Due to a power outage in my neighborhood, I was unable to watch the continuing adventures of Jack Bauer last night.
Boy, am I pissed!
So no post today. If someone out there taped the show and would be willing to part with it for a few days, I’d be glad to pay the postage to have it sent to me. Just leave me a comment or email me.
Representative Robert Wexler is an infected pustule on the body of American politics. His nauseating defense of Bill Clinton during that pond scum’s impeachment hearings in Congress were legendary for the fawning, grotesque and slavish way in which he excused the President’s perjury while skewering Republicans for being hypocrites.
Now this mountebank has decided that, even though it’s a dead certainty that the bill to change the venue of Terri’s legal case from state to federal courts will be passed, Wexler feels it necessary to make Terri Schiavo suffer more hours of the agony of thirst to both prove how “compassionate” he is and to score some points against Republicans.
Evidently, Mr. Wexler’s compassion only includes those who can do him any good politically. If you’re a cognitively disabled woman unable to speak up for yourself, well that’s just to bad. Here’s this abomination of a human being’s rationale for objecting to the House unaminous consent request to pass the Terri bill by voice vote, thus making republicans bring a majority of 218 Congressmen back from their homes on Palm Sunday to vote tonight at 12:01 A.M. Monday:
“Florida courts for seven years have found by a standard of clear and convincing evidence, that it is Terri Schiavo’s wishes that she not remain in a permanent vegetative state,” said Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat.
“It is not the place of Congress in the 11th hour in the most abusive fashion to undermine the Florida judicial system.”
There were evidently a couple of other compassion Nazis who felt it necessary to horn in on the publicity generated by the Terri case. Another Florida member of Congress Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was also objecting.
Think about this. Nothing Wexler and the other compassion Nazis could have possibly done will defeat this measure. It’s in the bag. It’s a slam dunk. By objecting, they have condemned someone who is already suffering the pangs of thirst, going more than 48 hours without a drop of water, to more excrutiating hours of agony.
Even if they believe she is in “a persistent vegetative state,” don’t they realize that she can feel pain? This quote from Shakespear is apt:
“If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”
Terri’s mother tickles her daughter constantly. Laughter by Terri is one sure sign that there is a living, breathing human being trapped by a mind that’s damaged but capable of some kind of rehabilitation. The fact that her husband has refused that rehabilitation for 12 years is indicitive that he never wanted Terri to get better in the first place.
Terri lies in a windowless room, her tongue swollen, her lips parched, and the more primitive area of her brain, the limbic system, which is unaffected by her injury, is screaming at her to drink water. Her regular sleep cycle (another sign, some neurologists say, of Terri not being a vegetable) has been interrupted.
And Mr. Wexler has the gall to prolong this for no other reason than to appear a hero to the cult of death crowd and the other compassion Nazis?
May he rot in hell.
According to Daily Kos, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid has introduced a bill that would exempt internet communications from campaign finance laws. Here’s the relevant passage: (PDF required)
Paragraph (22) of section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(22)) is amended by adding at the end of the following new sentence: “Such term shall not include communications over the Internet.”
Reid also released a statement:
The Internet has generated a surge in grassroots involvement in our government and has proven to be a democratizing medium in our political process. Regulation of the Internet at this time would blunt its tremendous potential, discourage broad political involvement in our nation and diminish our representative democracy. For all these reasons, we should avoid silencing this new and important form of political speech.
And to top it off, the Senator sent a letter to FEC Chairman Thomas: (PDF Required)
One of your Democratic colleagues on the FEC recently made clear in public remarks that the regulation of blogs in particular is neither required by BCRA, nor by the litigation surrounding the FEC’s implementation of that law. I urge you to work with her and your other FEC colleagues in the coming weeks to avoid silencing this new and important form of political speech.
This is excellent news. In fact, I’m rather ashamed that no Republican has stood up for the concept of free speech on the internet. It’s not too late, however, At the moment, there’s no companion legislation in the House. If some prominent Republican were to introduce a similar amendment, the chances of protecting the rights of all to use the internet as it was intended-a place where the free, unfettered flow of information and ideas would lead to a more informed citizenry-would be dramatically increased.
The FEC will issue the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking next Thursday. As I’ve said before, the Commissioners on the FEC are creatures of politics. A move like this in Congress could affect how they view any proposed new rules as they relate to the internet.
What we’ve got to do is keep up the pressure. There have been dozens of articles and reports on cable outlets about this issue. We need much more. I would urge everyone to write their Congressman and Senators asking them to get behind Senator Reid’s proposed amendment.
As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.
Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.
Your truly recieved absoutely zero votes last week on my submission. How embarrassing!
If you’d like to submit a post for the Watcher’s Vote, you can do so here.
This is either a false alarm or extremely troubling:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sensors at two military mail facilities in the Washington area detected signs of anthrax on two pieces of mail Monday, but Pentagon officials said the mail had already been irradiated, rendering any anthrax inert.
Officials weren’t sure if this was an attack. Additional tests and other sensors at the two facilities, one of them at the Pentagon and the other nearby, found no presence of the bacteria, which can be used as a biological weapon. There were no initial reports of illness.
The Pentagon’s mail delivery site, which is separate from the main Pentagon building, was evacuated and shut down Monday after sensors triggered an alarm around 10:30 a.m. EST, spokesman Glenn Flood said. It was expected to remain closed until at least Tuesday while the investigation continued.
(HT: Little Green Footballs)
What makes this especially troubling is the recent news of Abu Musab al Zarqawi’s plans to attack here in the United States.
And they never did catch the individual responsible for the anthrax attacks in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
Anthrax false alarms have become a fact of life since September 11. Suspicious packages or letters containing “some kind of powder” are found on a regular basis. Looking through a google search of “anthrax false alarms” however, I couldn’t find a story (338 of them) that contained a reference to an actual bio-hazard alarm going off. And in a Pentagon mail room, you’d think the hazard alarm would be state of the art and designed to go off only when there was a real threat.
Since the letters were already irradiated there’s probably no problem at that facility. That doesn’t preclude the possibility of others being exposed either at other Post Office facilities or even neighbors of the individual who sent the deadly letter or package in the first place.
Definitely a story that bears watching.
Cross Posted at Blogger News Network
Every couple of months I like to take a stroll down the blogroll and highlight some of the new additions who caught my eye with their great writing and attractive blogs. Since it’s Sunday and I don’t feel like working very hard, I present for your enjoyment, Newbies on Parade!
Kender at Kender’s Musings has a tag line that says it all:
“Don’t like what I have to say? Good…let me have it. Just don’t whine if you need therapy after I ream you a new one. Note:that I will not be held responsible for therapy bills…”
My kind of attack merchant…
Check out The Donegal Express where Tom has a perfect explanation of why so many Italians are Communists.
The Cranky Liberal (who really is a liberal although not generally cranky…much) has a post about the kinds of people who read various MSM publications. (Note to Crank: Do you have the first two entries mixed up? Maybe not…)
Simply the best new humor blog you’ve never heard of, The Cross-Eyed Bear links to a new “Blogby” poll showing that John Kerry actually won Ohio as the Republicans disenfranchised 9 million black voters alone giving Kerry a 12 million vote edge in the Buckeye state. It could happen…
Joust the Facts blogs about my favorite time of year, the NCAA playoffs. My poor Fighting Irish choked in the Big East Tournament so it looks like the NIT for them. But our Fighting Illini are still ranked number one (although the aura of invincibility was broken by Ohio State).
Mike at The Armageddon Project is photoblogging Lebanese hotties waving those beautiful red and white flags. MMMMM MMMMMMMM Good!
Blind Mind’s Eye has a post up about the Apple court decision involving the disclosure of trade secrets by a website. Even though there were good arguments made on both sides, I have to come down slightly in favor of the judge’s decision to require the site to name which employees supplied them with the trade secrets. Not only did the Apple employees sign a non-disclosure agreement, but their actions had potential negative ramifications for both shareholders and other employees. This is an issue which should be watched closely.
Finally, Stop the ACLU is a site dedicated to …well, stopping the ACLU! A mix of the funny and the serious, Jay exposes the ACLU’s leftist agenda and has links to all sorts of information you should be aware of. A great site to put on your blogroll…as are all the blogs I’ve highlighted on this post.
A favorite theme of moonbats is that the Patriot Act has destroyed the Bill of Rights and oppressed the masses. Maybe they should find another line of attack:
Of 1,943 complaints to the Justice Department last year regarding suspected civil rights abuses involving the USA Patriot Act, none accused department employees of misconduct because of the anti-terrorism law and only one unrelated case warranted a further criminal investigation, a report said yesterday.
The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, which is required by Congress to review suspected Patriot Act abuses, said of the complaints received by the Justice Department between June 22 and Dec. 31, only 195 included accusations involving department employees or components.
Most of the accusations involved suspected mistreatment of Muslim inmates at various U.S. Bureau of Prisons correctional facilities. Some of the complaints were about the quality of prison food.
Then there were the usual charges made by the national Democratic Party:
Other accusations included complaints that government agents were broadcasting signals that interfered with a person’s thoughts or dreams or that correctional officers had laced the prison food with hallucinogenic drugs.
I guess the Bush Administration has found a way to circumvent the protections offered by the wearing of tin foil hats.
I’m so very glad that adults like Attorney General Gonzalez are in charge instead of the hysterical, self-centered nincompoops who’ve been running around the country for the last three plus years screaming that “The Sky is Falling!”
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales called on Congress earlier this month to renew the act, saying the threat from international terrorism — including al Qaeda — was “still very real” despite U.S. successes in capturing and killing global terrorists. He said while some of the act’s provisions expire this year, “the terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule.”
To be dead serious, there are provisions in the Patriot Act that should be examined, especially some of the more potentially troubling Fourth Amendment issues. But to call for the wholesale gutting of the Act as John Kerry and other liberals in Congress have been doing is irresponsible in a post 9/11 world.
This is just too weird:
INGLESIDE, N.C. (AP) -Larry Green stepped out of the darkness so suddenly that the car that hit him didn’t even leave skid marks. The impact sent his shoes, socks and the unopened beer in his hand flying.
Mr. Green came to rest on U.S. 401 alongside a trash-strewn ditch, where he was examined by paramedics and declared dead. Over the next 2 1/2 hours, the bloody body with a gaping head wound was zipped into a black vinyl bag, taken to the morgue and put into a stainless-steel refrigerated drawer.
There was just one problem: Mr. Green was alive.
Two weeks after that shocking discovery, the 29-year-old Mr. Green, who is paralyzed, clings to life in a hospital intensive care unit.
The poor unfortunate Mr. Green had the misfortune of being examined at the scene of the accident by a bunch of nitwits:
Randy Kearney, an off-duty paramedic, was on the scene at 8:54 p.m. and found no pulse or sign of breathing. Blood had formed a footwide corona around Mr. Green’s skull.
When county paramedics Paul Kilmer and Katherine Lamell arrived moments later, Mr. Kearney told them Mr. Green was dead, but asked Mr. Kilmer to double-check. Mr. Kilmer replied that his determination was “good enough for me,” according to Mr. Kearney and two firefighters.
Mr. Kilmer told officials he could not remember saying that, but doesn’t deny it.
Paramedic Pamela Hayes arrived at 9 p.m., and the medical examiner, Dr. J.B. Perdue, examined the body at the scene about half an hour later.
Paramedics put Mr. Green in a body bag and drove him to the morgue in nearby Louisburg. There, Dr. Perdue examined the body a second time. He took a blood sample, lifted Mr. Green’s eyelids and sniffed around the man’s mouth for alcohol.
Un. Be.Lievable.
Mr. Green probably would have remained in the stainless-steel container had state Trooper Tyrone Hunt not arrived around 11:20 p.m. and asked Dr. Perdue to help him determine the direction from which Mr. Green had been struck.
This time, Dr. Perdue observed slight movement. He could not find a pulse in Mr. Green’s neck, thigh or wrist, even with a stethoscope. Dr. Perdue summoned paramedics and an electrocardiogram, which was able to pick up a faint heart rhythm.
A hundred years ago, people used to put bells on the graves of their loved ones just in case the “deceased” woke up in a buried coffin. But you’d think in a modern industrialized society that a trained physician not to mention an experienced coroner would take the time to ascertain whether or not the body that they’re placing in refrigerated cabinet was, you know…dead?
The family has retained an attorney. (Ya think?)
UPDATE: FROM THE “DID I MISS SOMETHING” DEPARTMENT
Much to my chagrin, I find that this story is almost a month old!
I found it on Comcast via a video report by the AP. There was no date on the video so I don’t know when it was made. And as closely as I watch what’s happening on the web, I can’t believe that there wasn’t an explosion of posts about this when it was first reported.
Kind of makes me wonder what else I’ve missed. Did you hear that Dan Rather is retiring?
Here’s a link to an online petition and letter to be sent to FEC Chairman Scott E. Thompson requesting the following:
The letter includes three requests of the Commission:
1. Grant blogs and online publications the same consideration and protection as broadcast media, newspapers, or periodicals by clearly including them under the Federal Election Commission’s “media exemption” rule.
2.Promulgate a rule exempting unpaid political activity on the Internet from regulation, thereby insuring every American’s right to speak freely and participate in our democratic process.
3. Clarify the rules and definitions related to “coordinated activity” to protect bloggers and journalists from running afoul of Commission rules regarding the republication of campaign materials.
The letter was signed by a bi-partisan group of bloggers, journalists, and on line activists.
So click on, sign up, and keep your eyes and ears open.
UPDATE: HOWARD KURTZ GETS IT RIGHT
Howard Kurtz’s Media Notes reports on the FEC controvsy and the issues raised by the potential regulation of blogs. (HT: Captains Quarters)
Turns out Kurtz “gets it:”
I’m not one of these people who thinks you need a graduate degree, an ID card or an official stamp of approval to call yourself a journalist. Anyone with an idea and a computer can now play the role of reporter, commentator or social critic. People can tell the difference between a New York Times correspondent and BozoBlogger.com, and both have something to contribute.
Read the whole thing.
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