Nobody said it was his fault, but I wonder that you spend so much time defending him from his own ridiculously insensitive remarks on the point.
No, the MAJORITY of the blame needs to lie on the doorstep of short term thinking “environmentalists” who only think of the now and not the long term. Who refuse to believe in invasive non-native species of bugs, animals, and plants. We wouldn’t be having so many fires if they’d just shut up, think for a second, and let the infested & dead trees be removed & replaced with healthy ones. Please put the majority of the blame for the wildfires where it belongs. Thank you.
These were urban fires that had nothing to do with forests. Again…the major culprit in California is dead grasses and species of trees that make use of fire to break through seed pods. If you want to be angry, be angry at the idiots who transplanted a hundred and fifty years ago, the eucalyptus species to the California coastline. It killed off the natural oak forests there as well as redwood growths. Also…ice plant is not a native species and is largely responsible for the very coastline erosion it was transplanted to prevent. Large grasslands and drought conditions are to blame for most of the fires.
Again…please inform yourself and don’t come here to use my platform as your personal soap box. It’s rude.
But, like I said, this is really about the California wildfires. See, we have this invasive species of wood boring lorn horned beetles, that have NO real natural predators to keep them in check because they’re NOT from this country. They’re killing trees left & right. But make any suggestion to go into the woods to remove dead & infected trees & replace them with healthy ones & the “environmentalists” start protesting that we need to “leave nature alone.”
That is also false. There are many environmental organizations whose sole purpose is to do just that. If the forest service was up and running properly and funded, they too would be at that.
It’s like the ICE separating families thing – Trump, like it or not, did NOT start that. It happened under Bush AND Obama & no one said a word. It’s NOT Trump’s doing. It’s something that has gone on for a LONG time without protest until now. Which makes me wonder if people would still scream “Abolish ICE” if Hillary “My Husband Is A Rapist” Clinton was president. Or if they’d continue being hypocrites. (I didn’t vote for her NOR Trump, FYI.)
That’s not true.
ICE was created in 2002. It was a part of the Homeland security act.
Families were not separated within it. In fact Obama had several containment and asylum facilities constructed or repurposed specifically to keep families with children together. Asylum seekers were processed and released. Hence the oft lamented rallying phrase “catch and release” you’ve heard Trump scream at rabid crowds.
Families who bring children are not harboring rapists and criminals, for the vast majority of cases. No one brings a child hundreds of miles and makes a desperate bid, if they are a criminal. That’s not how human psychology works. Criminals move swiftly and alone.
And if you didn’t vote for either her or Trump, then you threw away your vote in a two party system rigged to do away with third party votes. Which means you are complicit. You helped hand us an enemy we loathe rather than one we can deal with. You shouldn’t be terribly proud of that.
The American system was designed with the sole intent to give the appearance of democracy, when in fact it isn’t one. The electoral college removes that right, and recent changes to it have ensured that. Third party votes do not swing a presidency except in extreme conditions. That’s simple math.
Please inform yourself and stop shouting at my readers.
I hope you don’t mind a multi-part anonymous ask. I saw your post about the California fires last night & as someone who actually lives in California, even though I would happily smack the President Orange in the mouth with a 2×4, I think it’s unfair to put 100% of the blame on him when this is a LONG time issue that was actually caused by an invasive wood boring beetle & idiots who call themselves environmentalists. Feel free to combine all the asks, BTW. There’s a few more coming.
I never placed blame on anyone.
I said he lied in misrepresenting the issue and blaming the victims. the GOP in California has continuously defunded the protection of wildlife areas and the maintenance of forests. For decades. I do actually know a fair bit about this.
The point is that as the President, Trump lied and was a villain. He claimed the fires had to do with poorly managed forests. These particular fires were Urban intersection fires. Not forest fires. In California, the majority of wildlife areas are under Federal management, or lack thereof. Some are in private ownership. Meaning that if there was a fire in a forest, his railing against poor management would be the fault of his own party and his actual administration.
Except that these fires aren’t.
His first response was to deflect blame and threaten to withhold aid. It wasn’t sympathy, or a pledge. He had to be called out by the head of the Firefighters association as “misinformed” before he did the right thing. He’s a disgusting bully.
Please do take your ire upon that point elsewhere. I will go through your other asks, but I am not pleased with this particular anxiety directed toward me.
Simon, I’m so excited! My sister has a cockatiel she doesn’t have time to properly bond with, and I’ve been wanting a bird for years, and to my surprise she said I could have him! She’ll be here with him in a couple days! I just wanted to share my excitement and ask, what do you think of birds? Have you ever owned one? Thank you for your time!
Birds hate me. I have a murder of crows on my roof. We are tenuous companions.
I’m happy for you.
Voting for the Halloween contests ends tomorrow night at midnight
Please review the postings in the tags “Simon’s Halloween costume contest” “Simon’s candy contest” and “Simon’s carving contest” and vote by liking. Reblogs give an image a chance to gain more votes.
I’ll count a winner and announce it on the 16th.
The costume contest is particularly close. Right now a dead heat between the pirate, the dark elf, and the Dread Pirate Roberts, methinks. The pumpkin carvings seem to be heavily weighted toward the skeleton hatching pumpkin, and the candy is listing toward the “candy bucket cake”
Vote!!! Go find one image you love and ask your readers to vote for it.
Voting for the Halloween contests ends tomorrow night at midnight
Please review the postings in the tags “Simon’s Halloween costume contest” “Simon’s candy contest” and “Simon’s carving contest” and vote by liking. Reblogs give an image a chance to gain more votes.
I’ll count a winner and announce it on the 16th.
Have you ever had baked swordfish in a light, apricot teriyaki sauce with sliced almonds for cronch? Because it’s magical and delightful.
I’ve had swordfish. Now I’ll have it a new way! Thank you.
Do you think you’ve ever had what would qualify as a “midlife crisis”? Or any other kind of (excessively) dark/low point in your life that you’ve had to make significant lifestyle changes to accommodate?
Yes.
Welcome to the byproduct of one of them, decades in the construction.
Simon's Tumblr Dump 