More on Terri Schiavo

Okay, so I changed my mind

The MSM is beginning to realize that not all the "Save Terri" people are Christian conservatives:

Conservative Christian groups have called for mass vigils outside the hospice caring for brain-damaged Terri Schiavo but many of the few dozen who have shown up said they were drawn for personal reasons unrelated to organized religion.

Eleanor Smith of Decatur, Georgia, sat on Tuesday in a motorized wheelchair in front of the hospice, baking in the sun, with a sign on her lap reading, "This agnostic liberal says 'Feed Terri."'

Her background was a far cry from the evangelical right wing more generally seen as the lobbying force behind the U.S. Congress' scramble over the weekend to draw up a special law to try to prolong Schiavo's life, and President Bush's decision to cut short a Texas vacation to sign it.

Smith, 65, had polio as a child and described herself as a lesbian and a liberal who had demonstrated before in support of the disabled and causes supported by the conservative establishment's archfoe, the American Civil Liberties Union.

"What drew me here is the horror of the idea of starving someone to death who's vulnerable and who has not asked that to happen," Smith said.

She said she thought that people who left written instructions to withhold medical treatment should have those wishes honored but that withholding water and nutrition from Terri Schiavo, who left no such written instructions, was tantamount to murder.

"At this point I would rather have a right-wing Christian decide my fate than an ACLU member," Smith said.

Hat tip (again): The Corner.

Iraqi Patriots Get Some

Iraqi citizens told the terrorist thugs, "Bring it on!", after a group of masked gunmen carrying grenades threatened a carpenter in Baghdad. The New York Times reports:

Ordinary Iraqis rarely strike back at the insurgents who terrorize their country. But just before noon on Tuesday, a carpenter named Dhia saw a troop of masked gunmen with grenades coming toward his shop here and decided he had had enough.

As the gunmen emerged from their cars, Dhia and his young relatives shouldered their Kalashnikov rifles and opened fire, the police and witnesses said. In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived. Two of Dhia's nephews and a bystander were wounded, the police said.

"We attacked them before they attacked us," said Dhia, 35, his face still contorted with rage and excitement, as he stood barefoot outside his home a few hours after the battle, a 9-millimeter pistol in his hand. He would not give his last name.

"We killed three of those who call themselves the mujahedeen," he said. "I am waiting for the rest of them to come, and we will show them."

Go read the whole thing. Hat tip: Rich Lowry at The Corner.

Meanwhile, Iraqi and US forces wiped out 85 terrorists in an attack on a base north of Baghdad:

After a two-hour firefight, Iraqi forces and U.S. helicopters captured an insurgent base north of Baghdad, killing 85 rebels, U.S. and Iraqi military officials said Wednesday.

"A previous safe haven for planning attacks has been removed," a U.S. military official said of Tuesday's battle.

Morning Report: March 23, 2005

Al-Khaiwani to be freed. Jane at Armies of Liberation reports that imprisoned Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani is to be released, by order of President Salah. This comes about after a massive campaign led by Jane Novak and other freedom activists. Good work, Jane! (Armies of Liberation)

EU unlikely to block Wolfowitz nomination. CNN reports: 'European leaders say they will not oppose the nomination of Paul Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank, despite initial misgivings about his role in the Iraq war. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Brussels, said Wolfowitz's bid to lead the global development-funding group "will not fail because of Germany." "And I have the impression that it will not fail due to the other countries in Europe," he said at the conclusion of a two-day European Union summit.' (CNN)

Europe may support Iranian democracy, Hadley says. According to the latest post at Regime Change Iran, US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley has said that Europe may be ready to refer the issue of Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council if the current round of negotiations fail; he also suggested that the Europeans may be moving toward support for democracy and human rights in Iran: "The cause of freedom for the Iranian people has been advanced by the understandings we've reached with the Europeans." (RCI)

Separated at Birth?

With all due respect to Roger Simon:

Nancy Pelosi and
Michael Jackson.

Eyeball bleach recommended.

Terri Schiavo

This will be my one and only post on the Terri Schiavo case.

(B'li neder!)

[UPDATE: B'li neder is a Hebrew expression, which in this context translates as, "Not!!!"]

I don't want to get too deeplly involved in the debate, only because I'm coming to it very late and I'm playing catch-up. I do believe this is an important issue and I don't feel I have anything worthwhile to contribute. So I'll just point you to some sites that have been following the case.

Cards on table: My own views on the issue are still evolving as I learn more. As I write this, I find myself leaning toward the pro-life side. I am not a pro-life absolutist, and I can envision any number of nightmare scenarios in which I would not wish to be kept alive, nor wish that for someone else. But I'm not convinced that this applies to Terri. And in general I've found the pro-life arguments more persuasive in this debate.

I should also point out that my views have been partly shaped by the debate on an e-mail group I belong to. (Thanks, Judith!)

And that's all I'm going to say on this. Here are some links to sites, pro and con, that I've found the most informative:

Pro-life:
Kesher Talk - "Save Terri" from a liberal Jewish perspective
Straight Up with Sherri - "Save Terri" from a conservative Christian perspective
Discarded Lies


Pro-release:
Respectful of Otters
Obsidian Wings
Thanks to reader Kai Jones for these links.

Ongoing debate:
The Corner

On federalism:
Ann Althouse

Also please see:
Code Blue - A radiologist analyzes Terri Schiavo's brain scan. Please read the comment thread as well.
Victory Soap enters the fray.

Google News Carries Nazi Propaganda

No, I'm not kidding. Try this right now: go to Google News and do a search on "National Vanguard". See what you get. I found out about Karl Rove's homosexual orgies and the persecution of poor, innocent Holocaust denier Pedro Varela. You see, the white-supremacist, neo-Nazi site is considered a legitimate source of "news" by Google. (Hat tip: Little Green Footballs.)

UPDATE: Google has dropped NV from its news index.

LGF: Google Drops National Vanguard

Morning Report: March 21, 2005

Federal judge to review Schiavo case. In an unusual move, the US Congress passed, and the President signed, a bill that would prolong the life of Terri Schiavo pending review of her case by a federal judge in Florida. MSNBC reports: Taking the Senate’s lead, the House early Monday passed a bill to let the woman’s parents ask a federal judge to prolong Schiavo’s life by reinserting her feeding tube. President Bush signed the measure less than an hour later, at 1:11 a.m. ET. A White House source said he was woken from his sleep for the signing. Until now, federal courts have turned the case back to state courts. The law gives the U.S. District Court in Tampa jurisdiction on a case that has been taken up by Republican leaders and galvanized activists on both sides of the emotional end-of-life issue. An attorney for her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, went to the federal district court in Tampa at 3 a.m. ET, filing a request for an emergency injunction to keep their daughter fed. It was not known when the judge, James Whittemore, would make a ruling.' Full details are available at Straight Up With Sherri. (MSNBC, Straight Up with Sherri)

Rice: "Other options" on North Korea. Speaking in Beijing, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cited "other options" if North Korea continues to refuse to cooperate with the US and other nations on halting its nuclear weapons program. Rice said her conversations with Chinese leaders stressed how the United States and China, "but especially China", could persuade Pyongyang to abandon its quest for nuclear weapons. This could be seen as a reference to economic sanctions, as the North Korean economy depends heavily on trade with China. Rice also discussed Taiwan relations, noting that the mainland regime's new anti-secsssion law had "raised tensions". (MSNBC)

Pakistan: Staging ground against Iran? Citing NetIndia, a recent itema at Regime Change Iran claims that Pakistan may agree to serve as a staging ground for US military action against Iran. 'According to a online report of Asia Times, Islamabad may have agreed to host US troops and intelligence assets near Pakistan's border with Iran in preparation for a possible attack on Iran and probably agreed to train American forces in Karachi in return for some kind of commitment on F-16 deliveries.' (NetIndia via RCI)

Posting Break

I may as well just make it official rather than spend countless, fruitless, frustrating hours in front of the screen trying to post. As you probably know, Blogger is having some issues these days, so I'm going to give the blog - and myself - a rest for a little bit. Please feel free to explore my sidebar and my "best of" posts. See you some time next week.

UPDATE: As of Sunday morning, it looks like the folks at Blogger are making a lot of progress on fixing this problem. I expect to take the rest of Sunday off and return to regular posting Monday. See you then.

Morning Report: March 18, 2005

Ukraine sold missiles to Iran. Debka reports: 'Iran has at least 12 Kh-55 strategic cruise missiles with 3,000km range capable of carrying 200 kiloton nuclear warheads. Ukrainian prosecutor-General Piskun admitted in Kiev that this “missile technology” from former Soviet nuclear arsenal had “leaked” to Iran in 2001 – albeit without nuclear warheads. He could not explain how sales occurred. Six missiles also reached China. Read more about this in the News Box below Headlines. DEBKAfile’s Moscow sources add: Ukrainian shipment to Iran included radioactive materials for making “dirty bombs.” US embassy in Kiev is “closely monitoring” investigation and demands findings be made public.' (Debka)

Bush nominates Wolfowitz to head World Bank. President Bush has nominated Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank. Joe Gandelman has some thoughts and a round-up of reaction. Judith's is, perhaps, in a class by itself. (Command Post, Kesher Talk)

Iraq the model. Al-Sabah reports (March 17): 'Washington stressed its procedures imposed on Syria , demanding it implicitly  through several letters to stop backing terrorism from Syrian lands as these terrorist  activities hinder political process in Iraq, despite US administration welcome over  steps of Syrian forces quick withdrawal from Lebanese lands. Syrian affairs political analysts said that these economic and political procedures consider as a gesture for Syrian government to follow in step Iraqi democratic example and stop freedoms' suppressions inside Syria . Notably, demonstrations took to Syrian streets demanded dissolving Baath party there. Moreover, US Congress referred new more stressed proposal against Syria to its committees to be discussed as an initiation for liberating Syria .' (Sabah)

Subpoena to save Terri Schiavo's life. In a last-ditch bid to give Terri Schiavo a new lease on life, House leaders issued a subpoena to prevent Florida doctors from removing the feeding tube that is keeping brain-damaged patient Terri Schiavo alive. 'n a last-ditch attempt to stop the court-ordered removal, a House committee on Capitol Hill here decided early Friday morning to start an investigation into Schiavo's case and issue subpoenas ordering doctors and hospice administrators not to remove her feeding tubes and to keep her alive until that investigation was complete.' (AP via Fox)

UN to report on rapist peacekeepers. The United Nations will issue a report on how to hold accountable peacekeepers accused of crimes against women and children in war-torn areas. 'The report's release later this month is the culmination of months of investigative work by Prince Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein of Jordan. Its release is supposed to help the United Nations regain an even keel after being rocked by reports of the rape of women and children by peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Peacekeepers have also been linked in the past to sex crimes in East Timor and prostitution in Cambodia and Kosovo. The allegations are not the only problem facing the United Nations. They come as several investigations probe what happened to the U.N. Oil-for-Food program, a multi-billion dollar scandal that has led some to question the very legitimacy of the organization.' (Fox)

No, it isn't green.

But I did tweak the blog template just a little bit; I suppose I was overcome with the festive spirit of St. Paddy's day. I had fun with those lavender links. (You like?)

There's a very helpful book called "Publishing a Blog with Blogger" by Elizabeth Castro that tells you all kinds of stuff about the Blogger template. She also has books on HTML and other internet-related stuff.

Changing the color scheme really isn't rocket science. Colors are represented by a 6-digit hexcode (a base-16 number) giving the RGB brightness: the first two digits represent red, the next two green, and the last two blue. Just in case you weren't one of those total geeks who learned base 16 (or hexadecimal) numbers in third grade, it's a system that goes in cycles of 16 instead of ten. The "units" column represents values from zero to 15 (written with the letters a-f for 10 thru 15), and the next column represents groups of 16 (instead of ten like with normal numbers). So 00 represents the lowest value and FF the highest (255) for a two-character hex number. In RGB code, black is 000000 (no colors at all) and white is FFFFFF. Pure red would be 110000, or 880000, or FF0000, depending on how bright you want it. Elizabeth Castro's HTML book gives examples of some common colors.

Normal blogging wlll resume tomorrow. Have a great St. Patrick's Day, and party safely.

Update

This Thursday is the day of my Physics final; it's also Saint Patrick's Day, and I'm hoping for a little of the "luck of the Irish". However, my Scottish side says it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to study.

So, little or no posting until Thursday afternoon. Morning Report will be on administrative leave. For those who contacted me about the Portland-area liberal hawks group, I will be getting back to you soon, hopefully tonight before I turn in.

In an unrelated development, a big meteor passed over the Northwest Saturday night. I saw it out of the corner of my eye on the way to the Blue Moon. Michael Totten saw it too, and has a post on it here.

Don't miss these great recent posts: Ali on terrorism and Wahhabism (these are some of Ali's best writing ever, and that's saying a lot); Bear Left on the media's reluctance to use the T word; Regime Change Iran for the latest on the revolution; Auntie Cracker for some homegrown insights and observations (be sure to scroll down for her thoughts on the Boy Scouts!); Straight Up With Sherri for the latest on the fight to save Terri Schiavo; all those who love small government will find a home in Fagistan.


And finally, please welcome Neo-Neocon to our humble blogroll. Enjoy!

Morning Report: March 14, 2005

Debka: Washington's grand design. Israeli-based analysis site Debka offers its report on US plans for the Middle East. Debka sees parallels between the Bush Administration's uncompromising stance on Syria and its firm demands on Israel: 'Administration leaders seem to be treating Israel’s pull-back from the Gaza Strip and West Bank in the same spirit as their insistence on complete Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon. It is possible to conjure up a grand design charted by the Bush administration to simultaneously squeeze Israel and Syria into sharply constricted molds sized by its perception of the two nations’ true dimensions.' The report details a quiet, multilateral agreement among the US, UK, Egypt, and Jordan to jointly administer the West Bank (US/Jordan) and Gaza Stip (UK/Egypt). It also explores the ramifications of Bush's "Road Map" plan, which demands the removal of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, and which much of the Israeli Right - including Debka's editors - have adamently opposed. Read the full article at the link. (Debka)

Debka: Washington vs. Iran regime. Also at Debka, a report on US actions against the IRI regime in Iran. The report (also posted at Regime Change Iran) indicates that joint US/Israeli missile-defense exercises - a biennial operation codenamed Juniper Cobra - will, this year, reflect a perception of 'possibility of an Iranian Shehab-3 missile reaching Israel in the near future armed with a nuclear warhead.' Debka notes that the US actions are not only defensive, concluding: 'The United States, according to our military sources, is pressing ahead with its development of infrastructure for an Iranian underground opposition. A Revolutionary Guard unit in Hur al-Azim, near the Iraqi border, recently captured a band smuggling thousands of handguns into Iran. In recent months, thousands of rifles and masses of ammunition have got through to Iranian tribes near the Iraqi frontier. These tribes have a long history of rebellion against central government in Tehran and are practiced in guerrilla tactics.' (Debka via RCI)

Talks between United Iraqi Coalition and Kurdish Alliance collapse. Iraq the Model reports that negotiations between the Kurdish Alliance and the United Iraqi Coalition have collapsed, with UIC leader Ahmed Chalabi finding KA's demands "unrealistic". (ITM)