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March 27, 2009

A Tale Of Two Floods

Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!

Louisiana - "Dude, hurricane Katrina is coming. Let's throw a hurricane party!"

North Dakota - "I think the river is mad that she lost the last time," said engineer Mike Buerkley, managing a smile through his dark stubble as he tossed sandbags onto his pickup truck after working 29 straight hours.


Posted by Kate at March 27, 2009 9:16 PM
Comments

Darwin,Darlose...

Posted by: Skip at March 27, 2009 9:36 PM

Actually, now is the time at SDA when Kate combines cherry-picking evidence with false analogies.

It's a festival of logical fallacies!

Apples, oranges and cherries for all!

Posted by: Stephen at March 27, 2009 10:09 PM

That's a beautiful example of the difference between:
- Liberals (permanent victims or permanent victim wannabes)

- Conservatives (stand on your own two feet and help yourself ... and your neighbour)

I wonder how much longer it'll be before the Obamunists outlaw the latter group ... or at least heavily tax such self-sufficiency?!

Posted by: Robert W. at March 27, 2009 10:11 PM

Stephen, are things boring at the Hate America site (aka "CBC News") tonight? Oh well, plenty of people here to spread your vitriolic venom on!!

Posted by: Robert W. at March 27, 2009 10:14 PM

Yo, Steve. Ever been in a flood or hurricane? Ever see people who have lost everything pick themselves up and carry on? Ever been to Houston where Hurricane Ike tore a strip out of them but life has gone on except for the Katrina folks still there demanding someone build them a new house and move their sorry asses back to NOLA? I didn't think so.

Posted by: Texas Canuck at March 27, 2009 10:24 PM

If the levees don't hold, and Fargo gets flooded, and then they start sniping at helicopters and knifing each other in the local sports arena, I am SO blaming Obama.

Posted by: Black Mamba at March 27, 2009 10:27 PM

a canajun and brit version . dont need no rain.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wCvUynhYRY

Posted by: cal2 at March 27, 2009 10:57 PM

and this one more a cajun version and for the younger crowd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM2SLCJwELI&feature=related

find the cost of freedom !!!buried in the ground.

Posted by: cal2 at March 27, 2009 11:01 PM

Hey Stephen, nobody likes a sissy.

Posted by: Eskimo at March 27, 2009 11:15 PM

for stephan , tap water , tap water for everyone


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjrmxsACFrk

Posted by: cal2 at March 27, 2009 11:23 PM

Stephen. You have Kate confused with the recently deceased coalition of lacking skills or abilities.

Posted by: Speedy at March 27, 2009 11:57 PM

I have to marvel at the job that the real scientists have done. Close to a weeks 'heads up' on both of the events.

Well done.

Posted by: ural at March 28, 2009 1:43 AM

Future reporting: "...as he tossed FIVE sandbags onto his WIMPY truck before it quits working after 9 straight hours."

Eco-friendly at your service.

Posted by: Wurstman Ever at March 28, 2009 2:05 AM

Thanks for proving my point.

None of you has the least experience with logic or evidence, do you?

Oh, and would Texas Canuck care to elaborate on the difference between the responses to Hurricane Ike in Houston and those to Katrina?

Posted by: Stephen at March 28, 2009 4:53 AM

sarge here sarge seen all them dead fargoians hanging from trees an such

Posted by: sarge at March 28, 2009 7:40 AM

"That's a beautiful example of the difference between:
- Liberals (permanent victims or permanent victim wannabes)

- Conservatives (stand on your own two feet and help yourself ... and your neighbour)"

Really?

Louisiana: Republican senator. Six of seven Congressional seats held by Republicans. Potential GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal as Governor. No same-sex marriages permitted under state law. Those dratted Liberals!

In any case, I can't claim to be some sort of extreme-weather expert, unlike the various super-genuises posting here. I can only assume, from the comparison made in the initial post and its enthusiastic reception, that hurricanes and high rivers are basically the same sorts of things, and that the way to defeat winds of 250 kph is by filling sandbags. Presumably one is then supposed to stack them up to the ionosphere.

Posted by: Figulus Pilosus at March 28, 2009 8:46 AM

No Figulus Pilosus - the answer to a hurricane is not to fill sandbags, but to get out and maybe the community should have organized itself (like people in Fargo are doing) to get out instead of waiting and expecting someone (the government) to solve their problems for them. I also noted on one CBC comment board (or maybe it was the G & M - hard to tell the difference sometimes) the number of comments that people who live on floodplains shouldn't expect help. But I was called racist when I posted that people who live three meters below sea level in a hurricane zone shouldn't expect help either.

Posted by: Maureen at March 28, 2009 9:27 AM

And history is revised before our eyes (this is the second time I've seen Jindal blamed for Katrina)

Katrina was in August 2005.

Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat was governor during Katrina. She is on record, in her own words, as having refused Bush's urging to declare a state of emergency.

Posted by: Kate at March 28, 2009 9:46 AM

The Big Picture on preparations for the flood.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/red_river_flooding.html

Posted by: Kathryn at March 28, 2009 10:23 AM

Kate: "(this is the second time I've seen Jindal blamed for Katrina)"

If the first time was as absurdly imaginary as this time, the correct number of times you've "seen Jindal blamed for Katrina" is zero.

The point was rather obvious to competent readers of English, I'd have thought: Robert W.'s "North Dakota = Conservatives, Louisiana = Liberals" idea is silly, given the overwhelming Republican domination of Louisiana's Senate, Congress, and Governor offices. However, I failed to allow for heroic efforts at point-missing when confronted with actual data.

Posted by: Figulus Pilosus at March 28, 2009 11:07 AM

Figulus,

New Orleans has a democratic mayor, is notoriously liberal in its politics, and had a large number of minorities, who lean democratic. New Orleans has been the problem, not Louisiana.

Course, the Governor at the time wasn't a help either.

Posted by: Half Canadian at March 28, 2009 11:24 AM

BTW, mister extraordinary interlocutor, that should be Figulus pilosum.

Posted by: Skip at March 28, 2009 11:25 AM

I think anyone on EI should do 8 hours a day of sandbag duty to get paid.

Posted by: dinosaur at March 28, 2009 12:16 PM

Hey Figgy, you're now sticking with your canard that Louisiana has a conservative mindset & history?!

Too bad the job for the Iraqi Information Minister is no longer available, as you'd be PERFECT for it!

Though I've heard rumours that Dear Iggy is in need of some new advisers who know how to spin B.S. like nobody's business. I'm guessing that more than a few people think you're highly qualified!

Posted by: Robert W. at March 28, 2009 12:20 PM

"Hey Figgy, you're now sticking with your canard that Louisiana has a conservative mindset & history?!"

History? Who said anything about that?

Are there any limits to your inclination to just make up stuff?

Louisiana's political *history* isn't well captured by any single label, since it was long Democrat, but of a conservative white Dixiecrat sort; yet even this reflected little of the black (or impoverished white) populations in any case, since both were largely shut out of the process for many decades.

Which is only the smallest part of why I said exactly nothing about "history". (The greater part being that Katrina happened less than four years ago. Try to follow the plot of your own posts, if you can manage it.)

As for Louisiana's political mindset: It has a Republican senator. Six of its seven Congressional seats are held by Republicans. Potential GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal is its Governor. For someone accustomed to confusing facts with canards, these facts might be hard to grasp; but there you are. Are there are also Democrats (and, what's a different thing, liberals) in LA? Of course. The point, again, is simply that your ND=conservative, LA=liberal blather was... well, stupid.

It's almost as stupid as the idea that a hurricane can be warded off by anything analogous to individuals filling sandbags -- or that NO didn't also see thousands of instances of individual selflessness and hard work when Katrina hit, in addition to the lawlessness that was relentless reported. Neither heroism nor suffering belongs to any political affiliation in a disaster -- not in Louisiana, and surely not in North Dakota either. To think otherwise is childish fantasy.

Which no doubt explains its popularity here.

Posted by: Figulus Pilosus at March 28, 2009 1:52 PM

Sure is, but I can always pass along your ip address to whomever asks.

Posted by: Kate at March 28, 2009 3:27 PM

I'm asking for ulianov's IP address. I plan to sell it to the /b/-tards over at 4chan who want to experiment with someone's account to see if they can hack it and make their lives a living hell.

Posted by: Yomi Mizuhara at March 28, 2009 6:05 PM

figgy,

You might also have mentioned that Louisiana didn't elect a single Republican to the House from 1877 to 1972. And that the other senator is Democratic, as have been ALL the senators since 1883. Vitter is the first Republican senator since Reconstruction. That's pretty close to 100 years of solid Democrats. But that wouldn't fit with your story, right?

Posted by: KevinB at March 29, 2009 1:47 PM
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