All this heat...

[hamsterjill]

I need to vent so please excuse me.

As we all know, it’s been the summer from hell, and it’s being forecast that winter is going to be brutal.

We’ve now read that the planet has passed the marker where we can reverse climate change.

Every day here in Texas, at least, we get emails saying the grid may fail.

Today is going to be yet another record breaker. Then, hopefully, things slowly get a little better over the next week. And I mean a TINY bit better. But we are all so desperate that any improvement is welcomed.

I’m old. I’m tired. I’m anxious all the time about this. And I fucking HATE the people who didn’t support Al Gore.

We would have had a chance of survival if Al had been President. Because he knew and he understood. The idiots that supported Bush set us on a course of destruction and I will be hard pressed to ever forget that.

Don’t even get me started on 2016.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

1. So you folks have been getting people suffering from 3rd degree burns....

From falling on pavement too?

We start getting reports like that from northern states we can pretty much conclude we have reached the point of no return when it comes to climate change.

[hamsterjill]

6. It's depressing as hell.

I know we aren’t the only ones affected. It’s everywhere. And it’s not going to get better. I understand that.

I’m just not sure how I’ll keep dealing with the stress. Democrats have more empathy than Republicans. We feel, not only for ourselves, but for other creatures - human and otherwise.

It’s all just worn me down. And I know I’m not alone.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

12. It's not depressing.

It's something to worry about.

I live in southeastern Arizona. If you're going to live here you have to live with the low humidity and scorching heat. I personally love it but I digress.

I see all the time on the news how tourists don't plan on year around low humidity and go hiking in the cool part of year without taking water with them. Excuse is because it's fall/winter.

Then you have the heat which one can expect with being in the Sonoran desert.

Butnow I'm hearing reports from areas that don't have these conditions. The citizens there don't know how to deal with the falling humidity and heat for multiple days.

So knowing so many don't know how to survive this weather but are having to now, it scares me for them.

That's why I asked if you have got the 3rd degree burns happening. If your neck of the woods have them happening on a regular bases, that is a bad sign for the environment and us.

And the thought of same reports start coming in from places like New York, nune yet, but.... it scares me.

[hamsterjill]

14. It's depressing for me.

It causes great anxiety. So please don’t diminish my feelings by saying it’s not. It may not be depressing to you, but the idea that we are doomed is pretty depressing for a whole lot of people.

I understand that there is a need to adapt and deal with these conditions but there will come a time when we are no longer capable of adapting. That’s coming faster than expected and probably faster than we know.

The point of this thread is that we COULD have done something but now it’s too late.

Peace.

[slightlv]

63. The cold debilitates me because my body just can't handle it.

But this year I discovered it couldn't handle the heat, either. And we've been very lucky considering what you're going thru in TX, and other places in the states. We've just had a few weeks of 100 degree+ weather. But I discovered that heat kicks me in the butt where my fibromyalgia is concerned. It actually brings on a flare.

While I worry now about temps because of the effect on my body, I also worry because my hubby... being originally from TX... doesn't consider this "hot" at all. But his problem is he doesn't feel the damage it could be doing to him, so I have to look out for him, too, and be a nag (which I hate). I've always hear the elderly don't feel temperature the way younger people feel it. When I comes to him, I agree. For me, it's like I feel it much more intensely than I did before I hit this age, especially fighting Lupus and Fibro.

I'm right there with you on the anxiety level, Jill. But I also go through periods where I feel absolute rage at the idiots who refused to recognize the ruin coming towards us and did nothing... and worse, worked against us back in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. They made "Climate" out to be just another "hippie" cause and not worth considering if it kept them from making more fistfulls of money. Many people today think we'll be okay because have good house heating and cooling to use as an escape. But that doesn't take into account the many who live in homes without central A/C.

And, worse, they don't give a thought to what it's doing to our wildlife. The have no place to escape. We've given them a death sentence due to our greed. To me, that's unforgivable.

And there's no way the U.S., or anywhere in the world, is ready for the dire refugee status to come due to climate change. When you have entire island countries that are going to be wiped out, where will those inhabitants go? When Mexico and South America become too hot to live in, where are those people going? I hate what Abbott has done to the border, but I worry what more inhumane things he can do in the coming years - him, and people like him.

And the hotter it gets, the worse people act. Tempers flare and we have way too many guns on the streets which are used as the first solution, instead of a last solution.

I don't think anyone can be anything but either anxious, angry, or depressed when thinking about the future. The rich and the ignorant have stolen it from us. How else should we feel?

[herding cats]

82. Same. Deer, birds and other wildlife are dying constantly from the heat and drought here.

Native, mature 100+ year old oak trees dead on my land this year from the heat and drought. I water the wildlife and I've inherited and there are way to many desperate domesticated animals this year. I've never seen this level of desperation. It's apocalyptic looking where I am. I'm not speaking of lost landscape plantings. This is a native tall grass prairie I've spent decades nurturing. It's all dying.

Just because where I live in Central Texas it's domesticated animals, wildlife and all our nature are succumbing slightly more slowly to the heat, and not an addicted person falling over on hot pavement and suffering sever burns, doesn't make it less tragic. Nor any less depressing to witness.

This has been a truly horrific summer for all of nature where I am. I've lost so much wildlife, massive amounts of native plants and old oaks to this horrific heatwave.

I water the wildlife but my resources are limited due to water restrictions. Reading about something vs actually having to decide between burying dead wildlife vs leaving them on your land to be tended to by nature depending on proximity is freaking harsh.

If you're not living it you can't begin to grasp the reality of it. This has been the absolutely must depressing summer of my life having to bear witness to so much loss. It's hurt my heart deeply.

[hamsterjill]

99. It hurts my heart deeply too.

I’m just outside of San Antonio and I’ve never experienced this before in my long lifetime either. You are absolutely right in that it’s a whole different ballgame when someone talks about it versus living through it.

I’m leaving water out as well but I don’t know how much good it’s doing.

[murielm99]

85. Jill, I understand.

Anxiety is debilitating. I know from firsthand experience. Right now, I am experiencing so much anxiety in my personal life that I am physically ill.

Take care of yourself. This is a good place to vent and share your feelings. I wish I could help you feel better.

Not everyone wants to be hugged. But if you do like to be hugged,

[hamsterjill]

100. Thank you.

I will always take a hug - and send one right back.

[samplegirl]

96. It's a matter of time

for all of us! I’m not sure where the rich republicans think they can dodge it!

[hamsterjill]

101. I agree. Exactly what do they think?

I think they will fare better than the rest of us initially but ultimately their time will come.

Good to see you.

[Trueblue Texan]

65. humans aren't the only species that don't know how to survive...

...the climate changes. I agree ...it's depressing as hell and I'm sitting in a cool room.

[Hortensis]

42. Good news: We're not doomed. Seriously.

Not in this nation, and no one's day-to-day should be all about the stresses of climate change over the next 10, 50, 100 years. Nature intends us to be resilient. And emotional good health, developed over millions of years when doom was always close, is supposed to protect s us from self-destructing over what happens to others. Above all, in practical terms, our first duty is to take care of ourselves. So others don't have to.

The kind of dispiriting dystopianism many are caught up in is actually a new, giant problem in itself, including as a new vote suppression driver. Imaginations are running wild. One of the genuine, well respected climate change specialists battling this tried to create context by explaining a general consensus that, with all the changes we'll have to deal with here, at worst our living conditions here won't "even" get as bad as the 1950s.

2023 America is a very wealthy nation. The 1950s isn't exactly "doom," but we don't want to go back to that sort of living anyway. We're fortunate ones here. We won't have to. You won't. We have so many wonderful advantages that weren't invented them.

Please, at very least approach "handling" by disengaging from overblown doom discussion. Strange at it might seem, a first step to becoming happier is reconnecting with our own reality. All around the planet, people are planning and creating futures new to them -- and talking about what they're doing.

[hamsterjill]

45. And where do you live may I ask?

n/t

[Hortensis]

53. We've always lived in hot climates, Hamsterjill.

Georgia now, so hot, and very humid. Back in Southern California it was even hotter but cooled off beautifully every evening. Not here.

I also have an autoimmune disease that's worsened to the point that my entire life has been restructured and confined to keeping me safe from overheating at temps other people handle fine. Cold weather others routinely enjoy would kill me too. That means giving up a lot of the activities and people I used to enjoy life with, missing out on a lot of fun.

I "handle" it, but I do have a husband and grown kids, and friends nearby, who help.

[Think. Again.]

47. Tell that to...

...all the folks who lost their homes to fires and floods, can't get insurance on their homes, died of heat stroke or lung disease, can't get fresh water anymore, you know, all the effects that are just beginning to be caused by climate change.

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

58. Frankly, those with lost homes and little water

were already in high risk areas anyway, so , honestly, they rolled the dice and lost because they wanted to live in a very beautiful, violent place to begin with.

[Think. Again.]

74. That's simply not true...

...human induced climate change has caused, and is continuing to cause, rapid environmental changes in places where thos changes would not have occured in the 'natural' course of ecological systems.

[Brenda]

48. Big. Time. Denial.

Anyone with their eyes open, who spends time outside, who has read the authoritative books by experts knows this is NOT some kind of recent hip dystopianism. She's acknowledging what millions of Americans refuse to even believe, Dems just as much as Repubs.

Who the fuck said it won't "even" get as bad as the 1950s? You must not read the news about the utter hell the climate has been bringing to many states in the last decade. Hurricane damage from Texas to North Carolina is still sitting in piles after years of storms. People having to wait 5 or more years to get insurance money to fix their homes.

And that's not even mentioning the floods, fires, and heat catastrophes across the US (and the world) that are putting millions at risk for loss of homes, jobs and even the very food grown for Americans.

Please, at the very least, disengage from overblown Pollyanna happy discussion.

The rest of your drivel is insulting to hamsterjill.

[hamsterjill]

50. Thank you.

I appreciate your post. You said what needed to be said and I didn’t have to.

It’s almost unreal, isn’t it?

[Brenda]

51. Yes, this place is surreal when it comes to this subject.

I wish I could offer some good advice but I'm in the same boat as you. I manage to get over the extreme grief about what is happening with a few healthy choices (gardening, playing with my cat, downsizing everything in my home) and then some times just enjoying the wine.

You're not alone!

[Trueblue Texan]

66. I'll drink to that! nt

[Hortensis]

52. My "eyes" are open enough, Brenda, to imagine us all sitting

around with the incredible luxury of timewasting like this and moaning our sympathy for others from our own comfort and security. Almost all Americans live like us -- privileged beyond the imaginations of billions of others whose waking hours really have to be put to continued survival.

So privileged that most of us don't imagine life without our luxuries, to the point that we CAN be encouraged by facile manipulators to think those having to routinely turn on the AC in the car and schedule kids' sports for after sundown are now living in "utter hells."

Even while some in other parts of the world really are.

[Magoo48]

93. Climate Catastrophe denial runs deep for many here on DU.

I won’t subject all here to my usual pitch and just say this: our young children, grandchildren, and next generations will never forget us.

[herding cats]

83. That's much easier said if you've not been caught under this oppressive heat dome for months.

For example, I've not seen a day below 100 since June where I am. The rain has dried up completely. I'm in no way disagreeing nor disrespecting your words. However, a lot of us have truly suffered losses of massive magnitudes this vile summer. Unless your daily walk includes the stench of decomp from wildlife which has succumbed to to drought and heat, and the massive loss of 100+ year old trees all around you, you cannot understand how heartbreaking it can feel.

It feels apocalyptic where some of us live. Which is truly depressing.

[betsuni]

89. +1

[Mossfern]

2. I feel your pain

The only hope now is adaptation and policies that ameliorate climate change.

Understand that even if we have the absolute best policies and practices here in the United States, it takes
a global initiative and compliance. Considering the enmity between nations that now exists, I see very little hope.
(Sorry to make your depression even worse by my comments!)

However, I think there's still a bit of hope if we elect leadership that is aware and develops strategies.

[hamsterjill]

7. You're right.

As I said, I’m old. I remember a time when the United States lead the world in pretty much everything. If we still had that, we could lead the world on this issue, too, and make a difference.

But we aren’t the leader we once were thanks to greed and idiots. So I feel there is little hope.

For several years, I did hope that good ole ingenuity might incentive someone to invent a solution. If that is done - for greed or for whatever reason, it would be great.

But I’ve been sorely disappointed because nothing significant has happened.

[dalton99a]

3. 108 degrees today in Austin

Last edited Fri Sep 8, 2023, 12:37 PM - Edit history (2)

The trend is undeniable

[hamsterjill]

4. I'm in SA

I’m so tired of this.

[yellowdogintexas]

35. 96 now in Fort Worth. Got up to 105

yesterday. It feels like it will never end

Our Humidity is 30% today which is not too bad

Then I look at stuff all around the world and really get depressed

[Think. Again.]

5. Gore not taking office in 2001....

...could be considered the worst thing that has ever happened to this lonely little rock floating around a mediocre sun.

[dalton99a]

8. Because he said he invented the Internet

Horrible, disqualifying




https://origins.osu.edu/history-news/gore-did-help-invent-internet

[Think. Again.]

34. I think it had more to do with...

...the florida supreme court who called it, being majority republican.

Turns out if they would have allowed the recount to finish, Gore would have won.

[dalton99a]

38. +1.

[dhol82]

64. +2

[2naSalit]

9. +1

[KPN]

23. Definitely a watershed ... errr, waterfall maybe? .... moment.

Al was honorable at a time that in retrospect can be characterized as “little did we know”.

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

60. But Gore would have done nothing to stop what we're seeing

because it's all APAC, not your car, the gas stove, the BBQ. Heck, China alone surpassed the US in GHG 20 friggin years ago...

It's 4.7 billion people in APAC driving the world into the ground

[2naSalit]

10. It's time to start...

Choosing which fork will be used when we are finally done, which will be soon.

[erronis]

16. Might just need a spoon - great green gobs of greasy grimy......

Great green globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat.
Dirty little birdie feet.
French fried eyeballs rolling down a dirty street,
And me without my spoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Green_Gobs_of_Greasy%2C_Grimy_Gopher_Guts

or Soylent Green
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green

[2naSalit]

19. Ha!

I haven't heard that one in a very long time!

I agree, a spoon would be more practical.

[KPN]

24. Lol. Like it. .... But

I’m sticking with pitchfork!

[yellowdogintexas]

41. our version in Kentucky (1950s)

Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Dirty little birdie feet
Rabbit's eyeballs french fried in kerosene
And me without a spoon......but I've got a straw

I just drove myself crazy trying to remember the eyeball animal, and I almost called my sister to ask her!!

[ShazzieB]

86. I heard a different version...

The version I grew up with did not include eyeballs of any kind. That line was "vulture's vomit on a hornet's nest."

I learned it from a cousin who was a few years older than me and sort of like a big brother to me and my sister. We were crazy about him, even though though he loved to gross us out with stuff like that. Ah, memories!

[Archae]

11. Want to move up here to Wisconsin?

Going to be in the 60's for a high temperature for the next week, and then go lower!

[hamsterjill]

15. Is that usual for Wisconsin this time of year?

Or is it another extreme? I’m not versed in that part of the country.

[Archae]

56. Yes it is.

Gets down to the 40's and 50's by October and November, then WINTER!

[ShazzieB]

87. How far north are you?

Just curious. I'm in northern IL, about 30 minutes from the WI state line. Our weather is usually pretty similar to Madison and Milwaukee. Yours sounds a little colder.

[Archae]

106. Halfway on Lake Michigan, between Green Bay and MIlwaukee.

[birdographer]

40. Don't have to go that far..

Here in our part of WNC we have had a pretty good summer. We start the AC around 3 when the sun beats down on the front of the house, turn it off around 8 pm. We haven't run it at night once; a window fan suffices. I am *fully* aware of how lucky we have been. Even when it was in the upper 80's we could sit under our big tree and have a nice breeze. Very lucky. At 72 and 74, I had thought we would escape the worst of climate change but now I'm not so sure. I would not want to be 30 now. (I'm also a little puzzled about how anyone can think it's ok to have a baby now--what are they doing to that poor kid?)

[DFW]

94. Same here.

I was in Sprout City, Paris and NL this week, and I was drenched in sweat outside. Five years ago, we were all wearing sweaters outside already.

Our latitude is the same as Banff in Canada.

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

103. The UP isn't bad either

[ananda]

13. Austin here. We need rain... bad!

I hate the heat too.

[hamsterjill]

17. It's been stressful.

I just moved to a semi-rural area outside of SA and the road signs indicating “high wildfire danger” are not comforting.

[Duppers]

18. Thx for venting. This isn't discussed enough.

Our planet is baking.

[hamsterjill]

21. And we are all dying

I mean, we ARE all dying. We know that. But we as a species are dying and are responsible for the destruction of ourselves and the rest of the planet.

It’s too bad that the stupid portion of the population doesn’t understand that.

[KPN]

20. Hear hear! With you 100%. Hang in there.

[redqueen]

22. I hope Biden declares a climate emergency soon.

And I want to see private jet travel taxed from hell to breakfast

And cruise ships banned

And we need to start funding rewilding

[hamsterjill]

26. I could agree with all of that.

We need to invest more in the electric vehicles, too. I don’t just mean getting the initial purchase in line with what consumers can and will accept, but we also need to address the right wing argument (which is somewhat legitimate at least) of having to spend money to replace batteries, etc., down the line.

I’m for whatever can help.

[ShazzieB]

88. Yes, and we also need to address the issue of infrastructure for charging.

Charging stations for electric vehicles are almost nonexistent where I live. I wouldn’t be able to drive an electric car even if I could afford to buy one. We live in a large apartment complex, with hundreds of apartments divided among dozens of buildings. There's no place on the property to charge an ev, and hardly any place else to do it, either. We're far from alone in this regard.

No matter how affordable electric cars get to be, the market for them is going to be very limited unless the dearth of charging stations is addressed.

[hamsterjill]

102. Absolutely right.

Thank you.

[housecat]

59. Win back the House, keep the Senate, and we might have a chance

[redqueen]

76. I'm reminded of this sculpture

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

61. climate emergency?

...and what would that do?

There is literally nothing the US can do to stop climate change. NOTHING
It's all APAC. Simple, brutal math...

[redqueen]

75. If we can set up and fund an org like the School of the Americas

to push corporate rule onto other countries, then we can set up and fund a similar organization to push rewilding efforts. Pointing at other countries and saying we're helpless and doomed because they're doing x y or z is nonsensical.

As for your question about what exactly the declaration of a climate emergency would do, please just Google it. It's not new or hard to find or understand.

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

104. I'm all for rewilding,

and have been doing it for years on old strip mining areas.

The climate emergency, here in the US unlike overseas, puts all the power into the presidency that is simply unconstitutional and still would be ineffective for global climate change. There needs to be Congressional action.

[NowsTheTime]

92. I wish he would establish an agency to find solutions similar to how NASA works.

We have the private sector doing stuff, but motivated by profit.

Why not using gov't funding for research for solutions as well with a little different motive?

Yes we fusion research, but we need every thing we can do now.

We need energy solutions, we need solutions that can implemented everywhere, and we need them now.

SET A GOAL!!!

[redqueen]

105. Andrew Yang said the same thing

It makes sense but I'm not sure if anyone in leadership is even considering it. The govt set up multiple new agencies and policies in response to 9/11, so it's not a question of whether we can it's whether anyone cares. Clearly climate change is a much more serious threat.

[1WorldHope]

25. It undoes me too. Mad Max coming up. nt

[multigraincracker]

27. Not looking good.

If the heat, fires and floods don’t gets us, the Republican base will.

[Snackshack]

28. All this heat...

"Is making me fucking crazy"...

- Col. Jessup

[3825-87867]

29. A WHOLE LOT of "White" Magas and Klanners

and their offspring are gonna become more than a suntan darker over the next few decades (if they make it that long!) thanks to the global warming hoax.

Might not even be able to distinguish between themseleves and many immigrants. And those from "lighter" areas may not believe or accept some are really Good Ol' Amurikkkans! Oh, the irony.

It is to laugh!

[StarryNite]

30. Thank you for this post.

You expressed exactly how I feel too. I'm angry, frustrated, and scared. Here in the Phoenix area it's supposed to hit 114° on Saturday. Yes, it gets hot in the desert but never has it been this hot and for this long. We are shattering all our old heat records. Our annual monsoon has been non existent this year. This is not normal, not even for the desert. There is a kids book series called "Choose Your Own Adventure". Throughout the books you get to make choices and when your adventure is over you can go back and pick different options. I wish life were like that. Unfortunately it seems with the 'big things' there are no do overs. We are stuck with the course that others have chosen for us. Al Gore would have been an awesome president. Had he been president we would be so much better off. I am angry...I am frustrated...I am scared and I don't see any way this is going to end well for us.

Yes, saguaros die but not in the numbers they have been falling this summer. Extreme record heat and no rain to speak of, they just can't take it.

[hamsterjill]

33. I wish we could go back and choose better options, too.

That would mean we could, at least, still LEARN from mistakes. But I don’t think half of the population is even capable of learning any more. The dumbing down has been successful and it is going to be the end to us all.

I get what you’re saying as to Arizona. Texas is burning up, too. Trees that have stood for centuries are dying from drought and pests. Wildlife is suffering tremendously. I leave water out as much as I can.

It is all so sad because it was preventable.

[yellowdogintexas]

37. I was in Phoenix in late July - early August

Seeing those magnificent old men collapsed where they stood was so sad!!

Needless to say we did not do much outdoors unless it involved playing in the water.

When I was there last year, a monsoon flooded my daughter's cul de sac; this year, nothing

[StarryNite]

39. It's heartbreaking to see those beautiful giants on the ground.

And as hamsterjill said, wildlife is suffering from heat and lack of water too.

[Bumbles]

31. When I moved to Maine in 1992, I thought I had escaped the heat and humidity of the DC area.

Instead, it has followed me with Maine experiencing, with so many other areas, record high temperatures, humidity and downpours, along with a rising water table. It's hard to feel optimistic about our future. My entomologist sister has always said that insects will inherit the earth. They'll, no doubt, do a better job of caring for it than we have.

[58Sunliner]

32. I hear you.

[KS Toronado]

36. My area of the State has been in a drought

for a couple years now, I expect flooding next summer.

[ALBliberal]

43. My nephew in Dripping Springs, Texas near Austin, denies climate change

Recently read an article that the springs around dripping Springs and Austin, in general, have dried up. That was a big source of their water.

[hamsterjill]

44. All the Republicans deny it.

I’m just outside of San Antonio and the majority of people I know deny it - when it is happening right in front of their eyes.

I will never understand willful ignorance. I mean it’s one thing not to care about yourself. But to care about nothing is perplexing to me. Of course, the one thing they all do seem to care about is money, and how much it takes to fill up their Bubba truck.

[ALBliberal]

46. So very true. Apathy for others absent.

[Brenda]

49. Many Dems, even here at DU deny it too.

The disconnect reading the mocking and hatred towards young climate activists here is almost shocking.

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

62. Respectfully, what would it change

if they didn't deny it. Nothing will stop it, and I mean scientifically, mathematically, there's nothing the US can do to to stop it because it's all coming from Asia-Pacific.

Bubba truck or no, it won't change things.

[Think. Again.]

77. It simply isn't...

..."all coming from Asia-Pacific".

The U.S. has our responsibilities too and certainly can't expect anyone else to live up to their responsibilities if we don't live up to ours.

It's clear from your responses that you just want to let the damage we are causing happen (and by 'WE' I mean humanity as a whole).

Luckily, it's also clear from so many other responses that more people want us all (and by 'US' I mean humanity as a whole) to do whatever we can to relieve as much as we can of the suffering that our past actions are causing.

[IcyPeas]

54. How safe are our power grids?

"Every day here in Texas, at least, we get emails saying the grid may fail."

Whether they fail due to overload or terrorism? We would be crippled if Putin, or somebody, targeted our power grids.

[hamsterjill]

55. Agreed.

I hate the fact that the grid has become a political football. Back and forth. Abbott is a snake who is sitting back watching. He hasn’t spent the money on fixing the grid because he wants the money to enrich his benefactors more than he already has. If the grid holds together because ordinary people try to conserve, he will take credit.

If it fails, he will blame Biden and half of Texas will stand in line right behind his sorry ass.

[betsuni]

90. +1

[Ferrets are Cool]

67. Agree 100%

[Torchlight]

68. Local news reported today was *another* TX weather record of record.

It's never been this hot in north Texas this late in the year. (108 in Dallas today). It's really got me worn out, and looking forward to when our grid breaks down again in Jan or Feb. from freezing temps.

[Evolve Dammit]

69. I sure feel your sentiment. Same for me. Hard to maintain any modicum of optimism. nt

[czarjak]

70. 2000 set the table for 2016. Vlad was watching.

[hamsterjill]

72. You got it!

That was the first step. Glad someone else understands!

[XanaDUer2]

71. I agree, friend

[hamsterjill]

73. It's so sad!!

I saw a little squirrel the other day and he was searching for water. I keep water out but he wasn’t near it. So, I put out another pan.

The animals are all suffering. Makes me sad.

Hugs to you as I know you get it.

[TexasBushwhacker]

78. It's not just climate change

I think Gore would have responded differently to the PDB about Bin Laden. Shit, if Al had been POTUS 9/11 may not have even happened.

[Haggard Celine]

107. I've always thought the same thing.

This country has gone through hell ever since 2000, and most of it goes back to 9/11. It's sort of like the JFK assassination. What would have happened if he had lived? Would he have ended the Vietnam War?

[TexasBushwhacker]

108. Oddly enough

I saw JFK the day before he was killed. I was 6 years old. He came to San Antonio, then Houston first and my mother took me downtown to see the motorcade.

Stephen King wrote a novel, 11/22/63, about a time traveler who tries to go back and prevent the assassination. Hulu turned it into a miniseries. Pretty good.

[Haggard Celine]

109. I get Hulu.

I'll see if I can find it.

[Skittles]

79. Gore" oh hell, Jimmy Carter sounded the alarm way back then

yes indeed

[Texasgal]

80. I'm dying in ATX

I am a native and a 4th generation Austinite. I never remember it being THIS BAD! Maybe I am just older now and can't handle it anymore. Regardless, it's been Brutal this year!

BRING ON THE RAIN!

[IbogaProject]

81. Don't forget the Iran Regan Bush stuff

They pulled stuff to weaken Carter plus the former GOP 'independent' candidate John Anderson, both of those cost us being free of oil imports on or before 2000.

[herding cats]

84. Vent my friend! I'm with you.

I've seem so much death of wildlife and nature this year it's been difficult to manage.

I've had friends who work in skilled service industries, which is my industry, be hospitalized for heat related issues. It's been so harsh dealing with all of this ugliness this summer.

It's heartbreaking seeing all the loss around us and not being able to do much more than put a tiny bandage on the speck we can touch.

[hatrack]

91. There's a point at which I'll believe the powers that be are taking this seriously . . . .

That'll be when General Motors starts an ad campaign telling prospective customers "Whatever You Do, Don't Buy Our Cars. Don't Buy ANY Cars."

Or when Delta or United or Carnival start giving customers points or cash back for canceling flights or cruises or vacation packages.

The last time corporate America did anything even remotely close to that was in 1982 when some psychotic asshole poisoned Tylenol with cyanide and seven people died.

But until we start to discard a whole lot of fundamental assumptions about permanent growth (or better yet, "sustainable growth" ) or "having it all" or how economies are "supposed" to work, nothing is going to get any better.

With a boost from El Nino, we're already at 1.5C above historic temperature averages this year. Anybody ready for 2.0, or 2.5?

[betsuni]

95. "I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists" -- people love to quote George Carlin

saying both sides everybody's corrupt everything's rigged don't vote, but not this:

[DownriverDem]

97. Been happy

with living in Michigan, Our weather is milder now, lower taxes, LGBTQ+ protections, abortion rights in our constitution, wonderful women in charge & we have plenty of lakes. The only folks mad are repubs. The Dems finally are in charge here.

[samplegirl]

98. The Supreme Court put

Bush in and nothing got done.