Here's some excerpts from this columnist's "detailed advance directive dealing with end-of-life issues"...
* I want my case to be turned into a circus by losers and crackpots from around the country who hope to bring meaning to their empty lives by investing the same transient emotion in me that they once reserved for Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy and that little girl who got stuck in a well.
* I want those crackpots to spread vicious lies about my wife.
* I want total strangers - oily politicians, maudlin news anchors, ersatz friars and all other hangers-on - to start calling me "Bobby," as if they had known me since childhood.
* Because I think I would retain my sense of humor even in a persistent vegetative state, I'd want President Bush - the same guy who publicly mocked Karla Faye Tucker when signing off on her death warrant as governor of Texas - to claim he was intervening in my case because it is always best "to err on the side of life."
* I want my wife to ruin the rest of her life by maintaining an interminable vigil at my bedside. I'd be really jealous if she waited less than a decade to start dating again or otherwise rebuilding a semblance of a normal life.
There's no question which local television news for which I have the most respect.
Today on the 5 o'clock LOCAL news. One news station, (WNEP), chose to cover real major issues IN OUR AREA.
The 2 other stations had, as their top story, a report about some guy who works for some college, who was breaking the law (apparently violently) in another state, to try and give water to a woman who never asked him for it, and couldn't swallow it if she did get it.
Yeah, just in case any news reporters are ignorant of the facts of the case: Fact is, it would kill her if someone tried to give her water!
PDF file of the court records "Dr. Barnhill who had testified at trial had physically examined Terri Schiavo on several occasions. He has also reviewed her records, especially on her ability to swallow. He testified that he agreed with the prognosis of the treating physician, Dr. Gambone, that there was no point in doing another swallowing study since she had not changed since the last study.
�
Dr. Barnhill testified that in his opinion attempting oral nutrition would result in aspiration with insufficient nutrition passing to the stomach to maintain her, thereby prolonging her death, if the feeding tube were withdrawn. He testified that such aspiration would lead to infection, fever, cough, and ultimately pneumonia. This would require suctioning which likely would be fatal."
Think about that when you bandy about a phrase like "sanctity of life" when talking about a man who violently opposed police & law to try and do something that would drown a woman so wholly unconnected to him and our area.
Of course I still don't think WNEP has been that great at covering the FACTS of the COURT CASE. Still put on air, NON medical professionals claiming Terri Schiavo is conscious, when all the medical professionals who've examined her in the course of the multiple court cases, agree that she is not.
PDF file of court document "Although the physicians are not in complete agreement concerning the extent of Mrs. Schiavo�s brain damage, they all agree that the brain scans show extensive permanent damage to her brain. The only debate between the doctors is whether she has a small amount of isolated living tissue in her cerebral cortex or whether she has no living tissue in her cerebral cortex."
And then have the audacity to compare the Pope to the case in Florida, when the Pope is out waving to pilgrims, still appearing for the public of his own free will!! Something Terri Schiavo could not possibly do now, and not in the past 15 years.
Let alone the fact that the Pope, while certainly a very strong & faithful man, surely can't fear of rejoining Jesus and His Father in Heaven.
So it's unfair to assume or give innuendo, that local Catholics have so little faith in the Lord that they would fear the Pope's death, if it was God's time to bring the Pope back to Him.
All of my grandparents and one of my parents, died at a younger age than the Pope. I do not think the Pope would say they have been sent to Hell because they didn't hang on a little longer!
And there have been many Popes in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. None of the previous Popes' deaths have marked the end of faith in God or the end of the Catholic Church.
But at least WNEP is not quite as hokey in their sensationalism, and put priority on real issues people are dealing with in our area - like flooding, which effects many people in our area. And put national sound bites & stories about people in other states selling their name on eBay, as a lower priority later in programme.
If you wish to e-mail the general managers of these stations yourself, in regards to their handling of the news, here are their e-mail addresses:
IMPERIAL, Pa.USA - A former police chief accused of stealing tried to eat a piece of evidence -- a receipt -- during a court hearing, authorities said. Darryl Briston scuffled with a state trooper during a preliminary hearing Thursday and elbowed the officer when he tried to stop Briston from eating the receipt, police said. Briston was later charged with aggravated assault and tampering with evidence.
Man shot in the head when he answers South Welles Street apartment door.
WILKES-BARRE � Police searched for two men they say approached a South Welles Street apartment, knocked at the door and fired several shots, striking a man in his temple Saturday night.
The shooting happened at about 9:20 p.m. at a Boulevard Town Homes apartment at 163 S. Welles St., according to Wilkes-Barre police Lt. Al Bogdon.
Bogdon said two men with red bandanas over their faces shot the man in the head. He said the two suspects fled the scene on foot. Early police reports indicated the suspects ran northeast toward Northampton Street.
William Caldwalder, a Wilkes-Barre Housing Authority security guard, was one of the first to arrive at the scene.
�This place is known for problems, absolutely,� Caldwalder said.
The name of the victim was not released late Saturday. He was taken to Scranton Community Medical Center by helicopter for treatment. Hospital spokeswoman Jane Gaul refused to release any information about his condition. Bogdon said the victim was still alive as of 10:30 p.m. Saturday
The suspects were described as two black men in their early 20s. One was tall and the other was shorter. One wore red clothing from head to toe; the other was dressed in dark clothing, Bogdon said.
Investigators refused to speculate on any motive for the shooting.
�We have a manhunt going on looking for these suspects,� Bogdon said. �All possible leads at this point are all speculation right now.�
A former nurse who lived nearby the victim said she heard the gunshots and came outside to see what happened. She refused to reveal her name because the suspects were still at large Saturday, but she said she saw the victim lying outside the apartment on the ground next to the front door.
She said the man was hit in the right temple and had what appeared to be an exit wound in the back of his head. She said he was having trouble breathing and was bleeding heavily. She and her daughter were about to perform CPR when police arrived.
A female acquaintance of the victim who was inside the house at the time of the shooting, according to Caldwalder, stood outside next to the victim as police put him on the stretcher and into the ambulance.
�They shot him in the head, they shot him in the head,� she said repeatedly as she wept.
The victim was driven to the nearby helicopter for transport to CMC.
Several young children were seen being carried by adults out of the apartment and witnesses inside the home were taken to the Wilkes-Barre police station for questioning.
For those who oversleep, MIT has come up with a specially designed alarm clock, described in this week's issue of New Scientist. When you hit the snooze button, the alarm clock jumps off the table -- and rolls away on little wheels. When the alarm rings the next time, you have to spend so much time finding the clock, you're awake.
Intimidation � Using implied or veiled threats about withholding their love or leaving.
Guilt-tripping � Implying the partner is not caring enough or is too self-centered. This works especially well with more conscientious people.
Shaming � Putting down, insulting and using sarcasm to make the other person feel inadequate. This way they stay in power as the other person weakens.
Charm � A good controller is always seductive and knows how to be flattering at times in order to reel in their partner and bind her more tightly to him.
Turning the tables � They will claim that they in fact are the victim and are being put upon, to deflect any blame or confrontation and further induce guilt in their partner.
"NPR's Mike Pesca reports on how the public feels about the treatment of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman at the center of a national debate over right-to-die issues. The polls he's examined indicate that nearly all sectors of the American public favor allowing the woman's husband, Michael Schiavo, to have his wife's feeding tube disconnected."
Steve Gilliard's News Blog : Radical Right trainwreck So as they make their arguments, DeLay was thinking they would be sympathetic. Instead, people recoil from their sanctimony, they are offended by it. Most adults choose a spouse to make sure their parents can't run their life.
While his radical right friends said this would be a winner, most people can only see a brutal fight between their spouse and their parent as they lay dying and most people don't want any part of that.
Maybe that's why I haven't been in a hurry to get married... I do trust my mother not to ruin my life, preserve my dignity, and act unselfishly when it really counts. We had the pertinent discussion almost 17 years ago, and I think her feelings on the matter remain the same as mine.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- A diner at a Wendy's fast food restaurant in San Jose, California, found a human finger in a bowl of chili prepared by the chain, local officials said Wednesday.
"This individual apparently did take a spoonful, did have a finger in their mouth and then, you know, spit it out and recognized it," said Ben Gale, director of the department of environmental health for Santa Clara County. "Then they had some kind of emotional reaction and vomited."
Gravatar - Globally Recognized Avatar
(I've now implemented Gravatar, so sign up for one free... or you'll have a rubber ducky next to your comments here)
Mark A. R. Kleiman: Schiavo, Hudson, and Nikolouzos
(apparently if Terri Schiavo was penniless & in Texas, these 'right-to-life' people wouldn't give a shit about pulling the tube - indeed there, they yank it on conscious babies)
Obsidian Wings: Terri Schiavo
(because you can't go anywhere else without hearing skewed facts & propaganda, so why not hear some rational information...)
...
"First, in this country competent adults have the right to decline medical treatment. This is a very good thing, since many of the things doctors do to their patients would constitute assault if done against those patients' wills. It is this right that allows cancer patients to decide not to undergo that last excruciating round of chemo that would give them only a slight chance of survival, Jehovah's Witnesses to refuse the blood transfusions that they believe it would be sinful to receive, and people with painful terminal illnesses to refuse treatment for other diseases, like pneumonia, that offer them the chance of an easier death. This right is extremely important: without it, we could be subjected to serious assaults on our body without our consent, so long as some physician said that those assaults were medically necessary.
Second, courts have held that for these purposes, nutrition and hydration count as life-prolonging treatments, and thus that competent adults have the right to refuse them as well. This is also important: having a feeding tube inserted is a serious violation of a person's bodily integrity, and people have the right to refuse it. It's also a point that is often neglected in the coverage of Terri Schiavo's case. What is happening is not that a court has ordered that she be killed. If courts could order that, there would be no reason to wait for her to die; the court could simply order a lethal injection of some sort. The court has found that she would not have wanted this sort of medical treatment, and thus that it cannot be forced on her. This is completely different."
official legal record (PDF file) "Although the physicians are not in complete agreement concerning the extent of Mrs. Schiavo's brain damage, they all agree that the brain scans show extensive permanent damage to her brain. The only debate between the doctors is whether she has a small amount of isolated living tissue in her cerebral cortex or whether she has no living tissue in her cerebral cortex."
Katherine said, in the comments:
"I think part of the explanation of the fervor of the religious right, and of many people's failure to deal with the factual information about Terry Schiavo's medical condition, is that her condition is really horrifying to many people. It is especially horrifying from a religious perspective.
The parts of Terry Schiavo's brain that have been replaced by spinal fluid are the parts that science tell us are responsible for a person's memory, thought, consciousness, emotion, personality, sense of right wrong--all of the things that make us a person, and make us different from any other person.
The single word that describes this concept, in the English language, is the word "soul."
The idea that a living and apparently awake human body could exist for decades without a soul is really horrifying, and a very common response to horror is to deny its existence.
The idea that the soul is located in a part of the body that we can locate in a CAT scan and determine has been destroyed is a really fundamental challenge to religious teaching--a much, much, much more fundamental challenge in my view than the idea of a Big Bang or of evolution through natural selection, and we see how strongly those ideas have been resisted. If we know that the soul is located or contained in a specific part of the body, it is much harder to believe that it is really different from the body at all, or that it somehow escapes the body and rejoins God after death.
It also challenges conservative Christian religious teachings about abortion and birth control: if an adult human being's soul is located in the cerebral cortex, then preventing the implantation of an embryo without any nervous tissue does not kill a human being with a soul, and aborting a fetus before it has brain waves does not kill a human being with a soul.
When a situation challenges our most fundamental beliefs, we are very reluctant to acknowledge that it exists."
My response:
Yes, I think that's the problem, exactly. This idea that because Terri Schiavo's intellect is gone, that means that doctors are saying her soul is gone. Surely nobody knows that, and whether her soul is "gone" is rather irrelevant, and actually kind of makes no sense. But all that's important to our material world really, in my opinion, is that her intellect is gone - because that's what counts in the material world, I believe. And therefore the only important issue I would feel was important were it my business to decide upon whether or not medical treatment should be forced upon my next of kin or not.
I was taught by priests as a child that god was "in my heart"... Though it was explained that it wasn't meant literally, but meaning in my being, inside me & with me always. Why would I need to rejoin then?
In my spiritual view, Terri Schiavo is with god... She was with god when she was a functioning person, she's with god now that she's not functioning intellectually, and she will be with god after her body no longer functions at all.
The presence of her ego makes no difference in these matters, from my spiritual view. And no human, no material force, can interfere with the relationship between Terri Schiavo and god - that's impossible, surely, unless that material or human force was equal to the magnificence of god.
So I think that stuff Katherine said about the soul explains a lot of the hoopla of the fervent religious people regarding the story of Terri Schiavo.
I think it scares the poopy out of literal superstitious-like religious people that the brain can contain all that is you in your personality. They feel sure there must be some "ghost" of a soul hanging around a body for as long as it breathes... containing all that is you... THE EGO.
For those of us who believe in a spirituality that is not grounded in the material world, that ego is NOT the soul, this is not a problem though. The idea of going back into "nothingness", at one with the universe, is not a problem for those who believe that our material world ego is not important to our soul.
I'm not saying faith has come easy to me. Indeed it has not, it has been born in me through trial and hardship, through fighting the very concept, frankly.
And my fear of death, and desire to live, demonstrates my continued attachment to the material world. I believe that attachment is natural, healthy, normal, and not something to be abandoned completely until death itself, or at least accepted imminent death... And certainly not compromised in youth.
Otherwise you wouldn't have such elderly figures of faith as the Pope, continuing on with life pursuits eagerly & courageously, in the face of physical material debilitation.
However, I still have the faith that my ego is absolutely not important in matters of spirituality. And this faith is instrumental in my leading an ethical life, lower in selfishness in everyday situations... less ego-based than in my youth.
I really thought that most religions believed this way... That the material world means nothing to god. That the spiritual is NOT about EGO... From what I'd read about all major religions, there is usually something about this.
But I'm learning that though most religions are based upon this concept, not all the followers subscribe to that. This is demonstrated by the amount of people who find science somehow threatening or inconsistent with their spiritual beliefs. Something that seems incredibly bizarre to me, personally.
The Well-Timed Period: Fake "Abstinence"?
(as I always suspected, sounds like it's better to be even promiscuously having safe sex than pledging 'abstinence' and promiscuously having oral sex instead)
Majikthise : Lies Terri Schiavo's parents told me
(read this, because I'm sick of hearing people say she's in a coma & might "wake up" - she's not in a coma so how could she 'wake up' - and I'm also shocked that so many people don't realize that when you marry, your spouse legally becomes your 'next of kin' - the Bible supports that as well actually)
...
"I think it's ironic that so many of the pro-tubers consider themselves to be staunch defenders of marriage. In fact, they're showing that they're willing to undermine the institution of marriage when it suits them."
I've been saying for awhile now that this case proves how many people are ignorant about the legalities of marriage.
It's shocking how many people get married, and don't even know that upon marrying someone, that someone automatically becomes your closest relative, your 'next of kin', the person who is to be your mouthpiece when you can't speak for yourself.
Of course, I've been shocked for some time that so many people don't seem to fully realize that marriage is a legal contract.
And it's not just the law that sees marriage as making spouses each other's next of kin. I believe the Bible actually supports this concept as well. Something about leaving one's parents and 'clinging' to one's spouse, you know.
Shakespeare's Sister - Get Real
(and the blogging sexism continues - but not even out in the open - apparently men are scared to go public with their views on women's blogs - I wonder why)
"A feminist would not be brought on such a show in order to have a valid debate. A feminist is brought on to be attacked and ridiculed; a straw woman to be kicked and knocked down. That is not debate. It is a set-up meant to debase feminism, and I won't play a part in that.
....
"I told Kevin in comments that women do not have to get over their dislike of this kind of political squabbling - the "food fight," as I've heard it described. It's the food fight that needs to change. There are many more reasonable and effective means of discussing political issues that don't involve telling guests to "shut up" or turning off their mike while they are in mid-comment. That is grade school playground bantering, not valid political discourse. Change the medium, and the message will get through."
AlterNet: Help Tech - Jail the Poor
(instead of bankruptcy reform... I think we need public school reform to teach people about personal finance, and credit card reform to lessen the incentive of credit card companies to make their profits off of those who live dangerously beyond their means)
...
"Credit card companies, of course, which have sunk millions into getting the bill passed and whose propagandists argue that it will help the poor. Because the credit industry can now rest assured that it will recoup most losses when debtors go bankrupt, Visa and MasterCard can extend credit lines to people who might previously have been perceived as too risky. In other words, we're replacing a good safety net with a bunch of big, grinning loan sharks."
"Meanwhile, anyone who's making huge payments on houses or cars can deduct those payments from his or her income. So if you own a lot of big-ticket items, under the new bill it's very likely you'll qualify to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7. The people who get needled are the middle and lower-middle class, precisely the group whose members have the skills for the jobs that recently got outsourced to China."
In other words, there's even more incentive now to live beyond your means, and buy big ticket items, instead of spending sensibly.
And the credit card companies have even more incentive now to offer credit cards to people who live beyond their means.
WNEP 16 news article
("Two men were caught in the act in Old Forge early Tuesday morning.")
...
Two Arrested after Burglary
Two men were caught in the act in Old Forge early Tuesday morning.
Police responded to a burglary call at Mac's Cafe on Connell Street about 5:00 a.m. They found the door to the bar broken and found two men inside. Officers say they were in the process of taking items from the bar.
Joseph Murphy and Kevin Kearney, both of Old Forge, were arrested. They're in the Lackawanna County jail.
Investigators are trying to determine if the two are involved in any other recent burglary. There have been at least breakins in the last month and a half. Three of the businesses include bars.
(link thanks to Alison, who thought the wording funny)
Obviously I think people making death threats are WAY out of hand. But that�s the 2 sensationally (newsworthy) ones� out of how many complaints?
It�s really not surprising that he got a �wave of angry reaction�.
Isn�t it true that serial killers and really crazed killers often started out with domestic animals?
"Smith said his proposal was prompted by cats prowling around the bird feeder at his home."
That seems to suggest that ANGER (ie: HATRED) is prompting his interest in hunting cats. Which seems rather disturbing to me.
I�m sure anger and hostility plays into some hunters psyches� Like an aggressive impulse. But most hunters I know are NOT hunting deer because they�re pissed as all hell that they run out in front of their cars. hahaha. It�s not really about that. More about tradition and hunter gatherer romanticism than anything like that.
I get ticked when the deer run out in front of my car - but it doesn�t spur me to take up arms during hunting season. haha. I mean, my neighbor lets her cat out, and the cat sometimes comes on my porch and digs into my rubbish bin, tearing things out. It�s annoying, but I would think it completely out of proportion to actually shoot the cat.
Besides� In this town of La Crosse, where this guy lives with his bird feeders� Would it be legal, even during a hunting season, to discharge fire arms within his town�s limits?
Like I don�t know, but I�m thinking people in a tight suburban neighborhood, for example, shouldn�t be shooting off guns in their back yards willy nilly - that�s not hunting. I mean a stray bullet meant for a cat could actually wind up killing the neighbor�s children, never mind!
SFGate.com - DEADLY WARNING / Domestic violence
("Todd Vernon was quick to marry -- twice -- and had a need to be in charge. His abusive potential had surfaced, but he walked away from his first wife. Then, when the second ordered him out, in his mind there was only one tragic solution")
glassdog: "Interview: Jason Kottke"
(too funny!! - Lance says: "�ber-blogger Jason Kottke announced that he was turning his back on corporate America and will now suck his own audience dry like a giant Amazonian leech, begging readers to support his on-going quest to out-link every other blogger")
...
"We at glassdog applaud such hubris and insanity, and in this exclusive interview, Mr. Kottke does his best to explain himself without alienating the very audience he expects to pay him for being Jason Kottke."
And here I was always told, 'just being you won't buy you a cup of coffee'.
But then, that was probably someone who felt panhandling on the sidewalk was beneath them.
It's kind of beneath me too. And I'm no accomplished street musician, I realize.
But if you've already given to Kottke, & have money to throw around, why not throw some change in the hat over here?
I promise I won't spend it on booze. Honest!
And for gifts of $15 or more you'll receive a 5x7 b&w framed print of "Washcloth on Toilet".
I realize it's not as fancy as some PBS membership drive gifts. But what do you get from Kottke, eh? Mostly a bunch of links.
Pinko Feminist Hellcat: These girls have good reason to fear their parents.
(there isn't enough education about dysfunctional living situations that many children live in - so people generally make uninformed decisions about laws, based on their own projected parental ideal that doesn't always apply)
...
I agree that there is no logic in using forced continued pregnancy as a punishment for girls who made poor sexual choices.
Indeed, using that argument is an argument for more sex education, not for parental inform & consent.
And I think if a parent chooses to banish their teen child from their household for whatever reason... They are terminating their responsibility, and should therefore automatically be terminating their rights of control.
But I think the bottom line is that there isn't enough education about dysfunctional living situations that many children live in. This kind of thing deserves more attention, so people can make more informed choices about what laws they decide make sense, or don't.
Burningbird: "Shelley, to a woman, a link is a way of connecting and being connected. To hearing and being heard. But not so for a guy. Guys see links as power, and therefore something precious, and to be protected. They hold on to their links as tightly, and as lovingly, as a thirsty drunk holds onto a bottle."
http://www.drirene.com/1_nar.htm "The narcissist is a solipsist. He carries the whole universe in his mind. To him, nothing exists except himself. Meaningful others are his extensions, assimilated by him, internal objects - not external ones."
The Cyber Narcissist The positive characteristics of the Net are largely lost on the narcissist. He is not keen on expanding his horizons, fostering true relationships, or getting in real contact with other people. The narcissist is forever the provincial because he filters everything through the narrow lens of his addiction. He measures others � and idealizes or devalues them � according to one criterion only: how useful they might be as Sources of Narcissistic Supply.
http://www.drirene.com/6_nar.htm Question: Do narcissists hate women?
Answer: Narcissists abhor and dread getting emotionally intimate and they regard sex as a maintenance chore, something they have to do in order to keep their source of secondary supply. Moreover, many narcissists tend to engage in FRUSTRATING behaviours towards women. They will refrain from having sex with them, tease them and then leave them, resist flirtatious and seductive behaviours and so on.
A man from Lycoming County calls his home a magnet for car crashes and it has him calling for help.
For years, Steve Prince has lived in fear, wondering when the next car would crash into his home near Montgomery. After two crashes this weekend, he's had enough and is begging for help.
"A bang, the house shakes, you don't know what happened, wait, you know what happened because we know the sound by now," said Prince.
His deck is in splinters after it was ripped from the foundation after a Friday night crash. A pick-up truck slammed into his house and ripped the front end right off his red truck. That's not the only damage. Another car slammed into the house the very next night. "You hear a screeching noise and then silence. I think that's the coming through the snow and then you just, you're waiting," described Prince.
He couldn't believe he'd been hit again. "Twice this weekend, back to back nights by two different drunk drivers," he added.
Montgomery Police confirm they think both drivers were drinking. Investigators are waiting for blood alcohol tests.
"There shouldn't have to be a fatality before I can get somebody to do something," said the homeowner. He said he's tried to get PennDOT to put in guide rails along the stretch of Route 405 near his home but PennDOT said it's only planning on signs and rumble strips.
Clinton Township Fire Chief Todd Winder wants more than that. "It's not going to protect them. They need some sort of barrier, either a guide rail or a concrete barrier along the road to keep cars from hitting his home," the chief said.
PennDOT plans those signs and rumble strips for later this year. A spokesperson said it won't install guide rails because it's not PennDOT's responsibility to protect personal property. The Princes said they won't give up.
Third Wave Agenda: The Abstinence-Only Cure-All
(according to one health education curricula, if you've had sex outside of marriage more times than a rose has petals your worth as a human being is equal to that of a rose without petals)
...
"No matter how strong a condom is, it won't protect you from a broken heart." -- A.C. Green's Game Plan
Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather have a broken heart than AIDS, herpes, or gonorrhea!
superficiality >>If the facade is what's important to you, all you wind up with is an illusion. Disillusionment is the gift of substance.
-- Chloe<<
(more)
