For so many years I never really knew what the origin of the term pall-bearer was. What exactly was a pall? I'd heard the phrase "cast a pall over....", usually associated with a sense of foreboding. But to my knowledge, pall-bearers carried caskets out of the church and into the cemetery. The "pall" is typically, though seldom used, a flag or other ceremonial fabric covering
placed over the casket. Therefore, those carrying the casket are
bearing the pall...pall-bearers.
Since my youth, there have been several occasions where I've been asked to be a pall-bearer, typically for relative. It may be seen as a duty, but to me it is a high honor for a family to ask that you gently escort their beloved to their place of rest.
This week, though, the honor of the title took on new meaning to me. The pall was cast on Wednesday afternoon, just before four in the afternoon when my phone rang. One of Therapist's aunts was calling - unusual, but not unheard of. This was not to be a social call. Therapist's dad had been found unresponsive in his garden, and in the aunt's words, "was gone". She said she'd called me because I'd know what to do to notify Therapist. The truth is, I had no idea what to do. Years of comforting the sick and injured, hundreds of hours of training, none of those things had taught me how to do this. I walked across the house to find my wife. As I drew my hand to knock on the door where she would be found, I had no idea what words I would say. A thin door stood between her and the worst news...
We would quickly gather the family at Therapist's parents as the pall settled around them. Two of our boys were out of state, we had to make plans to get them home soon. So many things must happen: arrangements, plans, flowers, visitations, food, finding room for people to sleep...chaos with no hint of order.
Therapist's parents had taken me and Mini-Me into their family with open arms, full of grace. We weren't strangers, we were given family status without reservation. Mini-Me quickly gained Mr. Armstrong's admiration and respect. Mr. Armstrong had taught and preached for many years, gaining the respect and admiration of thousands of students and parishioners through the years. Yet he gave us his respect and admiration. His gentle manner and unassuming demeanor was reminiscent of some of my relatives, and we connected quickly.
I wanted to support my wife this week. I just wanted to be there for her, to know that she had someone to fall onto when she needed to. I wanted to be just at arm's-length away, to give her room to grieve but at the same time be close enough to catch her if she fell.
It was Therapist's mother that surprised me though, asking if I would be a pall-bearer. Me? I'm the new guy in the family! I'd be walking alongside men that had known Mr. Armstrong for decades; I'd only known him for a couple of years. Surely there must be someone else.
Bearing the pall is more than a few steps in a cemetery. You're asked to give a final aid to one who can no longer carry himself; to serve one who can no longer serve. Bearing the pall is a silent ministry to the closest of family, attempting to lift for a time some of their burden. Mr. Armstrong would have likely shunned physical support in life, preferring to not be a burden to those closest to him. It was indeed a solemn honor to bear the pall for him and his family. I only hope that I can continue to serve his daughter in an honorable way.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor...
Take about ten minutes to read the entire text of our Declaration of Independence. It is curious that the grievances detailed two hundred thirty-six years ago ring similarly true today.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
hen
in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and
to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station
to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the
causes which impel them to the separation.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Astronomical Philosophy...
Today, June 5, 2012, the planet Venus transited the face of the Sun, an event that happens in a 243-year cycle, with pairs of transits in 8 years apart, separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. The last transit was in 2004, meaning the next will occur in the year 2117 and again in 2125.
To view the event, I used a highly sophisticated set-up of a pair of binoculars, focusing a projection of the sun onto white paper taped to a card table. The picture below is one of the clearest we captured before rain clouds obscured the view. Venus is the black dot in the lower right area of the solar disk.
That black dot is our "sister planet". Venus is almost the same size as Earth, just 650km smaller in diameter. If we were looking at our own planet, consider that black dot holds 7 billion people, everything we know and love. Considering we all would fit on that tiny dot, our problems are reduced to insignificance.
Job 26:7 - He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
Psalms 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
As I watched Venus this evening, I remembered a writing by Carl Sagan in his book Pale Blue Dot, regarding a photograph taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1990, which captured Earth as a tiny blue speck in the blackness of space. Sagan wrote:
To view the event, I used a highly sophisticated set-up of a pair of binoculars, focusing a projection of the sun onto white paper taped to a card table. The picture below is one of the clearest we captured before rain clouds obscured the view. Venus is the black dot in the lower right area of the solar disk.
That black dot is our "sister planet". Venus is almost the same size as Earth, just 650km smaller in diameter. If we were looking at our own planet, consider that black dot holds 7 billion people, everything we know and love. Considering we all would fit on that tiny dot, our problems are reduced to insignificance.
Job 26:7 - He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
Psalms 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
As I watched Venus this evening, I remembered a writing by Carl Sagan in his book Pale Blue Dot, regarding a photograph taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1990, which captured Earth as a tiny blue speck in the blackness of space. Sagan wrote:
But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
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.
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