1/5/2005: Tsunami survivor

Someone noticed that there hadn't been one image of the tsunami on IotD. That's on purpose. I've seen a lot of images - a TON of them really. But none has been IotD-worthy. Most of them are pretty sick and the point of IotD, to me, is to be mind-boggling without being outright sick or porn or such. If you want images of about a hundred dead bodies floating in a harbor, you can find them if that's what you care to see.

But if you care to see someone alive, mind-bogglingly alive, here it is.

This is Acehnese Rizal Shahputra, the luckiest man in the world, as seen from the deck of a container ship. He is floating on a bunch of debris. He has been floating on this debris for EIGHT DAYS. He was rescued earlier today.

Like a lot of others from Banda Aceh, he was swept out to sea... way out. In horror, he watched as others swept out couldn't manage and disappeared. And he floated.

"At first, there were some friends with me," Rizal told reporters. "After a few days, they were gone... I saw bodies left and right."



He survived by drinking rainwater and banging open coconuts with a door latch that he found.

full story 1 full story 2

So many things should have killed him. Sunburn and dehydration usually combine to get you first. Then starvation if you somehow survive those. Not to mention the freakin' tsunami waves and everything they brought with them.

Do they believe in Satan over there? He must have made a deal.

Maybe he knows Tatsuya Ishida, Xant.

I don't know if being washed 100 miles out to sea by a tidal wave qualifies one as the luckiest man on earth or not. I would be willing to accept the notion that he had first been very unlucky, then very lucky, I think.

So you're saying it's a wash?

...or it all comes out in the wash.

So is that absolute luckiness (sp?!) or relative luckiness?

If this guy had relatives, I'm pretty sure they were even unluckier than he.

Good thing he wore a yellow shirt. I wonder if life is sweeter or more bitter now?

edit -Nice call UT. Stories of hope and triumph are whats needed.

I feel sure the people set in their belief of evolution; would say this man was very lucky. I also believe the people who firmly believe in the theory of creation would say he was definetly blessed by "God". As, a person who was firmly taught christianity was the one and only way, I do hope the latter is true. Sometimes, I feel education; especially formal education can be very detriemental to simple people like me. Once, as a boy I really believed I saw Santa Clause flying through the air. For whatever reason, I am very happy for this paticular positve image of one of the worst natural disasters ever. God bless him and all the people who have died an suffered in this terrible event.
Thank you for the positive image. I've seen all the negative possible in the media. Maybe, some scientist trying to teach everyone about evolution being the factual theory; could figure out a way to warn people when a Tsuanami is
coming. At least then they might have time to decide about their final beliefs concerning the hereafter.

tsunami.........do I need a condom?

Brown Thrasher,

Your statement indicates that you have a profound misunderstanding of evolution, and a terribly limited view of religion. First and foremost, you would force everyone into a false dilemma of evolution vs. religion, as though evolution is the same as atheism. The real dilemma is that of evolution vs. some small subset of religion that mainstream sects, like Roman Catholicism and most Protestant groups totally reject. The fact is that evolution makes no statement about God, gods, or religion. Most people- especially in the United States- who accept evolution also believe in God. Evolution is a natural phenomenon, and thus occupies a completely separate domain from religion, which is perforce supernatural.

If you wish to discuss this sort of thing further, I cordially invite you to the Usenet newsgroup, talk.origins. For more information about evolution than you can shake a stick at, try www.talkorigins.org.

I thought that the bone of contention was not whether things evolve, but what the starting point was, the "Garden" or the "Ooze".

There are bones in the process as well, such as OnyxCougar's claim that evolution can't "create information".

Hell- at least they were smart enough that they fired the Chief weather forecaster.
I'd hate to be in that sumbitch's shoes- physically and emotionally

I thought for a moment this was the philosophy thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by garnet Wow, that's a big generalization. And what specific surveys are you referring to? Just curious.

Brown Thrasher,

I am afraid I have to point out that you are indeed creating a false dilemma, in that you would have people choose between Christianity and evolution, when the choice is totally unecessary. You also seem to be presenting a logical fallacy known as "No True Scotsman". If you aren't familiar with it, it runs something like this:

Angus: Laddie, what are ye doin'? No Scotsman puts cream in his porridge!
Ian: But Angus, there's Uncle William, and he's putting cream in HIS porridge!
Angus: Ladde, no TRUE Scotsman puts cream in his porridge!

Your statement that "Christians" believe in a 7-day creation smacks of this. In fact, the vast majority of the world's christians accept that Genesis is an allegory, rather than historical fact. (I won't even go into the fact that Genesis contains two contradictory creation stories.) Evolution is *not* an absolute truth- not the way you mean it. It is a real, natural process that has been studied, observed, documented, and recreated in controlled laboratory settings. The truth is that populations evolve- there cannot be argument there. The "theory" of evolution that causes all the problem is common descent- but bear in mind that all the problems are political problems, and there is no controversy in the scientific community when it comes to evolution (I feel safe saying that, since I am a biologist). As to "knowing the answer to the question"--well, scientists, generally don't deal in that kind of absolute. We collect and evaluate data, and parse out what constitutes valid evidence and what doesn't. I am sorry if this doesn't fit with your worldview, but all the evidence is on the side of evolution, and none on the part of science. In fact, large parts of Genesis (like the Noachian Deluge) have been conclusively disproven, by multiple fields.

But religion is not the province of science. Biology in general, and evolutionary biology in particular, poses some problems for some peoples' religious beliefs, but most people in the world seem to reconcile the two just fine. Most people don't believe in a trickster God- one who would plant false evidence of evolution all over the planet, in an attempt to fool us. I would suggest you look up Kenneth Miller on the web- he's a biology professor at Brown University who has written exhaustively on the topic. I think you'd find his thinking interesting.

Well put, magilla.

Bruce is wise. All hail Bruce!

anyone care for a game of chess? I've got chow deboot!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brown Thrasher At the moment, I could care less what you think. I respect and become sick at your relentlessness in being correct in your views!!!!!!!!!!

Blimey, the red smilies are getting a good airing today!!

Anyways, have a couple of pictures.

Those pictures are of a tidal bore in China.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce Those pictures are of a tidal bore in China.

I was sent the pics in a mail that said they were from Dec '04. Thanks for pointing out the glaring error, I hadn't really noticed those people at the front that looked like they're having a right laugh!

That's not a tidal wave, that's just the world's biggest pile of loose-fill attic insulation. And those people are laughing because the people who got buried underneath it are going to itch from fiberglass cuts for days.

There are several sets of pictures that everyone has been sending me lately that I have to send back with a link to a snopes article ...

They are still cool pictures, though.

Followup: another guy lived out at sea even longer! He managed by finding a raft:



In this photo released by the Arab-based container vessel Al Yamamah, a raft carrying tsunami survivor, Indonesian Ari Afrizal, drifts on the sea Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005 before being rescued and brought to the West Port, outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ari, 21, says he drifted on the Indian Ocean for two weeks, living on coconuts that he pried open with his teeth while floating on pieces of wood, then a broken boat, and finally a fishing raft.

They Missed when he found the Contaniner ship - Keep him away from the USS Lincoln - he might upgrade again!

quote:"Followup: another guy lived out at sea even longer! He managed by finding a raft:" ( Undertoad)

What an unbelievably lucky person.
What are the odds of being hit by a tsunami, surviving that, and just when you need it most, you "find" a raft. Wow........................

Considering the thousands that didn't find a raft I'd say the odds are pretty slim.

My father always used to say, "If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all."

Capn, maybe the word you're looking for is 'lot', as in 'your lot in life'.