sturg33
I
That video is indefensible.
Rather than be outraged and start changing some beliefs, easier to run away
Some Red State/Blue State Indicia
- Thread starter nsacpi
- Start date
That video is indefensible.
Rather than be outraged and start changing some beliefs, easier to run away
acesfull86
Well-known member
https://reason.com/2025/01/10/fires-incinerated-the-facade-of-california-governing-competence/
Fire hydrants have sporadically run out of water, either from water-tank depletion* or power shutdowns that were executed without replacement generator capacity. Blackouts still affect hundreds of thousands of residents, including many who do not live near a fire. L.A. County errantly sent out to the phones of its 10 million residents an emergency evacuation order on Thursday. Critics of governmental diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have found examples aplenty of local fire officials prioritizing identitarian concerns.
But these are surface-level critiques compared to the systemic, long-arc government failures to do the arduous but necessary work to reduce fire risk and marshal the most precious resource in the state: water.
People gobsmacked by empty fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades have wondered, why not just stick a hose in the ocean? Well, salt water can be very damaging to equipment (including firefighting machinery) and all sorts of other things as well, so the Pacific's bounty can only be used against conflagrations sparingly. But desalinated water sure could have come in handy this week.
How many coastal desalination plants are there between Santa Barbara and San Diego counties? Zero.
California voters in 2014 passed Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, which authorized $7.12 billion in bond issues; it's one of eight water-related bond-issue propositions passed so far in the 21st century. A full $2.7 billion of Prop. 1 was earmarked for "new water storage" projects, to do stuff like capture more snowmelt and rainwater in the state's sporadic heavy-precipitation winters (such as 2022–23 and 2023–24).
So how many of those water storage projects have been built? Zero.
California, and many of its geographically smaller governing units, do a woefully insufficient (if directionally improving) job of clearing away deadwood and forest brush, as does the territory-gobbling U.S. Forest Service. Despite some recent improvements, there are still far too many non-insulated electrical lines above ground in fire country. Localized water capture in the vast, concretized floodplains between Santa Monica and Laguna Beach remains a work only beginning to progress.
These issues are devilishly hard to solve, because of engineering difficulty, competing claimants, and federal law—California's actuarial disaster of a Fair Insurance Access Requirements (FAIR) system, after all, is a downstream product of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968.
But look no further than California's 13-digit bullet train to nowhere for a reality that even Gavin Newsom supporters know in their hearts to be true: The Golden State, like so many Democratic-dominated polities, does a piss-poor job of building any damn thing, let alone projects that are both ambitious and necessary. The generalized return on taxpayer investment, compared to states like Florida, is brutal. And the modal quality of senior political leaders—from Karen Bass to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra all the way up to Kamala Harris—is cringe-inducingly mediocre.
What is Newsom doing this week, aside from his usual mugging in front of TV cameras? Gaveling in a special legislative session he called immediately after the November election to "protect California values" against the scourge of Donald Trump.
Showily opposing MAGA has been good business for the career of Newsom and other California politicians, at least until this week. There is something about a catastrophe, and a top-of-mind reassessment of government's role in preparing for and mitigating disaster, to potentially prioritize other values. Like competence.
Fire hydrants have sporadically run out of water, either from water-tank depletion* or power shutdowns that were executed without replacement generator capacity. Blackouts still affect hundreds of thousands of residents, including many who do not live near a fire. L.A. County errantly sent out to the phones of its 10 million residents an emergency evacuation order on Thursday. Critics of governmental diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have found examples aplenty of local fire officials prioritizing identitarian concerns.
But these are surface-level critiques compared to the systemic, long-arc government failures to do the arduous but necessary work to reduce fire risk and marshal the most precious resource in the state: water.
People gobsmacked by empty fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades have wondered, why not just stick a hose in the ocean? Well, salt water can be very damaging to equipment (including firefighting machinery) and all sorts of other things as well, so the Pacific's bounty can only be used against conflagrations sparingly. But desalinated water sure could have come in handy this week.
How many coastal desalination plants are there between Santa Barbara and San Diego counties? Zero.
California voters in 2014 passed Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, which authorized $7.12 billion in bond issues; it's one of eight water-related bond-issue propositions passed so far in the 21st century. A full $2.7 billion of Prop. 1 was earmarked for "new water storage" projects, to do stuff like capture more snowmelt and rainwater in the state's sporadic heavy-precipitation winters (such as 2022–23 and 2023–24).
So how many of those water storage projects have been built? Zero.
California, and many of its geographically smaller governing units, do a woefully insufficient (if directionally improving) job of clearing away deadwood and forest brush, as does the territory-gobbling U.S. Forest Service. Despite some recent improvements, there are still far too many non-insulated electrical lines above ground in fire country. Localized water capture in the vast, concretized floodplains between Santa Monica and Laguna Beach remains a work only beginning to progress.
These issues are devilishly hard to solve, because of engineering difficulty, competing claimants, and federal law—California's actuarial disaster of a Fair Insurance Access Requirements (FAIR) system, after all, is a downstream product of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968.
But look no further than California's 13-digit bullet train to nowhere for a reality that even Gavin Newsom supporters know in their hearts to be true: The Golden State, like so many Democratic-dominated polities, does a piss-poor job of building any damn thing, let alone projects that are both ambitious and necessary. The generalized return on taxpayer investment, compared to states like Florida, is brutal. And the modal quality of senior political leaders—from Karen Bass to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra all the way up to Kamala Harris—is cringe-inducingly mediocre.
What is Newsom doing this week, aside from his usual mugging in front of TV cameras? Gaveling in a special legislative session he called immediately after the November election to "protect California values" against the scourge of Donald Trump.
Showily opposing MAGA has been good business for the career of Newsom and other California politicians, at least until this week. There is something about a catastrophe, and a top-of-mind reassessment of government's role in preparing for and mitigating disaster, to potentially prioritize other values. Like competence.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Educational attainment: percent of adults with college degrees now and in 1980
California: 37.5 up from 22.2
Texas: 32.9 up from 18.4 (not bad!!)
Oklahoma: 28.8 up from 16.5
Arkansas: 25.3 up from 13.3
Bottom line: the gap keeps getting wider as with life expectancy and other basic measures of well-being (including number of teeth).
California: 37.5 up from 22.2
Texas: 32.9 up from 18.4 (not bad!!)
Oklahoma: 28.8 up from 16.5
Arkansas: 25.3 up from 13.3
Bottom line: the gap keeps getting wider as with life expectancy and other basic measures of well-being (including number of teeth).
sturg33
I
Wow. Another damning statistic of college. Look what the educated population has chosen...
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Actually breaking migration by educational level is instructive. Except for the aftermath of covid, California has positive net migration when it comes to highly educated young people. It has always lost among older less well educated people.
sturg33
I
Losing federal influence along the way. A great outcome
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Conclusion: if you want faster permitting and construction of bullet trains move to a red state. If you want to live 5 years more with better physical and mental health (including more teeth and less depression) and attain a higher level of education move to a blue state (plus as a bonus a lower homicide rate!)
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sturg33
I
The trend is not your friend. Dems took power a generation ago and has ruined the best place on earth.
But yes, living longer and having year round access to outdoors go hand in hand. Imagine competent government
chop2chip
Well-known member
I think Newsom should use the fire fighting planes drop leaflets with these statistics instead of water to fight the fire. It would be good to inform the people of his state how good they have it.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Depends on whether the leaflets are fire retardants.
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sturg33
I
He might make time for that after he finishes his podcast appearances
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
I'm sure cities still elect Republican mayors nowadays so it is certainly an option.