Peony Moss: January 2007 Archives

Bob the Trousered Ape can help you out:

How do you solve a problem like Godzilla?

A twin leans over and kisses the cheek of her sister in a heart-warming picture that would not be out of place in any family home.

Yet these siblings are a not even born and the astonishing images have been captured on a new 'four-dimensional' ultrasound scan of the womb.

Via the Daily Eudemon.

George Will, on his son who has Down's syndrome:

What did Jon Will and the more than 350,000 American citizens like him do to tick off the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists? It seems to want to help eliminate from America almost all of a category of citizens, a category that includes Jon.

I thought our modern, tolerant society was all about celebrating diversity and welcoming the differently abled. So how does this increased screening for Down's syndrome fit in with that?

The life expectancy of people who have Down's syndrome has doubled. People with Down's syndrome grow up, live at home, hold jobs, pursue their interests.

But apparently that's still not good enough. So they must be culled. (After all, it would be mean to put them in an institution.) Exactly what standard of convenience must unborn children meet to be allowed to live?

And as genetics grows more precise, will the standard of convenience rise?

"She'll never be able to read or drive without intervention. She'll have to be fitted for corrective lenses while she's still in elementary school, and she'll have to be checked every year to make sure the lenses still work. Of course, there's always surgery, but... And then there's the obesity problem. She'll be teased... she'll always struggle. There's always surgery, but... And then the depression, that means constant vigilance, maybe even medication, and that doesn't always work... Are you sure you want to put her through all that?"

In twenty years, will someone like me make the cut?

Dr Bruchalski's going to be on EWTN tonight! (On Raymond Arroyo's show.)

If you don't know who Dr Bruchalski is, you really ought to watch the show.

My husband is flying out of town this afternoon to attend a funeral. I'm packing his suitcase, and, since it's the first time either of us has flown since 2004, I'm checking out the carry-on baggage rules at the airline and the TSA website.

So let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly: If my husband wants to carry a tube of toothpaste in his carry-on luggage, it has to be a mini-tube. Can't be a regular tube that's half full; has to be a mini-tube . And the shampoo has to be a minibar size as well. (Good thing I'm sending the electric razor so I don't have to figure out how to pack the can of shaving cream.)

And this micro-toiletries have to be packed in a quart-size ziplock bag. Not gallon. Not pint. Quart.

And he will have to remove the quart-size bag, and place it in the tray with his shoes and keys.

And if he does not follow these instructions, he might be exhibiting suspicious behavior.

But if he refuses to take his assigned seat, and instead demands that he and his friends be given seats that aren't all together but just happen to be in strategic positions throughout the cabin, and requests safety equipment that he doesn't need but that could potentially be used as a weapon, then he is a victim, and those thuggish, bigoted pilots and airline crew need to get over their lyin' bigoted eyes and go to sensitivity school.

Yeah, I so believe the government takes my safety seriously.