Dumbest Religious Climate Takes Will At Least Entertain Us

The dumb hot climate takes just keep on coming. Photo
by Pete Foley/Getty Images/Flickr RF

 I've gotten used to some really, really dumb takes on climate change. 

Everything from bringing a snowball into the U.S. Senate on a chilly February day to "prove" climate change doesn't exist to hapless Pennsylvania man who said an increase in tornadoes in the eastern United States is due to the proliferation of roundabouts that are replacing four-way intersections. 

Sadly, I am not making this up. 

The most strident climate deniers more often than not invoke God and the Bible in their "solid proof" of climate change being a hoax. 

Most seriously religious people are pretty intelligent and have a good grasp on reality. Some on the other hand, oy vey. 

I got a couple new ones that really have me shaking my head. 

As JoeMyGod and others reports, Pennsylvania GOP state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz tells us we have nothing to worry about climate change, because it doesn't exist! The Bible says so! 

Here's what she said: 

"When Democrats are pushing bills like banning gas-powered mowers and gas powered stoves in New York City, all under the name of a climate control agenda, we can all see that is really going on here.

The truth is, is in Genesis 8:22 it says, 'as long as the Earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.'

I'll say that again, 'will never cease.' Of course, we are to be good stewards of God's creation, but not through a forceful climate control global agenda."

I'm losing brain cells doing this, but I'll spell it out for our friend Stephanie. Whoever wrote that Bible passage was being Captain Obvious. There's winter and summer. You plant seeds in the spring and you harvest crops toward autumn. It's daytime unless it's night. 

Is she saying climate change doesn't exist because there are seasons? Or it doesn't exist because winter is colder than summer?  Is it just me or am I not following her leaps of logic? 

Probably my favorite response to her nonsense was a comment on X by somebody with the handle @SkyWasYellow:

"So, by the word of Genesis, harvests could drop to such low levels that mass starvation occurs, but since they didn't 'cease' all is well? And cold and heat still exist as extreme droughts and blizzards, as a result of climate change, but all is well because it didn't 'cease'?"

There was another religious hot take on climate change in the past week, too. 

The esteemed climate expert and Illinois Rep. Chris Miller, a Republican announced the other day that climate change doesn't exist because God made trees.

Said Miller: "We're not having a climate crisis.....Green leafy plants actually absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. It's the way God made it.'"

I'm picking on the dude, but let's be clear: I'm not picking on trees. I love trees. And they do absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Trees are our allies. 

But there's only so much trees can do. Before we started burning fossil fuels like crazy, trees were part of the system that kept the world's climate relatively stable. 

Besides, if Miller is such a fan of trees, why isn't he upset that humans are mowing down the Amazon forest?

These shysters always invoke God. Many people are serious about the Bible, for good reason. But you know somebody is bullshitting you when they do more flips in their mind to "explain" the Bible than the real physical flips the cast of Circ du Soleil perform. 

It's their lame way to think they have the final word. They make up something out of thin air they claim that God and the Bible said. And that's supposed to be the final word because Jesus. Or something.  

Or they are grifters using the tried and true method of using a false god to gaslight people. 

This isn't a rant about religious people. It's the  ones who yell and scream about how pious they are that sends my bullcrap meter into overdrive. The truly religious lead their lives in concert with their beliefs and not take talking points from the fossil fuel industry bosses.

So here's my question: What would Jesus do?

 

Racists Apparently Hate The Fact That Spanish Speaking Public Receive Critical Weather Warnings

One of several Spanish language tornado warnings
issued Tuesday by the National Weather Service
office in Houston. Bigoted and racist snowflakes
 sometime object to these, as they insist
everything be in English

 A winter storm is affecting Indiana today. Cody Moore, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis on Tuesday decided to post storm alerts and messages on Facebook in both English and Spanish.  

That's a common and good practice at many NWS offices, as it's best to relay warnings in ways that are best understood by everyone. After all, the primary language of at least 300,000 Indiana residents is Spanish. 

But racists always crawl out from under rocks everywhere, including in Indiana. Moore's post received a bunch of racist and bigoted replies because he had the temerity to post some of his weather warnings in Spanish. Do note his winter storm warnings were obviously also posted in English. 

Moore, sadly, ended up having to post this message to Facebook. It read in part: 

"Unfortunately, there have been a lot of racists comments on our posts because they are not in English. Racism and bigotry will not be tolerated on this page and your comments will be removed immediately. Thank you for your cooperation and kindness."

Racists and bigots have to whine about everything, don't they? They're such snowflakes, and the last thing Indianapolis needs today is more snowflakes.

 Just the tiniest exposure to the sound of someone speaking in Spanish gets their panties in a knot because....I don't know.  They clutch their pearls over a Spanish-language weather forecast because seeing "Aviso de tormenta invierno" gives them the vapors.

I can just see the racists hyperventilating now. "They'll ban English language weather warnings!" The (racist slur here) want us to die in storms. It's an evil leftist plot!

Yeah, I'm sure George Soros, Bill Gates and Tom Hanks are all in on this.

It's not exactly difficult to ignore Spanish-language weather warnings if you don't like them. It's super, super easy to access English language weather forecasts. Don't bigots have anything else to worry about than a Hispanic person receiving a weather forecast in Spanish? 

To racists, it's a crime against humanity if a Hispanic person is convinced by a Spanish language weather warning not to go out driving in a blinding Indiana snowstorm. Maybe the bigots want our Hispanic friends to drive off into a blizzard and die? Who knows?

Moore further unloaded about this idiots on Twitter: "Spent much of my shift tonight translating winter weather graphics into Spanish. Well the racist comments and bigotry got so bad I had make this PSA about how we won't tolerate any of that on our page. Just sad. So much hate" He included an angry face emoji and hashtag #peoplesuck. 

They sure do suck! 

The bigot butt hurt continued after Moore posted his message rightfully demanding an end to racist messages on his (accurate!) weather forecast. 

As IndyStar pointed out, the messages continued. 

"'Well since you don't believe English is the United States language then I guess I'll unfollow this page,' Bill Benedict announced in his response.

The weather service offices retort, 'Go right ahead Bill! Adios amigo,'"

The NWS Indianapolis "adios amigo" was definitely the right touch. 

To be fair, Moore got a lot of feedback on Facebook and Twitter from lots of people who appreciated him calling out the racists. 

Meteorologist Caleb Taylor at WPTA in Fort Wayne, Indiana declared that "Adios amigo" exchange "my favorite thing on the internet today. Shout out to @NWSIndianapolis for posting posting in Spanish and clapping back"   

Moore also, thankfully, got a boatload of comments on Twitter thanking him for posting weather information in two languages and making smacking the racists down.  I know it sometimes isn't a great idea to respond to social media trolls, but I think it's good to call them out, as Moore did. 

Bigots whining about meteorologists trying to broadcast weather warnings in Spanish isn't a new thing. Unfortunately, it crops up from time to time. 

KFOR meteorologist Emily Sutton in Oklahoma City a couple years ago used a Spanish translator during a report on one of Oklahoma's many weather emergencies. 

A wacko with the delicious name Richard Weathers objected strenuously to this. And I quote:"I remind one and all this is the Untied (sic) States of America, I am offended that KFOR overtly shoved the American English aside ion favor of the foreign language presentation."

He then went on the usual rant about the southern border, invaders, Make America Great Again,  blah, blah blah. I'm also unsure what the "Untied States of America" is. 

Sutton, in response, pointed out that a dozen people died in a May, 2013 Oklahoma flood in part because there were language barriers and the victims hadn't understood flood warnings.

She concluded, "You will find that we are all humans. Be kind to each other. Don't be a Richard."

You see what she did there.

Sutton ended up getting the last laugh, too. A local Mexican restaurant was so happy with Sutton's take on all this that they offered her free food and margaritas for life.  

Ignoring "Turn Around Don't Drown" Leads To An Epic YouTube Channel

Two more cars, among perhaps thousands, that have
fallen victim to Rufford Ford in England 

You've heard the phrase "Turn Around Don't Drown" over and over again, right?

It's weather and safety officials begging you not to drive your car through flood waters. Best case scenario when you do that is you destroy your car's engine, hence your vehicle. Worst case scenario is you get swept away and drown. 

Neither option is particularly appetizing. However, somebody in the UK has made a great YouTube channel out of the stupidity of driving through one flood prone spot. 

The back story first: 

The YouTube channel by Tom Sunderland involves Rufford Ford in Nottinghampshire in UK. As hotcars.com explains, there's something like 2,000 of these so-called fords in England.

They're basically small back roads that cross a small stream. Local councils have deemed bridges unnecessary because the brook is usually very shallow and these little roads attract mostly pedestrians and horseback riders, not cars. 

As hotcars.com tells us: 

"If you're on horseback, you can ride through it. Simple. Well, perhaps it's not that simple. Because there are many drivers who think it's fine for them to use it too. And for the majority of the year, it is, as the water levels of these little rivers may only be only three or four inches high during the spring, summer and autumn months. It's when we hit winter that things get interesting."

To be honest, it's sort of OK to drive through water that's three inches deep if you are 100 percent sure the road beneath hasn't been washed out or otherwise damage. I'd probably drive through Rufford Ford with my Toyota Tacoma if I knew the water was only three inches deep.

A couple weeks ago, I drove through three inch deep floodwaters on Shelburne Road in South Burlington. Me and my Tacoma survived just fine. 

The problem is that in winter, the water in Rufford Ford can be deeper than three inches. Much deeper. And shockingly, it seems thousands of people insist on driving through anyway. 

In the winter, very wet storms blow through the UK, and that little brook gets high. People are warned about their own stupidity in these cases. The local council puts up "Road Closed" signs at the entrance to Rufford Ford. 

When that happens, there's a four-mile detour. Many motorists aren't having these detours.

So they plow into the water, with predictable results. Cars get stuck, float away or just die.  Rufford Ford becomes a bit of a tourist attraction when the water is high. Judging from the videos, people gather at the ford and watch cars splash into the water and stall. A friendly local tows the cars out of the drink. The crowds  cheer and applaud the whole thing.  Frankly, it's great entertainment. 

It's mind blowing to watch some of these videos to see a car stuck in that Rufford Ford water, and then what does the next motorist do? Plow right into the water, despite the hints screaming at them not to do it. What the hell?

Tom Sutherland records all of these Rufford Ford fails, and posts them on YouTube. Sutherland makes bank, big time. His channel has more than 21,400 subscribers. Each of his videos ends up having tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of views. It's really on the same level as the 11'8" bridge videos from North Carolina, where hapless truck drivers try and fail to fit under a low bridge crossing. 

(They raised that bridge by eight inches but truck drivers continue to shear off the tops of their vehicles trying to squeeze under it). 

Apparently, quite a few other YouTubers do the same thing as Sutherland. Like I said, it's become a tourist attraction. 

Here's one video from the Rufford Ford collection. It's a compilation of the best fails and attempts in the past year. It's amazing how many stupid people there are. Click on this link to view, or watch by click on the image below.  

Weather Improved But Western Fires Still Rage; Death Toll Rising

It's not as windy as it was along the West Coast as it was earlier in the week, but wildfires rage on nonetheless, as they are too big to contain without at least days, if not weeks of work.

The death toll from the mega fires has reached 14, and that is sure to rise.  It has been unsafe to search areas where fires raced through over the past few days, and it seems not everybody made it out in time across parts of California, Oregon and Washington. The fires were just too intense and too fast for some. 

One of the western forest fires. Authorities are
only now beginning to search fire zones for
casualties. Also, conspiracy theorists spreading
rumors are making emergency workers'
jobs harder.

One example of the reach and extent of these fires is this stat from Oregon:  Half a million people have fled fires in that state. That's more than 10 percent of the state's population. 

The wildfire smoke continues to choke the West Coast and it's going to last.  Strong east winds pushed the smoke through big coastal or near coastal cities like San Francisco, Seattle and Portland.  The wind has shifted, and all that smoke that was pushed out into the air above the Pacific Ocean is now coming back on shore. 

The city of Portland has declared a state of emergency, since many of the city's firefighters have left to fight blazes elsewhere. The air is unhealthy due to the smoke, and new fires could break out in and around Portland since it's so dry there. 

A brief change in the weather pattern might bring a little rain to the Pacific Northwest next week, but then it will probably go back to warm and dry again. Any rain that does fall next week won't be enough to help much. 

In California, at least 2,000 structures, including homes, have been destroyed.  Oroville, population 19,000 is threatened.  At least one small town in the area, Berry Creek, population about 500, was pretty much destroyed. Evacuation zones sadly include part of the town of Paradise, which was largely wiped out by that now famous 2018 wildfire, the deadliest in California history  

Another dismaying thing about the fires is a sad reflection of our society at large:  There's lots of false rumors about the fires, which is normal, I guess. What's not normal is the huge amount of people who are buying these false narratives hook, line and sinker. 

PT Barnum allegedly always said there's a sucker born every minute. I just didn't realize there were that many suckers. 

For the record: Neither the left wing Antifa nor the right wing Proud Boys are setting fires in the West. The government is not using secret weapons to start fires in turn to sow panic.  

One popular Facebook page falsely states that federal agents are investigating fires as a "coordinated attack" by Antifa.  Law enforcement agencies stress this report is absolutely false. I'm not naming the publication because I don't want to call even more attention to them. 

There is one large fire in Oregon that was likely started by an arsonist, but police said the leads they are following all point away from any political motivation with this crime. 

According to USA Today:

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office posted a plea on its Facebook that community members stop spreading rumors about antifa.

'Rumor spread just like wildfire and now our 911 dispatchers and professional staff are being overrun with requests for information and inquiries on an UTRUE rumor that 6 Antifa members have been arrested for setting fires in DOUGLAS COUNTY, OREGON,' its post read. 'THIS IS NOT TRUE!'"

 Many of the fires are likely human caused, but were caused not by individuals with an agenda, but by stupid, careless people with their discarded cigarettes, abandoned camp fires and such. Many fires started from power lines downed by high winds. 

Latching on to false conspiracy theories takes resources away from authorities who need to focus on fighting the fires and preventing new ones. So stop it!