patio34

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Posts by patio34

• 

  Earthquakes---Wrong things to do?!?

  by patio34 in

  1. social
  2. current

  fwiw: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ extract from doug copp's article on the.

  "triangle of life",

  i have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings,.

• 

  patio34

  FWIW: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE
  "TRIANGLE OF LIFE", I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings,
  worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams
  in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from
  many countries. I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation
  (UNX051 -UNIENET) for two years. I have worked at every major
  disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
  
  The first building I ever crawled inside of
  was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child
  was under their desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of
  their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their
  desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the
  children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the
  children were told to hide under something.
  
  Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the
  weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside
  crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This
  space is what I call the" triangle of life". The larger the object, the
  stronger, the less it will compact. The less
  the object compacts, the larger the void, the
  greater the probability that the person who is using this void for
  safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings,
  on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere.
  It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building. They are
  everywhere. I trained the Fire Department of Trujillo (population
  750,000) in how to survive, take care of their families, and to rescue
  others in earthquakes.
  
  The chief of rescue in the Trujillo Fire Department is a professor at Trujillo
  University. He accompanied me everywhere. He gave personal testimony:
  
  "My name is Roberto Rosales. I am Chief of Rescue in Trujillo. When I was
  11 years old, I was trapped inside of a collapsed building. My entrapment
  occurred during the earthquake of 1972 that killed 70,000 people. I survived
  in the "triangle of life" that existed next to my brother's motorcycle. My
  friends who got under the bed and under desks were crushed to death [he
  gives more details, names, addresses etc.]...I am the living
  example of the "triangle of life". My dead friends are the example of
  "duck and cover".
  TIPS DOUG COPP PROVIDES:
  
  1) Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN
  BUILDINGS COLLAPSE is crushed to death -- Every time, without
  exception. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are always
  crushed.
  
  2) Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often
  curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It
  is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a
  smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large
  bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it. 3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of
  construction to be in during an earthquake. The reason is simple:
  the wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the
  wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created.
  Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick
  buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many
  injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
  
  4) If you are in bed during the night and an
  earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist
  around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in
  earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every
  room, telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the
  bed during an earthquake.
  
  5) If an earthquake happens while you are
  watching television and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door
  or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a
  sofa, or large chair.
  
  6) Everybody who gets under a doorway when
  buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and
  the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the
  ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in
  half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
  
  7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a
  different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the
  main part of the building).The stairs and remainder of the
  building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of
  the stairs takes place.
  The people who get on stairs before they fail
  are chopped up by the stair treads. They are horribly mutilated.
  Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs.
  The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if
  the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse
  later when overloaded by screaming, fleeing people. They should
  always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is
  not damaged.
  
  8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or
  Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of
  the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from
  the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that
  your escape route will be blocked;
  
  9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed
  when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their
  vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks
  of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake
  all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could
  have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their
  vehicles, says the author. Everyone killed would have survived if
  they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to
  them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them,
  except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them
  
  10) I discovered, while crawling inside of
  collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that
  paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of
  paper.
  
  This is a FWIW to you. I don't know because it seems to contradict the usual advice.
• 
  95

  What grammatical errors bug you the most?

  by poppers in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for me it's the use of : .

  it's as a possessive - it's means "it is", so if you don't want to say "it is" don't use the apostrophe.

  there are others that bug me but this one is the worst.

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• 

  patio34

  What is interesting to me:

  Affect and effect: the affect causes the effect (usually).

  Stationary and Stationery--the latter contains an "e" which is the beginning of envelope.

  But what bugs me are the ones that I can't remember myself! For instance, when positively to use I or me. Or further vs. farther; or lay vs. lie. I've looked those up more than once but it doesn't stick, so I avoid them!

  What gives me a chuckle is when people use was instead of were in cases such as "If I were you. . . " or "If I were to go there . . ." You use were instead of was when it's conjecture, when it's not fact.

  Sometimes people say "I seen . . ." instead of "I saw..."

  I like what Winston Churchill once said about learning a foreign language: "I'd rather learn English well."
• 
  23

  What do you do when you're feeling down??

  by Nicolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  simple question, what do you do when you are feeling down and you think that there is nothing that will make this world better in the future??

  we all have different kinds of problems to worry and sometimes, it can put you down.

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• 

  patio34

  Good question and I'm glad you brought it up.

  1. About the rest of the world: I try to listen "lightly" to the news. I don't listen to what are nothing more than crime reports nor other things that I can't do anything about (a la Scully). But I do keep up. It's better, imo, to read the news than listen to it, as you can skim or skip the irrelevant-to-you parts.

  2. Personal things: I journal. I read that in an controlled study, the persons who journaled 20 minutes per day vs. ones who did not had better immune systems at the end of 60 days. It seems they used blood test criteria to determine this.

  Other things are books and movies. I just watched Veronica Guerin and it puts things into perspective. She was an assassinated Irish journalist.

  Or learning something new.

  Cheers!

  Pat
• 
  13

  Is religion and faith not possible for some?

  by littletree in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i ask this question because i'm starting to have the scarey feeling that i was born "faithless".

  other than feeling that babies and flowers are beautiful and miraculous, i have been having the darndest time feeling 100% sure that god exists and cares.

  things that religious folks say are "blessings" i just see as the product of human effort and choice, or as stuff that probably would have happened anyway.

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• 

  patio34

  Good thread.

  One explanation may be that some people don't have a very high tolerance for myth and superstition. And that some people have a need for it and can slip into it very easily.

  After all, even the Bible highlights Thomas who supposedly wouldn't believe with out proof. As Thomas Paine said, "neither will I believe without proof."

  How it's phrased depends on the belief of a person. Over the years, it was difficult for me to really, really believe in a god, even the years as a very active JW. Finally, it became impossible to keep convincing myself that there was a god, then I left.

  Cheers,

  Pat
• 
  47

  I lost my job at Microsoft today...thanks to a wonderful economy...

  by dolphman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for the last few years, many of my friends have lost their jobs and have not found suitable replacements.

  most are on unemployment, and those whose unemployment has run out are simply eeking out some meager existence doing something they don't like, that doesn't pay well, and doesn't help to really reduce the stress they face every day.. well, to be honest, i used to laugh my ass off at them.

  ha ha ha i would say.

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• 

  patio34

  Hi Dolphman,

  So sorry about the shocking lay-off. Where I work has laid off hundreds of people. I hope things work out a good way for you.

  Btw, I hope the following post didn't bother you.

  Interesting.

  Since January 2000 my salary has gone up $14,000 a year annually. And yes I have basically been working in the same field full time.

  Ask yourself, would you have been laid off if Al Gore were president? --Random Task

  And I think this one is applicable to all of us and our responsibility to try to turn back the tide:

  So why do you go to Wal-Mart and buy all those sweatshop Chinese goods? Buy domestic - pay a bit more - but save jobs. ---Aaac

  Regards, Pat
• 
  20

  From JW to Atheist; Now, how do I face my family?

  by AlmostAtheist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey gang,.

  i've read dozens of threads here, some sounding similar to what i'm writing now.

  i can't help it, i want to talk about it.

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• 

  patio34

  Hi Dave,

  Welcome and thanks for posting this thread. 3 1/2 yrs ago, I "woke up" and became an atheist in about a month or so. I've faded away, but only had two sons to explain it to not a spouse.

  I don't have any advice, but want you to know I'm wishing good things for you. A good thing about being a non-believer" is that I don't have to convince anyone else. What they believe is their business, and mine is mine.

  Congratulations on the upcoming birth!

  Hugs,

  Pat
• 
  11

  Are Women The More Natural Carers?

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i've checked out on the whole sociological conditioning thing.

  about how boys play with model cars and guns because they are expected to do so.

  about how girls like to play with dolls and dress up only because that is how their mothers have conditioned them to behave in that way.

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  patio34

  E-MAN'S BACK!!! Three cheers for E-man!

  Hi Mike,

  Yes, you're probably right that women are the more natural carers. it seems to me that this would be in harmony with humans' biological makeup: women had to give birth, breast-feed the infants, and usually stayed in to care for the family. The man had to be out farming, hunting, building and taking care of the family. Thus, the biology of each is still suited for the roles they've played in the past. Of course, there's a lot of flexibility (lol, except for giving birth and breast-feeding!).

  Hugs,

  Pat
• 
  31

  Movie Recommendations

  by patio34 in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i watched two movies (they're only on dvd--i finally broke down and got one) that were the best i've seen in a while:

  house of sand and fog

  (ben kingsley & jennifer connelly about an iranian general lives in america)

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  patio34

  Hi, I watched two movies (they're only on DVD--I finally broke down and got one) that were the best I've seen in a while: House of Sand and Fog (Ben Kingsley & Jennifer Connelly about an Iranian general lives in America) Human Stain (Anthony Hopkins & Nicole Kidman; based on a novel by Phillip Roth) Just in case you're interested in either. They're both profound character development and excellent acting and cineamaphotography. No more, because I don't want to spoil it if you watch them. Does anyone know any others similar to these? They were absolutely fantastic. Btw, Ebert and Roeper give both Cheers! Pat
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  12

  "The Age of Reason"

  by onacruse in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so let us begin, eh?

  i haven't read the whole book, so this thread will be a "work in progress":.

  http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/thomas_paine/age_of_reason/index.shtml.

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  patio34

  Great read! Here's a couple of favorites from it:

  Thomas did not believe the resurrection . . . w/out having ocular and manual demonstration himself. So neither will I . . . pg 54

  The biblical use of word prophet really meant poet and musician. Thus, Saul was in concert with a company of musicians and poets and this was called prophesying. Deborah and Barak are called prophets, not because they predicted anything, but because they composed the poem or song. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not called prophets. pg 62

  I don't think I ever finished the book, but it was well worth reading. Thanks for reminding me!

  Pat
• 
  15

  Opinions?

  by patio34 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i feel bad.

  here are the reasons.

  i adopted a cat 2 years ago.

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  patio34

  Hey SimpleSally! I've enjoyed the recent photos of you! How's your darling little girl doing? Thanks for the post re cat. My parents, it seems, did that to animals---the country run. Believe me, it did cross my mind! But, being a modern responsible person, I did the reasonable thing, imo.

  Hi LT! Thans for weighing in---the boss's reaction is none of my business. I feel better and better. And I LOVE coming home to NO hissy cat!

  Nos, poor Nos with that cat from Hell, it sounds! But it's good of you to tolerate him. No one else would probably take him.

  ColdRedRain, great idea with the soaking. I did it one night to her for the kitchen counters and she hid herself for hours, then threw up. What a cat!!

  Hey Carmel, thanks for the post about a mountain lion. There's something you wouldn't soak!

  Pat