Finally it's raining in Australia ??
"Downpours have already helped to extinguish 32 bushfires..number of blazes fell from 120 to 88..It means the end may be in sight for exhausted firefighters who have battled deadly fires for more than 3 months."
— Akki (@akkitwts) January 16, 2020
As any Californian could tell us, the danger is nowhere near over yet. But it’s a temporary reprieve!
Relief is here for a number of firefighters working across NSW. Although this rain won’t extinguish all fires, it will certainly go a long way towards containment. This footage was captured down at the Good Good Fire burning near Cooma. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/fxV9u2hN6K
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 16, 2020
Much more detail from the Guardian.
this money goes directly to @NSWRFS, the volunteer first responders dealing with the fires that have already burned more than 215 million acres in australia.
they needs the worlds support and every dollar and retweet helps. ??????https://t.co/RgThYNhlyj
— m i t h (@ManlnTheHoody) January 14, 2020
(If you have other donation suggestions, post in the comments.)
satby
Best news to wake up to for weeks.
Edited to add: also this is a good place for donations. World Wildlife Fund Australia bushfire emergency
TheMightyTrowel
I was driving home when the rain hit where i live, and a bunch of people around me pulled off the road, got out of their cars and just stood in it. Amazing too see. God I’ve missed rain.
Patricia Kayden
This is great but Australians need to elect a Prime Minister who actually believes in climate change. The idiot they have now does not.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
WaterGirl
Mother Nature always wins. She’s like the trump card in every situation. (small t, not bit T)
She always gets her way. It’s very humbling when we are reminded of that. For me that came when the (invisible) straight line winds broke my 7-foot in diameter tree, which fell on my house, then the rain started, just pouring in through the ceiling.
It also fell on the transformer, and another tree in my yard caught fire, and with my back yard suddenly littered with chunks of tree everywhere, lying on the ground like kindling just waiting to catch fire. But the fire fighters couldn’t put the fire out on the tree while it was raining, because of the live wires.
Everything that mattered was totally out of my control. Powerless.
People who think they can ignore climate change are going to have a rude awakening when they come up against the immovable force that is Mother Nature.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: Mother Nature is a bitch.
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ?
@WaterGirl: we forget Mother Nature and she’ll remind us.
OzarkHillbilly
Stormy Daniels’ ex-lawyer Michael Avenatti arrested for alleged bail violations
MagdaInBlack
@OzarkHillbilly:
The man has shady showboat written all over him. I’m not surprised. He did serve a purpose tho.
OzarkHillbilly
@MagdaInBlack: He is a showboat. I was never impressed with him as a lawyer (a lawyer is supposed to represent their client, not make a target out of them) but I did not think he was a criminal. Even so I am not surprised at the charges because showboating and criminal behavior often go hand in hand*. The shame of it is, I can not dismiss this outright:
“Avenatti has said he has been unfairly targeted by the US justice department after publicly quarreling with Trump.”
I think there might very well be more than a little truth to that.
*One would think that a person engaged in criminal behavior would keep a low profile, it’s the smart thing to do, but too many times I have seen people play these highwire acts of showboating and continuous law breaking. I think they get an adrenaline like rush out of it.
Baud
White House statement just released and read on Today Show didn’t appear to expressly deny Parnas’s allegations.
Baud
Another day, another fake trade deal treated as serious.
OzarkHillbilly
US says ‘flash crash’ trader should not face further prison time
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: You got a link? The google shows nothing yet.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
It was read on the today show. I didn’t find it on the web, and I’m not going to the White House web site to find it.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: OK, thanx. Patience is a virtue I need to work on anyway.
Patricia Kayden
She should have worn a long red tie.
Reboot
@TheMightyTrowel: This seems like a dead thread, but just in case you see it, I wanted to ask: I’ve been wondering if Australian government has an impeachment process, and if so, what would trip it.
gene108
@Patricia Kayden:
Pink is more insulting than a tan suit
Trump only wears dark blue suits. This shows he’s serious, and why he’s serious, and taken seriously
Liberals could learn a lot about professionalism and responsibility from Trump
Kathleen
@Patricia Kayden: I hope someone tells Nancy Smash she’s lost Steve Doocy.
TS (the original)
@Reboot:
Not The MightyTrowel but
The easiest way to remove a Prime Minister is for his party to vote him out. This would be like the House of Reps removing Nancy Pelosi as leader of the House. The PM is the leader of the majority party in the House of Reps in Australia. There is no such thing as impeachment.
We had a crisis in 1975 when the then Prime Minister did not have a majority in the Senate & they refused supply (Money). The PM then started investigating other ways to fund government & as things went from bad to worse the Governor General (Queen’s representative) sacked the government & asked the Opposition leader to be a caretaker PM & call an election. Whether this was legal or not is still up for debate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional_crisis
VOR
@Patricia Kayden: The Republicans are also complaining because she used a large number of pens. This is standard stuff which is done at every major bill signing. The pens are given as gifts or souvenirs to key allies. Trump has done this himself.
Apparently, the multiple pens used for signing the Clinton Articles of Impeachment had a typo, saying “Untied States Senator”.
OzarkHillbilly
In other words, racism in society, both past* and present, combined with racism in the banking industry, ends with racist results. I am sure you are every bit as shocked as I.
*I love that part about “the lack of intergenerational wealth”. Not only does that put the lie to the whole “meritocracy” BS, but think back to the financial crash of ’07-’08. Which demographics were shown to have time and again been targeted with the shady loan deals that were at the heart of the crash? Which borrowers were then pushed into those types of loans even tho they were more than qualified for safer more secure traditional loans? And which demographics suffered the worse losses of family wealth in the crash?
It’s a lesson in how “insufficient knowledge” about the banking system insures a lack of “intergenerational wealth” within certain racial demographics. It’s a feature, not a bug.
OzarkHillbilly
@VOR:
Huh. I had no idea they made ceremonial sharpies. The things I learn here. If I had known that back in the day I could have been the classiest carpenter on commercial job sites all over the country.
ETA: As is I could still be the classiest hillbilly in all the Ozarks. See you guys later, I’m on a mission from dawg.
JPL
@Patricia Kayden: Fox has become the fashion experts I guess. I suppose they raved about Melania’s dour look the other night in the 2000 dollar trash bag.
JPL
@gene108: No thank you. I’m too old to pal around with mob guys.
Patricia Kayden
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Patricia Kayden: I think she should have worn Orange…Or maybe Titans Blue but I am weird. Never understood why everyone in Washington needs to look like they are on the way to a funeral.
Gin & Tonic
Everyone has presumably heard about the Parnas interview by now, and has seen the text messages implying surveillance/stalking of Ambassador Yovanovitch in Kyiv. You might be wondering about the government reaction – well, they’ve opened a criminal investigation into said surveillance.
Oh, wait, that’s the *Ukrainian* Interior Ministry. The US Government, which actually employs Ambassador Yovanovitch, the highest-ranking female Foreign Service Officer, HASN’T DONE A FUCKING THING ABOUT IT.
Aardvark Cheeselog
Since it is an open thread, I wonder if anybody else saw this yesterday: Christian school expels teen after she posed with rainbow birthday cake, mother says
If you want to find a sick fvck, just look at the nearest Christian school administrator.
Christians as a group are deeply confused about what morality is.
Quinerly
@Baud: I found this:
In response to Parnas’ interview, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday morning, “These allegations are being made by a man who is currently out on bail for federal crimes and is desperate to reduce his exposure to prison.”
“The facts haven’t changed — the president did nothing wrong and this impeachment, which was manufactured and carried out by the Democrats has been a sham from the start,” Grisham said.
OzarkHillbilly
The long read
Bring up the bodies: the retired couple who find drowning victims
Quinerly
@Aardvark Cheeselog: I saw it. Kentucky
Christians
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Gin & Tonic:
Trump wanted Ukraine to announce they were opening an investigation and they finally did!
terben
@Reboot: There is no equivalent to the US impeachment process in Australia. PMs are not chosen by the voters directly like the US President. PMs are chosen by their party and can be changed by a ‘spill’ motion and subsequent ballot at a party caucus meeting. PMs can also lose a confidence motion on the floor of the House of Reps if enough of their party defects and votes with the opposition. The PM would then be expected to tender his resignation to the Governor General and if no one could cobble together a majority on the floor of the House then a fresh election would be called.
mrmoshpotato
@OzarkHillbilly: Fuck ’em.
James E Powell
@Aardvark Cheeselog:
I did see that. Stories like this are fairly common. I wonder about the parents. Did they not know the school was like this?
mrmoshpotato
@Patricia Kayden: Awww what a pwesicous widdle snowflake.
mrmoshpotato
@Kathleen: Nancy Smash will be devastated and won’t be able to go on upholding and defending the Constitution. I expect a resignation letter from her later today.
Cheryl Rofer
Big impeachment doings today. The House managers read the charges, and the Senate gets sworn in.
mrmoshpotato
@JPL: The most luxurious, classiest and tremendous bigly Hefty bag ever. Period!
ETA – Trash in trash bag. Hmm…makes sense.
EATA – Garbage in garbage can
Immanentize
@Quinerly: Translation: “Parnas has receipts. Old news.”
Baud
@Quinerly:
Do you read that as a specific denial?
mrmoshpotato
@Gin & Tonic: Shocking! ? < my shocked face
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Quinerly:
It’s possible Grisham is even more offensive as Press Secretary than Sarah Huckabee Sanders was. And that’s saying a lot.
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic: Is your son still pursuing a career in the foreign service?
Dorothy A. Winsor
Stoehr is referring to Liz Cheney’s announcement that she plans to stay in the House rather then run for Senate.
Immanentize
@Baud: I certainly don’t. It’s like whenever Pompeo says, “It’s outrageous you should ask such a question!”. Without answering the question. It is pure deflection and dodge.
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: The DOJ has lost all credibility. I no longer trust anything they have to say.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor: But will Moscow Mitch have a rock dropped on him while sitting on a hard place? And, no, I’m not talking about crack cocaine. Oh Moscow Cocaine Mitch…
OzarkHillbilly
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That’s interesting. I wonder for what specific reasons she decided against joining the most exclusive club in the country.
mrmoshpotato
@Immanentize: “How dare you question the greatness of our god emperor Soviet shitpile mobster conman!”
Immanentize
@mrmoshpotato: That is precisely Pompeo’s attitude. All bully boy bluster.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: My uneducated guess is that she wants McCarthy’s seat.
OzarkHillbilly
Call that the trump clause.
Jay
Morning all,
Dump lied, must be a day ending in “y”.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: It will be called the “two notch test.”. When Britons have to pull their belts in by two notches, then (and only then) will the US come to their rescue with food sales (sorry, no special friend or family discount).
Jay
@OzarkHillbilly:
as Chris Grey’s Brexit Blog pointed out recently, when it comes to trade with the EU or any other trade deals, Britain is now in the position of “getting only what their trade partners are willing to give”, so it’s going to be a meal of chlorinated chicken washed down with a slug of Colt 45 or Ripple.
Jay
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: That’s a theory. Do you know if she is that well liked within the Republican caucus? Is she that good of a fund raiser? I just haven’t seen all that many stories about her. She has a reputation as an attack dog, but she seems to be awfully quiet for that role.
The lone commenter on Stoehrs tweet says, “They do not like her there at all.” which is silly on the face of it. She was re-elected for WY lone congressional seat with a 34 point margin.
Gin & Tonic
@Immanentize: It’s unclear what he will do. He is currently on a one-year fellowship, so he has until around Sep-Oct to figure things out.
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic: That is, hopefully, good timing. Fingers crossed for him.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Aardvark Cheeselog: yup I read it. Looks like the school administrators never read Genesis. Also they are assholes and I hope her parents find a more kind and open minded school for their daughter.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@OzarkHillbilly: I know, right? Cheney would be facing the exact same electorate if she ran for Senate.
Is this about seniority? She’s not been in the House that long, has she? Does she think the Republicans will have a better shot at taking back the House than the Senate in 2022?
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: Reading that left me all choked up. Good people.
JoeyJoeJoe
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: she was first elected in 2016, so she’s risen pretty quickly, indicating that she must have a lot of support within the caucus
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: hahahahaha
annamal
@terben: The (somewhat unkind) joke in my part of NZ was that a change in Ozzie PMs was a good prompt to change your smoke detector batteries.