Monday, February 28, 2005

HELP IF IT'S AT ALL POSSIBLE

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.

Sunday, February 27, 2005

DON'T MISS THIS LINK

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, instead of getting prompt care for a condition that is totally treatable, I avoided medical facilities, not wishing to place myself in a vulnerable position?

Folks, it isn't just Terri that we are all blogging our hearts out for, it's for any person in our society that might be considered to have a lesser, and unimportant life. Will we all be at risk for execution if we don't meet some committee's exalted standards of a meaningful life?

How sick do we have to be to worry:
  • chronic conditions?
  • disabilities - blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy, arthritis, etc?
  • cancer that is not immediately terminal? AIDS?
  • mentally impaired - retarded, brain damaged, Alzheimers?
  • emotional illness - depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar?
  • learning defict - LD, behavioral issues, "slow", ADD?


Write your legislators, newspapers, and blogs. Call, fax, email. Do everything you can - lest you lose the choice in the future.

It's not just Terry's fight - it's a fight for all of us.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

CHANGE IN THE TEMPLATE

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 appeal). The only people to whom arguing the facts will affect their decisions are legislators and government executives (President, agency heads, etc.). So, our efforts to get out the fact should focus on them.

Additionally, we need to keep working to educate the general public. It's the tireless efforts of volunteers who kept shouting into the wind that finally led to my interest in the case. Even so, it was another 2 years before I made this issue a cornerstone of my daily work.

It's the constant dripping of water that wears down the stone. We need to keep dripping on the stony hearts of America.

Friday, February 25, 2005

GOOD NEWS ON SCHIAVO CASE - A TEMPORARY STAY

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 the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the family's claim that Terri Schiavo should be spared based on statements by Pope John Paul II that people in vegetative states have a right to nutrition and hydration. They say Terri, as a practicing Roman Catholic, would have obeyed the pope and would not choose to have her tube removed.


I can foresee the anti-religious types coming out in droves to protest any action by the courts if this motion makes it to that level. Can we say media circus?

I think we need to keep up the full-court press. I just have a feeling that this might be our last chance to influence the direction of this case. So, continue calling, writing, and blogging. And don't forget to pray.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

CLUELESS MSM

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. Until America finally starts to see what I see. And does something about it.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

BABY UPDATE

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.

DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND THE JUDGE'S MOTIVATION

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. It's harder, this time, to get MSM interested. I've been watching the local news channels, and, without exception, they refer to Terri as in a vegative state, if they refer to the case at all.

Why do we care?
  • We care because it could be us
  • We care because it's the right thing to do
  • We care because, if we don't, euthanasia will become, de facto, legal
  • We care because, we don't want to face God and explain that we just got too busy to keep fighting

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

HANGIN' ON BY HER FINGERNAILS

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.

MOMMY AID - A PROBLEM FOR HUMANITY

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 hand-painting paper plates, but working at a soup kitchen. Don't obsess over getting your kid into the "right" pre-school, volunteer at a local school. Your eyes will be opened to what a REAL problem is.

Overweight? Don't waste the time on Pilates, haul a$$ to Meal on Wheels, and deliver the food several flights up, no elevator (not to mention doorman).

Want to get some perspective on your kid's whining? Work a few hours in a Burn Unit. Or a Pediatric Oncology ward. You'll develop the spine to stare down at your kid, and tell him/her, "You don't know how good you've got it."

Monday, February 21, 2005

THIS COULD BE THE DAY SHE BEGINS DYING

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 limits access by her parents.
  • He refused to allow her Communion before death.
  • After videos of Terry responding to her environment circulated on the Internet, he got a court order forbidding any further pictures of her to be taken.
  • Her parents have offered to take care of ALL expenses for their daughter, if he will only divorce her. He has refused.

There are further allegations of abuse, both before and after her injuries. I will not mention them, as Mike Schiavo has not been charged. Nor will he ever if he follows through with his plan to IMMEDIATELY cremate his wife at death.

Read the article from GOPUSA, mentioned in My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Follow the links to those of us who are part of Blogs for Terri.

Do it for me. Do it for yourself, if you plan to get any older. We're all just a short accident away from being considered of no use to anybody.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

GRUMPY OLD MEN

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 them nasty names to prove that. I'm not inclined to call anyone names, but if Feagler says so, I guess I'm going to have to start. The trouble is, I like the gays I know.
  • Did you know that Karl Rove's life ambition is to control women's uteruses (uterii?). Apparently, the only way women can show that they are in charge of their own lives is to bravely scrape out any developing ba- I mean, tissue. The main issue I have with this is that the decision to abort is often not a bold strike for independence, but the sad result of pressure. The under-18 crowd are dragged into clinics by furious parents. Boyfriends grudgingly thrust their share of the cash at the pregnant woman, and callously order, “Get rid of it.” Colleges subtly steer the no-baby choice by having no family housing options available.
  • No sensible conservative is against the First Amendment, but that right is used selectively.
    Good use: trashing Christian religions, teaching students about Islam (but only mention the positive parts), Native American religions, Paganism, and atheism, spewing the F*** word with abandon, asserting that the USA is the epitome of all that is evil and putrid, insisting that the troops are supported (but, don't forget, they're all psychopathic baby-killers and rapists), teaching grade-schoolers in graphic detail of masturbation, gay sex, and oral intercourse.

    Bad use: speaking well of Christianity or Judaism, pointing out the good aspects of America, actually supporting soldiers, sailors, and marines, suggesting that sexual activity before marriage is not necessarily good, teaching anybody (adolescent or adult) about the graphic details of abortion.

  • “If illegal immigrants can find a good minimum-wage job, why can't Americans?” I'm not sure what Dick has against working for a living. I'm sorry to be the one that tells him, there's nothing in the Constitution that forbids employers to refuse to hire the poorly educated, those with bad job histories, or a prison record. In fact, it was a reputed liberal (Clinton) who was responsible for forcing many welfare recipients to find jobs. And, what a surprise! Many of them did. That gave them something – a job history. Some of them improved their lives – some didn't. But welfare reform gave the choice to THEM.
  • Dick seems to enjoy a kind of amorphous, hazy impression of the Bible. And, for those who actually READ the Bible, some of the passages can be difficult to understand, and even lead to multiple viewpoints. However, other passages are clear and straight-forward. Jesus was not just a really nice guy who loved everybody. He did save the woman who committed adultery from a grisly death. But he also then said, “Go, and sin no more”. Not “Hey, B****, get your groove on.” Yes, the Bible does say “do not kill”. But self-defense, of self or of a nation, is clearly shown to be a reasonable use of force.
  • Dick, I really can't figure out your implication about Jews and the conservatives. We conservatives are not the ones on college campuses who passively stand by and watch anti-Semites scream at Jews? See Front Page magazine for examples of leftist anti-semitism. Who, conservatives or liberals, consistently supports the right of Jews to the homeland of Israel?
  • What's so awful about not wanting our children's ears assaulted by hearing about “ho's” and “bitches”? How does hearing sexist insults promote women's status? What do liberals have against the words “ladies” and “girls”? Is it better to call her a “ho”? I prefer my children to develop their vocabularies by finding out alternative ways to insult their friends and enemies. If the object of your insult needs to consult a dictionary to determine whether or not to whip yo' butt, you may escape injury. Or, at least you'll have the dubious comfort of being thrashed by a more knowledgeable thug.
  • And while we're at the subject of sexual politics, what's so terrible about not wanting to see every young women's butt tattoo framed by their exposed thong? It's funny, women agree that men can only think about one thing, then they dress in such a way as to guarantee that every erogenous zone is prominently on display in public. Do you think that improves the chances men will focus on their brains? If you do, you rate men's concentration powers more highly than I. Lest you accuse me of sexism, I also don't want to know the color of passing young men's Fruit of the Looms.

Friday, February 18, 2005

STILL COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS

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 something about it.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

WHAT'S IMPORTANT VS. WHAT'S IN THE NEWS (OR BLOGS)

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 the Terry Shiavo life watch. For those who aren't familiar with the issues involved, go to My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy to see a list of blogs that are trying to raise awareness about Terry's family's fight for her life. This case is an example of an issue that is BOTH Important and Urgent.

I have posted before about this, even when I was writing on Right We Are! (now defunct). I believe that this woman has been kept alive for a purpose, which involves raising questions about so-called the Right to Die. (Isn't it interesting that the Right to Life is ridiculed by the liberals, while the Right to Die is virtually sacred?)

BTW, have you left instructions about your choices, should you not be able to speak? Don't just fill out any "Living Will", check out the one that doesn't assume that a sick individual will want to "check out" ASAP. There is more information about the Terry Shiavo case on that site.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

NOT ILLITERATE, BUT ALLITERATE

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 have, by such means, trained our young to ignore events around them, focus selectively (generally the most frantic or visually interesting), and pay attention only when the action is non-stop (courtesy of Sesame Street and other similar "educational" programs). Such training is detrimental to the intellectual development of children. It eventually leads to adults who are incapable of focused attention.

Reading is an inherently solitary activity. It requires a mind that is in the habit of working at that task until the intention of the author is clear. For more complicated reading, the effort needed may not be worth the minimal rewards received.

What kinds of activities lead to ability to sit quietly and focus?

They may include:
  • listening to music with no words
  • learning to play a musical instrument
  • drawing (not coloring in another's drawing, but creating one's own work
  • mediating
  • watching with scenery, without any added sound
  • watching the movements of animals (ants, fish, birds), and writing down their observations


It starts with the family. When a student enters a classroom, it's easy for the teacher to tell whose family used electronic babysitters, and whose family spent quiet time with him/her. In a classroom situation, it's very difficult to teach when perhaps 1/3 of the students have "ants in their pants", as my grandmother would have said. They are out of their seats every few minutes, talk non-stop, bang on the tables in an effort to supply their own sound track, and cannot focus on an assignment for more than a minute or two without needing a break.

I'm not talking about 1st grade kids, these are descriptions of 14-16 year-old high school students.

The parents seldom see any problems with their children. At home, they function well, and are generally good kids. In a pre-literate society, they might be leaders.

But we don't live in a primitive world. We live in a society that increasingly needs its citizens to be able to function well while performing abstract tasks. The work that the alliterate can perform is generally poorly-paid, unskilled labor.

That lack of literacy serves as a barrier to economic advancement may strike some as unfair. And, to some degree, it is. Yet, so primary to the skill set of a modern society is the ability to read, that incompetence at the task makes one unable to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available.

It's significant that many of the minorities who have been successful academically engaged in their youth in quiet or contemplative pursuits - playing an instrument, mastering chess, drawing, or the like.

Teaching literacy and basic numeracy is well within thecapabilities of most families. It is for that reason that home schooling is getting to be so popular. Why send your children to school if the classroom activities are more focused on keeping the alliterate from disturbing the learning of the ready-to-learn, than on educating them.

Tracking is a no-no in schools today. Unless the student is working on a REALLY low level (more than 3-4 grades lower than his/her peers), there is a strong push to place that student in regular ed classes. The elite don't want that to affect their own children, so they have re-defined the above-average student as "gifted", and persuaded the schools to re-segregate those kids from the rest. All in the name of "fairness", of course. Tracking, of course, is bad. This separation from average is not tracking, but some other thing. What, I'm not sure, but definitely not tracking.

Can you read between the lines?

Monday, February 14, 2005

JUST A SHORT COMMENT

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.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

WHY TERRY SHIAVO MUST DIE

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-approved agreement for termination, and may be the way she is today because she was the victim of the person who is trying to end her life, is way beyond the level of "mercy killing".

This case needs to go to the Supremes. I would pay to see George Felos appearing before Justice Scalia that Terry has to be terminated. I would love to hear the questions as he put Felos' feet to the fire.

I don't understand the apathy of the American woman. This case is not merely about her - it is about the rights of all Americans who may, inconveniently, become incapacitated. Women used to lead the fight to protect the helpless - now, we're blind to the carnage around us.

When did this start? I think a compelling case can be made for the fight to secure abortion as the starting point for our growing callousness. In that fight, American women supressed their natural tender feelings, and began referring to pre-birth people as:
  • "products" of conception
  • a "blob" of cells
  • this "thing" inside me

I take this personally. My mother spent over 15 years in a wheelchair. My dad made the decision to sell their home, in order to make caring for her more feasible, when the need for living in a 1-floor setup became necessary.

When she finally suffered several major strokes, he, along with all the children, made the decision to turn off the machines that were keeping her going. She never regained consciousness. She was surrounded by family, and given medication for pain.

That's a very different thing from deliberately starving an awake and aware woman in the prime of life. Her husband (in name only) has consistently refused: to test her ability to swallow food (even refusing to allow her Communion), allow physical therapy, doctors to be brought in (at her parents expense) to assess her condition and recommend therapy. He has refused her parents' request to take over the custody of their daughter (including responsibility for the expenses).

I agree that there may be a time to say good-bye to a failing loved one. I don't agree that this is the time for Terry Shiavo.

We have to do our part to continue the fight for life. There are too many out there whose plans include whittling down human rights for the inconvenient.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT

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.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

JUST A LITTLE FUN

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.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

WHAT A LOVELY SURPRISE!

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.

Lies of the Left

This COULD be a lengthy post. But, I'll try to winnow it down to a reasonable length. The CA Parent Bribery 'Scandal' - the 1...