…and there’s still lots of work to be done in Haiti, by the country itself and the worldwide community. Although the injection of donations from scores of first-world countries is inpiring, some ugly truths about human nature have risen to the surface.

First off, Pat Robertson’s comments are both disgusting and contradictory. Even if many generations ago some inhabitants of the country did make a “pact with the devil”, why so were millions punished centuries later? Does the fact that over 95% of the country identify as Christian make a difference to the all-powerful and loving god that seeks to punish this former voodoo-nation of devil worshippers? Was god late to deed of punishment or did they just not convert with enough gusto?

Robertson’s comments could be easily dismissed as the crazy it is – if not for the fact that I’ve heard some otherwise sane (but churchgoing) colleagues discuss the matter when one of them pipes up “Well… when you think about, the Dominican Republic hardly got touched…” then, folks, we have a problem. I know everyone around the world is trying to make rhyme or reason of this chaos, but that’s all it truly is: chaos. Geological chaos that has been tearing the thin crust of the planet apart since it was formed, long before we got here, and long after we disappear. Praying won’t make it stop, no matter how loud, how often or however many of us participate.

The vacuum of hope in the country will surely be filled even further with empty spiritual promises. Not only are the already-entrench Christian missions cranking it up a notch, but also washed up celebrities with more time on their hands then common sense have jumped the queue on Port au Prince’s landing strip ahead of such groups as Doctors Without Borders. I anticipate a real tug-of-war between different faiths over this impoverished nation; Christianity has almost hit it’s saturation point but the door may be opened for others. Any ambassador, no matter which god they bow to, can show up well fed, well dressed with gifts of food and medicine in hand, giving the locals the hope “Now THIS guy knows who to pray to.” It’s worked for the Christians for centuries, in Haiti and all over the globe.

My request to anyone reading this far, please contribute, please donate – but do so wisely. If you wish to help knowing that your contribution is being delivered with no strings attached, my recommendations are:

Red Cross  (that’s not a Christian cross)

Doctors without Borders (maybe Travolta will get his fat ass off the runway so they can land)

Habitat for Humanity

OUT TODAY ON ARTOFFACT RECORDS:

v01d “This is Not a False Alarm Anymore”, and the limited 2-CD version featuring “Burnt Upon Re-Entry”

This can be found in both physical and digital formats, at a number of retailers including: Artoffact Records, Stormingthebase.com, iTunes Music Store, etc.

A peek at things to come for this week…

Can’t see embedded video? Click here!

Hot damn, the album is out next week! But cool news – if you order the 2CD set TODAY from www.artoffact.com they’ll send you the mp3 files in the meantime! Pretty sweet deal…

Not only that, I highly recommend getting it from them any. If you do, the lyrics will be built in to the file and you can scroll thru them on your iPhone and iPod Touch. You won’t get that feature from iTunes!

Also, Art of Fact is good people. Get it from them directly, cause Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos are rich enough already.

So get the 2CD set – enjoy – and let me know what you think!

this is just brilliant – done in a style similar to the Academy award winning “I met the Walrus” but somehow more succinct and TRIPPIER at the same time. plus, I could give a rat’s ass about the Beatles. I could also give rat’s ass about baseball, but I always have a soft-spot for 70s sports nostalagia. and this is just damn cool. watch it.