Look Ma, No Blades!

Have you heard about Vortex Bladeless Ltd.? It’s a Spain (just outside Madrid) based tech company developing a wind power generator without rotating blades. 

STRUCTURE & OPERATION
   ~~~
There is a fixed base and a cylindrical mast that oscillates freely perpendicular to the wind direction, jointed by a carbon rod.

Inner parts never collide with each other, but interact to generate electricity.

ENERGY HARNESS
When the wind passes around a structure, vortexes of pressure are created.

The frequency of vortexes depends on the wind speed, and if the structure has a similar natural resonating frequency, it begins to oscillate and harness their energy.

This phenomenon of aeroelastic resonance is called Vortex Shedding, and happens regularly in nature.

ENERGY CONVERSION
Similar to a traditional alternator, our device gets an interaction between coils and magnetic fields, generating electricity by electromagnetic induction without need for rotation on a shaft nor a gearbox.

Read more here.  Totally geek out about it here. 

The skybrators, as some wits have amusingly dubbed them, stand at a hair over nine feet (2.75 metres) tall.

“Our technology has different characteristics which can help to fill the gaps where traditional windfarms might not be appropriate,” says Yáñez (Inventor, Founder and Co-CEO of Vortex Bladeless). 

These gaps could include urban and residential areas where the impact of a windfarm would be too great, and the space to build one would be too small. It plugs into the same trend for installing small-scale, on-site energy generation, which has helped homes and companies across the country save on their energy bills.

This could be wind power’s answer to the home solar panel, says Yáñez. (source) 

Then there’s Alpha 311, a British tech company in Aylesford, about 40 miles south of London.

Theirs is a small wind turbine that attaches to extant street, highway, and railway lighting columns. It collects the airflow from passing cars, trucks, trains, and such and turns that into electricity. AWESOME!

The Alpha 311 vertical axis wind turbine creates power where it's needed most: locally.
 Every road, bridge, building or tower can become a wind farm. (source) 

How absolutely wicked cool is this?! Hint – VERY!

In the US (Houston, Texas and Irvine, California), Aeromine Technologies is making “motionless” rooftop wind generators (for commercial and industrial use only). Their website touts that they operate more or less silently, take up 10% of the roof space as solar panels while producing up to 50% more energy. Neat.

A Scottish firm , Katrick Technologies based in Glasgow, has created a honeycomb-shaped design.

Unlike traditional wind turbines, our innovative Wind Panel does not use rotations to capture wind energy. Instead, our Wind Panel uses oscillating aerofoils that sweep the entire duct to capture wind energy from low-level turbulent and gust winds. This motion allows our technology to quickly react to instantaneous changes in wind speeds found in ground-level wind conditions.
~~~
Our Wind Panel consists of numerous channelling ducts, where multiple independently working aerofoils are located. The aerofoils convert kinetic energy from wind to mechanical oscillations which are converged and converted into electricity. Our Wind Panels capture vast amounts of kinetic energy by having a comparatively large working surface area and density. (source) 

Two of these, the Vortex Bladeless "skybrator" and the Katrick Technologies "honeycomb" can be for personal home use. Exciting and fascinating stuff!

Light in Dreamland

 No, I didn’t see the aurora last night. I didn’t even try. Why not? This is gonna come off as wickedly pathetic BUT the northern light show comes up between 10PM and 2AM—that’s when I’m in Sleepytime Land. IF, during the day, I’d been paying better attention to sky news versus depressing election reports, I could’ve planned/prepped for midnight viewing. I would’ve taken a nap, had a cuppa coffee, talked Ten and Jen into staying up to help me over to the seawall but NOOOOOOOOOO. By 10PM Cake and I were busy counting Zs.

These shots were taken by a wonderful neighbor.

Also, CBS has a sweet collection of shots from people in other spots here in Massachusetts. Looks wild.

Part of my reluctance to make a dark time effort may also be due to my rehab exercising. I’m currently trying to increase the amount I do each day. Ya know, boost my stamina and strength. I’m also upping the workouts from four to five days a week. This is my second week. By bedtime, I’m definitely ready for visits with Hypnos and Morpheus.

I’ve discovered that, physically, I really need lazy days off. Emotionally though, I totally need to walk or elliptical or SOMETHING. I’ve long known that exercise is my antidepressant. Pills just don’t work for me. At all. So then, what to do? How can I feed my head and, at the same time, give my bod the rest it needs?

Perhaps, on my next chill-out day, I should still exercise—just not as much. A shorter walk? Less time of the elliptical? Maybe instead of all strength and endurance building, I can work on stretching and balance.

There might be more aurora action tonight. Will I stay up for it? Dunno.

Asorted Bits

Sunrise low tide

Jen Sorensen

Jen's ghost cats

Ivan Marchuk, contemporary Ukrainian painter.

Mike Luckovich

I NEED this T-shirt!

Wildfire map

The Life of Sharks

All I’ve Got to Say

Haze—not of the purple variety. Jen tells me it’s from the Canadian wildfires. She says the air smells like smoke.

Joy.
~~~
About that new “assassination attempt?”

Gun laws in Florida:

• No state permit required to purchase guns
• No firearm registration needed
• No assault weapon law
• No magazine capacity restriction
• No owner license required
• No permit required for concealed carry
• No background checks for private sales

Ryan Routh is the suspect. He didn’t get off a shot before the Secret Service commenced shooting at him. Like those wacky Imperial Storm Troopers facing rebel forces, they missed their target.

His (Routh’s) social media posts suggest the suspect was once a Trump supporter, who voted for the former president in the 2016 election. However, he became more critical of Trump in recent years.

“While you were my choice in 2106 [sic], I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate,” he wrote in July 2020 on X. “But we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving. I will be glad when you gone.” (source)

Looks like Cheato’s devoted fans are experiencing some disenchantment with the old fraudster.
~~~
About aging:

My mother—I wish she was still around so I could ask her about getting older with NF2. That is, how do I know what’s a normal aspect of aging and what’s a potential symptom of tumor growth? Not that she would necessarily know OR share her experiences with me. On top of that, just as we all age a bit differently, every NF2 case presents somewhat uniquely.

The point? I’ve got a little issue going on right now. It might have reduced my worries if I could have asked Mother whether she’d experienced anything similar.

Today's problem is similar-ish to something I experienced previously. That particular symptom turned out to be a big, old red flag of ugly trouble with the mondo mass riding my thoracic spine. Oopsie, I didn’t think symptom and NF2 were related. I just figured my bod was aging and getting glitchy. WRONG-O!

So—I learned my lesson well—and emailed my neurologist. One of his nurse practitioners got right back to me. Based on my last MRI and present symptom description, no, this isn’t the thoracic spine monster acting up again. YEA!  

Next, I wrote my PCP’s office and now have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I’d really hoped they would say “ah, this is nothing—just normal aging bullshit.” They’d call a ‘script into the pharmacy and *BAM* I’d be all set.

Going in is a betterplan  despite the onerous drive into town. The doc will have a look-see, bloodwork will be done and I’ll have a fine tuned diagnosis.

Fine. I just don’t feel like leaving home (my cat and my ocean are here!) or sitting in fucking rush hour traffic.

*whine, snivel*

Goth Birds, etc.

Did you know? There’s a goth parrot living in the mountains of New Guinea. It’s called the Dracula parrot for its devastatingly attractive danger-birdy looks (also, their call, which is said to be haunting. It's been described as harsh, raspy, and growling—cool!). These creepy beauties are also known as Pesquet's parrot or Psittrichas fulgidus.

Despite their commonly referred tp name and vulturine appearance, these babies are frugivores. They eat figs, mangoes, softer fruits, blossoms and nectar. Blood and meat are not on the menu. They can live up to 40 years if they’re not hunted down for their gorgeous plumage or skin (which is used to make tourist tchotchkes) or meat OR they croak because they’ve lost their homes to deforestation.

Why is New Guinea being denuded?

The development of some countries often takes place at the expense of others. In New Guinea, many forests are being looted illegally to cover massive demands from the booming economies of China and other countries.

Traders and loggers use “gloves off” methodologies to access timber at all costs. Illegal logging involving intimidation and corruption is widespread, which can cause resentment, strife, and encourages further bad governance.

In addition, forests are being converted to large-scale commercial plantations, often using unsustainable practices. (source)

EVERYONE, PLANT SOME DAMN TREES! 

WHY do property owners feel the need to have golf course-like lawns and grounds? For starters, these abominations are sterile looking—just ugly as hell. Also, the high water use, displacement and general agitata of the local critters (in their own damn HOMES!) and all the poisonous bloody pesticides are killing the goddamn planet.

All so you can play some inane game? Play a round of chess or Go and then take a stroll through the Public Garden or just around your own damn block. You’ll get the same amount of exercise, see more real-life greenery and wildlife and, BONUS, you’ll use more of your brain.

I knew an otherwise sensible, intelligent man (NOT a high powered, corporate-ladder-climbing, weasel dicked networker) who claimed to golf because it was a nice walk in “nature.” That’s like saying your trip to Disneyland Paris is just like going to actual, real world France. Nah, it ain’t—not in any fucking way, shape or form. Stop it.

Get outside
Get outside
Get outside
Get Outside, Robert Palmer 

Randomly, my latest favorite comic (I want t-shirts with these!): 

Orcas

Our friends, the orcas, are at it again.

A sailing yacht has sunk in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar after being rammed by an unknown number of orcas, Spain's maritime rescue services said.
~~~
One of the main theories that has circulated social media is that the orcas are seeking revenge for White Gladis - a killer whale supposedly hit by a boat.

That caught on when Alfredo López Fernandez, from research group GTOA, was quoted as saying a "traumatised orca" had launched the attacks. (source)

Please note, our activist killer whale buds aren’t going after simple, working fishing boats. Nope, they’re targeting wealthy, asshole, luxury yacht owners. These are social justice cetaceans and I applaud the fine work they’re doing.

Back in November of 2023, some “bright” folk decided they’d get the whaley boys and girls to leave them alone by blasting heavy metal. That’s not my favorite musical genre and, apparently, the orcas weren’t especially keen on it either. While I would have just left the musically offensive area in a snit, our apex predator pals decided to be a bit more direct about their understandable annoyance. I applaud their head-on combative approach.

I’m on Team White Gladis.

~~~
In other news, Von ShitzInPantz’s former fixer has taken the stand

Cohen has already directly implicated Trump in making payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover-up their alleged affair and apparently corroborated prosecution evidence that the scheme was meant to influence the 2016 election. (Trump has denied an affair and pleaded not guilty). 

The task of the defense in cross-examination was, therefore, to so undermine Cohen’s credibility that they sowed reasonable doubt in the minds of at least one juror about the wider case. (source)

Maybe this is a quibble BUT:

Affair
     noun
a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship

“Affair” implies, to me anyway, an ongoing sexual and/or romantic connection. While Daniels met with Anusface von MushroomPeen a few times (to discuss his offer of having her appear on his little teevee game show), they did NOT have an affair. In their one time alone together, the orange turd stood in the way of the exit, coercing her to give up the pink.

It seems Von ShitzInPantz’s former fixer is quite the wordsmith. Cohen has described the flatulent fraud as a “boorish cartoon misogynist” as well as a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain.”

Nicely done, sir, spot on.

Boids

Oops, jailing talking birds seems to be backfiring.

A British wildlife park has hatched a new plan to rehabilitate its potty-mouthed parrots after they unleashed a tide of expletives.

Back in 2020, five foul-mouthed African gray parrots, donated to Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in eastern England, were isolated from the flock in an attempt to improve their language.
~~~
“When we came to move them, the language that came out of their carrying boxes was phenomenal, really bad. Not normal swear words, these were proper expletives,” the park’s chief executive, Steve Nichols, told CNN.

“We’ve put eight really, really offensive, swearing parrots with 92 non-swearing ones,” he said.
~~~
The park has installed large signs warning visitors about the parrots’ language, but Nichols said it hasn’t received a single complaint.

In fact, historically, “we did hear a lot more customers swearing at parrots than we did parrots swearing at customers,” Nichols said.  (source)

The park visitors are the ones teaching the parrots 'naughty' words. It’s totally not cool to blame the poor, imprisoned birds for repeating what they hear. You’re gonna lock them up in a country where the weather is much colder than their homeland? You limit them to a flock that’s 1/10th the size of their natural social group? They’re accustomed to flying free in lowland forests and you put them in a cage? They’re on the endangered species list specifically due to the actions of us stupid humans.

African grey parrots have declined significantly in the wild in recent decades, due primarily to excessive trapping for the international pet trade. They are also threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation in many parts of their range. (source)

…but sure, blame the poor parrots for what we've done to them and their homes. Fer fuck's sake, parrots are just doing what parrots do. Go ahead and take some of their few remaining, meager joys because THINK OF THE CHILDREN! Dimes to doughnuts, these precious kiddles have heard all the parrot expletives before.

I only mention it but it was quite the risky move to put the eight colorfully vocabularied birds into a flock of 92 non-sweary parrots. The zoo could well have ended up with a hundred profanity spewing boids instead of just eight. It’d serve the wildlife jailers right.

Also, to my mind, the folks in charge are missing out on a big moneymaking attraction. I’d travel a long way and pay big boodles to witness a flock of cursing African Grays. I'm not the only one.

Sure, I’m deaf so I wouldn’t actually hear them BUT Ten could hold up my voice-to-text tablet so I’d still get the experience.

Let’s Get Beachy!

Or not. There are a ton of reasons to go down to the water but do some damn googling before you go! Here are some places to avoid.

Most Polluted (trash, oil spills, plastic and human poop)—Worldwide

• Freedom Island - Manila, Philippines
• Kuta Beach, Indonesia
• Guanabara Bay Beaches, Brazil
• Fujiazhuang Beach - Dalian, China
• Kamilo Beach - Naalehu, Hawaii

Most Polluted—U.S.

• Avalon Beach, California
• Ropes Park, Texas
• Cabrillo Beach Station, California
• Villa Angela State Park, Ohio
• Keaton Beach, Florida

Earth.com has a post up—Half of America’s beaches contain alarming levels of fecal contamination. Wow.

The worst offenders?

The Southern states, namely Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, proved to be the worst offenders. Up to 84 percent of their beaches experienced at least one day in 2022 where the water was contaminated with fecal matter.

More on Texas:

Environment Texas found 90% of Texas beaches tested positive for unsafe levels of fecal bacteria on one or more occasions. (source)

What about here in Massachusetts? We have a ton of public beaches here. Hello, Cape Cod anyone? Also, there’s the front yard here in Valhalla. Happily, none of my favorite places made the bad list.

People—ya know, us human types—are the cause of all the trashed and pooped up beaches. It follows then that the more crowded the waterfront the more garbage and fecal matter there will be.

Most Crowded Beaches—Worldwide

• Dameisha Bathing Beach, Shenzhen, China
• Dalian, China
• Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Magaluf, Majorca, Spain
• Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

Most Crowded Beaches—U.S.

• South Beach, Florida
• Huntington Beach, California
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
• Ocean City, Maryland
• Gulf Shores, Alabama

How about sharks? Remember, the water is THEIR home not ours. They mega-graciously share but sometimes our big, sharp-toothed fishy friends get annoyed with us. Honestly, can ya blame them?

Top Shark-Infested Beaches—Worldwide

• New Smyrna Beach, Florida
• Makena Beach, Maui
• Bolinas, California
• Lake Nicaragua, Nicaragua
• West End, Grand Bahamas

The top three party beaches for sharks are in the U.S. What do I make of this? Americans are irritating as all hell and our ocean dwelling friends can hardly be blamed. Also, shark attacks are low (chance of an U.S. citizen being attacked by shark attack is about 1 in 3.7 million) but not zero.

U.S. beaches to avoid if you want to lower the risk of being lunch?

• Volusia County, Florida
• Brevard County, Florida
• Palm Beach, Florida
• Mauii, Hawaii
• Oahu, Hawaii

Basically, avoid Florida.

How about crime? What are the top U.S. beaches to hit if you want to be robbed, assaulted or otherwise crimed?

• Venice Beach, California
• Daytona Beach, Florida
• Waikiki Beach, Hawaii
• Siesta Beach on Siesta Key in Florida
• Carlsbad Beach, California

Meanwhile, in Virginia Beach, roving gangs of feral hogs, descendants of domesticated pigs brought over by English immigrants in the 1600s, are wilding. At a guess, they’re after fresh crabs—I mean, who doesn’t like a fresh crab meat sandwich on toasted sourdough?

If you’re taking the tots on a beach holiday this month, check the reports before you dive into feces infested waters.

Yur welcome.

Fighting Back

Does it make me a bad person that I’m smiling when I read all the stories about orcas attacking yachts?

No, it does not.

Scientists think a traumatized orca initiated the assault on boats after a "critical moment of agony" and that the behavior is spreading among the population through social learning.
~~~
Orcas have attacked and sunk a third boat off the Iberian coast of Europe, and experts now believe the behavior is being copied by the rest of the population.

Three orcas (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, struck the yacht on the night of May 4 in the Strait of Gibraltar, off the coast of Spain, and pierced the rudder. "There were two smaller and one larger orca," skipper Werner Schaufelberger told the German publication Yacht. "The little ones shook the rudder at the back while the big one repeatedly backed up and rammed the ship with full force from the side."

Schaufelberger said he saw the smaller orcas imitate the larger one. "The two little orcas observed the bigger one's technique and, with a slight run-up, they too slammed into the boat." Spanish coast guards rescued the crew and towed the boat to Barbate, but it sank at the port entrance. (source)

So this is a thing now. The orcas are sick of human’s callous, self-obsessed, assholian ways and they’re not gonna take it anymore. We’ve pissed off the wrong fish (errrr, marine mammal).

Hey, I betcha orcas heard about the castle doctrine and stand your ground shit in the US. They’re simply doing the same thing.

In other Orcas versus Stupid Human news

Orcas chased a yacht during bad weather off the coast of Morocco, sparking fears among British tourists on board that they would have to abandon the boat.
~~~
There have been more than 100 incidents involving orcas and boats in the Strait since 2020. (source)

Abandoning ship in bad weather while being attacked by killer whales? Gee, sounds like a great way to fucking die. I wonder if the Brits on board realized that orcas, in the ocean, have the home field advantage. Also, did these folks not get the memo about yachts and the orca not being besties? I’d have thought the 100 ‘incidents’ would make the rich people boating news. Wouldn’t you think that sensible, smart people would, if nothing else, understand that taking their fancy schmancy barge out for a pleasure cruise in pissed off whaley waters was, ya know, not so bright?

It’s taken a very long time but maybe, just maybe, this is the beginning. Nature’s mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore.  Keiko’s descendants, (AKA Willy of Free Willy) are pissed and all you yachting motherfuckers are going down!

Good

I've seen all good people turn their heads each day
So satisfied I'm on my way
~ Yes

Good People numéro un:
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes of Montana

Along with the state’s Department of Transportation and the Montana Department of Transportation, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes recently designed and built one of the largest networks of wildlife highway crossings in the U.S.

Highway 93 in Montana had long been known as one of the state’s most dangerous roads. Now, it includes 42 wildlife crossings built based on Indigenous knowledge and values.

And they’re working: According to a 2015 study, animal collisions have declined by 71%. Now more than 22,000 animals use the crossings annually, protecting both drivers and wildlife to migrate safely. (source)

While Montana had been lagging in the 20teens, they’ve been stepping back up. Why? Because it makes a shit-ton of bloody sense, that’s why.

One study based on 15 underpasses found that 24 species of animal used the crossings during the study period. Huijser and his co-authors found that deer were most likely to use them, followed by black bears and coyotes, but other animals including bobcats, ring-necked pheasants and racoons used them, too. Another study conducted by Huijser found that the most effective crossings on Highway 93 reduced auto crashes with wildlife by nearly 100%, and the least effective ones (those lacking optimal placement, design and fencing to encourage animals to use them) improved wildlife-vehicle crashes by about 50%. (source)

Thanks to Biden’s infrastructure bill more wildlife crossings will be built. Fewer animals will be killed and there won’t be as many dead people and smashed cars either.

Good People numéro deux:
Dallas Goldtooth leads the Keep It in the Ground Campaign of the Indigenous Environmental Network. 

Along with his many tasks and duties with IEN, he is also a Dakota cultural/language teacher, non-violent direct action trainer, and was one of the outstanding Water Protectors at Standing Rock/Oceti Sakowin Camp fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline. (source)

Goldtooth is also an actor, comedian and a founding member of the indigenous comedy troupe the 1491s .

Good People numéro deux:
Quannah Chasinghorse

Chasinghorse is a 19-year-old fashion model and climate activist from the Hän Gwich’in and Oglala Lakota tribes. Based in Alaska, Quannah is a vocal advocate for protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling and protecting Arctic communities from the devastating effects of climate change. (source)

Good People numéro trois:
Tara Houska  

Houska is a citizen of Couchiching First Nation, a tribal attorney, land defender, environmental and Indigenous rights advocate, and founder of the Giniw Collective, an Indigenous women, two-spirit-led frontline resistance to defend the sacred and live in balance. Ms. Houska was active in resisting the Line 3 oil pipeline, the Dakota Access pipeline, and is heavily involved in the movement to defund fossil fuels. (source)

Good People numéro quatre

Brett Isaac is a Solar Entrepreneur, co-founder and co-CEO of Navajo Power.

In 2020, Brett co-founded Navajo Power: a public benefit renewable energy corporation that aims to brings the economic and environmental boons of solar energy to the Navajo Nation and other indigenous communities across the country. While he does not think solar energy is the “silver bullet” in dealing with climate change, he believes that it is a step in the right direction and sees first-hand how beneficial it is for the communities he has brought power to. (source)

Just a handful of good people doing good for the planet. My friend Michal challenged me, after yesterday’s Dirtbag post, to find four good people. I’ve found many more than just four. Today is a start. Dirtbags get way too much press.

Is it getting warm in here?

Indisputably YES!

Humor is just another defense against the universe.
~ Mel Brooks

For a good healthy dose of global warming perspective, check out xkcd’s A Timeline of Earth’s Average Temperature Since the Last Ice Age Glaciation. Randall Munroe’s annotated chart, (sources noted), is peppered with his usual wit.

If I ever find myself in a discussion with climate change denying fools and am unable to whip out a copy of Munroe’s chart (or my simpleton debate partner doesn’t have the brainpower to understand and absorb it), I can use the Rainforest Alliance’s factual counter-arguments, found here: 6 Claims Made by Climate Change Skeptics—and How to Respond.

No surprise that the villains poisoning our planet (and us) are the ridiculously wealthy fossil fuel fuckers and their pet congresscritters.

Who are the top ten senate recipients of oil and gas industry bribe buckos?

1. Joe Manchin (D???-WV)
2. John Kennedy (Idiot-LA)
3. James Lankford (Lying sack of coyote shit-OK)
4. Tim Scott (Weasel words-SC)
5. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
6. Krysten Sinema (D? not so's you'd notice-AZ)
7. Mike Crapo (R-ID) An aside: I woulda changed my name before entering politics if I was him. Fer fuck’s sake, the name’s blaring out to the world, like a Super Bowl halftime commercial, I AM A SLIMY ASSHOLE!
8. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
9. Cancun Cruz (R-TX)
10. Lil' Marco Rubio (R-FL)
    

Back to xkcd’s great chart though—he notes that in the late Bronze Age (1200–900 bce) there was an Invasion of Sea Peoples. What?! The Sea People were aggressive seafarers (early pirates?) who invaded eastern Anatolia (Asia Minor), Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt…

“They came from the sea in their warships and none could stand against them,” ominously proclaimed one inscription written in the 13th century B.C. and later found at the Egyptian city of Tanis. (source)

Invasion of the Sea Peoples sounds like it could be the name of the next Aquaman movie. I can see the publicity posters now—Ocean’s Revenge | The Sea People are pissed and throwing more of our trash back. I’d SO pay to see this!

When humor goes, there goes civilization.
~ Erma Bombeck

Smoke on the Water

The smoke from the West Coast fires reached Valhalla, making sunrise interesting, beautiful and sad – desperately sad.

“The air outside right now is at historically polluted levels,” Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington said. (source)

All our radically unstable, mentally banjaxed, outhouse of a president could say was:

“It’ll start getting cooler,” Mr. Trump said. “You just watch.”
Wade Crowfoot, the secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, told Mr. Trump that he hoped the weather would, indeed, cool.
“I wish science agreed with you,” Mr. Crowfoot said. (source)

Preznint Hideous Fairy Tale Brain thinks, just like COVID-19, everything will be magically ALLLLLLLL better in no time at all. “You just watch.”

His willful, obstinate ignorance and 500 fathoms deep stupidity isn’t shocking by any means but, that anyone who’s not 1%er rich (and in on the grift), continues to support him and believe his puerile platitudes does.

This douchebaggian cretin blames California for not “raking the forests” while making sure the state’s Forest Service is underfunded. Why? Betsy probably needs an eleventh yacht and a third helicopter, Mnuchin’s wife probably needs new clothes  and old Wilbur Ross needs another pair of custom made $600 bedroom slippers to wear while he naps through his Dear Leader’s mangled, bloviating, word salad speeches.

Back to the burning though, check out this informative NPR column: West Coast Fires: Climate, Forest Management, Lax Rules, Plenty Of Blame To Go Around. 

I can just imagine how much more damage this has wreaked on the lungs of Plague45 survivors. A friend in San Jose told me, late Wednesday, that their air quality was "healthy" (on that day anyway). GOOD.