As a child, the actor regularly saw his father hit his mother. Here he describes how the horrors of his childhood remained with him in his adult life.

Patrick Stewart has written a piece for The Guardian. If you know who Patrick Stewart is without being reminded or told, you will want to read it. I’ve long admired him as an actor on both stage and screen. Broke my heart to read about his childhood, but it explains some of what I have seen in his acting. It’s definitely something worth reading, maybe even if you don’t know who Patrick Stewart is.

I finally bothered to do the research to see who had declared they were running for Texas governor on the Democratic ticket. So far, there are only four of them, only two of which I have any name recognition associated with. Others may join in later, but I can’t imagine any of the late comers being any more well known.

First up we have Kinky Friedman, this time as a Democrat. Just … no. Our state is entirely too messed up right now to allow him into the governor’s office. We need someone who knows how to get things done. I am not at all convinced he’s that person, and I’m pretty sure he won’t make it through the primary.

Then there’s Hank Gilbert. He’s a rancher, and he seems to have some plans for what to do if he wins. His plans even sound sane. Unless I hear him say something incredibly stupid, I have to say I like him (so far). Unfortunately, no one –myself included– knows him. Maybe that will change by March.

Next up is Tom Schieffer. He has political experience, and he seems to know what he’s doing. But … it doesn’t seem to mention anywhere on his web site that he was a business partner with George W. Bush on the Texas Rangers deal, and was appointed to ambassador positions by said Bush and that they are, in fact, friends. Even more damning is the fact he endorsed and voted for Bush whenever the opportunity arose to do so. Even though he doesn’t sound like an insane person, I have to say no way just for his overly close associations with the main reason our state (and nation) is in the state it is in today –George W. Bush– and for being a supposed Democrat who voted for Bush.

And this morning a new contender has thrown his hat into the ring. Farouk Shami owns a large hair care and spa product company in Houston. He has no political experience, and he also doesn’t have a web site up yet, so no idea what his ideas might be. All I know about him is he is pledging to spend ten million of his own dollars running for office, which doesn’t really tell me much at all other than he has more money than he knows what to do with. He might be a great guy^†, and I might end up liking him, but I just don’t expect he’s going to make it through the primary with a name like Farouk Shami (and being a Palestinian-American isn’t going to help either). He’ll have to be amazing to win over Texans with a handicap like that (sad but true).

There are some Libertarians running as well as at least one Independent, but I’m tired of thinking about the governor’s race for today. The primaries are a ways off (March) and the election even further away, so there will be plenty of time to talk about this in the coming months. I just thought I’d make a post about the Democratic candidates since one of them –Farouk Shami– finally made it into a headline that ended up in my news reader. When a Libertarian or Independent manages to do that, I guess I’ll make a post about those candidates as well. Maybe one of them will be amazing.

It’d be nice to not have a Republican governor in Texas for a change, but I still believe it will come down to being Perry or Hutchinson, which means the decision will be a done deal after the Republican primary unless someone really steps up to the plate and wins over a whole lot of Texans. Unless you are a Republican, winning over Texans isn’t easy.

1. † I do have to thank Mr. Shami for being the first to develop ammonia-free hair dye. Who knew? That’s not enough to get me to vote for the man, but it does make me eternally grateful. [↩]

Rush Limbaugh hears that someone has found Obama’s college thesis, the title of which he reports as “Aristocracy Reborn”.

The Constitution is the most liberty-promoting and freedom-acknowledging document in the history of the world, and this little boy in college is writing about it with utter disdain, and he still shares those feelings.

Rush Limbaugh proceeds to get his rant on.

So his college thesis: In the Constitution, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. So here is who we have as our president of the United States: an anti-constitutionalist, main who finds it an obstacle and is finding ways around it on purpose, unconstitutionally. Much of what he’s doing is unconstitutional, and I’m waiting for the lawsuits to be filed by some of these people at some point. Anyway, how is that hope and change working out for ya, folks?

So Joe Klein at TIME Magazine has known for a long time about Obama’s college thesis when he was at Columbia. Why didn’t this come out a year ago at this time? Why didn’t this come out before the election in November?

There would be a reason no one has heard about this thesis yet and why it isn’t getting widespread coverage on every 24 hour news outlet. This thesis doesn’t exist. Never did. The quotes from it were lifted from a blog posting marked as “satire” … which no one reading it bothered to notice, or perhaps, they don’t know the meaning of the word.

But who cares that it isn’t real?! Rush doesn’t give a damn.

I’m also told that the blog containing the passage on Obama’s thesis is a satire blog. So it’s one of these sites like ScrappleFace or The Onion or some such thing. So I shout from the mountaintops: “It was satire!” But we know he thinks it. Good comedy, to be comedy, must contain an element of truth, and we know how he feels about distribution of wealth. He’s mad at the courts for not going far enough on it. So we stand by the fabricated quote because we know Obama thinks it anyway. That’s how it works in the media today.

Maybe that’s how it works in the entertainment media, but there are still some in the field of journalism who check facts and quotes before running with them instead of relying on the truthiness of them and gut feelings. Why, some people –journalists and non-journalists alike– don’t let their heads explode until they have read an entire article, all the way down to the satire tag.

The source from which Limbaugh got the story has since apologized … sort of. Choice quotes from his apology:

So he got me, and lots of others. It worked because it’s plausible.

So I should have picked up some hint, but I didn’t. Shame on me.

Yes, it’s possible he should have picked up some hint, like the fact the piece was openly declared to be satire. I mean, that’s a pretty big hint something isn’t fact. Yet many right wing bloggers and news outlets missed that “hint” altogether. Not that it matters. It “feels” correct and it’s totally “plausible” so who cares if it’s fiction or not?

All Limbaugh quotes taken directly from his own transcript.

Have you been hearing or reading much about those deaths at that “sweat lodge” out in Arizona? I’ve been keeping up with the story a little, because it annoys me no end when people who don’t know what they are doing take something that has actual significant meaning to a group of people –say, Native Americans– and uses it to exploit other people who have too much money and not enough sense. In this case, it lead to illnesses and deaths.

One of the survivors has been speaking out about the experience (through a spokesperson), and everything about this supposed “sweat lodge” is just wrong. I don’t claim to be an expert on sweat lodges, but I have enjoyed the opportunity to experience one myself with actual Native Americans who weren’t doing it for money. One of the very first things impressed upon me was that if at any time I felt I could not endure, if I felt ill or overcome or even just freaked out, I could announce my desire to step outside and do so. I was encouraged to be aware of my own personal tolerance levels and to not try to push myself beyond them. I did have to step outside twice during the four thirty-minute sessions, and no one held it against me or made me feel badly for having to do so. It’s supposed to be a cleansing and personal experience, not one that causes illness or death.

But what happened in Arizona was an entirely different affair.

Ray, sitting by the sweat-lodge door, encouraged his clients to fight through the urge to leave the sweltering structure, Schmidt said.

“There was certainly a level of intimidation, of humiliation,” he said.

“There was a feeling among everybody that this was the end (of the retreat), and they really needed to obey him and stick it out.”
–source

When participants exhibited weakness, Ray urged them to push past it and chided those who wanted to leave, she said. “I can’t get her to move. I can’t get her to wake up,” Bunn recalls hearing from two sides of the 415-square-foot sweat lodge. Ray’s response: “Leave her alone, she’ll be dealt with in the next round.”
–source

Great way to be a caring spiritual leader guiding people to higher levels of consciousness! Someone passes out during what under normal circumstances in an extreme physical situation, and he shows no concern at all aside from the fact she’ll be dealt with later? Sort of threatening, don’t you think? Absolutely sickening.

As much as I hate to blame the victims, because it’s always ugly to do so, but “obey him” bothers me greatly. I tell myself these people were seemingly in some way brainwashed by having attended too many of James Ray’s events, or that they weren’t intelligent enough to realize the damage they were doing to themselves, but “obey him?” Did they have no sense of self-preservation at all? For all the money these people spent seeking to learn how to be powerful, aware, enlightened, and to be take-charge kinds of people, they didn’t learn much. Someone who is powerful, self-aware, and enlightened doesn’t blindly obey anyone.

Some of the people who were at this very event where people suffered life-altering physical damage and death are still describing the experience as profound. Yes, I imagine sitting in a hot, dark tent with 60 people, some of whom are becoming ill and dying would be pretty f*cking profound, but not in a good way. Seriously … some of the attendees are still in this guy’s thrall and still believe they had an awesome sweat lodge experience. Had any of the people there truly ever found their inner strength, learned to be powerful in themselves, had any understanding at all what they were there to supposedly learn, they would have stood up, torn down the walls, and pulled the sick and dying out of the damn sweat lodge, humiliation and obeying be damned. But none of them did, and some of them are now in complete denial that anything at all went wrong. Of course, their guru is in complete agreement with them. He can’t be faulted! It was just a horrible tragedy.

Had the person running the sweat lodge I attended humiliated me or in any way insisted I remain inside when I started feeling sick and began having trouble breathing, I still wouldn’t have stayed. I’d have walked right out. Had someone beside me begun to vomit, or have difficulties, or –for the love of all that is holy– passed out and we were told to leave them be and not told to help them outside immediately, I wouldn’t have “obeyed” and would have done what needed to be done. My life and the lives of others are more important than achieving any kind of spiritual enlightenment, and this guy in Arizona would know that if he were a Native American and actually understood what the point of a sweat lodge is instead of being someone who charges outrageous prices for supposed “sacred” retreats and rituals.

This whole thing makes me ill. A lot of things about the New Age Movement makes me ill. The appropriation and twisting of other people’s sacred rituals and culture –without any understanding of them– for monetary gain is disgusting, and this time it had deadly results. I hope our legal system takes care of this charlatan, but he’s a wily weasel. Everyone going to one of his retreats has to sign a waiver.

All program participants are required to sign an all-encompassing waiver. The document purportedly releases Ray and his staff from liability in the event of injury, death or other damage, even if there was negligence.

“I am fully aware that I may suffer physical, emotional, financial and other injury during any of the activities,” the waiver says.
–source

I’m not so sure that waiver is going to get him off the hook for the deaths of three people, but he’s a wealthy man. Sometimes justice for the wealthy doesn’t come from the court system. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens during the investigation, possible trial, and definite lawsuits. Meanwhile, he’s still out there doing what he’s always been doing, and people are still paying him money to do so.

In closing, Chief Arvol Looking Horse wrote an article explaining how this deadly “sweat lodge” was nothing at all like the Native American ceremony upon which is is supposedly based (written before the third death). The entire piece is worth reading, but for me, this is a quote that should be spread far and wide:

When you do ceremony, you can not have money on your mind. We deal with the pure sincere energy to create healing that comes from everyone in that circle of ceremony. The heart and mind must be connected. When you involve money, it changes the energy of healing. The person wants to get what they paid for. The Spirit Grandfathers will not be there. Our way of life is now being exploited. You do more damage than good. No mention of monetary energy should exist in healing, not even with a can of love donations. When that energy exists, they will not even come. Only after the ceremony, between the person that is being healed and the intercessor who has helped connect with the Great Spirit, can the energy of money be given out of appreciation. That exchange of energy is from the heart; it is private and does not involve the Grandfathers. Whatever gift of appreciation the person who received help can now give is acceptable. They can give the intercessor whatever they feel their healing is worth.

Exactly. And this applies to ALL spiritual things of all creeds, religions, and faiths. If there’s money involved, you are never going to get what you pay for, because the thing you are seeking is something that can’t be bought or sold.

The fear mongering on H1N1 flu has now become fear mongering about the H1N1 flu vaccine. Here are some facts:

* The vaccine does have some risks – the same risks as the seasonal flu vaccine. Except for the virus, it is functionally identical to the vaccine that’s given every year.

* The multidose formulation of the vaccine contains thimerosal, which prevents contamination. Some have accused thimerosal of causing developmental disorders in children, but scientific evidence doesn’t support this.

* The vaccine does not contain squalene, which has been accused – also without good evidence – of causing Gulf War syndrome.

* There’s no reason to believe that a vaccination would cause Guillain-Barre syndrome. GBS was associated with several hundred flu vaccinations in 1976, but there’s been no evidence of an association since then, despite close monitoring.

* While it’s true that a Navy vessel was prevented from deploying because of a flu outbreak, that had nothing to do with the vaccine, which hadn’t been developed at the time. And there were no deaths aboard the ship, as some e-mails claim.

* Vaccination is not mandatory for the public nationally or in any state, although New York requires that health care providers get vaccinated. Massachusetts legislation granting standby powers in case of health emergencies does not require vaccination or establish quarantine “camps”.

The rest of the four page article in Newsweek goes on to thoroughly debunk the most notorious and wide-spread myths about the H1N1 flu vaccine. It’s worth a read if, like me, you have people in your life prone to forwarding scary fact-free emails (or listening to certain news outlets and believing it all)^†.

Speaking of flu vaccine fear mongering, Glenn Beck had an entire episode on the subject. I haven’t watched it or read a transcript yet –likely won’t– but I have been hearing about it from the previously mentioned email forwarders in my life. I’ll probably end up having to watch it just so I can find out what they are on about. Read over some of Glenn Beck’s previous commentary on H1N1 and the vaccine, I am not inclined to believe I will see or hear too many facts from his show. Beck isn’t in the business of facts. Beck is in the business of making money for Glenn Beck.

On a somewhat tangential note related to the last link: We have a word for someone who stamps their feet and announces they are going to do exactly the opposite of what an authority figure tells them to do. We call them children. Most people outgrow that stage by adulthood, but apparently not everyone.

I’m not getting the H1N1 vaccine. Yet. I’m not in any of the high risk groups being the first reason for not getting it. The second reason for not getting it is that I don’t ever get any flu shots, and thus, I have antibodies for just about every form of flu imaginable. Seriously. My body kicks flu’s butt. Sure, it makes me a little sick for a day or two, but it’s never like having actual flu. I don’t really suffer too much (though I do whine anyway), and it’s never come close to killing me.

Also, I just don’t get shots unless I absolutely have to get them, because I have a serious needle phobia. It’s not actually a phobia. It’s not at all a conscious fear. The shot aspect of getting shots doesn’t actually freak me out (too much – no one likes getting shots). But … I will pass out right afterward, no matter what kind of shot it is. No idea why. Never have found a reason. I like to avoid things that make me lose consciousness, so I don’t get shots unless I’m significantly more worried about what will happen to me if I don’t.

But I am monitoring the situation, and there is some undefined trigger point at which I would willingly go get the new flu vaccine^††. That point is when the number of cases in my area and the severity of the symptoms reaches a point where, well, the word severe means SEVERE. Maybe this flu will be as scary as some would like us to believe. Maybe it won’t. By the time the shot is available for my particular risk group, I’ll make a determination on whether or not to get it. Personally, I think the new flu will be bad, but I don’t think it will get all THAT bad. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

I am suggesting that those people I know who are in the high risks group do get the vaccine. This new flu doesn’t seem to be killing too many people (yet), but it does seem to be causing more major problems for healthy children and young adults that is a little concerning. It’s a very early start to the flu season here in Central Texas, and if I were at high risk, I would actually be standing in line on day one to get the vaccine (fully prepared to pass out, of course) or to get my non-existent children vaccinated. The vaccine is as safe as the usual seasonal flu vaccine, so there’s no reason to fear it more than you do the disease it might protect you from^†††.

And as always, washing hands often, not touching the mouth, eyes or nose, and avoiding large crowds of tightly packed people can go a long way to insuring you don’t catch the flu or anything else.

1. † It’s interesting to note the Venn diagram of two sets of people in my life –those who forward fact-free fear mongering emails and those who tell me the news I read on the internet is 100% bullshit and lies– is nearly a 100% overlap. [↩]
2. †† Don’t even suggest getting the live virus nasal mist version either. Just … no. My body overreacts to every little thing. If I wanted to inhale a live flu virus –no matter how weakened– I’d go stand in a room with sick people. [↩]
3. ††† Also interesting to note the Venn diagram of another two groups of people in my life –those who refuse to take the H1N1 vaccine because they believe the lies about it and those who take prescription medications with pages long lists of horrible side effects and problems said medications may cause them– is nearly 100% overlap [↩]