Raf

I hate to say this, but I'm gonna (and I don't mean it to be mean, but to be provocative - that is, to provoke thought). Criticizing the term "awaiting the return" strikes me as a very TWI-ish thing to do. They loved to get down on everybody because of language, didn't they? Merry Christmas! I hope so! Good luck! And WHAM, the TWI thought police come in and yell EN GARDE! to make you feel guilty for... for what, exactly? Awaiting the return... Yes, it leaves out "of Christ." But so what? Whose return do you think she's awaiting, Bob Hope's? Xena, you're not wrong. If that's the way you feel about the phrase, then don't use it. But (as you correctly pointed out) it really is no bigge. And just as you despise the way TWI nitpicked words to death, you might want to let this one pass. The concept is Biblical. Celebrate that. Leave the quibbling to the quibblers. That's what we left behind! :)-->

My prayers Ron For whom? Just kidding. :)--> Let us know if you need a hand with supplies, Ron.

From the Associated Press:

I've taken the liberty of locking the thread on the Greasespot offshoot site.

We found out about 20 minutes ago, and immediately the newsroom went bananas. I don't mean cheering, but a LOT of reorganizing has to be done when something like this breaks at an hour like that. Good night, Your Honor. Rest well.

A relief to know our friend is well.

Bucket Babe!

You are forgiven. What you have just taught will echo through so many lives, it will be more than you can possibly have been able to give out of your wallet. May I use your words for a sharing/teaching?article?

Good point. I realized that after reading the snopes entry more closely a second time. I still think the most it does is supply an anecdotal object lesson (an opportunity for discussion without affixing blame or anything like that). Thanks LG.

What brought this to everyone's attention, apparently, is that Yahoo.com posted both pics side by side, with their captions, and didn't realize what they had done. They have since pulled the photos and apologized.

This is the kind of subtle message that organizations such as NAHJ and NABJ struggle with on a regular basis. To be fair, the Society for Professional Journalists denounces things like this as a matter of principle as well. I don't think it was racist, in the sense of an active desire to send this message. I think it might show bias, and once it's pointed out to the news organizations, the people responsible would probably be embarrassed (if not defensive). But being "defensive" might be the appropriate response, because the "defense" could very easily be a valid one. I agree with the careful reading provided by snopes: these were two different photographers for two different news services, and I don't have other images to compare them. Did the AP photographer label white people as looters? The the AFP photographer say black people "found" food and supplies? If both those statements are true, then it's not fair to criticize either for inconsistency. The two photos merely provide an anecdotal object lesson.

God Bless Texas.

First off, bygones. The whole argument got out of hand and I'm sorry. My only point was supposed to be that this storm is going to be a lot uglier than we even know at the moment. I've heard some people say some pretty uninformed things, which may turn out to be true in the future, but don't need to be said until we have more information (like the U.S. Senator who said the bodycount will be more than 10,000, then said he wasn't basing this on any information. Dude, if it's not based on information, shut up, Senator)! Anyway, as my posts indicate, I live in Fort Lauderdale, where Katrina came on land as a cat 1 on Aug. 25. And yes, I did already tell this story. Every time you see a thread title with the word "Cone" in it, it's about a Tropical Storm or Hurricane, and I started it. The Cone of Katrina thread is now called "Prayers for the Gulf Coast (Katrina)." No question, I consider myself lucky to have escaped as unscathed as I did, even for South Florida.

Aside from the part I lived through, no. We'll be covering the refugees when they arrive here in South Florida.

You have no idea what a mistake you're making, but I suppose when you read more of my posts you'll realize I am not at all as you describe. As for my major, I am proud of my college degree, proud of what it took for me to get it, and your pitiful effort to denigrate it makes the knowledge I gained during and after my formal education no less valuable.

This makes it sound as if there was exactly one incident of one person moving one body away. There were a bunch of incidents, all being summed up. That's not "subtle language." That's summary. I expect you know the difference.

Lean in real close to the monitor, okay... AFTER the levee broke, there was still no way to tell how high the water would rise, so the experts who were talking gave best case and worse case scenarios, which were passed on by the media. That is our job. To pass on information. Hence the term "media." Methinks you, not I, are the one not reading carefully.

You're talking about the Tsunami, and the Tsunami was caused by a major earthquake. NOTHING MAN DID could ever have caused or contributed to such a quake. All the nuclear bombs we've exploded since the 1940s could not do what that one earthquake did in terms of the earth's axis/rotation. And the effect of that earthquake on the axis was miniscule. EARTHQUAKES ARE NOT WEATHER EVENTS. Comparing a your car experiment to how man can affect the weather is like comparing an ant's strength to an elephant's. Lots on interesting facts, to be sure, but I've never seen an ant crush an elephant. This isn't even worth responding to.

Your silliness in blaming the media for exaggerating something like this holds whether I am with the media or not. For the record, yes, I am with the media. And the reason I pointed out the meaning of "media" is that it's outright silly of you to blame them for passing on what officials were saying COULD happen (not what WILL happen, what COULD happen: if you can't see the difference, that's not the media's fault, it's the school system's). You figure out a way to verify what's going to happen tomorrow. Let me know, so I can buy my Lotto tickets. "Fortunately, no one was listening..." If people had listened, maybe more would have gotten out of there. People are dying, you're blaming the media for exaggerating things that have not been exaggerated, and you accuse me of nitpicking. "Pot, meet the kettle." "But, but, but..." (In fairness, though, Bill obviously didn't know I was with the media. That's okay. He hasn't been posting long. Bill, let's grab a beer later and talk media politics).

Jeff Goldblum The Fly Geena Davis

Really? Hmmmm. Magnolias? (Proving once and for all that I am no botanist).

A typhoon couldn't POSSIBLY move the earth off its axis. You read wrong. Read again. We have not caused hurricanes, we have not caused typhoons (which are hurricanes, by the way), we have not caused tsunamis, we hva not caused earthquakes, and we put our collective efforts into causing these things, we MIGHT, collectively, as a planet, produce one extra raindrop. This whole premise is absurd.

Please don't mistake television for newspapers. There are not enough of these stories being aired, maybe, but plenty of these stories are being written.

Maybe it would be better if news anchors got on the air and said "Nothing to see here, move along..." We now return you to our Twilight Zone marathon...