De Doc's Institute for Memetic Engineering And Polymaths' Pursuits

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Netherlands Hospital Euthanizes Babies

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - A hospital in the Netherlands - the first nation to permit euthanasia - recently proposed guidelines for mercy killings of terminally ill newborns, and then made a startling revelation: It has already begun carrying out such procedures, which include administering a lethal dose of sedatives. …

Classically, the “slippery slope” argument is considered a fallacy. Stories like this make you wonder…

And people wonder why I vehemently oppose Kevorkian’s ilk.

UPDATE: Others are beginning to notice, and are also appaled. Paul, at Wizbang, is so incensed that he slanders Neanderthals. The Diplomad notes yet another double standard. Captain Ed notes that in the Netherlands, the value of human life is now …

I’ve been having some trouble with getting WordPress updated. But now, thanks to my hostess’ gracious help, I’ve been able to get past my cPanel, and install WP 1.2…

which means considerably less time spent with comment spam, once I finish some touchups to my plugins file.

*evil grin*

Cheap hosting? Hell, it’s superb hosting.

And there was grousing about OUR election.

Wretchard does his usual superb job of analysis – and this time, he\’s not alone, as these links show.

Interesting times for the Ukrainian people (in the Chinese sense). The Russians should think very, very carefully about the waters they\’re fishing in; terrorist attacks in Beslan and Moscow have bought Putin\’s government some sympathy, but that goodwill can disappear VERY quickly.

Like many others, I watch with hope and apprehension.

Snarkiest. Movie. Review. Ever.

Here.

By way of LGF.

As the military justice system considers the incident in Fallujah, and Kevin Sites tries to provide a context for his actions, perhaps other examples of context are in order:

Violence Sweeps Baghdad; Insurgents Fire on US Troops in Fallujah After Waving White Flag; Iraqi Soldiers Murdered in Mosul.

In an environment where feigned surrenders are used to lure US troops into ambush, \"playing possum\” is a lot more ominous than it would be in Boise, or Oakland.

Fortunately for the accused, his tribunal will be comprised of marines who understand that…

who possess context.

As many of you know, Senator Arlen Specter\’s confirmation as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee was bitterly opposed by many members of the Republican coalition.

As of tonight, it appears that that opposition was not totally successful. The Senator had to publically state his support for the President\’s agenda and goals at considerable, carefully crafted length – but after that statement, his fellow Republicans on the committee voted unanimously to commend him to the full caucus. The senatorial caucus could vote against his elevation, but it seems unlikely at this point.

There\’s plenty of rage and seething going on over this decision. Interestingly, though, much of it is coming from opponents of the opponents – who are indulging …

In Pyongyang?

It\’s possible:

North Korea\’s official radio and news agency has dropped the honorific \"Dear Leader\” from its reports on the country\’s leader, Kim Jong-il.

The report by Radiopress, a Japanese news agency that monitors North Korea\’s radio, follows news this week that portraits of the North Korean leader have been removed from homes and offices.

That kind of thing doesn\’t happen in Workers\’ Paradises, unless something\’s afoot. Neither do things like this:

It\’s Thursday in Japan and I have received email from Kyoto from Mongai Kome, frequent commenter on this blog. His morning paper (Sankei Shinbun) is reporting anti-regime flyers being posted in over fifty places in North Korea. This public display of disobedience in that benighted country …

My Gracious Hostess and dear friend, Venomous Kate, has arrived in Kansas City, after the LOOOONG flight from Hawai\’i.

It\’s good to know she made it back to the mainland… and all of us who\’ve endured military-funded moves are hoping her household goods made it in one piece, too!

Luck to you, Kate, and good BBQ… *g*

I\’ve been in the middle of a long stack of shifts, and they\’ve been fairly brutal. The flu season is being gentle with us, but every other kind of dire illness seems to have surfaced with the turn of the weather.

My apologies for being so scarce… but hopefully things will settle down soon. There can\’t be that many more people in NE Florida to GET sick, I should think…

To my friends, my shipmates, my fellow veterans, who aren\’t here to read this:

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

– John McRae

I have not forgotten you.

WE have not forgotten.

Rest well…

so…

May G_d have mercy on his soul.

The rest is silence.

would someone please tell me?

I won\’t have access for awhile.

My son is defending New Mombasa with the Master Chief.

So, you see, I won\’t be able to watch the tube for QUITE some time.

heh…

People who are (currently) frantic about the presumed Religious Rightwing Revolution would do well to stop reading The Handmaid\’s Tale, and consider:

The passage of the gay marriage ban in eleven states occurred in the same election that rejected the candidacy of Alan Keyes. It is not that most people wanted to thump a Bible, it was that they didn\’t want to be thumped at all – least of all by a synthetic political correctness.

Or perhaps:

Nationally, gay marriage is a loser, but civil unions are a big winner, with 35 percent support (and 32 percent in the South). Assume that the 25 percent who back marriage rights (17 percent in the South), and you\’ve got a clear majority (and a slim …

No, really.

I cannot imagine a more untenable position from which to pursue the Presidency in 2008… or beyond.

Consider:

** The Republican National Committee must already have a Hillary Watch team set up, collating everything known about her to date… and gathering political intelligence on her, day in, day out. (Look for a \"Hillary Spot\” at National Review Online in the not too distant future.)

** Senator Clinton cannot \"run silent, run deep\” for the next three years. She has to stay visible, both in the MSM and on the floor of the Senate … which will, in turn, make it harder to hide her record from scrutiny. Neither Clinton\’s political beliefs, nor her …

Not so very long ago, I saw Robert Heinlein\’s spitting image at EPCOT.

Now I\’m reading Retief\’s thoughts… except I\’m not reading a novel; I\’m reading a real diplomatic blog.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Go have a look – it\’s a hoot.

Bosh.

Eminem has produced a fine little ditty; and the video that goes along with it is a splendid piece of polemic. And unlike Michael Moore, he hasn\’t lied about anything…

Been mistaken, OK. But no lies.

Still, I can\’t help but think Eminem would benefit from a little of the same skewering he recently handed out to MC Hammer, Peewee Herman, Michael Jackson… sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander, eh?

How about this:

On Inaguration Day, let\’s all wear \"hoodies\” in honor of the President\’s victory.

RED hoodies.

Any takers?

I have passed another developmental milestone as a blogger, it seems.

Someone has decided to disown me for my political views.

Unhappy details here.

Not my choice… unless you count speaking up as a \"choice\".

It appears there are a number of people who are so appalled by the election results that they wish to leave the United States, thinking they\’ll find a more tolerant culture, a more humane and accepting world…

Or not.

Surely one of the most pathetic, the most inexplicable things about the collectivist-statist \"left wing\” is their utter inability to see who are merely their political opponents…

and who are their mortal enemies.

(Suggested by this note of Will Collier\’s.)

Nothing so became your campaign
as the ending of it.

Your decision does you credit, and I honor you for doing the right thing.

Share it with the rest of the electorate TODAY.

If you haven\’t yet…

I Voted… Did You?

stop reading, and go vote!

And yes… lest anyone wonder…

I Voted… Did You?

Think long and hard about what his Cabinet will look like.

Just scroll down, past the paen to Paglia.

Thank you, Jeff… I think. *shudder*

Poor Mr. Bin Laden. He wanted to send a clear message to the American people, and relied on the MSM.

Oops.

The tape of Osama bin Laden that was aired on Al-Jazeera(1) on Friday, October 29th included a specific threat to \"each U.S. state,\” designed to influence the outcome of the upcoming election against George W. Bush. The U.S. media in general mistranslated the words \"ay wilaya\” (which means \"each U.S. state\")(2) to mean a \"country\” or \"nation\” other than the U.S., while in fact the threat was directed specifically at each individual U.S. state. This suggests some knowledge by bin Laden of the U.S. electoral college system. In a section of his speech in which he harshly criticized George W. …