Slate on Georgia Gov. Perdue's "Pray for Rain" Day

The governor of Georgia held a public prayer vigil and asked God for rain to relieve the state's drought. This is at least the third time a Georgia governor has tried it. Governor's quotes: 1) Georgians haven't conserved water enough, so the drought is God's attempt to "get our attention." 2) "We come here very reverently and respectfully to pray up a storm." 3) "God, we need you. We need rain." 4) "God can make it rain tomorrow, he can make it rain next week or next month." Ministers' quotes: 1) "Oh God, let rain fall on this land of Georgia." 2) "We are entrepreneurs for you, dear God." Results: 1) The vigil "ended with the sun shining through what had been a somewhat cloudy morning." However, 2) Wednesday's forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of showers. Critiques: 1) "Hail Priest-King Perdue." 2) "God is not an ATM machine." 3) God is not an extortionist. 4) God is already aware of the drought. 5) "You can't make up for years of water mismanagement with a prayer session." 6) Less faith, more works. Defenses: 1) It's "worth a shot." 2) It worked last time. Human Nature's view: Intercessory prayer is an experimental failure. (Add your take here.)

Please note the links within the article itself from Slate.

"Picketing But Still Punchy"

Over at the NYT, a Daily Show writer uses the Sunday Style section as a strike diary:

12:15 p.m. A man in a suit passes by. He yells, “I hope you all get fired!”

Look — this is weird for us, too, you know. Writers are not a naturally combative species. We’re used to sitting in front of our computers and crying. Fresh air is like poison to us. If protocol didn’t dictate otherwise, it’s very likely we would never wear pants. But we’ve given up our salaries and our jobs — easily the only jobs we’re qualified for — to stand outside and yell at people. So, for the sake of decency, could you please not yell back?

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I seem to have digested something in the past twenty-four hours that makes my digestive system deeply unhappy. It is very annoying.