FROM DC STULTZ's HURRICANE EXPERIENCE:

" Our illustrious publisher emailed me and asked politely when he could expect another MIA [MEMOIRS OF THE INFORMATION AGE] column "even though I know you've been under the gun."

Actually, between a rock and a hard place would be more like it. While I haven't moved to another city and then had to move from my guaranteed living quarters like Rod has, my life the past couple of months has been, shall we say, interesting.

I seemed to have acquired a bullseye painted on my chest in addition to a "kick me" sign being pasted on my back.

When I last checked in, I told my sad tale of woe of living in Florida and escaping hurricane Charley only because the unpredictable dude made a sudden right turn to go ashore a 100 miles to the south of my Tampa Bay home.

Little did I know what the next six weeks would bring. Namely, hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. It is/was enough to make a grown man cry. ?All three had Tampa Bay in its sights. Ivan, thankfully for me and my Tampa Bay area neighbors, waited to make its turn to the right and slammed the Florida panhandle instead. Frances and Jeanne both made landfall on the east coast and took the exact same path across the state to wallop us before they exited out into the Gulf of Mexico.

Let me back up and give a recap of my time off. ..." READ MORE


ROD AMIS WRITES FROM "THE VALLEY OF THE SUN" : " ... 3 October, 2004: The ancient Hellenists, Greco-Romans, made it a practice -- covering their, ehm -- bases, we'd call it now -- to erect a temple or shrine to "the unknown god." I have felt myself faced with this same predicament during this hejira, this soul-journey, of mine. I shall explain this as we proceed. The short of it is that my agnostic heart, my belief that we are not equipped to comprehend divinity, won't allow me to accept an anthropomorphism or a personification of the great power behind life. This is just one of my personal barriers to the religious community; there are many.

Students of the ancient Hebrews have noted that at the beginning of their accepting their one god, it was a very personal initiative. The first appearance of the one god for the Jews was as "the god of Abraham." So it went for years; God was defined as being involved in a personal relationship with an individual; "the god of Isaac, the god of Jacob, etc." Jacob had God but nowhere do we find the reference to "the god of Esau," though they must have accepted the same faith in the personal god of their father. This presents an analytical mind like my own with as many questions about Judaism as answers. As to Christianity, there is the secret key of accepting that Jesus of Nazareth was the son of God; it is the only way "in", Christians make clear, and that's an awesome mental and philosophical leap --- when you give it any thought. ... " READ MORE


NGOZI RAZAK-SOYEBI ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF NIGERIAN INDEPENDENCE: " October 1 marked Nigeria's 44th Independence anniversary, and the question on the lips of most Nigerians was, "What progress, Nigeria?"

On October 1, 1960, we gained our independence from British rule. The event was greeted with public jubilation, high expectancy and hope. Sadly, forty-four years down the line, and most Nigerians view the day as nothing more than a mere symbolic commemoration of a date. The joy of breaking free from the shackles of British rule to manage our own business has been reduced to despair and misery and a lot of people wonder now if we weren't better off before our independence.

In his broadcast to the nation to mark the day, President Olusegun Obasanjo struggled valiantly to paint a picture of hope and progress. Alas, a lot of Nigerians think differently and with good reason. In 1960, only 15 per cent of the Nigerian population was considered poor. Today, according to the World Bank report, around 70 per cent of Nigeria's 120 million population live below the poverty line [earning] one US dollar per day.

In his broadcast, President Olusegun Obasanjo maintained that "Our government is not intent on making life difficult for Nigerians. Our commitment is to steadily wipe off the pain from the faces of all Nigerians." He goes ahead to add that, "The decisions taken by government have been taken out of love and out of concern for our future, not out of insensitivity or sadism."

His policies speak differently... " READ MORE