First, a bit of schadenfreude. Does anyone remember Focus on the Family filming a video called “Pray for Rain”? It asked people to pray for a rain of “Biblical Proportions” to disrupt the Democratic convention. Ironically, God has delivered a rain of biblical proportions, in the form of Hurricane Gustav – but the unexpected thing is that it will be disrupting the GOP convention! Hmm – is God sending the GOP a message?

OK – enough of that. A serious storm is headed for a major US city. We should all pray that the hurricane misses, but if it does make landfall, we should hope that the damage is minimal and the loss of life is nil. The US response to Katrina was woefully inadequate, lets make sure we don’t repeat those same mistakes.

Having said that, if you are a person in Gustav’s path, and you are reading this – Why are you still there?!?! Get out! Possessions can be replaced, lives can’t.

God would never interfere with the Republicans due to their anti-abortion policy.Now since the Democrats don’t have one………we’ve got a long way to go until November.

Ahh, yes – the moral certitude of the religious right that because of their support of banning abortions they are perpetually in God’s favor. Remind me, where in the bible is abortion mentioned? The correct answer is: Nowhere.

But there is this: “And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him; and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” (Exodus 21:22-25 NAS)

So the bible explicitly states that the loss of a fetus is not the same as the loss of an adult. This is why for centuries no church would bury a miscarriage – it wasn’t a child until God breathed life (a soul) into it at birth. But, thanks to religious freedoms, you are able to make up any rule you want – much the way many Christian sects believe that alcohol is a sin – despite the fact making wine when they ran out at a party was his first miracle.

The GOP have started a war, based on bad information, that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. They have denied the biblical charge to be good stewards of the earth by disregarding the environment whenever it is convenient (or profitable). They have denied the poor begging for aid, they have left the sick to die. They have let greed be their guiding light, and denied themselves no extravagance no matter how many of their fellow souls are harmed.

Yes, the complete contempt the Republicans have shown for the Bible perhaps has angered God – despite the GOP’s adherence to their made up rule that supposedly gives them a moral “get out of Sin” card. In other words, if you think a vote for the GOP is a vote for God because of their anti-abortion stance, you need to re-read the Bible, because Jesus strongly disagrees that “Greed is Good”.

My heart goes out to all people,
those who are in Gustavs path..
and those who have scars of Katrina
on their soul.

Having watched NBC ship Ann Curry, Lester Hayes, Brian Williams, Keith Morrison, and Roker all to report . . . uhh . . . “regional weather”, can anyone confirm this rumor?

During the remainder of this hurricane season, anytime the NOAA uses the words “New” and “Orleans” in the same sentence, NBC will change it’s time-honored logo from a peacock to . . . .

Pavlov’s dog.

Pardon me. “Holt”, Lester Holt.

No, I don’t remember anything about Focus on the Family or their video. God sending a message to Republicans? Gee, who was God sending a message to on 9/11, or during the Tsunami? Those of you policitizing a hurricane really need a hobby!

So Gustav turned out not to be the monster everyone feared. The New Orleans levees are holding. This is all good news, right? Well, yes and no. My concern is that a lot of the evacuees will be thinking, “Hell, I could have stayed where I was and avoided all this hassle. I would have been fine if I’d just stayed put.” But maybe next time it will be the Mother of All Huricanes and people might be tempted to shrug it off. Given Gustav’s history, I’d say the authorities did the right thing. Who knew that mad dog Gustav would turn into a whimpering puppy before it made landfall?

I’m just glad I live in the Midwest. Tornado watches are only a few hours long. Tornado warnings–if you’re lucky–might be 20 minutes tops. The only evacuation you have to do is run to the basement. If it’s going to get you, it’s going to get you, and it’s over in seconds. No days and days of nail biting and trying to decide what to do next. Even if your house is leveled, the community infrastructure is still intact and help isn’t too far away. I would go whacko if I lived along the Gulf Coast! And to think at one time I considered relocating there…. But we all pick our own poison, I guess. And a good many of us don’t really choose our place of residence. We’re born into it, or we end up there because of job situations. Few of us can say, whoa, I think I’ll go live in Tahiti (or else Tahiti would be very, very crowded.)