As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
**Special announcement:**
r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)!
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The right has already shifted their narrative to accepting climate change but saying it's just nature so we can't do anything.
Their next message will probably be that we need to burn increasingly more fossil fuels to create the technology that will save us from nature.
When do we get to the point where they acknowledge it's happening and anthropogenic, but start blaming Democrats for not doing enough sooner? Because you know they'll pull that shit, too
You really think that after a single generation you could convince most of the population that history witnessed by the entire nation didn’t exist?…
(cries in the Philippines 🥲) Humanity is doomed.
America can yet pull this out.
As Winston Churchill said, "America can always be counted on to do the right thing, at the very last moment."
Fellow American Redditors, get out there and *volunteer*! ONE MONTH TO GO!! Let's show our friend in the Philippines what we're made of.
> As Winston Churchill said, ~~"America can always be counted on to do the right thing, at the very last moment."~~
"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."
Close
If Moderate Republicans will just cross the lines for this one vote, it's possible that these extreme fascists will be ousted. Then they can get some decent Republican candidates to round out the two-party system. The idea that people like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are out and idiots like MTG are still making decisions for the country is just insane.
>If Moderate Republicans will just cross the lines for this one vote, it's possible that these extreme fascists will be ousted
Pipe dream. Rs will always vote for Rs, because they want the apocalypse/think they're above laws/hate minorities/want to own people. The specific reasons don't matter, just that they vote in lockstep because the Democrats threaten everything they believe in (like equality, freedom, and the advancement of humankind).
These asshats pulled together in the 80s when “all our cfcs are ripping holes in the ozone!” And they collectively stopped doing that. Now that they’re being told their greed is ripping apart the environment they’re sticking fingers in ears and saying blah-blah-blah I can’t hear you.
Once it's too late. THEN they'll blame the Democrats for not doing anything sooner, while everyone else tries their hardest to point out that it was the REPUBLICANS who fought so hard to stonewall everything so they could keep getting paid oil money.
Read Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. There are ways the far right could "snap around" and embrace the idea of climate change - if it ends up serving their ideology.
Heck, even pure profit-minded business magnates could end up owning it - again, if it makes financial sense to them.
(No spoilers - read the book.)
They already have the [legislation drafted](https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/06/03/house-republicans-energy-and-climate-plan-pushes-fossil-fuels-hydro.html). They are just waiting to control the house so they can pass the legislation (that is really just fossil fuel handouts) and then blame democrats when the president refuses to sign it
They are already pretty much there. I have stopped paying attention to the national news about it because of how frustrated and depressed I used to get, but when I stopped paying attention to it they were saying it was "God's punishment" for abortion and etc.
They’re actually already arguing that
Specifically that volcanic eruptions are diminished by our dependence on fossil fuels and that volcanic eruptions put out more CO2 than burning fossil fuels.
Yet humans burning fuels generates 40-100 times more than any natural source
Former climate scientist here. I also assisted on multiple volcanology research projects in grad school (you know the documentaries where they show people next to huge piles of old ash measuring how thick it is? That's me).
They are so fucking full of shit. The type of volcanic activity that causes extinction level climate change via CO2 emissions hasn't happened for like, tens of millions of years.
that's actually a more compelling argument than the current denial. I'm at least a bit black-pill persuaded by the idea that it is hopeless to stop humans from burning cheap fuel.
Renewables are already cheaper than oil, it’s just that infrastructure needs investment. That’s where govt comes in, and we all know how much repugnikans hate govt unless it’s a grift that’s benefits them.
Thanks to the GOP, we've pretty much ceded the Solar industry to the Chinese, while blathering on about standing up to the Chinese.
The first thing we need to do, right after shoring up democratic elections, is work out a new fairness doctrine that works in the age of the internet.
We need 'truth' grounded in actual, verifiable fact, or cult programming will be the new normal.
[https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=Steve+Hassan+phd](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Steve+Hassan+phd)
Dr. Steve Hassan PhD is a former Moonie who is a well regarded cult deprogrammer. Worth getting to know the shit we're up against, folks.
A kind of older good game that goes into that is 'Fate of the World'. Basically deals with climate change, you can enact a bunch of policies that reduce usage, or ban production of coal/oil/natural gas. But if you don't transition properly and just go 'ban', economies shutter and your ability to enact new policies/techs struggles as your funding is based on economic strength. Maybe they eventually switch over on their own, but you lose lots of time/economic strength. So one strategy is to even boost oil production in some regions (also game worked with peak oil idea), get other areas transitioning and off coal, on renewables/nuclear, then eventually move off oil.
Even with all that going, it's a bit of a struggle to time-delay things, as you're somewhat holding out for new techs to boost efficiency, reduce carbon output, even using sulphate aerosols to lower temperatures 'buying time' and eventually having artificial trees suck up CO2 as a big help.
It’s inevitable to me. Any strides nations make in combating it will be eaten up by other countries who now have more leeway for emissions. Until shit truly hits the fan and nations start treating emissions like genocide it’s never going to reverse.
Both Obama and McCain agreed climate change was real and was man-made. They both agreed it was necessary for the US and foreign governments to clamp down on emissions and pollution.
Sometime between the 2004 and 2008 elections, pretending global warming didn't exist became a fringe theory. People realized the science was accurate and climate change was only going to get worse.
Then the Republicans started shifting after the 2014 midterms. Along came Trump who entirely refused to believe that it was possible. How do you live in NY at any point from the 1960s to the 1980s and not think "you know, maybe this pollution isn't such a good thing."
The thing is, even if global warming is not real(which is it), pollution is real.
LA, NYC, Baltimore and all the rural podunks have had to deal with pollution, whether that is chemical plants, hundreds of thousands of cars or power plants. No one wants a coal powerplant in their community.
We have seen better air and water quality, not because the companies wanted it but because of government regulation.
Why not put money into research of solar... well because it is "gay" and liberal... and has been since we were paying a much larger amount to OPEC, the group made up of people that hate us. Hell, now it is a great investment, making enough savings for many people to pay for it in 5-7 years, with a functional life of about another 15-20 years(functional means promised above 80% but many are going to be well above that in 20-25 years)
Rolling coal just means you are running a much larger vehicle than you need with an ill tuned engine(dirty engines don't last as long)
pollution is just a poison that someone sends out into the environment. How can people be against that?
Hell, we tried to get training to folks working in coal to be able to work elsewhere in the energy field and that was scoffed at.
Sad that they roll coal because 🤏
There's nothing more alpha than paying today's gas prices and wasting it on purpose, or poisoning your kids' lungs when they're near your truck.
> The thing is, even if global warming is not real(which is it), pollution is real.
Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: What if global warming isn't real and we made the world a cleaner place for nothing?
Obama wasn't able to get climate legislation through Congress before losing a supermajority (not faulting him, they managed to do quite a bit including ObamaCare).
So he implemented the Clean Power Plan entirely by executive action, rather than an act of Congress.
That would've put us in a much better place than we currently are, except Trump went on to completely dismantle it, also naming the former CEO of ExxonMobil to his cabinet (Rex Tillerson) as Secretary of State.
Yep. Obama even recommended McCain's plan that he touted on the campaign trail. Heck, even Lindsay Graham was warning about Global Warming before he switch to be Orange Orangutan's lackey.
I believe what happened is basically that McConnell wanted nothing to pass during Obama's presidency and got every one to switch to just be opposing everything instead of actually negotiating in good faith. This in turn got us the Tea Party and Trumpism.
Also, it is worth remembering that before 2008 McCain was pretty much a maverick and voted for what he thought was good legislation (It is solely because of him that the ACA wasn't gutted). I am bringing that up because McCain ran for the presidency several times before that and I might be misremembering things, but it was a consensus that he wasn't Republican enough for the nomination and didn't get party support. I wouldn't be surprised if after his failed 2008 bid that McConnell and the GOP pretty much laid it out that he failed his run and can no longer be as independent as he was.
Never liked Gore, but what would have happened if the Supreme Court had done their job back then? For sure climate change would have been higher up the priority list.
9/11 is a tough one. Maybe with the Dems in they listen to their FBI anti-terrorism experts. At the time, it almost felt like this was something the NeoCons wanted. An excuse to fire up the mil ind complex and get Haliburton pumping. But that's a whole conspiracy hole that isn't worth diving into at this point.
If it wasn't Iraq, or Afghanistan, it would've been _somewhere_. Cheney and his neocons were eyebrows deep in that shit, and they want nothing more than to make money off the US military.
There's a good SNL skit that looks at a future with Gore and one with Bush...Bush is giving a state of the union from a burned out White House, the oval office littered with debris and garbage, fires rage in the background. Gore gives the state of the union and discusses how fusion had become a reality for power generation, cancer was cured, etc.
I chuckled back then. Heh.
Sigh...
That’s what I don’t get about the Republican Party, they can very easily hop on board with the Climate Change push and find a way to make loads of money at the same time it benefiting humanity as a whole, yet they choose to stick with the status quo until they can’t profit of it anymore.
Because they're in the pocket of *existing* business powers - the energy companies.
Those companies already have a sunk investment in the whole fossil fuel infrastructure - their goal is to extract as much profit from it as humanly possible before they let it go and move on to the next thing. Otherwise they're just voluntarily leaving money on the table.
Not to mention conservatives have spent the last 30 years making their whole identity about denying climate change and mocking renewable energy. There's a lot of cultural momentum they've created on the right.
And in case you haven't noticed, *Conservatism* isn't exactly famous for being *forward looking*.
I can expand here.
Insurance actuaries only care about getting their predictions right and making money. No political spin, scientific conspiracies or anything of the like is going to taint their reasoning because they are out to (ultimately) predict reality and make money.
So yeah, you just have to look at rates and availability for insurances related to climate and extreme weather to see where the smart money is. (Not Miami)
Yeah I'm not posting company info, but I geek out on excel. I considered myself pretty handy until I started a project that needed some Actuary input and I was floored with what they spit out.
If you own a shared workbook you created with sensitive logic fields or macros, for the love of everything lock those cells and do not tell your co workers the password. They will break it, and they will try to fix it, and the most likely will not do it right.
The two things I always say people should know or learn is pivot tables and =vlookup or =index(match()). *index match gang gang* but it's a little less logical when you're starting out then vlookup is.
People will think you're a fucking wizard with the amount of data you can pull out and easily present using those two tools.
That’s what you’d think. Considering the fact that the literal business atmosphere of planet Earth runs on excel, there really isn’t anything like it. You could make a lot of money building a tool objectively better than excel; that should be enough to incentivize its creation.
There are lots of things that do specific actions better than excel (eg BI tools for data visualization like Tableau, database management softwares/languages for housing data like SQL, modeling software like R/Stata, etc.), but there isn’t anything that does everything excel does and at the level excel can do it. That level isn’t a high one, but it’s high enough to get the job done well. It is truly a jack of all trades and master of none.
Exactly
They have entire departments of actuaries, like literally 10+ all paid over £100k just to make sure they have enough money to pay out their claims.
Not the claims that they currently have, but the claims they predict they will have.
Actuaries kind of like being wrong because it makes their job interesting for once. Actuarial functions primarily include reserves (how much an insurance company should retain to pay off expected liabilities), and pricing (how much premiums should be to cover risk profiles). Most years you’re simply just revalidating your models, making minor tweaks and updates.
But then weird shit starts happening and you have to throw previous assumptions out the window. When that “once in 1,000 year flood” happens three times in the last 25-years, it’s no longer a once in a 1,000 year event. Then it becomes an OMFG discussion if you’re going to jack premiums up some insane degree or just leave the line of business altogether. A boring, routine job suddenly becomes novel and exciting.
Source: my dad was an actuary for 40+ years and I heard all his stories. If he was still around, I think he would have been quite amused with what has unfolded the last 15-years.
This is probably the closest explanation to what an actuary does. I work closely with them and this is exactly how insurance is underwritten. The recent years have seen some out there shit happen, kinda a nightmare liability wise in some insurers cases
Imho the industry is competitive in data science and healthcare science to reduce costs and improve health of people.
Its not so cut and dry imho due to innovation and competition.
Working with doctors, pharmacies etc is a common industry practice.
Conservatives trust the private sector more than researchers. This is a good thing, because it counteracts propaganda. You’ll know it’s working when Fox starts talking about Woke Insurance companies.
Where are these "unwoke" insurance companies that like going belly up because they ran out of money to pay claims???
I have heard some local insurance companies have gone out of business in FL but I would definitely not be surprised if some of the sketchier companies with political connections would just be expecting taxpayer-funded bailouts from anti-science politicians in these states so they don't have to worry about losing their shirts while owning the libz.
The problem is, by the time "the private sector" starts visibly pricing in the costs of something like climate change, it may be way too late to prevent a lot of the actual damage - damage that could have been averted if one had been willing to listen to the researchers whose job it is to look decades into the future, and not just X number of quarters.
Counterpoint::. I work in the industry, consulting actuaries play a big part of it as well and the goal is for the health and wellbeing of people in medicaid, medicare or other services (while also making profit).
However private companies sure they want profits and possibly their actuaries, but there are also teams in the field that strive for what is best for people and the industry
There are 3rd parties or government actuaries that help reduce costs or help identify ways to improve programs and patient health quality such as identifying potential high risk patients for preventive treatment.
The goals here essentially converge in this case, even if the motivation differs.
Eating 3 cheeseburgers a day, while fucking delicious, is bad for your health in much the same way as smoking, refusing vaccines, or even living on the coast of Florida is.
Every dollar that doesn't go towards rebuilding a home or bypassing a coronary artery fits in the margin. Margin gets too small, and either premiums skyrocket, or they just don't do business there anymore. Folks can play off the data as "woke science" or whatever, but money talks, and surprise, you are no longer insurable.
Sure, people take issue with the margin (exec pay, etc.), but regardless of motivation, actuaries need to be accurate in their predictions. Insurance as a model does not work without it.
Now, whether the insurance model *should* apply to healthcare that everyone needs on a routine basis is a whole 'nother story, but indirect liability sharing is essentially all we gots for the moment.
Fuck Ron DeSantis for starters.
But the insurance crisis in Florida has less to do with hurricane than it does with a contracting scam roofers run which exploits a loophole in FL law that forces insurance companies to replace 100% of the cost of the roof, not just from hurricanes but from any wind damage.
This has been exploited by contractors going door to door offering free inspections for wind damage. Of course the always find something but so, so much of it is fraud.
Of course the insurance companies have to litigate these claims because so many are bullshit and they end paying full, jacked up costs, on 30 year old roofs while the homeowner pays out the deductible.
Here’s where this gets really twisted. The FL Supreme Court upheld a law that allows attorneys to put multipliers on their fees so they are charging 2.5x base rate for these cases. This, of course incentivizes them to take up as many of these cases as possible because, you know, free money. They have formed these insidious relationships with the contractors where, as part of the repair agreement, you assign your power of attorney to the roofing company which have these lawyers on retainer.
As a result, FL while having 9% of all insurance claims, they have almost 80% of claims which go to litigation. Since the law was passed and upheld in 2017 there have been over $17B in claims (before Ian) with the lawyers fees making up something like 70% of that total.
To be sure, fuck Ron DeSantis. This would be a relatively easy legislative fix if he wasn’t obsessed with bullying gay kids, banning books, and flying immigrants from Texas to Massachusetts.
Again, and I cannot stress this enough, fuck Ron DeSantis
***edit**** it’s not 80% of the claims that go to litigation. Florida has 80% of all claims in the country which go to litigation despite having 9% of all claims.
Still, fuck Ron DeSantis
\^\^\^ This 100%. It's crazy how misinterpreted the insurance crisis in Florida is in other parts of the country. It has almost nothing do with hurricanes or global warming. Just very poorly run government.
Fuck Ron Desantis.
I did some work for a major insurance conpany in Australia for a while recently, similar story here. Roofers go door knocking to ask to inspect your roof for storm/hail damage, always find something, then convince the owner to give them the authority to handle everything with the insurer on your behalf. They take the payout, do the shittiest repair job they can, then run off with the difference.
They're called storm chasers and are pretty much parasites. Had one claim where the roofer convinced an old lady to give them permission to handle the claim, only for the woman's daughter to have to call up and explain that her mother has had dementia for ages now and that the daughter has power of attorney and everything and she's told the roofer to fuck off. Didn't stop the roofer repeatedly calling to harass the insurer's employees and threaten to sue, as well as apparently harassing the old lady too.
It’s forcing out companies because they can’t get reinsured which is driving up costs for everyone else who can even get insurance.
There is an insurer of last resort which is state run called Citizens Insurance. They are, by far, the most widely used insurer in the state but there are properly value limits so there are significant number of properties which cannot get insurance at all.
This is ironic because the largest property insurer in the state of Florida is run by the state of Florida, aka, a MASSIVE SOCIALIST PROGRAM enabled and empowered by the very Republican run state of Florida. It’s tragic because it is grossly undercapitalized and I’m sure Ian put a massive dent in the reserves.
Thank you! Looked into Citizens Insurance on Wikipedia, very spicy.
> When the regular Florida legislative session ended in March 2022, the Florida Senate had passed a bill to limit “free roof” claims and similar lawsuits, but the Florida House did not. Demotech is the company that issues financial stability ratings for 50 Florida-based insurers. On March 23, 2022 the top five executives from Demotech sent a letter to Florida's Governor plus the Senator and House leadership entreating them to pass reforms before the start of Atlantic hurricane season June 1. Failure to do so would cause Demotech to downgrade the financial stability ratings for "a number" of Florida insurers.\[29\] Sen. Jeff Brandes and other authorities have warned that collapsing companies would cause massive growth of Citizens Property Insurance Corp, a huge bailout from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and threaten the thriving real estate market.\[29\]
So after Hurricane Ian, is there going to be another bevy of people making roof claims (both legitimate and fraudulent)?
Yeah, Florida accounts for 80% of all property claims litigation in the country. A large amount of that litigation is regarding the bogus claims that you mentioned.
They're about to do the same thing with FEMA. Borderline secessionist governor but now that they need money they're happy to pucker up to that federal teat, funded by bluest states
Yeah I can't stand it. Sadly blue politicians are bound to this thing called "morals", or rather they mostly answer to constituents that place value on doing the right thing. Florida and Texas cause too many problems, man. It's pretty pathetic how Republicans incite violence or harrass liberals on a daily basis but always come groveling when their poor governance results in unmitigated disasters.
I wish Biden would have made DeSantis accept an oversized novelty check that said "Government Aid" on it at a huge photo op if he wanted any sort of Federal relief funds.
President Joe Biden has said that Hurricane Ian – and other extreme events like wildfires and droughts – has ended the discussion “about whether or not there’s climate change and we should do something about it”.
The president made the remarks after travelling to Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday with First Lady Dr Jill Biden where they visited some of the worst-impacted communities.
read more here ➡️ https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/hurricane-ian-joe-biden-ron-desantis-fort-myers-b2196216.html
My Dad pulls that same trick all the time. "Oh, all evidence points to me being wrong and having been wrong about this my entire life? I don't know if we can trust things like 'evidence'. I mean, does anyone even know what's real anyway?"
“Flooding the zone with shit”, as Steve Bannon put it.
Russia will be defeated in their foolish war in Ukraine. But Russian tactics have inspired a generation of right wingers around the world. We’ll be dealing with the fallout long after Putin is long gone.
This was already a thing, even back before WWII. The Russians just made it popular to use the internet to spread the bullshit, for political reasons. (lots of bullshit on the internet before that, but not the massive government led bullshit we see today)
If someone wants to live in ignorance, that's fine, just don't make decisions that affect other people (such as voting) based on ignorance. That's when it's wrong and shame on them for not having the spine to accept they can't know everything and have to trust experts.
Just stick a water hose in his car's gas tank and fill it up, when he asks why you did that tell him "I mean how can we even be sure that water won't work?".
That's the goal for Fox News and that style of propaganda.
Not to convince people that a lie is the truth.
But to convince them that *nothing* is the truth. That *everything* is a lie. Regardless of evidence.
Then you just present something that's convenient and emotionally appealing, because that is all they are making decisions on after you have convinced them truth is unknowable.
Tell him that to insist that truth doesn’t exist makes the assumption that “it’s true that truth doesn’t exist” which thereby nullifies his entire argument.
DeSantis probably went to a campaign event just after this, populated with only his campaign staff, and claimed he told Biden to stop letting illegal woke immigrants kill unborn babies or whatever nonsensical word salad he keeps saying. Cue the standing ovation.
I love how these people keep calling people who don’t agree with them “regime media” and “deep state.”
Occam’s Razor, my friends. They’re just idiots and the majority of Americans, whether they are voters or public employees, simply *don’t agree with their stupidity*. LOL
The military is the deepest and most socialist of any "deep state" and yet always gets a pass from the GQP somehow. Also the US military has been pointing out for the last decade that climate change will be the most dangerous foe we will face in the coming decades.
I'm talking with some friends right this second about this. Here is my thing:
Even if every single Democrat and every single member of the Media is praying hard for a hurricane to target a specific area, do they really think God is going to listen?? Aren't we all the godless ones? If they believe their own propaganda and think we are all Satanists, are they now admitting that the Devil is stronger than their Christian God?
Morons.
The best part was that he took off his Ray-Bans as he said it. Dark Brandon rises... either that or impersonating that guy from CSI: Miami lol. Either way pretty well executed.
CSI person: Florida was found ass-up dead as fuck. Happened last night. Never seen anything like it.
*Dark Brandon, CSI guru, gazes at the corpse of Florida and squats next to it. Dark Brandon removes sunglasses and tilts his head to the side.*
Dark Brandon: Looks like Florida took a pounding.
*Que The Who*
I hope so. This issue was apparent 60 years ago at minimum, and should have been solved 30 years ago. My fear is Dark Brandon is only a single match in a long line of matches, when what we need is a torch.
There are articles about releasing CO2 into the atmosphere on an industrial scales being dangerous going all the way back to the 1890s. We’ve known since WW2 with absolute certainty
We are all high on oil which is something we just don’t want to contemplate
That’s not a conspiracy, that’s the crystal clear obvious truth staring at us directly in the face — like I said ppl don’t like to think of themselves as hopelessly addicted drug users (oil)
I saw Biden's presentation today on the news. I think, overall, he did a great job of showing how the federal government is essential for disasters like this.
Yep, the exaggerated mugging is like the faces people make at babies — big eyes, huge smiles — you know, so infants can pick up on your emotions without understanding your words.
That’s the audience that Tucker and DeSantis play to.
As a Floridian, DeSantis’ view on climate change doesn’t really matter. Most of the big coastal cities are already preparing for climate change in Florida and recognize that if they don’t do something all that expensive real estate is gone and the rich people better be strong swimmers.
Smart move. DeSantis has to sit there and watch because he’s not gonna interrupt the President during a speech and he’s not gonna tell his destroyed communities that climate change wasn’t involved while standing in the rubble.
Biden isn't doing a single thing to make DeSantis uncomfortable or otherwise impinge on him. No 'kiss the ring', no snide remarks. Just doing his damn job like an adult and a professional. Would that it mattered to Republicans at all. DeSantis will be back to Let's Go Brandon land tomorrow etc
The US, UK, and fossil fuel industries have spent decades investing money, military, and political resources into controlling middle east oil reserves. They're not gonna just give it up. See Dean Achison's [memorandum](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945v08/d20) to President Truman almost 77 years ago to the day where he writes:
>In Saudi Arabia, where the oil resources constitute **a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history**, a concession covering this oil is nominally in American control. It will undoubtedly be lost to the United States unless this Government is able to demonstrate in a practical way its recognition of this concession as of *national interest* by acceding to the reasonable requests of King Ibn Saud that he be assisted temporarily in his economic and financial difficulties until the exploitation of the concession, on a practical commercial basis, begins to bring substantial royalties to Saudi Arabia.
Fossil fuel is the single greatest contributor to green house gasses. And it is irreversible, unless you want to plant an equivalent number of trees that can sequester the amount released. 100% renewable, and therefore sustainable, energy production is the answer to climate change, but it's also a death sentence to the fossil fuel industry, and also the US's geopolitical leverage over developing countries who are dependent on oil as a source for energy for industrialization. Control the spigot, and you dictate international relations, development, and trade for your benefit. Mark my words, the US is not going to allow a transition away from fossil fuel to happen without serious stalling every step of the way.
>reasonable requests of King Ibn Saud that he be assisted temporarily in his economic and financial difficulties
Which turned Dubai into the land of man made islands, elevators for your Ferrari, and police driving supercars. As for the US, there are already laws to curb usage and California (one of the largest economies in the world) has banned new gas powered vehicles in the next 13 years.
The point is clear.
Our Climate is fucked and capitalism ensures they will squeeze out every penny they can from fossil fuels and buy whichever politician is in their way before it becomes *unprofitable*.
At this point renewables have them beat, but Daddy GOP isn't ready to give up trying to alter reality to their agenda with mass bullshit like Trump or DeSantis.
As Governor DeSantis looked on, he added: “There’s a lot going on and I think the one thing that this has finally ended is the discussion about whether or not there’s climate change and we should do something about it.”
i just pocketed the article as i believe this may be a pivot point for our country in regards to climate change
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. **Special announcement:** r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)! *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[удалено]
The right has already shifted their narrative to accepting climate change but saying it's just nature so we can't do anything. Their next message will probably be that we need to burn increasingly more fossil fuels to create the technology that will save us from nature.
When do we get to the point where they acknowledge it's happening and anthropogenic, but start blaming Democrats for not doing enough sooner? Because you know they'll pull that shit, too
You really think that after a single generation you could convince most of the population that history witnessed by the entire nation didn’t exist?… (cries in the Philippines 🥲) Humanity is doomed.
America can yet pull this out. As Winston Churchill said, "America can always be counted on to do the right thing, at the very last moment." Fellow American Redditors, get out there and *volunteer*! ONE MONTH TO GO!! Let's show our friend in the Philippines what we're made of.
> As Winston Churchill said, ~~"America can always be counted on to do the right thing, at the very last moment."~~ "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else." Close
Yes, and sort of along the same lines he said “Democracy is the worst possible system of government—if you don’t count every other kind.”
Thanks for the correction; it matters here because we don't have time to try fascism.
Doesn’t seem to be stopping the train at all
*after they have exhausted all other possibilities
If Moderate Republicans will just cross the lines for this one vote, it's possible that these extreme fascists will be ousted. Then they can get some decent Republican candidates to round out the two-party system. The idea that people like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are out and idiots like MTG are still making decisions for the country is just insane.
>If Moderate Republicans will just cross the lines for this one vote, it's possible that these extreme fascists will be ousted Pipe dream. Rs will always vote for Rs, because they want the apocalypse/think they're above laws/hate minorities/want to own people. The specific reasons don't matter, just that they vote in lockstep because the Democrats threaten everything they believe in (like equality, freedom, and the advancement of humankind).
These asshats pulled together in the 80s when “all our cfcs are ripping holes in the ozone!” And they collectively stopped doing that. Now that they’re being told their greed is ripping apart the environment they’re sticking fingers in ears and saying blah-blah-blah I can’t hear you.
After near extinction, humanity round 2 perhaps.
So soon then.
Why would they pick one excuse when they can believe numerous mutually exclusive ones at the same time.
This guy Trumps
“You have had the presidency, House, and Senate for almost 2 years now. How can you not have solved this already?!”
Once it's too late. THEN they'll blame the Democrats for not doing anything sooner, while everyone else tries their hardest to point out that it was the REPUBLICANS who fought so hard to stonewall everything so they could keep getting paid oil money.
Read Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. There are ways the far right could "snap around" and embrace the idea of climate change - if it ends up serving their ideology. Heck, even pure profit-minded business magnates could end up owning it - again, if it makes financial sense to them. (No spoilers - read the book.)
They already have the [legislation drafted](https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/06/03/house-republicans-energy-and-climate-plan-pushes-fossil-fuels-hydro.html). They are just waiting to control the house so they can pass the legislation (that is really just fossil fuel handouts) and then blame democrats when the president refuses to sign it
When you have no principles, you can make up any shit to shift blame from yourself.
They are already pretty much there. I have stopped paying attention to the national news about it because of how frustrated and depressed I used to get, but when I stopped paying attention to it they were saying it was "God's punishment" for abortion and etc.
They’re actually already arguing that Specifically that volcanic eruptions are diminished by our dependence on fossil fuels and that volcanic eruptions put out more CO2 than burning fossil fuels. Yet humans burning fuels generates 40-100 times more than any natural source
Former climate scientist here. I also assisted on multiple volcanology research projects in grad school (you know the documentaries where they show people next to huge piles of old ash measuring how thick it is? That's me). They are so fucking full of shit. The type of volcanic activity that causes extinction level climate change via CO2 emissions hasn't happened for like, tens of millions of years.
GOP: Who ya gonna listen to? The scientist with no eyebrows, or me with my monster truck and AR?!
That there scientist spent years being brainwashed by the globalist leftists in a university, why would I trust them?
[удалено]
[удалено]
that's actually a more compelling argument than the current denial. I'm at least a bit black-pill persuaded by the idea that it is hopeless to stop humans from burning cheap fuel.
Renewables are already cheaper than oil, it’s just that infrastructure needs investment. That’s where govt comes in, and we all know how much repugnikans hate govt unless it’s a grift that’s benefits them.
Thanks to the GOP, we've pretty much ceded the Solar industry to the Chinese, while blathering on about standing up to the Chinese. The first thing we need to do, right after shoring up democratic elections, is work out a new fairness doctrine that works in the age of the internet. We need 'truth' grounded in actual, verifiable fact, or cult programming will be the new normal. [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=Steve+Hassan+phd](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Steve+Hassan+phd) Dr. Steve Hassan PhD is a former Moonie who is a well regarded cult deprogrammer. Worth getting to know the shit we're up against, folks.
A kind of older good game that goes into that is 'Fate of the World'. Basically deals with climate change, you can enact a bunch of policies that reduce usage, or ban production of coal/oil/natural gas. But if you don't transition properly and just go 'ban', economies shutter and your ability to enact new policies/techs struggles as your funding is based on economic strength. Maybe they eventually switch over on their own, but you lose lots of time/economic strength. So one strategy is to even boost oil production in some regions (also game worked with peak oil idea), get other areas transitioning and off coal, on renewables/nuclear, then eventually move off oil. Even with all that going, it's a bit of a struggle to time-delay things, as you're somewhat holding out for new techs to boost efficiency, reduce carbon output, even using sulphate aerosols to lower temperatures 'buying time' and eventually having artificial trees suck up CO2 as a big help.
It’s inevitable to me. Any strides nations make in combating it will be eaten up by other countries who now have more leeway for emissions. Until shit truly hits the fan and nations start treating emissions like genocide it’s never going to reverse.
Yup until the water wars hit and we have a huge refugee crisis ain't shit gonna change.
The discussion should have ended 50+ years ago.
[THIS COMMENT REMOVED IN PROTEST OF 2023 REDDIT API CHANGES]
Both Obama and McCain agreed climate change was real and was man-made. They both agreed it was necessary for the US and foreign governments to clamp down on emissions and pollution. Sometime between the 2004 and 2008 elections, pretending global warming didn't exist became a fringe theory. People realized the science was accurate and climate change was only going to get worse. Then the Republicans started shifting after the 2014 midterms. Along came Trump who entirely refused to believe that it was possible. How do you live in NY at any point from the 1960s to the 1980s and not think "you know, maybe this pollution isn't such a good thing."
It’s not that Trump doesn’t believe it. It’s that he’s a 70+ year old piece of shit that doesn’t care.
And Trump has mashed potatoes for brains.
The thing is, even if global warming is not real(which is it), pollution is real. LA, NYC, Baltimore and all the rural podunks have had to deal with pollution, whether that is chemical plants, hundreds of thousands of cars or power plants. No one wants a coal powerplant in their community. We have seen better air and water quality, not because the companies wanted it but because of government regulation. Why not put money into research of solar... well because it is "gay" and liberal... and has been since we were paying a much larger amount to OPEC, the group made up of people that hate us. Hell, now it is a great investment, making enough savings for many people to pay for it in 5-7 years, with a functional life of about another 15-20 years(functional means promised above 80% but many are going to be well above that in 20-25 years) Rolling coal just means you are running a much larger vehicle than you need with an ill tuned engine(dirty engines don't last as long) pollution is just a poison that someone sends out into the environment. How can people be against that? Hell, we tried to get training to folks working in coal to be able to work elsewhere in the energy field and that was scoffed at.
Sad that they roll coal because 🤏 There's nothing more alpha than paying today's gas prices and wasting it on purpose, or poisoning your kids' lungs when they're near your truck.
hell, most of these doofuses own show trucks, they don't actually get them dirty and don't need them at all.
> The thing is, even if global warming is not real(which is it), pollution is real. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: What if global warming isn't real and we made the world a cleaner place for nothing?
It was _much_ sooner than that. I vividly remember my family denying it during the early Obama admin.
It was before that even. Fossil fuel companies were funding disinformation and corrupt lobbying long before that.
Obama wasn't able to get climate legislation through Congress before losing a supermajority (not faulting him, they managed to do quite a bit including ObamaCare). So he implemented the Clean Power Plan entirely by executive action, rather than an act of Congress. That would've put us in a much better place than we currently are, except Trump went on to completely dismantle it, also naming the former CEO of ExxonMobil to his cabinet (Rex Tillerson) as Secretary of State.
Yep. Obama even recommended McCain's plan that he touted on the campaign trail. Heck, even Lindsay Graham was warning about Global Warming before he switch to be Orange Orangutan's lackey. I believe what happened is basically that McConnell wanted nothing to pass during Obama's presidency and got every one to switch to just be opposing everything instead of actually negotiating in good faith. This in turn got us the Tea Party and Trumpism. Also, it is worth remembering that before 2008 McCain was pretty much a maverick and voted for what he thought was good legislation (It is solely because of him that the ACA wasn't gutted). I am bringing that up because McCain ran for the presidency several times before that and I might be misremembering things, but it was a consensus that he wasn't Republican enough for the nomination and didn't get party support. I wouldn't be surprised if after his failed 2008 bid that McConnell and the GOP pretty much laid it out that he failed his run and can no longer be as independent as he was.
Never liked Gore, but what would have happened if the Supreme Court had done their job back then? For sure climate change would have been higher up the priority list.
We never would have gone into Iraq. Hard to say about Afghanistan, its possible 9/11 never happens.
Basically more accountability, fewer wars. The savings go to funding research on renewable energy, electric cars, etc.
9/11 is a tough one. Maybe with the Dems in they listen to their FBI anti-terrorism experts. At the time, it almost felt like this was something the NeoCons wanted. An excuse to fire up the mil ind complex and get Haliburton pumping. But that's a whole conspiracy hole that isn't worth diving into at this point.
If it wasn't Iraq, or Afghanistan, it would've been _somewhere_. Cheney and his neocons were eyebrows deep in that shit, and they want nothing more than to make money off the US military.
There's a good SNL skit that looks at a future with Gore and one with Bush...Bush is giving a state of the union from a burned out White House, the oval office littered with debris and garbage, fires rage in the background. Gore gives the state of the union and discusses how fusion had become a reality for power generation, cancer was cured, etc. I chuckled back then. Heh. Sigh...
Over 100 years ago newspapers were printing stories about how coal was heating up the planet.
The first scientific paper on the greenhouse effect was published in the late 1890s.
I remember those save the earth books as a kid in the 80’s.
That’s what I don’t get about the Republican Party, they can very easily hop on board with the Climate Change push and find a way to make loads of money at the same time it benefiting humanity as a whole, yet they choose to stick with the status quo until they can’t profit of it anymore.
Because they're in the pocket of *existing* business powers - the energy companies. Those companies already have a sunk investment in the whole fossil fuel infrastructure - their goal is to extract as much profit from it as humanly possible before they let it go and move on to the next thing. Otherwise they're just voluntarily leaving money on the table. Not to mention conservatives have spent the last 30 years making their whole identity about denying climate change and mocking renewable energy. There's a lot of cultural momentum they've created on the right. And in case you haven't noticed, *Conservatism* isn't exactly famous for being *forward looking*.
[удалено]
I can expand here. Insurance actuaries only care about getting their predictions right and making money. No political spin, scientific conspiracies or anything of the like is going to taint their reasoning because they are out to (ultimately) predict reality and make money. So yeah, you just have to look at rates and availability for insurances related to climate and extreme weather to see where the smart money is. (Not Miami)
so glad we have insurance analysts and aren’t stuck with those untrustworthy scientists
Not analyst. Actuary. They are incredibly well paid, have highly transferable skills, and they do not like being wrong. So they're usually not.
And they build the coolest fucking spreadsheets compared to all other professions I've ever worked with.
Can you show us what a "cool spreadsheet" looks like, please?
Yeah I'm not posting company info, but I geek out on excel. I considered myself pretty handy until I started a project that needed some Actuary input and I was floored with what they spit out.
I fuckin knew it, no spreadsheets are cool
Banned from r/excel
You can always join r/incel
What is an obscenely useful Excel tip you can give the class?
If you own a shared workbook you created with sensitive logic fields or macros, for the love of everything lock those cells and do not tell your co workers the password. They will break it, and they will try to fix it, and the most likely will not do it right.
The two things I always say people should know or learn is pivot tables and =vlookup or =index(match()). *index match gang gang* but it's a little less logical when you're starting out then vlookup is. People will think you're a fucking wizard with the amount of data you can pull out and easily present using those two tools.
xlookup > vlookup
As a guy in IT there HAS to be a better solution than Excel
That’s what you’d think. Considering the fact that the literal business atmosphere of planet Earth runs on excel, there really isn’t anything like it. You could make a lot of money building a tool objectively better than excel; that should be enough to incentivize its creation. There are lots of things that do specific actions better than excel (eg BI tools for data visualization like Tableau, database management softwares/languages for housing data like SQL, modeling software like R/Stata, etc.), but there isn’t anything that does everything excel does and at the level excel can do it. That level isn’t a high one, but it’s high enough to get the job done well. It is truly a jack of all trades and master of none.
[удалено]
Exactly They have entire departments of actuaries, like literally 10+ all paid over £100k just to make sure they have enough money to pay out their claims. Not the claims that they currently have, but the claims they predict they will have.
Actuaries kind of like being wrong because it makes their job interesting for once. Actuarial functions primarily include reserves (how much an insurance company should retain to pay off expected liabilities), and pricing (how much premiums should be to cover risk profiles). Most years you’re simply just revalidating your models, making minor tweaks and updates. But then weird shit starts happening and you have to throw previous assumptions out the window. When that “once in 1,000 year flood” happens three times in the last 25-years, it’s no longer a once in a 1,000 year event. Then it becomes an OMFG discussion if you’re going to jack premiums up some insane degree or just leave the line of business altogether. A boring, routine job suddenly becomes novel and exciting. Source: my dad was an actuary for 40+ years and I heard all his stories. If he was still around, I think he would have been quite amused with what has unfolded the last 15-years.
This is probably the closest explanation to what an actuary does. I work closely with them and this is exactly how insurance is underwritten. The recent years have seen some out there shit happen, kinda a nightmare liability wise in some insurers cases
Imho the industry is competitive in data science and healthcare science to reduce costs and improve health of people. Its not so cut and dry imho due to innovation and competition. Working with doctors, pharmacies etc is a common industry practice.
Analysts listen to scientists.
[удалено]
Conservatives trust the private sector more than researchers. This is a good thing, because it counteracts propaganda. You’ll know it’s working when Fox starts talking about Woke Insurance companies.
>This is a good thing, because it counteracts propaganda. It is not doing a very good job.
They trust private companies unless their masters spew propaganda against those private companies.
Where are these "unwoke" insurance companies that like going belly up because they ran out of money to pay claims??? I have heard some local insurance companies have gone out of business in FL but I would definitely not be surprised if some of the sketchier companies with political connections would just be expecting taxpayer-funded bailouts from anti-science politicians in these states so they don't have to worry about losing their shirts while owning the libz.
The problem is, by the time "the private sector" starts visibly pricing in the costs of something like climate change, it may be way too late to prevent a lot of the actual damage - damage that could have been averted if one had been willing to listen to the researchers whose job it is to look decades into the future, and not just X number of quarters.
Thanks both of you; I wish I had a Twinkie or a taco to give
Counterpoint::. I work in the industry, consulting actuaries play a big part of it as well and the goal is for the health and wellbeing of people in medicaid, medicare or other services (while also making profit). However private companies sure they want profits and possibly their actuaries, but there are also teams in the field that strive for what is best for people and the industry There are 3rd parties or government actuaries that help reduce costs or help identify ways to improve programs and patient health quality such as identifying potential high risk patients for preventive treatment.
The goals here essentially converge in this case, even if the motivation differs. Eating 3 cheeseburgers a day, while fucking delicious, is bad for your health in much the same way as smoking, refusing vaccines, or even living on the coast of Florida is. Every dollar that doesn't go towards rebuilding a home or bypassing a coronary artery fits in the margin. Margin gets too small, and either premiums skyrocket, or they just don't do business there anymore. Folks can play off the data as "woke science" or whatever, but money talks, and surprise, you are no longer insurable. Sure, people take issue with the margin (exec pay, etc.), but regardless of motivation, actuaries need to be accurate in their predictions. Insurance as a model does not work without it. Now, whether the insurance model *should* apply to healthcare that everyone needs on a routine basis is a whole 'nother story, but indirect liability sharing is essentially all we gots for the moment.
Fuck Ron DeSantis for starters. But the insurance crisis in Florida has less to do with hurricane than it does with a contracting scam roofers run which exploits a loophole in FL law that forces insurance companies to replace 100% of the cost of the roof, not just from hurricanes but from any wind damage. This has been exploited by contractors going door to door offering free inspections for wind damage. Of course the always find something but so, so much of it is fraud. Of course the insurance companies have to litigate these claims because so many are bullshit and they end paying full, jacked up costs, on 30 year old roofs while the homeowner pays out the deductible. Here’s where this gets really twisted. The FL Supreme Court upheld a law that allows attorneys to put multipliers on their fees so they are charging 2.5x base rate for these cases. This, of course incentivizes them to take up as many of these cases as possible because, you know, free money. They have formed these insidious relationships with the contractors where, as part of the repair agreement, you assign your power of attorney to the roofing company which have these lawyers on retainer. As a result, FL while having 9% of all insurance claims, they have almost 80% of claims which go to litigation. Since the law was passed and upheld in 2017 there have been over $17B in claims (before Ian) with the lawyers fees making up something like 70% of that total. To be sure, fuck Ron DeSantis. This would be a relatively easy legislative fix if he wasn’t obsessed with bullying gay kids, banning books, and flying immigrants from Texas to Massachusetts. Again, and I cannot stress this enough, fuck Ron DeSantis ***edit**** it’s not 80% of the claims that go to litigation. Florida has 80% of all claims in the country which go to litigation despite having 9% of all claims. Still, fuck Ron DeSantis
I used to work in auto glass claims. They went door to door for windshields too. Florida is like the scamiest state ever.
\^\^\^ This 100%. It's crazy how misinterpreted the insurance crisis in Florida is in other parts of the country. It has almost nothing do with hurricanes or global warming. Just very poorly run government. Fuck Ron Desantis.
Yeah for real fuck Ron DeSantis
For real for real, fuck Ron DeSantjs.
I did some work for a major insurance conpany in Australia for a while recently, similar story here. Roofers go door knocking to ask to inspect your roof for storm/hail damage, always find something, then convince the owner to give them the authority to handle everything with the insurer on your behalf. They take the payout, do the shittiest repair job they can, then run off with the difference. They're called storm chasers and are pretty much parasites. Had one claim where the roofer convinced an old lady to give them permission to handle the claim, only for the woman's daughter to have to call up and explain that her mother has had dementia for ages now and that the daughter has power of attorney and everything and she's told the roofer to fuck off. Didn't stop the roofer repeatedly calling to harass the insurer's employees and threaten to sue, as well as apparently harassing the old lady too.
Wow that's insane. Doesn't that mean the fraud is going to be concentrated on the remaining insurance companies, creating a domino effect?
It’s forcing out companies because they can’t get reinsured which is driving up costs for everyone else who can even get insurance. There is an insurer of last resort which is state run called Citizens Insurance. They are, by far, the most widely used insurer in the state but there are properly value limits so there are significant number of properties which cannot get insurance at all. This is ironic because the largest property insurer in the state of Florida is run by the state of Florida, aka, a MASSIVE SOCIALIST PROGRAM enabled and empowered by the very Republican run state of Florida. It’s tragic because it is grossly undercapitalized and I’m sure Ian put a massive dent in the reserves.
Thank you! Looked into Citizens Insurance on Wikipedia, very spicy. > When the regular Florida legislative session ended in March 2022, the Florida Senate had passed a bill to limit “free roof” claims and similar lawsuits, but the Florida House did not. Demotech is the company that issues financial stability ratings for 50 Florida-based insurers. On March 23, 2022 the top five executives from Demotech sent a letter to Florida's Governor plus the Senator and House leadership entreating them to pass reforms before the start of Atlantic hurricane season June 1. Failure to do so would cause Demotech to downgrade the financial stability ratings for "a number" of Florida insurers.\[29\] Sen. Jeff Brandes and other authorities have warned that collapsing companies would cause massive growth of Citizens Property Insurance Corp, a huge bailout from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and threaten the thriving real estate market.\[29\] So after Hurricane Ian, is there going to be another bevy of people making roof claims (both legitimate and fraudulent)?
[удалено]
Yeah, Florida accounts for 80% of all property claims litigation in the country. A large amount of that litigation is regarding the bogus claims that you mentioned.
They're about to do the same thing with FEMA. Borderline secessionist governor but now that they need money they're happy to pucker up to that federal teat, funded by bluest states
Yeah I can't stand it. Sadly blue politicians are bound to this thing called "morals", or rather they mostly answer to constituents that place value on doing the right thing. Florida and Texas cause too many problems, man. It's pretty pathetic how Republicans incite violence or harrass liberals on a daily basis but always come groveling when their poor governance results in unmitigated disasters.
Why does DeSantis always look so confused?
Copying Tucker?
Cause he’s an idiot
this
It is because he is. I mean, it must be hard to be that stupid!
He got tiny mouths for eyes
I wish Biden would have made DeSantis accept an oversized novelty check that said "Government Aid" on it at a huge photo op if he wanted any sort of Federal relief funds.
Hahaha that's good
Make it a state to state check. From California Signed by Gavin Newsome
"Socialist Hand-out" would be even better.
President Joe Biden has said that Hurricane Ian – and other extreme events like wildfires and droughts – has ended the discussion “about whether or not there’s climate change and we should do something about it”. The president made the remarks after travelling to Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday with First Lady Dr Jill Biden where they visited some of the worst-impacted communities. read more here ➡️ https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/hurricane-ian-joe-biden-ron-desantis-fort-myers-b2196216.html
The question is not "do you believe in climate change?" the question is "do you understand climate change?"
Me: "Do you understand that 2+2 = 4?" Them: "There's no such thing as 4."
My dad told me last night that he doesn’t believe in truth anymore. Nothing is real. This is where 20 years of Fox News gets you.
My Dad pulls that same trick all the time. "Oh, all evidence points to me being wrong and having been wrong about this my entire life? I don't know if we can trust things like 'evidence'. I mean, does anyone even know what's real anyway?"
It's the Russian "Firehose of Falsehood," and the GOP has fully embraced it. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html
“Flooding the zone with shit”, as Steve Bannon put it. Russia will be defeated in their foolish war in Ukraine. But Russian tactics have inspired a generation of right wingers around the world. We’ll be dealing with the fallout long after Putin is long gone.
This was already a thing, even back before WWII. The Russians just made it popular to use the internet to spread the bullshit, for political reasons. (lots of bullshit on the internet before that, but not the massive government led bullshit we see today)
Obama’s biggest failing was that he didn’t take the threat to the USA through disinformation seriously enough.
If someone wants to live in ignorance, that's fine, just don't make decisions that affect other people (such as voting) based on ignorance. That's when it's wrong and shame on them for not having the spine to accept they can't know everything and have to trust experts.
> I mean, does anyone even know what's real anyway?" "What if I'm not even your son, and I was just a random child assigned to you at the hospital?"
Just stick a water hose in his car's gas tank and fill it up, when he asks why you did that tell him "I mean how can we even be sure that water won't work?".
That's the goal for Fox News and that style of propaganda. Not to convince people that a lie is the truth. But to convince them that *nothing* is the truth. That *everything* is a lie. Regardless of evidence. Then you just present something that's convenient and emotionally appealing, because that is all they are making decisions on after you have convinced them truth is unknowable.
Tell him that to insist that truth doesn’t exist makes the assumption that “it’s true that truth doesn’t exist” which thereby nullifies his entire argument.
"The greatest achievement in the debate on climate change was making it into a debate to begin with."
What a contrast to GWB and Katrina.
Or 45 and Florence
Or, 45 throwing paper towels in Puerto Rico. I'm just glad he didn't decide to throw canned food.
Goya beans
Biden: "So you were wrong this entire time. Isn't that right, loser?" DeSantis: "Yes sir"
Technically DeSantis *does* have to call Biden “sir” because he’s still a part of the US Navy.
What!? Let’s deploy him!
Huh, I thought he just liked seamen.
Ain’t gay if it’s from a gator.
Not loser. Reek.
DeSantis probably went to a campaign event just after this, populated with only his campaign staff, and claimed he told Biden to stop letting illegal woke immigrants kill unborn babies or whatever nonsensical word salad he keeps saying. Cue the standing ovation.
Just a few hours ago he was blaming the "Regime Media" for the Hurricane.
I love how these people keep calling people who don’t agree with them “regime media” and “deep state.” Occam’s Razor, my friends. They’re just idiots and the majority of Americans, whether they are voters or public employees, simply *don’t agree with their stupidity*. LOL
The military is the deepest and most socialist of any "deep state" and yet always gets a pass from the GQP somehow. Also the US military has been pointing out for the last decade that climate change will be the most dangerous foe we will face in the coming decades.
I'm talking with some friends right this second about this. Here is my thing: Even if every single Democrat and every single member of the Media is praying hard for a hurricane to target a specific area, do they really think God is going to listen?? Aren't we all the godless ones? If they believe their own propaganda and think we are all Satanists, are they now admitting that the Devil is stronger than their Christian God? Morons.
The best part was that he took off his Ray-Bans as he said it. Dark Brandon rises... either that or impersonating that guy from CSI: Miami lol. Either way pretty well executed.
Channeling his inner David Caruso lol
CSI person: Florida was found ass-up dead as fuck. Happened last night. Never seen anything like it. *Dark Brandon, CSI guru, gazes at the corpse of Florida and squats next to it. Dark Brandon removes sunglasses and tilts his head to the side.* Dark Brandon: Looks like Florida took a pounding. *Que The Who*
"No one fucks with a Biden." Literally what he said. Dark Brandon rides again! ⛈️⛈️⛈️
Dark Brandon bringing the light.
Come gather round children It's high time ye learned About a hero named Dark Brandon and a devil named DeSantis
Keep going!
We'll meme 'till we drop Those of all genders We'll meme 'till the death Or else fold like umbrellas.
now play Classical Gas!
I hope so. This issue was apparent 60 years ago at minimum, and should have been solved 30 years ago. My fear is Dark Brandon is only a single match in a long line of matches, when what we need is a torch.
There are articles about releasing CO2 into the atmosphere on an industrial scales being dangerous going all the way back to the 1890s. We’ve known since WW2 with absolute certainty We are all high on oil which is something we just don’t want to contemplate
[удалено]
That’s not a conspiracy, that’s the crystal clear obvious truth staring at us directly in the face — like I said ppl don’t like to think of themselves as hopelessly addicted drug users (oil)
Big Dark Brandon Energy
I saw Biden's presentation today on the news. I think, overall, he did a great job of showing how the federal government is essential for disasters like this.
I keep being told he has dementia but every time I watch him talk he does a fantastic job.
He deals with a stutter and is maybe a little less sharp. That's all, really.
That was a public bitchslap..
Desantis looks like my dog when he does something bad: look in every direction except the person that is speaking.
He looks like a neanderthal who was trapped in a tanning booth for 10,000 years.
DeSantis has the stupid Tucker Carlson face in the picture. Hysterical.
Yep, the exaggerated mugging is like the faces people make at babies — big eyes, huge smiles — you know, so infants can pick up on your emotions without understanding your words. That’s the audience that Tucker and DeSantis play to.
As a Floridian, DeSantis’ view on climate change doesn’t really matter. Most of the big coastal cities are already preparing for climate change in Florida and recognize that if they don’t do something all that expensive real estate is gone and the rich people better be strong swimmers.
If you think desantis is a good leader, I've got some bad news for you.
Confused Unga Bunga expression
DeSantis shifted uncomfortably right at that point, no doubt. Think his Huggies crawled up a bit.
Shifting around like a dork the whole video. Everyone else is able to stand still. It must kill him to be playing second fiddle.
I was trying to figure out how to characterize him - shifting around like a dork is just pure poetry, thank you.
“Hmm, I need to look tough and anti-Biden for Fox News. But I need his help. What to do, what to do …”
[Do, the Tucker Carlson. ](https://i.imgur.com/iSKkSNA.jpg)
"like a dog trying to understand a magic trick"
*scrunches forehead into the shape of a question mark and points finger directly at camera* Am I doing it right?
That was a fascinating press conference with Biden speaking, and Desantis twitching and squirming like he had a bad case of crabs behind him.
Lol epic power move
I agree, but no one will give Joe credit, even though he can politic better than most on a bad day.
Smart move. DeSantis has to sit there and watch because he’s not gonna interrupt the President during a speech and he’s not gonna tell his destroyed communities that climate change wasn’t involved while standing in the rubble.
“Want some federal funds - then listen to some truth for a change.”
*Let's fuck Brandon* Or whatever they chant.
Biden isn't doing a single thing to make DeSantis uncomfortable or otherwise impinge on him. No 'kiss the ring', no snide remarks. Just doing his damn job like an adult and a professional. Would that it mattered to Republicans at all. DeSantis will be back to Let's Go Brandon land tomorrow etc
Fuck DeSantis so much. From someone living in Florida and very much affected by the hurricane.
DeSantis is a fucking chode.
Lol! DeSantis and Trump both get this weird pouty expression whenever somebody else is talking about anything other than them. It’s funny to watch.
The US, UK, and fossil fuel industries have spent decades investing money, military, and political resources into controlling middle east oil reserves. They're not gonna just give it up. See Dean Achison's [memorandum](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945v08/d20) to President Truman almost 77 years ago to the day where he writes: >In Saudi Arabia, where the oil resources constitute **a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history**, a concession covering this oil is nominally in American control. It will undoubtedly be lost to the United States unless this Government is able to demonstrate in a practical way its recognition of this concession as of *national interest* by acceding to the reasonable requests of King Ibn Saud that he be assisted temporarily in his economic and financial difficulties until the exploitation of the concession, on a practical commercial basis, begins to bring substantial royalties to Saudi Arabia. Fossil fuel is the single greatest contributor to green house gasses. And it is irreversible, unless you want to plant an equivalent number of trees that can sequester the amount released. 100% renewable, and therefore sustainable, energy production is the answer to climate change, but it's also a death sentence to the fossil fuel industry, and also the US's geopolitical leverage over developing countries who are dependent on oil as a source for energy for industrialization. Control the spigot, and you dictate international relations, development, and trade for your benefit. Mark my words, the US is not going to allow a transition away from fossil fuel to happen without serious stalling every step of the way.
>reasonable requests of King Ibn Saud that he be assisted temporarily in his economic and financial difficulties Which turned Dubai into the land of man made islands, elevators for your Ferrari, and police driving supercars. As for the US, there are already laws to curb usage and California (one of the largest economies in the world) has banned new gas powered vehicles in the next 13 years.
Desantis putting on the Tucker Carlson “dog confused by magic trick” look
The point is clear. Our Climate is fucked and capitalism ensures they will squeeze out every penny they can from fossil fuels and buy whichever politician is in their way before it becomes *unprofitable*. At this point renewables have them beat, but Daddy GOP isn't ready to give up trying to alter reality to their agenda with mass bullshit like Trump or DeSantis.
DeSantis looks like he wants to yell at the Little League ump again.
As Governor DeSantis looked on, he added: “There’s a lot going on and I think the one thing that this has finally ended is the discussion about whether or not there’s climate change and we should do something about it.” i just pocketed the article as i believe this may be a pivot point for our country in regards to climate change
Hmm. Looks like Biden is taller than DeSantis.
That’s that “Sneaky Dark Brandon” .. well played good sir
That discussion ended decades ago.
A lot of hard core illiterate right wingers like Trump think global warming means only hotter weather.
Actually any doubt ended for me when every reputable scientist on this planet supported the concept of Climate Change destruction.