While the blood is still circulating...

[Koliedrus]

Is this (http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/978a1Schiavo.pdf) an accurate representation of public opinion?

[SimpleSimon]

I wish I could believe that the voters would remember this political opportunism at the cost of personal agony to others, and vote out of office every single representative and senator who voted for this travesty. They won't.

[Skeet]

At work all they have on in the break room is Fox news. I'm the only person who ever laughs.

[SimpleSimon]

Federal court judge reviewed the state court record, said the state court had done it's job properly, ordered removal of the feeding tube.


[edit: forgot the [sarcastic prediction] tags.]

[Koliedrus]

Here (http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/infopage.html) is perhaps one of the best information sources I've come across (although the author has difficulty with the proper usage of "choose" and "chose").

See, I'm one of the "not following closely at all" type of people. The statistics of the poll threw me a curve. 501 people polled in a random sample with a substantial number not even following the case results in a headline that announces how the majority of the public feels? Maybe so but that's putting words in several million mouths. That's my beef even if the assumption is correct.

But, it's all over the news so here we go.

I'll betcha Jack Kevorkian is shaking his head muttering, "told you so".


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I don't mean to sound heartless but if Terri Schiavo is an organ
donor, letting the organs fail via starvation/dehydration will make
her life even more tragic since she won't be able to "live on" in
others.

So, if it's me in that situation, I'd want to be prepped for organ
harvest and have my spinal chord detatched at the base of my skull.

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Hopefully, that'll be admissable in court.

Message boards, radio talk shows and other types of media are abuzz right now. Point out some of the things that have you reading this thread in the first place.

[SimpleSimon]

When Florida Gov. Jeb Bush so egregiously interfered in the proper functions of the Florida courts back in 2003 by ramming through the state legislature the so-called "Terri's law", I got interested in this case. I have not followed it closely, but have re-visited it from time to time.

Now we have "Terri's law" round two to watch, with the likes of Tom DeLay (the corrupt bastard) trumpeting the "sanctity of life", and George W. Bush (the most murderous governor in recent Texas history) mouthing similar platitudes despite signing into law while governor an act which has directly resulted in the removal of breathing assistance from one infant who had competent brain function.

The USSC has the power to accept for extraordinary review any challenge to the constitutionality of Terri's law two, immediately. I hope they do so, and I hope they rule in accord with law, equity, comity, and precedent to find it unconstitutional on each and every point. Having read the act, there are at least five grounds for such a ruling.

[Cruise Director]

What has me concerned is that congress is even involved. They are the legislative branch, not the judicial branch. When they go in to the "hurry-up offense" mode to pass legislation to protect one person they become judicial.

They are wasting a lot of time and money to pass laws for one person. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Live long and prosper. Or sign a DNR.

[Asmodeus]

And people wonder why I don't watch the news... give a shit for politics(of any persuasion)... and basically act like a modern, braindead, academic.

I'm too much of an asshole apparently. :)

My points on this fiasco:
1. Can she (Chako or whatever the fuck her name is) feed herself?
2. Can she survive without 100% fulltime medical care?
If the answers are no, then snip her like Hash said and get'er ready for harvest cause she ain't doing ANYONE any good how she is now. But, her organs might do someone else some good.

But she might recover? any day now? really? Then why hasn't she done so in the last 15 some odd years? Get'er calculaters and tallybooks out folks, just try to figure the cost of what ot takes to keep that woman alive a year, then multiply by 15. It's disgusting.

[Koliedrus]

Keep in mind that this a poll about media's representation of public opinion, not the Schiavo thing.

I'll try to do the same.

If she kicks on Sunday, expect shouts from many directions.

[Skeet]

Wow, of all the arguments that support pulling the plug, I think the cost argument is the most disgusting.

I cringed.

[Koliedrus]

Regardless of the outcome, many people are asking themselves and each other difficult questions that they would rather put on hold.

If she croaks as I'm typing this, she's still "done good" by opening eyes.

I keep seeing responses that proclaim that, "this happens every day and no one gives it this much attention", kinda thing.

All I can say is, "welcome to a world of blogs and cellphones. The Pony Express has been out of service for quite some time."

I remember the days of rotary telephones. Communication methods change. Information is on a rampage and I hope it will never be caged. I'm not even opposed to Arthur C. Clarke's vision of a time when everyone has the ability to see everything, no matter when it happened.

Of all people on this planet, I'd like to read Stephen William Hawking's opinion of this case.

I've read about the effects of dehydration and starvation over the last few hours and am of the opinion that the claim that "passing" by that method is far from painless. I'm no expert on the matter. All I know is that hunger and thirst cause me to eat and drink. I have no idea (obviously) what it's like to die without food and water.

If you do know, don't post it here. Wikipedia has Starvation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation) categorized as a stub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Perfect_stub_article). Add your knowledge and post a link to your contribution.

There's all manner of thought circulating regarding this one person. Her life isn't wasted by any means. Just look at how many eyes her situation has opened.

There are positive sides to every situation, even the ones that seem hopeless.

I'm still pissed that ABC news took it upon themselves to decide for me and proclaim my unheard opinion as fact.

I'm the one that voted "No".


Addendum: I gathered my gonads and wrote to Professor Hawking. I don't expect a direct response considerring the nature or the topic. At best, I'm hoping that it will come as a linkable statement.

[Koliedrus]

Well I'll be...

Thank you for your e-mail. We have had a number of people including media organisations asking Stephen to comment on the case. He has not expressed an opinion yet, but given the apparent interest in what he thinks I am sure if he does make a public comment you will read about it.

Best wishes,
David Pond
Graduate Assistant to Professor Stephen Hawking

[SimpleSimon]

Mr. Hawking is a class act.

About three years ago there was thread in which the subject of wheel chair jousting was raised, and someone suggested Hawking vs Christopher Reeves. SLH and I forwarded it to Hawking with a cover note saying we thought he might find it funny. He replied, through his assistant, saying he had read the thread, and agreed it was a funny idea.

So, at least for one brief moment, the HyperTribe was hosting Stephen Hawking.

[River Rat]

the poll is rigged.

Dammit how do you expect me to awnser any poll when one of the options has the word cheese in it.

species discrimination says I

Hmmph.

[Koliedrus]

In keeping with the title of this thread, I've come across an extension for Firefox (http://www.nik-martin.com/terristatus/) that will only be useful for a short time.

Sick? Maybe. For me it's a tool that'll free up one portion of my daily process.

Feel free to discuss its merits and/or ickyness.

RR, voting for cheese is always a winning decision.

Note - I'll retract that statement when the evils being done in Wisconsin come to my attention.

[Barbie]

This place is just the best information for just about anything: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo)

...Theresa Marie Schiavo...
Early life
Schiavo was born as Theresa Marie Schindler. She grew up in the Huntingdon Valley area of Lower Moreland Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, as the oldest of three children; her younger siblings are Robert, Jr. (Bobby) and Suzanne. Terri Schiavo graduated from a private Catholic high school, Archbishop Wood High School, in nearby Warminster Township in 1981. Her childhood and high school years were spent as a chubby and shy girl, with a height of 5'3" and a weight of 200 pounds. She managed to lose 65 pounds with the help of a physician, but she developed an eating disorder which would later force her to vomit after eating a liquid-only diet.

In 1982, she met Michael Schiavo in a sociology class at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, where they were both students; the two married on November 10, 1984. The couple moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in April 1986. Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's parents, also moved to St. Petersburg three months later.

Terri Schiavo's friends began to have suspicions about her eating habits. After meals out, she would immediately excuse herself to go to the bathroom. Michael Schiavo was aware of her strange eating patterns but he did not realize they were dangerous. Before her collapse in 1990, Terri Schiavo sought help from her physician because she had stopped menstruating. However, the doctor did not take a complete history that would have indicated her eating disorder.

Initial medical crisis
On the morning of February 25, 1990, around 5:30 a.m. EST, Schiavo collapsed in her home in St. Petersburg. According to her discharge summary from Humana Hospital, Schiavo suffered cardiac arrest and anoxic brain damage, accompanied by hypokalemia (abnormally low levels of potassium in the blood), as well as seizures, respiratory failure, and an injured knee from the fall. The cause of her cardiac arrest is believed to be due to a bulimia nervosa-induced hypokalemic imbalance in her blood.

In 1992, Michael Schiavo brought a medical malpractice suit against the obstetrician who had been treating Terri for infertility, charging that the doctor had failed to diagnose the hypokalemia. The jury concluded that Schiavo had indeed suffered from bulimia, which had caused her hypokalemic blood imbalance and subsequent cardiac arrest, and had not been properly diagnosed by the obstetrician. The case was appealed and then settled in January, 1993, before the appeal could be decided; Terri Schiavo received $750,000 and Michael Schiavo received $300,000. Florida's Second District Court was also later to find that Schiavo's cardiac arrest had been the result of a potassium imbalance.

Controversy
Michael Schiavo
On March 11, 2005, media tycoon Robert Herring (who believes that embryonic stem cell research could cure Schiavo's condition in the future) offered $1 million to Michael Schiavo if he agreed to waive his guardianship to his wife's parents. The offer was rejected, Schiavo having reportedly found it "offensive." Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, stated that Schiavo has received other monetary offers, also rejected, including one of $10 million. These offers may have been made under the misconception that the removal of Mrs. Schiavo's feeding tube remains simply a matter of Mr. Schaivo's choice. It was ruled in February 2000 that Mrs. Schiavo would choose to have the tube removed, and Michael Schiavo does not have the ability to simply overrule this legal determination.

Go to the Wiki link. So much information and links.

So much we don't know.

So much we hope we never have to go through.