Friday, April 29, 2005

WINNIE - MY FAVORITE MAN, NEXT TO MY HUSBAND

I've long been a fan of Winston Churchill. Don't know quite why he captivates me, but he does.



Maybe it's the way he flung himself into life. He had a dreadful childhood - a mother who wasn't fit to care for a kitten, and sexually promiscuous, as well, a father who went mad, due to the progression of syphilis he'd contracted in a mispent youth, and a poor school record (he was considered not very bright at school). He didn't whine about the unfairness of life, he just picked himself up and tackled life with a will to win. Although he trained as a soldier, his record on the battlefield is more remarkable during the years he acted as a war correspondent (he was captured during the Boer War, and escaped). He was right in the thick of things during that war, and, after, stood for Parliament. He was heavily involved in government and politics for the remainder of his life.

There is much to criticize in his life. As First Lord of the Admiralty in WWI, he engineered the disastrous Gallipoli landings that took so many lives of Englishmen and Australians. He made blunders in setting economic policy, and his post-war management was questionable.

But he could be forgiven much for the remarkable performance in WWII. His influence, I believe, was pivotal in determining the ourcome of the war. His writing is pure Winnie - when you read "The Hinge of Fate", you can hear the cadence of his voice. I've been slowly working my way through his 5-volume war books (the prize from Goodwill scavenging).

Winnie was something you seldom see in politics, but respect when you do - a man of principle. He could be wily, but he concocted his little tricks for an ultimate goal that was worthy.

To finish on a WC quote from Neo-neocon:
"Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, and still yet if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you, and only a precarious chance for survival. - There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."

THE GREAT UNDISCOVERED BLOGS

I have a request. I've noticed that the top 50 or so blogs keep getting mentioned on lists of favorites again and again. I'd like to ask everyone to write down their 5 favorite undiscovered (relatively so) blogs. Several rules:
  • They can't have appeared on other favorite blogs lists
  • They need to rank lower than Large Mammals - below that point, they're still lesser-known
  • They have to post regularly - at least several times a week
  • Currently active

I just think a list like that would give some publicity to blogs that don't get much attention yet, but deserve a larger audience. If you want to post the above on your blog, great - the more this Undiscovered Favorites list circulates, the better.

Either add your list to the comments, or email me.

MY LIST

Red Guy in a Blue State
Eleven Day Empire
Yeah, Right, Whatever - This blog is already on my blogroll
Fred on Everything - He's irreverent, he's funny, and he's TOTALLY un-PC.
The Mommy Blog - it's not what you'd expect - just go there - I promise you'll like it

BTW, when your favorites are displayed here, why don't you send them a link to here so they can enjoy the moment.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

I'M GOING TO HAVE FUN WITH THIS!

Because I used to vote Democratic, I still receive mail from the DNC. Today's over-the-top message is about Social Security reform, and how "George W. Bush and his Republican cronies" (don'cha just love that word cronies - doesn't it just convey that smarmy note of back-room deals?) will destroy that hallowed American tradition - "guaranteed" benefits.

From the official Social Security website
Your Social Security Statement is a concise, easy-to-read personal record of the earnings on which you have paid Social Security taxes during your working years and a summary of the estimated benefits you and your family may receive as a result of those earnings.

Yeah, notice that word "may" - they're not guaranteeing a thing. Worse, since I started working, they've come up with the Windfall Elimination Provision, which, as a teacher, affects me. I've read nearly every page on the SS site, and, for the life of me, I can't figure out what I'm going to make, if anything.

The State Teachers Retirement System benefit calculator is better, but only marginally. However, they're both making some unreasonable assumptions:
  • The amount coming in will not change
  • The number of workers supporting the retiree will stay constant, or even increase
  • There won't be any more changes to the Medicare/health system, such as a reduction in benefits, or a rise in co-pay


One of the scare tactics that the Democrats are using:
Fact: The Bush Plan Would Add Trillions to Our National Debt - by forcing the federal government to borrow $ 4.5 trillion from foreign nations to pay for it.

Maybe I'm just not that bright (No comments, please), but I can't find that reference. According to the Democrats website, it's a rebuttal to the State of the Union address - but I checked that address, and I can't find what they're talking about.

I also looked for another "fact" the Dems talk about:
Fact: The Bush Plan Would Cut Guaranteed Benefits - by slashing seniors' entitlements by up to 40 % to help cover the costs of privatization.

What Bush did say is:
Fixing Social Security permanently will require an open, candid review of the options. Some have suggested limiting benefits for wealthy retirees. Former Congressman Tim Penny has raised the possibility of indexing benefits to prices rather than wages. During the 1990s, my predecessor, President Clinton, spoke of increasing the retirement age. Former Senator John Breaux suggested discouraging early collection of Social Security benefits. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan recommended changing the way benefits are calculated. All these ideas are on the table.

Could that be what they're talking about? Even that wouldn't affect seniors or those nearing retirement. Bush was real clear about that:
We must guarantee there is no change for those now retired or nearing retirement. And we must take care that any changes in the system are gradual, so younger workers have years to prepare and plan for their future.

Well, it's a fair bet that I won't be signing the Democrats' petition, or sending them any money.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

THIS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO FOR SERVICEMEN & WOMEN

I found mention of an important bill that needs your help on Blackfive. The bill would provide wounded servicemen/women with Traumatic Injury insurance, which would relieve the families of worry about finances while the wounded person recovers. It's retroactive to the start of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Go there, and get the contact information.

AMERICAN DAY OF COMPLICITY

I've been thinking about Viet Nam lately (I've been reading David Horowitz's "Radical Son"), and I've decided that those of us who were formerly leftists need to declare our own American Day of Complicity. It would be a day similar to Yom Kippur, when the Jews have a Day of Atonement, and reflect on their individual and collective sins.

But this day would be specific to those of us who worked to end the war in Viet Nam, whether we rioted in the streets, accused returning vets of being war criminals, rooted for the Viet Cong to win, or, like me, just signed petitions and parroted the jackass opinions of the Fonda-Hayden-et al crowd. We would spend that day reflecting on how wrong we had been, the misery we had caused (to both our own soldiers and, ultimately, to the people of Viet Nam), and what we could do to make sure that the record was corrected in light of what we had learned since those days.

This Friday, April 29th, marks the 30th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. It would be fitting to set that date as the annual rememberance of our failure to support an ally, which led to a great human tragedy.

Below is posted the scene at the US embassy at that time.



In the words of the Jews remembering the Holocaust - NEVER AGAIN.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

HIV CORRELATION?

While avoiding housework mindlessly surfing catching up on the news this morning, I found reference to a correlation I hadn't been aware of:
the high risk areas for HIV coincide with tribes who are uncircumcised. In Africa, it seems a man is much more likely to get HIV if he is uncircumcised.

That's a correlation that is strictly limited to heterosexual transmission, BTW. If anyone has any further information about this link, please email me.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

NOONAN HITS IT OUT OF THE PARK AGAIN!

OUr Word and Welcome to It posts about the new Peggy Noonan WSJ article, about the excitement generated by the announcement of the new pope, Benedict XVI.



Peggy Noonan shot to public attention when she served as a speechwriter for George Bush, and crafted the words "a thousand points of light". She later wrote the book "What I saw at the Revolution".

The defining feature of Peggy (I hope she doesn't mind the use of her first name) is that she is a devout Catholic. When she writes about the Church and its people, she speaks with the voice of someone who loves them. With this article, she zeros in one why the funeral, conclave, and election of the new pope dominated the media's attention (and the world's) for such an unprecedented time.

I've long been a fan of Mitchell and Judith Hadley's blog, Our Word and Welcome to It. I first read it when I stumbled across it on the list of Terri's Blogs. It's a must-read every day.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

I've been thinking about the phrase "It takes a village to raise a child".

I think it's totally wrong.

A village can raise your child if you want the values of the village to overtake your own.

Do you?

Can you look around your neighborhood and say, Wow, I want my children to be just like them, and mean it?

Even if you like your neighbors, and even if you would trust them to watch your children for a few hours, that doesn't mean that you agree with every one of their principles.

Look at the larger village - would you want your child to be like the least moral, trashiest person in the town? That person, too, is part of the village.

Just limit that village to the school your child attends - would you be comfortable with them acting like any given student or group of students?

Would you want your child to be like the teens on TV? They, too, are part of the village.

How about Jackass? Or The Real World? Or Fear Factor?

The village extends further than you realize. And, thanks to media publicity and human stupidity, the trend of the village is ever downward. Till the trend hits a level that prompts us to respond, OK, that's enough. If we have to pass a law to stop the downward spiral, we will. And we do.

But our society feels uneasy with limiting stupidity. We want to allow our citizens the freedom to create their own life, and for many, that means not putting any curbs on their actions, however much we can see that it's killing them. Hey, free will, you know.

The fact is, a free human being CAN choose their own destiny. And, while I might now agree with that choice, I will go along with the principle that it's their life to live.

But, you can't honestly call most of the people who are making those choices free human beings. They are slaves to whim, influence of others, chemical substances, and an inadequate education, both academic and moral. We have raised a large segment of our society as electronic peasants, superstitous, easily led, prone to impulsive and stupid decisions, easy prey to hucksters, knaves, and fools.

So, why would you want YOUR PRECIOUS CHILD to be raised by such as this?

ISRAEL, PALESTINE, AND HISTORY

Thanks to An American Housewife, I found the Sigmund, Carl, and Alfred website. In one of their posts, they give some background info about the history of the Israel-Arab conflicts (some of this I knew, much was either new or presented in a different way than I had seen previously). For anyone born after 1960 or so, you need to read it. It's about that time that radicals began to distort the reporting of Israel's current events in a way that now makes it possible for college kids to call Israelis "Nazis" without thinking, and support those who do.

I've been thinking - why is the US still pushing giving back the territories?
  • Have the Arabs behaved in a way so as to make the Israelis think they might want to live in peace? No.
  • Has the "Palestiine" civilization taken steps to use the money given it to start building a viable society, one that could survive without outside help? No.
  • Has the school system they've had control over begun graduating waves of eager scholars, eager to build a state of Palestine? Or have they stuffed them with just enough Quran to make them want to blow up Israelis?
  • Have the VERY expensive security forces gotten control of the "militants" and established a safe Palestinian homeland? No.
  • Is there any reason to believe that giving them the territories will lead to anything more than a knife pointed at Israeli throats for a very long time after? Not to mention that with a legal, independent state, the UN will start to muscle into the act.


So why the hell should the Israelis let them do have the land?

Saturday, April 23, 2005

STREET SMARTS

As a former Cleveland schools teacher, I'm often asked if the violence in the schools is as bad as rumored. Frankly, the answer is "it depends". At some schools, yes, it is. However, most of the time, it's not that bad.

In the aftermath of some recent incidents that created bad publicity for the district, others have considered that same question. One of them is a current teacher in the district, Mary Beth Matthews, who writes the blog, Street Smarts. In it, she asks,
What prevents teachers or building administrators from punishing students who behave inappropriately?
This is a question that must be asked of teachers and administrators anonymously, otherwise the answers will be:
"We always give appropriate attention to discipline problems."
Many teachers already told Regina Brett the real answer to that question.
High suspension and expulsion numbers look bad to the folks downtown.
This begs another question; Why?

A report detailing the numbers of students suspended tells the administration at the downtown office nothing about the atmosphere of a particular building.
Low numbers do not mean there are no behavior problems, they simply mean the problems are not being reported or addressed. On the other hand, a building with high numbers of students being suspended would not necessarily mean the building has too many behavior problems. Rather, it says that the principals are busy working to set a no-nonsense tone in that school.
If a person will spend a day in a school, and see students roaming the halls and classrooms out of control, they will know that the school has discipline problems. That is just common sense.
If we are ever to going to fix the schools we have to start dealing with the problems from a common sense point of view. We have to deal with reality.

Amen, sister, amen.

OOPS, THEY DID IT AGAIN!

Sometimes I wonder at the tactics of biased reporters, who try to keep within the grounds of truth, and yet convey a misleading picture of a story.

I found the following in paragraph 2 of today's CNN story on the proposed change to the Senate rules.
Internal GOP polling shows that most Americans don't support Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's plan to ban judicial filibusters -- a tactic in which opponents can prevent a vote on a nomination with just 41 votes in the 100-member Senate.

From the above, and MOST of the rest of the story, those big, bad Republicans are trying to trample on a hallowed tradition, in direct opposition to the wishes of the American people.

Pause for the stirring chords of "The Star-Spangled Banner". (Remember "Green Acres", when the New York lawyer would talk about the traditions of America, and the music would swell in the background?)

OK, where was I?

Oh, yes. The American people, and how their wishes should be respected, at all costs.

Well, buried in a single sentence towards the end, it seems that the GOP actually ASKED the people what they wanted - and they answered:
The poll found more than 80 percent of those surveyed believed all judicial nominees deserve a yes-or-no vote.

We'll have to see whether the Senate will do just that. Don't hold your breath.

And, if you're from Ohio, or know anyone who is, have them send Sen. Voinovich a message about this issue. You can get there from the link in my Blogroll.

PLAY THIS VIDEO

On In The Bullpen, I found the link to this video, showing the survivor of a helicopter crash - a crash that was directly caused by the actions of Islamic Army in Iraq, who cold-bloodedly murdered the man (believed to be Belgian). Understand me, this was not the merciful shooting of a severely wounded victim, he was conscious, able to talk and walk, and was on his feet, testing out his mobility, when they abruptly opened fire.

This is the 2nd half of the video - the murder is at the end of the segment. I do hope that the same people who scream for the prosecution of the soldier who killed a wounded man that he believed threatened him, will also push equally hard for the murderers of this poor man.

Having one standard for the American soldier, and another for non-Caucasian terrorists that oppose us, is the essence of pukka sahib thinking. Those doing it clearly hold the opinion that the "brown brothers" of Kipling's writings don't have highly developed ethical awareness we do, but can only be held to a lower-level, and lesser, standard.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

MORAL/ETHICAL PERSUASION VS. LAWS

I was reading Cut on the Bias this morning, and I found a gem that expresses something I'd been mulling over for some time. That is, the effectiveness of changing the heart vs. imposing your will upon a protesting populace.

Suzanne says:
As a Christian, I see many things going on that I think the world would be better off without: drinking, sexual promiscuity, rampant materialism, I have a whole laundry list. In an ideal world, I'd like those things to be not just a bad idea, but illegal. However, I'd be very very hesitant about passing laws against them, because it's not an ideal world and people can't be put on what I consider the right path just because I say so.

In constrast, many liberals look to the law:
What the leftists want (and won't say out loud) is a ruling elite that controls the choices of the hoi polloi so they can construct the world they want.

It's truly about the Christian concept of free will; that's where CHOICE comes into play. Many on the left take their model from the civil rights movement - they look to impose their moral views on an unwilling populace. What they forget, however, is that the true change in the South came when people's hearts were moved - they couldn't live with themselves when they had to face the reality of their actions. As it happens, the South has gone further than the North (or West) in terms of racial relations. The South faced their demons, and Evil lost.

When I first started reading blogs, I was a classic liberal. My favorite news sources were Alternet, Common Dreams, and Utne Reader. I only started reading the more conservative blogs when they were referenced in other stories, and I wanted to get more detail. Over time, I added them to my Favorites; gradually, I began to change my thinking.

That's what the effect of Pope John Paul II looks like - over time, by keeping his message consistent, he began to change people's hearts, and eventually their minds. That's what the real fear of liberals is - in the battle for the heart, they cannot win. They appeal, not to the larger self, but to the smaller one - one that enshrines personal gratification as the highest goal, and rigidly imposes one's own favorite aesthetic practices upon an unwilling citizenry. To that end, liberals will outlaw freedom of choice in:
  • how to bring up one's child - any religious training will be rigorously stamped out in state education
  • eating that includes fats, salt, sugar, additives, or too many carbs
  • smoking (of the tobacco kind - the various mind-altering types are encouraged)
  • drinking - God forbid you should enjoy an occasional drink, despite medical studies showing that such consumption is positively coorelated with improved health
  • media - don't you dare watch "junk TV", public television is SO much better for you. Conservative radio should be outlawed, or at least opposed by government-funded liberal radio (no matter whether anyone wants to listen to it)

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

THE NEW POPE

I was at work today, and got the news that a new pope had been selected. As it was lunchtime, I turned on the TV, and watched with several of the teachers. One other teacher was Catholic, two others were not.



According to Fox News,
Ratzinger, who turned 78 on Saturday, served John Paul II since 1981 as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (search).

In that position, the man described as a conservative guardian of church doctrine disciplined church dissidents and upheld church policy against attempts by liberals for reforms.

I knew it wouldn't take long for the media to start carping about him. They didn't dare criticize JP II too heavily, as the average Catholic liked him, they really liked him.

But, the media seem determined to do their best to see that Pope Benedict XVI does not attain that treasured status among the faithful. All I have to say about that is, give him a chance to do the job.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

JUST HOW DISGUSTING CAN THEY GET?

I found this image from Cafe Press on Michelle Malkin's blog. I have no words that would be sufficient to express my disgust with how anti-democratic (small d) this is. In a democracy, we don't threaten to kill our political enemies. Or, I should say, we dare not. To encourage violence against political opponents is to move a giant step closer to anarchy. There's a reason that our government imprisoned anarchists - no democracy can survive violent assaults by immoral lunatics.

Several weeks ago, my husband was watching public television, and I wandered in to see that Emma Goldman was being canonized. According to the "documentary", Emma was just a tireless crusader for the underdog. She is quoted as saying:
"As an anarchist, I am opposed to violence. But if the people want to do away with assassins, they must do away with the conditions which produce murderers."

According to the PBS website
Throughout her life, Goldman would oppose violence in theory, but defend it in practice by shifting the blame for acts of violence onto the state and governing classes.

How like a leftist! "I didn't want to shoot you, but you made me do it - you cad!"

Michelle failed to show some of the more disgusting items for sale, including:



The above item including the precious caption "BUSH KILLED MY [SON/DAUGHTER]. We're so sorry your child died needlessly due to Bush's lies, and we salute them. This item is specially priced for grieving families."

Well, as long as they give the grieving families a price break...

Other items include:





In addition to the anti-Bush items, there's also the ever-popular Che:



On the back of many of the Che items is this quote:
Che Guevara was an activist's activist. Memorialize him with this gear. This quote is on the back of several items: "If you tremble indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine."



Many people would agree with this sentiment, but the snide caption says:
Republicans will probably charge this to their child's credit card . . .

The above sentiment came from the Angry Liberal Store, which includes:



I could go on, but check out the store for yourself.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

ALLOWED TO EAT

Mae Magouirk has been moved from the hospice, and is getting food and hydration now, according to Blogs for Terri, in an update to their post.

If this illustrates anything, it shows the need for constant vigilance. Too many people become interested in an issue because a single person captures their attention. If that person's situation changes (improves, resolves, dies), then they turn their focus to the next thing. We need to look at the hospices - are they a convenient way for our society to bring in euthanasia without triggering public attention? I mention this because of a post in Right-Wing Nut House, that referenced the Hospice Patients Alliance. One of the articles on their site:
The efforts to change how society views the disabled seem to be schizophrenic. On the one hand, we are taught that we should defer to the disabled, give them special parking spots, make our buildings wheelchair accessible, yet on the other hand, it's "OK" to discount their views if they are speaking out; it's "OK" to abort them if they are "detected" during pregnancy; and, it's "OK" to euthanize them should they become inconvenient (already practiced in the Netherlands and coming soon to a "health" clinic near you).

I've said before, this is a "sleeper issue" - the Terri Schiavo case just awakened a great many people, like myself, who had never thought deeply about the subject. I always assumed that only those who were terminal and close to death would be affected by these "gentle death" advocates. Before, if anything, those actions seemed to be regretful and used only as a last resort for those few individuals who were in constant pain and begging for a quick release.

I'll continue blogging about this issue. I probably won't be writing about it every day, as I did in the last few months, but expect to see further posts, including links to local (Ohio, particularly NE Ohio) cases and activities.

Saturday, April 09, 2005

THE ACID THAT EATS THE CONTAINER

On American Digest, I found a great post by Gerard Van de Leun:
As a one-time card-carrying member of the Culture of Death, I've had no little experience with the bile and the acid that is used to burn out the soul and replace it with the dead-end secular totems of possessions, fashion, sexuality, and the self-uber-alles. I've used selfishness to "enhance" my own life and I've had "selfishness" used on me in turn to enhance the lives of others. Commitment and duty have no place in this philosophy -- everything is reduced to "lifestyle" choices in which, since people are only things, they can easily be replaced by other things, other people.

I remember when this acid burned strongly on all fronts and seemed, in the main, unstoppable because it seemed to have become 'the universal solvent' -- something that could dissolve all that it came in contact with. The flaw in that formula was, of course, the flaw that lurks in the ancient alchemical nature of the universal solvent -- it will eventually burn through everything, even its container.

What we've seen in the last few weeks of the last six months is the evidence that the container that holds antiquated liberalism is beginning to be eaten through at last. I've been struck again and again by just how small, mean and trivial the recent "victories" of liberalism seem to be.

I've said it before, the mentality that the liberals of the world have is to win at any cost. They are determined to take any action, no matter how repugnant, to win; they will push and push to secure what they consider the borders of their belief system. To that end, they have deliberately starved a crippled, brain-damaged woman, refused to support charges for the murder of children of pregnant women, no matter how close to delivery they are, and how "wanted" the child was, and encouraged town marriage clerks to defy the law to marry gay couples, eventually triggering state marriage amendments.

And, yet, every defeat only encourages them to re-double their efforts. You can't call them quitters.

Compromise is not an allowable tactic. They will ally with the most vicious and despicable people in our society (anti-Semites, terrorists, child molesters) to gain numbers. They are injecting themselves with cancers in the name of "growth". And that sick alliance with Death will eventually kill them.

Friday, April 08, 2005

CONTRADICTION

I found this reference that puzzled me:
The staff took pride that she never developed a bedsore. With twice as many nursing aides per patient than the average nursing home, Woodside workers were able to turn her every two hours.

I haven't been able to verify her condition, but I remember reading somewhere that, in the last few years, Terri had developed bedsores. Was that commenter incorrect? Please comment if you have knowledge of any online source that you trust on this issue.

EVEN WITH A LIVING WILL

Reading Fr. Johansen's Thrown Back blog today, I found this reference to another Schiavo-like case:
85 year-old Mae Margourik of LaGrange, Georgia, is currently being deprived of nutrition and hydration at the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy. Mrs. Margourik suffered an aortic dissection 2 weeks ago and was hospitalized. Though her doctors have said that she is not terminally ill, Ms. Gaddy declared that she held medical power of attorney for Mae, and had her transferred to the LaGrange Hospice. Later investigation revealed that Ms. Gaddy did not in fact have such power of attorney. Furthermore, Mae's Living Will provides that nutrition and hydration are to be withheld only if she is comatose or vegetative. Mae is in neither condition. Neither is her condition terminal.

Unbelievable!

If you would like to know more about the situation, or offer assistance, go to Blogs for Terri. Although our efforts did not stop the starvation of Terri, they did raise awareness of the issue. Our continued posting on these issues may eventually have the effect of changing the practices, or, as least, forcing legislators to take action.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

MISCELLANEOUS ROUND-UP OF ALL THAT'S ON MY MIND

In no order of significance, here's what I've been reading/watching/thinking about lately:
  • The death of John Paul II occupied a great deal of the last week. Like many people, I had the TV playing in the background for the last days of his life, and over the weekend. One of the best things to come out of that was the opportunity to watch the documentary "Witness to Hope".



    I've been reading the book - it's VERY WEIGHTY AND DENSE READING. I'm in no hurry to finish it (I know how it ends), so I generally read for 15-30 minutes just before bed. I'm enjoying it very much. Most of the reading I do is either technical stuff or fluff mysteries, so it's been a refreshing change.

  • I've been mulling over a new post-in-progress at my Technology in Teaching blog. I've been considering "What is the Purpose of Education?" If you have any thoughts on that subject, I'd love to hear them.

    As part of the process of writing that post, I've been looking at the mission statements of various educational organizations. Surprisingly, (at least to me), none of them focus on educational OUTCOMES, just on the inputs.

  • In the aftermath of my mother-in-law's death the week before Easter, I've been setting up a family website to post pictures. That requires time to scan them, correct color and crop, and organize them in folders. I've been playing around with Picasa + Hello software, and I think it's a winner. Although not totally intuitive, it's still a good way to handle pictures you want to share, and there's a BloggerBot feature that allows you to post directly to a blog.

  • I've been clearing out the house of old stuff - not technically Spring Cleaning, but more like Spring Organizing. One change I've made is that I'm not buying anything unless I also throw out something - which you might call my Law of Conservation of Junk. Slowly, I'm seeing progress.

  • I've been following the Gregoire election scandal in Washington. The challenge is proceeding to trial in a few weeks. I can't say that I hold out any serious hope that the proceedings will be unbiased or fair, or that the outcome will lead to Gregoire being tossed out on her a$$, although she should be.

    My best hope is that it will lead to legislation that tightens up the rules for running an election.

    Why are there so many stories this time about electoral fraud? Not just in Washington, but in Ohio, Illinois, Florida, and other states. My best guess is that, because of the antics of rabid True Believers, like the MoveOn folks.

    You see, they honestly believed that the 2000 election was stolen. That the Republican racists in FL blocked black votes from being cast or counted. I'm not kidding - they really do believe the conspiracy theories.

    Therefore, any questionable activity was justified, because they KNEW, without a doubt, that they weren't cheating, they were just padding their side with votes that would off-set the padded votes of the other side. Sort of like playing with a tennis player who always calls balls on the line in his favor. In defense, the other side starts doing the same.

    OK, but electoral fraud has always been a factor in American elections. For example, in Chicago - they haven't had an honest election since before I was born (THAT long ago?).

    What's different is that there are so many newbies in voting. Unlike political junkies like us, they walk in expecting that all votes will count equally. When that expectation proves false, they are horrified. And angry. So, they turn to the courts to exact a just solution.

    Lots of luck. The newbies are about to find out that the impartial judiciary are, in fact, part of the same political machine. The judges know which side of their bread is buttered, and by whom.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

PEACE AT LAST?

From FoxNews.com
Terri Schiavo's ashes will be buried in an undisclosed location near Philadelphia so that her immediate family doesn't show up and turn the burial into a media spectacle, a member of the Schiavo family said Thursday.

"If Mike knew they would come in peace, he would have no problem with it," Scott Schiavo, Michael Schiavo's brother, said during an interview at his home.

What is the Catholic position on funerals? According to the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington,
The Church now permits cremation. It is preferred that the body of the deceased be present for the funeral rites since its physical presence reflects the values affirmed in these rites.

What's the big deal about cremation? It's not just a picky rule, it has specific religious significance. According to American Catholic,
From early Christian days cremation was viewed as a pagan practice and a denial of the doctrine of the Resurrection. That's why cremation was expressly forbidden by the Catholic Church until recent years.

Unlike many Protestants, Catholics do not cremate or bury, with a service to follow, a point that Michael Schiavo does not seem to understand.
The presumption was that the funeral Mass would be celebrated in the presence of the body with cremation held off until later.

It's not just that Terri's cremation is not the preferred form; the order of the services is also important
The principal celebration is the funeral liturgy, which is typically a Mass. Two smaller celebrations also take place. The vigil for the deceased is a short prayer service during the time following death and before the funeral liturgy. It usually takes place at the funeral home. The rite of committal is a short prayer service at the cemetery, ideally beside the open grave or place of interment. Both of these short services include Scripture, prayers and possibly songs. The ideal sequence of these three funeral rites is vigil, funeral Mass, then committal.

Well, at least her family can visit her grave, right?

Wrong.
Scott Schiavo said the ashes would be buried in a plot left by an aunt and uncle, but the family does not plan on providing the specific location for the burial

Let me see if I understand - neither the parents nor Michael Schiavo live in PA. But, it's important to bury her there, because...why?

Frankly, this just looks spiteful and petty. There really is no other way to construe it.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

POPE REFLECTIONS



I think the two above pictures show the multi-faceted nature of John Paul II - he is both the polished and media-savvy leader of the Catholic Church, and a man of the world, at ease in his time.

The media have been covering these final hours extensively. My husband and I stopped off at a local establishment for refreshment after a strenuous evening of babysitting, and both TVs were turned to news about the Pope. I don't believe that I ever heard anyone say that they didn't admire and respect him, whether they agreed with all that he said.

This is one of the first times I ever heard any newscasters talk about their religion. I was surprised to hear many self-identify as Catholics. It seemed to be important for them to state that affiliation.

Friday, April 01, 2005

LIVING WILLS & THE WILL TO LIVE

I've included the link to the Will to Live Project in the title. That project intends to replace the Living Wills with an alternative that assumes that the person will want not just give up any effort ASAP, but will prefer to stay alive as long as reasonable. After the Terri Schiavo case pushed end-of-life medical care past the brink of passive "letting them go gently", and moved it into an active effort to get rid of "unwantables", I think many of us need to look at the options available to us, and consider what we might want.

It's difficult to imagine what our last days on Earth might look like, and just what we might want for ourselves. Many a young person can't imagine old (or even middle) age, and declares that "life wouldn't be worth living" if they lost some functions. However, when we DO age, we find that diminished senses, creaky joints, and lessened physical abilities are mitigated by medicine, adjustments, and compensations. We do manage to adjust, and find that our pleasure in life is undiminished.

That's a strong argument against living wills - that, in good health, it's difficult to predict just what procedures/processes would be unacceptable. Who could have predicted as recently as 5 years ago, that food and water would be classified as an "extraordinary medical procedure"?

It appears that the courts are comfortable with applying today's standards to yesterday's living wills, even though there is no indication that the person would have agreed to that interpretation. It is for this reason that I am urging everybody to contact their legislators, and letting them know that you oppose holding up judicial confirmations. It seems that executive ability to chose judges may be the factor that keeps the courts from assuming veto power over decisions they may not agree with, no matter how tangled the reasoning or unrelated to constitutional issues.

I brought up the subject of wills and end-of-life directives this week with my husband. We will be making a temporary, preliminary directive and will, pending an appointment with a lawyer later this month.

Do make those choices SOON.


The situation with Pope John Paul II is confusing - several news organizations have reported him dead, flatlined, or in a coma. But no official word has surfaced.

Word is that he does NOT have a Living Will.

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...