Mother Nature’s Revenge Against Human Development
Everyone who comes to southern California learns to be afraid of the Big One, the earthquake that will level everything. But even major tremors do not present such an immediate, visceral and terrifying threat as wildfires, which strike with shocking regularity and are getting worse.
This week’s inferno, raging all the way from the Santa Barbara foothills to the Mexican border, has many immediate causes - notably, freakishly strong desert winds that have acted like a blowtorch on a region undergoing an unprecedented drought - but it is also part of a long-standing clash between natural weather cycles and the whims of human development.
“This is mother nature versus human nature,” said Bill Patzert, a renowned climatologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “It’s about too much development and too much fire suppression building up fuel over the past 50 years… In some ways this is the great war that will be fought here in the 21st century.”
It has been four years since the previous devastating fire, which killed 23 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the same outer suburbs under threat now - on the mountainous edges of San Diego and the great Los Angeles metropolis. In Malibu, where this week’s fires started with a couple of downed power lines, houses get torched every two to three years. Three times over the last century, the star-studded beach community has been consumed entirely.
The last time southern California underwent a significant pattern of drought and fire, though, it was the 1950s and the population of the region was no more than three million. Now the region is home to 20 million people - many of whom are building houses on the chaparral-covered hills and mountains where fire is part of the natural cycle.
This fire season has been at least three years in the making, ever since record rainfall in 2004 spurred a major growth in vegetation. That vegetation has been drying out ever since, because the record rain was followed by the worst drought. Last year, LA received less than five inches of rain, putting it on a par with Death Valley, five hours’ drive away in the Mojave desert.
The region has been tinder-dry for months. Back in April, the largest area of public land in Los Angeles, Griffith Park, went up in flames, threatening the city zoo, the city observatory and the Hollywood sign, among other landmarks. Over the summer, though, the region largely dodged a bullet, with no major fires despite a continuing dearth of rain. If disaster was going to strike, this was the obvious time of year, because it is the beginning of the season when hot, dry desert winds known as Santa Anas blow in from Nevada and Utah. Usually, Santa Anas are mild and last a day at most. This time, they have lasted three days and gusted with the force of a minor hurricane - what Dr Patzert calls “Godzilla-sized” Santa Anas.
“The Santa Ana season goes through January and February,” Dr Patzert said. “We’re still super-duper dry. So this might just be a preview of coming attractions.”
© 2007 The Independent
CLIMATE CHANGE IS THE PROBLEM. BEWARE THE SUPREME COURT.
1. I agree that the Dems haven’t done all they can. And it is true they can’t break a filibuster. We need to elect enough, probably 9 and 10 for sure next election. And for sure a Dem Prez no matter who. The Supreme court is on the verge and one more conservative on it can undo everything that is still intact. And that will last for another 20 years. I don’t contend this is more important than lives being lost isn’t the most pressing issue, but it is important to realize that one more wingnut judge and they will overturn not just Roe v. Wade, but Social security, medicare, most large social programs. Remember Social Security only survived by a 5 to 4 vote in the 30s despite a court that at that time was liberal. Think of the damage that could be done, millions of seniors in poverty, no healthcare for them. Medicaid, Schip. If you don’t think that the right wingers won’t push for all of this as they become more and more emboldened, you are wrong. If you listen to right wing talk, their overall objective is to totally overturn the new deal of FDR, the new society of the 60s and 70s of the war on poverty, medicare, etc.
The electorate in the last 7 years has made the Dems extremely gun shy and the constant lies from prez and repugnets do echo across the land and it is unfortunate that this still resonates in the red states. I live in Georgia and hear the wingnuts exicited that this can occur in our lifetime; Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Scalia are licking their chops for just one more wingnut Supreme court judge and we can begin. Justice Breyer, liberal is 87, Ginsberg, Stevens, and Souter in their 70s DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas, just licking their chops for one more wingnut
We must support the Dems and nurse them along no matter what!!! Don’t vote for any 3rd party candidates, don’t sign any petitions to get other candidates on the ballot in any state. THIS COMING ELECTION IS THAT IMPORTANT.
REMEMBER DIVIDE US AND THEY WIN!!!!!!.
If people are going to live in those area’s they are going to have to come up with some sort of fire proof housing building standards. It’s like building in a flood zone where you just have to keep rebuilding. Either that or the insurance policies should reflect the risk of living there.
To have to buy these people new houses every few years seems unfair.
we need proportional representation. then we wouldn’t have to worry about wasting a vote and i sure as hell wouldn’t vote for the democrats again.
“When I was young” as the song goes, I lived in San Diego.
In fact, because I was a military brat, I passed through CA every few years.
What I do notice is that the wild areas I once camped in are now full of McMansions, housing “developments”, and mini-malls.
Like usual, this mushrooming growth (mushrooming like an N-bomb?) cancerously expanded into these wild areas without much in the way of infrastructure…especially for fire suppression. (And I don’t include the dinky fire stations that crop up once and awhile.)
Last, nobody is asking the real and embarrassing question: Where is the National Guard? I’ll give you one quess.
Oh well, prisoners from the state pen and Mexican firefighters may take up the slack. But they certainly don’t possess the equipment or training of National Guards personnel.
Anyway, a firestorm is a perfect setting for a jail break or for adding on a new batch of Mexican citizens to the US workforce.
I’ve often wondered if things like this is God paying us (don’t like saying us since it’s not really me involved, but my countrymen) back for the 4 million refugees, and the rest of the Iraqi’s who had their country destroyed.
Pack way too many people into a desert area and this is what we get.
What is the population goal of California?
Is the infrastructure developed enough to sustain unlimited population growth?
What is the human population limit considering the available fresh water and air supply, waste disposal, energy needs, highways, schools, prisons?
The crisis issues facing humanity today boil down to one thing: over population. Until we’re able to get the human population under control there will be more and more worldwide catastrophic events and the planet will likely be rendered unfit to sustain life.
I don’t know the correct answer to this question, but I have a feeling after the fires are out that there is going to be a debate over how many aircraft could not be dropping water early on the smaller individual California fires because they were deployed outside the USA.
Yep. Build houses in the middle of a tinderbox and you will get burnt houses.
Arcologies For Refugees
by Doctress Neutopia
Environmental refugees,
there are millions of you
living on the edge of the sea.
Rising tides, hurricanes, tornados,
wild fires, floods, and droughts make
the American continent into a living hell.
The Last Generation is oblivious
as to what to do about climate change.
They chat on iphones, downloading itunes
during their university classes in the USA.
They are the Last Generation
before the mutates are born.
Their DNA was corrupted by
uranium tailings of the Cold War.
Environmental refugees,
you are homeless in a hostile world,
as people fight over the final gallons of clean water
and struggle to get enough oxygen in an atmosphere
contaminated with depleted uranium weapons.
Environmental refugees, don’t give up!
Let me guide you into a courageous new world.
Collectively we can build a global village
of solar-powered arcologies on Earth and in Heaven.
Growing organic gardens that feed us raw fruits
vegetables, we realize natural food is our medicine.
We can survival the Armageddon of modern era
If we learn to work, love, live, and think together.
www.lovolution.net
I’ve lived in the Irvine area for the last 17 years. It has really become overdeveloped. When I first moved here, there was a great deal of open land, forests, orange groves and farms. Over the last 10 years, they have vanished and have been replaced by homes and shopping centers. I’m thinking about over a million people must have moved into this area alone during that time. They haven’t stopped developing either. In a couple of years they will have forgotten about the fires and they’ll keep on building.
We’re in a drought now and I haven’t seen any calls from the state or local government to conserve water or anything. 15 years ago, we were in a similar drought and everyone was asked to conserve and sacrifice. They asked people not to water their lawns so often and to do it at night if they had to. They checked their sprinklers to make sure they worked properly so they wouldn’t waste water. People didn’t flush their toilets as much and spent less time in the showers. Now it’s like everyone is oblivious to everything that is going on around them. It’s kind of like when Bush said the best way to counter the terrorists is to go about your daily business as if nothing happened and to do more shopping. No calls for sacrifice, just a request to consume more and more. It’s a sign of the times I guess.
Just last night I saw the fires burning on the hills about 2 miles away from where I live. They’re burning where my friends I used to go hiking back when we were in high school. If there is anything good that can come out of these fires is that hopefully it can wake people up and get people thinking about things outside of their own lives. It’s highly unlikely because these people here are very sheltered and I think they go out of their way to keep it like that. They go about their business driving around in their Expeditions, Sequoias, Suburbans, and Hummers with their Support the Troops and Bush/Cheney ‘04 bumper stickers on them.
I guess one can only hope they’ll wake up. Take the red pill.
“If you listen to right wing talk, their overall objective is to totally overturn the new deal of FDR, the new society of the 60s and 70s of the war on poverty, medicare, etc.”
Your remark is off-topic, but isn’t the New Deal already dismantled, and wasn’t it done by Democratic president Clinton?
“California fires” should atleast remind Americans the daily life of Iraqis in “American fires”. Even though there can be no comparison between “California fires” and “American fires in Iraq”, because the loss of life in the latter is over a million and of the property in billions, it would atleast make the Americans understand the pain and agony of the innocent Iraqis.
Yes, I believe the fires were caused by Clinton. They say the Santa Anas really BLOW…
Living in Montana, we know all about yearly wildfires. It’s Nature’s Way of telling you something’s right.
Ecology–the study of the household
Economy–the running of the household
When we try to run a household without knowing the first thing about it, we break it.
The Green Party is the only party that puts ecology first.
And, how did that small tree standing so close to the fire not burn up?
It is not easily explainable, therefore it must be evidence of a nefarious conspiracy!
Compare and contrast natural disasters in New Orleans and San Diego and you’ll see a clean division of wealth. On size and scale, insurance, social services, msm coverage and quality of life , their are stark differences.
mastershake ….you are right!
Karma is nasty, nasty, nasty business..
If you happen to be caught on the wrong side!!!
It’s all about Prevention. Which reflects the state of Health care and everything else in this so called “modern” society. Humans rather wait until they are dying by the thousands until they begin to think or take measures to make a problem go away. Problems that have been around forever. It’s a quick fix or nothing nowadays.
Now watch the huge profiting insurance industry say the claims are too much (for their stockholders), just like they did after Hurricanes Katrina & Rita. The policy holders will need a miracle to get a fair deal. They (insurance industry) will buy off plenty of politicians to make their bottom line work for them.
I’m not trying to be cynical, just pragmatic.
Hmm, let’s see. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Southern Gulf Region, and federal aid has not entirely gotten there two years later. Fire devastates So Cal and federal aid comes immediately. Paradox??
From The Majority Report:
http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=2376&ptid=9
Blackwater’s Base and the California Wildfires
October 24, 2007 @ 10:39 AM
As I write this, massive fires are raging across Southern California. While it is quiet and normal at my house in Los Angeles, I can see smoke in the distance and smell it in the air.
And I keep thinking about the good people of Potrero — a serene small community in East San Diego County — that I met just a few weeks ago as we rallied together to block Blackwater from building a base in their tiny, beautiful town.
These concerned community members have been working for months to stop Blackwater from building a mercenary training facility on 824 acres, consisting of 11 firing ranges, a helipad, and an emergency vehicle operator’s course covering the equivalent of 10 football fields. As we watch the fire burn across the area today, one can only imagine what might have happened if an armory full of ammunition and explosives were located inside this box canyon.
I was inspired and proud to march with the good folks of Potrero, people who are not usually political, but who know that if they do not stand up against Blackwater in their own community, then no one will.
We need to show our support for the people of San Diego County at this difficult time. Click here to send a brief message to Potrero residents expressing your support and then consider sending a donation to the San Diego Foundation’s “After the Fires Fund.”
Beyond the damage and destruction to life and property, the timing of this wildfire could not be much worse. This fire exploded just as the people of Potrero were preparing for a recall election on December 11 to kick out the planning group members who approved Blackwater’s base. With ballots scheduled to be mailed in early November to less than 600 registered voters in this historic vote-by-mail recall, Potrero residents were preparing for an intense campaign over the next six weeks.
But the actual landscape — and the political landscape — of Potrero have been transformed over the last 48 hours.
There’s no time to waste. On Sunday, if the situation permits, I will travel down to Potrero with my Courage Campaign colleagues Eden James and Julia Rosen. If we are able, we will hand-deliver your notes of support to the people of Potrero, survey the damage and determine how we can help them move forward.
Jan Hedlun and Carl Meyer are two Potrero residents featured in the documentary film produced by Alternate Focus that you can watch at the link above. Although she is not identified, Jan is the first woman appearing on-screen, describing how the Potrero residents “first heard of Blackwater.”
Just last Sunday, as we were about to talk with both Jan and Carl by conference call about how to help them block Blackwater’s base, news broke of a huge fire moving towards Potrero. We spoke with Jan again that evening but, despite many repeated attempts, we have not heard back from either Jan or Carl since Sunday night. While we assume they are OK, reports from East San Diego County have been unclear and we remain deeply concerned.
Obviously, the last thing Jan, Carl and their fellow concerned citizens can think about right now is Blackwater and the recall election. But I can guarantee you that Blackwater is thinking about nothing BUT that recall election. From what we understand, Blackwater is already crafting arguments to defend their proposed base and play on people’s emotions during this crisis. Blackwater will likely argue that their base will not increase fire danger in San Diego County even as they plan to build it in a brushy, dry box canyon with only one way in and one way out.
We need to be there for Jan and Carl and everyone in Potrero. After watching the YouTube video, will you consider sending a donation to the “After the Fires Fund” or a note showing your support for the people of Potrero? On Sunday, we’ll hand-deliver the note for you.
While the good people of Potrero are focused on recovering from this disaster, we will continue to keep you updated on the other disaster threatening their community — Blackwater’s plans to build a mercenary base on their pristine land, just a few miles from the California border.
Thank you again for everything you are doing to support the people of Potrero.
P.S. Three weeks ago, we asked you to sign your name to a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer about Blackwater’s base, including a warning about Potrero’s “fire-prone landscape”:
“Not only will Blackwater’s proposed California paramilitary base disrupt the lives of its residents, but it will also threaten the pristine natural habitat of the Round Potrero Valley, which includes part of Cleveland National Forest and is adjacent to the proposed Hauser Wilderness preserve. The regular detonation of firearms would be a risk both to the fire-prone landscape as well as to the wildlife that currently calls that area home, including the golden eagle and the California condor.”
Despite this ominous warning, Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer have failed to respond. The residents of Potrero and San Diego County can’t wait for politicians to act to reduce the fire danger posed by Blackwater. That’s why the Courage Campaign is getting involved now.
And from Miriam Raftery:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5202,
Earlier Recommendations Ignored by Governor; Equipment, Personnel Unavailable, Undeployed, Late in Coming
Failures of County Supervisors Also Cited as ‘Too Little, Too Late’…
Special to The BRAD BLOG by Miriam Raftery from San Diego, CA
“It’s like Armageddon,” Jill Michaels said, after watching her home burn to the ground in the Harris fire. In the early hours of the worst fire in California history, the Michaels family received no evacuation warning and found exit routes blocked, forcing them to turn back to their home in Potrero. Now, the Michaels are among half a million evacuees who have fled four raging wildfires, the worst fire disaster in California history. Worse even than the 2003 Cedar fire, which until now held that shameful record.
San Diego County now has more refugees than New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. While reported loss of life thus far remains low, hundreds of thousands of acres have been scorched and countless people will soon return home–only to find themselves homeless.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and local officials have made media appearances claiming credit for swiftly responding to the disaster. “There is much more equipment available, more manpower is available, quicker action,” Schwarzenegger said, according to the Associated Press.
What the Governor failed to mention is that he vetoed four bills that would have increased staffing and fire resources after the Cedar Fire, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. A fifth bill, signed by Schwarzenegger, requires local governments to first submit safety plans to the California Department of Forestry and will not take effect until 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported in a May 20, 2007 article titled “Fire danger acute as 2003 lessons fade.” That article has since disappeared off the newspaper’s website, but a copy is here…
See that picture of the firefighter above? He is risking his life. Deepa pretends a concern for life but evidently wants to teach americans a lesson because 70% want the war in Iraq to end? Muddled thinking at best.
This drought is also muddled thinking in that it isn’t really a drought but a permanent change over to more arid conditions. Droughts imply an end and a return to normal wetter conditions. That is denial. Scientists say this aridity will basically become the norm for our future. When I was young there were only three billion people by the end of this decade there will be seven billion (presently 6.7 billion). The reality is there are twice as many people and yeah they seem to be everywhere. Think that will change?
We are still in denial of just how bad…bad can be. See that firefighter in the picture… he IS risking his life. Years and years of lives being risked are ahead. Folks it is worse than our leadership and the corporate owned mainstream media wants to deal with. They are leaving that firefighter to bear the brunt. It won’t get better and yes if change is delayed it can get much worse faster than it had need to. Time to get off the can… you’d better… there is a fire coming up the hill.
“If people are going to live in those area’s they are going to have to come up with some sort of fire proof housing building standards. It’s like building in a flood zone where you just have to keep rebuilding.”
It IS like building in a flood zone, but do you really have to keep rebuilding? More to the point, what can we do to stop development of natural areas that aren’t conducive, or at least be a little smarter about it. We can bend Mother Nature to the breaking point, but sooner or later, she’ll snap back!
With almost 1.5 million full time soldiers in what the bastards in power call the “department of defense”, it is a terrible shame that all those soldiers continue with business as usual (like playing war games) while huge out of control fires destroy hundreds of homes. Our military should be used to defend us agains fires, and all other kinds of disasters that assault the people. Presently, they’re being used as killers for corporate amerikkka.
It’s about time for the American people to get some benefits from all the tax dollars that they pay.
According to WIKI:
“Approximately 1,426,713 personnel are currently on active duty in the military with an additional 1,259,000 personnel in the seven reserve components.”
PDJ, please use tinyurl.com next time. Scrolling left to right to read is tedious.
Hey Satya.
This is very childish, but I noticed something funny in the picture of Governor Schwarzenegger with the evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium in the BradBlog link you provided. In the photo-op he’s kissing a baby who is in the arms of an attractive woman who is wearing an outfit that shows a lot of cleavage. Most likely he’s looking down her shirt while kissing the baby.
Gotta love that Governator.
record rainfall in 2004,
extreme drought now,
“godzilla-sized” Santa Ana winds,
massive wildfire……
a result of global warming or just an incovenient truth ??
the inky dinky spider
crawled up the garden spout;
down came the rain and
washed the spider out.
out came the sun and
dried up all the rain –
and the inky dinky spider
crawled up the spout again!
I was thinking cynically, “well, that’ll put a dent in the unsold housing inventory that’s been making all the realtors and contractors sad and blue.” just think of all those reconstruction contracts and new financing!
Soldiers should drop water bombs on these fires and also fight it from the ground.
oh yes …this will also help the GDP.
When a government spends 50% of the Public Purse on War only those who believe in the might of armies and the power of riches have power and authority. A single stealth bomber costs the people 1 billion dollars.
How many of these, http://www.digg.com/hardware/Boeing_747_200_Converted_Into_20_000_Gallon_Water_Bomber
could be serving the people of San Diego today being compromised by politics without principals. See Video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gedNufZSXM
www.PaulKemp.info for ten essentials of a true representative government.
A better video showing the full features and advantages of the Evergreen 747 Water Bomber can be viewed at
http://www.Machiventa.org/cap/media/CAP-SI-747-Water-Bomber-1.htm
Demand the governments of the world provide these safety features using ideal science.
Paul Kemp
Canadian Action Party - Central Nova
www.Cap-MP.com
PJD @ 3:18pm:
“And, how did that small tree standing so close to the fire not burn up? It is not easily explainable, therefore it must be evidence of a nefarious conspiracy!”
Methinks ‘Burning Bush’ is somehow involved?
(c:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More seriously, some folk here consider Karma as a possible factor in both these fires, as well as other natural (actual or impending disasters) -comparing the deliberately caused fiery mayhem visited upon Iraq and elsewhere by the brutal ‘warmonger cowboy’ elements of American leadership, ~ against the more inadvertent fires sweeping clean Californian hills and razing / erasing many human exploits there.
We shall likely never know the veracity of such Karmic matters, but this speculation perhaps hints at an underlying, nascent awareness that what America has now done to numerous countries is entirely reprehensible, and, -somewhere down the line- (as a nation) she will ultimately have to make amends for all the violent actions perpetrated on those she had absolutely no right to interfere with, and so viciously abuse.
The credo of atonement indicates that such ‘repayment’ and expiations can either be shouldered *voluntarily*, or else they’ll be more forcibly pushed upon any transgressor nation, -which now number very many, because so many foolhardy leaders have dragged their unwitting people into very damaging interactions with others, when all along they had a clear and alternative choice to *HEAL*, -instead of hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a personal level, I gain a modicum of solace from realising that, even as our ‘wildfire’ [ie: firing wildly] leaders deliberately cause conspicuous conflagrations around the world, *less conspicuously* there is an undertow which bodes well for our race :::
-This beneficent shift consists of humanity now undergoing an awakening or maturation process wherein they’re beginning to see that ‘The Emperor has no clothes’ and that their leaders and authorities, - (be that religious, political or other errant types) are no better or worse than the average Joe or Jolene to be found elsewhere on the planet.
In fact, our leaders often prove themselves decidedly A LOT WORSE than average! -because their prominent status theoretically obliges them to behave in *a more*, not less, socially responsible manner in their daily deliberations.
The mystic and visionary artist William Blake once alluded to this important and progressive development when he wrote his polemical *The Marriage of Heaven & Hell* wherein he posits: “The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.”
Way back in 1790, Blake could see the imperative: ordinary men and women should slough off the shackles which bind them to assorted tyrannies, -courtesy of dreadfully decrepit leadership.
Nowadays we increasingly realise that ‘Mr & Mrs Average’ are often of greater moral fibre and possessed of greater perspicacity / insight than many of our hidebound, corrupt and obdurate leaders. This revolutionary concept is one well worth nurturing to ensure it’s effervescent challenge becomes universally ingrained in humanity’s consciousness.
To the consternation of stentorian and retrograde ‘Faux media’ moguls who try, (with their incessant broadcasting of blathering inconsequentials) to detract and distract us on every / any occasion, our increased social awareness is the mordant to fix this perquisite in our racial consciousness, [and within all of this, Common Dreams is but one worthy arrow in our bulging quiver…]
Our steady (-albeit rather slow!) awakening process is a necessary parturition, - wholly analogous to that of a child gaining independence of mind, and becoming less physically / emotionally dependent upon his or her parents.
As we evolve, self-determination is undeniably the most auspicious way forwards!
I think we are now witnessing the dawning of a real sea-change in human affairs, heralding a New Era in which our threadbare leadership will be demoted and relegated to an apposite lessening of status as ‘We the People’ wrest the reins of power away from present crackpots and despots, and begin living more autonomous lives.
We ought be ruled more by *ourselves*, and less by they who habitually prove themselves inappropriate to positions of any power, - being as they can *barely govern themselves* - let alone any supposed ’subjects’!
Towards a brighter future,
(A rather prolix-prone)
U-C-D
Mastershake-Absolutely correct. The law of Karma is simply the law of cause and effect. The ferocity of huricane Katrina is another example of the law working out. In this way, slowly, but surely, we learn which behaviour is harmful and which benevolent. Can you imagine what we will reap if we flatten Iran?
There is the burning season and a non-burning season. The article touches on that. It’s the natural course of this region known as a desert surrounded by mountains.
Since there’s about a billion dollars in damage, they need to be rebuilt asap. And since it may be a region that caters to the more privileged group(s), the president has to hang out with the gov…
Anyone know the names on the vehicles pulling into town to rebuild?
Suddenly there is talk of arson as a cause.
Imagine my surprise….
Did anyone realize that oftentimes insurance companies do not pay for losses incurred as a result of cases of arson or “other acts of criminal intent”,
“it is written right there in the policy in the small print…”.
Imagine my surprise….
“Disastern Capitalism”???
“Americans taxpayers are paying $300,000 for killing an Iraqi Civilian while California burns to the Ground”
http://www.chycho.com/?q=node/1152
“Just to take this absurdity known as “America’s War of Terror” one step further: Americans spending approximately $2,400,000,000,000 to kill 8,000,000 Iraqi’s means that they are spending approximately $300,000 to kill a single Iraqi civilian. You would think Americans have better things to do with their money then to hire mercenaries and send their children to a foreign country to learn how to kill. Specially considering that the United States infrastructure is collapsing and the federal government is laying off seasonal firefighters along with cutting back on wildfire prevention programs while California burns to the ground.”
Although climate change is only a contributing factor to these fires, they underscore the need to implement measures for reducing carbon pollution. This will happen while we have an administration that focuses on a voluntary reductions and manipulates science to degrees never before experienced in order to conceal the real effects of global warming. They have been effective in concealing the dangers and sidetracking meaningful mitigation measures only because of a complacent congress and electorate,
One thing the media avoids talking about (or
makes very vague references to) about these annual
events during the windy, dry months is that arson
plays a major role in many of them. As a nation,we
are under attack by angry people who are fed up with
this country’s exstravagance, foriegn policy, what have
you. This is a mild form of domestic terrorism that media
outlets and the government don’t want to look at.
Arson fires by crazy and angery people happen
quite regularly, since it is an easy way for them to
express rage in effective and destructive ways.
Maybe it is best that the media doesn’t mention arson,
though I think we need to look at things honestly and
objectively in order to design a more sane and equitable
society.