Month: March 2005

The “Compromise Bill” passed 203-58 in the House. Here’s the final vote roll call. At 10:28 PM PST, CNN reported that President Bush signed the bill.

Kevin McCullough submits his take on the performance from the Democrats tonight.

Here’s a link to the audio posted on The Drudge Report. According to Drudge, this recording captures a moment between Terri and her father during the time when her feeding tube was removed.

The Terry Schiavo matter took yet another turn today, with Congress performing acrobatic maneuvers to prolong her life. Both sides of the aisle took advantage of the moment while public opinion rides a roller coaster of emotion.

The Senate passed a bill that could prolong Terri Schiavo’s life while a federal court considers her case while House Republicans, stymied by Democrats, scrambled to bring enough lawmakers back to the Capitol for an emergency vote early Monday.

GOP leaders planned a House vote just past midnight, hours after the Senate approved the bill by voice vote. President Bush rushed back from Texas for a chance to sign the measure.

The plan had been for the House to act first and then the Senate to pass the House version. But with Democrats forcing a delay in the House, the Senate went ahead and passed its own, identical, version by unrecorded voice vote.

That means the House will be acting on the Senate-passed bill, still enabling the legislation to be hurried to Bush for signature into law. 

I have no doubt that some in Congress are taking this personally and their legislation is really about what’s good for Terri. But, if you think this is all about saving one woman’s life, think again. As I feared, it’s mostly politics as usual.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said the federal district court in Florida, which is open 24 hours a day, had already been informed that a petition would be filed as soon as the president signs the measure – with the presumption the judge will order that the tube be replaced.

“Time is not on Terri Schiavo’s side,” DeLay said. “The few remaining objecting House Democrats have so far cost Mrs.Schiavo two meals already today.”

I like Tom, and I think that he’s had to waste a lot of valuable time lately fighting ethics violation charges, but this comment is a bit over the top for my tastes.

Don’t think for a moment that the Democrats were white as snow either…

Democrats expressed sympathy for the severely brain-damaged Florida woman and for the plight of her family. But they also accused Republicans of ramming through constitutionally questionable legislation to satisfy the agenda of their conservative allies.

In a special session Sunday afternoon, Democrats refused to allow the bill to be passed without a roll call vote.

Petty, self centered politics.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., spoke of “the manifestation of a constitutional crisis” where Congress, for ideological reasons, was ignoring the separations of power written into the Constitution.

Republicans distanced themselves from a memo suggesting GOP lawmakers could use the case to appeal to Christian conservative voters and to force Democrats into a difficult vote.

“I hope we’re not … making this human tragedy a political issue,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC’s “This Week.” “We’ve got plenty of other issues that are political in nature for us to fight about.”

Yes you do. Too bad many of your colleagues don’t see it like you do.

The House reconvenes 7 minutes from now (3/20 – 5:53 PM PST). Bush cut short a trip so he could be ready to sign any legislation.

The end of this story is still a long way off.

I noticed a trackback on a post I wrote, and it lead me to this site. It’s obviously a fake blog, but what’s its purpose? The only thing I can come up with is that it must be probing blog sites in order to find ones that are most susceptible to comment/trackback SPAM.

Cripes, what a cheesy weasel.

We’ve just spent most of the day celebrating my daughters 9th birthday. In case you don’t remember when you turned 9, let me tell you that it’s quite an event. Last night, dinner out for everyone. Today, a trip to Walmart to buy a brand new bike and a helmet. This afternoon, a trip to the roller skating rink with 5 of her best girlfriends (yes, all 9 years old too), and cake, and presents, and soda. Skating under the disco ball, doing the limbo. More cake, more soda. Goodie bags and a trip home with all the gift “booty” in the van.

And I loved every minute of it.

Really.

The Witch Queen and the Imperial Wizard.

Hah.

Save Toby.

Sirens blaring on Drudge, as news breaks regarding a ruling by the presiding judge in the case of Terri Schiavo. The ruling made today would allow the feeding tube to be removed from Schiavo, despite efforts by advocacy groups and congressional Republicans to block the removal. 

I’m really torn over this issue. While I understand the passion that comes from a desire to keep someone with severe brain damage alive, especially when there are those in the medical profession who believe a recovery is possible, I also can understand the feelings of a spouse, who knows his wife better than most people, who believes that life in a vegetative state isn’t life at all.

I too am conflicted over the efforts of government to get involved in this intensely personal issue, especially when I read commentary like this. I guess I’m worried that the legacy of this story will ultimately end up being remembered as a political issue, with points won on one side or the other, rather than an intimate story of the private struggle of a family making a decision for life or death. 

UPDATE: Fox News reports that the feeding tube has been removed.

MORE: Gandelman with a roundup of the day along with blogger reactions.

I bet you’ve never heard this Spinal Tap song played on the bass clarinet before. Edmund Welles rocks! Check out the rest of their “cover songs” list. And Yes, they even play “Frizzle Fry” by Primus.

Word is out that Websense blocks foxnews.com because it’s categorized as an “Advocacy Group”. Meanwhile, CNN, MSNBC, CBS News, ABC News, and other MSM sites are not blocked by the enterprise security filtering software (for the exception of some sports content).

According to the source, if you attempt to access the news site from your desktop, the filtering software will send you the following error:

Access to this web page is restricted at this time.
Reason: The Websense category “Advocacy Groups” is filtered.
URL: http://www.foxnews.com/

Websense defines Activist/Advocacy Groups in the following manner:

Activist/Advocacy Groups

Sites sponsored by or devoted to organizations that promote change or reform in public policy, public opinion, social practice, economic activities and relationships. Excludes commercially sponsored sites (4, 13, 21), sites dedicated to electoral politics or legislation (10.2) or to the abortion issue (1), sites advocating hate or violence (16, 18, 27).

Peacefire.org has been looking into Websense for some time. They have logged a number of examples where the company has miscategorized various websites.

Mudvillegazette wrote about Websense back in September of 2004, complaining that the filtering software blocks a variety of blog sites.

If your company runs Websense on their corporate servers, give it a try. See if you can view Fox News in your browser, and try the others too. If one is blocked and the others are not, let me know.

I have contacted Websense and have asked them to confirm or deny that Fox News is being blocked by their software and explain why this news site might be unfairly singled out. When I get their response, I’ll post it here.

UPDATE: Thanks to those who have commented and emailed about their experience with Websense. It appears that some are experiencing un-filtered access to foxnews.com, while others are being blocked. I’m still awaiting the company’s official reply to my inquiry and when I receive it, I’ll post it here.

UPDATE II: Still no official response from Websense on the Fox News allegation. I have poked around a little more, and I’ve found further evidence that suggests Websense website blocking is more about attitudes and opinions of local individuals who manage the enterprise security software than any “out of the box” covert bias from the creators themselves.

I believe all companies have the right to decide how much Internet access they provide to their employees. Millions of dollars in productivity are lost every year due to “on the clock” amazon browsing/eBay bidding/score checking, not to mention the damage that’s done when a virus finds its way into a large computer network lacking proper security.

I didn’t find Websense guilty of any crime, so I don’t feel like I owe anyone there an apology. I merely brought a complaint to a larger audience and asked for explanation. It would be good to close the chapter on the issue, and a short, to the point reply from their corporate office would effectively do that for me. We’ll see…