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WHEN HARRY MET STUPID
Interesting theory:
"One reason why we have the fires in California is global warming,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Tuesday, stressing the need to pass the Democrats’ comprehensive energy package.
Moments later, when asked by a reporter if he really believed global warming caused the fires, he appeared to back away from his comments ...
Never mind. Australia’s dimwitted teachers are ready to help:
Concerned about climate change and want to make a difference? Walk Against Warming is Australia’s largest community day of action on climate change.
Warming walks are a proven means of dousing fire. To all readers in fire-assaulted zones: thoughts are with you.
Walk Against Warming is Australia’s largest community day of action on climate change
Errr, wouldn’t that increase CO2 production?
On second thought, stupidity that profound indicates a central nervous system insufficiently developed for respiration.
Me, I’m going to participate in Sit Still on the Couch and Watch ESPN Against Warming.
Hugh Hewitt is all over this and has the audio of the interview for the interested.
Posted by Villeurbanne on 2007 10 24 at 12:57 PM • permalinkLet’s see, President Bush passed the Healthy Forrest initiative in 2003 and environmentalists have had it tied up in court ever since. No one believes that it would have prevented the annual California wild fires but it would have made far easier to contain and deal with. But hey, that’s not as catchy as blaming gerbil warmongering because we all know that is George Bush’s fault. Harry really believes that the “bourgeois” masses are to stupid to remember that this happens EVERY year in Southern Cal. (of course the severity isn’t usually this bad)
Posted by Old Tanker on 2007 10 24 at 12:58 PM • permalink#6 Dylan
If you can get Rush, he had the audio as well.
Posted by Old Tanker on 2007 10 24 at 12:59 PM • permalinkThis global warmening thing has been going on for a awfully long time, I guess.
When the first spanish explorers reached the L.A. basin, they commented on the haze layer (early smog, caused in part by locals burning off grassland and brush), and they did name the Santa Anna winds that drove those fires, and the current batch around San Diego.
Oh, the Global Moaning won’t end when the fires are over. Then, the rains will come and the burned off hills will start sliding into the ocean --- as they have for the last 12 millions years (thanks, mojo!) --- taking even more homes with them.
Still, I feel for the people who’ve lost everything. Mother Gaia is a mean bitch and you never know when she’s going to try to kill you. If you’re still alive at the end of the day, you’ve won.
Quoth Redd:
<blockquoteWe have these fires because arsonists set them.</blockquote>Quite often true, alas. My understanding is that this batch of fires has several causes: power lines that blew down in Malibu, a construction crew doing some welding that set off a spark, and, if I’m not mistaken, at least one copycat arsonist. :-P
Posted by Mary in LA on 2007 10 24 at 02:29 PM • permalinkRight. I’ll report to the torture chamber now. Is it 50 lashes, or 75, for failing to close a tag? Either way, I’d better bring a book.
Posted by Mary in LA on 2007 10 24 at 02:31 PM • permalinkBut will they walking against warming with their lights out? That’s the important question.
No sense commenting on Reid. His bulb’s been out for years. Even Feinstein didn’t have the gall to go there…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 10 24 at 02:52 PM • permalinkMary in LA: that tag wouldn’t have worked anyway. Use the “quote” button above the comment box. (Click the button, put in the quote, click the button again, or the “close all” button, to close the tag.)
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2007 10 24 at 03:56 PM • permalinkThe California congressional delegation is drafting a resolution expressing Congress’s support for the first responders and pledging to make resources available to help stop the fires, congressional officials said.
Well, that will certainly help (rolls eyes).
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a presidential candidate, remained in California, where he successfully cajoled the National Guard to send six C-130 jets from North Carolina, Wyoming and Colorado to help drop flame retardant to stop the fires from spreading. California’s C-130s were not equipped to fight fires.
Quite understandable. After all, who could have foreseen fires of this magnitude in California?!
How has this emergency differed from the one in New Orleans a few years back? Let me count the ways. Here’s one: When it became necessary to evacuate a jail, they bused the inmates to another secure facility rather than let them loose to prey on an already overwhelmed populace (there are inmates fighting the fire as well and I’ve heard they’re doing a heckuva job--now that’s the way to pay your debt to society). Here’s another: Law enforcement from all over the state are busy conducting a systematic evacuation and keeping order, not “shopping” at Walmart. I could, of course, go on and on.
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 10 24 at 04:08 PM • permalink#25, Kyda, a couple of other important differences:
The people at the evacuation centers are standing patiently in line (because they realize the authorities need order to be able to help them), not holding a baby in front of them and screaming “Help, help, help!”
No one is claiming rape and cannibalism in the evacuation centers, because no one thinks people from Orange County would resort to that.
So that’ll be 100 lashes and two Gore books for me, then? ;-)
Posted by Mary in LA on 2007 10 24 at 04:23 PM • permalinkReport from San Diego, by saltydog
The vegetation in this semi-desert area has evolved over millions of years. Almost all of it requires fire to seed. It evolved that way because of the geography and the weather patterns normally experienced here.
While those of you who live in areas with four distinct seasons enjoy the changing foliage, etc., we enter into the fire season. Fall brings a change in weather patterns, shifting the wind so that it roars out of the desert, rushes down the western face of the mountain barrier, funnels into the various canyons and mountains passes, pushing all the way to the ocean. It is a hot, dry wind that sucks the moisture out of everything. This is the time of year when we live with daily reminders of the dangers.
As was noted by others, it has been this way long before the evil white man came with his technology--and his stupidity. Ever notice how the same people who praise the Natives’ supposed “harmony” with nature, ignore how this was achieved, beyond praying to the nature gods and practicing ritual dances, etal. Those things they like. The practical methods used to survive--such as using controlled fire--not so much.
Our local officials have enacted and managed a well-conceived plan. This city has evacuated over a half-million people, with their pets and livestock. They have done it with the good-will and generosity of the people of San Diego County. They have been fed and sheltered, along with their pets. There have been no riots. Since the evacuations began Sunday night, there has not been a single instance of looting. So far, there has been only one death directly attributable to the fire.
This shows what man can do if he puts his mind to it, and most importantly, plans his actions based on the facts of reality, not on this groups ideas, or that politician’s whims. It makes me question why we put up with those who know nothing and are terrified of everything. What they don’t understand would fill a university, a place that once provided the required understanding. That was back when men recognized the difference between having power over nature, and power over men.
That the whole thing is now being blamed on global warming isn’t surprising, of course, and I seriously doubt that anyone here was surprised. They blamed New Orleans on Bush, not the corrupt government of Louisiana. I’ll hold my breath waiting for them to blame Bush for how well the people of this county have behaved (which would be an equal error). I don’t expect anyone to ask why the difference. They won’t question why those they’ve made dependent found themselves in mortal peril while they stood waiting for someone to tell them that they would need to provide food and water for themselves. Provide for themselves! Beyond taking the opportunity to relieve the Man of his property sans the government middleman? Racist.
The pall of ash remains with us, as does the dangers. Some people have gone back to work. The winds are dying naturally as the weather pattern changes. The aircraft can fly and do their bit. The firefighters ... what can one say about these people? They are wonderful and I thank them all. THEY aren’t afraid of nature, but face it at its most dangerous.
The politicians are here now, slapping themselves on the back for doing an end-run around regulations, to better fight the fires. A guy responsible for one thing was prevailed upon by our congressmen to write one of those “I relieve you of responsibility” letters to another guy who couldn’t act because the politicians tied his hands. Who knows if he had the authority to write such a disposition? Well, it’s the government, and by the time they finish with it all, no one will have any responsibility for anything. I didn’t hear anyone ask why those regulations were there in the first place. And of course, politicians are promising all the usual stuff, eager to put a halt to any allegations of being too slow. Those buses still sit in the flood in the mind of every talking head at every gathering of the press.
See how much I’ve learned from the MSM? Notice how I promised a report, but laced it with opinion after opinion. I expect to hear from the NYTs any moment.
The CA National Guard’s C-130’s aren’t equipped for fire-fighting, true. That’s not what they’re for - they’re cargo/transport aircraft.
The CA Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection has a bunch of old prop planes, C-47’s etc fitted for fighting fires, along with choppers. Jets aren’t really that useful, to fast, stall speed to high.
I saw one C-47 rip it’s wings off from trying to get closer to the fireline. Straight in, no survivors. God bless ‘em.
#31 mojo
Here’s a DC-10 dropping a load of chem, pretty impressive when they do use a jet!!!
Posted by Old Tanker on 2007 10 24 at 05:05 PM • permalink#30, excellent post, Saltydog. Yours always are, but you outdid yourself here.
#29, thanks for the link, Kyda, that was great. No doubt the talking heads will sneer and point out how the rich (San Diego) have so many more options than the poor (New Orleans) had, without pointing out that the San Diegans believe in helping themselves, while the New Orleanians sat back and waited for somebody else to do it. And no, I’m not apportioning blame, so much as describing attitudes that have been ingrained by differing political groups.
The Cal Dept. of Forestry (CDF) contracts out for air attack resources. So you see white and orange-painted S2 Trackers and OV-10 coordination aircraft, and chartreuse helicopters parked at various airfields during the fire season out here.
If big fires get going, they’ll be moved from other parts of the state to work the fires.
30 years ago, one got going in the hills east of Napa, and we got to watch firebombers sailing in low over our house all day long. The surprises came when a PB4Y (single-tail Navy version of the B-24 WW2 bomber) thundered over, and it was eclipsed a little later when a DC-7C joined the party.
That one was nuts; he couldn’t come across the ridge and get down low enough, so he came in parallel to it, below the top of the ridge, disappearing below the trees.
After which it got very quiet. We waited for the crash, until he reappeared further north, climbing out of a dead-end canyon. Dumping his load of mud let him climb out of the canyon. Did it four times that afternoon.
They don’t get paid enough.
#31 Mojo:
A couple years ago, a C-130A dropped it’s load, pulled up, and both wings failed and came off. Turned out that the retardant, over time, had corroded the main spar. The entire C-130 fire fighting fleet was grounded until they were all checked, and fixed if necessary, and modified to stop the corrosion.
Qualcomm Stadium News
There are more volunteers than evacuees.
People are being encouraged to not volunteer at Qualcomm.
The Qualcomm evacuation center has more diapers than they need.
The temperature is expected to reach 90° fahrenheit at Qualcomm. For this reason people are being asked to use other facilities should they need to evacuate.
In other news: Six dead as a result of the fires; half of these elderly dead of natural causes. One known looting attempt, with two 18 year olds arrested. Mexican firefighters working the line on the Harris Fire.
More updates as they become available.
Anti-Pledge Week ongoing at Mythusmage Opines. Every dollar I get is one less dollar Tim gets.
Posted by mythusmage on 2007 10 24 at 05:31 PM • permalinkWhen I tuned into the evening news yesterday, I thought to myself: “It’s at least the third day of reports on the wildfires....about time someone blamed it all on GW!”
Sure enough.
BTW, Andrea. About the format buttons. Perhaps everyone does it this way, but I just type or copy&paste, then highlight what I want to format and click on the appropriate button above, and voilà...there it
beis.No worries about closing, and all.
Have Australian eucalypts been a contributing factor in the fires? I recall stories that our gums - Gaia’s molotovs - were quite the fashion in California for a while.
Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2007 10 24 at 05:46 PM • permalinkAlong with the global warming religionistas we have (here in Australia) the National Park Nazis. Pollies who want to look good and get green votes create national parks all over the place. Logging and controlled burns become infrequent, so the fuel load grows while the firetrails atrophy. Human intervention of any sort is frowned upon.
Canberra had devastating fires a few years ago, and it was the first time outlying suburbs had been seriously burnt. It happens much more often in Sydney, which has vast areas of forest on the northern and southern edges. The Canberra fire gestated in the national park to the south, and was brought to the doorsteps of the city by extreme weather.
Hot, windy weather is not new. Dryness is not new. The combination of sacrosanct, hands-off national park management and global warming hysteria is relatively recent.Great report, Salty. I’ve been thinking about you, but not exactly worried as, IIRC, you actually live on the water, right? That’s a great place to be at a time like this.
The Santa Ana winds have to be experienced to be understood. You know how a full moon prompts a certain kind of looniness, well the Santa Anas prompt a whole different kind, a shiv in the ribs in the alley kind. They get the blood stirring alright. Which is not always a bad thing.
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 10 24 at 05:54 PM • permalink#39--Have Australian eucalypts been a contributing factor in the fires? I recall stories that our gums - Gaia’s molotovs - were quite the fashion in California for a while.
Indeed they have. Rancho Santa Fe (in the foothills above LA) was settled by railroad people who planted eucalyptus for ties. It got hit hard. Boy, do those trees burn. Nothing to do with the fires, but I understand that the SoCal eucs are all diseased. Last time I was down there, I went to a park known for it eucalyptus--they looked horrible.
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 10 24 at 06:03 PM • permalinkRinardman: it doesn’t work that way in Firefox under Windows, though. You still have to click the button, enter the text, and click the button again.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2007 10 24 at 06:23 PM • permalinkWhen Morgan met stupid:
Well, the left’s mockery does have an edge to it that comes from being perennially ignored advocates. imagine, Mondo, the way you’d write if you could turn on Channel 9 and find ongoing criticisms of the War, the impending invasion of Iran, the interests it represented…
The satire levels in your writing would drop off sharply, I’d wager. If Tim can’t write anything more amusing than pissweak allusions to the fact progressive opinions exist and make substantive claims, it’s only because he’s never faced having to use humour as a defense mechanism. A little like how people who have been considered attractive their entire lives have no personalities to speak of. Do you enjoy ‘having fun’ ?
Mr. Morgan | 10.24.07 - 2:19 pm | #From lefty’s site in his go at TB. Most pathetic defence of poor lefty humour, ever.
#2: All those people walking. Increased heart rates, increased breathing, probably all talking and chanting, singing etc. All this increases the levels of Carbon Dioxide they are breathing out.
They are DOOOOOOOOMING the planet by all this walking.
#3 is right. Watching TV will have far less contirbution to warmering.#47 but I am a proud New Mexican
Sir, I spent my tenth year of life in a small, undocumentated area of NM called Kirtland, in the 1950s. It was one of the brightest, most exotic spots in my unremarkable life, and a year I spent being vilified in school as “a Texan” (affiliated with my fellow transient families brought in by the disdained oil fields). Where, may I ask, are you from? I still think of New Mexico with fondness, despite all, and would go back there in a heartbeat, were I not joined at the hip with an unimaginative Ohioan besotted by golf.
Remember this picture of New Orleans
This AP photo shows scores of New Orleans school buses sitting in flood waters after Hurricane Katrina - sitting where they sat instead of being used to evacuate thousands of poor people before Katrina hit.
Why are scores of school buses sitting in the flood waters of New Orleans today? Blame New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who is one reason things have gotten worse, not better, in his stricken city since it was hit by Hurricane Katrina. His laissez faire approach to looting allowed the looters to become increasingly armed and violent, interrupting rescue and recovery operations.
But even before Katrina hit, he failed his poorest citizens horribly. He told them to evacuate the city - and then gave his city’s poorest residents no way to do so.
Nagin lashed out at federal officials yesterday for the government’s relief efforts, pleading for the government to round up “500 buses” to send to New Orleans to evacuate survivors.
But Nagin, who ordered a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans before Katrina hit, ought to be made to answer this question: Where are the buses of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority? Under water? Destroyed? Why?
Before Katrina hit, the New Orleans Regional Transportation Authority operated at least 364 buses, probably more. (The latest stats I found are these from 2002. NORTA’s website likely has more accurate stats but the site is, understandably, down.)
A more important question for Mayor Nagin is this one:
Why weren’t NORTA’s 364 buses used to ferry poor people out of New Orleans before Katrina hit?
It’s a legitimate question. After all, Nagin knew he had tens of thousands of poor people in his city who had neither money nor vehicles to self-evacuate before the storm arrived. So, why didn’t he order NORTA to send its buses into the poor neighborhoods to provide transportation to anyone wishing to leave?
If each bus could hold just 60 people, NORTA’s 364 buses had the capacity to take almost 22,000 peope out of harm’s way per trip. Given that Nagin ordered the compulsory evacuation of the city two days before the storm hit, there was sufficient time for more than one trip - sufficient time to move tens of thousands of the city’s poorest residents out of New Orleans by bus before Katrina arrived.
Even if the buses only made one trip, one in five people now trapped in New Orleans wouldn’t be.
But Nagin never sent NORTA’s buses and drivers into the city’s Ninth Ward, its poorest section, to offer the people there a realistic way out.
Critics will ask where, exactly, the NORTA buses would have taken tens of thousands of people. My answer: the first town they came to 100 miles or so west of New Orleans. Would that be ideal? No, but leaving 100,000 poor people trapped in a below-sea-level city about to be hit by a hurricane stronger than the city’s levees were build to withstand wasn’t exactly ideal, either.
Nagin is screaming for buses now, but when he had them he failed to use them. People aren’t dying in New Orleans today because of what the federal relief effort is or isn’t doing. People are dying in New Orleans today because Mayor Ray Nagin failed to get them out before Katrina hit.
People are dying - perhaps by the thousands - because of his failure.
UPDATE: A commenter notes that the New Orleans Public School system also had buses - hundreds of them. Why weren’t they pressed into service to evacuate the thousands of residents who had no way out? (After posting this update, I found the flooded buses photo via a link posted by a commenter over at BloggingForBryant.)
In the days before the hurricane struck, the possibility of commandeering the city’s two big bus fleets - the transit buses and the school buses - was much discussed on this Metafilter thread.
One person, “Amberglow,” wrote at at 11:15 AM New Orleans time on August 28: “They ought to get every bus in the city comandeered and just get people out of there. even boats and barges up the Mississippi would work.”
But ... they didn’t.
Instead, the transit buses were used to shuttle people to the Superdome. And the school buses were left parked to drown in the floodwaters, each flooded seat representing a person that could have been moved out of harm’s way.
Difference between Southern Cal and New Orleans:
Caring, a degree of competence and lack of outright in your face, corruption.
It is extremely difficult to move vehicles in water versus fires...but then Louisiana had three days notice BEFORE pending disaster. These busses where on dry land BEFORE.
But ... they didn’t.
#48 - Well! That certainly had me on the floor laughing!
Not.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2007 10 24 at 08:36 PM • permalinkA good article on why we have some dopey teachers in most places.
Posted by mr creosote on 2007 10 24 at 08:54 PM • permalinkWhat fools - and the Business Council of Australia wants to pay them more? Don’t they know that walking damages the planet more than driving ??
For those in the SD Area, one of these is on the way south.
Cheers
Posted by J.M. Heinrichs on 2007 10 24 at 09:15 PM • permalink#3 DaveS, I’m going to burn wood on the barbie and start my engines running for global warming; also, work out extra hard at the gym and hyperventilate.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 10 24 at 09:48 PM • permalinkI thought about going into teaching when I was a young tacker, but realised I wasn’t cut out for it when I discovered I was literate, numerate, rational, balanced and didn’t completely detest kiddies.
BTW- did anyone catch daffy (and soon to be former senator) Lyn Allison’s rather strident diatribe regarding the proposed killbot factories? I’d wager she regards the cadet corps and the boy scouts as a latter day Hitler Jugend.
The deeply concerning thing is that a number of people agree with these dingbats, and are allowed to vote- in more enlightened time they’d be confined for the safety of themselves and others, and not allowed anything sharper than a sponge.
#30 Good report Saltydog. I know San Diego and like it a lot.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 10 24 at 10:13 PM • permalink#34, RebeccaH,
No doubt the talking heads will sneer and point out how the rich (San Diego) have so many more options than the poor (New Orleans) had, without pointing out that the San Diegans believe in helping themselves, while the New Orleanians sat back and waited for somebody else to do it.
Nor will they bring up the importance of wealth in surviving a crisis. Nor will they talk about the fact that those people living in the big houses EARNED their possessions. Their loses are huge, and it means that money that might have been spent otherwise will now have to be spent replacing what has been lost.
Does poverty automatically confer virtue? Is it not a virtue to earn and keep wealth? Those who have done so do not stand with their hand out to their neighbors, but people sniff and say so what. There is something fundamentally wrong with those who claim that one’s sores are to be the standard of value and virtue. That kind of thinking is what turned New Orleans into a population completely unprepared to meet a disaster, the inevitability of which had been known about for decades, with federal money being spent to prepare for, but which was spent on the parties of thugs, bribes, gross nepotism, and all the rest of the good ol’ boy corruption that has ruled Louisiana since reconstruction. All of that is what killed New Orleans, not Katrina. That these people reelected the same thug speaks loudly about the lessons not learned.
Kyda, yes I live on the water. Thankfully.
#60
Wildfirenews.com
Researchers have found that some species of gum tree can send embers aloft more than 15 miles ahead of the main fire.El Cid: THAT QUOTE IS TOO FUCKING LONG. Also you forgot to indicate clearly that it WAS a quote, by formatting it inside the quote tags. I have half a mind to delete your comment all together, link or no link. For chrissakes, people, this isn’t rocket science. SHORT quotes INSIDE quote indicators, not several freaking paragraphs. There are people out there who are paranoid about plagiarism, with good reason.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2007 10 24 at 10:26 PM • permalink#65 Habib,
you’ll be pleased to know that in HK we have the ‘Air Cadets’ who wear British uniforms akin to something out of the Thunderbirds. Despite HK reverting back to the glorious Motherland (PBUH), their officer’s uniforms and marching drills are all straight out of the RAF!
Luckily some things never change. By the way, they spend most of their time marching up and down outside my ^%$%$ office.
#13 Just because I’m paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me…
A Shin Bet spokesman, 1988
"There were communiques. We found them. Burn the Israeli forest.’ “ In the Middle East, planting trees implies ownership of the land. Burning trees inflicts symbolic as well as economic damage.
“They know the side effect, the emotional effect,” Kalman continues, and they’re trying to hit us in a sensitive area. . . . Trees are life. You’re planting life ... and they’re burning it. The feeling is horrible.”
The amateur arsonists quickly became pros, Kalman adds, using delayed-ignition devices and starting fires simultaneously at multiple sites. JNF for the most part has been underequipped and has had to rely on fire engines from nearby municipalities. Nevertheless, Sas notes, “More than 60 percent of our fires were put down in less than an acre; the other 40 percent did the damage.”
Read this 30 October 2003 article
"The terrorist hoped to mimic the destruction that devastated Canberra last summer, killing four people and destroying more than 500 homes, as well as in other parts of Australia.
The memo, obtained by the Arizona Republic newspaper, said the unidentified detainee revealed he hoped to create several large, catastrophic wildfires at once.
“The detainee believed that significant damage to the U.S. economy would result and once it was realized that the fires were terrorist acts, U.S. citizens would put pressure on the U.S. government to change its policies,” the memo said."
Posted by MentalFloss on 2007 10 24 at 11:26 PM • permalink#75 ...like a bad penny, El Campeador
(re: your invitation to Boadiceia Blogorum—in yer dreams,mate!)Posted by MentalFloss on 2007 10 24 at 11:41 PM • permalinkHeloo, kae! How are the dogs? And while I’ve got you—why are mangoes priced so high?
Posted by MentalFloss on 2007 10 24 at 11:43 PM • permalinkThe current Time Magazine is a special issue on “Heroes of the Environment” - Gorbachev (?), Lovelock, Gore, Flannery, Hansen, Suzuki, etc. When Time Magazine starts to hyperventilate about a matter of contention, you can be fairly sure it’s a dud.
Posted by s.r.intulom on 2007 10 24 at 11:45 PM • permalinkWhere’ve I been, Swinish?
Too long in waves of sleep so shallow, they warrant no Greek name, I’ve walked with awkward, shambling gait, across a bone-strewn plain. Camraderie: that simple joy, has called me to resist: Awake! Arise! Rejoin the fray and greet the friends you’ve missed.
(you asked)
Posted by MentalFloss on 2007 10 24 at 11:46 PM • permalink#79
Mental. They’re good. The old one’s getting blinder and deafer. A bit like me!!Mangoes expensive? It’s the start of the season. Mangoes will be real cheap soon! And if you have your own trees...Cop the cost of this tray of mangoes...
We’ve bin thinkin’ of ya!
El Cid, I will accept a vow to never do that again and let you off with a light beating of the feet. Off with the shoes!
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2007 10 24 at 11:55 PM • permalinkQueenslanders and their crazy customs...Oy. The littlie promised me a smoothie this weekend, the sweetheart, but had sense to say “No mangos, though, Poppa” —at $20+ per, I reckon she’s growin up real fast.
I gotta call my Sister in Ventura again and get an update...see youse all real soon.
G-d bless firefighters and volunteers of every stripe…
Posted by MentalFloss on 2007 10 25 at 12:11 AM • permalink#33 Old Tanker
I watched the DC-10 making drops yesterday. It was damned impressive, even from 15 miles away.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 10 25 at 12:27 AM • permalinkProbably not as impressive as a barmaid crushing beer cans with her tits, though.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 10 25 at 12:29 AM • permalinkpass the Democrats’ comprehensive energy package
excuse the French, but how the fuck does a comprehensive energy package help against wild fires? Typical politician; “look at these fires! We need a comprehensive energy package to stop these fires”. Ignoring the fact that even a ‘clean green’ world will still have to deal with bush fires.
Posted by Old school on 2007 10 25 at 12:31 AM • permalinkThe Democrats have done some incredible feats of mental gymnastics to politicize the wildfires here in California the last couple of days. They haven’t seemed to have gelled into a “comprehensive” strategy yet. All they’ve agreed on is that it’s George Bush’s fault.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 10 25 at 12:34 AM • permalinkSpiny
Have no fear, ‘they’ will.
You know, for a guy the Dems labelled a dolt, (with an MBA and a higher GPA then Kerry and most certainly scads higher then Gore, the snake oil salesperson) young George has done damn well tying all those super intellect Dems, in knots.
Or as some one once alluded to them, as “pusillanimous pussyfooters”, and “hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history”. Sprio T. Agnew
(wronwright sees MentalFloss walks in. Slowly and subtlely, he hides the Sumerian tablets behind his back)
Posted by wronwright on 2007 10 25 at 05:36 AM • permalink#70 Andrea; At Bolt’s, they just say, “snip.” I like your way better.
Posted by dean martin on 2007 10 25 at 09:02 AM • permalinkOboy! Sumerian tablets! Just the thing for my calcium deficiency!
Kinda chewy, tho…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 10 25 at 10:50 AM • permalink#37 Redd;
Here’s a DC-10 dropping a load of chem, pretty impressive when they do use a jet!!!
They have to fly very low and very fast over uneven terrain through smoke. Not for the fainthearted.
Years ago, war-surplus TBM and TBF torpedo bombers used to be fairly common.
If they were about to drop on a very hot fire, it wasn’t uncommon for the engine to cut out if the oxygen level was reduced enough by the fire. They usually restarted once they’d glided out of the smokiest parts.
Once in a while, a drop would fail, and they’d have to fly back to base to try to fix the dump mechanism. I saw one TBF that had landed with a full load of retardant; the main gear punched up through the wing. That one became a spare parts source.
And the pilot was back flying the next day.
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I’ve heard this particularly stupid comment before.....and well before the current California fires. It totally ignores details such as environmentalists prevent or delay efforts to reasonably manage timber and underbrush growth. This wouldn’t stop wild fires, but it sure would reduce the potential.
Dingy Harry really needs to learn to keep his piehole shut.