LA wildfires

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…

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.

But God made man. Is that a circular argument Ernie?

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 Pakistan, 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…

Quite a big plume of smoke blowing over the Pacific…

Yeah, it’s not a pleasant experience at all. We had one (20km2) nearby earlier this week which fortunately was dealth with quickly but it was behind the hospital (but blowing away). Wind changes though and it’s horrible to get stuck in smoke, or have to re-route because the fire has jumped a main road or train track.

Great site I use is bushfire.io you can see size of fire, ground temps and air support. Also use scanner radio to listen to the local fire service and SES. If you use the site you can see what the current state of bushfire is across Australia but you can also zoom out and look at the size of the California situation.

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.

In terms of what interests people, I think there’s also quite a primal interest in fire and it’s destructive power, an interest more hard wired in us than any in earthquakes or floods, it also seems to make quite vivid television.

Unfortunately we do also seem to be in an age of  bread and circuses so things burning is going to be a ratings winner.