The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 02/20/2005 - 02/27/2005

Friday, February 25, 2005

Bob Schlinder talks about daughter, Terri Schiavo

AUDIO: , and the battle to save her with Live 85 radio hosts Russ Morley and Mickey Miller. (Live 85/ WFTL)

PHOTO GALLERY :Schiavo controversy

100,000 Petition for Terri

NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, Feb 25, 2005
Dr. Gary Cass, Executive Director of the Center for Reclaiming America, will deliver the names of 100,000 people who have signed an online petition on behalf of Terri Schiavo at a press conference, Friday, February 25, at Talahassee, Florida's state capitol.

Dr. Cass will deliver the names on the petition, generated in just two days, to a representative of the Governor and will address members of the media at the press conference. The petition urges Governor Jeb Bush "to take immediate action to stop the forced starvation of Terri Schiavo." "The fact that this petition campaign, which began just yesterday, has generated online signatures at the enormous rate of 5,000 per hour, underscores how passionate people across the nation feel about this issue," said Dr. Cass. "They want to see Terri spared from the cruel and inhumane death by starvation and dehydration that may commence tomorrow at 5 p.m."
"We appreciate the energy, concern, and effort which the Governor has already expended in seeking a way to save Terri's live," Cass said. "These petitions demonstrate the fervent concern in Florida and across the nation that Gov. Bush act to save Terri's life."

Cass also urged that calls and e-mails on Schiavo's behalf be sent to Florida Governor Jeb Bush (at 850.488.4441 or jeb.bush@myflorida.com); Senate President Tom Lee (at 850.487.5072 or lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov); and House Speaker Allan G. Bense (at 850.488.1450 or speaker@myfloridahouse.gov.)
The Center for Reclaiming America is an outreach of Coral Ridge Ministries, the television and radio ministry of Dr. D. James Kennedy.

Schiavo's Feeding Tube to Remain Until March 18th

NewsMax.com Wires
Saturday, Feb 26, 2005
Judge Greer has ruled that Michael Schiavo can remove his wife Terri's feeding tube on March 18th, 2005 at 1 p.m. EST, unless there is another action from another court.
There is expected to be a flurry of legal activity between now and then, most of it by Terri Schiavo's parents, who still hope for their daughter's recovery.


More to come ...

Iranian Official: We May be Hiding Nukes in Tunnels

NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, Feb 25, 2005
PARIS -- Iran may be hiding its nuclear technology inside special tunnels because of threats of attack by the United States, Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator said in an interview published Friday.

Hassan Rowhani, who has been negotiating with Germany, Britain and France over Iran's uranium enrichment program, was asked by an interview for the Le Monde newspaper: "Is it accurate that Iran has built tunnels meant to serve Iran's nuclear activities?" Rowhani responded that reports Iran was building tunnels to hide its nuclear technology "could be true," he said. "From the moment the Americans threaten to attack our nuclear sites, what are we to do? We have to put them somewhere," Rowhani said.
President Bush - who once called Iran part of an "axis of evil" with North Korea and prewar Iraq - has insisted that Tehran must not develop nuclear weapons, but he said Tuesday in Brussels, Belgium, it is "simply ridiculous" to assume that the United States has plans to attack Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons program.

"Having said that, all options are on the table," Bush said after discussing the issue with European allies.

In the Le Monde interview, Rowhani did not appear assuaged by Bush's statement about an attack being "simply ridiculous."

Bush "immediately added that all options were open. So the second phrase neutralizes the first," Rowhani said.

Last week, Bush tried in a series of pre-trip interviews with European journalists to dispel talk of a military attack, an issue that has been raised repeatedly since the United States went to war with Iraq primarily over its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

On Thursday, he reiterated that Iran as well as North Korea must not have nuclear weapons, saying at a joint news conference with Vladimir Putin agreed with him.

"I appreciate Vladimir's understanding on that," Bush said.

Bush also said European negotiators with Tehran represent the United States as well as the European Union and NATO and he supports their efforts.

Tehran has temporarily suspended its uranium enrichment program, however, in an agreement reached with the European Union. Highly enriched uranium and plutonium are the building blocks of nuclear weapons.

Iran has said it will decide by mid-March whether to continue its suspension, which is monitored by U.N. nuclear inspectors, depending on the progress in negotiations with Britain, France and Germany.

The United States accuses Iran of having a secret program to make nuclear weapons, but Iran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy purposes.

Rowhani said in Berlin on Friday after a round of talks with the Europeans that Iran hoped to soon work out an agreement with European negotiators on the county's uranium enrichment program.

Rowhani said it was in everybody's interests to find a quick solution.

"We are confident that we will, through positive measures from all sides, see positive results in March," he said through a translator. "The result of the talks affects not only the Iranian nuclear program, but is also about the development of relations between Iran and Europe."

Tehran has temporarily suspended its uranium enrichment program, however, in an agreement reached with the European Union.

It has said it will decide by mid-March whether to continue its suspension, which is monitored by U.N. nuclear inspectors, depending on the progress in European negotiations. Rowhani is on the middle of a swing through all three countries.

Rowhani told Le Monde that taking the issue to the U.N. Security Council for eventual sanctions, as Bush has threatened, would turn the issue into a "North-South question," pitting the developing world against rich nations.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer seemed less optimistic than Rowhani on reaching an agreement on enrichment, saying that "the positions of the two sides are complex and difficult to bridge."

In Tblisi, Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili said the former Soviet republic can help solve the international controversy over Iran's nuclear program.

"Georgia has had relations with Iran for many centuries, and it can play a special role," Zurabishvili, told the independent Mze television.

But Zurabishvili warned that Georgia would not support U.S. military action against Iran, saying it could jeopardize the lives of several hundreds of thousands of ethnic Georgians living there.

Delay Sought in Schiavo Tube Removal

TAMPA, Fla. - An attorney for the parents of Terri Schiavo say
Florida's social services agency is seeking a 60-day delay in the removal of
the woman's feeding tube while it investigates new allegations of her
abuse and neglect.

Matt Davis, with the law firm representing Bob and Mary Schindler, said
Thursday the 11-page confidential document was shared with attorneys in
the life-or-death legal battle between the Schindlers and their
daughter's husband, Michael Schiavo. A spokesman for the Department of
Children & Families declined to comment.

DEAN ADMITS: TROUBLE FOR SOCIAL SECURITY IF NOTHING DONE

Posted on 02/24/2005 11:17:05 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines

ITHACA NY�Newly elected Democratic National Commitee Chair Howard Dean, speaking at a Cornell University rally Wednesday (February 23), admitted that social security faced �problems� if not reformed, contradicting the claims of many in his own party.

According to the Cornell Daily Sun, which covered the event locally, �Dean pointed out that�if Social Security were left alone for 30 years, its benefits would be reduced to 80 percent of what it is now. He acknowledged that� there were indeed problems with the program.�

The article also indicates that Dean also attacked the notion of many that social security was a �pension� for the middle class: � �[Social Security] was a response toward [overcoming] abject poverty...it is not meant as a retirement program...it was meant as a social safety net for people who had reached the end of their working careers and did not deserve, after a long lifetime of dignified work, to live in poverty,'" the paper quotes Dean as saying. "'It's not supposed to be a pension.� "

While Dean did not endorse President Bush�s call for privatization, his views still put him at odds with many of his fellow democrats, some of whom have actually accused the President of lying about the need to reform to social security.

For example, Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy recently accused President Bush of playing �the politics of fear� with social security.

Similarly, a number of the liberal blogs, a medium Dean himself helped pioneer as a campaign tool, accused the President of �crisis rhetoric� and "a deliberate distortion (read: lie) in an attempt to mislead the American public."

It is unknown whether Dean�s acknowledgement of the �problems� with social security will have any effect on the direction of his party. In fact, while the Cornell Sun indicated that social security issues were a major point in Dean�s speech, other papers, such as the Ithaca Journal and Syracuse Post Standard, did not even cover his comments on the issue, preferring to focus on Dean�s appeal to the �youth vote.�

Confession: Syria Behind Iraqi Terrorism

Thursday, Feb 24, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Syrian intelligence officer who appeared on the U.S.-funded Iraqi state television station had a stark message about the insurgency - he'd helped train people to build car bombs and behead people.

"My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab. I am from Syria," he said by way of introduction - naming what he said was his home in Syria. "What's your job?" he was asked by someone off-camera. "I am a lieutenant in intelligence."
Then a second question. "Which intelligence?" The reply: "Syrian intelligence."

And so began a detailed 15-minute confession broadcast by al-Iraqiya TV on Wednesday, in which the man, identified as 30-year-old Lt. Anas Ahmed al-Essa, said his group was recruited to "cause chaos in Iraq ... to bar America from reaching Syria."

"We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence," said the man, who appeared in the propaganda video along with 10 Iraqis who said they had also been recruited by Syrian intelligence officers.

Later, al-Iraqiya aired another round of interviews with men it said were Sudanese and Egyptians who also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq.

Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the claims, which were not possible to authenticate independently.

An Iraqi special forces commander, Brig. Gen. Abu Al-Walid, said his forces arrested the men in Mosul on Jan. 29, one day before the national elections. He said they included eight Syrians, one Lebanese, twelve Egyptians and ten Sudanese.

He said the men were found with explosives, weapons and maps for balloting centers in Mosul.

On Thursday, Iraqi police arrested two other suspected terrorists during raids in Baghdad. They included two Syrians and two Iraqis believed to have carried out other attacks, police said.

The videos were broadcast as the Bush administration steps up pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges.

President Bush also repeated Wednesday his demand that Syria remove its 15,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon. International pressure on Syria to withdraw has increased since the Feb. 14 assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.

Top officials in Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government have called on Syria to hand over former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who fled there after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, which Syria vehemently opposed.

Al-Iraqiya TV can be seen nationwide and is believed to be widely watched by Iraqis - mainly those who cannot afford satellite dishes offering the Persian Gulf-based Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya stations. But the station, which went on the air in May 2003 with help from the Pentagon, is viewed by many Iraqis as an American propaganda tool.

Wednesday was the first time the channel showed someone it claimed was a Syrian intelligence officer.

All those interviewed in the first video apparently were detained in the northern city of Mosul. It was not known where the interviews were made, and no date was provided.

A man identified as one of al-Essa's aides, Shehab al-Sabaawi, said the group used animals for training in beheadings. Al-Essa said it required "at least 10 beheadings" for a member to be promoted to a group leader.

"I had to send a report to Syria about how the operations are going," he said.

Weapons, explosives and equipment were all provided by Syrian intelligence, the man claimed, adding that group members received $1,500 a month.

Al-Essa said money was his motive for accepting an offer by a Syrian intelligence colonel he identified as Fady Abdullah to carry out attacks inside Iraq.

"I was trained on explosives, killing, spying, kidnapping ... and after one year I went to Iraq with Fady Abdullah," al-Essa said.

He claimed he infiltrated Iraq in 2001, about two years before the U.S. invasion, because Syrian intelligence was convinced that American military action loomed.

An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners.

Al-Essa claimed to be leader of the al-Fateh Army, a group that had not been heard of previously.

Al-Sabaawi described himself as a former lieutenant colonel in Saddam's army. He said he was recruited at an Iraqi mosque in 2001 by an Iraqi man named Abu Bakr, whom he described as the al-Fateh Army's leader.

"He offered to take us on a training trip to Islamabad," the Pakistani capital, al-Sabaawi said. "He told us that we could develop our skills, give us information about how to make car bombs and carry out kidnappings."

Before returning to Iraq, al-Sabaawi said he spent 11 months in Pakistan. He did not say who trained him there.

After Saddam's fall in 2003, al-Sabaawi said he spent a month in Syria, where he claimed to have received training from Syrian intelligence on how to behead hostages.

"Syrian intelligence officers were supervising our training. We were ready to fight the Americans because any Iraqi and any Muslim can't live under occupation," he said.

Afterward, he crossed the border and carried out attacks against U.S. military targets.

He said the group started by making car bombs targeting American troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen before beginning a campaign of kidnapping and beheading Iraqis.

The Sudanese and Egyptian nationals in the video broadcast later in the day did not belong to al-Fateh, the station said.

Vatican Issues Appeal for Terri Schiavo

A Vatican official launched an appeal to save Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman whose husband wants her off life-support care, Zenit reports.

On Wednesday a Florida judge ordered the tube delivering food and water to Schiavo kept in place another 48 hours. Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer said he needed time to consider legal challenges raised by the woman's parents, including the possibility that her husband, Michael Schiavo, was unfit to act as her guardian.

In statements on Vatican Radio, Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said: "If Mr. Schiavo succeeds legally in causing the death of his wife, this not only would be tragic in itself, but would be a grave step toward the legal approval of euthanasia in the United States."

He added: "I would like to remind everyone in this connection, about all that the Holy Father has said in past days to the Pontifical Academy for Life, confirming that the quality of life is not interpreted as economic success, beauty and physical pleasure, but consists in the supreme dignity of the creature made in the image and likeness of God.

"No one can be the arbiter of life except God himself."

'No charge' over Falluja killing

A US marine filmed apparently shooting dead an injured Iraqi in a Falluja mosque last year may not be formally charged, according to media reports.
Military investigators have concluded there is not enough evidence to prosecute over the shooting, US television network CBS news says.

However, the US military said the investigation had not been completed.

"The facts of this case are being thoroughly pursued to make an informed decision," a Marine statement said.

The US military set up an inquiry after footage of the killing was broadcast by the US network NBC.

The incident occurred during a search of a mosque by marines during the US assault on Falluja in November.

'No movement'

Kevin Sites, a news cameraman covering the operation, had entered the building with a squad of marines who were checking over a district fought for the previous day.

He caught on film one marine shooting an apparently unarmed, injured Iraqi. The soldier told investigators he thought he had seen the man moving.


Mr Sites said he had seen no movement apart from breathing from the Iraqi before he was shot.

The unnamed marine was withdrawn from combat while an investigation was carried out.

According to the CBS report, military investigators say the injured Iraqi might have been perceived as reaching for a weapon.

Legal experts have concluded that the situation was too ambiguous to ensure conviction, the network said.

However, the US Marine statement from Camp Falluja said the inquiry by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was still ongoing.

The purpose of the investigation was to establish whether the soldier involved "acted in self-defence, violated military law or failed to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict", it said.

Marine spokesman Capt Dan McSweeney told AFP he had been informed by the Navy Criminal Investigative Service that the case was "still very much open".

Terri Schiavo's life in balance again

Judge will decide today whether to begin her starvation

Posted: February 25, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

As a Florida judge prepares today to decide the fate of Terri Schiavo, a state investigation of alleged abuse, possibly by her husband, is bringing another new twist to the protracted battle over the brain-damaged woman's life.

Michael Schiavo won a legal order to remove his wife's life-sustaining feeding tube, but Pinellas-Pasco County Judge George Greer decided Wednesday to extend an emergency stay to 5 p.m. today so he can determine whether Terri Schiavo should have additional medical tests.

Her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, filed a motion to seek tests that utilize new technology, hoping to support their claim Terri's condition can be improved with physical therapy.

"Our family just wants to bring Terri home and have her part of the family," brother Bobby Schindler told WorldNetDaily.


The Schindlers also have filed a motion to remove their son-in-law as Terri's guardian, arguing he is her husband in name only and consistently has sought to withhold care and therapy.

Schiavo has been living with fiance Jodi Centonze, with whom he has two children, for 10 years. Schiavo has said he plans to marry Centonze upon Terri's death.

Picketers have protested this week at his Clearwater, Fla., home and at the restaurant where Centonze works.

Terri Schiavo breathes on her own and appears to be responsive to people and her surroundings in photographs and videos released by the family. But early in the legal process, the Schindlers agreed with Michael Schiavo's attorneys to stipulate Terri is in a "persistant vegetative state" -- a decision the parents now regret. Michael claims his wife had told him she would never want to be kept alive in such a condition, although she left no written directive.

The Schindlers assert their daughter never would have seriously expressed such a wish and point out Schiavo made his claim only after he won a $1.3 million malpractice suit on Terri's behalf and began seeing Centonze.

The Schindler family says there is evidence Terri's sudden brain injury Feb. 25, 1990, was caused by Michael Schiavo himself, alleging a pattern of abusive behavior, medial records indicating trauma, and his motion filed with Judge Greer to ensure Terri is cremated immediately upon death.

Schiavo claims Terri collapsed due to a potassium imbalance triggered by bulimia that caused her to suffer cardiac arrest.

In the 1992 malpractice trial, Schiavo argued he needed the money for long-term care for his wife, based on a life expectancy of another 50 years. But seven months after receiving the cash, the Schindlers argue, he began to withhold care and therapy, first ordering nurses to not give Terri antibiotics for a urinary tract infection, which could have resulted in her death.

Bobby Schindler told WND his family never has believed Terri would want to die, contending Michael Schiavo's actions indicate the "wishes" are fabricated.

"Which Michael are we to believe?" he asked. "The one who promised he would take care of his wife for rest of his life, or the who who says these were Terri's death wishes."

Florida probes abuse

Noted "right-to-die" attorney George Felos, who is representing Michael Schiavo, argued in court Wednesday that the question of guardianship was irrelevant, because regardless of who had that role, the court has ruled Terri's wishes were that she not live in her current condition.

At the Wednesday hearing, the Department of Children and Family services submitted a petition to Greer asking for 60 days to conduct an investigation of alleged abuse.

DCF spokesman Bill Spann said confidentiality laws prevent his discussion of the details of the case, but Florida law "provides for the investigation of allegations of abuse of elders, the disabled and other vulnerable adults."

Greer said he would not consider the petition, but added, "The department can do whatever the department thinks the department needs to do."

Felos said the petition "reeks of the intervention of politics in this case."

The Schindlers' lawyer, David Gibbs, replied: "I object to any characterization of our government, in good faith, coming to this court ... seeking to intervene when there's serious allegations of abuse."

Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday he was exploring options to block removal of the feeding tube and would do "whatever I can within the means, within the laws, of our state to protect this woman's life. I won't go beyond that."

Terri Schiavo has had her feeding tube remove twice since Greer ruled in February 2000 that artificial feeding must be stopped. The order finally was carried out in April 2001, after more than a year of litigation, but a series of hearings led to restoration of feeding after two-and-a-half days of starvation and dehydration.

In October 2003, Terri went without food or water for six days before a new state law allowed Gov. Bush to order the tube reinserted. "Terri's Law" later was struck down by the the Florida Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

'Another wife'

Bobby Schindler told WND he's astonished Schiavo has been allowed to remain as Terri's guardian while having, de facto, another wife.

"Michael claims he loves Terri, and he has said it on numerous occasions, but he treats her in a way I don't think most of us would treat our own pets," Schindler said.

Among the family's complaints are that Michael Schiavo:


Has not allowed therapy or rehabilitation since 1992, despite medical records indicating Terri is responsive.

Has prevented swallowing tests or swallowing therapy since 1993, despite medical testimony Terri can be taught to eat.

Ordered caretakers not to clean Terri's teeth since 1995, resulting in removal of five teeth in April 2004.

Placed Terri in hospice in 2000, despite the fact she is not terminally ill.

Refuses to allow Terri to leave her room. She has not been outside since 2000.

Has refused to fix her wheelchair since 2000.

Refuses to allow Terri to practice her Catholic faith by attending weekly mass.

Ordered Terri's shades down at all times.

Ordered doctors not to treat Terri when she had a life threatening infection in 1993 and 1995.

Removes family pictures from Terri's room, denies flowers from family and friends, denies certain CDs to be played for Terri, and refuses to allow her to listen to music with headphones.

Refuses to release medical information to parents since 1993 despite court order requiring him to do so.

Has limited the visitors list, requiring they must first be approved by him and removes visitors at own discretion. Schiavo removed the Schindlers from the visitors list a total of eight months between 2001 and 2004.

Denies all requests for Terri to attend nursing home functions and refuses to allow therapeutic animals to visit with her, knowing that she is an animal lover.
Joni Eareckson Tada, a well-known Christian advocate for the disabled, issued a statement after Greer's decision Wednesday to extend the stay, urging that the requested medical tests be run.

Regardless of the test results, Tada said, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube still should not be removed.

"If it is removed, it will inaugurate a dangerous social policy concerning a severely disabled person's right to live, a policy founded on irrational fears of disability," she said.

Tada said the "individual liberties of severely disabled Americans -- especially their right to life -- would be inextricably tied to the whims of a guardian who may not have their best interest at heart."

Court documents and other information are posted on the Schindler family website.

Links to all "Terri briefs" regarding the governor's defense of Terri's Law are on the Florida Supreme Court website, public information.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Tsunami Photos Show Couple's Last Moments

Slideshow: Photos Found In Tsunami Victims' Camera

A camera belonging to a Vancouver, B.C., couple who were killed in the tsunami disaster shows pictures of their last few days and the huge wave that would take their lives.

The camera was found by a couple from North Bend who were working to help victims of the tsunami disaster.

The North Bend couple tracked the camera to John and Jackie Knill, whose three sons got confirmation only two weeks ago that their parents died in the Dec. 26 tsunami.

The pictures taken in the minutes before the tsunami struck show a placid beach and then exposed tidal flats. Minutes later, a wave is seen building in the distance. More photos show people fleeing as a wall of water approaches. Then the tsunami roars onto the beach.

"I don't know why they didn't run. Maybe they knew they couldn't, or they didn't know the power of the wave," said Christian Knill, one of the couple's sons.

The sequence from the shot of the wave to the picture of it hitting the beach is five minutes long.

A memorial service for the couple is scheduled for next week.

Michael Schiavo's former girlfriend speaks:

Excerpts From Cyndi Shook

Michael Schiavo was likely to have known that Terri had begun making plans to divorce him, since she had told a coworker and family member. Stalking is characteristic of this type of man, as well. And a girlfriend of Michael�s, Cindy, accused him of stalking her in 2001."

This is the story of "Cindy," and the deposition that she had to be forced to give, out of her fear of Michael Schiavo. Terri was also afraid of Michael, but of course Michael has been hard at work to make sure that she can't give a deposition as Cindy has!

In late 1991, 1� years after Terri�s collapse, Michael Schiavo became involved in an intimate relationship with Cindy Shook. The romance continued for approximately one year. It can be documented that the two spent a weekend at the Don Caesar hotel in St. Petersburg Beach and they also contacted a Century 21 Realtor on the premise of purchasing a home.

In May of 1992, at the apex of the romance, Schiavo had Terri�s 2 pet cats euthanized to clear the way for his moving in with Cindy and her pet dog.

In the summer of 1992, Schiavo moved into his parent�s home. We can speculate with reasonable accuracy, it was at the instructions of his attorney, since the living arrangement would be contrary to Schiavo�s "loving husband" image they were projecting for the upcoming November 1992 malpractice trial.

In April 2001, Cindy Shook (married name Brasher) was interviewed by an investigator working in Terri�s behalf. Unwilling to come forward because of her immense fear of Schiavo, Cindy had to be subpoenaed and was then subsequently deposed on May 8, 2001 to try and learn more regarding her intimate knowledge of Michael Schiavo�s character traits.

Excerpts; May 8, 2001 Deposition:

Cindy Shook describing Schiavo�s possessiveness.

"he�s very jealous. He stalked me at my�at where I worked after I stopped dating�when he would get mad at me he would tell me, I would rather be laying in bed in the nursing home with her than with you. I mean he can be the most incredibly mean person"

When asked if she were afraid that Michael would physically harm her or if he would harm children.

"I am concerned about retaliation because I have a child -I have children and a husband. I know him, I know what he told me I said he could be a very mean person."

She spoke of how Schiavo stalked her for close to a year after the breakup and that she received repeated phone calls.

"He came on the floor looking for me several times. I felt it was out of character for him to get a job as an orderly at the hospital That was concerning to me. When he would come up to the floor looking for her she was not scared the first time but later was scared.

In town I would look up when I was driving�not at my work- she would look up in the rear view mirror and there would be Michael Schiavo. I would look up and he would be behind me in traffic. It continued for several months after he didn�t work at the hospital. She would change lanes, try to make a turn and he would do the same. He did this about ten times.

One time he was behind me in traffic he got next to me in a two-lane going the same way, and he changed lanes basically right on top of where I was at, and I had to swerve not to be hit. I had to swerve off the road. Michael ran me off the road. I considered it as stalking, dangerous and guessed potentially life threatening."

Cindy thought about getting a restraining order. She talked to an off duty police officer in her building

They discussed marriage. She said Schiavo asked what would you do if I asked you to marry me. He never discussed getting a divorce.

Cindy said Schiavo got angry when asked questions about Terri saying:
"this had destroyed his life and he was being robbed of a normal life."
Regarding Terri�s care, according to Cindy Shook, Michael Schiavo said,

"How the hell should I know we never spoke about this, my God I was only 25 years old. How the hell should I know? We were young. We never spoke of this."

THEY NEVER SPOKE OF THIS! Yet now Michael claims that Terri's wish was to die of starvation and dehydration, and the infamous Judge George Greer rubber stamps it.
Why?

A case for Criminal Investigation of Michael Schiavo?:

1) Nurses� testimony: Heidi Law, Carla Sauer-Iyer, Carolyn Johnson have been ignored and dismissed without hearing; each testified that Michael was abusive to Terri and may have attempted to kill her by insulin injection and attempts to induce pneumonia by turning the thermostat in her room to 64 degrees.

2) Michael Baden, top forensic pathologist in country and interviewed on Fox News National Television broadcast October 25, 2003 on Terri�s bone scan and injuries states that:

a) Terri�s injuries are not consistent with a heart attack; no cardiac evidence to support it
b) Extremely rare for potassium imbalance on woman her age and in her good health
c) Injuries are consistent with severe trauma possibly caused by a beating
d) The injuries in medical records warrant an immediate investigation

3) Dr. William Hammesfahr, Nobel prize nominee and neurologist testified that Terri�s neck injuries are consistent with only one type of injury: that of strangulation.

4) Terri�s doctor, Dr. Gambone resigned; he had previously testified Terri would die within a few days of starvation/dehydration. Terri has an obvious will to live.

5) Michael has enlisted the services of a new doctor, Stanton Tripodis, who has 5 malpractice suits against him. Clearly, Michael is attempting to provide sub-standard care for his wife.

Case no. 97007946C1 filed 11-25-97
Case no. 94003739C1 filed 6-27-94
Case no. 95000873C1 filed 2-14-95
Case no. 96001434C1 filed 3-6-96
Case no. 98002289C1 filed 4-7-98

6) Michael is committing adultery by living with another woman who has already born one child with another on the way, thereby creating an obvious conflict of interest as guardian.

7) Michael has committed both perjury (2 counts) and insurance fraud by promising to provide care and therapy for his wife in exchange for the court award of 1.2 million dollars in 1993. No care has ever been provided to Terri.

8) Michael Schiavo has also prevented Terri from undergoing a barium swallow test, a procedure necessary to ascertain the consistency of foods able to be taken by mouth.

9) Co-conspirator George J. Felos combined and conspired with Michael Schiavo to arrange for Terri's "free" stay at Hospice Woodside as part of an "exit protocol" designed to advance Felos' self-perceived messianic mission of "helping" incapacitated people to die by categorizing them as "terminal," warehousing them, and depriving them of therapy and rehabilitation services. (Attorney Felos is Director of Florida Right to Die and has testified that he can ascertain a person�s desire to die by �looking into their eyes and letting their spirit speak directly to him�)

10) Investigate Insurance company established in Jan 2001 at the home of Michael Schiavo and his girlfriend/fiancee Jody Centonze. (Jerger and Centonze Insurnace Agency Inc.) Michael is listed on the Board of Directors for the corporation. Note: Insurance is deliberately misspelled in the State of Florida Corporate filing, possibly to avoid investigation.

11) Michael continues to deny Terri the right to receive Holy Communion as part of her Catholic and civil right.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Schiavo Husband, Parents Battle Over Terri's Life in Court

NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Terry Schiavo's parents and husband sqaure off in court today over whether he is fit to be her guardian.

Two courts ruling within an hour of each other handed victories to either side yesterday in the bitterly contested fight over the fate the brain-damaged woman, paving the way for more legal wrangling. The 2nd District Court of Appeal allowed a stay to expire Tuesday that had blocked Schiavo's husband from removing her feeding tube. But before the tube could be removed, Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer issued an emergency stay until 5 p.m. EST Wednesday.
"The family is profoundly grateful," said David Gibbs III, an attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler. "They believed God answered their prayers. Their daughter is alive another day."

On Wednesday, Greer is to hear the latest arguments from Schiavo's parents that their son-in-law, Michael, is not fit to be his wife's guardian.

George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, said, "as soon as he's legally authorized, he will discontinue artificial life support." It would likely take several days for Terri Schiavo to die if the tube is pulled.

Doctors have ruled that Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope for recovery, and would live no more than a week or two without getting food and water through the tube inserted into her abdomen.

Her parents have countered with other medical opinions that the 41-year-old woman who appears to cry, laugh and react to her family might improve with rehabilitation.

If the tube is removed, the development will fall near the 15th anniversary of Terri Schiavo's Feb. 25, 1990 collapse, when a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder caused her heart to stop beating and cut off oxygen to her brain.

Terri Schiavo has twice had her tube removed only to have it reinserted in dramatic, last-minute developments.

In October 2003, she went without food or water for six days before Gov. Bush pushed through a new law letting him order the tube be reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court later struck down his action as unconstitutional.

Terri Schiavo's parents say she would not want to die and have offered to take care of her if Michael Schiavo would divorce her.

Michael Schiavo says his wife had expressed wishes not to be kept alive artificially, although she left no written directive. He said he is determined to carry on in the case out of love for his wife.

"This case is about Terri Schiavo's wishes," Felos said. "It's about her wishes not to be forced-fed, her wishes not to be kept alive artificially."

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

The Case For Terri Schiavo's Right To Live !

Authors Note:This was written back in 2003 but bears reading again !
By J.R.

By now anyone who watches the news on the television, listens to news on the radio, or reads a newspaper has heard of the Terri Schiavo case. Terri Schiavo, a woman, who at age 26, collapsed and suffered brain damage under ambiguous circumstances, is said to be in a constant vegetative state according to her husband, Michael Schiavo. Mr. Schiavo wants to have her feeding tube removed so that she will die and says that's what Terri would have wanted.

The Schindlers, Terri's parents, have been fighting a 10 year legal battle with Mr. Schiavo, their son-in-law, in regards to Terri's condition, and maintain that she could be rehabilitated through therapy. The Schindlers argue that Terri is alert, wants to live.

Terri Schiavo did not leave any written documentation that she wanted to die if she were ever in this circumstance, all we have to go by is the word of her husband who states that Terri had told him that she would not want to be kept alive by artificial means if anything happened to her. Some questions arise here. Did Terri actually say this? If she did, was it said in passing, figuring it would never really happen to her?

Who among us has not said this to someone in passing if we saw someone in this condition. But do we really mean it? We say a lot of foolish things in life when we are young and not confronted with the actual circumstances that Terri now lives.

Other questions need to be answered. Shortly after Terri suffered brain damage, Michael Schiavo sued for medical malpractice. After telling a jury that he intended to care for Terri for the rest of his life, he was awarded a sizeable sum to do so. According to a lawsuit filed by the Schindlers, Schiavo who was already involved in other relationships, decided on another course of action, interfering with Terri's medical and rehabilitative therapy, and later seeking to end her life by filing an for authorization to discontinue artificial life support.

What happened to Mr. Schiavo's claim that Terri would not want to live under these circumstances when he sued for malpractice and said he would take care of Terri for the rest of his life? What happened to Mr. Schiavo's wedding vows to Terri, "In sickness and in health".

Furthermore, what is artificial life support? Terri breathes on her own, and maintains her own heartbeat. No machine is doing that for her. She is being fed and hydrated by a tube. It is true if you remove the tube she will starve to death in about 14 days. It is also true that if you didn't eat or drink for 14 days the same would probably happen to you. What is artificial about that? Food and water are essential to life, so all they are doing is feeding Terri to keep her alive through a different means than you and I receive sustenance. If Terri Schiavo would have received a pace maker to keep her heart beating and did not have brain damage, would they disconnect the pace maker because it is artificial life support? I don't think so. If we disconnect the feeding tube does Terri die ? No she lives until she starves to death, something that would happen to you or me if we were denied food and water.

There are those who are saying Govenor Bush and the Florida State Legislature are playing god here. I submit to you that I think it is Mr. Schiavo and the Florida courts who are playing god here.

I see no evidence that Terri ever stated that she would want her life ended under these circumstances. I see no evidence that Terri is in a continuing vegatative state. As a matter of fact is see evidence via video clips and pictures that contradict that theory.

In my opinion, the Schindlers are not responsible for Terri's condition, and as caring, loving parents, their motives are clear, I am not so sure that Mr. Schiavo is not responsible for Terri's condition or what his motives are for ending her life.

Terri Schiavo's parents should be awarded guardianship of their own daughter, a daughter they conceived, bore, and raised. If Mr. Schiavo wants to go on with his life with his live in girlfriend, their child and the one soon to come, so be it. If it is public criticism that he fears I suggest to you that it already exists, and will be far worse if Terri's feeding tube is diconnected and she is allowed to starve to death.

A death that we wouldn't wish on a dog never mind another human being.

J.R. is the host of The Talk Show America Show

Parents of Woman in Florida Lose Bid to Keep in Feeding Tube

By LYNN WADDELL

CLEARWATER, Fla., Feb. 21 - The parents of a severely brain-damaged Florida woman failed in an 11th-hour effort on Monday to halt a court order that will allow the removal of a feeding tube that has kept her alive for 15 years.

Barring an emergency court order, the feeding tube will be removed from the woman, Terri Schiavo, on Tuesday, said a lawyer for her husband, Michael.

Ms. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had asked the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland to block the order from taking effect as scheduled, at 1 p.m. Tuesday. On Monday, the court declined.

The Schindlers suffered a further setback when Judge George Greer of Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court postponed until Wednesday a scheduled hearing on their request for a stay from him.

Mr. Schiavo has twice succeeded in having the tube removed from his 41-year-old wife.

The last time, Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the tube reinserted until the Legislature created a law to prevent its removal. The law was declared unconstitutional by the Florida State Supreme Court, and in January the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Since then, the Schindlers have appealed on the grounds that their daughter, a Roman Catholic, would have not wished to violate a recent declaration by Pope John Paul II that people in vegetative states have a right to nutrition and hydration. Judge Greer rejected the argument, but he issued a stay on the removal of her feeding tube pending the Schindlers' appeal of his decision to the Second District Court of Appeal.

Any removal of the tube may be brief. At the hearing on Wednesday, the Schindlers will ask Judge Greer for an emergency stay until they can make an appeal to the United States Supreme Court on the ground that Mrs. Schiavo lacked proper representation at the 2000 proceeding that led to the ruling that her husband had the right to remove the tube.

David Gibbs III, a lawyer for the Schindlers, also said he planned to file a motion on Wednesday to stop the removal of the tube in light of what he said were recent medical advances that hold promise for recovery for the brain-damaged.

"These medical advances are exciting," Mr. Gibbs said, pointing to the case of a Kansas woman who resumed speaking after 20 years in a coma.

Mr. Gibbs said that even if Judge Greer refused to grant the stay, there were other legal avenues to prolong Mrs. Schiavo's life.

Apart from asking the Supreme Court to step in, Mr. Gibbs says, the Schindlers still have pending motions to remove Mr. Schiavo as their daughter's guardian.

Mrs. Schiavo's heart stopped beating briefly one night when she was 26, and she has been severely brain-damaged and unable to eat or drink on her own ever since. She can, however, breathe on her own.

Jeb Bush could save Terri's life

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for the execution of Terri Schiavo, beginning today. She is the brain-damaged woman whose husband has been trying to starve and dehydrate her to death for years.

Florida's state constitution says:


All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life and liberty, to pursue happiness ... No person shall be deprived of any right because of race, religion, national origin, or physical disability.


The fact that a circuit judge continues to ignore Florida statutes does not change the state constitution. Jeb Bush took an oath to uphold that constitution !

U.N. to control use of Internet?

Developing countries want global body to govern cyberspace

� 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Leaders of a U.N. Internet panel yesterday said they hope to set up a global system where cyberspace would be under the control of the United Nations.

The committee, which was set up in December 2003, is laying the groundwork for the U.N.-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society where a final decision on the control of the Net will be determined, stated a Reuters report. The summit will take place in Tunis in November.


The panel is considering such problems as cyber-crime and e-mail spam.

ICANN, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, currently is the most recognizable Internet governing body, but developing countries want a U.N. agency, such as the International Telecommunication Union, to have control over domain names and other issues.

"There is an issue that is out there and that needs to be resolved," Nitin Desai, chairman of the panel and special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, told Reuters.

Incorporated in 1998, ICANN oversees management of the Internet's addressing system, which matches numerical addresses to website addresses. Critics claim ICANN is subject to U.S. political influence.

According to the report, developing countries see the International Telecommunication Union, a 138-year-old trade body that among other things established country code rules for international telephone calls, as better able to deal with Internet governance.

At the first World Summit on the Information Society in 2003, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin called for international rules to govern the Net.

"The information society offers new opportunities, but like all new technological revolutions it also brings uncertainty," Raffarin said. "It calls on us to establish international rules, which citizens can rely on."

At the time, China was leading efforts to globalize Internet control. Beijing allows its own citizens online access, but only with government surveillance. China was joined in its efforts by representatives of Syria, Egypt, Vietnam and South Africa.

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Tens of thousands to die: al-Qaeda

From correspondents in Dubai
21feb05

AL-QAEDA today warned the West it faced defeat in its "new crusade" against the Islamic world, which would cost tens of thousands of lives and the collapse of its economy.

A videotape of the terror group's No.2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was aired by Al-Jazeera television this morning.
"Your new crusade will end, God willing, with the same defeat as its predecessors, but only after you have suffered tens of thousands of dead and the destruction of your economy," Zawahiri said in his message to "the peoples of the West".

Report: U.S. in secret talks with insurgents

Talking with the Enemy
Inside the secret dialogue between the U.S. and insurgents in Iraq�and what the rebels say they want
By MICHAEL WARE

The secret meeting is taking place in the bowels of a facility in Baghdad, a cavernous, heavily guarded building in the U.S.-controlled green zone. The Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein's regime and the senior representative of the self-described nationalist insurgency, sits on one side of the table.

He is here to talk to two members of the U.S. military. One of them, an officer, takes notes during the meeting. The other, dressed in civilian clothes, listens as the Iraqi outlines a list of demands the U.S. must satisfy before the insurgents stop fighting. The parties trade boilerplate complaints: the U.S. officer presses the Iraqi for names of other insurgent leaders; the Iraqi says the newly elected Shi'a-dominated government is being controlled by Iran. The discussion does not go beyond generalities, but both sides know what's behind the coded language.

The Iraqi's very presence conveys a message: Members of the insurgency are open to negotiating an end to their struggle with the U.S. "We are ready," he says before leaving, "to work with you."

Washington Lags in Polls of Top Presidents

WASHINGTON - When Americans rate their greatest president, they do not agree on who tops the list, but seem to rank a half-dozen chief executives ahead of the nation's first. George Washington tied for sixth place in one recent poll and rated seventh in another.

"Let's face it, 'First in war, first in peace, and seventh in the hearts of his countrymen,' doesn't sound very impressive," said Ted Widmer, a professor of history at Washington College in Chestertown, Md.


Washington has been considered the "Father of His Country" by school children for generations. Shortly after his death in 1799, Congress adopted the description Henry Lee used in his eulogy of his fellow Virginian: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."


But in a poll commissioned by Washington College for President's Day, Americans rated Abraham Lincoln as the greatest president. A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll put Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) on top.

Many young adults have only sketchy information about Washington, according to the college's poll.


Asked who was the greatest president, 20 percent of those polled chose Lincoln. Reagan was picked by 15 percent, Franklin D. Roosevelt by 12 percent, John F. Kennedy by 11 percent, Bill Clinton (news - web sites) by 10 percent and George W. Bush by 8 percent. Washington was picked by 6 percent.

In the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, Reagan had 20 percent, followed by Clinton and Lincoln in the mid-teens and then Roosevelt and Kennedy at 12 percent.

The poll done for the college looked at how much the public knows about Washington and found that 46 percent knew that Washington led the Continental Army during the American Revolution.


Two-thirds knew his wife's name, Martha, and that he lived at Mount Vernon, his estate on the banks of the Potomac River in Virginia.


Not quite half of young adults knew the name of Washington's wife or where he lived.


"You learn about George Washington in elementary school," said Charles Quigley, executive director of the Center for Civic Education. "The push toward accountability and testing in math and reading has tended to diminish greatly the amount of time spent on social studies."


Widmer said the college hopes to focus more attention on the first president with a $50,000 book award for the year's best book on George Washington, the American Revolution or the early days of the republic.


The school is helping sponsor the book prize with the organization that runs Mount Vernon and the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History in New York.


The college's poll of 800 adults, conducted by Schulman, Ronca and Bucuvalas, and the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 1,008 adults were taken Feb. 7-10. The college's poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, compared with 3 percentage points for the Gallup poll.

Clinton says insurgency is failing

Todd Pitman
Associated Press
Published February 19, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said today a string of attacks killing more than 50 Iraqis in two days were failed attempts to sow sectarian strife and destabilize the country.

Clinton, a New York Democrat, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were part of a five-member congressional delegation that met with U.S. officials and members of Iraq's interim government.

Both Clinton and McCain have been strident critics of the Pentagon's planning and management of the war in Iraq. But Clinton said Saturday that Sunni Muslim insurgents were failing in their efforts to destabilize Iraq through sectarian violence.

Her comments came as numerous suicide bombings and other insurgent attacks across Iraq killed dozens of people, Iraqi officials said, as Shiite Muslim worshippers celebrated their holiest day of the year. A U.S. soldier was among those killed in the attacks, the military said.

On Friday, insurgents staged five attacks killing at least 36 people and Shiites blamed radical Sunni Muslim insurgents for attacking them in a string of bombings, shootings and kidnappings.

Authorities had hoped to prevent a repeat of last year's attacks during the Ashoura festival when insurgent blasts killed at least 181 people in Karbala and Baghdad.

Clinton said insurgents had also failed to disrupt Iraq's landmark Jan. 30 elections, won by the Shiite clergy-backed ticket. The United Iraqi Alliance won 140 seats in the 275-seat National Assembly.

``Not one polling place was shut down or overrun and the fact that you have these suicide bombers now, wreaking such hatred and violence while people pray, is to me, an indication of their failure,'' she said.

``The results of the election are a strong rebuke to those who did not believe that the Iraqi people would take this opportunity to demonstrate their own commitment to their own future.''

But Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said he did not believe the U.S. military would leave Iraq anytime soon.

``How long I don't know, but to leave too soon would be devastating to stay too long is unnecessary,'' Graham said. ``I ask the American people to be patient, because what happens here will affect our security back home.''

McCain said the U.S. military presence was tied to the numbers of casualties taken by American forces, but he was heartened by the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.

``We have a long hard difficult struggle ahead of us and I'm far more optimistic now,'' McCain said.

In December, McCain said he had ``no confidence'' in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, but he added that keeping Rumsfeld in the position was President Bush's choice, not his.

The delegation also was briefed by U.S. Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who is leading the effort to create an independent Iraqi security force, McCain said.

The group had not left the Green Zone, home to Iraqi government institutions and the American and British embassies, because of the security situation, McCain said. They were expected to meet with U.S. troops stationed elsewhere in Iraq on Sunday.

At least 1,476 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The five senators that flew into Iraq included Clinton, McCain, Graham, Maine Republican Susan Collins and Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold