Monday, September 22, 2014

Goodell’s Pay of $44.2 Million in 2012 Puts Him in the Big Leagues

Posted but not written by Louis Sheehan

Pro Football

Goodell’s Pay of $44.2 Million in 2012 Puts Him in the Big Leagues

By KEN BELSONFEB. 14, 2014

N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell was one of the best-paid executives in the country in 2012. “Given the complexity of his job and reach of it,” said Robert K. Kraft, the Patriots’ owner, “I think he’s worth it.” Credit Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell was paid $44.2 million in 2012, making him among the best-paid executives in the country and perhaps the highest-paid leader of a nonprofit organization.

The amount of Goodell’s compensation increased about 50 percent from 2011, largely because of a bonus and pension payment of
$9.1 million that he deferred two years ago after a labor dispute between the league and its players. The deferral ensured that other league employees were paid in full.

While Goodell’s pay is a sliver of the roughly $10 billion that the league generates annually, it exceeds the amount paid at far larger businesses and highlights the tax-exempt status that the league’s head office — though not its teams — has had for decades.

In 1966, when the N.F.L. agreed to merge with the American Football League, Congress gave the N.F.L. certain antitrust exemptions and confirmed that the league’s office was entitled to the same benefits as business trade groups and chambers of commerce not organized for profit. The N.H.L., the L.P.G.A. and other sports groups have similar status.

But even some of the largest nonprofit trade groups paid their executives far less. The chief executive of the American Petroleum Institute, for instance, was paid $5.6 million, according to the latest government filings.

Goodell’s pay was large when stacked against executives’ pay at for-profit businesses, too. According to Equilar, a compensation research company, the median salary for chief executives at companies listed on the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was
$9.7 million, less than one-quarter of what Goodell was paid in 2012.

Michael T. Duke, the chief executive of Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer with sales of about $470 billion, was paid $20 million. Lawrence J. Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle, was the highest-paid executive at a public company, having received $96.2 million in 2012.

Goodell’s pay, which was first reported by Sports Business Journal on Friday and will be disclosed in the N.F.L.’s annual filing with the Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday, reflects the league’s continued growth. Lucrative broadcast deals, concessions won from the players in the most recent collective bargaining agreement and an increased presence overseas have helped push the league’s annual revenue higher.

Goodell has also helped steer the league through a legal minefield. In August, the N.F.L. agreed to pay $765 million to settle lawsuits brought by about 5,000 retired players who accused the league of hiding the dangers of concussions. Some analysts believe the deal could have been for far more.

Perhaps most important to the league’s owners, 23 of the 32 franchises are worth more than $1 billion, and every club is profitable, according to Forbes.

“As we have previously discussed with all owners, Commissioner Goodell’s compensation reflects our pay-for-performance philosophy and is appropriate given the fact that the N.F.L. under his consistently strong leadership continues to grow and is by far the most successful sports league,” the N.F.L.’s compensation committee wrote in a memo to all owners.

Robert K. Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots and a member of the compensation committee, added: “It’s competitive with what is happening in major American corporations. Given the complexity of his job and reach of it, I think he’s worth it.”

The N.F.L.’s filing next week will also show that Jeff Pash, the league’s general counsel, was paid $7.86 million in 2012, while Steve Bornstein, the league’s outgoing executive vice president for media, was paid $26.1 million.

Without his one-time deferred bonus and pension payment from 2011, Goodell’s compensation was $35.1 million in 2012, about as much compensation as Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, received, said Marc Ganis, a consultant to several N.F.L. teams who is familiar with the compensation figures.

“They believe the N.F.L. is the best-run league and has the brightest future, so they rewarded him based on his results,” Ganis said of Goodell, adding, “These numbers put Roger in the same ballpark as Bud.”

Selig made $17.5 million in 2006, the last year for which public filings are available. M.L.B. has given up its nonprofit status, and a spokesman for the league declined to comment on Selig’s current compensation.

The N.B.A. is not a nonprofit organization, so it does not have public filings. News media outlets have speculated that David Stern, who recently retired as commissioner, was paid as much as $23 million.

Gary Bettman, the N.H.L. commissioner, made $8.3 million in the fiscal year that ended in June 2012. Michael Whan, the commissioner of the L.P.G.A., received $636,000 in 2011.

Jeremy Spector, outside counsel to the N.F.L., wrote in U.S. News and World Report in November that the league paid taxes on every dollar of income it earned.

“Claims that the N.F.L. is using a tax exemption to avoid paying the tax due on these revenues are simply misinformed,” he wrote. “The confusion arises from the fact that there is one small part of the N.F.L., unrelated to all this business activity, that is tax-exempt: the N.F.L. league office.”

The league office, he said, acts no differently than a trade association that promotes its member companies, and has never claimed to be a charity.

Bill Daly, the deputy commissioner of the N.H.L., said his league had nonprofit status because it acts on behalf of its clubs. N.H.L. Enterprises, the merchandising and licensing arm of the league, is a taxable business entity.

The L.P.G.A. had no comment.

Nonprofit status is typically given to groups that deliver services that private-sector companies are unwilling or unable to provide, said Ken Berger, the president and chief executive of Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest charity evaluator. The N.F.L. stretches that definition, he said.

“The idea that a person becomes a multimillionaire running a nonprofit that is supposed to provide a service that can’t be provided by the market is absurd,” Berger said. “The notion that every taxpayer is subsidizing an organization whose leader is making
$30 million or more is a waste.”

A committee that includes several N.F.L. owners — among them Kraft, Arthur Blank of the Atlanta Falcons and Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers — sets Goodell’s compensation, which included just $3.5 million in salary.

Most of his compensation comes from the annual dues that each team pays to cover the league’s operating expenses, including salaries. Some of it also comes from N.F.L. Ventures, a for-profit subsidiary that handles the league’s marketing, media and other businesses.

In 2012, the owners extended Goodell’s contract through the end of the 2018 season.

“We look at the numbers and go crazy, but we need to ask ourselves, How many people are there who can do this job, and what is the going rate?” said Rodney Fort, a sports economist at the University of Michigan. “People don’t go to watch owners own; they go to watch players play. But that doesn’t mean that what a commissioner does isn’t more valuable, given all the zeros he produces.”

Correction: February 14, 2014
An earlier version of this article and its headline misstated the year in which Roger Goodell was paid $44.2 million. It was in 2012, not 2013.

Jeff Z. Klein contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on February 15, 2014, on page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: Goodell’s Pay in 2012 Puts Him in Big Leagues. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Another Triangle

Retired Armed Force Serviceman Reports UFO over Oregon

Numerous Unknown Objects Seen over Oregon - Retired Military Man Reports

By Billy Booth

UFOs/Aliens Expert

V-shaped UFO - B J Booth — Depiction of Oregon Sighting. B J Booth

Introduction

The following report was made by a man who is retired from the Armed Forces, and highly regarded for his expertise in the identification of flying craft. The culprit in this case is the enigmatic triangle, which is a mystery unto itself. The triangles have had much said about them, including the following articles: The Mystery of the Triangles, The Triangles: UFOs or Experimental Craft, Father and Son Witness Triangle over Lake Michigan and Recent Triangle Reports.
Shape: Triangle - Duration: 2 hours - strange colored lights, transparent pie pan-shaped object, large triangular craft with glowing lights. July 27th, 2014, approximately 10 pm... After receiving a call from a co-worker, I stepped out to my backyard to observe the skies southeast of my home in Oak Grove, Oregon. The following account documents my observations over the next 2 hours.

Milwaukie, Oregon - 07-27-14
Within minutes, I spotted over a half dozen stationary objects in what appeared to be a "V" type formation, in symmetrical and near perfect alignment. Using my binoculars and a tripod to steady my view, I concluded these things were motionless, and displayed in common, a distinct array of multi-colored flickering lights, green, red and yellow.
Within the first 20 minutes 2 additional objects appeared from the south taking positions flanking the formations southeast wing. These two objects appeared more distant than the others and not as bright, still displaying colored lights and assuming symmetrical positions in reference to the other objects. Separate from the formation was an object with the same features including the colored lights in a stationary position. This object was positioned more north from the other objects and shined brighter.
Another Type of Object
During my observation of this activity, I was drawn to observe an entirely different type of object which appeared much closer to my home and much larger as it moved from dead south in a northwesterly direction. Its elevation was extremely low, and it was traveling at a low rate of speed very similar to the way the Goodyear blimp might travel.
Because of its low proximity to the ground I was only able to observe it briefly, as it passed by the trees across from my home, obstructing my view. I would describe its shape to be similar to that of the bottom of a pie pan. The entire shape was lit up as if its exterior was amplifying a bright light from within. I made no further observations of this object for the remainder of the evening.
V-shaped Object Seen
At approximately 11:30 pm I made the most astounding observation. Appearing from the south directly headed over my home and my neighbors I saw two lights approaching my location in a direct south to north flight path. As it approached I was able to get a clear view as it passed directly overhead. Its frame was shaped like a "V" bearing one large, dimly lit, milky white spherical light, toward the outer most portion of each wing.
These lights were not projecting any light they were more or less just a steady glow, with no fluctuating characteristics. I can only guess that this craft was flying at an altitude near 3000 to 5000 feet. I could make out its shape as it displaced the background of the sky above me.
As for its size, it appeared larger than anything I've ever seen, military or otherwise. What also seems very strange is that as this craft moved in a slow steady northward direction, it made absolutely no sound; no sound whatsoever.
Another Night's Sighting
Curious about the previous night’s observations, I decided to observe the skies again the following night at 9:30 pm, making similar observations with the stationary lights "V" type formation. This time there weren't as many. I counted five, one in the center, flanked by two on either side set apart by identical distance, each bearing the same colored light signatures.
As with the night before, there was one singular object shining brightly above my house, slightly westward. I woke up at 4 am and stepped out to see if the lights were still there, only to find they were nowhere to be found.

Posted but not written by Louis Sheehan

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Manhunt on after deadly police barracks shooting

Posted but not written by: Lou Sheehan

CBS/APSeptember 13, 2014, 7:34 AM

Manhunt on after deadly police barracks shooting

Last Updated Sep 13, 2014 11:04 AM EDT

BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. -- Two troopers were ambushed outside a state police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania during a late-night shift change, leaving one dead and another injured, and authorities were searching Saturday for the suspect or suspects, state police said.
On Saturday morning, a law enforcement official told CBS News that "a person of interest" was being interviewed in connection with the deadly shooting, CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports.
The official said no one has been taken into custody and that there were no arrests at this point, Milton reports.
On Friday night, tne trooper was leaving the barracks in Blooming Grove, Pike County, and another was arriving when shots were fired at 10:50 p.m., State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said. He confirmed that one trooper was killed and the other was injured and taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Scranton, where he was in stable condition after undergoing surgery.
Noonan provided few details on the shooting but said the attack seemed to be directed at state police.
"This has been an emotional night for all of us," he told reporters.
Law enforcement officials from across the region, including New York and New Jersey, descended on northeastern Pennsylvania to help with the search on foot and by helicopter. The Blooming Grove barracks is in a wooded area, surrounded by state game lands.
Noonan said authorities did not have a description of the shooter or shooters but said they were following several leads.
"We can't say that the situation is completely in hand," he said.
Noonan said police did not believe the general public was at risk, but they are asking everyone to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.
"People in the area can come and go freely but should be alert," he said.
Several roads around the barracks, including parts of Interstate 84, were closed Saturday morning. Blooming Grove is a township of about 4,000 people about 35 miles east of Scranton.
Trooper Adam Reed, a state police spokesman, said the Blooming Grove barracks covers most of Pike County, which runs along the Delaware River and borders New Jersey and New York.
"There's a lot of rural area up where they patrol," he said. "As the primary police force in the county, they're going to respond to anything and everything."

[ My intention with my blog is to simply collect articles of interest to me for purposes of future reference. I do my best to indicate who has actually composed the articles. NONE of the articles have been written by me. – Louis Sheehan ]

Sunday, September 7, 2014

BBC True detective: The Scot who hunted Jack the Ripper

14 August 2014 Last updated at 04:11 ET

True detective: The Scot who hunted Jack the Ripper

A memorial has been unveiled in a Scottish town in honour of a teacher-turned-police officer who investigated the murders of Jack the Ripper.

Donald Swanson was born at Geise, near Thurso, and went on to become one of Britain's best Victorian detectives.
Here, historian Alan McIvor, author Adam Wood, who is writing a book about Mr Swanson, and Mr Swanson's family reveal details of his early life and his work in tackling some of the 1800s most shocking crimes.

Donald Swanson was born at Geise Distillery, about two miles from Thurso, on 12 August 1848. He was the youngest child of brewer John Swanson and his wife Mary.
The distillery, which closed in 1851, is now long gone and ruined buildings now mark the spot.
Mr Swanson was still a boy when his family left Geise and moved to a home in Thurso's Durness Street.

He attended Robert Meikle's Parish School in Thurso's Market Place, before going to the Miller Institution.
After leaving school, Mr Swanson was a teacher for a time at the Miller Institution, which is today a public library.

In 1867, Mr Swanson left on a horse-drawn stagecoach with the aim of getting himself to London.
His 83-year-old granddaughter Mary Berkin said: "When you are 20 the world is your oyster and I suppose he thought 'if I get on that stagecoach I will get to London eventually and make my fortune'."
In 1868, the young man joined the Metropolitan Police.
Mr Swanson rose through the ranks and earned promotions to sergeant, detective inspector and detective chief inspector in 1888 - the year of Jack the Ripper's murder of five women in the Whitechapel area.

In 1896 he was made superintendent of the force's criminal investigation department.
During his long career in the police, Mr Swanson handled investigations into some of the worst crimes of the Victorian age.
He was involved in the arrest of murderer Percy Lefroy Mapleton in 1881.
Mapleton planned a robbery on a train from London to Brighton. He targeted a former stockbroker, killing the man by throwing him out of a carriage after unsuccessfully shooting at him with a revolver.
Mr Swanson was involved in two other major investigations that same year.
One led to the recovery of jewellery worth £250,000 stolen from a Lady Alice Bective.
Later, Mr Swanson found himself back in Scotland tasked with hunting down a gang of grave robbers who stole the body of an aristocrat and demanded a ransom for its return.
A stone cross still marks the spot where the Earl of Crawford's body was found unceremoniously buried in woods near Dunecht in Aberdeenshire.
In 1884, the detective helped in the hunt for those responsible for a prolonged bombing campaign, and four years later tackled his most gruesome case.
Jack the Ripper murdered five women in the Whitechapel area of London.
In private notes, Mr Swanson named "Kosminski" as the killer.
In more modern times, writers have named Polish-born Aaron Kosminski as a suspect.
Mr Kosminski, a hairdresser who arrived in England in 1882, had a history of mental illness.
He was allegedly spotted at the scene of the murder of Elizabeth Stride, believed to be the Ripper's third victim.
Mr Wood said: "According to Swanson's annotations, Kosminski was a prime suspect.
"He went insane and was committed to an asylum where he died shortly afterwards."
In 1903, the Scottish detective, who frequently returned to Thurso for holidays, retired on a pension of £280-a-year.
He died in Surrey on 24 November 1924 and was buried at Kingston cemetery.

Police officer and Donald Swanson's rattle

Mr Swanson's police rattle was brought to the unveiling ceremony in Thurso by his family.
Rattles were carried by Metropolitan Police officers until the 1880s as a means of raising an alarm. Whistles replaced rattles because the sound from a whistle travelled further.

"The things that he and the other police at the time had to look at, probe at and find out about - I wonder how they could stomach that," said Mrs Berkin, who unveiled the new memorial outside Thurso Police Station earlier this week with the policeman's great grandson Nevill Swanson.
Historian Mr McIvor added: "He was something else. The career he had was incredible. The fact he came from Thurso is absolutely fantastic."

Posted but not written by: Lou Sheehan

Monday, September 1, 2014

French president Hollande 'preparing to marry mistress on his 60th birthday' seven months after affair with actress was made public

Posted but not written by: Lou Sheehan

French president Hollande 'preparing to marry mistress on his 60th birthday' seven months after affair with actress was made public

Claim over Francois Hollande made in sensational French media reports
Has been plagued by rumours since Valerie Trierweiler left him in January
Julie Gayet, 42, has kept low profile ever since the affair was made public

By Peter Allen

Published: 09:30 EST, 20 July 2014 | Updated: 19:48 EST, 20 July 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2699049/Hollande-preparing-marry-mistress-60th-birthday-seven-months-splitting-Trierweiler.html

Francois Hollande is preparing to marry his mistress on his 60th birthday next month, according to sensational media reports in France.

The country’s bachelor president has been plagued by rumours about his personal life since splitting up with his live-in-girlfriend in January.

Valerie Trierweiler, 49, had to leave the Elysee when Mr Hollande’s secret affair with Julie Gayet, a 42-year-old actress, was made public.

Scroll down for video

Claims: President Francois Hollande (left) is preparing to marry his mistress Julie Gayet (right), a 42-year-old actress, on his 60th birthday next month, according to sensational media reports in France

Miss Gayet has kept a low profile ever since – refusing to even acknowledge she is seeing the head of state – but may now be preparing to tie the knot.

Midi Libre, the highly respected newspaper, is one of many which reports: ‘The President of the Republic could make official his relationship with Julie Gayet by marrying her on August 12, the date of his sixtieth birthday.’

A Socialist Party source meanwhile told the Parisien newspaper: ‘It’s been three months that we have been hearing that he intends to formalise his relationship with Julia Gayet on August 12, when they will marry.’

The rumours intensified on July 14, Bastille Day, when Mr Hollande was asked directly about his private life in a live interview. Mr Hollande said: ‘When I have information, I’ll communicate it, I’ll do it, but I have none.’

ut: Valerie Trierweiler (right), 49, had to leave the Elysee when the secret affair of Mr Hollande (left) and Miss Gayet, a 42-year-old actress, was made public

According to the new claims, arrangements have now been made for a simple civic ceremony.

Mr Hollande, a Socialist, has never expressed any interest in the institution of marriage before, despite having four children with his Ecology Minister, Segolene Royal, another former girlfriend.

'When I have information, I’ll communicate it, I’ll do it, but I have none'

Francois Hollande

But it is thought that Mr Hollande has felt increasingly uncomfortable attending official engagements without an official partner.

If the marriage goes ahead, it will mean that France will have another ‘celebrity’ first lady, following four years of former supermodel and pop singer Carla Bruni, up until 2012.

While Julie Gayet, a divorced mother of two, is barely known internationally, she is a well-known TV actress in France, having regularly appeared in a number of programmes, films and talk shows.

omparison: If the marriage goes ahead, it will mean that France will have another 'celebrity' first lady, after four years of former supermodel and pop singer Carla Bruni (pictured with Nicolas Sarkozy), up until 2012

Comparison: If the marriage goes ahead, it will mean that France will have another 'celebrity' first lady, after four years of former supermodel and pop singer Carla Bruni (pictured with Nicolas Sarkozy), up until 2012

Despite this, she launched civil proceedings against magazines for publishing pictures of Mr Hollande arriving at flat in Paris on the back of a moped.

'It’s been three months that we have been hearing that he intends to formalise his relationship with Julia Gayet on August 12, when they will marry'

Socialist Party source

She and the President were using the love nest, almost next door to the Elysee Palace, for secret trysts while Ms Trierweiler portrayed herself as first lady.

Ms Trierweiler suffered an emotional breakdown when she heard about the deception, checking herself into hospital for more than a week.

In recent weeks there have been rumours that Mr Hollande and Ms Trierweiler were intending to get back together again, but a marriage involving Miss Gayet would of course end all hope.

Posted but not written by: Lou Sheehan

The Economist explains Who the Ukrainian rebels are

The Economist explains

Who the Ukrainian rebels are

Aug 31st 2014, 23:50 by N.S. | KIEV

- See more at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/08/economist-explains-21?fsrc=nlw|newe|1-09-2014|5356ceab899249e1cccba350|#sthash.evNRczQo.dpuf

THE tides of eastern Ukraine's war have shifted again. After weeks of ceding territory, the Ukrainian rebels have dealt government forces a series of swift counterstrikes. Backed by reinforcements from Russia, the separatists retook several towns near the regional capitals of Donetsk and Luhansk over the past week, and have opened up a third front to the south. The message was clear: we aren't going anywhere. The pro-Western Ukrainian government in Kiev has long asserted that the insurgency is a Russian creation. Despite moving more than 1,000 Russian troops into Ukrainian territory over the past week, the Kremlin calls the war a purely “domestic matter”, insisting that any Russians that happen to be found fighting are simply “volunteers” or soldiers on holiday. So who exactly are the rebels?

After Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February and Russia annexed Crimea in March, a patchwork of poorly coordinated militias began seizing government buildings throughout the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April. These groups, who were made up almost entirely of disgruntled locals and sympathisers from elsewhere in Ukraine, declared independence in May as the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. Together, this budding statelet calls itself “Novorossiya” (New Russia)—a revived term for southern Ukrainian territory conquered by the Russian empire in the 18th century. Eastern Ukraine has since attracted a number of shadowy Muscovites, some with ties to Russia's security services, who have transformed the ragtag movement. Igor Girkin (aka “Strelkov”) took control of the Donetsk military wing; while Alexander Borodai was appointed as Donetsk’s prime minister. They returned to Russia in mid-August after being replaced by Ukrainians in an apparent attempt to give Novorossiya a façade of local control.

The Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics maintain separate administrations, complete with their own prime ministers and cabinets (including separate defence ministers). The Luhansk region, which borders Russia, has served as the primary conduit for arms and fighters, while the Donetsk region further west has borne the brunt of the Ukrainian offensive. They retain operational independence on their territories, but coordinate closely. Throughout the summer, as weapons and fighters flowed across the porous border, the separatist army has solidified into a formidable fighting force, one that bears little resemblance to its initial incarnation. It now possesses sophisticated weapons, including scores of tanks, artillery systems, armoured personnel carriers and anti-aircraft missiles, like the SA-11 "BUK" believed to have downed a Malaysia Airlines aeroplane in July—a tragically reckless act that the rebels still deny a hand in.

Although Vladimir Putin’s denials of Russian troop presence are farcical, the true extent of Russian involvement remains unclear. A full-scale invasion would probably include more than a few thousand troops—NATO officials say as many as 20,000 troops are poised at the border. For now, Mr Putin appears determined not to bear responsibility for a war that has killed nearly 2,600 people, most of them civilians. He continues to funnel his fighters and weapons to the rebel army in an effort to create a frozen conflict as he has done elsewhere, in the hope that he can one day insert “Novorossiya" into his new map of the world.

- See more at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/08/economist-explains-21?fsrc=nlw|newe|1-09-2014|5356ceab899249e1cccba350|#sthash.iPRtTDn0.dpuf

Posted but not written by: Lou Sheehan

Sunday, August 31, 2014

From: THE ATLANTIC

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/going-to-switzerland-is-a-euphemism-for-assisted-suicide/379182/

Posted but not written by: Lou Sheehan

Going to Switzerland' Is a Euphemism for Assisted Suicide

More and more foreigners are visiting the country's right-to-die organizations, a new study says.

Julie Beck Aug 27 2014, 10:30 AM ET

In the United States, “aid-in-dying” as some advocates call it, is legal in New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Montana. But the conditions under which a physician can help someone die are regulated—for example, in Washington, the person must be a resident, and be terminally ill with less than six months to live.
But Switzerland does not have clear regulations on assisted suicide, as highlighted by a new study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, though it’s not for lack of trying. Several proposed regulations over the past few decades have failed. Six voluntary right-to-die organizations exist in the country, each with their own criteria, and four of them offer services to residents of other countries.
The Swiss researchers write that “the six right-to-die organizations assist in approximately 600 cases of suicide per year; some 150 to 200 of which are suicide tourists,” or people coming to Switzerland seeking aid-in-dying. The study looks at the data on suicide tourism in the greater Zurich area between 2008 and 2012.
In almost all of the instances of people coming to Switzerland from a foreign country seeking assisted suicide, Dignitas was the organization involved, and the people typically died by ingesting sodium pentobarbital (in all but four cases in 2008, in which they died by inhaling helium).
Almost half of the “suicide tourists” came from Germany—the U.K. and France had the next highest percentages. People seeking assisted dying were between 23 and 97 years old, with a median age of 69, and nearly 60 percent were women. The most common reasons cited for pursuing assisted suicide were neurological disease (47 percent) and cancer (37 percent).
“After a decrease between 2008 and 2009, the number of suicide tourists doubled between 2009 and 2012,” the study says. “The initial fall could be explained by negative media reporting on the four cases of [assisted suicide] with helium inhalation in spring 2008. The deaths were described as excruciating.”
Not only did the number of suicide tourists increase in that time, but they came from more and more other countries. The study posits that other European countries might change their legislation as a result of this growing phenomenon. (“In the U.K., at least, ‘going to Switzerland’ has become a euphemism for [assisted suicide],” the researchers write.) And indeed, they do note that all three of the countries where suicide tourism was most prevalent (Germany, France, and the U.K.) introduced new assisted suicide legislation during the period studied. The proposed German law would forbid advertising for aid-to-dying abroad; the proposed French and U.K. bills would allow physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients.
“Political debate in Switzerland and other countries is continuing, with the possibility of further amendments in the near future, in both Switzerland and elsewhere, unless Switzerland issues clear and structured regulations on suicide tourism,” the study says.

Monday, September 22, 2014