Holy hurricanes!

[Tleg93]

They do like the heat. They just don't like being on fire. I would guess a lot of people that are native born in such places can't always just pack up and leave because they are very poor.

[Richard]

That may be true, but they have the ability to make themselves not poor, no matter what someone else says. Wages in florida are pretty crappy compared to other parts of the US. Has a lot to do with so many people living there. Why would anyone pay somebody a lot of money when there's a vast amount of people ready and able to do the work for less?

Are people poor because the odds are stacked against them? Or is it more because of poor life decisions? I realized that I can't get to where I want to be in life while making bad decisions. That is why I try hard not to go into debt. That is why I don't have kids yet. That is why I haven't gone to jail. I take responsibility for my actions and never pass the blame.

FYI - I come from a poor, underpriviliged family. My father wanted my mother to stay at home to raise us (their kids) while he provided for the family. Even at his highest point, he never brought in over $40K. My mother never had a job. Our family went through it's troubles with debt. Our family had giant medical bills.We've had more than our fair share of sickness. We had times where we didn't know if we'd have a roof over our heads. We've had our dealings with living in a hostile neighborhood. But there was always food on the table. There was always a better option, though we often didn't take the time to pursue it. My father died a broke SOB, and left us to fend on our own. As I mentioned before, I'm the only breadwinner now, and not earning a whole lot. I learned from the mistakes made before me because they are the easiest ones to learn from.

Everyone's dealt a hand of cards in life. Some start out with four aces and a king. Most don't. It's up to ourselves to make the best of what we're given. A hand of two, four, five, six and jack might not seem so good, but it can turn into a flush with the right amount of work. And a flush always beats four of a kind.

[entirelyturbo]

Richard, you keep impressing me more and more everytime you post

Josh, are you ready for this sucker?

[subawhatsubawho]

I'm not poor...far from it.

I loved living in CO..I did a;right out there but it was my wife who wanted to move back home to be near her parents. (smart men don't argue)

You win some...you loose some. There is bad weather everywhere.

[jamal]

jamal wrote:
"ocean currents tend to flow south along the western coast, and north along the eastern coast"
This is for the northern hemisphere only, southern is opposite, Humboldt current comes to mind...

jamal wrote: "I will also concede that if global warming did actually exist, it would cause more frequent and stronger hurricanes."
Hasn't this been the case over the last decade or more?

Yes, right, northern hemisphere. Crazy Australian toilets.

There haven't really been more hurricanes in the last decade or so.

The year with the most hurricanes and tropical storms in the north atlantic, between 1899 and 1999, was 1933 (21). The most hurricanes to make landfall in the US was 6, and it occured in both 1916 and 1985. Three major hurricanes (cat4 or 5), hit the US in 1909, 1933, and 1954.

More NO pictures:

[Tleg93]

That may be true, but they have the ability to make themselves not poor, no matter what someone else says. Wages in florida are pretty crappy compared to other parts of the US. Has a lot to do with so many people living there. Why would anyone pay somebody a lot of money when there's a vast amount of people ready and able to do the work for less?

Are people poor because the odds are stacked against them? Or is it more because of poor life decisions? I realized that I can't get to where I want to be in life while making bad decisions. That is why I try hard not to go into debt. That is why I don't have kids yet. That is why I haven't gone to jail. I take responsibility for my actions and never pass the blame.

FYI - I come from a poor, underpriviliged family. My father wanted my mother to stay at home to raise us (their kids) while he provided for the family. Even at his highest point, he never brought in over $40K. My mother never had a job. Our family went through it's troubles with debt. Our family had giant medical bills.We've had more than our fair share of sickness. We had times where we didn't know if we'd have a roof over our heads. We've had our dealings with living in a hostile neighborhood. But there was always food on the table. There was always a better option, though we often didn't take the time to pursue it. My father died a broke SOB, and left us to fend on our own. As I mentioned before, I'm the only breadwinner now, and not earning a whole lot. I learned from the mistakes made before me because they are the easiest ones to learn from.

Everyone's dealt a hand of cards in life. Some start out with four aces and a king. Most don't. It's up to ourselves to make the best of what we're given. A hand of two, four, five, six and jack might not seem so good, but it can turn into a flush with the right amount of work. And a flush always beats four of a kind.

I can agree with 99% of what you said, that a person can raise themself out of poverty, it happens all the time. Bad decisions do put you down the wrong path, I totally agree with that too. But getting back to Katrina, there is an underclass of people that never make it out of poverty for one reason or another.

You can't just blame the poor outright for being poor, watch them suffer in this tragedy and brush it off as poor decisions, although in some cases I'm sure it is. I feel sick when I see people suffering whether or not I think they should have got out when the going was good. They didn't...so that's what we're dealing with now. A lot of people didn't want to leave their homes, the old and the ill. Some were elderly, some were confused. So, should people just suffer from some freak hurricaine because they didn't get out of the way? Fuck 'em they're just dumb people who made all the wrong choices, right?

Some people try really fucking hard, make good decisions and are still poor. It happens, do you point a finger at them and tell them it's their fault. I could think of a lot of examples but that's too much. Sometimes other people make you poor too.

[subawhatsubawho]

Sometimes other people make you poor too.

Soooo true.

(wow...I screwed up that quote pretty bad)

[Richard]

I wouldn't dare point my nose at someone who is less fortunate than I am. I have helped many, many people see the light. But there are always the few who aren't willing to work hard to get out of their situation. I'd concern myself more with helping willing people get back on their feet than beating a dead horse.

I believe in teaching a man to fish so he'll eat for a lifetime. But if all I did was hand out fish to whoever, they'd come back every day. Eventually they would expect it and feel that they're entitled to it.

But what can we do for the few who can't or won't do something to save themselves? Government and families should help the sick and elderly. But too many people are abusing the system to help all those in real need.

I have a friend who's a cop. He often has to chase someone several blocks on foot. When he has them in cuffs and is taking them to the precinct in his squad, he askes them questions like where they work and how they make a living. You'd be alarmed if you found out how many of these suspects answer "I can't work, I get headaches," "I have asthma, I'm on disability," and so on. They can't work, but they can lead a cop on a seven block chase. My friend's favorite thing to do is call these suspects' caseworkers so they can get to the bottom of this abuse of the system.

As long as government continues to support and subsidize irresponsible behavior, those who truly need help won't get it. My mother has had a hernia for months now and can't get her operation until she shows that she has $1,500 in medical debt. I can't afford to pay for it, otherwise she'd already be on her way to recovery. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a better way to handle situations like this. But the government is too busy handing out blank checks to actually help those in real need. The system is overwhelmed.

There's a woman and her husband in Galveston right now that decided to ride out Ophelia in their wooden framed house. They say they're islanders and won't leave. Does that mean we shouldn't rescue them if they're stuck on their roof after this is all done? Hell no. The Coast Guard will fly in and grab em with the rest of the survivors. If they die, it IS their own fault. They will be a product of their own decisions.

I'm probably going to go down to the gulf coast to help with the relief effort. There were plans where I work to send down equipment to help out after Katrina. It seems that this will be quite possible now that Ophelia is going to strike. Will I refuse anyone aid? No way. I wouldn't even dare.

[subawhatsubawho]

There's a woman and her husband in Galveston right now that decided to ride out Ophelia in their wooden framed house.

Rita...

(we all make mistakes)

[Richard]