The Marketing of Terri Schiavo

Ken AshfordAssisited Suicide/Schiavo, RepublicansLeave a Comment

This is the "urgent message" sent out by Randell Terry: Dear Friend, It is unthinkable… like some dark scenario in a horror movie… but true. An innocent, disabled woman is now being starved to death. Her food and water were suspended on Friday afternoon. […] Even if Congress does pass a bill and President Bush signs it, it will only … Read More

Sexual Abstinence-Only Education Fails

Ken AshfordSex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

In fact, it is counterproductive. As today’s L.A. Times reports: Young adults who as teenagers took pledges not to have sex until marriage were just as likely to contract a venereal disease as people who didn’t make the promise, according to a study in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Why?  "The study found that 88% of sexually active people who … Read More

How Many 5 Year-Olds Could You Take On At Once?

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

As discussed here…. How many 5 year-olds could you take on at once? The specifics: You are in an enclosed area, roughly the size of a basketball court. There are no foreign objects. You are not allowed to touch a wall. When you are knocked unconscious, you lose. When they are all knocked unconscious, they lose. Once a kid is … Read More

Starving to Death? The Calculated Inflammatory Rhetoric of the Christian Right

Ken AshfordAssisited Suicide/Schiavo, Godstuff, Health CareLeave a Comment

As one might expect, the American Journal of Bioethics is following the Schiavo case closely.  One recent bioethicist/commentator took to task those who like to insult the hospice industry, under the false assumption that caring nurses and doctors would allow Terri Schiavo to experience pain and discomfort.  She writes: One of the more disturbing aspects of the political rhetoric is … Read More

GOP Rapes Terri

Ken AshfordAssisited Suicide/Schiavo, RepublicansLeave a Comment

It does.  There is no better way to say it.  Republican politicians don’t care about HER — but about their agenda and Election Day 2006.  In fact, they are so concerned about getting re-elected that they will trod over a dying woman, a dead child, and their own values.  Doubt me?  Read on. First of all, let’s read a little … Read More

Schiavo Protesters

Ken AshfordAssisited Suicide/Schiavo, Right Wing Punditry/Idiocy6 Comments

Look at the picture on the left of people opposed to the Schiavo tube removal.  This is the kind of protest that, if done by the liberals, would have the right wingers rolling in the aisles, making fun. But I think it is a perfectly fine protest — after all, they got their pictures taken, which means they got their … Read More

Oh, And While We’re On The Subject

Ken AshfordPersonalLeave a Comment

Me, being of sound mind and body pretty much (as well as can be expected, I mean — I’m having joint problems and my cholesterol count is high …. but I digress) want the following to be known: (1) If I become brain dead like Terri Schiavo (or like Michelle Malkin) and I am adjudicated as such by whatever reasonable … Read More

Yet Even More on Terri

Ken AshfordAssisited Suicide/Schiavo, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Right winger Neil Boortz has the courage to see what this is is about, and he ain’t afraid to say it: At the center of the Terri Schiavo tragedy is America’s anti-abortion movement.  Notice, please, the presence of Randall Terry.  The fact is that the anti-abortion movement has seized Terri Schiavo … figuratively kidnapped her .. and they intend to … Read More

Isn’t It Ironic, Don’t You Think?

Ken AshfordAssisited Suicide/Schiavo, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

One of the most ironic statements about the Terri Schiavo case can be found in one of Judge Greer’s opinions: Perhaps one of the few  agreements between these experts is that stem cell research is currently at the experimental stage and is years away from being accepted either medically or politically. It would not appear from the testimony that this … Read More

Two Heads Aren’t Better Than One

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

From Germany: Man with two penises loses wife A German who persuaded doctors to give him a second penis has lost his wife after he showed her the result. Biker Michael Gruber, 40, lost his original penis in a motorbike accident and doctors built him a second one using a mixture of skin, bone and other tissues from his own … Read More

Gun Safety

Ken AshfordGun ControlLeave a Comment

This is a remarkable video. A police officer is in a school, giving a talk to kids on the subject of gun safety.  And he accidentally shoots himself in the foot.  Trying to pass it off as nothing, he then asks his assistant to show a rifle to the kids.  The kids, scared to death of being accidentally shot, ask … Read More