Osvaldo Romo and me. By O. Torres

The following was written by Osvaldo Torres, my father by any definition of the word least of all that he is married to my mother (I was the luckiest kid with 2 moms and 2 dads). He has been an integral part of my life, made better by his proximity. I can say that a large part of the passion I feel to politics and justice are due to the words I heard from him in my childhood. I cannot pretend to understand what it may have been like for him and my mother to have an entity, a tyranny, that calls itself your government steal you and torture you.

Osvaldo Romo was the human vise that Pinochet used to brake the people of Chile. Here Osvaldo Torres remembers the now dead Osvaldo Romo, the primate that took his fellow Chileans and tortured them. Below is the link to the complete article and an attempt by me to translate the first 2 paragraphs.

Osvaldo Romo interrumpió en mi vida apuntándome con una metralleta AKA, la madrugada del 30 de enero de 1975. Sin orden de detención un comando de la DINA me arrestó junto a mi compañera Nubia Becker, mi amigo y dirigente socialista Eduardo Charme y Marcela Bravo. Dejaron aterrados a los dueños de casa y al hijo de Nubia, Hernán A. Jaramillo de sólo 4 años.

En Villa Grimaldi Romo se hizo cargo personalmente de torturarme junto a Krasnoff, el Teniente Pablo, el Troglo y toda esa fauna de funcionarios del Estado que cumplían con sus obligaciones. No fui el único, ni el más torturado por esos equipos; tuve la suerte de salir vivo.

Osvaldo Romo burst in into my life pointing an AKA machine gun, the dawn of the 30th of January of 1975. Without a detention order a commando of the DINA arrested me, my compañera Nubia Becker, my friend and socialist Eduardo Charme, and Marcela Bravo. They left terrified the owners of the house and the son of Nubia, Hernán A. Jaramillo of only 4 years.

In Villa Grimaldi Romo made sure to personally torture me next to Krasnoff, the Lieutenant Pablo, Troglo and all the fauna of civil employees of the State who only performed their duties. I was not the only one, nor the most tortured by that team; I had the luck to leave alive.

I do not like to think of people that I love having gone through such unfathomable terror. I do know that I am shamed by our potential for such inhumanity. That shame and the knowledge that torture lives is part of what drives me to get involved in, and keep an eye on our government that is still supposed to be ruled by us the people.

Additional reading here, and here.

A Repetitive Voice Can Sound Like a Chorus

I think this study sheds light into why so many of us believe in all kinds of unbelievable/unproven stuff. From Saddam working with the 9/11 terrorists, to supernatural beings who spend their whole day keeping an eye on our behavior.
In a nutshell it makes the point that humans will confuse the repetition of an idea, no matter its basis in reality, as a widely held belief which gives it credence. Even if the repetition comes from only one source. Now that is pretty powerful if you think about it. Read the study here:

The present studies test these hypotheses and provide the first evidence that repetition of the same opinion gives rise to the impression that the opinion is widely shared, even if all the repetitions come from the same single communicator.

So remember: Dune Messiah is the best blog.
Dune Messiah is the best blog.
Dune Messiah is the best blog.
Dune Messiah is the best blog.
Dune Messiah is the best blog.

H/T to Ian Welsh