Tornadoes in Pensacola!

We have had very heavy rain since early this morning. Pensacola was hit by tornadoes about mid-morning and they caused extensive damage. There were some injuries but no deaths have been reported. You can read all about it in this story at the Pensacola News Journal website. I'm home from work now because my workplace shut down and let everybody go home early. The tornadoes hit several miles away from the neighborhood where I live and work. While we are going to continue to get some rain for a while, hopefully there will be no more tornadoes in the area.

Update (10/19/07): PNJ: Picking up the pieces

Rain!

After weeks of dryness and days of smoky haze from distant fires, we are finally getting some rain. It's just beautiful!

Attention Pensacolians -- Help for Katrina Victims

This was originally posted on September 2. I'm bumping it up to the top again. I have added some information regarding relief efforts by local LCMS churches. See the update for 9/7/05.

I have changed this entry back to the original date.

Today I got an email about the First United Methodist Church here in Pensacola which is collecting materials for health kits to send to the hurricane victims. Somebody at where I work is collecting the kits, so I'm going to assemble one this weekend.

Here is what's needed as per the email:

• 1 hand towel (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27", No kitchen towels)
• 1 washcloth
• 1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
• 1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
• 1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
• 1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, No child-size brushes)
• 1 large tube of toothpaste
• 6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

The items should be assembled and sealed in 1 gallon plastic bags.

Here is a website that tells about the project and a picture of the items needed. Anybody reading this in Pensacola can drop these kits off at the church, which is located at 6 East Wright Street, Pensacola, Florida. The kits are needed no later than Sunday, September 11, 2005.

Update: I forgot to mention this -- the church needs over 100,000 kits.

Update (9/7/05): The Southern District of the LCMS contains the areas that were most heavily damaged by Katrina. The district headquarters in New Orleans is a total loss. LCMS churches in the Pensacola area are collecting Hurricane Katrina relief items. They will be distributed through Grace Lutheran Church in Pensacola. (More about that can be found in this article.) Here are the types of items being collected:

• Baby food
• Diapers
• Baby wipes
• Water
• Ready-to-eat, non-perishable foods (canned stew, etc.)
• Manual can openers
• Paper plates
• Plastic silverware
• Napkins
• First aid kits
• Insect repellent
• Personal hygiene items (Depends, feminine hygiene, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant)

So, if you are in Pensacola, stop by an LCMS church and donate some of these items. Grace Lutheran Church is at the following address: 6601 N. 9th Avenue, Pensacola, Florida.

Self-Defense = Racism?

Last month, Florida signed a bill into law that will protect people against prosecution if they use deadly force against intruders on their property. I fully support such a law because, as Dean Esmay has said before, self-defense is a basic human right. It appalls me that there are those who would dare to deny people this right.

Which brings me to this article in today's Pensacola News Journal -- Crowd protests deadly force law:

Instead of slavery, the chains now come in the form of laws that are a threat to the black community, said a number of speakers at the two-hour rally Monday.

The issue: Florida Senate Bill 436, signed last month by Gov. Jeb Bush. It guarantees that people aren't prosecuted for using deadly force against intruders on their property.

For now, let's ignore the histrionics of comparing a self-defense bill to the chains of slavery. Let's take a look at what this bill actually says. Basically, it says that people have a right to use deadly force to defend themselves and their families in their homes and vehicles if they reasonably believe an intruder or attacker intends to commit bodily harm or a forcible felony. It states that law abiding people shall not be prosecuted for defense of self and others. The law also states that a person should not be required to attempt to flee their own dwelling and should be able to stand their ground without prosecution.

Well, my goodness...ain't that awful. Now, back to the article...

But critics say that the bill just gives people a license to kill that can easily be abused or misinterpreted.

"What about all those people who perpetuate hate and who will use this as an act of aggression?" said the Rev. Hugh King, president of the Pensacola chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that conducted the event.

"We live in some scary times right now," said Susan Watson, president of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Watson, who is white, rhetorically asked the crowd if they believe that the law would be applied equally to her and to a black man.

Many in the crowd shook their heads; others yelled out, "No!"

Here we have irrational paranoia and racial tensions being whipped up by a white liberal. (Susan Watson is a local lefty troublemaker activist. Take a look at this glowing account of her brave fight against "injustice".) Let me tell you what's scary, Ms. Watson -- busybodies* like you who would take away the right to self-defense.

Watson continues:

"It got passed because we didn't do anything about it. It's our fault," she said. "We have to do something about it."

Well, you know what, Ms. Watson, two can play this game. I'm going to let my representatives know that I appreciate them defending my basic human right of self-defense. If anyone else wants to do likewise, I suggest they check out this site.

More from the article:

Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman, formerly of Pensacola, said the law will "lead to open war on black males."

"It's almost a way to eliminate people. Black men will be under the ground more than ever."

I don't even know how to respond to such stupidity, but I'll give it a try. Is she saying that those who will be breaking into homes and vehicles to commit crimes against people are all black? Is she saying that blacks could never themselves be put in a position of needing to defend themselves against attackers? Aren't those assumptions pretty, well, racist?

Finally, there's this:

Annie Winn, 62, brought her 5- and 11-year-old great-grandchildren to listen to the speakers.

"A lot of people are going to be killed," she said. "We need to protest and try to change this law -- it's just crazy."

Actually, opposing the right to self-defense is what's crazy.

While I'm on this subject, right underneath this article in the dead-tree version of the PNJ, local columnist Mark O'Brien has some rather smart-alecky things to say on this subject as well:

Old-timers remember R.W. "Smokey" Peaden, a former police officer and Pensacola state representative a few decades ago.

Now, we have Sen. Durell "Smoke'em" Peaden, R-Crestview, who sponsored a bill giving people more power to shoot folks they feel are threatening them.

Cops and prosecutors felt we already have a perfectly good law on self-defense, but why listen to liberals like them? (Politics 101: If you disagree with someone, call them liberal before they call you liberal.)

After the new law goes into effect Oct. 1, we'll see if the fears of law enforcement officials come true.

Well, I wouldn't call cops or prosecutors liberal, but I don't necessarily think they are, in general, big fans of self-defense either. After all, didn't the "perfectly good" law that was already in effect require people to attempt to flee their homes first rather than stand their ground? And, anecdotally, I have a relative who lives in a very bad neighborhood. When she called the cops because there was drug-dealing going on out in the open, instead of doing anything about it, they instead told her that she needs to move. They also promised to send patrol cars to drive through the area once in a while. My relative has yet to see one patrol car.

*Susan Watson always makes me think of the following quote from C.S. Lewis:

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satisfied; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

Update (6/7/05): The relative in the bad neighborhood I mentioned in this post told me that a couple of days ago, there was a big drug bust where the drug-dealing was going on. I feel I should mention this in all fairness, since my relative and I felt the cops weren't doing enough.

Tragic and Sad

This accident happened very close to where I live. I was at work when it happened, so I didn't hear about until I saw it in the paper the next morning.

This is so sad. My heart goes out to the families of those boys. People do drive way too fast down that road. I thank God the men in the other vehicle are going to be okay.

Everybody...life is fragile. Wear your seatbelts. And slow down.

Yard Sign Controversy!

AP -- Kerry Yard Signs Vandalized in Florida

Pensacola News Journal -- Kerry signs stolen, trashed

**rolling eyes**

So this makes the national news? A local talk radio show has been receiving reports for weeks about people getting their Bush signs stolen. But Kerry signs are stolen, and suddenly it's news? National news?

Incidentally, I've yet to see one Bush yard sign. I have seen a couple of Kerry signs. I've seen about as many Kerry bumper stickers as Bush ones. I have a "Bush/Cheney '04" sticker on my car. I better not catch anybody messing with my car because of my sticker, either.

Seriously, this is getting ugly and ridiculous. I wish both sides would stop such nonsense.

Update: For additional entertainment, check out the comments to this story on Yahoo. (Warning -- many are not work safe!)

President Bush in Pensacola

Like I said a few posts ago, I had a chance to get a ticket to see President Bush when he came here for a campaign stop, but I turned it down. I found out yesterday that if I would have went, I would have had a floor ticket. Harrumph! Several of my coworkers had gotten these tickets. The President passed within feet of them while leaving and one of them shook his hand.

Oh well, I won't kick myself too much for not going, because it would have been hard for me to go. I just wish things had been more conducive to my going. I saw the very end of his speech on TV. The crowd was absolutely pumped up! They also showed his campaign bus going across the Three Mile Bridge. He was leaving Pensacola and was on his way to another campaign stop in Niceville.

Here is some coverage in the local paper about the President's visit. Of course, there were a handful of mangy protesters on hand who caused some minor scuffles. However, this area is definitely Bush country.

Interesting...

Using this site, you can look and see who contributed to whose Presidential campaign. Here are the results for the Pensacola area. I noticed that several very prominent trial lawyers just loved John Edwards, Wesley Clark and Bob Graham.

(Via Tim Blair.)

My Liberal-Unfriendly Town

Susanna links to this site that lists "liberal friendly" and "liberal unfriendly" cities. I'm proud to report that my town has been designated as "liberal unfriendly".

Let's take a look at some of the comments, shall we:

This is the city where, in 1993, abortion doctor David Gunn was brutally murdered by an antiabortion nutcase. That should tell you about the climate here, as well as the rest of the Florida panhandle.

So we smear cities because of notorious crimes committed in them? Well, that's really tolerant. BTW, hasn't there also been anti-abortion violence in liberal-friendly Boston?

First of all, [the Florida panhandle] is home to the militantly hawkish Eglin Air Force Base.

As opposed to those nicer military bases that hand out free flowers and love beads and have bake sales for peace...

Current congressman Joe Scarborough is one of the small band of complete nutcase far-right Republicans elected in '94.

Of course, any conservative is a "nutcase" to these people. (Apparently, this page is pretty old. Scarborough has long since left Congress for greener pastures.)

...and [Scarborough] thinks among other things that the US should withdraw from the United Nations completely...

Not a bad idea, if you ask me...but I guess I'm a "nutcase"...

Muhammed Ali came here to speak to school kids about tolerance, and understanding other cultures, and caused a great uproar because the conservative christians didn't want a muslim to speak to their children.

However, a later comment tells "the rest of the story":

Contrary to what's reported in previous comments, the reason Ali's visit to Pensacola caused an uproar was not because parents didn't want a Muslim talking to their kids about tolerance. Perhaps some parents objected, but the uproar was actually about fairness in the application and enforcement of school policy.

At that time, the distribution of religious literature to students of Escambia County public schools was forbidden by school officials. Ali intended to distribute religious literature, so school officials made an exception to the rules for him.

This guy blames the area's conservatism on those eee-vil suburbanites:

The vast majority of the conservatism attributed to Pensacola actually lies in the suburbs (Milton, Gulf Breeze, Pace, Cantonment, Navarre) where MANY military retirees chose to live...So, one has to realize that metro Pensacola (home to almost 400,000 people) is not the ultra-conservative, liberal-hating, gay-unfriendly place that it is made out to be.

Okay, just a few more:

Just when one thinks things are improving here on the "Redneck Riviera," the fundamentalist Christians show up and crash the party. Recently the zealots have begun anchoring themselves on downtown street corners, waving their Bibles, and shouting at the tops of their lungs at the patrons of downtown bars. Arguing with these people is futile, thus most people simply ignore them.

Well, it's not just bar patrons who have to hear it. Everybody knows these people are on every major intersection on many a Saturday. I think they mainly come from that KJV-only Baptist church/school run by Peter Ruckman. Personally, I disagree with their theology and their tactics. I think they bring ridicule to the name of Christ. But we do have free speech in this country. Liberals do believe in free speech, don't they?

Finally, I'll end with this comment, which sums things up nicely:

I lived in Pensacola for all of my 38 years. I recall the abortion clinic bombings and the murders. Those people stood trial just as they would have anywhere else in the country. If you believe that a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch, then by all means stay away from my hometown. Most people here, from many different cultural backgrounds ( some because of the Navy) , get along very well. The Memorial Day weekend brings many gays and lesbians to our beautiful surroundings. If it's so bad here, then why do they keep coming? I believe the majority of Pensacolians are just trying to live their lives like everyone else, in peace! I don't recall any major violence, hate crimes, or KKK marches in many years. A bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. stands on our main street downtown. Every year there is a parade in his honor. Obviously, you have to live here a little longer, and be more open minded to see the big picture. If you can't appreciate the beauty that we have here, then by all means, stay away and leave room for people who can!

Amen to that!