Which of those decisions turned out to be mistakes?

 

Palisades fire from PTZ Camera on roof of high rise in Downtown. Wikimedia Commons

As with most enormous disasters, there wasn’t just one simple mistake that led to the Los Angeles fires.  There appear to be many decisions, made over the course of many years, by many different people, that led to our present circumstance, in which something like this was possible.  Interestingly, all of them were decisions made by leftists, in the interest of advancing leftism.  For example:

  • Emphasizing diversity rather than competence in fire department hiring practices.
  • Declining to add fresh water reservoirs and desalination plants, for environmental reasons.
  • Firing established firefighters who chose not to get their COVID vaccines.
  • Reducing brush-cutting and controlled burns of forests for environmental reasons.
  • Spending their energy budget on solar and wind development rather than maintenance of conventional electric lines and plants, leading to fire risks.

There are many other factors to consider, of course.  But let’s start with those.  It would be fascinating to share this list with a Democrat voter, and ask them the following question:  “In retrospect, after seeing the destruction of the Los Angeles fires, which of those decisions turned out to be mistakes?

Daniel Hernandez-Salazar via Shutterstock. Image ID: 2187943721

Ask California Democrats who just lost their homes.  Ask California Democrats who live elsewhere, but saw what happened.  Ask Democrats anywhere in America, who have been watching the news.

What would they say?

What could they possibly say?

It’s difficult for a devout believer to see flaws in his/her religion, even when staring evidence right in the face.  I suspect that they may not even understand the question.

 

But for Democrats who voted for Biden, and comfort themselves with faith in racism and climate change, but have become concerned with things they can see, like inflation or potential world wars – these people may be starting to wonder about the impact of leftist policies.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

And then they see this.  This is hard to ignore.

I wonder if you asked them which of those policies turned out to be mistakes – VERY VERY COSTLY MISTAKES – I wonder what they would say?

I’m not sure.

But I am sure of one thing.  Our media will devote itself, night and day, to be sure that no one EVER asks those questions in a public forum.

After all, that’s their job.

They need to make sure Democrats stay in power.  After all, Republicans are dangerous.

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  1. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    I can say with certainty that a large cohort of California voters will say it was a failure to address climate change sooner. 

    • #1
  2. DonG (¡Afuera!) Coolidge
    DonG (¡Afuera!)
    @DonG

    Dr. Bastiat: Declining to add fresh water reservoirs

    yes, and failure to use the existing reservoirs like the 117 million gallon Palisades reservoir, which was closed for “cosmetic” repairs.   

    Also, regulating the insurance companies out of offering policies.  

    When you fail to plan…you plan to fail.

    • #2
  3. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    Tex929rr (View Comment):

    I can say with certainty that a large cohort of California voters will say it was a failure to address climate change sooner.

    Psyops are executed because they work. Mostly.

    • #3
  4. EODmom Coolidge
    EODmom
    @EODmom

    DonG (¡Afuera!) (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: Declining to add fresh water reservoirs

    yes, and failure to use the existing reservoirs like the 117 million gallon Palisades reservoir, which was closed for “cosmetic” repairs.

    Also, regulating the insurance companies out of offering policies.

    When you fail to plan…you plan to fail.

    The interesting question is: to whom did the water district divert the water that previously went into that reservoir? The feeder system had to be changed pretty significant, wouldn’t you think? It didn’t go nowhere. 

    • #4
  5. Misthiocracy has never Member
    Misthiocracy has never
    @Misthiocracy

    Dr. Bastiat:

    Ask California Democrats who just lost their homes.  Ask California Democrats who live elsewhere, but saw what happened.  Ask Democrats anywhere in America, who have been watching the news.

    What would they say?

    a) Global Warming.

    b) It’s all Trump’s fault.

    • #5
  6. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    This is what has to happen. They need to bury all the electric lines. I don’t see why they haven’t been doing this since the 50s.  I just saw a video that said that you can’t afford the infrastructure to constantly have water pressure to fight this type of fire.  Fox News had a guy on that saved multiple houses just by having a pump, hose, and a sprinkler working with his pool and his neighbor’s pools. Everybody has to have that.  I just heard that when fire dangers were really high one of the prior administrations constantly had planes full of water in the air at all times. It makes sense to me. Obviously, they need big fire breaks and cleaning of the underbrush constantly. It’s absolutely nuts that they don’t do that. This is probably too much to ask, but I know that the Sierra Nevada can have 5 to 9 more dams, feeding Southern and Northern California plus the electricity.  

    • #6
  7. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    They need to print more money. We also need more regulations. lol 

     

    https://x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1878430130839978126

     

     

    Californians are blaming insurance companies for pulling out of the state. Insurance companies are blaming politicians for capping rates and making it impossible to earn a profit in California. Maybe the root problem is most Californians can’t afford a market rate for insurance on their homes because their home values doubled while they owned it and rebuilding in this state costs 200% of the home’s value. It would take perhaps a 75% drop in home values and 50% drop in rebuilding costs to make insurance affordable. You can’t get there from here.  

     

    acTUaRIaL sCIenCE iS bOrInG 

    pRIvAtE mONeY wOuLD bE TErriblE sO iTs ILlegAL 

    cEntRal pLAnNing MakEs oUr liVEs beTTEr

    gOVeRnmENt forCE maKEs OUr LivEs bETteR 

    lIbERtaRiAns dOn’t lIVe iN tHe rEAl woRld 

     

    • #7
  8. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    This is what has to happen. They need to bury all the electric lines. I don’t see why they haven’t been doing this since the 50s.

    Environmentalist Whackos, to use a Rush-ism.  And it’s not just a single Environmental Impact Statement etc.  They would require one for each piece of burying.

     

    • #8
  9. EJHill Staff
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    RufusRJones: This is what has to happen. They need to bury all the electric lines.

    Question for our engineers: Is this something that’s even feasible in an environment prone to both earthquakes and mudslides? 

    • #9
  10. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    EJHill (View Comment):

    RufusRJones: This is what has to happen. They need to bury all the electric lines.

    Question for our engineers: Is this something that’s even feasible in an environment prone to both earthquakes and mudslides?

    As opposed to hanging lines from utility poles?  Yes.  Much more expensive, though.  I don’t know about high voltages lines, though.  I think there are probably limits to what can be underground without building significant infrastructure. 

    • #10
  11. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Well, if they can’t put the high-voltage lines underground, people can’t live there anymore. lol

    • #11
  12. EJHill Staff
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Tex929rr: As opposed to hanging lines from utility poles? Yes. Much more expensive, though.

    I thought I read that there were major problems in Christ Church, NZ with buried lines where the ground just liquified. 

    • #12
  13. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    This is what has to happen. They need to bury all the electric lines.

    Why?  Why in that kind of terrain and geological subsurface, of all places?   

    Sounds like a good subject to ask the internet about.  

    • #13
  14. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Tex929rr: As opposed to hanging lines from utility poles? Yes. Much more expensive, though.

    I thought I read that there were major problems in Christ Church, NZ with buried lines where the ground just liquified.

    What would happen to lines hung from utility poles when the ground liquifies?  At least the underground ones started near ground level.

    • #14
  15. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    I live in Hilton Head.  All of our utilities are buried, except the main trunk line for electricity going down the middle of the island. 

    The idea is to minimize Hurricaine damage.  And to look more natural, with no unsightly power poles etc.

    It’s great.  But you’re right.  It’s expensive. 

    And complicated.  You can’t dig a post hole for a mail box without calling for multiple inspections.

    • #15
  16. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    This is what has to happen. They need to bury all the electric lines.

    Why? Why in that kind of terrain and geological subsurface, of all places?

    Sounds like a good subject to ask the internet about.

    I found this list of cons on the website of an electrical utility coop that does some of each:

    • More expensive to build and maintain.
    • Time consuming and expensive to locate and repair a malfunction.
    • Vulnerable to damage and electrocution from digging or other construction.
    • Susceptible to damage from earthquakes and flooding of the transformer box.
    • Not practical in unstable sandy or rocky mountainous areas.
    • Ultimately fed by overhead lines.

    The website lists pros and cons of both overhead and underground lines.  

    • #16
  17. Juliana Member
    Juliana
    @Juliana

    At this point you just know someone, or many, in CA are salivating over all that bare land. You know, where people used to live. And, due to new building codes will never live again. Time to plan utopia.

    • #17
  18. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Misthiocracy has never (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat:

    Ask California Democrats who just lost their homes. Ask California Democrats who live elsewhere, but saw what happened. Ask Democrats anywhere in America, who have been watching the news.

    What would they say?

    a) Global Warming.

    b) It’s all Trump’s fault.

    What’s interesting in my Twitter  feed is all the people who blame Trump and MAGA for  the wildfires because they are opposed to the politics of global warming, but think it’s just terrible for Trump to blame California politicians and politics for the problem.  He should be helping,  not making it a political issue.  

     

    • #18
  19. Chowderhead Coolidge
    Chowderhead
    @Podunk

    Occasional fires are natural. Constantly putting out every fire is not natural.

    I seen an older gentleman on Fox and Friends this morning. He used to do fire management. They would divide the brushland into squares and occasionally do controlled burns. They had to stop because some mouse habitat was disrupted.

    You can’t stop managing burns and then be surprised when you have this inferno. It will burn sooner or later under any circumstance.

    I feel bad for everyone that lost their homes. Even the wealthy, and crazy, lefties.

    • #19
  20. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Chowderhead (View Comment):

    Occasional fires are natural. Constantly putting out every fire is not natural.

    I seen an older gentleman on Fox and Friends this morning. He used to do fire management. They would divide the brushland into squares and occasionally do controlled burns. They had to stop because some mouse habitat was disrupted.

    You can’t stop managing burns and then be surprised when you have this inferno. It will burn sooner or later under any circumstance.

    I feel bad for everyone that lost their homes. Even the wealthy, and crazy, lefties.

    Or maybe, like in the Elon Musk video above, “they had it coming.”  Eventually, no matter how “rare” it might be.

    Or put in modern terms, FAFO.

    • #20
  21. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    EODmom (View Comment):

    DonG (¡Afuera!) (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: Declining to add fresh water reservoirs

    yes, and failure to use the existing reservoirs like the 117 million gallon Palisades reservoir, which was closed for “cosmetic” repairs.

    Also, regulating the insurance companies out of offering policies.

    When you fail to plan…you plan to fail.

    The interesting question is: to whom did the water district divert the water that previously went into that reservoir? The feeder system had to be changed pretty significant, wouldn’t you think? It didn’t go nowhere.

    It went to sea. The delta smelt is an endangered fish that requires salinity to be in a specific range. That salinity is maintained by fresh water draining out into the Pacific. During a drought, not enough fresh water is present to ensure the survival of the smelt so the water is being diverted because little silver fish are more important than human beings.

    • #21
  22. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Percival (View Comment):
    During a drought, not enough fresh water is present to ensure the survival of the smelt so the water is being diverted because little silver fish are more important than human beings.

    More important than those in the California celebrity industry, sure, but more important than any and all human beings?

    • #22
  23. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    I live in Hilton Head. All of our utilities are buried, except the main trunk line for electricity going down the middle of the island.

    The idea is to minimize Hurricaine damage. And to look more natural, with no unsightly power poles etc.

    It’s great. But you’re right. It’s expensive.

    And complicated. You can’t dig a post hole for a mail box without calling for multiple inspections.

    The lines are all buried in my neighborhood here in New England. The biggest problems we have are rodents chewing through them. The Verizon and National Grid vans practically live in our neighborhood year round. :) :)

    • #23
  24. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Tex929rr: As opposed to hanging lines from utility poles? Yes. Much more expensive, though.

    I thought I read that there were major problems in Christ Church, NZ with buried lines where the ground just liquified.

    Above ground lines will have a problem where the ground liquefies too.

    EDIT: Tex929rr got there first.

     

    • #24
  25. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    Dr. Bastiat: Emphasizing diversity rather than competence in fire department hiring practices.

    Not that I want to see people hired simply to fill in the spaces on a pie chart, but have there been reports that these wildfires are partly the fault of incompetent firefighters?

    • #25
  26. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    EODmom (View Comment):

    DonG (¡Afuera!) (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: Declining to add fresh water reservoirs

    yes, and failure to use the existing reservoirs like the 117 million gallon Palisades reservoir, which was closed for “cosmetic” repairs.

    Also, regulating the insurance companies out of offering policies.

    When you fail to plan…you plan to fail.

    The interesting question is: to whom did the water district divert the water that previously went into that reservoir? The feeder system had to be changed pretty significant, wouldn’t you think? It didn’t go nowhere.

    They thought the ocean was looking a little low. 

    • #26
  27. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Why don’t they use nuke plants and desalinization? lol Never mind. 

    Did you know that all of the freshwater that the world would ever need rolls off the mountains and into the ocean in British Columbia? It seems to me that buying it would be a good idea.

    • #27
  28. The Scarecrow Thatcher
    The Scarecrow
    @TheScarecrow

    Tex929rr (View Comment):

    I can say with certainty that a large cohort of California voters will say it was a failure to address climate change sooner.

    Yes, this is the magic of the whole “climate change” con: they can use it to deflect any and all malfeasance, corruption, and incompetence by their administrations of government, and a credulous populace will just let it all go on and on and on, while, this time literally, their whole world goes up in flames.

    • #28
  29. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: Emphasizing diversity rather than competence in fire department hiring practices.

    Not that I want to see people hired simply to fill in the spaces on a pie chart, but have there been reports that these wildfires are partly the fault of incompetent firefighters?

    I suspect they could have hired another 50 incompetent firefighters, with little impact in outcomes.  Maybe even 75?

    Why not try 100?  Just see how it goes?  I mean, honestly.

    After all, the whole reason we have a fire department is to promote alternative sexual lifestyles.

    Right wing fascists will try to suggest that firefighters are there to fight fires.  We should cancel them.

    Sorry.  I got a little carried away…

    You may be right.  Competence of firefighters may have been unimportant in this particular case, as I’m sure CNN will try to suggest. 

    Or perhaps their competence mattered.  Hard to say.  Does it really matter that firefighters & cops are competent? 

    I guess I don’t know for sure.  But I still think that they should consider nothing else in hiring. 

    All other hiring criteria create just all sorts of problems, for all sorts of reasons.

    • #29
  30. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Many of the decisions you cite are “luxury” priorities that might be plausible for the extremely wealthy, as long as nothing goes significantly wrong. 

    Many of us as Americans (who are almost inevitably wealthy by world and historical standards) indulge in luxury priorities that would baffle many of our own ancestors or even most of the world’s population today. 

    But, Californians have for several decades been able to indulge in some extraordinarily luxurious priorities in a place to which people who were willing to come and invest regardless of risk because the opportunities and attractions were so large.

    My own personal assessment (I lived in southern California from birth (1956) until 2000) is that the consequences of decades of luxury priorities accumulated sufficient to reveal that there’s a limit to the ability to afford luxury priorities, no matter how wealthy you think you are. There’s a limit to what wealth can do. Neglect reality long enough in favor of your luxury priorities, reality has such big influence that you can no longer ignore it in favor of your luxury priorities. 

    • #30
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