Ted Strickland Talks About His Senate Race with Rob Portman

Futuristic departure lounge might be just what the doctor ordered

For fans of the movie "Soylent Green" that features a futuristic world that's hot and crowded, the departure lounge Edward G. Robinson visits to end it all could be a good idea if society would just admit that committing suicide isn't the taboo it's been made out to be over time.

Actor Edward G. Robinson
plays Levi in Soylent Green

"Death has always been scary," Ronni Bennett writes on "Time Goes By," her popular outlet for thoughts on aging that has a world-wide following. "For centuries, humans have tried to mitigate that fear with ghost stories, with goblins and skeleton costumes on Halloween and the popularity of vampires in books and film, all of which have in common the possibility of some form of continued consciousness of self after death."

Bennett, who just turned 75 and lives in Oregon even though she left her heart in her beloved New York City after years of working there in the media industry, notes that the taboo against death talk has begun to loosen. She says it's connected, in part, "with the realization that for the foreseeable future there are going to be a whole lot more old people, in relation to the entire population, than has ever been seen on earth."

That means growing numbers who are concerned with and want to know more about how to control their deaths, Bennett said in a recent post that includes some help from one of her friends. Not too long ago, I sent her my view on the inevitable:

"Maybe a smart, fashionable, modern-day departure lounge equipped with all the amenities, including lawyers and accountants to put one's affairs in final order before takeoff, would be the right recipe for anyone who might want to walk into one one day and feel comfortable saying adios. 

"The first one could be located in the middle of a western state desert, so it wouldn't be convenient to get to for anyone who wasn't determined to get there. Of course, if lines start forming, other locations could be considered."

I also sent a YouTube clip to her from the 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green that features a scene where Levi, played by Edward G Robinsin, who died shortly after he filmed the scene, enjoys a tranquil, comfortable exit. I have watched it many times, and now think it's not gruesome at all but actually something that just might work if given a chance.

The movie became notorious for its shocking end plot twist. You can read about it at Wikipedia if you want. I sent the clip to her, and she included it in a post on the subject of a "good death." 

"John and I had been emailing about death with dignity laws when he included a link to this Soylent Green clip titled, “Levi Goes Home,” in which Edward G. Robinson (in his last film role) goes, as John explained in his email, “to the futuristic service center that caters to people ready to say goodbye.”

Bennett reveals the emergence of Death cafes, which now commonly attract people to neighborly discussions of dying without too much flinching from anyone, she writes. "My favorite mortician, Caitlin Doughty, not only keeps a popular blog titled The Order of the Good Death which demystifies all deathly things, her Ask A Mortician videos on YouTube are as much a hoot as informative," Bennett informs us..

A student of all things aging and age related, Ms. Bennett said it came to mind a few days ago when The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry in its April issue released a study titled Defining a Good Death (Successful Dying). She reports on the study, a review of 36 previous studies that includes patients, family members and healthcare provider stakeholders.  

Eleven core themes of good death were identified by the researchers: • preferences for a specific dying process, • pain-free status, • religiosity/spirituality, • emotional well-being, • life completion, • treatment preferences, • dignity, • family, • quality of life, • relationship with the health care provider, • other

Bennett tells us that one kind of control is physician-assisted suicide. Four states currently allow what is also called “death with dignity” under very strict rules and California, later this year, is likely to join Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana with such a law, she says.

"Many people oppose this kind of legal suicide as a slippery slope that can lead to pressure on people, the old in particular, I suppose, to hurry along their journey to whatever comes next," she notes.

Bennett says she welcomes death with dignity laws and thinks the rules are too strict. "But the idea that anyone would suggest that a person end his/her life to save the government some money is disgusting and dangerous," she says in rebuttal to a reader who reported on some thinking that was a good reason to end it all for the wrong reason. 

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The Little Blockbuster Case On Kasich Dirty Tricks That Won't Go Away

Plaintiff attorneys representing the Libertarian Party of Ohio [LPO] and its candidate for governor in 2014 just won't give up. Their case that exposes what Gov. John Kasich and his political friends and allies will do behind the scenes to assure him a win by eliminating his competition has another life to live, this time in an appeal filed Monday with the Court of Appeals of Ohio, Tenth Appellate District.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the Lincoln
Room at the Ohio Statehouse

Plaintiff attorneys Mark Brown and Mark G. Kafantaris filed the appeal after it was dismissed by out-going Republican Franklin County Administrative Judge Patrick Sheeran, who ruled in March that the Ohio Elections Commission made the correct decision when it voted 5-2 in May of 2015 to not investigate coordinated activities between Mr. Kasich's campaign staff, the Ohio Republican Party and a long-time friend and political operative to derail LPO's candidate for governor, Charlie Earl. At the time, Camp Kasich thought Earl popular enough that he could drain enough votes away from Gov. Kasich and make the election with the Democratic candidate closer than Camp Kasich wanted it to be.

The Walking Dead Of Court Cases

According to the court document outlining the reasons for an appeal, LPO's team of lawyers argued that Judge Sheeran erred in his decision to dismiss the case. "The Common Pleas Court erred in concluding that the Commission's record 'absolutely refuted' the possibility that the full Commission's dismissal might have been on the merits," Plaintiff attorneys wrote.

101 Refresher on Kasich Dirty Tricks Squad

In a short refresher course, the filing says the case to dump Earl from the 2014 ballot, which with the help of Ohio's Secretary of State was successful, starts with the 2014 gubernatorial election in Ohio, when LPO had on January 7, 2014 won back its right to participate in Ohio's elections. That presence, the argument goes, threatened "Kasich's hegemony in Ohio. Not because its candidate, Charlie Earl, would win the election; but because Earl threatened to siphon votes away from Kasich's campaign."

When Mr. Earl qualified for the ballot, the filing says, "Kasich's campaign became concerned that Earl could draw votes away from Kasich in the general election. Earl had to be stopped."

Gov. John Kasich's dirty tricks squad went to work, but it's task wasn't easy. "As the record makes clear in this case, it cost almost $600,000. For legal and political reasons, the Kasich Campaign went to great lengths to distance itself from Earl's removal. It constructed a 'secret client,' Terry Casey, to take care of the needed financial transactions. It was Casey, a secret operative, who hired the lawyers (the Zeiger firm or "ZTL") to remove Earl. Casey hired the Zeiger firm; Casey received the bills from the Zeiger firm; Casey agreed to insure that the bills -- which came to $600,000 -- were paid," the filing says. Mr. Casey has been a friend of John Kasich's going back to Mr. Kasich's first run for office in the late 1970s. When Kasich became governor in 2011, one of his first appoints was to install Mr. Casey to headsup the state's powerful personnel review board. Casey has argued he was a "self starter" and did not take direction from anyone from Kasich's team.

"Political espionage is a nasty business. When allowed to prosper in the shadows, it grows. It infects. Soon, the political process is consumed by this cancer. Only public disclosure and strident enforcement can prevent it," Brown and Kafantaris argue in the brief.

This State's campaign finance laws must be enforced, the appeal says. "This case is about enforcing Ohio's plain and understandable campaign finance laws. It is about preventing political espionage like that perpetrated by the Kasich Campaign."

Gov. Kasich, who is running for president for the second time in 16 years, and who finds himself one of three Republican candidates still in the 2016 race for GOP nominee, has not had to explain the findings of fact presented by LPO in this case. Mr. Kasich's reliable refrain is that he's above politics and only wants to bring people together. His record, from his early days to today, show that claim to be false on nearly all accounts.

As he struggles to remain relevant as voters in one state after another not choosing him but Donald Trump or Ted Cruz instead, Ohio's term-limited governor has managed to avoid any serious scrutiny from state or national media, who are more interested in his town hall meeting song playlist or his faux pas of eating pizza with a fork in New York City. Mr. Kasich has lots of scandals on his watch waiting to be delved into, and his underhanded tactic to take down a potential challenger that smacks of Nixonian era dirty tricks appears to have little interest among social media reporters who appear too lazy to look into the case let alone even mention it.

'Late Show' Lampoons John Kasich For 'Fargo' Film Rant

For everyone who watched the Friday night edition of the "Late Show" with Stephen Colbert, the surprise and hilarious treat was a sketch that lampooned Ohio Gov. John Kasich for the rant he wrote in his book "Stand For Something" about the disgust he and his wife had after watching the quirky film "Fargo."

Stephen Colbert, who will forever be remembered for his searing take down of President George W. Bush at a White House Correspondents dinner with Mr. Bush sitting just feet from him,  hasn't been a friend to Mr. Kasich on either of his two guest appearances on the popular CBS late night anchor show featuring actors and musicians among other guests.

Colbert's first guest, Steve Buscemi, who is well known for his many riveting roles on TV and at the movies, starred in the Cohen Brother's production of "Fargo," a crime drama set in Minnesota in 1987. The plot of the film involves a car salesman in Minneapolis who has gotten himself into debt and is so desperate for money that he hires two thugs to kidnap his own wife. One of those thugs was played by Mr. Buscemi.

Colbert, who moved to the Late Show on CBS from his Comedy Channel show where he played a right-wing pundit identical to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, handed John Kasich's book "Stand For Something" to Buscemi, then asked him to read passages written by Kasich on how the film disgusted him and his wife so much that he tried to get Blockbuster Video to ban it.

Buscemi read aloud Kasich's story of renting it, watching it and being revolted by it. The two then did a sketch with Buscemi, whose bad-guy character that eventually gets ground up in a wood chipper being the tipping point for John Kasich, using Kasich's own words as the script. It was a hoot.

Unfortunately for Gov. Kasich, he does stand for something, but as his long record tells shows, it's the wrong stuff. Meanwhile, as one of the three amigos remaining in the race for Republican presidential nominee this year, he finds himself far behind league leader Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in second place. Kasich was in Wisconsin today, ahead of next Tuesday's primary. With only one first-place finish in 30 races so far—he won his home state of Ohio with less than 50 percent of the vote—polls show he's a shoe-in for third place. With 18 more state primaries to go, the smart money isn't being bet on John Kasich winning those either. His plan, as reports on what Camp Kasich is planning, is to try to steal the nomination when Republicans convene in Cleveland in July.

The 63-year old term-limited governor is ripe for picking, and some reporters did that this week when the former Congressman and Lehman Brothers banker was caught eating pizza with a fork. Colbert and Buscemi didn't include that faux pas this time, but there's little doubt that Colbert's supper smart writers took notice since it happened in the Big Apple.

"In 2006, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and inducted into the United States National Film Registry for preservation, making it one of six films to have been preserved in their first year of eligibility.[5] The American Film Institute named it one of the 100 greatest American movies of all time in 1998," according to Wikipedia.

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