Texas Mourns its latest Fallen Heros

Texas loses six brave soldiers to the War in Afghanistan during the month of June 2010. To-date, Texas has lost 490 of its sons and daughters to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sergent Brandon Bury (26), Kingwood, USMC
Lance Corporal Derek Hernandez (20), Edinburg, USMC
Specialist Matt Catlett (23), Houston, USA
Staff Sergent Michael Flores (31), San Antonio, USAF
Sergent Mario Rodriguez (26), Smithville, USA
Staff Sergent Edwardo Loredo (34), Houston, USA

The brave die never, though they sleep in dust:
Their courage nerves a thousand living men.
~Minot J. Savage

Joe "Big Oil" Barton's Brain Fart

Congressman Joe Barton, 6th District of Texas, apologized to BP's CEO Tony Haywood for the White House's attempt to "shakedown" BP and hold them financially responsible for the largest oil spill in United States history. Rep. Barton proves once again that having an almost total lack of higher brain function is no handicap for a conservative politician.

In a moment of uncharacteristic political acumen, GOP leadership quickly forced Joe to recant his apology. If Rep. Barton feels an apology is in order, let him apologize to the families of the eleven dead oil platform workers, the thousands of Gulf Coast residents who's lives have been traumatized, and the millions of creatures - great and small - that have perished due to BP's criminal actions in short-circuiting the well capping process to save a few hundred thousand dollars.

I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative.

John Stewart Mill

A Powerful Image

Dorothea Lange (1895–1965)

Daughter of Migrant Tennessee Coal Miner, Living in American River Camp, near Sacramento, California, 1936

Gelatin silver print, before 1941

Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

I had the opportunity to view Lange's photograph of the coal miner's daughter up close during a visit to the Amon Carter Museum last Sunday. I was captivated by the brilliance of the young woman’s natural beauty in contrast to the few simple belongings her family had brought with them from their Appalachian home. Lange’s skill in illuminating the resilience of the human spirit in times of stress is without equal. I was disappointed that Lewis Hine's Steamfitter, another iconic image of the 20th Century, was not on display that day.

The Tragic Reality of Drill Baby Drill

The shallowness of Sarah Palin’s intellectual development does not allow the tragic consequences of greed or ignorance to tarnish her self-indulgent worldview. That she could have been one heart beat from the Oval Office illustrates how widespread is the fallacy that home-spun grit is always superior to the brilliance of the educated mind. Mediocrity means never having to say you’re sorry.

A Universe from Nothing - Dr. Lawrence Krauss

Lawrence Krauss gives a talk on the current picture of the universe, how it will end, and how it could have come from nothing. Krauss is the author of many bestselling books on Physics and Cosmology, including "The Physics of Star Trek."

Good Bye Michigan - Hello Texas

Finally settled into new Texas home. Adjusting to a much hotter climate than was experienced in Michigan.