SoCal Woolsey Fire

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by purr1n, Nov 9, 2018.

  1. Roget

    Roget Acquaintance

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    DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!

    The problem is that "overpopulation" does not settle well with the western world consumerist societies. "Climate change" is a much more convenient truth.
     
  2. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Oh. My friend. I don't think it is a "western world consumerist societies" problem. I think it's a global problem. Look East, look North, look South, and you will see plenty of humans running amok. And perhaps, more to come.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
  3. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    $600k is about right for a base salary to run a $2.5B organization. It's actually on the low side for a for profit, taking bonuses into consideration. About right for a non-profit of that size. My Lab is a $2.9B non-profit, and our Director gets about the same salary, with bonuses.

    These arguments over the Red Cross have been beaten to death all of the web. I'm sorry I brought up the Red Cross. I'm still doing my match thing to encourage SBAFers to donate to help people in need, and I will match donations to any charity. My donation, however, will go to the Red Cross.

    My whole point is about the donations to help people, not about the Red Cross.
     
  4. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    frightening thing to me is that it's not "God" telling folks to reproduce irresponsibly, it's the church telling the congregation to do so, so they get more tithings. Hellooooo prosperity theology! Jesus seemed pretty happy having no kids and living dirt poor.
     
  5. scapeinator1

    scapeinator1 Once You Go Black You'll Never Go Back

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    @AllanMarcus Honestly I think it is undersold just how complicated it is to logistically set up humanitarian efforts to help people in an efficient and organized fashion. Setting standards for medical care alone is enough to fill an entire career. A lot of these kinds of organizations get the absolute best and brightest to come work for them at a very small fraction of what they would make at a for-profit industry post with more responsibilities to boot.

    For example, I met the CEO of planned parenthood a while back when she was the health commissioner of Baltimore. The fact that they pay her anything under a million is absurd because she is the real deal.

    I respect marv's position, but you don't need to apologize.
     
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Can I install a filter on my TV and at my middle school so every time a California Governor or GATE teacher says "climate change", "new normal", or "new abnormal", I get to hear "overpopulation" instead?
     
  7. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    Issue is not overpopulation, but over-consumption. And "green tech" is not helping. For example people are more wasteful with LED light fixtures because they think the increased efficiency will make up for the increased consumption.

    Thanos would be no help because the remaining half of the population would just increase their consumption, given the same resources would be available to fewer people.
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Hahahahahaha. LOL. That's exactly what we did with the LED lights: Ah screw it. Just leave them on.

    I was wondering why our energy bills didn't go down.

    Thanos needs to start with us fucktards who leave our Yggdrasil DACs on.
     
  9. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    How bout those like me leaving class a speaker amps on?
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    98% of San Franciscans condemn you to death for such transgressions against the planet.
     
  11. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Nope. IMO, it is overpopulation.
     
  12. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    BTW, it is scary in more than just one way. Things tend to adjust themselves to reach a balance.

    And many times the means to achieve that balance is not nice.
     
  13. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

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    Technically feasible, as long as the closed-captioning is slightly ahead of the audio.

    Edit:
    Hell it would be fun to make a box where you could re-phrase the catchphrase-of-the-day any time you want.
     
  14. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    @purr1n Human societies continue consuming until they collapse from some form of crisis (military, environmental, or conomic) they are unable to respond to. We'll just continue until we run out of stuff or there's some form of collapse from a massive military setback. I imagine any contraction will happen much faster than in pre-industrial societies due to our lack of self-sufficiency. There is no "the majority of the population continued on as subsistence farmers" after Rome and most Chinese dynasties fell. Shutting down the road network in an industrial or post-industrial society would be game over like with what happened to Germany and Japan at the very end of WW2.

    The collapse of food distribution means the end for those who can't grow their own food, eg the Western Roman Empire after North Africa fell and the grain dole ended, Roman Italy after Justinian's Gothic War, William the Conqueror's harrying of the north, the 30 Years War wiping thousands of German towns and cities off the map forever, end of the Mayan classical period, the fall of the Ming dynasty, and the Russian and the Ottoman Empires in WWI and its aftermath. Those societies collapsed and their populations rapidly contracted.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
  15. luximal

    luximal Made things right

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    I second overconsumption is the bigger issue than overpopulation. And yeah the west and places like japan don't have very high birth rates in the first place. It's second and third world countries with their high birth rates and thier consumption slowing matching us westerners that's putting a strain on the planet. That being said good luck convincing a significant majority of people to reduce their consumption.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2018
  16. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    Love the debate and dialog here. Wish all discussions these days could be like this.

    A few additional thoughts:
    - On the overpopulation stuff, there's a lot of interesting data on the topic, some far beyond "common" wisdom. A good read is "Factfulness" (https://www.amazon.com/Factfulness-Reasons-World-Things-Better/dp/1250107814). You might not agree with it, but it's really interesting data and analysis.
    - Sorry, but Carl Sagan, smart as he might have been, was a d-bag. I went to a science & tech high school and we hosted him for a national symposium of tech schools (which are all public schools, so we had minimal budget) and he required that we fly him first class to the meeting. I also went to Cornell, where he "taught", and there are many stories of him from there, many from his neighbors, that all correlate with his d-baggery. The Cornell Daily Sun (the student newspaper) used to have a "Carl Sightings" column as he was seen so infrequently on campus that it was newsworthy when he was seen.
    - Totally agree on the LED point! And not sure if you ever saw it, but South Park did a great job on this with their episode "Smug Alert!" when they talked about the pollution caused by the self-righteousness caused by hybrid car drivers. Effin' hilarious. In full disclosure I have two cars, one of which is a hybrid, and the other used to be a V8, but then they changed the engine to a V6 with twin turbos, so I was cool with that.
    - Anyone who really wants a high pucker-factor read about the risks of supply chains and our dependence on electronics should read "One Second After" about the fallout of an EMP attack on the US. Scary s***.

    Cheers
     
  17. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    Sure. There is an overpopulation of people who consume too much. Population increased by roughly 4x over the 20th century, while CO2 emissions increased by 12x. Obviously multiple factors are at work.

    The way people live makes a difference. The footprint of suburban areas in the US contributes to over half of emissions despite containing less than half of the population. Areas with cleaner power generation like California negate the benefits because people drive around so much.
     
  18. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    The residential zoning and commuting in USA cities is a retarded waste of time and energy. It will never never change without World War III but who would the USA even fight? Muslim fundamentalists? China? LOL
     
  19. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    LED means I can keep a porch light on all night, and it is only 10W. But... it is .01Kwh unnecessary usage, 12 hours a day, 365 days a year.

    Aside: I guess it must be this disaster that sparked it off, but California Dreaming has been my earworm for the past couple of weeks. When I stop to think about it, I see the tragic irony that the song is about a guy who wants to be there to be warm. :(
     
  20. musicfirst

    musicfirst Almost 60, supposedly still hears ant farts

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    "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I've realized that you are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment. But you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area.

    There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is?.... A virus.

    Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague. And we are... the cure.

    - That is the sound of...inevitability."

    Agent Smith - The Matrix
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2018

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