Raking prevents forest fires, according to trump

Brightdreamer

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frimble3

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Is he actually committed to this 'plan'? Because you could rake the whole state - if you put that gigantic military budget onto it. And all those sturdy soldiers.
The only other way to do it: cheap illegal migrant labor. :evil
Because who does he think is going to do it?
Part-time volunteers? Retirees? Kids on summer break? California is a big state.
Then, there's the rest of the country. The woodsy, mountainous parts. The swampy bits that are drying out. The vast grain fields. Pretty much all of 'America the Beautiful' is flammable, and likely to get worse with global warming.

Yeah, let's leave it to a few guys with rakes. And ban all smoking. And campfires. And companies that cause fires.
 
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frimble3

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Finland --> :Wha:
A week ago, Trump didn't know that Finland existed. Now he's using it as a not-terribly relevant example. Sure, for how to prevent forest fires in Alaska, maybe - but California's a different kettle of fish.
 

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Gah, to the end of my life, I will never understand how someone like this was allowed into the highest elected office in the nation.

I think too many voters act like they're picking a brand of toothpaste based on the commercials for it, rather than spending any time looking at what the public record of what the person has done and said in their past. You can forgive it when there's not much public record to examine, but in Trump's case, it was all there, if only they'd looked beyond the "commercials".

Also, don't forget that the average IQ is 100, and that means half the population is dumber than that.
 

MaeZe

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He looked so ignorant today standing there with Governor Brown babbling to the reporters with an air of faux expertise on preventing these kinds of fires. And poor Gov Brown having to hold his tongue because Trump held relief funding over everyone's head.

Next time you are writing your newly elected members of the House, suggest they take control of relief funding out of Trump's hands. In some way he needs to be removed from a system he abuses to get adulation and favors.
 

Xelebes

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As we mock Trump, there is a lot of commentary coming out about how inadequate our forest management procedures are. In BC, the last two fire seasons have had the greatest areas consumed by fire. The Tweedsmuir Complex wildfire was so bad it caused midday in Alberta to go pitch black. Edmonton went deathly orange one morning where the sun failed to rise and my apartment was pitch black. The air was choking so bad I fled to the mall at 7 am to get filtered air.

Apparently the BC government carries a program of using herbicide to kill broadleaf trees like aspen so that more lucrative conifers can grow. Conifers require fire to kill off the old, mature trees so that the next generation can grow. Broadleaf trees are more resistant to fire and are crucial to providing refuge for wildlife as the conifers burn.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/brit...natural-wildfire-defence-every-year-1.4907358

There were recommendations to Fort McMurray following its fire to plant a forest of poplar around the city. Don't know how far that has come along. We'll see.
 

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Is he actually committed to this 'plan'? Because you could rake the whole state - if you put that gigantic military budget onto it. And all those sturdy soldiers.
The only other way to do it: cheap illegal migrant labor. :evil
Because who does he think is going to do it?

Prison inmates
 

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Yeah, because of all those similarities between Finland and California. Like carbon-based humans live in both countries. Poe-TAY-toe, toe-MAH-toe...
 
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frimble3

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Rather than spending any time looking at what the public record of what the person has done and said in their past. You can forgive it when there's not much public record to examine, but in Trump's case, it was all there,
And, if there's no relevant public record, but the person is running for the Top Job, that says something right there.
Same problem with H.Ross Perot: no idea of what he'd be like in a situation where he wasn't the boss. There's a reason most successful Presidents come 'up the ranks' - time spent as a governor or senator, etc. so that there's a record of how they work with people they can't control. And issues they might not be particularly interested in.
 

frimble3

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As we mock Trump, there is a lot of commentary coming out about how inadequate our forest management procedures are. In BC, the last two fire seasons have had the greatest areas consumed by fire. The Tweedsmuir Complex wildfire was so bad it caused midday in Alberta to go pitch black. Edmonton went deathly orange one morning where the sun failed to rise and my apartment was pitch black. The air was choking so bad I fled to the mall at 7 am to get filtered air.
Sorry 'bout that, Alberta. For those interested Google how far Edmonton is from B.C., and consider that the smoke blew over mountains to get there.
http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-wildfire-smoke-map-canada-2018

(Black is the thickest smoke, light grey is the least, white is no smoke.)

Apparently the BC government carries a program of using herbicide to kill broadleaf trees like aspen so that more lucrative conifers can grow. Conifers require fire to kill off the old, mature trees so that the next generation can grow. Broadleaf trees are more resistant to fire and are crucial to providing refuge for wildlife as the conifers burn.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/brit...natural-wildfire-defence-every-year-1.4907358
Let's not forget the huge expanses of pine trees killed by pine beetle infestation, and left dead and standing - perfect fuel for a fire.
 

Brightdreamer

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To "own the libs," of course.

I would've hoped the average voter had moved beyond the "eating worms to punish other people" phase... But this drifts off-topic.

What really is galling is the lack of other adults in the room - people who should understand that you can't just rake up a forest and make fire risk go away, especially in a drought and most especially in a shifting climate, yet who allow this travesty to go on, either because they're essentially hostage (in the governor's case, for instance) or because the short-term personal power trip from pretending the emperor's clothed is worth more than the long-term future of the planet.
 

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He looked so ignorant today standing there with Governor Brown babbling to the reporters with an air of faux expertise on preventing these kinds of fires. And poor Gov Brown having to hold his tongue because Trump held relief funding over everyone's head.

Hopefully, with the house now under Democratic control, these funding cuts won't happen.

What worries me in the long term is that Trump will inure people, even those who aren't in his camp, against this kind of idiocy. If the next GOP candidate is even marginally less idiotic or bombastic, people will think they are normal. It's happened already, with Republicans like Paul Ryan being cast as "traditional conservatives" or "moderate conservatives" when they are no such thing.

Or people who are in Trump's camp now may want someone even crazier next time, and if they aren't any better off in 2016, or whenever, than they are now, they'll want a candidate who "shakes things up" even more.

Incidentally, the Finnish President has no memory of telling Trump that raking leaves is part of his country's forest management system.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...d0975fd6199_story.html?utm_term=.d125cc8cc919
 
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Brightdreamer

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What worries me in the long term is that Trump will inure people, even those who aren't in his camp, against this kind of idiocy. If the next GOP candidate is even marginally less idiotic or bombastic, people will think they are normal. It's happened already, with Republicans like Paul Ryan being cast as "traditional conservatives" or "moderate conservatives" when they are no such thing.

That's been the long game, definitely. In his book Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely talked about how people ascribe value to things - how the first product on the market sometimes had trouble gaining traction until there was something with which to compare it. I think there's a similar psychology at work: people who didn't know how to react to such an aberrant, abhorrent personality enthroned in power have now decided that's a rod against which to measure other political behavior, a standard by which most everything short of barbecuing infants on live TV is bound to look moderate. (In laws, we've seen it for ages in the anti-choice movement: a horribly draconian anti-choice law is proposed, a slightly less but still draconian alternative comes along, and the TeaOP sells itself as "moderate" by approving the second even though it's still ultimately a draconian restriction on a women's bodily freedom. Thus the stakes for "moderate" have been creeping ever rightward for decades.)

Or people who are in Trump's camp now may want someone even crazier next time, and if they aren't any better off in 2016, or whenever, than they are now, they'll want a candidate who "shakes things up" even more.

The next step further would probably be outright ISIS-level rabid theocracy. (See also: Pence, though they may want someone more foaming-at-the-mouth, fire-and-brimstone in presentation than him as the frontman.)

There was an op-ed piece in the Washington Post about how democracy is eroding worldwide, how the enemies of democracy have honed their ability to poison the public opinion on the institutions on which it depends. The long-term damage, the author argues, may well be permanent. (Link)
 

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Hopefully, with the house now under Democratic control, these funding cuts won't happen.

What worries me in the long term is that Trump will inure people, even those who aren't in his camp, against this kind of idiocy. If the next GOP candidate is even marginally less idiotic or bombastic, people will think they are normal. It's happened already, with Republicans like Paul Ryan being cast as "traditional conservatives" or "moderate conservatives" when they are no such thing.

Or people who are in Trump's camp now may want someone even crazier next time, and if they aren't any better off in 2016, or whenever, than they are now, they'll want a candidate who "shakes things up" even more.

The Overton window has moved so far to the right that it's almost in danger of sliding off its rails.


Incidentally, the Finnish President has no memory of telling Trump that raking leaves is part of his country's forest management system.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...d0975fd6199_story.html?utm_term=.d125cc8cc919

In a surprise to absolutely no one, the Finns don't rake their forests.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/18/world/europe/finland-california-wildfires-trump-raking.html