Tornado or Flood?

The other day while I was shopping at Wal-Mart, I received a call from my brother in Iowa. They were in the basement during a Tornado watch. It was an interesting conversation that brought back memories of Iowa's storm warnings--an all too common experience.

This Dark and Stormy Night


blackness replaces the shadows
that usually float on the west wall.
Pelting rain dents the aluminum
window shutters just before
clouds shoot hail onto the roof.


The blanket over my head
blocks out the alarm’s glow,
but not the high pitched wail
of the town’s emergency siren.
It’s a steady screech, warning
this Iowa town of flood,
and with tonight’s blast, a tornado.


We all grab our robes first,
then jeans and sweaters as
we head toward the basement.
We take special care with
granddad. He descends slowly,
testing step after step. Lights
flicker and dim. Darkness.


We grope our way to couches
in the ping pong room. Guarded
by the strongest basement walls,
we exchange lame jokes, stories
about last year’s storms, and compose
mental grocery lists. It’s four A.M.


When the all clear blows
an hour later, we help granddad
upstairs to the kitchen as the lights
sputter and shine. Scrambled eggs
and bacon anyone? We’ll collect
shingles and yard debris later.

Politics As Usual

The unfortunate situation of Shirley Sherrod should be a lesson for journalists, politicians, and voters everywhere. Fox network showed an piece of a speech she gave to a NAACP meeting. Unfortunately the editing took words out of context, twisting them to show she had racial bias against whites rather than her message that race is not as important as empowering the poor and exploited. Shirley lost her job and her reputation was sullied because of that story, but the situation shows how sloppy our thought and research processes have become.

No one checked the story. No one talked with Shirley.

I could spend some time blaming Fox's editorial policy for this mistake, but it is only a small part of the problem. We are all at fault. I get innumerable political commentaries in emails. How many of them do I check? Just a few. We should all research and check ALL of the story facts all of the time. A overwhelming burden? True. The implication is that we should check the facts of stories with which we agree and those which we question. That is the only way we can be sure we know and understand what we are talking about. Educators have always taught critical thinking and good logic, but applying those skills in today's media market is not easy. When it is possible to Google a topic and get two million references, the need to check facts seems daunting. Journalists have the responsibility to do this, however, and no one reporting on Shirley's speech should have done so without watching the entire speech.

Our technological advances are a waste if we don't use them.

Someday we should also address those people who gain political advantage by twisting their opponents' statements. No President or politican is safe from this contemporary strategy. Personally, I hope there is a special corner in Hell for such political liars.