March 2005 Archives

I wanted to see what's been documented on Terri Schiavo's condition prior to the heart attack, and came across this article by her husband's lead trial lawyer. The first paragraph pretty much sums it up:

The lost lesson of Terri Schiavo
By GARY D. FOX
Published October 26, 2003

In November 1992, a jury in Clearwater returned a verdict in favor of Terri and Michael Schiavo for more than $6.8-million. The jury found that Terri had been the victim of substandard medical care that caused, in part, her coma. The jury also found that Terri was partly at fault and the verdict was reduced accordingly, to about $2-million. I was the lead trial lawyer for Terri and Michael.

Fox goes on to discuss the struggles young women with eating disorders encounter, but the bottom line here is pretty damning. The original judgement was reduced by over two-thirds to reflect Terri Schiavo's culpability.

seen in a comment on Eschaton:

If I were Michael Schiavo I'd be suing everyone in sight.

If I were Michael Schiavo I'd get myself a bodyguard
Agitprop | Email | Homepage | 03.31.05 - 1:55 pm | #

I was saying this about Gingrich in 94 to 98, that we Democrats need to get down in the gutter and fight more.  All-too-many people would respond saying they would never sink down to the level of Newt the Gingrich and his list of words you can use to characterize Dems and his other stunts.  Xan at Corrente is hopefully hitting a wider audience and making people re-think taking the high road:

...And Your Enemies Closer As we're now due for the inevitable bloviating over the Terri Schiavo Burial Arrangements Hysteria for a few days [anybody wanna guess how long it takes before some newsreader concludes his/her pontifications with "Remains to be seen"?], other subjects may be pushed aside in some news outlets....which of course is why you come to Corrente for all your information needs.

Rachel Maddaux is ranting on and on this morning about Bill Clinton. She cited a report from (I think) CBS that claims Clinton advised John Kerry to position himself in favor of the various anti-gay-marriage initiatives that popped up. She then mentioned another report that alleges Clinton is behind the silence of the Democrats on the Schiavo case.

She then continued the rant, just ripping into Clinton for appearing in those tsunami relief commercials with Bush 41. Her tone reminded me of the nutballs I've seen on the tube and read on the 'net in the "let Terri live!" camp. They're all set to eat their own, ready to crucify both Bush brothers for not doing enough for their cause.

Thing is, Maddaux has no bloody clue that Clinton is right on both issues. From Sidney Blumenthal's column today:

Bush had no instinct that he was overreaching. He did not grasp that the case would become for the Republican Party something like what the gay marriage decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has been for the Democratic Party. In both incidents the parties have been pushed to their marginal bases. Bush's problem is that he has helped move the religious right to the heart of his party.

Politicizing gay marriage was a huge overreach last fall, and we got slapped hard for it. Clinton's 1992 victory was about controlling the fringe elements of the Democratic party. You didn't see "dykes on bikes for Clinton." You didn't see Jessie Jackson attacking the Democratic establishment at the 1992 convention. Clinton and his people worked hard to rein in the fringe and present a "mainstream" vision. Once in office, there was a payoff for the fringe.

But that's the problem with the fringe, they forget that they're not the mainstream. I don't know where gay Democrats got the notion that the country has accepted them to such an extent that they feel they can now make demands and call the shots. They are not the left-wing equivalent of the sort of power base the Christians have in the Republican party. They may have the moral high ground, but they don't have the political support.

As for Clinton being behind the Dem's Schiavo strategy, I have a problem with that as well, mainly because I don't see Harry Reid taking his marching orders from Clinton. I also can't possibly imagine Clinton focusing all his efforts on getting his wife elected President in 2008.

Rachel's going off the deep end...

Monument to jazz legend Buddy Bolden in Holt Cemetery. The exact location of Bolden's grave is unknown. Holt is the city's "potter's field," and precise burial locations were often not recorded.

Atrios is right, stick a fork in him. There are few media types with their own personal Bushie nicknames that suck up to Republicans more than Howard "Fine" Fineman of Newsweek/MSNBC. And when "Fine" will write a column that all but buries DeLay, that also means the White House has cut him loose:

Relations between the president and DeLay have never been particularly warm – Texas isn’t quite big enough for the both of them. Bush and Karl Rove have been careful to cultivate him over the years, of course, and they have made common cause since Bush first started running for governor in 1993. Bush likes to delegate the tough stuff – to people like DeLay and Rove – but they are still hired help.

And you can always fire the help.

ouch!

John Danforth, former Senator from Missouri and most recently US Ambassador to the UN (he resigned that post in January), writes in a guest op-ed today in Isvestiya on the Hudson:

St. Louis — BY a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians.

The historic principles of the Republican Party offer America its best hope for a prosperous and secure future. Our current fixation on a religious agenda has turned us in the wrong direction. It is time for Republicans to rediscover our roots.

John Danforth is the embodiment of All That Is Republican. Well, that is, all that was the GOP prior to it being hijacked by the current theocrats who control the party. I always thought there would come a time when the so-called "country club" or "economic" Republicans would finally get fed up with the religious crazies and boot them from the party. Perhaps that time has come.

Hump Day Politics: Eddie Jordan, District D and Kenner City Council races, other elections, Johnny Cochran

But what the hell...

Coming Attraction

Podcast: Tech Tuesday - Wireless Networking in Suburbia

...just as I come home from Kevin's Boy Scout meeting.

Of course, this guy is from DFW, and that's another world from here.

Boy Scout leader charged with child porn was defender of anti-gay policy, ‘Youth Protector’ Scout leader charged with child porn 'once Youth Protection chairman' By Michael Rogers | RAWSTORYQ Editor Boy Scouts of America's National Director of Programs Douglas Smith will appear in a Dallas courtroom tomorrow to face charges of posessing child pornography, according to reports by NBC News. At one point, Smith served ...

List of Schiavo Donors Will Be Sold by Direct-Marketing Firm

WASHINGTON, March 28 - The parents of Terri Schiavo have authorized a conservative direct-mailing firm to sell a list of their financial supporters, making it likely that thousands of strangers moved by her plight will receive a steady stream of solicitations from anti-abortion and conservative groups.
...
Privacy experts said the sale of the list was legal and even predictable, if ghoulish.

Executives of Response Unlimited declined to comment. Gary McCullough, director of the Christian Communication Network and a spokesman for Ms. Schiavo's parents, confirmed that Mr. Schindler had agreed to let Response Unlimited rent out the list as part of a deal for the firm to send an e-mail solicitation raising money on the family's behalf.

sick.

Podcast: Crawfish!

The "long format" weekly food Podcast is available at food.yatpundit.com, as well as the recipe for Crawfish-Tasso Pasta discussed in the YatCuisine podcast.

Tom and Jesus haha

read in a blog comment:

"The only way Cheney will get involved in the Schiavo case is if her bed is full of fifties or if Halliburton gets a contract to do the feeding tube."

*snark*

Cardinal 'horrified' at IVF plans Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor attacks the idea that IVF parents could choose their baby's sex.

Blood Sport, cont. CNN is reporting that the FBI has arrested a North Carolina man for offering, via the internet, a reward of $200,000 for the murder of Michael Schiavo, and an additional $50,000 for the murder of Judge Greer. (Link when it becomes available.)

Phishing Attack Targets Yahoo Messenger Victims get instant messages that appear to be from friends and end up at fake Yahoo-like site.

Terri Schiavo's soul has long since fled her body.

I may be a liberal, but this is why I believe in guns. One day it may come down to me defending my home from these madmen.

Man Tries to Steal Gun to 'Rescue Schiavo'

Mitchell, 50, told deputies he wanted to "take some action and rescue Terri Schiavo" after he visited the Pinellas Park hospice where she lives, Pasha said.

original catch by Oliver Willis via Eschaton

...and it was as nasty as Wolcott claims.

Puppy Licks Master's Face Have an airsick bag handy should you embark upon Adam Nagourney's lipsmacking love letter to Jeb Bush on page one of today's NY Times. Nagourney, who once boasted on Charlie Rose that he had more charisma than poor John Kerry...

...Adam Nagourney really ought to be writing for Tiger Beat. Because only a groupie with a byline could write of Jeb Bush's posturing in the Schiavo story, "[The] events of recent days have fed the mystique of Mr Bush as a reluctant inheritor of perhaps America's most famous dynasty since the Adams family two centuries ago."

Potpourri Friday

Good Friday traditions in New Orleans

RTL groups are indeed pissed. As they should be. Listen to RightMarch:

But there was GOOD news, too.

This is OUTRAGEOUS. Governor Bush needs to step up to the plate NOW, and exercise his constitutional and legal authority NOW, before Terri dies. But he doesn't seem to be willing to take that chance and do it... so we thought we should help encourage him.

Can you imagine blacks in the 60s appealing to democrats for civil rights and get told, "well, we took our best shot and it didn't work, now go get in the back of the bus."

Thing is, these people have short memories. They'll allow themselves to get kicked to the curb this week and will be back under the big tent in a month or so.

Exclusive: GOP scrubs lists of fundraising events as heat grows on leader Tom DeLay

Here's the part I like best:

 The scrubbing appears to have occurred shortly after RAW STORY placed now-Sen. Vitter (R-LA) at a $1000-a-plate fundraiser hosted by the fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff during the same time Vitter was meeting with Abramoff’s staff to arrange a provision favorable to the lobbyist’s tribal client. The last cache files date to Mar. 12, four days before RAW STORY revealed the event.

Also in attendance at the dinner was House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s (R-TX) deputy Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), who had signed a letter with DeLay encouraging the Interior Department to rule favorably to Abramoff earlier that summer.

That's my oh-so-ethical and anti-gambling senator, hobnobbing with the chief lobbyist for the largest Indian casino in the state, and DeLay's boys are delivering the goods.

Remember, DeLay does not want you thinking about his ethics issues, most of which center on GOP fundraising activities.  Don't look at that man behind the curtain, keep looking at what's going on in Florida! 

Simple as this:

(ORDER LIST: 544 U.S.) THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2005 ORDER IN PENDING CASE 04A825 SCHIAVO, EX REL. SCHINDLER V. SCHIAVO, MICHAEL, ET AL. The application for stay of enforcement of judgment pending the filing and disposition of a petition for writ of certiorari presented to Justice Kennedy and by him referred to the Court is denied.

I don't think even Jebby will try anything now.

From Annthrax:

Gov. Mitt Romney will never recover from his acquiescence to the Massachusetts Supreme Court's miraculous discovery of a right to gay marriage. Neither will Gov. Bush if he doesn't stop the torture and murder of Terri Schiavo.

One could only hope that this indeed will be the case. That'll kill the Bush dynasty dead, dead, dead.

(original catch on this by world o'crap)

the American Taliban doesn't understand party loyalty, of course, and world o'crap nails it:

If Terri Dies, It's Jeb's Fault

you guys know by now that I'm a soccer fan and referee, I'm sure.  When I saw the title, "Hornets axe boss Lewington," that didn't quite make sense, because the "boss" of the New Orleans Hornets is head coach Byron Scott, and they play in the National Basketball Association, not the Football League.  oops!

Hornets axe boss Lewington Ray Lewington has been sacked as manager of Coca-Cola Championship side Watford. The former Crystal Palace boss led the Hornets to the Carling Cup semi-finals, but he has been dismissed after poor re...

Hump Day Politics

Schiavo-free zone (almost), Eddie Jordan, David Vitter, Kimberly Williamson Butler, and Mel Gibson.

Gambit Weekly story on Butler
The Talent Show
ABC 26 on Eddie Jordan

Since the FL State Senate is done with the Schiavo case, the natives are unhappy:

Ugly messages were left with lawmakers. Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, said one letter came from a self-identified Christian who "prayed" for Argenziano to die a painful death with stomach cancer.

Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, said one caller to his office said, "I'm a Christian, and I hope you will die in your own vomit."

and they wonder why they scare others in this country.

St. Joseph Cemetery Number One, 2200 Washigton Avenue in Central City. The St. Joseph cemeteries are next to Lafayette Cemetery Number Two, the lesser-known stepsister of Lafayette #1 in the Garden District. The chapel in the background is the original St. Mary's Assumption Church. When the German community of the Irish Channel decided to construct the current St Mary's church, located at Constance and Josephine Streets, the older church building was carefully dismantled and re-assembled in the cemetery. It was used as a mortuary chapel for over 140 years. When the Redemptorist Fathers sold their property at Prytania and Third Streets in the Garden District, they closed the chapel where many families attended Mass each Sunday. These families led a drive to move the old church to the Garden District. The drive was successful, and the building is now located on Jackson Avenue, between Prytania Street and St. Charles Avenue.

The re-location of the old church back to the Garden District maintains the neighborhood's tradition of multiple churches in the same parish. On paper, the Irish Channel and Garden District neighborhoods were a single parish, but the three main ethnic groups of the area attended church in three separate locations. The Irish built St. Alphonsus church on Constance Street, between St. Joseph and Josephine Streets. The Germans built St. Mary's across the street on the corner lot, and the French attended Mass at a small chapel on Jackson Avenue until it burned down in the 1840s.

Tech Tuesday

Phishing, e-mail administration, NewzCrawler News Aggregator.

I don't have anything to add to the substance of the case, mainly because nobody has a clear picture yet of why this young man lost it.

This morning, Rachel Maddaux made a profound statement about the reaction to this tragedy. This was the worst school-shooting incident since Columbine in 1999. Since then, we've had thousands killed in a single terrorist incident, the country is at war in two different countries. We're so much at each other's throats about a woman who has no idea we're fighting over her. All this combined has pushed us so far that we don't even react when a teenager kills ten people. That's a shame.

...the bishops are pushing the envelope a bit...

US bishop regrets gay burial ban The Bishop of San Diego is to hold a memorial service for a gay man, a week after banning his funeral from church.

of course, this might grow legs now that Bushie wants to "err on the side of life"

Bishops Fight Death Penalty in New Drive
By NEELA BANERJEE

Published: March 22, 2005

WASHINGTON, March 21 - The country's Roman Catholic bishops on Monday announced a more prominent effort to bar the death penalty, saying they hoped to build on a continuing shift in public opinion, and among Catholics in particular, against capital punishment.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops staked out a comprehensive position against the death penalty 25 years ago. But Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., said the conference was beginning a campaign for "greater urgency and unity, increased energy and advocacy."

"We cannot teach killing is wrong by killing," Cardinal McCarrick said at a news conference here. "We cannot defend life by taking life."

Already, clergy members who were successful at mobilizing Catholics on other issues, like opposition to abortion, have sounded a call to fight the death penalty. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Colorado, for example, who told voters during the 2004 presidential campaign that abortion was a "foundational" issue, wrote in a recent article in a Catholic newsletter that "we need to end the death penalty now."

John Carr, the director of social development for the conference, said Catholics were taking their campaign to the state level, pointing to efforts to halt the reinstatement of capital punishment in Massachusetts and a continuing drive to overturn the death penalty in New Mexico.

Some experts on the church, like Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the ecumenical magazine First Things, said they doubted that capital punishment would galvanize conservative Catholics to the extent that abortion and same-sex marriage have. Nor is the church's stance on capital punishment as absolute as it is on abortion. The church unconditionally opposes abortion, for example, but it says the state has the right to execute a prisoner if there is no other way to defend society.

The bishops, however, produced polling to show that they are already gaining in public opinion. A survey of nearly 1,800 Catholics conducted this month by Zogby International Polling and commissioned by the conference showed a drop in the percentage of those who supported the death penalty.

For years, surveys have shown that more than 60 percent of Catholics favored capital punishment, including polls taken in late 2003, said John Zogby, the president of the polling company.

But in two recent Zogby polls, one in November 2004 and the one this month, Catholics were evenly split. The latest poll, which had a margin of sampling error of 3 percent, showed that 48.5 percent of respondents supported the death penalty and that 48.4 percent did not.

rpeate and I have been discussing the larger implications of the Republicans coming out so strongly in support of Schiavo's parents. The congresscritter subpoenas, then the bill, bushie's middle-of-the-night signing drama, all this for what?

It's a smoke screen, plain and simple.

Were it not for "All Schiavo, All The Time," the focus of the cable news outlets would be on the ethics woes of Tom DeLay. By wagging the dog as he's done over the weekend, he's captured every news cycle since last Thursday and deflected it away from his troubles. Nobody wants to hear the minutae of Texas campaign finance law when there's all this passionate drama going on.

But this is a big deal! You exclaim. No, it's not. Look at where this case stands legally. All of the Schindlers' appeals have been exhausted at the state level, and the trial judge ordered the tube removed. He's done with it. No way he's going to reverse himself on this now. The subpeona stunt was just that, and did absolutely nothing to stop the process. The tube came out.

Bushie's signing of "Terri's Law 2" gives some sort of hope to the Schindlers for relief in federal court, but a district judge in FL has already refused to issue a TRO. Now they're off to the 11th Circuit. While this court is conservative, they have issues to consider that mean nothing to DeLay and Bushie. The biggest of which is this "culture of life" argument. It's easy for Bushie to say "we must error on the side of life," but when a court does it, they risk having it thrown back in their faces in the form of habeus motions from death penalty inmates and others with right to live/right to die cases. Federal judges are pretty much immune from influence by the likes of DeLay. "The Hammer" may be able to throttle congresscritters and lobbyists into submission, but a panel of three appellate judges? Not likely.

Not that he really cares, anyway. Just like when Hitler would order the SturmAbteilung to take to the streets, DeLay knew that lighting the rag in this molotov cocktail would bring out every right-to-life activist in the country, most notably Randall Terry, former leader of the criminal racket known as Operation Rescue. DeLay throws the bottle, it bursts into flame, and the fire becomes the story, not the man who threw the bomb.

It's clear that the White House did not consider the ramifications of supporting DeLay on this. The ideology team is currently scattered. Rove knows he has to cover DeLay's ass, but the voices of reason that usually rein in Karl aren't as influential anymore. There's still a war to prosecute and a country to run. As a result, those who truly believe in a "culture of life" are hoisting Bushie on his own petard, pointing out his signing into law the 1999 Texas "futile care" bill that allows healthcare providers to pull the plug on terminally ill patients who can't afford to pay for their survival. That law enabled the state of Texas to be complicit in the killing of a six-month old baby last week. Now, Bushie has to reconcile his current stance with his position in 1999. He's also got to reconcile the execution of men and women whose death sentences are based on questionable evidence and legal proceedings. If we're going to "err on the side of life," that should be an across-the-board position.

They can't go across the board here, therefore this issue will die, and DeLay will find a new reason to turn his storm troopers loose in the streets.

If I was Austin, TX, District Attorney Ronnie Earle, I would be having sit-downs with everyone accused in the various scandals that will eventually lead to DeLay and review the events of this weekend. I'd say, "look at the lengths he's willing to go to save his ass. If he's willing to start this firestorm, do you really think he'll stand up and defend your sorry ass?" There's no law of omerta among these dirtbags. Scare them enough and one or more of them will roll on DeLay.

If you guys aren't reading Juan Cole's blog, you really should.  Prof. Cole's take on the Middle East is intelligent, and pisses off wingnuts.  He's also not afraid to call it like it is.  Case in point:

The Schiavo Case and the Islamization of the Repub... The Schiavo Case and the Islamization of the Republican Party

The cynical use by the US Republican Party of the Terri Schiavo case repeats, whether deliberately or accidentally, the tactics of Muslim fundamentalists and theocrats in places like Egypt and Pakistan. These tactics involve a disturbing tendency to make private, intimate decisions matters of public interest and then to bring the courts and the legislature to bear on them. President George W. Bush and Republican congressional leaders like Tom Delay have taken us one step closer to theocracy on the Muslim Brotherhood model.

Church cuts ties to food pantry because of Catholics

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A church has withdrawn its support for a food pantry serving the needy because the pantry works with Roman Catholics.

The Rev. Tony Marciano, executive director of Charlotte Rescue Mission, said Burton told him the church could no longer support the agency after it allowed three Muslim students from UNC Charlotte to help serve a meal.

This is why Catholics must be very wary of "conservative Christian" political causes. Catholics nationwide got on board with these people mainly because of the abortion issue. The problem is that Catholics get rolled by "Christians" once the John 3:16 crowd are in power.

As a New Orleanian, the stats on Catholics fascinating. 

Read the Polls Link:

- 70% of Americans say it is inappropriate for Congress to involve itself in the Schiavo case.

- 67% of Americans “think the elected officials trying to keep Schiavo alive are doing so more for political advantage than out of concern for her or for the principles involved.� (Just 19% believe the elected officials are acting out of concern for her or their principles.)

- 58% of Republicans, 61% of independents and 63% of Democrats oppose federal government intervention in the case.

- 50% of evangelicals oppose federal government intervention in the case, just 44% approve of the intervention.

- 63% of Catholics and a plurality of evangelicals believe Schiavo’s feeding tube should be removed.

from Salon:

Cashing in on Terry Schiavo

Folks might contribute to the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation for all sorts of reasons. To get more junk mail and spam probably isn't one of them.

But as a federal court in Florida begins to wrestle with Schiavo's case, a company that sells evangelical-themed mailing lists to direct marketers is cashing in by offering up the names and addresses of individuals who have contributed to the legal fight to extend Schiavo's life. The pitch -- "New List! First Time Available!" -- is here:

"Each of these donors responded to an email during February 2005, from Terri Schindler-Schiavo's father on behalf of his daughter. These compassionate pro-lifers donated toward Bob Schindler's legal battle to keep Terri's estranged husband from removing the feeding tube from Terri. These individuals are passionate about the way they value human life, adamantly oppose euthanasia, and are pro-life in every sense of the word!"

The names and postal addresses of 6,198 donors are available for $150. Email addresses go for $500.

I got an e-mail from a reporter from Belo Broadcasting last week. Belo is the parent company that owns Da News. The corporate office does a number of news pieces that they can then distribute to all their stations. One such feature is called "Tech Talk." They're doing a piece on podcasting, so this reporter (he's out of DC) had a local WWL reporter and a cameraman come out to video me doing the podcast, then a short interview. If I don't end up edited out, I'll be in an upcoming "Tech Talk" segment on the various Belo stations. I'll keep you posted...

YatCuisine: New Orleans Po-Boys

This is the weekly "long-format" food podcast. approx. 25 minutes.

New Orleans Po-Boys

New Orleans Po-boys, Mothers, The Bakery, Parasol's, french bread.

Kimberley Williamson Butler, formerly Mayor Nagin's CAO, was pegged as his primary opponent for re-election. It's not likely that's in the cards, though, now that stories like this one are seeing the light of day.

The Woman Behind the Curtains

In 2003, Kimberly Williamson Butler won an upset election to become clerk of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. Before long, stories began emerging from her office about security cameras, religious meetings, campaign work -- and one expensive set of drapes.

(from Gambit Weekly)

Wow, this is serious.  Randall Terry is an outright criminal:

If I were... If I were a congressional Republican, or a supporter of the Schindler family's efforts to obtain federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, I'd be more than a little troubled by the high profile being assumed by the infamous anti-abortion anti-abortion extremist, Randall Terry. Terry accompanied Mary Schindler to a press appearance earlier today, and is also organizing an effort to get Jeb Bush and Florida legislators to visit Terri Schiavo.anti-abortion extremist,   Randall Terry. Terry accompanied Mary Schindler to a press appearance earlier today, and is also organizing an effort to get Jeb Bush and Florida legislators to visit Terri Schiavo.

SAVING TERRI SCHIAVO: PRESENTING INCONTROVERTIBLE PROOF THAT EVERY LIFE HAS WORTH, PRESIDENT BUSH ANNOUNCES "66 USES FOR PERSISTENT VEGETARDS"

circletimessquare writes "The New York Times is reporting that a number of Imax theatres are passing on science-themed films that might provoke controversy among a handful of religious fundamentalists. Films that are having their distribution impacted include '"Cosmic Voyage," which depicts the universe in dimensions running from the scale of subatomic particles to clusters of galaxies; "Galápagos," about the islands where Darwin theorized about evolution; and "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea," an underwater epic about the bizarre creatures that flourish in the hot, sulfurous emanations from vents in the ocean floor.'"

Imax Theaters Demur On Controversial Science Films

via slashdot...

Streetcar Sunday: Italians in New Orleans

ethnic parades, Tonti, Italians in the French Quarter, 1891 lynching.

someone who supports feeding Terri Schiavo please explain these cases to me. Both from Kleiman, via Atrios:

Sun Hudson, a six-month-old boy with a fatal congenital disease, died Thursday after a Texas hospital, over his mother's objections, withdrew his feeding tube. The child was apparently certain to die, but was conscious. The hospital simply decided that it had better things to do than keeping the child alive, and the Texas courts upheld that decision after the penniless mother failed, during the 10-day window provided for by Texas law, to find another institution willing to take the child .

Then there's this one, from MSNBC:

HOUSTON - The family of Spiro Nikolouzos won another legal round in court Tuesday in its fight with a Houston hospital to keep him alive, Local 2 reported. Spiro Nikolouzos

The family has been involved in a court battle with St. Luke's Hospital since March 1, when doctors notified it that life-sustaining care of the husband and father would be halted in 10 days after they determined he was brain dead.

Both of these are Texas cases. Why is Tom DeLay involved in a Florida case when he's got spiritual warfare to fight at home?

This is the sort of hypocrisy that gives those who would mock Christians and Southerners solid material to work with.

Army vice chief of staff Cody worried about future of all-volunteer military

We went to some friends of my wife's house for New Year's Day. They're both quite conservative. We're talking Dr. Laura-fan conservative here. They have a son that is a sophomore in high school, a year younger than mine. Now, keep in mind that mine is fully intent on joining the Navy. He is doing his college planning based on schools that have NROTC units. I'm OK with this, of course--he wants to be a nuclear engineer. So, in the middle of dinner conversation, Justin made a comment of some sort about the draft. My response was something about how the draft lottery worked last time, and how it would work if the model the next draft after the last one. The other kid was fascinated; he never really had anyone discuss the reality of today's armed forces so casually in front of him.

His mother was horrified. This is a woman who wrote a letter to Da Paper that basically said we liberals should STFU now that the disrespectful piece of shit that occupies the White House got re-elected. But now we were talking about the very real possibility that her only son would be about the right age to be eligible for the draft, and whether or not being a college student would shield kids his age.

I usually go out of my way to be a polite guest. My views are more liberal than even most Democrats, so I tend to do the old Southern thing about not discussing religion, sex, and politics in polite company. Somehow me and the two boys drifted into the military discussion without me realizing it. This woman, like most GOP kool-aid drinkers, really believed the Dear Leader when he said there would be no draft.

Listen to the Army types. When they lose sleep about the strength of our national defense, we'll have the draft.

Firefox Eats More Microsoft Market Share Market share for the open-source Mozilla Firefox climbed above 6% in February, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer share dropped below 90%.

St. Patrick's Day, St. Joseph's Day, and Super Sunday

Some links for visuals:

Parasol's Bar - Headquarters for New Orleans' St. Patrick's Day bash
MardiGrasIndians.com - good descriptive site on the Injuns
St. Joseph's Altars - interesting article
Virtual St. Joseph's Altar - this is pretty cool!

With both of my boys in Catholic school, this subject comes up often, because they're both quick to call bullshit on conservatives who are anti-abortion but believe in killing so many other people and animals. Saw this on Huck's blog and it bears repeating:

Liberal Lighthouse: Daniel C. Maguire and "The Pro-Life Lie": Daniel C. Maguire writes that "People shoud be judged by the ideals they most loudly profess." What else does Maguire say? Try this:

Pregnant women and their fetuses suffer from these same lethal deprivations and pregnant women and their fetuses are being bombed in their homes. If you who sanctimoniously wear the 'pro-life' banner were really pro-life-and pro-fetus, that would bother you and we would be hearing your voices raised powerfully in peace protests around the world. We don't. Therefore we must conclude that you are not 'pro-life' and that if you say you are, you are liars.

Work got in the way, I'm afraid, I've been out most of the afternoon and evening.

Politics Wednesday - Eddie Jordan update, NOPD's residency rule

Tech Tuesday: RAID 1 for the home PC -- highly available storage on your home workstation.

Gumbo!

keywords: yatpundit, new orleans, gumbo, roux, food

Salon.com's review of Ari Fleischer's book, "Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House" is entitled, "Ari Fleischer: Still saying nothing after all these years." It should read "Still lying after all these years," and I'm disappointed in Boehlert for not calling Fleischer out on it. One telling line from the review:

In his analysis of the press, Fleischer argues "liberal" is underused, while "progressive" is overused, the exact opposite of what's happening.

That is a very succinct summary of Fleischer's tenure as press secretary. Up is down, day is night, left is right. We are at war with EastAsia. We have always been at war with EastAsia.

Fleischer claims that the media do not use proper terminology enough. I agree. They should label him a liar at every given opportunity.

Streetcar Sunday

keywords: Streetcar Sunday, Faubourg St. John/Bayou St. John, The Meters, Brother Martin High

Spiritual Saturday

Death, wakes, and funerals in New Orleans.

Friday Potpourri

talking about WTUL and WWOZ's fundraisers this weekend, and it's time to start thinking seriously about JazzFest.

Top Ten Thursday this week is actually a Top Five, the five places in town with the best onion rings. Here's the list, if you want the reasoning, listen to the podcast. :-)

5. Popeye's
4. Lee's Hamburgers
3. Charlie's Steakhouse (4510 Dryades near Napoleon)
2. Mandina's (3800 Canal Street)
1. Liuzza's (Bienville and Telemachus)

This comment to a blog post on Wampum in reference to CNN's Nancy Grace caught my eye:

There's no safety from the likes of a lying, scheming prosecutor hell bent with a moral indignation to bring you down, no matter what. Ask Bill Clinton about it.

The blog post is a detailed description of the illegal and inappropriate conduct of CNN on-air personality Nancy Grace while a prosecutor in Georgia. This type of scum is the best CNN can put on the air?

Just some thoughts on Lunch around town of late...

Bud's Broiler on City Park Avenue is still one of my favorite places to stop for a bite. #4, fries, diet coke. I got an e-mail from a local who said they felt that Bud's had cut back on the cheese on their burger. I haven't found that to be the case personally.

Pizza Florence - Vets and N. Woodlawn in Metairie - formerly "Johnny and Josie's Po-Boys," the location is now a pizza place, run by some Turkish folks. Good crust, good sauce, excellent green olives.

Corner Cafe - Green Acres and Yale in Metairie - excellent hot sausage po-boy, good fried shrimp po-boy. The gumbo at the next table looked thick and smelled tasty. Good plate lunch/sandwich place in the burbs.

Caretta's - Vets and Metairie Heights, across from Shogun in Metairie - good Mexican food, enchiladas/burritos/flautas/etc. Had a tasty chile relleno, the salsa was spicy and the chips were crispy and fresh.

Wednesday Politics

keywords: new orleans, yatpundit, politics, race, district attorney, eddie jordan.

Thought to ponder for today: does an incoming black politician have the right to fire political appointees in his office even if they're not the same color as him?

Clancy DuBos has a good commentary in this week's Gambit Weekly that puts the whole RTA-versus-Morial's Uncle battle in perspective. Unlike Da Paper's Ms. Grace, DuBos calls it like it is and reminds us that the Morial name has a lot of weight with the average voter in Orleans Parish, so for the RTA to get out spending just $650K is a smart move. This is a suit that would have been extremely risky to take to trial. Phony outrage on part of Da Paper is silly when one looks at the facts.

Study: Reality TV, Reality Unfair To Blacks

Tech Tuesday - Lighting the LAMP

keywords: new orleans, tech, LAMP, linux, apache, mysql, php, perl, unix, microsoft

My initial reaction to this story was concern, but as I read further, I'm not as worried as I was at first.

The opening graf sounded ominous:

NEW YORK (AP) — Flight attendant Ellen Simonetti and former Google employee Mark Jen have more in common than their love of blogging: They both got fired over it. Though many companies have Internet guidelines that prohibit visiting porn sites or forwarding racist jokes, few of the policies directly cover blogs, or Web journals, particularly those written outside of work hours.

Then you get to the fine print:

Last fall, Simonetti posted photographs of herself posing in a Delta Air Lines uniform inside a company airplane, her bra partly revealed in one. She was fired weeks later.

OK, this is just bloody stupid. For openers, if she's in a Delta airplane, she's on company time. If she's flashing in company uniform, her employer has a right to complain. We're not talking about sitting at your desk with your webcam and pulling up your shirt here.

Then there's the guy:

And in January, Jen was fired by Google over a blog that discussed life at the company, even though he said "it's all publicly available information and my personal thoughts and experiences."

He said he hoped his case would prompt workers to "talk to their managers at length about blogging before they begin."

Talk to your boss? Who is he kidding? How about you pick up a copy of Winning Office Politics and learn to think straight before you start writing in a public forum about your co-workers? And to feign innocence about one's indiscreet behavior is pushing things a bit:

Simonetti said she still doesn't know what she did wrong, saying that plenty of employee Web sites and dating profiles identify Delta and include photos in uniform.

"If there is a policy against this, why weren't all these people punished before?" she said.

It's one thing to post a photo of yourself going about your day-to-day work environment. It's another to flash everyone in company uniform. I'd fire this woman for her inability to recognize the difference, forgetting any other reasons.

In light of last week's Frienditto brouhaha on LiveJournal, this article is quite timely, indeed. If you don't want it getting back to the people you work with, don't put it on the Internet.

I read with interest the story on the resignation of Elizabeth Hoffman as President of the University of Colorado. On NPR's All Things Considered this afternoon, one of the incidents cited as being part of her downfall was the death last year of a student from alcohol poisioning. It was a "binge drinking" incident that we've seen all across the country.

Whenever I hear about a "binge drinking" incident, I can't help but scratch my head and wonder at why people are shocked and surprised that these things happen. Many people go to great lengths to establish what is essentially a zero-tolerance zone around their children when it comes to alcoholic beverages. Even here in suburban New Orleans, we had an incident last fall where a student was suspended for bringing Jello in small cups to school, because the teacher and principal thought the student was passing out "jello-shots" in the building. In a colossal effort at CYA, the school administration chose to attempt to demonize the mother by saying the child told them that rum and vodka were out on the counter in the home's kitchen. What a great way to keep parents in line on the alchohol issue--if your kid sees a bottle of booze, you're a bad parent, and people start wondering if child protective services should be called out to your house.

Time was when kids would have a sip of dad's beer on a weekend. Older teens might have a glass of wine with Sunday dinner. Kids now come home from school with a view of alcohol as evil. Any attempt to change that perception by the parents might lead to the kid spilling the beans at school and all hell breaking loose.

So, we've created this culture where we take an extremely dim view on teenage alcohol consumption. We've created a couple of generations now of young adults who reach legal adulthood with no personal experience when it comes to beer/wine/liquor. We pack our eighteen-year old sons and daughters off to college, where they are instantly thrust into a very adult world. It's a small wonder that these binge-drinking incidents are as few as they actually are given these circumstances.

I would like to offer a modest proposal to those who would like to prevent future alcohol poisioning deaths among college students. It's very simple, actually--teach responsible alcohol consumption among teens as opposed to zero-tolerance. Alcohol is not a controlled substance like marijuana, cocaine, or ecstasy; kids are going to get their hands on booze eaily and legally when they hit college. Nobody argues that we should turn 18-year olds loose on the roads without drivers' education, yet we turn them loose in bars and clubs in college towns across the country without any alcohol education. Parents should have a beer or a glass of wine with their teens occasionally. Take the mystery out of Budweiser for them. It's the booze eq