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Tom Leitko's avatar

I think we need more discussion of what we are fighting for. A roadmap for moving forward. Yes, we need to fight Trumps bad ideas. But then what. Yapping about Greenland to insult Danish leaders is a distraction for stupider things Trump is doing. Building a better trade-relation with Greenland may not be. Yapping about Newsome’s position on protecting a declining species of fish while LA burns is stupid. Figuring out how building standards and risk management policies need to change given the risks created by global warming is something that has to happen. Shouting ‘drill baby drill’ as a response to all problems is stupid. Developing a coherent plan for developing and transitioning to alternative sources is not. Complaining about the federal deficit while planning to add to it is stupid. Cutting low value and outdared federal programs is not.

We talk constantly about the stupid things. Changes are needed. Let’s talk about that too.

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Catherine Voight's avatar

Agree and blaming immigrants for everything is extremely STUPID!

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Tom Leitko's avatar

More than that. Immigrants are an important part of our labor force. Trumpists rail on them to get votes, but won’t support a law to make businesses check for work permits.

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Steven Omand's avatar

It’s the divide and conquer strategy: give the simpletons a group to hate & blame, while Trump and his band of oligarchs and sycophants in congress continue to loot our Republic!

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Martin Borst's avatar

His other go to, for blame is directed towards President Joe Biden and the Democrats. Lies lies lies.

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William Hancock's avatar

I'm kind of struck by how Americans are in love with stick-built houses. This is despite the fact that they burn down, get termites and carpenter ants, are vulnerable during hurricanes and tornadoes and usually aren't that efficient to heat and cool. Even if we were to act decisively now, which we probably won't, the effects of climate change will get worse before they get better. Some places are just too risky to build in and we should be constructing houses to withstand the worst that man and nature can throw at them.

I live in Central Europe where most houses are built of masonry, not wood, and there are reasons for that. You see lots of old buildings here. If an old building wasn't destroyed in WWII, the buildings last for centuries. There are people in places like Italy living in houses where the basic exterior of the house was constructed in the Roman era, and that is in a seismic zone.

Your point about adapting how we live to climate change is well taken. Of course we also need to mitigate the damage we are doing long-term, but in the coming decades we need to build smart for the future. Don't rebuild your house that burned down in such a way that it is likely to burn down again.

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Tom Leitko's avatar

There is a development in Florida that was specifically designed to survive hurricanes. It works. The challenge is that decades of construction in Florida does not meet these standards. Perhaps this can be figured out too. My thought is… when you buy a house, think these risks through. When it burns, blows down, floods or slides down a hill, you are likely on your own.

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RockyMountainMimi's avatar

All that talk about annexing Greenland, Panama, and Canada is just another version of grabbing them by the pu**y. He believes that when you're president, they let you get away with it. Joe Biden has shown us that problems can be solved.

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Tom Leitko's avatar

In reading over my post, I realized I said Trump was ‘yapping.’ That’s an old school word, so let me explain it. Yapping is incessantly talking in a way that irritates people. My dog yaps in two situations… he wants attention or he is scared.

Same for Trump. He is a malicious narcissist. Much of his yapping is to get attention. He yaps about the fire, not because he cares, but because it is getting a lot of attention and he wants to get in on it. He yaps about January 6 because he is afraid he will be caught for his crimes.

Most of what he says is yapping. His staff adapts by letting him yap (let Trump be Trump) then sane washing pieces to make it sound coherent.

We don’t want to just yap back.

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