Heard on Fox News: Brother Paul O’Donnell ~~Randall Terry~~ is stating that Michael Schiavo will NOT allow the Schindlers to be in the room with Terri as she dies. The Schindler’s are pleading with Michael to allow them to be there with Terri, even if he is there too. He’s refusing.

Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit

Published March 30, 2005 | By kimsch

Tom Clancy’s book Red Rabbit was awfully prescient.

Today we learn that the premise of Red Rabbit, the KGB through a Turkish Agent hired by the Bulgarians, was responsible for the 1981 assassination attempt on the Pope.

Hindustan Times has the story here.

New documents found in the files of the former East German intelligence services confirm the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II was ordered by the Soviet KGB and assigned to Bulgarian agents, an Italian daily said on Wednesday.

Read the rest.

Hat tip: The Anchoress

The Opinions

Published March 30, 2005 | By kimsch

Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr.:

Any further action by our court or the district court would be improper while the members of her family and the members of Congress have acted in a way that is both fervent and sincere, the time has come for dispassionate discharge of duty.
…
In resolving the Schiavo controversy, it is my judgement that, despite sincere and altruistic motivation, the legislative and executive branches of government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Father’s blueprint for the governance of a free people – our Constitution. (emphasis mine)

Judges Gerald Tjoflat and Charles R. Wilson:

The relevant question here is whether a rational factfinder could have found by clear and convincing evidence that Mrs. Schiavo would have wanted nutrition and hydration to be withdrawn under these circumstances. The plaintiffs carry a heavy burden, but I do not believe that this question can be determined in this expedited fashion without a hearing on the merits.

So, Judge Birch is not quite saying the law that congress passed was unconstitutional, just that he thinks that the executive and legislative branches have overreached their purview? That the judicial branch doesn’t need to listen to the other two branches?

Judges Tjoflat and Wilson are correct and it would behoove the rest of the 11th to have listened to them.

Source: My Way News

AP-Court Rejects Appeal

Published March 30, 2005 | By kimsch

11th Circuit Court Rejects Schiavo Appeal

By RON WORD
Associated Press Writer

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) — With time running out for Terri Schiavo, a federal appeals court Wednesday rejected her parents’ latest attempt to get the brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube reconnected.

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to consider an emergency bid by Bob and Mary Schindler for a new hearing in their case, raising a flicker of hope for the parents after a series of setbacks in the case. But the court rejected the request 15 hours later.

Three times last week, the court also ruled against the Schindlers.

Felos Has Mind Powers

Published March 30, 2005 | By kimsch

Whiskey over at Captain’s Quarters points us to an NRO piece by Eric Pfieffer.

In his 2002 book Litigation as Spiritual Practice, Felos expresses his belief in the “cosmic law of cause and effect,” in which the human mind is not limited by the constraints of reality. More specifically, if one wants a new car, one could make this dream car manifest “out of the ether.”

The man can cause planes to crash just by thinking about it and can read the minds of those who can not speak, yet want to die…

He writes,

As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it and would respond to the unfortunate resident. In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning.

I felt the midsection of my body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, “Why am I still here … Why am I here?” My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked in her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. With that, the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again, the room resumed its normal appearance, and Mrs. Browning, as she had throughout this experience, lay silent.

Go read the whole thing…