Do You Know The Joke About The Village In Texas Missing Its Idiot?

Well that village is not San Antonio, Texas. This is home to business man John Hagee of Cornerstone Something or Other, he calls it a church to screw America its share of taxes. Sadly this stain of a man has a huge audience who fund his Tom Cruise level crazy beliefs.
Oh, and whoever signed me up to Hagee's trash newsletter, two things: 1 - Funny; 2 - Scary.
So without further Delay, here is Max "ChickeHawk Slayer" Blumenthal again:

...in case you were wondering the idiot is not actually missing, some say he got elected to high public office.

Study: Iraqis May Experience Sadness When Friends, Relatives Die

I like The Onion, it is consistently funny. But this piece is BRUTAL.

Some of the ouch:

Iraqis have often been observed weeping and wailing in apparent anguish, but the study offers evidence indicating this may not be exclusively an outward expression of anger or a desire for revenge. It also provocatively suggests that this grief can possess an American-like personal quality, and is not simply a tribal lamentation ritual.

...and

"We are, in truth, still a long way from determining if Iraqis are exhibiting actual, U.S.-grade sadness," Mayo Clinic neuropsychologist Norman Blum said. "At present, we see no reason for the popular press to report on Iraqi emotions as if they are real."

...it feels like even the clowns are disgusted with us and they can barely conceal their contempt.

Why are we in Iraq?

Generation Chickenhawk: With The College Republicans

This is an instant classic. Maximum H/T to Max Blumenthal.

Chertoffs Intestines Overworked Due to Malfunctioning Brain

I think the "gut" statement from our Homeland Security Knight nails the level of excellence in the Presidents Appointments. With Michael Chertoff and Judge John D. Bates as this weeks proof that Mr. Bush is dangerously incompetent.

(h/t to the AnimationArchive for the pic)

Who is Jonh D. Bates? Son he is a bad man...

and he uses his power to corrupt our country, he hurts our country.

Judge Jonh D. Bates is a bad judge. I question his judging.

See here.

Live Blogging the Filibuster

It is so telling how Lieberman always has to qualify his statements by saying "...and these are not the (Bush/Cheney)administrations numbers..."
Lieberman Loves War. Ok, thats not fair. Lieberman Loves THIS War... then why does he look so down? so droopy?

FILIBUSTER!!! finally

Today I called Senator Harry Reid's Washington office, but his lines were jammed. Could not get thru. So all I had left was to call my Texas Senators, their staff picked up pretty quickly at both their San Antonio and Washington offices.

I had two concerns I wanted passed on to my Senators:

1-Vote yes on Senate Amendment 2022 (SB 2022) of H.R. 1585. This is the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007.

2-Please start speaking more about the war. I encouraged my senators to stop ending debate and go thru with what they are really doing, which is filibustering.

Its definitely what my two republican senators have been told to do, which is to stop legislation from getting thru the senate, any legislation. I dont think they actually wanted to filibuster the old fashioned way, but they made the bed.

Sadly I've become convinced that Cornyn and Hutchison never had any say in their votes involving the war. They were ruberstamps for the worst president ever. They cant take back their votes and now they don't have the guts to stand up to Cheney. Disappointing to see these two loyal Bushies not giving a damn about the damage done in our standing as a beacon of democracy, of human rights, of freedom.

I'm A Loaner

I'm happy to have a positive update on the Kiva Microloans (see ad to the right). I've opted to help two businesses, one in Uruguay and one in Nigeria. Both have made their first repayment on time and they paid more than the minimum. I've been waiting to see how it worked before lending more money, so this is definitely a good sign. I have to say that it is very fulfilling to know that these very small businesses have been able to get a hand up from a growing community that has a bit of extra money. Also these poor entrepreneurs do not have to go thru their nations bank, who would not lend them the money anyway, or thru their friendly neighborhood loan shark, who would have to pre-break their kneecaps.

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

Deeper Moats Make Better Neighbors

Yes our grand experiment in Irag now requires that MOATS be built to protect the citizens. F'ing MOATS!!! Freedom is on the march alright.
I wonder if Cheney's Halliburton has a moat division? Blackwater can provide the sharks with laser beams attached to their heads.
Go read it for yourself at the McClatchy Newspapers website.

On Ron Paul... again.

I've been meaning to post these pics I took at the Obama thingy. What was up with these Ron Paul supporters trolling Obama's stop in San Antonio? I did not get the significance of the masks, and I'm not going to watch V for Vendetta to find out either. Oh don't forget the real Mr. Paul.

July Fourth Celebration at Woodlawn Lake

July Fourth Celebration at Woodlawn Lake, 1103 Cincinnati. Parade lineup begins at 10 a.m. starts at 11 a.m. followed by entertainment in the park and fireworks at 9 p.m. No alcoholic beverages allowed. Free admission. Sponsored by the San Antonio Parks Foundation and the Parks and Recreation Department. 212-8423.
Update: San Antonio is officially a rain forest. The rain does not stop.

Moving Beyond Kyoto by Al Gore

Do not read Al Gore's Op-Ed on the New York Times. Don't do it. If you do then you are part of the enviro-fascists who want to take away our freedoms. Why do you hate America?

"WE — the human species — have arrived at a moment of decision. It is unprecedented and even laughable for us to imagine that we could actually make a conscious choice as a species, but that is nevertheless the challenge that is before us.

Our home — Earth — is in danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings.

Without realizing the consequences of our actions, we have begun to put so much carbon dioxide into the thin shell of air surrounding our world that we have literally changed the heat balance between Earth and the Sun. If we don’t stop doing this pretty quickly, the average temperature will increase to levels humans have never known and put an end to the favorable climate balance on which our civilization depends."

Immigration: Getting the Facts Straight

"What follows is an attempt to distinguish demonizing propaganda from reality."

This I Want To Go To... Sicko

Here's where Sicko is playing near you this weekend:
Santikos Bijou at Crossroads
4522 Fredericksburg Road San Antonio, TX Phone: (210)737-0291
Friday: (11:00 AM), (1:50 PM), (4:40 PM), 7:30 PM, 10:20 PM
Saturday: (11:00 AM), (1:50 PM), (4:40 PM), 7:30 PM, 10:20 PM
Sunday: (11:00 AM), (1:50 PM), (4:40 PM), 7:30 PM, 10:20 PM

Crier Wire-Haters Drool-Coulter Is A Man

Here is Catherine Crier of Court TV telling it like it is. I thank her for addressing the coulter/limbaugh/right-wing-hate-machine. I don't think I'll be watching Hardball for a while. It was sad to see Matthews lose so much credibility by giving her the hour.

Events: Botero Family Days

Events: Botero Family Days
Sail into the world of artist and sculptor Fernando Botero.
Paint a portrait or still life inspired by Fernando Botero Learn about Botero's Colombian heritage and culture Make a Colombian musical instrument and play along.
Saturday, June 30
Cody @ 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. All ages welcome · FREE · No Reservations Needed. The Botero Library Family Days are part of the city-wide celebration of Botero's work, with exhibits and programming May - July, 2007

Drinking Liberally San Antonio

Quick reminder time: Drinking Liberally San Antonio will be meeting Thurs, June 28 at 6 pm at the Blue Star Brewery, 1414 S Alamo St (1st building on the right as you enter the Blue Star arts complex).

Obama In San Antonio

My Wife, some friends, and I went to see Obama on Sunday. It was a great time, better than expected. The mood was festive, the dancers and drummers were on, and the crowd was cool. One of the most attractive parts of the event was the great diversity of people. Definitely something you wont see, unless totally orchestrated, from the family/war values side.

The music was quite good and so was the weather. The pre-Obama speakers were brief and engaging. A surprise to our group was Bruce Bowen introduced Obama. You cannot go wrong with a Spur on your side.

Then Obama took the stage and he did not lose any points on this crowd. His delivery is quite impressive, I can see how his campaign has garnered such a following. The whole speech went by in a flash. It never dragged and I bet he could have spoken for another hour and the crowd would have loved it.

Personally I came away more confident if he were the candidate. So I guess he scored with me. Although, I may just be a glutton for hope and positive speeches. I do know I'm sick of all the warmongering, and "they'll follow us here" bull.

I have seen Edwards and now Obama. I'm looking forward to Hillary coming in to town. Nobody has my vote yet, but my wife and I are leaning one way. Actually I was completely undecided and she had an opinion, so there you go.

The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio

Here is a good report:

Joint Report by The Center for American Progress and Free Press June 21, 2007; Updated June 22, 2007.

I think the key point is not whether Progressive Radio makes less money compared to Conservative Radio. They compete just fine if allowed to. It is that the radio stations are the property of a few mostly conservative owners who control the lions share of the stations and programming. Meaning that the free market of ideas is being controlled by a few idealogues.

(h/t to the AnimationArchive for the pic)

Barack Obama In San Antonio

San Antonio Kickoff
Sunday, June 24
Doors Open at 12:45 pm; Program begins at 1:45pm
Lonestar Pavilion at Sunset Station
1174 Commerce Street

5 of us are going, so is my neighbor.

Sir Charles says things...

"everybody knows the Republicans are screwed up" - Charles Barkley 2 minutes ago on Late Show with David Letterman
Update - oops it was a rerun... 'cause he just said Detroit was going to beat the Cavs, and Utah would beat the Spurs...

ABBA, Napoleon's Waterloo, a Crazy Dinosaur...

Here is a bit of background to prepare you for the awesomeness, yes awesomeness of this video. From Wikipedia:

The Battle of Waterloo, fought on June 18, was Napoleon Bonaparte's last battle. His defeat put a final end to his rule as Emperor of France.

The Dinosaur gets the Tip Of The Hat.

On Vaccines...

I have been wondering about shots. I was kind of freaked out when I learned about parents actually not vaccinating their kids for fear of autism. I don't know what to believe, but I do know this should be a pretty run of the mill problem for good science and honest research. I would expect that a pretty definitive conclusion could be made regarding any link to vaccines that autism may have.

Shot records have to be some of the most abundant records, surely enough to provide huge amounts data. Now make sure that you account for the changing criteria used to diagnose autism through the period being studied(my gut tells me this is the herring). Oh, don't forget to thoroughly discount all the other things that could be producing higher autism rates. Is there higher autism rates or higher rates of diagnosis?

Now its not that I don't believe there may be a link, and some people I respect say there is. One is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and others include the parents of children with autism. But I just cant shake the thought that parents are actually not immunizing their kids. It seems, I hate saying this... selfish. I guess what bothers me is the risk to the children who may not get the vaccine protection. I'd bet (if I had to) that this is probably worse than the possible risk of autism. Not just that but what about the rest of the population that is put at risk by non-vaccinated-Americans.

So then somebody else I respect, Michael Shermer, comes in with a great article from his Skeptic Magazine. As I had thought the Vaccine-Autism link may be a mirage that sadly plays on the fears of parents who may be blindsided by love and anguish over their children. The piece by Kennedy linked above is discussed on the Skeptic piece and I recommend reading both for all the angles that play on such a touchy subject.

Mercury Rising / Exposing the Vaccine-Autism Myth by Matthew P. Normand and Jesse Dallery

In this article we shall make five points concerning the relationship
between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.
1. The dangers of mercury are well established, but this does not lead inexorably to a relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.
2. A number of well controlled studies have failed to uncover any correlation between the delivery of the vaccines and the onset of autism.
3. Even if some correlation existed there are a number of possible explanations for the correlation that do not assume any causal relationship between the vaccine and autism.
4. Much attention has been given to a possible government cover up, which is certainly
of concern if true but is otherwise independent of the problems with the claims
of a link between thimerosal and autism.
5. The type of public hysteria manifested in the current controversy is not new and we would be well served to learn from similar controversies of recent times.

To make a short story long, I'll end with a bit of Shermers introduction to the story that kind of nails it for me:

Remember always that we are pattern-seeking primates who are especially adept at finding patterns with emotional meaning — in this case, the parents of autistic children are understandably seeking a causal link that provides them with an opportunity to right a wrong, in this case fixing the problem through changing the body’s chemistry, diet, nutrition, toxin load, etc. Sadly, it appears at this point that the causal vector(s) probably lie elsewhere.— Michael Shermer