The President, after sending hundreds of people to their deaths in TX, now says "The case of Terri Schiavo raises complex issues. Yet in instances like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life. Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern. It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected - and that culture of life must extend to individuals with disabilities."
Um, what about all those people on death row who, because of inept counsel or lack of resources to pay for DNA testing, are condemned to die for crimes they may not have committed?
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Tom DeLay's Hypocrisy
From William Saletan, Slate
In 1988, Tom DeLay's 65-year-old father, Charles DeLay, suffered catastrophic brain damage and went into a coma. He had no hope of recovery but evidently reacted when his son entered the room. Although Charles DeLay had no living will, his family concluded that he would be better off dead and wouldn't want to go on living this way. Tom DeLay joined other family members in deciding to withhold dialysis. His father died.
In 1988, Tom DeLay's 65-year-old father, Charles DeLay, suffered catastrophic brain damage and went into a coma. He had no hope of recovery but evidently reacted when his son entered the room. Although Charles DeLay had no living will, his family concluded that he would be better off dead and wouldn't want to go on living this way. Tom DeLay joined other family members in deciding to withhold dialysis. His father died.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Ugh
The wife and I had a bunch of friends over for dinner Saturday night. Good times - ham, asparagus, rosemary potatoes, 2 different salads, awesome bread and wine. Lots and lots of wine. Maybe too much wine. I haven't counted the bottles yet, but it was at least 7 emptied Saturday night. Wasn't able to really function on Sunday. We went to see my mother-in-law for Easter dinner. Could barely eat. Then went to see my parents. Dad made an awesome turkey. Again, could barely eat. Ugh.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
DeLay pulled plug on his own Dad
Tom DeLay had his own father taken off of life support. Read it here.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Living Wills
I'm not going to put my wife and family through the hell that's going on down in Florida. Here's a link to living wills. Prepare one today. Please.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Senator Frist
From the NY Daily News:
Heart surgeon Frist has pulled the plug regularly
BY RICHARD SISK and KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has championed the "rescue" of Terri Schiavo, is a renowned heart surgeon who has pulled the plug on a "regular basis," his office acknowledged yesterday.
But Frist (R-Tenn.) ended life support only when the patient was ruled brain-dead, and he is convinced Schiavo is not brain-dead.
"He certainly has a lot of clinical experience" in the withdrawal of life support, said Frist spokeswoman Amy Call.
Frist, the driving force behind the Senate bill to move Schiavo's case to federal court and a likely 2008 presidential candidate, is under fire for declaring she is not brain-dead after reviewing a video of Schiavo.
"On a regular basis, he's dealt with a diagnosis of brain death," Call said defending Frist, a heart and general surgeon.
Medical ethicists like Dr. Kenneth Prager, chairman of the Medical Ethics Committee at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, say it's "inappropriate" for Frist to make an armchair diagnosis. "A diagnosis should be made bedside by a neurologist. He's not a neurologist, and he wasn't bedside," Prager said.
In a 2002 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Frist recalled moral debate into "Why is somebody dead when there's no brain activity, but everything else is warm and beating?" from the early days of organ transplants. "Finally, we came to a consensus, an ethical framework, that people can generally agree to and have faith in."
The other driving force behind the Terri Schiavo bill, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), is accused of using the Schiavo case to divert attention from his own ethics problems. A Texas grand jury has indicted three of DeLay's cronies and is now looking into his campaign finances.
A DeLay spokesman said, "Anybody would be hard-pressed to question Congressman Delay's commitment to life issues throughout his career."
Heart surgeon Frist has pulled the plug regularly
BY RICHARD SISK and KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has championed the "rescue" of Terri Schiavo, is a renowned heart surgeon who has pulled the plug on a "regular basis," his office acknowledged yesterday.
But Frist (R-Tenn.) ended life support only when the patient was ruled brain-dead, and he is convinced Schiavo is not brain-dead.
"He certainly has a lot of clinical experience" in the withdrawal of life support, said Frist spokeswoman Amy Call.
Frist, the driving force behind the Senate bill to move Schiavo's case to federal court and a likely 2008 presidential candidate, is under fire for declaring she is not brain-dead after reviewing a video of Schiavo.
"On a regular basis, he's dealt with a diagnosis of brain death," Call said defending Frist, a heart and general surgeon.
Medical ethicists like Dr. Kenneth Prager, chairman of the Medical Ethics Committee at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, say it's "inappropriate" for Frist to make an armchair diagnosis. "A diagnosis should be made bedside by a neurologist. He's not a neurologist, and he wasn't bedside," Prager said.
In a 2002 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Frist recalled moral debate into "Why is somebody dead when there's no brain activity, but everything else is warm and beating?" from the early days of organ transplants. "Finally, we came to a consensus, an ethical framework, that people can generally agree to and have faith in."
The other driving force behind the Terri Schiavo bill, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), is accused of using the Schiavo case to divert attention from his own ethics problems. A Texas grand jury has indicted three of DeLay's cronies and is now looking into his campaign finances.
A DeLay spokesman said, "Anybody would be hard-pressed to question Congressman Delay's commitment to life issues throughout his career."
Monday, March 21, 2005
Bush Hypocracy
Just thought you'd want to see the law that W signed as Governor of Texas that allows medical facilities to end life support if the patient can't pay for it.
On Terri Schiavo
This is wrong on so many levels - Congress getting involved in a family matter, the grandstanding of the right wing. What bothers me most is this - the print and broadcast media are not telling people that according to the report prepared for Governor Jeb Bush by University of South Florida professor Jay Wolfson (he was appointed as a guardian ad litem for Terri in 2003) "Theresa's neurological tests and CT scans indicate objective measures of the persistent vegetative state. These data indicate that Theresa's cerebral cortex is principally liquid, having shrunken due to the severe anoxic trauma experienced 13 years ago." What kind of recovery can she have when her cerebral cortex is liquid? Here's what the cerebral cortex is responsible for:
The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain, associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. The cerebral cortex is divided into four sections, called "lobes": the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. What do each of these lobes do?
Frontal Lobe- associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving
Parietal Lobe- associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli
Occipital Lobe- associated with visual processing
Temporal Lobe- associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech
And this just gets us on a slippery slope. What happens when a woman gets pregnant and wants an abortion and the father doesn't want her to have one? Doesn't matter if the father is her husband, boyfriend, rapist, whatever. He claims he's speaking for the unborn fetus. Will Congress intervene and make her go through with the pregnancy? Even though abortion is legal? Is Congress going to ensure that every American is kept alive, even when they can't pay for it? Just asking.
The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain, associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. The cerebral cortex is divided into four sections, called "lobes": the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. What do each of these lobes do?
Frontal Lobe- associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving
Parietal Lobe- associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli
Occipital Lobe- associated with visual processing
Temporal Lobe- associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech
And this just gets us on a slippery slope. What happens when a woman gets pregnant and wants an abortion and the father doesn't want her to have one? Doesn't matter if the father is her husband, boyfriend, rapist, whatever. He claims he's speaking for the unborn fetus. Will Congress intervene and make her go through with the pregnancy? Even though abortion is legal? Is Congress going to ensure that every American is kept alive, even when they can't pay for it? Just asking.
Friday, March 18, 2005
St. Patrick's Day Aftermath
Ugh, why do I do this to myself? Got to the pub just after 3:00 pm with the Mrs. Started drinking right off. I lost count after the 10th pint of Beamish. What did me in, however, was the Carbomb just before I left Finn Mac Cool's. Somebody shoot me please!!
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Where are they from?
Look at this map.
Interesting how most of the hometowns of our kids killed in Iraq are in blue states, even though they're supposedly traitors and not real Americans.
Interesting how most of the hometowns of our kids killed in Iraq are in blue states, even though they're supposedly traitors and not real Americans.
1500
Over 1500 dead Americans now in Iraq. 199 already this year. And Shiites allied with Iran won the elections. Is it worth it?
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