Terri Schiavo

Died this morning. Hope you fuckers are happy now.

You Can't Have a Pet

This is just too much. What the DU is saying is just as good.

Here's how it is. My dog is MY pet, I OWN her. And you know what? She's pretty DOG-gone happy about it. (You know, that sounded better in my head than it looks on the screen...) These groups try to equate eating animals as being cruel. But that's nature folks. Humans are omnivores..remember the food pyramid? You think a great white shark would hesitate to bite you in half if it thought you might make a nice snack? What gets me is the same people who are preaching Darwin's evolution, refuse to accept that man is the dominant species on the planet. It's evolution at it's finest.

Morality trumps legality: I find it ironic that the same people who use this argument to keep me from my steak dinner, would happily watch Terri Schiavo starve to death. You can have my steak when you pry it from my cold dead mouth.

Make'n Some Changes

Gonna be making some changes around the site the next week or two. Changing/updating some links, fixing/removing broken ones and probably adding a few. Also I'm looking into adding a couple of new writers. I've already got my wife and brother enlisted. I'm thinking of bringing in a couple of old friends next. Toodles.

Jesse Jackson and Terri Schiavo

Jesse Jackson spent the day praying with the Schindlers today for Terri's life. I honestly never thought I would find myself on the same side of the fence as Jesse Jackson. Yet here I am, hoping for the first time (and hopefully the last) that Jesse is succesfull in his last ditch bid to save Terri's life.

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — The parents of Terri Schiavo (search) received more high-profile support for their cause Tuesday as Rev. Jesse Jackson (search) visited them in Florida and urged their daughter's feeding tube be reinserted.

Jackson prayed with Bob and Mary Schindler (search) at the hospice where their severely brain-damaged daughter was enduring her 12th day without food or water. The liberal crusader called Schiavo's impending death an "injustice" and said he would call state senators who opposed legislation that would have reinserted her feeding tube and ask them to reconsider.

"I feel so passionate about this injustice being done, how unnecessary it is to deny her a feeding tube, water, not even ice to be used for her parched lips," said Jackson, who has run for president as a Democrat. "This is a moral issue and it transcends politics and family disputes."

Also on Tuesday, first lady Laura Bush (search) said she thought the government was right to try to step in.

"I just feel like the federal government has to be involved," Mrs. Bush said. "It is a life issue that really does require government to be involved."


Mrs. Bush said she has been encouraged to hear that the case has prompted more people to inquire about living wills.

"I think that is really good," she said. "The president and I have living wills and, of course, our parents do. They wanted us always to be aware of it. I think that it is important for families to have opportunities to talk about these issues."

President Bush and his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, have both been outspoken supporters of Schiavo's parents.

University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus said Jackson's appearance showed that the life-and-death issues surrounding their daughter resonate beyond white, Christian conservatives.

"I wanted the Reverend Jackson here for moral support," said Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's mother. "I feel good with him here. Very strong. He gives me strength."

Jackson was invited by Schiavo's parents to meet with activists outside Schiavo's hospice. His arrival was greeted by some applause and cries of "This is about civil rights!"

"A person of faith, and not just a white, conservative person of faith will be seen as a welcomed change," MacManus said.

Jackson said he asked Michael Schiavo, Terri Schiavo's husband, for permission to see the brain-damaged woman but was denied. George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Michael Schiavo insists he is carrying out his wife's wishes by having the feeding tube pulled.

Terri Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, said he visited his daughter Tuesday and said she was "failing."

"She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."

Dr. Sean Morrision of the Mount Sinai Medical Center spoke with FOX News' Linda Vester Tuesday and said he often treats patients in a similar condition to that of Terri Schiavo. "It's rare for someone to be awake" in a persistent vegetative state, Morrision said.

During an interview on DaySide With Linda Vester, Morrision said the parts of the brain that feel are not working. "She does look awake, but she's not processing any of those feelings."

Jackson telephoned black legislators on Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to bring back a bill that would prohibit severely brain-damaged patients from being denied food and water if they didn't express their wishes in writing. Lawmakers rejected the legislation earlier this month and appeared unlikely to reconsider it.

One of those contacted by Jackson, Democratic state Sen. Gary Siplin, said he told Jackson the issue had been "thoroughly discussed." Senate Democratic leader Les Miller added, "I have voted. It's time to move on."

The chief sponsor of the measure, state Sen. Daniel Webster, said he knew of no changed votes and that Jackson's efforts may have come too late.

Webster told FOX that it would be difficult at this point to ask fellow lawmakers to consider voting in favor of the reinsertion. "I'm pretty optimistic ... but there comes a time when no one steps forward" and it's hard to say we can win, he said. "I don't believe we can."

Webster also defended Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (search), who has been criticized by some supporters of Terri Schiavo. "The governor is totally dedicated to this issue" and Terri would be dead if he hadn't stepped in a year ago, Webster said during an appearance on DaySide.

Schiavo's husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo (search), has insisted that he was carrying out her wishes by having her feeding tube pulled. His lawyer said Monday that an autopsy was planned to show the extent of Terri Schiavo's brain damage.

On Monday, George Felos, the attorney for husband and guardian Michael Schiavo, said that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County, Dr. John Thogmartin, had agreed to perform an autopsy.

He said her husband wants definitive proof showing the extent of the brain damage.

An attorney for the Schindlers, David Gibbs III, said her family also wants an autopsy. "We would certainly support and encourage an autopsy to be done, with all the unanswered questions," Gibbs said.

Felos said he had visited Schiavo for more than an hour Monday and said she looked "very peaceful. She looked calm."

"I saw no evidence of any bodily discomfort whatsoever," Felos said, although he added her breathing seemed "a little on the rapid side" and her eyes were sunken.

Doctors have said Terri Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two when the tube was removed on March 18. She suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance.

President Bush's aides have said they have run out of legal options.

At least two more appeals filed by the state seeking the feeding tube's reconnection were pending, but those challenges were before a Florida appeals court that had rejected the governor's previous efforts in the case.

Emotions were high among supporters. After Jackson's news conference, a man was tackled to the ground by officers when he tried to storm into the hospice, Pinellas Park police said.

Dow Pursley, 56, of Scranton, Pa., was shocked with a Taser stun gun and was arrested on charges of attempted burglary and resisting arrest without violence, police spokesman Sanfield Forseth said. The man had two bottles of water with him but did not reach the hospice door, police said. He is the 47th protester arrested.

Suppose I need to start watching the sky for those flying monkeys.

Update: I want to add, I think personally that ole' Jess is doing this for his own reasons. Make no mistake, he has some sort of alterior motive; whether it be a case for universal healthcare, or to somehow turn it against the Bush cabinet. None the less, desperate times make for strange bedfellows and I'll take any ally we can get.

Update Again: It looks like ole' Jesse isn't the only lefty jumping on board. Joe Lieberman (not a bad lefty really) and (gulp) Ralph Nadar have both come out in support of Terri. Ouch....me and Nadar on the same damned page?? Excuse me, I have to go out now and see if the seas have all turned to blood....

Starving Dogs

Rachael Lucas has a word or two to say about the Terri Schiavo case.

Let's see. I have a dog named Sunny, as many of you know. I signed a contract at the pound taking responsibility for her and I clearly am her legal "next of kin." Now, it's very likely that some day, Sunny will have arthritis in her hips and legs, and she might eventually be unable to move around on her own.

So! Who knows Sunny better than me? No one! So you must take my word for it when I say that I "know" Sunny would not want to suffer from arthritis to the point that she couldn't even walk around. Really, she wouldn't. I am telling you.

So here's my idea to (1) save time and money, (2) to fulfill Sunny's "wishes", and (3) to enforce her "rights": when she gets to the point where the arthritis in her hips and legs is so severe that she can't even stand up and/or walk over to the food and water bowls....WE JUST LET HER LAY THERE AND DIE!!

It's fucking brilliant, I tell you.

Leave it to the Blue Eyed Infidel Herself to put it so eloquently. Now, go read the rest of her rant, and tell me Terri should die.

Glad to Say..

That I was wrong. I had mentioned that nobody was talking about this. Well, I'm happy to say I am incorrect.

La Shawn is all over it. So is ACE. Frank has a few words on the subject. Paul has his own differing opinion. CD has an open letter to Terri's husband legal guardian.

Why?

Why am I the top listing under this search? Why is nobody talking about this? A woman is going to be starved to death and nobody is screaming in outrage. Have we sunk to such a depth that killing a disabled/handicapped person is ok? Is that what we have become? Is this what it means to be progressive?

Update: A nurse testifies that Terri has been trying to communicate.

All I Can Say is....

It's about about friggin' time.

ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy fails to halt the Iranian nuclear programme.
The inner cabinet of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, gave “initial authorisation” for an attack at a private meeting last month on his ranch in the Negev desert.



Israeli forces have used a mock-up of Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant in the desert to practise destroying it. Their tactics include raids by Israel’s elite Shaldag (Kingfisher) commando unit and airstrikes by F-15 jets from 69 Squadron, using bunker-busting bombs to penetrate underground facilities.

The plans have been discussed with American officials who are said to have indicated provisionally that they would not stand in Israel’s way if all international efforts to halt Iranian nuclear projects failed.

Tehran claims that its programme is designed for peaceful purposes but Israeli and American intelligence officials — who have met to share information in recent weeks — are convinced that it is intended to produce nuclear weapons.

The Israeli government responded cautiously yesterday to an announcement by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, that America would support Britain, France and Germany in offering economic incentives for Tehran to abandon its programme.

In return, the European countries promised to back Washington in referring Iran to the United Nations security council if the latest round of talks fails to secure agreement.

Silvan Shalom, the Israeli foreign minister, said he believed that diplomacy was the only way to deal with the issue. But he warned: “The idea that this tyranny of Iran will hold a nuclear bomb is a nightmare, not only for us but for the whole world.”

Dick Cheney, the American vice-president, emphasised on Friday that Iran would face “stronger action” if it failed to respond. But yesterday Iran rejected the initiative, which provides for entry to the World Trade Organisation and a supply of spare parts for airliners if it co-operates.

“No pressure, bribe or threat can make Iran give up its legitimate right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes,” said an Iranian spokesman.

US officials warned last week that a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli or American forces had not been ruled out should the issue become deadlocked at the United Nations.

Union Snubs Marines

I'll be the first to say that the United Auto Workers Union has every right to say who can and cannot park on their property. I just think you should be really careful about biting the hand that protects your rights to do that.

The UAW no longer will allow Marine reservists who work out of a base in Detroit to park at the Solidarity House lot if they have foreign cars or display pro-Bush bumper stickers.

DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers says Marine reservists should show a little more semper fi if they want to use the union's parking lot.

The Marine Corps motto means "always faithful," but the union says some reservists working out of a base on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit have been decidedly unfaithful to their fellow Americans by driving import cars and trucks.

So the UAW International will no longer allow members of the 1st Battalion 24th Marines to park at Solidarity House if they are driving foreign cars or displaying pro-President Bush bumper stickers

"While reservists certainly have the right to drive nonunion made vehicles and display bumper stickers touting the most anti-worker, anti-union president since the 1920s, that doesn't mean they have the right to park in a lot owned by the members of the UAW," the union said in a statement released Friday.

Shocked and disappointed, the Marines are pulling out.

"You either support the Marines or you don't," said Lt. Col. Joe Rutledge, commanding officer of the battalion's active duty instructors. "I'm telling my Marines that they're no longer parking there."

At a time when U.S. armed forces are fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, quibbling over parking privileges is "silly," Rutledge said.

The UAW has a long history of barring foreign-made cars from its parking lots. The subject is touchier than ever as Detroit's Big Three loses market share, driving down union membership.

The pro-Bush bumper stickers are another sore spot after last year's election.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger opposed President Bush, accusing him of ignoring calls for labor law reform and failing to combat unfair business practices in China -- a growing threat to U.S. manufacturers.

The dispute arises as the UAW, using laid-off workers for labor, is building a $300,000 home for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The home in Eaton Rapids will operate a residential program for children of veterans who don't have parents, or whose parents can't care for them.

"We do not think it is unreasonable to expect our guests to practice the simple principle of not insulting their host," the UAW statement said.

Rutledge is unmoved.

"I don't see it as a snub against them," he said, adding no conditions were set when the union first began allowing the Marines to park in the lot several years ago. "We're appreciative of what they've done, but you don't come into my office and say, 'OK, we're not going to support some of your Marines.' I don't know what a foreign car is today anyway. BMWs are made in South Carolina now."

That's an excellent point nowadays. I live in central Alabama. Their is a Hyundai plant about 20 mins from my house. Are the hard working people in that plant trying to take care of their families un-American? It is according to UAW, where you're only American if you're union. What a bunch of tools.

Ugh, I Can't Believe I'm Saying This But.....

I have to agree with the ACLU on this one. Even when the ACLU was defending Rush Limbaugh, I hated them. BTW, if Limbaugh broke the law, he needs to pay just like anyone else but that's another matter all together. But here I am nodding my head in agreement with the ACLU. Oy, what is the world coming to?

Hat tip to Chase.