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Expert: Tropical Storm Harvey Is Headed to These Areas Next

August 31, 2017
Staff

WRITER

Tropical Storm Harvey has devastated Houston, flooded tens of thousands of homes and peaked as a Category 4 hurricane – and it’s not done yet.

“What we’re dealing with here is a storm that has plenty of time over warm water that appears to me is heading for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico,” Joe Bastardi of WeatherBELL.com said on radio Thursday.

He predicted the path of Tropical Storm Harvey, advising officials in those areas to stock up by airlifting in supplies and otherwise to prepare in case the storm hits the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

“We just saw a tremendous response in Texas, a reactive response, which was great,” Bastardi said. “But a proactive situation … would really be a way that you can show how good government can work with the right preparation.”

At least 31 people have died in the flood waters of Tropical Storm Harvey, according to local officials. Houston was drenched with more than 50 inches of rain, displacing people by the thousands as their homes flooded; a FEMA administrator told Fox News that at least 30,000 people are living in emergency shelters until the waters recede.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: We welcome to the program, Joe Bastardi. He's from WeatherBELL.com. If you don't know Joe, he's been on with us several times over, you know, the last -- seems like couple of decades. Maybe three decades, Joe.

But Joe is one of the best weather guys out there, meteorologists. He is -- when it comes to hurricanes, this guy nails it. He has said recently that the -- the drought of hurricanes, if you will, these giant storms, this is the year they're going to come to an end. He is also -- his tracking of this hurricane was almost 100 percent correct, or close enough for people in my business at least.

And unfortunately, he is also calling for another hurricane that is now starting to form as a tropical storm. And he's here to tell us a little bit about that.

But first, Joe, welcome to the program. How are you, sir?

JOE: Well, I'm pretty good. I just want to call in for a couple reasons on Irma, okay? It's not a done deal that's hitting the United States.

GLENN: Sure.

JOE: It's Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands I'm very, very worried about. In fact, in looking at what I'm seeing, it has a classic look for a hurricane that should go to a major hurricane. But we look at these analogues of past patterns. For instance, Ike and Andrew. Where the path -- you see the path come up and bend. And when it bends off to the left like that, the hurricane starts intensifying. Because it means that the upper air ridge of high pressure to the north of it is backing west with it, to sort of escort it westward like that.

By the way, and I just want folks to understand, I learned that methodology in 1976 at Penn State University from Dr. John Lee, my tropical professor, who would point out countless storms, countless major storms. Because we did have major hurricanes back then. In fact, quite a few of them in the '30s, '40s, and '50, that when they came up and bent to the left, there would be rapid intensification that would follow over the next few days.

And so what we're dealing with here is a storm that has plenty of time over warm water that appears to me is heading for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. This is very important. It's going to move slow. If we get a good handle on this by Sunday, if it's me and I'm the administration, I would start looking at this as to try to preemptively airlift supplies and get people ready. Because it may not come until Wednesday or Thursday, but if you're coming in Saturday or Sunday, even if it's a near-miss, it's a bad storm. If it's a direct hit, where the Category 4 or 5 hurricane coming through the Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico, look what you go did, right?

And we just saw a tremendous response in Texas, a reactive response which was great. A proactive situation, especially with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Both US territories. We have to understand that. Would really be a way that -- you can show how good government can work with the right -- with the right preparation.

GLENN: Joe, what are the odds that that -- that comes a little farther up north.

JOE: What do you mean?

GLENN: And hits -- you know, it -- it slams into -- it misses Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and it slams into the Carolinas. I guess it's not really north.

JOE: That's certainly in the realm of possibility. But what I do is I make a forecast. I think what this is going to do --

GLENN: Okay.

JOE: -- is come very close to Puerto Rico, just north of Hispaniola. And because -- I've got, you know, clients all in there.

GLENN: Yeah.

JOE: And, you know, we're getting the Bahamas sort of war footing. Getting them prepared. And then you have the southeast United States.

If this thing takes a further cell track over Puerto Rica and Hispaniola, it will not be able to rebuild major intensity before Florida.

GLENN: Okay.

JOE: If you look at the tracks of storms into Hispaniola, what happens is this, if there are major hurricanes and they're hit, the inside of them get hallowed out. And they can't get their core back together for two, three, four days.

You saw that with Ike. When Ike hit in there, it had to get back over the gulf for a while. So you have to understand that there is a way out here for the United States, or it recurves to the east of the United States.

But what we do is, look, we tell people options. And we say, this is our most likely forecast. And right now, the first place I'm worried about and the reason I called in was because Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and the idea that, you know, if you're seeing something four or five days in advance, you would be able to get ready for it.

What happened with Harvey was, everybody was staring at the eclipse on Monday. I mean, I was amazed at the lack of attention to what was going on. It wasn't named. But it was -- and, you know, we were warning our clients saying, "You know, this is going to be a big deal." And we warned them -- that's not hind-sighting. It's what we were doing.

And as far as the preseason goes, I tell you, I put something on Twitter this morning that showed the pressure patterns when major hurricanes are going to hit the United States and the computer models. And what has happened over the last 12 years -- and it might be due to the fact that the globe is warmer. Okay?

Might argue over what causes that, but I don't argue that the globe is a bit warmer. Is it distorts the barometric pressure patterns during the hurricane season, which may make it less likely for hurricanes to hit. Now, what do we jump on this year? We knew this year would be different. Look at how cool it is across the eastern and central United States.

And when it's cool in the month of August and the ocean -- and you're in a warm cycle in the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, we are. Okay? Bang. It lights up the tropics. You saw that happen in 2004.

GLENN: Okay. So, Joe, you just brought up global warming. And all of Al Gore's nonsense of, you know, the world is going to all be underwater, you know, by 2016. And he talked about these great buildup of storms. We have just gone through an amazing quiet period of storms. And I would like to get your view. I don't know where you stand on global warming.

I am on record saying, I will look at the temperatures. And if the temperatures are up. That's great.

What you do about it, is what we need to actually be discussing. But for the people to start coming in and saying, "These storms are global warming. See, we told you." No, this is a cycle that has been quiet for a while and might come roaring to life.

JOE: Well, here's the thing, you know, I believe, first of all in Ecclesiastes 1:9: There's nothing new under the sun. You know, as man gets smarter, he observes things more and more.

The cycles in the ocean, what we call the meridional overturning circulation, centuries in the making. The way you see the oceans now is a product of back and forth for such a long time.

GLENN: Yeah.

JOE: So I believe that the cycle is largely warming. CO2's contribution is minute. It's only .04 percent of the atmosphere.

But, look, here's what starts happening: Let's say this becomes a big hurricane, but it stays out at sea. Well, that's weather. If it happens to come 100 miles further west and hits the United States, well, there's climate change right there. And that's what you see going on.

You take -- see, this is the thing about me -- I should probably be like a spy for the other side. I can give them examples where they could push their point. For instance, suppose this comes into the Bahamas as a major hurricane. That will be three major hurricanes in three years, right? Which is almost unprecedented in the Bahamas. Three major hurricanes in three years. My counter, then, to myself would be: Well, look at what happened '63, '64, '65, '66, around there, where you had major hurricanes. You had Anez (phonetic), Cleo, Betsy, Flora, all coming into the same spot.

And where was that? And that's the big thing. Why -- today is the anniversary of Hurricane Carol, folks, on the northeast coast. 1954. The wind gusted to 135 miles an hour at Block Island, Rhode Island. That happens to be stronger than the wind gusts at Aransas Pass with this past storm, which was 132 miles an hour. Now, one could argue, well, there were stronger winds with Harvey. But then again, with Carol, there may have been stronger winds too because they push 15 feet of water into Providence, Rhode Island.

GLENN: So, Joe --

JOE: So my point is this: That you are seeing an agenda. And they come out after the fact. It's Monday morning quarterbacking, and that's what I get all upset about. That, oh, these people didn't even know what was going on to happen in the preseason. They didn't get out there and hang their tail out to dry, like we did at our company. And then they tell me after the fact? That, oh, this is because of CO2.

GLENN: So, Joe, I have to ask you this question. And I know you have to run. You're a very busy man. And I appreciate your time.

JOE: Not really. I can hang out.

(laughter)

GLENN: I want to ask you this one question: And that is this. I have such respect for you because you really know your science. You know your craft. You know it.

But I'm listening to you, and I'm hearing the memorization of the dates and the storms and everything else. Did you -- like a lot of kids grew up, they memorized the names of the presidents. Did you grow up knowing you wanted to do this and memorizing the names of storms? When did you decide, my gosh, I'm passionate about this?

JOE: Well, at the age of three, my mom and dad had to keep an eye on me because I would lie on my back and stare at the sun and the cumulus clouds going in front of the sun because I would like to look at the outline of the clouds. My dad is a meteorologist. He's 88 now. He graduated out of A&M in '65, and he put me to bed, not with the three little bears, but the three big storms of '54. Carol --

(laughter)

JOE: No, listen, I've been through it. My son's like this. My great grandfather was a town weatherman in Bisignano, which is a town in Sicily. And it's in the blood. And it's in the passion.

You know what, we're probably a lot alike in our spiritual beliefs. God -- God gives you something, a passion like that, he's doing it for a reason.

GLENN: Yeah, he is.

JOE: Many people -- you know, I see the majesty, I see the majesty of the creation of God's hand in the weather every day. I simply marvel at it. I'm looking at it right now out my window. There's a cloud in one place. No cloud in the other. There has to be something different going on over that short period, that short area. How does that happen?

So you got to understand something, that this is all I've ever wanted to do since I was a little kid. I've been a geek all my life. I'm still a geek now. I can't help it.

And I'll tell you what's bad, it's a blessing and a curse, folks. Because you will see things quite far away, and then you can't sleep because you keep going over it. You keep looking at maps. Looking at maps.

And then what happens when they don't happen? You learn about being wrong, okay? And that's the problem I think that climatologists have: They should be made to forecast the weather for a year so they can see how the models go wrong and how they can be wrong. Because when you're just looking at stuff from behind and you get to come out and say, "Well, see, it's what we told you," it's a very, very different situation from being an operational forecaster, where your life is on the line.

GLENN: Joe Bastardi from WeatherBELL.com. WeatherBELL.com. Chief meteorologist, and really one of the most accurate guys when it comes to long-range forecasting and a friend of the program for a very long time. Joe, I appreciate it. God bless.

JOE: Hey, before I go, just remember, calm down. Everyone enjoy the weather. Because it's the only weather you've got. Most of the weather is nice across most of the world. Okay?

STU: Optimistic take.

GLENN: God bless you. Thanks, Joe. Yeah.

A break in trust: A NEW Watergate is brewing in plain sight

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

When institutions betray the public’s trust, the country splits, and the spiral is hard to stop.

Something drastic is happening in American life. Headlines that should leave us stunned barely register anymore. Stories that once would have united the country instead dissolve into silence or shrugs.

It is not apathy exactly. It is something deeper — a growing belief that the people in charge either cannot or will not fix what is broken.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf.

I call this response the Bubba effect. It describes what happens when institutions lose so much public trust that “Bubba,” the average American minding his own business, finally throws his hands up and says, “Fine. I will handle it myself.” Not because he wants to, but because the system that was supposed to protect him now feels indifferent, corrupt, or openly hostile.

The Bubba effect is not a political movement. It is a survival instinct.

What triggers the Bubba effect

We are watching the triggers unfold in real time. When members of Congress publicly encourage active duty troops to disregard orders from the commander in chief, that is not a political squabble. When a federal judge quietly rewrites the rules so one branch of government can secretly surveil another, that is not normal. That is how republics fall. Yet these stories glided across the news cycle without urgency, without consequence, without explanation.

When the American people see the leadership class shrug, they conclude — correctly — that no one is steering the ship.

This is how the Bubba effect spreads. It is not just individuals resisting authority. It is sheriffs refusing to enforce new policies, school boards ignoring state mandates, entire communities saying, “We do not believe you anymore.” It becomes institutional, cultural, national.

A country cracking from the inside

This effect can be seen in Dearborn, Michigan. In the rise of fringe voices like Nick Fuentes. In the Epstein scandal, where powerful people could not seem to locate a single accountable adult. These stories are different in content but identical in message: The system protects itself, not you.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf. That does not mean they suddenly agree with everything that person says. It means they feel abandoned by the institutions that were supposed to be trustworthy.

The Bubba effect is what fills that vacuum.

The dangers of a faithless system

A republic cannot survive without credibility. Congress cannot oversee intelligence agencies if it refuses to discipline its own members. The military cannot remain apolitical if its chain of command becomes optional. The judiciary cannot defend the Constitution while inventing loopholes that erase the separation of powers.

History shows that once a nation militarizes politics, normalizes constitutional shortcuts, or allows government agencies to operate without scrutiny, it does not return to equilibrium peacefully. Something will give.

The question is what — and when.

The responsibility now belongs to us

In a healthy country, this is where the media steps in. This is where universities, pastors, journalists, and cultural leaders pause the outrage machine and explain what is at stake. But today, too many see themselves not as guardians of the republic, but of ideology. Their first loyalty is to narrative, not truth.

The founders never trusted the press more than the public. They trusted citizens who understood their rights, lived their responsibilities, and demanded accountability. That is the antidote to the Bubba effect — not rage, but citizenship.

How to respond without breaking ourselves

Do not riot. Do not withdraw. Do not cheer on destruction just because you dislike the target. That is how nations lose themselves. Instead, demand transparency. Call your representatives. Insist on consequences. Refuse to normalize constitutional violations simply because “everyone does it.” If you expect nothing, you will get nothing.

Do not hand your voice to the loudest warrior simply because he is swinging a bat at the establishment. You do not beat corruption by joining a different version of it. You beat it by modeling the country you want to preserve: principled, accountable, rooted in truth.

Adam Gray / Stringer | Getty Images

Every republic reaches a moment when historians will later say, “That was the warning.” We are living in ours. But warnings are gifts if they are recognized. Institutions bend. People fail. The Constitution can recover — if enough Americans still know and cherish it.

It does not take a majority. Twenty percent of the country — awake, educated, and courageous — can reset the system. It has happened before. It can happen again.

Wake up. Stand up. Demand integrity — from leaders, from institutions, and from yourself. Because the Bubba effect will not end until Americans reclaim the duty that has always belonged to them: preserving the republic for the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Warning: Stop letting TikTok activists think for you

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Bad-faith attacks on Israel and AIPAC warp every debate. Real answers emerge only when people set aside scripts and ask what serves America’s long-term interests.

The search for truth has always required something very much in short supply these days: honesty. Not performative questions, not scripted outrage, not whatever happens to be trending on TikTok, but real curiosity.

Some issues, often focused on foreign aid, AIPAC, or Israel, have become hotbeds of debate and disagreement. Before we jump into those debates, however, we must return to a simpler, more important issue: honest questioning. Without it, nothing in these debates matters.

Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

The phrase “just asking questions” has re-entered the zeitgeist, and that’s fine. We should always question power. But too many of those questions feel preloaded with someone else’s answer. If the goal is truth, then the questions should come from a sincere desire to understand, not from a hunt for a villain.

Honest desire for truth is the only foundation that can support a real conversation about these issues.

Truth-seeking is real work

Right now, plenty of people are not seeking the truth at all. They are repeating something they heard from a politician on cable news or from a stranger on TikTok who has never opened a history book. That is not a search for answers. That is simply outsourcing your own thought.

If you want the truth, you need to work for it. You cannot treat the world like a Marvel movie where the good guy appears in a cape and the villain hisses on command. Real life does not give you a neat script with the moral wrapped up in two hours.

But that is how people are approaching politics now. They want the oppressed and the oppressor, the heroic underdog and the cartoon villain. They embrace this fantastical framing because it is easier than wrestling with reality.

This framing took root in the 1960s when the left rebuilt its worldview around colonizers and the colonized. Overnight, Zionism was recast as imperialism. Suddenly, every conflict had to fit the same script. Today’s young activists are just recycling the same narrative with updated graphics. Everything becomes a morality play. No nuance, no context, just the comforting clarity of heroes and villains.

Bad-faith questions

This same mindset is fueling the sudden obsession with Israel, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in particular. You hear it from members of Congress and activists alike: AIPAC pulls the strings, AIPAC controls the government, AIPAC should register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The questions are dramatic, but are they being asked in good faith?

FARA is clear. The standard is whether an individual or group acts under the direction or control of a foreign government. AIPAC simply does not qualify.

Here is a detail conveniently left out of these arguments: Dozens of domestic organizations — Armenian, Cuban, Irish, Turkish — lobby Congress on behalf of other countries. None of them registers under FARA because — like AIPAC — they are independent, domestic organizations.

If someone has a sincere problem with the structure of foreign lobbying, fair enough. Let us have that conversation. But singling out AIPAC alone is not a search for truth. It is bias dressed up as bravery.

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

If someone wants to question foreign aid to Israel, fine. Let’s have that debate. But let’s ask the right questions. The issue is not the size of the package but whether the aid advances our interests. What does the United States gain? Does the investment strengthen our position in the region? How does it compare to what we give other nations? And do we examine those countries with the same intensity?

The real target

These questions reflect good-faith scrutiny. But narrowing the entire argument to one country or one dollar amount misses the larger problem. If someone objects to the way America handles foreign aid, the target is not Israel. The target is the system itself — an entrenched bureaucracy, poor transparency, and decades-old commitments that have never been re-examined. Those problems run through programs around the world.

If you want answers, you need to broaden the lens. You have to be willing to put aside the movie script and confront reality. You have to hold yourself to a simple rule: Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

That is the only way this country ever gets clarity on foreign aid, influence, alliances, and our place in the world. Questioning is not just allowed. It is essential. But only if it is honest.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

A nation unravels when its shared culture is the first thing to go

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Texas now hosts Quran-first academies, Sharia-compliant housing schemes, and rapidly multiplying mosques — all part of a movement building a self-contained society apart from the country around it.

It is time to talk honestly about what is happening inside America’s rapidly growing Muslim communities. In city after city, large pockets of newcomers are choosing to build insulated enclaves rather than enter the broader American culture.

That trend is accelerating, and the longer we ignore it, the harder it becomes to address.

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world.

America has always welcomed people of every faith and people from every corner of the world, but the deal has never changed: You come here and you join the American family. You are free to honor your traditions, keep your faith, but you must embrace the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. You melt into the shared culture that allows all of us to live side by side.

Across the country, this bargain is being rejected by Islamist communities that insist on building a parallel society with its own rules, its own boundaries, and its own vision for how life should be lived.

Texas illustrates the trend. The state now has roughly 330 mosques. At least 48 of them were built in just the last 24 months. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex alone has around 200 Islamic centers. Houston has another hundred or so. Many of these communities have no interest in blending into American life.

This is not the same as past waves of immigration. Irish, Italian, Korean, Mexican, and every other group arrived with pride in their heritage. Still, they also raised American flags and wanted their children to be part of the country’s future. They became doctors, small-business owners, teachers, and soldiers. They wanted to be Americans.

What we are watching now is not the melting pot. It is isolation by design.

Parallel societies do not end well

More than 300 fundamentalist Islamic schools now operate full-time across the country. Many use Quran-first curricula that require students to spend hours memorizing religious texts before they ever reach math or science. In Dallas, Brighter Horizons Academy enrolls more than 1,700 students and draws federal support while operating on a social model that keeps children culturally isolated.

Then there is the Epic City project in Collin and Hunt counties — 402 acres originally designated only for Muslim buyers, with Sharia-compliant financing and a mega-mosque at the center. After public outcry and state investigations, the developers renamed it “The Meadows,” but a new sign does not erase the original intent. It is not a neighborhood. It is a parallel society.

Americans should not hesitate to say that parallel societies are dangerous. Europe tried this experiment, and the results could not be clearer. In Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, entire neighborhoods now operate under their own cultural rules, some openly hostile to Western norms. When citizens speak up, they are branded bigots for asserting a basic right: the ability to live safely in their own communities.

A crisis of confidence

While this separation widens, another crisis is unfolding at home. A recent Gallup survey shows that about 40% of American women ages 18 to 39 would leave the country permanently if given the chance. Nearly half of a rising generation — daughters, sisters, soon-to-be mothers — no longer believe this nation is worth building a future in.

And who shapes the worldview of young boys? Their mothers. If a mother no longer believes America is home, why would her child grow up ready to defend it?

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world. If we lose confidence in our own national identity at the same time that we allow separatist enclaves to spread unchecked, the outcome is predictable. Europe is already showing us what comes next: cultural fracture, political radicalization, and the slow death of national unity.

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

Stand up and tell the truth

America welcomes Muslims. America defends their right to worship freely. A Muslim who loves the Constitution, respects the rule of law, and wants to raise a family in peace is more than welcome in America.

But an Islamist movement that rejects assimilation, builds enclaves governed by its own religious framework, and treats American law as optional is not simply another participant in our melting pot. It is a direct challenge to it. If we refuse to call this problem out out of fear of being called names, we will bear the consequences.

Europe is already feeling those consequences — rising conflict and a political class too paralyzed to admit the obvious. When people feel their culture, safety, and freedoms slipping away, they will follow anyone who promises to defend them. History has shown that over and over again.

Stand up. Speak plainly. Be unafraid. You can practice any faith in this country, but the supremacy of the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian moral framework that shaped it is non-negotiable. It is what guarantees your freedom in the first place.

If you come here and honor that foundation, welcome. If you come here to undermine it, you do not belong here.

Wake up to what is unfolding before the consequences arrive. Because when a nation refuses to say what is true, the truth eventually forces its way in — and by then, it is always too late.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Shocking: AI-written country song tops charts, sparks soul debate

VCG / Contributor | Getty Images

A machine can imitate heartbreak well enough to top the charts, but it cannot carry grief, choose courage, or hear the whisper that calls human beings to something higher.

The No. 1 country song in America right now was not written in Nashville or Texas or even L.A. It came from code. “Walk My Walk,” the AI-generated single by the AI artist Breaking Rust, hit the top spot on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart, and if you listen to it without knowing that fact, you would swear a real singer lived the pain he is describing.

Except there is no “he.” There is no lived experience. There is no soul behind the voice dominating the country music charts.

If a machine can imitate the soul, then what is the soul?

I will admit it: I enjoy some AI music. Some of it is very good. And that leaves us with a question that is no longer science fiction. If a machine can fake being human this well, what does it mean to be human?

A new world of artificial experience

This is not just about one song. We are walking straight into a technological moment that will reshape everyday life.

Elon Musk said recently that we may not even have phones in five years. Instead, we will carry a small device that listens, anticipates, and creates — a personal AI agent that knows what we want to hear before we ask. It will make the music, the news, the podcasts, the stories. We already live in digital bubbles. Soon, those bubbles might become our own private worlds.

If an algorithm can write a hit country song about hardship and perseverance without a shred of actual experience, then the deeper question becomes unavoidable: If a machine can imitate the soul, then what is the soul?

What machines can never do

A machine can produce, and soon it may produce better than we can. It can calculate faster than any human mind. It can rearrange the notes and words of a thousand human songs into something that sounds real enough to fool millions.

But it cannot care. It cannot love. It cannot choose right and wrong. It cannot forgive because it cannot be hurt. It cannot stand between a child and danger. It cannot walk through sorrow.

A machine can imitate the sound of suffering. It cannot suffer.

The difference is the soul. The divine spark. The thing God breathed into man that no code will ever have. Only humans can take pain and let it grow into compassion. Only humans can take fear and turn it into courage. Only humans can rebuild their lives after losing everything. Only humans hear the whisper inside, the divine voice that says, “Live for something greater.”

We are building artificial minds. We are not building artificial life.

Questions that define us

And as these artificial minds grow sharper, as their tools become more convincing, the right response is not panic. It is to ask the oldest and most important questions.

Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of freedom? What is worth defending? What is worth sacrificing for?

That answer is not found in a lab or a server rack. It is found in that mysterious place inside each of us where reason meets faith, where suffering becomes wisdom, where God reminds us we are more than flesh and more than thought. We are not accidents. We are not circuits. We are not replaceable.

Europa Press News / Contributor | Getty Images

The miracle machines can never copy

Being human is not about what we can produce. Machines will outproduce us. That is not the question. Being human is about what we can choose. We can choose to love even when it costs us something. We can choose to sacrifice when it is not easy. We can choose to tell the truth when the world rewards lies. We can choose to stand when everyone else bows. We can create because something inside us will not rest until we do.

An AI content generator can borrow our melodies, echo our stories, and dress itself up like a human soul, but it cannot carry grief across a lifetime. It cannot forgive an enemy. It cannot experience wonder. It cannot look at a broken world and say, “I am going to build again.”

The age of machines is rising. And if we do not know who we are, we will shrink. But if we use this moment to remember what makes us human, it will help us to become better, because the one thing no algorithm will ever recreate is the miracle that we exist at all — the miracle of the human soul.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.