Even though we are surrounded by scores of information sources, the sheer number is enough to make one go numb. Factoids will be posted periodically to bring you bits of news which may or may not catch your fancy. Most of the Factoids will be posted to bring you counter-intuitive information which may not be covered by traditional news sources; Question: why aren’t they covered? They may go against the grain of political or cultural “acceptable” thought. Or perhaps because they cannot fit into the thirty-second sound bites without raising more questions than they answer. Hopefully, you will find them of interest!

75 Seconds? Good Enough for Some

There is a huge need for organ transplants.  Thirteen people die a day waiting for organs that never come. When an organ is available, there is a small window of time for the transplant before the value of the organ is destroyed.  This small window of time has put huge pressure doctors to “harvest” an organ as every minute can count.

With this pressure, the old guidelines are under siege such as when is a person dead? What critical bodily functions must stop and for how long for the harvesting to proceed? Is it two minutes or 75 seconds? Is it when there is no brain function or is DCD (donation after circulatory death which means that, “patients have irreversibly lost all brain function and are kept on machines only to maintain their organs…. they’re dying but not yet dead.”

Hospitals can be graded on their “conversion rates”, meaning “how efficiently they transform dying humans into spare parts”.  This may lead to examples as found in Kentucky where “73 patients with “neurological signs incompatible with organ donation” who were still being prepared for harvesting.”  Another example is from Alabama where a patient was declared dead and after the first incision for harvesting, her chest began to rise and fall with “grasping respirations.”

It may seem like a noble thing to offer your organs to another, but aside from great ability to help another, it is also becoming a business.  Additional safeguards may be needed to protect the providers. (The Epoch Times, Aug 20-26, ppA18)

The German Challenge

Approximately one in four of the German population is either a first- or second-generation immigrant, yet they commit about 60% of all violent crime in Germany. Among Syrian and Afghan migrants, just under 50% have never worked since coming to Germany. At the same time, Germany has pledged to spend 5% of it’s GDP to build up it’s military as Chancellor Merz has said that the German welfare system is broken and he is calling for a 10% cut in welfare. Finally, the German economy has stalled with negative “growth”. It looks like it is about time for old Europe to realize that the easy days are gone. One has to wonder if European leaders have the nerve to make and carry out the hard measures that are necessary..