By virtue of his profession as a cancer research specialist, Joseph Harris, 26, a doctor of molecular biology, faced a moral dilemma and his solution found him guilty of breaking the law.

Harris, convicted under the Serious and Organized Crime Act, will be spending the next three years in jail. The Times Online, in Brilliant cancer scientist had double life as animal rights sab, features the clandestine life of Harris, whose work in discovering treatments and potential cures for gastro-intestinal and pancreatic cancers collided with his compassion as an animal rights activist and his passion for a girlfriend who dumped him because she disapproved of where his research would eventually lead -- to animal testing.

Harris pleaded guilty to causing damage to the premises of three companies connected to animal testing, and painting ALF (Animal Liberation Front) on walls, windows and vans belonging to the companies. He got caught in the act at the third facility.

When the Northampton Crown Court judge spoke to Harris he said, "I am sorry that your conviction and the sentence I impose will seriously damage what was a very promising career. It causes me great discomfort in seeing you before the court having thrown so much away."

Harris claimed he found information about the animal abuse at the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty website.

Some campaigns just make me sad. UK's Age Concern, a charity that works to promote the health and welfare of older citizens, has launched a campaign called Hungry To Be Heard because it seems nine of of ten nurses do not have time to make sure elderly patients are getting enough to eat during their stay in the hospital. As a result, over half of the elderly patients are at risk for malnutrition. As hospital patients, if the elderly are malnourished, they simply are not going to recover or heal as quickly; they are at greater risk for post-surgical complications and they suffer a higher rate of death.

Maybe I have been weaving my way through the web for too many years that shades my perspective cynical and jaded but there are few internet destinations I trust outright. Certainly not when it comes to purchasing drugs. Questions of purity, reliability of ingredients and quality immediately come to mind. Equally at issue is the folly of self diagnosis and self prescribing medications for self described illness or malady.

UK doctors have reported that a woman, who diagnosed herself with chronic fatigue syndrome and, on the advice of a neighbor, bought oral steroids from an online pharmacy in Thailand, is going blind as a result of the drugs she took.

This is a sad ending -- mostly because of the reason for the ending. The Guelph Mercury published a feature story about the Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute ending its annual garage sale to raise money for cancer research because, basically, the organizers are burnt out on the abuse of the public who took advantage of the garage sale.

For the past five years, the school has accepted donations for the annual garage sale. In five years, they have raised $50,000 dollars for cancer charity. Each year hundreds of students volunteer their time, and according to the story, most of them are doing it because they have had a parent who has been diagnosed with cancer. But people began to use the fundraiser as a way to dump junk that had little resale value.

Then, this year, during the sale, a woman took off with one of the school handcarts that wasn't for sale. The organizers will have to pay out of pocket for a new one. Even when the woman was confronted, and told the nature of the annual sale to raise money for cancer, she refused to hand over the trolley. That's when everyone finally said they had enough, and called it quits. The feature in its entirety, is here.

Despite a threatened lawsuit, The National Enquirer is refusing to back down from its exclusive cover story that Whitney Houston has a brain tumor and states they are standing by the story 100 percent. Meanwhile, multiple-Grammy winning singer Whitney Houston, and her representatives, are denying there is any truth to the rumor and are threatening the tabloid with legal action. Houston has suffered turbulent challenges both professionally and personally over the years, and has been the focus of more than one tabloid story concerning her alleged drug use, career and marriage. It would be sad if she indeed has a brain tumor, but considering the source of the news announcing such a diagnosis, it is difficult to know at this time how much truth there is to the story. Hopefully -- none.

Cancer is a physical disease. But it has striking affects on mental, emotional and spiritual wellness too. Worried Sick: The Emotional Impact of Cancer is a report done by Macmillan Cancer Support that illustrates the devastating emotional impact cancer can have for the patient and family living with cancer, and the lack of support services available to address these needs. Depression, anxiety, and isolation are common feelings. The entire experience of cancer can place a serious strain on the best of relationships. It can end less durable relationships. Divorce and separation can be an outcome of the stress of living with a life-threatening illness. Cancer patients report feeling alone and abandoned with no one they can really talk even when they do not live alone.

Personally, I know of a woman who was struggling through the grueling ordeal of chemotherapy. She had suffered all the physical side-effects of chemotherapy, such as hair loss, weight loss, weakness -- drained of any healthly glow. She was not in a good marriage to begin with, but at her most vulnerable and weakest moment, her husband actually turned to her and said, "Why don't you just hurry up and die." Up until that moment, she was not sure she was going to survive cancer. In that moment, she became determined not only to survive cancer, but her husband. Today, years later, she is a breast cancer survivor. True story.

For a surprising majority of cancer patients, the negative emotional impact of cancer far outweighs the physical reality of having cancer. The complete report -- Worried Sick: The Emotional Impact of Cancer -- is available as a PDF document.