Image of the Day

Quote of the Day

"There ain't no Bibles in Hollywood. I'm pretty hip since I've been worshiping the 'dark ones.'" - Jim Carey

River Tides

It's amazing lately how many things I'll comment on to Sally or somebody and then I'll see an article or a video about the same thing, and usually it confirms, or at least hypothesizes what I say. I talked a while back about how I was at the river for several days in a row and I noticed that the water seemed to be flowing in a very strange manner.
 One day I could've sworn that I saw the entire body of water in the flooded Cahaba move as a unit just like water in a bathtub, and it happened twice. I took a video of the river that day and put it on Youtube. I said in the video description that it was possibly just a case of me being tired or even that I was tripping, but I was kidding about that. That's how strange it was though; all kidding aside. I was questioning my own feeble sanity. That's a weird feeling.
 That's the thing...when we're presented with new information that is outside of our wheelhouse we tend to come up with almost any explanation that seems to fit our notions of how things are and are supposed to be, rather than trusting our own senses. I say this every day and here I am proving it. It's cognitive dissonance at its finest. When I watched the video later that day I could've sworn I saw the same thing again, and twice. At first I thought the camera had somehow dipped down and then righted itself, which was highly unlikely but not impossible. Seeing it happen twice pretty much ruled that out though. The camera has flopped over several times, but it never seems to pick itself back up. Isn't that how gravity works? I even thought that my head might have dipped down, twice, because maybe I was nodding off, except I was nowhere near that tired. That's how strong my cognitive dissonance was...I was entertaining the notions that gravity was defied twice or that I'd suddenly acquired narcolepsy or something, rather than trusting my own two eyes.
 Not long after this happened we started seeing images of the ocean mysteriously receding independently of the tides or any natural forces we know of. An ocean and a river are two different things of course but they're still bodies of water, and I did know that rivers can also have tides. There's a big river somewhere and once a year a close Moon or whatever it is creates a tide that people come from all over the world to surf. I've known that for a long time, and then seeing the water empty out of bays for no apparent reason made me think that maybe what I saw wasn't as crazy as it looked. I watched the video again on Youtube and it was there, only not as noticeable. Understandably they compress videos to death to save space, which loses definition. I went back to the original version on the computer, and it was much easier to see, although it's definitely on the Youtube clip. It almost made me dizzy to see it again, and even after that I thought I could just be seeing things and it wasn't a real thing, but it bugged me because I could see something going on that I'd never seen before.
 I couldn't begin to guess how many times I've been to the Cahaba River since I first went as a kid but it's a lot. I've seen the river up, down, clear, muddy, past-flooded, dried up to a trickle once or twice and everything in between. I've seen it like it's been lately...so full but slow that it almost looks like it's still, but you can tell there's some downstream movement. Again there are whirlpools and such where the water really does move in reverse as we all know, and I account for that. For the record I happen to have spent hours studying water movement. I made all kinds of homemade boats out of everything from balsa wood to leaves, and I'd pay attention to how they moved in relation to currents, wind and such...sort of like what they do in huge wave tanks today. What's that called? Hydrodynamics? I wouldn't know. I don't have a degree in that. Alls I know is I noticed something really odd, and I happened to have filmed it.
 I'd have to go and check the dates on the YT vids, but for a stretch of 3-4 days earlier this month I went down to the river usually twice a day, and I should mention that during this time the Sun was going berserk and sending out massive X-flares and solar winds aplenty and CMEs and whatnot. I noticed that the water would appear at times to stop in its tracks and even flow upstream. I don't know how many times I shook my head and had another look. When the river seemed to "slosh" as one unit of water, not only did it freak me out a little but again I could swear I felt the "wave" go back and forth in me too. We're what, 80% or more water? We do know that tides, and a full Moon, can definitely affect humans too, so maybe it isn't all that far-fetched. It gave me a sensation which I never would've expected, but it did feel real. It was subtle but there, and it was enough to make me wonder if I was having some sort of short-duration dizzy spell or something. At the time I thought maybe that was it and I was concerned, although I felt okay otherwise. Playing the video back gave me a touch of it too.
 I started this post a few days ago but I stopped because one of my guys on Youtube, who reports on everything from space weather to Earth weather, mentioned the thing about water draining in different spots, and he was talking about a new study that indicates a relationship between the Sun and river movements. How about that? I was waiting for an update but he hasn't mentioned it again yet, but then I saw something this morning that certainly does nothing to shoot my story down. Check this out:

This is the Mississippi River near Memphis, from yesterday. Either this and other images are fake, which I doubt, or they're so new that they haven't made it into image search yet, but I couldn't find any on Google and I had to take this photo from another one of my guys on Youtube. You might not ever see this on the Evening News. Yet people wonder why I get most of my news from these guys. No one tells them what or what not to say. What a concept.
 Looks to me like the mighty Mississippi done flowt ass-bakards. Where'd all the water go? You can bet your ass there'll be a study on this, whether it's ever published or not. The exact same thing would've had to happen in the Mississippi as what I saw, or thought I saw here. It may or may not have "sloshed" but it would've had to stop and go in reverse, especially with all the rain we've been having. If these photos are faked, it still doesn't change the fact that some bays and such have mysteriously emptied, and it's still going on.
 Because the whole thing seemed so crazy and unprecedented at first, I was about to mistrust my own senses. My senses told me that the river was behaving oddly and had even appeared to slosh like water in a bathtub, but I was trying to come up with plausible reasons, just as I've said other people do. To entertain the notion that maybe I was having mini-strokes instead of letting my eyes and brain do their work just shows you how much you can confuse even your own damn self if you can't trust your own senses. I'd have to say in my defense though that I haven't heard of too many rivers sloshing or flowing upstream outside of an earthquake or something, and I doubt too many other people would believe what they'd seen either. Now that I've seen this new information and it doesn't sound completely crazy it's absolutely cool as hell to have likely witnesses a hitherto-unknown phenomenon. For me a good day is when I learn or experience something new, and that takes the cake. I still can't say without a doubt, but I'm pretty sure I saw something incredible. I say buckle-up. Things are liable to get even crazier. Have a bice day.

Quote of the Day

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in one's mind at the same time." - F Scott Fitzgerald

Quote of the Day

"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti

Just the Facts, Ma'am 2

Why do you think we have the phrase "Face the facts?" Because it's not an easy thing to do. I have to do it every day and usually it sucks. For our own protection though we are selective about which facts we will accept, even though they're all equally valid and true. They also say "Facts are facts" and that's true. They say facts speak for themselves. That's a fact.
 They best way to formulate an opinion or a belief or hypothesis is to go about it slowly; BE OPEN-MINDED, and give each say its due. So many people will let perfectly good facts just bounce off the wall of cognitive dissonance they've built. It's human nature. A scientist is someone who understands that opinions or beliefs mean absolutely nothing when it comes to the truth. Anyone who is simply curious and truly open-minded will consider ALL facts and not just discard them because they don't fit their beliefs. That's unfair to the facts. Most people would probably tell you with all sincerity that they're open-minded, but if they discard facts simply because they don't believe them to begin with, how is that in any way open-minded?
 In fact at this very moment, if someone should stumble upon this post and actually read it, chances are they'll do exactly that. They'll say "I'm open-minded," but they'll probably scoff at what I'm saying, although so far I don't think I've said anything untrue. Here's the whole deal in a nutshell: you can discard facts at ANY time. You're under no obligation to accept any fact simply by considering it. A TRULY wise person would allow themselves to at least give a guy his say, right? AND give him the benefit of the doubt and at least consider the fact that something may be the truth, no matter how crazy it may seem at first. Sometimes; even though it's rare, the most bizarre answer to a question turns out to be true. No one can deny that for a second. Are you feeling just a tad more open-minded? I hope so.
 I know someone who, for the last two decades plus that I've known him, will hear something out of the ordinary and immediately grin and shrug it off. His theory is that if you can't see it, hear it, touch it, eat it or fuck it, it doesn't exist. I say that statistically that's impossible. But what do I know? I'm just a dumbass who bothers to do a little homework without making up my mind first. And I'll say here that very few things can be said with 100% certainty. I can't claim everything I say is true, and I'd never do that anyway, but I do have a reasonable doubt, and that comes from trying not to let my opinions stand in my way. Anyway this guy will tell me that something is bullshit the second I say it. The funny thing is that he, like most people, will actually spend the next few seconds of brain power making up a scenario in their minds to fit THEIR interpretation of the story, rather than taking even one second to even consider what someone says. How is that intelligent in any way? That's a closed mind, period. Are you open-minded or close-minded?
 If I could add to the list of sayings about facts, I'd say "Facts reinforce themselves." The beauty of it is that it will happen when you least expect it. You can only hear someone say "That's bullshit" without having anything but their opinions to back it up with so many times before you have to call bullshit yourself. If you say "Well, I already KNOW that. I have all the facts I need," you're only fooling yourself; not to mention lying, since potentially true facts are presenting themselves to you for your potential consideration. You DON'T have all the facts. Either you do or you don't. If enough facts present themselves for consideration, it should begin to tug at the little "Bell of Truth" that some people still have in the back of their brains somewhere. If you also happen to have a working Bullshitometer it should also start to creep toward the red line. And again, you don't have to go looking for facts. You can just go about your business and let the facts come to YOU, but only if you are open-minded in a working sense rather than just declaring you are. They say "You can't ignore the facts" and we should all take that to heart. It sounds like I just joined the "Cliche of the Month" club. That's a fact, Jack. Another little factoid, and a bitter pill for us all, is that like it or not, our ideas are not always more valid than the other guy's. If you let it turn into a football game, like most things today, nothing good will come of it. "MY facts can kick YOUR facts' ass!" No, that's not how it works. Facts don't take sides.
 Just do me one small favor, por favor. If you hear an idea that doesn't fit into your box of how things are suppose to be, just file it away in your "I don't believe it for shit" file for the time being but don't completely forget about it, so that if something else should happen to come up that seems to confirm something, you'll at least be able to consider new information. It won't hurt you one bit. And I'll say for the millionth time...just because you're willing to at least consider the possibility that something crazy-sounding might actually be true, it doesn't mean you have to believe it for a second, and you never know...you just might learn something. That's a fact too. I heard it put so perfectly by an attractive Swedish psychologist. She was saying how most people can't accept any new information at all due to their preconceived notions. She said that when people say "I don't believe, what it really means is "I don't think. Like it or not that's true.
 I was telling my friend Jerry, who's actually fairly open-minded for real, that sometimes if I let myself entertain a crazy idea that I don't necessarily believe, the scenarios I can come up with are like a Sci-Fi movie in my head, and it can be damn entertaining and funny. It can also be a little frightening too occasionally. Either way I don't any more have to believe it than the Man in the Moon. Jerry liked that idea, and what with the cost of movie tickets and popcorn and stuff these days, what's wrong with a little free mental entertainment? It doesn't make you crazy just because you think about crazy things. Sadly most people see it that way. We still live in a shoot-the-messenger society and we always will. No one should be called "crazy" simply for repeating something they've heard. They're not coming up with it to begin with, so why call them names?
 Anyone who resorts to name-calling is simply reacting with their emotions, and surprisingly enough, usually fear of learning the truth, rather than any logical thought. Think about it. It's kid stuff. Anyone who has to take cheap shots and call people names has in reality run out of logical rebuttals and they know it, so they have to drop down a few pegs and just make it about MY way vs. YOUR way rather than the issue. It's comfortable to just keep believing your opinions than to ever challenge even a single one of them and I get that, but it's no guarantee that you or me or anyone else is right. Just look at the facts. If you never challenge yourself; including your beliefs, you'l never, ever grow. Maybe that's okay for some people, but unfortunately it's also stagnation. I suppose that's okay for some people too.
 Allowing your mind to wander once in a while actually improves it rather than slackens it, as one might think. I've also said this a million times, but it helps keep your brain elastic to think about crazy shit once in a while. The act of telling your brain to try to connect two completely different ideas forces it to make new connections and fire new synapses, and that's extremely healthy. To be fair, that's only my opinion, but I'm basing my conclusion on various facts that I've pieced together from different sources, with just a pinch of extrapolation. I always like to have something confirmed by at least two other independent sources, but usually it ends up being confirmed many more times.
 I practice what I preach too. If I see an article or a vid that goes completely against my beliefs, I'll check it out every time. I might not want to but I do. To be honest I've actually changed a few of my views based on new and better facts, so there you have it. I generally find though that most of the things are "clickbait" from my POV to begin with, and they're only putting the opposite one in the title to get those people to maybe consider a different view. At least half the time it's nothing but a troll or a plain asshole. Ask yourself "Is this just my opinion, or have I truly considered all the possibilities? Can I be fair and open-minded?" Oh, wait... that's CNN, LOL. They also say "Opinions are like assholes." That's one of my favorite sayings.
 If you should happen to be forming a new theory that seems a bit hard to grasp, do NOT go looking for facts that suit your opinion, as the above-mentioned person has accused me of doing. Just relax and try to look at the facts for what they are. Let them speak. Read a BOOK once in a while. Sure, books can be bullshit too, but it's easy to go back and alter digital media. It's not so easy to do that with a book. If the Web is your main source of information that's still okay at this point. If you happen to research a topic that sounds a little crazy and you go say. to Youtube, you'll definitely find a few tinfoil hats, but you learn to weed them out pretty quickly. You'll find the people who back up what they say with links to official, as in ".gov" sites and such, rather that someone who simply says "That's bullshit." You can usually pick out those people really easily too. They look all official and everything, but watch how they act. Watch their body language. Notice how many of them will get a grin on their face and use actual "blow-off" gestures with their hands. Notice how they'll just laugh and try to discredit anyone who simply has a different opinion. Be especially careful of people who say something like "Don't listen to those idiots. You 're smarter than them!" They do that shit all day long. It takes people's perceived intelligence and uses it against them.
 Most of all, see if they back up ANY of what they're saying with links or any other actual FACTS. If you pay attention to the naysayers you'll notice that they almost never back up anything they say with any links to anything, and if they do, they won't use links to .gov sites. They can't. They know that you could look up those sites for yourself and it would prove that when THEY say it's bullshit, THAT'S the real bullshit. I realize no one "has time" to ever look into anything on the web, but some people have objectively looked into some things for a very long time, and they're just relating their experiences.
 Don't take sides...take facts. Take what anyone says with a grain of salt. Don't believe anything I'm saying without doing your own research; that is if you care. All I ask is that you don't dismiss it out of hand just because it doesn't fit your opinion. If you want to call someone names just because they have a different point of view, you're not being fair to them OR yourself. Or the facts. Usually you'll find they respect your point of view. They're open-minded. Just listen for once. Get the whole story. There's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes the craziest-sounding answer is correct. Remember that. Have a nice day.

Wisdom in Unlikely Places (We are Devo)

Whenever anyone asks me my top favorite bands there's always a curious omission. I usually leave out Devo. Maybe it's really not that curious at all. Devo is essentially an anti-band. They sang anti-lyrics. They had an anti-drummer. On their debut on SNL that to this day I still probably haven't recovered from when I saw it in real time, when Bob 1 (or Bob 2...I forget) did his guitar solo and flopped down and spun around on the stage I'm pretty sure he spun anticlockwise. Just the fact that they looked like they were TRYING not to get laid alone gives them eternal musical bonus points. They were so fucking dorky on purpose that for about two seconds I actually thought it was a spoof thing, until they hit those first few robotic notes. Speaking of, besides Kraftwerk, Devo was one of the few robot bands I liked enough to go out and buy. Actually I wouldn't call them a robot band at all. They rock. First impressions.
 One thing they undeniably were was batshit-bizarre, at least for the day. If you don't believe me I'll put a link to their version of "Satisfaction" by the Stones, from that same debut show way back in 1978. Supposedly one of the Stones laughed so hard he pissed himself. No not really, but almost. Back then you had to actually ask an artist's permission personally if you wanted to cover a song for profit (it's true), and the story goes that the Stones were still laughing when they gave the official okay. Who knows though...that could be an anti-story, but that's what we heard anyway.
 Well, I digress big time. Sadly the title song to their first S/T album, which they played before Satisfaction, doesn't seem to be on Youtube, but Satisfaction is. If you happen to check it out but aren't familiar with Devo, don't be too quick to judge. There's real music there. I totally get that it's not everyone's cup of tea but it's not just weirdness without talent. Second (and main) drummer Alan Meyers, who in true Devo fashion quit after a decade and became an electrician, was the most interesting drummer I've ever heard, and to be honest the only drummer to ever make me sad about not having "what he had." I'm not sure he was from this planet (RIP, Alan).
 Their version of Satisfaction couldn't have existed without the drum beat. It starts the song and it's so distinctive that even ordinary listeners who know nothing about drums or rhythm, can sense that something is "wrong" with the beat, even though precision-wise you could set your watch to it. To try to describe what makes it so utterly different and brilliant to a non-drummer would be tough, but it's stiff, syncopated, ass-backwards, brutally simple, and I guarantee as a drummer that some of the best technical drummers alive would have a very hard time with this beat. There are two notes per beat which is about as economically as a drummer can play. The bass drum plays on the offbeats, sort of like traditional Reggae beats but different, which makes the whole tune sound backward. For those keeping score it's a "linear" beat, which means that no two notes are played simultaneously, such as with normal beats where the hi-hat is played at the same time as the snare and bass drum. It was the first recorded example of this, at least on a Pop record, and it showed a whole generation of amused drummers a different way of thinking and playing. Guys write books about it now. Alan started all that. He was brilliant. I've never heard another drummer like him. He rocked...sort of.
 I digress more but I have to say that to me in the late-70s and 80s they changed music as much as the Beatles did, or anyone else. Lots of jaws besides mine dropped on that night way back in good ol' 1978. Before people could catch a breath trying to process what they'd just witnessed with their debut tune they launched immediately into Satisfaction, which until then was absolutely the most twisted cover version of a famous song most of the general public had ever heard. Today it'd seem quite normal, if not charming, but back then they were about as out as a band could be and still be legit Pop musicians.
 Aside from being able to stay perfectly on pitch in the days before Autotune, they sang so differently from other "Pop" bands that it was a bit surreal. I couldn't understand every single word they sang on that live show but I got the gist of it, and next day when I ran out and bought the record on sniffy vinyl, I could read the lyrics I missed.

They tell us that we lost our tails
Evolving up from little snails
I say it's all just wind in sails

 The whole point of this unintended Devo pep rally was to mention those lyrics. To be fair these three lines don't tell the whole story of the song, which brilliantly broke down the "forth wall" (kinda) and both introduced the band and explained their "philosophy" in one go on their very first song. Their name is short for "de-evolution," which in itself was at least partially an anti-thing. They sang about subjects that back then nobody else would touch, if the thought of singing about them ever crossed their minds to begin with. The only way Devo got away with it at all is because it was crazy-ass Rock music, and even then they had to sing about a whole bunch of crazy shit at once, so people would just give up and cut them some slack. All the other freaks like me probably had to go buy the album before they could understand all the lyrics either, and these probably didn't mean all that much to them compared to all the other crazy shit they sang about, except to sort of tell the beginning of the story and be a funny rhyme, but they resonated with me. They sang it in a quirky manner. My friend and former bandmate Randy and I called it "Quirk Rock." Quirky or not, I agree with these lyrics.

"Are We Not Men?" by Devo (studio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdkwCWbVJ8Y

Morning Has Broken

I love the morning. Most days I see it. I don't need nearly as much sleep as I used too, which they say happens when you get old. Usually I wake up an hour or two before dawn. Not that there's anything wrong with midnight or noon or evening or tea time, but morning is special. I've always loved just looking out into the woods or something, and watching things turn from black-and-white to color, as the cones take over from the rods in your eyes. It's like watching the world paint itself over again every day, and every day is indeed a blank canvas. This will seem as cheesy as the last statement, but sometimes I think about an old Cat Stevens tune called "Morning Has Broken." He really nailed it with that song, and it's widely hailed as an example of a simple but beautiful melody. For what it's worth, the song is in 3/4 time (most likely 6/8 actually, but it's basically the same thing). Three is the rhythm of the heart. I do hope your heart is in the right place. Have a nice day.

Morning Has Broken (studio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0TInLOJuUM
live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5sSEkZ86ts

Stuff You Won't Hear Much About

In the "I told you so" department, last year I did a post saying that it was probably not going to be a good time to have any major substance issues. Not that ANY time is, but with all the people being displaced by disasters A, B and C and whatnot, there were going to be a number of addicts included, and they were most likely going to have a bad time.
 I just finished smoking a cigarette and I'm drinking a cup of coffee and I've certainly tried stronger stuff, so I'm not one to judge. Back in the day I drank too much and I smoked a truckload of weed and I dabbled in a few things, but I never stuck a needle in my arm, and when it comes to the "stupid drugs" like crack, meth, heroin and whatever else, I never even saw those in person. Luckily I can't speak from experience about what it's like to be "dope sick," or to suddenly withdraw from drugs, but I hear it's a bitch.
 Right now there's a hell of a lot of people who are geeked out of their minds because they can't get dope. Don't get me wrong...it pales in comparison to all the people who've lost everything, and aren't addicts to begin with, but I'm guessing it's a bit of a problem for people at large shelters. Most addicts I imagine live dimebag-to-dimebag, so it's not like they were able to put away an emergency stash. All their shit's gone, so even if they could find some dope, they wouldn't have anything to trade for it except for sex, as usual, and that's probably much harder to arrange in a public shelter. And that's assuming they can even find a dope man to begin with, and that his stash didn't get wet. I do know enough about drugs to know that wet drugs are mostly useless. I also know that any dealer sitting on any quantity of anything is in the catbird seat right now.
 I did hear one thing a few days ago that was related. It was in Florida and they were talking about hospitals and mental-health facilities being open, but I can tell you right now that if things get bad, the druggies will be last in line for treatment. There's also quite a lot of the "You got what you deserve" mentality in the medical profession toward addicts. I think it's wrong, but it definitely exists. There's a bunch of bug-eyed people geeking out right now and they're pretty much up a creek...or a river or an ocean or whatever. Yeah, nobody's going to talk about this. It's a small percentage of the population anyway but they're there and it's something to consider. I wouldn't want to have to deal with them.
 On the bright side, in a week or two, if things don't change, those people will pretty much be over the physical part of the addiction, and maybe they can start working on the rest of the issue. It may be some time before they can rebuild their lives enough to the point where they can start buying dope again. We'll see I guess. Dopers are crafty. Their addictions become their primary relationships, and I'm sure it's no different in a shelter than on the street. Maybe better even. Who knows? Just for the record I also said in that post that ANYONE can quit substances. It's true. I'd recommend tapering off slowly...just the same as when they started, but there are many ways and it CAN be done. Sadly for many people right now that method looks like it's going to be cold turkey. Next time, just say no.

Youtuber

I have to say this is pretty funny. I just put up another vid on Youtube, and when the suggestion screen popped up after it finished, all but two of the thumbnails were my vids. I totally get that it recommends vids by the same person, which in this case is me, but still it's kinda cool to see my videos pop up on Youtube. It almost makes it seem like my shit's worth a shit.

Quote of the Day

"No leakage better of course. But Sea so wide. Radiation leak from Fukushima No. 1 NPP seems spread and weakened so much." - hiroki @hirokiharoki, on Twitter

New Weather-Speak: The "Basement People"

We were watching the local news last night. When the weather came on something interesting happened. Of course the weather person was talking about Irma, and when he finished talking about the projected path and such, his tone changed to one of mockery and he got a grin on his face. I don't watch the local news often enough to know him by name, and there's no point in singling him out anyway. All those people say the same thing. It's scripted. It's what they're paid to say. Of course they're not there to give opinions or commentary on the weather, but all news reports come from the same source and they're all going to say the same thing anyway. Nobody gets that.
 He started talking about how people on social media and elsewhere were talking "doom and gloom" about how Irma could become a monster and so on. He said (and I quote): "Don't listen to the people sitting in their basements." Ah, yes...the basement people. He was creating an image in the viewers' minds of "tinfoil-hat" or "fear-monger" types lurking in dank basements; rubbing their hands together and gleefully trying to scare the shit out of people. Wrong. The local guy was trying to downplay a storm that's already showing signs of becoming bigger than Harvey. And while I'm on the subject of Harvey, I found it odd that the "official" weather people were saying at least 3-4 days in advance of landfall that Harvey was going to linger in place and dump mass quantities of rain "into next week." How'd they know so far in advance? Sure, I get computer models, and the Jet Stream and high- and low-pressure systems and how they can be figured into predictions, but I didn't think that weather-predicting had gotten to be such an exact science. Hurricane forecasts are updated every four hours. They have to be. Yet they were saying what Harvey was going to do days before it made landfall. It's just an observation.
 Anyway weather dude was doing his utmost to tell people that they were the ONLY source to trust, and that the "basement people" were all a bunch of idiots; if not downright lunatics. It'd have been funny if it weren't so sad. His whole demeanor had changed, and I've never seen that kind of behavior before. It's something entirely new, and I pointed it out to Sally. Normally those people refrain from name-calling or trying to put down independent news. If nothing else it was unprofessional, and completely out of place and uncalled for. I can't see any reason at all to try to put down people who are only guilty of trying to get to the bottom of the story without relying on opinions or putting other people down. I'll say again that his behavior was noticeably out of place. Why would the major networks even bother to talk about "basement people" in the first place, unless maybe they know there's some truth to what they're saying? That's how that thing works. If something doesn't concern someone they don't talk about it. There would be no reason to.
 The local guy went on to point out that these people "weren't meteorologists or scientists" which is absolutely true, but in no way means that somehow they're stupid or that they're "fear-mongering." BTW that term (same with "conspiracy theorist") was coined by fearful people. They're afraid to hear any bad news so in essence they shoot the messenger. What they fail to understand is that bad things happen no matter who says anything or not. Wouldn't people want to be WARNED of potential danger? Isn't it wise to prepare for the worst and hope for the best? Of course it is, but people just don't want to know, so they take it out on the people who are only trying to look out for them. It's just like going to the doctor for a disease screening and then not wanting to know the results. It's just plain stupid, but that's how most people are these days. Shoot the fucking messenger. It's still like that.
 It was all the guy could do not to say "fake news," and I was halfway expecting it. Speaking of stupid and derogatory terms, why would I care about what "basement people" have to say? Because that's where I get most of my news. Actual factual news, that is. While I was listening to weather guy berate the basement people, I had a few of them pulled up on Youtube while we were watching the local news. Let me illustrate how it was. Weather dude goes "Don't believe the 'basement people.'" Just then on Youtube one of the basement people was talking about wave heights. He was going by buoy readings from official gov't websites. Weather dude said nothing about wave heights. Another of the basement people was talking about millibars, and how Irma has one of the lowest readings on record so far. Weather dude said nothing about millibars. They USED to talk about millibars on TWC, but not lately. Another basement person talked about ocean temps, and how Irma might possibly be moving through much warmer waters than Harvey. That's very important, BTW. Weather dude said nothing about ocean temps.
 Do you see a pattern here? Basement people don't have a degree from Weatherperson University, while weather dude does. Does that mean in any way that the basement people are stupid, or that they can't learn new things or read official charts or that their hands-on experience counts for nothing? That's what weather dude, or more precisely the station owners, would have you believe. As I've said before, in this state I'm legally a Draftsman and always will be, even though I never had one day of classes. My hands-on experience is legally recognized as at least as important as book-learning. Make sense? Where would YOU rather get your info...from people in their basements, or their attics or their living rooms or any other room for that matter; who quote actual FACTS and provide links to official gov't websites to back up what they're saying, or a guy in a suit saying that those people are full of shit, yet provide not a speck of information to back up what they're saying? Sadly most people will choose weather dude. We've forgotten how to trust our own eyes and ears and BRAINS. We'd rather believe the bullshit. It's much more comforting. People in Dallas were directly told to "STAY HOME" during Harvey. Some of them are floating in their attics right now. Maybe they should have at least heard what the "basement people" had to say. It might've been a different story, as it were. Bullshit can be very comforting, but at the end of the day bullshit is bullshit. I say check out as many sides of the story; not to mention FACTS, as you can, but what do I know? I don't have a degree from Official Education U. I guess that makes me a basement person. Guess I'm a dummy.