Katrina Victim Interview(Part 2) May 31, 2006
Posted by collegeclectic in Economical, Political, Video Posts.10 comments
This Memorial Day Weekend 2006, I was able to interview mother and son, Cynthia and Israel Punch. They are victims of Hurricane Katrina and have been living in my hometown, Henderson County, NC. A Latino housing development has temporarily provided them with shelter at a reduced cost. They are from St. Bernard Parish, one of the lowest seated areas in the 'soupbowl' of Lousiana. It has been 9 months since the disaster and they are only now receiving their FEMA trailer. They will be returning to St. Bernard Parish on Saturday June 3rd.
Mother, Cynthia Punch survived through the storm for 7 days. She was trapped in her home and says she did not want to leave without knowing that her brother was well, who was also living in St. Bernard Parish. Here she briefly talks about her 7 days starting from the day before the storm, until her evacuation.
In the next clip, Cynthia briefly talks about her time through Hurricane Betsy 40 yrs. prior, and now why she has these views of our government.
During the first session, Cynthia gives reference to her other son who is a firefighter in St. Bernard Parish. After the session she goes into saying that several fighters just walked out of the department simply because of the load of stress and danger to them and their families by staying. Cynthia states, for the firefighters that stayed, they recieved recognition and awards but now the city is saying that their jobs are no longer justifiable. Now that everyone is pretty much rescued and higher levels of government officials are controling the reconstruction and relief, the firefighters are 'not needed'. So for these firefighters that risked their lives and many that didn't get days off for 2-3 weeks, the city is pretty much saying "Thanks, but we don't need you anymore".
- Much thanks and God Bless to the Punch Family
Katrina Victim Interview(Part 1) May 31, 2006
Posted by collegeclectic in Economical, Video Posts.2 comments
This Memorial Day Weekend 2006, I was able to interview mother and son, Cynthia and Israel Punch. They are victims of Hurricane Katrina and have been living in my hometown, Henderson County, NC. A Latino housing development has temporarily provided them with shelter at a reduced cost. They are from St. Bernard Parish, one of the lowest seated areas in the 'soupbowl' of Lousiana. It has been 9 months since the disaster and they are only now receiving their FEMA trailer. They will be returning to St. Bernard Parish on Saturday June 3rd.
Son Israel Punch, evacuated before the disaster to make sure that his wife and daughter were safe. He was told by his insurance company that he was out of the flood plain and thought at most, he would recieve wind damage. Since the disaster, he has had to go through 4 appeals with his insurance company to have papers sent to FEMA and in April he just now recieved his trailer. He also said that most people that receive their trailer also have to wait 2-3 weeks to have electricity put in their trailer.
After our video session he briefly talked about another issue that they are dealing with against the Murphy Oil Company spilling. His property was three houses away from the ‘announced’ radius of the soil contamination from the company's spill. Murphy Oil paid the houses with in the radius $20-30,000 for the soil damage to their properties. Israel Punch is suing for a Class-Action suit in order to also recieve payment. The company only tested for contamination up until a certain distance and then just stopped. If it was in the water, the oil could have spread for dozens of more miles. He says that the case could take up to ten years and he could only recieve $100 by then, who knows.
- Much thanks and God Bless to the Punch Family
The DaVinci Code May 30, 2006
Posted by collegeclectic in Religion.1 comment so far
I just wanted to take a minute to talk about this whole DaVinci Code deal. Is it really that serious?!? It’s clearly stated that it is a FICTIONAL movie. Is one movie going to make you doubt your lifetime of faith? Of course everyone knows Jesus is the most controversial figure in history, but come on people!!! Other than Jesus, government and government cover-ups are other controversial issues in history. I took some time to talk with students from various colleges and here are some of there views.
One: "The book has been around for decades so why only recently is this movie going to make such an impact. It was just a well written script that made you think." “You can’t read(the book) but you’ll be quick to believe some bullshit in a movie” “It was a book first and it’s fictional like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea or The Chronicles of Narnia”
Two: “Not to say that any of it is true, but say he did have a bloodline, would that be such a bad thing?” “Shouldn’t you be scared of all these movies like The Omen, saying that the Devil has a son or an incarnate possessing a young child?” A recent movie like Constantine, was a movie about Heaven vs. Hell and how the spear that stabbed Jesus in the side had the power to bring Satan’s son to our world. “Nobody pays attention to that sh!%# because it’s FICTIONAL!!”
Three: "One movie that this was compared to is, National Treasure. It was also just a well written script that was saying there was a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence" "It went into all this detail about how Presidents and Political figures went through so much to hide this invaluable treasure placed, underground of one of our famous historical monuments. The treasure hunters had to defy death, solve impossible codes and puzzles, and finally make the ultimate decision on to uncover this conspiracy or keep it concealed and preserve the basis of our government. All of this questioned the foundation of our government and really had people thinking there was a map on the back of the declaration" – All that hype lasted for about a month people!
Four: Lastly, from a person who didn’t see the movie – “I just didn’t want to see it. It wasn’t my type of movie. I didn’t think it was any different from seeing any other movie like Elizabeth Town, Silent Hill, X-Men, or any other movie that isn’t my type” “I didn’t put any preference toward it just because it was about Jesus; The whole history thing just isn’t me”
And to conclude, to all the Christians that are so offended and think that this challenges Jesus’ holiness, if we are such Christians, don’t you think God will have his way? Other religions, atheist, and devil worshippers challenge God all the time. And if we are such Christians, why are we judging people who go see the movie? Why are there reports of people getting threatening phone calls in their home for seeing the movie? Why are people getting discriminated against at work for seeing it? Why have people been attacked while waiting in line to buy their tickets? Ask yourself these questions my fellow Christians.
– God Bless
