So do the zero-growth, sustainable-growth, right-to-die, duty-to-die, life boat bio-ethicists who dominate so much of our intellectual discussion.

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Each year, nearly three million babies die within their first month of life -- more than a third die on their day of birth -- and 287, 000 women die from pregnancy or childbirth, according to the report.

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But, I really would hate to think that these answers would be left to the free-market where the rich get to live longer because they can afford a heart bypass operation that works over 95% of the time while the poor are left to die because they cannot afford the identical, life-saving surgery.

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In other words, people who had substantive discussions with their doctor about their end-of-life preferences were far more likely to die at peace and in control of their situation, and to spare their family anguish.

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Last year, Forbes.com studied these differences (See: " The Best Places to Die") and discovered that when it comes to end-of-life issues, geography can be destiny for the terminally ill.

FORBES: For Dying, Geography Can Be Destiny

Claire Holdcroft is an outreach worker for the Jennifer Trust, which works with families affected by spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) - a neuromuscular disease from which babies can die within the first days of life.

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You can have a child die in the morning and then save an 80-year-old man's life in the afternoon, the emotions are up and down.

BBC: Stress, emotion and drama: Behind the scenes at the NHS

Still, as with many of these systems, communities of die-hard gamers have found refuge on the web with other like-minded individuals, devoted to breathing some new life into their late, lamented handhelds.

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