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Rick Perry’s War on Religion

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GUY RAZ, HOST:
Nearly three months ago, Hurricane Irene tore through the eastern sea board, leaving several dozen communities badly damaged by extreme wind and flood waters. Just after the storm in August we heard from one of the hardest hit areas – Middleburgh, N.Y., which is about an hour west of Albany. That’s where we met Jim and Cindy Barber. The Barbers run a farm that’s been in the family since the 1850s. Hurricane Irene flooded their house and devastated their crops. They lost much of their fall harvest, as Jim Barber described at the time.
JIM BARBER: We have Swiss chard completely destroyed, the late tomato crop completely destroyed, broccoli, cauliflower – unharvestable. The crops are still there, but because they’ve been submerged we won’t be able to harvest those.
RAZ: Well, we wanted to check back in with the Barbers to see how they’re doing and they join us now. Jim and Cindy Barber, welcome to the program.
CINDY BARBER: Thank you for having us.
BARBER: Thank you. Glad to be here.
RAZ: Take us back to August when the storm hit. What kind of damage did the flooding do to your farm and were you able to salvage the rest of the harvest?
BARBER: Well, the day of the flood we were up on the hillside at my sister’s house, so we could watch the season ending for us as the flood covered the fields. We had actually about three acres of crops that managed to stay above the floodwaters on the small rise in the field, so we had a few peppers, tomatoes and eggplant that we could harvest for a few weeks after that. But really, half of our harvest for the year was lost in that one day.
RAZ: I remember from Jeff Brady’s report, Cindy, that he described a creek near your house that became a river almost a mile wide across.
BARBER: Absolutely. It was amazing. At about 2:00 in the afternoon, as we were up on the hillside watching, the water from the Schoharie Creek swelled over its banks and within about 20 minutes, it covered the whole floor of the valley, which at our farm, is about a mile wide.
RAZ: And that, of course, destroyed your home to some extent, right?
BARBER: Yes. At the time, we didn’t realize that.
BARBER: Right. We had started out expecting that we could fix the house up, move back in. But as we got farther into it and saw the extent of damage and repairs that would need to take place, we decided it was probably not the best place to reinvest that money and decided the better option was to start over somewhere else.
RAZ: Where are you guys living right now?
BARBER: Yeah, well, we’re living with my mother.
BARBER: In the original farmhouse. And a sister of his is also living in the same house because she’s working on repairing her home. She will be moving in her children and Jim’s and my kids. There could be, like, up to 10 of us in the house over the holidays.
RAZ: Wow. And, of course, you are still on the property, but I wonder – how long do you think it will take for you to rebuild your house or to rebuild a house for you?
BARBER: It will be a while. I mean, we won’t even begin the process until next year some time. I guess, you know, we’d always thought about having a house up on the hill at some point, so we kind of – so now we’re there.
RAZ: Cindy, the church in town was also badly damaged. And I understand that your niece is planning to get married next summer and she was hoping and you were all hoping that she would be able to get married at the altar in the church. Will it be ready in time?
BARBER: Well, it’s amazing. This past weekend, there were 45 volunteers in the church hall for what has been repair, trying to get at least one part of the church in order so that we can just start having services again. Our neice is getting married on June 30th and who knows – we don’t know if there will be pews in there. It doesn’t matter, standing room only. We would just love to have that happen. But, my goodness, all of the volunteers that have come from out of the area – that’s been the story in the whole community. Folks just show up and the magic happens, and then they’re gone.
RAZ: That’s Jim and Cindy Barber of Middleburgh, New York, talking about the long recovery from Hurricane Irene. Jim, Cindy, thank you so much and good luck this year.
BARBER: Thank you.
BARBER: Thank you for revisiting our beautiful Schoharie Valley.
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After Irene, N.Y. Farmers Recover

TODAY’S SOCCER ON TV
7:45 a.m. - ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Manchester City vs. Everton
9:30 a.m. - GOLTV - Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Dortmund
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Arsenal vs. Bolton
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Chelsea vs. Swansea City
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv/Fox Deportes - Liverpool vs. Wolverhampton
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Newcastle vs. Blackburn
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - West Brom vs. Fulham
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Wigan Athletic vs. Tottenham
12 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv/ESPN3.com - Bologna vs. Inter Milan
12 p.m. - GOLTV - Sevilla vs. Valencia
12 p.m. - DirecTV - Athletic Bilbao vs. Villarreal
12:30 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Stoke City vs. Manchester United
12:30 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Evian Thonon Gaillard vs. Caen
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Lille vs. Lorient
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Lyon vs. Bordeaux
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Nice vs. Dijon
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Toulouse vs. Nancy
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Valenciennes vs. Marseille
2 p.m. - GOLTV - Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/ESPN3.com - AC Milan vs. Cesena
2:45 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Napoli vs. Fiorentina
2:45 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Ajax vs. FC Twente
3 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Montpellier vs. Paris-St. Germain
4 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid
4 p.m. - Telefutura - FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo
5 p.m. - GOLTV - Flamengo vs. America de Natal
6 p.m. - Telefutura - Queretaro vs. Monterrey
6 p.m. - Azteca America/ESPN Deportes - Cruz Azul vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
7 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Notre Dame vs. Louisville
7:20 p.m. - GOLTV - Real Cartagena vs. Millonarios Bogota
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Columbus Crew vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - New York Red Bulls vs. Portland Timbers
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - D.C. United vs. Real Salt Lake
8 p.m. - Telefutura - Pachuca vs. San Luis
8 p.m. - Telemundo - Tigres UANL vs. Jaguares
8 p.m. - Galavision - Estudiantes Tecos vs. Pumas UNAM
9 p.m. - GOLTV - Dorados vs. Veracruz
9 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Colorado Rapids vs. San Jose Earthquakes
9:45 p.m. - Telefutura - Atlas vs. Atlante
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Seattle Sounders
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Chivas USA vs. Toronto FC

Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

Venue
Metropolitan Opera HouseNew York City(Sunday, Sept. 18)

You know you’ve made it when you’re able to get an ex-President to introduce you. Not that Tony Bennett needs any introduction. But there was Bill Clinton ambling onto the stage of New York’s Metropolitan Opera to affectionately preface the venerable singer’s benefit performance for the Met to celebrate both his 85th birthday and the release of his new Duets II album.
Clearly a marvel of genes as well as career longevity, the octogenarian singer is simply remarkable for his undiminished vocal skills, his vibrancy and his physical spryness, the latter demonstrated with some twirling dance moves that produced cheers from the crowd. While his voice has inevitably changed with the passage of time, it still remains remarkably intact, and his interpretative skills, timing and phrasing have only deepened. In his 90-minute set he performed numbers that he’s sung countless times, including such signature tunes as “I Wanna Be Around,” “The Good Life,” “For Once in My Life” and, of course, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” But each was imbued with a richness of feeling that made them feel utterly fresh.
Most performers his age would hide behind a large symphony orchestra and back-up singers. Not Bennett, who uses only a superb four-piece jazz quartet — Less Musiker (piano), Gray Sargent (guitar), Harold Jones (drums) and Marshall Wood (bass) — for accompaniment. While the generous solos he allowed the players clearly had the benefit of providing him some rest, his effusive and frequent acknowledgments also revealed a generosity of spirit.
Whether infusing such ballads as “Smile” and “The Way You Look Tonight” with a rich tenderness or displaying perfect rhythmic timing on such jazzy numbers as “I Got Rhythm” and “Sing You Sinners,” Bennett literally didn’t sing a false note.
Two of his Duets collaborators, Alejandro Sanz and Aretha Franklin, appeared to reprise their performances from the collection. Sanz, singing largely in Spanish, melded seamlessly with Bennett on an ethereal “Yesterday I Heard the Rain,” which Bennett proudly proclaimed had just hit No. 1 in Spain. And a healthy looking Franklin delivered gorgeous vocalizing on a deeply moving “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?”
Although he’s not on the new CD, Elton John also showed up to sing along on a jaunty “If I Ruled the World” in which he generously ceded the final section to his co-star.
The evening was practically an aerobic experience for the audience, who rose constantly for standing ovations throughout. After Bennett closed the show with his trademark device of performing a number sans amplification–here a stirring “Fly Me to the Moon”–the cheering crowd refused to leave until the house lights came on.
Among those in the star-studded audience were Bill and Hillary Clinton, Robert DeNiro, Richard Gere, Mario Cuomo, Katie Couric and many others.
Set List:
Watch What HappensThey All LaughedMaybe This TimeI Got RhythmHow Do You Keep the Music Playing (with Aretha Franklin)Sing You SinnersJust the Way You Look TonightSteppin’ Out With My BabyYesterday I Heard the Rain (with Alejandro Sanz)Just in TimeBecause of YouI Wanna Be AroundOnce Upon a TimeThe Good LifeFor Once in My LifeThe Shadow of Your SmileI Left My Heart in San FranciscoThe Best is Yet to ComeIf I Ruled the World (with Elton John)Who CaresSmileWhen You’re SmilingFly Me to the Moon

Tony Bennett at the Metropolitan Opera House: Concert Review