6886
General Discussion / Re: AmeriPol thread: D. C. on summer break
« on: August 28, 2017, 04:49:39 am »
... so... why did you feel like that last clarification was needed, then?
Bay 12 Games Forum
- May 19, 2024, 05:41:23 am
- Welcome, Guest
News:
May 9, 2024: The May '24 Report is up.
News: April 23, 2024: Dwarf Fortress 50.13 has been released.
News: February 4, 2021: Dwarf Fortress Talk #28 has been posted.
News: November 21, 2018: A new Threetoe story has been posted.
Forum Guidelines
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
6887
General Discussion / Re: AmeriPol thread: D. C. on summer break
« on: August 27, 2017, 11:04:05 pm »
Not so sure I'd call it the best considering what those are often enough, but I'd definitely give easiest.
Still, no matter what they do more people still seem to cheer for them than get pissed, so they keep doing stuff that pisses people off, heh. I'm pretty sure they're still winning quite handily most of the time, since even vitriol doesn't lead to too much in the way of consequences.
Still, no matter what they do more people still seem to cheer for them than get pissed, so they keep doing stuff that pisses people off, heh. I'm pretty sure they're still winning quite handily most of the time, since even vitriol doesn't lead to too much in the way of consequences.
6888
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 10:19:36 pm »
Also "fun", there's been somewhere around 140 tornado warnings over the last three-ish days. It's not upper band tornado alley records frequency, at least. Those apparently top off in the 190s over a three day period.
E: Ah, and addicks has crested 100. It's about three feet from "house flooding begins in earnest" level.
E: Ah, and addicks has crested 100. It's about three feet from "house flooding begins in earnest" level.
6889
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 08:11:17 pm »
From what I've seen of predictions, drainage wise is. Not the prettiest picture. Stuff getting up into record flooding heights and then staying there for days kinda' stuff.
And yeah, most rivers in the area seem to be at or approaching breaking free of their banks. Lotta' places already at or over the TOB (Top Of Bank, if I've not already forgot the meaning) level. And there's still days to go.
E: Oh, and for extra fun, since apparently nature hadn't fucked SE Texas enough, it's worth noting the area has a pretty significant fire ant population.
And fire ants don't drown. Instead they form giant masses of floating hell called rafts, and will disembark with fervor onto anything that touches them. They're apparently around enough mentions to avoid them are picking up.
And yeah, most rivers in the area seem to be at or approaching breaking free of their banks. Lotta' places already at or over the TOB (Top Of Bank, if I've not already forgot the meaning) level. And there's still days to go.
E: Oh, and for extra fun, since apparently nature hadn't fucked SE Texas enough, it's worth noting the area has a pretty significant fire ant population.
And fire ants don't drown. Instead they form giant masses of floating hell called rafts, and will disembark with fervor onto anything that touches them. They're apparently around enough mentions to avoid them are picking up.
6890
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 07:41:48 pm »
Laughter of thirsting gods unprepared.
... more seriously, I don't think we're really sure. Chief was saying as late as the 23rd or 24th that he was in support of the fed having less of a role in disaster relief and, y'know, hasn't been tested. How badly our executive being just kinda' fucked on the operational level is going to effect specifically what capacity FEMA and other agencies federal and otherwise has to respond is unknown. Whether the basically chronic approaching or being underfunded american disaster relief and infrastructure budgets are going to make this worse than it had to have been, no one got no clue. Save maybe experts in the field, I guess, and then almost certainly conditionally at best.
It's been like 10-12 years since we've had a hurricane set to do this much damage roll in, and it's flooding at a level we've literally never seen before -- actually never in recorded history -- in texas at the absolute least. It could end up being everything from holy shit your organizational cock ups got thousands of people killed to normal level of functioning saving at least most people they try to. I don't think anyone's really going to be able to say until the bodies start getting counted and the material damage tallied.
E: All that said, we do have plenty of people in the search and rescue field that's going to be able to be tapped. Family of mine is in the field, mainly firefighting these days but chipped in with both 9/11 and katrina aftermaths, and has mentioned that there's pretty heavily incentivized stuff starting to hit their networks to try to convince professionals (or equivalents) to come in and help. It's just... lot of uncertainty with the rest of it.
... more seriously, I don't think we're really sure. Chief was saying as late as the 23rd or 24th that he was in support of the fed having less of a role in disaster relief and, y'know, hasn't been tested. How badly our executive being just kinda' fucked on the operational level is going to effect specifically what capacity FEMA and other agencies federal and otherwise has to respond is unknown. Whether the basically chronic approaching or being underfunded american disaster relief and infrastructure budgets are going to make this worse than it had to have been, no one got no clue. Save maybe experts in the field, I guess, and then almost certainly conditionally at best.
It's been like 10-12 years since we've had a hurricane set to do this much damage roll in, and it's flooding at a level we've literally never seen before -- actually never in recorded history -- in texas at the absolute least. It could end up being everything from holy shit your organizational cock ups got thousands of people killed to normal level of functioning saving at least most people they try to. I don't think anyone's really going to be able to say until the bodies start getting counted and the material damage tallied.
E: All that said, we do have plenty of people in the search and rescue field that's going to be able to be tapped. Family of mine is in the field, mainly firefighting these days but chipped in with both 9/11 and katrina aftermaths, and has mentioned that there's pretty heavily incentivized stuff starting to hit their networks to try to convince professionals (or equivalents) to come in and help. It's just... lot of uncertainty with the rest of it.
6891
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 05:59:31 pm »
Yeah, much more likely than not. Though attics are real damn bad ideas unless there's roof access involved.
People are fucked en masse at this point regardless unless some damn lucky shit happens and a lot of people suddenly find their ass and that flashlight to get the rescue and relief efforts going on a level we've basically never seen in this country.
But... right now, most of those roads are pretty close to death traps for much, much lower traffic than a mass evacuation would entail. Guess you could roll the bones but it's likely the folks in charge think the odds are better at this for staying in place, even with what that entails.
E: ... that said, it looks like at least some places are trying to some degree. Fort Bend has issued a voluntary evac order in the face of a time given to the addicks/barker water release. They start releasing water Monday morning. Apparently the reservoirs themselves are rising about four inches per hour at the moment, which has prompted it then instead of possibly later.
E2: Though yeah, caveat to what I was mumbling about above, a trickle evac of some sort is significantly more reasonable. It's mostly just mass+mandatory that would be the embuggering.
People are fucked en masse at this point regardless unless some damn lucky shit happens and a lot of people suddenly find their ass and that flashlight to get the rescue and relief efforts going on a level we've basically never seen in this country.
But... right now, most of those roads are pretty close to death traps for much, much lower traffic than a mass evacuation would entail. Guess you could roll the bones but it's likely the folks in charge think the odds are better at this for staying in place, even with what that entails.
E: ... that said, it looks like at least some places are trying to some degree. Fort Bend has issued a voluntary evac order in the face of a time given to the addicks/barker water release. They start releasing water Monday morning. Apparently the reservoirs themselves are rising about four inches per hour at the moment, which has prompted it then instead of possibly later.
E2: Though yeah, caveat to what I was mumbling about above, a trickle evac of some sort is significantly more reasonable. It's mostly just mass+mandatory that would be the embuggering.
6892
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 04:48:46 pm »
Pretty sure they flat can't at this point, RK. Flooding's blocked off a lot of the roads and made the conditions on others hazardous as hell. You try a mass evac at this point and you've got even odds of killing more than however many the second swing does.
E: From what I understand, actually, that may be exactly why there hasn't been a mandatory evac for the area. Too many people trying to get out in too rough conditions; we've tried stuff like that with other hurricanes in better conditions and it went dozens-of-dead-people poorly. The time for an evac would have been like a week or two before the storm hit, and we didn't have much of an inkling it was even going to exist like it has until ~72 hours before it hit. There probably ain't gon' be much more evacuating for many areas involved, at this point.
E: From what I understand, actually, that may be exactly why there hasn't been a mandatory evac for the area. Too many people trying to get out in too rough conditions; we've tried stuff like that with other hurricanes in better conditions and it went dozens-of-dead-people poorly. The time for an evac would have been like a week or two before the storm hit, and we didn't have much of an inkling it was even going to exist like it has until ~72 hours before it hit. There probably ain't gon' be much more evacuating for many areas involved, at this point.
6893
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 03:27:48 pm »
I'd be completely unsurprised if it was already in the tens of billions, tbh, just from the flooding that's already occurred. Houston effectively has rivers where some of its major roads were, right now, and there's more than houston that's been taking this to the face.
... and the amount of rain predicted to come down by the end of it is from around 50% more to outright doubled or greater what's dropped since landfall. What's hit so far is basically only the halfway point water wise, and floods... tend to have breakpoints, where shit goes from just disastrous to catastrophic. Like, say, the point when reservoirs and basins and whatnot start overflowing, or have to have water let out to stop full overflow from happening. And, well. Folks overseeing those things have said outright they're going to be letting some loose, and it's going to almost certainly cause shit to get wrecked elsewhere. Just... less than it would if they didn't.
Also real noticeable on that news release is the mention of retaining water in those reservoirs -- or from what I understand, i.e. conditions are still flooded enough the ones specifically used for flood control are needed -- for a period in the range of 1-3 months.
E: Though a bit of poking around suggests it's more that they expect it to take that long to safely drain out. Still kinda' yikes, but a lesser sort.
... and the amount of rain predicted to come down by the end of it is from around 50% more to outright doubled or greater what's dropped since landfall. What's hit so far is basically only the halfway point water wise, and floods... tend to have breakpoints, where shit goes from just disastrous to catastrophic. Like, say, the point when reservoirs and basins and whatnot start overflowing, or have to have water let out to stop full overflow from happening. And, well. Folks overseeing those things have said outright they're going to be letting some loose, and it's going to almost certainly cause shit to get wrecked elsewhere. Just... less than it would if they didn't.
Also real noticeable on that news release is the mention of retaining water in those reservoirs -- or from what I understand, i.e. conditions are still flooded enough the ones specifically used for flood control are needed -- for a period in the range of 1-3 months.
E: Though a bit of poking around suggests it's more that they expect it to take that long to safely drain out. Still kinda' yikes, but a lesser sort.
6894
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 12:30:04 pm »
It's not going to mean much in a few days, especially if it gets bad enough (very likely, at this point), but it's sorta' worth noting that this is pretty much literally unprecedented for the area. This is looking to end up being the worst flooding texas has seen, basically in (at least) the last few hundred years.
For what they were expecting, while the various areas may have been somewhat unprepared in various ways, it mostly wasn't really egregiously so, perhaps particularly considering what sort of restraints re: budget et al they tend to be under. No one was expecting the worst flood the area's seen at any point since (before) the US declared independence.
E: Though there's another facet to that when you consider that folks have been fucking warning the gulf coast this shit was coming for a few years, now, but that's a whole other bundle of mess only so pertinent to what's settling in to kill people and wreck lives.
... incidentally, there's mention how like less than a fifth of homes in some of the areas being hit have flood insurance. There's some serious financial fuckery waiting for when this is all over and the debris start getting picked through.
For what they were expecting, while the various areas may have been somewhat unprepared in various ways, it mostly wasn't really egregiously so, perhaps particularly considering what sort of restraints re: budget et al they tend to be under. No one was expecting the worst flood the area's seen at any point since (before) the US declared independence.
E: Though there's another facet to that when you consider that folks have been fucking warning the gulf coast this shit was coming for a few years, now, but that's a whole other bundle of mess only so pertinent to what's settling in to kill people and wreck lives.
... incidentally, there's mention how like less than a fifth of homes in some of the areas being hit have flood insurance. There's some serious financial fuckery waiting for when this is all over and the debris start getting picked through.
6895
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 11:18:40 am »
Good ol' 610 River, main waterway of whichever side of houston the east 610 is/was on.
Can't really blame the 'crats for the signs being there, though. River finished moving in like... this morning. Last night, something like that. Haven't had time to readjust the signage after the road- to water- way transition process got far enough along for it to have a point.
E: Also they've been busy trying to make sure the waters end up with as few bodies floating in it as they can manage, y'know? They can take some slack on the inconveniently placed signs.
E2: And we're seeing first reports of sink holes opening up coming in. That's less than stellar. I mean, so is everything else going on, but.
Can't really blame the 'crats for the signs being there, though. River finished moving in like... this morning. Last night, something like that. Haven't had time to readjust the signage after the road- to water- way transition process got far enough along for it to have a point.
E: Also they've been busy trying to make sure the waters end up with as few bodies floating in it as they can manage, y'know? They can take some slack on the inconveniently placed signs.
E2: And we're seeing first reports of sink holes opening up coming in. That's less than stellar. I mean, so is everything else going on, but.
6896
General Discussion / Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« on: August 27, 2017, 11:12:28 am »
Maybe we can compromise and just off the chestburster style ones? I'd be okay with the ones that don't have reproduction methods that are quite so emblematic of the brutal sadism of nature.
6897
General Discussion / Re: ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS! (2017 N. American Hurricane Thread)
« on: August 27, 2017, 10:32:14 am »
Welp. Two or three days of it to go and only one or two in, and it looks like chunks of houston are already starting to submerge. Couple thousand calls for rescue et al so far, apparently. Other places as bad or worse. More than one area nearing and/or in line to surpass 500 year flood levels. Shit's gon' get worse before it gets better 
6898
General Discussion / Re: AmeriPol thread: D. C. on summer break
« on: August 27, 2017, 09:17:36 am »
I mean... it kinda' is, but "Yo', drop this shit for me." is not normally part of said discussion.
6899
General Discussion / Re: AmeriPol thread: D. C. on summer break
« on: August 27, 2017, 09:13:20 am »
Man with lifetime record of giving little to no shit about rule of law gives little to no shit about rule at law, news at why the bloody hell are we having to report on this shit o'clock.
On the flip side, I guess it could just be someone rolling with something that sounded plausible, not really vetting it too hard. Which is a whole different barrel of humpmonkeys, since it actually does sound plausible that the man with a lifetime record of giving little to no shit about rule of law would continue to give little to no shit about rule of law.
On the flip side, I guess it could just be someone rolling with something that sounded plausible, not really vetting it too hard. Which is a whole different barrel of humpmonkeys, since it actually does sound plausible that the man with a lifetime record of giving little to no shit about rule of law would continue to give little to no shit about rule of law.
6900
General Discussion / Re: The Unpopular/Controversial Ideas Thread.
« on: August 27, 2017, 08:44:42 am »
I'm... not sure that's actually very controversial, sheb 
If the stuff wasn't trying to take the place of actual treatment, or wasn't causing people to avoid treatment in favor of the stuff, I don't think very many people would particularly care about it. Consider the folks using it a little silly or naive or somethin' at worst, probably. Mostly how I see people that are currently using both get considered, as is, least so long as the cost isn't terribly punishing.
Less sure how common a sentiment the manslaughter thing is, though. Criminal or civil penalties for things along those lines are definitely on board, but dunno how many want to go that far.
I'd say go for it, though. Right now a lot of it isn't a good faith attempt to provide comfort through deception or whathaveyou, but a exploitative attempt at fraud that's implicitly or explicitly trying to get people to be less healthy, up to and including dead, so they can take money from them and give back nothing except a lie.
If the stuff wasn't trying to take the place of actual treatment, or wasn't causing people to avoid treatment in favor of the stuff, I don't think very many people would particularly care about it. Consider the folks using it a little silly or naive or somethin' at worst, probably. Mostly how I see people that are currently using both get considered, as is, least so long as the cost isn't terribly punishing.
Less sure how common a sentiment the manslaughter thing is, though. Criminal or civil penalties for things along those lines are definitely on board, but dunno how many want to go that far.
I'd say go for it, though. Right now a lot of it isn't a good faith attempt to provide comfort through deception or whathaveyou, but a exploitative attempt at fraud that's implicitly or explicitly trying to get people to be less healthy, up to and including dead, so they can take money from them and give back nothing except a lie.