Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Quote of the day
"All you can do is teach them to remember: if bad news defined the world, it wouldn’t shock us when it happened. Face the sun; it’s there for a reason." (who else: Lileks)
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Romance Novels
The way they oughtta be. (via Instapundit)
Monday, March 21, 2005
Please don't kill me
Terri Schiavo is being killed. This is not a "right to die" case as the news outlets say. She is not being "allowed to die with dignity". She's not dying. She's not terminally ill. She's not on life support. She is severely mentally disabled and she already has dignity. She is obviously responsive, as was obvious as late as Friday. The heartwrenching account of her lawyers last visit is here.
She is almost certainly not in a persistent vegetative state. She has almost certainly been misdiagnosed, or at the very least inadequately diagnosed. She has never had an MRI or a PET scan, one of which, at least, would be crucial in an accurate diagnosis of PVS. The court-appointed doctor responsible for her diagnosis is a notorious proponent of euthanasia and apparently wrote an editorial years ago advocating euthanizing Alzheimer's patients. He has barely examined her.
She has no living will. Her "husband" says she would not have wanted to live like this. He conveniently remembered this years after her accident, and after winning a huge malpractice settlement, when he vowed to take care of her for the rest of her life. He has since "moved on" and has fathered two children with another woman. He has denied her basic rehabilitative care which many experts agree would likely improve her condition. He hasn't even allowed her to be taken outside.
As I write this I have no idea if the legislative and judicial wranglings will save her or not. The talking heads tell us that this illustrates the importance of a living will and making our wishes known to our loved ones. Swell. If I am a corpse being artificially animated by a respirator or some such, please feel free to let me go. But if my quality of life sucks because of disability, God grant me the ability to endure my suffering with strength and grace and please don't kill me.
She is almost certainly not in a persistent vegetative state. She has almost certainly been misdiagnosed, or at the very least inadequately diagnosed. She has never had an MRI or a PET scan, one of which, at least, would be crucial in an accurate diagnosis of PVS. The court-appointed doctor responsible for her diagnosis is a notorious proponent of euthanasia and apparently wrote an editorial years ago advocating euthanizing Alzheimer's patients. He has barely examined her.
She has no living will. Her "husband" says she would not have wanted to live like this. He conveniently remembered this years after her accident, and after winning a huge malpractice settlement, when he vowed to take care of her for the rest of her life. He has since "moved on" and has fathered two children with another woman. He has denied her basic rehabilitative care which many experts agree would likely improve her condition. He hasn't even allowed her to be taken outside.
As I write this I have no idea if the legislative and judicial wranglings will save her or not. The talking heads tell us that this illustrates the importance of a living will and making our wishes known to our loved ones. Swell. If I am a corpse being artificially animated by a respirator or some such, please feel free to let me go. But if my quality of life sucks because of disability, God grant me the ability to endure my suffering with strength and grace and please don't kill me.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Happy Birthday!
Isaiah William Hinkebein! Born today at 7:56 a.m. 9lbs. and ruggedly handsome like his godfather.
