A week or so ago, one of my favorite internet music stations, VivalaVoce.com, stopped being free. A minor disaster. I listened to it daily. As I already have a pay-for radio/computer service, Sirius (one of my daughters gives it to me each year for my birthday), there was not room in my financial priorities to spend more on this sort of thing.

The good thing about disasters is that it starts you looking for substitutes. A couple of good ones so far.

The best is http://www.live365.com/index.live. They say they have thousands of stations. Eleven categories under “Classical”! At least they have a couple of excellent ones I have found so far: “Opera Elegance” under “Opera” and “Lofty Voices” under “Choral”. I am listening to “The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Nabucco at the moment on Opera Elegance.

Years ago, when the internet first started up, I got my emails through Yahoo. Used Yahoo for everything. The last couple of computers I purchased all had MicroSoft software built in and Verizon gave me MSN with my subscription. I was pleased with most of it. My blog on MSN spaces, http://scdiv.spaces.live.com/, never seems to work, however, and I have concentrated on the Yahoo one, http://360.yahoo.com/ which always works beautifully. The Yahoo one gets responses, too (thanks, Capt. Nutso), where the MSN one got none. A long way to the subject, Yahoo also has an excellent internet music source, http://launch.yahoo.com/ which includes music videos.

While on the music subject, this past week I got to see Asleep at the Wheel do a Bob Wills tribute at the Kennedy Center. Asleep at the Wheel and Bob Wills all in one night! Died and gone to Heaven.

Long ago and far away – in Heaven about the time of the Garden of Eden – God is on his Italian marble throne (I like Michelangelo's vision of God and Heaven) with his Son and Heir at his right and his chief operating officer, Mother Nature, at his left. Cherubim and seraphim are flitting around everywhere.

God turns to Mother Nature and saith “I would like to see the world with the creatures that I have made in Mine own image.” Mother nature replies “Which one, there are a bunch with creatures in Your own image?” And God saith “On Terra, the third planet out from Sol, of course.”

Mother Nature brings up the video on her screen (a Mac with blue higlights to go with the Italian marble) that shows a real party going on. God exclaimith “They are just cavorting and lollygagging. And even tomfoolery! What is this?” Mother Nature puts God's specs on the screen. “These are your instructions.” And God saith “We need to make some adjustments.”

Mother Nature ponders and replies “How about we give them a couple of ice ages. And the sabretooth. The flu epidemic of 1918. The San Francisco earthquake and Hurricane Katrina?” God nods and says “And I will give them strength, courage, stick-to-itiveness, intelligence, inquisitiveness, imagination.”

Time passes and God and Mother Nature check back. Things are not going well. A man is building a nice neat and orderly wall around his cave entrance to keep out the tigers but it just keeps falling down. Another is trying to organize his tribe mates to do different chores in a neat and orderly fashion but they just keep argueing. God gasps, thunder rolls and lightning flashes, and saith “You gave them the Second Law of Thermodynamics*! I did NOT authorize that!”

Mother Nature shrinks behind her desk and whispers “The Devil made me do it.”

God pondereth a moment. He respondeth “Instead of going back and changing things, I will give them togetherness and cooperation. And I will give them love.”

*The First Law says that you can not get out of a system any more work or energy than you put is. TANSTAAFL (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch). The Second Law, the source of so much earthly toil and trouble, says that some energy or work will always be lost to disorder (entropy, which always increases). Like the heat and work lost by a hot automobile engine or a teenager's room making itself messy. There are also Zeroeth and Fourth Laws which say that there is an absolute zero but you can not get there.

It is September and the elections are just two months away. Wait a minute, two months? And the barrage has started already! A lot of money that could be put to good use is going to this stuff that just makes me change the channel.

The Eastern Shore of Virginia has two prominent campaigns, one for the House with Drake and Kellam and one for the Senate with Allen and Webb.

The Drake – Kellam ads are already nasty. And they concentrate on lesser parts of our political problems. Neither is talking about what they would do with the national debt or our educational deficit. They are obviously just superficial begging for votes. The League of Women Voters has not yet posted the planks for each. Along with the impact of the ads, that is what I like to rely on. However, I already wish there was an alternative. I will not lie nor cheat nor steal nor tolerate those that do.

The Allen – Webb tv ad campaigns are just getting started. Allen's ads so far have been good. Positive and informative. Based on the ads for the primary, I would expect Webb's to also be good. Keep up the good work, guys.

The day before 9/11 and the news is rightfully full of it being the five year remembrance. One thing I keep hearing, and did five years ago, is “Why did God do this to us?”. I know that some of this is pain crying out. It still bothers me, however. Perhaps I am not understanding because no one I love has ever been taken or suffered in a difficult manner (knock on wood). Still!

I know God is ultimately responsible. He is the Creator of everything. In my human ignorance, however, I do not see how there could be a universe without death. If everything lived forever, we would be up to our ears in people. And bugs and bacteria. Infact, we would not even be here! It just does not work if nothing died.

And suffering? Our Father knows that if everything just went along swimingly all the time, we would be spoiled rotten brats. Every father knows what would happen if he gave his offspring everything they wanted without earning it.

I do not pretend to underestimate God's intelligence and abilities, but I do not see any other way to run this universe.

Of course, what He did give us is the strength to get through all of this. Most of all, he gave us us. To quote Saint Francis, “where there is discord, union.” Together, we can persevere. And God also gave us those who love us. Together, with those who love us, with God's great gifts, with His love, we can survive Mother Nature and man's inhumanity to man.

The following came to me in an email from a friend. I thought it well worth repeating:

Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest act's of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families. Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the malesoldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi," the little girl then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

The young soldier, he didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek. The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now.

As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back overto Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon." The mom at this point was crying almostuncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted
Courtney and her mom.

I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event unfolded.As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, their were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.