PAGANISM MADE MORE SENSE

President Bush proposed holding a day of prayer for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show asked if Hurricane Katrina was an act of God why are we praying to him to help us with an act that He did.

That is a problem with monotheism, a problem that pagans in the past did not have.

In history, the many pagan religions that existed for thousands of years, usually had many gods. To use the hurricane dilemma, pagans would have blamed the bad god of the sea for going crazy and unleashing his power on us poor humans.

These same humans would pray to a different god, lets say the god of dry land, to help them recover.

They would pray to the head god (Zeus?) to keep his gods in line and not harm humans.

Today, Christians (for instance) have to accept the punishment God visited on New Orleans and its people and then pray to the same God to help them survive the punishment - kind of dumb.

Taking this a step further, we pray to OUR God to protect our troops in Iraq. Since our God controls everything (we are told) he must also allow our troops as well as innocent Iraqis to be slaughtered by the Islamic infidel / terrorists who don't even believe in our God.

In the good ole' days, the pagans had a pantheon of gods and their enemies had theirs. If the enemy kicked the pagan's asses, they knew that their god was weak or he was pissed at them and wanted them to lose.

They would either pray extra hard and offer extra sheep to their god so he would help them. If he still did not they would admit that the god(s) of their enemies were stronger and start praying to the god of their enemies. This really did happen - read some history.

Whoever dreamed up this one god thing did not look at the big picture and definitely not at all possible scenarios.

You can only take the old "God works in mysterious ways" shit for so long.

Janusz

RACE IN DETROIT'S ELECTIONS

This morning's newspapers contained articles and letters to the editor about the battle for Mayor of Detroit and the role of RACE in that battle.

For all I knew, both candidates for mayor were black. Today I read that Freeman Hendrix actually had a white mother from Austria. She apparently married Freeman's father, who is black, and who was a soldier in Europe during WWII where he met and married Freeman's mother.

Well now, that makes Freeman Hendrix not 100% black like Kilpatrick and the Kilpatrick camp are making hay with that fact.

Black Baptist ministers in Detroit have endorsed Kilpatrick even though he is a total fuckup as mayor and is using the city as his own personal bank. Why?

In my previous post about why Detroit does not work and will not work, I pointed out that mayors tend to appoint their political supporters to jobs that they are totally unqualified for. For this reason the government of Detroit is run by totally incompetent assholes.

More than incompetent, these appointees also have to be black, which does not have anything to do with African-Americans in general, there are plenty of competent blacks that can fill administrative positions in the City of Detroit. The competent blacks have left Detroit long ago because they were smart enough to figure out that they had no future in this city because the city was never going to get better.

Why the Baptist ministers endorsed Kilpatrick is hard to fathom knowing that Kilpatrick is BAD for the city and its inhabitants BUT Kilpatrick is good to the ministers. He hires their parishioners, listens to their council - in other words, he does not let the white man into city government and therefore keeps Detroit in the hands of the black man.

Feeman Hendrix had a white mother so he is 50% white and therefore must work for the bad white man that is itching to take over this piece of shit city.

Does anybody care about the citizens of Detroit? The children of Detroit who do not get an education and therefore have no viable future?

Is it all about race and one's blackness and nothing about competence and a bright future?

For this reason many Michiganians who are Detroiters at heart, have given up hope on Detroit and I can see why.

I am not sure if Freeman Hendrix can turn things around but Kilpatrick has proven that he does not have a chance at all.

Will the black citizens of Detroit elect Kilpatrick because he is 100% black and will keep the white man out but will oversee the eventual death of the city OR will they vote for a 50% black who will AT LEAST TRY to turn the city of Detroit around?

It is up to the electorate and my confidence is low - maybe they will surprise me - let us hope.

Janusz

DETROIT - IS THERE HOPE?

Recently, a Detroit newspaper printed an article where the Federal Government accused Detroit's Housing Department of squandering or mismanaging Federal HUD (Housing and Urban Development) funds. They want Detroit to pay them back 20+ million dollars. They accused Detroit's Housing Department of being incompetent and suggested that the people appointed by the Mayor of Detroit have no idea what they are doing.

May I suggest that this is exactly what the problem is in Detroit. Detroit mayors have given people jobs as political gratitude and not because they actually know how to perform that specific job. For this reason, nothing seems to work in Detroit and nothing seems to get done in Detroit.

New mayoral elections are just around the corner. Hendrix, a serious sort is running against Kilpatrick, a big kid that likes to have fun and has a proven history of fuckups as the mayor of Detroit.

Hendrix appears to have an edge BUT does he have what it takes to break the mold of incompetence that has plagued Detroit since Coleman Young was mayor. I don't really think so.

The Makinac Center, a conservative economic think tank, made some specific suggestions as to what it would take to turn Detroit around. One was to sell Belle Isle to an agency that can actually develop it, keep it clean and attract families again. Hendrix immediately dismissed the idea but hinted he may favor charging an admission fee - $1.00?

Hendrix is already showing that he is not able to make the hard, unpopular but fiscally sound decisions. Maybe that was just a ploy to get elected and he really does have the balls to do what is necessary. We shall see but I don't think he can get elected with again, promising high positions to his political supporters who are also totally incompetent to be placed in any position.

My money is on a State of Michigan receivership. The city will run out of money and the State will have to take over. Yes, cries of racism and dictatorship will ring out but how else is a parent suppose to teach a child how to behave and be responsible?


Janusz

BUSH THE DOCTOR

The FDA has been debating whether to approve the morning after pill called PLAN B for over-the-counter sale. This is a contraceptive that if taken the morning after unprotected sex, would prevent pregnancy.

The pill has passed all scientific and medical scrutiny and was deemed safe for use by women that found themselves in situations where the pill would be appropriate - it has been available in Europe for some time now.

The FDA, obviously pressured by Bush, postponed their decision indefinitely, basically blocking the pill from coming to the U.S. market. Bush feels that taking the pill is a form of abortion.

A leading scientist on the FDA commission voting on the pill issue, quit in disgust saying that politics and religion are entering the medical field and I agree.

I support making the FDA a private agency staffed with professionals who will use only scientific data to make decisions about the efficacy of medications and their appropriateness for public use.

Whether you are for or against CHOICE (the law of the land) you cannot in all intellectual honesty abide by a politician making medical and privacy decisions for you.

If you have unprotected sex and many of us no matter how careful, have - WE have the right to prevent any resulting pregnancy, IF THAT IS OUR DECISION and if a safe and effective means of doing that exists.

Would the religious zealots rather we wait for the pregnancy to proceed and then have an abortion? I guess I should not try to use logic because this whole situation is without logic - that is the problem.

The Republicans are all about LESS government and LESS intrusion into citizens' lives BUT NOT THIS REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. These are not true republicans but religious fanatics hell bent on forcing their views on all of us by controlling the way we live our lives.

Even normal republicans have got to be scared of Bush and his people.

My only hope is that Bush has fucked the country up so badly that the next Republican nominee for President will have to distance himself from Bush and drift more towards the center, where most Americans are. Democrats have to seek the same center if they want to regain power - being far Left or Right is not going to work anymore.

Janusz

DETROIT'S JAZZ FESTIVAL 2005

I attended the 26th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival this Saturday. We make this a must event during the long Labor Day weekend and have been doing so for many years.

This year was different in a number of ways. For the first time, we booked rooms at the RenCen instead of going home every night and coming back the next day.

Also for the first time, the Jazz Fest organizers decided to close off Woodward Avenue from Campus Martius to Hart Plaza and add stages at the Spirit of Detroit Statue and at Campus Martius.

The organizers also departed from the strictly jazz music menu to allow other forms of music which included some blues as well as some oldies.

The Detroit Jazz Festival was in danger of closing if they did not find new sponsors (Ford quit) and attract larger crowds. I think the crowds were noticeably larger this year, the weather was great, the music was great and the crowds were well behaved and enthusiastic.

We had a great view from our room overlooking the Detroit River and Windsor, Canada. Our kids joined us Saturday night - so that made our stay there even better.

I hope the festival organizers have learned from this year and will apply the lessons learned to next year. The increased attendance, I hope, will attract many new sponsors and keep this Labor Day tradition going strong for many years to come.

Janusz

THE PRICE OF OIL AND GAS

THE PRICE OF OIL AND GASOLINE

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The price of our gasoline has been rising recently and this was BEFORE Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

Americans were told that the price of crude oil is going up and that is why our gasoline prices are going up. We were not told why the price of oil was going up but we needed to blame someone. We also needed to have the prices brought back down. Where do we start?

Oil producing countries belong to a cartel called OPEC and this group basically can do what they want with the price as well as supply of oil in the world – it is their oil.

They are too smart to stick the world with outlandish prices and cause a worldwide depression. In a depression, no one will buy their oil because no one will have any money. So OPEC lets the market’s supply and demand rules govern the prices – they just make sure that they at least making a set minimum price per barrel and if not – they fiddle with the supply.

Anyway, China and India have entered a new phase. They are no longer just some poor country basically trying to exist. No, they have now joined the industrial nations and are becoming major players in the worldwide marketplace.

To be an industrial nation you need to be able to produce things and to produce things you need oil. Even if, like India, you provide services, you still need oil because your growing workforce needs oil / gasoline for their own use. So now, OPEC has more customers for its oil and these are HUGE customers.

If the supply of oil remains steady but the demand rises substantially, customers will be willing to bid the price higher just to insure a supply for their growing national economy. Is the situation becoming clearer?

Here in the United States, we have a voracious appetite for oil and gasoline – we always have. We also have not built any more oil refineries to keep up with the demand for gasoline. Why? - Interesting question. As we have learned – controlling supply can affect the price. Yes, a barrel of oil is costing more so refineries have to charge more but how much more.

One economist said that if oil is costing more and refineries raise their prices to cover that cost increase, their profits should basically remain the same. The fact is their profits have soared. This tells us that their increased prices cover much more than the increase per barrel of oil that they pay OPEC.

Gasoline stations work off the same principal. They are charged a specific amount per gallon. If that price goes up, they pass it along to the consumer. This does not explain why per gallon prices can jump $0.50 overnight. Example: a gasoline station purchases x gallons at $2.20 and charge $2.50. The next day the price is $3.00 per gallon even though the gasoline they are selling, they bought at $2.20. This is greed and they can get away with it because everyone else is doing it and we need gas at any price.

Hurricane Katrina exacerbated the already problematic situation by knocking out oil platforms, refineries and gasoline pump lines, in effect, blocking supply. If there is no supply, the station that has some left can charge whatever they want to.

Can our government do something? They can release oil reserves to fill the pipelines temporarily.

Can we increase refining capacity? Yes we can if our government offers some huge tax incentives for companies to invest in new refineries.

Can we produce more of our own oil? Yes we can if our legislators allow drilling in Alaska and in other off-shore areas that are off limits right now.

Can we make ourselves use less oil / gasoline? You have to ask yourself if you are prepared to drive a smaller car or carpool or build and use mass transit.


Janusz

DISASTER IN NEW ORLEANS!

DISASTER IN NEW ORLEANS

Yes, Hurricane Katrina caused quite a bit of damage to the Gulf Coast and especially to the city of New Orleans. Let’s take a closer look at New Orleans and see what, if anything could have been done to minimize the damage.

In 1969 I was a medic/lab technician stationed in Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Biloxi was in the eye of Hurricane Camille. I rode out the hurricane in the base hospital and then did search and rescue after so I have some hurricane experience.

New Orleans is a city that is below sea level, it always has been. The city is surrounded by levees that keep the Gulf of Mexico waters out as well as the waters of Lake Ponchatrain. These levees are old and designed to withstand a 3 intensity hurricane.

Hurricane Katrina was downgraded to a level 1 before it hit the city but still managed to do quite a bit of damage.

The real damage occurred after the hurricane came through – when the levee keeping Lake Ponchatrain out gave way. That breach flooded the city and surrounding areas and caused the real damage and is causing it as we speak.

The Netherlands, a country below sea level, has existed precariously with the ocean for many, many years. They too have levees but they call then dykes. In 1953 a storm allowed waters to come over their dykes and 2,000 people died. After that disaster, they installed hydraulic dykes. These are dykes that can be lowered or raised, depending on the level of the sea water. In effect, they had a movable sea wall.

PBS and the Discovery Channel had reports on the New Orleans levees and what would happen when a really big hurricane hit and what needed to be done to avert disaster.

New Orleans never listened. When the levee collapsed, the mayor of the city was furious that no department came forward to fill the breach.

May I suggest that it was the incompetence of city leaders that caused the real damage to the city and its citizens? I would sue those responsible on the grounds that the natural disaster was compounded by human irresponsibility.


Janusz