Way to go, Inspector Javert!
I will not come to the defense of those taking advantage of the situation left behind on the coast and in New Orleans by Katrina to loot. If you are taking property that does not belong to you, you are stealing. Now, that being said, I take issue with what seems to be a thinly veiled "shoot first, ask questions later" pronouncement by Gov. Cornpone and others. I understand the tough talk is meant to deter the wrongdoing, but I doubt seriously anyone contemplating grabbing the contents of a K-Mart when the lights are out will be listening to the governor speak on public radio.
Plus, does anyone seriously think that law enforcement or military personnel are going to set aside their efforts to search and rescue to chase down a suspect for grabbing a DVD player? And if they did, what then? Put him in jail? Where? If you put them in jail, you just have to use more resources and manpower to keep them there. Plus, what about those who are stealing food in order to keep themselves alive. Will we put them in prison for 20 years for stealing a loaf of bread? I think someone wrote a book about that once...
Again, I am not defending or excusing the acts of the people doing this. IT IS WRONG! And while taking a loaf of bread might be intended to keep you alive, you can't make the same excuse for a DVD player, a shopping cart full of clothing or a cartload of guns and ammo. If there is someone hauling off weapons, then definitely shoot first. That is a definite public safety issue. The time will come to deal with those who take advantage of the death and destruction for their own gain.
Some good news
I've heard from a number of friends down in the southern part of Mississippi and they all say they are doing fine. Have heard a few stories, but nothing compared to what will come once they have time to sit back and breath. My friends at The Scott County Times have said they are doing fine. Steven Watson, the editor and publisher, a great journalist and French horn player said in his e-mail earlier today...
"A little worse for wear, but we made it AND GOT A PAPER OUT DAMNIT!!! :)"
And I know how he feels. I'm sure putting out a paper in such a condition was no small feat. People don't realized just how important their efforts, and the efforts of small town newspaper personnel will be in the coming weeks. They will in large part be the only sources of necessary information for the individual communities. Radio stations that have remained on the air, especially Mississippi Public Radio, have been doing an incredible job. But for a long time to come, the individual community newspapers will play a critical role in keeping the people of the small towns across southern Mississippi informed. That is why I originally went into the newspaper business and that is about the only thing I miss. That sense of knowing what you are doing is important and vital to your community. That's something the moneygrubbers that run most of the companies now forget or, more likely, never understood in the first place.
I'm glad to hear folks are doing well. And Steven and Baker did a great job and showed a lot of professionalis and amazing dedication to their community and their jobs.
The Day After
We've gotten our first good look today at the devastation left by quatrain. Around here, we were very fortunate. Little damage, less rain than most and we are part of the 20 percent of the state who has power tonight. We never lost it though many areas around us did.
The pictures coming from the coast are almost unreal. As I see pictures from billows, I look for familiar landmarks. At one point, a reporter was standing right across from the Beau ravage. It was unrecognizable. The photos from the air around the Presidents Casino and the Grand Casino, places where I have stayed many times in the past 10-12 years, showed a landscape that was unrecognizable. It's hard to imagine that this area will ever be rebuilt.
There have been reports today about visits and possible visits to the area by our fearless leaders. Gov. Cornpone visited this morning to survey the damage. There were reports today that Trent Lott has asked Dubya to visit the area to get first-hand look at the damage and to give the people of this state a "morale boost." Of course, what they really mean by "morale boost" is "photo opp." Anytime you have such a visit, it's rarely about gathering information or boosting morale, it's about attention. It's posturing. It's something that can be sent out on glossy 8x10s as a fund raising effort. If Dubya really wants to help Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, he can stay in Washington or go back to Crawford and finish his 8-week vacation. (Oh, wait. Cindy Sheehan is still there, isn't she. And the war justification tour didn't go so well last week. Better go be sympathetic to some poor hurricane victims.)
As a result of the loss of the 12 casinos on the coast, Mississippi is losing $500,000 per day in state tax revenue. That doesn't even count the revenue generated by all the other attractions and commerce on the coast. This is going to really hurt the state in the short term and the long run. What's sad is that less than a day after the storm, while bodies are still being dug out of the rubble, there are those criticizing plans to rebuild the casinos. I've even heard one person say that god bitch-slapped New Orleans and the coast because of, as they saw it, the Sodom and Gomorrah depravity of the area. Whatever. But I read earlier that those horrible, evil, sinful casinos are going to continue to pay all their employees their full salaries while they are closed. Can't think of a lot of other places that would do that.
The Wrath of Katrina
As I type this, the wind outside sounds like a low, continuous roar punctuated by the occasional loud rushing sound. The wind is whistling through cracks around the windows, which rattle with the larger gusts. We are getting wind speeds half or less of those on the coast and further south. When I stick my head out the door on occasion, the sight of the large trees in our neighborhood whipping back and forth is very eerie. As of the last report, there are at least 54 people dead in Mississippi and the search has barely gotten underway. There are entire sections of the coastal area that are still inaccessible. No one knows what has happened or what's left. Right now, we are probably near the peak intensity where the wind is concerned. AS we move toward morning, and then on into Tuesday, the conditions will continue to improve. So far so good. Wind, rain, no major damage around here. No large limbs down. (My mailbox fell over, but that's no biggie.) And we've still got power so nerves have been soothed by killing zombies this evening. Tomorrow, as the images and news begins to come from the coast, will probably be a rough day for Mississippi. As I said in my previous post, I am awed by the power of Mother Nature and this has just reinforced what my father always told me: You don't mess with the weather. You don't take it for granted. You don't underestimate it. If you do, it could be the last thing you do.
Katrina and the waves (and the wind and the rain...)
As I watch the impending arrival of Hurricane Katrina, I can't help but be fascinated. Weather has always fascinated me. I guess a lot of that comes from having a father who was, among other things, a meteorologist. I learned a lot about how the weather works growing up. Every thunderstorm, heavy snow, or hot, dry spell was a lesson in why the weather did what it did.
I'm not making light of what is about to hit the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. People have already died in the storm and there will be more deaths in the days to come. Much of the coast will be devastated. One official said just minutes ago that once Katrina goes through, there will no longer be a casino industry on the coast because the casinos, while built to withstand hurricanes, won't be able to weather this hurricane. Even as far inland as Jackson and Meridian, it won't be very safe since Katrina is expected to still be a Level 2 storm even that far inland. Here slightly north, we're expecting some pretty bad weather as well, but the eye should go east of us and the brunt of the storm will be northeast of the eye. I have plenty of friends and family who are going to be a lot closer to the most dangerous areas than I am and I hope for the best (LEAVE NOW!).
But still, Katrina fascinates me. It's the same way I was fascinated and terrorized the day in April 1984 that I, along with my father, watched a tornado rip the heart of my home town. I am awed by the destructive aspect of Mother Nature. The thought of winds at 160 to 180 mph and a wall of water 30 to 40 feet is just incredible. The destruction will be terrible and will devastate people's live, but this is something no one has ever seen here in the U.S. in modern times. Katrina stands to be the most destructive hurricane in modern history. In the end, we will learn a lot from this storm. We've already learned that Mother Nature can surprise us. Katrina popped out of nowhere, meteorlogically speaking. And while we still say no one can predict the weather, we've at least gotten used to the big things to be fairly predictable. But this just shows that's not the case.
Craft vs. art
I've been thinking a lot lately about the creative things which occupy so much of my spare time. Often I wonder about my creative side. Am I truly being creative. Am I taking the world around me and distilling it in a unique way into my writing, my music? Or am I just being a clever mimic? Might as well go ahead and get the obligatory Trek reference out of the way: Am I truly being creative or, like Data, am I just synthesizing what I've seen others do into what I create?
Of course, Picard would defend that way of looking at it, saying that was creative in itself, but I wonder...
Whether it's craft or creativity, for the most part, doesn't bother me. I sit back and read what I write or listen to what I've created and I enjoy it and that's primarily what I'm doing it for. It's just an added bonus if someone else likes it as well. But there's still that small part that wonders....
I spent so long in the journalism frame of mind, in many ways it has stifled my creative side for a long time and it's just now starting to re-emerge. I'm not saying there wasn't a creative part to journalism, there was, but most of what I did was plug and play. The pieces were predetermined, my "creative" discretion was where I put the pieces. It's like putting together a puzzle as opposed to painting the artwork on the puzzle.
I am very aware of the fact I can be my own harshest critic. I can read a passage I've written and thinks "Ah, here you're trying to be a third rate Douglas Adams, and here, well even Faulkner would have written a less convoluted sentence..." Musically, it's much the same, "ohh, part Coldplay, a little Adam And and just a touch of Thomas Dolby..." And I'm not trying to shout "oh, poor pitiful me! I haven't a talented bone in my body." I'm just in one of those introspective moods where I ponder. And now my ponderings are here.
Musicians will have constant arguments on subjects like this. One of the things that keeps getting hashed over on MacJams and other music sites is over the genuine creativity of tunes made strictly with prerecorded loops - are they art or are they craft. Or, what more troubling and less tidy, are they something in between. Something that is both and neither. There are plenty of people that will remind everyone that there are only 12 different notes which can be used to create a song and everyone's got to use them. It's not what you use. It's not the tools you use. It's how you use them. Same with words, though to potential pool to draw from is somewhat larger (for most of us.)
Am I an artist or do I merely employ a craft when I create. I guess really the point is moot. Artist sounds better. Crafter sounds like it should have "Lens" in front of it and be located in a mall. But without learning the "craft" behind the production of any art, there is no art. So I guess I'm good either way I go.
As you were.
Yippie!
It's now official. My liberry is switching to Mac. This week, my board of directors approved my plan to purchase new eMacs to replace our antique PCs. (The eMacs were actually cheaper that comparable Dells. And Microsoft Office was actually cheaper though the Apple Store than buying it with a new Dell.) We will still use Windoze machines for administrative purposes, mainly because they are newer and our cataloging software is PC only. But, a rep from the company I spoke with last fall said they are working on a Mac compatible version because a lot of liberries are switching. I hope to have the new machines in place by the end of next week.
Star Trek SG1
The Star Trek/Stargate crossover continues as Enterprise NX01 engineer Trip Tucker heads through the gate to the Pegasus Galaxy. Connor Trinneer is apparently set to make a guest appearance on Stargate: Atlantis as a Wraith turned human. He joins a growing list of former Trek stars which includes: Colm Meany, Rene Auberjonois, Marina Sirtis, John Billingsly, John DeLancie, Robert Picardo, Jolene Blaylock, and possibly other Trek regulars I may have forgotten about.
Robert Picardo, who will be returning to Stargate SG1 this season, has also stated that like David Hasslehoff, the Stargate is big in Germany and other parts of the world and is even bigger than Trek. Well, maybe. We'll see in 40 years.
But I will say this, Stargate has become one of my favorite franchises. And yes I realize I used to say some unkind things about it, but that was probably based on a partial episode watched several years ago when I already had too many sci-fi TV shows to watch already and no Tivo.
I really liked the original movie. It was a cool concept which the TV franchise took and ran with, expanding the universe, the back stories, adding new characters. There's also a lot of humor. Much more than Trek. And that really adds to its appeal. Some of the writing, especially early on, was kind of inconsistent, but it hit a stride and has managed to keep it even after switching to the Sci-Fi Channel where it really took off.
This season especially, Stargate SG1, which has entered its ninth season, has stepped up a bit by adding some big (relatively) names to the cast. I was kind of surprised when Louis Gossett, Jr. joined as a recurring character and Beau Bridges joined as a regular cast member. The coolest addition has been Julian Sands as the creepy leader of the brand new threat to the galaxy. He is really good at being a creepy bad guy. Even his publicity photos look creepy.
I don't know if in 40 years people will look back at Stargate like they look back at Trek and still hold it in such favor. Probably not. Trek broke ground in so many ways. It has endured all sorts of adversity and I'm sure will continue inspite of what was done to it by Rick Berman.
In the meantime, I'm glad that there are some decent shows like Stargate and the new and vastly improved Battlestar Galactica that are keeping my interest.
Shameless self promotion!
If you haven't checked out my MacJams music page lately (or at all), I have a couple of new tunes that have gone up in the past week.
Free To Be is a good-ole 80s throwback railing against our increasingly Orwellian society.
Run Away Free also goes back to the 80s, cause that's when it was written.
Hope you enjoy.
I knew there was a reason...
...that I and most of my friends were a bunch of perverts. There's yet another watch list I'm probably on now.
More MacJams Favorites
There are a lot of people on MacJams who are really talented musicians and excel in writing, performing and producing their tunes. Mikki Nylund manages to encompass the entire package, producing a range of musical styles. Not only are his tunes musically interesting, they excel lyrically as well, a feat even more impressive since English is not his native language. Mikki is also a dynamo, producing songs at an extraordinary rate. Of his latest tunes, The Sleep is my favorite.
Another MJ artist who has created a very creative and unique sound without even saying a word is jackstone . jackstone creates a dreamy and sometimes overwhelming sonic assault. He creates intricate soundscapes ranging from soft and dreamy to stark and jarring, sometimes both at the same time. Check out his latest A Fool In The Rain.
Blowing my own horn
A year after leaving the newspaper business, it seems that I have yet another journalism accolade to add to my list. For the second year in a row, I took first place in the editorial writing division of the Mississippi Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest. The contest is for material generated the previous year, which means this was actually for the first half of 2004. I'm pretty pleased with this, if for no other reason it probably pissed off certain people who disliked the fact that I wrote editorials in the first place.
It also is probably the last journalism award I will receive, so the end of that era is truly over.
Thanks to my friend Baker for getting me that information.
Religious freedom, but for who
How would you feel if someone told you you couldn't share your religious beliefs with a member of your family? What if that someone was a judge with a court order and the family member was your own 9-year-old son? Doesn't sound like something you'd expect from a country that likes to let the world know about the religious freedom guaranteed in our Constitution's First Amendment. Does it?
In Indiana, a Wiccan couple going through a divorce has been prevented by a judge from exposing their son to any "non-mainstream religious beliefs or practices." apparently, the court felt that exposure to these "non-mainstream religious beliefs" would be damaging to the 9-year-old, who had already been brought up with these very beliefs.
To me, it seems the question must be asked, would this ruling have been put into place if the "non-mainstream religion" was something other than Wicca? And what constitutes "mainstream?" The number of people who adhere to the beliefs? The estimated number of Wiccans and neo-pagans in the U.S. is anywhere between 400,000 to several million. The number of places of worship? Wiccans and neo-pagans consider all of nature their "temple." The number of people who are taking up the belief? Wicca is currently the fastest growing religion in the U.S.
And what is it exactly that might be damaging about this "non-mainstream" religion? It it their reverence for nature? Is it the Wiccan creed that basically said you can do what you want, but be sure you do no harm to others or yourself ? I've spent a lot of time over the past few years hanging around with a number of Wiccans, Druids, and other neo-Pagans. I will be the first to admit that I knew next to nothing about Wicca and neo-Paganism before I met these people and what I did "know" I learned from great academic sources like Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Since my exposure to "different" religions is basically akin to trying a limited number of flavors on vanilla ice cream, it was very eye opening.
Increasingly, it seems like people in this country freakout in a major way when it comes to a religion different from their own. It was already bad enough before 9/11, but since then, it seems to have gotten much worse. The rhetoric is much more harsh and unaccepting. Many people in this country, people of all faiths, seem less and less willing to try and open up a dialog and find some common ground.
This case will eventually sort itself out as it travels through the court system, but for this family and this child, the damage has already been done. Basic rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of religion have already been trampled on for all three of these people. This is a case everyone should be watching closely, no matter what their beliefs or lack of beliefs, because who knows which religion will be next.
The final signoff...
Long-time ABC news anchor Peter Jennings lost his battle withlung cancer today at the age of 67.
While I have been out of the journalism business for over a year now, I am still saddened by the passing of someone like Jennings. He always seem professional and respectable, never grabbing the headline with on-the-air and off-the-air comments and antics like his CBS rival Dan Rather. He will be missed.
Is someone jealous, maybe
The latest addition to the list of sour grapes authors is none other than fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, who is apparently a little jealous over the success of the Harry Potter series of books. Pratchett, who has milked Discworld for about 749 books, seems to have gotten his nose put out of joint because Potter author J.K. Rowling is not a huge fan of fantasy and is trying to reinvent the genre (which, for the most part in the last 20 year or so has gotten pretty dull and pretty silly.) So now Pratchett joins the ranks of such sci-fi and fantasy luminaries as Harlan Ellison and the previous most recent entrant Orson Scott Card, as world class jerks. (For those who don't know, both Ellison and Card have both run down Star Trek, for various reasons, the most likely being that Star Trek is better and more popular than anything they have ever come up with - Ender's Game included.)
All together now...
And a good time was had by all....
