Never Thought I’d Say This, But . . .
Our Robed Masters Get Into Your Wallet
We as individuals don’t need to really worry about judicial tyranny because the decisions on which Darth Kennedy and Our Robed Masters are judicial fiating so badly concern issues that may affect other people (like abortion and homosexual "marriage") but that don’t affect most of us who are just trying to make a living. Right?
WRONG!
That’s what Thomas Sowell says in the conclusion to his recent trilogy on judicial tyranny.
EXCERPTS:
People who complain about the frivolous lawsuits that have outraged some and ruined others financially need to connect the dots to the present Senate controversy over the confirmation of federal judges.
Once judges start disregarding the written law in favor of their own notions, ordinary citizens have no way of knowing in advance what decisions to expect from a given situation. We can read the written law but we cannot read judges’ minds. This means that there is a large and growing gray area around our laws.
That large gray area is a happy hunting ground for lawyers, who can threaten individuals, businesses, and even government agencies with frivolous lawsuits — and get paid off to settle out of court, because nobody knows what is likely to happen in court.
Imagine what would happen if highway signs, instead of saying "65 MPH" said "No Undue Speed" or "Prudent Driving." The lawsuits over traffic laws alone would clog our courts to a standstill.
As bad as uncertainty is to people being sued, it can be worth millions of dollars to a slick lawyer who knows how to concoct frivolous lawsuits and extort money for settling out of court. Such lawyers head for places where there are big bucks — "deep pockets," as they are called.
Among the reasons why this affects ordinary people is that many deep pockets get their money from a lot of much shallower pockets.
When your insurance company has to buy its way out of a frivolous lawsuit, guess whose premiums go up. When developers who are trying to build homes or apartment buildings get sued at every turn by environmental extremists, guess what that does to the rent of apartments and mortgage payments for those who buy houses.
NOTE TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA: Judges who are willing to give evironmental extremists what they want may be a chunk of why housing prices in the state are so INSANE and why so many businesses are re-locating out of state.
Our Robed Masters Get Into Your Wallet
We as individuals don’t need to really worry about judicial tyranny because the decisions on which Darth Kennedy and Our Robed Masters are judicial fiating so badly concern issues that may affect other people (like abortion and homosexual "marriage") but that don’t affect most of us who are just trying to make a living. Right?
WRONG!
That’s what Thomas Sowell says in the conclusion to his recent trilogy on judicial tyranny.
EXCERPTS:
People who complain about the frivolous lawsuits that have outraged some and ruined others financially need to connect the dots to the present Senate controversy over the confirmation of federal judges.
Once judges start disregarding the written law in favor of their own notions, ordinary citizens have no way of knowing in advance what decisions to expect from a given situation. We can read the written law but we cannot read judges’ minds. This means that there is a large and growing gray area around our laws.
That large gray area is a happy hunting ground for lawyers, who can threaten individuals, businesses, and even government agencies with frivolous lawsuits — and get paid off to settle out of court, because nobody knows what is likely to happen in court.
Imagine what would happen if highway signs, instead of saying "65 MPH" said "No Undue Speed" or "Prudent Driving." The lawsuits over traffic laws alone would clog our courts to a standstill.
As bad as uncertainty is to people being sued, it can be worth millions of dollars to a slick lawyer who knows how to concoct frivolous lawsuits and extort money for settling out of court. Such lawyers head for places where there are big bucks — "deep pockets," as they are called.
Among the reasons why this affects ordinary people is that many deep pockets get their money from a lot of much shallower pockets.
When your insurance company has to buy its way out of a frivolous lawsuit, guess whose premiums go up. When developers who are trying to build homes or apartment buildings get sued at every turn by environmental extremists, guess what that does to the rent of apartments and mortgage payments for those who buy houses.
NOTE TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA: Judges who are willing to give evironmental extremists what they want may be a chunk of why housing prices in the state are so INSANE and why so many businesses are re-locating out of state.
NURSE: Michael Injected Terri With Insulin
A nurse who took care of Terri in the 1990s is now speaking out (having been released from a gag order now that the matter is in the federal courts, I’m given to understand). Not only is the nurse forcefully stating that Terri is able to communicate and use certain words, she also states that Michael has refused any therapy for Terri and further:
Iyer was eventually fired by the home because of a disagreement with Michael where she claimed he injected her with insulin.
After one visit by Michael in Terri’s room for 20 minutes with the door shut, Iyer found Terri lethargic and "crying hysterically."
She checked Terri’s blood sugar levels and they were barely showing any reading on the glucometer, she told Fox News. She also saw a vial of "insulin concealed in the trash bin."
Iyer said there were needle marks [on several intimate places on Terri’s body].
She went to police with the details and then told administrators at the facility, who were upset she didn’t report to them first.
The affidavit that Nurse Iyer filed with Pinellas County, Florida (and which was dismissed) has now become public.
Excerpts:
To the best of my recollection, rehabilitation had been ordered for Terri, but I never saw any being done or had any reason at all to believe that there was ever any rehab of Terri done at Palm Gardens while I was there. I became concerned because nothing was being done for Terri at all, no antibiotics, no tests, no range of motion therapy, no stimulation, no nothing. Michael said again and again that Terri should NOT get any rehab, that there should be no range of motion whatsoever, or anything else. I and a CNA named Roxy would give Terri range of motion anyway. One time I put a wash cloth in Terri’s hand to keep her fingers from curling together, and Michael saw it and made me take it out, saying that was therapy.
Terri’s medical condition was systematically distorted and misrepresented. When I worked with her, she was alert and oriented. Terri spoke on a regular basis while in my presence, saying such things as “mommy,” and “help me.” “Help me” was, in fact, one of her most frequent utterances. I heard her say it hundreds of times. Terri would try to say the word “pain” when she was in discomfort, but it came out more like “pay.” She didn’t say the “n” sound very well. During her menses she would indicate her discomfort by saying “pay” and moving her arms toward her lower abdominal area. Other ways that she would indicate that she was in pain included pursing her lips, grimacing, thrashing in bed, curling her toes or moving her legs around. She would let you know when she had a bowel movement by flipping up the covers and pulling on her diaper.
I made numerous entries into the nursing notes in her chart, stating verbatim what she said and her various behaviors, but by my next on-duty shift, the notes would be deleted from her chart. Every time I made a positive entry about any responsiveness of Terri’s, someone would remove it after my shift ended. Michael always demanded to see her chart as soon as he arrived, and would take it in her room with him.
Throughout my time at Palm Gardens, Michael Schiavo was focused on Terri’s death. Michael would say “When is she going to die?,” “Has she died yet?” and “When is that b*tch gonna die?” These statements were common knowledge at Palm Gardens, as he would make them casually in passing, without regard even for who he was talking to, as long as it was a staff member. Other statements which I recall him making include “Can’t you do anything to accelerate her death – won’t she ever die?” When she wouldn’t die, Michael would be furious.
Any time Terri would be sick, like with a UTI or fluid buildup in her lungs, colds, pneumonia, Michael would be visibly excited, thrilled even, hoping that she would die. He would call me, as I was the nurse supervisor on the floor, and ask for every little detail about her temperature, blood pressure, etc., and would call back frequently asking if she was dead yet. He would blurt out “I’m going to be rich!,” and would talk about all the things he would buy when Terri died, which included a new car, a new boat, and going to Europe, among other things.
When Michael visited Terri, he always came alone and always had the door closed and locked while he was with Terri. He would typically be there about twenty minutes or so. When he left Terri would would be trembling, crying hysterically, and would be very pale and have cold sweats. It looked to me like Terri was having a hypoglycemic reaction, so I’d check her blood sugar. The glucometer reading would be so low it was below the range where it would register an actual number reading. I would put dextrose in Terri’s mouth to counteract it. This happened about five times on my shift as I recall. Normally Terri’s blood sugar levels were very stable due to the uniformity of her diet through tube feeding. It is my belief that Michael injected Terri with Regular insulin, which is very fast acting.
The Passion Of Terri Schiavo
The congruence of Terri Schiavo’s plight with Holy Week has led to speculation by Christians on the eternal significance of this young woman’s struggle. Some have seen in it a microcosm of another Passion, two thousand years ago:
THE PINELLAS COUNTY PASSION PLAY
TERRI AT CENTER OF MODERN-DAY PASSION PLAY
An especially powerful statement of Terri’s passion and its correlation to Christ’s Passion came earlier this week from Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Florida:
"And so, Holy Week, the annual remembrance of Jesus’ passion and death, begins with the Passion of Terri Schiavo. Terri’s agony has already begun and, barring some miracle, the denouement of Terri’s drama will be her death.
"This week, in recalling Jesus’ Passover from death to life, we celebrate the fact that the misterium iniquitatis is overcome through the misterium crucis.
"From the cross Jesus cried out, and his cry is echoed today by all those held captive to a world of pain and sin.
"As Terri shares in his passion, she will share in his Resurrection. Like Jesus did, Terri Schiavo cries out, though with muted voice: ‘I thirst!’"
GET THE STORY. (Warning: Evil registration requirement. Nod to Amy Welborn for the link.)
Some of the commentators have expressed reluctance for linking Terri’s plight to Christ’s Passion. I feel no such reluctance, and indeed think that the similarities bear expression for the benefit of all those with ears to hear:
"’I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink’ … Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me’" (Matt. 25:42, 44-45).
The Publishing Mart
Have you sought to be publication and found that others had their writing dreams come true, but you did not? Has your work sat on a shelf like an unmarriageable spinster pining the notice of Mr. Publisher? The Paperback Writer‘s musings on publication in a Jane Austen-world may be for you:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a publisher in possession of a large house must be in want of a writer.
"I’m channeling Jane Austen this morning because the marriage mart story from her novel Pride and Prejudice is an excellent analogy for the people and processes in the publishing industry. Maybe it was all the P’s that brought it to mind."
The Beast from the Yeast
As if Marmite were not repulsive enough on it’s own (my own sweet wife, who used to live in New Zealand, insists she really tried to like it) some brilliant British ad guys had the nifty idea to try to sell it by doing a TV commercial parody of the old sci-fi movie classic The Blob!, and showing the nasty brown gick terrorizing the streets of London. Now literally thousands hundreds dozens of traumatized British yutes are too frightened to watch telly. Can’t have that, old man. Not Cricket. So the commercial has been pulled from the airwaves and the aforementioned ad guys received a royal growling.
First sold in 1902, Marmite was billed as a "health giving" yeast extract. It is a concentrated brown paste with a "distinctive" somewhat salty/savory flavor. Eaten on toast, and all kinds of other ways.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MARMITE!
Crimen
Down yonder some folks have been discussing what canon law would say about Michael Shiavo getting married to his common-law wife if he’s successful in bumping off his actual wife.
This raised the issue of crimen or the impediment of "crime," which is described in canon 1090.
Assuming he’s Catholic (something of which I have no knowledge but which may be the case), Michael Schiavo may be a potential subject of Canon 1090, which states:
§1. Anyone who with a view to entering
marriage with a certain person has brought about the death of that person’s
spouse or of one’s own spouse invalidly attempts this marriage.§2. Those who have brought about the death of a
spouse by mutual physical or moral cooperation also invalidly attempt a
marriage together.
Michael could be impeded from marrying his common law wife under section 1 if he has operated alone in trying to bring about Terri’s death, though the impediment could also arise under section 2 if his common-law wife has cooperated with him in bringing about Terri’s death. Since I don’t know what his common-law wife may or may not have done, let me focus on section 1:
The central question is whether Michael is trying to kill Terri in order to marry his common-law wife. If he is trying to murder her for reasons unrelated to marrying his common-law wife then this canon would not be triggered.
If, after Terri’s death, especially if it were soon after Terri’s death, he sought to marry his common-law wife then that would be evidence that the murder was performed at least in part to facilitate this and thus that he was impeded from marrying her.
Note that the canon speaks of performing the crime "with a view to" marrying someone. This suggests that the canon is triggered even if the death is not done principally for the sake of marrying the new person. One could have additional motives for wanting to kill one’s spouse. For example, if Michael wanted to kill Terri (a) because he stands to gain money by doing so and (b) because he’s afraid of what she might say about him should she ever recover and (c) because he wants to marry his common-law wife then reason (c) alone would seem to trigger the canon as the killing was done "with a view to" (c) even if (a) or (b) were the stronger motives. (Mind you: I’m not saying that Michael has motives like (a) or (b), nor am I saying that he has motive (c); I don’t even know if he’s Catholic; I’m just illustrating a point of Church law.)
Note that the canon speaks of performing the crim in order to marry "a certain person." There has to be a definite person with respect to whom the crime is committed. If one were to kill one’s spouse simply to be able to remarry, but without having a certain person in mind, then the canon is not triggered.
Note also that the canon speaks of one who has "brought about the death" of a spouse. This is different than murdering the spouse. Whether something counts as murder tends to be a matter of the civil law, and so even if the state of Florida does not judge Terri’s killing as murder, the canon would still seem to be be triggered as Michael would have still "brought about the death" of Terri though a perversion of the civil law. (NOTE: Accidents don’t count under this canon unless the "accident" is brought about deliberately. True accidents are, well, accidents, and thus are not done "with a view to" anything. Thus if you and your spouse are Darwin Award stupid and are having a happyfun game of toss the rattlesnake and one of you dies, it doesn’t trigger the canon.)
The canon does not require any judicial process to take it’s effect. It’s automatic. If Michael brings about Terri’s death in order to marry his common-law wife (and if he’s Catholic) then he’s impeded from marrying her. Whether his having done so is provable in an ecclesiastical court is a separate matter, but he’s impeded from marrying her whether it’s provable or not. If he tries to marry her soon after Terri’s death, that would seem to establish a presumption that he did so and is thus impeded.
The impediment also is not removed if he defects from the Church by a formal act. Defecting from the Church by a formal act would avert the impediment of failing to observe the Catholic form of marriage, but failure to observe form is a different impediment than this one, and there is no removal of this impediment by leaving the Church. If he ex-Catholicizes himself then he is still impeded from validly contracting marriage with the woman.
He would not, however, be impeded from contracting marriage with a different woman. The canon says that he "invalidly attemts this marriage" where "this marriage" refers to the marriage for whose sake the killing is done. If he killed Terri in order to marry his common-law wife and then, afterwards, concludes "Well, enough of you" with respect to the common-law wife and marries somebody else, he would not be impeded in that case. He’s only impeded from marrying the woman for whose sake he committed the crime.
Finally, all of this hinges on one other fact: that he is actually validly married to Terri. If he’s not validly married to her then the canon would not be triggered as she would not in actuality be his spouse. If, purely for purposes of example, he was always such a twisted individual that he failed to exchange valid matrimonial consent with Terri such that she was his wife under civil law only and he then bumped her off then the canon would not be triggered.
It might ought to be. The next time the Code gets revised or amended they might want to strengthen this canon, but as it is
Laws which
establish a penalty, restrict the free exercise of rights, or contain an
exception from the law are subject to strict interpretation [canon 18].
Since canon 1090 restricts the free exercise of a right (the right to marry), it has to be given a strict interpretation, and so there would be a number of matters (such as those described above) in proving that Michael had triggered the canon.
(Cowboy hat tip to the reader who e-mailed to make sure I took note of the combox discussion.)
"Family Confession"
A reader writes:
A friend of mine says she attended confession with her whole family.
I.e., they were all confessing together. I wonder if this is
advisable, but is it valid? Does the sacrament require privacy to be
valid?
This is gravely illicit but would be valid unless somethign else is affecting the situation. Privacy of confession is not needed for it to be valid, though it is needed for it to be licit, and this kind of situation completely flies in the face of the Church’s law on this point. Any priest who did this is gravely violating liturgical and canon law as well as engaging in a highly destructive practice whereby some family members might feel pressured to hold back things they don’t want other family members to know or, if people blurted these things out in front of others anyway, they might harm family relations.
Further, the seal of the confessional binds all of these people regarding what they heard other family members say. You can disclose your own sins out of the confessional if you want, but you can’t disclose anybody else’s.