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UNC Grad to Ticket Agent: I want to buy a bus
ticket for Norwald.

Ticket Agent, Searching Book: Norwald? Let me
find that. Hmm... never heard of it. Let me see...
Norwald. I don't see Norwald listed, and I can't
find it on the map. Just where is Norwald, anyway?

UNC: Over there. He's my brother-in-law.
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When picking out a pet, keep in mind that to a dog,
you're family; to a cat, you're staff.
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Excuse a coupleafew of these-----I am only passing them on. ch b





to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate
meanings for common words
.
The winners are:


1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absent-mindedly
answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n), olive-flavoured mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are
run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by
proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with
Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that,
when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there

16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by
Jewish men.

The Washington Post's Style Invitational once again asked readers to
take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or
changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's
winners:

1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops
bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows
little sign of breaking down in the near future.

2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose
of getting laid.

3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the
subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the
person who doesn't get it.

6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running
late.

7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.

8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit)

9. Karmageddon (n): It's like, when everybody is sending off all these
really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's
like, a serious bummer.

10. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day
consuming only things that are good for you.

11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.

12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter
when they come at you rapidly.

13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after
you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your
bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

15. Caterpallor (n.): The colour you turn after finding half a grub in
the fruit you're eating.

And the pick of the literature:

16. Ignoranus (n): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
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Betraying the Least of These
The Church and Infanticide


November 30, 2006


England's prestigious and influential Nuffield Council on Bioethics has recommended that babies born before twenty-two weeks be given no special treatment to save their lives. Claiming to have the "best interests" of these babies at heart, the Council stated—and read this carefully: "We view [the baby's] interests in living or dying, or in avoiding an 'intolerable' life . . . as more important than the interests that others may have in any significant decisions made about him or her"—like parents, I guess. If babies are born after twenty-two weeks, the Council said, intensive care should be given only if both doctors and parents agree on it.

This is frightening enough. But what's even more frightening are some of the factors that went into this decision.

As reported on our blog, The Point, organizations around England weighed in to help the Council develop these recommendations. One of those organizations was the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology, who called for "active euthanasia" of disabled babies.

Then the Church of England entered the fray. But if you thought that they got involved to speak up for the lives of the defenseless, you'd be wrong. Instead, they backed up the obstetricians and gynecologists—the ones who were saying that a disabled and painful life was not worth living. Although it didn't actually advocate euthanasia, the church's statement did call for the withholding of treatment for premature babies "in some circumstances . . . knowing it will possibly, probably, or even certainly result in death."

Here we have a chilling close-up view of how far the culture of death has advanced. To whom should human life be more sacred than to the Church and to the medical community? But in this case both have turned their backs on the human lives most in need of protection. Of course they claim to be doing this in the "best interests" of the infants and their families. But if these guidelines are officially adopted, just wait until a case comes up in which the child could survive with treatment, and the parents want that treatment. I guarantee you we'll be informed that death rather than disability is in the child's "best interest."

In fact, we don't have to wait. Look at the case of Charlotte Wyatt, born premature and disabled in Portsmouth, England. Her parents were forced to wage a major battle against the doctors for her life. Charlotte is now three, and the media uses words like tragic to refer to her case—despite the fact that, though disabled, she's still alive. A good sign of where the media's priorities are, isn't it? Just as with Terri Schiavo, the disabled life is seen as inconvenient to others and so not worth living.

But this is not about convenience, not about what's easy or painless. It is about the sacredness and the dignity of human life made in the image of God. That the Anglican Church has discarded that truth should concern us all profoundly because if we can't trust the Body of Christ to hold human life sacred, who can we trust? And don't just write this off as, "Well, it's the Brits." So often what happens in England soon finds its way here.




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Dear Friends,

I'm off to my Father-n-law's
funeral and will not be posting
again until Monday.

Happy Weekend,
Prof. Howdy

P.S. There's plenty of funny stuff
to read in Archives (bottom 2/3
of this blog) and some of it I'll bet
you haven't seen before.
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Thank you very much for your comment. Greetings from Mexico!!
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