Why the courts and the government don't need to help Terri now

This Morning's decision by the eleventh appellate court is devastating. I knew in the back of my mind that the Federal courts could decline to feed and hydrate Terri, but I hoped that the language of the law, the request for a "De Novo" trial, would motivate them to give her time. It seems to me that the courts may be reacting out of anger at congress' intervention, trying to protect the modern legal process: Specifically, not only ruling on cases, but deciding which cases to take and what evidence and arguments to hear, in order to shape the canon of US law.

Sadly, the extreme measures made in the House, and the rhetoric that follows, probably mean there will be no more intervention from them because of these embarrassing facts:

a) The voting public has seen the boneheaded memo that may have been sent out to Republican congressmen before the debate on the House floor.

b) President Bush, while still Governor of Texas, signed legislation that allows doctors to refuse to execute an advance directive in some cases. Texas Children's Hospital recently used this law to remove a ventillator from an infant against his mother's wishes.

d) The public, by and large, doesn't seem to find a lot of value in a life like Terri's. Once she's gone, this issue seems likely to become weighted on the side of ending treatment for others like her.

c) The next election is too far away for Terri's death to matter at the polls.

Despite the Schindler's vow to seek relief from the Supreme court, it looks to me like this is the place where the buck stops. I am not a lawyer, or a politician. I fervently pray that I am wrong.

Why is Terri Schindler-Schiavo my Problem?

I use a wheelchair because of Cerebral Palsy, and a prosthetic arm to replace the wrist and hand I was born without. I grew up with friends who were as "vegetative" as Terri-- loving life, enjoying (sometimes instigating) childish pranks, and just being kids. When I fight for Terri and others whose lives are being considered worthless by the medical establishment and the courts, I am fighting for my own life, my own value in their eyes-- my freedom.

18 Ways to Live

In Honor of Terri Schindler-Schiavo

1.Listen to great music.
2.Do Saturday-morning cartoons in your jammies.
3.Sit outside and enjoy the sun on your face.
4.Keep an eye on squirrels, bluejays, and children-- there's always a comedian around, if you look.
5.Play "Name that cloud."
6.Count your blessings.
7.Look at family photos.
8.Sit quietly with someone you love.
9.Smell flowers, babies, or the ocean.
10.Get a backrub.
11.Laugh.
12.Cuddle.
13.Dream.
14.Throw a tantrum.
15.Meditate and pray.
18.Let people pamper you.
16.Listen to a story-- preferably one about you.
17.Watch fireworks, lightning, sunsets, rainbows, and snow.


For more information on the fight to save Terri Shindler-Schiavo, see www.terrisfight.org

Thoughts on Oscar

I love Morgan Freeman. The world of cinema would be smaller, flatter, without him. I wanted to be jumping around my living room for him tonight-- It'll come as a surprize to few that I can't get excited for anyone in "Million Dollar Baby."

It isn't because I think they don't deserve recognition for their accomplishments; an offensive film can still be an artful one-- and based on Baby's press I suspect it's well done.

The words of accolade for the film should be balanced with words (FILMS!) that challenge the ideas it presents. If the filmmakers are serious when they say that "Baby" is one story about one group of people, and not a broader social statement, then I challenge them to _make_ a social statement by sponsoring the distribution of "Murderball" to be distributed along side it.

O'Reilly's "Only My Spin" Zone

This is a small excerpt from FDCH e-Media Transcripts of "The O'Reilly Factor" originally aired 02/09/05, as offered for licensing from Valeo Intellectual Property I have purchased licensing to post the transcript in its entirety, but I can't do that from work. Check back Friday 2/11/05 late P.M.

By Bill O'Reilly

Show: THE O'REILLY FACTOR

Guest: Andrea Moore-Emmett

O'REILLY: In the Back of the Book Segment tonight, an estimated 50,000 Americans live in polygamous families here in the USA, more than half of them in the State of Utah. Now the Mormon Church banned polygamy more than 100 years ago, but some fundamentalists in that religion have ignored the ban.

Joining us now from Salt Lake City is Andrea Moore-Emmett, former Mormon who's now written a book called God's Brothel about the polygamy situation.

**MAJOR SNIP (Check the article-- there is only discussion of polygamy, especially in Utah; No other controversial relationships/families are mentioned)**

O'REILLY: Well -- and if gay marriage got approved, then polygamy would have to be approved under equal protection, as we have said many times.

All right, Madam. Interesting book. Thank you.

MOORE-EMMETT: No, I don't think so.

O'REILLY: We appreciate it.

Next, we'll wrap things up with the Most Ridiculous Item of the Day and some of your mail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)


I began tracking Bill O'Reilly a few months ago, on the recommendation of a right-leaning friend whose opinions I respect. It was some time in September or October 2004, and I was complaining about how difficult I find it to gather information from many points of view-- Most of the media outlets I am used to reading are liberal; My friend suggested Fox News as a good source, and O'Reilly in particular as a smart conservative commentator.

So OK-- O'Reilly is smart, but he's also contentious and arrogant. His gay marriage comment is out of context for this conversation; On top of that, his guest obviously disagrees. So what does this smart guy do? He jumps to a commercial break. I feel so bad for Ms. Moore-Emmett. I would've felt like a dirty kleenex after that exchange.

I Have Comments!

I am allowed at least one pathetic-blogger-moment, right? (Does Happy
Dance) I have two comments on my Blog!

Thank you Amrod and Milton, for leaving my first-ever comments. I tried to
return the favor, but was unable to find blogs or working sites for either
of you. Please do let me know if/when you have a blog for me to read-- In
the meantime, you are both on my NICE list.

UN Treaty Debate Hits Me Where I Live

The United Nations has been debating the Treaty on the Rights of the Disabled lately, and has taken up the issue of whether people should be allowed to abort pregnancies when a disability is detected in utero.

This is obviously a charged subject for me, even though I don't think my parents would've chosen to abort me if they had knowledge and the choice. We live in a society that constantly reminds itself (Think Terri Schiavo or even the Oscar-nominated films "Million Dollar Baby" and "The Sea Inside") that life isn't worth living if you can't walk. I don't think we can trust new parents or malpractice-panicked doctors to make a truly responsible decision about a child's quality of life, before the child is even born.

I would love to see a Hollywood director with Eastwood's clout, or an actor with Christopher Reeve's dignity and voice, begin to speak for the richness of a life lived on wheels.

As I was reading about the UN treaty, with its provisions that governments give financial assistance to families with disabled children, I couldn't help thinking that the US won't ratify it. I might have to move to Sweden.

Boxing is Dead...Long Live Boxing

Yippee!! My new Dell 700m has left the "Boxing" stage and is in transit to the carrier! Now I'm just waiting for my laptop sleeve and router... crackberries ain't got nothin' on me-- I check my order status every time I check my email.

Bill O'Reilly's Victory Dance

This morning Bill O'Reilly is celebrating his influence-- specifically,
VIllanova University's decision to remove a plaque in memory of Mine An Ener, a former history professor at the university who confessed to killing her baby daughter and then committed suicide. Ener seems to have exhibited symptoms of psychosis, postpartum or not.

This is a terribly sad story; all children should be protected from danger,
and Ener's daughter deserved to live, no matter what affected her mother's
mental health. But O'Reilly's self-congratulations are in poor taste. A
story like this is not appropriate fodder for his stick-it-to-ya
attitude. If he were truly concerned with what is a right and proper
response to the tragedy, his own response to the university's decision
would not have looked so much like an arrogant victory dance.

I tried to email Mr. O'Reilly to offer this feedback, and discovered that
since I don't pay for premium access to his website, he doesn't want to
hear my opinion. I can't say I'm surprised.

New Laptop, Email blogging

I've ordered a Dell Inspiron 700m laptop, after seeing the one ordered for
a collegue. I've become a compulsive checker of my Dell order status, only
to be stuck in "boxing" for more than 24 hours. If I worked for Dell, I'd
find a way to stretch out the time an order is reported in "testing" instead.

Also, I can now apparently email my blog. Why does this happen _after_ I
buy a laptop?

Not a new idea, but...

NPR's Morning Edition reported this morning that a group of Catholic-school parents have objected to the enrollment of a pair of twins, because their parents are gay. The group is concerned that the children will be used as "pawns" to obtain greater acceptance from the Church for homosexuality. Never mind that they are children, or that they aren't necessarily gay themselves-- (why do those people so easily forget that there are innocent children involved in these stupid power struggles? How do they convince themselves it's ok to reject children on the grounds of these trumped-up "concerns?") I grumped around my bedroom about it, but didn't have time to write anything before work.

Then I read Laura Miller's article on Salon:Books about Witch Hunts in early Europe and America. Yes, I know that linking these two stories is a huge cliché. But the article cites local records of trials from the Witch craze on both continents, in which there is evidence to support the idea that the accusations weren't driven by weird happenings, or even by a Church trying to eradicate pagan practices or to subjugate women. The new scholarly work Miller cites illuminates a different motivation: The discomfort created among the neighbors when someone refuses to conform, and the need to blame.

I don't know any of the parents from that California school. But I've been around enough PTA meetings to know how easily "Can you imagine having to put one of Them on a committee?" becomes "This is a plot to undermine our values!"

Clichés happen for a reason, after all.

Exciting new Project...

I have started a new project that really excites me: a new blog, called Media Watch on Disability. It's basically my own activism campaign aimed at raising awareness among media professionals of positive language and story "angles" when writing about people with disabilities. I'm being so professional about it, too-- I wrote a press release, which I'll be sending out to anybody I can think of over the next few weeks. So far I'm just doing email, but I might do a paper mailing that's more targeted, later. I feel so "official!"

I just got an email from the library, and Neil Peart's new book, Ghost Rider is waiting for me via Inter-Library Loan request. ILL has got to be one of the greatest inventions since, well, the library. Wait, it's Friday, isn't it? Shoot! I wish they stayed open long enough for me to get there after work. The book was nominated for the biography category of the Great Literary Award

The book chronicles both a physical journey and a psychological one; the author responded to a series of family tragedies with a motorcycle trip across North America. (I guess there are as many ways to grieve as there are people who need to.)

Peart is also the drummer of Canadian progressive rock band Rush

Also on my plate this week:

Fear of Flying ~ Erica Jong This is a classic of the feminist sexual revolution, but aside from its value as cultural ommentary, it's a warm, wise, canny novel. I'll post a blurb later, but one thing I noticed was Jong's Isadora physically objectifying men in her very own, microscope-viewfinder kind of way. It's a device, of course. But it's well-used and I caught her at it, which delighted me endlessly.

Thunder and Lightening ~ Natalie Goldberg This book found its way onto my desk this week, just as I was beginning to contemplate starting a novel (and hyperventillating.) I first read Goldberg when I was about seventeen, when a friend recommended Writing Down the Bones. Goldberg was both alien (a Jewish New Yorker, Living in Taos, who practices Zen) and famlliar (Went to college at U of M, swooned over english poetry, seemed afraid of people, wanted desperately to be a writer, marked the passage of time by chocolate) She gave me the idea that maybe I was OK, that I just hadn't arrived yet. I've read that book and her others again and again, relishing the ways we are different and the ways we're alike, taking her triumphs as rocket boosts to get me moving toward my own goals. With Thunder and Lightening she's giving me clues to the process and experience of not just writing, but writing 'something.' This is gotta-have-it stuff for me, and I think, anybody who wants to write.

I'm working on a new story this week, plus working a lot of hours at Hilgraeve. It's all very exciting, but little time spent noodling around in the library or on the web makes me a dull blogger.Thanks for your patience-- noodling will recommence later this week.

Yahoo!!

The article is up now, at "Telling the Truth". What a weird feeling! I've never found my name anywhere like that, and I honestly wasn't expecting it to be that thrilling on "just a website." (with all due respect to Long Story Short. It's just my critical psychology talking) Yay go me!

Okay so I checked already, and my article isn't up yet. I can't wait! I hope everybody procrastinates long enough that it's there when they check. (I wish I had.)

M. Night Shyamalan is my age, and he's made at least four movies.

Now I know I'm kind of a procrastinator, but did they put this guy on that huge budget for The Sixth Sense before he was legal to buy beer? I guess I'm more over the hill than I thought.

Md. Woman Crowned Ms. Wheelchair America
Associated Press Online - Top News
August 1, 2004Juliette Rizzo of Maryland was crowned Ms. Wheelchair America 2005 on Saturday, beating out contestants from 24 other states and the nation's capital for the right to represent...was crowned Ms. Wheelchair America 2005 on Saturday,... "

Don't Block MY vote

Local elections are today-- we have a senior citizens' Service millage and a library millage on our ballot. I'll be going over to cast my vote today, but I dread it-- the very sweet volunteers in my small town always make a loud production of finding me a private place to complete my ballot, because we don't have a wheelchair-accessible voting machine. I will grit my teeth and abide it, because I refuse to let frustration and embarrassment disenfranchise me. But looking over Don'tBlockMyVote.org and learning about the Help America Vote Act has me thinking I could be Changing it instead....

Wardrobe adventures

Lots of shopping this weekend-- My clothes had gone completely ragged, so I took the opportunity of a good check at work to buy some new things. I found a lot of jeans and bottoms, but I only found a couple of tops I really liked, which ended up with me wearing an ancient sweater shell and jacket with new pants today.

The most difficult purchase of all, though, was cologne. I'm completely enamored of fragrance lately, and would have been perfectly happy with Shalimar or Givenchy Organza. But it turns out that M. is very picky about perfume and didn't like any of at least ten old and new scents I tried on for him, everything from the aforementioned Shalimar, which I love, to Deci Dela by Nina Ricci, which I didn't care for either, even if it does have hazelnut in the base. The one perfume that we both loved was L'Instant by Guerlain, but the department store price was worse than the attitude of Elder Beerman's counter girl.

The happy ending is that I used DealTime to find it at a much more realistic price, even with shipping. It isn't here yet, but I can't wait!