Cafferty's comments on Palin's interview

Take a look at this. It's short. When I saw this, I thought, gosh, I'm beginning to sound like Cafferty. Thanks to Bill Parsons for bringing it to my attention.

A link to Palin's interview

Thanks to Doug Chaplin for posting this link to Palin's interview which Doug calls PALIN DRONE - the interview which I referred to in my last post. You really do have to see it to believe it.

I am terrified at the prospect that this person who can barely answer simple questions could be our next VP. The journalist appears more knowledgeable than she.

Palin's candidacy is a mockery

Well, Doonesbury this morning cartoons much better the feelings that I tried to convey in my story about Palin (which I posted yesterday). HERE is the link to DOONESBURY, the cartoon is SEPT. 28.

Reading this morning in the newspaper about Palin's justification for her lack of interaction in the international scene is demeaning to me, the child of a working class family. A working class childhood is no justification for an adult VP nominee to have never obtained a passport before last year or to never have traveled beyond the US borders. These excuses are pitiful and they suggest that working class people have no ingenuity or abilities. Being from a working class background is no excuse for not being prepared for the job she wants.

I too am a working class kid. My father is a plumber and we had to deal with very tough times in Michigan in the eighties when there was no work for many people in construction. Nevertheless, during those hard times, I not only figured out how to go to college, but I also figured out how to travel overseas. Because my family couldn't afford to send me away to university, and I had to work and get scholarships and loans, I went to our local community college for two and a half years before transferring to a state university. During that time, I managed to travel outside of the US. many times, beginning when I was 20 and I won a scholarship from the local Kiwanis Club to support an educational trip to Greece and Turkey. I have never stopped traveling nor have I ever stopped learning.

Palin's candidacy is a mockery, especially of women politicians, but also of the way in which we select the people to run the White House. It is a last ditch ploy by the Republicans in power to draw attention away from the fact that they have crashed our economy, involved us in a war with no ethical justification, and have nothing except their own self-interests at heart. They are using Palin to present themselves as a party for Every(wo)man, when in fact, they are a party dominated by a white male elites who are more concerned about making quick money (and getting bailed out) at our expense and our children's expense and their children's expense. I have never been so depressed or embarrassed about my country as I am today.

Listening to an interview

Last evening as I was working on the computer, I could hear part of an interview on TV. Two people were talking about the financial crisis which is on all of our minds. Someone was asking a woman some questions about the crisis, and the woman was replying. Her replies were so misinformed and silly that I couldn't believe what I was hearing. So I asked Wade (who was able to see the screen) who was being interviewed. He replied, "Palin."

My reaction was complete embarrassment, especially for women in America. What a mockery of us this is.

Apocryphote of the Day: 9-24-08

Jesus said, "There was a wealthy man who had many assets. He said, 'I will use my assets to sow, harvest, plant and fill my granaries with produce, so that I will not need anything.' These were the things he was thinking in his heart. But that very night, he died."

Gospel of Thomas 63.1-3

What the evacuees face

Galveston residents returned to the island today, some seeing their properties and the devastation for the first time since they left the island before IKE hit. There is a long road ahead for these residents. Apparently even after power and water is restored to the island, every house has to be inspected by a licensed electrician and plumber, followed by city inspectors who must give their blessings - all before residents can turn on their power and water. There are 4 city inspectors for approximately 50,000 residents.

Wade returns to the Law and Justice Center on the island tomorrow even though the building is under generator power. The water is so bad that they are being told to not even brush their teeth with it or allow their pets to drink it. Residents are warned that mosquitoes, rats and snakes are swarming on the island. So everyone is supposed to go and get a tetanus shot which are being administered at the local Galveston grocery store. Wade was told to pack a brown bag lunch and all the sodas and water that he wants to drink.

The good news I heard is that the missing people have been reduced to under a hundred, perhaps even as low as fifty. I don't know how long before we know any more than this.

For photo and MORE GO HERE
Photo by David J. Phillip for AP

Wayne Neill, left, and Brenda Roby, center, hug as Donna Hanson looks over the debris left where her home once stood in Galveston.

Apocryphote of the Day: 9-23-08

His disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside."

He said to them, "Those here who do the will of my Father, they are my brothers and my mother. They are the people who will enter the Kingdom of my Father."

Gospel of Thomas 99.1-3

Galveston residents to return home to what is left (or not left)

Tomorrow marks the day that Galveston evacuees are allowed to return to their homes. People that have been back already tell of how bad it is: to bring masks, gloves, high boots, and be ready to face heartbreak. For some who were lucky, they only have to deal with first floor flooding. This means getting rid of all the furniture and appliances on the first floor, pulling up the flooring, and tearing out the walls, dealing with mold everywhere.









For those who weren't so lucky, it means tearing down the home completely (or what was left of it) and starting over. In the meantime, these people are homeless. Many are now jobless as well, at least until Galveston is up and running again, or they move elsewhere to find work.











What else do they face when they return to Galveston? The sewer system is leaking; the water pressure is so low that there is a boil water order in place; the ER room in the hospital can barely handle urgent care, let alone a car accident or heart attack victim; and did I mention that there is no electricity yet? Many of Wade's co-workers in the judicial system no longer have homes, cars, clothes, or any other possessions that we all take for granted. They are scrambling to try to find housing, which is basically non-existent in the areas around Houston. How can you house 40,000 displaced people in an area where housing is at a premium? They are bunking with family and friends on the mainland, or living in tents on their Galveston property and using make-shift outdoor grills to prepare food.






For these photos and MORE GO HERE
Photo 1 by Rick Bowmer for AP

Joan Harden removes debris from her mother-in-law's home today in Galveston. The home was hit by flood waters.

Photo 2 by Rick Bowmer for AP

Scot Adams helps demolish a house destroyed by Hurricane Ike today in Galveston.

Photo 3 by Rick Bowmer for AP

Donna Lawe, who weathered Hurricane Ike at her home, is shown washing her clothes while preparing to cook breakfast today in Galveston.

Apocryphote of the Day: 9-22-08

Jesus said, "Do not be anxious from morning until evening and from evening until morning, neither about your food and what you will eat, nor about your clothing and what you will wear. You are far better than the lilies which neither card nor spin. As for you, when you have no clothing, what will you put on? Who might add to your stature? He will give you clothing."

Gospel of Thomas, P. Oxy. 655.i.1-17 (reconstructed)

For photo and MORE GO HERE
Photo by Dave Rossman for the Houston Chronicle
Parishoners arrive for in the dark for mass at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church on 9-21-08

Aerial photos of IKE's damage

The Houston Chronicle has posted some incredible (in the awful sense) aerial pictures of IKE's damage. The one I posted here is of the only house left in Gilchrist, a city on the Bolivar Peninsula that was washed away by IKE.

For photo and MORE GO HERE
Photo by Smiley N. Pool for Houston Chronicle

A single house is left standing amidst the devastation left by Hurricane Ike, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, in Gilchrest

IKE recovery continues

Here in Houston it is getting hot and humid again, and still 50% of Houston is without electricity and water. Some will not have electricity for weeks yet, and worse are those who live closer to the coast where the restoration of power is anyone's guess. People are weary and getting wearier. For some it is difficult to even find a shower. There have been long lines to request emergency food stamps - families waiting in the heat and sun for eight hours or more. And FEMA is leaving now and the local charities are taking over. We try not to travel too far from home because most of the traffic lights don't work. So there are huge pile ups in traffic everywhere you drive, and it takes twice as long to get anywhere as it does when the lights are working.

The Galveston islanders have been very upset that they have not yet been allowed back on the island to inspect their homes and properties (see photo of a sign someone painted on a surviving trailer on the island). So, under pressure, the mayor of Galveston made another change in plans for their return. Now every citizen on the island can return on Wednesday beginning at dawn, although only those who live behind the seawall can stay. How this is ever going to be enforced is beyond me.

Can you imagine what kind of traffic jam we are going to see, since we are talking about 40,000 people driving on one highway (the only highway) and across one bridge (the only bridge) into Galveston? Can you imagine how much fuel is going to be wasted at a time when people are waiting for hours at the local gas stations to fuel up? Some gas stations still are out of commission because they have no power for their pumps, and gas is scarce because several of the refineries have been off line since the hurricane.

I imagine that Wade will return to work this week once the island opens up again and the Law and Justice Center reopens. I will return to my office tomorrow, and try to get my mind back into my teaching and research. I have been trying to work on editing some of the papers for the Codex Judas Congress volume, but even this has been hard to concentrate on, given the situation in Houston which is nowhere near normal.

For this photo and MORE GO HERE
Photo by Karen Warren for the Houston Chronicle

A sign painted on the side of a trailer in Galveston

Erasing women (again!)

This morning, when I turned the page of the Houston Chronicle, I was confronted with a very sorry (but telling!) story about erasing women and women's issues again. The Southern Baptist Convention has pulled off of the shelves of its bookshops the latest issue of Gospel Today magazine. Why? Because it shows five women of the cloth on the front cover and "the statements that were in it took positions that were contrary to what we would say," according to Chris Turner, a spokesman for the SBC bookshops.

Really? And only a few days after the men of the Convention revised their position on women to make it possible for conservative Christians from the Convention to support and vote for the McCain-Palin ticket?

Remember ten years ago, when there was a hostile takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention? The result was the declaration that women's place was in the home, "to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation." She was not to be burdened with working outside the home, and was to happily embrace her duty as homemaker which was the backbone of our society. Only the husband should be vocationally oriented.

These were not just sexist words, they became a sexist policy that resulted in the purging of churches and seminaries of female leadership, including not only ministers but also professors who were fired along with any men who supported them. If you have never seen the documentary on this hostile takeover, "Battle for the Mind" by Steven Lipscomb (1997), it is well-worth the viewing time. In fact, it was a big inspiration for me to decide to begin writing next, Sex and the Serpent: Why the Sexual Conflicts of the Early Church Still Matter.

Enter Sarah Palin. Now the Southern Baptist Convention is in a pickle, unless its statement is reinterpreted in such a way that it denies what it declared to begin with. Robert Parham of "On Faith" reports that one SBC professor thus said, "the Baptist Faith and Message does not address the question of women in secular leadership, only spiritual leadership." Ahh, the secular loophole which allows Baptist men to vote Republication even though what Palin is doing is the opposite of their interpretation of women's roles according to the Bible. I wonder if this secular distinction means that all the women professors who lost their jobs will be reinstated in the seminaries too?

I don't even know what to say about the glass ceiling anymore. It doesn't look like glass to me, but cement.

Apocryphote of the Day: 9-19-08

Jesus said, "Lift the stone and you will find me there. Split the piece of wood and I am there."

Gospel of Thomas 30.3-4

For photo and MORE GO HERE
Photo by Nathan Lindstrom for the Houston Chronicle

A downed live oak tree rests on gravestones at Glenwood Cemetery on Washington Ave. Sept. 18, 2008.

Galveston's Recovery

Today a huge navy ship carrying Marines unloaded on Galveston. The job of the troops is to help clean up the island, particularly getting the port open again and getting the marinas operating. Some heavy earth movers are being brought across the channel to begin clearing debris and stabilizing the roads. The mayor of Galveston hopes that the island will be ready to receive people back within seven to ten days. At that time, people will face broken homes or no homes, and will have to decide what to do.

None of the schools in Houston or Galveston have reopened. Most here in the city still don't have power, one week after IKE. In fact, only about 50% of Houstonians have power and water, and the temperatures are rising again. At the grocery store this afternoon, many people were milling around looking dazed and worn out. We are still under curfew, so the city becomes dark and still around 9 p.m. It is eerie and disconcerting.


For Photo and MORE GO HERE
Photo by Scott Olson

A U.S. Navy Beach Group attached to the U.S.S. Nassau lands on the beach to help with Hurricane Ike recovery Sept.18, 2008 in Galveston.

IKE Recovery

Thank you for the outpouring of your good wishes on this blog in the comments and in e-mails that have been sent to me. My family is fine and our house is fine. We are among the lucky. Houston was pounded, but it is nothing compared to where IKE hit land on Galveston and Bolivar peninsula. This picture is from Galveston island.

As I mentioned earlier, these areas look like bombed out war zones, especially the West end of Galveston and the Bolivar peninsula where two cities (Gilschrist and Crystal Beach) no longer exist.

For some reason, the press is not picking up the main concern of all of us here - where are the missing people? The latest reports I've heard from Galveston are that 15,000 people stayed on the island during IKE. But at this point only 9,500 have been accounted for. Certainly many will show up over the next few months as safe and well living in shelters on the mainland. But right now we don't know where 5,500 people are and families are trying to find relatives and friends that they know stayed on the island but who they haven't heard from. The horrific question is beginning to be whispered among us: how many were washed out to sea?

After IKE in Houston

I have finally been able to make my way up to my office where there is internet access. My family and I are fine, but the area is stunned by this hurricane. The news reports are not really telling people how bad it is, especially on Bolivar peninsula and Galveston. The Bolivar peninsula communities have been wiped out. Literally there is one house left standing among miles of flooded rumble. Reports that are seeping out of Galveston are bad. 20,000 people did not evacuate but stayed in their homes, and so far only 2000 survivors have been recovered. Search and rescue is still going on, but the island has no power or water. Most areas remain flooded and people are stranded in the upper stories of their homes (if they weren't swept away). The island's mayor has told people not to come back because it is inhospitable at this time. 3000 people are still waiting to be evacuated to the mainland. As for FEMA, PODS only began to be set up last night in Houston, so people who are without homes, water, food, or gas are struggling. The mess up appears to be on FEMA's side, since our local officials had everything in place before IKE hit, but FEMA didn't deliver. I don't know what the end of this story will be, but what has happened is very sad and many of us are mourning.

Here are some photos from the Houston Chronicle that have just been released.

Riding out IKE

We are here in Houston waiting for IKE to hit. Where we live is not in an evacuation zone, but have been told to stay put. Galveston Island, where my husband's office is, is where IKE will hit landfall. How much of the island will go under water, we don't know. But the downtown strand area is already flooded according to a friend of ours who lives on the island and just left a few hours ago for safer ground here in Houston.

Apocryphote of the Day: 9-10-08

Jesus said to the disciples, "Disciples, do not cast pearls before swine, for the swine can do nothing with them. Do not impart wisdom to the person who does not desire it, for wisdom is more precious than pearls and whoever rejects wisdom is worse than a pig."

Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Zuhd, p. 144 (no. 477) (The Muslim Jesus)

Commentary: My response to the media's response to the Republicans' response to Obama's response to Palin.

Scopello's Paris conference volume on Judas is published

I just heard today that Madeleine Scopello's book which contains the proceedings from the 2006 International conference on the Gospel of Judas held in Paris has been published. It is a Brill volume, so pricey and probably a library loan book for most of us, but it is very important publication because it contains a wide range of scholarship on the Gospel of Judas - first ever glimpses at what scholars world-wide are thinking about the Gospel of Judas. The paper I wrote that inspired The Thirteenth Apostle is in this volume, as well as significant pieces by John Turner, Louis Painchaud, and many many others. I don't have the final contents list on hand, but it was a great conference with great contributions.

The book is called The Gospel of Judas in Context: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Gospel of Judas (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies; Leiden: Brill, 2008).

Paul Foster: The Non-Canonical Gospels

Finally it is here! An affordable book ($29.95) introducing the non-canonical gospels. It is edited by Paul Foster. It is up-to-date and perfect for students in courses on the gospels. Some of the articles printed are revisions of earlier versions published in Expository Times last year, others appear in this volume for the first time. I think that this one is worth getting for your library and considering adopting for your courses.

Contents:

J.K. Elliot, "The Non-Canonical Gospels and the New Testament Apocrypha: Currents in Early Christian Thought and Beyond"

April DeConick, "The Gospel of Thomas"

Paul Foster, "The Gospel of Peter"

Christopher Tuckett, "The Gospel of Mary"

Andrew Gregory, "Jewish-Christian Gospels"

Simon Gathercole, "The Gospel of Judas: An Unlikely Hero"

April DeConick, "The Gospel of Judas: A Parody of Apostolic Christianity"

Paul Foster, "The Protevangelium of James"

Tony Chartrand-Burke, "The Infancy Gospel of Thomas"

Tobias Nicklas, "Papyrus Egerton 2"

Thomas Kraus, "The Fayum Gospel"

Michael Kruger, "Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 840"

Paul Foster, "Secret Mark"