The U.N.: "We'll Take it From Here"

The United Nations wants to take over administrative control of the Internet. (Where ostensibly they'll bring the same high level of bureacratic efficiency and integrity they brought to Iraq's Oil-for-Food program.)

One of the U.N. bosses that's behind the move is a former high-ranking official in Communist China. Read all about it.

105 Years Ago

Here's an amazing pictorial essay on the 1900 hurricane that wiped out Galeveston.

Lowry on This Season of Time

From the incomparable "The Corner" and National Review Online, Editor Rich Lowery posts:

CAN'T ANYTHING GO RIGHT?
This is not a feel-good time, in fact it's one of those times that reminds you of the uncertainty and tragedy of human affairs. For Katrina, not enough people evacuated. For Rita, it appears that too many people evacuated, which helped account for the mess on the roads yesterday and today. For Katrina, nursing homes weren't evacuated, leading to terrible suffering and loss. For Rita, nursing homes were evacuated and a bus from one of them burst into flames killing dozens....

Blathering About Blogging

This morning (Thursday) I'll be addressing a group at MPower Systems' annual users conference whose clients include ministries and non-profits from all over the country.

My assiged topic? "Does Your Ministry Need a Blog?"

In fact, I'll be pulling up The Hanger as an illustration, so...

HI EVERYONE! Look here! You've been blogged about!

Where was FEMA for jetBlue 292?

How could FEMA allow "a pilot" to dictate the outcome of a successful landing? Certainly, the federal government should have nationalized the landing. I'm sure Jon Stewart and Bill Maher will expose the cover-up.

It's Nice to Be Validated

I can't count the times I've written a fund-raising letter and heard, "Isn't this too long? People are too busy these days to read a long letter."

I've had to address this objection so many times, I have a memorized speech. The condensed version is this: "On average, all other factors being equal, long letters raise more money than short letters."

The research on this is overwhelming and irrefutable. But it's always helpful to have another expert weigh in. Thus, it was good to see this tip in a recent article in the FundRaising Success newsletter:

"Longer letters usually work better. Logic may dictate that your donors are busy and don't have time to read a four-page letter. Although that may be true, how much of a compelling case can you make in a one-page letter? You need to tell stories, and stories take space. Keep the paragraphs short and easy-to-read. Include a P.S. Use bold type or underlining, but use them sparingly."

Starbucks Activism.

I've noticed some crazy quotes on Starbucks cups lately. But none as whacked as this one that a friend of mine got on his cup this past weekend. If you can't read the picture here is the quote in full...

The Way I See It #43

"My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too [expletive] short."

Yuck. I almost couldn't finish my cranberry oatmeal mountain bar after reading that. I think I'm gonna send Starbucks my own quote to put on their cups.

UPDATE: I just came across a news article about some controversy surrounding this cup quote. Click here

Beware of WinFixer 2005

Despite several layers of anti-spyware protection and my best efforts at good Internet hygiene, my home PC has been infected by an insidious type of malware that hijacks my web browser--(opening new browser windows with ads in them.) But here's the twist...

This trojan horse offers to remove itself...for money. The malware (and the offered solution) is called WinFixer 2005. First it infects your computer in ways that prove to be extraordinarily hard to cure. Then it incessantly pushes a pop-up at you that offers to have WinFixer 2005 scan and remove the problem, for only $39.95.

A brief scan of a Google search seems to indicate that many people have fallen for this extortion scam. And often, after they've paid, the problem still doesn't go away!

Now here's the really troubling part...

This thing is hijacking my Firefox browser as well as MS Internet Explorer. (I'll pause while that sinks in...)

As far as I know, this is the first malware app that affects both Explorer AND Firefox. (I guess this is the price Firefox is paying for it's success. The installed-base is becoming large enough to attract vandals.)

From what I read on the tech sites. I'm going to need to set aside two or three hours (which I don't have) to get rid of this spawn of hell. (Yet a search of Symantec's site suggests they haven't even heard of this thing. No wonder Norton Antivirus didnt' touch it.)

If there is any justice in this world, one day soon I'll meet the writer of this app in a dark alley and I'll just happen to be carrying my five iron.

Great Band, Silly Statement

I came across a great Christian band the other day. Ceili Rain (pr. kay-lee). They're a thoughtful, fun Celtic-y, alt-folk-rock group that makes me smile when I listen to them.

Only don't call them "Christian." When they write or speak, they fall over overthemselves trying to avoid being labeled as a Jesus band...as in this interview at ChristianMusic.com:

"Our spiritual songs are not heavy-handed. They're not religious in a 'born again,' in-your-face way. The worst feeling you can give someone is that they're being preached at. We let the songs do the talking. There is spiritual content if you care to hear it but we don't shove it down people's throats." (emphasis added)

I know I'm just being cranky. And I completely understand and emphathize with not wanting to be pigeon-holed in the Christian ghetto when you're called to reach a wider audience... but is it really true that "the worst feeling you can give someone is that they're being preached at?"

I tend to think that the worst feeling you can give someone is that they're being shot at.

In fact, I can think of ten thousand verbal messages one could deliver that would make someone feel worse than hearing, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life," as traumatizing as that might be.

How about, "Mrs. Jamil, our Great Leader Saddam has ordered that your husband be fed feet-first into this plastic shredder-recycler while you are forced to watch. But you'll be relieved to know you won't be hearing from anyone at Campus Crusade. Have a nice day!"

Okay, I'm over-reacting. These guys are really good and you should give them a listen. I wish them all the best. I'm just a little weary of hearing people apologize for having the best news anyone could possibly ever hear (the gospel) and having people act, in the words of the Newsboys, "like we're spreadin' some kind of disease."

That's all I'm saying.

Fishing for Complaints

Did you happen to catch the Presidential address last night? While the speech was beautiful and extremely well written, my favorite part came afterwards. I took a break from watching Jon's beloved Horned Frogs win a nail-biter against Utah (snapping the country's second longest winning streak), but I digress...

I watched the speech on ABC. After Koppel?s weird-voiced follow up, he tossed it to a correspondent stationed outside the Houston Astrodome where he was with a group of evacuees from New Orleans who had just finished watching the President?s address together. One by one he asked the Louisiana natives what they thought of the speech. Did they find hope in anything the President said tonight? After several positive responses (and zero negative), he started trying to bait them into basing Bush.

Did you think the President was sincere?

"Yes"

Do you really think you will be able to go back to your home?

"Yes"

Why?

"Because I believe what he said tonight"

Was there anything the President said tonight that made you think ?Well that was some nice rhetoric, but the proof is in the pudding??

?No.?

He was stunned. He tried a different approach. What was the one mistake that could have prevented some of these problems? One woman said she didn?t take the evacuation seriously and could have left earlier. Another woman laid into the local and state government for not using the federal funds they have had for years to bolster the dike. Another actually said she blames the mayor of New Orleans personally. It made me feel so warm and fuzzy to see the MSM squirm as their devious tactics backfired on them. By the way, the entire audience outside the Astrodome was African-American.

Data Issues: Multi-Channel Fundraising

If you're one of those people whose eyes glaze over the moment someone starts talking about databases and data management--feel free to skip this post. Boredom this way lies. (Instead...go here!)

However if, like me, you get a little giddy thinking about slicing and dicing data to tease out an intiguinging pattern, trend or synchronicity then read on...

The power of multichannel communication--using broadcast media, print, mail and, especially, email in a concerted and coordinated way--is enormous. Done right, it makes everything work better.

The challenge is synthesizing different databases to do the job and analyze the results. For example, we (Holland|Simpson) are currently working with MPower Systems (developors of a powerful Donor Relationship Management softward application used by many media ministries for handling direct mail, etc.) and Convio, Inc. (one of the pioneers in online fundraising) to make sure their two systems can "talk" to one another.

A recent article in TargetMarketing magazine's "TipLine" dealt with this very issue and offered some great tips. Have a look!

A Little Different Perspective...

...on the government's response to Hurricane Katrina--courtesy of Cliff May. In "The Corner," Cliff posts:

"Former Green Beret Jack Kelly thinks the media has it wrong on the US response to the flood:

'Journalists who are long on opinions and short on knowledge have no idea what is involved in moving hundreds of tons of relief supplies into an area the size of England in which power lines are down, telecommunications are out, no gasoline is available, bridges are damaged, roads and airports are covered with debris, and apparently have little interest in finding out.

So they libel as a 'national disgrace' the most monumental and successful disaster relief operation in world history.'"

Me: I think he's right. Questioning what Louisiana officials should have done prior to the disaster is appropriate. Blame-throwing about what's been done since, smacks of either ignorance or bad faith.

SMU 21 TCU 10

Let's just call this "a bump in the road."

But Will She "Get" Evangelicals

Delia Gallagher, CNN's longtime Vatican analyst, has been named the network's first faith and values correspondent. According to Media Week, Gallagher will report on issues of faith, religion and values.

(Here, she's puckering up to blow Wolf Blitzer a kiss.)

This is an encouraging step (especially for any media offspring of Ted "Christianity-is-for-losers" Turner. But will Gallagher, a Roman Catholic, get evangelicals? We'll see!

(Hat tip to our favorite Polish-Born/New Jersey-Raised/part-time Prague-resident--Vitold Chrzanoowski.)

Thank You, Hollywood(!)

Just when I thought that the feted waters from hurricane Katrina could smell no worse, the Hollywood Elite arrived to add their fragrant bouquet.

Hey! I spy a great American! It?s Sean Penn, bailing out his leaky boat with what appears to be a paper cup! He?s off to save another life!

Thank God he's in New Orleans! Now I have something to write about.

Of course, Sean is not alone. Oprah Winfrey (may I use her last name?) is in Houston and New Orleans straightening everyone out, John Travolta (with a potential case of Night Fever) is in New Orleans and Celine Dion is reaching out on-camera (as she can?t be bothered with actually going to a disaster area because her absence from Las Vegas would cause the earth to wobble on its axis much like it did during the earthquake that caused the terrible tsunami of December 2004 and we can?t have another disaster this year) with her precise and tearful analysis of how the federal government botched the rescue.

I'm sure it's all intended to bring attention to the situation. LIKE A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE THAT WIPED OUT HUNDREDS OF MILES OF COASTLINE, CAUSED THOUSANDS OF DEATHS, BROUGHT ON CATASTROPHIC FLOODING AND NEARLY CRIPPLED AMERICA?S ENERGY SUPPLIES WASN'T ENOUGH. (caps provided for emphasis ? as with the on-scene arrival of celebrities ? so that you'd notice because we?re all to slow to notice otherwise.)

Shouldn?t the spotlight be on the folks who've been busting their wet bottoms for days? You know? those who?ve been busy dodging bullets, enduring sweltering heat, braving poisonous waters, going without sleep and stuff like that. Sure, I know that Sean, John and Oprah were busy early on (as was the federal government, right?) and got there as fast as they (due to their prior commitments) could get there (and not like those tardy, nasty, mean and selfish folks who should have foreknown of the devastation and had the answers ready before the troubling questions spun out of the horrible vortex of the obviously Bush-inspired hurricane).

No! These brave men and women of Hollywood have descended on the suffering Gulf Coast to bring their help where help was lacking.

I feel nauseous. It causes me to use too many parentheses.

Hey STARS! (I love attention-drawing exclamation marks too.) Try doing your good works in private. Don?t tell your agents. Don?t tell your publicists. Don?t tell Entertainment Tonight. Maybe then you?ll earn the right to be called ?hero? along those who serve without attention? without accolades? and without a ?thank you? (after all, you have erred by reacting too late).

To those who have lost everything; please forgive them.
To those who have worked tirelessly to save lives; please forgive them.
To those who now spend more than one second of time thinking about their "sacrificial" visit; please forgive them.

They know not what they do.

BONUS OBSERVATION!

While writing this, my lovely bride and I were watching Boston Legal (go Captain Kirk). While watching, we witnessed a marvelous soliloquy on the blood-thirsty nature of Texas? (wasn?t Bush the Governor there?) willingness to carry-out the death penalty? representing one-third of all executions in the whole US of A! Oh MY! The HORROR!

Of course, it?s Texas that also leads the nation by embracing over a quarter-million evacuees. Heartless indeed.

Lot's of Good Folks Doing Good Work

A few months back, I posted a note or two about my 76-year-old Dad and his sweet team of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief superfriends who were in Thailand rebuilding huts in a wiped-out fishing village.

Dad's team, one assembled from a group of small Baptist churches in Southeastern Oklahoma, is just one of hundreds comprised of volunteers from all over the nation--all operating under the leadership of the SBC's North American Mission Board.

Last week, the director of FEMA called and asked the NAMB if they could handle serving 500,000 meals per day for the next 90 days. Of course, they said, "We'll find a way."

So, Dad and his team will be off soon with their mobile kitchen to some assigned spot in the deep South.

You can donate to help supply them here.

They Should've Waited Longer

As I ponder this post-Katrina world, the one thing that keeps haunting me is that there should've been more of a delay. Not of course a delay in necessary aid arriving to those in need. Even though seeing Geraldo Rivera save an elderly woman causes anyone with a sense of direction to ask themselves, "who's saving who here people?"

But the resolve to wait is directly aimed at the main stream media. As every level of government (except the mayor of New Orleans) is getting pummeled with questions of not acting "expediate enough;" I'm crying out while listening to every single journalist ask the same question over and over again. It's like I'm living in Salem during the witchhunt trials.

I truly think journalists are demented enough to think they are helping? But there has got to be a better time to ask questions about disaster response. It gives me ulcers watching people getting plucked out of the water, looters running off with DVD players and at the same time Soledad O' Brien asking the director of FEMA what is taking him so long.

Shame on you MSM. Ask the right questions at the right time.

Frog Day Afternoon

As the father of two Texas Christian University (TCU) students, I could not let this weekend go by without taking a few moments to enjoy a small amount of pride and happiness. Horned Frogs 17, Sooners 10.

Yes, Virginia, defense wins football games.

It was just last night while leaving a high school game, when a friend of ours (who has two children attending Oklahoma University) mentioned that tomorrow he'd be enjoying a brunch featuring frog legs.

Heh, heh! He who laughs last indeed.

Of course the Sooners are "rebuilding" and they're a "young" team and it's not "the team from last year" and blah, blah, blah... Sure. Bless their hearts.

Meanwhile, I'll point to the humble Horned Frogs who hail from a school considerably smaller and who are often overlooked (ok, last season we deserved it) for their talent and great coaching.

Oh, did I mention that TCU won in Boomer Sooner Territory?

During a turbulent and sad weekend as we still try to comprehend the situation in the Gulf Coast area, at least for now there is a little happiness in Texas.

Still, TCU's regular season starts next week and there are 10 games to go. Of course, I sincerely hope and pray that the Sooners go undefeated (from this moment forward).

Go Frogs!