When Dr. Jack Kevorkian stood trial for his willingness to assist terminally ill people with their deaths, the question quickly became: is physician-assisted euthanasia compassionate, or is it murder? We’re still a nation divided on the issue. And what about children? What do we think about allowing terminally ill children the choice to die?

Earlier this month, Belgium became the first country in the world to approve physician-assisted suicides for terminally ill children.  The law, which already allows euthanasia for adults with terminal illnesses, will give children the right to choose to end their lives if they are in “constant and unbearable physical suffering” and equipped “with a capacity of discernment” to make that decision along with their parents. The Belgian Parliament still must vote to pass the measure by next spring, but it’s expected to support the decision of the Senate.

Death and dying, we know, are unavoidable. Undignified suffering? That can be avoided. There’s no light in the tragedy of a child facing a terminal illness, but helping to shorten their suffering is, at the very least, a noble effort. It seems to be the kind of decision we make as a society on the precipice of an evolutionary leap—one towards understanding and respect for the sovereignty of individual consciousness (of all species).

Religion likes to interject itself here into discussions about living and dying, of what god (or, rather, a god) wants. It’s taboo in many faiths to commit suicide, even if you’re an innocent 9-year-old with cancer. But here’s the thing. Religions, save for a very few, are really, really old—originating in times and spaces about as far removed as you can get from iPads, chemotherapy and Google Glass. Terminal illnesses back then were of the plague variety. If you got it, most everyone else you knew did too. Leukemia was less of a threat than predators or conquests, complicated births or starvation. Had cancer been an issue in Biblical times (or AIDS, or cystic fibrosis or any other number of awful diseases there’s often no relief from), we’d more likely have a different moral compass when it comes to euthanasia (and abortion for that matter, too). If Jesus wasn’t nailed to a cross, but instead clung to his last breath on life support, the question of when it’s ethical to end a life would not be a question.

The other caveat here is our history with killing children. Nazi Germany comes to mind. So does Darfur. The difference here though is undeniably the element of compassion; but a dead child, no matter what the cause, hurts us in a profound way. As a mother, I wonder how long I’d hold onto hope for a cure, for a miracle, for anything that could change my child’s fate if she lay in a hospital bed waiting to die. At the same time though, I’d also want to do anything to stop her suffering. And if she asked me to let her die?

Morality isn’t really subjective. It’s always about doing the right thing–the thing that causes the least amount of suffering. Modern medicine allows us many benefits, but is extended suffering moral? As science and technology become even better at keeping us alive, we have reason to hold out hope for medical miracles. Certainly our children do. But we must remember the laws of nature. Everyone gets to be young, but not everyone gets to grow old. And if we can’t grow old because of a painful, incurable disease, sparing a child undue suffering seems to be the next best thing.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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Image: Christiaan Triebert

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Bringing meaning to the joy of eating.

When the “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” proverb is the only adage in your arsenal of food wisdom, it’s time to bulk up on new things to say. From Ireland to China and the likes of Helen Keller to Ronald Reagan, these 20 quotes will bring even more meaning and joy to the act of eating.

When I am eating I am deaf and dumb. –Russia

To eat is human, to digest, divine. –Mark Twain

Life is too short to drink bad wine. –France

Whose bread I eat, his song I sing. –Germany

Too many cooks spoil the broth. –Italy

At the table with good friends and family you do not become old. –Italy

If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one. –Mother Theresa

Fine words do not produce food. –Nigeria

If you are looking for a fly in your food, it means that you are full. –South Africa

Avoid fruits and nuts. You are what you eat. –Jim Davis (Garfield)

Who fasts but does no other good saves his bread but goes to hell. –Italy

There is no sincerer love than the love of food. –Bernard Shaw

He who takes medicine and neglects to diet wastes the skill of his doctors. –China

It is easier to halve the potato when there’s love. –Ireland

A piece of bread in one’s pocket is better than a feather in one’s hat. –Sweden

You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jelly beans. –Ronald Reagan

Give a man a fish, you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime. –China

The good Lord has changed water into wine, so how can drinking beer be a sin? –Belgium

Happiness rarely keeps company with an empty stomach. –Helen Keller

Food tastes best when you eat it with your own spoon. –Denmark

Images: B@ni

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

Check out our article on 50 pick up lines for foodies

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Room with a hue: the Pantone Hotel is themed around every designer’s essential tool.

Cutting-edge design might not be the first thing that springs to mind when Brussels is mentioned. Maybe mussels, chocolate, lots of Euro-politics. As such, the Pantone Hotel is a much-needed blast of color in the midst of bureaucratic grey. If you’re a beige, greige or otherwise neutral palette person, then forget it. If you’re a designer, it’s hotel heaven.

Everything, from mugs and folding chairs to walls, is in a Pantone color showing its ID number or name. Even the bicycles (available for sale, though not for riding) are brightly colored.

Sixties moulded plastic chairs in zingy orange and Mediterranean turquoise, and stripey walls, are guaranteed to pep you up for a stroll round the city, but won’t look so great after too many brews.

Interiors are white canvases with splashes of color, each of the seven floors is themed by mood (earthy: brown; fiery: vermillion; vibrant: orange; fresh: aquamarine). The accents, used sparingly to dramatic effect, are provided by pantone panels on the walls showing each room’s palette along with tonally-coordinated original artwork. Block-color bedspreads abound in the bedroom; in the bathroom, cups, shampoo and toilet roll (yes, really).

The 61 guest rooms have LCD TVs and free WIFI; being a tall townhouse, the top ones offer great city views. If you’re a low-down, just pop up to the roof terrace to look out over this medieval city.

Rates from $143 including tax and every color in the rainbow and beyond, but not the Pantone products (cups, chairs, iPhone cases). The little colored sugar sachets are good to go, though.

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Welcome to Art Nocturne: Where moon worshipers buy high art.

Art Basel can keep the sunshine. On the shores of the Belgian coast, Art Nocturne is one of Europe’s most prestigious international fine art and antiques fairs. Held between August 6- 15 in CC Scharpoord and Hotel La Réserve in a place called Knokke, the event takes its namesake from its nocturnal habits: it deals in Van Gogh’s exclusively during the dusky hours of 4pm to 9pm.

Perhaps I’m suggesting this because I’ve just concluded my Sunday evening ritual of True Blood and tea, but this ­– otherwise, an informal fête – tweaked my imagination because it strikes me as an event where jet-setting moneyed vampire types like sexy (yet cute and vulnerable, Eric Northman go antiquing.

Allow me my fantasies.

Much of the art at this year’s Nocturne will be contemporary. Nevertheless, the 50-plus fine arts and antiques dealers from around the world will also be showcasing specialized treasures ranging from Asian art to art deco.

Not just anyone can sell, unless you made a cameo appearance in Interview With a Vampire or Dracula (sorry, Twilight’s a bit too tweeny for this crowd). Participants are hand-selected by an international forum that considers the dialogue between ancient and contemporary art in good taste. Nocturne is considered a buyers’ fair, rather than an exposition.

Some vampy finds I could sink my teeth into include this selection from De Pauw-Müller, which trades in “Haute Epoque Sculptures,” and works of art from the 14^th to 18^th centuries.

As well as this fine piece of hedendaagse kunst (contemporary art, silly mortal) from Galerie van Campen & Rochtus.

The early period furniture and objets d’art from Jan Roelofs Antiquairs are worth a fair maiden or two (even a Sookie).

Finally, this TK from Sem Art Gallery in Monaco just about says it all.

A fang-bangers paradise?

For sure.

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