Hurricane Harvey

[KerningChameleon]

Fire ants are able to bond together and form floating "rafts" in the flood waters in Texas.

*snip*

^^^ that shit right there is something from nightmares.

Also, the flood waters also have snakes and gators. Plus, chemicals that came from flooded chem pants in the area.

Clean up is going to be a bitch for those people down in Texas and I hope they get a large federal funding to help them.

COMMUNISM!!!

I'm sure Fife and the other resident libertarians have a well-thought out and perfectly reasonable argument for why government aided relief will always be strictly inferior to a purely private system to manage the crisis instead. Probably involving an anecdote about owners fining the water for illegitimately squatting on their toll roads.

With a side tangent denouncing all the people scavenging the flooded and empty Save-a-Lots for soggy bread loaves for violating ironclad property rights.

[Montegriffo]

Saw Oklahoma urban rescue units in convoy and more ma duces and whatever police are being equipped with now than any other time in my life. Like fucking hobbyists. So many boats and people strapping canoes and kayaks on their roofs.

This isn't like Katrina at all

Also fire ant rafts are unsinkable. They don't break the water skin even if pushed below. Ingenious really.

Hey Nuke, glad to hear you are still with us. Those poor dumb house dwellers laughed at us when we said we were going to live in a home on wheels. Who's laughing now suckers...

I've had a profitable music festival, would you like me to send you one of these?

Alvis Stalwart from the 60's...
10 litre Rolls Royce engine, drives upto 9' deep then floats.

[apeman]

Kill it with fire.

Just a dab of dish detergent should break the surface tension...

[SuburbanFarmer]

Fire ants are able to bond together and form floating "rafts" in the flood waters in Texas.

*snip*

^^^ that shit right there is something from nightmares.

Also, the flood waters also have snakes and gators. Plus, chemicals that came from flooded chem pants in the area.

Clean up is going to be a bitch for those people down in Texas and I hope they get a large federal funding to help them.

COMMUNISM!!!

I'm sure Fife and the other resident libertarians have a well-thought out and perfectly reasonable argument for why government aided relief will always be strictly inferior to a purely private system to manage the crisis instead. Probably involving an anecdote about owners fining the water for illegitimately squatting on their toll roads.

With a side tangent denouncing all the people scavenging the flooded and empty Save-a-Lots for soggy bread loaves for violating ironclad property rights.

[apeman]

I'm sure Fife and the other resident libertarians have a well-thought out and perfectly reasonable argument for why government aided relief will always be strictly inferior to a purely private system to manage the crisis instead. Probably involving an anecdote about owners fining the water for illegitimately squatting on their toll roads.

With a side tangent denouncing all the people scavenging the flooded and empty Save-a-Lots for soggy bread loaves for violating ironclad property rights.

Not a libertarian, but I have noticed you have few "well-thought out" ideas, period, although a lot of snark, but want to point out why it HAS to be the federal govt doing most of the MASSIVE rebuild.

The money isn't coming from somewhere, we're not raising taxes nationally (in any meaningful way) to pay for Harvey, only the federal govt can metaphorically print up the piles of loot out of thin air to fund the effort. Obviously states don't print their own currency.

The libertarian response is probably along the line of: if we paid much less taxes, there would by much more $$$ to be donated to rescue, and donated/invested in the rebuild. Not sure if that's reasonable view, we'll never get to see it tried.

FYI private investors made a lot of money on teh Katrina rebuild, actually read about it this AM, but a lot of that is likely just front-running federal dollars, which is the surest way to wealth in our system

[apeman]

FYI private investors made a lot of money on teh Katrina rebuild, actually read about it this AM, but a lot of that is likely just front-running federal dollars, which is the surest way to wealth in our system

Btw, the hedge funds and private equity are already scheming to see how they can best position themselves to front run the federal dollars that are coming, the lobbyists are already working congress to see that the dollars flow to their people, while the libertarian view is likely pretty silly, so is the inference that federal management is a panacea and isn't going to lead to massive cronyism and wealth transfer.

I mean, that is the primary purpose of the feds at this point

[The Conservative]

Saw Oklahoma urban rescue units in convoy and more ma duces and whatever police are being equipped with now than any other time in my life. Like fucking hobbyists. So many boats and people strapping canoes and kayaks on their roofs.

This isn't like Katrina at all

Also fire ant rafts are unsinkable. They don't break the water skin even if pushed below. Ingenious really.

Gasoline and fire. Have fun.

[SuburbanFarmer]

FYI private investors made a lot of money on teh Katrina rebuild, actually read about it this AM, but a lot of that is likely just front-running federal dollars, which is the surest way to wealth in our system

Btw, the hedge funds and private equity are already scheming to see how they can best position themselves to front run the federal dollars that are coming, the lobbyists are already working congress to see that the dollars flow to their people, while the libertarian view is likely pretty silly, so is the inference that federal management is a panacea and isn't going to lead to massive cronyism and wealth transfer.

I mean, that is the primary purpose of the feds at this point

Spot on.

[Montegriffo]

He's going to run out of power before long.

I've been telling him to buy a solar panel for months. Off grid is the way forward.

[Alexander PhiAlipson]

He's going to run out of power before long.

I've been telling him to buy a solar panel for months. Off grid is the way forward.

No chicken tendies, no palatable water, skies still overcast with more rain on its way--if only I had a solar panel....