Much has been written about this sad case. It is, at its best, highly suspect. It seems clearly obvious that the extenuating circumstances surrounding this lady’s situation warrants any extraordinary effort to allow her to make a go of it.

But lost in the details and the drama is a more sinister element. Those promoting her death do so simply by advocating the removal of her feeding tube. Simple enough. Or so it is presented.

However, those with medical knowledge recognize that starvation is a really gruesome way to wrap up this life particularly when it is combined with dehydration. Yet with the ensuing outcry the trap is set, or so it might seem to the casual observer.

It takes a quick recollection to realize that Timothy McVeigh was accorded more mercy and dignity than Terri Schiavo is being accorded. The contrast couldn’t be more glaring.
The judge and the supporters of death apparently seem to think that McVeigh is the more worthy candidate. Now they don’t say that directly of course, but it certainly is a logical conclusion if you think about it.

Speaking of logic, it is an easy next step to advocate putting her to death by some more merciful method. Afterall if you don’t want to starve her to death and the judge says she must die then what is the alternative?

Snap!

It would appear that the stage is set to “educate” the media-watching populace. It doesn’t even need to be spoken or spelled out. It is excruciatingly obvious. With our sensitivities and our compassion we suddenly might find ourselves in the euthanasia camp, albeit unwittingly. And of course to promote it we are told about this so-called persistent vegetative state which a camera could quickly resolve; that is if she wasn’t drugged beforehand. And so we feel sorry for Terri. “Can’t they just give her an injection or something?” is the whispered thought.

Of course lost in it all is Terri, the star witness. It seems handicap people are only important if they fit an agenda. And that agenda just might be to see you dead.

Like many traps, this one is set by a lie. Terri is not in a persistent vegetative state. She is a bad case for the euthanasia crowd to trumpet. And the ironic thing is that the trap has snapped back and now exposes those who want Terri to die. They share something in common with the abortion crowd; death at any time for any reason. They don’t really care about Terri. If they did they would be on her side, particularly given the odd circumstances surrounding this case and, particularly, because she is a woman.

So in her struggle, Terri is exposing the euthanasia crowd for who they really are. They are folks who care more about a cause than about people. They are people who will cause you to suffer miserably to promote their agenda, hiding the facts in the process even when you have a chance.

Terri is a trooper. God may well be using this to establish her for some future day ahead. There are some who are fighting against that. But kicking against the goads is never a good idea.

Kids and media in the bedroom.

The study also showed kids spend more time per day with media than hanging out with their parents, doing homework, and exercising combined.

Speaking of kids, I had a really cool moment with my young son today. I was spackling a wall while he was hammering scraps of 2x4’s together. He was holding the hammer really close to the head, and I took a few minutes show him how to hold it back farther and get a better swing. When he tried it and the nail sank into the wood, his face lit up… “Dad! You were right!!” Yep. Every once in a while. :-)

This is quite a charge. It’s not the first time it’s been suggested, but this is the first time I’ve seen an apparently first-hand account.

A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated.

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

I’m sure that in the days ahead the credibility of this young soldier will be bandied about ad nauseum. It will be interesting to watch the dialogue play out. Stay tuned.

Assuming it’s true, though, what does it tell us? Deceptive? Yes. Major PR coup? Probably - while it lasted at least. The image of Saddam coming out of that rat hole will probably stay with most of us, and presumably many thousands if Iraqis, for years. Even if it were carefully orchestrated, would such orchestration have been wrong? Or brilliant?

Comments are welcome….

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin and OTB have picked up the story. They’re skeptical.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the preview of National Geographic’s In The Womb.

National Geographic image of a seven month old baby in the womb.

Via LaShawn

From IMAO, If Felons Can Vote, Then I Should Be Able to Carry at Polling Places:

There are a number of restrictions to my conceal carry permit, such as I’m not allowed to carry in a school zone, at a post office, or to a polling place. In those situation, I just have to rely on my mad kung fu skillz. That was somewhat acceptable until I found out that Democrats are now pushing to allow felons to vote.

…

So, Democrats, go ahead and get felons the vote. Just expect me to come reasonably prepared… and I don’t just mean having read up on the issues. And, if one of your new voters causes me any trouble, he’ll end up with more holes in him than a punch card ballot.

Hah.

WorldNetDaily reports on the firing of University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill. Just kidding. His name is Professor Phil Mitchell.

Dr. Mitchell, who says he is “one of the top rated professors in the history department” has been sacked. He think it’s because they didn’t like his speech.

Via MoLWL

J Rob says:

…the miscreant was canned for using the word, “God” without the word “damned” after it. Phil Mitchell has impeccable credentials, is not an academic fraud nor an artistic plagiarist. He also does not use prostitutes to recruit into his program. I guess he really is a misfit at CU.

UPDATE: More bloggers are posting comments.

Mark Tapscott (links to this story)
Kevin
Confederate Yankee
Villainous Company

Clearly the most significant domestic issue facing America today is the judiciary. From the Schiavo judge, to the Massachusetts gay marriage judge, to the dysfunctional Supreme Court now abdicating to the laws of other countries, the judicial system in this country has abandoned its constitutional role of adjudicator and embraced that of legislator.

President Bush seeks to appoint judges who have a high regard for the Constitution and who will adjudicate by that standard, embracing the moral foundations of this country with the same wisdom of those early founders.

The Democrats will have none of it. Their goal is to obstruct and deceive. Their goal is to continue the destruction of the judicial system, turning it into a super-legislature with appointees who are there for life and cannot be removed. Their goal is to force a rejected radical left agenda on this country through activist judges who have no regard for the Constitution or the law, but whose sole purpose is to ram that agenda down America’s throat.

The battle lines are drawn; the people vs. the tyrants on the left, the terrorists if you will. Yet in this battle it seems the Republican senators have turned into cowards. While our military personnel are giving their lives to defend America and protect much of the world from tyrants, the Republican senators are running away. They are afraid to engage in the battle even when they have the superior position.

The Republican senators continue to let the Democrat senators engage in an unconstitutional action regarding the appointment of judges. Judicial nominees are to be given an up or down vote on the Senate floor. Filibustering judicial nominees is not part of the constitutional process.

But what is more outrageous is the fact that the Republican senators allow the Democrats to conduct a blocking action which is not a filibuster at all, but a desperate and devious attempt to prevent resolution to, what has become, a radical left judiciary. In a filibuster you don’t get breaks and adjournments and weekends off. You have to stand there and talk continually forever, or until there is a cloture vote, or until you give up. Yet the Republicans allow the Democrats to obstruct this process using the word ‘filibuster’ while engaging in something entirely different.

So where are the Republicans? Why do they allow this unconstitutional activity to continue? Isn’t it time to fight and win the battle against the Democrats who seek to destroy this country with their radical left agenda? Why are the Republican senators looking like cowards in the face of the enemy when the men and women in the military are sacrificing everything to defend us? No doubt the Democrats and the leftist media will scream bloody murder and they may even try and “blow up” a few Republicans (remember those mysterious 700 FBI files) in what might be called the second nuclear option. But if our sons and daughters can risk their lives for the cause of freedom and the destruction of tyranny why can’t the Republican senators stand up for America?

I sense we, the people, are losing our patience like the Schiavo judge has, not only with these wayward judges but with those Republican senators many worked so hard to elect.

We are pleased to announce that we have a new contributor to this blog. His posts will likely be less frequent than mine, but will offer a unique view on various subjects.

It is our hope that the additional perspective will add value to this blog, cause the reader think about something they may not have considered before, and of course, continue our trend of a reader-base that is growing monthly!

In the spirit of the wave of freedom spreading around the world, he will be posting under the moniker “Taste of Liberty.”

And though it is obvious since we are two different people, it bears explicitly stating that he and I may not agree on everything. Just because we contribute to the same blog doesn’t mean our views are homogenous. So when crediting, quoting, excerpting, etc, keep that in mind.

Over the course of the next hours or days, keep your browser pointed here for a fresh perspective from Taste of Liberty at Myopic Zeal, and come back often!

The St. Pete Times reports:

An attorney for Terri Schiavo’s parents asked a judge Monday to allow her to be fed by mouth once her feeding tube is removed on March 18, though a lawyer for her husband said such efforts would be unsuccessful.

MediaCulpa rips into George Felos for this quote, where he is making the argument for not attempting to feed Terri Schiavo by mouth.

Such a death from aspirated food entering her lungs would be painful, Felos said.

“Mrs. Schiavo is entitled to a peaceful death with dignity,” he said. “She’s going to aspirate and she’s going to have an extended, gruesome death” if fed.

He says:

What does Felos think we’re going to do — shove an entire Buffalo wing in her mouth? Spread tuna on a Ritz cracker and force her jaws up and down? Give us a little credit.

And the irony of Felos being worried about her pain — when he is happy to have her die of thirst and hunger — is more than we should be expected to bear.

Dawn Eden reacts as well:

Let me get this straight.

Death by aspiration is “extended” and “gruesome.”

Death by starvation and dehydration is “with dignity.”

If you haven’t seen them, check out the “myths” listed on the TerrisFight.org site.

“Don’t backspace on the URL.”

That’s the message that Harvard is sending to it’s business school applicants, who were able to find out before the official announcement date whether or not they were accepted to the school by backspacing.

Harvard calls this hacking.

Philip Greenspun (via OTB) has the scoop.

The ApplyYourself code had a bug such that editing the URL in the “Address” or “Location” field of a Web browser window would result in an applicant being able to find out his admissions status several weeks before the official notification date. This would be equivalent to a 7-year-old being offered a URL of the form http://philip.greenspun.com/images/20030817-utah-air-to-air/ and editing it down to http://philip.greenspun.com/images/ to see what else of interest might be on the server.

Someone figured this out and posted the URL editing idea on the BusinessWeek discussion forum, where all B-school hopefuls hang out and a bunch of curious applicants tried it out.

And he adds:

In the 1960s the term “hacking” meant smart people developing useful and innovative computer software. In the 1990s the term meant smart evil people developing and running programs to break into computer systems and gain shell access to those systems. Thanks to Harvard Business school the term now means “people of average IQ poking around curiously by editing URLs on public servers and seeing what comes back in the form of directory listings, etc.”

The statement released by McCain & Feingold.

“The latest misinformation from the anti-reform crowd is the suggestion that our bill will require regulation of blogs and other Internet communications. A recent federal court decision requires the Federal Election Commission to open a new rulemaking on Internet communications.

…

This issue has nothing to with private citizens communicating on the Internet.

Tapscott observes.
Red State takes them to task, line by line.

And lots of others have thoughts and opinions.

Mark your calendars! The third annual IEAPD is March 15th.

Via Wizbang

UPDATE: TBIFOC is calling all Houston bloggers. He doesn’t want to do steak for IAEPD, he wants to eat Crawdads. Why?

Why crawdads and not steak?

Because everybody around the country does steak. You’re eating just a fraction of an animal that way. in fact, using modern medical techniques, you could theoretically carve a steak out of a cow and it could a live a normal and healthy life afterwards.

Let’s see a mudbug crawl away from getting boiled, ripped in half, its tail meat torn out, and its head sucked.

What a riot. Thanks for the laugh Laurence.

Dawn Eden makes some interesting observations today about a company called Play Safe that is making a thong which has a built in condom pocket. The company’s motto:

“By combining sexy fashion with social responsibility, our mission is to influence, educate and transform the perceptions of our young, hip and most vulnerable citizens.”

Dawn Observes:

Company founder Caren Martineau tells San Diego State University’s Daily Aztec that she designed the condom thong with her two preteen daughters in mind. (It’s no wonder that Play Safe’s Web site lists Planned Parenthood and its Alan Guttmacher Institute as “resources.”)

Listening to NPR this morning as I drove to meet a friend for breakfast, I learned this:

CAIRO, Egypt – King Tut wasn’t murdered by a blow to the head, nor was his chest crushed in an accident. But after ruling out those longtime theories, the most revealing tests ever performed on the boy pharaoh’s mummy didn’t solve the mystery of how he died.

The results of the high-tech CT scan released Tuesday raised one new possibility: It suggested that just days before his death, Tut might have badly broken his left thigh, puncturing the skin – an injury that could have caused a dangerous infection.

And also this other fact which is highly relevant to my daily life:

Amenhotep III had been 1.56m tall and completely bald at the time of his death. He must have been suffering considerably with his teeth - they are thickly encrusted with tartar, and the king had a large abscess in his lower right jaw (and a smaller abscess above that).

And, in a blatant bit of commercialism, click these Amazon.com links if you want to learn more about Amenhotep III or his grandson, King Tut. :-D