Right As Usual

Fr. Rob Johansen, of the blog Thrown Back , who has done so much to bring Terry Schiavo's story to the attention of the American public, is planning another trip to FL. He could use some financial help. Please consider clicking on the above link if it's at all possible. If your financial situation doesn't make a donation a realistic possibility at this time, consider either posting a request on your blog, if you have one, or emailing to friends and family with a link to that site. As usual, write, phone, fax, and pray. Three weeks can go awfully fast.

I ran across this moving link, referred by Common Sense Runs Wild , a recent addition to my blogroll. A short excerpt: Holocausts do not begin with operational concentration camps; they start on a smaller scale and steadily break down our resistance while many people plead that they are "too busy" to pay attention and get involved. The stakes are enormous here and there is no neutral ground. Not to decide is to decide. The fight for Terri’s life is another battle to determine whether we are to live in a culture of life or a culture of death. I'm writing this from a hospital bed (DON'T ask about the difficulty of getting "hooked up" - I'm posting this from a dial-up connection). I periodically have to check in for a few hours or days, to clear up a flare-up of the asthma condition I've developed in the last 10 years. It suddenly occurred to me, what if I hesitated to go to the hospital, for fear of being terminated as an unworthy life? What if, in...

I've decided to place an Amazon link on the right sidebar. I've done this for several reasons, including: I like to read (Duh!) I often recommend books/movies/software to other people, but I've never made any money for doing so It was relatively easy to set up I'm planning to use the link primarily for book selections that I would strongly recommend. The first one, The Purpose Driven Life, is one that has been highly influential in helping me to discern my life's purposes. One result of that process was the decision to join Blogs for Terri. When I joined, I made a committment to post regularly about her family's fight to keep her alive. Our goal is to put a halt to the push to terminate her. We've got a window of opportunity - the judge has given a stay of three weeks. It's not over, yet. At this point, the courts are not interested in the facts of the case (it's a procedural thing - after the case is decided, the facts are not an issue in the ...

It appears that in 3 weeks, Terry Schiavo will lose her right to be fed. Judge Greer issued a 3-week stay, but emphasized that further delays would no longer be issued. The judge wrote that he was no longer comfortable granting delays in the long-running family feud, which has been going on for nearly seven years and has been waged in every level of Florida's court system. He said the case must end. "The court is no longer comfortable granting stays simply upon the filings of new motions," Greer wrote. "There will always be 'new' issues." There are several factors working in Terry's favor. The Department of Family Services has decided to intervene: Florida's social services agency is seeking a 60-day delay in the removal of the woman's feeding tube while it investigates new allegations of her abuse and neglect. Strangely, Pope John Paul II has entered the legal struggle: The lawyer for the parents also said he is preparing a motion to ask t...

I've been trying to find information about the Schiavo case online and on TV. Except for an occasional reference (usually including the words "brain-dead" "coma" or "vegative state"), I'm finding little. The local stations seem more interested in breathlessly "reporting" the latest about Jen & Brad, Angelina & anybody, and Paris and the CRISIS with her little phone/planner. I feel like that song from 1776, where John Adams, in a funk, despairs that his constant yammering about independence will bear fruit: Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody see what I see? Like Adams, I am starting to wonder whether we will ever get this issue to the front of people's attention. Then, I do think about his lonely fight, and how the seeds he and others at that time are still bearing offspring. I think it's time to rent the movie again, just to cheer myself up. Then, it'll be time to post again. And again. And again. ...

BTW, my daughter had her baby (a boy) last night. We are all tired today. Both mother and baby are doing well. Naturally, he is the most beautiful child in the world - except for my other 2 grandchildren, who are equally beautiful.

Well, the judge has extended the stay in the Terry Schiavo case to Friday. The link to a fuller explanation of the reason for the decision, which appears to be based on the illegality of keeping a non-terminal person in a hospice. Part of the problem with getting judical intervention comes from the fact that, after the initial court case is decided, the medical facts are not arguable, only the legal issues can be brought up in future appeals. Having badly decided the original case, Judge Greer is not able to correct his errors by referring to the facts in the case. I'm cautiously hopeful, but we can't relax. After the previous attempt to kill Schiavo last year was brought to a halt, for many, the issue died. It took an immediate crisis to get the Blogs for Terri going (I confess, I also let my own life take precedence). I'm more concerned, for the moment, that we don't let a temporary lapse in the euthanasia push cause us to relax, and let the momentum slip away. ...

I was working all day today (what an interference with blogging!), and hadn't heard about the stay that was issued: Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer later issued an emergency stay blocking removal of the feeding tube until 5 p.m. EST Wednesday. Greer, who has been overseeing the long-standing dispute, scheduled a hearing on the case for earlier Wednesday. I'm cautiously hopeful. I've been praying, and talking about the case to everyone I know, and posting almost every day (I'm also waiting to hear from my daughter about the new baby - she's in labor as I post). Keep up the pressure. It couldn't hurt.

I just read one of the funniest posts I have ever seen , on the plight of the upper middle-class "mommy", who is W-A-Y overscheduled, pressured to provide ever more for her sated offspring and their similarly glutted peers, subject to - gasp! - withering disapproval of other mommies if she doesn't measure up, and, most horrifying of all, - no "time for me". Iowahawk has created a classic response to the latest upper-class affliction, covered with hysterical urgency by Newsweek. A short excerpt: Women who pulled all-nighters hand-painting paper plates for a class party. Who obsessed over the most minute details of playground politics. Who—like myself—appeared to be sleep-walking through life in a state of quiet panic. Ladies, get a grip. Your life is not a tragedy. The tsunami was a tragedy. The genocide in the Sudan is a tragedy. I'll give some advice, free. (Which is about what the advice is worth). Get a life. A REAL life. Spend some of that time, not...

I woke up, like I usually do, in a great mood (I'm in that minority of morning persons). Then, I remembered. Today is the day - Terry is cleared for death. Unless something is done. For those of us who have been following the story, it may be getting difficult to post again. We've been saying the same things over and over again, and we keep banging our heads against a wall of indifference. I get comments like "well, I wouldn't want to live like that" and "it's the kindest thing to do when there's no hope left". I've explained the situation, but, with the court firmly on the side of death, it's hard to get anyone to examine the facts. The facts: Terry Schiavo is NOT brain-dead. Her "husband" got over a million dollars for her rehabilitation, which he has spent on himself and the effort to kill her. Her "husband" lives with a woman, with whom he has fathered 2 children. He brings that woman to visit his wife. He limi...

Those who are not readers of the Cleveland area dead-tree monopoly The Plain Dealer may not not to read this post. It is a long-overdue response to a columnist with a grievance against conservatives, which appeared Wednesday, November 10, 2004. Curmudgeons are a staple of Old Media. Their function is to observe American society, and comment on it acerbically, grumpily lamenting the passing of the “Good Old Days”. Mostly, they're harmless – their function seems to be related to upholding the endangered standards of a society fast becoming decadent. Curmudgeons have changed. Today's Grumpy Old Men pine for the Sixties. According to Dick Feagler, who writes editorials for Cleveland's Plain Dealer (a Dead Tree press), liberals are the ones that uphold REAL conservative values. And conservatives are, to use the kids' word, HATERS. For example: Did you know that all conservatives hate gays? Apparently I didn't get the memo, but Feagler insists that we have to call ...

Time is running out - if some government entity doesn't intervene, Terry Shiavo will begin her final days. She will have the feeding tube removed, and the painful process will commence. Think how it felt the last time you were REALLY hungry. For some of us overfed types, that may have been a LONG time ago, if ever. I started a diet in the middle of January, with a calorie limit of between 1200 - 1500 calories a day. For the first week, I felt that I could hardly wait for the next meal. And I was still eating! Now imagine going through worse for the 10 - 14 days it takes for your body to die of starvation. Without medication to ease the pain. That's what she will suffer, if we don't keep posting, writing, and calling. In the next week or so, my daughter and her family will welcome a new life into the world. I'm so on edge that I jump every time the phone rings. Think about the Schiavos, waiting for the phone call that tells them their child is about to die. Now do...

Years ago, I started using the Franklin Planner system. A key point made in the training on the system is that you have to distinguish between what's Urgent (a ringing phone, an instant message, the Super Bowl, etc.) and what's Important (getting the tax records together in January, being at a child's recital, taking the time to be with an elderly relative who is in fragile health). Something can be both Urgent and Important, but, when you take the time to think about it, few of the Urgent tasks are all that Important. A test that tells you whether something is truly Important - how will this affect my life in 5 - 10 years if I ignore this task? If there is little or no effect, then the task may not qualify as Important. The Eason case has taken up much blogging time over the last few weeks. Even after his resignation, many blogs have devoted much space to the issues raised. I just don't think the issues involved are as Important, let alone as Urgent, as posting on ...

Illiteracy vs. Alliteracy Illiteracy is best defined as the INABILITY to read, or at read fluently. Alliteracy, on the other hand, occurs when a person CAN read, but does not. Alliteracy is becoming quite common. Increasing numbers of people seldom, if ever, read, unless there is no other alternative. They prefer text messaging to email, video to text, and get virtually all their news from television and cable. The ability to sit still and concentrate is not an innate characteristic of humans. Repose does not come naturally to active youngsters. It must be developed, little by little, until the person has learned to appreciate and be comfortable in silent tranquility. Today's young have never been taught to listen to the "quiet within". They live in the midst of constant noise - many homes never turn the TV off, whether or not anyone is watching or listening. It's not uncommon to have several forms of media playing at the same time (TV, music, video game). We ha...

I'm headed off to work (how inconvenient!), but I found this gem about Jeff Jarvis' appearance on CNN on Dean's World . (Doesn't that man have a job? How can he find the time to post so much, and so often?) The gist of his essay: anyone who is a witness to news can be a reporter, because anyone and everyone has access to the press, to the Internet. You know, it's not MSM that needs to be worried - it's the journalism schools. There's a growing body of sharp people who are competitive with trained reporters, and they work cheap. So, why spend the money for J-school? The money quote: JARVIS: Everyone is a Wolf Blitzer in sheep's clothing.

Yet another judge has interjected himself into the fight for Terry Shiavo's legally-approved termination. Circuit Court Judge George Greer rejected arguments made by attorneys for her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, that she never had her own attorney during the decade long legal battle between them and Michael Schiavo. The Schindlers say Terri’s due process claims were violated as a result. I don't understand the urgency to kill her. Hell, condemned mass murderers get more consideration from the judiciary. Due process is one of those concepts that courts generally tip-toe around gingerly, trying not to squash any of its aspects accidentally. What the judges seem not to understand is that Terry is a litmus test for our humanity. Killing someone who has people who are interested in keeping her alive and are willing to assume responsibility for her, is not in intolerable pain, has reportedly shown more sentience than the vegetative state that was the basis for her court-app...

I found this link I urge you not to miss on A Texan Abroad . I've been doing a lot of thinking about what's really important in my life lately. That's probably becuase I've been reading A Purpose-Driven Life. I really can't describe the book, except to say that it focuses on helping you to find the core of your belief system, and re-build your life on that. It is a Christian-focused book, fair warning, but it is compatible with any denomination, including Catholicism.

While checking out The Viking Pundit , I found this little gem of a game . Go there and you can find a game the American Academy of Actuaries put together to give some insight into the Social Security situation. I'm no actuary, but I doubt that Social Security can be fixed as easily as the game would suggest. They don't account for the lock today's current recipients have on legislative ba%%s. I can think of few politicians who would risk being tagged as a "granny basher". Their influence is WAY out of proportion to their numbers. The fact that W has made this a central issue of this term is a plus - I can think of no better way to galvanize the youth of this country to register to vote, and begin taking on their civic responsibilities than an issue that affects them so directly.

I came home today after work, and found that I had moved up in the TTLB (The Truth Laid Bear) ecosystem. Although my progress had pleased me, I really couldn't account for it in any way. Until I checked my stats. It turned out that I have been added to the The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller . How did I get that slot? The Emperor asked for assistance in cleaning up dead links on his blogroll, and offered a free slot for those who would let him know which ones no longer worked. It only took a few minutes, so I did, and thought no more of it. Sometimes when you cast your bread upon the waters, it comes back buttered (and with caviar). Thanks, Misha.