Good grief, not again

You Birminghamians out there might remember Hank Erwin, former host of WDJC's afternoon talk show. Erwin was a fairly popular figure in the '90s among the local evangelical community -- much to my chagrin. Now a state senator, he's making headlines again, claiming Katrina was God's judgment on the sin-filled Gulf Coast.

(As Neal Boortz acidly commented, that explains all the hurricanes in Las Vegas.)

I'll be honest with you, full disclaimer here: I have very little respect for Erwin and have tangled with him from time to time. I might agree with him on many topics in principle, but his vitriol-filled rants interspersed with loony Biblical exegesis have left me wanting to punch a hole in the radio more than once.

One time, I nearly fell out of my chair when he advised a caller that the wine Jesus created at the Cana wedding was, indeed, wine ... it just wasn't intoxicating! (I was tempted to call in and ask if Jesus whipped up some o' that non-intoxicating wine for the Last Supper, but I resisted.) And now, Erwin is cloaking himself with a prophet's mantle and claiming to know God's ultimate purposes behind the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

Erwin, IMHO, is making the same sort of buffoonish statements as Falwell did in the post 9/11 days. This issue is not whether God judges sin but whether it is our prerogative to announce God's judgment whenever extreme tragedy befalls our neighbors. I suppose, according to Erwin's logic, we might as well tour the cancer wards and the ICUs and say, "Hey there, friend! What sort of vile sin put you here, huh? You some kind a pervert?"

(And by the way, Hank, have you read the Book of Job lately?)

Furthermore, Erwin talks about "godliness" and "churchgoing" and "godly living" but never mentions Jesus, the only sinless person and the only one who can save us from sin and judgment, hurricanes or no. And then he recommends these things so we'll be under "divine protection" from Mother Nature's wrath.

(Again, Hank, read the Book of Job lately?)

As for why Katrina did happen, I'm inclined to agree with the Methodist bishop quoted in the article:

"I have no idea what sort of senator or politician Mr. Erwin is, but he's sure no theologian," William Willimon, bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, told the News. "I'm certainly against gambling and its hold on state government in Mississippi, but I expect there is as much sin, of possibly a different order, in Montevallo as on the Gulf Coast. If God punished all of us for our sin, who could stand?"

Indeed.

This avian flu thing is for the birds

Got a health e-newsletter today with this apocalyptic headline:

"Officials Predict Global Bird Flu Epidemic"

The GGB is still reading up on a recent outbreak of avian flu in Asia (which, so far, has mostly affected -- you guessed it -- birds). However, I find it hard to work up a sweat when I read pronouncements like this:

Avian flu can be lethal when transmitted to humans, and has killed dozens in Asia to date.

Dozens? We're not even up to a hundred yet? Don't more people die from choking on popcorn? The GGB will investigate further. In the meanwhile, wake me up when there's real news to report.

Boobs for peace ... yeah, that's the ticket

Anti-war protesters got nekkid in front of the White House as part of Cindy Sheehan's Mother-Love-Salvation Show.

It was not a pretty sight, but check out these links from Little Green Footballs if you need a good laugh.

And they accuse conservatives of being deranged? Color me modest, but I'm smart enough to know which body parts not to expose in public.

Guffaw of the day

It never ceases to amuse me when people who are obviously contemptuous of Christians and Christianity attempt to lecture the masses on who is and who is not a "real" Christian.

Exhibit A: British MP George Galloway on Politically Incorrect.

Is it just me, or does Bill Maher's face look like marzipan?

CORRECTION: Bill Maher's program is called Real Time.

Rita throws a tantrum

Alabama is getting hit by a rash of tornadoes today from the remnants of Hurricane Rita, which is now just a low pressure system.

Earlier today, we were outlooked by the Storm Prediction Center for a minor risk of severe weather, but our local weather forecasters have been on the air in wall-to-wall severe weather coverage since at least 3 p.m. CDT today.

A Tornado Watch for the Birmingham area, which originally was to expire at 7 p.m., has been extended to 1 a.m. Monday.

At least we're getting some much-needed rain!!

Media Center XP rocks

The GGB has been a total slug this weekend.

Between two hurricanes and a major business initiative at my place of employment, I am just about worn out. Tired of being in emergency mode!

My antidote this weekend has been to play with the Media Center functions on my PC. I don't care what all you Linux snobs say (and you know who you are!!), Media Center XP rocks.

I explored the Online Spotlight feature and downloaded two films via Movielink. Way, way cool. A Streetcar Named Desire and White Noise played flawlessly. I felt utterly cool recording JFK on cable while watching downloaded films. And via the Media Center guide, you can set the system to record TV programs and movies and a future date whenever they are scheduled to be aired.

I love living in the 21st century!!

Adding insult to injury

Some Katrina evacuees in Tuscaloosa County, Ala., living in FEMA-supplied trailers have gotten hit by a tornado -- a spinoff from Hurricane Rita.

OUCH.

I kid you not

Mattel sells Islamic barbie.

QotD

"Many in every age have disturbed society by stirring up the poor against the rich, and by preaching the popular doctrine that all men ought to be equal. But so long as the world is under the present order of things this universal equality cannot be attained. Those who speak against the vast inequality of men's fates will doubtless never lack an audience; but so long as human nature is what it is, this inequality cannot be prevented.

"Take all the property in our country by force this very day, and divide it equally among the inhabitants. Give every man above the age of twenty an equal portion. Let everyone share and share alike, and begin the world over again. Do this, and see where you would be at the end of fifty years. You would have just come back around to the point where you began. You would find things just as unequal as before. Some would have worked, and some would have been lazy. Some would have always been careless, and some always scheming. Some would have sold, and others would have bought. Some would have wasted, and others would have saved. And the end would be that some would be rich and others poor."

-- J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) in Practical Religion

Reason to avoid Internet dating, #279

Married doctor woos two women, telling them he was married to them in a past life:

Ah, the old "married in a previous life" trick (Reuters)

Crescent controversy

The GGB is back from a weekend in Atlanta and a virtual news blackout. Thus, I missed Friday's news about the unveiling of the plans for the Flight 93 memorial. In case you, like me, have been out of the loop, here's an artist's rendering of the memorial design:



















"Alex, I'll take 'Things that remind you of Islam' for $500."

Michelle Malkin has tons of coverage here about the so-called "Crescent of Embrace." Even the name is creepy. Lord help us.

A much-needed humor break

I can take only so much of the foamy-mouthed rantings of Celion Dion, Angelina Jolie and Al Sharpton. For all who feel my pain, here's some medicine:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/mightyrikimaru/44935.html?mode=reply

(Hat tip: Boar's Head Tavern)

Emergency Alert System -- asleep at the wheel

The GGB did a little research and discovered this USA Today article from 2003 and this Wired News article from just last year about major problems with the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

According to Wired, the EAS did not activate on Sept. 11 in New York City, nor did it activate to warn Southern Californians of deadly fires last year. And USA Today says that the "blanket" coverage of EAS is not what the FCC would have you believe.

If the president needed to warn the nation of an impending nuclear attack, he would have access to thousands of TV and radio stations to do so. But for state and local emergencies, the system is spotty at best. Even if the president were to activate the system nationally — something no president has done — he would reach only those people tuned in to a TV or radio network.

And here's a gem:

Michael Brown, the undersecretary for emergency preparedness and response, says the department isn't going to "jump in with both feet" [to develop a new national warning system]. He says the public will rely on news media for information during major disasters.

Will rely or should rely? Of course, apparently even Brown doesn't have cable in his particular section of Cluelessville. Here are some chilling words from the Wired article:

... many experts conclude [that] the Emergency Alert System is a mess. And as federal officials begin to launch efforts to expand emergency alerts to cell phones and the internet, critics say they need to spend time and money to preserve the creaky existing system and, perhaps more importantly, put someone in charge nationally.

"Unfortunately, I think it will take a major catastrophe where hundreds of thousands of people are killed for people to understand what (we) have been saying," said Jim Gabbert, who oversees California's Emergency Alert System and serves on a national advisory committee that's been sounding the alarm about alerts for two years.

Makes me feel all secure, doesn't it you?

UPDATE: In searching further for articles about the EAS, I'm turning up far more articles about the EAS being used in conjuction with AMBER Alerts than I am stories about it being used for weather or civil emergencies. I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but emergencies that threaten public safety are more urgent than missing children and should have the whole force of the EAS behind them.

UPDATE II: EAS not activated during San Diego firestorm of 2003. But it worked swimmingly to recover three abducted girls in Texas in 2004.

This is only a test

In response to an Instapundit blog post about the things we've learned from Katrina, a reader posited a very important question:

I haven't heard anything about the Emergency Alert System in relation to Katrina. Was it on? Did it work? Did it provide any useful information? I would think that a system that's been tested weekly since the 50's would have been pretty reliable.

According to the FCC's Web site on the subject, the EAS can broadcast an emergency message on all AM, FM and broadcast TV stations and on any cable system with more than 10,000 subscribers. The EAS was developed so that the president could directly communicate with the nation in the event of a national crisis, but since 1963, the system is authorized for local and state use as well.

Thus the question: Was the EAS activated?

I've actually heard people interviewed who claimed they weren't aware of the impending danger of Hurricane Katrina. I find that difficult to believe. On the other hand, plenty of people can't tell you who the vice president is, so it's entirely possible to live in an information vacuum, even in the information age.

Here in Birmingham, our civil defense siren system is activated for tornado warnings. However, if you cannot hear the siren and (A) do not have a weather radio that can be activated by the National Weather Service or (B) are not tuned in to local TV, you could very well be unaware that a tornado is approaching. If you're watching MTV or The Golf Channel, you will miss the warning unless your cable provider interrupts the broadcast or scrolls a message across the screen.

Seems to me that if we're spending money on the EAS, then every time an event such as a tornado or hurricane threatens public health and safety, the EAS should activate and transmit a message across all radio, TV and cable signals.

Our local meterologists constantly preach on the necessity of a weather radio with an alert feature so that you can be warned of severe weather at night during sleep. (Weather radios can be activated for civil emergencies as well.) But for those who aren't plugged in to NOAA or the local news, "we interrupt this broadcast" ought to become a familiar phrase.

QotD

You gotta laugh or you'll just cry ...

... Sen. Mary Landrieu, who seems to think she’s cute when she’s mad, even threatened on national television to punch out the president — a felony, by the way, even as a threat. Mayor Nagin, who you might think would be looking for a place to hide, and Gov. Blanco, nursing a bigtime snit, can’t find the right word of thanks to a nation pouring out its heart and emptying its pockets. Maybe the senator should consider punching out the governor, only a misdemeanor.

-- columnist Wesley Pruden

Thomas Sowell -- GMTA

Read Sowell's column about rebuilding New Orleans. Echoes much of what I said here.

Rebuilding New Orleans -- from the inside out

How to shore up those levees -- and whether it's a good idea anyway to have a city below sea level -- are not the biggest questions New Orleans needs to answer. Before the city rebuilds the infrastructure, it needs to rethink rebuilding the community itself.

I'll never forget my first trip through the New Orleans airport. I was at baggage claim, and I looked up to see a poster advertising a local strip joint. That'd never fly in Birmingham, I thought. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen fleshpot advertisements in any other airport, and I've been in some big ones: Houston, Atlanta, LAX.

And thus, the big difference between New Orleans and most other American cities. Sleaze, seediness and sin are in your face in the Big Easy. You almost can't get to the sublime food, music and culture without stepping over barf in the streets, without walking past photos of every sex act imaginable posted outside darkened clubs.

A friend who's from this area returned home last year after living some time in New Orleans with her husband and young daughter. She's a bohemian, liberal, nonconformist. I figured New Orleans would be the perfect fit for her, but she told me flatly: "New Orleans is no place to raise a child. The people there are lazy. My husband had the hardest time getting people to work for him."

Don't shoot the messenger -- I'm just relaying what she said.

Another friend, a guy from Phoenix, said you don't do business in New Orleans from about noon Thursday to sometime Monday afternoon. No one is sober enough.

The implosion of the Big Easy is at least partly because the city was already rotting from within. You cannot have a culture of drunkenness and shiftlessness, vice and corruption, murder and mayhem and be expected to hold it together when all hell breaks loose. All the gumbo and king cake in the world can't help you when the waters are rushing in.

Before New Orleans can be rebuilt physically, the people who return there are going to have to think about what sort of city they want spiritually and socially. They're going to have to think about what their city will spend its money on: restoring vintage architecture or advertising strip clubs. They're going to have to rethink Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras. They should keep Cafe du Monde and Pat O'Brien's, but maybe it's time to relegate the sex shows and the street drinking to the outer limits of the city and make the French Quarter safer for women and children.

If New Orleans is to rise again and survive, she'll have to be a different city. She has too many charms not to be built on a more solid foundation of responsible community and governance.

The Helpless, the Clueless and the Lawless

Without pointing fingers, I think it's obvious even now that the Titanic-sized disaster of the breakdown of New Orleans was the result of bad decision upon bad decision, made over the years by bureaucrats and politicians and engineers and city planners and architects and ... the list goes on.

But some things you don't think of -- such as the volatile mix of people that created the hellhole of the Superdome. Or maybe you should have thought of it.

There's never been a diaster of any kind where such a large number of people wound up concentrated in such a small area. And this group was not a representative sample of the populace of New Orleans. No, they were members of three different groups I call the Helpless, the Clueless and the Lawless.

The Helpless: The elderly, the chronically ill, pregnant women, babies, young children. Old people and infants dying from heat exhaustion and dehydration in the richest nation on earth is an utter disgrace. Why more public resources (like alllll those unused buses) were not dedicated to their evacuation is beyond me. It was part of the city's diaster plan but NOT IMPLEMENTED.

The Clueless: The non-English-speaking tourists who apparently don't know what a hurricane is were clueless by no fault of their own. Others who stayed behind -- I hate to say -- stayed because they're morons. Case in point: a conversation Fox News' Shepard Smith had with a bar patron. (I'm paraphrasing.)

Smith: Hey, man, why haven't you evacuated?

Moron: Well, I think things are going to be all right. We've been through hurricanes before. The levees are designed for a category 3 hurricane anyway.

Smith: But this is a category 5! A category 5, man!!

Moron: Well, I think the city has prepared for that. The levees can handle a category 3.

Smith: BUT THERE'S A CATEGORY 5 HEADED STRAIGHT FOR NEW ORLEANS!

Moron: It'll be OK. We've been through hurricanes before.

The Lawless: Arthel Neville, a New Orleanian and former Fox News contributor, told Greta Van Susteren of a harrowing tale she'd been told by Superdome evacuees: A man raped and murdered a seven-year-old child! (He was promptly disposed of by 10 men who beat him to death. Personally, I applaud the posse who dispatched this pathetic piece of crap to his eternal destiny.)

Rape and murder of a seven-year-old. Despicable. Why wasn't there a police contingency at the Superdome?

The Helpless, the Clueless and the Lawless. A deadly, deadly mix.

Katrinaspam

Today I got my first "Katrinaspam," some doofus who claimed the Red Cross was coordinating with some outfit in the UNITED KINGDOM.

Yeah, that makes all the sense in the world.

Be warned, folks. Disasters bring out the best and the worst in people. Hucksters and scammers will abound.

Sad.

"Nobody told me there'd be days like these"

An acquaintance and I were talking over coffee about -- what else -- the hurricane, and she said, "You know, from all that's happening, I just have to believe that Jesus is coming back soon."

I reminded her that starvation and violence and catastrophe have happened every day, somewhere on the planet, since the beginning of time. This evening, I heard on the news that a typhoon hit China this week and displaced one million people. They just had their own Katrina, but it was barely a blip on our radar screen.

With all due respect to my friend (who conceded that I had a point), I get annoyed with the hubris of American Christianity and its assumption that catastrophe here is a herald of the Tribulation but catastrophe elsewhere is just business as usual. What, God is going to spare America from the machinations of nature and the forces of evil until the clock is about to run out?

Like everyone else who believes in historic, orthodox Christianity, I concur that Jesus Christ "sitteth upon the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." Beyond that, I part ways with many of my evangelical compatriots.

Beginning with Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth in the 1970s and most recently with the Left Behind series, evangelical end-times theology has centered around America as a sort of final staging ground of the end of days. In other words, it'll get bad here before the Tribulation, then we'll all disappear before the really, REALLY bad stuff starts happening.

Tell that to the Christians in China. Or North Korea. Or Sudan. Or just Google "persecution against Christians" to find some stories that'll give you nightmares.

Now, Lindsey has a Web site called "Hal Lindsey Oracle.com." Oracle. What, he's a prophet? Does this bother anyone else besides me? Lindsey has been predicting for nearly 40 years that the return of Christ is imminent, and I mean within-the-next-five-to-ten-years imminent. I wonder how many people made professions of faith based on that spurious (and now, obviously discounted) claim and have since drifted away.

(Oh ... Lindsey's site also features a collection of silly and trivial "witnessing" mugs and T-shirts, including one that shows John 3:16 and the words "FIRE INSURANCE." Makes me want to hurl.)

I'd rather take the position that my own pastor did this morning: Hurricane Katrina is just the latest in a long line of evidence that we live in a fallen world. When catastrophe gives birth to depravity and death, we really shouldn't be surprised. Appalled, yes. Compassionate, yes. But surprised?

When Christ warned about "wars and rumors of war" and natural disasters, I think he was saying that this would be the condition of the world until he returned.

And no one is exempt.