Hanoi Jane Lives Still

In an interview for Sixty Minutes this Sunday (isn't their time up? tick tick tick...) Barbarella says that "sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal ... the largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine,". I don't see anywhere in the Fox News article where she apologizes for it or asks for forgiveness. There are many Vietnam POW's that will never forgive her or forget her for that wretched performance. She should have been hanged for treason back in 1972, because this was a treasonous act.

Last Rites for John Paul II

CNN is reporting that Pope John Paul II has been given last rites as his health issues continue to mount. This does not mean that death is imminent for the ailing pontiff, but it doesn't ease the fears of the millions of Catholics throughout the world who have looked to this man for over a quarter of a century for spiritual guidance.

The pope has been given last rites before when he was shot by a would be assassin, or what I would call a terrorist, back in 1981. Now would be a good time to pray for his health and his soul.

Terri has gone home

Terri Schiavo officially died today after 13 days of no nutrition or water. It has been a very polarizing event for the last 7 years, but most particularly during the last 2 weeks or so. I have made my position quite clear on these pages here and here. Many people that know me have been a little confused about my stand on this issue, what with me being a pro-life conservative and all.

Well, I have felt from the beginning that this was just a different situation. I am not so set in my belief system that I would throw blanket statements out there to cover everything that life hands you. That would be irresponsible of me, and now in the world of blogging, to anybody who happens to read my blogs/articles.

I firmly believe that Terri has been dead for the last 15 years, and that the only way that her body remained "living" was through artificial means. Whether that was a situation that she supported was the responsibility of the courts to decide, and over the last 7 years the courts have unanimously sided with her husband and not her parents. If it has all been lies then that is something that he will have to live with now, but explain to a higher court later.

As for me, I am praying for her family, both sides of her family. I don't think the rift between them will ever heal, but I pray that they each forgive the other's transgressions.

Unless the autopsy reveals something so surprising that I just can't help myself, this will be my last article on Terri. The healing of wounds is going to take some time, and if everyone is still writing or talking about this then the clock can't start ticking. I for one want the healing to begin.

Annan close to resigning?

That's what Britain's Sunday Times is reporting.

“Kofi Annan is going to find his position increasingly untenable,” said Nile Gardiner, an expert on the UN at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “There is a strong possibility he will resign voluntarily because of his declining credibility.”

With all the scandals and wrong calls happening during his watch, he should be more than considering resigning. He should have it written, addressed, stamped and ready to put in the mailbox.

The oil for food scandal is enough on its own to demand he step down, but there is so much more he can put on his resume. There is the raping of young girls by UN Peacekeepers in Congo, there is the whole Darfur genocide that he has been so good at resolving, there is the continuing mess in Kosovo not to mention the utter weakness the body is at enforcing the resolutions that they themselves have passed.

I don't know if I would go so far as to say that the UN is an impotent organization, although I am not far from being there. Kofi Annan has proven himself to be one of the worst, if not the worst Secretary General's in the history of the institution. His time has come and gone. It is time for Kofi to wave bu-bye.

Happy Easter

During this time of transition in job and home, I haven't been able to blog as regularly as I would like. Please hang in there. Things will settle down soon (I hope). I still need to get settled in some temporary housing. Currently I am staying with friends three nights a week, while driving home (2-1/2 hrs) on Wednesdays to be with my beautiful wife. With luck, and God's will, our house will sell soon and we can make the final move to our new home.

I would like to wish all readers a happy, healthy and safe Easter. Keep in mind the true meaning of the day, and may God bless each and every one of you.

What a Depressing and Unfunny Man

Woody Allen has a new movie out, not that I really care since the only movie I have ever seen him in was the James Bond spoof Casino Royale (the book was good but the movie was terrible). I came across an AP article in which he had the following uplifting insights.

"There are some laughs you have in life, provided by comedians and provided by fortuitous moments with your family or friends or something," he says. "But most of life is tragic. You're born, you don't why. You're here, you don't know why. You go, you die. Your family dies. Your friends die. People suffer. People live in constant terror. The world is full of poverty and corruption and war and Nazis and tsunamis. ... The net result, the final count is, you lose - you don't beat the house.

"I have my own little world that I live in, and it's pleasurable for me to the degree that anything can be pleasurable in this world."

What a pathetic way to live your life. I can only assume that the nazi comment was meant for President Bush. I take it back, it's not a pathetic way that he lives his life. He is pathetic.

More Terri

It appears that time is about to run out on Terri Schiavo. In a last ditch effort to get her feeding tube reconnected, Governor Jeb Bush is trying to gain custody of her. First off, I didn't know he could do that, at least not without her husband's permission, which would be highly unlikely. Secondly, why her and why now. Is he willing to do the same for others in a like predicament? He had better be prepared to. Or is this just political grandstanding? I would like to think that he simply believes that what he is doing is the right thing, even though I don't believe it is the right thing to do as I blogged about here.

This whole situation has become political from Jeb Bush to the US Congress and right up to the white house. This is not a political issue. This is an issue that really shouldn't be at all. This should be a lesson to all people, no matter how young or old, who do not wish to be kept alive by artificial methods, to prepare a living will. I say that and yet I am as guilty as she is. I am now in the process of documenting my wishes in case of accident or illness.

Once again I will state that I believe that it is time to let this poor woman's body go. She hasn't been there for 15 long years.

Terri Schiavo

I know that I am a day late and at least a dollar short on this subject. I also know that I am going to disappoint a few of my more conservative readers with this posting.

I am actually for the feeding tube to be removed from Terri's body. I know that sounds terribly harsh and somewhat cruel, but I believe that it is her husband's place to make this decision. I know that nothing is in writing and that we only have his word to take for this decision, but I believe him.

My wife and I have the same arrangement as the Schiavo's. Our mistake, which is the same as theirs, is that we don't have that written in a living will or any other document. If nothing else, this case has brought me to the realization that time isn't necessarily on my side as far as the documentation of my monetary assets or how my physical being should be handled in the case of my incapacitation.

I have no desire to be left hooked up to a bunch of tubes for feeding or defecation purposes. When I am no longer able to perform these duties without the help of others, or machines, then I no longer wish to be a part of this world. If I am unable to do these rudimentary things, then I will already be in a better world anyway. My wife feels the same way. What both of us have to do at this point is to prepare the proper documentation so that what is happening to Mrs. Shiavo doesn't happen to either of us.

Terri Shiavo deserves the right to die with dignity. Her parents, though I know love her very much, have got to let go. Most of the doctors who have examined her have said that she is in a (and these are my words for lack of a direct quote) persistant vegitative state for which there is no cure or recovery.

I am sorry for the loss to her family, and this is where I will get in a little trouble with my conservative friends, but it is time to let her go. She is dead. God called her home 15 years ago, but science has not allowed her body to follow. Let her go now.

I pray that God heals the wounds between these two families and allows them to move ahead with the plans that He has for them throughout the rest of their lives. Perhaps one of them will find a new calling because of this tremendous loss. But make no mistake, it is time for Terri to be layed to rest and for her family to know that she rests with God.

Update

Well, it looks like Mrs. Scar and I have found a house that we like. Now all we have to do is sell this one! Hopefully it will be a quick and painless process (yeah, right).

I start my new gig in Atlanta on Tuesday. I am looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun.

Sorry about the lack of blogs during this transition, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Stay tuned....

Homeward Bound

Early tomorrow morning, Mrs. Scar and I are going to kennel up the dogs (sorry Floyd and Leia) and head up to Atlanta to look for a house. We will be spending the next couple of days up there so don't look for any new posts during that time (don't look so shocked). Blogging should pick up some time on Tuesday the 15th......with any luck.

Death Wish

I missed the beginning of the case of the courtroom killer in my soon to be (once again) home town of Atlanta (after giving my notice to my employer, they didn't walk me off the property until almost noon eastern time). Once I got home and turned on Fox News there was wall to wall coverage.

So this guy overpowers a female deputy sheriff and shoots her in the face, rushes into the court room, presumably looking for the girl accusing him of rape, among other things, but doesn't find her there so he shoots and kills the judge presiding over the case, the court stenographer and then upon leaving the court house decides to kill a deputy sheriff on the sidewalk.

Later he would pistol whip a reporter for the local paper who was just getting to work and steal his car (only to abandon it one floor down in the parking garage). Early this morning he allegedly killed a U.S. Customs Agent and stole his truck and drove until he came upon an unsuspecting woman walking into her apartment in a Duluth, Georgia. The woman later gained her freedom and called 911.

Upon seeing the 30 or so SWAT Team members of Gwinnett County (who did a marvelous job and showed a great deal of restraint) 34 year old Brian Nichols surrendered to the police without incident.

Why is this event newsworthy, or at least bloggerworthy to me? In my opinion each one of the SWAT Team members is worthy of a medal, or accommodation of some kind, and I mean in the highest order. This human being (and I use that term in the lowest possible sense) should be dead, and more than likely will be, legally, under the death sentence, some 20 years or so from now when no one will remember why. There will be protesters, of course, claiming his life shouldn't be extinguished because he was under some sort of distress at the time he murdered 4 innocent people. Perhaps he had a nagging hang nail at the time, who could be held reasonably accountable for something he did under those conditions?

If I were a member of the SWAT Team that ultimately captured this complete animal, I don't know that I would have been able to honor the "flag of truce" that Nichols waved from the empty apartment he was occupying. My mind could quite possibly have wandered to the four innocent lives he so mercilessly snuffed out, and to their grieving families. Could my finger have been kept from pulling the trigger that could save those family's the grief and the taxpayers the cost of putting this monster on trial?

Fortunately for Brian Nichols, neither he or I have to worry about that. He will be tried, he will be convicted, he will have 20 years of appeals, but ultimately he will die for the crimes he committed over the last two days. May God have mercy on his soul, because at this time, I for one certainly don't, and that is something that I will have to come to terms with.

I pray that God will comfort those whose lives have been affected by these events.

Where in the Blog have I Been?

Once again I have to apologize for the severe lack of blogging as of late. We at the Scar house are in a period of transition. No, we are not going to Ankara like the TKS family, but we are moving none the less. I have been offered a position within corporate headquarters of the direct competitor of my current.....make that former employer. I was sorry to say goodbye to them, and I wish everyone within the organization the best of wishes. This opportunity was just too good to pass up.

So Mrs. Scar and I will be moving from mid Georgia back up to the northeast side of Atlanta where we used to live. We are looking forward to going back home after a year and a half in the wilderness.

I am sorry to say that blogging will be a little light over the next two to three days while we travel to the area and look for a new home. The rest of the week I should be able to get right back into it. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to my life settling back down a little bit.

Going...going...Gunga Dan

This being an extremely busy time and all, I was going to let the passing of "Dan the Man" go without a word. There have been many a good blogger that has had a word or two to say on the subject, see here, here, here, here and here. I am sure that the blogosphere is swarming, or has been swarming about the subject all day. I have not been able to keep up as I would normally like to, and did not see the last broadcast of his show or the greatest hits afterward.

Throughout his career, Dan Rather has shown no respect for true journalism or respect for people in general. His first great break came with his "scoop" that President Kennedy had died. He actually overheard a real reporter's conversation with his source in the hospital and then ran off to report it as if it were his own story.

At the same time he reported that Dallas's University Park Elementary School had cheered when told of President Kennedy's death. According to Eddie Barker, The news director for CBS's radio and TV affiliates in Dallas at the time of President Kennedy's November 22, 1963, assassination, it wasn't true, and Dan Rather knew it. See the story here.

Dan Rather has made a "career" out of lies and innuendo's and no one has called him on it, from that moment in Dallas through the Watergate mess to George Bush 41 and up to September the 8th of last year when he tried to sway an election during a time of war. That is when the blogosphere made a fool of him and his "unimpeachable source" that provided the forged documents that ultimately led to Rather's demise.

Rather will be remembered, not for any great works or for being a "Big game hunter", but for his political bias when he swore to the american people he had none. His biggest mistake, and there have been many, was that he wasn't content with reporting the story, he had to become part of the story.

Happy Birthday Jessica

Today is our youngest daughter's 22nd birthday. Happy birthday kiddo. I love you very much!

lack of blogging

Sorry for the lack of blogging. Mrs. Scar and I have had a busy couple of weeks with work and travel dealing with new job offers. More on that later. Hopefully everything will get back to normal over the next few days and I can get back to blogging on a more regular basis.