A friend of mine was angered and upset by an e-mail she deemed "hate mail" because it cited Biblical prophecy that the writer applied to New Orleans.
She chastened the writer as follows:
Katrina did not cause destruction to the Gulf coast because the people are ungodly. Katrina was a force of nature that could have hit anywhere; it could have just as easily hit [our community]. Events like Katrina, 911, Tsunami's, etc. are the fault of no one. Rather, they are "of the world" because of original sin. Lots of bad things happen to good people who don't deserve it. Good, caring and loving people can get cancer and suffer so much. To become judgmental and point fingers may be a knee-jerk response coming from fear. It may also be a response taken by those who need to feel superior spiritually and in other ways to their brothers. Hate is not the solution here.
Here is an excerpt of the comments that angered my friend:
Was hurricane Katrina an act of nature, or an act of an angry God? There's no way to prove either way. One can, however, state that New Orleans had turned its back on God, and was the most crime ridden and sin ridden city in the U.S. . Witchcraft, Black Magic, and everything you can imagine was taking place there. What city will be next? Only God knows the time and place.
_____________
The question was asked: "Was hurricane Katrina an act of nature, or an act of an angry God?" Is asking this question "hate?" I don't think so. Is quoting Old Testament prophecy and trying to understand how it might be applied to our time "hate?" Diligent preachers try to make the connection all the time. Is it true that many in New Orleans who promote or participate in corruption and the sleaze that made that City famous have "turned their back on God?" I think so. Call me judgemental - or call me observant and discerning. Certainly God doesn't want us to lose our discernment, does He?
There are several points that I believe my friend is missing:
God is a God of mercy and a God of justice. Most Christians understand that Jesus made a way for us to receive God's mercy and eternal life. But the bad behavior of so-called "Christians" as well as pagans, Muslims, Jews, aetheists, and secularists will not "save" them despite what they might say with their voices. One of the biggest lies we are told is the "faith alone" lie, that is, declare your trust in Jesus Christ and go on sinning; continue asking for forgiveness and keep on showing the same disregard for the commandments of God. Continue disliking your neighbor, indulge yourself, and think you will be blessed by God.
Here is my take on Katrina and New Orleans:
Some folks endorse the "supernatural punishment for sin/intervention of God" interpretation of Scripture and declare that Katrina was God's punishment to a wicked people. I cannot go that far. They base their interpretation on the Sodom and Gomorrah Old Testament story (for those of us who believe it really happened - I have no reason to believe it didn't). Preachers and ministers all over our nation preach that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was God's punshment for the evil of those people. I have recently come to supplement my understanding of the cause of the demise of those cities in two ways.
One: There have always been natural disasters - earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, pestilence, etc., just as my friend explained. People throughout history have reacted to and prepared for those disasters in various ways. Those who become self-absorbed in their sins will not be as prepared or care about the coming destruction as those who are diligent and responsible. Picture the drunken "hurricane party" that you often hear about. Are those people prepared? Do they care? There will be many more casualties among those who don't care or who are ill prepared than those who are prepared. Likewise, the governments that tend to be less responsible or more corrupt will be less effective in good disaster preparedness. The government of the City of New Orleans bore this out. In this county, the government is the people. Katrina demonstrated that the "relatively corrupt" government of New Orleans failed its people in many ways, not just during Katrina, but decades before as well.
Two: The natural disasters that God allows to take place impact the righteous and unrighteous alike. All have an equal chance to exhibit their righteousness during such times. Some choose to plunder and loot. Others choose to rescue and repair. Job of the Old Testament is an example of this universal truth of God's workings. Job was tested as severely as anyone on earth. He could have blasphemed God, or he could have remained faithful. He chose the latter. He remained faithful. He passed the test. He grew in strength and faith.
These two points being made, it remains my understanding, based on many passages of Scripture, that God judges, both here on earth and in the life to come. I agree it is not for us to judge. But those who think that God does not NOT judge blaspheme God. They are simply in error. Those who deny that God judges through natural events deny the power and discretion of God. Perhaps more accurate: What God allows He allows so that we may judge ourselves by our actions. We may respond with prudence and faith and love, or we may respond with imprudence, doubt, and hate. It is these actions that will be ultimately judged by God.
One final point of doctrine: Original sin. My friend declares natural disasters exist because of "original sin." I do not believe this to be true. We are responsible for our own sin, not the sin of others several thousand years ago. It is so convenient to blame another person - even more convenient to blame another person who lived so long ago! A lot more of God's children today need to claim responsibility for their own actions. Doing so, we are likely to be a lot more diligent and successful in anticipating, sensing, and responsibly preparing for natural calmity.
I have a bad feeling that New Orleans still doesn't get it. The prevailing chatter on New Orleans talk radio, one week after the storm, is their committment to their next Mardi Gras in February. Wouldn't it be more pleasing to God (not to mention the lives of people whose government they too often depend on for their very lives) to get their flood control system in order - to discuss rebuilding their City to a less vulnerable status? The beat goes on.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Monday, September 05, 2005
Nawlins: A Twisted Fate
The article below reflects the aspect of human nature that is so maddening to me, and one reason why I tend toward being religious. It describes the allure of New Orleans to so many people, with that allure so clearly vested in corruption, decadence, filth, and the vilest aspects of human nature. This City reflects a seductively self-destructive human tendency- our love of "culture" on the fringes of accepted human decency.
Note: Words in [brackets] are my editorial comments.
Profile of New Orleans, Before Katrina
By MARTHA MENDOZA, AP National Writer Sat Sep 3, 2:31 PM ET
Beneath the frantic and putrid abyss of looters and bodies and desperation that New Orleans became last week, there's a decadent city of crawfish bisque and sparkling jazz, a ferocious city that beat back the British army, a tenacious city that has survived plague and fires, a seductive and sultry and sweet place beloved by many.
It is, quite simply, one of a kind. [Shouldn't we be grateful?]
"In terms of the big cities of this country, New Orleans is clearly one of the cities with the most unique character," said Paul Farmer, executive of the American Planning Association. "What's happened goes well beyond the devastation of one city — it's a national tragedy."
[The aspect of this event that comes closest to a "national tragedy" is the exposure of decades of decadence manifesting itself in miserable human judgment and behavior. I do not believe for a moment that the loss of the "culture" of New Orleans is a national tragedy. There is obviously a point when "cultural diversity" can go too far and becomes destructive to human survival, if in fact survival is a universal good.]
Its singular ways date back to its French and Spanish history, its Caribbean character, its geographic diversity of lake and marshlands.
The city was born in 1718, a swampy French-Canadian outpost next to the mouth of the Mississippi River. In the ensuing years it would be held by both France and Spain before becoming the largest and richest city in the Confederacy, thanks in large part to its bustling international port.
But its location also made it vulnerable to attackers on sea. In the brutal 1815 Battle of New Orleans, French and Spanish settlers joined soldiers, slaves, militia, Indians and even some pirates as they sheltered behind stacks of logs and cotton bales to defeat British invaders.
Soldiers weren't the only threats. A plague of yellow fever, spread by mosquitoes, struck summer after summer in the mid-1800s, killing thousands of residents. Fires have all but leveled the city as well, and there have been deadly hurricanes and floods, although none on the scale of this week's disaster.
Despite it all, New Orleans has always been a city that entices [just like aberrant sex and addictive drugs entice], and those who come often stay [I guess they needed the drugs!] It has more native-born residents than any other major American city, and it's not uncommon to meet families who have been there for five generations — along with their neighbors.
Those who come for short durations — and there are more than 10 million visitors a year, and 3,000 business meetings and conventions — come to experience an exotic place that has been called America's only European city [go figure].
There's the pre-Lent revel of Mardi Gras [too bad a Christian tradition (Lent) is associated with debauchery (Mardi Gras)], which generates a billion dollars in revenue every year [decadence for dollars!!]. There's the naughty fun of Bourbon Street [naughty is nice - "call evil good and good evil"]. And fine restaurants. And magnificent jazz — at the annual Jazz Fest, at jumping joints, even after funerals. [Ya don't need the crap to have fine restaurants and good music.]
In fact, much that New Orleans flavor has been exported. Mardi Gras parties are ubiquitous now; dishes like gumbos and po'boys and jambalaya are featured in restaurants everywhere. And the music — from Louis Armstrong to B.B. King, from Fats Domino to the Neville Brothers — is the soundtrack for our lives.
But beyond the historic architecture, the spice-laden cuisine and the beguiling voodoo underground, live close to 500,000 people, mostly poor (more than a quarter live in poverty), mostly black (more than 66 percent), clustered into 73 distinct neighborhoods.
Crime, even before the hurricane, was high. The murder rate has come down in recent years, but remains 10 times the national average. Last year, researchers had police fire 700 blank rounds in a city neighborhood one afternoon. No one called to report the gunfire. [Can you figure out the reason?]
"Maybe New Orleans should be nicknamed The Big Un-Easy, due to a high violent crime rate and a high unemployment rate. There's also a significant number of suicides and divorces," said Bert Sterling on his Best Places web site.
The city's school system is a shambles. The district almost went broke this past year — teachers nearly missed a paycheck — and 55 of the state's 78 worst schools are in New Orleans.
Dozens of school employees are under indictment for corruption. But then, corruption in New Orleans is nothing new — politicians, judges, the police have all been caught.
[Now we're beginning to see the consequences of a beloved culture gone awry!]
Still, New Orleans did not lose its luster. It had higher education (Tulane, University of New Orleans, Xavier). [In spite of all the crud. Think how great the City might otherwise have been!] It had the port that made it a city in the first place (fourth largest in the world, by gross tonnage). [The port is a quality of its economic geography, not its culture. It is an independent strength, in spite of the failures of the greater local society. Does a port need corruption to be great, or does corruption stifle greatness? How much better would it have been if the ignored qualities of honesty, integrity, fair dealing, and a community-building spirit were predominant?]
And it still had that quality that inspired its unofficial motto — "Laissez les bons temps rouler" (Let the good times roll). [Leave it to the French]. Though it's too tough to remember now. [Not really. Maybe it is for those who are internally confused about principle and what is good and right.]
Pableaux Johnson, a food and travel writer from New Orleans, could only reminisce about his beloved city in the past tense as he watched the destruction on television with family and friends in a nearby city where they had evacuated. [Yeah, like there goes my livelihood. All the hookers said the same thing.]
"It was a human-scale metropolis," he said. "It had its own really vibrant set of cultures, of food and music and literature and people. It had an amazingly rich tradition and it had a good solid funkiness. [A good, solid funkiness? - This is like having a good, solid nose bleed. "Funky": The word the deceived really get off on. Label any form of deviancy "funky" and you have a great dollar-generating tourist attraction.]
You could get absolutely spiritual food for three bucks, listen to absolutely amazing music in the equivalent of house parties." [Nothing wrong here. But why does it take a society and culture of deviancy, lawlessness, and corruption to enable these things? I don't think those are essential ingredients. Or do the really "artsy" among us require that culture to thrive? Do we really have a human tendency of "artsing ourselves into oblivion" as the Big Easy culture tended to do, requiring the "artsy-poor" in the nation to come to their rescue?]
Joe Lastie, a drummer with the legendary New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band, holed up in an Atlanta hotel with his family, somberly waiting to hear from clarinetist Ralph Johnson, pianist Rickie Monie and trumpeter John Brunious.
Lastie's band, named after the venerable music venue in the heart of the French Quarter, is known for its spirited shows around the world where Lastie and his bandmates, blowing their horns and clashing their cymbals, dance right off the stage and into the audience to lead a rollicking, joyful march around the theater.
"I go around the world sharing the joy that is New Orleans," he said. "And because of that joy, I know my city is going to survive. The New Orleans people are the type of people, well, you can't keep them down. Through the joy of the music and the spirit of the people, we're always going to bounce back." [I hope that aspect survives while they clean up their act.]
Note: Words in [brackets] are my editorial comments.
Profile of New Orleans, Before Katrina
By MARTHA MENDOZA, AP National Writer Sat Sep 3, 2:31 PM ET
Beneath the frantic and putrid abyss of looters and bodies and desperation that New Orleans became last week, there's a decadent city of crawfish bisque and sparkling jazz, a ferocious city that beat back the British army, a tenacious city that has survived plague and fires, a seductive and sultry and sweet place beloved by many.
It is, quite simply, one of a kind. [Shouldn't we be grateful?]
"In terms of the big cities of this country, New Orleans is clearly one of the cities with the most unique character," said Paul Farmer, executive of the American Planning Association. "What's happened goes well beyond the devastation of one city — it's a national tragedy."
[The aspect of this event that comes closest to a "national tragedy" is the exposure of decades of decadence manifesting itself in miserable human judgment and behavior. I do not believe for a moment that the loss of the "culture" of New Orleans is a national tragedy. There is obviously a point when "cultural diversity" can go too far and becomes destructive to human survival, if in fact survival is a universal good.]
Its singular ways date back to its French and Spanish history, its Caribbean character, its geographic diversity of lake and marshlands.
The city was born in 1718, a swampy French-Canadian outpost next to the mouth of the Mississippi River. In the ensuing years it would be held by both France and Spain before becoming the largest and richest city in the Confederacy, thanks in large part to its bustling international port.
But its location also made it vulnerable to attackers on sea. In the brutal 1815 Battle of New Orleans, French and Spanish settlers joined soldiers, slaves, militia, Indians and even some pirates as they sheltered behind stacks of logs and cotton bales to defeat British invaders.
Soldiers weren't the only threats. A plague of yellow fever, spread by mosquitoes, struck summer after summer in the mid-1800s, killing thousands of residents. Fires have all but leveled the city as well, and there have been deadly hurricanes and floods, although none on the scale of this week's disaster.
Despite it all, New Orleans has always been a city that entices [just like aberrant sex and addictive drugs entice], and those who come often stay [I guess they needed the drugs!] It has more native-born residents than any other major American city, and it's not uncommon to meet families who have been there for five generations — along with their neighbors.
Those who come for short durations — and there are more than 10 million visitors a year, and 3,000 business meetings and conventions — come to experience an exotic place that has been called America's only European city [go figure].
There's the pre-Lent revel of Mardi Gras [too bad a Christian tradition (Lent) is associated with debauchery (Mardi Gras)], which generates a billion dollars in revenue every year [decadence for dollars!!]. There's the naughty fun of Bourbon Street [naughty is nice - "call evil good and good evil"]. And fine restaurants. And magnificent jazz — at the annual Jazz Fest, at jumping joints, even after funerals. [Ya don't need the crap to have fine restaurants and good music.]
In fact, much that New Orleans flavor has been exported. Mardi Gras parties are ubiquitous now; dishes like gumbos and po'boys and jambalaya are featured in restaurants everywhere. And the music — from Louis Armstrong to B.B. King, from Fats Domino to the Neville Brothers — is the soundtrack for our lives.
But beyond the historic architecture, the spice-laden cuisine and the beguiling voodoo underground, live close to 500,000 people, mostly poor (more than a quarter live in poverty), mostly black (more than 66 percent), clustered into 73 distinct neighborhoods.
Crime, even before the hurricane, was high. The murder rate has come down in recent years, but remains 10 times the national average. Last year, researchers had police fire 700 blank rounds in a city neighborhood one afternoon. No one called to report the gunfire. [Can you figure out the reason?]
"Maybe New Orleans should be nicknamed The Big Un-Easy, due to a high violent crime rate and a high unemployment rate. There's also a significant number of suicides and divorces," said Bert Sterling on his Best Places web site.
The city's school system is a shambles. The district almost went broke this past year — teachers nearly missed a paycheck — and 55 of the state's 78 worst schools are in New Orleans.
Dozens of school employees are under indictment for corruption. But then, corruption in New Orleans is nothing new — politicians, judges, the police have all been caught.
[Now we're beginning to see the consequences of a beloved culture gone awry!]
Still, New Orleans did not lose its luster. It had higher education (Tulane, University of New Orleans, Xavier). [In spite of all the crud. Think how great the City might otherwise have been!] It had the port that made it a city in the first place (fourth largest in the world, by gross tonnage). [The port is a quality of its economic geography, not its culture. It is an independent strength, in spite of the failures of the greater local society. Does a port need corruption to be great, or does corruption stifle greatness? How much better would it have been if the ignored qualities of honesty, integrity, fair dealing, and a community-building spirit were predominant?]
And it still had that quality that inspired its unofficial motto — "Laissez les bons temps rouler" (Let the good times roll). [Leave it to the French]. Though it's too tough to remember now. [Not really. Maybe it is for those who are internally confused about principle and what is good and right.]
Pableaux Johnson, a food and travel writer from New Orleans, could only reminisce about his beloved city in the past tense as he watched the destruction on television with family and friends in a nearby city where they had evacuated. [Yeah, like there goes my livelihood. All the hookers said the same thing.]
"It was a human-scale metropolis," he said. "It had its own really vibrant set of cultures, of food and music and literature and people. It had an amazingly rich tradition and it had a good solid funkiness. [A good, solid funkiness? - This is like having a good, solid nose bleed. "Funky": The word the deceived really get off on. Label any form of deviancy "funky" and you have a great dollar-generating tourist attraction.]
You could get absolutely spiritual food for three bucks, listen to absolutely amazing music in the equivalent of house parties." [Nothing wrong here. But why does it take a society and culture of deviancy, lawlessness, and corruption to enable these things? I don't think those are essential ingredients. Or do the really "artsy" among us require that culture to thrive? Do we really have a human tendency of "artsing ourselves into oblivion" as the Big Easy culture tended to do, requiring the "artsy-poor" in the nation to come to their rescue?]
Joe Lastie, a drummer with the legendary New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band, holed up in an Atlanta hotel with his family, somberly waiting to hear from clarinetist Ralph Johnson, pianist Rickie Monie and trumpeter John Brunious.
Lastie's band, named after the venerable music venue in the heart of the French Quarter, is known for its spirited shows around the world where Lastie and his bandmates, blowing their horns and clashing their cymbals, dance right off the stage and into the audience to lead a rollicking, joyful march around the theater.
"I go around the world sharing the joy that is New Orleans," he said. "And because of that joy, I know my city is going to survive. The New Orleans people are the type of people, well, you can't keep them down. Through the joy of the music and the spirit of the people, we're always going to bounce back." [I hope that aspect survives while they clean up their act.]
Friday, September 02, 2005
Buses, Anyone?
Here are your buses, Mayor, in the heart of New Orleans. Your buses.Where are the buses, Mayor? Why weren't they dispatched to help transport the evacuees out when you were calling for evacuation on Saturday and Sunday? Why blame others, Mayor?
May the City of New Orleans Never Be the Same
The Mayor of New Orleans was speaking on WWL radio this afternoon...he was venting about the disaster, the dead bodies, the destruction, ragging on the lack of assistance from the federal and state government, and how "the City of New Orleans will never be the same."
Let us all hope and pray that the City of New Orleans will never be the same...
Let us all hope and pray that the City of New Orleans will never be the same...
- That their rampant corruption will change
- That their blind tolerance of grossly decadent behavior will change
- That their failure to plan for natural disaster will change
- That the greed of their largest industries (tourism and petroleum) will change
- That their continued existence in a 7' to 10' below sea level basin in a hurricane prone area of the Gulf of Mexico will change
Yes, may the City of New Orleans never be the same.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Southern Decadence Festival in Big Easy Postponed by Katrina
For those who didn't quite get the previous post regarding Nawlins, here is a followup - a reprint of a current article in World Net Daily...
IN KATRINA'S WAKE - Hurricane hits just before homosexual event
Posted: August 31, 20054:38 p.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Hurricane Katrina walloped New Orleans just two days before the annual homosexual "Southern Decadence" festival was to begin in the town, an act being characterized by some as God's work.
Southern Decadence has a history of "filling the French Quarters section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars," says a statement from the Philadelphia Christian organization Repent America. This year's 34th annual Southern Decadence festival, which drew 125,000 revelers last year, was set to begin today in the Big Easy and run through Monday.
As writer John d'Addario explained in "Southern Decadence 2005: A How-To Guide" posted on FrenchQuarter.com:
Parades and non-stop parties aside, Southern Decadence may be most famous (or infamous) for the displays of naked flesh which characterize the event – which is only fitting, since New Orleans in early September is generally the closest thing you'll ever experience to walking around in a steambath outside of a health spa. While police have started to crack down on public lewdness and pressure from a local crackpot conservative religious organization has caused the five-day festival to become a little more sedate than it was in years past, the atmosphere of Southern Decadence has stayed true to its name and public displays of sexuality are pretty much everywhere you look.
Of course, the massive flooding of the city and evacuation order from Gov. Kathleen Blanco has forced the event's cancellation.
Repent America says three former and current mayors of New Orleans have issued official proclamations welcoming visitors to Southern Decadence.
____________________
Be sure to check out the underlined links in the article. Maybe God does make a distinction between "right" and "wrong" afterall. But of course that distinction matters only to those who believe there is a God.
But don't despair. I'm confident Southern Decadance will resume next year. Your federal tax dollars are hard at work!
IN KATRINA'S WAKE - Hurricane hits just before homosexual event
Posted: August 31, 20054:38 p.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Hurricane Katrina walloped New Orleans just two days before the annual homosexual "Southern Decadence" festival was to begin in the town, an act being characterized by some as God's work.
Southern Decadence has a history of "filling the French Quarters section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars," says a statement from the Philadelphia Christian organization Repent America. This year's 34th annual Southern Decadence festival, which drew 125,000 revelers last year, was set to begin today in the Big Easy and run through Monday.
As writer John d'Addario explained in "Southern Decadence 2005: A How-To Guide" posted on FrenchQuarter.com:
Parades and non-stop parties aside, Southern Decadence may be most famous (or infamous) for the displays of naked flesh which characterize the event – which is only fitting, since New Orleans in early September is generally the closest thing you'll ever experience to walking around in a steambath outside of a health spa. While police have started to crack down on public lewdness and pressure from a local crackpot conservative religious organization has caused the five-day festival to become a little more sedate than it was in years past, the atmosphere of Southern Decadence has stayed true to its name and public displays of sexuality are pretty much everywhere you look.
Of course, the massive flooding of the city and evacuation order from Gov. Kathleen Blanco has forced the event's cancellation.
Repent America says three former and current mayors of New Orleans have issued official proclamations welcoming visitors to Southern Decadence.
____________________
Be sure to check out the underlined links in the article. Maybe God does make a distinction between "right" and "wrong" afterall. But of course that distinction matters only to those who believe there is a God.
But don't despair. I'm confident Southern Decadance will resume next year. Your federal tax dollars are hard at work!
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
New Orleans - A Warning About Accountability
"Interestingly, last year's string of Florida hurricanes didn't seem to cause much doomsday rhetoric. But Katrina is different for a few important reasons: It's much larger than usual storms; it hit a region that is home to one-fourth of U.S. oil production at a time when Americans are feeling tremendous anxiety over rising fuel costs; it happened a couple weeks after Israel pulled out of Gaza; and it conjures horrific images of fetid water contaminating a city with a Sodom and Gomorrah reputation." Quote from www.beliefnet.com
An apocalyptic scenario - in a City that knew the day would come. In a nation that knows the day will come. New Orleans has apocalypse now. The nation's is yet to come. The common thread? Indifference to the most important things. Preoccupation with the frivolous.
There are excuses for what happened in New Orleans, but no good reasons. Even after "dodging the bullet" - avoiding the "worst case scenario" with Katrina jogging 30 miles to the east - the City is in ruins. The excuses? A strong category 4 hurricane? C'mon...these occur once every few years. Come to think of it, there aren't even any good excuses!
The City had a preoccupation with being "the Big Easy", whatever that means. Prideful of their "culture". Known best for their sleaze. Now known best for being one of the most vulnerable cities in the world to natural disaster. Built 20 feet below river and lake level. A levee system designed to hold back a 15 foot storm surge in a century of 20-30 foot storm-surge hurricanes. With a disaster preparedness plan that was obviously as full of holes as their levee system.
This strikes me as the quintessence of self-absorbed pleasure-seeking gluttony at the expense of community responsibility. The evidence speaks for itself.
Unfortunately, many communities are in similarly precarious situations - pre-occupied with being entertained or entertaining others - paying little attention to their own preservation in the face of statistically very probable disasters.
The parallel: This nations' reliance on foreign oil, and on petroleum as our primary energy source generally. For the last three decades, we have heard voices in the wilderness crying out for energy independence, greater energy efficiency, use of alternative fuels. The irony is there is no more progress toward these goals than there was 30 years ago! Now we are grasping at Islamo-fascist politics in the middle east to keep us in the oil loop. And we have a Venezuelan Communist president courting Islamo-fascists and drug trade on the one hand, and threatening to cut off oil to the US on the other. Now we have one quarter of our domestic oil production cut off by a storm.
We are preoccupied with entertaining ourselves and others at the expense of focusing on the important things. What is the apt historic parody: "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." We are "fiddling" with our survival by our lack of attention to the essentials. Apparently we lack the leadership to make the important things "sexy" enough to devote our collective interests and energies toward doing. Our head in the desert sand energy policy is the equivalent of New Orleans' party atmosphere, finger up the dyke mentality.
The final kicker is that the national taxpayer will be spending untold billions of dollars to restore the result of other people's careless indifference - and to restore our beloved Sodom and Gonnorhea playground.
An apocalyptic scenario - in a City that knew the day would come. In a nation that knows the day will come. New Orleans has apocalypse now. The nation's is yet to come. The common thread? Indifference to the most important things. Preoccupation with the frivolous.
There are excuses for what happened in New Orleans, but no good reasons. Even after "dodging the bullet" - avoiding the "worst case scenario" with Katrina jogging 30 miles to the east - the City is in ruins. The excuses? A strong category 4 hurricane? C'mon...these occur once every few years. Come to think of it, there aren't even any good excuses!
The City had a preoccupation with being "the Big Easy", whatever that means. Prideful of their "culture". Known best for their sleaze. Now known best for being one of the most vulnerable cities in the world to natural disaster. Built 20 feet below river and lake level. A levee system designed to hold back a 15 foot storm surge in a century of 20-30 foot storm-surge hurricanes. With a disaster preparedness plan that was obviously as full of holes as their levee system.
This strikes me as the quintessence of self-absorbed pleasure-seeking gluttony at the expense of community responsibility. The evidence speaks for itself.
Unfortunately, many communities are in similarly precarious situations - pre-occupied with being entertained or entertaining others - paying little attention to their own preservation in the face of statistically very probable disasters.
The parallel: This nations' reliance on foreign oil, and on petroleum as our primary energy source generally. For the last three decades, we have heard voices in the wilderness crying out for energy independence, greater energy efficiency, use of alternative fuels. The irony is there is no more progress toward these goals than there was 30 years ago! Now we are grasping at Islamo-fascist politics in the middle east to keep us in the oil loop. And we have a Venezuelan Communist president courting Islamo-fascists and drug trade on the one hand, and threatening to cut off oil to the US on the other. Now we have one quarter of our domestic oil production cut off by a storm.
We are preoccupied with entertaining ourselves and others at the expense of focusing on the important things. What is the apt historic parody: "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." We are "fiddling" with our survival by our lack of attention to the essentials. Apparently we lack the leadership to make the important things "sexy" enough to devote our collective interests and energies toward doing. Our head in the desert sand energy policy is the equivalent of New Orleans' party atmosphere, finger up the dyke mentality.
The final kicker is that the national taxpayer will be spending untold billions of dollars to restore the result of other people's careless indifference - and to restore our beloved Sodom and Gonnorhea playground.
Monday, August 22, 2005
We're Fighting for What!!???
This is from the "be careful what you ask for" department.
The United States has been fighting for democracy in Iraq. Of course, many of us are aware that our own nation is a republic, not a democracy. We know that in a democracy, there is the very real potential for the tyranny of the majority. Now blend that potential with an Iraqi constitutional provision that states that Islam will be a basis for all law in Iraq. Then go one step further in realizing that true Islam is against women's rights, supports violent Jihad, and would like to see the infidels (those who do not embrace Islam) either subservient or dead. These folks may call Islam "a religion of peace" but translate the word "peace" to mean the condition that results after their total conquest.
So, we have lost how many thousand American lives for what? So we can win the right for a nation to adopt a constitution that embraces the laws of a religion that wants us dead and makes slaves of its' women?
"Democracy" is a duel edged sword. The majority can vote for evil just as well as a dictator can enforce evil.
If this is as it appears, and I am not mistaken, I will quickly turn anti-war. If this is as it appears, that we are fighting to create an Islamic nation, then any other American who dies from this point forward dies in obedience to a misdirected mission and an evil cause.
I hope I am not interpreting these events correctly - that this is just a phase of constitutional negotiation. Look out for the spinning that concludes that Islamic law is benign, that it is the "will of the people", that all is cool, and we have won a great victory. That will be a lie. We will have won the opportunity for a major part of that nation to live in bondage. And worse, the threat to the U.S. from that nation will be as real and present as under Sadam.
If I am interpreting this correctly, I would rather withdraw to allow the various factions of psycho-Islamic facists to fight each other to the death and have nothing else to do with their psychotic behavior. I would rather come to the rescue of a nation where goodness can prevail, not evil.
Here is the article excerpted from JihadWatch (weblink in the above title):
Iraq draft says laws must conform to Islam...
Most of the world is just hearing about this, but if you have been reading Jihad Watch you would know that there has been no change on this point since late July. Another I told you so update: "Iraq draft says laws must conform to Islam -text," from Reuters, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) - A draft constitution for Iraq to be presented to parliament on Monday will make Islam "a main source" for legislation and ban laws that contradict religious teachings, members of the parliamentary drafting panel said.
One said the text, agreed by the ruling Shi'ite and Kurdish coalition over Sunni Arab objections, would read: "Islam is a main source for legislation and it is not permitted to legislate anything that conflicts with the fixed principles of its rules."
Shi'ite delegate Jawad al-Maliki said the wording was fixed.
It appeared to be something of a compromise after secular Kurds had objected during negotiations to Islam being "the main source" of laws. It was not clear how legislation would be subjected to the test of conforming to Islamic principles.
The United States has been fighting for democracy in Iraq. Of course, many of us are aware that our own nation is a republic, not a democracy. We know that in a democracy, there is the very real potential for the tyranny of the majority. Now blend that potential with an Iraqi constitutional provision that states that Islam will be a basis for all law in Iraq. Then go one step further in realizing that true Islam is against women's rights, supports violent Jihad, and would like to see the infidels (those who do not embrace Islam) either subservient or dead. These folks may call Islam "a religion of peace" but translate the word "peace" to mean the condition that results after their total conquest.
So, we have lost how many thousand American lives for what? So we can win the right for a nation to adopt a constitution that embraces the laws of a religion that wants us dead and makes slaves of its' women?
"Democracy" is a duel edged sword. The majority can vote for evil just as well as a dictator can enforce evil.
If this is as it appears, and I am not mistaken, I will quickly turn anti-war. If this is as it appears, that we are fighting to create an Islamic nation, then any other American who dies from this point forward dies in obedience to a misdirected mission and an evil cause.
I hope I am not interpreting these events correctly - that this is just a phase of constitutional negotiation. Look out for the spinning that concludes that Islamic law is benign, that it is the "will of the people", that all is cool, and we have won a great victory. That will be a lie. We will have won the opportunity for a major part of that nation to live in bondage. And worse, the threat to the U.S. from that nation will be as real and present as under Sadam.
If I am interpreting this correctly, I would rather withdraw to allow the various factions of psycho-Islamic facists to fight each other to the death and have nothing else to do with their psychotic behavior. I would rather come to the rescue of a nation where goodness can prevail, not evil.
Here is the article excerpted from JihadWatch (weblink in the above title):
Iraq draft says laws must conform to Islam...
Most of the world is just hearing about this, but if you have been reading Jihad Watch you would know that there has been no change on this point since late July. Another I told you so update: "Iraq draft says laws must conform to Islam -text," from Reuters, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) - A draft constitution for Iraq to be presented to parliament on Monday will make Islam "a main source" for legislation and ban laws that contradict religious teachings, members of the parliamentary drafting panel said.
One said the text, agreed by the ruling Shi'ite and Kurdish coalition over Sunni Arab objections, would read: "Islam is a main source for legislation and it is not permitted to legislate anything that conflicts with the fixed principles of its rules."
Shi'ite delegate Jawad al-Maliki said the wording was fixed.
It appeared to be something of a compromise after secular Kurds had objected during negotiations to Islam being "the main source" of laws. It was not clear how legislation would be subjected to the test of conforming to Islamic principles.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
So you feel bad for the Guantanamo detainees?
A good friend of mine recently forwarded a copy of the following letter to a "concerned citizen" from Donald Rumsfeld. Apparently, the federal government initiated a new program to address some of the concerns related to Guantanamo detainees. This official letter describes the new "LARK" program which enlists the help of these concerned citizens. Please provide a copy to any of your friends who may also be concerned about the treatment of Guantanamo detainees.
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.
Dear Concerned Citizen:
Thank you for your recent letter expressing concern about our treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The administration takes these matters seriously, and your opinion was heard loud and clear here in Washington.
You'll be pleased to learn that, thanks to the concerns of citizens like you, we are creating the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called the "Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers" program, or LARK for short. In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to place one terrorist under your personal care. Your detainee has been selected and scheduled for transportation to your residence next Monday.
Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of admonishment. We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommended in your letter. Although Ahmed is sociopathic and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his "attitudinal problem" will help him overcome this character flaw. Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences. Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless you feel that this might offend him.
Ahmed will not wish to interact with your wife or daughters since he views females as a subhuman form of property. This is a particularly sensitive subject for him. He has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the dress code that he considers appropriate, but I'm sure that over time they will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the bhurka. Just remind them that it is all part of respecting his culture and his religious beliefs.
Thanks again for your letter. We truly appreciate it when folks like you inform us of the proper way to do our job. Take good care of Ahmed and good luck!
Cordially,
Don Rumsfeld
(For those who take things way too seriously, this letter is a parody.)
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.
Dear Concerned Citizen:
Thank you for your recent letter expressing concern about our treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The administration takes these matters seriously, and your opinion was heard loud and clear here in Washington.
You'll be pleased to learn that, thanks to the concerns of citizens like you, we are creating the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called the "Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers" program, or LARK for short. In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to place one terrorist under your personal care. Your detainee has been selected and scheduled for transportation to your residence next Monday.
Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of admonishment. We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommended in your letter. Although Ahmed is sociopathic and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his "attitudinal problem" will help him overcome this character flaw. Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences. Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless you feel that this might offend him.
Ahmed will not wish to interact with your wife or daughters since he views females as a subhuman form of property. This is a particularly sensitive subject for him. He has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the dress code that he considers appropriate, but I'm sure that over time they will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the bhurka. Just remind them that it is all part of respecting his culture and his religious beliefs.
Thanks again for your letter. We truly appreciate it when folks like you inform us of the proper way to do our job. Take good care of Ahmed and good luck!
Cordially,
Don Rumsfeld
(For those who take things way too seriously, this letter is a parody.)
Friday, July 22, 2005
Blackmail!
Click on the title for a perfect example of the blatant blackmail of Islamic leaders, this one in London.
The message: Get out of Iraq or we will continue to terrorize and kill your civilians.
This is the teaching of their "religion": "Do what I say or I will...
The message: Get out of Iraq or we will continue to terrorize and kill your civilians.
This is the teaching of their "religion": "Do what I say or I will...
- Cut off your finger
- Chop off your hand
- Cut out your tongue
- Cut off your ____ (pick a body part)
- Kill members of your family
- Blow up innocent civilians."
Ooops. I forgot. None of us are innocent. We are all infidels - we don't believe as they do. So we shall become either dhimmis, or Allah wants us dead. With free speech like that, we won't have any free speech.
Today it's get out of Iraq. What was it before 9/11? What will it be next when we leave Iraq?
This is blackmail, pure and simple. It should be rewarded with redoubled efforts to practice whatever profiling is necessary to get every one of these uncivilized, slimy vipers off the streets. By the way, this is the same character that was congratulating the Islamic highjackers after 9/11.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do
Every so often there are periods in our lives when we don't know what to do. I'm not speaking of not knowing whether to wear brown shoes or black shoes, or what to have for dinner. I mean the big stuff. Like "my career field is a dead end, but I don't know one that is any better." Or "this 'ol town has run its' course in my life, it's time to move on, but I don't know where to go." (Sounds like the lyrics of a country song!)
First, if you believe there is a God anywhere near the vicinity of this universe, pray. This "step of faith" has several benefits. It taps the main power in the universe on your behalf. It increases your faith, especially if you make it a habit and look for results. And finally, it helps you focus on what you really want, because knowing you usually get what you pray for, you will be careful to pray for what you really want.
If you are close to completing your education, i.e. your bachelors' degree, finish it, even if the last credits you take are not in the perfect career field. If you get in the habit of changing direction in school, you may become a perpetual student. I admit, some folks enjoy being a perpetual student. Most don't. After your initial degree, you will have more time to be a perpetual student of life - focusing on the things that REALLY interest you.
During this time, your other primary area of focus is to identify, list, and prioritize the things you need to do to learn what you want to do. For example, if you have no idea what career field you really want - nothing seems particularly attractive, make the college career counselor your best friend. Take aptitude and interest inventories - again. Focus your energies in finding a career field in something you enjoy doing. The other option is spending most of your waking hours doing something you don't care much about as a means to enjoy a very few number of hours of your life. Granted, a job or career need not be an end in itself. Life does not need to revolve around your job. But, especially for a single person, a job is the center of life, and for 95% of us, it consumes 80% of our waking hours. The quirk in this is that the jobs that are most fun don't pay much. 99% of beach bums, ski bums, vagrants, groupies, artists, and musicians get paid very little.
Once you discover your top three career fields, you may discover a knowledge or experience gap between those fields and your degreed education and work experience. That is where the twin gems of "networking" and "transferable job skills" come in. You need networking to get your foot in the door, and you need to identify your transferable job skills to get hired. And since this new job is in your recently chosen "hot button" career, you will (hopefully) be motivated to do whatever it takes to get up to speed to do your job, or to work your way up the ladder from your entry level position.
For example, in the field of city planning an entry level position could be an administrative assistant, a zoning inspector, code enforcement officer, or a planning technician. The pay for these positions range from the low $20,000's to the low $30,000's. The majority of the intermediate positions typically require a bachelors or master's degree in the specific field of planning, or closely related field such as public administration, urban design, or architecture. A website that lists planning jobs around the nation is the American Planning Association web site at www.planning.org. Each state chapter also lists job openings on the web. These chapter sites are also accessible through the web site.
Most people who implement a career change understand that they have two big challenges: lower initial pay than the career field they left, and a steep learning curve that will require lots of motivation, energy, dedication, and a few years of time.
Another thing to remember is that for many, the journey is the destination. The journey can be a very fulfilling endeavor. Often time for many, simply reaching a static goal results in disappointment. It is stimulating and healthy to continue reaching for new experiences, both in your career and in your location.
First, if you believe there is a God anywhere near the vicinity of this universe, pray. This "step of faith" has several benefits. It taps the main power in the universe on your behalf. It increases your faith, especially if you make it a habit and look for results. And finally, it helps you focus on what you really want, because knowing you usually get what you pray for, you will be careful to pray for what you really want.
If you are close to completing your education, i.e. your bachelors' degree, finish it, even if the last credits you take are not in the perfect career field. If you get in the habit of changing direction in school, you may become a perpetual student. I admit, some folks enjoy being a perpetual student. Most don't. After your initial degree, you will have more time to be a perpetual student of life - focusing on the things that REALLY interest you.
During this time, your other primary area of focus is to identify, list, and prioritize the things you need to do to learn what you want to do. For example, if you have no idea what career field you really want - nothing seems particularly attractive, make the college career counselor your best friend. Take aptitude and interest inventories - again. Focus your energies in finding a career field in something you enjoy doing. The other option is spending most of your waking hours doing something you don't care much about as a means to enjoy a very few number of hours of your life. Granted, a job or career need not be an end in itself. Life does not need to revolve around your job. But, especially for a single person, a job is the center of life, and for 95% of us, it consumes 80% of our waking hours. The quirk in this is that the jobs that are most fun don't pay much. 99% of beach bums, ski bums, vagrants, groupies, artists, and musicians get paid very little.
Once you discover your top three career fields, you may discover a knowledge or experience gap between those fields and your degreed education and work experience. That is where the twin gems of "networking" and "transferable job skills" come in. You need networking to get your foot in the door, and you need to identify your transferable job skills to get hired. And since this new job is in your recently chosen "hot button" career, you will (hopefully) be motivated to do whatever it takes to get up to speed to do your job, or to work your way up the ladder from your entry level position.
For example, in the field of city planning an entry level position could be an administrative assistant, a zoning inspector, code enforcement officer, or a planning technician. The pay for these positions range from the low $20,000's to the low $30,000's. The majority of the intermediate positions typically require a bachelors or master's degree in the specific field of planning, or closely related field such as public administration, urban design, or architecture. A website that lists planning jobs around the nation is the American Planning Association web site at www.planning.org. Each state chapter also lists job openings on the web. These chapter sites are also accessible through the web site.
Most people who implement a career change understand that they have two big challenges: lower initial pay than the career field they left, and a steep learning curve that will require lots of motivation, energy, dedication, and a few years of time.
Another thing to remember is that for many, the journey is the destination. The journey can be a very fulfilling endeavor. Often time for many, simply reaching a static goal results in disappointment. It is stimulating and healthy to continue reaching for new experiences, both in your career and in your location.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Islam a Lamb or a Viper?
Here is an e-mail concerning the recent London bombings prominently displayed on the CNN website:
"We utterly condemn those atrocities. We condemn those responsible. Islam is a peaceful religion and it teaches peace. Those who are responsible must be brought to justice, no matter what religion or what country they belong to. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who have suffered in this atrocity. We the Scottish Muslims stand United and our prayers are with the families and friends of those who have been killed and all those injured in this atrocity. We appeal to the authorities that those who are responsible must be brought to justice. " Tahir Mohammed; Glasgow, Scotland
Based on what I know about Islam, current events, and CNN, the following observations are made:
"We utterly condemn those atrocities. We condemn those responsible. Islam is a peaceful religion and it teaches peace. Those who are responsible must be brought to justice, no matter what religion or what country they belong to. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who have suffered in this atrocity. We the Scottish Muslims stand United and our prayers are with the families and friends of those who have been killed and all those injured in this atrocity. We appeal to the authorities that those who are responsible must be brought to justice. " Tahir Mohammed; Glasgow, Scotland
Based on what I know about Islam, current events, and CNN, the following observations are made:
- CNN, as most left-leaning media outlets, is a pawn of Islam
- The e-mail does not represent the truth about Islam; if spoken sincerely, it is an oddity; if spoken insincerely, it is a purposeful deception.
- The hundreds of terrorist acts over the last two decades have virtually all been committed by (pick one) grandmothers, boy scouts, Muslims.
- Therefore, Islam (pick one) is a peaceful religion, bakes cookies and gives them to little children, is a religion that frequently practices and condones terrorism as a means to exert their influence over those not sharing their faith.
It is interesting to note that most of the Islamic blogs and e-mails (see Jihad Watch website http://jihadwatch.org/) following the London bombings either congratulated themselves or complained about possible retribution against fellow Muslims. Rarely did they express sorrow for the victims or rage at the perpetrators.
Intelligence reports indicate at least 24 terrorists were involved in setting up and setting off the blasts. How many additional "sympathizers" do you think were needed to keep the plot a secret from British intelligence?
I am wary of Muslims. No, I am more than wary. Islam itself is not far from being a terrorist organization. I suspect that many of the "peaceful" among them are PR front people - the lobbying and fund raising arm, so to speak. And they have well-earned their reputation. Those who sincerely claim to be "peaceful" certainly do not appear to be in the Islamic mainstream.
PS: A great article about what we in the US should be doing differently and unapologetically is summarized by Michelle Malkin in a recent commentary http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/mm20050713.shtml
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Granddaddy…
Good natured, easy going, intelligent, kind, generous, loved life, loved a good conversation, independent, disciplined. These are the characteristics that come to mind when I think of Granddaddy.
What a sharp mind. When he would come back from a vacation he really enjoyed, he recounted more factual details two weeks later than I would have noticed if I were there. He loved being active – he enjoyed his pool and his yard– even in his elderly days. While I don’t know what the past 9 years without Grandmommy were like for him, I have no doubt he still took great pleasure in life. He may have had his times of loneliness and disappointment, but who would ever know? He was a quiet man who probably kept a lot to himself. He seldom complained, maintaining self-control and a positive outlook on life.
Because of his style and substance, he had more influence on his two daughters in spiritual matters than his religious wife did. He had little concern about or belief in God as I understood him. Yet he accompanied Wren to every church service (she called them “meetings”) that she ever attended. He was faithful like that, even lacking a religious faith himself. He was above all, loyal, sometimes, from my perspective, painfully so. He is more of a “throwback” than I am, and I use that term in the most positive way. He learned most of these qualities as a boy on the farm in upper state New York – an increasingly rare experience. His highest values were faithfulness to his wife, loyalty, honesty, self-discipline, and personal responsibility. He was easy to be with - a friend. His style and substance were near the upper echelons of those I’ve known. Most others’ pale in comparison, including my own.
He has great surprise and thrill in store when he finds himself in the midst of Heaven counseling the rest of us not only about our taxes, but how to be a good, decent human being. I will have much more to learn from him.
Passed through to paradise on Wednesday, June 29, 2005
What a sharp mind. When he would come back from a vacation he really enjoyed, he recounted more factual details two weeks later than I would have noticed if I were there. He loved being active – he enjoyed his pool and his yard– even in his elderly days. While I don’t know what the past 9 years without Grandmommy were like for him, I have no doubt he still took great pleasure in life. He may have had his times of loneliness and disappointment, but who would ever know? He was a quiet man who probably kept a lot to himself. He seldom complained, maintaining self-control and a positive outlook on life.
Because of his style and substance, he had more influence on his two daughters in spiritual matters than his religious wife did. He had little concern about or belief in God as I understood him. Yet he accompanied Wren to every church service (she called them “meetings”) that she ever attended. He was faithful like that, even lacking a religious faith himself. He was above all, loyal, sometimes, from my perspective, painfully so. He is more of a “throwback” than I am, and I use that term in the most positive way. He learned most of these qualities as a boy on the farm in upper state New York – an increasingly rare experience. His highest values were faithfulness to his wife, loyalty, honesty, self-discipline, and personal responsibility. He was easy to be with - a friend. His style and substance were near the upper echelons of those I’ve known. Most others’ pale in comparison, including my own.
He has great surprise and thrill in store when he finds himself in the midst of Heaven counseling the rest of us not only about our taxes, but how to be a good, decent human being. I will have much more to learn from him.
Passed through to paradise on Wednesday, June 29, 2005
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