Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.

[nickhasanexocet]

Drunken Sailor Spending $15B, 2021, Colorized.

Forget the tinfoil hat, we're spending $15B on tinfoiling our trees here in CA.

Governor Corruption Newsom just signed 24 individual bills totaling $15B in spending. I've legitimately lost count of how many billion he's spent this year. I'm pretty certain it's more than than the GDP than all but a few countries. In July, he spent $100 billion plus another $12 billion. In June, it was at least $5B. In May, it was at least $1 billion on "wildlife connectivity" whatever that means and $4 billion on highspeed rail. Not even kidding, we're already up to the GDP of Kuwait.

This dude is going to be sippin' strawberry daiquiris in 10 years when the government is trying to figure out what to do with CA filing for bankruptcy despite having the highest taxes and the largest GDP of any US state.

Oh, and the reason the tree is wrapped in tinfoil is because it does actually protect the big trees from wildfire. But it's great metaphor for this douchebag's entire time in office. Just one photo op after the next while he shovels tax dollars into pet projects like highspeed rail, takes bribes from his buddies PG&E while screwing over the families of those murdered by the utility company, and makes sure none of the actual problems get solved. Yet somehow people here keep getting fooled into thinking spending money is going to fix their problems. It's like their response to getting speeding tickets is to spend more money on speeding tickets.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@nickhasanexocet Having to wrap the last of the great redwoods and sequoias in fire jackets is one of the saddest things I’ve heard in a while. I’m glad my kids have got to hang out in what’s left of those forests, because I don’t think they’ll be here for my grandkids.

Very sad when you consider how quickly we managed to destroy a forest that had been there for thousands of years.

[ForSweden]

tired: building more housing
wired: wrapping trees in tinfoil

[nickhasanexocet]

@dipodomysdeserti The trees will actually survive. Old growth trees are remarkably resistant. Unfortunately, our forest management of stopping every fire has led to fires that are way hotter than what should naturally occur. Even in those fires, the majority of these old ones survive.

[CarsOfFortLangley]

@nickhasanexocet said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

The trees will actually survive. Old growth trees are remarkably resistant.

Yeah, there's resistant and then there's record breaking fires.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@nickhasanexocet Ninety five percent of the original redwood forests (from when Europeans first showed up) are gone forever. The forest as a unit has effectively been destroyed, and what remains are the last few hold outs, which require quite a bit of stewardship to keep from being ruined. They are resilient, but no match for this new breed of humanity.

But yes, we’ve had piss poor management over the last century, mostly because so many people are living where the forests used to be, and the misguided notion that humans have the wherewithal to control natural processes.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@carsoffortlangley said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

@nickhasanexocet said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

The trees will actually survive. Old growth trees are remarkably resistant.

Yeah, there's resistant and then there's record breaking fires.

This is also the last remaining 5% of redwood forest, because we cut the rest down.

[bison78]

@nickhasanexocet said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

I'm pretty certain it's more than than the GDP than all but a few countries.

Please grow up and learn to stop repeating the bullshit that the ultra-wealthy right-wing assholes are spreading. Here's a clue: the GOP doesn't care about you: they only care about the 0.1% of people. They only care about their big donors.

California isn't going to go bankrupt. California has a budget surplus. California's debts are a smaller percentage of GDP than many states. Kentucky is going to go bankrupt first.

[nickhasanexocet]

@bison78 said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

@nickhasanexocet said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

I'm pretty certain it's more than than the GDP than all but a few countries.

Please grow up and learn to stop repeating the bullshit that the ultra-wealthy right-wing assholes are spreading. Here's a clue: the GOP doesn't care about you: they only care about the 0.1% of people. They only care about their big donors.

California isn't going to go bankrupt. California has a budget surplus. California's debts are a smaller percentage of GDP than many states. Kentucky is going to go bankrupt first.

Please do your research and stop being a such a dick to follow Oppos. I'm not a republican. Your incessant need to put everyone into a box that fits perfectly into your little pinhole lens is tiresome.

California has a surplus for one and a half reasons: 1) A huge tax windfall from last year's stock market mania that will never repeat and 0.5) Taking 30+ billion in federal COVID money that it didn't need. Literally the definition of giving tax money to billionaires.

The numbers I listed were correct. You're angry at the wrong person.

[bison78]

@nickhasanexocet said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

I'm not a republican.

No, you just keep spouting GOP talking points.

[nickhasanexocet]

@bison78 said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

@nickhasanexocet said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

I'm not a republican.

No, you just keep spouting GOP talking points.

Maybe we need a downvote feature for your posts.

[fintail]

@nickhasanexocet Still, CA aint going BK anytime soon.

Newsom may be a mildly (compared to the feds) corrupt ineffectual dope, but he still looked more attractive than the alternative, "the devil you know". Part of that is the GOP going off the rails, and the lack of a viable candidate who isn't into the party line of either the center-right Ds or far-right Rs. Makes me think of WA, which has a sometimes dopey wishy-washy D governor (not terribly corrupt anyway), but compared to his challenger, he's a safer bet. Nobody wants to risk something backed by the GQP right now, the last thing CA needs is a DeathSantis.

The money wasted in the recall effort should be billed to those who forced the issue. There was never a realistic chance, as there was never a viable challenger.

What we need to do is rake the forests, some Finnish guy said so, and I wouldn't lie. Rake America Great Again

[nickhasanexocet]

@fintail said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

Newsom may be a mildly (compared to the feds) corrupt ineffectual dope, but he still looked more attractive than the alternative, "the devil you know".

The thing about this that annoys me more than anything is that there were several people on the ballot that were better than Newsom, including democrats, but the DNC and media colluded (along with republicans throwing their support behind the least centrist candidate) and it was handed back to Newsom. 30% of the population of your state vehemently hates the guy you just threw millions dollars behind.

People are also misconstruing the recall election ballot, which was marketing from the DNC, to make it sound like it was a normal ballot. It was not Elder vs Newsom. It was Marketing vs Yes. I had a coworker tell me last weekend that the only reason he voted No to recalling Newsom was that he didn't want Elder to win. Once the RNC threw support behind Elder, the DNC was incredibly successful in making this about republicans and not about a governor being a corrupt and ineffective shitbag. If the RNC was smart (it's not), it would have realized that this is CA not Texas and endorsed a centrist Democrat like Kevin Paffrath. Which I realize breaks all tradition but I know multiple people that, if they had felt a democrat would replace Newsom, would have voted to recall him.

@fintail said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

The money wasted in the recall effort should be billed to those who forced the issue.

The recall wasn't a waste of money. It did actually force Newsom to do some things. We'll see if any of those things work, last I checked I still had homeless roaming my neighborhood (had a meth head ask for money at my favorite froyo place today), but time will tell.

[fintail]

@nickhasanexocet
Maybe just like Hillary getting the nod in 16 - the party can strongly back a candidate who may not be the objective best choice, but simply has the most name recognition. As we've learned over the past generation or two, someone being well known doesn't translate into leadership.

Did the CA GOP have a real centrist - someone who isn't a woowoo Berkeley type, but who isn't a GQPer? I didn't keep up with the action there aside from reading about Elder, who made me think of "the devil you know". I suspect voters were more suspicious of the GOP in general, due to the past several years. Paffrath appears more palatable in a quick look anyway, but I will admit I am skeptical of silver spoon real estate types.

The crisis of drugs and homelessness there will never go away, ever. The mild weather alone will keep it going, making it a destination for those with issues from other locales - same thing exists in the PNW. I wouldn't count on Newsom doing much either. I know you want out, and I can't blame you, I'd be packing and looking for a new destination now, buy a place and settle down while some of the second tier up and coming locations are still attainable.

[nickhasanexocet]

@fintail said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

Did the CA GOP have a real centrist - someone who isn't a woowoo Berkeley type, but who isn't a GQPer?

Several. Falconer was probably the best centrist choice.

@fintail said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

Paffrath appears more palatable in a quick look anyway, but I will admit I am skeptical of silver spoon real estate types.

Say what you will, but the guy has actually worked for his money and understands how money works. He was very unpopular with CA's DNC elite because he was against the dumpster fire that is the highspeed rail project.

@fintail said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

The crisis of drugs and homelessness there will never go away, ever.

I disagree with this to a degree. It's a workflow problem. Right now, the workflow is "dump a bunch of money into support services, maybe hand out some food and tents, and complain about housing to the camera". Someone needs to fall on a sword and tell the woketards that are literally keeping people homeless to shove it up their asses. Down in LA, a bunch of these people came out to protest giving homeless people housing and claiming that forcing them into housing was inhumane. People who think this should get checked into support services themselves.

@fintail said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

I know you want out, and I can't blame you, I'd be packing and looking for a new destination now, buy a place and settle down while some of the second tier up and coming locations are still attainable.

Looking at Carson City, NV next week then Durango, CO the week after. Hoping to have a plan in place before the end of the year.

[bison78]

@fintail said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

Did the CA GOP have a real centrist - someone who isn't a woowoo Berkeley type, but who isn't a GQPer?

There is no GOP now, only the GQP.

[bison78]

@nickhasanexocet said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

Looking at Carson City, NV

If you are really concerned about the debt that states are carrying, then you should drop Nevada from your list: its debt to GDP ratio is higher than CA's.

[nickhasanexocet]

@bison78 said in Don't forget to wrap your trees in tin foil.:

If you are really concerned about the debt that states are carrying, then you should drop Nevada from your list: its debt to GDP ratio is higher than CA's.

I care about the debt when its going straight from my income and into the pockets of friends of the governor. Hard to do that when the income tax is 0%.

[fintail]

@nickhasanexocet Is Falconer centrist in mature developed society terms or centrist in lurching to the right trickle down fantasy American terms? Anything with an R is going to have a hard time when people remember the prior regime, and local reps are regrettable like McCarthy and Nunes. Maybe another Ahnuld could do it.

Meh, born on third base, acts like he hit a triple. He's not a Horatio Alger character. It'd take more than being against a rail money pit to win me over, but I'm lucky enough to not live there

IMO California will only see progress in that area if they somehow seal the borders, and I don't mean the one to the south. A similar issue exists here. Mild weather alone will always be a draw, always has been. I agree that blindly throwing money at a problem will solve nothing. Unfortunately, I believe the problem there will never be solved no matter who is governor.

From my experience I'd take Colorado, but that might just be based on weather and slightly less wacky locals. Probably lower COL in Nevada, but you get what you pay for. You'll probably be happier in either, it's a good idea. I have no serious regrets about leaving the Seattle metro rat race, which is steadily becoming Bay Area part II.