Acceptance
When the spent sun throws up its rays on cloud
And goes down burning into the gulf below,
No voice in nature is heard to cry aloud
At what has happened. Birds, at least must know
It is the change to darkness in the sky.
Murmuring something quiet in her breast,
One bird begins to close a faded eye;
Or overtaken too far from his nest,
Hurrying low above the grove, some waif
Swoops just in time to his remembered tree.
At most he thinks or twitters softly, 'Safe!
Now let the night be dark for all of me.
Let the night be too dark for me to see
Into the future. Let what will be, be.'
-- Robert Frost
Merry Christmas one and all. (~_-)
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
On a different note, you may or may not have heard the cases of people publicly soliciting "directed" donation of organs for themselves or loved ones. There have been a few recent cases with some publicity on this. I thought you might like to know the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)'s stance on the matter, which is also CTDN's stance:
You are probably familiar with recent instances where transplant candidates or their family members have solicited deceased donors for their individual need through public communications such as billboards and web sites. There have also been isolated attempts to learn the identity of potential deceased donors and individually contact the potential donor’s family[...]
The overwhelming majority of deceased donor transplants occur anonymously and without specifying an intended recipient of the donated organ. The existence of a personal bond that would cause a donor or donor family to favor a named transplant candidate is rare. Attempts to develop such a personal bond through unsolicited contact with or public appeals to families of deceased donors are problematic[...]
Recognizing that organ donation and transplantation are founded on altruism and equity, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors opposes any attempt by an individual transplant candidate (or his/her representatives) to solicit organ donation from a deceased donor ahead of other waiting candidates in a manner that subverts the established principles and objectives of equitable organ allocation. This is a particular concern when commercial space is utilized to solicit directed donation from a member of the public for a specific candidate. Such efforts may divert organs from patients with critical need to those who are less ill. In addition, such appeals, although well-intentioned, compromise the principle of fairness.
The Board encourages anyone considering a public appeal to promote the overall need for organ donation and not solicit an organ donation for an individual candidate. (my bold)
Food for thought -- should this topic come up in your daily life, consider doing a little educational outreach. :)
You are probably familiar with recent instances where transplant candidates or their family members have solicited deceased donors for their individual need through public communications such as billboards and web sites. There have also been isolated attempts to learn the identity of potential deceased donors and individually contact the potential donor’s family[...]
The overwhelming majority of deceased donor transplants occur anonymously and without specifying an intended recipient of the donated organ. The existence of a personal bond that would cause a donor or donor family to favor a named transplant candidate is rare. Attempts to develop such a personal bond through unsolicited contact with or public appeals to families of deceased donors are problematic[...]
Recognizing that organ donation and transplantation are founded on altruism and equity, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors opposes any attempt by an individual transplant candidate (or his/her representatives) to solicit organ donation from a deceased donor ahead of other waiting candidates in a manner that subverts the established principles and objectives of equitable organ allocation. This is a particular concern when commercial space is utilized to solicit directed donation from a member of the public for a specific candidate. Such efforts may divert organs from patients with critical need to those who are less ill. In addition, such appeals, although well-intentioned, compromise the principle of fairness.
The Board encourages anyone considering a public appeal to promote the overall need for organ donation and not solicit an organ donation for an individual candidate. (my bold)
Food for thought -- should this topic come up in your daily life, consider doing a little educational outreach. :)
The holiday party CTDN had this past Saturday was a blast. I forgot my digital camera, though, so I'll have to wait and see if any of the other people send out an email with pictures. :( Steve came with me and though he didn't have a tie with red in it to match my red dress, he still looked dashing and handsome.
They had some casino booths set up and gave us a fake $500 bill with which to 'gamble.' Any chips we had at the end of the night went toward raffle tickets. Steve and I played roulette for hours -- the first time for both of us -- and he divised a pretty solid system that won him either 35 to 1 or 8 to 1 odds fairly frequently. Because the raffle was technically for CTDN employees, he donated his extra chips to me, so I had twice the chips with which to enter the raffle.
I did win 3 raffle prizes (!): a round of mini-golf, a free lunch at a nice restaurant, AND...a massage and facial at a local spa!!! Very exciting. And Irma, who had to leave early, gave me her chips, and I put her name in too -- so she also won mini-golf and free pizza hut.
Lucky girl I was this weekend. (*^_^*)
They had some casino booths set up and gave us a fake $500 bill with which to 'gamble.' Any chips we had at the end of the night went toward raffle tickets. Steve and I played roulette for hours -- the first time for both of us -- and he divised a pretty solid system that won him either 35 to 1 or 8 to 1 odds fairly frequently. Because the raffle was technically for CTDN employees, he donated his extra chips to me, so I had twice the chips with which to enter the raffle.
I did win 3 raffle prizes (!): a round of mini-golf, a free lunch at a nice restaurant, AND...a massage and facial at a local spa!!! Very exciting. And Irma, who had to leave early, gave me her chips, and I put her name in too -- so she also won mini-golf and free pizza hut.
Lucky girl I was this weekend. (*^_^*)
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