Good Afternoon Gotham . . .hope all is well. Thanks for taking the time to post the words and thoughts above. I have been 'away' from the blog for a couple of weeks and have returned to find myself compelled to comment on your post.

In Islam - there are 99 names/attributes for Allah. I try to read them daily - to help me better recognise and appreciate the world and creation around me. I think the attributes are universal of whatever most believe to be the Source/Spirit/Entity in the universe.

The 91 name/attribute is Ad-Daarr - The Distressor - He is the One who inflicts miseries upon His creatures by way of test. I find myself pausing on this each time I come across it. I guess it helps me come to terms with the many 'injustices' I 'perceive' in the world today - some of which you have so well articulated in the words above.

Then I read the 92nd name - An-Naffi - The Bestower of Benefits - He who creates all things which provide goodness and benefit. I know - seems like such a contradiction in terms doesn't it? About 6 months ago, when I first started reading the list - I just couldn't reconcile the two - as with some of the other attributes - I found myself searching for answers.

After reading more . . .words, thoughts, interpretations by individuals such as your father, Wayne Dyer, the AgaKhan, Dali Lama and so many others - I find that when I read the 99 names today - I don't pause or feel conflicted anymore . . . I know it is up to all of our collective consciousnesses to create the world we live in. . . even the devastation of this event will allow itself to unfold into a chance to improve the world be live in.

Contrary to the words of Ms Rice - the Lord has already arrived - and now - it is up to all of us to determine the outcome. Regardless of what the administration perceives or is waiting for - or even their attempt in justifying the suffering by highlighting the fact this calamity is unprecedented - somehow trying to justify the outcome - irrespective of that - we have a chance to take all of this and create an outcome that benefits all.

Similar to Shekhar's picture and post - we are all but a spec in this great cosmos . . .we are also so deeply connected and our consciousness significantly impacts the outcome of the picture. All of us have an opportunity to take this and ensure what evolves and results is extra-ordinary - is a universe and world in which our children and our children's children do not face the same challenges.

My heart and prayers continue to go out to all those impacted . . .I count on the fact through our collective consciousness - we will create a better world - failure is not an option. Gotham - thank you for helping us find the solutions . . .for challenging our thoughts and instigating the desire to change.

Wishing everyone an abundance of peace, acceptance, knowledge, joy, happiness, love, laughter, kindness, caring, appreciation, tolerance, humility, health and well being, energy, desire, serenity, tranquility and inner peace . . .take care . . .Laila

Gotham

you say this is an administration that failed to show up "on time" when they were most needed.

I should add, Condi is part of an administration that is only good in running a war machine. It has no clue when it comes to running a country. It is unfortunate.
God bless the ones who are hurting.

By the way where is Oprah?

Allah hu Akbar.

Very well said Laila.

On another news I saw they are creating tribes to stay together. God bless them for their human instincts. We tell Condi to go back to NY, she needs to finish her shopping.

You ask "Who's the divine being that sits around while children die of de-hydration and neglect?"

The God that created the heavens and the earth created pain and suffering and death. Why do you have such difficulty conceiving of this? Would you be a different kind of god? Does God fall short on your moral scale because he allows people to be born, suffer and die? The wise man does not condemn God.

Please consider for one moment a world without death. Imagine everyone who had ever lived alive on the planet today. Nirvana for you? Hell for me. Imagine no pain. A painless brush against a sharp object and people would bleed to death unknowingly. Nice god you are. But then, you won't let them die. They bleed but they don't run out of blood? Please, I implore, imagine a world without children, without pain, without death and decide for yourself if the world you would be god of is better than God almighty gives us.

Thank you for your time.

I'm not so sure Boone (and Laila). Many a wise man has condemned God - they used to be called philosophers in the last century. Now they would be called bigots. Nietzsche, Mark Twain, Dostoevsky, Bertrand Russell come to mind. Here's one of the milder quotes from Twain:

"The best minds will tell you that when a man has begotten a child he is morally bound to tenderly care for it, protect it from hurt, shield it from disease, clothe it, feed it, bear with its waywardness, lay no hand upon it save in kindness and for its own good, and never in any case inflict upon it a wanton cruelty. God's treatment of his earthly children, every day and every night, is the exact opposite of all that, yet those best minds warmly justify these crimes, condone them, excuse them, and indignantly refuse to regard them as crimes at all, when he commits them. Your country and mine is an interesting one, but there is nothing there that is half so interesting as the human mind."
- Letters from the Earth

God is a human construct that serves politicians best of all. It's a very handy concept and the mother of all memes.

Thanks for your voice.

The rich get richer the poor get poorer.
We how can see the faces.
Shame on us.

Speek your voice loud.
Terry

Good Afternoon Divya . . .hope all is well. I've missed you in the last couple of weeks!!! I respect your thoughts and perceptions about a Source be it Gob/Spirit - whatever . . .we each have our own paths and it is essential we are able to appreciate the diversity with which our world functions. Irrespective of each of our belief's in a source - suffice it to say - i do think we contribute to what will be the outcome of this situation.

I thought I would share one of my favourite quotes by Richard Bach . . .

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy.

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.

Peace to all . . .Laila

Hi Laila - I was wondering where you disappeared.

I'll settle for Gob!

love,
divya

It is very painful to see so many people suffering because we - as a country - are foolish and fearbased in the allocation of our resources. When things like this tragedy occur it is hard not to be SHAMEFULLY aware that the OBSCENE amount of money we spend on a bomber or "national security" or the war we started in Iraq could have been used to help the people who really need it most now. (Where is the majority of our National Guard?! ETC.)

However, it's not just the United States where fear influences our choices way before common sense and compassion step in. There are VAST differences in wealth all over the world.

Yet, it's not just about money. It's about stepping down from safe, cozy places of prestige and power and the illusion that from those places we know something someone else doesn't (or are somehow more important) and TRULY getting to know "those" people as OURSELVES. It's about true equality - which has as much to do with acknowledgement, appreciation, respect and understanding - as it does with money.

It's hard not to be really pissed off - and deeply saddened - when you see that kind of suffering and know that it is happening all over the world on a daily basis and yet we are way too concerned about our own asses to shift our attention from fear based, trivial, ego-boosting activity.

Love, Kristin

Gotham . . .to add to your words . . .the same administration continues to wage a war on terror to eliminate the world of people using religious extremists who prey on the vulnerability of less fortunate people throughout the world . . .

Your additional words are valid and point well taken . . . thank you.

Kristin . . .your response is so well articulated and reflective of many of our thoughts at this time.

Divya . . .ooppss . . .good catch on the spelling! Take care and all the best. . .Laila

I have been practically glued to the TV ever since they announced the evacuation of New Orleans--from that moment I knew it would be serious.

I've felt a lot of anger like you and others on these blogs. On CNN this morning it was said the military are strongly defending the President in his taking action as fast as possible. The military also say they had been tracking the storm since the Thursday BEFORE it hit New Orleans and had started preparations at that time. So, yes I too am perplexed as to why it was almost a week after, that they finally showed up.

Kind of like Condi said, I've heard others say--Well this is another sign of the END TIMES. To me it's a statement made out of fear and people who are way too fixed in their belief system.

I have never felt so let down by the government--to this extreme. It's going to get really ugly for Bush now.

I hope I haven't offended anyone in saying any of these things, they are only my opinions. I have heard so many different viewpoints on this, and it is going to be an ongoing worldly debate for years to come.

Today, I am trying to stay away from the TV and focus on prayers for these people and some serious meditation for myself. With the anniversary of 9/11 coming up it is truly an emotional time for America.

Sending light and love to ALL OF THOSE affected.

It's terrible to watch the tragedy in South America and know that we, human beings, have created all that misery ourselves. The hurricane is one thing, but the poverty, racism, political indifference and mostly- the all pervading fear and aggression- are our creation. I don’t remember who said it, but it’s true: don’t blame God for what your ego is doing.

People here pray and donate for South America, but many, including our reporters, are numbed by the killing and violence we have seen on the TV and are asking two questions, in the most sincere manner:

- How come the images of what happened in South America after this tragedy are so different from what we saw just months ago after the tsunami? In one place, the poorest of people helped each other in an outpouring of compassion and selflessness, having the support of their authorities, while in another place, the face of accumulated fear and repressed anger of an ignored population is staring at us...

- Why did our planes, ready and packed with water cleaning equipment and expertise and with all the love and well-wishes of a nation, have to wait for several days for a formal request from the American government?

I don't know the answers, but I do know that the word "protection" is repeated ad nauseam in the American ads and news I happen to see. I do know that Mr. Bush declares that he is there to protect his nation and liberate the world and continues to invest in his arrogant army while his population struggles in misery. It is hard to see how culturally and emotionally isolated, controlled and manipulated the US population has become and how the fear of the rest of the world is cultivated behind more and more heavily guarded borders. It's a cruel irony that Mr. Bush is so fiercely fighting to liberate the world of dictators. If that's his real motivation, then he's fighting his own image.

Aurora, thanks for your comments. I would love to hear more comments from anyone outside of America seeing it from your standpoints.

An interesting time line . . .

Guess Who Castrated FEMA?
from Henry Breitrose

CHRONOLOGY.... Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration. Read it and weep:

January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management.

April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level."

2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country."

December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management.

March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism.

2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery.

Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it."

June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay."

June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.

August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.

A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away.

Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell.

Henry Breitrose
Professor of Communication
Department of Communication Stanford University
Stanford, California USA 94305-2050
+650-723-4700

henry.breitrose@stanford.edu

Gotham, You have strong opinions about the government's ineptness. So what are you going to do about it?

Sandy

God did show up on time: the first person amid all that horror to reach out a hand to another in need, that was God. Bush and the other government agencies, however, apparently were reaching for other things.

Here is something by one of my favorite columnists Paul Krugman

"Each day since Katrina brings more evidence of the lethal ineptitude of federal officials. I'm not letting state and local officials off the hook. Federal officials had access to resources that could have made all the difference, but were never mobilized.

Here's one of many examples: The Chicago Tribune reports that the U.S.S. Bataan, equipped with six operating rooms, hundreds of hospital beds and the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day, has been sitting off the Gulf Coast since last Monday - without patients.

Experts say that the first 72 hours after a natural disaster are the crucial window during which prompt action can save many lives. Yet action after Katrina was anything but prompt. Newsweek reports that a "strange paralysis" set in among Bush administration officials, who debated lines of authority while thousands died.

What caused that paralysis? President Bush certainly failed his test. After 9/11, all the country really needed from him was a speech. This time it needed action - and he didn't deliver.

But the federal government's lethal ineptitude wasn't just a consequence of Mr. Bush's personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good. For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn't forthcoming?

Does anyone remember the fight over federalizing airport security? Even after 9/11, the administration and conservative members of Congress tried to keep airport security in the hands of private companies. They were more worried about adding federal employees than about closing a deadly hole in national security.

Of course, the attempt to keep airport security private wasn't just about philosophy; it was also an attempt to protect private interests. But that's not really a contradiction. Ideological cynicism about government easily morphs into a readiness to treat government spending as a way to reward your friends. After all, if you don't believe government can do any good, why not?

Which brings us to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In my last column, I asked whether the Bush administration had destroyed FEMA's effectiveness. Now we know the answer.

Several recent news analyses on FEMA's sorry state have attributed the agency's decline to its inclusion in the Department of Homeland Security, whose prime concern is terrorism, not natural disasters. But that supposed change in focus misses a crucial part of the story.

For one thing, the undermining of FEMA began as soon as President Bush took office. Instead of choosing a professional with expertise in responses to disaster to head the agency, Mr. Bush appointed Joseph Allbaugh, a close political confidant. Mr. Allbaugh quickly began trying to scale back some of FEMA's preparedness programs.

You might have expected the administration to reconsider its hostility to emergency preparedness after 9/11 - after all, emergency management is as important in the aftermath of a terrorist attack as it is following a natural disaster. As many people have noticed, the failed response to Katrina shows that we are less ready to cope with a terrorist attack today than we were four years ago.

But the downgrading of FEMA continued, with the appointment of Michael Brown as Mr. Allbaugh's successor.

Mr. Brown had no obvious qualifications, other than having been Mr. Allbaugh's college roommate. But Mr. Brown was made deputy director of FEMA; The Boston Herald reports that he was forced out of his previous job, overseeing horse shows. And when Mr. Allbaugh left, Mr. Brown became the agency's director. The raw cronyism of that appointment showed the contempt the administration felt for the agency; one can only imagine the effects on staff morale.

That contempt, as I've said, reflects a general hostility to the role of government as a force for good. And Americans living along the Gulf Coast have now reaped the consequences of that hostility.

The administration has always tried to treat 9/11 purely as a lesson about good versus evil. But disasters must be coped with, even if they aren't caused by evildoers. Now we have another deadly lesson in why we need an effective government, and why dedicated public servants deserve our respect. Will we listen?

Bravo Gotham! Being part of the solution is so much more effective. A good manager once told me that if I have a beef about something, I had better have a solution or two in the works. You have a large platform to effect change and we need all the help we can get.

Sandy

Hi gotham, and everyone,
while the world is an audience for witnessing how much poverty and discrimination exists in America, why not use your skills as a reporter to show them that New Orleans is not the only city where it exists.

Let's really blow the administration's bubble, and let the world see the millions of americans who are struggling and homeless in Los Angeles, Detroit, Washington DC, Chicago, New York City, etc. etc.

When our government can honestly say that they are taking care of americans, then let them try to tell other other countries how to do it.

Thanks, Kavita. Krugman rocks.

It is very unfortunate that the system began the race like a snail, with the communications of slime. My understanding is that the government will investigate the black hole, as I am sure that they will find many shells. The delays are completely unacceptable and horrendous.

PS: Hey, you are talking about my neck of the woods :-) The Lord always has a plan, even though we do not understand it. And just maybe in this case, the government (US) needs to respond better to it's poor in this nation, as well as to emergencies here and beyond.

Sometimes Faith and Hope is all that one has ...

There is a cesspool of bigotry and racial bias which has always existed at a scratchable sub terrainial level which has been rudely and abruptly exposed to the unbelieveng eyes of the world.
What lies ahead is the immense task of damage control and spin which will convert this shameful indecent exposure into a winning electoral advantage through the use of words like God,Biblical test,Patriotism,incessant pictures of TEXAS, and loud projections of the number of lives saved, to ease the simple minds of the masses.
To those who doubt the distinct possibility of this happening,I simply point to the last two Presidential elections and state that a ruthless and extremely effecient machinery is already in existence.
Someone has wisely said:"IT IS DANGEROUS TO BE RIGHT WHEN THE GOVERNMENT IS WRONG".

Well the great Bono the other day was singing at Saturday Night Live...I thought for sure he's at the scene of tragedy with his passion for wanting to help black people.

Rita - that SNL episode was a repeat.

To Sidd
The spinn has already started. News reports are already hinting that the blame sits on the shoulders of the Mayor and the Govenor and are taking it away from the Federal Government.

With Gotham's permission, I would like to bring up a related point for discussion. It is something that has made me very nervous for some time now. That is Christian Fundamentalists, of which your president and it seems most of the people around him are part of, and their belief that God gave them dominion over the earth and it is theirs to do with as they please. They have no connection to the earth or the creatures that live here because their focus is on getting to heaven. I have provided a link to a very interesting article on the subject. Bill Moyers, formerly of PBS did several shows on the subject and was very concerned about it. For anyone who is interested, I invite you to read the article and comment. I have watched Pastor John Hagee, from Cornerstone, Texas stand in his pulpit on Sundays and spew the same hate and disdain that Bill Moyers talks about in this article. Frankly I find the whole thing dam scary because I see a connection to all that is currently happening on our planet. I even heard one evangical christian say once when he was on a "rapture tour" of Isreal that the Mosque that is located on Mount Olive would have to be removed because that is where Jesus will appear when he returns so the Mosque could not be there. Maybe that is what Ms. Rice meant by her statement, that if we wait Jesus will return and take us all to heaven (only if you are an evangelical christian of course) and then we can leave all of this misery behind.

Gotham, your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to take over from Bill Moyers and pursue this. Is this your presidents (I am from Canada) point of view because if it is we are all in trouble.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/161/story_16167_3.html

Hi All,

I have noticed when tragedies like this happen how the natural human reaction is to begin pointing fingers: It's the Bush Administration, it's the mayor of New Orleans, the governor of AL. Global Warming, Republicans, Democrats. It's Americas fault, White people, black people or Asians are to blame. Corporations make too much money, there is too much welfare. It's the individuals responsibility they should have left when they were told that a storm was coming. If only America were more like Europe, If only Europe was more like America.

Ultimately it boils down to one thing: Like "shit", storms happen...I think rather than assign blame it is better to ask how each of us can be responsible. What can each of us do as individuals and groups to help alleviate this terrible suffering?

Peace,
Scott.

Gotham -

I liked your observation and the others expressed here as well.

The language and wording of "Apocolapsism" has steady been creeping into general language ever since 9/11. This is an excellent example of it. Cindy Sheehan was called "the lamb" in of all places Rolling Stone Magazine. If you listen to people it is concerning. Not just in the sense that it has crept into language to the extent that is has, but that it can cause a sense of hysteria in people that is contageous.

As someone above said people have in fear and stress wedged themselves too tightly in their own narrow traditions.

The mosque - located on Mount Olive - is the Dome of the Rock. I believe that it is the most sacred holy spot in Islam??

Replacing Bill Moyers - that seems like a really good idea. Really. Think abut it. The show has been cut to 30 mins. I think you'd be great on it.

Faye - I've heard it here (El Paso) too.

Perhaps, someday, in the distant future, long, long after we have spent our fleeting moment in time (on Earth) to cogitate, to contemplate, to dream, to aspire, etc, religion will have been debunked as an insidious institution and unwelcome relic of the past, of the height of the "dark ages." We will perhaps then be frozen, momentarily, to learn, for example, that "once upon a time" US presidents read an ancient script from a book called the Bible and believed verbatim what they had read. Then there was even one US president who claimed that a guy named Jesus was his mentor.

Gotham, you have evoked some salient, prescient thoughts which, one can truly hope, must not be reserved to a precocious few, but all mankind. I think you are on the right track, thought-provoking, evocative and bordering on intellectual renaissance. This must, hopefully, eventually be the enlightened domain and spiritual realm attained by most, not just a few, denizens of Earth, if we are to survive and evolve to the next level of awareness and consciousness of our marvelously "mysterious" universe and our tantalizingly "enigmatic" world.

Ron Saywack.

Peace!

Very interesting! I liked it! Fantastic blog: http://anthony.ianniciello.net/blog/archives/000079.html , Revelations of John