Meanwhile in Australia

[Meclazine for Israel]

Mega-stressed people (and pets) escaping bushfires live in front of our eyes.

Unfortunately, the local wildlife including possums, koalas and wildlife have no chance of escape.



https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-04/nsw-vic-australia-fires-continue-burning-live-blog-january-4/11840348

One thing about the internet. It has not helped this fire situation much. Most people in the affected areas have no power or water or internet. Most people on Facebook are going ballistic about the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.

So most of the information on the internet is redundant for the people who need it, and the rest on Facebook is less meaningful than the Atlas USGD.

Scott Morrison is not a fire fighter, but people are protesting locally about his involvement in minor situations he would have no knowledge of.

Perhaps taking a holiday to Hawaii in the middle of the fire season was a bad public relations move.

But the existing media infrastructure is totally inappropriate for this situation.

[DINGO Joe]

From what I've read, Australia has been burning for quite awhile now (2-3 months) and it's been burning the "nicer" parts of the country than it usually does. 

Why would somebody from Australia go on vacation to Hawaii anyway (aside to get away from all the smoke)?  It seems a bit redundant.

Morrison seems like an empty turd so he'll make a good whipping boy for the country's general failings.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Morrison has nothing to do with the Fire Service. They are all state based.

Half of Kangaroo Island's Koala population has perished in the fire.

[DINGO Joe]

Morrison has nothing to do with the Fire Service. They are all state based.

Half of Kangaroo Island's Koala population has perished in the fire.

Well, if your using the Navy to evacuate people off of beaches and calling up reserves to fight the fires you might as well accept you're a fire fighter now.  Saying it's not your job and then trying to visit the people whose town burned down ain't gonna cut it.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I said that.

Scott Morrison has been involved for 3 months. It's just the internet has gone into a meaningless frenzy.

All State Premiers run the State fire services, and all extra requests from the Federal Government have been met.

NSW Premier said it well this morning:

"I am not commenting on what is written on Facebook or Social Media. We are all (including the PM) focussed on the safety of Australians. It's life and death at the moment, and our focus is 100% on the best solution with advice from the experts that we can provide."

Way too much social media crap on Facebook down under for a normal person to tolerate.

[S019]

The fires in Australia are so intense that they are forming fire-induced thunderstorms, which could in turn start more fires. NASA refers to these as “fire-breathing clouds.”

https://qz.com/1779572/how-australias-massive-bushfires-are-generating-thunderstorms/

[DINGO Joe]

Australia has another menace almost as great as fire--camels!

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51032145

[Meclazine for Israel]

Australia has another menace almost as great as fire--camels!

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51032145

We had a camel team come out in the desert recently adjacent to our work.

They are contract shooters in helicopters hired by the Government (Dept of Environment) who shoot about 400 camels per day each. 4 * Shooters is 1,600 camels per day for 8 days. The camels ruin the pristine environment through eating everything and are considered a pest in some parts of the country.

You don';t have to worry about camels because it is shark season at the moment:

https://www.9news.com.au/national/sharks-lurking-as-body-found-in-wa-waters/f45c6e33-9228-4754-bd90-cffd7dadeec5

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I hope Australia performs better in their war on camels than they did in the was on emus.

[PSOL]

Since this is the designated bushfire thread, I might as well post here.

Australia urges quarter of a million to flee as winds fan huge bushfires

Australia urged nearly a quarter of a million people to evacuate their homes on Friday and prepared military backup as authorities said the next few hours could be “very, very challenging” even as rain poured down in some parts.

...

Since October, 27 people have been killed and thousands subjected to repeat evacuations as huge and unpredictable fires scorched more than 10.3 million hectares (25.5 million acres) of land, an area roughly the size of South Korea.

[longtimelurker]

Only about 1% of the land burnt by fires in Australia attributable to arson:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-11/australias-fires-reveal-arson-not-a-major-cause/11855022

[Frodo]

The aborigines have a solution to the bushfires sweeping Australia -and given they have lived on the continent for about 70,000 years, they're worth listening to:

Australia fires: Indigenous people have a solution for the country's bushfires. And it's been around for tens and thousands of years

[Meclazine for Israel]

The aborigines have a solution to the bushfires sweeping Australia -and given they have lived on the continent for about 70,000 years, they're worth listening to:

Australia fires: Indigenous people have a solution for the country's bushfires. And it's been around for tens and thousands of years

Yeah....nuh.

Aboriginal populations have not been here 50,000 years.

They light fires as backburning and hunting.

But we simply would not backburn with that level or frequency.

They do know their land, but if they could have solved this, they would have.

There are so many racial sympathy pieces floating around like this....it's a feel good story.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Woman goes live on national News after dog Duke dies in Qantas flight.

https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/pets/wa-woman-calls-for-qantas-to-reassess-procedures-after-pets-death-c-645481

I wonder if Duke died on the flight or the tarmac.

[Meclazine for Israel]

A Current Affair did a story on some bully neighbours, Rob and his daughter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McB9ZeYDsH8

Rob seems like a bit of a loose cannon.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Absolute dead-set miracle.

Luckiest 3 year old on the planet. I would barely survive 24 hours in that heat plus widespread flooding. She was with a dog. I would say the dog must have kept her safe overnight.

https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-16/missing-girl-at-noreena-downs-station-pilbara-found/11873760

[Meclazine for Israel]

The true hero of today's remarkable news story in Australia is revealed:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-17/family-girl-missing-on-station-matilda-celebrate-hero-dog-wolfy/11877564


PHOTO: Wolfy the Jack Russell terrier has been hailed as a hero after staying with the girl overnight. (Instagram: Chooky_Paull)

[Meclazine for Israel]

Proud to present.

Aussie of the Decade

https://youtu.be/z-lESeSvx04

[Meclazine for Israel]

A 'rogue' Wombat has been removed after terrorising citizens of Longford in Tasmania.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-22/rogue-wombat-terrorises-town-in-tasmania/11889176

[Meclazine for Israel]

3 US Firefighters died when their C130 plane crashed fighting fires.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-23/nsw-rfs-air-tanker-crashes-near-numeralla-bushfire/11893554

R.I.P.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Australia has gone "Koala-Mad".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afB1y6QK7UQ

Given the devastating effect of the bushfire on their lives, most estimates put the loss in the Koala population at somewhere around 20,000 from a population of 80,000.

One observer calls them "functionally extinct", a term used to coin a population no capable of surviving a further 3 generations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/world/australia/koala-fires-functionally-extinct.html

But given their popularity as something people like to look at on Facebook, we just have an epidemic of mis-Construed stories, with one today that out of the population of 4 million Koalas, 95% have been killed in the bushfires.

But we did not lose 95% of our Koala-hosting bushland???

Fake News.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Lamington Eating competition held at Hervey Bay QLD.

A female contestant went into cardiac arrest after she "shovelled the lamington into her mouth".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-27/woman-dies-in-australia-day-lamington-eating-competition/11902574

[Meclazine for Israel]

The World's Richest Cruise Liner is doin star patterns off my coast.

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/cruise-ship-brings-millionaires-and-stars-a-plenty-to-was-coast-ng-b881515561z

No one knows why.

[T'Chenka]

This thread just makes me think of

[Meclazine for Israel]

Australia now needs to choose between China and the US as its strategic partner in the future.

Choosing between China or the USA

https://youtu.be/eCcl7_CPsvE