Australia's wild fires--Many are result of Arson

BB.
BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
This is not good:

http://thedailychrenk.com/2020/01/03/australias-arson-crisis/

According to my calculations and estimates, the number of individuals around Australia whose arson has contributed to the current bushfire crisis has now passed 200.

This figure is not presented as a counter-argument to those who blame the fires on climate change. Most people (I hope) understand that trees tend not to spontaneously combust, no matter what the air temperature is; when we talk about bushfires starting naturally, we are talking about lightning strikes igniting tinder. The climate change argument posits that the more extreme weather conditions – higher temperatures, drought, etc. – make fires, however started, much more destructive and much more difficult to control and extinguish. These are debates to be had between climatologists, forestry experts and fire fighters. What is painfully clear, however, that Australia has a firebug crisis. It will no doubt be up to future royal commissions and inquiries to calculate exactly what proportion of the current loss and destruction can be attributed to human action, but I suspect it will be a significant one. Man might be making climate change, but man is most definitely making fires start.

Below, a sample of news reports from around the country for the past several months.

-Bill
Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset

Comments

  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,728 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    I heard there were 59 large fires burning there yesterday. One of my clients has 18 people living with him in his offgrid home. Pretty nasty
    for everyone concerned. Prayers are welcome he said.

    Fires to the ocean and coastguard pulling folks off the beach. Smoke everywhere. 
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,812 ✭✭✭✭
    Anything to prove global warming is real - that is one motive for arson. This is beyond bizarre. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,728 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2020 #4
    Sure it is real. It is the folks who write grants and are on the government dole that ignite the fires, volcanoes, the history, and have an agenda blaming others. They often ride in big cars and fast jets and want us to live in cities and not use air conditioning.

    I also live in a state that has 9 of the countries most polluted cities and so I get the reducing the environmental footprint.
     I just would like some common sense applied. It looks like the State is changing it's evil ways toward forestry and its management. A billion more this year for firefighting, prescribed burns, and things that make sense. Still draining the Sierra into the Ocean though  :'(

    My heat pump is in reverse cycle now and I am cooling the earth. Do I get points or carbon credits ;)

    Where did you go softdown? To Denver for a costco adult beverage run?
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,812 ✭✭✭✭
    Sure it is real. It is the folks who write grants and are on the government dole that ignite the fires, volcanoes, the history, and have an agenda blaming others. They often ride in big cars and fast jets and want us to live in cities and not use air conditioning.

    My heat pump is in reverse cycle now and I am cooling the earth. Do I get points or carbon credits ;)

    Where did you go softdown? To Denver for a costco adult beverage run?
    Am I here that much? Went to Arizona to look at some lots I have been paying taxes on for a decade. Four have a total value of ~$2500 which gets butchered after realtor and closing fees. I should sell them on Craigslist for "$2500" with some wriggle room. They are corner lots so there is an extra acre. Neighbor is a realtor, I spent a day with her. Fascinating because she is that purebred liberal we all read about. She asks if Trump is still alive - every day.  :*  Yet we got along due to my charm. 

    The Rio Rico lot is a great builder lot, it sits on a small hill on the very outskirts of town. Yet has power. But the neighbor built a million dollar compound and would not be happy with my idea of a homestead. i.e. - a bunker. Rio Rico is a very nice town. Really too nice for a man of my character and tastes. 

    Then drove down to Guaymas, Mexico. Looking for a place to keep my sailboat and a fall back bunker location in case the grid goes down here etc. Got ripped off on a gas purchase. Got mad and promptly drove back. Paid 200 pesos/10 bucks and gas readout didn't change one liter. Didn't know they could do that. He did it all with his cell phone at an Arco. I do not handle getting ripped off in stride it seems. 

    My 1981 Mexican drive to Acapulco was a great experience. This one was not. I found the drivers to be quite rude for one thing. Something big has happened. Perhaps just the cartels? I know Americans are not popular in Europe due to our reputation as global bully. I have no idea how that happened.  o:)

    It was good to be back in America. Decided that a police state > criminal state. I was shocked when the hotel manager checked everything in my room before giving back deposit. Counted the blankets etc. Nice motel for $35, there is that. Would have been $120 here. 

    If I go back to Mexico it will be Baja. I'd be pretty concerned about trusting things now - like buying a house. Our reputation looks like it is about to get even more "pronounced". 

    Hey, you asked.  :D
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,728 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Well you are charming and not here too much ;) Not that I have any say in that.
     Good that you went south to the mainland in 81, I would not do that now unless I had a guide. Too much has changed for the worse no matter your skin color. Drugs/gangs is the scourge down there now. We have mexican friends who tell there families to visit here. They are not going there.

    Australia is pretty bad but California still has them beat for the last 3 fireseasons :'(  Still finding bodies from our fires years later. Thanks to DNA and portable testing machines from the silly valley.

    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,812 ✭✭✭✭
    Incredible the changes have been. I felt completely safe in 1981 and Acapulco is really deep in Mexico. Dined out everywhere and nobody ripped me off. This time I got completely ripped off with the very first purchase. Guess that may have saved me from larger hassles further down the road. 

    The economy seems to be doing ok down there. 18 wheelers are extremely common - dominating the highway that bisects Sonora, Mexico. Drove around in Hermosillo and found the air pollution to be very bad that day. The drivers have absolutely no tolerance whatsoever for a gringo trying to find their way around - which means driving slower as a rule. Got honked at more in one day than in a normal three year span. Always felt unnecessary honking was quite rude. 

    They seemed friendly and charming on previous visits. More like angry vultures this time around. A lot of people are very upset about us getting in yet another war. Those numbers do include me. But mainland Mexico may no longer present a safe refuge. Americans are so common in Baja that things are likely to be different there. It would be interesting to see how Little Harbor presently sees these world events. 

    New Mexico and Arizona are very mountainous. Too bad their reputation pales due to comparisons with Colorado and, to a lesser degree, Utah. Enjoyed a lot of elk including the largest herd I have ever seen. Hit a jackrabbit which I gave to my dog. He paid me back by dragging it about the car and getting blood on several items. Having a fierce watch dog makes travels safer. He was completely flipped out about the gas attendant who ripped me off. Very calm with the next one who actually pumped gas into the car. I do sometimes wonder if dogs can see things that people do not. 

    Our global reputation is disconcerting for those who enjoy traveling and living about. It is likely headed from the frying pan and into the fire. At 61 years of age it looks like I may simply watch and shake my head while Ingsoc tells me to either shut up or instructs me what to think and what to say. Yes, I do need help with what to think and what to say. 

    As for the wildfires - arson is impossible to stop. There are also inside stories of fire departments being told not to combat the flames. Then again it seems that fake news is now more common than real news. Got to get that viewpoint aired out. 

    Seen a lot of Border Patrol trucks. Got treated a bit harshly getting back into the US. The signage was very, very poor for a non Spanish speaking gringo. Even got threatened with fines for failing to read Spanish signs. Was told there was an English sign - somewhere. 

    Looks like US/Mexico relations are in the toilet right now. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,728 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2020 #8
    I think US, Mexico and Canada are about to finish the USMCA trade replacement for NAFTA.  That is a good thing, Very Good!

    Have you been much to Nevada?  No state tax, property taxes are not bad as the state is subsidized by gambling. The next down turn in the economy will get me looking to buy something, I think.

    We have prescribed fires that get out of control all the time up in the Sierra. The difference now is the State and is allowing these burns to be done most anytime. In the past, if the air flow was not moving to Nevada, we could not burn. The big wildfires, with loss of human life have forced the environmentalist to back off, a bit. The State has forced them also.

    So Colorado only has one costco liquor store ? That would get me to rent a uhaul ;) Trump spybots are setting the fires right?


    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,812 ✭✭✭✭
    Nevada has a lot of nice mountainous terrain that I have somehow failed to view. It is of interest to many who have grown weary of California's over reaching legislature. My concern with Nevada is their dependence on gambling income. That kept me out of Vegas last time. Clearly I should have been all in. It is hard to be bold when fear is running through the streets. 

    Colorado limits one Costco to being a full fledged liquor operation I guess. They get around that by having a closely affiliated liquor store on premises with similar prices - though not quite as low. Colorado attracted a lot of low hanging fruit when it legalized pot. Not the cream of the crop by my estimate. But still the best for scenic opportunities in the high mountains. 

    You are correct in buying with the next downturn. The trick is selling prior to the next downturn. If I had a crystal ball I would sell Denver prior to the next downturn then invest in Corpus Christi, Texas. A two day drive is OK with me. South Florida was/is too danged far. Plus doing business with liberal government$ tends to be nightmari$h. 

    This county has some corruption issues in my opinion. Not the least bit unusual. Been investing in an adjacent county here lately. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,728 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Selling prior is often a strategy thing. Like renting the old place or having something that is entry level pricing or selling an offgrid property that is priced right. In this state there are alot of folks (40 million) who want to do the offgrid thing but it has to be priced right and be safe from wildfire.

    The mountains out of Vegas,  Lake Charleston have some really nice but pricey spots. I just, as I age do not want to be that remote anymore. Same with up north near Tahoe. Carson area. The high desert on the other side near me and south a bit near Bishop. Again pretty remote though in the high desert of Nevada

    If you want to end the corruption get on the county grand jury for a year. You will learn the system, and often, it is people on the outside of county government that just do not understand how the county operates. There are checks and balances that you can learn to use.  
    If it is really bad corruption, not sure what I would do, I guess the next county is better than a uhaul. good luck! 
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,812 ✭✭✭✭
    They just seem to resell matured property tax liens. A lot. Some of it is likely just poor organization according to my realtor. Had some years of smooth selling then all hell broke loose after the huge wildfire. They lost a lot of tax revenue and are likely  doing what they think they have to do. Of course if you or I did that we would be trotted off to jail. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries