Also thanks for the Tim Neil quote, also appreciated.
I'd heard previously about the deployment of prisoners as firefighters. Just read this morning they're paid about $1 per hour. I expect some politician or think tank to soon propose rounding up the unemployed to fight fires, as work-for-the-dole-free-on-the-job-training etc.
Mike Davis' City of Quartz is worth a read. Its not one you want buy in the airport as you are about the board a flight to LA. The city has been doomed for a long time.
I was on leave when the 19/20 Bushfires happened, and I wrote a series of blogs "This is how we.." and they were incredibly helpful (so people told me) in helping people make sense of what was going on. The "This is how we can help" blog was read 36,000 times. So, don't underestimate how can you help people for whom fire/disaster is an ethereal concept, understand what is happening. People need sensemakers.
I've read a bit of Mike Davis but not that one yet. I appreciate the sensemaking comment. It's something I'm constantly trying to do, with uncertain results.
I don't want to annoy anyone by posting a comment that might seem far afield, but most of the media coverage has not been helpful. Most of the news reports are emotionally flammable and unhinged and don't help us avoid future infernos as they don't itemize the mistakes that were made and what we ought to do to avoid future blow ups.
Most of the media coverage has served to aid D Trump by deflecting attention away from his most recent criminal deeds
I don't think your comment is far afield, David. Its astute. We are seeing the information churn move into hyperspace, with volume and speed, and this fuels (pardon the pun) the infoinferno that we are consumed by. Its also pushing the events into a simple, and dare i say it hollywood narrative (good and bad guys, incompetent government officials, plucky everyman/woman who saves the day/family/dog, and the sun will eventually come up, and as The Rock says at the end of San Andreas, and now...pregnant pause, we rebuild (like its something that you just do on the weekend. All this then helps mis, and dis information take hold.
Thanks once again for a sobering perspective.
Also thanks for the Tim Neil quote, also appreciated.
I'd heard previously about the deployment of prisoners as firefighters. Just read this morning they're paid about $1 per hour. I expect some politician or think tank to soon propose rounding up the unemployed to fight fires, as work-for-the-dole-free-on-the-job-training etc.
(Actually Twiggy or Gina probably already have)
Mike Davis' City of Quartz is worth a read. Its not one you want buy in the airport as you are about the board a flight to LA. The city has been doomed for a long time.
I was on leave when the 19/20 Bushfires happened, and I wrote a series of blogs "This is how we.." and they were incredibly helpful (so people told me) in helping people make sense of what was going on. The "This is how we can help" blog was read 36,000 times. So, don't underestimate how can you help people for whom fire/disaster is an ethereal concept, understand what is happening. People need sensemakers.
I've read a bit of Mike Davis but not that one yet. I appreciate the sensemaking comment. It's something I'm constantly trying to do, with uncertain results.
I don't want to annoy anyone by posting a comment that might seem far afield, but most of the media coverage has not been helpful. Most of the news reports are emotionally flammable and unhinged and don't help us avoid future infernos as they don't itemize the mistakes that were made and what we ought to do to avoid future blow ups.
Most of the media coverage has served to aid D Trump by deflecting attention away from his most recent criminal deeds
https://davidgottfried.substack.com/p/the-la-fires-have-been-donald-trumps
I don't think your comment is far afield, David. Its astute. We are seeing the information churn move into hyperspace, with volume and speed, and this fuels (pardon the pun) the infoinferno that we are consumed by. Its also pushing the events into a simple, and dare i say it hollywood narrative (good and bad guys, incompetent government officials, plucky everyman/woman who saves the day/family/dog, and the sun will eventually come up, and as The Rock says at the end of San Andreas, and now...pregnant pause, we rebuild (like its something that you just do on the weekend. All this then helps mis, and dis information take hold.
which is partly why returning to action, as Tim did at the end of his thread, is so important
Great blog!
Thanks :)