I have deep respect for those who stand up for what they believe in. I have deep respect for those who are willing to sacrifice their family's privacy to stand up for one of their own (even if I disagree with their position). What I cannot stand is the way those simple folks are used for profit and fame by those who wield a lot of power.
It was bad enough that the Schiavo case has shown up on "Entertainment Tonight." It's bad enough that everyone involved in the case has been hounded by a press corps that is more interested in selling advertising than facilitating actual debate or informing the public. They've turned this issue into a freak show and that destroys any hope for Terri Schiavo to have any dignity in life or death.
But it gets worse. Last night a friend sent me a link that caused a cold shiver to run down my spine. The direct marketing firm that raised money for the Schindlers is going to sell the names of people who gave to this cause to other organizations. I find this sickening. It's one thing for non-profits to share names but selling them should only be allowed if the donors give permission. I'm willing to bet that the people making these contributions felt that they were making a donation to a family--much like when you make a donation for someone in your neighborhood that needs an expensive operation. I'm willing to bet that they didn't expect their name to be attached to a political cause for years to come. I cannot believe that they are doing this to Terri Schiavo. Her soul must be hurting now.
"List of Schiavo Donors Will Be Sold by Direct-Marketing Firm" from The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/politics/29donate.html?ex=1269752400&en=f1312f1b5ae170ad&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
[disclaimer]: I know many people other than me have thought about these things. Most of them are smarter than me too. I just needed to write about them myself and put my thoughts in public.
I like many people in the country have been following the legal battle involving Terri Schiavo. A few things about this case really bother me. The first one that enters my mind is what I would do in that situation. I would like to think that I could be rational if one of my loved ones was incapacitated in such a way. But I also know that complete rationality is impossible (*).
The second thing is that the media is making this into a spectacle. Can you imagine being faced with a situation like this in this political environment? Can you imagine being protested by hundreds for your decision (that you believe is best for your loved one even if other loved ones disagree)? I know the media only cares about selling advertising.
I also hate the way the anti-abortion lobby is trying to make this a pro-life issue. I guess it worries me that they are backing away from their own belief that life is a right. A right is something that can be given up, but in this case they are treating it like it is an obligation (**). (I have the right to free speech, but I can censor myself). I guess it just shatters my view that the pro-life movement is, for the most part, a rational one that just happens to differ from my personal view on morality, ethics and theology.
Another thing that scares me is that I see this case and Congress' involvement in it as a threat to marriage--and I mean to my own marriage. When I got married I chose to have my husband be my next-of-kin (***). I chose to trust him with such decisions on my behalf when I entered into that contract. That is what I believed when I married him. I don't like the fact that the government can change this out from under me. It just doesn't seem like something the Founding Fathers would approve of. I see this as a much more serious threat to marriage than same-sex marriage could ever be (****).
(*) Several times life-support issues and invasive life-extending issues came up within my family. I still don't know if I was rational, selfish or cowardly. It was too much of a shock. I only remember the pain.
(**) Yes, I am "borrowing" terminology from the story of Ramon Sampedro as seen in the film Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside).
(***)I do believe, for the record, that my blood relatives would honor my wishes just as my husband would.
(****) Yes, my views on gay marriage probably have a lot to do with the way my hippie-like parents raised me to appreciate people loving one another. I mean if you pick two people randomly in the world and they chose to love one another rather than hate one another I see it as a good thing.
I found reference to this article on Discourse.net.
Investigators obtained suspect's DNA through daughter, sources say by Tim Potter
Investigators - trying to hide from Dennis Rader that they were zeroing in on him as a BTK suspect - obtained DNA before his arrest through a tissue sample linked to his daughter's medical records, sources say.
That sample, they say, was taken without her knowledge.
...
What kind of tissue tied to a woman's medical records could be kept on file at a lab?
Bruce Bammel, a Wichita doctor in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, said that could include various tissue samples - everything from a skin biopsy to a pap smear - that can be preserved indefinitely and provide DNA.
All I can say is... I'M SCARED AND I WANT MY MOMMY! Now does anyone still ask why "Orwell still matters?"
How can I be sure that tissues from my medical tests are destroyed after they are used? Can my tissues collected from medical testing really be seized for a criminal investigation WHEN I'M NOT THE ONE BEING INVESTIGATED? DON'T MY TISSUES BELONG TO ME?
WAAAAH!
Pfizer, Inc is making a new heart-disease preventing drug that will raise HDL (the good cholesterol) levels. This is good right? Not really. They are only testing the new drug in conjunction with their already existing LDL (bad cholesterol) lowering drug Lipitor (tm). They are only going to submit an application to the FDA that is a combination pill. Why? This will help them get around any anti-trust regulations because if the FDA approves it only in combination then it is the government that is insisting on the combination--not Pfizer. Also by combining Lipitor with this new drug they will be able to extend their patent on Lipitor (set to expire in 2010). Certainly there are many people who have allergies/sensitivities to Lipitor but may benefit from a drug that raises HDL. To borrow the terminology from the documentary film The Corporation, this is a coroporate psychopath that must be stopped.
Hopefully consumer advocates will make a huge stink about this. Maybe Howard Dean should have something to say. Not only is he now Chairman of the DNC, but he's a medical doctor and can probably make good use of this example to show how pharmaceutical companies run amok with our money and our health. They do it with the blessing of our federal government too.
Pfizer Plan for Bundling Heart Drugs Stirs Concern (Berenson, Alex The New York Times March 07, 2005 www.nytimes.com/2005/03/07/business/07pfizer.html?ex=1267938000&en=7e58a5932
138fe58&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland).
Long ago in my childhood I lived on a small farm. < sing >On this farm we had some geese "E-I-E-I-O"< /sing >. Now there was this one instance where there was a hurt goose and my aunt and I were trying to help it. It pecked me a hard one right on the forehead. I've been told that it sounded like a hammer hitting a watermelon. All I could hear was the ringing. That goose hit hard.
Then we also had a gander at the farm named Lester. Lester was I guess an alpha male or something. He was big and mean. In his younger days he would chase the kids on their bikes and bite the tires. Then he started biting at some of the dogs (the ones that wouldn't fight back). Eventually he worked his way up to chasing cars. It was weird. Lester bit me a few times.
Whenever I go to a park and there are geese they come after me. It even happened in Sweden. They were the King's geese. It's not like I could just drop kick them or something. It would have caused an international incident. Besides the King's geese didn't seem to stink as much as American Geese. I took some pity on them. (Oddly "HSZSSZZSHZSSZ" is pronounced exactly the same way in Sweden as it is in the US and Canada--that's right even the Francophone geese).
I've even had some run ins with Canada Geese (Most folks call them Canadian Geese but they're really Canada Geese). Don't get the idea that all Canadians are nice, polite and have good senses of humor. The goose and the gander are not to be messed with.
Tonight I went to the farm of my childhood. My aunt and uncle own it and it's usually fun to go back there. Except I had to deal with Henry (I think that was his name). As I drove up in my minivan this avian asshole started chasing after the side of my vehicle. He pecked at the door and tires (while the van was moving). When I got out of the van he looked right at me with his beady little black eye and stretched his neck out. He started barreling toward me. Of course I was laughing but then I realized he wasn't really bluffing. I took a couple steps backward and tried to scare him off by making a bunch of noise and jumping around. Of course he didn't care. He just kept honking and hissing at me. When he got close enough he decided that my shoes needed to die ([info]mistergrumpy would probably agree). He eventually realized he couldn't really hurt me and got bored and wandered off. I walked up to the house and said to my cousin Tom "What's with the goose?" He said "Ahh, he's just being a pecker" (get it? PECKER?) HA HA HA!
When I left the house, I didn't see the goose anywhere. I started strolling back to my van. Then out from behind a parked car comes this gray blur and a honking sound as if to say "A-Ha! You've come back for more!" He almost scared the crap out of me. It's a good thing I went potty before I left.