Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Iraq and Vietnam: POWs Comparisons have their problems, but for perspective, as the reports roll in about deaths at Guantanamo and elsewhere, it might be ‘helpful’ to recall the upset re the fate of our POWs in North Vietnam. The following is an entry by the web site roachblog.com:
Suddenly, the count of prisoners dead in captivity is up to 108. Boy, that happened fast, didn't it? When I did my seven year hitch in the Navy, the gold standard for horrible, communist, totalitarian, non-Geneva convention deadly bastards who you never wanted to get captured by was the North Vietnamese.
They were happy if you died in your cell. They tortured. They hated. They abused just for perverse commie, Stalinist fun. They were the worst. Worse than Nazis, even, because the Nazis at least sometimes pretended to be civilized about POW treatment. The North Vietnamese didn't even pretend.
So how many American POWS died while captured by the insane and lawless North Vietnamese during the entire Vietnam war? One hundred and fourteen. From all causes. What killed the 108 (so far) reported in our custody?
Mostly "violent causes".
Maybe someone would like to explain WTF that means. I don't even want to try. http://roachblog.blogspot.com/2005_03_13_roachblog_archive.html#111111636096712011; http://www.eiis.net/cmart/vietwarstats.html
Schiavo: The judge did the predictable. The Republican Right is shameless. Too many Democrats were absent/silent. And, what about states rights? Of course that no longer matters now that the Right controls the federal government.
As for Bush: "This is a complex case with serious issues. But in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to err on the side of life."
Ah, yes, that sounds like Junior. Rampant inconsistency re right-to-die, and then there’s his/Gonzales’ infamously cursory review of capital punishment cases in Texas.
And, his/Karl Rove's priorities/fealty (to the religious Right): Considering that this guy is known for never interrupting his vacation- even when receiving a “PDB” entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the United States,” he preferred, according to The New York Times, to “break off from work early and spent most of the day fishin- a guy who works part time, has a daily workout, goes to bed at 10, etc... this time heads back to D.C. and is awake after 1AM signing the legislation.
Physicians are critical or appalled by Sen. Frist’s comments, including this neurologist’s comment: "Tomorrow I will do a transplant surgery if [Frist] starts doing neurology. He has no clue."
Frist's comments raised eyebrows in the medical community.
Although there are no official rules against the practice, ethicists said, it is generally considered unprofessional for a doctor to make or question a diagnosis on the basis of incomplete information.
"In general, physicians would consider it unprofessional for doctors to take clinical stands on issues without adequate clinical data," said Dr. Neil Wenger, head of the ethics committee at UCLA Medical Center.
William J. Winslade, a bioethicist and law professor at the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, was more direct. Frist "has no business making a diagnosis from a video," he said.
In his comments on the Senate floor, Frist said that based on the videotape of Schiavo and court records, she "does respond" to outside stimuli. "That footage, to me, depicted something very different than persistent vegetative state." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-frist22mar22,0,4390116.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The Republican Memo: Unclear if Republican Senate staffers, Rick Santorum’s office, or ? was responsible.
S. 529., The Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act
* Teri Schiavo is subject to an order that her feeding tubes will be disconnected on March 18, 2005 at 1p.m.
* The Senate needs to act this week before the Budget Act is pending business, or Teri's family will not have a remedy in federal court.
* This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue.
* This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida - has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats.
* The bill is very limited and defines custody as "those parties authorized or directed by a court order to withdraw or withhold food, fluids, or medical treatment."
* There is an exemption for proceeding "which no party disputes, and the court finds, that the incapacitated person while having capacity, had executed a written advance directive valid under applicably law that clearly authorized the withholding or withdrawal of food or fluids or medical treatment in the applicable circumstances."
* Incapacitated persons are defined as those "presently incapable of making relevant decisions concerning the provision, withholding or withdrawal of food fluids or medical treatment under applicable state law."
* This legislation ensures that individuals like Teri Schiavo are guaranteed the same legal protections as convicted murderers like Ted Bundy. http://dcinsidescoop.blogspot.com/2005/03/exclusive-gops-schiavo-talking-points.html
The judge is no liberal, so it’ll be ‘fun’ watching the Right brand him an “activist.”
Judge James D. Wittemore of Tampa is bound to become the latest target of the right if he decides not to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Given his background and history, I don't think they have a leg to stand on.
He is a former federal defender, former Circuit Court Judge for Hillsboro County and Clinton appointee to the federal bench. Like all federal judges, his appointment is for life. A review of his published opinions and news articles on his decisions do not show political partisanship, or even liberal tendencies. Here's a good size sampling, all sources are listed and available on Lexis.com.
* In a high-profile case in Tampa, he ruled a "county can regulate nudity in private clubs to protect residents from an increase in crime and prostitution as well as the degradation of women." Sarasota Herald-Tribune, January 15, 2003.
* He "denied an adult business owner's attempt to bar the State Attorney's Office from prosecuting him under a state racketeering law if he sets up shop in Polk County." Lakeland Ledger, February 5, 2003. http://talkleft.com/new_archives/010117.html#010117
The Thoroughly Politicized EPA: Mercury
The WaPost fronts the EPA’s ignoring a study that shows that stricter rules than their new, looser ones, would be far more beneficial. The study was funded by the EPA, but somehow…
When the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a rule last week to limit mercury emissions from U.S. power plants, officials emphasized that the controls could not be more aggressive because the cost to industry already far exceeded the public health payoff.
What they did not reveal is that a Harvard University study paid for by the EPA, co-authored by an EPA scientist and peer-reviewed by two other EPA scientists had reached the opposite conclusion. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55268-2005Mar21.html
What’s Happening, Kyrgyzstan: Rigged elections (?), citizen protests that included torching a few government buildings. Kyrgyzstan houses a few U.S. bases, so most of the major papers have noted developments.
Both critics and supporters of Akayev see the growing protests as modeled after peaceful uprisings in Georgia two years ago and in Ukraine last year that forced out governments accused of electoral fraud. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-kyrgyz21mar21.story
Evolution and the [very] big screen.
Several Imax theaters, including some in science museums, are refusing to show movies that mention the subject - or the Big Bang or the geology of the earth - fearing protests from people who object to films that contradict biblical descriptions of the origin of Earth and its creatures.
The number of theaters rejecting such films is small, people in the industry say - perhaps a dozen or fewer, most in the South. But because only a few dozen Imax theaters routinely show science documentaries, the decisions of a few can have a big impact on a film's bottom line - or a producer's decision to make a documentary in the first place.
People who follow trends at commercial and institutional Imax theaters say that in recent years, religious controversy has adversely affected the distribution of a number of films, including "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. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/19/national/19imax.html?pagewanted=print&position=
DeLay Trouble: Even David Brooks is on his case. And, most unusual is that Brooks ignores the Democrats in writing about Masters of Sleaze. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/opinion/22brooks.html?hp
CEO Pay: Still over-the-top. Hey, I thought they were ‘suffering’ after the bad p.r. of the last few years?
High-profile meltdowns aside, it still pays to be the boss.
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Carly Fiorina, recently muscled out of her job over lackluster performance, walked away with an exit package worth $42 million. Boeing Co.'s Harry C. Stonecipher, pushed out over an affair with a female employee, nonetheless is eligible for retirement benefits of about $600,000 per year. Franklin D. Raines bowed out under heavy pressure in December following accounting problems at Fannie Mae. But the firm says he is now owed $114,393 per month in pension benefits.
At many other corporations untouched by scandal, pay continues to climb whether performance is great, lousy or middling. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55305-2005Mar21.html
-R
Suddenly, the count of prisoners dead in captivity is up to 108. Boy, that happened fast, didn't it? When I did my seven year hitch in the Navy, the gold standard for horrible, communist, totalitarian, non-Geneva convention deadly bastards who you never wanted to get captured by was the North Vietnamese.
They were happy if you died in your cell. They tortured. They hated. They abused just for perverse commie, Stalinist fun. They were the worst. Worse than Nazis, even, because the Nazis at least sometimes pretended to be civilized about POW treatment. The North Vietnamese didn't even pretend.
So how many American POWS died while captured by the insane and lawless North Vietnamese during the entire Vietnam war? One hundred and fourteen. From all causes. What killed the 108 (so far) reported in our custody?
Mostly "violent causes".
Maybe someone would like to explain WTF that means. I don't even want to try. http://roachblog.blogspot.com/2005_03_13_roachblog_archive.html#111111636096712011; http://www.eiis.net/cmart/vietwarstats.html
Schiavo: The judge did the predictable. The Republican Right is shameless. Too many Democrats were absent/silent. And, what about states rights? Of course that no longer matters now that the Right controls the federal government.
As for Bush: "This is a complex case with serious issues. But in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to err on the side of life."
Ah, yes, that sounds like Junior. Rampant inconsistency re right-to-die, and then there’s his/Gonzales’ infamously cursory review of capital punishment cases in Texas.
And, his/Karl Rove's priorities/fealty (to the religious Right): Considering that this guy is known for never interrupting his vacation- even when receiving a “PDB” entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the United States,” he preferred, according to The New York Times, to “break off from work early and spent most of the day fishin- a guy who works part time, has a daily workout, goes to bed at 10, etc... this time heads back to D.C. and is awake after 1AM signing the legislation.
Physicians are critical or appalled by Sen. Frist’s comments, including this neurologist’s comment: "Tomorrow I will do a transplant surgery if [Frist] starts doing neurology. He has no clue."
Frist's comments raised eyebrows in the medical community.
Although there are no official rules against the practice, ethicists said, it is generally considered unprofessional for a doctor to make or question a diagnosis on the basis of incomplete information.
"In general, physicians would consider it unprofessional for doctors to take clinical stands on issues without adequate clinical data," said Dr. Neil Wenger, head of the ethics committee at UCLA Medical Center.
William J. Winslade, a bioethicist and law professor at the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, was more direct. Frist "has no business making a diagnosis from a video," he said.
In his comments on the Senate floor, Frist said that based on the videotape of Schiavo and court records, she "does respond" to outside stimuli. "That footage, to me, depicted something very different than persistent vegetative state." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-frist22mar22,0,4390116.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The Republican Memo: Unclear if Republican Senate staffers, Rick Santorum’s office, or ? was responsible.
S. 529., The Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act
* Teri Schiavo is subject to an order that her feeding tubes will be disconnected on March 18, 2005 at 1p.m.
* The Senate needs to act this week before the Budget Act is pending business, or Teri's family will not have a remedy in federal court.
* This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue.
* This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida - has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats.
* The bill is very limited and defines custody as "those parties authorized or directed by a court order to withdraw or withhold food, fluids, or medical treatment."
* There is an exemption for proceeding "which no party disputes, and the court finds, that the incapacitated person while having capacity, had executed a written advance directive valid under applicably law that clearly authorized the withholding or withdrawal of food or fluids or medical treatment in the applicable circumstances."
* Incapacitated persons are defined as those "presently incapable of making relevant decisions concerning the provision, withholding or withdrawal of food fluids or medical treatment under applicable state law."
* This legislation ensures that individuals like Teri Schiavo are guaranteed the same legal protections as convicted murderers like Ted Bundy. http://dcinsidescoop.blogspot.com/2005/03/exclusive-gops-schiavo-talking-points.html
The judge is no liberal, so it’ll be ‘fun’ watching the Right brand him an “activist.”
Judge James D. Wittemore of Tampa is bound to become the latest target of the right if he decides not to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Given his background and history, I don't think they have a leg to stand on.
He is a former federal defender, former Circuit Court Judge for Hillsboro County and Clinton appointee to the federal bench. Like all federal judges, his appointment is for life. A review of his published opinions and news articles on his decisions do not show political partisanship, or even liberal tendencies. Here's a good size sampling, all sources are listed and available on Lexis.com.
* In a high-profile case in Tampa, he ruled a "county can regulate nudity in private clubs to protect residents from an increase in crime and prostitution as well as the degradation of women." Sarasota Herald-Tribune, January 15, 2003.
* He "denied an adult business owner's attempt to bar the State Attorney's Office from prosecuting him under a state racketeering law if he sets up shop in Polk County." Lakeland Ledger, February 5, 2003. http://talkleft.com/new_archives/010117.html#010117
The Thoroughly Politicized EPA: Mercury
The WaPost fronts the EPA’s ignoring a study that shows that stricter rules than their new, looser ones, would be far more beneficial. The study was funded by the EPA, but somehow…
When the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a rule last week to limit mercury emissions from U.S. power plants, officials emphasized that the controls could not be more aggressive because the cost to industry already far exceeded the public health payoff.
What they did not reveal is that a Harvard University study paid for by the EPA, co-authored by an EPA scientist and peer-reviewed by two other EPA scientists had reached the opposite conclusion. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55268-2005Mar21.html
What’s Happening, Kyrgyzstan: Rigged elections (?), citizen protests that included torching a few government buildings. Kyrgyzstan houses a few U.S. bases, so most of the major papers have noted developments.
Both critics and supporters of Akayev see the growing protests as modeled after peaceful uprisings in Georgia two years ago and in Ukraine last year that forced out governments accused of electoral fraud. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-kyrgyz21mar21.story
Evolution and the [very] big screen.
Several Imax theaters, including some in science museums, are refusing to show movies that mention the subject - or the Big Bang or the geology of the earth - fearing protests from people who object to films that contradict biblical descriptions of the origin of Earth and its creatures.
The number of theaters rejecting such films is small, people in the industry say - perhaps a dozen or fewer, most in the South. But because only a few dozen Imax theaters routinely show science documentaries, the decisions of a few can have a big impact on a film's bottom line - or a producer's decision to make a documentary in the first place.
People who follow trends at commercial and institutional Imax theaters say that in recent years, religious controversy has adversely affected the distribution of a number of films, including "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. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/19/national/19imax.html?pagewanted=print&position=
DeLay Trouble: Even David Brooks is on his case. And, most unusual is that Brooks ignores the Democrats in writing about Masters of Sleaze. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/opinion/22brooks.html?hp
CEO Pay: Still over-the-top. Hey, I thought they were ‘suffering’ after the bad p.r. of the last few years?
High-profile meltdowns aside, it still pays to be the boss.
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Carly Fiorina, recently muscled out of her job over lackluster performance, walked away with an exit package worth $42 million. Boeing Co.'s Harry C. Stonecipher, pushed out over an affair with a female employee, nonetheless is eligible for retirement benefits of about $600,000 per year. Franklin D. Raines bowed out under heavy pressure in December following accounting problems at Fannie Mae. But the firm says he is now owed $114,393 per month in pension benefits.
At many other corporations untouched by scandal, pay continues to climb whether performance is great, lousy or middling. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55305-2005Mar21.html
-R
