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Over at Mere Comments, the almost-a-blog space (they need a blogroll and/or comments) at the excellent Touchstone Magazine web site James Kushiner writes on the recent troubles in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem which include the absence of Patriarch Irinios from Good Friday services. Note that for Orthodox Christians, Great and Holy Friday was yesterday.
No Peace for Jerusalem
Quoting from Ecumenical News International;On Palm Sunday, 24 April, when Orthodox Christians celebrated the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem before his crucifixion, Israeli police were called on to restore order at a church service. There Irineos faced chants of "Shame on You" from a crowd of Palestinian Orthodox Christians, some brandishing posters with the word "Judas" written on them.
...It would seem that every foolish word and gesture on the part of the Lord's followers in the Gospels, against which he warned them (and us) often, seems to be repeated, mirrored, in the conduct of his followers even 2,000 years later. Which just means that man seems to learn little, even when taught, and we badly need a Savior, and we need to listen to His teachings, and do them.
To understand the controversy (stupidly enough it revolves around a real estate transation) read Mr. Kushiner's post.
FREE SALES PITCH ALERT!
I am a long-time subscriber to this execllent magazine and urge all orthodox Christians of whatever stripe; Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, to subscribe. For all of the rest of my dear readers, to understand our thinking on issues of society and culture or politics and how those issues relate through a true belief in Christ as fully God and Man, you should subscribe to.
Touchstone Magazine did not pay me for that pitch, I just like them. Now if they would just put a blogroll on Mere Comments and add me to it...
Just kidding, go read and learn.
Way back on the 23rd of February I posted on the DPRK's new missile capability. Although the Taepodong 2 missile has not yet been tested, analysts are starting to get worried. North Korea 'could hit US with missiles'One intelligence official said United States agencies judged that a two-stage Taepo Dong could strike parts of the US west coast and that a three-stage version could probably reach all of North America.
When asked by Senator Hillary Clinton during a hearing whether "North Korea has the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear device", he responded: "The assessment is that they have the capability to do that, yes ma’am."
The president, George Bush, said later there was a "concern" about North Korea’s ability to attack America with a nuclear weapon. "We don’t know if he can or not, but I think it’s best when dealing with a tyrant like Kim Jong Il to assume he can," he said.
The Associated Press predictably soft-pedals the danger but, interestingly, demonstrates the need for a missile defense shield. In this exchange Senator Clinton gives every appearance that she "gets it". Defense Official Says North Korea Can Arm Missile With Nuclear Weapon;Jacoby discussed North Korea's capabilities during questioning by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
Clinton asked if "North Korea has the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear device?"
Jacoby answered, "My assessment is that they have the capability to do that."
Clinton then asked, "And do you assess that North Korea has the ability to deploy a two-stage intercontinental nuclear missile that could successfully hit U.S. territory?"
Jacoby responded, "Yes, the assessment on a two-stage missile would give capability to reach portions of U.S. territory and the projection on a three-stage missile would be that it would be able to reach most of the continental United States. That still is a theoretical capability in a sense that those missiles have not been tested."
U.S. intelligence believes a two-stage Taepo Dong 2 could hit Alaska, Hawaii and perhaps parts of the West Coast. North Korea also has shorter-range missiles which, some officials have said, may be able to carry a nuclear warhead as far as Japan.
Clinton said Jacoby's testimony was "troubling beyond words."
Not troubling enough, however to do something really effective, like multi-party talks where real pressure can be applied. No, they want direct talks, like President Clinton did.Later Thursday, Clinton and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the panel, sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that read, "Admiral Jacoby's assessment that North Korea has the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear device is, we believe, the first such public assessment by an Administration official."
They called on the Bush administration to pursue direct talks with Pyongyong, something the administration has declined to do in favor of six-party talks that also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
But President Bush, at a White House news conference Thursday night, said that "the best way to deal with this issue diplomatically is to have four other nations beside ourself dealing with him. And we'll continue to do so."
The liberal editors and reporters of the Associated Press probably hate this, but this story makes the need for a missile defense shield obvious even to the simple minded.Bush also said the threat from North Korea was a chief reason for his insistence on going ahead with development of a missile defense system. "Perhaps (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Il has got the capacity to launch a weapon; wouldn't it be nice to be able to shoot it down?" Bush said.
Yes it would.
I have fixed the comments so now Haloscan is used in both the front page and individual postings. Previously if someone commented on an individual post it would not show up on the front page because it went into the Blogger comments system. Front page comments went into Haloscan.
Now it is Haloscan throughout. Happy commenting.
It has often been said that Orthodox Christians do not evangelize. Sadly, that criticism has often been true. Now, however, we have the Orthodox Christian Mission Center. The OCMC is an arm of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA).
Browse the site and read their magazine (the links are to .pda files).
They are active worldwide and in Europe are particularly active in Albania, a country that, at the end of its Stalinist rule, was very nearly 100% muslim. The ancient autocephalous Church of Albania has been resurrected and is gaining converts.
See also The Resurrection of the Church in Albania and the linked photo essay, Resurrection in Albania.
There really is hope. We will not give up.
It is well known that the Religion of Peace™ is merciful because Allah is merciful. Here is an example of Islamic mercy, "Merciful" or "have mercy"?. I normally do not watch these videos (with Islam such things keep coming up) but I did this one as I won't blog something that I have not seen.
These are not extremists. These are regular Muslims stoning four people to death. The crowd is large and not trying to hide or operate in secret in any way.
If you are sqeamish, do not watch the video.
If you do not wish to visit the web site here is the direct link.
On April 21st the "News Service" of the DPRK rejected the Resolution of the UNCHR and explained that Human Rights means only national sovereignty and nothing more. Since North Korea clearly has sovereignty over its concentration camp country, there is no human rights problem there.
Right.
Because I don't think it is possible for a communist country to have copyright rights, I'll reproduce the entire article. It was posted on the 21st but has a dateline of the 20th This is pure moonbattery.
"Resolution" of Meeting of UN Commission on Human Rights RejectedPyongyang, April 20 (KCNA) -- A "resolution" malignantly slandering the DPRK was adopted at the 61st meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights held in Geneva recently. In this regard, a spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry released a statement today declaring that human rights precisely mean national sovereignty and the DPRK will take a decisive measure against the continued misuse of the human rights issue as leverage for anti-DPRK hostile campaign.
The DPRK will never recognize the "resolution", which groundlessly slandered it over the non-existent "human rights issue", and bitterly and categorically rejects it as part of the moves of the hostile forces to isolate and stifle it, the statement noted, and continued:
Like last year's, the recent "resolution" is peppered with poisonous articles and misinformation some dishonest forces of the world community have long cooked up to tarnish the image of the system in the DPRK and put pressure on it. It has reached the acme of politicization and selectivity.
The "resolution" is chiefly aimed to overthrow the system in the DPRK.
It is well known that the United States has regarded the human rights issue as well as the nuclear issue as main leverage to escalate the tension in the Korean Peninsula and isolate and stifle the DPRK.
In its annual "report on human rights situation", the U.S. has malignantly slandered the DPRK and other countries. [Iran, Syria, China, et al. are wonderful places, the U.S. and Japan are the true evildoers - ed.] Worse still, it adopted even the "North Korean Human Rights Act," spending a huge amount of money for its anti-DPRK campaign over the human rights issue and plugging its allied forces and even non-governmental organizations into the campaign.
The adoption of the recent "resolution", too, was one more sinister hostile act perpetrated by Western countries including Britain and Japan which have zealously joined the U.S. in the moves to stifle the DPRK at its instigation.
It is a politically motivated document, a clear indication of the high-handed practice of the West keen on applying selectivity and double standards in dealing with the human rights issues.
What is urgent for resolving the present world human rights issues is quite clear to everyone.
If the UN Commission on Human Rights is to properly discharge its mission, it is urgent to focus the debate on the U.S. above all.
The U.S. is chiefly to blame for human rights abuses and crimes against humanity as it is beset with poor human rights performances at home and has committed massacres of civilians and maltreatment of POWs in such illegal wars of aggression as the Iraqi war. Such being hard facts, the recent meeting mentioned no word about the U.S., the world's worst violator of human rights. It only attacked those progressive countries which have independently advanced contrary to the ideology of the West.
This eloquently proves that the commission allegedly handling human rights issues in the international arena has miserably played into the hands of those forces seeking a sinister political purpose in the human rights issue. [Yes, the sinister advancement of the idea of participatory government and the right not to be starved to death or killed for throwing a photo into the trash. - ed.]
The recent adoption of the "resolution" once again proved the truth that the human rights precisely mean national sovereignty.
For anyone to talk about national sovereignty and dignity without any strength to protect oneself is nothing but an empty talk.
We are convinced of this through our past history and our practice today.
The DPRK has invariably maintained the principle of reacting with the toughest stand to anyone who dares slander and provoke it.
Those countries which took the lead in seeking the adoption of the "resolution" hostile to the DPRK should clearly understand this and act with discretion.
In particular, we will certainly force Japan to pay for having brought the already settled "abduction issue" to Geneva for its inclusion in the "resolution" and kicked up an anti-DPRK racket.
Japan has not yet made any apology and compensation for the hideous crimes perpetrated against humanity in the past. It is, therefore, not qualified to be a leading member of the international community of good virtue and faith, much less having the face to talk about the human rights issue.
The man-centered socialism in the DPRK under which man is regarded as dearer than anything else and everything is made to serve him is happy home to its people as it provides them with genuine freedom and rights.
The U.S. and its allied hostile forces should know that their despicable anti-DPRK human rights racket is as foolish an act as trying to sweep the sea with a broom. Such act will only harden the determination of the army and people of the DPRK to protect their ideology and system at the cost of their lives.
Man-centered socialism has no higher moral view than himself. The morality that we have that tells us that it is not ok to kill someone who has not committed murder himself, that it is not ok to rape or steal or starve large populations, comes from a belief in God. What we have is an inversion of what is moral, death for life. If we want a man-centered, reason centered ethic we get Kim Jong Il and Peter Singer.
DANGER: This post is politically incorrect. (Interesting phrase, it can only come from totalitarianism and was introduced by liberals referring to conservative ideas in a college newspaper.)
The Blogfather, Charles Johnson, and many others have reported on the Islamization of Europe. The problem has not gone unnoticed in Europe either, We must show our opposition to Islam, says Danish queenShe said: "We are being challenged by Islam these years - globally as well as locally. It is a challenge we have to take seriously. We have let this issue float about for too long because we are tolerant and lazy.
"We have to show our opposition to Islam and we have to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on us because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance."
"And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction."
But she is understanding, not cold and hateful as the Left™ would have you think;The queen told her biographer, Annelise Bistrup, apparently referring to Muslim fundamentalists: "There is something impressive about people for whom religion imbues their existence, from dusk to dawn, from cradle to grave."
She said she understood how disaffected young Muslims might find refuge in religion. This tendency should be fought by encouraging Muslims to learn Danish so they could integrate better, she said.
"We should not be content with living next to each other. We should rather live together."
It would be good if the rest of Europe had her good sense, but it doesn't.
On April 19th the Asia Times Online published The crescent and the conclave by Spengler.Now that everyone is talking about Europe's demographic death, it is time to point out that there exists a way out: convert European Muslims to Christianity. The reported front-runner at the Vatican conclave that began on Monday, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, is one of the few Church leaders unafraid to raise the subject. [1] Hedonistic dissipation well may have condemned the existing Europeans to infecundity and extinction, but that does not prevent Europe from getting new ones. It has been done before.
Europe in the 8th century was a depopulated ruin. The loss of half the Roman Empire's population by the 7th century left vast territories open to Islam, which rapidly absorbed the formerly Christian Levant, North Africa and Spain. By converting successive waves of invading pagans - Lombards, Magyars, Vikings, Celts, Saxons, Slavs - Christianity reinvented Europe, and held Islam at bay.
Pope John Paul II is rightly criticized for being too accommodating of Islam, but Pope Benedict XVI may not be.As the late pope's adviser, Cardinal Ratzinger shares responsibility for past Vatican policies, but his tone has changed during the past six months. He opposed Turkey's entry into the European Union. Last week he published a tract titled Werte in Zeiten des Umbruchs ("Values in Times of Upheaval"), calling for Europe to return to its core Christian values. He denounced Europe's "incomprehensible self-hatred", adding that if Europe wants to survive, "it must consciously seek to rediscover its own soul". He wrote, "Multiculturalism cannot survive without common constants, without taking one's own culture as a point of departure." [emphasis mine - ed.]
In abandoning her religion and culture, Europe commits suicide and is ripe for Islamic picking.Ratzinger deplored the exclusion of Christianity from the proposed European Constitution. Unlike the United States, where politicians of both parties agree that revelation is the source of virtue, secular Europe insists upon an entirely secular approach to ethics. In this regard I sympathize with Ratzinger, and refer readers to an extensive debate on the subject of Kant's Categorical Imperative in the Asia Times Online Forum. Kant initiated the modern attempt to derive ethics from reason. His approach (oversimplified) is to ask, "What if everybody did?" You are not supposed to do something to which you would object were someone else to do it. This approach has some obvious weaknesses. Bertrand Russell observed in his History of Western Philosophy that a depressive very well might wish for everyone to commit suicide, and thus commit suicide himself with perfect justification. Just that attitude describes the mindset of today's Europeans, who naturally prefer a Kantian approach to a religious one.
The Catholic Church may well step up to the plate, but it is the Orthodox Church that has the knowledge, experience, and understanding that can save Europe, if it will be saved. It is the Orthodox Church that has lived with Islam and suffered under Islam. We understand them and, unlike Europe's Catholics (who are very liberal by global standards) we have not given up on ourselves or committed cultural or religious suicide.
To effectively take up this challenge, and it needs taken up in the United States and Canada as well, we need to change our ways and get the word out. We are great for discussing Orthodox Christianity amongst ourselves, but not so good at discussing it in detail with others. We need to take every opportunity to discuss theology, Christology, doctrine and dogma, and history with people who are not Orthodox Christians. Not necessarily with an eye to conversion (although that will happen too) but simply in conversation.
It is we who will save Europe and North America, not the secular liberals who have given up.
First I must apologize to my small (but very high quality) readership. I have not yet adapted my schedule to the existence of a job, but I'm getting there.
In the Mere Comments section of the Touchstone Magazine website a letter by Pastor Doug Smith in Canada makes an important point about the continuing attacks on Pope Benedict XVI. In Papal Attack Hits Canada he responds to Touchstone Magazine's coverage of Pope Benedict XVI;I heartily agree with Hutchens: the attack against the "Hardliner Pope" is not merely an attack against Roman Catholics but all Believers whatever their particular stripe. (I am an Evangelical minister serving in Flin Flon Mb. Canada.) In fact here is an editorial I wrote for our local paper recently:
Go read his editorial, it is good.
In fact, while you're there go ahead and browse Mere Comments. It is as close to being a blog as a company will get (no blogroll) so you should have no problem navigating the site.
I would like to congratulate you and your Pope on his election. I have long held Cardinal Ratzinger in very high regard and I am very happy to see that he will lead the Catholic Church as Pope. It is not possible to have made a better choice.
I would have provided a link in this post as I always do, but I could not find one that was really respectful of him or one that was celebratory of his election, but that is to be expected of a corrupt, liberal press.
I will discuss the mass media in a later post, but I will say that contrary to their lies, the Catholic Church in American and worldwide has grown strongly. When you hear some talking head say otherwise they are lying. That is for a later post, when I am able to find the actual numbers. But, American growth of the Church has been something like 40% during the Papcy of John Paul II. In South American and Africa it has been much more. Contrast that with the numbers for the Episcopalian, Presbyterians, Methodists, United Church of Christ, and other demoniations where the popular political tastes in favor of abortion, female clergy, euthanasia, actively homosexual clergy, and other abominations have been adopted. They are losing. The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches are growing. This is all for later.
The main job of a Bishop is to provide the spiritual guidance and teaching needed to keep Satan from destroying the Church, to ensure that the "gates of Hell" do not prevail. Pope Benedict XVI can provide that leadership. It will be good for both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. It will be good for all of mankind.
God bless Pope Benedict XVI, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Orthodox Church. May he succeed in bringing us closer together.
The explosion of Krakatoa is a well known event, awful in it's enormity, but there was one even worse in recorded history.
I was watching the Discovery Channel when I learned about Mt. Tambora.Five days later, on 10 April, a number of colossal explosions occurred, creating columns of volcanic material that stretched up to 40km (25 miles) into the sky. What goes up normally comes down, so when these columns collapsed, they formed pyroclastic flows - earth-hugging clouds of hot ash, rocks and pumice, that rampaged across the island killing everyone and everything in their path2. Almost the entire population of the Tambora province, over 10,000 people, were killed instantly by these flows. In addition, when these flows reached the sea, tsunamis up to 5m high were formed, that careered into neighbouring islands across the locality, killing yet more people in the immediate vicinity of the volcano.
These pyroclastic flows were so hot that a glass bottle that was found in the hand of a victim had begun to melt. Death was instantaneous. The tsunami was formed by the pyroclastic flow, not any earthquake or the eruption itself and was still 5 meters high, roughly the same as the one that hit the Indian Ocean in December of 2004.
The Deadliest Volcanic Eruptions
VEI 8 at Yellowstone
I wonder why the Left™ hasn't blamed it on the U.S. yet.
A birthday celebration for the monster father of the monster son.
North Korea Fetes Birthday of Late Great Leader KimExcitement and joy reigned in North Korea, official media reported, as the impoverished, secretive state celebrated the 93rd anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, its founder and eternal president.
Pyongyang was pulling out all the festive stops for Kim‘s birthday, which it calls "the Day of the Sun."
Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri was in the capital to attend the opening of the annual Kimilsungia festival, celebrating the flower named after the late "Great Leader."
Floral tributes were placed beneath Kim‘s statues across the country, North Korean media said.
Around the world, meanwhile, admirers from Kyrgyzstan to Mongolia and from Congo to Peru [all of the great democratic rulers in the world - ed.] were reported to have met to praise the former guerrilla leader‘s exploits.
Oddly, due to the combined effects of his personal charisma (something that Kim Jong Il does not have) and the "psychological conditioning" of the people Kim Il Sung was widely popular and the country was truly saddened at his death.
But, as to universal joy on his birthday; While North Koreans in their tens of thousands visited Pyongyang landmarks on Friday to pay respects to the dead leader, several million others were believed to be starving in different parts of the country, human rights activists said.
International aid agency Caritas issued an urgent appeal this week for $2.5 million in donations to provide food, medical supplies and help for farms in the North.
As I have posted earlier, recent crackdowns and the clearing of the border area with China indicate that the famine in North Korea is worsening.
Happy Birthday, Kim.
Woooo Whooo!!
About six weeks ago I accepted an offer with Electric Boat Corporation. My physical exam has been approved and I begin work tomorrow morning. It will be the first time since mid-April of 1984 that I have not worn a Navy uniform to work.
It will be the first time since just before Christmas that I have worked at all.
The break was very nice.
The Kyodo News Service reported on April 14th that the U.N. Human Rights Commission urges N. Korea to free abductees;(Kyodo) _ The U.N. Human Rights Commission urged North Korea on Thursday to immediately release all foreign nationals it has kidnapped, calling the abductions "a grave violation of human rights."
The commission made the call in a resolution it adopted the same day. Japan and the European Union jointly sponsored the draft resolution.
The commission urged North Korea to resolve "clearly, and transparently and urgently, all the unresolved questions relating to the abduction of foreigners in the form of an enforced disappearance," the resolution said.
It demanded that North Korea ensure "the immediate return of abductees."
The commission decided to extend the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, Thai scholar Vitit Muntarbhorn, for one year beyond Friday.
Muntarbhorn scrambled to gather information about the human rights situation in North Korea through interviews in various countries, including Japan, since being appointed to the post in July. North Korea has not allowed him to visit the country.
The resolution said other U.N. bodies, in particular the U.N. General Assembly, should "take up the question of human rights" in North Korea if it "does not extend cooperation to the special rapporteur and improvement of the situation of human rights in the country is not observed."
Japan has said North Korea abducted at least 15 Japanese citizens in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but 10 of the 15 are still unaccounted for.
The remaining five returned to Japan in 2002 and their families including North Korea-born children came to Japan in 2004.
North Korea has said eight of the 10 died and the remaining two has never entered its soil, an assertion Japan does not accept citing a lack of trustworthy evidence.
I hope the U.N. Human Rights Commission remembers the 486 South Koreans who have been abducted by that monstrous freak Kim Jong Il. These are mostly fishermen that were taken in international waters. Some were members of airline crews plus a few that were just taken from South Korea.
Previous post on this Human Rights review
Previous posts on the kidnappings carried out by the DPRK
I admit to being late to get to this as I heard Sean Hannity discuss it on his radio show last week. Not knowing the affected woman's name, I couldn't find the story. This is a long post, if nothing else, read the last link.
Here it is from the WorldNetDaily of April 7th; Granddaughter denies feeding tube to grandma - 81-year-old not terminally ill, comatose, nor in vegetative state.In a situation recalling the recent death of Terri Schiavo in Florida, an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.
Mae Magouirk was not terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state," when Hospice-LaGrange accepted her as a patient about two weeks ago upon the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, an elementary school teacher.
Does she have a "living will"? You bet she does.The dehydration is being done in defiance of Magouirk's specific wishes, which she set down in a "living will," and without agreement of her closest living next-of-kin, two siblings and a nephew: A. Byron McLeod, 64, of Anniston, Ga.; Ruth Mullinax, 74, of Birmingham, Ala.; and Ruth Mullinax's son, Ken Mullinax.
So how did this happen?Two weeks ago, Magouirk's aorta had a dissection, and she was hospitalized in the local LaGrange Hospital. Her aortic problem was determined to be severe, and she was admitted to the intensive care unit. At the time of her admission she was lucid and had never been diagnosed with dementia.
Claiming that she held Magouirk's power of attorney, Gaddy had her transferred to Hospice-LaGrange, a 16-bed unit owned by the same family that owns the hospital. Once at the hospice, Gaddy stated that she did not want her grandmother fed or given water.
"Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus," Gaddy told Magouirk's brother and nephew, McLeod and Ken Mullinax. "She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?"
And Gaddy did not even have power of attorney! But that does not stop her from trying to kill Mae;On March 31, Todd told Ruth and Ken Mullinax during a phone conversation Georgia law stipulated that Ruth Mullinax and her brother, A.B. McLeod, were entitled to make any and all decisions for Magouirk. Ruth Mullinax immediately told Todd to begin administering food and fluids through an IV and a nasal feeding tube.
Todd had the IV fluids started that evening, but informed the family that they would have to come to the hospice to sign papers to have the feeding tube inserted. Once that was done, Magouirk would not be able to stay at the hospice.
Ken Mullinax recalled that Todd said the only reason Magouirk was in the hospice in the first place was that the LaGrange Hospital had failed to exercise due diligence in closely examining the power of attorney Beth Gaddy said she had, as well as exercising the provisions of Magouirk's living will.
Todd explained that Gaddy had only a financial power of attorney, not a medical power of attorney, and Magouirk's living will carefully provided that a feeding tube and fluids should only be discontinued if she was comatose or in a "vegetative state" – and she was neither.
Gaddy, however, was not dissuaded. When Ken Mullinax and McLeod showed up at the hospice the following day, April 1, to meet with Todd and arrange emergency air transport for Magouirk's transfer to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center, Hospice-LaGrange stalled them while Gaddy went before Troup County, Ga., Probate Court Judge Donald W. Boyd and obtained an emergency guardianship over her grandmother.
Under the terms of his ruling, Gaddy was granted full and absolute authority over Magouirk, at least for the weekend. She took advantage of her judge-granted power by ordering her grandmother's feeding tube pulled out, just hours after it had been inserted.
Could this happen to you? You bet it can.Ron Panzer, president and founder of Hospice Patients Alliance, a patients' rights advocacy group based in Michigan, told WND that what is happening to Magouirk is not at all unusual.
"This is happening in hospices all over the country," he said. "Patients who are not dying – are not terminal – are admitted [to hospice] and the hospice will say they are terminally ill even if they're not. There are thousands of cases like this. Patients are given morphine and ativan to sedate them. If feeding is withheld, they die within 10 days to two weeks. It's really just a form of euthanasia."
Wizbang has an update as of April 9th and 12th. On Hannity and Colmes tonight Kenneth Mullinax was interviewed and said that Gaddy no longer has charge of Mae and that Mae was now out of the hospice and at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center receiving food and water.
People have value simply because they are alive. Modern liberal culture both here and in Europe require that a person have a certain usefulness to have value. When a people through age, illness, or other incapacitation are no longer useful, they become inconvenient. For too many, including the judges who rule our country, this alone is sufficient reason to have them put to death.
It is putting to death when a person is not termally ill, is awake, conscious, has a "living will", and is able to speak and clearly ask to be taken home. All it takes is some hate filled relative and a soft-headed member of the judicial oligarchy to deny food and water until death. In case anybody missed it in the Terri Schiavo case, the case of Mae Magouirk makes it abundantly clear.
Tim at Logicus bLogicus writes of The Intrinsic Value of Mae Magouirk. Read it, this is an excellent post.
Blogs for Terri reports that the fight over Mae is, unbelievably, not over!
The WorldNet Daily of April 12th reports, Closest kin prevented from visiting 'grandma. Family in dispute over fate of 81-year-old whose granddaughter cut off nourishment
If you read nothing else in this post, read that link. The whole bizarre story is there. Gaddy has forbidden any family member to visit Mae, and has forbidden the release of any information as to her condition. The evil idiot Judge Boyd seems to think that this is ok.
I will post on this again.
UPDATE:
Gaddy has partial charge of Mae. As I reported above she has shut down access to Mae, but is forced to provide medical care. She is still the guardian.
I promise to keep you posted.
Peter Worthinton of the Toronto Sun thinks so. In his column on Sunday, April 10th titled Traits of great leaders he writes;With British Prime Minister Tony Blair calling a general election for May 5, and an election looming in Canada whenever the opposition wants one, the question of leadership is again an issue.
"Leadership" is what last November's U.S. election was all about -- and George Bush set an example that all might follow, regardless of whether one seeks a top job, a middle role, or just about any task that depends on persuading people.
A case can be made that there are four "C's" that are vital for success in democratic politics -- or any occupation that requires motivation and trust: Conviction, courage, common sense and character -- hopefully interlocked, but not necessarily.
These four are the ingredients of leadership, and when complemented with a fifth "C" -- charisma -- well, then you have Alexander the Great, Robert E. Lee or Winston Churchill -- in varying degrees.
* Conviction: A political leader should believe what he (or she) espouses, and the greater his belief in himself and his cause, the more convincing he is. Ronald Reagan had conviction, as did Margaret Thatcher.
So does George Bush, whose convictions were more believable than, say, John Kerry's. Tyrants have conviction too; witness Hitler and Mao Zedong.
The Lefties™ love to see a comparisons of GWB to Hitler (but not Mao, who is a hero to them) but that will not fly.* Character: This may be the most elusive and intangible of all the qualities of leadership. It's possible to have the other traits of leadership, and to create a following with great success, yet not have the qualities of character or moral strength that democratic society aspires to.
The Hitlers, Stalins, Idi Amins and Pol Pots of history had followings and power, but not the quality of character that results in positive or benign leadership.
And that is the difference between President Bush and the others that the Left™ refuses to see.
THAT is why the Left™ is morally bankrupt.
Archbishop Iakovos of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America died on Sunday, April 10th from a pulmonary ailment. The Archdiocese has devoted several webpages to his life including video.
Archbishop Iakovos Former Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America DiesApril 10, 2005
New York, NY - Archbishop Iakovos, 93, spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox Christians in the Western Hemisphere from 1959 to 1996, died today, April 10, 2005 at Stamford Hospital, Stamford, CT, from a pulmonary ailment. In announcing the passing of Archbishop Iakovos, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, issued the following statement:
“I have had the great honor and joy to know Archbishop Iakovos for more than fifty years. He has been a superb Archbishop who offered to the Church an intense, continuous, multifaceted and creative pastoral activity. He has been a true and whole shepherd to his people trying day and night to teach them, to guide them, to comfort them, to encourage them, to edify them in Christ and to lead them as a loving shepherd to the 'springs of the living waters' (Rev. 7:17) of faith and life with God.”
The enthronement of Archbishop Iakovos on April 1, 1959 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City, ushered in a new era for Greek Orthodoxy in America. Deeply respected by all religious leaders in the United States when he retired at the age of 85 on July 29,1996, Archbishop Iakovos offered 37 years of service which were distinguished by his leadership in furthering religious unity, revitalizing Christian worship and championing human and civil rights. He had the courage to walk hand in hand with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, AL, a historic moment for America which was captured on the cover of LIFE Magazine on March 26, 1965.
Friend to nine United States Presidents, Archbishop Iakovos was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom bestowed by President Jimmy Carter on June 9, 1980.
A dynamic participant in the contemporary ecumenical movement for Christian unity, he served for nine years as President of the World Council of Churches and piloted Inter-Orthodox, Inter-Christian and Inter-Religious dialogues.
Archbishop Iakovos was an admirable role model for American Greek Orthodox Christians, thoroughly committed to the vital democracy of his adopted country without forfeiting the ageless values of Greek culture or abandoning Greek Orthodoxy's spiritual and ecclesiastical roots in the Church of Constantinople.
Funeral arrangements will be forthcoming.
His biography is here, BIOGRAPHY OF ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS. A few excerpts;The enthronement of Archbishop Iakovos on April 1,1959 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City ushered in a new era for Greek Orthodoxy in America.
Deeply respected by all religious leaders in the United States when he retired at the age of 85 on July 29,1996, Archbishop Iakovos offered 37 years of service which were distinguished by his leadership in furthering religious unity, revitalizing Christian worship and championing human and civil rights.
Known throughout the world as a dynamic participant in the contemporary ecumenical movement for Christian Unity, Archbishop Iakovos served for nine years as president of the World Council of Churches, established dialogues with Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Southern Baptists and Black Church leaders and initiated Orthodox Dialogue with Judaism. In a successful effort to promote closer ties among Orthodox jurisdictions, he founded the Standing conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) in 1960."Ecumenism," His Eminence said, "is the hope for international understanding, for humanitarian allegiance, for true peace based on justice and dignity, and for God’s continued presence and involvement in modern history."
A champion of civil and human rights, he had the courage to walk hand in hand with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, AL, a historic moment for America which was captured on the cover of LIFE Magazine on March 26, 1965. He vigorously supported the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights legislation exclaiming when the first bill was passed,"Glory to the Most High! May this mark the beginning of a new age for all humankind, an era when the Word of God charts and guides our lives".
In the international arena he spoke out forcefully against the violation of human rights and religious freedom and, in 1974, initiated a massive campaign to assist Greek Cypriot refugees following the invasion of Cyprus by Turkish armed forces. He opposed the war in Vietnam, while supporting the right of Israelis for peace and secure boundaries, as well as the rights of the Palestinians for a just and humane resolution of their claims.
Friend to nine presidents, and religious and political leaders worldwide, Archbishop Iakovos was the recipient of honorary degrees from some 40 colleges and universities, he was cited in 1979 by both Houses of Congress and paid official tribute in the Congressional Record.
He was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, bestowed by President Jimmy Carter on June 9,1980. In 1986 he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and was cited by the Academy of Athens, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the Appeal of Conscience, among others.
Visit the websites to see more information including videos, Reflections on his life, and more. The notes left on the Reflections page are beautiful.
His Eminence was retired, but was Archbishop when my wife and I became Orthodox Christians in his Archdiocese. You can see from his biography that he was a very great and much loved man.
He will be greatly missed.
I shall miss him a lot.
UPDATE:
The Orthodox Way posts, Archbishop Iakovos -- may his memory be eternal.
If I could have a "Mark Steyn" chip implanted in my brain so that I could immediately receive everything he writes directly into my head as soon as it hit the internet, I would.
Another hat tip to Tom the Pooklekufr for this link, Why progressive Westerners never understood John Paul II. Mark Steyn goes far beyond mere discussion of John Paul II's positions WRT modern liberal politics. He shows that modern liberal moral relativism reflects a culture suicide wish. This is a point that I too have been trying to make however much more crudely. Using bioethics and Peter Singer as my framework I wrote of western progressivism's suicide wish for our country here, here, and here.
Every sentence of this piece is a pleasure to read and any excerpting would do it injustice, but I'll try anyway;By contrast, the Guardian thought Karol Wojtyla was "a doctrinaire, authoritarian pontiff". That "doctrinaire" at least suggests the inflexible authoritarian derived his inflexibility from some ancient operating manual - he was dogmatic about his dogma - unlike the New York Times and the Washington Post, which came close to implying that John Paul II had taken against abortion and gay marriage off the top of his head, principally to irk "liberal Catholics". The assumption is always that there's some middle ground that a less "doctrinaire" pope might have staked out: he might have supported abortion in the first trimester, say, or reciprocal partner benefits for gays in committed relationships.
The root of the Pope's thinking - that there are eternal truths no one can change even if one wanted to - is completely incomprehensible to the progressivist mindset. There are no absolute truths, everything's in play, and by "consensus" all we're really arguing is the rate of concession to the inevitable: abortion's here to stay, gay marriage will be here any day now, in a year or two it'll be something else - it's all gonna happen anyway, man, so why be the last squaresville daddy-o on the block?
There is a lot here so I'll straight to the conclusion.Thoughtful atheists ought to be able to recognise that, whatever one's tastes in these areas, the Pope was on to something - that abortion et al, in separating the "two meanings" of sex and leaving us free to indulge in one while ignoring the other, have severed us almost entirely and possibly irreparably from traditional impulses, such as societal survival. John Paul II championed the "splendour of truth" not because he was rigid and inflexible, but because he understood the alternative was a dead end in every sense.
If his beloved Europe survives in any form, it will one day acknowledge that.
Read the whole thing. Read about the "the creepy suck-up letters Gerhard Schröder wrote to the East German totalitarian leaders when he was a West German pol on the make in the 1980s." Read it all.
Damn, I wish I could write like that.
I posted earlier about the conference at Yale Law School where a new Constitution is being planned for those of us who are not capable of governing ourselves (which is all of us who are not part of the intellectual Left™ elite).
Tom the Pooklekufr, who says, "I am not a hermaphroditic man-dolphin, if that's what you want to know" (can he prove it?), has a great fisking of the notes taken by Power Line's spy in the Conference. Go have a look.
A Criticism of the Treasonous "2020 Constitution"
Check out his new team blog with Travis Benning, Constitution in 2021.
We have already shown that the Catholic Church is healthy and increasing in numbers (as is the Orthodox Church) as a result of Pope John Paul II's respect for and adherence to orthodox Christianity. Pope John Paul II's and the Churches conservatism comes from historic Traditional Christianity, not politics.
That said, I was wandering around in Touchstone Magazine's website and, in the Mere Comments section found From the Inbox 8 April 2005. Towards the end;Third, in This got the juices flowing, Joseph Knippenberg of Oglethorpe College in Atlanta wrote about a dim but typical attack on the pope, which annoyed him as a Protestant. We have two articles of his in the hopper, by the way. You may want to scroll down and read the other entries in the weblog.
In this piece he fisks an article from the Globe and Mail. This is a brilliant fisking of an article that begins like this;Pope’s protracted death a PR-boon for Catholicism
Pope John Paul II was the first pope to die in the era of the 24-hour cable-news network. He was not the first celebrity: The mourning of Diana, Princess of Wales, probably came close to rivalling his in terms of sheer broadcast hours. But John Paul took much longer to die than producers had planned, and his dying days pushed the constant-news medium to its conceptual limit....
It's hard to imagine being more coldly cynical than this, but when you go and read the entire post, you'll see the additional links at the bottom of the post.
One of those links take you to a piece by Hans Küng, The Pope's Contradictions, written while the late Pope was still alive on his deathbed, that deserves its own fisking. This is what I was writing about in the earlier post. Hans Küng is a Catholic theologian and priest who holds that the Church must change with the times and comform to current popular political trends to stay "relevent", including abortion, female clergy, a married priesthood (which is not in conflict with Holy Tradition), etc. Oh, and in case you wondered, Pope John Paul II is, "partly responsible for uncontrolled population growth in some countries and the spread of AIDS in Africa."
I will give that piece the fisking it deserves in a later post.
The execrable Seattle PI printing this from the equally execrable Independent, Putting a human face on absolutism, written before the Pope's funeral. Go read it now, I'll fisk it later.
The liberals are on the attack, criticizing the Pope even before his death and/or funeral and belittling the love of hundreds of millions for a great man.
I expect it to get only worse.
