this came to me after thinking how all fire managers want to remove the human presence. then they've no one to say, "you just screwed up!" of course, blaming it on cameras means nothing. everybody knows technology goofs up: the electricity goes off, the alarm fails, the airplane misses it's drop. and yet, the public believes only human beings can fail.
this is definitely a cynical ploy! here's what a long-time fire-pilot says:
alas, the state of california fire having too much fun spending millions and millions on air-tankers and helicopters. it gives the illusion they can stop fires incinerating a town in a matter of hours. there's no question global warning making fires so fierce they suck the life right out of any human bodies they run across.
and as for what is true, this is a very interesting Ted Talk called Why do we believe what is not true.
he says none of us knows enough on our own. we collect our notions from other people and we fail to examine them in any depth.
i'm as guilty as anyone. for instance, the amazon touted as the source of 20% of the earth's oxygen. this a great rallying cry. unfortunately, it's not true. much of that oxygen re-absorbed to re-energize plant growth. maybe 7% escapes. another statistic: evidently the amount of burning area on earth has declined 25% in the past twenty years. others claim elsewhere forests making a come-back.
this doesn't mean the west won't burn, temperatures rising, whatever the cause. and what about the seas rising 23 feet? we will just have to wait and see. bill gates wants to drop a chemical in the upper atmosphere to dim the sun. and isn't that like introducing rabbits into australia, then dingoes to control the bursting population?
so, just like i'm saying we need living eyes on lookouts, i'm claiming we need watchdogs and not just computers to win elections, to catch crooks not paying taxes, to help old ladies across the street.
