So far, only Uncly-Wuncly has responded to my questions. While I await Andrew’s answers, and for two one more victim/volunteers to come forward, here are my questions for Patterico:

1. If you were a crayon, what color crayon would you be, and why?
2. Suppose that the unthinkable happens, and California becomes a right-to-carry state, where everyone with a clean record can obtain a concealed carry permit with about as much difficulty as a driver license. A suspected gang member with no criminal convictions is caught carrying a concealed weapon, but is not suspected of any other crime. When asked why he did not have a permit, he became indignant, saying “I shouldn’t have to ask government for permission to exercise my constitutional rights.” Prosecute?
3. Suppose the FEC issues a new regulation that requires bloggers to publicly disclose any material affiliations they may have with the campaigns of any political candidates they promote on their private site. Suppose further that for reasons unrelated to this regulation, you become directly involved in that campaign, but continue blogging about that candidate like anyone else. Do you disclose your affiliation?
4. Given the opportunity, how would you change Florida and/or federal law to prevent the next Schindler/Schiavo debacle?
5. What did you ever see in TalkLeft?

I still have two openings for respondents/participants/victims/etc. Post a comment if you’d like to be interviewed next.

UPDATE: All filled up. Questions to follow.

Via Drudge, FRC has audio of Terri Schiavo‘s apparent reaction to having her feeding tube removed. That site is pretty slow at the moment, so here’s a mirror copy until traffic settles down. And if you’re interested, here’s a link to the compromise bill that was passed by the Senate today and is now being debated in was just passed overwhelmingly in the House as we speak, after being delayed half a day by Congressional Democrats.

UPDATE: Via NZPundit, here’s the legal definition of “persistent vegetative state” under Florida Statutes § 765.101(12):

“Persistent vegetative state” means a permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there is:

(a) The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any kind.

(b) An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment.

UPDATE x2: Slobokan and Austin mirror the audio also.

UPDATE x3: Some guy purporting to be Patterico has more. I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the post, but you can read it – if you want – here.

UPDATE x4: This may be one of those not fake but not accurate moments. According to the Blue State Conservative, Teri Schiavo’s brother has explained that the audio is not from last Friday, but was made in 2004. He also adds, however, that the sounds heard on this audio are similar to those they heard on Friday, in person. Meanwhile, the Family Research Council, the original source of the audio, maintains that the recording was made on Friday afternoon, shortly after the tube was removed. That distinction is important. On the one hand, a tape from either 2004 or 2005 would tend to rebut the view that Terri is in a “persistent vegetative state,” as that phrase is defined under Florida law. On the other, it’s not clear whether that horrible moaning is in response to being starved to death, or in response to something else (if anything). Recall that the last time her feeding tube was removed was in 2003, not 2004.

Florida has a three strikes law, of sorts. Unfortunately, it’s a watered down law, not unlike the one Jerry Keenan tried to con California voters into adopting last year to spring his son out of the joint. One problem with Florida’s law is that it requires strike three to be a violent offense, just like the first two. Another is that it requires strike three to occur within five years of the conviction or release under strike two. But its fatal flaw – literally – is that it does not include residential burglary.

John Evander Couey, the alleged murderer of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, has a rap sheet a mile long. According to FoxNews, he’s been arrested for burglary 24 times. It doesn’t say how many times he was actually charged or convicted of the crime, apart from the 1978 “hot” burglary that resulted in two years’ imprisonment and eight years of parole. Nor is it clear from existing records how the 1991 case, in which he was arrested in Kissimmee for fondling a child under age 16, was ultimately resolved. It is widely reported that Couey was required to register as a sex offender, so presumably that meant he had at least one prior conviction based on some sex offense, presumably indecent exposure. Whatever is total number of convictions may be, I think it’s a pretty safe bet the total is higher than three, making it plenty to put him away for good under California’s existing “three strikes” law – though probably not under the watered-down version version the criminal lobby attempted to con us into enacting last fall.

Meanwhile, somewhere in California, a family you’ve never heard of is playing in a park with their photogenic 9-year-old daughter, who you’ve also never heard of and never will. Instead, she’ll grow up to lead an ordinary, boring life just like everyone else, blissfully ignorant of the sick monster who didn’t get to rape or murder her three weeks ago because he was and is rotting in Folsom over a string of “nonviolent” offenses. You’ll never know if that is your daughter, but just in case, why not send a big “thank you” to Mike Reynolds, Marc Klaas, Bill Jones, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown, and an equally big “fuck you” to Joe Klaas, Jerry Keenan, and the ACLU.

Radley Balko makes an ass of himself (h/t: Michele Catalano) while attempting to tackle the Schiavo case. Regarding the question of whether or not Terri Schiavo should be kept alive or allowed to starve to death, Balko writes:

[I]t’s pretty clear. Schiavo gets to decide if she lives or dies. You and I can both request that our lives be ended should we end up in a prolonged vegetative or comatose state. That’s usually done through a living will. But in cases where there is no living will, like Schiavo’s, courts can look at other evidence, such as conversations you’ve had with friends, family, and acquaintances. If that evidence is inconclusive, they look to the spouse first, then the parents, siblings, and extended family.

Um, no. If the evidence is inconclusive, you don’t kill the patient. It’s really that simple. (more…)