Terri ruling

So, no spine, eh, judge?

And already her parents have filed fifteen motions. God love them. How is it possible to have that much persistence, strength, resourcefulness, and love? The grace of God, is all I can come up with.

Oh, and a Philadelphia columnist changes his mind on the case. He finally noticed -- after how many years now? -- that there were some details that weren't that savory. I'll choke back the remark I want to make, and merely point out that I'm glad that this particular member of the media has seen the light.

And I'll also quote this:

"Clearly, Schiavo's husband has moved on to a new life, and who can blame him? It's been 15 long years. But parents cannot move on. Parents cannot give up. Their child will always be the precious gift they brought into the world.

"If the Schindlers want to dedicate the rest of their lives and resources to caring for their brain-damaged daughter, if they want to shower her with attention and affection she likely will never recognize, who among us will tell them they cannot?

"It won't be me."

Again, her parents deserve every bit of that tribute. But should we really be letting Michael Schiavo off the hook? No matter how tempting it might be to move on to "a new life" -- and my guess would be that it's pretty darn tempting -- didn't he make certain promises when he married her? Something to do with sickness and health? Why should parental love be binding and not marital love?

Just wondering.

Thank God

Terri gets a little more time. Now, come on, Judge Greer. Show us you've got a spine.

In related news, The Blog Dad recommends this story. I sincerely hope the judge takes it into consideration. (I'd send it to him, but I'm sure 3,571 people already have. Gotta love the Internet.)

Start praying

Terri Schiavo's feeding tube could come out again today.

Here we go again

Yet another tragedy gets chalked up to conservatives. From the Washington Times:

"Outlaw, druggie, Dunhill-smoking, Chivas Regal-drinking, anti-establishment literary icon Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide after becoming depressed about the United States' shift toward conservatism, said one longtime friend who spent the weekend at the Aspen, Colo., home of the late 'gonzo' journalist.
    "'He was depressed about the state of society,' said Loren Jenkins, foreign editor for National Public Radio in Washington.
    "A vehement opponent of President Bush, Mr. Thompson, 67, 'was feeling maudlin about the current conservatism sweeping the country,' Mr. Jenkins said. 'He felt he'd had a long run, trying to create a freer society in the '60s and '70s and he felt it had all been closed down.'"

Oh, BROTHER.

Look, I'm sorry for the guy. God rest his soul. But here you have someone who spent his life in a haze of drugs and alcohol -- who went around shooting at golf balls with a 12-gauge, for crying out loud. Could it possibly be that he had more problems than just his favorite candidate not winning an election?

(And could it also be, perhaps, that a man for whom "truth never seemed to get in the way of a good story" created his own "disenchantment" with life, rather than having life force it upon him?

Just a suggestion.)

Life is good

Mark Steyn is updating his website again.

Lileks weighs in

Well, gee. Someone is actually able to discuss intelligent design without the attitude (scroll down). Thank you, Mr. Lileks. You're a breath of fresh air. (Apparently he's got a longer column coming on the subject, so I'll link to that when it appears.)

A little belatedly, a very happy birthday to my sister, Joy (yesterday).

Valentine's Day stories

Michael Schiavo, take note: This is what it looks like to actually take care of your brain-damaged wife. This is also what it looks like to be a decent human being and a good husband.

In related news, here are some sweet thoughts from Susan Konig on what a real prince looks like.

The bloggers strike again

I know, we've seen this sort of thing happen before -- and not that long ago, either -- but I find myself amazed by it all over again. Media types held accountable for their words and actions? Will wonders never cease!

Behe in the 'New York Times'

Leading ID theorist Michael Behe has an article in the New York Times (reprinted by the Discovery Institute) that's well worth reading, especially in light of recent spoutings by John Derbyshire. I haven't read his new, longer NR piece, but from Corner postings I've seen in reference to it, it's more of the same about ID not being truly scientific, etc. I'm really not sure where he's getting this stuff -- or the attitude that goes with it.

One of these days, though science is not my favorite writing topic, I'm going to have to do a piece on the bewilderment of a Christian who's just trying to figure out some sort of coherent theory of origins. I mean, you're raised unquestioningly in a seven-day-creation-believing church (which has proven quite sensible and knowledgable in other areas), then you fall in among the ID theorists -- some of whom, though not all, have an attitude of their own (i.e., "You know nothing of all this? Where have you been all your life?") -- and meanwhile, the culture, including many Christians, are telling you that evolution makes perfect sense and God makes perfect sense and it's perfect lunacy to try to connect the one with the other. Unless I'm perfectly dense and getting everyone's beliefs mixed up, which may well be the case. And whether the people you talk to know a lot or only a little about the subject, many of them seem to have this strange impatience with everyone who (a) knows little of the subject and/or (b) doesn't see it exactly the way they do.

A strange state of affairs, any way you look at it.

Bittersweet

I'm having a pity party. Our pastor of twelve years is moving on to become president of Moody Bible Institute. Wonderful and very sad news.

Lileks nails it (again)

Some of James Lileks's best lines are his throwaway lines. Case in point:

"A famous minister may not have called SpongeBob a godless proselytizing sodomite, but he probably doesn't like gays, so the story's sort of true."

Amen, brother.

(And the rest of the article ain't bad either.)