InstaSlap

Heh. Indeed.

Update: It's not like there's a war on, or anything.

Respite

I'm going to take a break from blogging for about two or three weeks. I'll be doing some technical things in the background. I may even add a new skin that I was working on a few months ago that I never finished. And I may occasionally drop by and comment on a few blogs. But I won't be posting here. I'll be back, though. Until then, you can check out the blogroll (I'm going to add just a few more blogs to it when I get a chance), my Furl archive and the radio blog. Also, check out my poor, neglected Live 365 station -- I'm determined to add more songs to it in the next few days.

See ya!

South Park Self-Portrait

Way back when, I created a personal South Park character. Well, that was almost three years ago...I've changed a lot since then. I let the perm grow out, I weigh about 50 lbs. less and I wear different glasses. So, via Andrea and Ilyka, here's an update using the new South Park Studio:

Yes, this one is more flattering. The hair color is more accurate, too. My glasses are oval-shaped now, but that's close enough.

Spam, spam, spam, spam...

The past couple of days, I've been inundated with trackback spam attempts. MT-Blacklist has been blocking most of them (and there have been thousands), but yesterday, about 10 or 15 would slip through every couple of hours. I would add the URL to the blacklist and then they would be back with another URL. So in addition to MT-Blacklist, I have installed Brad Choate's new MT plugin SpamLookup, which is spoken very highly of by Jay Allen (the developer of MT-Blacklist). So far, it has been working wonderfully, and I haven't had any trackback spam slip through even though the spammers have tried numerous new URLs. If you are an MT user, I highly recommend SpamLookup. It only works with MT 3.1 or higher, but with the increasing spam problem, you really ought to upgrade anyway. (The latest MT can still be downloaded for free...you just can't have more than one author and more than three weblogs.)

Traction on the Slippery Slope

An elderly woman named Mae Magouirk almost met the same fate as Terri Schiavo. She was not vegetative and she was not in a coma. She had stated in a living will that she didn't want nutrition and hydration withheld unless she was in a coma or PVS. But yet they were withheld. However, BlogsforTerri and many others raised awareness about her case and she is now receiving nutrition and hydration again. As it turns out, a family member with questionable motives was responsible for making the decision to withhold nutrition and hydration.

If more people like Mrs. Magouirk can be spared being disposed of because they are weak and disabled, then Terri hasn't died in vain. Perhaps we now have some traction on the slippery slope towards euthanizing those who are disabled and unable to speak for themselves.

The Radio Blog is Back

After several months, I have finally put some more songs in the radio blog. I have a few songs from the new Beck album Guero, a couple from the latest Woven Hand album Consider the Birds and a lot of other stuff. Also, I have a very special long-distance dedication for a blogger who recently called me "narrow-minded" -- ostensibly because of this post.

Enjoy!

Get a Living Will? Not so fast...

A lot of people are saying that the lesson to learn from the whole Terri Schiavo situation is "get a Living Will". I know that when I was going through the process to prepare for my gallbladder surgery, I was asked if I had one. When I said I didn't, they handed me a packet with a living will* form.

However, BlogsforTerri and Times Against Humanity warn against living wills and explain why they are not a good idea. Instead, they encourage people to use an alternative, such as a Will to Live.

*The night before the surgery, I filled out the form (although it wasn't notarized or anything, so it probably wasn't legal). I crossed out the part about withholding nutrition and hydration and I wrote the following in the comments: "I do not want to be starved or dehydrated to death. If there is any hope for me at all, please give me a chance!"

Adding Gravatars

I've always thought avatars like those used in message forums were pretty cool. Now weblog commenters can have avatars too -- by signing up at Gravatar. After seeing other blogs with gravatars, I decided to enable them on mine. Here's my gravatar -- it's a Harrison Fisher illustration:

I have the small size (40x40) enabled in the comments box and the full size (80x80) enabled in the individual entries. I'm going to change the comments section of the individual entries so that the format resembles a message board thread.

Additional Note: Right now, I have things set up so that only G-rated gravatars are allowed. If that turns out to be too restrictive, I may allow PG-rated gravatars as well.

The Humanity of the Weak

"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong..." -- 1 Corinthians 1:27

I don't think it's a coincidence that Pope John Paul II died just two days after Terri Schiavo died. I think God is trying to tell us something.

One of the most appalling things about the debate about Terri's fate was how the other side tried to strip her of her humanity. Here are the various terms that I've heard people use to describe her: vegetable, carrot, house plant, slab of meat, blob, vegtard, shell, non-person. There are more, I'm sure. These were shameful, hateful ways to describe Terri. Because, whatever amount of brain damage Terri had, she was still a human being, made in God's image. Even if she were brain dead, she would still be a human being. Nobody has the right to strip anyone of their humanity because of what they can and cannot do, or how they look. You can't proclaim that someone isn't human anymore because of any physical or mental frailty or disability. They are a human being, made in God's image, and nothing you say or do is going to change that.

We need to quit acting like the weaker among us are less worthy or are an embarrassment. I know that while the Pope was aging and in failing health, some felt he should step down -- that the Catholic Church needed someone stronger and more vital to be its leader. Again, this shows how we think that those who are weak have nothing of value to offer. The world favors the strong over the weak, and I suppose this is only natural. But God has a different way of looking at things. Perhaps God was showing us something by the Pope persevering despite his failing health.

This post from Idle Mendacity (found via The Blog from the Core, via a trackback on JYB) expresses what I'm trying to say here much better than I can:

That's when it hit me. The media want Terri to die and the Pope to disappear into some monastery some place because they just don't want to look at them. Terri is sick, her body is helpless, she is an infant in an adult body. The pope is old, his body is crooked, he is a shell with only the unseen brain still in working order. They are both unnatural and unseemly by modern standards. They are both ugly, grotesque, much like that of The Elephant Man, Joseph Merick, a beautiful soul in a misshapen body. So too are the Pope and Terri. Beautiful souls but awful to look at. So people would rather not. They'd rather not be reminded of age and sickness - that's why nursing homes are filled with otherwise healthy senior citizens. They'd rather not go near people so near death and infirmity - that's why literally thousands of citizens of so-called "civilized" France died of neglect during a heat wave. People just didn't care. They didn't want to care. Terri and the Pope and those like them are the Other. They are the not-us. They are the freaks of the modern world. [...]

My answer to that of course people - "normal" people - would not want to die that way. You wouldn't even starve a dog or cat to death. But then, dogs and cats are "normal" in their way as well. There are millions of them - all alike. It is only when one becomes "damaged", like Terri is damaged, that we put them down. But we do not starve them. Because they are not "freaks", they are not something contrary to nature, contrary to the way everyone else looks, contrary to how "humans" are supposed to be. They are a "life", unlike Terri and unlike the Pope is becoming. And who determines what "life" is? The mob, of course and the mob will think whatever the media wants them to think - and the politicians will think whatever the mob thinks. The media of course can't stand "freaks" like Terri or the Pope - people who have outlived their usefulness, ugly people, different people, broken people. The only acceptable people are people like themselves - this is one of the cornerstones of eugenics and this is partly what we're seeing now in the world today.

Yes, I think God is not only trying to tell us something...He is trying to warn us about something.

Rest in Peace, Pope John Paul II

Fox News just announced that Pope John Paul II has died. Although I'm not Catholic, I have deep respect for this faithful and holy man. Now he has gone to his heavenly reward.