musing minds

We’re hearing a lot of inflammatory rhetoric from the Democrats on the filibuster issue. With all the talk of abusing the “checks and balances” and one party “seizing power”, when it comes down to it the filibuster is an inherently undemocratic process. Here it is in a nutshell:

The objective: stop a vote from taking place.
The means: endless debate.
The motive: the minority does not want the majority’s will to be enacted.

Doesn’t sound very democratic does it? No wonder the Dems are going on wild tangential rants. It’s in their best interest to keep the debate as far away from the basic facts as possible.

Also check out Hugh Hewitt and Captain Ed, both have good stuff on this issue.

Captain’s Quarters has the story on the 5 month old child in Texas who was euthanized against his mother’s express wishes. Part of their reasoning was that the mother said the baby’s father was “the sun in the sky”. The child had an extreme form of dwarfism that when it is fatal, usually causes the death of the child neo-natally, that is within hours or days of birth. This child was 5 months old, to me that is far past neo-natal. There is another case in the system, where a wife is fighting desperately for her husband’s life. The hospital wants to end support.

related: Culture of Death. (this link has links to other posts here at Musing Minds)

Today is Eat an Animal for PETA day. Last night we had some lovely lamb chops. I sprinkle them with garlic and oregano and olive oil and bake at 350 Fahrenheit until done. Served with green beans.

Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie (Bisquick®)

Get all the great taste of a cheeseburger magically baked in a pie.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1/2 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Cook beef and onion until beef is brown; drain. Spread in pie plate; sprinkle with salt and cheese.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate.

3.Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes.
©T.M. of General Mills,Inc

This has not only ground beef, but eggs, cheese and milk! I often add a can of diced tomatoes to the onion/burger mix. I also don’t add the teaspoon of salt. I use an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ glass cake pan and grease it with some olive oil.

Enjoy!

David Limbaugh is calling for prayers for Terri Schindler-Schiavo. I will be praying and I hope you will be too. His article is a must read. (Via Ankle Biting Pundits).

His penultimate paragraph:

I find it haunting that we live in a culture of death where the presumption seems to be against finding that a human being would want to go on living and the burden of proof is on those promoting life.

We have written on Terri here, here, here and here, and the Groningen Protocol and Suffering through Living before.

David Limbaugh’s sentence above really says it all.

Update: Michelle Malkin has more on the Florida Legislature’s efforts.
California Medicine Man has an excellent post on the Groningen Protocol (via Hugh Hewitt)

Reuters reports that a study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is affiliated with Columbia’s School of Journalism, shows that there were three times as many negative stories about Bush than about Kerry. Hat tip: Powerline

This also just in: The Center for the Attainment of Moderate Temperatures in Hell just concluded a study which shows that most people would prefer to avoid eternal damnation after death.

China is increasing the saber rattling and tensions in the region are rising. The U.K.’s Independent reports the following:

China’s new “anti-secession” law authorising the use of force against Taiwan has sent ripples of alarm throughout the region and beyond, drawing a stern reaction from the US, and casting new uncertainty on European plans to resume arms sales to Beijing.

That there is still “uncertainty” at this point speaks volumes about the value of U.S. “alliances” with Europe. As we’ve learned from the Cold War, arms don’t necessarily have to be used to have a real effect on an adversary. Of course there’s also the possibility that arms sold to China may actually end up being used against the U.S. Without going into the technicalities of specific treaties, selling arms to your enemy doesn’t sound like something an ally would do. Actually, it sounds more like something an enemy would do.

Bush took a bit of a gamble in softening his stance by agreeing to give Iran incentives to drop its nuclear ambitions. Iran’s response was to yank the olive branch out of Bush’s hands and snap it in two before our eyes. We have definitely arrived at a turning point. Iran not only rejected the offer, but essentially dared the U.S. to respond with force. If Bush backs down, it will send a signal that the U.S. expended all of its willingness to use force in Iraq. Rather than representing U.S. resolve in the region, the Iraq war will be considered the battle that sapped the will out of the mighty U.S. Bush must get tough with Iran now.

Gallup came out with a poll which shows that political blogs are still far from the mainstream. Powerline looks at the bright side saying we still have room to grow. I agree, but I also think that the numbers belie the impact of political blogs. First, the poll is a sample of the general population and not of likely voters or people who are otherwise politically active. The poll also fails to account for the importance of blogs with respect to opinion leaders.

We know that just over half the population actually votes in national elections. As for the rest, they’re not in the game, so they don’t really matter. Given that those who visit political blogs are inherently more politically interested, its not a stretch to say that among “likely voters” or those who are “politically active” the number of people who read political blogs is going to be significantly higher than with the general population. While news from old media often falls on deaf ears, political blogs invariably engage a willing participant.

Perhaps more importantly is the impact of blogs on opinion leaders. We have opinion leaders for all aspects of our society, including politics. Not necessarily occupying a formal position of power, the opinion leader is any member of a group that the others trust to inform or otherwise lead. She’s the woman at the party who seems to know what she’s talking about. He’s the guy at the water cooler who has a good grasp of the facts on a particular issue. Others in the group, who are less willing or able to inform themselves, but nevertheless wish to participate, take the lead from their opinion leader. This doesn’t mean that others will blindly follow, but on average, they will have an effect.

The blogosphere is far better suited to the opinion leader than old media. Rather than being told what the “news” is in short clips or wire releases, one can enter the vast array of knowledge and opinions of the blogosphere and determine for oneself what information and viewpoints are relevant. In addition to attracting opinion leaders, the blogosphere also likely creates opinion leaders – willing leaders who were previously uninformed and thus practically unable to lead, now have far more information at their disposal.

Old media may still have a lot of readers, but political blogs have a lot of the readers that matter most.

Mypetjawa (the Jawa Report) is still on top of the Sgrena story. Apparently she’s still being questioned by Italian police. That may or may not indicate that they are looking at her as a suspect. But they should be looking at her. If her statements to the Italian police are like the statements she’s made to the press, it’s likely she’s lied to authorities. That’s not good.

Recall that Martha Stewart didn’t go to the big house (ok it was more like a nice Cape Cod with a wrap-around porch) for insider trading. She was convicted of lying to authorities in the course of an insider trading investigation. Of course Martha was an evil business person not an innocent communist propagandist.

Our friends at OpiniPundit are on to the latest news about Ward Churchill – plagiarizing another Prof’s work. Does that come within the protection of “academic freedom” too?
UPDATE: Also check out Scared Monkeys.