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[reilo]

I was just joking.

There is far more truth to it than you realize.

 

[jamesinclair]

The Perry Miracle rages on.

A roaring wildfire raced unchecked Monday through rain-starved farm and ranchland in Central Texas, destroying nearly 500 homes during a rapid advance fanned in part by howling winds from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.

At least 5,000 people were forced from their homes in Bastrop County about 25 miles east of Austin, and about 400 were in emergency shelters, officials said.

Strong winds and drought conditions allowed the fire to travel quickly over somewhat hilly terrain, burning through pine and cedar trees and wiping out subdivisions as well as ranchland. The blaze consumed as much as 25,000 acres along a line that stretched for about 16 miles, Texas Forest Service officials said.

http://news.yahoo.com/wildfire-destroys-nearly-500-homes-texas-221031244.html

I guess the free market will take care of this problem.

 

[SlipperySlope]

The Perry Miracle rages on.



http://news.yahoo.com/wildfire-destroys-nearly-500-homes-texas-221031244.html

I guess the free market will take care of this problem.

I've always said that the government has very few must-have responsibilities. Two of those are safety and security. A wildfire definitely falls under that.

 

[Oblivion]

Pish...everyone knows that the mortgage crisis was Bill Clinton's fault because he signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall. There's even a chart and everything:

I always find it funny how conservatives are eager to lay the blame on Clinton for repealing Glass-Steagal, while also simultaneously arguing that we shouldn't re-instate it.

 

[jamesinclair]

I've always said that the government has very few must-have responsibilities. Two of those are safety and security. A wildfire definitely falls under that.

Proper zoning and preventative maintenance = prevent fires, which is better than fight fires.

Im going to go out on a limb and wager that the agency responsible for preventative forest measures was cut under Perry.

And we know for a fact that Texas = the land of no zoning.

 

[ReaperXL7]

ok so i have no clue if this has been posted, i tried to look it up through the search but found nothing on this clip.

Former CIA Head blows the lid off the fraudulent Wars, live on CNN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MleqV8CVv4Y&sns=fb

I don't have enough political understanding at this stage to put forth a genuine opinion but it sounded to me like Michael Scheuer raised some valid points. It's abit condeming of the current administration in a few ways from what I can tell.

I'm working on gaining a better understanding of alot of this stuff but I won't pretend to be an expert, or even close. I would just like to hear some thoughts from more well versed politically minded folks.

Sorry if this had been posted previously.

 

[PhoenixDark]

False equivalency.

There is a huge difference in the economic disruption caused by the supposed fear the wealthy elite might have due to a possible future tax increase of 2% and the very real fear caused by Republicans during the debt ceiling debate that the US government might not meet its debt obligations or might shut down the government rather than pass a budget.

Not really, it's still a confidence claim. Both sides of the debate said multiple times there would be no default, it was never particularly a likely scenario.

A full spring/summer of unrest in the Middle East, high demand, and speculation led to high gas prices - which contribute to unemployment figures. To make matters worse, consumers still aren't buying anything as they deal with their own personal debt, mortgages, etc.

This is nothing more than a left wing meme for the election season.

 

[unomas]

ok so i have no clue if this has been posted, i tried to look it up through the search but found nothing on this clip.

Former CIA Head blows the lid off the fraudulent Wars, live on CNN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MleqV8CVv4Y&sns=fb

I don't have enough political understanding at this stage to put forth a genuine opinion but it sounded to me like Michael Scheuer raised some valid points. It's abit condeming of the current administration in a few ways from what I can tell.

I'm working on gaining a better understanding of alot of this stuff but I won't pretend to be an expert, or even close. I would just like to hear some thoughts from more well versed politically minded folks.

Sorry if this had been posted previously.

This is from a few months back, someone must have just uploaded it to youtube again. This will probably be ignored though.

 

[Jak140]

Not really, it's still a confidence claim. Both sides of the debate said multiple times there would be no default, it was never particularly a likely scenario.

A full spring/summer of unrest in the Middle East, high demand, and speculation led to high gas prices - which contribute to unemployment figures. To make matters worse, consumers still aren't buying anything as they deal with their own personal debt, mortgages, etc.

This is nothing more than a left wing meme for the election season.

There's a difference between a confidence claim based in reality (that a government shut down is bad for the economy) and one based on right wing fantasy (taxing rich people at a higher rate than the poor destroys jobs).

 

[PhoenixDark]

There's a difference between a confidence claim based in reality (that a government shut down is bad for the economy) and one based on right wing fantasy (taxing rich people at a higher rate than the poor destroys jobs).

The problem with your argument is that this shutdown was never likely, and certainly not in fucking May. Congressional republicans, including members of leadership, were arguing there would be no debt ceiling raise without major spending cuts in March and April, but conveniently that's not addressed in the chart.

 

[Byakuya769]

There's a difference between a confidence claim based in reality (that a government shut down is bad for the economy) and one based on right wing fantasy (taxing rich people at a higher rate than the poor destroys jobs).

But you cannot come across as serious and above the fray if you believe this.

 

[Jak140]

The problem with your argument is that this shutdown was never likely, and certainly not in fucking May. Congressional republicans, including members of leadership, were arguing there would be no debt ceiling raise without major spending cuts in March and April, but conveniently that's not addressed in the chart.

I've already admitted the chart is oversimplified and ignores many factors, but lets not pretend that a government shutdown due to republican intransigence is unprecedented. Republicans are constantly impeding bills that are stopping the government from properly functioning. Just look at the recent FAA bill where they cost the government hundreds of millions in airline taxes for around 10 million in cuts or the upcoming gas tax debate.

 

[empty vessel]

I was just joking.

I wasn't commenting on whether you were or not. Just linking to an informative post. I, frankly, have blamed the financial crisis on the repeal of Glass-Steagall myself. I have no desire whatsoever to defend Clinton.

 

[SolKane]

The Perry Miracle rages on.



http://news.yahoo.com/wildfire-destroys-nearly-500-homes-texas-221031244.html

I guess the free market will take care of this problem.

The fires are absolutely insane here. We have one that is nearly 100 square miles in size and isn't even close to being contained:

 

[besada]

I wasn't commenting on whether you were or not. Just linking to an informative post. I, frankly, have blamed the financial crisis on the repeal of Glass-Steagall myself. I have no desire whatsoever to defend Clinton.

Since we're on the subject, while I'm happy thrashing Clinton for his willingness to sign it, and the Democratic party for their capitulation to the massive spending surrounded the influence-buying over the issue, let's all remember that Phil Gramm -- leading light of the Republican party at the time -- was spearheading the thing.

Also, check out this fairly prescient article from 1999:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/nov1999/bank-n01.shtml

The Wall Street Journal celebrated the agreement to end such restrictions with an editorial declaring that the banks had been unfairly scapegoated for the Great Depression. The headline of one Journal article detailing the impact of the proposed law declared, "Finally, 1929 Begins to Fade."
This comment underscores the greatest irony in the banking deregulation bill. Legislation first adopted to save American capitalism from the consequences of the 1929 Wall Street Crash is being abolished just at the point where the conditions are emerging for an even greater speculative financial collapse. The enormous volatility in the stock exchange in recent months has been accompanied by repeated warnings that stocks are grossly overvalued, with some computer and Internet stocks selling at prices 100 times earnings or even greater.

Of course, they thought it was the internet bubble that would kill us, not the mortgage bubble.

The fires are absolutely insane here. We have one that is nearly 100 square miles in size and isn't even close to being contained:

On a practical note, I'm headed down to Austin Wednesday or Thursday. Am I going to have problems getting there, or are the fires likely to stay in Bastrop? I'd hate to catch on fire trying to see my family and some nerdcore.

 

[RustyNails]

The fires are absolutely insane here. We have one that is nearly 100 square miles in size and isn't even close to being contained:

http://deannaroy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/austin-fire.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
That looks terribly ominous.

 

[besada]

That looks terribly ominous.

Unfortunately, the tropical depression is giving us wind and no rain, which is a bad recipe for fires.

 

[Mortrialus]

Not really, it's still a confidence claim. Both sides of the debate said multiple times there would be no default, it was never particularly a likely scenario.

And what about all the tea party freshmen that said they want to cause a default? Are you just going to ignore them?

 

[Telosfortelos]

The wife and I left Houston on I-10 and drove through the massive smoke cloud coming off Bastrop. It was terrible and amazing, and it smelled like barbecue.

 

[PhoenixDark]

And what about all the tea party freshmen that said they want to cause a default? Are you just going to ignore them?

Actually, yes. And Obama should have too. There were enough moderates and democrats to pass McConnell's bill, or a non-political clean bill if Obama had refused to cave and forced last minute negotiations.

 

[RustyNails]

Unfortunately, the tropical depression is giving us wind and no rain, which is a bad recipe for fires.

Can't you do something like cloud seeding?

 

[SolKane]

On a practical note, I'm headed down to Austin Wednesday or Thursday. Am I going to have problems getting there, or are the fires likely to stay in Bastrop? I'd hate to catch on fire trying to see my family and some nerdcore.

That fire is relegated to Bastrop County for the time being, but there's no clear timetable for it yet. In these conditions there's not much to do except evacuate people and wait it out. Winds are expected to die down overnight, so I think as long as you're staying in Austin you should be fine. No idea how long the blaze will last.

 

[Mortrialus]

Actually, yes. And Obama should have too. There were enough moderates and democrats to pass McConnell's bill, or a non-political clean bill if Obama had refused to cave and forced last minute negotiations.

In a honest discussion it is disingenuous to say the substantial chunk of the House of Representatives aren't worth bringing up and are best left ignored so you can make your point more effectively.

 

[speculawyer]

Can't you do something like cloud seeding?

Even in the best conditions, cloud seeding doesn't really work well . . . and do you see any clouds in that picture?

 

[besada]

Can't you do something like cloud seeding?

You'd need clouds. This drought has been going on so long, and it's been so terrible (second worst in history) that there isn't much to seed. The water should be coming soon, now that hurricane season has gotten active, but you know it's bad when people start hoping for a hurricane.

 

[jamesinclair]

Is there any truth to this?

The skinny in the organic agriculture movement is that the conventional, pesticide-based, GMO-contaminated agricultural methods that have been practiced in Texas (and taught by Texas A&M, which is considered the "evil" empire by organic farmers in Texas) have quite literally altered the climate in Texas and turned fertile soils into drought-ridden arid lands.

There's a lot of truth to that: When you clear-cut forests to make room for cattle grazing, you drastically reduce the water capturing and retention potential of the land. Across Texas over the last hundred years or so, countless millions of acres of forests have been either cut down to pure pasture or thinned to about one tree per acre, causing a predictable loss of top soils and turning what used to be moist forests into dry prairie lands.

What Texas needs now more than ever is a mass reforestation effort that reenergized the water retention capacity of the land. Of course, the professors at Texas A&M don't seem to understand this, anymore than a conventional medical doctor understands holistic nutrition. For too long, agriculture and cattle ranching has been conducted in a rape and pillage type of operation, and now Texas is seeing the inevitable results of those actions.

http://ca.ibtimes.com/articles/208888/20110905/how-bad-is-the-drought-in-texas-really.htm


Is part of the drought because all the trees were cut down to make farms?

 

[Telosfortelos]

Actually, yes. And Obama should have too. There were enough moderates and democrats to pass McConnell's bill, or a non-political clean bill if Obama had refused to cave and forced last minute negotiations.

You're ignoring the fact that last minute negotiations at least potentially carried a risk to the US credit standing. Obama didn't want a last minute vote, nor should he have. Could he have pulled it off with no economic harm? Maybe, but I don't want a president that accepts that kind of risk. The other party is clearly comfortable with it, and I suppose a lot of you are too. I'm not, neither was Obama.

I do think Democrats could have done a better job negotiating, but that's not something Obama could have done by himself. We needed Harry Reid forcing Republic filibusters, and strong Democratic voices on every channel, in every interview clearly illustrating the risk Republicans are putting the country in. We heard a little of that, but we heard a lot more internal sniping.

Democrats are fucking terrible at messaging. Hell, for a good example of that just look at the huge ass deal you people made when Obama rescheduled the jobs speech. If you were Republicans, you would have screamed from the rooftops about how childish the other side is. You would have turned this into a messaging win for your side. You don't even have to be unethical for that, you just have to not be fucking blind about how hard politics are in America right now.

 

[PhoenixDark]

In a honest discussion it is disingenuous to say the substantial chunk of the House of Representatives aren't worth bringing up and are best left ignored so you can make your point more effectively.

Why? Nothing I've said hasn't been said before, nor is it untrue. The tea party group could have been bypassed but Obama wanted the shitty deal he got.

 

[besada]

Is part of the drought because all the trees were cut down to make farms?

The problem now isn't water retention, it's lack of rainfall. We're massively short of rain and have been since April. We could have great water retention, but if there's no water falling it does no good.

No one understands weather enough to know for sure the cause of the lack of rainfall. I've read everything from La Nina to chemtrails. The reality is that Texas routinely suffers droughts, because it sits on the edge of multiple desert areas, and large parts of it are desert themselves. This is a bad drought, but it's not the worst, and the stuff that article is talking about wasn't going on during the worst drought periods.

A warming climate is a more likely suspect if you can't accept that Texas just sometimes has massive droughts. The state's half desert and even the non-desert areas aren't particularly known for their heavy rainfall. You have to get to East Texas to see a level of greenery that most states display all over the place.

Edit: That's not to say that we have good water retention, just that regardless of how well the soil retains water, we're just not getting enough of it. Were not immune, certainly, to the desire to replace forests with tree farms. But most of Texas wasn't heavily wooded anyway. Primordial Texas was the largest grass plain in America once upon a time. Again, you'll find most of the woods in the east. East Texas is woody, West Texas is a damn desert, North Texas were grassy plains, and South Texas is a mix of desert, hilly scrub, and small woods.

 

[Mgoblue201]

In reading Ron Chernow's Washington biography, I cannot help but note that, in elevating the founding doctrine to near hagiography, the Tea Party is esteeming a man, in George Washington, who once led the American military to crush a rebellion that openly resisted paying taxes. According to Chernow, "[Washington] faulted the insurgents for failing to recognize that the excise law was not a fiat, issued by an autocratic government, but a tax voted by their lawful representatives," which, of course, was the entire point of the original tea party. Perhaps the modern Tea Party shares more in common with the old Democratic-Republican Societies. Then again, I don't expect them to have the historical knowledge to make that distinction.

 

[jamesinclair]

The problem now isn't water retention, it's lack of rainfall. We're massively short of rain and have been since April. We could have great water retention, but if there's no water falling it does no good.

I remember hearing once that trees actually "cause" rain to fall for whatever reason.

No idea if theres any truth to it.

But basically, something about reforestation = future rain.


(Im obviously not a scientist)

 

[Gr1mLock]

In reading Ron Chernow's Washington biography, I cannot help but note that, in elevating the founding doctrine to near hagiography, the Tea Party is esteeming a man, in George Washington, who once led the American military to crush a rebellion that openly resisted paying taxes. According to Chernow, "[Washington] faulted the insurgents for failing to recognize that the excise law was not a fiat, issued by an autocratic government, but a tax voted by their lawful representatives," which, of course, was the entire point of the original tea party. Perhaps the modern Tea Party shares more in common with the old Democratic-Republican Societies. Then again, I don't expect them to have the historical knowledge to make that distinction.

Why would they? If sanity isn't a prerequisite then what chance do facts have?

 

[Suikoguy]

That tree thing is interesting, would make a great college research paper if I had any science classes left.

 

[Diablos]

Maybe someone should do something about this.

Keep obstructing, making noise and filibustering while unemployment continues to rise costing Obama his job, then President Romney passes more tax cuts.

God Bless America.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Well, oceans are the main driver of our climate. So, it's not quite as easy as overpopulating an area with trees and you will be blessed with water forever. Although, it should be noted that trees are capable of seeding clouds (when they release organic matter) and they provide cover which helps regulate temperature of areas.

 

[Mgoblue201]

Why would they? If sanity isn't a prerequisite then what chance do facts have?

I don't when Michelle Bachmann, while simultaneously professing strict fidelity to the Constitution, doesn't even understand what is in it.

 

[Owzers]

Keep obstructing, making noise and filibustering while unemployment continues to rise costing Obama his job, then President Romney passes more tax cuts.

God Bless America.

And if the tax cuts don't create jobs it's because you didn't cut them enough.

 

[Gr1mLock]

I don't when Michelle Bachmann, while simultaneously professing strict fidelity to the Constitution, doesn't even understand what is in it.

The poor document never stood a chance. Maybe if they made a flip book version of it she'd give it gander.

 

[Suikoguy]

Well, oceans are the main driver of our climate. So, it's not quite as easy as overpopulating an area with trees and you will be blessed with water forever. Although, it should be noted that trees are capable of seeding clouds (when they release organic matter) and they provide cover which helps regulate temperature of areas.

True, there are droughts regardless of the amount of trees. I am curious as to what extent deforestation has on making droughts worse and vice versa.

 

[Mortrialus]

Well, oceans are the main driver of our climate. So, it's not quite as easy as overpopulating an area with trees and you will be blessed with water forever. Although, it should be noted that trees are capable of seeding clouds (when they release organic matter) and they provide cover which helps regulate temperature of areas.

No.

 

[besada]

No.

Really unhelpful. If you're going to correct someone, correct them. A single word denial of their point isn't dialogue and isn't useful to anything except your ego.

 

[Mortrialus]

Really unhelpful. If you're going to correct someone, correct them. A single word denial of their point isn't dialogue and isn't useful to anything except your ego.

While the oceans and the atmosphere are major players in our climate, the sun is still the main driver. I figured that would be obvious.

 

[besada]

While the oceans and the atmosphere are major players in our climate, the sun is still the main driver. I figured that would be obvious.

Well, it wasn't obvious to the person you were correcting.

 

[AlteredBeast]

Not to mention the fact that the "No." with a quote is the most douchebag way of posting on the Internet. It couldn't have taken more than 5 seconds to type out that it wads the sun, then you could get back to your Mt. Dew and Cheeto dust feast.

 

[Puddles]

Got an email from a recruiter tonight. There's an interesting position that fits my qualifications, but I'd have to relocate to Madison, Wisconsin (company would pay for that).

If I go there, and the end of the world happens, I'll be one of the people eznark picks off with a sniper rifle from his bunker.

 

[Mortrialus]

Not to mention the fact that the "No." with a quote is the most douchebag way of posting on the Internet. It couldn't have taken more than 5 seconds to type out that it wads the sun, then you could get back to your Mt. Dew and Cheeto dust feast.

What a beautiful and profoundly worded post. You are a credit to this community and actual discussions everywhere.

 

[Invisible_Insane]

Took a short break from PoliGAF and politics, just needed some air.

I return with the following sad anecdote: Lest I should fall into the trap of thinking that low-information voters are poor and un(der)educated, I spoke to one of my friends from college this weekend (raised in DC suburbs, Ivy undergrad, and just started law school) who bemoaned the brokenness of Washington politics and said she couldn't believe we'd raised the debt ceiling.

...

 

[GhaleonEB]

What a beautiful and profoundly worded post. You are a credit to this community and actual discussions everywhere.

Well, he's right. You might as well have posted ":lol".

 

[Baraka in the White House]

What a beautiful and profoundly worded post. You are a credit to this community and actual discussions everywhere.

One dickheaded post deserves another.

 

[Mortrialus]

Well, he's right. You might as well have posted ":lol".

I told him he was wrong and pointed out exactly where. I didn't simply didn't specify what.