two and two makes five

"Worse than our worst fears."

From a local New Orleans TV station comes this Katrina update blog. Keep praying. Some of the news just from the last two hours:

9:35 A.M. Marshal Law in effect in Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish. 60 percent of homes in Plaquemines Parish under water.

10:15 A.M. A spokeswoman describes Jefferson Parish as a "very dangerous" place. Jackie Bauer says there's gas leaks everywhere, water needs to be boiled, there's no commercial power, no pumping stations and the water's toxic.
And there's still some deep water in some neighborhoods. Bauer says there are other dangers -- snakes in the water, other vermin, loose dogs and cats everywhere. She says -- quoting now -- "We kind of have to fight for survival with them." - Associated Press

10:35 A.M. Governor Blanco - "Worse than our worst fears."

10:42 A.M. - Rising waters continue in N.O. due to failed pumps and breached levees at the 17th Street Canal and the Ninth Ward. Rising waters caused one hospital to evacuate patients to the Louisiana Superdome.

11:01 A.M. - Break in 17th Street Canal Levee is now 200 feet wide and slowly flooding the City of New Orleans. Huge sand bags are being airlifted to try to stem the rush of water in that area.

11:13 A.M. - Plaquemines Parish...if you are found on the street...will be arrested. Marshall law in effect. 60 percent of homes flooded. 50 people rescued.

11:15 A.M. - Hospitals with no power and rising waters are bringing patients to the Superdome.

11:35 A.M. - (AP) Downtown streets that were relatively clear in the hours after the storm were filled with 1 to 1 1/2 feet of water Tuesday morning. Water was knee-deep around the Superdome. Canal Street was literally a canal. Water lapped at the edge of the French Quarter. Clumps of red ants floated in the gasoline-fouled waters downtown.

11:39 A.M. (AP) - National Guardsmen brought in people from outlying areas to the Superdome in the backs of big 2 1/2-ton Army trucks. Louisiana's wildlife enforcement department also brought people in on the backs of their pickups. Some were wet, some were in wheelchairs, some were holding babies and nothing else.

11:50 A.M. JP Sheriff asking anyone with a boat to bring it to Sam's Parking lot on Airline and Cleary to help with evacuations.

11:54 A.M. - Kenner mayor asking for more National Guard. Asks anyone with the guard to call 468-7200.

My take on New Orleans, hurricanes, and God

On New Orleans, Hurricanes, and God

2:02 AM, EDT  I have finally stopped crying and have turned off CNN for the night. I just can't take any more. I can't hear any more stories of families and children trapped inside attics; I can't see any more images of miles and miles of flooded homes that have become coffins; I can't listen to any more anchors or reporters butcher the names of streets I used to drive on every day.

This morning, I turned on the TV as soon as I woke up to see what was happening with Hurricane Katrina. Amy and I have countless friends and colleagues in and around New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and we were initially relieved to hear reports from the CBD (downtown New Orleans) that the storm had veered to the east and would not be the hurricane that washed the entire city of New Orleans away. Street flooding did not appear too severe, and the early reports were that nearly everyone had evacuated safely. However, when we watched the eye pass over lower Plaquemines Parish, St. Bernard Parish, and slam into Harrison County, MS, we knew that the news would get worse. And as we returned home late tonight and caught up on coverage, the bad news started rolling in. As I write this, thousands of people are trapped inside attics and on top of roofs across New Orleans and points east, and many rescue operations are suspended due to the danger of downed power lines and ruptured gas lines that aren't visible at night. It is going to be a long, dark night for many thousands of people.

Click link to keep reading...

Dear God,

Please have mercy this day on the people of New Orleans - a city Amy and I love dearly. We pray for our friends there, for my teachers, Amy's students, and for the hundreds of thousands of people without the means to evacuate. Join us in praying for New Orleans and her citizens.

In Light of Jesus

"In Light of Jesus," by Stephen Bush.

Very, very worth the few minutes it will take to read. Thanks for this gift to me today, Stephen.

More on child labor

Here are some more stories and statistics on child labor worldwide.

This article from the BBC focuses more on child labor in mining operations, which are concentrated in the Asia Pacific region. However, child mining is a problem in Africa as well, especially in West African nations like Ghana, Senegal, and Togo.

• 73 million child laborers are under the age of 10

• 1 million child laborers work in mines or quarries

• 22,000 children die in work-related incidents every year

Child Labor and Poverty

From the NYT comes this article on the relationship between child labor and poverty.

For many years it was assumed that children were forced to work because of the parents' lack of education or callousness. Also assumed is that most children are forced to work in factories for small wages.

Instead, most children around the developing world who have to work do so because of the family's poverty, and the great majority of working children do so for the family's agricultural business, and for no wages at all.

When families are able to afford the necessities without putting their children to work, the overwhelming response is to put children in school. When incomes fall again, the children are forced to leave school and return to work. The biggest single factor in keeping kids in school and reducing child labor, then, is poverty, not culture or the parents' education. Reduce poverty, and you reduce child labor.

Worldwide, 211 million children ages 5 - 14 are made to work instead of attending school.

TB - Africa's forgotten killer

TB is declared an emergency in Africa, according to the WHO and the UN.

500,000 Africans will die from TB this year.

A six-month course of drugs to cure TB costs $15.

Water, water, everywhere...

From the NYT comes a few facts about water from Tom Standage, the author of "A History of the World in Six Glasses".

* $46 billion - amount spend worldwide on bottled water each year
* $1.7 billion - additional amount needed yearly to provide clean water for every person on earth
* 80 percent of all illness in the world is due to water-borne diseases
* 1 billion people lack access to clean water

The Suffering of the Innocent

I believe that it is our responsibility to be informed about injustices that take place around our neighborhoods and around the world so that we can cry out to God and be a part of the solution - the coming of the Kingdom of God - as opposed to being a part of the problem.

Today in Zimbabwe, men, women, boys, and girls born and raised in Zimbabwe are being denied a place to live, even though many of their parents and grandparents entered the country legally decades ago and, in many cases, became citizens.

What is our response when these sorts of injustices are foisted upon the innocent - those with nothing at all to do with the situation they now face? This is but one example of how people are treated unfairly because of an association with someone else - often a distant relationship. It reminds me of the Innocent's Corner in Westminster Abbey - the place where the infant children of James I and the murdered Princes of the Tower are buried - and of the ninth chapter of Job. It makes me angry. It makes me cry. It makes me take action.

Houston, Texas

After about an hour of traffic on an ugly, ugly road, I'm hanging out down the street from Rice University at Crossroads Coffee - a great little independent coffee house with amazing homemade crepes and free Wi-Fi. It reminds me a little of Bean Traders - a great little independent coffee house across from Duke in Durham. I always plug free Wi-Fi when I find it, and Rice Village in Houston is a great place to walk around, find cheap books, eat crepes, and get some work done on the Wi-Fi.

Later today, I'm meeting with Chris from ServLife International, and then on to visit with Kathryn, a great friend from UF who does something I don't remotely understand.