There's a lot of relief today, but a lot of worry, now that Frances is now out of sight.

I went back to work after the holiday weekend, what holiday we could call it considering the events of the past three days. One of my collegues whose home suffered roof damage during Charley had it aggrivated further from Frances. He's one of those who I certainly feel for, as he'll have to deal with the double deductable his insurance company will slap on him and others in his situation. I discussed this subject in an earlier post, and am still surprised that the media has not pressed the issue of wheather the insurance companies will forgive the double deductible as they have in some past occasions. Needless to say, I'm sure the bank loan officers will be very busy people over the next few weeks and months as home owners try to cover the required amount of their insurance companies.

There's a lot of worry also about Ivan, but IMHO he's going to miss Florida. Looking at the track, my belief is that this one will head into the Gulf of Mexico. From there, it could hit anywhere from Texas to Mississippi. I just don't believe that Florida is in for three major storms in four weeks. Las Vegas wouldn't even make book on that bet. But just in case...it's worth watching.

Getting on to OTHER MATTERS: To see and hear the media, you would think that anyone who believes in God is a flag waiving Republican thinking that George W. Bush is the greatest commander-in-chief since George Washington, and to believe differently is to condemn yourself to the deepest depths of Hades. Contrary to those sights and sounds, there are a lot of Americans who have a deep religious faith but whose political beliefs are different from the so-called Religious Right.

Case in point: New York's non-demoniationial Riverside Church has taken an an activist role through it's Mobilization 2004 program. This program is a nonpartisan attempt to shine a light on issues of economic and social injustice. It's "mission statement" is known as the Prophetic Justice Principles, against which we should test our political leaders' policies for moral depth.

I was drawn to this program the Sunday before the Republican National Convention, when former President Bill Clinton spoke during a worship service at Riverside as part of the Mobilization 2004 program which was aired on C-SPAN. His speech, linked here (need Adobe Acrobat Reader), was clearly moving.