Saturday, August 29, 2009
Airbrushing out Mary Jo Kopechne
Only a Kennedy could get away with it.
By Mark Steyn
We are enjoined not to speak ill of the dead. But, when an entire nation — or, at any rate, its “mainstream” media culture — declines to speak the truth about the dead, we are certainly entitled to speak ill of such false eulogists. In its coverage of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s passing, America’s TV networks are creepily reminiscent of those plays Sam Shepard used to write about some dysfunctional inbred hardscrabble Appalachian household where there’s a baby buried in the backyard but everyone agreed years ago never to mention it.
In this case, the unmentionable corpse is Mary Jo Kopechne, 1940–1969. If you have to bring up the, ah, circumstances of that year of decease, keep it general, keep it vague. As Kennedy flack Ted Sorensen put it in Time magazine: “Both a plane crash in Massachusetts in 1964 and the ugly automobile accident on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 almost cost him his life.”
That’s the way to do it! An “accident,” “ugly” in some unspecified way, just happened to happen — and only to him, nobody else. Ted’s the star, and there’s no room to namecheck the bit players. What befell him was . . . a thing, a place. As Joan Vennochi wrote in the Boston Globe: “Like all figures in history — and like those in the Bible, for that matter — Kennedy came with flaws. Moses had a temper. Peter betrayed Jesus. Kennedy had Chappaquiddick, a moment of tremendous moral collapse.”
Read the rest!
By Mark Steyn
We are enjoined not to speak ill of the dead. But, when an entire nation — or, at any rate, its “mainstream” media culture — declines to speak the truth about the dead, we are certainly entitled to speak ill of such false eulogists. In its coverage of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s passing, America’s TV networks are creepily reminiscent of those plays Sam Shepard used to write about some dysfunctional inbred hardscrabble Appalachian household where there’s a baby buried in the backyard but everyone agreed years ago never to mention it.
In this case, the unmentionable corpse is Mary Jo Kopechne, 1940–1969. If you have to bring up the, ah, circumstances of that year of decease, keep it general, keep it vague. As Kennedy flack Ted Sorensen put it in Time magazine: “Both a plane crash in Massachusetts in 1964 and the ugly automobile accident on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 almost cost him his life.”
That’s the way to do it! An “accident,” “ugly” in some unspecified way, just happened to happen — and only to him, nobody else. Ted’s the star, and there’s no room to namecheck the bit players. What befell him was . . . a thing, a place. As Joan Vennochi wrote in the Boston Globe: “Like all figures in history — and like those in the Bible, for that matter — Kennedy came with flaws. Moses had a temper. Peter betrayed Jesus. Kennedy had Chappaquiddick, a moment of tremendous moral collapse.”
Read the rest!
There's a Surprise...
...the government is giving us our money for trading cars that we like for cars we dislike and THEN taking some of our money back.
Some Surprised By 'Clunker' Tax
The Cash For Clunkers program is adding to the activity at treasurers' offices all around South Dakota. First, people were asking for proof of ownership, so they could show they owned their vehicle for a full year, allowing them to cash it in. Now, they'll be returning to register their new vehicle. And when they do, new owners need to bring every bit of paperwork provided to them by their dealer.
"That means they need their title, their damage disclosure, their bill of sale and the dealers have 30 days to get that to them," Minnehaha County Treasurer Pam Nelson said.
But many of those cashing in on the clunkers program are surprised when they get to the treasurer's office windows. That's because the government's rebate of up to $4500 dollars for every clunker is taxable.
"They didn't realize that would be taxable. A lot of people don't realize that. So they're not happy and kind of surprised when they find that out," Nelson said.
For now, the biggest impact of the program hasn't hit this office yet, as most of the paperwork is still in the hands of the dealers. But Nelson expects to see move activity in her office in the next month.
"I'm anxious to see what it's going to be like. I have no idea how many people we're going to see. Hopefully the dealers can process their paperwork in 30 days," Nelson said.
And that's when the line at this office will give some indication of how many cars the government program moved off of local lots.
Nelson adds that if you did recently purchase a vehicle, ensure your dealer gets you the paperwork in time because if they don't you could pay extra interest and penalties.
Some Surprised By 'Clunker' Tax
The Cash For Clunkers program is adding to the activity at treasurers' offices all around South Dakota. First, people were asking for proof of ownership, so they could show they owned their vehicle for a full year, allowing them to cash it in. Now, they'll be returning to register their new vehicle. And when they do, new owners need to bring every bit of paperwork provided to them by their dealer.
"That means they need their title, their damage disclosure, their bill of sale and the dealers have 30 days to get that to them," Minnehaha County Treasurer Pam Nelson said.
But many of those cashing in on the clunkers program are surprised when they get to the treasurer's office windows. That's because the government's rebate of up to $4500 dollars for every clunker is taxable.
"They didn't realize that would be taxable. A lot of people don't realize that. So they're not happy and kind of surprised when they find that out," Nelson said.
For now, the biggest impact of the program hasn't hit this office yet, as most of the paperwork is still in the hands of the dealers. But Nelson expects to see move activity in her office in the next month.
"I'm anxious to see what it's going to be like. I have no idea how many people we're going to see. Hopefully the dealers can process their paperwork in 30 days," Nelson said.
And that's when the line at this office will give some indication of how many cars the government program moved off of local lots.
Nelson adds that if you did recently purchase a vehicle, ensure your dealer gets you the paperwork in time because if they don't you could pay extra interest and penalties.
"Then they came for me..."
While Congress rests up from its latest assault on our republic, WSJ offers 5 fictional narratives that may help us to keep one step ahead of them.
:::cue 'Twilight Zone' music:::
:::cue 'Twilight Zone' music:::
Thursday, August 27, 2009
EVIL MUTANT ATTACK SQUIRREL OF DEATH
I never dreamed that slowly cruising on my motorcycle through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous!
Little did I suspect... (Click here for the rest!)
Organ transplant ethics
[I posted this on my personal blog a day or two ago. I guess I will post things on here as well if I think they might interest everyone. :::smile:::)
Coming out of China…
"The majority of transplanted organs in China come from executed prisoners, state media reported Wednesday in a rare disclosure about an industry often criticized for being opaque and unethical….
Condemned prisoners are “definitely not a proper source for organ transplants,” the report quoted Vice Health Minister Huang Jiefu as saying. He has publicly acknowledged that most transplant organs are taken from executed prisoners, but only with prior consent.
Foreign medical and human rights groups have long criticized China’s organ transplant trade as being opaque, profit-driven and unethical. Critics say death row prisoners may feel compelled to become donors.
…
China has acknowledged that kidneys, livers, corneas and other organs are routinely removed from prisoners sentenced to death, but gave no details. Chinese transplant specialists estimate at least 90 percent of transplanted organs come from executed prisoners, human rights groups say."
Read the rest of the article here.
Sigh. What do you do when people need transplants to live, but the living are not nearly meeting the demand as donors? I for one would love to be an organ donor (not a living donor, mind you, but donate my body after I’m dead) but there are no cut-and-dry laws in Maryland about when exactly someone is dead and their organs can be removed. And this is not the case in MD alone; unfortunately there is no consensus on the definition of death.
Is a person dead when they are brain dead?
Is a person dead when there is no brain stem function?
Is a person dead when their heart stops?
Is a person dead when a combination of the above occurs?
Who knows. I come down with those who assert that a person is actually dead when there is no longer holistic bodily function. Philosophically, at this point the human body no longer has a telos or end toward which it is working. Instead, different machines are keeping different parts of the body “machine” working separately. Nothing is integrated; the body is working like parts of car work, but there is no life, no soul.
In the end, though, it is the doctor’s call. Whether the rest of us without white coats agree with it or not, the doctor is the one who is there and who has to make the decision: is the thing in front of me on the table a person or a cadaver?
We need to pray for our doctors, that more of them recognize the weighty responsibility they carry, and we need to encourage them to continue to live their vocations as doctors rather than bow to the utilitarian society in which we live.
Coming out of China…
"The majority of transplanted organs in China come from executed prisoners, state media reported Wednesday in a rare disclosure about an industry often criticized for being opaque and unethical….
Condemned prisoners are “definitely not a proper source for organ transplants,” the report quoted Vice Health Minister Huang Jiefu as saying. He has publicly acknowledged that most transplant organs are taken from executed prisoners, but only with prior consent.
Foreign medical and human rights groups have long criticized China’s organ transplant trade as being opaque, profit-driven and unethical. Critics say death row prisoners may feel compelled to become donors.
…
China has acknowledged that kidneys, livers, corneas and other organs are routinely removed from prisoners sentenced to death, but gave no details. Chinese transplant specialists estimate at least 90 percent of transplanted organs come from executed prisoners, human rights groups say."
Read the rest of the article here.
Sigh. What do you do when people need transplants to live, but the living are not nearly meeting the demand as donors? I for one would love to be an organ donor (not a living donor, mind you, but donate my body after I’m dead) but there are no cut-and-dry laws in Maryland about when exactly someone is dead and their organs can be removed. And this is not the case in MD alone; unfortunately there is no consensus on the definition of death.
Is a person dead when they are brain dead?
Is a person dead when there is no brain stem function?
Is a person dead when their heart stops?
Is a person dead when a combination of the above occurs?
Who knows. I come down with those who assert that a person is actually dead when there is no longer holistic bodily function. Philosophically, at this point the human body no longer has a telos or end toward which it is working. Instead, different machines are keeping different parts of the body “machine” working separately. Nothing is integrated; the body is working like parts of car work, but there is no life, no soul.
In the end, though, it is the doctor’s call. Whether the rest of us without white coats agree with it or not, the doctor is the one who is there and who has to make the decision: is the thing in front of me on the table a person or a cadaver?
We need to pray for our doctors, that more of them recognize the weighty responsibility they carry, and we need to encourage them to continue to live their vocations as doctors rather than bow to the utilitarian society in which we live.
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