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The God Game: Who’s side is God on?

During times of national stress the prayer birds come out of the wood work. Not only religious leaders, but political leaders, and media talking heads ask people to pray or offer prayers.

On Tuesday I read where Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana, called on people to pray for the victims of Hurricane Katrina that slammed into the states of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi on Monday August 29th. President Bush said he and First Lady Laura Bush were praying for them as well.

By Thursday all hell had broke loose in New Orleans as victims snapped under the strain of going 4 days without much food and drinking water. But hey, we are praying for you.

I kept thinking “Get off your asses and get help into the city. Stop wasting time praying!”

Some religious right nut jobs even suggest that the hurricane was God’s way of punishing “us” for “our” sins.

Pat Robertson, one of the nut jobs, said once back in 1998:

“I would warn Orlando that you’re right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you.”

He said it in response to Orlando hosting a Gay Pride Festival and Disney World having a Gay Day.

But attributing a natural storm to the will of a “God” is not a rational way to explain coincidences. In Robertson’s case, no hurricanes went through or near Orlando. So does that mean God was ok with the Gay Pride Festival?

If you want to play the “God” game one could also draw a conclusion that God hates Republicans.

Katrina slammed into Alabama, home to Judge Roy Moore who ignored a federal court ruling forcing him to remove a 10 Commandments monument from the Alabama Supreme Court building.

The storm leveled coastal towns in Mississippi, whose Governor is Haley Barbour, formerly the national chairman of the Republican Party. The state is also home to Senator Trent Lott who use to be Senate Majority Leader before his mouth forced him to step down from that job.

Katrina previously had hit Florida, whose Governor is President Bush’s brother Jeb and is thought to have helped his brother “steal” the 2000 election for the President. In fact God must really hate Jeb because Katrina is the 5th hurricane to hit Florida in two years.

A religious conservative writer pointed out that Katrina hit New Orleans just before it was due to host the Southern Decadence festival which was described as “a six-day public homosexual orgy.” But Katrina didn’t hit New Orleans. The rule of the God game is that it has to hit the object God hates and Katrina turned to the right before making land fall, missing the city with a direct hit. It turned to the right and hit Mississippi directly.

Why doesn’t God send hurricanes to hit bigger places of sin like Las Vegas, New York, or Hollywood?

I guess he thinks those places and people are ok, but he must really hate the Bible belt and Republicans.

I think I like the God game.

Correction:

In my last post I mentioned how FEMA was changed after the mess of the Hurricane Andrew relief effort in 1992. Like everyone else I expected to see massive efforts on the ground to help those who were vicitms of Hurricane Katrina.

I guess I spoke to soon and assumed too much. It is Friday, 4 days since the hurricane blew through and FEMA and the Federal Govt. is JUST NOW getting the machine going. I am shocked and disgusted with the foot dragging. The effort so far is a disgrace for the US.

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What one thing can make President Bush break his month long vacation?


What one thing can make President Bush break his month long vacation?

No, it isn’t to give yet another speech in support of his failed Iraq policy – although he has done that a couple of times this month.

What forced Bush to go back to DC before Labor Day was Hurricane Katrina that devastated Louisiana and Mississippi with a brutal punch of wind and water.

One way people judge our political leaders is how they respond to natural disasters. A perceived slip up can hurt you at the next ballot box if it is close enough. Some pointed to the mess that was the response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992 for President Bush Sr. losing to President Clinton in the Florida region.

The problems with that response led to changes in how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) operated and interacted with local authorities and agencies. Before Andrew, FEMA had to wait for a disaster declaration before they could even gather their crew together. The wait back in 1992 was more than a week. Tensions flared and several riots broke out over what supplies were available.

In contrast, for Katrina, FEMA gathered their crew and supplies together in the days leading up to the storm’s land fall on Monday so they could get right to work. Also, unlike after Andrew, the Federal Government didn’t have to wait for an invite before they sent in military supplies and assets like food and tents.

So if any political leader is seen as not working to help people, they will get bad marks from the people. Bush Jr.’s already low poll numbers don’t need more negative feedback.

I watched the wall to wall coverage of the storm on Sunday night and Monday morning and one political leader put her foot firmly in her mouth as the hurricane was moving past New Orleans.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, was asked her thoughts, on CNN, on the report that part of the roof of the Superdome had ripped off in the wind. Thousands of residents and stranded tourists were using the dome as their “refuge of last resort”. She talked about all the people who “ignored the evacuation order” and stayed in the city and that “Authorities cannot fix the problem in the middle of the storm.”

Setting aside the fact that a US Senator is not a storm expert and was just used because CNN had time to fill and she was there, but the tone of her comments came across as if the people in Superdome had planned to be there.

What was ignored was than a majority were there because they had no means to leave even if they wanted to. They didn’t ignore the evacuation order, they couldn’t comply.

In times of natural disasters those with the least to lose, lose the most. During the coverage tonight on CNN it appears that news is getting out as the disaster is finally being seen for the monster that it is. Even Landrieu has changed her tune.

“What I saw today is equivalent to what I saw flying over the tsunami in Indonesia. There are places that are no longer there,” she said.

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Disappointment for The Corrs fans in the US


In an earlier entry I gushed about the new album coming out from my favorite band The Corrs. It is going to be called “Home” and will have interpretations of several traditional Irish songs including a couple in Gaelic.

Many of us long time fans have loved the band’s nuggets of traditional Irish music on their earlier albums and we are excited to have a whole album worth of them.

The album is scheduled to be released on September 26th in Ireland and the UK and September 27th in Europe and Canada.

However, fans in the United States may have to wait until 2006 or never for the US release.

It isn’t the first time the band has limited a release to certain areas. In 2002, “Live in Dublin” was only released in the US to go along with the VH1 special of the same name. But “LID” wasn’t a regular studio album. It had most of their hits plus a few new cover songs. The biggest hit off that album was “When Stars Go Blue” that they did with Bono from U2.

The record company has also released different versions of the same album in the different markets. Albums released in Japan and Australia typically have had bonus tracks and other goodies included that aren’t available even in a UK release.

But what has a lot of us worried is that it seems Atlantic Records in the US are no longer supporting the band which could explain why there doesn’t seem to be a US release date for “Home” after release dates in Europe and Canada were announced.

A couple of fans called Atlantic in New York and were told the band isn’t on Atlantic (US) – that they are now with their international division, Warner Music International. That division distributes artists outside the US so the band has been with them the whole time.

There is a logical explanation to all of this. The music business is complex. Even though a label may distribute an artist all over the world, the individual divisions decide what artists to carry and sell in their own markets. Some groups are popular internationally so you will find their albums everywhere but some other band or singer unknown outside their country may only be distributed in their home country – like Daniel and Gilberto Gil of Brazil or Alejandro Sanz from Spain. Someone here in the US would have trouble just going down to the local record shop and getting an album from them.

Most of these decisions are based on money. It costs money to make, promote, and distribute albums and the record companies make their decisions based on if they are likely to recover their costs. Basically they decide if the market is large enough to justify the expense.

Although a logical explanation – it does seem illogical. A band won’t be distributed unless the market is large enough for the costs, but the market won’t be large enough unless the band is distributed and promoted.

Bands and singers help the process by touring and getting radio play. Those two actions are the greatest driver of record sales and if sales are up then a record company is more likely to spend more money and then bring out more albums.

Frankly, The Corrs are far more popular in Europe and Asia than they are in the US but they still do pretty good here with little to no radio play and occasional touring and TV appearances. “Home” is a traditional Irish music album and that kind of music is a niche market here. They won’t sell as many as they did for their last pop album 2004’s “Borrowed Heaven”, but there are a large number of fans who will buy the album just because it is The Corrs.

With the Internet, it is easier to buy the album as an import but we would much rather contribute to US sales than the sales of Canada or Europe.

I’m one fan who hopes this is just a bump and the next pop album is released here when it comes out and the band tours North America again like they did in 2004. Of course until the release comes along this is all speculation and Atlantic Records could surprise us. Who knows?

The Corrs Return Home To Their Irish Roots
The Corrboard – US based fan forum
Corrs Official Website

Update

The album was finally released in the US on February 7th 2006 by Rhino Records.

Rhino: The Corrs – Home

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Poor Governor Taft: Painted himself into a corner


Poor Governor Taft.

More than a hundred years of family political history tarnished all for free games of golf from lobbyists.

President Taft just turned over in his grave.

Governor Taft pleaded no contest to four first-degree misdemeanor ethics violations, which carried maximum sentences of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine each and he was ordered to write an apology to the citizens of the State of Ohio.

Naturally state Democrats and even some Republicans are calling for Taft to resign and on first gush one would say it is harsh for misdemeanor convictions. I would agree until you find out that during Taft’s time in office he has forced others working for him to resign for less than what he did. He has also gone on record that he would get rid of any state worker who didn’t comply with the ethics laws 100%.

Free golf was the reason four people were forced out: Randall A. Fischer, former director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission; ex-Consumers� Counsel Robert S. Tongren; Richard P. Frenette, manager of the state fair; and Gino Zomparelli, director of the Ohio Turnpike Commission.

That’s why there are calls for him to resign. Of course his term ends next year and many political people are saying that he should just finish his term since he can’t run again due to term limits.

That’s not to say Taft was a good governor to begin with. I think wallpaper has more personality than Taft. A recent poll showed 51% of Ohioans said “Taft is the governor?” – well not really. A real poll showed that Taft has the highest disapproval rating, 55%, or any governor in 25 years.

I just think the ethics charges are the least of his worries.

I also get a chuckle every time high minded moralistic politicians make absolutist statements then seem to ignore it when it applies to them. Does anyone remember when President Bush said he would fire any staffer who leaked material to the press then seem to forget he said that when his best bud Karl Rove was the one who outed Valerie Plame??

It has happened so much that such statements just don’t mean anything to me anymore.

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Peter Jennings 1938-2005


The “face” of ABC News died today and I really miss him.

I was a Cronkite kid, growing up with Uncle Walter who I trusted as much as my mom. Then when he retired and Dan Rather took over I was a bit lost. For some reason I just never cared for Dan.

Then I found Peter on ABC’s World News Tonight. His confident delivery and focus on World news fit in with my needs at the time. I wanted to know and felt I needed to know about the world outside the US. In the days before cable news and the Internet, the main source of world news was one of the nightly newscasts.

I was alone in my love of World News Tonight. My Mom was a stick in the mud CBS News viewer and we use to have arguments over watching Rather or Jennings. I lost those battles but when she would be napping after work or wasn’t home, the TV was on Jennings.

Peter Jennings reminded me of Peter Mansbridge on the CBC and if you squinted they looked like twins. I also liked Jennings Canadian accent as it gave him a non-US allure like the presenters on the BBC.

It is a sad day for me.

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