CatHouse Chat

Terri Schiavo

31 Mar 05 -

(527 pm) Thank you, Mr. President:

I urge all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life, where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others. The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak. In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in the favor of life.

(1156 am) Danny over at JackLewis.net says "Today, I am ashamed I'm an American." Too right, brother. I am deeply ashamed that this horrific thing should happen in "the land of the free, and the home of the brave." Allowing Terri's death was a cowardly and dastardly act.

FrankJ, at IMAO, posts a simple statement: Matthew 25:42 "...for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink..." In context, the quote reads:

Then He will also say to those on the left hand, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'   

"Then they also will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25: 41-46, NKJV)

(1005 am) FoxNews is reporting that Terri has died.

30 Mar 05 - Ah, obviously not so final --- I pray that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals acts quickly and saves Terri's life.

(2:41pm) John Hawkins over at Right Wing News has a good round-up of the main questions of Terri's case. He is very careful to be balanced, and yet he still comes to the conclusion that

Combine those conflicting diagnoses with the fact that Terri Schiavo has never had a MRI or a PET and the fact that the error rate in diagnosing PVS has been reported to be as high as "43 percent," and it's clear that there is still more than a little room for doubt about her true condition.

(1045am) Joe Ford wrote a column for the Harvard Crimson about his encounters, as a disabled person, with discrimination. Speaking from personal experience, he writes:

The result of this disrespect is the devaluation of lives of people like Terri Schiavo. In the Schiavo case and others like it, non-disabled decision makers assert that the disabled person should die because he or she—ordinarily a person who had little or no experience with disability before acquiring one—“would not want to live like this.” In the Schiavo case, the family is forced to argue that Terri should be kept alive because she might “get better”—that is, might be able to regain or to communicate her cognitive processes. The mere assertion that disability (particularly cognitive disability, sometimes called “mental retardation”) is present seems to provide ample proof that death is desirable.

Essentially, then, we have arrived at the point where we starve people to death because he or she cannot communicate their experiences to us. What is this but sheer egotism? Regardless of one’s religious beliefs, this is obviously an attempt to play God.

27 Mar 05 -- ****A final note****

The Anchoress is a very, very wise woman. And I realize that all hope is not gone, but I must admit, it is terribly thin on the ground. My heart and prayers are with Terri and her family, and I pray that they are able to rest in God's peace as they live through this tragedy.

I will close this with the wise and compassionate words of the Anchoress:

Before S [her brother, who passed away in January], I would have said, "just let me go - no life support of any kind - "

Now, I am not so certain. Now, I think...why deprive my family of the opportunity to love? Why deprive myself of the chance to be loved and to love them back? I am too grateful for those extra weeks with S, that no one, not the doctors, not the nurses, not the chaplains believed we would have. Those weeks were so precious, and I learned so much - so very much - about love, and about how as long as love exists, as long as someone is being loved and trying to love back, no matter how feebly...you are in the midst of a Holy Mystery.

If God is love, and that love is alive - in life, no matter how compromised...then it seems to reason that if life is destroyed, or ended too soon, then it is a kind of eclipse of love, an eclipse of God. I look at Terri Schiavo and I see S. I see Christ. I see the brain-injured people I used to work with, and I see Christ. I see something "there." If I am wrong, I am wrong. But I might be right.

[...]

I cannot help it. From the bottom of my heart, with every ounce of sincerity I possess, I must proclaim it: Doctors are not always right. Judges are not always right. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of...When I sign my living will I will write in my own hand: if you are to err, err on the side of my life.

Amen.

Home improvement

Even darling daughter gets involved!

This message was sent using PIX-FLIX Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!..

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime Player. Note: During the download process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

Damn, our troops ROCK!!!

Blackfive posts an awesome report on our fantastic armed forces: Raven 42 Ambushed!

God bless our troops!

Another Quizilla quiz!

I enjoyed this quiz a lot -it's SO me! (HT Music and Cats)

You are 'programming in QBASIC'. This programming language (of which the acronym stands for 'Quick Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code'), which is so primitive that it cannot easily be used for any purpose involving the Internet nor even sound, was current more than a decade ago. You are independent, in a good way. When something which you need cannot be found, you make it yourself. In writing and in talking with people, you value clarity and precision; your friends may not realize how important that is. When necessary, you are prepared to be a mediator in conflicts between your friends. You are very rational, and you think of things in terms of logic and common sense. Unfortunately, your emotionally unstable friends may be put off by your devotion to logic; they may even accuse you of pedantry and insensitivity. Your problem is that programming in QBASIC has been obsolete for a long time.

What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Paws!

(UPDATE - Thank you, Lair, for keeping the Carnival of the Cats up and running each week. The hosts you've scheduled, and the hard work you've done to further the cause of all Cat-dom are all much appreciated!

Oh, and 'Mudgie [Smudge] and Pixel shout out "Hi!" and happy one year of Catblogging [that's the link for this week's episode, folks] to everyone!)

Kitties often like to snuggle under the covers, especially my silly Smudge. She is usually completely invisible - I've tried to sit on her (poor kittipurr!) on many occasions. However, this time, she decided to be adorable and provide her mommy with a photo op:

Brainwashing 101

Have you watched Brainwashing 101 :: AcademicBias.com yet? I'd seen a part of this video a couple of months ago, but didn't finish it. Tonight, I did - and wow! what a punch! Even Darling Husband, normally the most even tempered of gentlemen, was getting a bit hot under the collar.

The full feature is supposed to be released this year, and I am looking forward to it.

*sigh* It just makes me realize that in 10 years, give or take, I'm going to be seriously examining college campuses ("campusi"?) for entrenched bias and inequality.

The tuition money I pay to any college will not support extreme leftist-or-rightist nutcases if I can help it.

Marines vs. UAW

Thanks to Raven at And Rightly So!, I've read the follow up to the USMC vs. UAW arguement: Marines snub UAW olive branch.

*sigh* I love the Marines! And I send a hearty "Semper Fi" to Lt. Col. Rutledge who, while he agrees the situation was blown out of proportion, nevertheless holds the line against the UAW leadership's assininity:

Varifrank does it again!

Please go read his latest post, "Contrails". It is well written, with crisp imagery: the picture popped right into my imagination. A sample:

So, what is it that’s letting the people of Beirut feel free to oppose their oppressors? And just exactly how do you face down a Broke-nose Hezbollah ‘ward heeler’ while you sip coffee in the corner café? My guess is that they just look up at the contrails of the jets and they get the message. The message is clear and the president delivered the message when he said “Stand for freedom and we will stand with you!”.

Somewhere over Lebanon tonight is an unmanned UAV quietly snapping pictures in the cold high atmosphere of the Bekaa valley, leaving its signature behind in the form of thin white vapor contrails, visible for all to see. Sitting far below in gun emplacements are Syrian soldiers looking up at the contrails as they unfold across the sky. The soldiers as well as the Lebanese civilians are getting the message long before their leaders get the message. The message will be delivered to their leaders in the form of a folder containing pictures of the very same gun emplacements taken by the UAV. It is my guess that someday soon, very soon, Ambassador Bolton will deliver the folder to President Assad. Ambassador Bolton will smile in retort in the way that the Afghan Chieftain did to the talibani commander just a few years ago. His statement to Assad is essentially the same, lay down your weapons and stop fighting, or you will surely die.

I really like Varifrank, and I hope he continues to get better and better at writing. If he does, he may be someone to join the ranks of Den Beste (not posting any longer, but read his archives!) and Bill Whittle!

It's just too cute!

... And all I had was my cell phone to take a picture.

The Lord You scored 10% Cardinal, 56% Monk, 47% Lady, and 51% Knight!

You are of the intellectual breed and yet you are also very interested in war. You are of the aristocracy and head the cavalry a safe distance from the carnage of the front lines. You believe in defeating your enemy with not only might, but also wit. You scored high as both the Monk and the Knight. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the Knight, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 1% on Cardinal You scored higher than 42% on Monk You scored higher than 14% on Lady You scored higher than 71% on Knight

Link: The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test written by KnightlyKnave on Ok Cupid LOL - a pretty fun test, but the WWII question was a little out-of-bounds ::grin:: (HT to the Anchoress for this one).

How to make a real apology

USAToday published an apology from Doug Wead to the President (HT to the Banty Rooster). Mr. Wead had taped some conversations with then-Mr. Bush which were recently publicized.

Mr. Wead makes no excuses for his behavior, and has taken biblical steps of repentance, reparation, and reconciliation. His example is a beacon to us all at this time: a man makes a mistake and has the honesty and honor to do the right thing.

I hope and pray that his friendship with the President can be mended and that he and his family come through this trial with a stronger faith in the love and grace of God.

President Bush, I love you.... BUT!

Something has GOT to be done about this! Please check out Michelle Malkin's post ILLEGALS? WORKING IN SENSITIVE AREAS? NO! REALLY?

This is outrageous, dangerous, and just plain stupid.

If anyone wants to come to the US, we welcome them heartily - but ONLY if it's done legally...

Ooooooo, must.... get... blood... pressure... down.......!

This takes guts....

Burnt Orange Report - My Moral Dilemma on Abortion.

I don't agree with everything Andrew Dobbs says in this post (well, that would be boring, wouldn't it?), but the thought he has put into his conclusions, and the consequences he sees in those conclusions is deliberate and well considered. I can agree to disagree with a person like this and be glad of the opportunity to learn from him.

Go read the whole thing. (HT Wizbang)

Can you say "Petty?" (Updated)

I haven't had much respect for Unions (that is, the leadership of Unions) since I worked as a travel agent in Hawaii, lo, these many years ago. My agency did a lot of travel arrangements for a local union, and the leadership always flew First Class, frequently brought their spouse along (neither of which is wrong, but the way the travel was paid for appeared to stink more than a little), and were just plain rude and obnoxious.

This story -  Marines driven out of UAW lot - 03/13/05 - has been all over the 'Net recently, and it just reinforces that old perception.

The United Auto Workers says Marine reservists should show a little more semper fi if they want to use the union's parking lot.

The Marine Corps motto means "always faithful," but the union says some reservists working out of a base on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit have been decidedly unfaithful to their fellow Americans by driving import cars and trucks.

So the UAW International will no longer allow members of the 1st Battalion 24th Marines to park at Solidarity House if they are driving foreign cars or displaying pro-President Bush bumper stickers.

"While reservists certainly have the right to drive nonunion made vehicles and display bumper stickers touting the most anti-worker, anti-union president since the 1920s, that doesn't mean they have the right to park in a lot owned by the members of the UAW," the union said in a statement released Friday. {emphasis mine}

Another article, written by Kimberly Craig for WXYZ in Detroit adds an interesting point:

U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Joe Rutledge told Action News, "We received a phone call from the UAW, who support us by letting us park down at their facility. They called and said they weren’t going to allow or they would turn away some vehicles."

A spokesman for the UAW released a statement to Action News which reads:

"While reservists certainly have the right to drive non-union made vehicles and display bumper stickers touting the most anti-worker, anti-union president since the 1920s, that doesn’t mean they have the right to park in a lot owned by members of the UAW."

As U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Lee Cooper explained, "We’re very appreciative, but on the other hand, it’s kind of discriminating between, let’s say a lance corporal going through college can only afford a 15-year-old vehicle and it happens to be a Nissan."

I mean, is this childish, or what? "Mommy, Johnny won't play by my rules! I'm going to go sulk!"

Now, of course the UAW has the right to do as it wishes with its own property, but as people like The Rott, BMEWS, Blackfive, Michelle Malkin and Smash point out, this is a monumentally stupid move for public relations.....

Plus, it's just.... petty.

UPDATE - Well, sanity does raise its head upon occasion! (Many humble thanks to my Dread and Feared Lord, Emperor Misha I)

"I made the wrong call on the parking issue and I have notified the Marine Corps that all reservists are welcome to park at Solidarity House as they have for the past 10 years," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement released by the union.

The intelligence of a high school "kid"

Echoes of Forever has this gem up - Hehehe. I really hope that when my daughter displays this same level of awareness and intelligence when she's 18 (in 10 years).

Go read it.

US Navy and Marine Corps - true heroes {Updated}

Ah, Cao, I don't know where you get these excellent videos, but thanks so much for posting them!

Go watch that video, and then share a prayer with me:

Update - Cao had to take the video down: the video clips were playing havok with her website. Drat. Nevertheless - share a prayer:)

This is a test post

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

Loyal Citizens: Order NOW!

His Imperial Highness, Emperor Misha I, introduces Official Imperial Attire.... All Loyal Citizens and Imperial Bloggers are hereby summoned to the purchase counter!

I think I'm going to figure out a way to add "G.L.O.R." (Glorious Lady of the Rottweiler) to it....

Casey, the wonder cat

Casey is the older "child" of our friends in New Orleans. He's 14 years old, and a little stiff, but a very handsome and intelligent cat. He's BIG, too - I suspect he's about 13 pounds or so, and you can see that none of it is fat.

Anyway, he had this adorable habit....

Carnival of the BIG cats!

Well, I have quite a bit for you this week, so make sure you also check out these posts (here, here, and here - yes, I had a very busy week!) for more purrs.

Thanks to Maggie at Maggies Meanderings and Shameless Plugs for hosting this week! You also need to check in with the Modulator for cats, dogs, birds, and all sorts of other animals - there's even some rock blogging (very original - great idea, and I hope to see more)!

Real cat blogging

Louisiana bobcats - and they were beautiful! I have another picture that's a close-up of the face which I will post soon....

Come over for lunch!

You're on the menu!

Hippo!

Hippo!

Why do I have "hungry, hungry hippo" going through my mind?

Pat the elephant

Our friend, Court, went up and gave the elephant a pat on the rump.... Jumbo apparently didn't care much for that, and let go a large "toot".... We've teased Court about it all day!

Audubon Zoo

Just got here... We're at the zoo today with our friends, and it's a gorgeous day in N'awlins!

Naughty Miss Annie!

We're visiting friends in New Orleans, and they have two wonderful cat purrs.

Unfortunately, Miss Annie like to do the cat-thing and assumes that the whole house belongs to her, and she can therefore do as she likes.

Well, this is what she likes.... (see under the fold)

Don't piss your cat off!

Via Wizbang, a little story which should give you second thoughts when teasing your cat....

(Not my picture, and I have no idea where they got it - but I HAD to post it. Don't forget to read the story!)

Cafe du Monde

The original! I haven't been here in 20 years. Lots of good memories.

Another clue

Oh! This is fun!

(Edit - you see the guy in red at the right edge of the pic? He was a member of a gymnastic group from the Caribbean. They were awesome! Funny and very talented. I'm going to see if I can track down their website...)

(Update - they're called the Calypso Tumblers, and their website is here.)

Where in the world

Guess where I am...

(EDIT eeeew - I hate Verizon adding ad messages!)

Catch a clue, bambina

Hey, Guiliana! It's still a war zone, not the common route to the latest fraternity kegger, OK?

Via Betsy's page, Italy didn't plan safe escape for hostage - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - March 08, 2005.

The soldiers did not know that Miss Sgrena and Italian agents were headed in their direction on the way to the airport for a flight back to Italy.

An internal Pentagon information memo states, "This is war. About 500 American service members have been killed by hostile fire while operating on Iraqi streets and highways. The journalist was driving in pitch-dark and at a high speed and failed, according to the first reports, to respond to numerous warnings. Besides, there is no indication that the Italian security forces made prior arrangements to facilitate the transition to the airport." [...]

Robert Maginnis, a retired Army officer and military analyst, said Rome should have done a better job coordinating Miss Sgrena's exit once the Italians negotiated her release.

"It seems to me that the Italian secret service considers this a James Bond movie in Baghdad," Mr. Maginnis said. "They're driving around at night picking up a journalist who has been kidnapped and pretending they can get through a phalanx of checkpoints along the deadliest road in all of Iraq without being detected, much less shot up."

Bwahahahahahaha! ROTFLMAO!

Thanks to the Smallest Minority, I now have very sore ribs!

This is tooooooo funny! -  The Coalition of the Swilling: Some People Have Too Much Time On Their Hands.

Pixel delivers a message...

She says, "Go away - I'm quilting kitty-style!"

I know, I know, she's not very hospitable, but what do you want? She's a cat!

(She's under the fold.... And still cute, even with "attitude!")

Oooooh, *ouch*!

Anne Coulter does it again: Calling the Kettle Gay.

Ah, the Ann, she has such talent for exposing the hypocrisy of the left...!

It's been a tough year for Democrats. They lost the presidential election, their favorite news outlets have been abjectly humiliated, they had to sit through a smashingly successful election in Iraq, and most painfully, they had to endure unwarranted attacks on a cartoon sponge. So I understand liberals are upset. Let go, let God ... Oops – I'm talking to liberals! Let go, let Spongebob ...

Yeah, yeah, I know, she's not exactly PC, and she has an acerbic tongue... But da-yum! She certainly skewers the opposition!

Does she have a son? Is he of an age to betroth to my Beloved Munchkin©?

Democrats tried working out their frustrations on blacks for a while, but someone – I can't remember who, but it probably wasn't Sen. Robert Byrd – must have finally told them it really wasn't helping to keep disparaging every single black person in a position of authority in this Republican administration.

So now liberals are lashing out at the gays. Two weeks ago, the New York Times turned over half of its op-ed page to outing gays with some connection to Republicans. There is no principled or intellectual basis for these outings. Conservatives don't want gays to die; we just don't want to transform the Pentagon into the Office of Gay Studies.

By contrast, liberals say: "We love gay people! Gay people are awesome! Being gay is awesome! Gay marriage is awesome! Gay cartoon characters are awesome! And if you don't agree with us, we'll punish you by telling everyone that you're gay!"

Let's go to Greece!

Welcome to readers and surfers of the Carnival of Recipes #29, hosted this week at Rocket Jones, a stupendous blog (c'mon, "Tang and monkeys"??? it must be awesome!), and the post is right here.

My husband and I spent our first tour in the US Navy in Rota, Spain, from 1987-90. About every third month, Darling Husband (yes, click those links to see how wonderful he is, LOL) deployed to Athens, Greece, for a month.

I know, I know - "Aaawwwwww, poooooor BAY-bee!"

I managed to fly over there twice and loved the Greek food! My favorite - besides the olives and, uh, beverages - was Tzatziki sauce. Well, the salads and the breads were really good, too, and the coffee...! Mmmmmmmm! (Is anyone clueless about the reasons for my weight gain from our tour in Europe? heh, heh)

Now Tzatziki (pronounced something like "Zaht-zee-kee") sauce - sometimes called "Z sauce" at gyro restaurants - is really very simple, and making it yourself is soooo much better than anything you'd get at a greek "fast food" place. Serving it on a gyro is great, but I think it's best when some chunks of a really good, crusty bread are dipped into it and gobbled up.

As Alton Brown might say, "Good eats!"

Barbarians at the gate - again

Enough is enough, indeed. I cannot believe how this is ignored, bypassed, covered over, and dismissed. Thanks to the Daily Demarche, I yet again am reminded of how fortunate I am...

In the past four months six teenage girls in a remote portion of Kentucky have been brutally murdered by their Christian fundamentalist fathers for engaging in premarital sex. Two of them were stabbed to death in front of their young children; two were shot, one strangled and a sixth drowned.

Why you might ask, have you not heard about this on the news?

Because it didn’t happen in Kentucky, or even in the U.S. and the girls were Muslim, not Christian fundamentalist. These six young ladies were all murdered in Berlin, Germany, in horrific archaic “honor killings.” Can you even imagine the outrage if this had happened in the Bible belt?

Dr. Demarche got the information from an article in Der Spiegel, which provides details of how these poor young women met their deaths. It's chilling.

Why is it that no-one seems interested in confronting these barbarians and bringing them to trial? "Freedom of religion?" I don't think so. I think Europe is just too chicken - or too oh-so-lofty-in-its-ideals to be able to take any practical action against this atrocity.

Hey, and where the heck are NOW and all the feminist groups? They whine and bitch about "inequality" and "women are more just as important as men," and they can't jump on this bandwagon with a shrill vengeance? Color them so hypocritical!

Dr. Demarche ends with this, and has my full agreement:

These killings are the latest wake up call; we have no choice but to heed it, and that might not mean dialogue. These barbaric acts and those who perpetrate them must be stopped. It is not racism or anti-Islamism or any "ism" to say this. It is simply the truth. If the Grand Mufti truly believes in his own words he and others like him must not tolerate those who would murder their own sisters and daughters, and potentially the rest of us as well. That is simply realism.

Enough is enough.

The incredible Williamsburg Quilt Show

.... Oh, I hate it when I hit "enter" at the wrong time...

Anyway... I took quite a few pictures of the quilts, and boy were they gorgeous! The workmanship - by hand and by machine - was stunning. I'm sorry that the pictures aren't all crisp and clear, but they'll at least give you an idea of the artistry. I didn't use the flash on most of them so that the details of the actual quilting comes through.

Enjoy the pics below the fold....

(Note: All pictures are of quilts which are not made by me, and are posted only to further the enjoyment and love of quilting. No profits or monetary reimbursement for showing these pictures are wanted or accepted, and the makers of these quilts retain full control of their property and designs. I mean no copyright infringement whatsoever, and if asked by the owners of these quilts, I will cheerfully remove any photos they desire from this blog.)

Original quilts I really liked

There were quite a few quilts that had original designs and new takes on "old" designs that I found very inspiring. I don't think I'll ever be quite up to the quality of these quilters, but they do set an excellent example to follow. Besides, my quilts' purpose is to throw 'em on the bed (or the couch, or the floor), wrap yourself up, and snuggle down to the max!

Maybe one day I'll have a quilt hanging in the show, though... Ah, it's a nice dream.

(check below the fold....)

Bras at a quilt show??

Well, yes - they're quite, um, unique!

Oh, just take a look!