Trumps diatribe against EDI shows he simply doesn't understand what EDI is about. He says he wants to eliminate "equality hires" so that they can be replaced by the "best people" (I'm sort of paraphrasing here, because if I have to go back to read the exact words he used I'd end up nauseous). But, one of the purposes of EDI is to make sure the best people are hired - it's a counter to unconscious (or, even conscious) bias to hire and/or promote "people like us" on the assumption that they're better qualified, typically so that middle aged white men don't predominantly hire younger white men (who in a few years will be middle aged white men) overlooking better qualified women, people of colour, someone in a wheelchair etc.
An example of this kind of thing in action is this clip of Fox News talking head Laura Ingraham being appalled at the idea that blacks, Hispanics, or Native Americans even applying to be air traffic controllers. The underlying assumption here is that of course anyone from those groups is not competent to be an air traffic controller.
On a different topic - what is Trump's beef against Mike Pompeo, from whom he has withdrawn Secret Service protection? I thought Pompeo was a pretty full-on Trump supporter? In what way did he prove insufficiently supine?
Trump really does seem to be channelling the worst of the former Roman Emperors. How long before he appoints a horse to his government, or declares himself to be a god?
On a different topic - what is Trump's beef against Mike Pompeo, from whom he has withdrawn Secret Service protection? I thought Pompeo was a pretty full-on Trump supporter? In what way did he prove insufficiently supine?
Pompeo was a staunch Trump loyalist while serving as Secretary of State. After he left that position he became publicly critical of Trump. I guess once you break omertà like that you're considered an enemy.
Pompeo was a staunch Trump loyalist while serving as Secretary of State. After he left that position he became publicly critical of Trump. I guess once you break omertà like that you're considered an enemy.
Once he was conceited but now he’s perfect?
He does seem to have a deep need to be above criticism.
There’s a saying that I remember.
“First class people appoint first class people. Second class people appoint third class people.”
That’s all about being threatened by talent, challenged by well thought out alternatives to your own views.
Trump strikes me as not good enough to be classified as even third class. So I guess the threat from subordinates is even deeper. It’s not that he likes “yes men. He needs them. He also seems to assume that women will be “yes women”. On at least two levels.
When it comes to criticism of Trump’s leadership, Pompeo is mild compared with Bolton, Kelly and Mattis. But obviously not mild enough.
At my job, I once heard a joke, very gently told, that we love the people we take care, but we wouldn't trust them to perform surgery.
Dignity of risk is a concept that we take very, very seriously.
And I am beside myself with rage at the way belligerently ignorant people are talking about disabilities right now.
If you're one of those, just do me a favor. Change your attitude. And if you can't change your attitude, better keep that attitude where I can't see it. Shove it into a closet so deep that it makes your large intestine seem well illuminated by comparison. A volcano might do.
Cuz if I get so much as a *whiff* of that from anyone I know, you're not gonna hear from me. Ever.
I posted that to facebook, just for common understanding. Don't plan to cross pollinate threads, but I figured it was a fine expression of my pique and figured I'd just use the same phrasing here.
The implied threat will not carry over to ship of fools because, of course, I lack blocking power and this is, of course, a forum I do not police. I also do not expect the hosts and admins to enforce my ire beyond their usual prerogatives.
Of course, mocking folks with disabilities is generally unacceptable on the ship, so I think I should be pretty safe.
Thank y'all, especially @RooK , for the lessons. I think I'm putting some to use.
With his age and his diet there is possibly a chance he won’t make it to the end of the term.
Then we get to watch the Shillbilly Vance show.
So...as I've said many times elsewhere...*ahem*...I grew up in a relatively prosperous corner of Appalachia (western Maryland, a politically bizarre little corner of the world) and as a...marginally middle class...child of the hills, I find that man very weirdly relatable in very weird ways.
Trump is alien menace to me, but JD Vance is like someone I went to high school with and still talk to every now and then. I can imagine myself ending up like him if I'd made a long series of terrible choices in life. I feel for that guy, in a truly bizarre fashion. I kinda understand what he's going through and why he's playing the terrible game he's playing.
I'm just curious -- do you all think you are going to be able to keep this up for four years?!
They did last time.
Remember in the first go around the people became more restless. First there was a large counter march on the day of the inauguration followed by a women's march. It ended with the riots stemming from the George Floyd murder.
And don't forget how he messed up the response to the pandemic,
In other news. Today it was announced Trump is imposing a 25% tariff on goods and services from Canada and Mexico. The ball is now in their court.
One way Canada might retaliate is cutting off their hydropower supply to the US. That would really hurt.
I'm just curious -- do you all think you are going to be able to keep this up for four years?!
They did last time.
Remember in the first go around the people became more restless. First there was a large counter march on the day of the inauguration followed by a women's march. It ended with the riots stemming from the George Floyd murder.
And don't forget how he messed up the response to the pandemic,
In other news. Today it was announced Trump is imposing a 25% tariff on goods and services from Canada and Mexico. The ball is now in their court.
One way Canada might retaliate is cutting off their hydropower supply to the US. That would really hurt.
Thank y'all, especially @RooK , for the lessons. I think I'm putting some to use.
[gets invocation] Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
[notices which thread it is] Aw, fuck.
[reads actual comment] Oh, that's... not so bad. Except for the part about what Trump actually said; that's idiotic bullshit.
“First class people appoint first class people. Second class people appoint third class people.”
That’s all about being threatened by talent, challenged by well thought out alternatives to your own views.
Trump strikes me as not good enough to be classified as even third class. So I guess the threat from subordinates is even deeper. It’s not that he likes “yes men. He needs them. He also seems to assume that women will be “yes women”. On at least two levels.
Trump has demonstrated that the quality he values most in his underlings is loyalty. He not only prizes this above competence, he seems to regard it as antithetical to competence. On a certain level he's right about this. If you look at his cabinet picks, almost all of them are dangerously unqualified for the positions to which they've been nominated. (Doug Burgum is the only exception that I can think of offhand.) In other words, these are people who are well aware that Trump is giving them an opportunity no one concerned about competence or qualifications would extend to them, so this is their one shot and they know that they will rise or fall with Trump.
I wonder why the Administration isn't focusing on the people inside of the US who are importing the Fentanyl. The cartels aren't simply dropping off pallets of drugs in suburban Wal-Mart parking lots. Who's on the receiving end?
I wonder why the Administration isn't focusing on the people inside of the US who are importing the Fentanyl. The cartels aren't simply dropping off pallets of drugs in suburban Wal-Mart parking lots. Who's on the receiving end?
It's not about helping people. It's about using racism to motivate white people to hate.
I find it all very easy to understand, but you have to stop thinking like someone who gives a shit about anyone else and start thinking like a manipulative psychopath. When you put on the "manipulative psychopath" filter, it all makes sense.
And I'm gonna pull out a stereotypical narrative about some places kinda adjacent to where I'm from. Again it's a deeply stereotypical narrative, but I think there's enough truth in it that it's worth telling as a story with disclaimers. Also, this is hell and this stuff makes me deeply angry because I know the kind of people who fall for this and I don't like to think that they're monsters, but they make it hard.
Anyway...
Shame is a powerful force for a lot of poor people in capitalism. A lot of people, deep down, I think, are ashamed of how their communities are caught in a web of poverty, crime, and substance abuse. A lot of younger folks are either getting the hell out of Dodge (like I did) or getting stuck in dying towns that are...well...dying. And it's hard to cope with. Drugs are a way to ease that experience, like how you administer morphine at a certain point as palliative care at end-of-life.
But that's a shameful thing to admit if you're full of pride. So instead of admitting that, you reach out and blame anyone, literally anyone for the situation that you're mired in, because you feel powerless. And maybe if you knock them down hard enough, you'll rise up a little in comparison.
So, yes. Blame the immigrant, blame the big city, blame the doctor, blame the university for getting all those smart kids (like me) to leave. Blame the environmentalist, blame the union, blame the liberal, blame Wal Mart. Blame anything to avoid the humiliating fact that you walked into the global casino back in the day - somewhat voluntarily - and it has done nothing but bleed your beloved community dry.
Thanks, Reagan.
For context, I know one person who died of fentanyl overdose, family-by-marriage. I know at least one person who sold drugs as a career and later found a way back to honest living, different family-by-marriage. Both are white US citizens. I have a certain respect for each of these people, knowing them in context. I was luckier than both of them combined.
Does that help clarify the situation regarding Donald Trump's pandering about Mexican drug cartels? He's telling people a story that they want to hear, that it's not their fault that their communities are falling apart. It's the Mexicans' fault.
With his age and his diet there is possibly a chance he won’t make it to the end of the term.
Then we get to watch the Shillbilly Vance show.
So...as I've said many times elsewhere...*ahem*...I grew up in a relatively prosperous corner of Appalachia (western Maryland, a politically bizarre little corner of the world) and as a...marginally middle class...child of the hills, I find that man very weirdly relatable in very weird ways.
Trump is alien menace to me, but JD Vance is like someone I went to high school with and still talk to every now and then. I can imagine myself ending up like him if I'd made a long series of terrible choices in life. I feel for that guy, in a truly bizarre fashion. I kinda understand what he's going through and why he's playing the terrible game he's playing.
Sad little sycophant.
I had a moment of hope for Vance when in the debates, Tim Waltz said his son had witnessed a shooting. Vance said, "I did not know that. I am sorry. I hope he is okay."
With his age and his diet there is possibly a chance he won’t make it to the end of the term.
Then we get to watch the Shillbilly Vance show.
So...as I've said many times elsewhere...*ahem*...I grew up in a relatively prosperous corner of Appalachia (western Maryland, a politically bizarre little corner of the world) and as a...marginally middle class...child of the hills, I find that man very weirdly relatable in very weird ways.
Trump is alien menace to me, but JD Vance is like someone I went to high school with and still talk to every now and then. I can imagine myself ending up like him if I'd made a long series of terrible choices in life. I feel for that guy, in a truly bizarre fashion. I kinda understand what he's going through and why he's playing the terrible game he's playing.
Sad little sycophant.
I had a moment of hope for Vance when in the debates, Tim Waltz said his son had witnessed a shooting. Vance said, "I did not know that. I am sorry. I hope he is okay."
I do think, underneath the strange Republican performance art, he is still a human being, and I think he might have that on Donald Trump.
I just think that underneath that, he is rather weak and undisciplined. And given the crowd he has thrown himself in with, that's seriously dangerous. I don't know if he believes half of what he's saying, or cares.
I just think that underneath that, he is rather weak and undisciplined. And given the crowd he has thrown himself in with, that's seriously dangerous. I don't know if he believes half of what he's saying, or cares.
I don't think it matters, he has a record of twisting himself into different shapes in order to perpetuate his self interest and I don't think it stops here.
I'm just curious -- do you all think you are going to be able to keep this up for four years?!
They did last time.
Remember in the first go around the people became more restless. First there was a large counter march on the day of the inauguration followed by a women's march. It ended with the riots stemming from the George Floyd murder.
And don't forget how he messed up the response to the pandemic,
In other news. Today it was announced Trump is imposing a 25% tariff on goods and services from Canada and Mexico. The ball is now in their court.
One way Canada might retaliate is cutting off their hydropower supply to the US. That would really hurt.
“First class people appoint first class people. Second class people appoint third class people.”
That’s all about being threatened by talent, challenged by well thought out alternatives to your own views.
Trump strikes me as not good enough to be classified as even third class. So I guess the threat from subordinates is even deeper. It’s not that he likes “yes men. He needs them. He also seems to assume that women will be “yes women”. On at least two levels.
Trump has demonstrated that the quality he values most in his underlings is loyalty. He not only prizes this above competence, he seems to regard it as antithetical to competence. On a certain level he's right about this. If you look at his cabinet picks, almost all of them are dangerously unqualified for the positions to which they've been nominated. (Doug Burgum is the only exception that I can think of offhand.) In other words, these are people who are well aware that Trump is giving them an opportunity no one concerned about competence or qualifications would extend to them, so this is their one shot and they know that they will rise or fall with Trump.
Yes. I think it makes the loyalty of many (if not all) of these appointees safe in Trump’s eyes. Whatever their capability for independent thought may be, they aren’t going to use it. Puppets and a puppet master.
I’ve been wondering about another dimension. In the often hilarious UK drama “Yes Prime Minister”, permanent civil servants are portrayed as smart enough to outwit ministers and even, to some extent, capture them. They are very good at both portraying loyalty and stopping stupid political policies from getting anywhere. The means are ineffective and/or delayed implementation. The key is the “Yes” in the title. It actually means “Yes-ish” or “Yes (it looks like but isn’t really)”.
It was Margaret Thatcher’s favourite TV programme.
Now I know there is a purge of top public servants going on at present, but you can’t sack everybody. You need people to implement and sort out details. Is there still scope for “Yes Prime Minister-type” implementations/frustrations? Covert blocking of the most stupid policies. Or is that just a British thing?
Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.
It looks like Elon is trying to foment as much chaos and confusion as possible. I fear he's a lot more motivated than your traditional halfwit prime minister, because his goal isn't just to enable bad policy, but to straight up nuke the operation as quickly as possible, likely to liquidate it for profit.
I think we'll see how much sacking he can get away with. I'm not optimistic. Whatever happens over the next few months, I expect it is going to be truly weird.
Of course, I also think that none of this is any kind of "normal" that Americans or Brits would recognize. I think that, like many fascists, Musk and Co fancy that they're building something new under the sun. But it's not going to do that. Because there isn't anything new under the sun.
A State Department "know before you go" page previously directed at LGBTQ travelers on Friday was rewritten to address to "LGB" travelers, removing the reference to people who identify as transgender or queer.
Lots of horrible things here, but having "LGBTQ" replaced with "LGB" is LITERALLY trans erasure, and it was what I ran across in social media that made me start Googling...
He’s doubling down. I’ve just seen a report that he is ordering the FAA to cease using equal opportunities standards in appointments.
But on Thursday evening, the White House doubled down on blaming his predecessor and DEI policies. The president signed a memorandum to end diversity efforts in the aviation sector and to review all hiring decisions and changes to safety protocols made during the Biden administration. He also signed an executive order to appoint a new head of the FAA.
(BBC website)
Pete Buttigieg defended his record on social media, calling Trump's comments "despicable". "As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying," he said.
But then, in Trumpworld, Pete Buttigieg is doubly a member of the incompetent, lacking in “common sense”. He’s a Democrat and he’s homosexual.
Again, enough said.
I’m sure this doesn’t need saying on here but Pete is one of the nicest, brightest chaps on the planet.* The person he’s arguing with…
He;s Episcopalian, so One of Us Bishop's Finger.......I have heard him preach at the American Cathedral in Paris on Youtube a couple of years back. He was quite good I thought
Chalk this up to one of Trump's follies. During the LA fires, which are now fully contained due to the rain over the past week, Trump had demanded California open its water resources to put the fires out. California has a water system that draws water from northern California down to the southern part of the state through a series of dams and viaducts. But the California Water Resources Board and the governor said there was sufficient water to take care of the fires already. A short time later on Truth Social, Trump's personal message board, Trump announced he had ordered the Army to release water. The Army Corp of Engineers also has several dams throughout California mostly designed to help irrigate fields in the central valley. Acting on Trump's orders, the Army Corp of Engineers released water from two of its dams.
Problem is the water that was released will flow north into San Francisco Bay, not south, where the fires are already contained. The water that was released should have been kept in storage to cover the irrigation needs of the central valley later this summer when there will be an inevitable drought. LA Times story here.
We have noticed the local US National Forest website has removed any mention of Climate Change. The US National Forest Service is under the USDA. I wonder how this may affect their preparedness for forest fires.
Mr. President, just because you hate the term "Climate Change," and want it removed from the Federal Lexicon, does not mean it is not happening.
I am sure there will be other follies in the near future.
Old Chinese Proverb (okay, not so old, and not so Chinese)
When the people elect a clown, the whole palace becomes a circus.
Unfortunately physics, and other sciences, seem to be considered irrelevant to Trump - especially when he finds scientific facts to be too inconvenient. Gravity and how water flows is one example. That burning fossil fuels increases CO2 in the atmosphere leading to climate change, including more frequent intense fires in California and more frequent severe hurricanes in Florida, is another example. Human biology is something else he fails to grasp, in that not only can't he decide if there are two genders as he claims or just women as his Executive Order states he doesn't account for all the variations of intersex and transgender identities that science shows to exist.
Members of the Senate Finance Committee are asking questions as to why Musk and his employees have - apparently - been given to sensitive US Treasury systems:
The global fuel economy is so much bigger than America, and certainly bigger than this guy's ego.
I'm not sure how much hope to put in that, but I've read that - realistically - there's not whole lot of influence the president has over the oil industry.
Sadly, I suspect he does have more power to screw over the green energy industry. And he will, because he's driven by the spite of dying American economies.
A local bus service in a nearby town has suspended its service. Speculation is that there is some confusion whether it will be a recipient of a federal grant. The bus service is key to the transportation of university students in that town. I know the university would not have enough parking spaces if the students had to drive to campus on Monday.
Comments
That or he stops being the way he is and acting the way he does. In which case you might spot Satan skiing to work.
There's but cold comfort in the fact that Vance would take over if Trump dies, or becomes incapacitated (or jailed). Vance is AIUI seriously weird...
An example of this kind of thing in action is this clip of Fox News talking head Laura Ingraham being appalled at the idea that blacks, Hispanics, or Native Americans even applying to be air traffic controllers. The underlying assumption here is that of course anyone from those groups is not competent to be an air traffic controller.
Pompeo was a staunch Trump loyalist while serving as Secretary of State. After he left that position he became publicly critical of Trump. I guess once you break omertà like that you're considered an enemy.
Once he was conceited but now he’s perfect?
He does seem to have a deep need to be above criticism.
There’s a saying that I remember.
“First class people appoint first class people. Second class people appoint third class people.”
That’s all about being threatened by talent, challenged by well thought out alternatives to your own views.
Trump strikes me as not good enough to be classified as even third class. So I guess the threat from subordinates is even deeper. It’s not that he likes “yes men. He needs them. He also seems to assume that women will be “yes women”. On at least two levels.
When it comes to criticism of Trump’s leadership, Pompeo is mild compared with Bolton, Kelly and Mattis. But obviously not mild enough.
The implied threat will not carry over to ship of fools because, of course, I lack blocking power and this is, of course, a forum I do not police. I also do not expect the hosts and admins to enforce my ire beyond their usual prerogatives.
Of course, mocking folks with disabilities is generally unacceptable on the ship, so I think I should be pretty safe.
Thank y'all, especially @RooK , for the lessons. I think I'm putting some to use.
Then we get to watch the Shillbilly Vance show.
So...as I've said many times elsewhere...*ahem*...I grew up in a relatively prosperous corner of Appalachia (western Maryland, a politically bizarre little corner of the world) and as a...marginally middle class...child of the hills, I find that man very weirdly relatable in very weird ways.
Trump is alien menace to me, but JD Vance is like someone I went to high school with and still talk to every now and then. I can imagine myself ending up like him if I'd made a long series of terrible choices in life. I feel for that guy, in a truly bizarre fashion. I kinda understand what he's going through and why he's playing the terrible game he's playing.
Sad little sycophant.
Remember in the first go around the people became more restless. First there was a large counter march on the day of the inauguration followed by a women's march. It ended with the riots stemming from the George Floyd murder.
And don't forget how he messed up the response to the pandemic,
In other news. Today it was announced Trump is imposing a 25% tariff on goods and services from Canada and Mexico. The ball is now in their court.
One way Canada might retaliate is cutting off their hydropower supply to the US. That would really hurt.
I figure we'd deserve that.
[gets invocation] Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
[notices which thread it is] Aw, fuck.
[reads actual comment] Oh, that's... not so bad. Except for the part about what Trump actually said; that's idiotic bullshit.
Less than an hour.
I guess there are conditions. Canada and Mexico have to stop illegal immigration and the transport of fetinal.
Trump has demonstrated that the quality he values most in his underlings is loyalty. He not only prizes this above competence, he seems to regard it as antithetical to competence. On a certain level he's right about this. If you look at his cabinet picks, almost all of them are dangerously unqualified for the positions to which they've been nominated. (Doug Burgum is the only exception that I can think of offhand.) In other words, these are people who are well aware that Trump is giving them an opportunity no one concerned about competence or qualifications would extend to them, so this is their one shot and they know that they will rise or fall with Trump.
It's not about helping people. It's about using racism to motivate white people to hate.
I find it all very easy to understand, but you have to stop thinking like someone who gives a shit about anyone else and start thinking like a manipulative psychopath. When you put on the "manipulative psychopath" filter, it all makes sense.
And I'm gonna pull out a stereotypical narrative about some places kinda adjacent to where I'm from. Again it's a deeply stereotypical narrative, but I think there's enough truth in it that it's worth telling as a story with disclaimers. Also, this is hell and this stuff makes me deeply angry because I know the kind of people who fall for this and I don't like to think that they're monsters, but they make it hard.
Anyway...
Shame is a powerful force for a lot of poor people in capitalism. A lot of people, deep down, I think, are ashamed of how their communities are caught in a web of poverty, crime, and substance abuse. A lot of younger folks are either getting the hell out of Dodge (like I did) or getting stuck in dying towns that are...well...dying. And it's hard to cope with. Drugs are a way to ease that experience, like how you administer morphine at a certain point as palliative care at end-of-life.
But that's a shameful thing to admit if you're full of pride. So instead of admitting that, you reach out and blame anyone, literally anyone for the situation that you're mired in, because you feel powerless. And maybe if you knock them down hard enough, you'll rise up a little in comparison.
So, yes. Blame the immigrant, blame the big city, blame the doctor, blame the university for getting all those smart kids (like me) to leave. Blame the environmentalist, blame the union, blame the liberal, blame Wal Mart. Blame anything to avoid the humiliating fact that you walked into the global casino back in the day - somewhat voluntarily - and it has done nothing but bleed your beloved community dry.
Thanks, Reagan.
For context, I know one person who died of fentanyl overdose, family-by-marriage. I know at least one person who sold drugs as a career and later found a way back to honest living, different family-by-marriage. Both are white US citizens. I have a certain respect for each of these people, knowing them in context. I was luckier than both of them combined.
Does that help clarify the situation regarding Donald Trump's pandering about Mexican drug cartels? He's telling people a story that they want to hear, that it's not their fault that their communities are falling apart. It's the Mexicans' fault.
I had a moment of hope for Vance when in the debates, Tim Waltz said his son had witnessed a shooting. Vance said, "I did not know that. I am sorry. I hope he is okay."
Well, they are. They shouldn't be, but they are, and nobody in Mr Vance's party is willing to talk about the things that would change that.
I do think, underneath the strange Republican performance art, he is still a human being, and I think he might have that on Donald Trump.
I just think that underneath that, he is rather weak and undisciplined. And given the crowd he has thrown himself in with, that's seriously dangerous. I don't know if he believes half of what he's saying, or cares.
I don't think it matters, he has a record of twisting himself into different shapes in order to perpetuate his self interest and I don't think it stops here.
Yes. I think it makes the loyalty of many (if not all) of these appointees safe in Trump’s eyes. Whatever their capability for independent thought may be, they aren’t going to use it. Puppets and a puppet master.
I’ve been wondering about another dimension. In the often hilarious UK drama “Yes Prime Minister”, permanent civil servants are portrayed as smart enough to outwit ministers and even, to some extent, capture them. They are very good at both portraying loyalty and stopping stupid political policies from getting anywhere. The means are ineffective and/or delayed implementation. The key is the “Yes” in the title. It actually means “Yes-ish” or “Yes (it looks like but isn’t really)”.
It was Margaret Thatcher’s favourite TV programme.
Now I know there is a purge of top public servants going on at present, but you can’t sack everybody. You need people to implement and sort out details. Is there still scope for “Yes Prime Minister-type” implementations/frustrations? Covert blocking of the most stupid policies. Or is that just a British thing?
I think we'll see how much sacking he can get away with. I'm not optimistic. Whatever happens over the next few months, I expect it is going to be truly weird.
Of course, I also think that none of this is any kind of "normal" that Americans or Brits would recognize. I think that, like many fascists, Musk and Co fancy that they're building something new under the sun. But it's not going to do that. Because there isn't anything new under the sun.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/31/government-webpages-scrub-gender-dei/78093721007/
Lots of horrible things here, but having "LGBTQ" replaced with "LGB" is LITERALLY trans erasure, and it was what I ran across in social media that made me start Googling...
I’m sure this doesn’t need saying on here but Pete is one of the nicest, brightest chaps on the planet.* The person he’s arguing with…
However, as has been pointed out, he's not exactly favoured by the Trumpians. Has he any particular religious affiliation, out of interest?
Problem is the water that was released will flow north into San Francisco Bay, not south, where the fires are already contained. The water that was released should have been kept in storage to cover the irrigation needs of the central valley later this summer when there will be an inevitable drought. LA Times story here.
Also, on Trump's orders, the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, is scrubbing all references to Climate Change from its websites. It will mean the USDA will not be helping farmers adjust to the new weather patterns for the next four years. https://abcnews.go.com/US/usda-orders-removal-climate-change-mentions-public-websites/story?id=118312216
We have noticed the local US National Forest website has removed any mention of Climate Change. The US National Forest Service is under the USDA. I wonder how this may affect their preparedness for forest fires.
Mr. President, just because you hate the term "Climate Change," and want it removed from the Federal Lexicon, does not mean it is not happening.
I am sure there will be other follies in the near future.
Old Chinese Proverb (okay, not so old, and not so Chinese)
When the people elect a clown, the whole palace becomes a circus.
The Air Force. They have the capability of nuking hurricanes, don't ya know?
https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-demands-answers-following-report-of-musk-personnel-seeking-access-to-highly-sensitive-us-treasury-payments-system
The global fuel economy is so much bigger than America, and certainly bigger than this guy's ego.
I'm not sure how much hope to put in that, but I've read that - realistically - there's not whole lot of influence the president has over the oil industry.
Sadly, I suspect he does have more power to screw over the green energy industry. And he will, because he's driven by the spite of dying American economies.
Hey, he changed the direction of a hurricane with a Sharpie. He's magic, don't you know?
Google Brian Driscoll aka The Drizz. Makes a rather memorable impression.
Wind farms
A hurricane yields five orders of magnitude more energy than a middling hydrogen bomb.
That may be true but I’m betting the US has some very big nuclear bombs
It looks like a lot of them are being fired. Though...reading through...not sure if that's fait accompli yet.
Anyway, on second thoughts, the Holy Ground of Mar-A-Lago will be spared, even though the rest of Florida should perish...
Using Quantum Physics: if a wind turbine turns in Washington State, will it affect the weather over Mar-O-Lego?