Houses in hurricane alleys

Somewhere out there is a lone voice of someone warning of impending disaster. We don't know who he is yet, by definition --- he "cries out in the wilderness" against powerful vested interests who are seeing to it that he is muffled.

Even as our faces are turned in awe and admiration toward the spectacle of Southwest airlines and FAA collusion being exposed by whistleblowers Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters, someone is picking our pockets behind us. These new shenanigans will come to light in months or years from now, usually after much damage is done.

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars," writes the evangelist as signs of the end times (Matthew 24:7). It's best to check out those "rumors." The Bible instructs us to keep our ears open, follow trails, and investigate thoroughly. Good tip for journalists.

"If you hear in one of your cities…that certain worthless men have gone out among you…, then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true that such an abomination has been done among you…." (Deuteronomy 13:12-14)

Michael Greenberger, a former voice on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, warned the government a decade before the sub-prime mortgage disaster about the dangers of free-wheeling Wall Street practices and shadow financial markets. National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield warned for years against the folly of building houses in hurricane alleys, finally resigning his position in January in frustration.

And don't get me started on warnings about otherworldly disasters.