Caught this little gem

over at CNN:



Warmer temperatures tied to wildfires, scientists say



Apparently it's again tied to global warming. What's conspicuously absent, however, is any discussion of our forestry and land-management policies. This stood out to me a bit:

Those plants grow back quickly after a fire, and several species of wildflowers only grow in areas that have burned, Rocca said.

Swetnam said smaller, surface fires are good for forests because they destroy shrubs and other brush without hurting trees.

What I sense is missing is a discussion of how the controlled burns of past eras have been banned, thanks largely to the environmental movement. I can't claim to know a ton about it, but I've heard folks talk about it on the radio.



So I'd only ask this - is it possible that the environmental horror we're now supposedly doomed to suffer has been caused in part by enviromentalism? I imagine there are some who are crying over the destruction of so many trees. Yet the same types have argued that we can't manage things properly because of the trees. So now we've lost the trees, billions of dollars, people's entire existences, and actual lives.



Yep, smart policy there.

The heavens opened

officially on Thursday. Someone lost their job, and it was a long time coming. Four years or more of incompetence and indifference came to a head, and the head on the block was theirs.



I suppose I should have more sympathy, but they brought it on themselves. I didn't care much for this person personally, but I for one could've managed with them if they put the slightest effort into their work. My interactions with them were peripheral, but the few direct efforts I had to deal with did not impress me. This person was full of buzzwords and superior attitude, followed by lack of action and complete ignorance.



Others I talked to felt bad for this person, but I can't bring myself to. Be sure your sin will find you out, and you can bet it did. I wonder why it took so long, but other people have more patience with this kind of thing than I do.



The upshot of all this is more work for me. I fully intend to try and force the issue to bring with it commensurate title and financial rewards, but I need to be patient about that kind of thing here. I also feel there's some tension and not a little confusion reigning right now, so I think I need to let certain things said to me kind of slide off my back. With any luck things will smooth out in a few weeks, and we can make some progress.



I see this as a tremendous opportunity, despite the immense additional workload it will bring. Things couldn't possibly have been worse, so we have nowhere to go but up.

Storm Clouds Are Brewin'

But they are hopefully bringing a healthy rain that will wash away several years' worth of grime.



I can't really say anything more about it right now, but it explains (somewhat) my parsimonious postings of late.



Other, equally weighty news is also in the offing, but there's no reason I can't say anything about it. I'm just being coy. Call it snottily smug if you must, but it amounts to the same thing.



Updates will follow in their appropriate time.