Yahoo News released an article today about the government's special team that flies into the heart of hurricanes to record critical data on the hurricane's conditions. The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, based in Biloxi MS, is comprised of Air Force Reservists who fly into the hearts of hurricanes to measure such things as barometric pressure, wind strength and predicted trajectory. The article details their current readings of hurricane Ike, set to pound southern Texas this weekend

Click the link above for the story

*wanted to fly for the Hurricane Hunters back when he tried to join the AF Reserve*

I thought the Hadron Collider was supposed to rid the world of hurricanes...

No, the Hadron Collider will open a black hole, thus ridding the world of itself.

EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEM Pest Extermination!

F*cking hamsters!

I thought this thread was going to be about Hunter's wild life story or something.

I saw all those people on the news who didn't evacuate from Galveston. They are now, on a damn bus to go to a public shelter.

What a bunch of dumbasses.

Galveston, oh Galveston. I can hear your sea winds blowing
Yeah, right through your houses

I feel sorry for the devastation, but as for the people who stayed behind thinking they'd ride it out, that's what they get for messing with mother nature

Our tax dollars at work... providing transportation and housing for idiots.

Man vs. Nature.

Gee, I wonder who's gonna win...

The only time Jeebus-lovers believe in natural selection

reap what you sow'd

Which is different from pre-hurricane how?

Believe it or not, I think our government OUGHT to go in and bring those stupid idiots to safety. Just because someone is an idiot, this is not sufficient reason to let him or her die. Using that thought process, we ought to let all stupid idiots that ride a motorcycle sans helmet die if they wreck and suffer a head injury.

However, I do believe they should spend the rest of their lives having their paychecks garnished to recoup the cost of saving their dumb asses.

Here in my city, if you get your dumb ass stuck after driving around barricades into a flooded creek during a rainstorm and have to be rescued, the city charges you something like $400. They say its to pay for the fire department's time...which doesn't make sense since, you know, that's their job and all and they are already publicly funded. I wish they'd just call it a dipshit fee, since that's what it is.

Having to pay firemen/police/EMS to do their job when they shouldn't have to = dipshot fee?

Works for me.

I agree with you. I was thinking Pete was being tongue-in-cheek.

I'm sure he was. Just stating my position that this is one of the few instances where I DON'T believe in natural selection.

*is a Jeebus-lover*

Actually, I was being serious. If you're *unable* to evacuate on your own, that's one thing. But if you have the means and you're just too stupid to get out of town, then that's your own problem. Natural selection happens all the time, whether or not you believe in it. And this is one of those cases. Not that I'm all social Darwinist or anything. I just think that being passive in life is asking for nature to f*ck you.

So I take it you're against all that money we sent to help the tsunami victims back in '05? I still say that being an idiot is not enough reason to not help a person.

My neighbor is cutting down a tree and is standing directly in the path of where the trunk is going to fall. I tell him "Dude, you need to move out of the way. Standing right there in the path of the storm tree means CERTAIN DEATH!" He tells me "I've cut down a tree before, I can get out of the way if I have to." So he stays right there and keeps cutting and lo and behold the tree falls on top of his dumb ass. I'm not going to go stand over him and go "See? I told you so!" I'm going to try and help him out from under the tree. (I'll call him a dumbass once he's out from under it.) If a government entity has the means and ability to fly a helicopter over your house and pluck you from it, then hey, let's not let that person die when they shouldn't have to.

C'mon, dude, YOU'RE supposed to be the hippie.

I do like the idea of garnishing their wages for a while to help pay back some of the cost. You have to pay for an ambulance ride, after all. You could even put a little line on their paycheck under "deductions" that says "Dipshit fee - $100."

Yeah, the Jeebus lover in me wants to stick up for even the asshats. But they have to pay.

I just think that people need to take care of themselves. Which doesn't mean "nobody should ever help anyone;" what I mean is that there's stuff that people *can* do for themselves that they sometimes fail to do. I definitely believe that people should help others, but the whole point of "helping" to me is providing some service or assistance that the person would not be able to provide on their own. Otherwise you're wasting your time on someone who doesn't need your help, when it could be spent on someone who does need it.

Well obviously, there would be a chain of importance. People who need help > Rescue workers' mortal safety > retards

There's also that pesky problem where people will develop the attitude, "Why should I do something for myself when the government will just come along and fix it for me?" ("Why should I worry about preparing for the hurricane or possibly evacuating when I know that FEMA will just come along and buy me a generator and give me food stamps, and the Coast Guard will save me if I climb on my roof?")

That's why there should be an ignorance tax.

The extra retarded part of that line of thought is the part where you're thinking that FEMA assistance wouldn't completely suck balls. Like, "hey, why should I protect myself and my family when we could be living in the Superdome for three weeks?" Such a deal.

Well, part of my belief system holds that FEMA assistance should not suck balls.

But hey, sweltering in the Superdome for a week or so beats being dead, huh?

(FYI, the Superdome was a shelter of last resort as in "Hey, if your house got blown away and you didn't have the brains to get the frak out of New Orleans, you can come here. But it's gonna suck." And for those that don't know, the Superdome had previously been used as a hurricane shelter during Ivan and Georges and the only bad thing that happened was the gracious people that stayed there stole the furniture. And it was a state decision to put people there, not FEMA.)

I don't know, situations like that lead to innovation. http://www.cusatocottages.com/

I totally need one of those to put behind my house so I can have a place to play guitar and with my toys and watch Japanese animated tentacle sex pr0n in peace.

We currently have a crazy scheme to LIVE in one. As a choice.

(Actually, in a bungalow version of this.)

Oh don't worry, I'm not interested in playing the "who sucked more" game re: Katrina.

Oy. Yeah, let's not go there.

DUH, ALL THAT FLOODING ONLY HAPPENED BECAUSE PRESIDENT BUSH DOESN'T LIKE BLACK PEOPLE.

Kanye West said so.

Dude, Dick Cheney was totally there in his wetsuit and SCUBA gear! He personally planted the explosives to blow the levees himself!

Spike Lee said so.

If he'd substituted "poor" for "black" he might have been a bit closer to the truth.

Wait I thought it was Clint's idea to use Cheney but Spike said it was Condi.

I know, I didn't mention one Mex-e-can.

They're all busy staffing McCain's homes and parking lots.