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Aussie bushfires.

It's fucking terrifying, folks. Imagine living in New York and seeing burning ash from forest fires falling on Broadway. Difficult to breathe for the elderly in the middle of the city. People are dying miles from the fires.

Most of us are not in direct physical threat of being burnt, it is our air that is being burnt.

Most terrifying of all is a Pentecostal Christian 'End of Days' Prime Minister Scott 'Scummo' Morrison who on On December 10, amid growing panic at the complete lack of federal government response, against the backdrop of the worst smoke in Sydney’s history, gave a press conference about… his government’s proposed religious discrimination bill. He wants Christians in government and we all know where that leads... NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!

December 15, with extreme temperatures forecast, and over 100 fires burning across NSW expected to worsen, went on holiday in Hawaii.

Here's a kicker, and Conservatism at its finest- On December 29, Morrison finally announced some financial respite for some firefighters, promising up to $6000 in payments to volunteers, who had been working non-stop since September, many have lost their lives, and any Volunteer Firefighters receiving Unemployment Benefits who failed to lodge their Jobsearch forms during that time would HAVE THEIR PAYMENTS TERMINATED!

And this poor excuse for a man, let alone leader of a nation is still in climate change denial and holding up lumps of coal in parliament saying "coal is good for you"! And shame of shame, we elected him.

And you thought you had it bad with Dubya. This flaccid Christian cock is worse for us than Trump is for Americans.

Comments

if so the arsonists should never again see the light of day. As to your gov't poor response to these fires.....ya'll elected them and ya'll can kick them out. The U.S. is sending fire fighters to help you out.
Everything has a good side though. After the fires are put out and the rain returns there will be an explosion of plant growth fueled by the fertilizing ash. Thus over the long haul there will be more for the wildlife to eat. The trick will be keeping them fed and alive until then.
My thoughts are with you all.......stan

and fair enough, you must be smarter than you sound if you can tie your shoelaces. No-one will ever over-estimate your sensitivity or ignorance.

If there was any arson at all it was irrelevant, and the accusations were made by Conservative politicians trying to deflect blame fro their inaction and ineptitude, most of the fires started in remote areas. By the time of the next elections we will probably be under floodwater again. The intensity of these fires has been so catastrophic that they have obliterated even ancient trees. It will take hundreds of years for significant regrowth. And France and Sweden have actually delivered more aid than the US to date.

The only reason I can imagine for your ghastly response is that you disagree with my political references. It wasn't political opinion, it was a time-line, apart from one phrase "Conservatism at its finest". For which I do not apologise, only conservatives would cut the dole to volunteer firefighters.

Shame on you Stan.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

The news over here says at least 24 have already been arrested for arson. There are sick folks everywhere. And it's a proven fact that once burned over areas receive rain there is a resultant burst of new growth fueled by the ashes. And nowhere did I even hint that old growth forests can be restored by anything except time. And is our sending our fire fighters really not appreciated? You know we Do need to keep some here as our southwest has a lot of forest fires at any given time. There has even been talk of sending military to help but I suspect if we did you'd be shouting about us invading

There is no way the people and wildlife can be replaced. And as I stated concerning the wild life the major problem will be keeping the surviving animals fed until their habitat can once again support them. I have nothing but sympathy for ya'll having to endure such a tragedy and if you think otherwise you are a total fool........

I've proven that to you often enough.

I took exception to you raising arson as your first point, that's exactly what Morrison did to divert attention from his 35% cut in Firefighting Service funding and his own inaction and the fires would have happened anyway and been just as destructive without any arson.

I took exception to your suggestion of voting them out. The fires will be out by then.

We are grateful for the aid from the USA and other countries.

I took exception to the entire paragraph-
"Everything has a good side though. After the fires are put out and the rain returns there will be an explosion of plant growth fueled by the fertilizing ash. Thus over the long haul there will be more for the wildlife to eat. The trick will be keeping them fed and alive until then."

As I explained the fires have been so catastrophically devastating there will be no explosion of regrowth, it will take centuries. Any surviving animals will starve. The only good side to the fires is that it spells the end of Scott Morrison and his arch-conservative government, who are busy giving our coal to China in exchange for a few hundred jobs. Who have sold 10% of our water rights to China! Who are cutting unemployment benefits to Firefighters who omitted to lodge their Jobsearch forms whilst risking their lives saving lives.

My post may have seemed overly political but Morrison's own church Hillsong, as infamous here as the Westboro Baptists are there, have already blamed the fires as God's punishment for legalising Gay marriage and scheduled a Revival meeting in March called, believe it or not, 'Breathe Again', to thank God for putting the fires out! I know you are not a fan of organised religion and I believe the separation of church and state is as sacrosanct in the USA as it is here.

Yes, I may seem an ungrateful fool but I over-reacted to the extent to which you have been misinformed. I hope you understand my fury now that I have placed it all in context.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

knowledge of your politics. This is why I seldom if ever comment on them. And it may well be true that the ecology there is different enough from ours that fires Don't result in a following explosion of new growth as happens here. As example we actually have a type of pine which CAN'T reproduce without a fire to open its cones thus letting its seeds free. We even set controlled burns in mature forests in order to bring about later growth of browse.

Again, let me stress that my heart goes out to everybody and every creature who is affected by these fires.......stan

We also have trees that can't germinate without fire and yes, fires do usually fertilise and cause regrowth but these ones were so intense that they burned ancient trees of several feet girth to the core!

That's what I'm trying to get across and what the Murdoch owned media are trying to minimise- these are not normal fires. They are utterly catastrophic. Rupert Murdoch is heavily invested in climate change denial. He wants to describe it as 'business as usual, Australia has bushfires'. It is the hottest summer ever recorded with the highest temperatures ever recorded and there were plenty of warnings.

In the centre of Sydney I got sick and elderly have died. I'm just asking you to understand why I got so angry at what I misinterpreted as minimisation on your part and what is deliberate minimisation on the part of our media and government.
ok?

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

Firstly let me say how appalling these bush fires are - they have received very widespread coverage here in the UK, both on TV news and in the press. I am incredibly impressed by the courage of the people who fight these infernos, especially since most of them are unpaid volunteers as far as I have read. I have seen no mention of arson here, which if it were widespread, I feel would have been reported.

I have never heard of Hillsong, they must be worth checking out if they are so fucking stupid as to even consider thanking their imaginary god in a few months time for putting the fires out. Surely they should be thanking their deity for having started them in the first place. Fucking stupid evangelicals.

Global warming is fact, not fiction and fools like Morrison and Trump reveal their utter stupidity for denying it. We may have a total buffoon as PM here in Britain, but at least he's not THAT stupid. I hope.

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

and Brexit, the general slide into right wing ignorance and insanity characterising the West at the moment, I kind of assumed Boris Johnson would be a climate change denier too.

If it was bad enough having Tony 'Mad Monk' Abott threatening to 'shirtfront' Putin we have now had the spectacle of Morrison standing up in Parliament, holding a piece of coal and saying 'coal is good for you'. (still nobody knows what to 'shirtfront' somebody means but we are certain that Putin could have snapped him in half like a twig. Have you seen him with his shirt off between wrestling bears and and bung-holing crocodiles?)

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

Putin sodomises crocs? What a guy!

Johnson is not actually particularly rightwing (by current UK Conservative Party standards). To suggest he actually believes anything he says is to do him an injustice. The only thing he believes in is himself and his own ambition. He only became a Brexit cheerleader when he worked out that it was the best way for him to become Tory leader.

I have looked up Hillsong and watched a few minutes of a vid on Youtube - I puked all over the keyboard. There is a Hillsong branch in the UK which holds meetings in one of the larger West End theatres on Sundays when the theatre's show doesn't play. They seem to combine hideous pop music and evangelical crap into a hideous hybrid.

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

One good thing came from the fires. On a particularly smoky day, temperatures in the 40s, just before Xmas, nauseated by the smoke and heat, I boarded a bus that had been fully decorated with the whole shebang of Chrissie tinsel etc, the works. I shouted-
"What the fuck is all this shit?"
and threw up on a wee Santa behind the driver.

Could not have planned it better if I'd tried.

ps by 'bungholing' we mean sticking your thumb up the victims bum. Still dangerous with crocodiles.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

...on Santa really is the ultimate "critique", I believe.

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

We'll make a Neopoet of you yet. [grins].

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

Anybody who has worked outside as I have for the past 55 years knows that things are warming up. But to suggest it is all our fault is not established as fact in my opinion. If mankind is the main source of global warming then how do you explain the end of TWO ice ages before we were even around? Or perhaps explain the end of periods of warmth that also ended without our help. Weather apparently goes in cycles whether we are here or not. But warming aside, I think burning oil and other fossil fuels should be reduced where possible for the practical reason that oil and natural gas have better thing for which they can be used. Things like fertilizer, lubricants, jet fuel and other chemistry products that can't be produced without them.

or not.

What matters is that the corporate press and our government have lied and deliberately mislead to the extent that the information as it filtered back to me through you was very wrong.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

any time of national tragedy the gov't owes the people truth, not politics. The politicians who don't understand this should be voted out and replaced by those who do. Doesn't matter which nation we're talking about.......

True

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

Governments around the planet are working flat out to mislead the people, we the people should be ashamed at our inaction. We're wimps who have always hung onto the corporate coat tails of our masters, the youth of today are putting us in the shade when it comes to standing up to the money men. Stay safe Regards Roscoe...

Roscoe Llane,

Religion will rip your faith off, and return
for the mask of disbelief that's left.

More Gretas, less grandiose narcissism.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

She is a mentally handicapped little girl being used by her parents to push Soros' agenda

She is highly intelligent and reflects the view of many young people. It is disgusting and shameful the way conservatives have attacked her.

Ken Kesey, author of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", wrote another novel called "Sometimes a Great Notion" made into a movie called "Never Give an Inch". It's about some pig ignorant redneck anti-union loggers. The title reflects the approach of every below par conservative I've ever met. They argue with lies and stubbornness, refusing to consider the most valid points of their opponents, using ad hominem, ignoring anything that doesn't fit their viewpoint, basicly, against all reason they 'Never Give an Inch'.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment

The arm going downstream giving everybody the finger was priceless lol. BTW I never said greta was retarded, I said she was mentally challenged which anybody with her problem is.

You did NOT say "mentally challenged". What you said was "She is a mentally handicapped little girl being used by her parents to push Soros' agenda."
1. "mentally handicapped" is suggesting she is somehow subnormal which is grossly insulting and factually incorrect; not many "mentally handicapped" Swedish teeanagers speak almost perfect English, do they?
2. "little girl" - she is actually 17 years old - calling a 17 year old young woman who had the guts to sail the Atlantic and the nerve to address the United Nations a "little girl" is a cheap and rather pathetic attempt to demean her;
3. "used by her parents" - an unjustified sneer - were I one of her parents I would support her wholeheartedly and would be immensely proud of her courage;
4. "Soros' agenda" - apart from the fact that the correct possessive singular is "Soros's" (a grammatical error which I feel sure Ms Thunberg would never make), this reference is a foolish and untruthful sneer that she is somehow a pawn of Mr Soros, who is as we all know is a hate figure for the extreme right wing, possibly because he is Jewish... and possibly because he is a large-scale financial supporter of liberal and progressive causes - I believe he has given away hundreds of millions of £s/$s/€s to charities.

Shame on you.
.

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

Anybody who is unable to relate to others or any other lack is mentally handicapped. You are nit picking. As to being a girl, in most countries anybody younger than 18 is considered a girl. And she didn't sail the Atlantic, she hitched a ride . She and her parents are all pawns to the former Nazi.

1. To say "Anybody who is unable to relate to others or any other lack is mentally handicapped" is beyond stupid and grossly insulting. Someone who is mentally handicapped is not able to learn or develop skills at the same rate as other people because he or she has a problem with their brain. It is now considered more polite to say that such people are "learning disabled" or that they have special needs or learning difficulties. If anyone round here is "mentally handicapped" and unable to develop social skills, I think you just volunteered for the part.
2. Nit picking? To point out a blatant lie is "nit picking"? You mean denying that the US tortures people in Guantanamo Bay would be just "nit picking"? Or denying that using the A-bomb was mass murder is nit-picking?. If that's nit picking I am proud to be a nit picker.
3. ."And she didn't sail the Atlantic, she hitched a ride" This is just plain untrue. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a sailing boat, a yacht. That's what "sailing the Atlantic" means in English. I think sailing across the Atklantic in a sailing boat takes a lot of courage.
4. George Soros is a Nazi? First time I heard of Jews being Nazis, even former ones. In any case, I would have thought, judging from your extreme neo-fascist comments here, that the only thing wrong with being a former Nazi, in your opinion would be the "former" bit.

Let me guess, you vote Republican, you love the mentally defective Trump, you wear one of those hideous "Make American great again" caps and you approve of capital punishment by the cruellest method available. And you probably deny climate change and love shooting animals for so-called "sport". You really should be ashamed of yourself. Unless, of course, what you write is actually intended as satire.
.

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

would stop trying to tell us what is happening here. Not you, Mark.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

author comment
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