I am not religious and people who have conversations with a god are, in my view, a tad delusional. Private faiths I can handle, whatever gets you through your day, but when you’re a public figure and you starting tell me that god said this and that to you, I am going to think that you are, well, crazy. Hearing voices is not a sign of sanity (even in the wizarding world according to Hermione Granger of the Harry Potter series).

My favourite God said this to me story is from 1898 and the pious William McKinley. At the end of the Spanish-American War, McKinley had a problem, what to do with all the Spanish territory the US Navy had now occupied most especially the Philippines. And so he prayed all night we are told. And in the morning God said this to the fair but historically misguided William McKinley:

Keep the Philippines. Make Christians out of those heathens.

That’s a funny thing for a Christian God to say because the Spanish had been in the Philippines since 1565 and over the next 332 years made the Philippines the only Christian nation in Asia. McKinkley followed God’s less than sage advice and annexed the Philippines, Palau, Guam and the Marianas. They are still Catholic and unless God doesn’t think Catholics are Christians, this story shows that people who talk to God and where God talks back are, well, a tad delusional.

From the New York Times:

Asked about her rosary, she called it, in humor, “an error.” She said she remembered her father saying the rosary, but could not remember exactly how it worked, how many times she was supposed to pray to the Virgin Mary. “So I thought, in case it’s not 10, maybe 15,” she said, fingering the rosary’s 15 buttons, taken from a jacket the guerrillas had provided her.

God is personal to her, she said. “I know that I talk to him, and that he responds.” People dismiss the miraculous, she said, and “prefer talking about coincidences,” but “what I think about miracles is that it happens all the time to everybody.”

It’s five sets of ten Ave Marias with a Padre Nuestro in between each one. There’s an Acto de Fe at the beginning and the start. There are also Gloria a Ti Señor after the first three Ave Marias of the first set and after the last Ave Maria of the other sets before the Padre Nuestros. I still keep my grandmother’s rosary with me on my nightstand along with my my 1931 edition of the Origin of Species. The latter is my bible, the former is my memory of my grandmother whom I adore to no end. She taught me how to say the rosary, how to tied my shoes, to swim, to walk, and so much else. And never did she ever tell me that God had spoken to her and said this or that. It was really more about leading a righteous moral life.

Faith is a private matter, believe what you want but please don’t come preaching to me about miracles as some act of God or some perverse notion that it was God’s will for McKinley to annex the Philippines or have you suffer in the jungles of the Guaviare for over six years.

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It’s sure to be a classic. One you can wear proudly through whichever nightmare befalls us the next four years.

Hillary’s T-Shirt

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What a dufus. Senator Clinton run from this man. We’ll pay off your debt. But run as far as you can from this man.

Jonathan Martin on Politico notes the following:

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama may have presented a unified image last night in New York, but tensions between supporters of the two candidates continue to simmer.

For many Obama backers, it’s a tough pill to swallow to help retire the debt Clinton incurred largely to stay in the race and pound away at the eventual nominee after it became clear he would win.

For true-blue Obama loyalists, therefore, any request for money these days is being closely examined.

To this end, when Ed Chandler, a Chicago venture capitalist and Obama donor, sent out an e-mail last week promoting an intimate dinner with the nominee for high-dollar donors he made clear to specify where the dollars were going.

“NONE OF THE MONEY RAISED WILL GO TO PAY OFF HILLARY CLINTON’S DEBTS,” Chandler wrote to potential givers in an e-mail obtained by Politico. “While you may have heard that Sen. Obama has asked people to make a separate donation to the Clinton campaign for that purpose, neither the law, nor the ethic of this campaign, will allow for any transfer of funds from Obama For America to Clinton.”

Money raised beyond the individual limits, Chandler notes, will instead go to the DNC.

Is there a point as why we should raise money for Obama?

The story on Barack getting carried away (with himself) from United Press International:

Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama almost forgot to ask donors to help relieve former rival Hillary Clinton’s campaign debt at a fundraiser.

The former rivals agreed on a plan to help one another, in which Obama would urge donors to help relieve about $10 million of Clinton’s campaign debt while Clinton would help raise funds for the Illinois senator’s presidential bid, CNN reported.

Obama nearly forgot his half of the agreement at a joint New York fundraiser Wednesday when he walked off the stage without mentioning Clinton’s need for help, the report said.

“Hold on a second guys, I was getting all carried away. I’ve got one more thing that is important to do,” Obama said when he reappeared a few minutes after his exit. “Senator Clinton still has some debt. And I could have had some debt if I hadn’t won so I know the drill.”

Obama went on to urge donors to help Clinton as “part of the process of making sure that we are unified moving forward.”

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Located in on the shores of Lago Argentino in Argentina’s Patagonia, the Perito Moreno Glacier is an amazing site, a huge expanse of ice visible from the placid forested shores of the lake. The pressure from the waters of the lake had carved out a tunnel through the glacier and today that tunnel collapsed in spectacular fashion. The report below is from Argentinian television.

This report also from Argentine television is narrated.

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Indigenous people in Perú began a 72 hour national strike on Monday against a proposed law by the government of Alan Garcia that strikes at indigenous title to the land in the Amazon Basin. The Peruvian government wants to open up these lands to natural gas development. The strike ended yesterday with the worst disturbances in the regional capital of Madre de Dios in southeastern Perú where the state house was burned. Elsewhere around the country, there were numerous road blocks and protests. A total of 216 people were arrested and 21 policemen were injured. These strikes have been gaining force since late last year when the law was first proposed.

The above video is from Candamo National Park in Perú’s Amazon Basin. I once went on a Smithsonian expedition to the Manu National Park which is one of the world’s Living Edens. These areas are incredibly fragile. That trip to Manu ranks as one of the best I have ever taken.

In September 2007 a proposed bill was to be deliberated by the Peruvian Congress to reduce the size of a key National Park by 200,000 hectacres. Candamo is a megadiverse site and cannot be allowed to be the target of gas companies, as its natural resources are far more valuable in the long term. For more information, please visit Macaw Monitoring International or Salvemos Candamo. Since then, a local and international outcry has seen the halting of the movement of this bill through congress, and most recently, a denial of its existence. This site contains information on the background of this attempt to desecrate one of Peru’s most sacred natural resources.

More about the Ley de la Selva in Perú below the fold.

(more…)

Dear Senator Obama:

John McCain has now been to Canada, Colombia and Mexico. He met with leaders of these countries and held talks. In Ottawa, he gave a speech to the Economic Club of Canada. In Cartagena, Senator McCain toured the historic city Cartagena, met with Colombian leaders as well with ordinary Colombians in a meet and greet and reviewed joint US-Colombian anti-narcotics efforts. In Mexico, Senator McCain toured the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. He then met with President Felipe Calderon of Mexico. They talked about trade, immigration and narco-trafficking. He did not hold rallies.

Your idea to hold rallies abroad sets a dangerous precedent. You are politicizing an American political campaign beyond our borders and that carries great risk for the United States and no reward. You are not yet President of the United States. Respect the wishes of Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government. Act like a candidate for President and be respectful of the wishes of others. Here is what Chancellor Merkel’s spokesman, Thomas Steg, had to say on the matter:

“No German candidate for high office would think to use the National Mall or Red Square in Moscow for a rally, because it would be seen as inappropriate,” Mr. Steg said, though he added that Mrs. Merkel welcomed Mr. Obama’s visit.

Please act appropriately.

Yours respectfully,

Charles Lemos
San Francisco, CA

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Here is the Thursday, July 10th, 2008 edition of events and interesting reads from around the world. It was sadly a very violent day around the world with attacks in Georgia, Turkey and Darfur plus continuing violence in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe. It appears the world is on the verge of a great upheaval. It is quite worrisome.

The Return of Al-Qaeda
It appears that the attack on the US Consulate in Istanbul may have been the work of Al-Qaeda. Stories from the International Herald Tribune and the BBC.

Attacks on UN Troops in Darfur
It is clear that either the government in Khartoum is complicit with the militias operating in Darfur or it does not care. My sense is the former. Reports from Al Jazeera and the Washington Post.

UK Troops Unhappy
Nearly half of British troops regularly consider quitting the army and navy because of plummeting morale, poor equipment and low pay, a Ministry of Defence survey of more than 24,000 military personnel has found in a report from the UK Guardian.

French Nuclear Leak and the US Prepares to Build More Nuclear Plants
Two stories from Germany’s Der Spiegel on the nuclear power industry. The first is on a French Nuclear Leak at the Tricastin nuclear plant.

Following Tuesday’s accidental leak of over 30,000 liters (7,925 gallons) of a solution containing uranium in southern France, nuclear safety agencies are minimizing the possible danger. But emergency bans put on water use in the area by local authorities have worried residents and environmental organizations at a time when much of Europe is re-embracing nuclear power as way to slow global warming.

The second story is on the US nuclear industry that is preparing to build the first reactors in 30 years. The question is Is The American Public Ready for Nuclear?

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has proposed building 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 with a longer term goal of 55 more. His Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, is also in favor of more atomic energy. Is the US experiencing a nuclear power renaissance?

I don’t like nuclear but I don’t see an alternative. Even so nuclear is a stop-gap measure anyway. It is likely that we have either peaked uranium or will do so soon. Still a little goes a long way. It also lasts a long time and that’s the problem with nuclear. All that radioactive waste. No easy answers when it comes to nuclear but very hard questions.

An Indian Perspective on the Bombing in Kabul
India and Pakistan have vied for influence in Afghanistan for decades. In the 1990s, with the Pakistan-backed Taliban in power, Islamabad’s influence peaked. Then in a reversal of fortune, India, which backed the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance during the years the Taliban were in power, saw its fortunes improve in Kabul, even as Islamabad’s influence touched a nadir. I personally suspect Pakistan’s ISI assisted elements of the Taliban. Pakistan is a problem that has to be tackled and there no easy answers. The ISI is a government within a government. The perspective from Sudha Ramachandran in the Asia Times.

The Russian Rouble
There is no doubt that Russia is on the rise.

Introducing Dmitry Medvedev
The Russian President’s comments at the G-8 Summit.

Was Eduardo Frei Murdered?
Eduardo Frei was Chile’s President prior to Allende. A court forensics expert said Wednesday that former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva was assassinated in January 1982 after a simple hernia operation during the rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet. The statement by Carmen Cerda, the chief of the forensics team investigating the case, confirmed longtime suspicions that Frei Montalva, who was Chile’s elected president from 1964 to 1970, had died of foul play at age 71. Medical officials had said that infection related to the surgery was the cause of death. The full story from the Miami Herald.

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