready for the influx.  Britain's reaction was to leave the EU, though that is mired in political division.

In Germany, right wing factions fractured Merkel's majority because of reaction to taking in so many middle eastern refugees and a weakening economic outlook.

The French have turned against Macron's Internationalist policies.

In the US, the same fears of foreign immigrants and terrorists, an aversion to Obama's proposal to take in thousands of refugees from ISIS, coupled with fears they could be sneaking in across the southern border, added to existing concerns about border security, to get the issue to the tipping point where it swung the Presidential election.  This issue, tied directly back to 9/11, has now stopped governance.

The extreme societal division over this xenophobia, has democratic decision making grid-locked.  In the USA Constitutional checks and balances have been abandoned in favor of rule by emergency declaration.

The nations fiddle, as the planet burns. Pacific island nations demand an end to coal, while Trump tilts at windmills.

Trump tries to contain the spread of nuclear weapons to Iran and North Korea, while letting the existing treaty with Russia lapse, and having already abandoned the international treaty with Iran. 

What this means, or what it may lead to, I have no idea.  Many of my fellow Bible students find prophetic fulfillment in this, but in conflicting ways, seeing it both as a precursor to Armageddon, and at the same time, a nationalistic victory for border security, morality, and support for Zionism.  They like to see Gog as poised to invade, while at the same time seeing the UK-USA as God's chosen forces saving Israel.  Possibly, though how both could be true makes little sense to me, and I have a hard time seeing current leadership as divinely ordained.

It does seem to make the need for divine intervention clear.  Very clearly, humankind is not capable of solving its problems.  

If you do not see divine intervention as a likely possibility, you should be aware that all sides in the conflict include some with Messianic visions that fuel their positions.  Not just three visions (Christian, Islamic & Jewish) but multiple views within each of those religions; sometimes even conflicting views within individuals.  There will be no compromising.  There is no common ground.  Many actively oppose peace, including some in ALL of those religions.  So, secular peacemakers have some substantial roadblocks.

Am I exaggerating the negative to write this Jeremiad?  Possibly.  Feel free to propose a non-miraculous way out.  Know that for every one of you who may be thinking that way, there's another thinking, "Yes! Apocalypse Now!  Bring it on!  He hasn't said the half of it."

I had drafted this blog last year, but had delayed posting it, because I don't have a conclusion or ending.  Just posting doom and gloom isn't usually my style.  But it is what it is.  Draw your own conclusions.  

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Note 1.  Many will notice startling similarities between the Islamic apocalyptic goals and Christian expectations:   https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/

The End of the Trial

The drug clinical trial I've been in since October ended suddenly and unexpectedly.  I haven't gotten much detail, but Wednesday of last week, the coordinator called us to tell us the drug company was ending the study early because the results so far don't justify continuing.

This was very disappointing.  It was the best hope for a treatment.  Without that, there is little in the near term for any treatment that might slow the progress of the disease.

So, it seems the drug was a bust.  I had tried to stay realistic about the chances of a miracle cure.  My own conclusion so far was that it didn't seem to be doing anything for me.  I held out hope that maybe I was in the placebo group, and might see real benefit in the second, open label phase, when I could get the real drug, but I don't yet know which group I was in, and the second phase is not going to happen.

We went in one last time this Wednesday for final wrapup tests and evaluations, but no infusion treatment.  They did a final neuro exam, took final blood and urine samples.  For some reason, despite the blood thinner I am on for blood clots in my leg, it was hard to get blood out of me this time.  I ended up with three needle sticks, one of which made a small bruise, but minor.  At least they didn't ask for another MRI, or spinal tap.

Sarah drove us this time, as she is on summer break.  First, and last, time.

So that's it.  No more clinical trial.  I saw an article in the news that a similar trial for Alzheimers was also terminated recently.  Apparently, the Tau protein approach to treatment is not working out. Not a miracle cure.

So, the best hope for a treatment is not working.  Disheartening.  But, that is why they do the tests - to see what works and what doesn't.

I asked if there are any other clinical trials, but they didn't know of any. 

I think I'm saddest about just not going in to Rush every month. That was the high point of most months:  Something to look forward to.  I don't have a lot of other things I look forward to.  Eating has become a chore.  Social activities are not fun when I can't talk.  I can't do much around the house. Travel by air is not fun.  It seems pretty sad that one of the few things I enjoyed was getting jabbed with needles, but, everyone at Rush is so nice to me, and makes the effort to understand my slurred speech, and I felt like I was actually doing something worthwhile, advancing science, helping research into PSP and other neurological disorders.

That, and fewer side trips to Trader Joe's.

Lessons from Chernobyl

We watched the HBO series, Chernobyl. 

I was reminded how the pressures to prioritize cost and schedule above safety and legality, and to lie about it, are always present everywhere. 

I saw it many times in my engineering career, where I was often the lone engineer in a meeting of managers who often had an (understandable) single minded focus on budget and schedule. It is very hard to speak up, in a room full of more powerful officials, with a message they don't want to hear. Fortunately, I generally reported to enlightened, supportive managers, even when other parts of the organization pressed me to compromise safety.

I also have to say that I never saw any of that in the nuclear industry when I was engineering nuclear power plants: If anything, the opposite.  Perhaps that was because I worked for a major engineering firm, that was all engineers, top to bottom.  But then, my first nuclear plant project ended when the client ran out of funds.

Scott Adams wrote in "The Dilbert Principle," that engineers tend to be risk averse, because they have done the risk/reward analysis.  The risk is public humiliation and the deaths of innocent thousands.  The reward is a Certificate of Appreciation, in a handsome plastic frame.

By contrast, profit driven managers are by nature entrepreneurial risk takers, because, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  

But the same carelessness of harsh reality is ever present with all of us: Every time we exceed the speed limit, check our phone while driving, fail to take time to signal, roll through a stop sign. 

It is why California still has thousands of seismically hazardous buildings, which most cities and owners are doing nothing about. It is why Oklahomans put mobile homes in tornado alley. It is why those two Boeing 737-Max aircraft crashed.  It is probably why that new bridge in Florida collapsed, and why a lot of crumbling old bridges may, too.  It is why the space shuttle Challenger exploded.  It is why Volkswagen built diesels with emissions test cheating systems.  It is why the US is doing nothing about climate change.

Indeed, ironically, it is why we turned from nuclear back to fossil fuels - because it is easier to ignore the future global catastrophe of climate change, than the clearly serious, but, with the one extreme exception of Chernobyl, soluble costs and problems of nuclear power, without which, there is no hope of preventing catastrophic climate change.

It is easy to point fingers at Communism, and pretend we are different, but profit (and greed) driven free enterprise Capitalism is as much or more susceptible to the same pressures.  Corporations that exist, not to provide a service or a product, but only to make a profit, and that will not continue to exist if they do not make a profit, have even more incentive than faceless government bureaucracies to prioritize cost and schedule.

Democracy is no bar to secrets and lies.  The pressure to get elected, or re-elected, clearly takes precedence over truth.

Try to find out what the actual problem was with that bridge that collapsed on a roadway at Florida International University:  The documents are all secret.  It is all tied up in litigation.  Maybe, someday, some version of "the truth" may come out, but if that is in a court of law, it will be so spun by lawyers that engineers will be unable to learn technical lessons.

It is easy to imagine that we would have the courage to speak up, speak out, when we see wrong decisions being made.  But it is rarely clear cut.   The Chernobyl disaster was not caused by any one, single, big obvious wrong decision, but by multiple smaller, decisions, that each, on their own, could have been overcome.  Each on its own could be rationalized.  And just speaking up is often not enough. Speaking up is one thing.  Being heard is another. Those who do are often ridiculed as alarmists, exaggerating "worse case scenarios" (that will never happen).  Those who speak up out of turn are simply not invited back to the key meetings.  They are not promoted to positions of responsibility.  The choice to commit suicide (or, at least, career suicide), while probably not being able to fix the problem anyway, is a very hard choice to make.

It is human nature, everywhere, to live (and die) in denial of facts we don't wish to face. As Pogo said: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."