To not want to hear any more about the Californian fires

I wonder if these fires would get this huge amount of TV news coverage if it was sub Saharan Africa 🤔

Have any of you actually seen the size of the devastation? Or are you still stupid enough to think that “it’s just a few rich people who have lost their homes” I can’t believe MN is allowing this thread to continue. If this was written about a natural disaster in the UK it would have been deleted immediately. But it seems that the old USA bashing is absolutely fine even when they are going through, probably the worst natural disaster they have ever experienced.

My childcare worker lost her home. I’m fairly certain she’s not excessively rich given she’s working for $25 an hour. I have colleagues and friends who have saved and worked so hard to afford basic starter houses, and they’re gone. There’s literally chunks of ash falling from the sky in my area at this minute, but given that I still have a house I can’t complain.

Im sorry we’re clogging up your news feed

As I said its been going on for 75 years, and shows no signs of stopping in our lifetime. It will still be going on when every commenter on this thread is dead. What is the point of covering it non-stop? None of us can do anything about it. I get mentioning it occasionally but its the non-stop coverage. All the non-stop coverage does is desensitise people to the carnage.

Genocide, it’s so bloody boring.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/un-special-committee-finds-israels-warfare-methods-gaza-consistent-genocide

Have you considered that news may not be there to serve as your entertainment?

Yeah the fire coverage is a bit much but it makes a welcome change from bloody Gaza all the time! I am sick and tired of Gaza/Palestine/Israel considering the conflict there has been going on for what, 75 years, and shows no sign of stopping in our lifetimes so why cover it at all let alone so much. I am bored of it. So I welcome any respite in the news even if it is fires in Hollywood.

Maybe you should read the post properly. The pp directly said the fires were caused by not enough burning off.

The Australian fires were caused by colonial settlers not respecting or understanding the land and listening to what the native population have been warning them about.. it’s not all due to climate change.

Read this and weep:

NSW fires: The Gospers Mountain fire

Agree with those who’ve said that this thread is grim. This site is not a good part of the social media landscape here and hasn’t been for a long time. Gaza and LA, and whatever else is happening in the news are not just battering rams in your culture wars, they are real people suffering real hardship.

Weren't you lot the ones who stole it? Committing genocide in the process.

People will really turn themselves inside out to deny climate change.

Yet another example of Brits not having the faintest idea about life beyond their own back yards. Brick and stone do not fare well in earthquakes.

Have you ever been part of a disaster where thousands of people had to flee from their homes, many of them losing their homes and all their possessions, and possibly animals? Thought not.

I am frankly shocked by the responses on this thread, and it seems that many sitting safely in the UK, who have not the slightest idea of what a disaster on this scale is like, are incapable of understanding, let alone showing any compassion.

Well, after the horrors of WW2 and the holocaust, the world founded international institutions to try to prevent such things from happening again by working together and building mutual trust beyond borders. People can put pressure on their elected representatives to act via these structures. Right now there are many who are actively trying to dismantle these institutions and they’ve lost their power. While countries turn inwards and the international structures are not working and likely to be swept away, we risk returning to the pre WW2 state, you can hear it in Trump/Greenland/Panama. Agree, it’s a weird world, with a very short concept of history.

Maybe read the post properly, the poster said it’s not all due to climate change, note the use of the word all. And they are quite correct in what they said. Bush fires in Australia have been happening for a very long time.

You sound like a really odd person. If you don't want the children to be frightened or the household unsettled then all you have to do is bury your head in the sand, turn off the TV, and pretend it isn't happening. There, that wasn't so difficult was it? Thank goodness the majority of people in the world aren't like you and actually are interested in what happens around the world or country, good or bad - and I suspect the news isn't broadcast simply to satisfy you.

How do you suggest people helps Gaza? Should we stop everything for that conflict? What a weird world we are living in.

Well the UK better watch out then. They are the ones that stolen it in the first place.

The problem is that the news is plugging about all the rich people who have lost their homes, but no real mention of the utter devastation it has caused to the everyday people who have lost everything.

One of my school mum friends moved back to America when her eldest finished primary school here. She is an ordinary mum and has lost everything she could not pack in her car. She is pleased that the family is safe, but completely heartbroken that their home is gone. Plus her and her friends don’t know what comes next.

The war in Gaza is terrible, but the fires are news of what is happening at present.

excellent post. I spend a month of my time in the US every year. I love it there and would live there if I could but I feel the UK news is too US centric.

And yes the lack of coverage about Sudan is awful.

He was not whining about the medals he left behind . He said he was grateful he grabbed his dog which was more important and was grateful to have survived . What is with peoples listen comprehension ? So many twisted interpretations here . There is plenty of other news and if you want the latest on Gaza try using a search engine . You will find it !

Don’t paint all Americans with the same brush ! I am an American but live in the UK . Actually, British as well now . All my family clare very much about the environment . My brother has an Environmental Science degree . None of us voted for Trump . All my family are fit and healthy . Your commentary is uneducated and just plain wrong . I think you would find most Californians do not fit your small minded view of what the USA is . Yes , too many not so well educated people bought in to the Trump Agenda and were influenced too much by the falsehoods of social media and Fox News . It was a slim majority by the way . Yes we all need to pay more attention to the environment . Best is to start at home ! I look forward to voting in the next UK elections to do my part .

Is this the best you have to offer ? Crude vulgar language ? There is plenty of other news if you even bother to look . This is a major event and many of us have friends and family in the area .

I wonder if there would have been the same reaction if this had been another Boxing Day tsunami?

It doesn’t matter if it’s a rich row of houses in LA or a poor row of houses in Gaza. Devastation is just that and humans in immediate distress deserve empathy.

Americans better get used to it . They make up 5% of the worlds population and consume 25% of the worlds resources. They are climate change deniers who have voted in a monster. They are not prepared to alter their lifestyles to help the planet in any way. They idolise their cars and the average American walks 350 yards a day .
Their level of consumption is staggering. Sympathy for Paris Hylton ? Have you seen “ The Bling Ring”

I do have some empathy for people losing everything but until America wakes up and accepts their role in these disasters then things are guaranteed to get worse.
The same goes for the rest of the world by the way.
As for the poor Palestinians in Gaza , they are being bombed into oblivion by a murderous Israeli regime wholly aided and abetted be America. Go figure as the Americans would say.m

Because Gaza used to fall under the british mandate which was split when the British Government, post war, gave Israel (the original sized one) to a new Israeli government

(Sorry but anybody questioning something like this clearly doesn't know the history & yes it should be reported on here in the same way as if we had split new Zealand/Australia & they were now at war following a 70+ year conflict with each other - you can always choose to ignore or follow the war in Syria instead)

Homes in California aren’t flimsy - there are strict building regulations due to earthquakes. Timber framed houses are actually quite strong. A lot of North American homes are built that way. Canada for example builds this way and has extreme weather of sub zero degree weather in the winter and 30+ degree weather in the summer - what you do find is well insulated houses that are cooler in the summer and more insulated in winter. Not very country in the world builds brick houses to a British standard.