Octopus Overlords

Who wrote the article.

UsulofDoom wrote: Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:12 pm Who wrote the article.

The BBC. Did you follow the link?

https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/sta ... 8167972864
link

“No, no,” Trump said in Chico when asked if wildfires’ devastation changed his opinion on climate change. “I have a strong opinion. I want great climate. We’re going to have that. And we’re going to have forests that are very safe. Because we can’t go through this every year.”

WTF does this even mean? How could it even mean anything?

There isn't a comedy made that has as silly a president as you have right now in reality. When writers want to make a president that's this simple, they get sent back for a re-write, because no one is going to believe a president this stupid. Not even in a cartoon.

Adam Sandler movies have presidents that are smarter and better equipped to run the country than this guy.

How is he a thing? How did he ever become a thing, let alone stay a thing?

It's not illegal to mock a president, is it? Why aren't more people interrupting him to tell him that what he just said is the stupidest thing they've ever heard, and they have children.

I would be incapable of keeping my head down and just suffering through it. My boss would have to send me on an errand to keep me away from speaking truth to moronic power.

It's way less dire than his authoritarianism or his racial nationalism, but sometimes it's Trump's utterly hollow self-confidence that infuriates me most.

"I want great climate. We’re going to have that."

How are we going to have it? Is he going to buy it? Is there some right-wing solution that makes climate collapse go away? What is the Trumpian GOP plan for "great climate," and how does it save Barron Trump, let alone anyone else?

GreenGoo wrote:When writers want to make a president that's this simple, they get sent back for a re-write, because no one is going to believe a president this stupid. Not even in a cartoon.

Reminds me of the major problem I had with the show DESIGNATED SURVIVOR. I'm supposed to buy the idea that the American public would be up in arms and lacking faith in a President because it was leaked that he went to a single psychiatrist visit to help him cope with grief?

We've got an *actually insane* President and he still pulls 42% approval ratings.

Holman wrote: Sun Nov 18, 2018 7:17 pm How are we going to have it? Is he going to buy it? Is there some right-wing solution that makes climate collapse go away? What is the Trumpian GOP plan for "great climate," and how does it save Barron Trump, let alone anyone else?

He's just going to take over a better planet with the US Space Force.

GreenGoo wrote: Sun Nov 18, 2018 5:45 pm Not even in a cartoon.

He really is the living embodiment of how GWB was portrayed as a cartoon. To portray Trump as a caricature, the president would have to be full on Looney Tunes and even then Yosemite Sam might come off as less cartoonish than Trump at times.

LordMortis wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 11:06 am

GreenGoo wrote: Sun Nov 18, 2018 5:45 pm Not even in a cartoon.

He really is the living embodiment of how GWB was portrayed as a cartoon. To portray Trump as a caricature, the president would have to be full on Looney Tunes and even then Yosemite Sam might would come off as less cartoonish than Trump at times.

FTFY

Holman wrote: Sun Nov 18, 2018 7:17 pm It's way less dire than his authoritarianism or his racial nationalism, but sometimes it's Trump's utterly hollow self-confidence that infuriates me most.

"I want great climate. We’re going to have that."

How are we going to have it? Is he going to buy it? Is there some right-wing solution that makes climate collapse go away? What is the Trumpian GOP plan for "great climate," and how does it save Barron Trump, let alone anyone else?

His standard answer to everything: build a wall to keep the bad climate out.

Jeff V wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 12:49 pm

Holman wrote: Sun Nov 18, 2018 7:17 pm It's way less dire than his authoritarianism or his racial nationalism, but sometimes it's Trump's utterly hollow self-confidence that infuriates me most.

"I want great climate. We’re going to have that."

How are we going to have it? Is he going to buy it? Is there some right-wing solution that makes climate collapse go away? What is the Trumpian GOP plan for "great climate," and how does it save Barron Trump, let alone anyone else?

His standard answer to everything: build a wall to keep the bad climate out.

C'mon. His answer is simple. Turn on all the fans and blow the hot air at 'Gyna.

You know, I could totally picture Trump being convinced that wind turbines can affect weather and they just need to be pointed in another direction.

Jeff V wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2018 3:13 pm You know, I could totally picture Trump being convinced that wind turbines can affect weather and they just need to be pointed in another direction.

And of course "nimby".

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTr ... 4151954432

TAKE THAT, LIBS!,

He truly is as stupid as he seems.

In his defense, I make that "joke" more often than I should and based on test results from my childhood I am really quite intelligent. I do say some really dumb things and call them jokes though!

coopasonic wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:53 pm In his defense, I make that "joke" more often than I should and based on test results from my childhood I am really quite intelligent. I do say some really dumb things and call them jokes though!

It is unlikely that your jokes encourage mankind to turn its back on the future of civilization.

Climate change: Report warns of growing impact on US life

Unchecked climate change will cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars and damage human health and quality of life, a US government report warns.

"Future risks from climate change depend... on decisions made today," the 4th National Climate Assessment says.

The report says climate change is "presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth".

The warning is at odds with the Trump administration's fossil fuels agenda.

The White House said the report - compiled with help from numerous US government agencies and departments - was inaccurate.

Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said it was "largely based on the most extreme scenario, which contradicts long-established trends by assuming that... there would be limited technology and innovation, and a rapidly expanding population".

The best thing you can do to stop climate change is to vote against Republicans.

I mean, duh. But it's nice to see it laid out.

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Nov 27, 2018 7:53 pm The best thing you can do to stop climate change is to vote against Republicans.

I mean, duh. But it's nice to see it laid out.

Fixed the link.

Me, too. Thanks.

Max Boot: I was wrong on climate change. Why can’t other conservatives admit it, too?

edit: I may not have been in a particularly celebratory mood when I wrote this.

I love the tone of the article. I admit the tone isn't there, but I want it to be there, and using recent data like it is somehow more compelling when previous data wasn't enough to sway him is dishonest.

While it is admirable to admit you've made a mistake but have changed your ways, the mistake made was nearly criminal in it's denial.

I used to steal petty cash from the office secretary when she was on lunch. I can admit I was wrong, congratulate me.
I used to dupe the American public so they would vote for me, but I was wrong to do it. I'm a hero.
I used to be a homophobe because the bible blah blah blah, now I think they might be people like you and me. Aren't I the best?

It’s time to sound the planetary alarm

No dipshit, that was 2+ decades ago, which you spent working directly against sounding the alarm and saving the planet. YOU are the reason that many political leaders continue to deny it, and many American people continue to buy into that denial.

I admit it, in the late 80's I thought the theory of holes in the ozone layer were bunk, and that's with a father who was an environmental engineer. It took me all of 6-12 months to figure out I was wrong and that my doubts were based on pre-conceived notions and emotional bias, not science.

You know what? I didn't jerk myself off at how great I was for realizing my mistake while condescendingly lecturing others about how I was smart enough to realize my mistake, dumbasses.

Is it good that a previous climate change denier has changed his tune? Sure. Whoopee. We shouldn't even be having this conversation in 2018, for fuck's sake, but no, yeah, awesome dude. Only took you decades to come around. Fan-fucking-tastic.

If patting themselves on the back is what it takes for deniers to accept science, I'm ready to throw in free high-fives as well.

They don't even need to recant; they just need to GTF out of the way. With each new extreme weather event another handful of deniers stops denying, and I seriously doubt that any believers are crossing over to balance them out. At some point their minority gets too small to matter, even if only a fraction of them take the next step and stop voting R. It's only a pity that the world doesn't have the luxury of waiting for them to come around.

Independent

Donald Trump has said he does not believe in manmade climate change because America’s water and air is “right now at a record clean”.

Asked why he was sceptical of a global warming report published by his own government, the US president gave a rambling response, much of it not backed by evidence, in which he blamed forest management, “small” oceans and China over the issue.

“One of the problems that a lot of people like myself - we have very high levels of intelligence, but we’re not necessarily such believers,” Mr Trump told The Washington Post.

“You look at our air and our water, and it’s right now at a record clean. But when you look at China and you look at parts of Asia and when you look at South America, and when you look at many other places in this world, including Russia, including - just many other places - the air is incredibly dirty.

“And when you’re talking about an atmosphere, oceans are very small. And it blows over and it sails over. I mean, we take thousands of tons of garbage off our beaches all the time that comes over from Asia. It just flows right down the Pacific, it flows, and we say where does this come from? And it takes many people to start off with.”

If the above quote doesn't demonstrate clearly and convincingly that he's a goddamn idiot, I'm not sure what would convince someone otherwise.

My daughter wrote a position paper on global warming in 5th grade that's more coherent than the word vomit that comes out of Trump's mouth.

$iljanus wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 1:05 pm My daughter wrote a position paper on global warming in 5th grade that's more coherent than the word vomit that comes out of Trump's mouth.

But would Joe the Plumber want to have a beer with her sometime? That's an important criteria when choosing leadership.

Holman wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 7:43 am If patting themselves on the back is what it takes for deniers to accept science, I'm ready to throw in free high-fives as well.

Have at it. Burying them in a hole is just as effective and more satisfying.

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 12:40 pm If the above quote doesn't demonstrate clearly and convincingly that he's a goddamn idiot, I'm not sure what would convince someone otherwise.

It demonstrates dementia, or mental illness. Probably both. Idiots are usually at least comprehensible.

Kraken wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:25 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 12:40 pm If the above quote doesn't demonstrate clearly and convincingly that he's a goddamn idiot, I'm not sure what would convince someone otherwise.

It demonstrates dementia, or mental illness. Probably both. Idiots are usually at least comprehensible.

My father suffers from late stages of dementia with lewy bodies and is always more coherent than tRump.

Remus West wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:01 pm

Kraken wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:25 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 12:40 pm If the above quote doesn't demonstrate clearly and convincingly that he's a goddamn idiot, I'm not sure what would convince someone otherwise.

It demonstrates dementia, or mental illness. Probably both. Idiots are usually at least comprehensible.

My father suffers from late stages of dementia with lewy bodies and is always more coherent than tRump.

His narcissistic personality disorder is always on prominent display, per its nature. The degenerating speech patterns indicate some degree of dementia when compared to his utterances from even a few years ago. There's widespread agreement among professional shrinks that both of those statements are true. In a way, mocking someone's mental disabilities feels mean...but if anybody ever asked for it (while at the same time being impervious to it)....

Remus West wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:01 pm
My father suffers from late stages of dementia with lewy bodies

Sorry to hear that Remus.

Kraken wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 4:05 pm In a way, mocking someone's mental disabilities feels mean...but if anybody ever asked for it (while at the same time being impervious to it)....

There will be time for compassion once he has been removed as a danger to himself and others. With a guy who has access to the nuclear football, "danger to others" has never been a more appropriate concern.

GreenGoo wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 4:42 pm

Kraken wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 4:05 pm In a way, mocking someone's mental disabilities feels mean...but if anybody ever asked for it (while at the same time being impervious to it)....

There will be time for compassion once he has been removed as a danger to himself and others. With a guy who has access to the nuclear football, "danger to others" has never been a more appropriate concern.

Oddly, this is one of the things that stopped bothering me. I figure if he does that then it is game over and nothing we can really do but at least it is game over. The rest of the long term damage he is causing is going to inflict so much hardship and suffering that I have more anxiety about his day to day destruction of Democracy in America that nuclear devistation.

First, I don't believe for a second that anyone would let him launch nukes. Even his closest supporters understand that he's unstable and only support him because they're getting something out of it. Destroying the world would severely reduce whatever they are getting out of it. I used nuclear football to illustrate the difference between an uncle being a "danger to others" because he still has his driver's license but lost his mental ability to safely drive, vs the president of the united states being a "danger to others".

Second, if he *were* to get into a nuclear war, "all over" is contextual. Obviously millions would die. The human race wouldn't, and not even all the humans in the countries hit. Those left behind in the ruins of the countries destroyed would suffer unimaginably. A nuclear war might be "all over" for millions, but it would also be the start of "oh my gawd I need to tooth and claw my way to survival over my fellow humans" which is never a pleasant experience.

As for long term damage and suffering caused by him just being him, another 2 things.

First, the dangers represented by him to your democracy and economy can't be overstated.

Second, some perspective. He's only been president for 2 years, and while he has done more damage than any president in living memory, it's still not the end of your country by any stretch of the imagination, or way of life. It's possible that he has accelerated the decline of America, but the decline of a country with so many checks and balances and rule of law and independent branches of government would be a generational thing. He's doing damage, however, so far he's been thwarted at nearly every step. The decline of your country is in no way inevitable.

In any case, see the first first point.

On the contrary, the incremental decline of the world due solely to this country's willful decision to not address climate change under GOP leadership is absolutely inevitable.

It's an incremental thing, but it's a thing. Those 2 years aren't coming back, nor are the next two.

Zaxxon wrote: Thu Nov 29, 2018 9:27 am On the contrary, the incremental decline of the world due solely to this country's willful decision to not address climate change under GOP leadership is absolutely inevitable.

It's an incremental thing, but it's a thing. Those 2 years aren't coming back, nor are the next two.

edit: Reading comprehension issues on my side.

Sure. That's not drumpf's fault, which is who we are talking about. If you or others have existential anxiety that's one thing, but again, that's independent of the destruction of your country. They may impact each other (climate change may speed up the decline of your country, the decline of your country may speed up climate change), but their relationship isn't necessarily direct.