(10-05-2024, 04:04 PM)guyfriday Wrote: I might be quoting myself here, but I stand by my thoughts. There is nearly no true transparency from FEMA about where its funds went, and I think they are playing word games and misdirection's of showing where the money went. Public parties don't have to show how they use money, but most do and in cases like Helene will provide those facts if asked. 

There are also too many cases of money magically showing up when pet projects need funding with zero public disclosure or discussions about how or where these billions came from. Now it looks like FEMA might have been using the migrant crisis to launder money from one hand to another.

Now to the Civil War comment. I'm not saying that we will go into a full on "Brother against Brother" civil war, but the chances of the public shooting at and possibly killing federal worker that are taking, or seemingly taking, supplies set aside for disaster relief get higher and higher with each story/report about how FEMA is acting as the bad guy in preventing the public from helping out in rescues and/or providing relief to those that have been victimized by Helene. This administration's slow/delayed response doesn't help the situation either.

Quote:Since WW2 the united states government have been able to manipulate the weather... fact... look it up... since the 1960's we've been able to control and even weaponize the weather... fact...look it up. And in the early 1970's the US congress put a forth a bill to regulate weather manipulators.... fact... look it up. Now residents of North Carolina are wondering if the US government had anything to do with the massive hurricane that just destroyed their state.

(10-05-2024, 10:35 PM)727Sky Wrote: "And in the early 1970's the US congress put a forth a bill to regulate weather manipulators.... fact... look it up."

(10-05-2024, 11:21 PM)guyfriday Wrote: Off hand here, but you wouldn't happen to have that documentation anywhere?

I have no link or idea other than it is true that during the Vietnam conflict seeding clouds for rain and many other things were tried such as agent orange used over extremely large area.

I hate a site to speak with authority on a subject without links.  Redacted is good for some things but way off the mark with other topics IMO.

Quote:The Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD), formally the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, is an international treaty prohibiting the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects. It opened for signature on 18 May 1977 in Geneva and entered into force on 5 October 1978.
The Convention bans weather warfare, which is the use of weather modification techniques for the purposes of inducing damage or destruction. The Convention on Biological Diversity of 2010 would also ban some forms of weather modification or geoengineering.[sup][2][/sup]

(10-05-2024, 07:00 PM)Maxmars Wrote:

(10-05-2024, 07:00 PM)Maxmars Wrote: THIS is why I love this community.

  
Im all about the discussion of the facts and listening to all rational thoughts and ideas, sometimes I have strong opinions, especially in situations like we are seeing in Western NC.  

and yes I felt the same anxiousness and distrust during Katrina and FEMA's response, as  I reiterated the safety and well-
being of its citizens is a top priority of a government. If they failed during Katina they seem to be making some of the same mistakes 19 years later, with one crucial difference New Orleans had Bush's pledge of 10.7 billion towards Katrina's rebuild we will need similar measures for Helene. Bare Minimum, this is not getting the airtime it deserves and it is directly tied to the proximity of the election.   

We should all agree that COVID and its aftermath likely sunk Trump's chances in 2020 how is he seemingly even more popular now?

Ergo somebody somewhere made bad decision after bad decision and more and more America doesn't want that group making decisions anymore. Ironically that same group has made many normal world events politically charged. LIke the marketing and budgeting of the Ukrainian war, where initially we were blasted by blue and yellow flags, whie ironically Myanmar has been fighting for its freedom since before Ukraine flared up hot. Or how subtly the WNBA seemingly has a preference on ESPN where the site used to default to other sports I follow and would usually show up first.

We haven't even discussed Biden's bizarre first-time presser in the White House briefing room, where Biden reassured America, Kamala and he was in full agreement on all decisions of his administration. LOL as the encumbent VEEP and her campaign no doubt groaned about. 

Essentially throwing her under the bus, and not allowing her to separate herself from Biden

Forget the other pressing issues as well as the noise thats never happened in the world of American politics. I know Clinton never said that about Al Gore. 

So your post wasn't too long for me, this is how you get know people instead of guessing who they are and why they think a certain way. We have to find common ground a little mutual respect and learn to tolerate each other. 

These topics need to be discussed here as we need it turn off the emotional rhetoric and rationally learn to live with each other again.

(10-06-2024, 01:45 PM)AngryOldBrewer Wrote: Pardon my ignorance, as I try not to venture into the political arena, but didn't Republican governors from most of the states say the response from FEMA has been great and are currently turning aid away until needed again? I think Lindsey Graham came out and said the same thing.

I can say in all honesty and my opinion, isn't this the wrong time to create or share conspiracy theories about a devasting storm that killed a few hundred people? Seems gross that either side would use this as a stumping ground or PR opportunity. At all. Guess that's why I don't venture too far into the political arena. Not even waiting for the bodies to get cold....

Quote: 
WASHINGTON - Another presidential election blown around by a hurricane.
In terms of politics, Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden are hoping that recovery from Hurricane Helene will resemble the federal government's response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012 - a fairly smooth process that did credit to the last Democratic-led White House in a presidential election season.

 
Disaster politics is nothing newDisaster politics are a staple of presidential politics, from the post-world war flu epidemic of 1918-1920 to the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
 
After all, fall campaigns take place in the heart of flu season, although any disaster - and the government response to it - can change the shape of American politics.
 
During the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927, President Calvin Coolidge appointed a prominent official to head up relief efforts: Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.
 
Already famous for food supplies to Belgium during the world war, Hoover rode flood relief all the way to the White House (where he eventually ran into an economic calamity known as the Great Depression, although that's another story.)
President Lyndon Johnson created a template for modern presidents in 1965 when he traveled to Louisiana to survey the damage wrought by Hurricane Betsy. LBJ assumed personal control of recovery operations.
"
Presidents - as chief executives and the only leaders selected by the entire country - are expected to take actions that will protect and help Americans," said political scientist Lara Brown, author of "Jockeying for the American Presidency: The Political Opportunism of Aspirants."
 
"When disasters occur," she said, "Americans look to presidents to see how closely their promises of compassion, protection, and assistance match their deeds."

(10-06-2024, 01:45 PM)AngryOldBrewer Wrote: Pardon my ignorance, as I try not to venture into the political arena, but didn't Republican governors from most of the states say the response from FEMA has been great and are currently turning aid away until needed again? I think Lindsey Graham came out and said the same thing.

I can say in all honesty and my opinion, isn't this the wrong time to create or share conspiracy theories about a devasting storm that killed a few hundred people? Seems gross that either side would use this as a stumping ground or PR opportunity. At all. Guess that's why I don't venture too far into the political arena. Not even waiting for the bodies to get cold....