Stop by and offer Harvey your condolences. He just helped bury his best friend of 25 years.

Twelve years ago I had to bury the first person who befriended me when I moved to Virginia. He wasn't my best friend, but at one time he was my only friend. When I received word that he had died, I didn't know how to respond; 33 years of life didn't seem long enough, but that's all he was given. His impish grin and devilish sense of humor survive only in our minds and hearts. It's not enough, not nearly enough, but it's all we have. And I'm glad for the memories, however tinged with pain they might be.

In last week's episode of Boston Legal, one of Denny Crane's[William Shatner] longtime friends was diagnosed with ALS. What struck me was Shatner's (paraphrased)comment with James Spader at the end:

People don't tell others that they care about them enough. We should do that more often.

Make certain that if you love someone, you tell them. Today. There's no guarantee that tomorrow will come for both of you.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:47 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 187 words, total size 1 kb.

Mark Steyn is, as usual, on his game, and this time he has that fetid cesspool of corruption known as the UN in his sights. Excerpt:

OK, I get the hang of this game. Sending Bolton to be U.N. ambassador is like . . . putting Sudan and Zimbabwe on the Human Rights Commission. Or letting Saddam's Iraq chair the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. Or sending a bunch of child-sex fiends to man U.N. operations in the Congo. And the Central African Republic. And Sierra Leone, and Burundi, Liberia, Haiti, Kosovo, and pretty much everywhere else.

All of which happened without the U.N. fetishists running around shrieking hysterically. Why should America be the only country not to enjoy an uproarious joke at the U.N.'s expense?

Part two: And this one is from Victor David Hanson. VDH takes on the whole Chimpy McSmirkyBusHitler business. Excerpt:

So what gives with this crazy popular analogy — one that on a typical Internet Google search of “Bush” + “Hitler” yields about 1,350,000 matches?

One explanation is simply the ignorance of the icons of our popular culture. A Linda Ronstadt, Garrison Keillor, or Harold Pinter knows nothing much of the encompassing evil of Hitler’s regime, its execution of the mentally ill and disabled, the systematic cleansing of the non-Aryans from Europe, or mass executions and starvation of Soviet prisoners. Like Prince Harry parading around in his ridiculous Nazi costume, quarter-educated celebrities who have some talent for song or verse know only that name-dropping “Hitler” or his associates gets them some shock value that their pedestrian rants otherwise would not warrant.

Ignorance and arrogance are a lethal combination. Nowhere do we see that more clearly among writers and performers who pontificate as historians when they know nothing about history.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 297 words, total size 2 kb.

Patterico poses the following question: who will take the pledge?

If the FEC makes rules that limit my First Amendment right to express my opinion on core political issues, I will not obey those rules.

As I mentioned rather profanely before, I will not alter my blog behavior one iota if the dickheads-that-are powers-that-be decide that they don't want to hear any more commentary from the little people. You remember them, the US citizens: they were in all the papers. Even that little scrap that Congress has seen fit to wipe their collective asses with, the US Constitution.

I realize that I could simply convert my site into an ALL ANAL SEX!!! ALL THE TIME WITH BARNYARD ANIMALS DOING TEENAGE SLUTS!!!! and then I'd be safe. Hmmm, what to do, what to do. Should I retool my blog to discuss bestiality, necrophilia and hardcore porn to stay safe, or continue with my usual staple of stale jokes and political commentary, and potentially end up violating, umm, I have no idea what, since the regulation would be fragantly illegal.

Short answer: fuck 'em.

I'm in, and I hope that everyone in this country is with me. If not, I weep for our future.

Update: Stephen Macklin of Hold The Mayo made the following comment:

My blog will change in response to FEC rules. No more quizzes, no more book or movie memes. All political advocacy all the time.

I stand corrected.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:56 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 246 words, total size 2 kb.

I've been following the Terri Schiavo case for a long time and have been troubled by the inconsistent testimony given. My first assumption was that Michael Schiavo believed that he knew what was best for his wife. Although I think that removing food and water from a human who is otherwise NOT sustained by life support is, well, murder, I can vaguely understand how someone might not agree with the opinion. Anyway, the more that I find out about the actual facts in the case, rather than the legal boilerplate farted out by the Judge Greer and Michael Schiavo's lawyer, the more I'm convinced that Michael wants to kill his wife in a horribly painful way and is looking for the state's blessing on this course of action. Reverend Robert Johansen has more. Excerpt:

Many people believe that Terri Schiavo has had “the best of care,” and that everything has been tried by way of rehabilitation. This belief is false. In fact, Terri has had no attempts at therapy or rehabilitation since 1992, and very little had been done up to that point. Terri has not even had the physical therapy most doctors would regard as normative for someone in her condition. The result is that Terri suffers from severe muscle contractures, which have caused her body to become contorted. Physical therapy could remedy this, but husband Michael has refused to provide it.

Terri has also suffered from what many professionals would regard as neglect. She had to have several teeth extracted last year because of severe decay. This decay was caused by a lack of basic dental hygiene, such as tooth-brushing. She also developed decubitus (skin) ulcers on her buttocks and thighs. These ulcers can be prevented by a simple regimen of regular turning: a basic nursing task that any certified nurseÂ’s aide can perform. The presence of these easily preventable ulcers is a classic sign of neglect. Bob and Mary Schindler have repeatedly complained of TerriÂ’s neglect, and have sought to remove Michael as guardian on that basis. Judge Greer was unmoved by those complaints as well.
...
Terri’s diagnosis was arrived at without the benefit of testing that most neurologists would consider standard for diagnosing PVS. One such test is MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). MRI is widely used today, even for ailments as simple as knee injuries — but Terri has never had one. Michael has repeatedly refused to consent to one. The neurologists I have spoken to have reacted with shock upon learning this fact. One such neurologist is Dr. Peter Morin. He is a researcher specializing in degenerative brain diseases, and has both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Boston University.

In the course of my conversation with Dr. Morin, he made reference to the standard use of MRI and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans to diagnose the extent of brain injuries. He seemed to assume that these had been done for Terri. I stopped him and told him that these tests have never been done for her; that Michael had refused them.

There was a moment of dead silence.

“That’s criminal,” he said, and then asked, in a tone of utter incredulity: “How can he continue as guardian? People are deliberating over this woman’s life and death and there’s been no MRI or PET?” He drew a reasonable conclusion: “These people [Michael Schiavo, George Felos, and Judge Greer] don’t want the information.”

I don't really believe in karma, but in Michael Schiavo's case, I hope it exists. I want him licking the ass of the bacterium on the anus of dung beetles in his next life. And the life after that. And the life after that...

Update: Andy McCarthy has a great piece over at National Review Online. His point is that we treat mass murderers better than a defenseless, innocent woman. I reiterate: starving and dehydrating someone to death is fucking NOT in their best interest.

Michelle Malkin and Joe Gandelman have more. Much more.

Update: Gerard weighs in with a typically thoughtful post. He includes the current mindset infecting today's society wherein the political is personal, the party uber alles.

Update: From Spoons:

"If Jeb Bush were a truly courageous man, he'd send in the national guard to stand in the hospital room door and insure that those ghouls don't get to kill Terri Schiavo in cold blood."

And still more from Spoons, whose blue language is waaayyyy too mild for my tastes.

Update: Lileks weighs in as well. Excerpt:

I’ll stop here before someone feels compelled to send an email comparing Terry Schiavo to Spock in that horrible episode in which his brain was gone – but even then, you’ll note, they beamed down and looked around for the damn thing. In short: err on the side of life is not a bad motto to keep in mind. This seems simple enough. I respect those who nod, count to three, and offer a soft “however” so that we may refine the particulars. But I don’t have much time for those who hear “err on the side of life” and automatically bristle, because they hear the voice of someone who, damn their black and God-addled brain, once sent $10 to a politician who opposed parental notification law that did not have a judicial review.

You may not always agree with that sort of person. You may have no need for them. But you never think you have need of any chocks until you're in the truck, and you realize it's rolling down the hill. Backwards.

Update: from Jonah Goldberg:

Look, I've had a very bad week which has distracted me from all of this Schiavo stuff. I need to read and think more about all of it. But I think it's fair to say I'm not exactly on the same page with a lot of my conservative friends and colleagues on many of the issues involved. I'll write more on the issue later. But I have to say I'm disgusted with the faux moral outrage from liberals who are stunned by the idea that the federal government might get involved in issues like this. This is the party which danced a jig over the Violence Against Women Act and which has defined a vast swath of its political raison d'etre around the idea that the federal government should jealously guard the right to abortion and the right to appeal a death sentence in federal courts. And it is now scandalized that the Republican Party is trying to prevent a state court from killing a woman. It's okay for Washington to meddle when a husband slaps his wife, but it's outrageous when Washington tries to stop a husband from killing his wife? It's mandatory that a federal judge make sure a minority isn't passed-over for a promotion, but it's a rejection of the rule of law for a federal judge to make sure that a woman isn't wrongfully starved to death? Thanks to the hard work of Democrats states can't set their own drinking age or voting age, but suddenly state judges should be The Word of God when it comes to slowly killing citizens. I don't get it.

I do think conservative Republicans are at a minimum inconsistent in their sudden love of the fourteenth amendment and an activist federal government. But liberals are no less inconsistent in their sudden love of states' rights on such issues. The difference is that Republicans are embracing a principle they've spent some time upholding -- a culture of life -- while Democrats are spending most of their time whining about the "hypocrisy" of their opponents. I would respect the Democrats more if they had the courage to argue that Terri should die. That is their position.

Ann Althouse offers a slightly different perspective on the federalism issue.

Update: One final link, and this time it's to Hog On Ice. Excerpt:

Thanks to liberals, I live in a state where I can be prosecuted for cutting a mangrove tree that pops up and obstructs my boat dock, but Michael Schiavo can kill his wife, with what appears to be inadequate reason, and not even pay a fine. People call Terri Schiavo a vegetable. Would that it were so. In Florida, the law protects vegetation.
...
We need to investigate Terri’s condition. We need to investigate Michael Schiavo’s motivation. We need to be reminded—forcefully—that the value of a life is not related to how closely that life approximates an ideal existence. Brain-damaged people—at least those who are capable of consciousness—are human. They are human. Not one of us is any better than they are. Terri Schiavo is not three-fifths of a person or half a person or a third of a person. She is either a complete person or a dead body kept warm by artificial means. She should be presumed alive until proven otherwise. The burden of proof should be on those who want to starve her, not on her or her anguished parents.

Terri Schiavo is the Rosa Parks of the disabled. And the terrifying thing is that, like Rosa Parks, she has untold peers who have been less fortunate than she. Rosa Parks was arrested, but in the end, she was vindicated. But how many blacks were thrown off of buses before she made the news? And how many Terri Schiavos have been quietly disposed of?

She deserves a fighting chance and due process, not a death warrant issued by a kangaroo court. And maybe if the medical tests go her way, sheÂ’ll get to live as long as an average murderer appealing a death sentence.

Update: I lied. Sue me. I should have checked in at Victory Soap before declaring that I was finished.

Update: And Graumagus weighs in, too. Excerpt:

That said, the sticking point in this whole affair for me is the fact that, in 15 years, this woman's husband would not allow a MRI or PET scan to be done.

WTF?!?!

I'm sorry people, those of you who are screaming 'She's brain dead! The EEG and CAT scans blah blah" let me tell you something:
THEY CAN BE WRONG.

In 1996 my father had a very nasty left side stroke. The CAT scan showed a brain bleed the size of a fist and the EEG basically said he went from hard boiled to scrambled.

They said it was surprising he even survived

They told us it would be a miracle if he ever spoke again.

They told us he'd never walk again.

They were wrong.

His MRI came back and showed that the damage wasn't nearly as bad as was shown even on a subsequent CAT scan (after the MRI)
My father was speaking within two weeks and walking within three months. Now he speaks fine, walks with a cane, drives, and bitch/pisses/and moans about shit just as badly as he used to pre-stroke.

My point is, how can they advocate pulling this woman's feeding tube without even doing all of the basic necessary medical tests to properly diagnose her condition? That shit is criminal.

Yeah. It is.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:31 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
Post contains 1853 words, total size 12 kb.

The best sports week in this country tips off in less than one hour. As much as I love the NFL, there is no sporting event that I enjoy more than the NCAA men's basketball tournament, especially the first couple of rounds. Expect glass slippers to be plentiful as some "who?" colleges punch a few of the big name progams squarely in the jaw. My predictions? Well, since I've submitted 2 separate pools, I will give two answers:

Final Four #1: Oklahoma St., Gonzaga, Duke and UNC. Duke vs. Ok. St. in the final, Duke winning their fourth title.

Final Four #2: Illinois, Gonzaga(stop your bitching), Duke and UNC. Duke vs. Gonzaga in the final, Gonzaga turning the world of college basketball on its head by winning it all.

And now for the obligatory top ten(received via email, so I don't know the source):

Top 10 ways to lose your NCAA tourney pool

10. Look for the winner of the play-in game to ride that momentum all the way to St. Louis.

9. Account for anticipated hostile takeover by NIT field of 32 in your bracket.

8. Years of grade inflation and legacy admissions finally yield an Ivy League national championship.

7. When filling out your bracket, ask yourself: what would Christopher Lowell do?

6. Instead of doing a bracket, download witty ring-tones!

5. Channel your wishes for a USC-Auburn football match-up onto your NCAA bracket.

4. It's Boston's year — expect an M.I.T-Radcliffe final.

3. When in doubt, go with traditional powers like Indiana and UCLA.

2. According to the Chinese calendar, 2005 is the year of the rooster. As such, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers look unstoppable.

1. That transvestite will not only knock out Tonya Harding, but also make the Final Four.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 302 words, total size 2 kb.

Italy officially announced their membership, joining France and Germany in the Axis of Weasels. Neal Boortz calls them "the tortellini-eating surrender donkeys of Italy ".

Hey, Germany and Italy should get along great, seeing as how they've been staunch allies in the past. France will just keep making white flags. At least it's some sort of contribution, right?

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 66 words, total size 1 kb.

It's finally here! The 3rd annual IEAPD has arrived. Bacon for breakfast; hamburger for lunch; and something that used to be alive but is now dead and roasted for dinner(I haven't determined which one of God's creatures to ingest tonight). Want meat recipes? Go here for generic recipes, or A Small Victory for holiday specific culinary delights.

Meryl Yourish deserves most of the credit for making this dream a reality; the assholes at PETA get the rest due to campaigns such as this one.

Meat: it's what's for dinner.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 93 words, total size 1 kb.

Read this and be afraid. Very afraid.

The horror! The horror!

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:56 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 23 words, total size 1 kb.

Apparently some of them are former Secretary Generals of the UN, one of whom has taken time out of his busy schedule of drinking wine, eathing quiche and applauding Cuba's exemplary treatment of political prisoners to make the following statement about the USA:

"It's a totalitarian regime."

Pot, I don't believe that you've been formally introduced. Meet the kettle.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 79 words, total size 1 kb.

Acidman's mother has finally passed away. Stop by and pay your respects, if you're so inclined.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 20 words, total size 1 kb.

This year's edition of the DIT(Duke Invitational Tournament) ended the way most of them have the last seven years: Duke wins.

Interesting season for Duke. After last season, Chris Duhon graduated, Luol Deng turned pro after one season and a committed high school senior entered the NBA draft and was drafted in the first round. Duke looked, by talent, to be a middle of the pack ACC team. That Kreezeeyouwishky guy sure can coach, though. This season is quite possibly his greatest coaching job at Duke. Ever. I'm quite pleased at how things have turned out.

Having said all that, I don't believe that they're likely to make the Final Four this year; Syracuse could give Duke fits in the Sweet Sixteen. My guess is that UNC will be the ACC team that goes the distance. I'm looking forward to being proved wrong. On both counts.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 150 words, total size 1 kb.

At least, according to this little video. ::shudder::

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 16 words, total size 1 kb.

Image and link via Wizbang. Finally the US Government has found a cause that unites the right and the left.

Let them know with whom they are dealing: the people of the United States of America. Sign the petition.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 51 words, total size 1 kb.

Pam of Pamibe fame is this week's host for The Carnival of the Recipes.

I cannot believe that this is the 31^st installment. Where did the last 31 weeks go?.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 34 words, total size 1 kb.

Clemson leads UNC by 6 win 6:31 to go. Do you believe in miracles...(to be continued)...

Nope. UNC by 7. Shucks.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 27 words, total size 1 kb.

I don't know about the rest of them, but Bill Press is still writing columns. When I saw the title, Let us all now praise Dan Rather, I knew that there would be big laughs in store. Let's get started checking out the (in)voluntary chuckles that Bill offers:

Pity poor conservatives. They won't have Dan Rather to kick around anymore.

Obligatory Nixon reference. In 5248 AD, Democrats will still be bringing up Tricky Dick. Hey, I'm not fond of the guy. At least the right has the intellectual honesty to decry misdeeds by Republicans.

With dignity and grace, Rather said goodbye as CBS News anchor on March 9.

BUAHAHAHA! ::wiping tears from my eyes:: You might think that that would be the funniest line in the whole article, but you'd be wrong. On we go.

Was Dan Rather perfect? No. Did he make mistakes? Yes. But Dan Rather didn't deserve the nonstop barrage of attacks from intolerant right-wingers.

Because God knows that only intolerant right-wingers believe that attempting to foist forgeries onto the public is wrong. Maybe Bill can start a movement to canonize Dan.

The Media Research Center, for example, on its website, accuses Dan Rather of displaying an "outrageous" liberal bias. Their evidence?
...
Or this one, last August: "The Republican convention opens in New York to renominate George W. Bush and showcase the party's quote 'moderate side.' Will voters buy it?"

If that's liberal bias, I'm an astronaut.

Hey Bill! How was the moon? But wait, there's more!

In both cases, Rather did nothing more than tell the truth.

You know what? I can't continue. I like science fiction and fantasy as much as the next guy, but there should be some semblance of logic in the storyline; there just isn't much here.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 316 words, total size 2 kb.

      1 pk Graham crackers

      2    Vanilla instant pudding mix -   (large boxes)

      4 c  Milk

      1 lg Cool whip; (lrg container)

    1/4 c   cocoa; (1 in)

      4 oz Butter or margarine; (1 in)

      1 cn sweetened-condensed milk

 

   Mix pudding and milk - stir as box directs.  Add the Cool Whip. Place 15

  cracker squares on the bottom of a 9 X 13-inch pan. Add 1/2 of the pudding

  mix. Place another 15 crackers on top. Add the remaining pudding. Top with

  another 15 crackers. Mix together cocoa, oleo or butter and the

  can of sweetened condensed milk. Blend over heat until together. Place this

  mixture on top of crackers. Refrigerate.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:22 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 114 words, total size 1 kb.

Childhood: That time of life when you make funny faces in the mirror.

Middle age: That time of life when the mirror gets even.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:47 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 32 words, total size 1 kb.

Okay folks, it's time for the 3rd annual International Eat an Animal for PETA Day, courtesy of Meryl Yourish. I plan on doing my part; there's going to be a barnyard somewhere missing a lot of its animals on March 15.

Meryl also mentions a possible gathering of Richmond area bloggers for IEAPD: the sequel on March 19. I was looking forward to the possibility of actually meeting some others, but it looks like that day is fully booked with extended family activities, as we're throwing a baby shower for my niece.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:58 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 106 words, total size 1 kb.

A young black child grows up living in abject poverty and ends up in jail. No, wait: he made his first million by age 13. Check out his story.

Bugmenot login/password: aaa@mailinator.com/password

Yes, the password is password.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.