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JunkYardBlog warns that if you've ever made a comment about "not wanting to live like that," and someone else was in the room, you'd better draw up a living will to make sure you don't go out the way Terri Schiavo did.  Because Michael Schiavo just began a precedent of killing people based on what you think you remember them saying once.  So, he offers this living will draft that is guaranteed to deliver you from the hands of neurologists, whacked-out family members, Jack Kevorkian, and the ACLU.  Okay, so it's a little mean at points, but didn't these folks have it coming?

In an article released today, FactCheck.org examines the history of the filibuster--and the defense of it in the recent "Mr. Smith" ad campaign--and says that the filibuster's past is not as pretty as Jimmy Stewart (bless his heart) led us to believe.  Or that the Democratic party would like us to believe.  The use of the filibuster has not always been about preserving liberty.

In another outburst of moral clarity, PETA has created an advertisement parodying Star Jones Reynolds--actress and co-host of the talk show The View--for her wearing of furs.  The ad features (gag me) a male cross-dresser in a white wedding gown, hugging a white fur spattered in blood.  Above him are the words, "A Fur on Your Back, Is Blood on Your Hands."  You all know how I feel about this.  Where do these lunatics come from?

Ever wonder what the word "euthanasia" means, and if anyone really does it?  Or if it's okay to end a life, if that's what the person wants?  Isn't being in a coma the same as being dead?

To answer these questions and more, I've posted an in-depth article about euthanasia here, which explores the history of the euthanasia movement, and will help you understand why it is practiced, and if you should support it.  You may one day be given the choice of euthanizing a relative--so decide what you will do now.

If you have your own thoughts on the subject, comment below.

Terri Schiavo 4.  Courtesy & copyright Faithmouse.

I've never read Joel Osteen's "Your Best Life Now" (although I'm a little skeptical of it anyway), but "Rich" at WorldMagBlog has, and gives his  opinion. 

Is Jeb holding out on us?  And on Terri? Ann Coulter thinks so.  Michael Savage too, thinks the Bush brothers should order state and federal guards to go in and take custody of Schiavo.  But Rush Limbaugh thinks that is going too far, and will create another Waco or Elian Gonzales fiasco.  He also thinks Jeb Bush would prefer to stay on the right side of the law. 
One thing's for sure:  This is not just some freak case that will never happen again.  Our nation's values have undergone a steady evolution for the worse over the last several decades, and Terri Schiavo just happens to be the unfortunate one to bring another moral turning point into the limelight.  Judge Greer isn't isn't the only judge who would have ordered Schiavo's death.  The land is saturated with 'em.  And have you ever noticed those little lines on your local ballot, "Should the County retain Judge Smith"?

Common, everyday citizens gave birth to the generation we live in today.  And common citizens can start fighting back.  Every judge was educated by someone else, you know; let's starting raising some morally proficient judges of our own.

I wrote an essay on euthanasia a couple years ago, and am seriously wondering if I should post it.

 

Cities:  "We need more kids!!!"

Ha.  No Kidding.

Jollyblogger links to this post about Terri Schiavo ethics, calling it one of the best he has seen.  Rush Limbaugh has been talking about the Schiavo situation over the last two days, and raises some good thoughts, such as, why are liberals in general and Mr. Schiavo in particular so eager (I mean gleefully eager) to have Terri dead?  Doesn't this remind you of something out of Russia or Germany 75 years ago?  What does Michael Schiavo's fiance see in him that is so noble and attractive?  I mean, really, anyone on an active campaign to euthanize his spouse against her parent's wishes ought to give you second thoughts before becoming his next victim, er, wife.
Fact is, Schiavo wants his wife to be dead.  He doesn't care about whether she's actually ever actually said so--it's just too much of a guilty feeling to be living in adultery with illegitimate children growing up and everything, and have your wife and her parents downtown at the nursing home and you can't get married because, well, there she is, and divorce is such a callous option.  What to do?  Hire a professor liar--I mean Lawyer--and tell the world that Terri wants to die, hates being alive and suffering unbearably, and you know it because she's your wife.
Our society is no longer one where the defenseless are defended.  Mothers may kill their children as long as they are unwanted and unborn.  Anyone with a guardian's approval and who can be argued to be in a noncognitive state may be killed.  What is the future for the mentally ill, the handicapped, the elderly?  Euthanasia is already in practice in the Netherlands, even on patients who did not consent to be killed.  Soon Grandma will need to include legal protection of life in her will.  She gets a little tipsy and whoops, no more food for you.
Didn't Jack Kevorkian go to jail for helping people die peacefully?
Soon suicide will be legal, then drugs, then unconsensual euthanasia (with majority approval of course), then death camps (after all, what to do with all those new people on the euthanization lists?), then . . . well, I'm running out of despicable practices.
I want to go home.
But for me, that is illegal in more ways than one.

I've been wanting to post some pictures from my recent trip through Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, among others.  So I thought to myself, why don't I?  And then I did.  I won't give a detailed description of everything we saw, since it would either take too long or bore you to death; instead I'll post just a few of my favorite shots.  For example, passing through Tennessee we took a nature walk and happened upon the Grinch, who was sleeping under a log.  We didn't wake the poor guy, but I did take a close-up to prove we saw him:

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Now, I've already posted tons of Iwo Jima Reenactment photos here, so I won't load this entry down with more of them.  Texas in general was pleasant, although it was cool and rainy, but I expect coolness is a nice respite for Texans.

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Texan countryside, north of San Antonio.

click to enlargeWe saw quite a few snakes as we drove through Louisiana.  And somewhere along the Alabama coast we took a walk on the beach, where the water was warm enough to wade in comfortably.  I was able to get a great shot of six roosting brown pelicans.

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Meanwhile, in Mississippi we stopped at the Stennis Space Center, where NASA rocket engines are tested, like the one below.  Luckily, my brother was available to demonstrate scale.

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In Mobile, Alabama we took a couple hours (which sounded like a long time) to tour the USS Alabama, a retired battleship that has been converted into a museum.  The two hours were up before we knew it, and we still hadn't gotten through the whole thing.  Warships, these days, are cities unto themselves. 

A 5" missile hoist.  Here the crew loaded the 5" projectiles into the hoists, which elevated them to the guns.

The Dentist.

The operation room.

The brig.

I do not have a picture of the ice cream parlor.  Sorry.  Boy Scouts and other groups can arrange to have overnighters on the ship, sleeping on bunks like the sailors did.
It was rainy when we toured the ship, and on the shore at the museum site were various other military craft, tanks, planes, etc. (Plus a tourable {no, that's not a word} submarine).  Here's a picture of the parking lot (yes, the parking lot) just because it turned out.

Finally, on the way home we stopped through Tennessee, where I found some clumps of moss that were just begging to have their picture taken.

If anyone out there can identify the above species of moss, drop a comment.

all photos copyright Daniel Devine