Merlinfmct87 Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 I've been watching the hurricane coverage and I'm quite disgusted with what I'm seeing. Not only are the 'charity' groups fighting over control of New Orleans like mob territory - even to the point of not letting organizations like NOKR, national Next Of Kin Registry into the area to try to collect names to ease the minds of family members, but they are not giving aid to all people present... there are many places they are afraid to go because it's 'dangerous.' You're the fucking rescue crew. Danger is your responsibility. Not to mention that when a camera crew went into the same area, armed just with a camera, they met no hostility or resistance. The danger was a myth. Something utterly illusionary. But this isn't about the inept charity organizations. As I'm watching the coverage on Larry King, watching Eric Clapton and John Mayer sing 'Broken-Hearted'... watching the presidents of the charity ogranizations justify their own callous actions and I'm struck by a thought. Something had be knawing at me for the longest time and it finally clicked. The reason I'm not compelled to donate or try to help the people caught in this mess... the reason I have this gut feeling my aid(however small it may be) is desperately needed elsewhere. I had seen a clip of a news report a while back today from a certain Ivor van Heerden - Deputy Director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center. In that report he said he sent a CD ROM of exactly what happened to New Orleans to the white house. This CD-ROM was not delivered in the last few days. It was not a documentary of the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. The CD made no mention of Hurricane Katrina in fact. Katrina had not even happened when the CD was made. Yet it describes exactly what happened, how, and why. It was delivered ten years ago. This was not a report, it was a prediction. It was a scientist trying to forestall a disaster he saw coming a decade hence. What was done with this dire warning? Nothing at all. New Orleans was not re-developed. The building standards were not re-analyzed. They sat on their thumbs and said 'That's your opinion... your perspective.' This isn't King Sol going to the Witch of Endor and hearing 'if you go to war, a great nation will fall.' If you must use that metaphor, this is the Witch of Endor banging down King Sol's house and saying "Your battle will cost you your kingdom - and here's why"... then being told to fuck off. His analysis was flawless, his evidence undeniable. So why the hell was he blown off? People so often talk about what they would do differently 'if they had only known.' Not only were we told, we were told how and why! This wasn't some obscure verse from an Oracle, this was a specific and precise prediction, complete with location and method. The only thing that was unknown was when the hurricane would hit. It could have been the next hurricane season, it could have been twenty years from now. But it was coming. Why was it ignored? How could anyone ignore this? People don't know what they are playing with when they discount science. There was a pseudo-science flick named What the Bleep do we know?!. It got under my skin in a huge way and that is well documented on the forums... because it's nothing but an appeal to ignorance. It's asking people to trust superstition and assume the world is a big mass of crazy things we sinners can't possibly understand. The most incomprehencable thing about the universe is that it IS comprehencable. Like it or not, we seem to be able to piece together how this world ticks. It's not a guess... it's not a theory... it's not something that 'seems to kinda fit.' We know how it works. We have made predictions based solely on theory that have been proven right decades later when the technology to observe finally caught up with the idea. This has happened in geology, cosmology, biology, and any other field of study you could name. That's right... new evidence has *confirmed* old theories... it hasn't destroyed them. Einstein's theory of relativity has been proven with countless tests and experiments the German mathematician never could have dreamed of. Yet he is right... because he had a genuine insight into how the world WORKS. Maybe I'm just a godless pagan who needs to open his heart to Jesus. But here's some food for thought: The next time you see Jerry Falwell saying that evolution is a bunch of crap... that science is a hollow pursuit devoid of wisdom, containing only mere knowledge... that the truth is 'only an opinion, a theory'... Ask yourself who knew New Orleans would be flooded. NO, I'm not talking about judgment or revelation or a sign that the world will end and all your revenge fantasies will come true. I mean who knew New Orleans would be flooded... who knew how, where, why, and what would happen afterwards? I can tell you this - the charities won't get a red cent of my money. Mum had the brilliant idea of donating to the best science foundation she can find... We don't want to try to help people out of this mess... that is being done. We want to STOP the NEXT one from happening. And yes... it can be done. We colud have stopped this one. If people had trusted the warning that CD-ROM gave, if people had knew enough to take the hurricane warning seriously... we wouldn't be here. Reference link Merlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyx Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 OUCH... WEll, it's so sad when ignorance reigns. Human nature stinks sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caretaker Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 Naw, we don't need to understand how the world works. Why do that when God will protect us?* * Author claims no liability over readers' inabilities to detect sarcasm in above post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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