AP ain’t rooting for the home team in this article: 2010 a record year for deadly disasters:
This was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
First, the Earth does not have intention, no matter how fervently its worshipers want to anthropomorphize it. Seriously, what the hell kind of “journalist” writes like that, where the planet is at odds with humans? Sorry, I lost my head there. This is an AP wire story. No news was intended nor implied.
Secondly, the deadliest year in a generation? A generation of what, exactly, that has been born in the six years since the Indonesian tsunami killed almost a quarter million people on one day alone. Given the inclinations of these writers, perhaps they’re thinking of more than a generation of Toyota Priuses.
How uncritical do you have to be to fall for this kind of “reporting”? What kind of gull do you have to be to write it?
Surely you’re not questioning the intellectual sophistication of a journalism major? It’s clear that the sky gods are angry and must be appeased with the sacrifice of a thousand virgins.
If you look at the article and read the byline, you’ll see it took two staffers to come up with those stunning insights.