Ten Years After
her death, fans still remember singer Selena.
The Houston Chronicle has a special section about her that's worth taking a look.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Reasons I Love the Houston Chronicle:
Teen Riding on Trunk of Car Falls Off and Dies
Man Who Claimed Wife Cut Own Throat Arrested
Conroe Man Arrested After Son Run Over (This is very sad.)
Mom Charged as Toddler Shot by Brother Clings to Life (This one is really tragic. The toddler in question is 2 years old; his brother is 4.)
Eighth-grader Charged With Making Terrorist Threats
These articles are the norm, not the exception.
And that's not mentioning the indispensible coverage of Tom DeLay's scandals, Enron, and Robert Durst.
Booming Economy Casualty List, 3/27-4/1 or Whatever.
The dollar's sinking like a rock and unemployment is up.
More Boilerplate Horseshit
from Eric Boehlert.
The way I see it, the media have sucked Michael Schiavo's tit, if he had one, since Day One, and they have distorted the entire matter as being about the "culture wars" and "right-to-die."
Never mind the red flags all over this thing, if so-called reporters would cut away the right-to-life stuff.
It's time for Boehlert to go back to reporting on Mouthzilla and Jeff Gannon instead of trying to take a stand which is going to bite him and his ilk in the end.
It Looks Like
Blogger is all fucked up again, only this time I've lost my links list and can't bring it up without the damned thing saying that there's errors.
Seymour Hersh
states the obvious when he says our dictator is unreachable.
The Fucker
wants to make sure Terri's family NEVER visits her grave, far, far away from her REAL family, yet his moronic supporters refuse to see this bastard and his family are fucking vindictive, even evil.
They're worried about the "media specticle"? My ass. This is all about getting back at the Schindlers, as it has ever since 1993 during the initial fallout.
Masherama.
You've just gotta love the fascists in California. Like the ones in Washington, if they don't like the way something is, they change the rules to suit them. Then, if heaven forbid a Democrat gets in, they change the rules back so the Democrat can't benefit.
Case in point is when Governor Arnold leaves the state, which is more often than when he stays in Sacramento. According to a law put in before the invention of the telephone, whenever a governor leaves the state, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor. In the case of Arnold, the acting governor is Cruz Bustamante who should have had the job of governor in the first place when the California fascists decided to dethrone legitimate governor Gray Davis.
Well, the California fascists can't it have that way. Now they want to change the law so Arnold is governor no matter where he is, no matter what he is doing, or not doing, which is being governor of California often enough. As the report shows, Arnold has missed 106 days out of the nearly 500 days he has been in office since usurping Gray Davis.
In the meantime, the Republicans got one of their own in the Secretary of State's office after they successfully hounded Shelley from his job.
Florida Papers
plan to boost coverage of Terri Schiavo's death.
Why didn't they do enough coverage of the facts of the case previously?
I blame the media more than anything else for the idiotic and ignorant attitude of most people on this matter.
Supposedly
the Schiavo case is a precursor to more battles.
But that's partisan political battles, and no, killing the disabled isn't really a rare occurrence, only that this one was different because it was contested by various members of the woman's family and fought through the courts for years.
Killing the disabled thanks to guardianship laws, well, hell, it's simply routine.
In terms of who "loses" in this instance, it's probably a wash.
Just What Is
Terri Schiavo's legacy?
Actually, despite the drivel about the "culture wars" and the war on the "rule of law," no matter how hopelessly fucked it is in terms of the rights of the disabled, the real legacy is that it's a watershed in the history of the disabled rights movement.
Expect a LOT of changes in state laws regarding guardianships, in order to prevent outrageous cases where dubious family members can kill off other disabled family members and have the court system back them up.
It seems McCarthyism has infected my old college, too, with the publication of the right-leaning "Pack Patriot," which seeks among other things to "out" college professors they consider to be vile liberals. (David Robert, Reno News and Review)
Interesting.
This brief article claims the word "Schiavo" is Italian for slave.
As Expected,
at least by me, Ted Koppel is leaving Nightline, a show I seldom watch, at the end of the year.
Steven Soper
has plead guilty to assaulting his girlfriend over her support of John Kerry.
In an Upcoming 60 Minutes
interview, Jane Fonda has a lot to say about her anti-Vietnam War activities.
But more interesting are her comments about her marriage to director Roger Vadim, who once had been married to sex kitten, later animal rights activist, later right-wing racist Brigitte Bardot. He had a penchant for sexual threesomes, and Jane, wanting to preserve her marriage to a weirdo, complied.
I knew about the kinky stuff for having read a report in one of the tabloids about her upcoming book. According to the tabloid, Fonda's marriage to Vadim marked the beginning of her decades-long battle with bulimia.
There Are Assholes
all over this country, and this story should make anybody's blood boil over.
I won't post an excerpt because it makes me so goddamned mad.
Very Few People
in our society end up as pariahs, certainly high-profile pariahs. Those people who would normally be considered pariahs, such as serial killers, don't often get the opportunity to be shunned, for once they are captured, they never return to society (serial killers either die a natural death in prison or are executed).
Those who do get into the elite group do so because society as a whole deems justice was NOT done.
In addition to O.J. Simpson and Dan White, both of whom faced huge and vocal opposition from the public, with White committing suicide in 1985 and Simpson retiring to Florida and living off his retirement money and golfing with the few friends he has left, there was the infamous case of Lawrence Singleton, who died on Florida's death row (why is it EVERYTHING happens in Florida?) three years ago of natural causes.
In case you don't remember the notorious case, Singleton in 1978 picked up 15-year-old runaway Mary Bell Vincent, raped her repeatedly, hacked her arms off, and left her to die. He served only eight years in prison before being released.
Here's how he was greeted by society upon his release:
Eight years later, Singleton, a model prisoner, was paroled. He tried to settle into several California communities, but each time he was forced to move after residents protested vehemently. Authorities there ultimately were forced to house him in a mobile home at San Quentin prison until his parole ended in 1988.
And then this:
Singleton resurfaced in Tampa, where his family lived, but quickly drew attention. Not long after he arrived, someone threw a firebomb in the front yard of his brother's home. Protesters picketed court hearings after he was arrested on shoplifting charges.
Early in 1997, he entered a psychiatric center after his family declared him a menace and neighbors said he attempted to take his life.
Nine days after his release, police say, he stabbed to death 31-year-old Roxanne Hayes, the mother of two boys and one girl, who had a lengthy arrest record on drug and prostitution charges.
Singleton, incidentally, lived for a time in nearby Sparks, Nevada.
The Pariahhood of Michael Schiavo.
Michael Schiavo is a classic sociopath, just as O.J. Simpson is, and he doesn't care what anybody thinks.
He's been a sadist ever since he had a falling out with Terri's parents, and all of his behavior is indicative of the sociopathic personality, including his constant lies.
Many people will believe a pathological liar and sociopath because such a person is good at what he or she does.
O.J. had his defenders, but over the years they have conspicuously disappeared. Michael Schiavo is going to get his just desserts, probably not from the criminal justice system, but from society as they shun him.
He won't be able to "cash in" on his "devotion" to Terri because nobody will buy any book he "writes." Any movie deals? Forget it, because there will opposition, ESPECIALLY from the disabled rights community (note the opposition to the recent Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby"). Schiavo will be hounded everywhere he goes, and he should be more than Felos or Greer, because if it weren't for Michael's eagerness to have the court kill off his wife, we'd never hear of them.
Michael Schiavo's pariahhood has just begun. Schiavo's girlfriend and kids will have to put up with taunts for the rest of their days, unless they move from Florida, change their names, and start over.
A good place for them to move would be The Netherlands.
I Certainly Hope
the majority of the people on "my side" of the political fence are crying crocodile tears for Terri Schiavo now that she's dead.
They will try to hand people the TOTAL BULLSHIT that scumbag Michael ever cared about her, as this fucking sadist wouldn't allow her parents to spend the last moments with the daughter they brought into the world.
The feud between the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and their son-in-law continued even after her death: Brother Paul O'Donnell, an adviser to the Schindlers, said they and their two other children "were denied access at the moment of her death. They've been requesting, as you know, for the last hour to try to be in there and they were denied access by Michael Schiavo. They are in there now, praying at her bedside."
Wait until she's dead and then the parents can see her.
What a sociopath, and people who defend this bastard ought to be ashamed of themselves, including the 90 percent or so of "liberal" bloggers who believe his lying mouth.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
It's Simply
tough shit for people in the Army.
After all, you go with the Army you've got, not the one you'd like to have, or whatever the hell it was Rumsfeld said.
A Federal Judge
dealt the dictator a setback, which is good news for retired or almost-retired workers.
In a sure sign of the times in which we live where war is peace, Bush was elected, up is down, we now are blessed with the idea demolition is now considered historic preservation. (Alan Brunettin, NYT)
I Dedicate
this article to Sidney Blumenthal.
It just merely reinforces his beliefs about the "culture war" and so on.
You know, it wasn't that long ago when China outlawed footbinding women. Well, the same rotten mentality which forced women to disfigure themselves is still alive, only this time there is pressure on women--and men--to be taller in order to get some of the best jobs available. This woman is one of far too many Chinese to have undergone leg-lengthening surgery. Her height is now five inches taller than before, when she was 4-foot-9. (Ching-Ching Ni, Los Angeles Times)
Sidney Blumenthal
shoots his mouth off about the Schiavo matter using typical boilerplate crap I've been reading time and again.
You know, the disabled can go fucking hang in this country given the attitude of alleged liberals.
It never was a fucking private tragedy, you idiot, because Michael Schiavo and George Felos made sure it wasn't, stupid.
There will be fallout, of course, but don't think for a goddamned minute Republicans are the only ones who will feel the heat. Democrats like those three in Florida are probably done for because of the stance they took and were stupid enough to go on the record.
Furthermore, Blumenthal is a liar to think religious nuts are the only ones concerned with the case.
He needs to shut the fuck up and find another hobby horse to ride.
But it isn't just Blumenthal. Probably 90 percent of the so-called liberal blogs that have taken a stand on this case are also full of boilerplate horseshit siding with a dirtbag with NO credibility.
But if this were 1994 instead of 2005, I'd suspect 90 percent of them would have sided with O.J. Simpson.
The dictator was happy as hell to hang around Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and speak with a handpicked audience of his plans to screw them over royal. I'd post the link to the article from the Cedar Rapids Gazette, but unfortunately the greedy publishers want readers to pay for the content. (Laura Segall)
It Sounds
as if the pie was delicious:
The assailant had walked to the corner of the stage, put the pie tin on the apron, then hopped up to make his approach toward Kristol. He walked off stage right after the attack and disappeared.
"I thought he was going up to adjust the sound system," an embarrassed Earlham alum said afterward.
Shouts of "shame on you" came from the audience before the attacker was out of earshot.
Earlham's director of media relations, Kevin Burke, said the young man was recognized, and this morning the school said he has been suspended.
Bennett said at the end of Kristol's prepared remarks, "I want to say on behalf of the college how much we regret this incident. We'll address the issue in the morning."
In a statement this morning, Bennett said, "Earlham condemns the incident last evening in which a student threw an ice cream pie at William Kristol. ... Earlham apologizes to William Kristol for this student's attack, and expresses our appreciation to Mr. Kristol for his graciousness in completing his presentation under less than ideal circumstances."
Too bad Soupy Sales wasn't on hand.
Quote of the Day. "I'm going to be stubborn. And we're going to keep working on this."--The Never-Say-Die Dictator, who is still trying to push his DOA privatization scheme on a skeptical public. Today he was in Iowa wasting his time and the taxpayers' money. (AP)
Neocon
William Kristol gave a typical pie-in-the-sky speech at a small Indiana college.
I Am Sure
with these remarks on a timeline for Iraq, Harry Reid will once again make the self-described "progressive" shitlist.
One of the Biggest
controversies going on in the country today is what to call people who are of Latin American ancestry or origin.
I'll bet you didn't know there was any controversy, but there is.
If
your dog's in heat, keep her off the street.
Here's some fun information:
Angrimson said during the first stage of the female dog's breeding season, it will start to attract male dogs.
During the middle stage it will be most likely to get pregnant and will be receptive to advances by male dogs. Toward the end it will try to fight off male dogs and may be irritable with both dogs and people.
That's why they're called bitches.
I
decided I needed to get away from here, even if for just a little bit.
I took my wad of cash--some seven dollars worth--and decided to gamble a little bit down at the Siena Casino just a few blocks from here. Even though it is technically springtime, it's still cold, especially at night. It's too cold yet for me to buy outdoor plants.
Anyway, I was there for a half hour or so, and I ended up losing $1.70 when I was finished. After that, I headed over to some of the souvenir shops on Virginia Street and picked up a couple of magnets.
That set me back $5.99.
After that, I went to the store and bought some freedom bread as in freedom fries. That set me back $1.49.
Actually, if you're wondering about the math, I had fifteen in cash total, but I prepared to gamble only half of it.
I didn't do too badly actually.
I Am Sure
the tabloids will have a field day with Joan Kennedy's latest misfortune.
What in the Hell
is the matter with the Rehnquist court?
On balance it's good news for people over 40 although the particular plaintiffs in this case had their suit dismissed.
The Christian Science Monitor has an article about the ruling.
While George was out enjoying Easter recess doing who-knows-what, Laura decided to go to Afghanistan and pay a social call to President Hamid Karzai. She wanted to call attention to the "progress" she says women are making in that country. (AP)
Mashing
moose by motor vehicle means more moose meat; meanwhile, motor vehicle's a mashed up mess and meaningless.
While
record numbers of trained, qualified teachers are finding themselves unemployed, New Mexico decides to try and recruit unqualified "professionals" into the field in an effort to get more male teachers into the profession.
Well, have starting pay at $60,000 or $70,000 and perhaps you'll find a jump in male applicants, only this time those who are actually qualified and trained to teach.
Teaching is a hell of a lot more than thinking you are a know-it-all from another field and think the job is easy and don't need any training.
Why
did the fucking court of appeals even take the case at all if it was going to reject it?
Something's rotten with a court system which basically rubberstamps a flawed lower court decision.
And get this from one of the members of the court:
Birch went on to scold President Bush and Congress for their attempts to intervene in the judicial process, by saying: "In resolving the Schiavo controversy, it is my judgment that, despite sincere and altruistic motivation, the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people-- our Constitution."
Let's see, this is really about slapping Congress and Bush over the case and to hell with the fact they are letting a woman STARVE TO DEATH.
Gene Lyons
is tired of the media circus surrounding the Schiavo case and related sotries.
Unfortunately, Lyons shows his own brain is out to lunch when he makes this astonishing statement that "brain death is death" when criticizing televangelists for taking the stand of keeping Terri Schiavo alive.
NOBODY EVEN REMOTELY KNOWLEGEABLE ABOUT THIS CASE CLAIMS TERRI SCHIAVO IS "BRAIN-DEAD." She most certainly is not. The "debate" is whether she is PVS, and many, many, many people dispute Cranford's dubious diagnosis, made on behalf of Michael Schiavo.
This
is the latest on Terri Schiavo's case, which has been appealed once again.
Somehow she's hanging in there, THIRTEEN days after being condemned to die.
I'd think that's proof of what her wishes actually are.
Meanwhile, her "husband" might be playing God with her life, but he had nothing to do with any autopsy being performed in the event of her death.
As has been mentioned in many other places, the Florida statutes state what should be done in the event of cremation.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
This
ought to scare the shit out of anybody.
While Democrats are sidetracked with Social Security and the Schiavo circus, the Republicans are ramming through really rotten shit, such as bankruptcy "reform," "class-action lawsuit reform," and ANWR, often with idiotic Democratic help.
They are getting the same rotten shit done in their attempt to destroy the middle class in this country while Democrats are happy with crumbs.
Paul Krugman
needs to stick with economics instead of spouting about things he knows nothing about.
Schiavo isn't really about a new theocracy coming in this country. It's about something else entirely, and it may behoove Krugman to talk to a few disabled rights activists and find out about that something else.
Killing disabled people ain't freedom.
The USSC
stands for widening the right for people to sue under Title IX.
Why
far too many liberals simply don't "get it" about disability rights.
Many really don't understand it at all.
"One problem with American leftists is that their ideology includes a dose of libertarian thought mixed in with their social conscience," says Amundson. "And they don't notice the difference between their social-conscious-based beliefs and their libertarian beliefs. They tend to be libertarian on things like drug use and sexual morality, on the theory that these crimes have no victims.
"When they start to recognize that social policies actually do have social consequences and victims (because drug addiction harms people, or certain kinds of sex are exploitative) they may start to reconsider, and their socially-conscious tendencies may allow them to accept social restrictions on exploitation.
"At the moment, leftists are libertarian on things like assisted suicide," he continues. "They don't notice it -- they think they're thinking 'progressively.' But they're only buying the childish 'you're not the boss of me' doctrine of libertarianism."
Coleman points out that few liberals have "taken their understanding of health-care issues and applied it" to the context of what she calls "legalized medical killing." Among progressive organizations working for healthcare reform, she says, "the first reaction they have is that assisted suicide and 'right to die' issues are a matter of personal choice. They've bought that rhetoric.
"These are people who know that the system is willing to kill for money; that's what they deal with every day in their advocacy work; but it takes a discussion, it takes connecting the dots for most of them to see why someone like me, someone severely disabled, might have a problem with legalized medical killing and might see it as not so terribly compassionate or progressive."
And given how profit-driven the health care system is, who can trust "freedom of choice" when it comes to matters of life-and-death?
Forget that shit.
I've also been doing a web search on the wonderful "ethicist" Peter Singer, who is better known as being some kind of animal rights whatever than for his even more outrageous stands regarding infanticide and killing off the aged (except his own mother, apparently), which is nothing but a new version of the old eugenics.
Besides, I certainly wouldn't trust him around my dog, that's for sure.
The Hammer
has been hammered the past few days, this time he's getting it from the Wall Street Journal.
I'll have to check out the Cottle piece, assuming it isn't yet again another subscription-only damned thing.
I checked. Kurtz needs to realize he shouldn't link to something people can't read unless they PAY for it in advance.
Judging from the bits he does excerpt, if they are representative of the piece in question, Cottle is absolutely correct, basically saying the same thing I've been saying all along about the Schiavo situation.
It's SUCH a loser, and Democrats who bitch and moan about "family privacy," when in fact this is about the "right" of somebody to KILL somebody else using the judicial system to do the dirty work, are taking the WRONG position.
I frankly don't give a shit if I am the only liberal blogger in the entire blogosphere who feels this way because I know goddamned well I am right.
Kurtz Kount: Kurtz 24, C&P 20.
Another Death
to note today before Blogger screws up is the death of former Democratic senator Howell Heflin, who died this afternoon at the age of 83. Heflin served in the United States Senate for 18 years, beginning in 1979.
Heflin had previously been Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
As the World Turns.
Following the big dustup over a video showing Kay Bailey Hutchison and Hillary Clinton together in a "damning" way, it appears Texas Governor Rick Perry had nice things to say about the former first lady's attempts at health care reform.
Oops.
If the Glove Demonstration is Bullshit, You Can't Acquit. Johnnie Cochran demonstrated his legal prowess in front of a star-struck jury in the infamous O.J. Simpson case. (AP)
It's Time
to single out a nutjob who made threats in the Schiavo case to tar-and-feather everybody else opposed to the court-sanctioned murder as equally demented and crackpot.
I'm sure Jesse Jackson and Ralph Nader are very pleased.
Like Prince Rainier,
Jerry Falwell is not doing too well.
The 71-year-old televangelist is battling his second case of pneumonia in five weeks.
I May
be saying this too soon, but it appears the technicians at Blogger have finally fixed whatever the hell they were working on, which rendered this blog and almost all others using the service useless over the past couple of days.
We'll see how long it lasts.
Quote of the Day. "Just knowing there was a human remain in my mouth...it is disgusting. It is tearing me apart inside."--Anna Ayala, a woman who bit off more than she could chew at Wendy's.
Nat Hentoff
is pissed off royal over the Schiavo case.
But I know. He's a right-to-lifer when it comes to abortion and has been for years, so it shouldn't surprise anybody he's taking the stand he is.
In this case, it doesn't matter to many on "my side" of the political fence how well-reasoned it is.
Which is more than I can say for most of the left-leaning bloggers and the media as a whole.
I Don't Think
this right-leaning writer in a right-leaning publication is exaggerating by much the "bioethicists'" position on killing the disabled.
After all, their own words are pretty damning.
But in the end it's all an old argument pulled straight out of the discredited eugenics movement. It is so easy to pick on those who are least able to defend themselves and declare them "nonpersons."
Healthy people arrogantly think they are never going to be in a position where THEY will be disabled, and they are grossed out by those who ARE disabled, and so they become receptive to ideas which were last fashionable during the Hitler era.
I Suppose
those on "my side" of the political spectrum will accuse Rev. Jesse Jackson of being an asshole, an opportunist, a tool of the religious right.
These fools will NEVER understand what the hell the real issues are in this case, and in the process have utterly disgraced themselves.
George Felos
tries to convince the public his client isn't the asshole everybody says he is and in fact is ordering an autopsy in the event Terri Schiavo dies.
Supposedly an autopsy will "prove" her brain was damaged beyond all hope.
The autopsy won't prove jack shit about anything. If Felos really gives a shit about clearing the air, he would order an MRI or PET scan NOW.
But of course he won't.
In the end Michael Schiavo is going to learn a song O.J. Simpson and Dan White learned:
Pariah,
Pariah,
They call the ass Pariah.
Oh, My God.
Somebody should tell the "Draft Cheney" movement that they cannot draft somebody who has already served two terms as president.
Monday, March 28, 2005
More
about the Galveston miracle:
Eric Kingson, a professor of social work at Syracuse University who has studied the Galveston plan, said he sees some problems. He said it is possible for retired workers to outlive their benefits, and the plan does not cover children who would qualify for Social Security benefits.
"We have essentially a privatization experiment and it doesn't work very well, not if you think Social Security should provide basic protections to all American workers," he said.
Gornto said the Galveston plan gives workers more control over their retirement than Social Security. He said there is a direct correlation between what a person invests in the plan and what they receive upon retirement.
Well, no shit. It's another worthless 401(k)-style plan, better than nothing but not much.
It's not even in the same ballpark as having a GUARANTEED amount of money each month FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
This
pile of crap made me laugh out loud:
The continuing value of a college education is backed up by data released today from the U.S. Census Bureau that shows a worker with bachelor’s degree earns an average $51,206 a year, almost twice the salary of a high school graduate.
In years to come, though, workers might need to have at least a master’s degree to land better-paying jobs, one university official in Reno says.
Meanwhile, college graduates have a much harder time finding jobs that pay those princely sums and find out only 22 percent of jobs being created in this country even REQUIRE a degree, with fewer than a third requiring ANY education past high school.
So, yeah, let's encourage more and more people to take on horrendous debt to get a college degree and try to find jobs that don't exist, and lower the pay for those requiring a degree even more.
Howard Kurtz
takes a look at the new host of the CBS Evening News, the ancient Bob Schieffer.
There's also some stuff about Nancy "everybody's guilty" Grace, one of my "favorite" people when I used to have cable.
You wonder how in the hell she ever passed the bar, and I say this having read stuff where she is supposedly a Democrat and defended Clinton during the impeachment farce.
I don't remember her doing much defending during that time, but at the point, I had tuned her out.
Here's this snip:
Grace has boosted ratings in her 8 p.m. time slot by 126 percent over last year through a steady diet of gory and sensational cases. "Nancy Grace" has covered the Peterson trial, Michael Jackson, the Blake trial, the Atlanta courthouse shootings, the death of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, Miss Savannah 2003 being charged with murder, a gunman who killed seven people in a Milwaukee church, a Colorado man who murdered his three children after his wife got a restraining order against him, and a 16-year-old Idaho girl tried in the shooting deaths of her parents.
As long as she gets the ratings, nothing much matters.
Kurtz Kount: Kurtz 33, C&P 17.
David North
of WSWS is in over his head regarding medical evidence in the Schiavo case.
That's the problem with people with political agendas on both sides. The basic facts of the case get lost.
North, like so many on the so-called left, doesn't give a shit about the disabled. They are nonpersons to him, especially in a case where the other side has taken up the fight.
What he has done in this loser case is disgrace himself by apeing the other side.
Masherama.
Just when you think you can't be any more outraged over the antics of the current governor, he comes along with something even more outrageous.
He's merely playing politics here, grandstanding if you will, and he doesn't give a shit about saving the state any money.
That's
all Indonesia needs is another earthquake and tsunami.
The earthquake, off Sumatra Island, measured 8.2 on the Richter scale.
I Love
the biased headline from the Chicago Tribune or rather AP.
If Terri received communion it's because her "husband" knows she's pretty far gone and needs to save his ass by not looking too suspicious and vindictive to her parents.
He looked pretty bad on Larry King Live Friday before last, and so it's time for a little of rehabilitation.
Nothing changes the fact his actions from Day 1 are weird, to be kind, or suspicious, to not be kind.
There's this little detail worth posting:
At Michael Schiavo's Clearwater home, protesters dropped roses and Easter lilies on his lawn -- a peaceful protest interrupted when sprinklers came on.
His fiancee's brother picked up the flowers and handed them to a bystander to take away. John Centonze declined to answer questions, only saying that Michael Schiavo was "very upset."
I'll bet not nearly as upset as having been forced to go through Terri's trust account for legal fees and winding up with little or no money left to inherit.
The Oakland Tribune
had a piece Saturday about the groom-to-be:
Brown popped the question on March 15 — Gust's birthday — after cooking Gust a dinner of barbecue chicken, peas and salad.
Gust and Brown, who have been together since meeting at a party in San Francisco nearly 15 years ago, live in a loft on Telegraph Avenue along with their Labrador, Dharma. An executive vice president with The Gap, Gust — who is about 20 years younger than the 66-year-old — shuns media attention.
Neither one has been married before, although Brown's love life has often been in the spotlight, especially his relationship with 1970s crooner Linda Ronstadt.
In the coming months, Brown faces a tough battle to become state attorney general after his term as Oakland mayor ends in 2006.
I wonder if the wedding has anything to do with his future political ambitions.
Nah.
I was thinking about ol' Moonbeam this morning (you can tell how much out of it I am today). I wrote a post some time back about the fact the 1976 Oregon Primary was the first presidential primary I had ever voted, and I voted for the then-California governor (who was just 38 and had more hair and fewer wrinkles at the time). I was young, I was foolish, I was mallable and thought, wow, what a politician with some revolutionary new ideas. I saw him in person when he campaigned in Ashland at what was then Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University). In my foolishness I was somehow impressed and actually voted for the goddamned fool.
Well, we all make mistakes. It wasn't long after the primaries, perhaps a few months, when a now-defunct magazine called New Times had an extensive piece on Brown which was nothing short of devastating. I don't remember who wrote it, it was either Robert Sam Anson, Robert Shrum, or Robert Scheer (I believe it was Robert Sam Anson). It pretty much blew away the image Brown tried to convey to the public, not to mention the fact Brown was intentionally vague about many issues, with him being quoted as saying this: "A little vagueness goes a long way in this business."
The article had little impact, and Brown continued to make headlines over the years, including gossip headlines when he went to Africa I believe it was in 1977 with singer Linda Ronstadt. Fortunately for her career, nothing serious came of the relationship.
Getting back to the article in question, I had that particular issue for many years, but it got lost in the move to Nevada. However, I did keep the April 1977 issue of the magazine wherein yours truly, at 22, wrote in a published letter to the editor Brown was washed-up in terms of having any presidential future.
I was right. And Brown's 1992 antics, no doubt encouraged by the legendary Joe Trippi, put him further on my semi-shitlist when he smeared Bill Clinton with the bogus Whitewater nonsense. Not only did it finish Brown off for me, but it also finished off any chance the Mouth had with yours truly when he hired Trippi for his disastrous presidential campaign in 2003-2004.
The loft where Gust and Brown are shacked up looks like a goddamned warehouse, judging from pictures I have seen.
I Have
to apologize to readers as to my relatively light blogging over the past several days. Part of it is because of Blogger, but yesterday I had a very bad day and felt I needed to get as much rest as possible.
I quit blogging at around 4:30 and decided to clean off the couch--not an easy job--and lay down and watch the rest of the episodes of Mister Ed that I didn't see earlier. I dozed off and on until about 8, and then I decided to take a shower and go to bed.
I really need the rest. I don't wish this viral crap on anybody. It seems when I get it, the first attack is bad, but after one or two weeks when I feel normal again, the shit returns even worse.
I am still wiped out. The only good thing is it's spring break and I can recover in a couple of days, I hope.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Wild horse advocates are pushing for Nevada to issue specialty license plates in order to raise money for organizations preserving the animals. (Candice Towell, Reno Gazette-Journal)
Life has become unbearable for some in the Sierra. (Tim Dunn, Reno Gazette-Journal)
More Masherama.
I completely forgot the most important event of the past week while blogging away, and that is the forthcoming wedding of former presidential candidate, former California governor, current Oakland mayor, and ALWAYS flake Jerry Brown to longtime shackup, Gap, Inc. chief counsel Anne Gust.
Senator Dianne Feinstein will officiate at the wedding, the date of which hasn't been set in stone.
Gust, predictably, is way younger than Brown, who at 67 is pushing 70 and looks older. She is 47.
Blogger
is getting shitty again, so this is as good a time as any to sign off for the next few hours, at least.
Not only that, but I am feeling shitty again.
This
is an interesting report of Tom DeLay's own family tragedy of his father having been in an accident and was so badly brain-damaged his family agreed on not having any more life support.
The family also sued the company they felt responsible for the old man's accident.
This article will been seen as being an example of Tom's hypocrisy when it comes to the Schiavo case.
But there's a big difference. This was a mutual family decision whereas with Schiavo you have a family at odds, with a "husband" who is vindictive as hell against his in-laws and sadistically is doing everything in his power to spite them.
Not only that, but with the Schiavo case there are red flags all over the place which cast doubt on the husband's claims.
That wasn't the case with the DeLay family.
Unfortunately, few people on "my side" of the political spectrum will see the obvious difference.
Ever mindful of polls which show a vast majority of people ignorant on the details of the Schiavo case and somehow swallow his bullshit story (all the while ignoring the fact this wonderful husband has denied his wife the last rites except reportedly on "his terms," denied an autopsy following her death, and will cremate her and move her remains far from her parents--the act of a vindictive if not sociopathic personality) the dictator has decided to remain above the fray of the controversy and leave the wrangling to other Republicans and his brother. J. Scott Applewhite of AP certainly knows how to depict the dictator in the best light.
John Dean
asks whether changes in Egypt's constitution regarding the election system will actually foster democracy there.
Don't bet on it.
Booming Economy Casualty List for 3/19-3/26.
This is an absolutely depressing story about immigrants being forced into indentured servitude--in some cases forced prostitution--in order to pay debts to those who have illegally smuggled them into the United States.
And hell, once the Loan Shark Bailout Act passes Congress and is signed into law, expect even MORE indentured servitude, only this time it will be among those who are citizens of this country.
Oh, GAWD.
As a single woman I find this just disgusting that women would actually be stupid enough to throw themselves at men who are death row.
It's nothing new, though. Ted Bundy had his share of groupies.
They love the celebrity status," said Jack Levin, a criminologist who is director of the Brudnick Center on Violence at Northeastern University in Boston. Levin is co-author of the book "Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder," which explores, among other things, what Levin called "killer groupies."
"These are the same women who might correspond with a rock star or a rap artist," Levin said. When such a woman writes to a rock star, he said, "the best she can hope for is a computerized signature on a photograph." When she writes to a serial killer on Death Row, "she might get a marriage proposal."
And some of these women succeed in snaring a man in prison, as if that is some kind of status symbol:
Prison weddings in California are a regular occurrence. In general, about 20 inmates get married in ceremonies held on the first Friday of even-numbered months at San Quentin, and usually at least one condemned inmate is among them.
A few killers, like Polly Klaas's killer, are already married, but that hasn't stop women from writing fan letters. Furthermore, many of the letters are from Europe, where there is quite a bit of opposition to the death penalty.
Not Surprisingly
Judge Greer has faced death threats since he has stubbornly refused to reverse himself for making a wrongheaded decision.
He was also asked to leave his church.
As long as the media depict those who support Terri Schiavo as a bunch of right-wing religious whackos, it's no wonder most of the public is siding with somebody they should know better than to support. Evidently there is a move afoot on the part of Terri's family's foundation and the Blogs for Terri site to target politicians in both parties if they didn't stand up for her right to live.
At least I don't have to worry about it here in my area. Representative Gibbons ain't running for re-election, instead he's concentrating his jackassery on the governorship.
Yesterday
Blogger was so unstable I gave up posting when I tried to blog last night and I couldn't get anything posted at all.
Instead, I watched my new DVD of Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, which had aired on PBS some time ago. It certainly brought back a lot of memories.
I had forgetten 13 candidates had bid for the Democratic nomination, in addition to Ashbrook and McCloskey challenging Tricky Dick. Well, the field narrowed very quickly for a variety of reasons, namely, Nixon's boys put their dirty tricks to work to get rid of the stronger candidates, especially Ed Muskie, the prime target.
McGovern, a good man with a great amount of integrity but basically a one-issue candidate, was given virtually no chance at all of winning the nomination. His chances were probably less than Chisholm's. Well, we know how that turned out.
The documentary, of course, didn't touch on the REAL story of the 1972 campaign, which was a rigged Democratic primary season by the other political party, but mainly on the rather shocking idea an African American WOMAN actually had the nerve to run for president.
They don't make 'em like Chisholm anymore, unfortunately.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
I'll Bet
I miss the episode of the Antiques Roadshow which was filmed in Reno last summer. It will air Monday night, at least here locally.
One Jackson
is scheduled to talk to another Jackson tomorrow on a radio program.
The Rift
began many years ago.
Reading it, from the New York Times, which is trying to be evenhanded in this dispute, there's no doubt why I supported the Schindlers throughout instead of that son-of-a-bitch.
What KIND of a man, I ask, would do THIS to the parents:
Instead, Mr. Schiavo has even rejected the Schindlers' request that their daughter be buried in Florida instead of cremated, which they object to as Catholics. He also refused their request to let Ms. Schiavo die in their home instead of at the hospice.
Mr. Schiavo's lawyer told reporters this week that the cremated remains would be buried at the Schiavo family plot outside Philadelphia, far from the parents who fought so intensely to win her back. Whether they can or will visit her gravesite could be the next subject of dispute.
But hey, I am on the wrong side of this matter, and I am not a true progressive because I don't support this despicable "husband."
Tinkerbelle, a 39-year-old African elephant who left the San Francisco Zoo to a sanctuary in the Sierra foothills last November, was euthanized Thursday afternoon after collapsing.
Terri Schindler-Schiavo was somebody who was frankly a private person. (Getty Images/File)
This is a picture of anti-tobacco activist/whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, the subject of at least one movie and several interviews, when he spoke at the University of Nevada, Reno, last month.
This
piece by a librarian on blogs and blogging may be considered a piece of snobbery by somebody who is afraid of losing his job.
Actually there is a point or two in this piece. It seems everybody overhypes the internet as being the future of information, with traditional books, magazines, and newspapers being cast aside. That simply isn't true, and blogging isn't the future of "journalism" for obvious reasons (including access to firsthand sources, money, etc.).
Blogging is fun, but it isn't about to replace more traditional means of getting information.
Disabled Rights Groups
have been spurred into action in light of the Schiavo case, with legislation pending in several states to avert such situations in the future.
Snip:
Advocates for the disabled said Friday that most cases in which a family member or guardian seeks to withhold life-sustaining treatment don't reach the courts or the public's attention. And, they said, the disabled remain vulnerable to having such treatment ended without their consent.
"Society can look at us as the canaries in the coal mine -- except that we don't see ourselves as expendable," said Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, an Illinois group advocating for the disabled and opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide.
But this quote from the attorney in the Nancy Cruzan case just about takes the cake for audacity:
"A bill that virtually prohibits incapacitated people from exercising the right to refuse medical treatment may well violate the Constitution," Colby said.
If they are incapacitated, asshole, they CAN'T consent or exercise the right to refuse medical treatment. They are at the whim of "guardians" who may not have their best interests at heart (i.e., Michael Schiavo).
That's the point and why laws need to side with the right of the disabled to live.
I Liked
this passage from a statement by a disabled rights group:
Today is the 6th anniversary of my mother's death. She too was declared 'in a vegetative state" like Terri. Yet for the three months in the hospital with this diagnosis, the medical staff nagged us daily to 'pull the plug'. However my mom made clear her wishes and kicked out her abusive husband without any of our family there -- the nursing staff called us to inform us how my mom cussed him out and told him to never visit again. Then she went back to "sleep". When we saw her that day, she smiled, spoke about her kicking him out, then back to "sleep". She hung on, in various ways, until she decided to die -- after everyone in our family visited her and told her she was loved, and we respect her decisions, whatever they were.
This
is another tragic example supporting anti-tobacco activist Jeffrey Wigand's assertion cigarettes are harder to kick than heroin.
In a Move
that will surprise everyone, judge, jury, and god George Greer has again ruled against the Schindlers.
It's time to change this fucking system on guardianships.
I have never seen a case where this system was so abused by a "husband" and his hack judge.
Paul Henning,
a television producer best known as the creator of the 1960s hits The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction, has died at the age of 93, one of his daughters said.
Henning was sometimes credited for creating the spinoff program Green Acres, but he wasn't the creator but the executive producer.
What is interesting to note is Henning worked as a writer on the old Burns and Allen television show, but this guy could NOT write comedy to save his soul.
Henning was pretty much a control freak when it came to his shows, and he basically had complete creative control over The Beverly Hillbillies. I hate to say it, but that is one of the reasons the show is simply not funny viewing it today (many will disagree with this assessment). Only the cast saves the show from being a complete fiasco along the lines of My Mother, the Car or Me and the Chimp.
-----
Because I can't edit anything on Blogger right now, I just want to add to a below post about Mister Ed. George Burns' brother, William Burns, was a script consultant on the show, which explains the "look" and "feel" of the program being reminiscent of the Burns and Allen Show.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Via Not Dead Yet,
here are a few articles giving another point of view in the Schiavo case:
Why Schiavo Case Worries the Disabled
Has Disability Become a Capital Offense?
Against the Killing of the Light
Bigotry and the Murder of Terri Schiavo
Snip from the last link:
The reason for this public support of removal from ordinary sustenance, I believe, is not that most people understand or care about Terri Schiavo. Like many others with disabilities, I believe that the American public, to one degree or another, holds that disabled people are better off dead. To put it in a simpler way, many Americans are bigots. A close examination of the facts of the Schiavo case reveals not a case of difficult decisions but a basic test of this country’s decency.
Take a look at discussion boards like Democratic Underground and some of the alleged "progressive" blogs regarding this matter, and you'll want to take a shower.
More:
The result of this disrespect is the devaluation of lives of people like Terri Schiavo. In the Schiavo case and others like it, non-disabled decision makers assert that the disabled person should die because he or she—ordinarily a person who had little or no experience with disability before acquiring one—“would not want to live like this.” In the Schiavo case, the family is forced to argue that Terri should be kept alive because she might “get better”—that is, might be able to regain or to communicate her cognitive processes. The mere assertion that disability (particularly cognitive disability, sometimes called “mental retardation”) is present seems to provide ample proof that death is desirable.
Essentially, then, we have arrived at the point where we starve people to death because he or she cannot communicate their experiences to us. What is this but sheer egotism? Regardless of one’s religious beliefs, this is obviously an attempt to play God.
And this:
As Schiavo starves to death, we are entering a world last encountered in Nazi Europe. Prior to the genocide of Jews, Gypsies, and Poles, the Nazis engaged in the mass murder of disabled children and adults, many of whom were taken from their families under the guise of receiving treatment for their disabling conditions. The Nazis believed that killing was the highest form of treatment for disability.
But most "progressives" don't give a shit about the disabled. They think killing is okay because it is supposed to be a "family matter" or it's a matter of "choice."
Choice my ass, especially given our increasingly profit-driven health care system with attention being given to the bottom line.
No, It's Not About Terri Schiavo Anymore
Note all of those wonderful "mercy killings" which differ only from the Schiavo murder in that these weren't court-sanctioned.
As the World Turns.
Governor Ehrlich wants to get to the bottom of the rumormongering story about Baltimore Mayor O'Malley.
Even Though
Terri Schiavo may be gone within the next couple of days, the issues raised by the case will continue to be wrestled with.
Other countries have been struggling with this over the years. This article is an interesting read.
The first thing that HAS to be done in this country is reforming the guardianship laws. Contrary to horseshit in the media and so on, this is NOT truly a "private affair."
Eugenics never is. And face it, those who push for killing the disabled and the aged are at bottom advocating just that.
And if some are upset by this, well, too damned bad.
I
am probably going to be calling it good shortly. I know I didn't do much blogging today, but I just haven't felt well enough to do much. Furthermore, Blogger has been in and out in terms of reliability.
Here
is some advice on what progressives can do to turn red states blue.
It could possibly work in a state like Nevada.
I
decided after working a half day to buy the second volume of Mister Ed episodes.
I long knew (since childhood) about Larry Keating dying in 1963. However, I didn't know Edna Skinner had passed away only a year and a half ago at age 82.
Since Keating was so much older than Skinner (he was born in 1896), the makeup people tried to make her look older by frosting her hair. She was only about 40 when the series began and was actually younger than Alan Young.
Her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean. She lived in North Bend, Oregon, for many years.
The Public
is disgusted with Congress, and both parties aren't faring well at all.
The Dictator's Ratings
plunge straight into the toilet.
Which will make him even more determined.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
A 70-million-year-old T-Rex discovered in Montana is the talk of the scientific world. (Science, via NYT)
Jeb
attempts to cement his stature, or put his political career in cement, with his involvement in the Schiavo case.
I ain't so sure he has any kind of political future. Not because of public opinion on the case, but the fact he has been a disappointment to those in the right-to-life base.
Besides, I don't think he's going to be the presidential nominee in 2008. The whole world can say I am full of shit, and she can say she's not interested, but it's going to be Condi.
Howard Kurtz
has roundups on the media Schiavomania here and here. He also gives away his age when he mentions the Karen Quinlan case, which was clear back around 30 years ago.
There was no column for Tuesday, evidently.
I am too damned sick to do a count.
I don't wish this crap on anybody. I am too weak to blog.
Instead, I did end up getting a DVD package of the old Mister Ed series. My late brother LOVED that show, and when I stayed with him and his wife in 1984 for about a week, 7 a.m. every morning was the time I had to leave the room, for Jim HAD to see the show.
Actually, when the series first ran, from 1961-1966 (talk about giving away MY age), I loved it, too, especially since I was horse-crazy then. I saw every first-run episode. The show was one of the earliest of the "gimmick shows" extremely popular in the early 1960s before being overtaken by the "spy series" craze. Anyway, I always made sure I saw it every Sunday evening. It was obviously patterned on the old "Francis the Talking Mule" movies series, and looking at it today, it obviously looks like George Burns had something to do with the show. Which in fact he did, including producing the pilot episode and being involved in the casting of Connie Hines and Larry Keating (from the old Burns and Allen series). Keating was a wonderful actor. I just LOVED him on this show and the Burns and Allen program (where he played Bea Benadaret's husband). In Mister Ed he played neighbor Roger Addison, who was almost NEVER called "Roger" but instead called by his last name. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1963 (of leukemia and is buried in Portland, Oregon) and was replaced by Leon Ames (in a different role).
Seeing the show today, it IS silly, but it is actually funny, unlike The Beverly Hillbillies, another show I liked when it first ran but think is stupid today.
Also many years ago I received a Mattel talking hand puppet of Mister Ed for Christmas. Tragically it got lost over the years, but I always wanted to get another one. I did find one (without the box) a couple of years ago at an antique store for only $18. It was and is in excellent shape and the voice box still worked. I didn't hesitate to buy that one. Puppets on e-Bay with the voice box still working can easily go for $100, and much more than that if the puppet is in the original box.
I also have a book about the series that I bought more than ten years ago.
Alan Young is still alive (at 85!) and has an official website. This site also has some information on the series.
Here is another photograph of Franken signing copies of his book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. March 17, 2005.
Following the radio broadcast, Franken was nice enough to sign autographs in the lobby. March 17, 2005.
This is a picture of the Air America Radio broadcast featuring Al Franken when he appeared at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino on March 17. I took this picture during a commercial break.
This is what the Reno Nugget Diner's Awful-Awful (to go) looks like before it is eaten. (March 23, 2005)
Here are a few of the handful of protesters who were still on hand when the president appeared in Reno Tuesday.
More Reasons
to oppose the Loan Shark Bailout Act:
That isn't as innocuous as it sounds, Eichelbaum said. He's concerned that debtors will seek the help of unscrupulous debt consolidators, because the government doesn't have the resources to police the nonprofit credit counselors.
One client couple, he said, paid a debt consolidator $15,000 only to discover that creditors weren't paid, and the Florida-based consolidator disappeared with the money. "The most aggressive solicitors will be the crooks," he said.
The new law also would require bankruptcy lawyers to personally vouch for the accuracy of their client's paperwork filed with the court.
That will boost the cost of a bankruptcy, Eichelbaum said, because lawyers will have to hire bank examiners and appraisers to review all a debtor's assets.
Another concern, critics say, is that the bankruptcy bill doesn't limit solicitations by credit card companies.
Despite the talk about cutting down on upscale "cheats," this is really about harassing people who would be eligible for Chapter 7.
Masherama.
Oh my GAWD. I just ate.
This article gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "finger food."
A snip, because you know I HAVE to put it in here:
An unlucky diner bit into a segment of a human finger while digging into a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose, Santa Clara County health officials confirmed Wednesday.
The diner, who visited the restaurant Tuesday night, spit out the well- cooked digit, notified restaurant workers and became sick to her stomach, health officials said.
The origin of the finger remains a mystery.
I don't think I can "read the whole thing."
But I can't help it. Certainly Jonathan Swift would be pleased with this fact, if he were alive today:
He said the finger had been cooked at a high enough temperature to kill any viruses, including hepatitis or HIV, and that it was very unlikely that she will suffer any health effects from her experience, aside from psychological trauma.
I think I'm gonna puke.
I understand it's important for people to have the right to know, but do we REALLY need to know EVERY goddamned detail here?
The finger was described by county Medical Examiner Dr. Joseph O'Hara as cooked but not decomposed. The digit was found in two pieces, a 1-inch fingertip complete with the skin whorls used in fingerprinting and a half-inch piece of fingernail. The digit appeared to have been torn off, possibly by manufacturing machinery, rather than cleanly cut.
Considering the nail's slightly longer length and neat grooming, O'Hara speculated that it may have belonged to a woman, though "it's hard to tell."
____
Arnold wins a court ruling.
A Disability Rights Lawyer
weighs in on the case.
All of the reasons she gives for restoring the feeding tube for Terri Schiavo are logical, reasonable, and powerful.
Especially number 7:
In addition to the rights all people enjoy, Ms. Schiavo has a statutory right under the Americans With Disabilities Act not to be treated differently because of her disability. Obviously, Florida law would not allow a husband to kill a nondisabled wife by starvation and dehydration; killing is not ordinarily considered a private family concern or a matter of choice. It is Ms. Schiavo's disability that makes her killing different in the eyes of the Florida courts. Because the state is overtly drawing lines based on disability, it has the burden under the ADA of justifying those lines.
What a shame these arguments have been buried in the freakshow we've seen these past couple of years.
The Judge
again says no.
Interesting to note while the Chicago Tribune notes the involvement of the Mayo Clinic doctor in several Christian organizations, it refuses to note Ronald Cranford's own rather biased background.
A New Poll
shows four in five questioned opposed federal intervention in the case, and so news organizations may have to rethink the coverage.
Considering the media's coverage of the case has been botched, it's no wonder people tend to side with Michael Schiavo, a man with practically no credibility, to say nothing of the opportunistic attorney involved in representing him.
After all, the media have painted this as an instance of right-wing fanatics exploiting this case as the latest salvo in the "culture wars," and, sure enough, the right has given them plenty of fuel for that particular fire, especially certain bizarre characters appearing on television and giving liberal groups like MMFA plenty of fodder. Unfortunately, the larger issues have been buried, to say nothing of the complete lack of research by reporters on this case.
Some Case History
about the case.
Meanwhile we know this case is nothing but a fight over the culture wars, with Catholics joining forces with the religious right.
Naturally, the papers would LOVE to paint it that clearly. Never mind disabled groups and quite a few liberals also have joined forces with the Axis of Evil in this case.
The only disabled rights people who are in favor of keeping Terri alive, if one reads this article, are people like right-wing activist Joni Eareckson Tada. Forget the many other groups NOT affiliated with ANY right-wing organization which are fighting against court-ordered starvation of the disabled and so-called "right-to-die" laws including doctor-assisted suicide.
If Terri dies, this is NOT a victory for progressives, no way, no shape, no how.
Here's another article about religious fanatics keeping vigil.
No wonder overwhelming numbers of people feel the way they do about the case. It's being distorted instead of looking at the larger issues.
Which is why articles like this and this get written.
For once I'd like to see a progressive magazine actually present another side to this issue which isn't focused on the fanatics and opportunistic Republicans or focuses on religion or the culture wars. There IS another side, the one I believe is the more cogent and powerful, but it's ignored in the so-called "progressives" fight to defeat the fascists.
It's because it could put a damper on "right-to-die" cases and legislation nationwide and actually MAKE people think before supporting something that has NOTHING to do with "private" affairs but instead where we are as a country.
As Expected,
the USSC refuses to hear the case.
Unless Jeb decides to risk his career and face a possible jail term for contempt of court and actually go in take custody of Terri, it's all over.
I doubt he's that brave--or that foolish, depending on one's stand on the issue.
If she dies, a lot of political careers may go down the tubes in both parties.
I
don't know how much blogging I will do today, since I am feeling rotten.
I am going to work this morning, but I may just hit the sack when I get home after around12.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
It's My Feeling
this is the most important story of the week:
DR. GERBERDING: We are delighted to be here today to formally and officially declare that rubella has been eliminated from the United States. This is a major milestone in the path toward eliminating rubella in other parts of the world, including the Western Hemisphere and other regions that have committed to this very, very important health goal.
But what does it really mean to say we've eliminated rubella? What it means I think is very nicely illustrated on this graphic here. In the 1960s, many, many thousands of children in this country developed rubella. Rubella is the disease that many of us remember as children--the three-day measles or the soft measles, usually not a particularly severe disease for young children, but a devastating disease if women acquire it during pregnancy because it is the cause of the Congenital Rubella Syndrome. That is a very, very serious condition that does result in birth defects, and death, and other complications for unborn children.
So, in the 1960s in this country, we had very large outbreaks of rubella. I was one of those statistics, and I'm sure many people my age or older also remember outbreaks of rubella in their schools. The vaccine was introduced in the late part of the '60s and, for a while, the vaccine was beginning to be used. We were seeing better and better control of rubella. But over time, as you can see in that red line on this graphic, we began to see fewer and fewer cases as immunization rates got higher and higher and higher.
And for the last several years in the United States, we have just had very few cases of rubella, and, recently, the cases that we do have are not cases that are being transmitted in the United States; they are cases that have been imported from other areas of the world where immunization rates are not as high as they are here in the U.S.
I am old enough to remember what a major problem rubella was, and this news is as important as the elimination of polio in this country and of the elimination of smallpox.
As the World Turns III.
Chess great and legendary weirdo Bobby Fischer has been released from a Japanese detention center and is heading for Iceland.
Of course, the United States wants him back for violating international sanctions after playing a chess match back in 1992.
The U.S. should let the matter drop. It's clear Fischer is several decks short of a full card.
This is how it looks when the egg is unzipped. But I have a very important question to ask. Why is it the pink "chick" is named "Harry Jr." while the green and purple ones are named Harry III? I know the term "junior" means he's the second Harry, but why would there be two Harry IIIs? Moreover, if there is a Harry Jr., this chick wouldn't be old enough to have two Harry IIIs, unless a related hen decided to lay two eggs and name these offspring Harry. I guess it's possible. After all, former heavyweight champ and indoor grill salesman George Foreman is said to have named all of his sons "George." It's also possible that whoever manufactured these chicks screwed up.
I am such a sucker for stuffed animals and all of that sort of thing. Bank of America is selling these "Easter eggs" on behalf of the March of Dimes. I decided to buy three of them in different colors.
Under Intense Pressure
from the dictatorship to scare the public so it will support its efforts to destroy the country's social insurance system, the Social Security Trustees decided to declare 2041 the year the program will "go broke."
As the World Turns II.
Don't think for a minute only Democrats are targets of smears:
Perry's campaign confirmed this morning that a video snippet showing U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaking kindly of Hutchison at a Washington event came from a tape made by two men working for Perry's campaign.
In the 46-second video, circulating rapidly by e-mail among conservative activists, Clinton tells audience members she's "delighted that Kay is my partner on so many important fronts."
The senators pose, smiling, and lightly embrace twice.
You can view the video at the link.
These protesters were demonstrating at a Chicago area Osco Drug store, where a pharmacist has been accused of not filling birth control pills. Anthony Comstock is alive and well in the 21st century. (Chicago Tribune)
As the Mouth Yaps.
The Mouth is now talking religion in an effort to make sure the fascists don't have a monopoly on it.
This, though, is good:
In the first he said Jesus' directive to ''love thy neighbor'' didn't mean one could choose which ones to love. He then remarked that Republicans never brought up the scriptural verse saying it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.
I Guess
there's a new documentary coming out about Air America Radio, and apparently the film doesn't depict the network in the dire manner Matt Drudge and the like have claimed.
Of course.
The Higher and Higher
the educational standards, the more and more students achieve those standards, and the better the students do, the more the right claims they aren't doing well enough, and the more the right complains, the more likely the administration will cut the money for education in hopes the schools ultimately fail.