Posted by Ted_MI on 4/4/05 2:13pm
Msg #29535
Off Topic - but topical and amusing
I, _________________________ (fill in the blank), being of sound mind
and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial
means.
Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of
ethically challenged politicians who couldn't pass ninth grade
biology if their lives depended on it.
If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to sit up and ask
for a cold beer or sex, it should be presumed that I won't ever get
better.
When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse,
children and/or attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the
tubes, and call it a day.
Under no circumstances shall the hypocritical members of the
Legislature (State or Federal) enact a special law to keep me on
life support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind
their own damn business and pay attention instead to the health, education,
and welfare of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent
coma.
Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case. I
don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge
for their run for the presidency. It is my wish that if they are going to play politics
with someone's life that it be someone else's life and that I be left alone to die in
peace. I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators
in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I
certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my
behalf. They should mind their own business, too.
If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a
political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and
make his or her existence a living hell. Plus the fact I shall totally disinherit
him or her.
_____________________ __________________
Signature
Witness _________________________
Witness _________________________
Date__________
| Reply by Claudia_NJ on 4/4/05 2:18pm
Msg #29537
Re: Off Topic - but topical and amusing
| Reply by Claudia_NJ on 4/4/05 2:19pm
Msg #29538
Sorry too quick on the trigger I guess....
LOL
I would notatize it in a heartbeat!
| Reply by Shane_IN on 4/4/05 2:26pm
Msg #29540
I for one am so glad I don't have to hear about this case anymore.
This was something that never should have been in the media spotlight, this never should have taken up so much tax payers money, congressional and federal court time...
These cases happen every single day.... this one spent 7 years in the court system alone, before all of the intense media attention.
I was tired of hearing of it. I'm sorry if some people found this offensive, I'm sorry if some people were appalled to read about Michael Shiavo's actions.... But what about the thousands of other patients this happens to every day?
Terri had her day in court, she had her appeals, she had her NUMBEROUS federal hearings.... it was a waste of tax payers money in my opinion.
And I sided with the family....I think Michael Shiavo should be prosecuted as a negligent guardian, the rights should have been turned over to the family. But they weren't, the courts made the decision, right or wrong, they made the decision, and that should have been it, certainly after 7 years.
The millions of dollars that were spent by the courts/congress reviewing this case in the last few months alone could have been better spent... on other avenues....
Just my own personal opinion, I do not mean to start a flame war. If you disagree with me, thats fine, and your opinion, and certainly your right, and I certainly am not a person to say my opinion is the correct one... Its just mine  and I'm just saying how I see it.
| Reply by Stephen_VA on 4/4/05 2:38pm
Msg #29546
Are you announcing that your going to do something about all those other people or are you attempting to justify the death of one because of the deaths of many?
| Reply by Shane_IN on 4/4/05 3:25pm
Msg #29560
I'm announcing my opinion on the matter without attacking anyone else for their opinions.
Obviously you feel differently, which is fine. My point, which you some conveniently overlooked, is that it wasted millions of taxpayers dollars for something that was clearly already handled in the court system after 7 years of litigation....
I am not attempting to do anything about those other people, nor am I justifying the death of one. I'm stating my opinion, as I clearly stated originally.
Thanks for your attention to detail.
| Reply by Stephen_VA on 4/4/05 3:50pm
Msg #29567
That was not an attack. I do not know enough about you and I have not discussed this topic the enough with you to attack you. It was, however, a pointed question. This is a pointed issue, full of lovely rhetorical minefields.
| Reply by Shane_IN on 4/4/05 3:55pm
Msg #29568
hehe, yes it was a pointed question....and I did my best to just reiterate what I said, and not answer your question, as it really did't apply to me
| Reply by Dennis D Broadbooks on 4/4/05 2:32pm
Msg #29543
I'd Probably Find it More Amusing...
...if this little tome accurately represented the facts & conclusions in the Terri Schiavo case, but since it doesn't...I don't.
BTW, unlike a self ordained few on this board I won't advocate your removal from the board for a view I disagree with. You're free to post your slanted opinion on this issue & I'm free to respond with a divergent take on the subject.
| Reply by CaliNotary on 4/4/05 3:18pm
Msg #29559
Re: I'd Probably Find it More Amusing...
Pull that stick out of your butt. It's not meant to accurately represent the Terri Schiavo case dipwad.
| Reply by Claudia_NJ on 4/4/05 2:53pm
Msg #29551
Just as an aside...
I just returned from vacation and Europe and believe it or not this case not only made headlines here but overseas as well. When people would overhear my fiancée and I speaking English they would very often ask our thoughts on situation of the "poor woman in Florida".
All I can recommend is that anyone who has definite ideas of what they would or would not consider having done for themselves when they are in a such a situation have a document drawn up where these wishes are carefully detailed, one person is left in charge and have the document notarized so that there are no questions asked.
Personally, my fiancée and I have done this so that there is no confusion as to what our wishes are should we ever find ourselves in a situation where we cannot speak for ourselves.
I personally do not think that it is the place of Congress or of those aspiring for the White House, or any other public office for that matter, to decide what happens to me. Then again this is just my opinion.
| Reply by Sylvia_FL on 4/4/05 7:31pm
Msg #29614
Even if Terri Schiavo had put it in writing, it would not have made a difference in Florida.
If you have a Living Will, you can recant it orally, and believe me Terri's parents would have said that she recanted it, and you would have had the same problem.
I usually see that it is mostly those outside of Florida that side with the family. Those who haven't been aware of ALL the facts in the case. I feel Michael Schiavo has been unjustly vilified.
Hopefully the autopsy will clear up the abuse accusations, and I hope Michael Schiavo takes legal action against those that made the accusations.
As an aside, I was my father in law's 24 hour a day caregiver when he had a very aggressive brain tumor, the last week or 10 days of his life he didn't have anything to eat or drink, he didn't want anything. The hospice told me that this was a natural part of dying, that the body no longer needed earthly food, it was shutting down. I guess, one could say that he was starved to death going off the comments regarding Terri Schiavo's feeding tube being removed.
How many of you are aware that the Schindlers have already sold a list (both pgysical and e-mail addresses) of those who contributed to the Terri's Fight fund to a marketing company, and have already sold the rites to "Terri's Story". Those that contributed money to their fund are now going to be repaid by being bombarded with junk mail!
This is all I am going to say on the subject. I know those that are not aware of all the facts and haven't read all the court records (I have them all in my computer) will disagree with me. That is your prerogative.
| Reply by Dennis D Broadbooks on 4/4/05 7:53pm
Msg #29623
I'm Sorry to See You've Bought Into...
...the "culture of death", Sylvia. I will disagree with you & what you've chosen to believe are the "facts" in this case. The analogy with your father in law doesn't even begin to compare with Terri as she was in perfect health outside of her brain damage. There was no imminent demise on the horizon for her unless food & water were deprived & Judge Greer saw to it that transpired. BTW, I never thought in my lifetime I'd ever be on the same side of an issue as Jessie Jackson on anything of consequence. Talk about strange bedfellows!
I pray you'll change your mind on this & realize the slippery slope we're on if we continue down this road.
| Reply by oh, please.... on 4/4/05 9:40pm
Msg #29653
Re: I'm Sorry to See You've Bought Into...
perfect health outside of her brain damage?????
| Reply by Shane_IN on 4/4/05 10:38pm
Msg #29657
Re: I'm Sorry to See You've Bought Into...
Dennis, when exactly did you get to go over her medical charts? And what field of medicine are your licensed to practice in?
Until you can say you were a supervising physician, an attorney or judge presiding over the case, or someone directly related.... You don't know what you are talking about.
If you are relying on the information you received watching the TV, read in the Papers, or heard on Talk Radio....you didnt' get enough of the story to make in informed opinion.
"Culture of death".... sounds like a Michael Savage comment hehe... I do love his rants.
I know nothing more about this case than you.....but, I'm confident that over the last 7 years of legal battles, IF there was ANY real indication that would have saved that woman, it would have been brought to light.... so, can we please move on to the next horrible new story? Oh wait, the pope died.... already there.
| Reply by Dennis D Broadbooks on 4/4/05 10:58pm
Msg #29662
My Reply to Sylvia...
...& reference to Terri's "perfect" health was to contrast it with Sylvia's father in law's imminent demise from a terminal condition. Terri didn't even have so much as a cold. She could've lived for many more years if simply given food & water. Have you heard anyone argue otherwise? I've done a lot of research on this subject & very little of it came from the general news media. I'm very selective as to who I listen to (Michael Savage not being one of them BTW) & gather my information from. For you to say I'm uninformed is...well, uninformed.
| Reply by Shane_IN on 4/4/05 11:26pm
Msg #29666
Re: My Reply to Sylvia...
Well, obviously we will agree to disagree on this point.
Terri's perfect health didn't include a cerebral cortex.... which is far from perfect. yes, I agree she probably could have lived on for many years if the feeding tube had not been removed... BUT, again, 7 years of litigation....7 years of doctors, nurses, giving affidavits, testimony, medical opinions....
7 years.... this is an astronomical amount of time... Yes, some noble prize winner said she might recover, yes many others say she was responsive... however, 7 years of doctors and medical professionals say she wouldn't improve, and they were involved in a much more intimate nature....daily...
I have heard reports of nurse's affidavits of abuse, and everything under the sun, and frankly, if there was an validity to ANY of it, she'd not have lost all of her legal battles... I'm sorry, but your information, however obtained, again, won't come close to any of the people directly involved...
I'm just glad to move on.
| Reply by Dennis D Broadbooks on 4/4/05 11:36pm
Msg #29668
This is Only the Beginning...
...& if you believe it's going to end with Terri Schiavo's death, just wait. There's a bigger issue here & it's called the sanctity of human life. We've been slowly devaluing human life in our nation since 1973 & this is just one more step in that process. If you are so confident in the court system & more specifically one blind (in more ways than one) judge, then I'm glad you're "moving on" with this issue. There are a lot of good people who see this injustice for what it is & are more than willing to carry on the battle.
| Reply by Shane_IN on 4/5/05 10:25am
Msg #29701
Re: This is Only the Beginning...
"Sanctity of human life?" You sound like a talk radio sound bite.
Well thats the beauty of our society. People are more than willing to do what they can, to change things.
The only true and proven fact, is that American Public Opinion as a whole, is uninformed, unintelligent, and their opinions on are just plain off...why? because they don't take the time to become knowledgeable on a subject, they don't research things completely, and they jump at any chance to cause an uproar.
It sounds like you did a fair amount of research on Schiavo, so I'll give you credit for doing more than the average person....but, like i said, if all of your information came from the media....and you think you know the full picture, then I'm sorry, you don't.
Hopefully with the drive you apparently have on this subject, you wrote or called a congressman/woman, hopefully you were in FL picketting, I mean hopefully you actually did something to stop this injustice, instead of talking about it, and telling everyone how bad it is. I mean, that would make you a hypocrit, and I don't take you as one of those.
and before this becomes a flame war..... This is just my opinion Dennis, and from everything I've ever read that you posted, you seem like an intelligent, upstanding, person.... so don't take this as an attack on you.
| Reply by HisHughness on 4/4/05 11:39pm
Msg #29669
Re: My Reply to Sylvia is simply more hogwash by Broadbull
Now that the right-wing knee jerks have chimed in with their 3 cents (up 50 percent from the usual 2 cents because of the inflation resulting from “conservative” economics) let’s deal with the reality of the Teri Schiavo situation.
1) The “Culture of Life.”
a) When he was governor of Texas, George Bush presided over 152 executions, more than the entire remainder of the United States combined. He slashed his personal review time on execution appeals from half an hour to 15 minutes, a process to which most governors devote hours.
b) Poor people around the country are denied transplants because the Bush budget knife won’t cover the transplants. The people die as a result.
c) People – such as John Paul II – are dying every day of illnesses such as Parkinson’s Disease that could be cured by stem cell research, denied under the Bush administration.
If this is the “Culture of Life” then to paraphrase Patrick Henry, “Give me that Culture and you gonna give me Death.”
2) The same conservatives who have spent the entire last generation attacking “judicial activism” and federal intrusion in state matters suddenly find, when handed a political windfall in the tragic figure of a dying young woman, nothing at all abhorrent about massive judicial activism and even greater intrusion into state affairs.
3) Michael Schiavo spent the first seven years after his wife’s collapse trying to save her, even training as a nurse to provide her care. Shame is not an emotion that the smug, self-satisfied and self-congratulatory right-wing ideologues and fundamentalist religious junkies are likely to feel in their cloistered piety, but if their view of the universe and of eternity has any validity, that will be their burden forever as a result of the way they have callously used the tragedy of a young woman for their selfish ends. And even that is not adequate punishment for such a misdeed.
| Reply by Dennis D Broadbooks on 4/4/05 11:50pm
Msg #29671
So You're Reduced to Slinging Names Again?
One can always tell when you get desperate, Hugh. I'll only address one portion of your comments & that's the part about executions. There's something called "innocence" which Terri possessed that none of the death row inmates could claim as their own.
You can have your opinions on stem cell research, judicial activism, & the poor dying from the Bush budget knife...as wrong as they may be. I'll take mine.
| Reply by HisHughness on 4/5/05 12:13am
Msg #29673
Re: So You're Reduced to Slinging Names Again?
Dennis claims:
***There's something called "innocence" which Terri possessed that none of the death row inmates could claim as their own.***
1) You have made the assumption that all 152 of the executed during Bush's terms were correctly on Death Row. I think that assumption is unwarranted.
2) Teri Schiavo was a bulimic. In a very real sense, she voluntarily created a life-threatening suituation for herself. Persistent voluntary purging had led to a potassium deficiency; potassium is essential for heart function. Deprived of the requisite nutrient, her heart muscles failed to contract properly and she went into cardiac arrest. If you want to get really brutal about it, Teri Schiavo put herself in the hospital. If we are going to agree that there are mitigating circumstances in such cases -- and I fervently believe we should -- then how in the hell does that differ from retarded Death Row inmates (we've dinged them with the needle, too), or inmates who because of childhood abuse, poverty and emotional deprivation never really had a chance, and any number of other scenarios that put men on Death Row? No, Dennis, the truth of the matter is that you and your ilk simply found a convenient vehicle to carry your hateful and divisive ideological and theological agenda. You used a young woman's personal tragedy for your own narrow-minded ends. It is really quite astounding that people such as you can paint so broadly with the Brush of Shame, yet never realize execrable their own conduct is.
| Reply by Dennis D Broadbooks on 4/5/05 5:58am
Msg #29687
The Truth of the Matter...
...is what you've CHOSEN to believe as the facts in this case & presented them in a narrow manner to buttress your position. Good attorney work, Hugh. There are numerous witnesses whose testimonies never showed up in court who dispute many aspects of the supposed "truth" in this case. Terri being bolemic is just one of them. She also had x-rays performed on her one year after her initial collapse showing she had suffered multiple broken bones & other trauma. Those injuries have yet to be explained in a satisfactory manner. It's amazing to me to see you paint the picture of Terri "voluntarily creating" her collapse. If you truly believe deep down in your heart that Terri was "responsible" for her plight, then why don't you speak up about how AIDS is killing many individuals because of their "voluntarily created" lifestyle?
The truth of the matter is you & I are on two different planets when it comes to our moral foundations. It's why we don't agree on what political party to belong to & the direction our country is headed. It's why we butt heads on this board at every turn. As you've stated before we're not going to change each others minds on political issues. You've made your choices in life as I've made mine. I can "live" with mine.
| Reply by Shane_IN on 4/5/05 1:36pm
Msg #29735
Re: The Truth of the Matter...
>>>"There are numerous witnesses whose testimonies never showed up in court who dispute many aspects of the supposed "truth" in this case."<<
Dennis, all of those affidavits were reviewed by more than one judge in both the circuit and appeals courts, none of those judges found enough supporting evidence to stop the proceedings.... That is fact, its not that they never reviewed it, its that the were reviewed, and were not found to have merit.
As to Hugh....
Making Bush out to be the bad guy? Come on...... thats stretching it.
| Reply by HisHughness on 4/4/05 8:01pm
Msg #29628
Close to Schiavo but nonetheless off topic
My daughter has explicit instructions about my remains after I'm gone.
The Alamo is preserved and operated for the state by the Daughters of the Texas Revolution. This group of ladies is so conservative they would make the Dallas Chapter of the John Birch Society look like the Berkeley ACLU.
It just so happens that the Alamo is the closest thing I have to a temple. I used to work two blocks from the place, and visited it frequently. I've also gone by many times over the years when I was living elsewhere, even in Georgia. And I've never made the tour but that I didn't shed a tear or two somewhere along the way.
My instructions to my daughter are that I am to be cremated, and my ashes are to be scattered about the grounds of the Alamo. Anticipating the DTR's utter revulsion at such a request from such a nonentity, she has directions that she is to make a midnight run if necessary and just toss the ashes over the wall, handful by handful. I hope it's not a windy night.
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