According to local officials in Bastrop County Texas, the fire is swallowing "One home every four minutes". The fight has only begun. As of now, "zero percent" is contained. Words cannot describe how devastating these fires are to Austin and the surrounding areas. I'll simply let the images speak for themselves.
The video footage was shot in and around Bastrop County. Please Contact the Central Texas Red Cross to help - americanredcross.org/​CentralTexasFaceBook
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Just to prove how stupid some people are...there was a letter in my local Texas paper a few days ago from a smoker who made the argument that since he pays state taxes of a few cents per pack on cigarettes, he's already paid any "fine" he might get for dumping litter on the street....so back off and give him his "freedom" to toss his cigarette butts wherever he wants.
Uh huh. Somehow I don't think the few hundred he pays in state taxes yearly will pay for thousands of acres burned, hundreds of houses burned and maybe the death of some human beings.
I'm getting rather tired of hearing people like that talk about their "freedom"-- since far too often it's coupled with a total lack of responsibility towards other people.
That is precisely what is wrong with the arguments you hear. In particular, they seem to think that even displaying common decency, and being expected to behave as a mature adult, is an impossible imposition on their freedom.
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ybd01
Then I will finish with this: It doesn't matter which side of the coin you are on in regards to the causes of climate change, it does not take away from the fact that Texas has always been like this, as can be seen from historical records gathered from before the time of scientific records. Texas goes through periods of severe drought with periods of plentiful wet seasons. Some parts of Texas can go through drought while others get drenched. For those of us who have had family in Texas for generations are well aware of this fact.
Neither praying to God or pushing politically-based science is ever going to change the fact that Texas can be both generous and unforgiving, and it has been that way for a very long time, and will continue to be that way long after we are gone.
The science is not politically based. It is science - with evidence and data.
The problem is that Texas may well end up being a whole lot more unforgiving in the future - depending on what climate change has in store for it. You'd need to check what the models suggest wrt. rainfall and temperature changes that are predicted, to get the best to determine whether it is expected to get much drier - wetter, or remain the same - allbeit with higher average temperatures.
Let's see what Ricky actually does.....other than get himself some "sleeves rolled up, standing with the firefighters" campaign videos.
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