March 11, 2005

• This is an interesting turn of events. I eagerly await his response. I hope he takes the money. (And then gets hit by a bus.)
• I think this tycoon can save more lives with $1 million elsewhere... (But then again I'm Dutch, and we euthanize people just like that, without any further thought.
• The controversy over this facinates me. While I certainly understand why family members would do whatever possible to do whatever they feel is right, I am dumbfounded as to why this has become such a national (and perhaps internationl?) issue. While I'm tempted ot point out all sorts of other injustices that I feel are more deserving of the attention of strangers, I won't because we all pick our own issues to champion. I just don't understand how the controversy around one person's life has gotten such coverage when I'm sure that many families around the world face similar decisions without it becoming public crusades.
• If I'm ever in a vegetative state, take to lovely Holland quick. This guy's in an impossible position. He says his wife never wanted to live like that, but if he takes the tube out he's a callous bastard - take the money and bingo, he's just put a price on his wife's life. Let the poor sould die with some dignity.
• One million for vegetables. He must shop at Whole Foods too. /regional humor
• argh, bwhaaaaaa!!!
• Yeah, but the point of this is, a lot of people suspect him of pushing her down the stairs or something which put her in that state in the first place. And she aint a vegetable, some claim. Apparently she responds to people. Don't know what to believe.
• It will be interesting as her relatives have implied that one reason he wants to have her feeding tube pulled is so that he can collect the insurance money. If this offer exceeds the insurance payout. . ?
• if only i had money, i would offer $1.5 million to take the feeding tube out, stand back and let the mad bidding wars begin! i wonder if i could interest a television network in the concept?
• The offer of a million dollars reminds me of the line attributed to Winston Churchill- Winston Churchill: Madam, Would you sleep with me for 1 million Pounds? Unknown woman: Yes sir, I think i would Winston Churchill: Well, how about 1 Pound? Unknown woman: Winston! What sort of woman do you think i am? Winston Churchill: Madam, that matter has already been solved. Now we're just haggling over your price. Similarly, if the husband agrees to the million dollars, his ethics are showing. As someone who had to be at the hospital less than 48 hours ago while a braindead friend was taken off of life support, I don't understand what the controversy is all about. The person died some time ago - when their brain flat-lined. What is the point of keeping the framework going? I haven't followed this story closely, but I don't understand why the husband is being villified.
• because a lot of people think she isn't braindead.
• quonsar's thinking like Rupert Murdock. That's how you make the big bling.
• That guy should take his $1 million and cure Africa of TB..
• The people who think that she isn't braindead are only the ones paid for by her family. Every other doctor, including state appointed neutral ones, think she's toast. Her husband says that she wouldn't have wanted to live like this, and, barring new evidence, there's no real reason why her wishes shouldn't be honored. No one's been able to prove anything yet about anything criminal from him. He shouldn't take the cash. Even if he's evil and caused this, he should take the insurance settlement and pull the plug. No use gettin' greedy now...
• Bummer and condolences, mecurious.
• mecurious: The controversy exists only because the parents are determined to believe the daughter is alive and not brain-dead, and will throw money at anyone who says so, all the while conducting an elaborate smear campaign against her husband. Meanwhile, the religious right have latched onto it as a cause. Because apparently the compassionate Christian thing to do is to keep a vegetitave cnear-corpse alive and prolong her husband's agony.
• Update: He has turned down the $1 million offer The Vatican has also jumped into the fray, making an exception to the usual policy of not speaking out on individual cases
• A lesson in all this: Living Will. Do it today.
• It's such a troublesome case. I personally hope to never "live" like that and am in favour of legalized euthanasia, but - for Terri to die, they'll have to pull her feeding tube, which means she'll starve to death. That just ain't pretty. In this one case I'm willing to argue in favour of keeping the tube in as long as necessary, with an important caveat - so long as she isn't suffering in that state. (i.e. she can think but not communicate, is "trapped".) In the end it's any other case, though - believe the family or the husband? I believe the husband, even if he seems sleazy, but can't reconcile letting someone starve to death. I have a hard time someone would have preferred that to a life of vegetation.
• I think it's ironic that the Vatican is calling it euthanasia. Theoretically they should be most into "god's will" i.e. what happens without human intervention. I think it's a dangerous precident for them to set and it seems vaguely hypocritical. Birth control is human intervention after all. /devil's advocate
• "Let the poor sould die with some dignity." And how exactly does an allegedly brain-dead person lose out from an "undignified" life? If she's brain-dead, she can't be in any position to know or care about her circumstances, can she? "Her husband says that she wouldn't have wanted to live like this, and, barring new evidence, there's no real reason why her wishes shouldn't be honored." Are we to assume that he's incapable of lying? "That guy should take his $1 million and cure Africa of TB.." It'll take a lot more than $1 million to cure Africa of TB (besides, TB's a problem everywhere around the world, not just in Africa). In any case, there's a much more important issue at stake here, potentially affecting the lives of very many people. I don't have a problem with indisputably voluntary euthanasia, but the cavalier manner in which a lot of people are approaching the Schiavo issue sends my alarm bells ringing; some people on here really need to look up "Ich Klage An" and "Tiergarten 4" before making flippant remarks about offering money to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube pulled. "Theoretically they should be most into "god's will" i.e. what happens without human intervention." By your reasoning, the Vatican also ought to be in favor of allowing gangrene patients to die of their wounds, or malaria and AIDS patients to pass away untreated. "I think it's a dangerous precident for them to set and it seems vaguely hypocritical. Birth control is human intervention after all." You do realize that the Vatican's never been in favor of any artificial means of birth control, right? To be "hypocritical" one actually has to be in favor of something first. Just because the Vatican happens to speak out in favor of something doesn't make it bad. The Catholic Church has been wrong on very many issues, but this is one occasion on which I think they have it right: life, once taken away, cannot be restored, and what's the big deal about keeping Terri Schiavo alive if it's neither an imposition on the state or her husband? One has to be crazy to think her parents would love and care for her less than a former partner who's already started a new family.
• If her husband has power of attorney, then it's his call.
• Keeping Terri Schiavo alive isn't an imposition on her husband? I think I missed something...
• Jesus Christ, let the poor body die already. It's not like death is such a terrible thing. She's not a teddy bear, she's a human being, or at least she used to be, and once a human being's brain has failed, continued vivifaction is grotesque, to say the very least.
• To recap what Fes said, above: A Living Will. Do it today. And don't put the decisionmaking power in the hands of one of your parents. Give it to a sibling. It is extremely difficult for a parent to pull the plug on their own offspring.
• what's the big deal about keeping Terri Schiavo alive if it's neither an imposition on the state or her husband? This is not a criticism, because this is not a comment on this case in particular, rather on this type of case in general. I have seen personally seen quite a number of cases where the patient was brain dead, completely unrecoverable, occupying a hospital bed that could have gone to someone in need, and sucking up scarce hospital resources. All because the family would rather have the husk of their former loved one slowly rot away over years rather than make the difficult but responsible decision. Note that I've never seen the family visit more than once or twice a year in these cases. People do suffer in cases like this, but it's not the families or the brain dead patients, it's the other people in need who could have been helped with those same resources.
• Many of you said it already: Let her go. It's time. Give her death some dignity. ...the Vatican also ought to be in favor of allowing gangrene patients to die of their wounds, or malaria and AIDS patients to pass away untreated. What's being done to this woman is an extraordinary measure on someone who's been certified brain-dead. The patients you've mentioned are not. If there is insurance, I'm sure the hospital bill has eaten it away.
• Using sophisticated brain imaging techniques, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, New York Presbyterian-Hospital-Weill Cornell Campus, and JKF Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in New Jersey have found that some seemingly unconscious patients with severe brain damage are, in fact, capable of responding to speech. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050211090900.htm
• have found that some seemingly unconscious patients with severe brain damage are, in fact, capable of responding to speech. I'm not sure that "responding to speech" necessarily indicates true cognition. Note that the article you quote makes a distinction between "minimally conscious" and "persistent vegetative state" (the state Schaivo is in). Clinically speaking, those two states are not the same thing... MCS patients by definition show some awareness of their environment, whereas persons with PVS do not (despite occasionally displaying behaviors that might make one suspect otherwise). Of course, Schaivo's parents maintain that her condition actually is MCS as opposed to PVS. I'm not there, and I'm not a physician, but the evidence overwhelmingly suggests the latter. This is a high-profile case (here in FL it's been all over the place for years), and because of that the doctors are going to be damn sure that their judgment is correct. They are not making this diagnosis lightly.
• what's the big deal about keeping Terri Schiavo alive if it's neither an imposition on the state or her husband? Perhaps it is an imposition on Terri Schiavo and her dignity.
• My living will dictates that my consciousness be replicated in a machine, and that it be placed in a giant robot. Which has death rays for eyes. And looks like Ultron.
• I'm with quonsar on this. My wife and I have instructions on cases such as this written into our wills, and our kids and families know and understand our positions. If any self-righteous, interfering nimrod wastes the court's resources and makes me breathe for one second longer than necessary, I'm coming back and haunting his ass all the way to hell.
• Apparently she responds to people. Don't know what to believe. The family claims they have videos of her responding. The husband's lawyer has blocked those videos from being shown in court, and had the judge forbid the family from bringing recording equipment into the room with the patient. Why? If her husband has power of attorney, then it's his call. The husband has power of attorney as her husband, despite the fact that he moved in and started sleeping with another woman soon after the accident. If I remember correctly, Terri is in a coma partially because the doctor(s) fucked up a bit when treating her after the accident. The husband won money from a malpractice case, and the purpose of the money given was to care for her, which is expensive in her incapacitated state. The husband is instead using the money to pay lawyers to pull the feeding tube out. On the surface it seems like a basic euthenasia question, which is a morally complex issue to begin with. But the more you read about it, the more you think "WTF is this guy trying to pull off?"
• This case seems to be spiraling out of control. Even Mel Gibson has jumped in. I can respect both sides of the argument, however I find it very disturbing how the Florida State Legislature is attempting to rush legislation with the intention of applying it rectro-actively to this case. HELLO! Is this America??
• What the legislature is proposing would eliminate power of attorney. That's a huge can of worms they're opening up.
• The family claims they have videos of her responding. Again: People in a persistent vegetative state will often appear to to respond (here's a wikipedia article on the subject). The lawyers were correct to block the videos from being shown, as one can't really tell from simply watching a person whether they are in PVS.
• Latest update on this ever-changing story: Florida State appeals court will not block removal of feeding tube
• The Senate Health Committee has requested that Terri and her husband Michael appear at an official committee hearing on March 28. A statement from the office of House Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., on Friday said the purpose of the hearing was to review health care policies and practices relevant to the care of non-ambulatory people. Frist's statement noted that it is a federal crime to harm or obstruct a person called to testify before Congress, thus stopping any action that could threaten the health of the woman. Stunning.
• Frist should have stayed a doctor. Playing politics brought him over to the Dark Side pretty quickly.
• This all reminds me of the Elian Gonzalez debacle. One innocent life being used as a pawn in a huge partisan struggle to win political points.
• *gulp* the latest and more... and more... this case is taking on entirely new meaning now. the dignity of this woman, alive as she is, seems to be a passing thought to the partisan politics that have begun to toy around with the laws governing this land. Can someone explain to me why anyone in their right mind would invite a human being in a vegetative state to appear before Congress? If it is a genuine invitation, why now? Why not years ago? It's nothing more than a last-minute attempt to twist and circument existing law by those in power. It is stunning indeed!
• And now, the judge involved in the case has ordered the tube removed, regardless of the subpoena from the US Senate
• I can just see that judge getting the death penalty...
• fractalid: really? I don't think things are anything near that bad.
• Ah, so much emotion, and I can understand both sides. Starving to death appears to be a really hard way to go. On the other hand, I don't think it makes sense to keep a body living if the brain is essentially dead. I wonder if he could divorced her and let her parents take custody. If anyone would benefit from that, I think the parents would. And the husband could get on with his life. Is that such a bad thing?
• It is done.
• path: If your wife expressly said to you, "Don't let me rot as a vegetable, let me go" would you hand her over to her parents so they can do exactly that to her? I wouldn't.
• Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) throws his lot yet again with the Republicans. I hope no one still needs convincing that Reid is every bit the successor to the former minority leader Tom Daschle.
• Myths About the Terri Schiavo Case. smallish bear, you are making a couple grave errors in your thinking. First off, she is NOT in a coma. Her brain is turning to fluid. She has NO chance of recovery from this. You can't rebuild a brain. The husband gave the power to the courts to decide if she should be taken of the tube. The most likely reason is so that he would not look like a heartless callous bastard that many are trying to paint him as. The courts have unanimously ruled in Terri's favor saying that the evidence overwhelmingly supports the idea that she would not have wanted to "live" this way. Throwing around claims of him eating up all the money from the lawsuit and sleeping with another woman without any backup makes you no better than the family. That lawsuit money is funding all of her treatment as of right now as well as all the lawsuits that you so conveniently think he started. It's funny that you argue about him spending money on lawyers but it is the very people that are fighting Terri Schiavo's right to die that are causing that money to be eaten up. There is less than $50,000 left now and guess who would be funding her treatment should she be put back on the feeding tube and the money runs out? Medicaid, courtesy of us tax payers. I hadn't read anything regarding him sleeping with another woman, but exactly how long would you wait? Terri Schiavo has not been alive for 15 years, regardless of whether her heart still technically beats. I can't say that if he's seeing another woman that it is some sort of damning evidence of his personality. Some may find this statement made by Michael Schiavo after the feeding tube was pulled in 2003 interesting.
• I didn't know that her feeding tube had been pulled out in 2003, and admittedly don't know a lot of the details of this case. According to this timeline of the case it was the second time (and restored 5-6 days later). So this latest removal of the feeding tube makes a third time. This kind of back-and-forth limbo status over the years strikes me as worse than either of the options her husband and her parents' are pursuing.
• I found the mother's statement "Please, please, please save my little girl" rather telling. I think it's possible the mother views her daughter as a helpless infant rather than the incapcitated adult she really is. I think she may see this more as someone letting an infant starve. Which, while understandable, should not supercede a decision a sane and fully-functioning adult made about her being let to die rather than be artificially be kept alive.
• I just wish that they had to option of a more humane way to go about it. But that wouldn't be as passive as removing a feeding tube and letting starvation do the job, therefore it would be even more akin to murder in the eyes of those who already see it as such.
• I don't think there's a more humane way than to let nature take its course. If a body is unable to sustain itself independent of machines created by man (god forbid for years on end), doesn't it seem painfully obvious... ?
• Doctors I've heard interviewed on the subject claim that there's really no sensation of starvation, once a patient is as far gone as Schiavo evidently is. Brain and nerve damage are so extensive that there's no gnawing sensation of starvation. I really just wish that we could all drop the political football and allow the woman's husband to make this decision. I thought we as a country were all up in arms about the sanctity of marriage.
• If a body is unable to sustain itself independent of machines created by man (god forbid for years on end), doesn't it seem painfully obvious... ? I wouldn't go that far. Pacemakers and dialysis machines are "man made".
• rocket88, point well taken. Many people do rely on dialysis machines, and without would certainly face death. There are innumerable cases of life being saved/prolonged by "man-made machines." The point I was trying to convey is that there is no cruelty in allowing a body to succumb to natural processes, if that be the wish of parties concerned.
• While the Prez makes a special trip back his fellow 'Pubs in Congress, blogs are noting that his record ain't quite so pro-life if the hospital's not getting paid. (Link is to Mrs. Tool's paper, but she didn't write it.) Predictably, mainstream US media ignores it.
• Why do Democrats want to kill Terri Schiavo?
• Loaded question, unless my irony filter is on the fritz right now (which I'm willing to concede). Democrats want to see the wishes of her husband and the ruling of the court given the respect they deserve.
• Excellent link middleclass. Political acts as such are repeated time and time again, and yet, the mainstream continues to ignore it. Where will the line be drawn? When does a human life override political labels?
• Good link, thanks, mct. I've come around since last posting here - I think I understand the facts better and I agree that Terri won't be able to know that she's starving to death. So that doesn't bother me anymore. I still wish we could be having a higher-level discussion that this - because really, the best course right now, imo, would be to inject Terri with euthanasia drugs, so that she could go quickly and really peacefully. The fact that the only option is to stop feeding and hydrating her is, even if she can't feel it, barbaric. And I think it drives a lot of the discussion right now - how can you be in favour of letting a brain-damaged woman starve to death? I also just can't believe this generally - we're still on living wills? Damnit, Janet! And I think moneyjane got it right about the parents above - Terri's family is literally not grasping the issue here, and I believe they need immediate, serious psychiatric attention. In another quote, Mrs. Schindler said that she talked and played with Terri each day, and that Terri was "her life". These are not the words of a woman with a firm grasp on reality. And so US law may be rewritten to satisfy this family? I'm sorry, but Terri didn't want to live like a vegetable, she's not even "Terri" anymore, and this is a private, family matter, and I'm disgusted by its politicization. I'm seriously making a living will asap, and have told family of my desires. I repeated them to my husband last night and made him promise he would let me die in this situation. Of course, you can never know if those wishes will be honoured...but they should be, and this sort of thing just helps destroy the tenuous jurisprudence on the issue (I've researched it - Canada or US, it's none too pretty how often they are totally ignored).
• I just watched some videos of Terri on her family's website. It was truly frightening. She's definitely not in a coma, but she's really not responsive, imo, and the whole time - while her mom baby-talks to her, while the doctors attempt to manipulate her into watching a balloon - she's vocalizing, and my god, it's horrible. I couldn't watch the other videos. If there's anything left of Terri in there, it seems to me that she's yelling to be let out. Given that it's been decided in court that she would have wanted that, how can anyone keep her like that? And in some ways, how can her parents bear to keep her in that state? It's awful. But it's also awful how much I'm going over this. In reality, the issue is this - her husband was her legal guardian, the court decided she would have wanted to have been let to die, and so, that's it. End of story. It makes you realize that Bush actually got something right at one point - signing the bill in Texas to let hospitals decide, so that families don't have to be torn apart by an inability to let go, etc.
• Time for some cheery predictions. 1. Everyone forgets about Tom DeLay's ethics scandals as a result of the Schiavo case. George W. Bush has done what Richard Nixon couldn't -- prove that scandals don't matter. 2. The judge -- a Clinton appointee! -- and Michael Schiavo (and his girlfriend) suffer assassination attempts. Judicial terrorism must be responded to in kind! 3. Republicans considerably increase their majorities in both the Senate and House in 2006. What is their base going to do, not vote for them after this? Besides, who controls the voting process? 4. Say hello to President Bill Frist. Hey, at least he's not ugly! I hope y'all here in America have the foresight to stock up on Euros and precious metals. Also better if you can leave the country before the next round of terrorist strikes. Stay out of the cities at the very least.
• Ok... I'm trying to understand your correlation of the Terri Schiavo case and "the next round of terrorist strikes". Your comments throughout this thread consistently fall on the heels of bi-polar partisan bantering, which seem to me, more of a threat to the fabric of America than the "next...strike". Predicting future assassination attempts on people who have differing views than your own, thanks for a lovely example of ignorance!
• Honestly, I think it's pretty likely that somebody will try to kill Michael Schiavo, and perhaps even the judge in question. I'd bet my house that they've been receiving death threats for some time now. I heard last weekend that some ex-Green Beret and militia member suited up for a one-man "rescue mission" for Terri Schiavo. The nuts are already coming out of the woodwork. And yeah, the Republicans have done a good job of using this case for political maneuvering. Like with gay marriage, they've got their religious conservative base good and worked up. If the court's ruling is respected and Terri Schiavo is allowed to die, she will be put up as the party's martyr, the symbol of the need for "compassionate conservatism". Look for that phrase to get recycled. The interim election next year is, if anything, looking to be even nastier and more hotly contested than last fall's was. Not looking forward to that, but I suppose now's the time to start getting involved.
• I know very, very little about politics, but can any of the actions of congress, the president, etc., be considered abuse of power? Also, can Americans sue congress, etc., for their refusal to adhere to the law & constitution? If they don't follow the law, can't we call them on it? I don't pretend to know what's best in this case. I have an opinion, of course; who could hear about this case & not? However, what's pissing me off isn't the situation itself, it's the actions of our government. And now, a federal judge has refused to reinstate the feeding tube, and they're appealing again. This has to stop.
• That's an interesting point. I don't know if we can sue or not. As to "abuse of power," the Goverment Accountability Office just recently found that the Bush administration is guilty of targeting "covert propaganda" campaigns on its own citizens. The reaction? *shrug* What's on Tivo?
• So, what can we do about it? Is there a method out there that actually accomplishes anything, without people having to devote their entire lives to the cause? I've tried joining demonstrations & writing my senators, to no avail. I'm afraid to join the "movement" groups, because I feel most are too extreme, or are too quick to mindlessly bash public figures based on personal or party bias and very little fact. I think a lot of people out there are just confused & at a loss.
• So, what can we do about it? VOTE!
• DUH! Sorry, I had to.
• A couple of weeks ago, I'd been talking this case over with a friend who said the husband abused her, denied her therapy & threatened nurses who tried to help her. I just remembered what he'd said & did a search: he was right - there were something like 80 anonymous complaints filed regarding the alleged abuse. I looked at 20 or so articles that Google picked up, and I can't find any resolution to this. Odd that none of this is being mentioned in the billion news stories running at the moment...
• This article says that the Florida Department of Children and Families investigated the allegations and ruled them unfounded, which would explain why it's not mentioned much anymore. and, uh, looking at the results of the Google search linked above: WorldNetDaily, "lifesite.net", "christianpost.com", FreeRepublic and Michelle Malkin aren't exactly, er, the most credible unbiased sources.
• Thanks for finding that, ambrosia. I'm anxious to see what happened there. There's a few credible media outlets in all that "Christian Daily" mess, I promise. :o)
• I'd suppose that various courts, up to the Supreme Court would have to determine whether whatever it was that Congress passed was constitutional. If so, we probably wouldn't hear the results till after she dies. Unless a higher state court rules against taking out the feeding tube, which it doesn't appear that they could before her time was up. But, I have to wonder, if higher courts rule that she should have been kept alive, no matter what, would the husband be open to retroactive charges for "killing" her if she dies in the meantime? Any lawyers out there who can sort this out? And, ambrosia, Miami Herold requires a sign up.
• path: Unlikely, given that he went to court to get the original permission to let her body die when it became apparent her brain was long since gone. Presumably he did that for precisely this sort of reason.
• The ironic thing is how people still focus on the idea that this was Michael Schiavo's choice and if he wanted to he could change his mind. This is not true. He gave that right to the courts (1999 I believe?). He literally could not have taken that 1 million dollar offer, because he'd have to say "Well, I'm all for it, but you're gonna have to convince the courts before it can be done."
• Here's a login for the Miami Herald: crockett@tubbs.com, password: miamivice (seriously)
• People have probably already seen this, but there's a hypocrisy alert on Alternet, citing of all things a law in Texas that allows health care providers to decide when tubes should be removed regardless of the patients' and guarians' preferences. In one case a six-month-old boy had his feeding tube removed over his parents' objections. Every case is unique, surely, but it does seem that pro-lifers concentrate on life before birth or near death, often at the expense of all that messy "living" that goes on in between(housing, education, health care, etc.). I've got a headache. DNR.
• The Supreme Court denies cert. The ball is now in Jeb's court. Will he mobilize the Florida National Guart to rescue Terri Schiavo from her evil captors? Stay tuned...
• Whoa...dig those checks and balances. Maybe this system actually DOES work sometimes...
• Guard
• I've been out of touch over the last few days, but I heard this morning it's been 11 days now. The hospital will soon apparently start her on morphine, presumably in case she is in discomfort. There's also a story on TV tonight, which I won't be watching, with a woman saying she went through exactly what Terri Schiavo did, having her feeding tube removed and being left to starve after falling into a coma. Apparently in New Zealand, in a case like Terri's she would never be given a feeding tube in any case, because the hospitals are aware that she is effectively dead. Secondly, coma =/= PVS. My gripe for the day.
• At this eleventh hour the Rev. Jesse Jackson says that we should re-insert the feeding tube. This is a good reminder that this isn't a purely Republican issue. There were plenty of Democratic supporters for DeLay's bill, and our saviour in the Senate, Harry Reid, has himself called it a 'bipartisan' issue. The fact that plenty of Democrats are staying silent now is nought but political opportunism (and some dumb luck). If it polled better, the Democrats would be standing shoulder to shoulder with DeLay and Frist. Neither party cares about the Schiavos or the Schindlers. Now won't you please donate?
• Here's a good op-ed from NYT about this mess, and a couple of good thoughts on the results of mainstream extremism. Definitely made my wheels turn a bit.
• I (barely) tolerated the media coverage while this was still an issue, but now that it's reduced to basically a "death watch" it sickens me. "Schiavo still alive! Tune in at 11 for an update!" Enough already. Jeez.
• How long, on average, does a person survive before dehydration carries them off? It's been almost two weeks, and I thought the body could only survive something like three days without water.
• Drinking liquified braaain.
• I'm equally suprised she hasn't died. Also, zombie James Brown appears on Soul Traaain.
• I'm relieved the body didn't give up over Easter.
• Oh, not again with the Zombie stuff. The whole thing was such a draaaaain.
• Husband plans autopsy after Schiavo's death
• Reflecting on moneyjane's post; At a news conference last night, Mary Schindler said,"Michael and Jodi, you have your own children. Please, please give my child back to me." [addressing Michael Schiavo and his girlfriend, Jodi Jodi Centonze]. It is seems apparent that Mrs. Schnidler does in fact view Terri as a child. [albeit understandable, it doesn't make for a clear conscious judgement. Although many say her present state is "child-like," Terri was a fully-functioning adult that made and voiced her wishes - - enough so that courts have continually sided with Michael Schiavo]
• Now everybody wants a feeding tube.
• Terri died this morning
• Well I know this will sound terrible, but good. That's no life. Did you see the scans of her brain, poor soul. Peace.
• Who wants to bet that there won't be a front-page post about this soon?
• free at last, free at last.
• right on, may her soul finally find some peace... [and hope that fanatics out there don't perpuate this unfortunate case any further]
• [and hope that fanatics out there don't perpuate this unfortunate case any further] Sugarmilktea: Boy, is that like sooooooo not going to happen. And thus ends the irony of the actions of both DeLay and Bush. Bush's opinions as expressed in theFutile Care Law apparently slipped his mind, eh?
• Kinda funny how the media never really picked up on that tidbit [errr, actually, not surprising]
• yeah, they were too distracted by the Gannon story.
• I'm glad her non-life is over. Now hopefully her family will be able to find some closure, and her husband can move on with life with his new family. It still amazes me that she held on for so long. I wonder if dehydration kills us sooner when we can actually feel the pain associated with it? I feel so callous talking about her like that.
• I've wondered the same thing myself, how she held on without being hydrated. Reminded me of this story about a holy man in India who doesn't drink water. I'm assuming in Terri's case, her decreased mobility had something to do with it? Then again, the human mind and body are marvels that never cease to wonder...
• The Pope has been given the Last Rites. (Or, as the article points out, the "Sacrament of the Infirm".)
• If the Pope croaks, I'm a little concerned that the new guy will be Cardinal Ratzinger. Bleah.
• Bleah indeed.
• is that bad? Er, I'm guessing it is, so rather - how bad?
• Autopsy results released. No signs of abuse, and her persistant vegetative state was confirmed.
• Note to the rest of world She's fucking dead already.
• Predictably, the Schindlers deny the medical evidence and insist she could have gotten better with treatment.
• Oh, for God's sake, Jeb, GIVE IT THE FUCK UP!
• Seconded.
• Make mine a third. utter BS