(09-19-2019 10:58 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(09-19-2019 09:10 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  The two men you're talking about for the FBI are both Republicans, and one was appointed by Trump outright. So your 'point' that the inspector general was appointed by Obama is meaningless.

The media is going to be too busy in the next few days digging into the Trump whistleblower situation (which I guess involves Guiliani going to the Ukraine to try to dig up dirt on Biden's son?) to worry about the FBI guys.

I will take it you are nonplussed that an Inspector General has found grounds for criminally charging people occupying the 2 highest positions in the FBI.

I would have thought with your apparent zeal for law and order from those in law and order you would have been interested. More defensive I would say than interested.

I am actually gd disgusted that a neutral arbiter has found cause to refer the holders of the 2 highest positions. It doesnt really seem to matter to you. Interesting. Actually, after a short time thinking about it (a very short time in fact), let me change that. Not really interesting at all, more expected.

Okay I'm wrong on the wording for McCabe. But sorry a RINO is still a Republican.

And no, from day one, I've never been interested in all the impeachment talk which dates back to Hillary's days as Sec. of State. All politicians are corrupt to a degree. Most of this is just posturing. So the talk about Comey and McCabe is just more of the same. I've never once said impeach Trump, I just want to beat him fair and square next November.

Now what does bother me about Trump is #1 inaction on climate change #2 obsession with overturning everything Obama did even if he has no idea whether it was actually good for the country #3 inaction on gun control #4 childish tweets and sound bytes which demean the presidency. So I very much want him out of the office. But the impeachment talks and everything that goes with it is a waste of all of our time.

(09-20-2019 05:32 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Now what does bother me about Trump is #1 inaction on climate change

That is your drother. As noted before, when the climatistas can come up with a basis that doesnt swing by more than order of magnitude, I might be in the same boat.

Quote:#2 obsession with overturning everything Obama did even if he has no idea whether it was actually good for the country

He has 'no idea whether it was good for the country'. A tad hyperbolic there. A) you have zero idea what he thinks; and b) completely discount any oppositely held view on the Obama administration actions at the same time. Sound like a level-headed view under that light to you?

Quote:#3 inaction on gun control

Considering your stated position that you want to wipe out guns entirely I understand. Hate to tell you that a lot of people see this in the opposite viewpoint.

Quote: #4 childish tweets and sound bytes which demean the presidency.

One I will actually partially agree with.

Quote: So I very much want him out of the office. But the impeachment talks and everything that goes with it is a waste of all of our time.

So why then comment in the first place on the comment on the FBI leadership? And attempt to diminish the absolute fact that the top two placeholders have been referred for criminal prosecution?

I find that a very unique (and really sad) situation, but you attempted to diminish it right out of the starting gates. Actively.

(09-20-2019 05:32 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  #2 obsession with overturning everything Obama did even if he has no idea whether it was actually good for the country

IMO if Obama did it, you're on pretty safe ground assuming that overturning it is good for the country.

The one exception I would make is Cuba. I definitely favor opening up relations and trade. In particular. I thought the invalidation of the baseball posting system that MLB had worked out with the Cubans was an incredibly stupid move; instead of solving a problem, it makes a problem out of a solution. I would like to use Vietnam as a model. The Vietnamese expats here are making tons of money on trading with Vietnam. I think we should tell Cuba that we are open to trade, and bringing great wealth to your country, but you ave to agree that the people making the money on our end will be Cuban expats. Then go to Miami and offer the deals to those Cuban expats. They are capitalists. That's why they left, just like the Vietnamese. They'll do the deals.

Quote:#4 childish tweets and sound bytes which demean the presidency.

I tend to agree that he has gone overboard here. But that's who he is and that's his style.

(09-20-2019 05:32 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Now what does bother me about Trump is #1 inaction on climate change

What actions would you like to see?

Which of the Dem candidates is proposing those same actions?

I just was reading a fascinating article in Smithsonian Magazine about the introduction of Man to Australia. (yes, the Aborigines are immigrants, too) The current thought is that they boated over from Indonesia - an easy trip, 60 miles, back then since sea levels were much lower. Then later the Ice Age ended, sea levels rose, and we have the current configuration of Australia, more or less.

So I always wonder - do we want to return to the World that existed before, say, 50 million years ago, or the one later, say, 500 years ago, or what? What is the goal? Do you know? I just know that changes back then were not due to internal combustion engines burning fossil fuels. Maybe sometimes these changes happen naturally?

From the article:

The megafauna’s fate was sealed when Homo sapiens landed on the Australian coast sometime between 47,000 and 65,000 years ago. Scientists believe that around 1,000 sapiens traveled by boat from Indonesia—just 60 miles away then, thanks to low ocean levels—to become the first human inhabitants of Australia. ...

The following millennia saw climate change on an epic scale. The last ice age began 30,000 years ago; by the time it had ended, 18,000 years ago, the melting ice caps had made Australian coastal water levels rise 300 feet, creating its modern outline.

Mungo Man

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/glob...index.html

Thankfully our kids are smarter than us. They're marching throughout the world demanding we make a change. I saw one kids' sign which read 'You will die of old age, I will die of climate change.'

I don't know how anyone can dispute that if they're in Houston dealing with what, our 6th maybe 7th, 1000-year flood in the last 4 or 5 years?

Anyone of the Democratic candidates have plans I can get behind. They all have plans. Instead of asking me what to do for the hundredth time, why don't any of you link to one plan that Donald Trump has? Just one idea - that's all I ask.

(09-20-2019 12:36 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/glob...index.html
Thankfully our kids are smarter than us. They're marching throughout the world demanding we make a change. I saw one kids' sign which read 'You will die of old age, I will die of climate change.'
I don't know how anyone can dispute that if they're in Houston dealing with what, our 6th maybe 7th, 1000-year flood in the last 4 or 5 years?
Anyone of the Democratic candidates have plans I can get behind. They all have plans. Instead of asking me what to do for the hundredth time, why don't any of you link to one plan that Donald Trump has? Just one idea - that's all I ask.

Donald Trump has no plan.

None of the democrats has a plan that will work. All of them pus significant economic pain for minimal climate change gain. It actually requires more energy to make a solar panel than most solar panels will produce in their lives. And I have solar panels on my house and drive a 43 mpg vehicle.

And here's where that becomes a huge problem. Environmentalism is a rich person's issue. When you don't have food or clothing or shelter, the temperature of the planet 100 years from now is the least of your concerns. If you want widespread acceptance, you have to make the economic effects positive. Germany's experiment with green energy is a disaster because the sun doesn't shine in Germany. The wind blows a lot in west Texas, so Texas get more electricity from wind than any other state, up to 1/3 of total demand on windy days, and DFW will be the first metro area to go 100% renewable electricity. Economics work better than command and control.

Why is that a problem? Because unless we get China and India and the third world onboard, there's nothing we can do that will have a material impact. I know, I know, the mantra is that if we lead, they will follow. But if they see us paying an economic price, they're not going to follow. There's no way they are going to make do with less food or clothing or shelter to follow us. For example, the Brazilians are not going to stop deforesting the Amazon basin as long as there is hunger there.

So we need plans that will improve the economic well-being of the people at the same time as they improve the environmental well-being of the planet. That is a big hairy ambitious goal (BHAG), but we need BHAGs, not little things that make us feel good but don't address the problem.

(09-20-2019 12:36 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/glob...index.html

Thankfully our kids are smarter than us. They're marching throughout the world demanding we make a change. I saw one kids' sign which read 'You will die of old age, I will die of climate change.'

I don't know how anyone can dispute that if they're in Houston dealing with what, our 6th maybe 7th, 1000-year flood in the last 4 or 5 years?

Anyone of the Democratic candidates have plans I can get behind. They all have plans. Instead of asking me what to do for the hundredth time, why don't any of you link to one plan that Donald Trump has? Just one idea - that's all I ask.

C'mon FBO, that's like asking an atheist for his plan to prove God exists.

'your side' is the one that claims this is a problem... the other extreme doesn't admit it. Most of us accept that it could be but can't quantify it.

Isn't the burden of proof/solutions on the person asking for change and not on those who aren't? Seems a little obvious of a deflection.

What's your plan to build a physical wall on the southern border?

2009 letter Trump and his three adult children signed that was in a full-page ad in the NY Times addressed to Obama.

Asking any climatista to quantify the issue is like asking a 4 year old to do differential calculus.

No offense FBO, but your insistence on how the 'kids are smarter because they are *marching*' presupposes that your worldview is absolutely, scientifcally correct to an infinitesimal certaintly. And good fing god, the current actual concrete knowledge of the issue only has about a three gd order of magnitude error about it.

Yes, I get it. Climate change is your religion. When you really look at the numbers, and the absolute raft of uncertainty in the even the *magnitude* of the driver constant of CO2 at any relative concentraion, let alone any of the other massive uncertainties in embedded within it (i.e. clouds, solar irridation and cloud formation, or any of 20 or 30 things out there) I cant get to excited in your faith-based proclamations.

But that is the arrogance of the 'we know to a deep level what is happening' crowd. And to be honest, your post above is picture perfect example of that.

When you (or anyone) can point to a steady state paradigm that is predictive in nature, I will be happy to join your 'smart people.' In the absence of that, your comment above is just as arrogant and prosteletyzing as a born again Christian who keeps telling me all the 'proofs' embedded in the New and Old Testament, and how I must be essentially ignorant not to succumb the plain as day existence of God.

(09-20-2019 12:36 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/glob...index.html

Thankfully our kids are smarter than us. They're marching throughout the world demanding we make a change. I saw one kids' sign which read 'You will die of old age, I will die of climate change.'

I don't know how anyone can dispute that if they're in Houston dealing with what, our 6th maybe 7th, 1000-year flood in the last 4 or 5 years?

Anyone of the Democratic candidates have plans I can get behind. They all have plans. Instead of asking me what to do for the hundredth time, why don't any of you link to one plan that Donald Trump has? Just one idea - that's all I ask.

I don't care about Trump's climate plans. Climate change, as it is known now, is not my #1 priority. Not outliving my financial resources is. Everyone one of your candidates wants to tax me into oblivion. Trump's economy is all that keeps me going.

Warren and Sanders want to kill me. They want to put me under a bridge so they can rescue me. I will not help them. The rest of them want the same thing, to a lesser extent.

BTW, watching the Democrats questioning Lewandowski...they all had bottles of water in plastic. does that horrify you?

I think the problem of FBO and a lot of the left is that they think the end of the world is nigh - perhaps as soon as 10 years, according to AOC.

Personally, I think we are undergoing natural change, exacerbated by humans, of whom there are too many on the earth now.

The climate has been changing this way and that, for 14 billion years. A thousand years ago, they were growing grapes on Vinland, now called greenland. The climate changed. Thousands of years ago, there were glaciers grinding out huge depression, now know as the Great Lakes. The climate changed. There have been multiple Ica Ages, separated by warming periods. The climate changed, and changed back, and changed again, and...

The fact that the hysteria has spread to the younger generation proves...that the youngsters are both gullible and passionate.

I have said from the git-go that MY priorities are tax/fiscal policy and foreign policy. Do I think using paper straws is more important than handling Iran? No way. Iran can end this world a lot quicker than plastic straws can, though.

I guess people like me are diminished in the eyes of people like FBO because we do not share the same priorities. I think of him as Chicken Little. The sky is falling!!! what's your plan??? I guess he thinks of me as Nero, fiddling while Rome burns.

All I want is to live out my life in peace, without having to register for government cheese. leftists don't want that.

I don't think the world will end in 10 years. But I think much of the Texas coastline will uninhabitable within a generation. And Houston will be mostly intolerable within two generations. I mean it will be possible to live here but it will be like living in Central or parts of South America in terms of the climate.

I agree we have too many people on the planet, and much of what is happening is out of our control. But I also don't think any of the plans being proposed are going to inflict that much damage on our day-to-day lives.

And if Trump and his administration don't want to tackle this issue, that's their prerogative. But voters who think differently can vote for his opponent if they don't agree with him. I don't think less of you for disagreeing with my position. But you certainly aren't going to sway my opinion on the matter by posting here. I'm not sure why you seem to get so angry with me for voicing my opinion. So far your side is winning. Why are you so worried?

(09-20-2019 03:10 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't think the world will end in 10 years. But I think much of the Texas coastline will uninhabitable within a generation.

Why?

Quote:And Houston will be mostly intolerable within two generations. I mean it will be possible to live here but it will be like living in Central or parts of South America in terms of the climate.

Why?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/...orida-keys

America's great climate exodus is starting in the Florida Keys (leftover issues from Hurricane Irma two years ago).

(that's why I believe in the 1st part)

https://www.climatecentral.org/news/clim...days-21667

Climate change is turning cities into harsh sweltering hotspots. By 2075, Houston is projected to have 40 days a year above 100 degrees and possibly double that by 2100.

(answer to the 2nd part)

(09-20-2019 03:36 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/...orida-keys
America's great climate exodus is starting in the Florida Keys (leftover issues from Hurricane Irma two years ago).
(that's why I believe in the 1st part)

The Keys are a unique topography, which has pretty much always been right on the brink of disaster. The Texas Gulf Coast is not exactly the same.

Not saying the Keys are not a problem, just saying that the same thing doesn't exactly translate to Texas. Key West is 18 feet above sea level, Houston is 80 feet above sea level. That is a significant difference compared to sea level rises measured in inches over centuries.

Quote:https://www.climatecentral.org/news/clim...days-21667
Climate change is turning cities into harsh sweltering hotspots. By 2075, Houston is projected to have 40 days a year above 100 degrees and possibly double that by 2100.
(answer to the 2nd part)

Cities are turning cities into sweltering hot spots. Concrete heats up in a hurry. Air conditioning large office towers exhausts a lot of hot air into the surrounding atmosphere. There are a bunch of other reasons as well. We really need much more park space and water.

Actually, most of the climate models I've seen have most of the warming nearer the poles (hence declining icecaps and retreating glaciers) with less, if any, change nearer the tropics.

I'm not saying temperatures are not rising. What I'm saying is that we really need to understand the nuances.

(09-20-2019 03:10 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't think the world will end in 10 years. But I think much of the Texas coastline will uninhabitable within a generation. And Houston will be mostly intolerable within two generations. I mean it will be possible to live here but it will be like living in Central or parts of South America in terms of the climate.

I agree we have too many people on the planet, and much of what is happening is out of our control. But I also don't think any of the plans being proposed are going to inflict that much damage on our day-to-day lives.

And if Trump and his administration don't want to tackle this issue, that's their prerogative. But voters who think differently can vote for his opponent if they don't agree with him. I don't think less of you for disagreeing with my position. But you certainly aren't going to sway my opinion on the matter by posting here. I'm not sure why you seem to get so angry with me for voicing my opinion. So far your side is winning. Why are you so worried?

And voters who believe in the power of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus can vote for his opponent. That is as much a faith based proposition as your adherence to 40 days in Houston over 100 by 2075.

That doesnt sound like a really smart way to cast a vote. Sounds pretty stupid to me. But that is your choice, as you said.

(09-20-2019 03:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  The Keys are a unique topography, which has pretty much always been right on the brink of disaster. The Texas Gulf Coast is not exactly the same.

Not saying the Keys are not a problem, just saying that the same thing doesn't exactly translate to Texas. Key West is 18 feet above sea level, Houston is 80 feet above sea level. That is a significant difference compared to sea level rises measured in inches over centuries.

Galveston, Corpus Christi and Port Arthur are 7 feet - Beaumont is 16 feet. I wouldn't say much of Houston is considered coastline property.

This is an interesting NWS graph of the 4-day rainfall totals for Harvey and Imelda. I wouldn't be surprised to find out parts of the Golden Triangle are generally inhabitable when all is said and done (the peak spot is up to almost 44 inches now). Hopefully not but let's see how it looks after everything recedes.

https://twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/117510...84/photo/1

(09-20-2019 04:19 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(09-20-2019 03:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  The Keys are a unique topography, which has pretty much always been right on the brink of disaster. The Texas Gulf Coast is not exactly the same.
Not saying the Keys are not a problem, just saying that the same thing doesn't exactly translate to Texas. Key West is 18 feet above sea level, Houston is 80 feet above sea level. That is a significant difference compared to sea level rises measured in inches over centuries.

Galveston, Corpus Christi and Port Arthur are 7 feet - Beaumont is 16 feet. I wouldn't say much of Houston is considered coastline property.
This is an interesting NWS graph of the 4-day rainfall totals for Harvey and Imelda. I wouldn't be surprised to find out parts of the Golden Triangle are generally inhabitable when all is said and done (the peak spot is up to almost 44 inches now). Hopefully not but let's see how it looks after everything recedes.
https://twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/117510...84/photo/1

But Key West is an island, and a fairly tiny one at that, as are the rest of the keys.. The biggest problem will be, as it has been for centuries, erosion from wave action. It will take a lot more for the sea to work its way to Beaumont or Port Arthur or even Galveston or Corpus. The seas are not going to rise seven feet in the next generation--or century. Maybe a few inches, but not 7 feet. So erosion is still the major issue.

(09-20-2019 04:19 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Galveston, Corpus Christi and Port Arthur are 7 feet - Beaumont is 16 feet.

That’s a misleading statement. At the water’s edge, it’s 0 feet. So what? Always has been. Most of Corpus is at least 15 ft above sea level.

http://www.floodmap.net/Elevation/ElevationMap/?gi=4683

(09-20-2019 03:10 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't think the world will end in 10 years. But I think much of the Texas coastline will uninhabitable within a generation. And Houston will be mostly intolerable within two generations. I mean it will be possible to live here but it will be like living in Central or parts of South America in terms of the climate.

I agree we have too many people on the planet, and much of what is happening is out of our control. But I also don't think any of the plans being proposed are going to inflict that much damage on our day-to-day lives.

And if Trump and his administration don't want to tackle this issue, that's their prerogative. But voters who think differently can vote for his opponent if they don't agree with him. I don't think less of you for disagreeing with my position. But you certainly aren't going to sway my opinion on the matter by posting here. I'm not sure why you seem to get so angry with me for voicing my opinion. So far your side is winning. Why are you so worried?

I am worried because I am afraid a bunch of snowflakes worried about plastic straws are going to elect a damn fool who will take away my security.

I get upset because you don't listen to me.