Response to A Prayerapalooza/Perry is a Hypocrite!

In response to A Prayerapalooza, written by Brandyss Drost.

I agree with the first two paragraphs of Brandyss article, but the last paragraph I partially disagree with. How can Rick Perry stand up in front of America and preach? He is a giant hypocrite. If he was really all that much of a Christian he would know that the bible says not to pray in public. So what does he do? He gets 30,000 people to join him for “fasting, weeping, and mourning.” Even though there were 20,000 more people that showed up than expected, there still weren’t enough people to fill Reliant Stadium. I guess Perry should have prayed for attendance.

Governor Rick Perry was obviously using his prayer rally to gain supporters to further himself as a presidential candidate in the 2012 race. This video of excerpts from the prayer rally doesn’t show the “power of prayer,” it shows that Rick Perry wants to get noticed, “To be remembered for years to come.” The sane Christian people recognize that he is just trying to gain political attention. They know his motivation wasn’t purely for God’s help. If that was the case praying, to himself, would have done the job.

            I find it funny that Perry tried connecting the Book of Joel to the rally he assembled. This so called “sacred assembly” was supposed to cleanse America of its moral decline. The moral decline, he was referring to, was mostly caused by politicians just like him. He is such a joke. The prayer rally was obviously self-motivated, even though he claims it was all about God.  

            Besides the crazy religious people, I can’t imagine who would actually take Perry seriously after this. This is exactly why people should do their research before making a decision to vote for someone. This was just a campaign to gain support from the Tea Party.

            I really hope Perry doesn’t have a smidge of a chance to become President. I think Obama has been a fine President and there should be no reason he wouldn’t win a second term. Rick Perry will surely run our nation into the ground. However, I do agree that Perry should be working to fix our economy, with something concrete instead of a nationwide prayer circle. 

Water De-Abundance

        Texas is in a major drought right now. Austin lakes are suffering from the severe heat we are having this summer. It is ridiculous when you can't even go outside in the late evening or morning without starting to sweat. According to a Huffington Post article, Texas has endured the driest 7-month span on record. So, what are we doing to address this imposing drought?

        Almost every year Texas has to issue burn bans in a majority of it's cites. The drought has been so bad this year that fire departments weren't even allowed to do fire works except in a few cities along the coast. Texas needs to do more to ensure the burn bans are keeping people from starting fires. I think public safety officials should even go as far as ticketing people that are smoking near grass or playing with lighters. I don't think people realize how easy it is to start a fire with just a little heat in a drought like this.

        In addition to burn bans, Austin has issued a water conservation period. This is important because without conservation of water we might not be able to put out wildfires and for many other reasons. In most residential areas there are only 1-2 days a week when you are allowed to water lawns and in some areas there are restrictions for the times you are allowed to water. According to YNN, “The extreme temperatures plaguing Central Texas have prompted the City of Austin to activate Phase One of its heat emergency plan.” This plan monitors “at-risk” people for heat related illnesses. Even ERCOT has gone into their Level One Energy Emergency Alert. They are urging residents and businesses to limit their water usage between 3p.m and 7p.m every day. These plans are good, but are we doing enough?

        I think Austin is doing a decent job of monitoring “at-risk” people, but what are they doing to attend to the ever-decreasing water levels? Currently Austin Water is offering incentives for Austin residents and apartment complexes. I think this is a great step towards conserving our water. I am planning to take Austin up on its offer to replace up to three toilets in my house (that was built before 1995) with new water conserving toilets. It's a win-win. If at least 20% of Austinites take advantage of these water conserving incentives Austin might be able to slow-down the effects of the drought.

I would also like to see the local government enforcing their threats to fine people that aren't helping to conserve water. For instance, restaurants are supposed to only give customers water if they request it, but I know for a fact that not all restaurants are following that rule. I understand that it is usually protocol to serve patrons water when they sit down and to constantly keep the cup filled, but it's ridiculous to waste that much water when a customer probably won't finish it.

        The extreme drought that we are having is a very important issue that city governments should be addressing. Praying for rain obviously isn't helping, so let's go cities; step up your efforts to conserve water!