My son is back in the hospital, nicu, jaundice and feeding tubes. Went through this with my older son when he was an infant but figured we'd avoid it with my youngest since he was to term. This sucks. I'm fuhrerious.
I did read up on the Olsteen thing. Apparently he hasn't opened his church up to flood victims. Kind of damning considering it seats like 5000 people and he's a well known Christian voice.
He reopened it "under public pressure." That guy is just pure evil. There's a lot of places who have done a lot of good -- look up Bucces and HEB. Unfortunately he is not one of them.
He is, whats he worried about? People coming in who didn't pay for his books or parking? Maybe he's worried about the custodial bill? Normally I'd think evil is a strong word, but in this instance I think it applies. I imagine many small churches of all denominations have opened their doors and done what they can with what little they have. Maybe Olsteen is so far removed from the common person he just doesn't care and worries more about spreadsheets.
It seats 18,000 fucking people. I think the Rockets or some shit used to play there. It is literally a stadium. His fucking HOUSE could fit hundreds, it's as big as Will Smith's.
A brother on law of mine is a first responder down there and the rumors going around was that he wanted some kind of reassurance from the government he was gonna get reimbursed for operational costs of running it and then costs for cleaning it while there were evacuees there. Though obviously these are just rumors. I'm sure "both sides" are wrong.
As a bonus, every mosque in Houston opened its doors to flood victims. Osteen's castle stays closed. Isn't this sort of thing EXACTLY what a giant church is for? They're called "sanctuaries" for Christ's sake.
Can we talk about this girl? For a while I was on the service animal train. I honestly enjoy seeing all sorts of dogs in public and meeting them brings me more happiness than just about anything else. At this point I think these people that apply for them need to be 5150'd for general public safety.
From USA Today, yes the news isn't reliable, take it for what its worth: "The church announced plans Monday evening to act as a collection site for Houston-area shelters. "We know the need is great. That much is clear," a church statement said. "We do not yet know all the ways we can help." ...um open your doors, break out some cots, and bring some food and water in. Act as a collection sight sounds suspicious to me. Texas does talk a lot about how its self-sufficient, its own place they take care of their own. I don't know if its a sense of self-righteousness but people coming in, with significant materials that can help, such as boats, is good to see.
I saw a few things on Osteen. The first point was that they had flooded too, as in these images: http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/us/joel-osteen-houston-megachurch-criticism/index.html I saw something about no showers, no kitchen facilities, making it questionable for long term habitation. OK, I get that. Despite all of that, not immediately reaching out to help the community/congregation seems kind of crazy, right? The church exists as a place of refuge....who cares if you get mud on the carpets? Go, do, help.
Texas is like it's own world but even the world needs help once in a while. From an insurance agent standpoint those poor people are completely fucked. There is no coverage for this. If FEMA comes in, they may give loans but that's just what it is, a loan. You owed 300k on your now destroyed house? Great here's that 300k, now you owe 600k!