Terris Starvation Watch -- Day Eight.
By now, she is likely experiencing most or all of the following:

dry, warm skin; incontinence; cramping in the arms and legs; crying with few or no tears; headaches; dry mouth, dry tongue; with thick saliva. She will soon go into hypovolaemic shock, in which these symptoms will become more pronounced, and these additional symptoms will develop: cool moist extremities, a rapid and feeble pulse; low or undetectable blood pressure, and peripheral cyanosis. She may also experience severe muscle contractions in the arms, legs, stomach, and back; convulsions; a bloated stomach; sunken, dry eyes, with few or no tears; a breakdown in the skin's composition, cuasing a general softening and wrinkling of the skin and loss of elasticity, and rapid and deep breathing, much faster than normal.

These symptoms of dehydration are compounded by malnourishment, which is likely causing her to feel even worse.

Fr. Rob Johansen has posted what Terri's hospice calls her "Exit Protocol" (a chilling, vaguely Orwellian title). It describes in more detail what she will experience.

Tragic.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 20:59 0 comments

 
The fact this hasn't occurred more often in this gut-wrenching case . . .
is likely surprising to some.

On Friday, the FBI said a man was arrested in Fairview, N.C., allegedly for offering a $250,000 bounty for Michael Schiavo's death and $50,000 for that of a judge in the case. The FBI did not identify the judge.

Richard Alan Meywes allegedly sent the threatening e-mail Tuesday to two Tampa-area news organizations and the host of a national conservative talk show, the FBI said.

Meywes was taken into custody at his home and charged with murder for hire and with the transmission of interstate threatening communications, the FBI said. If convicted, Meywes could face up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $500,000.

I don't find it particularly surprising. We are, in the end, a nation of laws, and, by and large, we will obey the decisions of the courts, even when many of us are convinced the decisions are legally, ethically and morally wrong.

It is our heritage, and to our credit, that it is so.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 20:33 0 comments

 
Terris Starvation Watch -- Day One.
A long, painful death awaits Terri Schhindler Schaivo. May God have mercy on the souls of those responsible.

By the end of the day, she will feel drowsy and have a gnawing, achy feeling in her stomach.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 17:49 1 comments

 
And so it begins . . .
the 2008 Democratic primary campaign, that is.

It started when Clinton aide Ann Lewis was quoted as saying Kerry ran an inconsistent campaign whose message changed every two or three weeks. In other words, Ann had the temerity to speak the truth.

Kerry supporters didn't like that -- but their reaction shows that he has already lost this battle some 48 months before the actual primary election.

"It doesn't sound like the Ann Lewis I worked with at the Kerry campaign in 2004,'' said Jenny Backus, a Kerry political aide, after reading the Forward story.

"Kerry and Clinton are very close,'' Backus added. "They're working together on lots of good bills. He's doing a big fund-raiser for her (Senate campaign) in Boston. He headlined a big fund-raiser for her in (Washington) D.C.''

Uh-huh. Kerry's tactic should have been to backslap Hillary, perhaps to criticize her recent trend towards being a political moderate and pointing out that she has distanced herself from the activist base.

Instead, he is trying to show how close the two of them are. That's a sure-fire way to lose.

Voters won't cast a ballot for you because you are good friends or because you worked with a rival. They vote for leaders -- and Kerry just abdicated being a leader in favor of being a sycophant.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 10:16 0 comments

 
Odd question of the day:
Why doesn't the Vatican's website offer a Latin translation?
- posted by MrSpkr @ 01:55 0 comments

 
Fr. Rob Johansen has a great bit on the legislative efforts to keep Terri Schaivo alive . . .
and the Democrats that are blocking it.

Sigh. Why do those who scream loudest that they support individual rights seem to seek to block laws that would protect the most innocent among us?
- posted by MrSpkr @ 01:45 0 comments

 
Drudge is reporting interesting news on the Schaivo case
Drudge is reporting as follows:

**Exclusive Fri Mar 18 2005 00:50:07 ET** The Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee, Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming) has requested Terri Schiavo to testify before his congressional committee, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. In so doing it triggers legal or statutory protections for the witness, among those protections is that nothing can be done to cause harm or death to this individual.

Members of Congress went to the U.S. Attorney in DC to ask for a temporary restraining order to be issued by a judge, which protects Terri Schiavo from having her life support, including her feeding and hydration tubes, removed... Developing...

That's very interesting news. I think Drudge is in error, however, because the House website does not show a "Representative Enzi" or a "Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee."

Ahh. A quick Google check shows Mike Enzi is in the U.S. Senate from Wyoming, and does chair the Senate HELP committee. My bad.

This is getting more interesting by the minute. My understanding is that Congress is passing a law granting jurisdiction in federal cases where a person has not left written instructions to remove life support and the family is in dispute as to what to do.

This roller coaster ride is nowhere near being over yet. I hope Terri is given the opportunity to get the rehabilitation she has thus far been denied.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 01:36 0 comments

 
Cosmetic Abortions
No, not a disaster at Estee Lauder -- rather, the link regards two doctors in England who agreed to perform a late term abortion on a child simply because they detected that he had a cleft lip and palate -- nonfatal conditions easily correctable by relatievly routine surgery.

Abominable.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 14:44 0 comments

 
Another assault on my time . . .

- posted by MrSpkr @ 14:36 0 comments

 
Michael Schaivo on Nightline
Goodness. Michael Schaivo is on Nightline, and he is indignant. He's upset because the Florida legislature is about to pass a bill that would make it illegal to remove a feeding tube or artifical nutrition device from a person unless they leave instructions that such a thing is okay in writing.

The interview was a media suckup. Michael admits he will not benefit financially because there is no money left - he doesn't mention that much of it has been spent trying to kill Terri.

He also is either a liar or severely deluded. Here are a couple of quotes:

Terry will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away. This happens across this country every day.

How does one die, then, if their guardian "[takes away the] nutrition and hydration"? One might attempt to justify the action on the basis that the person is clinically braindead (which Schiavo, of course, does), but to suggest that when nutrition and hydration are denied, the resulting death is caused by anything other than starvation is absurd.

Death through removing somebody's nutrition is very painless. That has been brought to the courts many of times. Doctors have come in and testified. It is a very painless procedure.

He doesn't think it will hurt her, then. Instead, he describes the process as:

she will drift off to a nice little sleep and eventually pass on to be with God.

Right. No starving person to see here, folks -- ignore the man behind the curtain, move along, move along.

More from Michael Schaivo:

And to sit here and be called a murderer and an adulterer by people that don't know me, and a governor stepping into my personal, private life, who doesn't know me either?

Well, technically, it probably is not murder -- unless the law is changed. It appears the Florida legislature is in the process of doing exactly that.

However, Michael, you DO live with another woman, and you DO have two children by that woman -- so yeah, you ARE an adulterer.

Do I know perfectly what to do in this situation? No. But I have significant problems with Michael Schaivo's actions.

One last thing -- there was some publicity about a one million dollar offer for Michael to divorce Terri and relinquish the guardianship. Michael now claims there was an earlier offer of TEN MILLION dollars . . . but it isn't about the money.

Hrm.

Either it really isn't about the money, or something more sinister is going on. I recall rumors about evidence of spousal abuse -- this may or may not be true.

But Michael Schaivo strikes me as trying to hide something. Certainly, his behavior (adultery, prohibiting (for a time) Terri's parents from visiting her, halting all physical and rehabilitative therapy) leaves much to be desired.

And so, we have another showdown on Friday. Who knows what will happen -- but I doubt this case is over by any measure.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 23:02 9 comments

 
Taranto makes a mistake
I love James Taranto's "Best of the Web" at OpinionJournal.com. It's a great satire of news headlines from a conservative point of view.

He occasionally makes minor mistakes, but usually corrects them. I feel compelled to point out one I saw today, however:

He Won't Eat Until the Trains Run on Time
"Mussolini Goes on Hunger Strike"--headline, Financial Times, March 15

The error is that the "Mussolini" in question is not a he, but a she.

No big deal? Really? I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Work safe picture.

NOT work safe.

Apparently, in her former career, she posed for nude pictures. And looked pretty good doing it.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 16:32 0 comments

 
Busy for a few days . . .
Light posting until I get this MSJ out.

Until then -- what happened to the chorus of voices insisting that Bush's vision of freedom spreading through Iraq was insanity itself?
- posted by MrSpkr @ 15:59 0 comments

 
She says it likes it's a bad thing . . .
Bolton is known for being arrogant, humorless, self-righteous and confrontational, and he hates the United Nations.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 01:28 0 comments

 
This is a Pay-Per-View opportunity waiting to happen . . .
I mean, set up some remote cams on board the ship, use lots of big guns to inflict flashy but superficial damage to the superstructure; maybe lay a run of napalm across the flight deck, then allow the American public to watch for $19.95.

Y'all steal my idea, I expect 10% of the gross.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 12:00 0 comments

 
Oh the humanity!
KFC collides with Krispy Kreme! Whatever will we do?
- posted by MrSpkr @ 11:39 0 comments

 
I just quadrupled my DeadPool score from last year . . .
on one guy. Vivek Singh, international hockey player from India (and former Olympian), died of cancer last month.

Yeah, it's morbid. But if you can't poke fun at that which will eventually envelope us all, what CAN you poke fun at?
- posted by MrSpkr @ 10:44 0 comments

 
Quote of the Day
From a Dallas Morning News story about two con artists who made at least $325,000 by offering illegal immigrants jobs with a non-existent janitorial services company, then stealing the applicants identities and filing false unemployment claims with the state:

"It's really pathetic that somebody would take advantage of people in the U.S., however illegally, who were trying to make an honest living," said Amanda McMurrey, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which investigated the case.

Priceless. Simply priceless.

Some would think it really pathetic that illegal immigrants could (1) get social security numbers; (2) apply for unemployment benefits from the state; and (3) actually receive unemployment benefits without having, say, THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE THERE TO DEPORT THEM!

Don't get me wrong -- immigration is fine. It's breaking the law that bothers me. If our economy cannot exist without Mexican immigrants (and I don't agree that is the case, though I admit that these immigrants do act to keep prices (and, unfortunately for some, wages) low), then we need ot make such immigration legal. Until we do, we need to enforce the existing immigration laws.

It is our refusal to do either that is TRULY pathetic, IMHO.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 09:32 0 comments

 
LOL -- Daschle's legacy
This is too funny. Only Democrats would name their Senate Re-Election Campaign Headquarters after the only Senate majority leader to lose re-election in over fifty years!

Oh the irony is delicious.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 10:33 0 comments

 
You can't fisk this stuff
You just can't.

Oh, and since when has "heteronormative" been a word?
- posted by MrSpkr @ 14:19 1 comments