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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Friendperson Since: Aug, 2018
#262276: Nov 19th 2018 at 8:44:30 AM

Part of the California issue is some environmental protection regulations disallow controlled burns, so the growth of some areas can just become piles of kindling in one of the driest places on Earth, with no safe way to get rid of it.

Edited by Friendperson on Nov 19th 2018 at 8:44:51 AM

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#262277: Nov 19th 2018 at 8:46:09 AM

[up]. Prescribed burning regimes should be a regular part of forest management practices, in that whole region. It keeps the forest healthier, while reducing the risk of catostrophic wildfires, and fire excusion is a major factor in wildfire risk today.

Edited by megaeliz on Nov 19th 2018 at 11:53:45 AM

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#262278: Nov 19th 2018 at 8:49:32 AM

I don't necessarily agree with Ocasio-Cortez's Justice Dem connections, but I've been very impressed by her conduct, methods, and disposition. Here we have a congresswoman who's constructive towards leadership and loyal to the ideology of the party. I'm currently represented by Seth Moulton, and I'm not at all happy with how he's angling for a takeover with his cadre of white centrist men.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#262279: Nov 19th 2018 at 8:53:39 AM

Better than my representative.

In that he exists.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Friendperson Since: Aug, 2018
#262280: Nov 19th 2018 at 9:01:25 AM

The Representative split in my state is 3 Dem, 10 Republican. Both our senators are Republican, and Democrats didn't pick up a single seat. Everything remained the same, pretty much.

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#262281: Nov 19th 2018 at 10:17:01 AM

Moulton is infuriating because he has an unimpeachable personal record as an ex-Marine and more or less All-American man, supports a full slate of progressive issues, and wins elections handily. If he wasn't trying to organize this transparently sexist putsch, he would be the perfect male Democrat.

Edited by CrimsonZephyr on Nov 19th 2018 at 1:18:15 PM

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#262282: Nov 19th 2018 at 10:56:30 AM

Y’know, I’m not a huge Pelosi fan, but this little centrist rebellion can go suck a lemon.

DS9guy Since: Jan, 2001
#262283: Nov 19th 2018 at 11:06:15 AM

So when do they vote for the speaker? I've tried to look it up but nothing so far.

TobiasDrake Queen of Good Things, Honest (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
Queen of Good Things, Honest
#262284: Nov 19th 2018 at 11:06:25 AM

Is it weird that politicians seem to be taking communication lessons from livebloggers or is this just the natural extension of the concept of "fireside chats"?

The latter. Being active on social media allows one's voters to feel like they're really getting to know you as a person in ways that just reading the platforms that your PR person put on your website or listening to prepared speeches doesn't.

It's a big part of Trump's appeal to his own voterbase; Republicans feel like they have a very strong idea of who this guy actually is because he engages them informally. Trump's voters don't see him as a wealthy corporate businessman and politician with a list of agenda items. They see him as Wacky Uncle Donald, their cool bro from out of town who's just dropping in to hand them some tax breaks, and who sometimes says off-color things but that's just life, yo.

It's something that Democrats need to get better at doing, and Ocasio-Cortez is a step in the right direction in that regard. We've spent a long time mastering the art of making politicians look professional and serious. Now, we need to learn how to humanize them.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 19th 2018 at 12:07:19 PM

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
RainehDaze Figure of Hourai from Scotland (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
Figure of Hourai
#262285: Nov 19th 2018 at 11:50:44 AM

Prescribed burns in California aren't probably a good idea right now.

Avatar Source
Ultimatum Disasturbator from Second Star to the left (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Disasturbator
#262286: Nov 19th 2018 at 12:15:13 PM

Well I don't think they were suggesting setting more fires while fighting the ones they're fighting that would be silly,in future they could try prescibed burns

What they really need to do is punish the heck out of the power company whose's downed powerline started this whole mess

New theme music also a box
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#262287: Nov 19th 2018 at 12:20:44 PM

So when do they vote for the speaker? I've tried to look it up but nothing so far.
When the new session of Congress starts, January 3rd.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#262288: Nov 19th 2018 at 1:15:29 PM

Prescribed burning regimes should be a regular part of forest management practices, in that whole region. It keeps the forest healthier, while reducing the risk of catostrophic wildfires, and fire excusion is a major factor in wildfire risk today.

In the US, part of the reason for declining use of prescribed burning is because of a loss of burn window and an increase in house building.

A loss of window means that the period when it's safer to carry out the burn (without the burn escaping to become a wildfire) is becoming increasingly narrow in some regions as a result of climate change. In other areas, the manner in which house/resort building has been conducted has meant that it's no longer safe to conduct prescribed burns within a specific area of the new built-up areas.

It's worth bearing in mind because the decline of prescribed burning in certain regions of the US isn't simple and and restoring prescribed burning in some areas may now be impossible. Arizona, for example, has issues with the locations of communities that have been built over the past 10-15 years now making it too dangerous to certain local human populations to engage in controlled burning.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Nov 19th 2018 at 9:22:50 AM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#262289: Nov 19th 2018 at 1:18:32 PM

That only leaves more labour intensive logging and vegetation removal.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
FluffyMcChicken My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare from where the floating lights gleam Since: Jun, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
#262290: Nov 19th 2018 at 1:42:33 PM

The state of California has been incentivizing sheep and goat herding as to use the herds to clear out whole valleys of dry bush from time to time.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#262291: Nov 19th 2018 at 1:49:18 PM

[up]x3 Is there a way to disincentives builders from building in particularly at risk areas? Maybe through zoning legislation?

Also incentivizing getting people out of these types of areas would be good as well.

Edited by megaeliz on Nov 19th 2018 at 4:52:38 AM

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#262292: Nov 19th 2018 at 1:55:57 PM

[up]

Last Week Tonight pointed out a program aimed at that for those that build near shorelines, in which they'll be covered in full for flood damage... the problem being that people are stubborn enough to build the next house in the same spot rather than use the new funds to relocate entirely.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
TechPriest90 Servant of the Omnissiah from Collegia Titanica, Mars, Sol System Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Servant of the Omnissiah
#262294: Nov 19th 2018 at 2:08:06 PM

I'm hearing an awful lot about this Mercer Family. They seem to be having their fingers in practically every far-right pie across the Western World. Steve Bannon seems to be on their payroll, as is the propaganda site Breitbart.

Who the fuck are these louts? Can anyone elaborate on this for me?

I hold the secrets of the machine.
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#262295: Nov 19th 2018 at 2:15:10 PM

Bob Mercer is a computer scientist, hedge fund manager and classic Silicon Valley Libertarian. Not much to report there.

Edited by Ramidel on Nov 19th 2018 at 1:15:24 AM

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#262296: Nov 19th 2018 at 2:19:16 PM

[up][up] Rich people who want to get richer.

I remembered a quote today which kind of sums up the situation in the US...I just had to replace "Nazi" with "Trumpist"

»"Es gibt drei Dinge, die sich nicht vereinen lassen: Intelligenz, Anständigkeit und Nationalsozialismus. Man kann intelligent und Nazi sein. Dann ist man nicht anständig. Man kann anständig und Nazi sein. Dann ist man nicht intelligent. Und man kann anständig und intelligent sein. Dann ist man kein Nazi." - Gerhard Bronner

"There are three things wich don't mix: Intelligence, Integrity and Trumpism. You can be intelligent and a Trumpist. But then you don't have any Integrity. You can have integrity and be a Trumpist. But then you are not intelligent. And you can have integrity and be intelligent. Then you won't be a Trumpist."

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#262297: Nov 19th 2018 at 2:36:58 PM

Some selected quotes from a New Yorker article about him. (The whole thing can be read here

Mercer is the co-C.E.O. of Renaissance Technologies, which is among the most profitable hedge funds in the country. A brilliant computer scientist, he helped transform the financial industry through the innovative use of trading algorithms. But he has never given an interview explaining his political views. Although Mercer has recently become an object of media speculation, Trevor Potter, the president of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group, who formerly served as the chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said, I have no idea what his political views are they are unknown, not just to the public but also to most people who’ve been active in politics for the past thirty years.
Patterson also recalled Mercer arguing that, during the Gulf War, the U.S. should simply have taken Iraq’s oil, “since it was there.” Trump, too, has said that the U.S. should have “kept the oil.” Expropriating another country’s natural resources is a violation of international law. Another onetime senior employee at Renaissance recalls hearing Mercer downplay the dangers posed by nuclear war. Mercer, speaking of the atomic bombs that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, argued that, outside of the immediate blast zones, the radiation actually made Japanese citizens healthier. The National Academy of Sciences has found no evidence to support this notion. Nevertheless, according to the onetime employee, Mercer, who is a proponent of nuclear power, “was very excited about the idea, and felt that it meant nuclear accidents weren’t such a big deal.”
Mercer strongly supported the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be Trump’s Attorney General. Many civil-rights groups opposed the nomination, pointing out that Sessions has in the past expressed racist views. Mercer, for his part, has argued that the Civil Rights Act, in 1964, was a major mistake. According to the onetime Renaissance employee, Mercer has asserted repeatedly that African-Americans were better off economically before the civil-rights movement. (Few scholars agree.) He has also said that the problem of racism in America is exaggerated. The source said that, not long ago, he heard Mercer proclaim that there are no white racists in America today, only black racists.
Magerman told the Wall Street Journal that Mercer’s political opinions “show contempt for the social safety net that he doesn’t need, but many Americans do.” He also said that Mercer wants the U.S. government to be “shrunk down to the size of a pinhead.” Several former colleagues of Mercer’s said that his views are akin to Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Magerman told me, “Bob believes that human beings have no inherent value other than how much money they make. A cat has value, he’s said, because it provides pleasure to humans. But if someone is on welfare they have negative value. If he earns a thousand times more than a schoolteacher, then he’s a thousand times more valuable.” Magerman added, “He thinks society is upside down—that government helps the weak people get strong, and makes the strong people weak by taking their money away, through taxes.” He said that this mind-set was typical of “instant billionaires” in finance, who “have no stake in society,” unlike the industrialists of the past, who “built real things.”

Another former high-level Renaissance employee said, “Bob thinks the less government the better. He’s happy if people don’t trust the government. And if the President’s a bozo? He’s fine with that. He wants it to all fall down.”

Edited by megaeliz on Nov 19th 2018 at 5:47:33 AM

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#262298: Nov 19th 2018 at 3:17:46 PM

Mercer is a despicable human being.

DeMarquis Since: Feb, 2010
#262299: Nov 19th 2018 at 3:43:58 PM

Well, he's an objectivist.

Parable Since: Aug, 2009

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