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.
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