More dead found after IKE

Three more bodies have been found according to the Houston Chronicle HERE. Two on the island of Galveston. The bodies will have to be identified by autopsies. The third body has been identified as Mr. Greg Walker of Orange County. Searchers expect to find more bodies as the debris is cleared.

This picture is of the memorial on Galveston seawall that was built in honor of those 6000 people who died in the hurricane of 1900.

For photo and MORE PHOTOS GO HERE
Photo by Johnny Hanson for the Houston Chronicle

Waves crashing into the seawall reaching over the memorial to the hurricane of 1900 as Hurricane Ike began to hit Galveston.

Zakaria weighs in on McCain's VP choice

CNN has reported this about a column in Newsweek where Zakaria is interviewed about McCain and Palin:

NEW YORK (CNN) -- In a column appearing in Newsweek, world affairs expert and author Fareed Zakaria said he thinks it would be best for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain if Gov. Sarah Palin bowed out as his vice presidential running mate.

Zakaria says McCain did not put the country first in making his V.P. choice, and he says Palin is not qualified to lead the United States.

MORE OF ZAKARIA'S INTERVIEW HERE. Zakaria emphasizes the fact that Palin is operating from a set of talking points which she repeats and confuses. Like Parker admitted yesterday in her editorial, Zakaria thinks it would be best for our country if Palin would step down. She is clearly not ready for the President's post if (more likely: when) she would need to take over the helm. Zakaria thinks that McCain did not make this VP choice with the best interest of our country in mind.

Apocryphote of the Day: 9-29-08

It is good to pray to God night and day, spreading out our hands toward him as do people sailing in the middle of the sea. They pray to God with all their heart without hypocrisy...God examines the inward parts and searches the bottom of the heart so that he might know who is worthy of salvation.

Exegesis on the Soul 136.17-25 (second century Valentinian sermon)

Parker now thinks that Palin is "out of her league"

Kathleen Parker who had been an early enthusiastic supporter of Palin has now changed her mind and asks directly for Palin to step down in HER EDITORIAL HERE. After listening to the interviews, Parker has come to the conclusion that Palin is out of her league. Palin doesn't know enough about international politics or the economy to function successfully as our President should the need arise, although Parker did note that the foreign male leaders that Palin met were infatuated with her. The Pakistani president asked to hug her because he was so smitten with her beauty.

So here we are again glaring into the face of sexism at its worse. We have standing before us a woman VP nominee who is not ready for the job. This is nothing but a mockery of women politicians in my opinion as I have said before on this blog (just scroll down to my last several posts). Why don't we have Senator Hutchinson, a woman who knows what she is doing, standing next to McCain? It is painful for me to watch a woman who finally "made it" be so unknowledgeable about the essentials, and for this to be seen as "okay" by Americans because she is a so-called "hockey-mom" and beauty queen. I dare say that if this were a male VP nominee none of us would tolerate it - think Dan Quayle.

The MISSING after IKE are being reported

We now have a more accurate picture of who is missing after IKE. There is a web-page devoted to the MISSING HERE.

As I feared in the aftermath of the storm, the information about the MISSING was not being reported to us. Why I do not know. But today, over two weeks following IKE's devastation, the Houston Chronicle has a sad report HERE on the MISSING which now is at 400. And some survivor stories that are horrifying HERE. Many of the MISSING are hoped to show up yet in shelters. But it is beginning to look more and more like many were washed out to sea, and we are expecting to find more bodies buried in the mounds of rubble yet to be shifted through and removed.

Story and Photo HERE
Photo by Cindy Horswell for Houston Chronicle
Mike Anderson, 49, is a survivor from Bolivar. He was adrift at sea and lost for 36 hours in debris before he was rescued. He was covered in ant bites and flesh-eating bacteria. He said thoughts of his family gave him the will to live.

Apocryphote of the Day: 9-27-08

Jesus said, "He who prays and fasts but does not abandon sin is inscribed in the Kingdom of God as a liar."

Abu al-Qasim ibn `Asakir, Sirat al-Sayyid al-Masih p. 172 (no. 196): The Muslim Jesus

Bolivar Peninsula video

Residents have been returning home to face what is left and what is not left of their homes and properties on Galveston island and Bolivar peninsula this week.

The Houston Chronicle reported this morning that "the most stunning sight amid the devastation in town may have been Warren and Pam Adams' bright yellow home — the only house along the beach in Gilchrist left standing. Warren Adams credited his home's survival to several reasons: It was built higher off the ground than surrounding houses and its foundation was made with reinforced concrete. Also, the house, completed last year, was built to new hurricane building codes. Pam Adams felt a sense of guilt that her home survived and those of her neighbors didn't. 'It is just devastating. I feel so sorry for all these people,' she said. While their home remains standing, the first-floor garage was wiped away, the wooden staircase to the second floor was knocked out and the home's interior suffered water and mud damage.Warren Adams said he planned to repair and rebuild. But like many other Bolivar Peninsula residents who planned to do the same, he worried whether his home could be seized by the state because Ike eroded so much of the beach that it might now sit on public property."

The photos are from Houston Chronicle. Pam Adams is standing in front of her home in Gilchrist on Friday, Sept. 26, on the Bolivar Peninsula. Hurricane Ike leveled every house on the Gulf side of Gilchrist, except hers. Compare the aerial photo.

VIDEO OF BOLIVAR RESIDENTS FACING THE RUBBLE

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.