It will be interesting to see what Trump says on this as climate change is a major factor, but obviously in his addled mind, that doesn't exist, but that same addled mind will be desperate to comment on it.
It will be interesting to see what Trump says on this as climate change is a major factor, but obviously in his addled mind, that doesn’t exist, but that same addled mind will be desperate to comment on it.
His new best mate will say that everyone needs to buy electric cars and, as an amazing coincidence, he just happens to own a company that makes such things...
I dread to think how Trump will deal with this, he’s got to put his people first (but of course he won’t).
Oh he will.
It's just Californians aren't his people.
Two years ago I caught up with a mate who's a Prof of Ecology at ULPGC. He made the comment, 'if Brazil, China and India don't take their foot of the pedal we'll all be applying to emigrate to Greenland and Iceland'. I thought he was joking.
It will be interesting to see what Trump says on this
I'm guessing something along the lines of it's entirely a radical left governors fault and will do the bare minimum if anything to help
It will be interesting to see what Trump says on this
He was on BBC News a couple of days back. He didnt talk about fires, but was rambling about wind farms and whales. It was scary just how far moved from reality he is about global warming.
I got evacuated from Jasper due to wildfires over the summer, not an experience I'd like to repeat, so I'm watching this with interest/dread.
I’m guessing something along the lines of it’s entirely a radical left governors fault and will do the bare minimum if anything to help
He and Elonia already are. They’re blaming Governor Newsom for not putting in place Donald’s plan for moving lots of water from Northern California to the south, not raking the forest floor, and a whole bunch of other things.
He’s already said there will be no aid offered to California or LA.
He’s such a revolting scumbag.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y81zyp1ext
However, having spoken to people, it’s also considered safer to be in a wooden house if you get hit by a tornado. Not sure if it’s true but that perception has an impact.
@molgrips - That is counterintuitive. Tornadoes usually occur in the mid-west and many homes there have a strong masonry room/shelter to hide in during a tornado. I can understand the risk of flying debris from loose bricks but a timber frame house will simply get ripped apart quicker and you're facing a total rebuild rather than fixing a part of the property. Cost is the primary driver for these construction practices
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That is counterintuitive. Tornadoes usually occur in the mid-west and many homes there have a strong masonry room/shelter to hide in during a tornado.
I'm not telling you what happens in tornados, I'm telling you what people have told me when I've brought this up. They might have strong masonry shelters but they are probably heavily built and underground, which your house would not be.
Cost is a factor, but in the same way that cost is a reason why it's not common to build houses out of granite these days. It's perfectly possible but it's just not what people expect, so it looks very expensive compared to what we are used to which is bricks. To Americans, bricks are expensive compared to timber. But you wouldn't complain about not building out of granite as being a 'cost cutting measure'.
However, having spoken to people, it’s also considered safer to be in a wooden house if you get hit by a tornado.
Erm...
And cheaper to rebuild…
The flip side of that is a stronger structure would suffer less damage so could be repaired quicker.
The flip side of that is a stronger structure would suffer less damage so could be repaired quicker.
But in the USA there aren't as many tradesmen with the required skills so it could take longer to find someone to do the repairs (assuming you are talking brick-built versus timber-framed).
Fires like that and a relatively proor performing brick house (from an energy perspective) brick house is still going to get gutted.
building codes in California are evolving to deal with wild fire protection but codes aren't retroactive on an exceptionally well built wood framed home that's been standing for decades.
Shit happens!
You're an arse.
You’re an arse.
They have the resources and wherewithal to rebuild. I'll save my sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of people around the world affected by natural (and non-natural) disasters who don't have that luxury.
If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a load of millionaire celebrities being burned out of their homes it probably wouldn’t even be on the news.
Well if it was happening in Bangladesh or Brazil I doubt that it would have been given the top TV news billing it has been getting, or the same amount of airtime minutes.
The good news is that billionaires being inconvenienced and forced to sleep in one of their other homes might give the anthropogenic climate change debate a gentle prod.
You’re an arse.
"Lacking in empathy" has too many syllables
They have the resources and wherewithal to rebuild. I’ll save my sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of people around the world affected by natural (and non-natural) disasters who don’t have that luxury.
Oh, I see. There are people in LA who aren't movie stars and millionaires—ordinary folks like you who are losing everything, including their lives.
“Lacking in empathy” has too many syllables
Agreed, and there's a time and place for such sentiment but Dazh has a valid point...
Re: building houses in wood vs brick. Amongst other considerations, there simple aren't enough brick-layers in North America. Even if you preferred to have your house built out of brick, good luck finding anyone with the skills - you'd probably be pushing out build time frames for years rather than weeks...gawd knows what would happen if it was mandated in building codes...
The Palisade fire is in an area surrounded by multiple larger state parks. I'm not sure whether camping is allowed in those specific parks, but campers failing to put out campfires properly is a major cause of other fires...
@10 he either knows that or was too lazy to read beyond 'Hollywood'. Either way you're wasting your time, it's easier to just ignore.
Agreed, and there’s a time and place for such sentiment but Dazh has a valid point…
If it was only the rich that were being affected then maybe, but it's not, so he doesn't.
Reports of looters now.....!
Dazh has a valid point…
no he doesn't, his misanthropic post was crass at best but that's what you get time and time again from him.
It's not just the Hollywood stars homes being burnt, many normal people are suffering too but the media doesn't care about them as they are not deemed newsworthy.
If it was only the rich that were being affected then maybe, but it’s not, so he doesn’t.
Eh? Are you deluding yourself that it isn't headline news outside the US precisely because millionaires/celebrities are affected?
not just the Hollywood stars homes being burnt, many normal people are suffering too
that’s what surprised me the first time I went to that area- you could drive through a fancy residential part, turn a corner and it’s vastly different.
As I mentioned before, 20 years I had work colleagues living there. Not necessarily in the “millionaire” areas but in general suburban neighbourhoods
Either way you’re wasting your time, it’s easier to just ignore.
You are correct, as are other posters. I've said what I need to about his posts and will take this advice. Like many people, I have friends in LA affected by these fires.
I don't think it is receiving very significant coverage in the UK because the homes of billionaires have been destroyed. I think the fact that it affects Americans is what makes this story particularly important. It was always going to be a headline story because of that.
If it was happening across the border in Mexico I am sure that it would still be considered a worthy news item but I very much doubt that it would have been the main news item on yesterday's BBC news, or that it would have been given such extensive airtime - at one point yesterday they appeared to be padding out the story with a lot of not very useful or important information.
How many times does it need to be explained that it is not just billionaires homes?
Several of my colleagues have been evacuated and don't know if they have a home to go back to, 1 of them is wealthy but the others are just regular working people.
his misanthropic post was crass at best but that’s what you get time and time again from him.
There are six billion people in the world and millions die an untimely and grisly death every year or endure suffering that is no fault of their own. Do we get all ‘heartbroken’ and upset about those? No we don’t. My comment was more matter of fact than misanthropic. I wish no ill on anyone who doesn’t deserve it but the reality is that shit does happen. The fact it’s currently happening in a part of the world which thinks it is immune from this reality is just an ironic twist.
Watching the footage on Channel4 news. It doesn’t look real. Such destruction. Feel for everyone hit by this.
I can’t comment on other regular news programmes, but Ch4 News does cover such events when they occur anywhere in the world. There is no good reason to ignore this just because it is California being hit.
If only they had raked the forests clear like trump suggested last time he was in office.
It sounds grim. Thoughts go out to folk affected, even the wealthy.
Eh? Are you deluding yourself that it isn’t headline news outside the US precisely because millionaires/celebrities are affected?
No.
Are you deluding yourself that this is the subject?
If it was framed that way then yeah, I could see that. But it wasn't.
If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a load of millionaire celebrities being burned out of their homes it probably wouldn’t even be on the news.
There are six billion people in the world and millions die an untimely and grisly death every year or endure suffering that is no fault of their own. Do we get all ‘heartbroken’ and upset about those? No we don’t. My comment was more matter of fact than misanthropic. I wish no ill on anyone who doesn’t deserve it but the reality is that shit does happen. The fact it’s currently happening in a part of the world which thinks it is immune from this reality is just an ironic twist.
Sez someone who clearly doesn’t bother watching the many, many news reports that I’ve seen over many years, of destruction of entire regions through natural disasters and war. Probably hasn’t noticed the recent media coverage of the tsunami twenty years ago that killed thousands of people around Indonesia, ‘cos nobody was the slightest bit concerned about it at the time…
So far there are tens of thousands of people in LA who are dispossessed, have literally lost everything they owned, nothing that can even be recovered from the wreckage and a very small number are millionaires. How many of these people will get anything back through insurance, how many injured will get coverage from the utterly useless American health system? Which billionaire scumbags are trying to destroy for their own ends.
And to top it all, it’s been noticed that arsonists have been involved, I’ve seen a video of a bunch of people chucking inflammable material onto a fire they’d started in the yard of a building, which was already burning the leaves of trees in the yard.
But of course, it’s only about the millionaires… [img] 
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Sez someone who clearly doesn’t bother watching the many, many news reports that I’ve seen over many years..
Assuming an awful lot there. I've seen plenty of news reports. Doesn't change the fact though that I don't know these Americans any more than I know some random African or Afghan who has died in a flood or earthquake. Yes it's horrible for the people involved, but it happens all the time all over the world. Personally I'm much more upset about the homeless and poor people who are allowed to suffer as a result of the economic system we have deliberately designed to enable a few people to accumulate vast wealth while many more go hungry. Weird how we care so much about people who suffer through 'acts of god' but conveniently ignore those who suffer by the design of our own actions.
Weird how we care so much about people who suffer through ‘acts of god’ but conveniently ignore those who suffer by the design of our own actions.
Actually there is a suggestion that it might not all be down to God. Anthropogenic activity might have also played a part.
Anthropogenic activity might have also played a part.
Very true but the point still stands. Most people will see these fires as a natural disaster and react with the normal horror and concern. Then tomorrow they'll go to work and walk straight past a homeless person and not give it a second thought.
Watching the news just now and two things seem to jump out. First is which famous people have lost (one of) their homes. Did we really need to know that Jennifer Aniston is a victim? Second is that they are very concerned about looters. Quite why they're bothered about a bit of petty theft when entire towns have burned down is beyond me but it's a good indicator of our warped priorities.
Did we really need to know that Jennifer Aniston is a victim? Second
No but some people might want to know, that is what interests a lot of people...... what car a celebrity drives, what coat they are wearing, and what the soft furnishings in their lounge look like. Personally I have zero interest but I understand that many people are fascinated by such stuff.
I maintain that the current level of interest shown by the media to the fires in Southern California is not primarily because it effects wealthy people but because it effects Americans.
Any important news story from the United States is deemed to be hugely important to UK audiences. Despite the fact that an natural disaster in ****stan, for example, is far more likely to directly affect a higher percentage of UK TV audiences and newspaper readers than a natural disaster in the United States is likely to.
In contrast I doubt that Americans share a similar interest in anything much that affects people beyond their borders.
One hopes that maybe, just maybe, such publicity of "natural disasters" so close to home may cause Trump-voting, climate change denying f++kwits to think twice about which type of leadership they want in their country.
For the rest of the worlds sake, I hope so but I'm not optimistic...
