"Property In Men"
February 25, 2005
“[The Convention] thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in men.”
–James Madison
Is Terri Schiavo any less someone’s property?
———————-
I receive the “Founders Quote Daily” from the Federalist Patriot website. If you would like to subscribe to their regular emails, click here.
Tax Reform Clue
February 24, 2005
President Bush made an interesting statement today which may be a signal to his tax reform plan
DRUDGE REPORT FLASH: President Bush, who has pledged to reform the U.S. tax code in his second term, today praised the flat tax implemented by Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda of the Slovak Republic. During their meeting in Bratislava, Bush, without prompting, made a point of touting the flat tax:“I complimented the Prime Minister on putting policies in place that have helped this economy grow. The most important responsibility we have at home is to make sure our people can find work. And the president put a flat tax in place; he simplified his tax code, which has helped to attract capital and create economic vitality and growth. I really congratulate you and your government for making wise decisions.”
The Fair Tax is the best way to go in my humble opinion. But simplification is the best way to true reform. Though Fair Tax purists may not agree with me, I’ll settle for a Flat Tax filled out on a post card. That would be much more “fair” than the present system.
Sphere: Related ContentDon’t give me an ‘R’
February 24, 2005
Though Hollywood stubbornly continues to cram its values into the throat of American Culture, it is not as though they are completely unteachable.
Variety reports that for the first time since the 1980’s PG movies have outpaced R movies in the Box Office take.
In 2004, PG films outgrossed R pics for the first time in two decades: $2.3 billion to $2.1 billion. The last time PG was bigger business than R was 1984, the year the Motion Picture Assn. of America introduced the PG-13 rating.While PG films have been making more money . . . the box office generated by R-rated films has been falling precipitously.
Since 1999 — when the $3 billion grosses for R pics was 41% of all box office — total box office has grown by 26% while R-rated biz has fallen 30%.
Facts are stubborn things, and as in every place where the market rules, filmmakers are making adjustments in their script choices. But they unfortunately are not waxing philosophical about the shift.
No single cause is likely responsible for the shift, but many execs cite one factor: the voluntary guidelines studios and execs adopted five years ago. Those regulations restrict the marketing of R-rated films to kids, which in theory ensures that only people 17 and older can buy tickets to R-rated films.But no matter what has put R into free-fall, some filmmakers and studio execs have concluded that R is losing its commercial luster.
It is clear that marketing changes have had some effect on these numbers. But a bit of introspection (and a review of the 2004 election results) might help them understand that self-imposed advertising restraint is no more responsible for this development than protecting the steel industry made us more competitive abroad. In both cases the market itself dictates the change. And thus as steel tariffs were withdrawn exposing production arrogance at home, removing the “tariff” against family oriented films advertising in “child-time” programming slots (via an overload of ‘R’ advertising) has revealed the arrogance of the Hollywood studios.
It is not insignificant to note at this point that domestically in 2004, “The Passion of the Christ” and “The Last Samurai” (both ‘R’ rated with Red State value scripts) accounted for $481 million (22%) of the $2.1 billion ‘R’ gross. Internationally they combined for $1.136 billion!
As Hollywood execs wring their hands over their increasing inability to produce seedy movies at a profit, they have missed the much more significant development: they’re in an industry boom fueled by Red State ethics.
More evidence that Blue hearts yet remain blinded to Red thinking.
Sphere: Related ContentTerri Schiavo: Urgent Action Needed
February 22, 2005
I quote Logicus bLogicus regarding the Terri Schiavo case
“Tomorrow (Feb. 22), at 1 pm est, Terri Schiavo’s husband will have the legal ability to withhold food and water from her. Although he claims she is in a vegetative state, Terri recognizes and responds to others and makes attempts to verbally communicate. Twelve medical experts, nurses who cared for her, family members and, recently, a Catholic Priest, confirmed these facts. Health care workers have testified under oath that she uses several words.Terri is not on life support but does need someone to feed her through a removable tube which experts testify would not be needed if she were given therapy. This assisted feeding is a natural means of preserving life and not a medical act of life support.
Terri is a person with disabilities who thinks and expresses her moods and desires. She is loved by her family and responds to their visits with smiles and laughter.”
Look at this video of Terri. (RealPlayer feed) This seems conclusive evidence that she is alive and aware of what is around her. This is hardly a “vegetative” state.
Here is a full account of the history behind the Terri Schiavo case.
Urgent help is needed today. Many prayers and petitions need to be made on Terri’s behalf and on behalf of her parents who are suffering under this tremendously difficult event for them. They may lose their daughter unnecessarily.
This would be the first time to my knowledge that someone will be killed by the state because a person brought a cause of action stating the person was an inconvenience.
Comment if you know of other similar situations.
UPDATE:
LaShawn Barber has an update here on a 24 hour stay on the removal of the feeding tube.
News report at CNN.
More news–stay given by the court.
Sphere: Related ContentA Different View On Heinz Ketchup
February 20, 2005
Many conservatives have been switching from Heinz Ketchup to W Ketchup because of the outrageous statements and views of Theresa Heinz, part heriess of the Heinz family fortune. I must admit that my sentiments have been much the same until this morning at church.
My pastor shared the following excerpt from the Last Will and Testament of Henry J. Heinz, the founder of Heinz “57 Varieties”:
“Looking forward to the time when my earthly career will end, I desire to set forth at the very beginning of this will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Saviour. I also desire to bear witness to the fact that throughout my life, in which there were unusual joys and sorrows, I have been wonderfully sustained by my faith in God through Jesus Christ. This legacy was left me by my consecrated mother, a woman of strong faith, and to it I attribute any success I have attained.”
I think I’ll continue to use the ketchup I enjoy–Heinz–and maintain my support in absentia for a man committed to the faith and teaching of the Lord and Creator of the universe, Emmanuel, Jesus Christ.
Let Theresa live out her years with or without the knowledge of the true reason why she enjoys the blessings she has been privileged to obtain. They have come to her through the fortune of her marriage into a family built with a heritage of faith in the God she currently rejects. Our prayers are that she may understand them sometime in the future.
————————
The quote above can be found elsewhere here. I have not been able to verify its validity beyond this link and some links to sermons on the web. Further research will be updated at this post later.
A short biography of Henry J. Heinz.
Sphere: Related ContentMen In Black
February 17, 2005
As we all consider the wisdom of Mark Levin’s analysis of our federal judiciary in his book Men In Black, we have this quote from Jefferson (on the the heels of the Marbury v. Madison decision) to bolster the argument.
“It has long, however, been my opinion, and I have never shrunk from its expression…that the germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal Judiciary;…working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped.”
–Thomas Jefferson
Sphere: Related Content"It’s Deja Vu All Over Again"
February 17, 2005
I am re-introduced to Yogi Berra’s wisdom as I read the news today.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) - : “President Bush is not ruling out raising taxes on people who earn more than $90,000 as a way to help fix Social Security’s finances.”
Is this a genetic problem? Am I the only person here who wonders if President Bush believes his political capital can work against Democrats as well as those of us who supported him last year?
Count me in as befuddled and frustrated by this news! Credibility seems in short supply with this news. There is some assurance mentioned by the President:
Asked directly, Bush said he would not bar raising the $90,000 cap, although he does not want to see the payroll tax rate go up.“The one thing I’m not open-minded about is raising the payroll tax rate. And all the other issues go on the table,” Bush said in the interview, according to an account in Wednesday’s New Haven (Conn.) Register.
That’s nice, but I the President said that no tax increase was “on the table” already. The Washington Post reported in early February at a rally in South Dakota,
“Bush told the mostly partisan crowd here that he would never ‘play politics with the issue.’At some point, the government will be forced to cut benefits, raise taxes or restrict eligibility if the system is to stay solvent, Bush said. The president is leaving those choices to Congress but signaling he will support almost any change short of a tax increase.
‘If you’ve got a good idea, come forth with your idea,’ he said. ‘Because now is the time to put partisanship aside and focus on saving Social Security for young workers.’”
As it is, the press is already making a connection between his father’s broken promise and this current proposal. The President is risking too much political capital by potentially aligning himself to his father’s political faux paux. It’s the wrong course.
Let Mr. Greenspan do his own work Mr. Bush. Stay the course! “Thousand Points of Light,” and all that stuff. Don’t put your light under a peck-measure. Press on and let us keep our money at the same time!
Sphere: Related ContentPictures of Global Warming? You Be the Judge, but the Jury is Clearly Out.
February 16, 2005
American photographer Gary Braasch has been documenting images of environmental change since 1999. This webpage at the BBC’s website has some examples of his work.
Braasch makes the claim that his photo comparisons are documentation of global warming. Maybe. But I have the following questions. Follow the pictures at this link as my questions follow their order in the BBC presentation.
- Do reductions in glaciers show evidence of current environmental damage or the lagging effects of a previous Ice Age tens of thousands of years ago?
- Is soil erosion really that much different now than any previous era of this planet’s geological history?
- It seems to me that snowfall varies from year to year.
- It seems to me also that bugs have been moving around the planet for some time now, but maybe I misunderstood the memo.
Needless to say, there is much debate as to the effect man can have on the environment. I am certainly no scientist and have no expertise on the issue. But I also haven’t seen where these critical questions (and others) have been adequately addressed in the scientific community. And I have heard other trained scientists ask them. (See here and here and here).
Until sufficient answers are given, the photos are at best interesting comparisons of geophysical change and at worst mere anecdotal “evidence” of man’s destruction of nature intended to support the socialist agenda most environmental organizations propose governments adopt.
UPDATE: MaxedOutMamma has expanded upon this post. She went out and found some actual research (here) on the Upsala glacier in the picture and surrounding ones. It turns out that in the same area, certain glaciers expanded at the same time the Upsala glacier was reduced. She explains below:
I don’t want to be pedantic about this, but when the temperature is falling, conditions can cause a glacier to retreat, and when the temperature is rising conditions can cause a glacier to advance. All glacial boundaries are marked by a melt/replenish cycle (ablation/flow). If a lot of precipitation (snow) is falling on the glaciers core, the glacier’s boundaries may rapidly advance during a time of rising temperatures. If precipation on the glacier’s core is low, the glacier may retreat during a time when of falling temperatures.
Here’s the link she found to the research.
. . .Which brings me to a personal anecdote:
When I was young, I wondered why my mother questioned doctors so much. You should have seen how she treated them if they recommended something that worried her. She’d get in their face if she had to to figure out why they recommended a certain treatment that seemed inappropriate. And sometimes the doctor would change the them on her advice!
When I asked her to explain this, she told me that she became very suspicious of doctors after attending nursing school in the 1950’s. Though there were doctors she liked during that experience, she came away with the impression that most trained physicians and surgeons considered themselves equal with God. They were little demi-gods ruling their kingdoms tyranically abusing those who questioned their ability or “professional qualifications.” And when it came to the treatment of the children she loved, she wasn’t having any of that! “They’re humans who make mistakes like the rest of us!” she would say.
We would do well to take my mother’s approach with scientists.
N.E. Republican links this story here.
Sphere: Related ContentA Message from Terri Schiavo’s Father
February 16, 2005
Read a current update on the Terri Schiavo case at LifeNews.com.
GOPInsight.com provides this post:
By now you have probably heard about a young woman who is threatened with starvation in Florida.
That young woman is my daughter, Terri. In 1990, through circumstances which are shrouded in mystery (and may involve a criminal act by Terri’s estranged husband), my daughter was left severely brain-damaged.
But before I go any further, I must put an end to the lies and misinformation that are circulating around the country through the media concerning my daughter’s condition.
Contrary to anything you may have heard, Terri is NOT brain dead; Terri is NOT in a coma; she is NOT in a “persistent vegetative state;” nor is she on ANY life-support system.
Terri laughs, Terri cries, she moves, and she makes child-like attempts at speech with her mother and me. Sometimes she will say “Mom” or “Dad” or “yeah” when we ask her a question. When I kiss her hello or goodbye, she looks at me and “puckers up” her lips.
This may not seem like much to you, but it means everything to Terri’s mother and me. It tells us she is still here, she still knows us, and with therapy and time she can have some level of recovery.
I know that there are some hard hearted people who believe that due to my daughters condition, she is better off dead. Words cannot describe the pain and anger such sentiments cause us. This is our daughter, our little girl, and even in her disabled condition, she still has the right to life and the right to be loved and cared for by her family.
[. . .]
After the “incident” that left Terry in this condition, her husband Michael Schiavo sued various members of the medical community for money, saying that they did not treat or diagnose her properly at an early stage, and that he needed this money to provide for Terri’s therapy and rehabilitation and care.
After lengthy court battles, he finally won upwards of $1.7 million under the guise of caring for our daughter, and then to our horror, he immediately began spending the money on himself and his Playboy lifestyle.
Terri’s estranged husband Michael Schiavo has been living with another woman for years, and has two children by her. He is determined to see Terri dead. . . .
To add insult to all of this injury toward my daughter, Michael Schiavo is still her “legal husband” and therefore is her “guardian.” And since they are not legally divorced, he controls whatever health care she will and will not get. We are not even allowed to know if she is getting aspirin. . . .
My wife and I are not wealthy people. Throughout those years, we did not have any large organizations trying to help rescue our daughter. Consequently, we had to rely on the generosity of attorneys who were willing to offer their legal expertise at no cost or at reduced fees.
The bottom line is that we are in the final weeks or months of our struggle to rescue our daughter from an untimely death by starvation. Death by starvation is very slow, and extremely painful. As you must know, it is against the law to deliberately starve an animal to death. There are members of the
Florida court who would not treat a dog the way they plan to treat my daughter.
At this point we must pull out all the stops in our fight to rescue our daughter.
As parents, we are desperate to save our daughter’s life. As people who love life, we are determined to deprive the euthanasia advocates of successfully legalizing this form of homicide. We believe that their efforts to kill Terri are designed to set a precedent for the future eradication of defenseless disabled human beings. I was alive when Americans fought the Nazis; I do not want my daughter to meet the same fate of thousands of disabled people in Nazi Germany, and I do not want our country to go down that same dark path.
Friend, though we have never met, I’m asking you for your help. We desperately need your financial assistance to help our family continue the battle to keep our daughter from being starved to death. There are so many expenses in a case like this it is mind-boggling and overwhelming. Please click below to make a contribution now:
https://secure.cartlight.com/merchant/terri/?afid=rmemail
Our adversaries believe that by our family’s financial attrition and difficulties, they will attain their objective of killing our daughter. Presently, Terri’s starvation may only be a few weeks away, unless we find the financial resources to prevent this atrocity from becoming a reality.
I implore you to please help us. We are writing to you, because we believe you have a heart for justice and mercy. I’m asking you to put yourself in my shoes, and then do whatever you can to help our family. Whether it is $10 or $1000, we are desperate for the resources to fight this battle for our daughter’s life at this critical juncture.
Please do whatever you can, and forward this e-mail to any friends or family that you have who you think might be interested in saving Terri’s life.
I thank you for your time, your concern, and I solicit your prayers for Terri and our entire family. These have been very trying times for us all.
Sincerely,
Bob Schindler Sr.
Sphere: Related ContentLa Shawn Barber’s Corner
February 16, 2005
La Shawn Barber makes a good point about the ascension of white/male Howard Dean to the charimanship of the DNC. Read it here.
Sphere: Related Content
