This weekend’s open thread is hosted by sea otters! This mum and baby pair were photographed by Chuq Von Rospach at Morro Bay, California, USA.
And so was this cavorting otter.
Please feel free to use this thread to natter about anything your heart desires. Is there anything great happening in your life? Anything you want to get off your chest? Reading a good book (or a bad one)? Anything in the news that you’d like to discuss? What have you created lately? Commiserations, felicitations, temptations, contemplations, speculations?
Categories: Life
Soggy here, innit? 
In memoriam: Diana Rigg 
Getting out the ‘yes’ 
100 books by women in 2016 
Hoyden About Town 
Awwww, cuddles!
We haven’t blogged about the tragic situation of Marlise Muñoz, the brain-dead woman in Texas who has been kept on life support for two months only because she is pregnant, but I’m sure many of you are aware of the case. The 96th District Court in Tarrant County, Texas, just ruled that the hospital has to pronounce her dead and withdraw life support.
It’s an awful situation, but I wish the Muñoz family well as they are finally able to fully mourn. That is, unless the hospital appeals the decision, which it appears it might. I really, really hope the administrators think better of that.
@tigtog – that sounds like good news, insofar as anything in that case can be good news.
Here we are packing, packing, packing (with the occasional outburst of finding odd mementos of the past – such as my student diary from 2nd year uni). We’re hoping to move on Friday, but it’s all a bit muddled still. Fingers crossed.
angharad, good luck with the packing and the move. Hope the muddles sort themselves out shortly.
The racist “he’s the real racist” meltdown over Adam Goodes being named as Australian of the Year is hardly surprising, but dispiriting all the same.
I hadn’t heard about the Muños case. Enraging.
Possibly triggering – medical/death.
What a textbook example (on the part of the hospital and legislators) of women as not human, but incubators. Mrs Muños does not even get the respect due to a biological organism, of the distinction between alive and dead. Her husband’s description of holding a decomposing hand is heart-breaking.
Unfortunately the Munoz v Texas case gets worse IMO. It would seem that the case is now hinging on the scans done by the hospital showing that the foetus has major abnormalities possibly due to having been oxygen deprived when Marlise Muñoz died. Suddenly the State’s interest in preserving this pregnancy has declined. This is possibly because the viability of the foetus is in doubt, but also possibly because OMG child with a disability.
There was one pro-lifer saying that there were families willing to take the baby in whatever condition it is born in and able to spend up to a million dollars. But while this is nice, I don’t think it is realistic. $1 million won’t go far especially with the medical costs in the US.
Which is another wonder: who pays for the medical costs? The State who insisted that this pregnancy be kept going? The family of the deceased woman (wouldn’t that be the ultimate sea of salt in the wound?) or the potential adopters of the foetus?
When I first heard the story I was at work, so my first flash of thought was; imagine being that child, old enough to realise your mother was dead, and the State used her like an incubator before they cut you out of her. Yeek!
Last time a friend of mine died I broke off a major relationship and moved to London. This time I have a child and partner I adore. So I’ve settled for dyeing my entire head purple. My reaction to death around me seems to be Carpe Diem.
More on the Dr V story.
Haven’t popped in to mention this yet (although I emailed the other HAT authors): I had a baby a few weeks ago! All doing well. And since I apparently have a fixation on birthing in January, my older child also more recently celebrated a birthday too.
Always up for a chance to say congratulations again, Mary! Glad to hear it’s all swimming along nicely, and hope elder sprog enjoyed the birthday.
Congratulations Mary!
Last night I watched ‘Mystery Road’, with Aaron Pedersen.
I must have gone to the loo a lot or something, because I had no idea who the white male characters (who weren’t Hugo Weaving) were. There’s a big reveal of a wmc at the end that had me running to Wikipedia to find out who he was. I think my confusion was caused by the fact there SO MANY wmcs. Far more than bmc. I have noticed that you don’t see many indigenous people in wealthy Qld towns close to the coast, but in my experience the further inland you go, white people no longer dominate the community. Apparently not in the town Aaron Pedersen grew up in.
There were four women in the show, and they were all black; but it wasn’t exactly the first series of ‘Redfern Now’ as two of them were dead, and one only appeared as a photo.
I thought the show was going to explore the conflict between staying in one’s community and culture vs leaving poverty. I probably should have been alerted to the fact that it wasn’t going to by the white cowboy hats everyone male was wearing.
SPOILERs:
Azza got hit in the arm, I think, but shrugged it off and did not require any medical attention. He must have had a magical force field because though he was the subject of a hail of bullets, he was otherwise unharmed. He also must have known about the magical force field because he happily stood up on top of a cliff in front of someone with a high powered scope and rifle with no cover. Hugo Weaving also must have ben lead to believe he had one too. Maybe Australian cops don’t bother with shooting from cover because they’re just tougher than everybody else.
I am also wondering what was going on with Hugo Weaving’s character. He was relentlessly racist and hostile to Azza, yet was on his side in the end. (I think.) I was greatly pleased he was shot in the end, and was only sad Azza didn’t get to shoot him.
I live a sheltered life and may just be in ignorance of the rampant cocaine/heroin problem afflicting remote Qld: but the wmc drug deal thing caused an audible snapping of the fourth wall for me.
I think I’m trying to say “I’m a bit disappointed.”
I watched it too, Eilish, and I was also confused by the last half hour. I think I looked away for a crucial few seconds and missed a Big Huge Plot Point, and without it I was a wee bit adrift.
Apart from LOTR, when was the last time Hugo Weaving played a moderately sympathetic character? I remember seeing him at the nearest IKEA once ages ago, shepherding a group of small girls in fairy costumes back to the carpark. He looked very sweet right then, why don’t casting agents cast him against type just for the shock value once in a while?
Congrats, Mary!