Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Objects In Mirror...
"Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."
If he only knew how close I feel to him on days like we had today....
If he only knew how close I feel to him on days like we had today....
Friday, May 4, 2012
Going Home...
As I sat in a staff meeting Friday, friends in the Jackson, Mississippi, area forwarded pictures of the "Final Patrol" of Pearl police officer Mike Walter, who was killed in a gun battle while serving a warrant.
The collection of patrol vehicles from across the state was impressive as they escorted Walter's funeral car and his family from Jackson through the streets of Pearl on to Pinelake Church.
We have the duty to honor our dead, especially to those who daily put themselves between civilized society and those people and situations that seek to cause harm.
We see them on our streets in patrol cars, ambulances and fire engines. We teach our children to respect them, to feel safe around them. We use the term hero because they have chosen a profession that gives us the opportunity to live in safety.
They are the people who intervene in our living nightmare as our possessions burn before our eyes, or as a loved one slips away. They have trained to silence their fears for a time so that we may be comforted by their actions.
Yet through it all they are daughters, sons, husbands, wives, mothers and fathers. They go home each day thankful for their safety. They pray for that safety in one breath; with the next they pray for grace and peace for those they love should misfortune befall their watch. That is one fear that cannot be muted.
This weekend hundreds of men and women who are sworn to serve and protect will commit their fallen brother to rest, as a young girl and her mother look on. Stoic faces of officers, firefighters, and medics will hide the anguish raging inside, for they see their own loved one's faces in those of that daughter and wife.
In time, flags will be raised to full staff and badges will be uncovered. Family and friends will return to their lives. A daughter and a mother will shoulder the reality of an empty chair in their home. A quick smile, hugs, or laughter from a father will never return. A wife will sleep next to an empty pillow as her community heals.
Future memorial services will see this man's name cast in bronze and cut into stone. He will be remembered for his sacrifice, yet no adulation, no honor, no memorial can replace what these two have lost.
As responders, the greatest memorial we can give our family is not having our name among those plaques of bronze and marble. Though future generations may see those names, the greater blessing is knowing the souls those names represent.
Look upon the faces of the survivors, and commit yourselves to going home....
The collection of patrol vehicles from across the state was impressive as they escorted Walter's funeral car and his family from Jackson through the streets of Pearl on to Pinelake Church.
We have the duty to honor our dead, especially to those who daily put themselves between civilized society and those people and situations that seek to cause harm.
We see them on our streets in patrol cars, ambulances and fire engines. We teach our children to respect them, to feel safe around them. We use the term hero because they have chosen a profession that gives us the opportunity to live in safety.
They are the people who intervene in our living nightmare as our possessions burn before our eyes, or as a loved one slips away. They have trained to silence their fears for a time so that we may be comforted by their actions.
Yet through it all they are daughters, sons, husbands, wives, mothers and fathers. They go home each day thankful for their safety. They pray for that safety in one breath; with the next they pray for grace and peace for those they love should misfortune befall their watch. That is one fear that cannot be muted.
This weekend hundreds of men and women who are sworn to serve and protect will commit their fallen brother to rest, as a young girl and her mother look on. Stoic faces of officers, firefighters, and medics will hide the anguish raging inside, for they see their own loved one's faces in those of that daughter and wife.
In time, flags will be raised to full staff and badges will be uncovered. Family and friends will return to their lives. A daughter and a mother will shoulder the reality of an empty chair in their home. A quick smile, hugs, or laughter from a father will never return. A wife will sleep next to an empty pillow as her community heals.
Future memorial services will see this man's name cast in bronze and cut into stone. He will be remembered for his sacrifice, yet no adulation, no honor, no memorial can replace what these two have lost.
As responders, the greatest memorial we can give our family is not having our name among those plaques of bronze and marble. Though future generations may see those names, the greater blessing is knowing the souls those names represent.
Look upon the faces of the survivors, and commit yourselves to going home....
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Last Night...
I went camping with Mini-Me last night, as he wanted to be in the words early to turkey hunt this morning. We'd been wanting to get a camping trip in before it gets too hot, and turkey season is ending, so what better time than now?
As we sat by our campfire staring up at the moon, planets, stars, we were reminded that living in a city deprives you of little pleasures in life. One among them is failing to see how beautiful the night sky truly is. City lights blind us to the vast majority of the sky's beauty.
I couldn't help but recall my favorite piece by Beethoven, in the finale of his 9th Symphony. While I don't pretend to know Beethoven's motivation behind the words, the lines "We enter, drunk with fire, Heavenly one, your sanctuary!" Admiring the beauty of the heavens from around a campfire....
Scroll down, push play and turn it up LOUD. Remember, Beethoven was deaf and couldn't hear his own work. Then enjoy the words....
Translated from the original German:
As we sat by our campfire staring up at the moon, planets, stars, we were reminded that living in a city deprives you of little pleasures in life. One among them is failing to see how beautiful the night sky truly is. City lights blind us to the vast majority of the sky's beauty.
I couldn't help but recall my favorite piece by Beethoven, in the finale of his 9th Symphony. While I don't pretend to know Beethoven's motivation behind the words, the lines "We enter, drunk with fire, Heavenly one, your sanctuary!" Admiring the beauty of the heavens from around a campfire....
Scroll down, push play and turn it up LOUD. Remember, Beethoven was deaf and couldn't hear his own work. Then enjoy the words....
Translated from the original German:
- Oh friends, not these tones!
- Rather, let us raise our voices in more pleasing
- And more joyful sounds!
- Joy! (Joy!)
- Joy! (Joy!)
- Joy, beautiful spark of the gods*
- Daughter of Elysium,
- We enter, drunk with fire,
- Heavenly one, your sanctuary!
- Your magic reunites
- What custom strictly divided.
- All men become brothers,
- Where your gentle wing rests.
- Whoever has had the great fortune
- To be a friend's friend,
- Whoever has won a devoted wife,
- Join in our jubilation!
- Indeed, whoever can call even one soul
- His own on this earth!
- And whoever was never able to, must creep
- Tearfully away from this band!
Friday, April 13, 2012
In My Seat...
Watch all of this video....the message doesn't come until the end. "...somebody died in my place....somebody died in my place not once, but twice."
Thursday, April 12, 2012
A look back...
The American Civil War, War Between the States, War of Northern Aggression - whatever you prefer to call it, began today, one-hundred fifty-one years ago.
"We think that we are a wholly superior people. If we'd been anything like as superior as we think we are, we would not have fought that war." ~ Shelby Foote
My daddy once said, during the midst of a political race for county sheriff, "you can't sling mud without getting some on yourself." War must be like that - you can't clearly win without inflicting wounds upon yourself, your friends, and your country.
You'll see that decades after the war ended, those that fought the battles may have realized that same concept.
"We think that we are a wholly superior people. If we'd been anything like as superior as we think we are, we would not have fought that war." ~ Shelby Foote
My daddy once said, during the midst of a political race for county sheriff, "you can't sling mud without getting some on yourself." War must be like that - you can't clearly win without inflicting wounds upon yourself, your friends, and your country.
You'll see that decades after the war ended, those that fought the battles may have realized that same concept.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
MY KING is Alive!
...on that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise, and the glory of His resurrection share...
Yes, there IS an EMPTY grave!
Yes, there IS an EMPTY grave!
Friday, April 6, 2012
It's Friday....
The essence of the gospels and the whole of the Bible's story can be summed up in five words. "Its Friday, but Sunday's coming!"
With best wishes for a peaceful and blessed Easter....
With best wishes for a peaceful and blessed Easter....
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Places that "Make" the MS Delta: Po Monkey's Lounge
The Mississippi Delta is a quilt of hundreds of patches representing towns, varying cultures and histories from Native Americans through the Civil War and slavery, through both World Wars, civil rights struggles, and floods. The quilt wouldn't be complete without each patch and each story - good or bad. They all make the Delta what it is.
One of the living patches is Po Monkey's Lounge, outside Merigold, MS, just north of Cleveland.
Here's two short videos from Po Monkey's. Enjoy. And if you're ever in the Delta on a Thursday night, drop by.
One of the living patches is Po Monkey's Lounge, outside Merigold, MS, just north of Cleveland.
Here's two short videos from Po Monkey's. Enjoy. And if you're ever in the Delta on a Thursday night, drop by.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Trey Erwin
A hat-tip to HybridMedic for the post about Trey Erwin, the 15 year old son of a Memphis firefighter/paramedic. The young athlete is batting cancer, and his story is beyond inspirational.
You can keep up with Trey on Twitter @TreyErwin13, or @PrayForTrey, and on the CaringBridge website his family has established at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/treyerwin
You can keep up with Trey on Twitter @TreyErwin13, or @PrayForTrey, and on the CaringBridge website his family has established at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/treyerwin
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Disaster Preps: Information
Have you seen Doomsday Preppers on the National Geographic Channel? Unfortunately
Thankfully, we don't get the NatGeo channel on our satellite, so I
haven't seen it. But from what I've heard and read around the web,
it's...um...interesting. Something tells me the producers found the
most radical people out there and put them on TV. That's good for
ratings I guess, but doing so casts a bad light on the notion of
disaster preparedness for your family. There are plenty of simple,
relatively inexpensive steps you can take to soften the blow of a sudden
emergency or disaster.
In a previous entry about Community Emergency Response Teams, I mentioned that we would offer simple ideas on a regular basis, to help you with planning for your family's protection.
Family disaster planning can be as small, or as big of a project as you want it to be. In this series of articles, we'll give you an outline of themes - security, sustenance, supplies, safety, etc., and try not to get "down in the weeds" of details.
This week, I'm going to re-post an article we featured in October of 2011. Recent major disasters have taught us that personal information is as important as food and water. Yes, a notebook won't keep you alive, but the information contained within will give you an advantage when calamity visits. Brief medical records, banking records, vital records, all are important to rebuild your post-disaster life. The data about your life isn't the first thing you pack up to evacuate. A week or two later though, you'll wish you had it.
Here's a re-run of that post entry:
Disaster preparedness and planning can be a complex, lengthy, and
sometimes expensive endeavor. Communities, states, and federal
authorities constantly refine their plans for response and recovery.
Mitigation projects like flood control systems and building codes help
reduce the potential effects of disasters. Preparedness requires that
we acquire and maintain supplies, equipment, and trained personnel in a
state of readiness. While our governing authorities do what they can,
there remains one area of preparedness that no governmental entity can
address: you and your family's own personal state of readiness. By
undertaking a family disaster planning project, you can reduce your
household's potential demands on your community's response. By
extension, the more well-prepared families there are, the more prepared
the overall community is.
There are dozens of resources online to guide you through various aspects of personal disaster preparedness. www.ready.gov is a great place to find basic information on disaster kits, food and water supply ideas, and other simple steps you can take.
While food, water, clothing, and shelter are absolutely essential to survival, I want to use this blog entry to remind you that following the immediate threats of an emergency, information is as essential to your recovery as the items previously mentioned.
A highly useful tool that I'm adding to my family's growing emergency plan is The Big Book of Everything, compiled by Erik A. Dewey. Clicking that link will take you to a page where you can download either an Adobe PDF, or Microsoft Excel version of The Big Book.
The Big Book may seem daunting at first, but by compiling the information in incremental steps over the period of a few weeks, you'll develop a comprehensive document that details emergency information such as family contacts, as well as capturing important financial and other critical data.
What do you do with all this valuable - and sensitive - information? I wouldn't recommend having a printed copy laying around the house for burglars to find your banking information. Instead, print out only those essential pages that contain emergency points of contact, and keep it safely stored in a location known by all family members.
An option that we're exploring is storing a non-editable PDF version of The Big Book on key-shaped flash drives. These won't occupy valuable space in your pocket, but will allow you to keep vital information easily accessible. Yes, it is sensitive data. But you can easily encrypt it using a very lightweight program called TrueCrypt, for which the price is right: it's absolutely free. We'll also store scanned copies of important documents in that encrypted file as well. If you wish, it may be helpful to have a non-encrypted version of The Big Book on your jump drive. Just redact any information that could be used should the drive become lost. (Think CIA black pen marks - just black out the sensitive information on Excel then save it as a PDF).
We'll most likely have multiple copies of these flash drives, distributed out to family members both locally and non-local. Twice a year (or more often if needed) they'll be collected and updated as information changes.
Why go through this exercise? We have the capacity to digitize a huge portion of our lives, for relatively little cost. I have several years worth of bank records, payroll records, and other documents stored digitally in multiple locations. In the unlikely event that a disaster requires our evacuation, consider how much time we would save by not having to identify, find, collect, and store the paper documents. Digital copies will never replace certified originals. Having volumes of information compressed into something the size of my house key, easily portable and securely encrypted will give my family the chance of a less-stressful recovery should we need it.
The Big Book isn't - and shouldn't be - your family's entire disaster plan. It is just one part of a multifaceted plan that includes out-of-town/state contacts, pre-determined family evacuation locations (in town, out of town), basic food & water supplies, and emergency action steps for specific hazards like fires and thunderstorms. The Big Book does, however, give you a one-stop-shop for a host of critical information that you'll wish you had.
What's your plan?
In a previous entry about Community Emergency Response Teams, I mentioned that we would offer simple ideas on a regular basis, to help you with planning for your family's protection.
Family disaster planning can be as small, or as big of a project as you want it to be. In this series of articles, we'll give you an outline of themes - security, sustenance, supplies, safety, etc., and try not to get "down in the weeds" of details.
This week, I'm going to re-post an article we featured in October of 2011. Recent major disasters have taught us that personal information is as important as food and water. Yes, a notebook won't keep you alive, but the information contained within will give you an advantage when calamity visits. Brief medical records, banking records, vital records, all are important to rebuild your post-disaster life. The data about your life isn't the first thing you pack up to evacuate. A week or two later though, you'll wish you had it.
Here's a re-run of that post entry:
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Preparedness: The Big Book
There are dozens of resources online to guide you through various aspects of personal disaster preparedness. www.ready.gov is a great place to find basic information on disaster kits, food and water supply ideas, and other simple steps you can take.
While food, water, clothing, and shelter are absolutely essential to survival, I want to use this blog entry to remind you that following the immediate threats of an emergency, information is as essential to your recovery as the items previously mentioned.
A highly useful tool that I'm adding to my family's growing emergency plan is The Big Book of Everything, compiled by Erik A. Dewey. Clicking that link will take you to a page where you can download either an Adobe PDF, or Microsoft Excel version of The Big Book.
The Big Book may seem daunting at first, but by compiling the information in incremental steps over the period of a few weeks, you'll develop a comprehensive document that details emergency information such as family contacts, as well as capturing important financial and other critical data.
What do you do with all this valuable - and sensitive - information? I wouldn't recommend having a printed copy laying around the house for burglars to find your banking information. Instead, print out only those essential pages that contain emergency points of contact, and keep it safely stored in a location known by all family members.
An option that we're exploring is storing a non-editable PDF version of The Big Book on key-shaped flash drives. These won't occupy valuable space in your pocket, but will allow you to keep vital information easily accessible. Yes, it is sensitive data. But you can easily encrypt it using a very lightweight program called TrueCrypt, for which the price is right: it's absolutely free. We'll also store scanned copies of important documents in that encrypted file as well. If you wish, it may be helpful to have a non-encrypted version of The Big Book on your jump drive. Just redact any information that could be used should the drive become lost. (Think CIA black pen marks - just black out the sensitive information on Excel then save it as a PDF).
We'll most likely have multiple copies of these flash drives, distributed out to family members both locally and non-local. Twice a year (or more often if needed) they'll be collected and updated as information changes.
Why go through this exercise? We have the capacity to digitize a huge portion of our lives, for relatively little cost. I have several years worth of bank records, payroll records, and other documents stored digitally in multiple locations. In the unlikely event that a disaster requires our evacuation, consider how much time we would save by not having to identify, find, collect, and store the paper documents. Digital copies will never replace certified originals. Having volumes of information compressed into something the size of my house key, easily portable and securely encrypted will give my family the chance of a less-stressful recovery should we need it.
The Big Book isn't - and shouldn't be - your family's entire disaster plan. It is just one part of a multifaceted plan that includes out-of-town/state contacts, pre-determined family evacuation locations (in town, out of town), basic food & water supplies, and emergency action steps for specific hazards like fires and thunderstorms. The Big Book does, however, give you a one-stop-shop for a host of critical information that you'll wish you had.
What's your plan?
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Community Emergency Response Teams
I've got an upcoming lecture to give on the 2011 Mississippi River Flood event. Specifically, the lecture will be about how the flood impacted healthcare entities and response agencies. In more a more broad sense, I'm planning for the presentation to feature the need for a renewal of individual and family preparedness efforts. Disaster management is not a top-down process, driven by governmental entities. Emergency management and disaster response begin with the lowest common denominator - you and your family. As individuals and families become more ready to react to disaster, their neighborhoods and communities naturally become more resilient.
My preparation of this lecture reminded me of a topic that a few of us in Mississippi began looking at about 15 years ago...CERT - Community Emergency Response Teams. Born of necessity after earthquakes in southern California, the CERT concept allowed emergency responders an opportunity to offer basic, life-saving training to people just like you: people who are willing to help, but don't know what to do. Every disaster produces "spontaneous volunteers" willing to help, but in need of training. The CERT model provides that training up front.
What basic things have you done for your family? In the coming weeks, I'll post more information about CERT, and about preparedness steps you can take with your family. They'll be simple, inexpensive things you can do. Hopefully, it will spark some interest. I'll be happy to answer any questions, so ask away in the comments section to this post.
My preparation of this lecture reminded me of a topic that a few of us in Mississippi began looking at about 15 years ago...CERT - Community Emergency Response Teams. Born of necessity after earthquakes in southern California, the CERT concept allowed emergency responders an opportunity to offer basic, life-saving training to people just like you: people who are willing to help, but don't know what to do. Every disaster produces "spontaneous volunteers" willing to help, but in need of training. The CERT model provides that training up front.
What basic things have you done for your family? In the coming weeks, I'll post more information about CERT, and about preparedness steps you can take with your family. They'll be simple, inexpensive things you can do. Hopefully, it will spark some interest. I'll be happy to answer any questions, so ask away in the comments section to this post.
U.S. Fire Administration Firefighter Fatality Notification - Centreville, MS
U.S. Fire Administration Firefighter Fatality Notification - Centreville, MS
You are subscribed to the U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA) Firefighter Fatality Notices e-mail list. A notice(s) has recently been added and is now available.
Rank: Fire Chief
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Status: Volunteer
Years of Service: 25
Date of Incident: 03/05/2012
Time of Incident: 0317hrs
Date of Death: 03/05/2012
Fire Department: Centreville Volunteer Fire Department
Address: PO Box 578, 1 Municipal DR, Centreville, MS 39631
Fire Department Chief: Pending
Incident Description: Chief Pittman fell ill while at the scene of a residential structure fire. Pittman went to the hospital and was ambulatory as he walked into the emergency room, but his condition worsened and he passed away a short time later from a cause still to be determined.
Incident Location: 144 N Cosby ST, Centreville, MS
Funeral Arrangements: 03/10/2012 @ 1000hrs, Newman Funeral Home, 155 S Cosby ST, Centreville, MS.
Tribute is being paid to Fire Chief Nolan “Goat” Pittman at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/fatalities/
To date, 18 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2012. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online @ http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/ff_stats.shtm
U.S. Fire Administration Firefighter Fatality Notification - Centreville, MS
U.S. Fire Administration sent this bulletin at 03/06/2012 11:37 AM ESTYou are subscribed to the U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA) Firefighter Fatality Notices e-mail list. A notice(s) has recently been added and is now available.
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality:
Name: Nolan “Goat” PittmanRank: Fire Chief
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Status: Volunteer
Years of Service: 25
Date of Incident: 03/05/2012
Time of Incident: 0317hrs
Date of Death: 03/05/2012
Fire Department: Centreville Volunteer Fire Department
Address: PO Box 578, 1 Municipal DR, Centreville, MS 39631
Fire Department Chief: Pending
Incident Description: Chief Pittman fell ill while at the scene of a residential structure fire. Pittman went to the hospital and was ambulatory as he walked into the emergency room, but his condition worsened and he passed away a short time later from a cause still to be determined.
Incident Location: 144 N Cosby ST, Centreville, MS
Funeral Arrangements: 03/10/2012 @ 1000hrs, Newman Funeral Home, 155 S Cosby ST, Centreville, MS.
Tribute is being paid to Fire Chief Nolan “Goat” Pittman at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/fatalities/
To date, 18 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2012. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online @ http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/ff_stats.shtm
Friday, February 24, 2012
Ode to Billy Joe...
Three variations on a classic Southern Gothic song by Bobbie Gentry, with allusions to my hometown...
First, the original, irreplaceable version
Second, a souled-up version by Ray Charles
Finally, a modern singer, Sinead O'Conner does a great job
First, the original, irreplaceable version
Second, a souled-up version by Ray Charles
Finally, a modern singer, Sinead O'Conner does a great job
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
A Decalogue of Canons
A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life.
1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do to-day.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have it.
4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.
6. We never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.
9. Take things always by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.
Thomas Jefferson
1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do to-day.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have it.
4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.
6. We never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.
9. Take things always by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.
Thomas Jefferson
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A Geographical Oddity...
Mississippi Constitution, Article II - Boundaries of the State
Section 3: REPEALED (Note: The former Section 3 stated the limits and boundaries of the state of Mississippi. The repeal of Section 3 was proposed by the Laws of 1990, Ch 692, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 520, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 6, 1990, was deleted from the constitution by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 19, 1990.
Mississippi Code, Title 3, Chapter 3, Section 1, State Boundaries - The limits and boundaries of the State of Mississippi are as fixed in Section 3 of the Constitution of said state.
So my question is, if Section 3 of the Constitution was repealed, there are no boundaries defined, therefore MS Code 3-3-1 refers to something that doesn't exist, what then are the true limits and boundaries of the state?
Or do we know no limits?
Section 3: REPEALED (Note: The former Section 3 stated the limits and boundaries of the state of Mississippi. The repeal of Section 3 was proposed by the Laws of 1990, Ch 692, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 520, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 6, 1990, was deleted from the constitution by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 19, 1990.
Mississippi Code, Title 3, Chapter 3, Section 1, State Boundaries - The limits and boundaries of the State of Mississippi are as fixed in Section 3 of the Constitution of said state.
So my question is, if Section 3 of the Constitution was repealed, there are no boundaries defined, therefore MS Code 3-3-1 refers to something that doesn't exist, what then are the true limits and boundaries of the state?
Or do we know no limits?
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Garden Watch 2012, Part 2
Some of the herb seeds planted last week have sprouted in their pods like fine frog hair. Mostly thyme and basil. I figure the rest will start poking through within a week.
Mini-Me and I tried our hand at carpentry and built two, four-foot by eight-foot raised planter beds. I'm no carpenter, and an even worse gardener. But I'll have to say these went from raw materials to finished product rather well.
Before:
During:
After:
The finished beds are shown upside-down. I'll dig four small holes for the "feet" to sit into, hopefully to prevent the beds from shifting around. Next step: prep some ground and get soil to fill the beds.
Not bad for a Saturday afternoon!
Mini-Me and I tried our hand at carpentry and built two, four-foot by eight-foot raised planter beds. I'm no carpenter, and an even worse gardener. But I'll have to say these went from raw materials to finished product rather well.
Before:
During:
After:
The finished beds are shown upside-down. I'll dig four small holes for the "feet" to sit into, hopefully to prevent the beds from shifting around. Next step: prep some ground and get soil to fill the beds.
Not bad for a Saturday afternoon!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Garden Watch 2012, Part 1
Apparently I needed to remind myself, as I seem to do every couple of years, that I'm no good at raising green leafy things from scratch. So begins Garden, Version 2012.
Seventy-two starter pods planted with basil, lavender, oregano, parsley, rosemary, and thyme, on January 8. Twelve pods of each were planted, hoping there's safety in numbers. If they germinate successfully, I'll be able to weed out the runts of the crop. Hopefully.
I'd considered building two raised beds for vegetables. A good trip to Lowes reminded me that I'm neither a carpenter nor a gardener, so that idea was scrapped. At least for now...it's still on the back burner of the "maybe one day" list.
So behold, Garden 2012 in all of its current immaturity!
Seventy-two starter pods planted with basil, lavender, oregano, parsley, rosemary, and thyme, on January 8. Twelve pods of each were planted, hoping there's safety in numbers. If they germinate successfully, I'll be able to weed out the runts of the crop. Hopefully.
I'd considered building two raised beds for vegetables. A good trip to Lowes reminded me that I'm neither a carpenter nor a gardener, so that idea was scrapped. At least for now...it's still on the back burner of the "maybe one day" list.
So behold, Garden 2012 in all of its current immaturity!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Why it's great to be a guy...
Hat tip to the folks at Say I Do Forever. Lots of good stuff over there!
- We know stuff about tanks.
- A five-day trip requires one suitcase.
- We can open all our own jars.
- We can go to the bathroom without a support group.
- We can leave a motel bed unmade.
- We can kill our own food.
- We get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
- If someone forgets to invite us to something they can still be our friend.
- Everything on our faces stays the original color.
- Three pairs of shoes are more than enough…maybe too many.
- Car mechanics tell us the truth.
- We can sit quietly and watch a game with a friend for hours without thinking, “He must be mad at me.”
- Same work–more pay.
- Gray hair and wrinkles only add character.
- We can drop by and see a friend without having to bring a little gift.
- If another guy shows up at a party in the same outfit, we just might become lifelong friends.
- Our pals will never trap us with: “So, notice anything different?”
- We are not expected to know the names of more than five colors.
- We are totally unable to see wrinkles in our clothes.
- The same hairstyle lasts for years–even decades.
- We don’t have to shave below the neck.
- A few belches are expected and tolerated.
- Our belly usually hides our big hips.
- We can do our nails with a pocketknife.
- Christmas shopping can be accomplished for 25 people on the day before Christmas and in 45 minutes
Monday, December 26, 2011
Having fun...
90-count box of shooting clays - $10.00
100-count box of 12ga ammunition - $23.00
Having too much fun on a rainy day-after-Christmas with your son: P.R.I.C.E.L.E.S.S
100-count box of 12ga ammunition - $23.00
Having too much fun on a rainy day-after-Christmas with your son: P.R.I.C.E.L.E.S.S
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Short Day
This entry post at the moment of the Winter (or December) Solstice, when the north pole of the Earth's rotation axis is at its furthest tilt away from the sun. Accordingly, we'll see the "shortest day", or the date with the least amount of hours of sunshine all year.
GOOD! Now tilt the Earth back the other way and let the sun shine more and more and more! I'm no fan of winter, other than the fact that the cold kills the mosquitoes.
Sadly, we've got at least two or three more months of cold weather before it warms back up. I'll be ready.
GOOD! Now tilt the Earth back the other way and let the sun shine more and more and more! I'm no fan of winter, other than the fact that the cold kills the mosquitoes.
Sadly, we've got at least two or three more months of cold weather before it warms back up. I'll be ready.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Separation of Powers
From The Washington Post - Gingrich: Send U.S. Marshals to arrest uncooperative judges
It seems presidential candidate Newt Gingrich would be willing to use the power of the United States Marshals Service to bring judges before Congress to explain rulings and justify their decisions.
Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution states: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High crimes and Misdemeanors.
This includes federal judges.
The judiciary is a separate branch of government, co-equal with the executive and legislative branches. The implication and practice is that no single branch is subservient to another. Principles of checks and balances, such as legislative approval of executive appointments, judicial review of legislative actions, and executive veto power are designed to preclude one branch from exercising unchecked authority.
In the instant case, we see that a presidential candidate has openly expressed the possibility that his administration would exercise authority not granted by the Constitution to bring federal judges before legislative investigative committees to answer for controversial rulings, and to justify how their decisions were reached.
The Constitution provides a means to impeach, try, and convict federal judges for crimes committed against the state. If we feel that a crime has been committed, then utilize the system prescribed in our Constitution. Bringing judges before Congress to justify their decisions would cast a chill over the federal judiciary, thus limiting it in a way that is not defined in the Constitution. Through written decisions recorded by the courts, judges provide sufficient reasoning to support their decisions. Threatening to drag the judiciary before the jury of the media is school-bully intimidation unworthy of a president or presidential candidate.
It seems presidential candidate Newt Gingrich would be willing to use the power of the United States Marshals Service to bring judges before Congress to explain rulings and justify their decisions.
Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution states: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High crimes and Misdemeanors.
This includes federal judges.
The judiciary is a separate branch of government, co-equal with the executive and legislative branches. The implication and practice is that no single branch is subservient to another. Principles of checks and balances, such as legislative approval of executive appointments, judicial review of legislative actions, and executive veto power are designed to preclude one branch from exercising unchecked authority.
In the instant case, we see that a presidential candidate has openly expressed the possibility that his administration would exercise authority not granted by the Constitution to bring federal judges before legislative investigative committees to answer for controversial rulings, and to justify how their decisions were reached.
The Constitution provides a means to impeach, try, and convict federal judges for crimes committed against the state. If we feel that a crime has been committed, then utilize the system prescribed in our Constitution. Bringing judges before Congress to justify their decisions would cast a chill over the federal judiciary, thus limiting it in a way that is not defined in the Constitution. Through written decisions recorded by the courts, judges provide sufficient reasoning to support their decisions. Threatening to drag the judiciary before the jury of the media is school-bully intimidation unworthy of a president or presidential candidate.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Health Care Reform
This video comes from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and outlines the coming health care reform (Obamacare). Take a few moments and watch it. The notes that follow are a collection of points I picked out of the video, along with my thoughts and impressions. The comments section is open, so feel free to jump in with your views.
PHASE 1 - Now until 2014
1. The government will stipulate how insurance companies spend the premiums collected. If "too much" is spent on administrative costs and profit, then a rebate to the consumer will be required. This raises several questions. First, other than taxes levied, does the government have the constitutional authority to determine how private businesses spend their revenues? Secondly, who makes the determination that "too much" was spent on administrative costs and/or profit? What is the definition of "too much"?
2. Under the new plans, "free services" will be offered by providers and insurance companies. Certainly, if a service could be rendered at absolutely no cost to a provider, would not that provider already be delivering those services, in the interest of promoting better health to their customers? We know this isn't the case, as personnel, utilities, and supplies have a cost to the provider. Business cannot simply give away their product or services, without facing certain closure when funding from investors dries up. Skilled personnel have, at personal expense, invested in their education and continued certification. What right does society have to demand they share their skill without compensation?
3. Medicare will provide greater coverage for medications. Where does Medicare get its operating funds? If greater coverage is planned, doesn't that necessitate an increase in funding?
4. "Children" can remain on their parent's insurance until the age of 26. I'm sorry, but once my children have graduated college and are on their own, they will be responsible for their own bills, and thus responsible for their own money management skills. Additionally, by the time they're 26, if I'm retired, who's to say that I'll have the disposable income to continue to carry them on insurance? This is passing the buck, and denies the opportunity to learn responsibility.
5. Tax breaks will be given to businesses, presumably to encourage them to provide or expand health insurance coverage for their employees. This isn't a bad idea, but wait...there's another point coming later.
6. No lifetime limit on benefits. This, again, is the government dictating business practices to the insurance companies. Every insurance policy I've engaged represented a contractual relationship with the insurer. Policy standards are communicated as part of that relationship. If I have entered into a poor contract, then shame on me. Certainly there is the need for consumer protection in cases that insurance companies don't live up to their end of the agreement. It is incumbent on the buyer to fully understand the terms of the policy.
7. No pre-existing conditions can be used to deny coverage for children. As with the previous point, an insurance policy is a contract, negotiated by private entities. This means the insurance company has the right to not offer coverage if a condition already exists.
8. Those who can't get coverage due to pre-existing conditions or for being high-risk can get coverage from a government-run "high risk pool." As with the expansion of Medicare/Medicaid, where will the funds come from to pay for this coverage?
PHASE 2 - Starting in 2014
1. Medicaid will be expanded to cover all low-income people. States currently budget huge sums of money to Medicare/Medicaid. When new people come onto the rolls, where will the funds come from to provide coverage? Will they come from other areas of state budgets (cuts to other agencies, programs)? Or will there be tax increases?
2. Depending on level of income, tax credits will be given to individuals who lose their job or are under-insured. This, in effect,
3. If you have no insurance, you'll be able to shop for insurance through an exchange. This exchange will be set up and managed by the government. Presumably, the exchange will be an open market (with government supervision) for you to get "fair" access to various policies. The question for this: does not the market currently provide for open shopping of policies? It does, but it does so with relatively little influence (read: school-yard bully) from the government. Having the government police, and possibly approve, the policies offered on the market is an effective limit to the market.
4. The "no pre-existing conditions" provision for children will expand to include adults. We've covered this previously.
5. If you have no insurance, or choose not to have it, then you will be subject to paying a "fine" to the government. One can only assume this is a form of revenue to offset costs associated with expanded coverage in other programs. (Side note: how much will it cost just to administer all of this? As opposed to what insurance company revenues are? Something tells me the net cost of government administration will be greater than that of insurance profits annually.)
HOW TO PAY FOR IT ALL
1. It is estimated this will cost $938 billion over a ten-year period. In 1966 at its start, Medicare cost $3 billion. Estimated costs by 1990, including adjustments for inflation, showed Medicare costing $12 billion. In reality, the 1990 cost was $107 billion - almost 9 times more than estimated. (source link)
2. "Savings", or ways for the government to spend less money on healthcare, will come from healthcare providers. Most would use the term "indentured servitude" for this (working for free, or less). While not supporting the history of indentured servitude, there was some exchange for services rendered, however paltry and unequal the payment was. These "savings" are not defined in the video provided above, but the implication is there will be pressure from the government to providers to reduce costs. Low-bid healthcare isn't something that thrills me as I grow older.
3. Government will limit the escalation or rise in fees paid to providers and hospitals by Medicare/Medicaid. Skilled and knowledgeable labor, and the technology they employ, will seek more lucrative markets for their trade. They'll be replaced with less skilled, or less motivated personnel, and inferior or out-of-date technology.
4. Government will "create experiments" to explore different ways to pay doctors/providers to be more efficient. Again, what can the government do here that the market cannot do on its own? When the government finds a solution that works in one area, they attempt to standardize that solution across a wide spectrum of issues and areas. One size does not fit all, not in politics, nor in healthcare and the administration thereof.
5. High income earners will pay higher Medicare taxes. These taxes, as revenue, will be used (distributed) to those who fall under the newly-expanded Medicare/Medicaid coverages. This is simply taking from those who have earned their pay, and passing it through to those who earn little or none.
6. New taxes will be assessed against businesses and insurers that offer "high-end" insurance plans. If we go back to Phase 1, point #5, this seems to punish the efforts that were supposedly encouraged by offering a tax break so businesses could offer better plans. It is a classic "catch-22" where the government gives you a tax break to offer your employees more, then tax you for offering them more.
7. Tax on those using tanning beds? I'm at a loss. The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution dictates that "no State...shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Obviously the use of a tanning bed is a decision, and not a required activity. However, taxing one small portion of the citizenry for engaging in a private activity?
Friday, December 9, 2011
Hallelujah Chorus, variations on a theme...
Part 2 of my continuing attempt to get more into Christmas. Today's selection is from George Frideric Handel's Messiah, Part II, the Hallelujah Chorus. One of my goals in life is to hear this from a full orchestra and choir. Turn up the volume and enjoy.
The first selection is on a massive pipe organ, which I love to listen to in person. Not only do you hear the pipes, but you feel their vibrations, making it a multi-sensory experience. This organ is at Coventry Cathedral, which was destroyed in World War II by the German Luftwaffe.
Here is a "flash mob" in a mall food court last year. Too cool...
Possibly the most unique, and most well coordinated deliveries I've ever seen
And the quintessential rendition...
The first selection is on a massive pipe organ, which I love to listen to in person. Not only do you hear the pipes, but you feel their vibrations, making it a multi-sensory experience. This organ is at Coventry Cathedral, which was destroyed in World War II by the German Luftwaffe.
Here is a "flash mob" in a mall food court last year. Too cool...
Possibly the most unique, and most well coordinated deliveries I've ever seen
And the quintessential rendition...
A Name Change?
News comes today from the Southern Baptist Convention that an internal task force is weighing the possibility of a name change for the Convention, and that a report will be given to the SBC Executive Committee in February 2012. The purpose for considering a name change? To "strengthen our ability to reach more people." The task force's decision on making these recommendations comes on the same day that LifeWay Research released a study that indicates some 40% of Americans hold a less-than-favorable view of the denomination. (news articles here, here, here, here)
"When you've got a culture where 35 to 40 percent of the people who repeatedly said they would not even consider an evangelical church, it's not surprising that 44 percent of the people said the Southern Baptist name would impact them negatively," stated Jimmy Draper, chairman of the task force and President Emeritus of Lifeway Christian Resources.
As a life-long Southern Baptist, I have one question: Why?
I don't understand the world of marketing and branding. The American Marketing Association defines the term "brand" as a "name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." Within the world of branding, Faith Branding is the concept of branding religious organizations, leaders, or media programming, in the hope of penetrating a media-driven, consumer-oriented culture more effectively." (source: Wikipedia)
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." - Wizard of Oz
The Lifeway survey did not attempt to determine why people hold a negative view of Southern Baptists. Without knowledge of the respondent's motivations or preconceptions, why should we feel that a name change would result in a more positive image?
Forgive me of the blasphemy of comparing the offerings of a church to that of merchandise: I propose there are four major forces that determine a product's success in the open market. Firstly, is the product something that is desired by the consumer? Secondly, is there another source of the product or service? Thirdly, is our version of the product or service superior in quality to that of the competition? And finally, how widely and effectively is the product marketed?
Before we get to the point of branding and marketing our product, it is incumbent for us to first consider the other three questions. If our product isn't wanted or needed, or if there is someone else offering a better product, then we should strongly evaluate our own offering.
If the Southern Baptist Convention is attempting to re-brand itself, we should get find out the "why" behind the negative survey results. I doubt that simply a name alone is sufficient to turn away potential congregants. As stated by Mr. Draper, some 40 percent of the population isn't even interested in an evangelical church. Put in terms of business, they're not even interested in what we're selling. And it's not just what Baptists are "selling" either, but churches in general. It's akin to Ford Motors changing their name on car dealerships hoping to attract someone who's not in the market to buy a car at all.
These are my $0.02 worth. The comments section is open, and I look forward to hearing from you.
"When you've got a culture where 35 to 40 percent of the people who repeatedly said they would not even consider an evangelical church, it's not surprising that 44 percent of the people said the Southern Baptist name would impact them negatively," stated Jimmy Draper, chairman of the task force and President Emeritus of Lifeway Christian Resources.
As a life-long Southern Baptist, I have one question: Why?
I don't understand the world of marketing and branding. The American Marketing Association defines the term "brand" as a "name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." Within the world of branding, Faith Branding is the concept of branding religious organizations, leaders, or media programming, in the hope of penetrating a media-driven, consumer-oriented culture more effectively." (source: Wikipedia)
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." - Wizard of Oz
The Lifeway survey did not attempt to determine why people hold a negative view of Southern Baptists. Without knowledge of the respondent's motivations or preconceptions, why should we feel that a name change would result in a more positive image?
Forgive me of the blasphemy of comparing the offerings of a church to that of merchandise: I propose there are four major forces that determine a product's success in the open market. Firstly, is the product something that is desired by the consumer? Secondly, is there another source of the product or service? Thirdly, is our version of the product or service superior in quality to that of the competition? And finally, how widely and effectively is the product marketed?
Before we get to the point of branding and marketing our product, it is incumbent for us to first consider the other three questions. If our product isn't wanted or needed, or if there is someone else offering a better product, then we should strongly evaluate our own offering.
If the Southern Baptist Convention is attempting to re-brand itself, we should get find out the "why" behind the negative survey results. I doubt that simply a name alone is sufficient to turn away potential congregants. As stated by Mr. Draper, some 40 percent of the population isn't even interested in an evangelical church. Put in terms of business, they're not even interested in what we're selling. And it's not just what Baptists are "selling" either, but churches in general. It's akin to Ford Motors changing their name on car dealerships hoping to attract someone who's not in the market to buy a car at all.
These are my $0.02 worth. The comments section is open, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Holiday slide....
The EMT babies are halfway through their two nights' worth of final examinations. Having passed their comprehensive written test, they'll be challenged to prove themselves with hands-on skills testing later this week. They'll get their certificates, and we'll all go out somewhere to celebrate their entrance into the world of emergency medicine. In a few short months they've gone from knowing relatively little about about emergency medical care, to knowing just enough to get in the back of an ambulance. That's where their career-long path of continuous learning will start. Textbook patients are just that - "textbook normal". Real-world patients are anything but "normal". Best of luck to the students. I hope they keep an open mind, always ready to learn. Hopefully they'll take to the net, and learn from some great bloggers like The EMT Spot, Notes from Mosquito Hill, Paramedicine 101, The Happy Medic, Insomniac Medic, Hybrid Medic, and Rescuing Providence, just to name a few of the ones I read. Another great blog comes from a police officer across the big pond in England, Minimum Cover. Minimum Cover hits hard sometimes, this post and this post are especially important for those in the medical world.
For me...just fast-forward to New Year's. Or better yet, spring. A tip-o-the-hat to EDNurseasauras for her post on Christmas annoyances. So "bah-humbug", let me get through the next few weeks and I'll be better. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing the kids have fun through Christmas. Wouldn't trade it for anything. I detest all the artificial pomp of the season though. And it's cold in the Delta. Cold and wet, at the same time. Eeech...bring forth spring!
For me...just fast-forward to New Year's. Or better yet, spring. A tip-o-the-hat to EDNurseasauras for her post on Christmas annoyances. So "bah-humbug", let me get through the next few weeks and I'll be better. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing the kids have fun through Christmas. Wouldn't trade it for anything. I detest all the artificial pomp of the season though. And it's cold in the Delta. Cold and wet, at the same time. Eeech...bring forth spring!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Winter Wonderland, variations on a theme
In a valiant attempt to rid myself of the annual scourge of "Scrooge-itis", I'm inoculating my conscience with regular doses of musical selections of the Christmas season. There's no reason to keep the love to myself, so for your enjoyment, I present you the first installation of what will be a weekly theme this month. What's your favorite? Share in the comments section!
First up, Harry Connick, Jr. I wish I could play this well.
Jason Mraz with a snappy version
The ever-soulful Ray Charles
And my personal favorite, Satchmo himself...Louis Armstrong
First up, Harry Connick, Jr. I wish I could play this well.
Jason Mraz with a snappy version
The ever-soulful Ray Charles
And my personal favorite, Satchmo himself...Louis Armstrong
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Preparedness: The Big Book
Disaster preparedness and planning can be a complex, lengthy, and sometimes expensive endeavor. Communities, states, and federal authorities constantly refine their plans for response and recovery. Mitigation projects like flood control systems and building codes help reduce the potential effects of disasters. Preparedness requires that we acquire and maintain supplies, equipment, and trained personnel in a state of readiness. While our governing authorities do what they can, there remains one area of preparedness that no governmental entity can address: you and your family's own personal state of readiness. By undertaking a family disaster planning project, you can reduce your household's potential demands on your community's response. By extension, the more well-prepared families there are, the more prepared the overall community is.
There are dozens of resources online to guide you through various aspects of personal disaster preparedness. www.ready.gov is a great place to find basic information on disaster kits, food and water supply ideas, and other simple steps you can take.
While food, water, clothing, and shelter are absolutely essential to survival, I want to use this blog entry to remind you that following the immediate threats of an emergency, information is as essential to your recovery as the items previously mentioned.
A highly useful tool that I'm adding to my family's growing emergency plan is The Big Book of Everything, compiled by Erik A. Dewey. Clicking that link will take you to a page where you can download either an Adobe PDF, or Microsoft Excel version of The Big Book.
The Big Book may seem daunting at first, but by compiling the information in incremental steps over the period of a few weeks, you'll develop a comprehensive document that details emergency information such as family contacts, as well as capturing important financial and other critical data.
What do you do with all this valuable - and sensitive - information? I wouldn't recommend having a printed copy laying around the house for burglars to find your banking information. Instead, print out only those essential pages that contain emergency points of contact, and keep it safely stored in a location known by all family members.
An option that we're exploring is storing a non-editable PDF version of The Big Book on key-shaped flash drives. These won't occupy valuable space in your pocket, but will allow you to keep vital information easily accessible. Yes, it is sensitive data. But you can easily encrypt it using a very lightweight program called TrueCrypt, for which the price is right: it's absolutely free. We'll also store scanned copies of important documents in that encrypted file as well. If you wish, it may be helpful to have a non-encrypted version of The Big Book on your jump drive. Just redact any information that could be used should the drive become lost. (Think CIA black pen marks - just black out the sensitive information on Excel then save it as a PDF).
We'll most likely have multiple copies of these flash drives, distributed out to family members both locally and non-local. Twice a year (or more often if needed) they'll be collected and updated as information changes.
Why go through this exercise? We have the capacity to digitize a huge portion of our lives, for relatively little cost. I have several years worth of bank records, payroll records, and other documents stored digitally in multiple locations. In the unlikely event that a disaster requires our evacuation, consider how much time we would save by not having to identify, find, collect, and store the paper documents. Digital copies will never replace certified originals. Having volumes of information compressed into something the size of my house key, easily portable and securely encrypted will give my family the chance of a less-stressful recovery should we need it.
The Big Book isn't - and shouldn't be - your family's entire disaster plan. It is just one part of a multifaceted plan that includes out-of-town/state contacts, pre-determined family evacuation locations (in town, out of town), basic food & water supplies, and emergency action steps for specific hazards like fires and thunderstorms. The Big Book does, however, give you a one-stop-shop for a host of critical information that you'll wish you had.
What's your plan?
There are dozens of resources online to guide you through various aspects of personal disaster preparedness. www.ready.gov is a great place to find basic information on disaster kits, food and water supply ideas, and other simple steps you can take.
While food, water, clothing, and shelter are absolutely essential to survival, I want to use this blog entry to remind you that following the immediate threats of an emergency, information is as essential to your recovery as the items previously mentioned.
A highly useful tool that I'm adding to my family's growing emergency plan is The Big Book of Everything, compiled by Erik A. Dewey. Clicking that link will take you to a page where you can download either an Adobe PDF, or Microsoft Excel version of The Big Book.
The Big Book may seem daunting at first, but by compiling the information in incremental steps over the period of a few weeks, you'll develop a comprehensive document that details emergency information such as family contacts, as well as capturing important financial and other critical data.
What do you do with all this valuable - and sensitive - information? I wouldn't recommend having a printed copy laying around the house for burglars to find your banking information. Instead, print out only those essential pages that contain emergency points of contact, and keep it safely stored in a location known by all family members.
An option that we're exploring is storing a non-editable PDF version of The Big Book on key-shaped flash drives. These won't occupy valuable space in your pocket, but will allow you to keep vital information easily accessible. Yes, it is sensitive data. But you can easily encrypt it using a very lightweight program called TrueCrypt, for which the price is right: it's absolutely free. We'll also store scanned copies of important documents in that encrypted file as well. If you wish, it may be helpful to have a non-encrypted version of The Big Book on your jump drive. Just redact any information that could be used should the drive become lost. (Think CIA black pen marks - just black out the sensitive information on Excel then save it as a PDF).
We'll most likely have multiple copies of these flash drives, distributed out to family members both locally and non-local. Twice a year (or more often if needed) they'll be collected and updated as information changes.
Why go through this exercise? We have the capacity to digitize a huge portion of our lives, for relatively little cost. I have several years worth of bank records, payroll records, and other documents stored digitally in multiple locations. In the unlikely event that a disaster requires our evacuation, consider how much time we would save by not having to identify, find, collect, and store the paper documents. Digital copies will never replace certified originals. Having volumes of information compressed into something the size of my house key, easily portable and securely encrypted will give my family the chance of a less-stressful recovery should we need it.
The Big Book isn't - and shouldn't be - your family's entire disaster plan. It is just one part of a multifaceted plan that includes out-of-town/state contacts, pre-determined family evacuation locations (in town, out of town), basic food & water supplies, and emergency action steps for specific hazards like fires and thunderstorms. The Big Book does, however, give you a one-stop-shop for a host of critical information that you'll wish you had.
What's your plan?
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
2011 National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Webcast
Candlelight Service: Saturday, October 15, 2011 5:00 - 7:00 PM Central Time (telecast begins at 5:15, service begins at 5:30pm)
Memorial Service: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 8:00 AM - 11:30 PM Central Time (telecast begins at 8:30am, service begins at 9:00am)
Memorial Service: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 8:00 AM - 11:30 PM Central Time (telecast begins at 8:30am, service begins at 9:00am)
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Football...
No matter the final score, no matter how much or how little he gets to play in any given game, this is absolutely the best part of my son's football....
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Thoughts on 9/11, a decade later
Amendment IV:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Today is the 10th anniversary of history's worst terrorist attacks against the United States. All across this great land there have been moments of silence, prayer services, memorials, and the like. Every one is justly deserved to preserve the memory of those innocent people who died simply because they showed up at work that Tuesday morning. The surviving families deserve the support of this nation.
Also this weekend, hundreds upon hundreds of American citizens willingly forfeited their "unalienable Rights", simply to travel. They forfeited those rights in the name of "security and safety"
On September 10, 2001, we would have been breathlessly offended if the same government - "instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" to preserve those unalienable rights - had proposed to digitally peer through our clothing, or subject us to enhanced pat-downs. We would have cried foul. We would have protested, standing on our Fourth Amendment, that without probable cause, the government is prohibited from unreasonable searches.
For every digital scan, for every enhanced pat-down, we are besmirching the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Those dead from that fateful day should haunt our dreams, for we have allowed the murderous terrorists to win. And win again, again, and yet again at every line at every airport, and every unnecessary traffic checkpoint.
After the local gas station is robbed, do we allow our police officers to physically search every incoming customer...all in the name of "security"? Would you tolerate an enhanced pat-down at your favorite bank branch, if they'd been robbed once in a decade? Would you?
The firefighters, investment bankers, soldiers, EMT's custodians, tourists, flight attendants, and police officers, chaplains, window washers, and tour guides that were murdered ten years ago died in a country that was more free than it is today. Their memory demands that we remember, and revive, the principles this nation was founded upon.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Today is the 10th anniversary of history's worst terrorist attacks against the United States. All across this great land there have been moments of silence, prayer services, memorials, and the like. Every one is justly deserved to preserve the memory of those innocent people who died simply because they showed up at work that Tuesday morning. The surviving families deserve the support of this nation.
Also this weekend, hundreds upon hundreds of American citizens willingly forfeited their "unalienable Rights", simply to travel. They forfeited those rights in the name of "security and safety"
On September 10, 2001, we would have been breathlessly offended if the same government - "instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" to preserve those unalienable rights - had proposed to digitally peer through our clothing, or subject us to enhanced pat-downs. We would have cried foul. We would have protested, standing on our Fourth Amendment, that without probable cause, the government is prohibited from unreasonable searches.
For every digital scan, for every enhanced pat-down, we are besmirching the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Those dead from that fateful day should haunt our dreams, for we have allowed the murderous terrorists to win. And win again, again, and yet again at every line at every airport, and every unnecessary traffic checkpoint.
After the local gas station is robbed, do we allow our police officers to physically search every incoming customer...all in the name of "security"? Would you tolerate an enhanced pat-down at your favorite bank branch, if they'd been robbed once in a decade? Would you?
The firefighters, investment bankers, soldiers, EMT's custodians, tourists, flight attendants, and police officers, chaplains, window washers, and tour guides that were murdered ten years ago died in a country that was more free than it is today. Their memory demands that we remember, and revive, the principles this nation was founded upon.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sometimes
Sometimes
By Thomas S. Jones, Jr.
Across the fields of yesterday
He sometimes comes to me,
A little lad just back from play–
The lad I used to be.
And yet he smiles so wistfully
Once he has crept within,
I wonder if he hopes to see
The man I might have been
By Thomas S. Jones, Jr.
Across the fields of yesterday
He sometimes comes to me,
A little lad just back from play–
The lad I used to be.
And yet he smiles so wistfully
Once he has crept within,
I wonder if he hopes to see
The man I might have been
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
No title....
Two young children, led by family and surrounded by a host of strangers, are going into a church in Memphis this morning for a funeral. They're not sure what's happened to their dad, and why they haven't seen him in a few days. They know their mother is upset, but being strong. Their grandparents are there with them and appear sad, but the kids aren't really sure why. Going to church is a happy occasion to them.
They'll see hundreds of men and women in uniforms of every style and color today. But every uniform will have a common trait - a black band over their badges of gold or silver.
A young woman will hold the hands of those kids as they walk down the aisle together, and she will be fearful for their future. Security was shattered this week.
Later, they will take a long drive through a hot, sunny Mississippi Delta and gather at a small cemetery. They'll probably spend the weekend with grandparents in that town. The next few weeks will bring to their young lives a new reality, one with a void. In time, that void will grow less stark, but it will always remain. It will be with them forever, with hardly a day passing on the calendar that they're not reminded of that which is missing.
Until you have lived it, it is impossible to know.
Grace & peace to them, until they are reunited.
They'll see hundreds of men and women in uniforms of every style and color today. But every uniform will have a common trait - a black band over their badges of gold or silver.
A young woman will hold the hands of those kids as they walk down the aisle together, and she will be fearful for their future. Security was shattered this week.
Later, they will take a long drive through a hot, sunny Mississippi Delta and gather at a small cemetery. They'll probably spend the weekend with grandparents in that town. The next few weeks will bring to their young lives a new reality, one with a void. In time, that void will grow less stark, but it will always remain. It will be with them forever, with hardly a day passing on the calendar that they're not reminded of that which is missing.
Until you have lived it, it is impossible to know.
Grace & peace to them, until they are reunited.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Shameless Self Promotion
A video posted by the MS State Department of Health, Office of Communications, on our recent flooding. Self-promoting, I know...
Sunday, June 26, 2011
IF.....
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
~Rudyard Kipling, 1895
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
~Rudyard Kipling, 1895
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Observations of a Flood, Part 1
What a week....
If you haven't noticed, Old Man River is getting grumpy and showing those that live off his benefits that he's still got muscle to flex. The Mississippi River is in flood, which it does every year in the spring. But this year produced more rain than normal well to our north, setting up the conditions for a higher flood levels. Since the Great Flood of 1927, engineers have anticipated this. With their pencil and paper of earlier days, and their modern electronic pencils of computers, they have designed higher, stronger levees to keep the Father of Waters contained.
Gravity determines our fate in this flood. When the Mississippi is too high, the rivers that feed into it back up, unable to expel their own volumes of water. They back out of their smaller levee systems into the cotton and rice fields if the richest soil in the United States. Rainwater that falls in this great Delta cannot drain from the bathtub of levees that keep the rivers at bay. It will be mid-June before we can pull the plug and drain thousands of acres, much too late to get crops planted and grown before the cool fall weather sets in.
For the people of the Delta, flooding is nothing new. Most of our houses are built up slightly from the surrounding land. It may not even occur to the visitor that the two or three steps up to our porches are, in fact, part of a design to keep our belongings dry. The Flood of 2011, however, will likely be one for the records, possibly rivaling those set in 1927.
Preparations are being made. People have started moving out of some areas. Others, though, are focusing on the low-flood prediction. They're confident in their safety, missing the high-flood prediction. They're placing their faith in the engineering science. Mark Twain said "The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise." We would be wise to listen to those words. Science and engineering designed our levee systems to protect us. But humans packed the dirt, and that is where the purity of science and mathematics becomes stained.
"You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell" said the Blind Seer in the movie, O Brother Where Art Thou. In disaster I have seen many things, some wonderful to tell, and some horrible to recall. This week I have seen the faces of thousands of Delta residents. From the young and strong, to the oldest and most fragile of our neighbors, I have seen the face of concern and worry. Very few people in this Delta are able to remember the flood of 1927 first-hand. Many remember the flood of 1973, and they're taking few chances. Those of us too young to remember any major flood just don't know what to expect. I have seen true concern among my colleagues. I've seen doctors and hospital administrators face expensive decisions that must be made days before their towns are under threat. I've seen prudent nursing home owners decide to bear the cost of moving their patients to safety, far ahead of any flood threat. They made the morally correct decision, fully aware they may be ridiculed later if floods do not affect their towns.
But there is one image from the week that I'll carry forever. I've attended hundreds of disaster meetings in my career, making decisions that affect people's lives, and possibly even sealing their fate if things don't work out as we anticipated. This week I participated in over a dozen such meetings, all dealing with the coming flood. But one meeting this week gave me a new memory. I've never been in a disaster meeting where my own son was standing across the room. His grandfather may be a flood victim, and he's evacuating. My son was helping him pack to leave. My son's small "truck patch" farming operation will suffer during this flood, making him a victim of sorts. To see his face there, part victim, part helper....I haven't figured out all of my thoughts on that just yet. We all want our children to grow through happy formative years. Part of me despises that he's been thrown into dealing with this coming disaster. Yet part of me is glad that he is gaining the experience of what may be a record event. Perhaps in another fifty years he can convey his memories on to the next generation in their flood.
If you haven't noticed, Old Man River is getting grumpy and showing those that live off his benefits that he's still got muscle to flex. The Mississippi River is in flood, which it does every year in the spring. But this year produced more rain than normal well to our north, setting up the conditions for a higher flood levels. Since the Great Flood of 1927, engineers have anticipated this. With their pencil and paper of earlier days, and their modern electronic pencils of computers, they have designed higher, stronger levees to keep the Father of Waters contained.
Gravity determines our fate in this flood. When the Mississippi is too high, the rivers that feed into it back up, unable to expel their own volumes of water. They back out of their smaller levee systems into the cotton and rice fields if the richest soil in the United States. Rainwater that falls in this great Delta cannot drain from the bathtub of levees that keep the rivers at bay. It will be mid-June before we can pull the plug and drain thousands of acres, much too late to get crops planted and grown before the cool fall weather sets in.
For the people of the Delta, flooding is nothing new. Most of our houses are built up slightly from the surrounding land. It may not even occur to the visitor that the two or three steps up to our porches are, in fact, part of a design to keep our belongings dry. The Flood of 2011, however, will likely be one for the records, possibly rivaling those set in 1927.
Preparations are being made. People have started moving out of some areas. Others, though, are focusing on the low-flood prediction. They're confident in their safety, missing the high-flood prediction. They're placing their faith in the engineering science. Mark Twain said "The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise." We would be wise to listen to those words. Science and engineering designed our levee systems to protect us. But humans packed the dirt, and that is where the purity of science and mathematics becomes stained.
"You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell" said the Blind Seer in the movie, O Brother Where Art Thou. In disaster I have seen many things, some wonderful to tell, and some horrible to recall. This week I have seen the faces of thousands of Delta residents. From the young and strong, to the oldest and most fragile of our neighbors, I have seen the face of concern and worry. Very few people in this Delta are able to remember the flood of 1927 first-hand. Many remember the flood of 1973, and they're taking few chances. Those of us too young to remember any major flood just don't know what to expect. I have seen true concern among my colleagues. I've seen doctors and hospital administrators face expensive decisions that must be made days before their towns are under threat. I've seen prudent nursing home owners decide to bear the cost of moving their patients to safety, far ahead of any flood threat. They made the morally correct decision, fully aware they may be ridiculed later if floods do not affect their towns.
But there is one image from the week that I'll carry forever. I've attended hundreds of disaster meetings in my career, making decisions that affect people's lives, and possibly even sealing their fate if things don't work out as we anticipated. This week I participated in over a dozen such meetings, all dealing with the coming flood. But one meeting this week gave me a new memory. I've never been in a disaster meeting where my own son was standing across the room. His grandfather may be a flood victim, and he's evacuating. My son was helping him pack to leave. My son's small "truck patch" farming operation will suffer during this flood, making him a victim of sorts. To see his face there, part victim, part helper....I haven't figured out all of my thoughts on that just yet. We all want our children to grow through happy formative years. Part of me despises that he's been thrown into dealing with this coming disaster. Yet part of me is glad that he is gaining the experience of what may be a record event. Perhaps in another fifty years he can convey his memories on to the next generation in their flood.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Sounds & Smells...
Do you like the smell of grass?
What about the smell of freshly tilled dirt?
Or the smell of trees, especially the heady smell of freshly cut trees?
Do you like the sound of the silence that you can hear way out in the country? No noise from cars, no houses with their air-conditioned hum. Just you and the wind and nature's sounds.
Somewhere in Mississippi, Alabama, or Georgia this weekend, an EMT, a firefighter, or a police officer experienced every one of those sensations that we enjoy. Our responder, though, didn't get to experience those sensations in a pleasing way.
Arriving first, the paramedic's memories of those comforting smells clashed with the sights her eyes were seeing. The firefighter's brain sought to fill the void of silence that his ears were telling him existed right then. Our paramedic's skin felt the warm sunshine, bringing memories of spring childhood days. The landmarks they shared just hours before while responding to another call, are now gone, vanished with the wind. These public servants must now bring quick order to this tornado of chaos, holding back fears of the fate of their own families.
In a moment, their world bowed to, and broke under, the demands of nature. In days, their world will settle into a new routine. In weeks, they will see renewal. In years, they will see healing. The people under their protection will regain their footing, and the community will survive.
Several years from now, on a cold morning, our EMT will be called to the home of a grandmother, wrapped in a blanket and disheveled from her illness, and the EMT's memory will see another grandmother wrapped in a blanket holding her injured grandchild amid the rubble of a home. On a highway one spring afternoon, the clean smell of pine will trigger our firefighter's memories of that terrible day, as he gently untangles a crumpled car from a teen's broken limbs. Our police officer on a routine summer night's patrol will be tormented by the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder breaking the night's silence as a summer storm rolls over the land.
The members of this trio are heroes to many. Yet these heroes carry the memory of many lifetime's worth of tragedy.
To themselves, they are as frail and human as all of us.
What about the smell of freshly tilled dirt?
Or the smell of trees, especially the heady smell of freshly cut trees?
Do you like the sound of the silence that you can hear way out in the country? No noise from cars, no houses with their air-conditioned hum. Just you and the wind and nature's sounds.
Somewhere in Mississippi, Alabama, or Georgia this weekend, an EMT, a firefighter, or a police officer experienced every one of those sensations that we enjoy. Our responder, though, didn't get to experience those sensations in a pleasing way.
Arriving first, the paramedic's memories of those comforting smells clashed with the sights her eyes were seeing. The firefighter's brain sought to fill the void of silence that his ears were telling him existed right then. Our paramedic's skin felt the warm sunshine, bringing memories of spring childhood days. The landmarks they shared just hours before while responding to another call, are now gone, vanished with the wind. These public servants must now bring quick order to this tornado of chaos, holding back fears of the fate of their own families.
In a moment, their world bowed to, and broke under, the demands of nature. In days, their world will settle into a new routine. In weeks, they will see renewal. In years, they will see healing. The people under their protection will regain their footing, and the community will survive.
Several years from now, on a cold morning, our EMT will be called to the home of a grandmother, wrapped in a blanket and disheveled from her illness, and the EMT's memory will see another grandmother wrapped in a blanket holding her injured grandchild amid the rubble of a home. On a highway one spring afternoon, the clean smell of pine will trigger our firefighter's memories of that terrible day, as he gently untangles a crumpled car from a teen's broken limbs. Our police officer on a routine summer night's patrol will be tormented by the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder breaking the night's silence as a summer storm rolls over the land.
The members of this trio are heroes to many. Yet these heroes carry the memory of many lifetime's worth of tragedy.
To themselves, they are as frail and human as all of us.
Shapes....
Circles, ovals, rectangles...
From the circular speaker came the voice of the dispatcher, sending us to a rectangular house.
Through the rectangular door we rushed, with our somewhat rectangular bags.
Our patient was on the long rectangle of a couch. Circles were on his face...his blue-tinged mouth gasping for a breath, his wide, rounded eyes showing the fear.
From the red rectangular bag quickly came a green cylinder, containing the breath of life - oxygen.
Over on the oval table were more shapes, big and small.
A rectangular plastic bag, and a silver-colored rectangle cigarette roller. Next to them, the dinner-plate sized circle of an ashtray, dotted with the smaller circles of cigarette butts.
The circle of a life, perhaps turning into a downward spiral.
From the circular speaker came the voice of the dispatcher, sending us to a rectangular house.
Through the rectangular door we rushed, with our somewhat rectangular bags.
Our patient was on the long rectangle of a couch. Circles were on his face...his blue-tinged mouth gasping for a breath, his wide, rounded eyes showing the fear.
From the red rectangular bag quickly came a green cylinder, containing the breath of life - oxygen.
Over on the oval table were more shapes, big and small.
A rectangular plastic bag, and a silver-colored rectangle cigarette roller. Next to them, the dinner-plate sized circle of an ashtray, dotted with the smaller circles of cigarette butts.
The circle of a life, perhaps turning into a downward spiral.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Blog Rewind - April 28, 2007
A few weeks ago, I re-posted my first-ever blog post from 2007. I wasn't on Blogger at the time, but I saved the old posts and decided to celebrate my blogging birthday by reviewing some of those first year's writings.
The following was posted on April 28, 2007 - four years ago today. It is titled "36 Years and 18 days", and I'll let it stand for itself, no further explanation needed.
The following was posted on April 28, 2007 - four years ago today. It is titled "36 Years and 18 days", and I'll let it stand for itself, no further explanation needed.
36 Years and 18 Days
At 36 years and 18 days of age, a man I wish today could be standing beside me was taken from this world. I carry his name, as does his grandson, who shares far more personality traits with his grandfather than he will ever know.
I was 13 at the time, almost 14. Losing the benefit of a father at that tender age is sobering, and daunting. A young man suddenly has thrust upon him the responsibilities of manhood; with no more footprints to follow.
So many years ago another man's 36th year & 18th day brought just another day. The day started by letting his son sleep a little later than normal, choosing to run the son's morning paper route on his own. As that day pushed back the previous night over his head, he made the rounds flipping papers onto little old ladies' porches so they wouldn't have to walk out to the street to get it. He visited friends and family that day while his son was in school. Later in the afternoon as his son was cutting grass, an alarm was sounded about town - FIRE! A conflagration had erupted, and this man along with many others had answered the calling to protect his neighbors. He saw his son that day, just once as that building burned violently. His son asked him a simple question, to which he shook his head with a simple "no" as he rounded the corner. Minutes later, with father and son no more than a few yards apart, the building finally gave in to the wishes of gravity and fell.
For me, my 36th year and 18th day is April 30, 2007. How will my 36th year and 18th day start? Will there be anything different? More importantly, how will the next day, 36 and 19 start? How will it feel to be older than the greatest man I ever knew? How strange will it be?
Where are the faint traces of old, worn footprints for me to follow?
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Easter...
(Written while listening to to Nearer, My God, To Thee...click and listen, especially to the last verse beginning at 3:30. Wow, just plain wow...)
What does Easter mean, to you? Is it a spring holiday? Is it sharing time with friends and family, maybe a small family reunion?
Go back a couple thousand years, consider the events of a week in Jerusalem. A man - proclaiming himself to be the King of the Jews and challenging the religious establishment that had lasted hundreds if not thousands of years - this man entered the city on a donkey. This peasant carpenter's son though, had the religious leaders scared. He healed people. He proclaimed himself as the living water, the bread of life, the Son of God. Blasphemous! How dare He say such things. He must be silenced, the leaders thought. They plotted, schemed. But the people knew that this carpenter was no peasant. He offered something refreshing, a new covenant. They had seen the miracles with their own eyes. Lazarus was alive, lepers were clean and healed, blind could see because of this Bethlehem carpenter. He had a following, and people believed in him. How could they not, with what they had seen? Until now, they had lived under generations of Mosaic law. That same prophets that gave them law also told of a messiah. The people recognized this carpenter as that Messiah...He was the real deal for them. But He presented a direct challenge to the "establishment" and those in power. Their self-interest in preserving that power clouded their ability to see who He really is.
The people were rejoicing in His coming to Jerusalem. They wanted Him to challenge the religious leaders. They expected Him to overthrow their rule and establish His kingdom. He would, not as people expected though. He would, just as prophecy said He would.
In days, the people would see the drama shift from a triumphal entry into the city to that of a horror of mockery, torture, humiliation and death. The promise would be stripped bare, beaten to near death (link to medical article written by a Mississippi physician), then sent on a forced march through the city to a rocky outcrop near the edge of town. He would have nails driven through his wrists and feet, hoisted high upon a cross for the entire town to witness, then left to die between two thieves. But even then, he challenged the religious establishment by telling one thief that they would be in Paradise together that very day. When He breathed his last though, people knew this was no charismatic carpenter, nor was he the local psychotic. The sky went black, the earth trembled beneath the city. Even the religious leaders had to ask themselves what they had unleashed when the great temple's veil into the Holy of Holies was torn from the top down.
But....the witnesses were human. They saw Him die. Dead, just like the two thieves beside Him. The healer, the miracle worker was gone. The hope they had quickly faded. His followers hid in fear their own lives would be demanded next by the religious leaders. Hope was gone. It was finished.
But had they forgotten the prophecies? The leaders hadn't...they posted guards at His grave, just to make sure.
A couple of days later, because there hadn't been enough time to prepare His body, some ladies went to the tomb. I can imagine it was like going back to the grave of one of our own loved ones, a few days after a funeral. A long drive, still grasping for ways to fill the new void in your life. It's a somber trip, knowing that we'll see the fresh pile of dirt, covered over with flowers from friends.
When the ladies got to the tomb though, they were baffled. Two people, in radiant white clothing were in the now open tomb. "What is this, who are you?", the ladies ask. My sarcastic mind wants to think the two messengers probably looked at each other, rolled their eyes, then looked back at the ladies and said something like, "Are yall really surprised at this? Didn't He tell you He'd come back from this grave? Had yall given up on Him that quickly???"
The truth is, we still give up that quickly and easily. We get "religious" and stuck in our ruts, trying to do the things/actions that others (leaders?) tell us we need to do to be right with the church...etc etc etc. I could go on.... But the truth is that that New Covenant is ALIVE! He's waiting for us, He wants us. He's told us "the time is coming when I will make a new covenant with them...for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31)
Don't give up! Ever!!! You can't out-sin God. Nothing you do surprises Him. All He asks is that you love Him, and put Him first in your life. Does being saved mean we'll never sin? HA! No, we'll sin...it's in our nature. But He understands. He really does.....
What does Easter mean, to you? Is it a spring holiday? Is it sharing time with friends and family, maybe a small family reunion?
Go back a couple thousand years, consider the events of a week in Jerusalem. A man - proclaiming himself to be the King of the Jews and challenging the religious establishment that had lasted hundreds if not thousands of years - this man entered the city on a donkey. This peasant carpenter's son though, had the religious leaders scared. He healed people. He proclaimed himself as the living water, the bread of life, the Son of God. Blasphemous! How dare He say such things. He must be silenced, the leaders thought. They plotted, schemed. But the people knew that this carpenter was no peasant. He offered something refreshing, a new covenant. They had seen the miracles with their own eyes. Lazarus was alive, lepers were clean and healed, blind could see because of this Bethlehem carpenter. He had a following, and people believed in him. How could they not, with what they had seen? Until now, they had lived under generations of Mosaic law. That same prophets that gave them law also told of a messiah. The people recognized this carpenter as that Messiah...He was the real deal for them. But He presented a direct challenge to the "establishment" and those in power. Their self-interest in preserving that power clouded their ability to see who He really is.
The people were rejoicing in His coming to Jerusalem. They wanted Him to challenge the religious leaders. They expected Him to overthrow their rule and establish His kingdom. He would, not as people expected though. He would, just as prophecy said He would.
In days, the people would see the drama shift from a triumphal entry into the city to that of a horror of mockery, torture, humiliation and death. The promise would be stripped bare, beaten to near death (link to medical article written by a Mississippi physician), then sent on a forced march through the city to a rocky outcrop near the edge of town. He would have nails driven through his wrists and feet, hoisted high upon a cross for the entire town to witness, then left to die between two thieves. But even then, he challenged the religious establishment by telling one thief that they would be in Paradise together that very day. When He breathed his last though, people knew this was no charismatic carpenter, nor was he the local psychotic. The sky went black, the earth trembled beneath the city. Even the religious leaders had to ask themselves what they had unleashed when the great temple's veil into the Holy of Holies was torn from the top down.
But....the witnesses were human. They saw Him die. Dead, just like the two thieves beside Him. The healer, the miracle worker was gone. The hope they had quickly faded. His followers hid in fear their own lives would be demanded next by the religious leaders. Hope was gone. It was finished.
But had they forgotten the prophecies? The leaders hadn't...they posted guards at His grave, just to make sure.
A couple of days later, because there hadn't been enough time to prepare His body, some ladies went to the tomb. I can imagine it was like going back to the grave of one of our own loved ones, a few days after a funeral. A long drive, still grasping for ways to fill the new void in your life. It's a somber trip, knowing that we'll see the fresh pile of dirt, covered over with flowers from friends.
When the ladies got to the tomb though, they were baffled. Two people, in radiant white clothing were in the now open tomb. "What is this, who are you?", the ladies ask. My sarcastic mind wants to think the two messengers probably looked at each other, rolled their eyes, then looked back at the ladies and said something like, "Are yall really surprised at this? Didn't He tell you He'd come back from this grave? Had yall given up on Him that quickly???"
The truth is, we still give up that quickly and easily. We get "religious" and stuck in our ruts, trying to do the things/actions that others (leaders?) tell us we need to do to be right with the church...etc etc etc. I could go on.... But the truth is that that New Covenant is ALIVE! He's waiting for us, He wants us. He's told us "the time is coming when I will make a new covenant with them...for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31)
Don't give up! Ever!!! You can't out-sin God. Nothing you do surprises Him. All He asks is that you love Him, and put Him first in your life. Does being saved mean we'll never sin? HA! No, we'll sin...it's in our nature. But He understands. He really does.....
Friday, April 22, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
A Historical Note...
View of Greenville, MS, nine days after the beginning of the 1927 Mississippi River Flood. Photo from MS Dept of Archives & History Digital Archives
"Levee broke at ferry landing Mounds, Mississippi eight a.m. Crevasse will overflow the entire Mississippi Delta." ~ those were the dreadful words wired from Army district engineer Major John Lee to General Edgar Jadwin, head of the Army Corps of Engineers, 84 years ago today. That telegram announced the beginning of the Great Flood of 1927.
While true statistics may never be known, The National Safety Council estimated deaths in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta from the 1927 flood to be near 1,000 people. 185,495 people were directly affected in Mississippi, from Rosedale to Greenwood to Yazoo City and south to Vicksburg. Almost 42,000 homes were flooded, 22,000 buildings destroyed, and another 62,000 were damaged.
The calamity's genesis was months prior, in the fall of 1926, with torrential recurrent rains falling over the northern Mississippi Valley. Snowfall that gathered over the winter began to melt with the advance of Spring in 1927, which also brought more rain to the southern Mississippi Valley. The water was gathering.
The Mounds Landing levee failure, near Scott, MS, was the first of almost 150 levee failures along the Mississippi River. Geographic scars of the deluge at Mounds Landing are still - although barely - visible. 3000 feet of levee failed, releasing a flow of water estimated to have been twice that of Niagara Falls. Ultimately, 27,000 square miles of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas were inundated. In Mississippi, all of Washington, Sharkey, Humphreys, and Issaquena counties were flooded, along with parts of Bolivar, Sunflower, Leflore, Yazoo, and Warren counties. At the flood's height, the Mississippi River spread to 60 miles wide (5 to 10 times wider than its current levee boundaries).
Unlike most other natural disasters that dispel most of their energy in one major blow, the Mississippi River never stops. The flood of 1927 did not "happen" in the span of a day or two. Flood waters began to recede months later.
As we contemplate our participation in the upcoming New Madrid hazard zone National Level Exercise, we should pause to look to our own history of disasters. From one disaster to another, we have rebuilt bigger, higher, and better, just as the river engineers did before and after 1927. Survivors of Mississippi's benchmark hurricane, Camille, fell victim to their own feelings of disaster-resistance 36 years later. And much like the levee builders did in the early 20th century, much faith was placed in human ingenuity's attempts to control Nature when engineers rebuilt taller and stronger levees around New Orleans after Hurricane Betsy in 1965. We easily recall human saga that resulted from days of flooding following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Yet, has the fog of eight decades blinded us to the months of flooding that occurred in our own Delta area?
The area of Mississippi affected in 1927 still has about the same population, with estimates ranging from 160,000 to 180,000, occupying some 60,000 housing units. Although the population hasn't changed much in nearly ninety years, a multitude of social aspects have. On the positive side, our population is more well informed, information travels faster and is more readily available, and we are more mobile. Armed with information and mobility, we are able to evacuate more easily. That mobility is a two-edged sword, though; we will want to come home more quickly. On the negative side, our dependence has grown.
The movement and needs of a great mass of population present challenges to those who graciously open their cities to us; Mississippi isn't known as the Hospitality State by accident. We bring with us the maladies of a society that is far less prepared, and far less resilient. While not longing for the severe living conditions of the Delta in the 1920's, our people today are more dependent on others for their health and welfare than were our not-so-distant ancestors. An organized food industry has turned the family garden plot into basketball courts, swimming pools, and playgrounds; our daily sustenance arrives via truck. Advanced healthcare has given us the ability to live longer with a host of diseases that once claimed the lives of the young; but it quickly abandons us within the grasp of Death when disaster separates us from our medicine men. Where we once were dependent largely upon ourselves, have we have now laid that resilience upon the alter of convenience in our current age?
We are accustomed to the pace of our modern life. Stresses of meeting work, social, and family schedules and demands take their toll on our overall well-being. That same rapid pace that slowly wears us down also engrains in us a desire to seek quick resolution to disaster's obsticals. We will want our disaster-disrupted lives to be rapidly returned to normal, with no convenience left out.
History will be repeated. The Mississippi Delta will flood again, in spite of our grand efforts to prevent it from ever happening again. Taller, stronger levees perform their seasonal dance with the Father of Waters, which constrained by those same levees is now allowed to move more quickly and carry more water. Our own Gulf Coast is rebuilding to match the height of Katrina's storm surge, repeating the phrase heard after Camille that it won't be that bad again. The New Madrid fault will slip beneath the Mid-South, unleashing a calamity that will rival all of the great disasters of our time.
Are we really that well prepared? Or are we that forgetful?
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Marshally Ramsey - The Storm
Marshall Ramsey is a political cartoonist and news-talk radio host in Jackson, MS. He has a great talent for capturing the moment in his cartoons - whether it be political drama or human tragedy. Marshall is equally talented with the pen. I invite you to read his most recent writing, The Storm.
Friday, March 25, 2011
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