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I’m taking the day off from pontificating.
I went to Church and to the grocery store (Super Fresh was mobbed!), got a camera case at Target for my son who is taking a photography class and using my old Agfa 35mm viewfinder camera with variable f-stops and shutter speeds, found a little bookcase at a flea market to hold my Linux books, and treated my roses for the dreaded Black Spot.
I do recommend these links:
Speaking of Faith: This is one of my favorite radio shows–it is an oasis of calm and reflection amongst the chaos of daily life. Today’s show had a marvelous interview with John Danforth. Here’s how the website describes it:
Conservative Politics and Moderate Religion (September 8, 2005)
John Danforth, a former U.S. Senator and UN Ambassador, has emerged as a cautionary Republican voice. A lawyer who is also an Episcopal priest, he describes himself as a traditional Republican and a moderate Christian. Politics driven by a religious agenda, Danforth says, is true neither to his understanding of Christian faith nor to the traditional values of the Republican party. He speaks about the values that have helped him navigate the line between private faith and public life and that inform his critical perspective on the present.
It was a fascinating discussion.
This American Life. In a departure from its usually highly-scripted (though entertaining) format, today’s show featured interviews with survivors of Katrina and other disasters, people who have been there. Here’s the description from the website:
Surprising stories from survivors in New Orleans. Broadcast the weekend of September 9-11 in most places, or available via RealAudio next week.
Persons interviewed include someone who knows and describes what it’s like to go without food and water for two days, someone who’s been living in a FEMA trailer park ever since hurricane Charlie, and others who share first-hand stories.
The opening of the show, which describes the rights of the Federal Administration to take action under various circumstances, is well worth a listen.
The gist of it is that, once the President of the United States declares a State of Emergency, federal agencies no longer have to wait for requests from the various sovereign States to initiate action (despite what the apologists for the federal administration are saying–whoops! Looks like I slipped into an opinion there, but, in extenuation, an opinion based on fact, not based on who I would like to see win an election).
(aside) Facts are good things. Whatever your political leanings, I urge you to collect as many as possible. Then form the opinions based on them, rather than collecting opinions and selecting facts to support them.
On the Media, which includes a fascinating discussion of the use of the word, “refugee,” to describe the persons fleeing from Katrina, which has been discussed earlier on this site.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, which had a “preliminary autopsy” of the failures in dealing with Katrina. I haven’t finished the article yet, but it seems to try to be very even-handed in trying to assess blame and credit. They have certainly found plenty of blame to go around.
And for my weekly dose of political satire, I listened to Le Show. This week’s show is not on the website yet, but last week’s show is a powerful tribute to the magic to New Orleans. (Harry Shearer, by the way, appeared in Spinal Tap and is the voices of Montgomery Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, and Reverend Lovejoy in The Simpsons.)
Hope everyone (well, the two or three persons who actually read this) had a great weekend. Regular flaming will resume tomorrow.
