See what others have said

Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.

Comments

1. #1
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:11 pm, TXGator said:

   As long as they meant well. Why should their ignorance matter if it made them feel better?

2. #2
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:12 pm, englishqueen01 said:

   Enviro-nitwits believe there’s just enough of them, and way too many of us.

   So they put forth policies and ideologies that threaten (directly and indirectly) the lives of people in order to “save the planet.”

   Not for me, or my children.

   But for them and their elite selected few.

3. #3
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:17 pm, granite said:

   From what I’ve heard, arson is suspected as the cause of these fires.
   Also, as far as I am aware, Australia is not immune from muslim jihadi problems.
   I hope that the Australian authorities include the possibility of muslim jihadi arsonists in their list of suspects than they are investigating.
   Let’s face it; deadly wildfires would be a great weapon for terrorists.

4. #4
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:19 pm, Socky said:

   Another Misanthropic Envirotwit is calling for the reduction of human population by 4.4 billions. Needless to say, he is not volunteering to lead by example.

5. #5
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:20 pm, John Deaux said:

   No price in human life is too great to save the planet because if we don’t, human lives might be lost.

6. #6
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:21 pm, chep said:

   Stupid should be against the law.

7. #7
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm, PhredE said:

   I had to take down two fairly large (80-90ft tall) cedar trees next to my house (within 20ft) this last summer. They were starting to suffer from some serious insect damage and possibly other disease as well.

   I generally like and get along pretty well with my neighbors, but a few said things like “but, they are so beautiful”,”they smell so nice”, “oh, that’s such a shame…”, etc. Sure, that’s all true… but, if they catch fire my house will go first, then many neighbors will likely be affected as well. Better safe than sorry.

   Oh, by the way, cedar makes good firewood (starter) too.

8. #8
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:28 pm, b-cat said:

   cedar makes good firewood

   Cedar makes great fence posts and other uses where wood touches soil, as termites do not care for cedar. I wouldn’t waste it as fuel unless you have plenty.

9. #9
   On February 11th, 2009 at 12:33 pm, PhredE said:

   Howdy b-cat. Oh yeah, I’m aware of that.

   a). Got a lot.
   b). Interior section of most of main trunk(s) was so badly insect damaged as to make any of the large logs/log sections practically worthless in terms of milling
   c). I needed the firewood.

   I trim the oak and fir trees to augment the cedar supply though…

   

10. #10
    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:40 pm, wighttrasch said:

    As much as I prefer the company of nature to other humans, I am not an ‘environmentalist’ in their sense of the word.

    These people will not stop–and it will be their undoing. Morons.

11. #11
    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:40 pm, englishqueen01 said:

    No price in human life is too great to save the planet because if we don’t, human lives might be lost.

    Let me make one slight adjustment to that:

    No price in human life is too great to save the planet because if we don’t, the right kind of human lives might be lost. Ours. And we’re far more important than you.

12. #12
    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:44 pm, mattm said:

    I think dickheads is nice. I would have said Criminals.

13. #13
    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:50 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Oh, by the way, cedar makes good firewood (starter) too.

    If you have any pieces big enough for your local luthier…

14. #14
    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:52 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    As long as the Spotted Owls and Snaildarters are comfy, who cares if a few carbon based gelatinous bags of mostly water get burned?

15. #15
    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:54 pm, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    Murder is what tree huggers do, set fires, spike trees, harass hunters destroy, destroy, destroy-they no good thing.

16. #16
    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:56 pm, jdubya said:

    Yesserineee!

    I am from Arizona and we had one HELL of a fire here several years ago. It was called the Rodeo-Chedeski fire. The hyphenated name was due to a nitwit who started a signal fire because she was lost and stupid and another fire started by a fire fighter out of work.

    This fire burned a swath of land the size of RHODE ISLAND.

    It would not have happened had it been for the nutty, nougat-filled environMENTALists and their campaign to stop clearing forests through sane land management, coupled by logging.

    This is what happens when society begins allowing slackers with no education, experience, or logic begin to influence issues that deal with land management, growth, or pretty much anything that goes against some warped gaien theory drummed up from a peyote-incurred weekend.

17. #17
    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:57 pm, d1carter said:

    Can the Nobel Prize be recalled?

18. #18
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:04 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:21 pm, chep said:

    Stupid should be against the law.

    If it was, we woudn’t have Obama as President.

19. #19
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:09 pm, CWinNY said:

    What the environmentalists don’t consider with their pleas to reduce populations is who is taking their place?

    Look at Europe – the native Europeans (low birth rates) are turning their lands over to Muslim immigrants (high birth rates). Anyone here think that Muslims have a good track record as concerns the environment?

    Also, the environmental record of socialist countries leaves a lot to be desired. Witness the environmental devastation found in Russia, Romania, Bulgaria. West Germany had to spend a fortune to clean up the mess in former East Germany.

    Look at the environmental record of socialist Zimbabwe as compared to the record of capitalist Rhodesia (in the latter years of that countries existence).

20. #20
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:11 pm, PhredE said:

    “As long as the Spotted Owls and Snaildarters are comfy, who cares if a few carbon based gelatinous bags of mostly water get burned?”

    …If such comment was directly at my earlier comment.. Here is my response –

    Spotted Owls don’t nest in 45 yr old live cedar trees. And, on top of that, I had the tree checked for critters by the crew doing the work too. Oh there were critters – carpenter ants – but I went ahead anyway.

    There is also carbon released into the atmosphere when coal or other gas/oil based fuels are burnt too. Besides, humans have been burning wood for thousands of years – it’s not the activity per se that is the problem, it is the number(s) of people that is the true underlying problem.

21. #21
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:23 pm, Paul Revere said:

    200+ dead. Nancy Pelosi is smiling. To her and her ilk, this is GOOD news. I hate them. I really do.

22. #22
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:28 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Oh there were critters – carpenter ants – but I went ahead anyway.

    I hope no helicopters were involved or Ashley Judd and her agent/lawyer will be on your doorstep tomorrow with an effigy of Sarah Palin.

    BTW – a bit OT – actually saw Judd “explaining” that her husband is a helicopter pilot and that hunting wolves from them spoiled the purity of flying – or words to that effect. So she isn’t worried about wolves so much as helicopters! Hahahahah.

23. #23
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:33 pm, PhredE said:

    lol AlohaGuy.

    Sorry I didn’t save you any workable pieces – but I work pretty fast with a chain say and splitter (wait… isn’t that a job that Americans aren’t supposed to be able or want to do?!?! – lol).

24. #24
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:39 pm, simcoe said:

    Instead of repealing or reforming these regulations, the stimulus bill included $500 million for “wild land fire management.”

    To repeal or reform any regulations would require admitting error which is something that “The Earth is Our Mother”-ists are incapable of doing, very much akin to rational thought.

25. #25
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:46 pm, greenfairie said:

    An Aussie I know said that some states regularly do clear brush for this reason, while others (due to enviro-lib policies?) don’t.

26. #26
    On February 11th, 2009 at 1:47 pm, rambler said:

    Where’s a tree sitter when you need one? Environuts should have to play bush fire lookouts.

27. #27
    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:28 pm, HotWeaver said:

    Instead of labor-intensive cutting, do what people around the world used to do: Burn the brush outside brushfire season, when it can be better controlled. That removes the fuel which is feeding these large fires.

    The result is grass under scattered large trees — once the accumulation of decades of trash brush is removed by saws or big fires. Then just burn the little accumulated brush every few years. An Australian researcher recently reported that the resulting charcoal also sequesters carbon.

28. #28
    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:30 pm, rightisright said:

    PhredE, I hope you got the permits required in order to cut down a living thing like trees. Did you get your city, county and states permits, along with E.P.A. approval, which has to be approved by Code Pink, Sierra Club and Green Peace and don’t forget Al(the)Gorball?
    /sar off

29. #29
    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:40 pm, TRM said:

    If Smoky the Bear hadn’t been exiled to that gay commune, this might not have happened…

30. #30
    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:40 pm, behiker said:

    I had only heard briefly about the fires in Australia from our MSM, but checked out the Melbourne Herald Sun. It is horrific down there.

31. #31
    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:42 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    PhredE, I hope you got the permits required in order to cut down a living thing like trees. Did you get your city, county and states permits, along with E.P.A. approval, which has to be approved by Code Pink, Sierra Club and Green Peace and don’t forget Al(the)Gorball?
    /sar off

    To say nothing of Dumpster Muffin perched in the branches hurling poo at you…

32. #32
    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:49 pm, PhredE said:

    rightisright – LOL.

    behiker, et. al -
    Precisely. This business with trees/management/fire is not something that should be taken lightly. Under the unfortunate combination of circumstances, it can be a deadly situation.

    Ask an arborist, tree trimmer, urban or other forester, utility contractor, etc. – a dead or dying tree in proximity to people is a potentially very dangerous situation.

    AlohaGuy – Sorry, I know how a luthier might want to use a nice slab of cedar for a guitar top (or the like). Anyway, kudos to you in your line of work. I always admired a quality wooden instrument (owned a couple myself).

    Ok, sorry to over-represent myself in this thread – I’ll shut up now.

33. #33
    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm, Omu said:

    It’s absurd to say this fire is the fault of environmentalists. Grow up, Michelle Malkin.

34. #34
    On February 11th, 2009 at 3:15 pm, corkie said:

    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm, Omu said:

    It’s absurd to say this fire is the fault of environmentalists. Grow up, Michelle Malkin.

    Why on earth would you not explain the basis upon which you claim that a statement is absurd?

35. #35
    On February 11th, 2009 at 3:20 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm, Omu said:
    It’s absurd to say this fire is the fault of environmentalists.

    True. That’s why she said:

    Enviro-nitwit-ism is a culprit.

36. #36
    On February 11th, 2009 at 3:23 pm, walterc said:

    And she was quoting
    

    “We’ve lost two people in my family because you dickheads won’t cut trees down,” he said.

    aussies that had family members killed by fire due to the poor environmentalist rules and regs.

37. #37
    On February 11th, 2009 at 3:27 pm, englishqueen01 said:

    It’s absurd to say this fire is the fault of environmentalists. Grow up, Michelle Malkin.

    Prove it.

    Logically, if BRUSH FIRES are curbed by clearing the brush, but environmentalists work to prohibit the removal of said brush to – oh, I don’t know – save a butterfly or something, then environmentalists share responsibility for the destruction caused by fires. Because they support policies that prevent people from taking measures to curb brush fires.

    Linear thought. You should try it some time.

38. #38
    On February 11th, 2009 at 3:41 pm, happyscrapper said:

    On February 11th, 2009 at 12:21 pm, chep said: Stupid should be against the law.

    If it was, we wouldn’t have enough prisons to hold all the libtards.
    

    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm, Omu said:
    It’s absurd to say this fire is the fault of environmentalists. Grow up, Michelle Malkin.

    The fire is probably the fault of an arsonist. But the conditions that led to massive burning and loss of life was probably caused by environmentalists who forced stupid laws banning brush burning. What is absurd is your deliberate misunderstanding of the issue.

39. #39
    On February 11th, 2009 at 3:54 pm, PhredE said:

    Ok, I can’t resist…

    In addition, the US has an analogous situation with respect to tree density/ vegetative undergrowth and management policies. This is largely due to the increasing success at preventing and limiting the scope of naturally occurring wildfires. I’ll also point out, that many local government agencies (as well as the USFS) have a policy of recommending tree and vegetation removal within close proximity to suburban and rural residences. This is especially true where fire danger runs high. I had received such a notice or recommendation myself, BTW.

    It is a big issue out here in the forested West. At this point in time, there is no perfect solution to the problem. Every policy practice has relative advantages and disadvantages over a period of time.

    Having said the above, low intensity but frequent fires tend to remove understory and are relatively “safe” (at least to mature trees and people generally). High intensity but infrequent fires are often the most dangerous and destroy large numbers of trees. These are the type that pose a mortal danger to rural and suburban residents.

    A policy of regular and controlled burning of understory is usually a good proactive approach to employ.

40. #40
    On February 11th, 2009 at 4:03 pm, txvet2 said:

    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm, Omu said:

    It’s absurd to say this fire is the fault of environmentalists. Grow up, Michelle Malkin.

    Not only in Australia. In the western US, tens of thousands of acres burned off due to environmental stupidity – refusing to allow people to clear brush or cut firebreaks, for instance. In a few cases, enviroidiots decided to let fires burn because they were “natural”. In other cases, they fight logging tooth and nail, although that’s one of the all around best ways to thin the forests economically.

41. #41
    On February 11th, 2009 at 4:29 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Anyway, kudos to you in your line of work.

    I’m more a presbyterior than a luthier (my line of work is actually something else) but the ones I know would always be happy with locally cut lumber…

42. #42
    On February 11th, 2009 at 4:34 pm, Pat said:

    In Big Bear CA the residents said the same thing. They have to wait for permission to clear around their homes, and the permission never comes, and the last fire could only be contained instead of extinguished because the enviro wackos said that the bulldozers going into the forest to kill the fire would damage the forest.

43. #43
    On February 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm, happyscrapper said:

    If I lived in an area with a lot of underbrush and a high fire risk, I would clear that brush and environwackos be damned. We have a right to protect our property.

44. #44
    On February 11th, 2009 at 5:23 pm, huggybear said:

    Well if calling people nitwits doesn’t help establish a working balance between environmentalism and human safety, I can’t imagine what will. Thanks for elevating the discourse.

45. #45
    On February 11th, 2009 at 7:01 pm, Azygos said:

    I am from Arizona and we had one HELL of a fire here several years ago. It was called the Rodeo-Chedeski fire. The hyphenated name was due to a nitwit who started a signal fire because she was lost and stupid and another fire started by a fire fighter out of work.

    Yup 458,000 acres charred because of inadequate and infrequent low level burns. And lets not forget the news helicopter crew who hovered over the signal fire.

46. #46
    On February 11th, 2009 at 7:03 pm, Azygos said:

    huggy,

    We need a sane conservation program that manages our forests not “environmentalism” that places fish and snails above humans on the food chain.

47. #47
    On February 11th, 2009 at 10:01 pm, PKAmmoTroop said:

    On February 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm, Omu said:

    It’s absurd to say this fire is the fault of environmentalists. Grow up, Michelle Malkin.

    You’re absolutely right, fire is an important part of nature.

    HOWEVER - The inability to CONTROL the fire and SAVE LIVES by demanding that the explosive tinder is allowed to accumulate to dangerous level the fault of environmentalists and they should all be tried for murder.

48. #48
    On February 12th, 2009 at 9:36 am, TK-421 said:

    To those who back the Enviromentalist, and to those who say the Jihadist are a bigger threat, read Rainbow 6, please.

    Yes yes it is a book but do some in depth research into the goals of most enviromentalist versus the Jihads.

    Peta, “freeing” all animal life from humans, Jihads overrunning the middle east and throwing out western powers.

    Green Peace, stoping all “rape of the planet” (Oil drilling) Versus Taking over said resources.

    I can go on and on, but Enviromentalist are a threat to human survival, if they had the chance they would kill us all, for gods sake there is a group called the VHEMT (Voluntary Human Extinction Movement) Look it up, these people are so set in there ways that they have became a threat. At least the Jihadist can be delt with.

    This world is too polarized, but there is a threat closer to home. And Nature should be respected, but not at the expense of humanity. We do cause Harm, but we also heal.

49. #49
    On February 17th, 2009 at 1:28 pm, Bogtrotter said:

    englisqueen01 said: “Enviro-nitwits believe there’s just enough of them, and way too many of us.”

    One of the most perfect one line summations I have ever read

50. #50
    On February 17th, 2009 at 1:35 pm, Bogtrotter said:

    As much as I prefer the company of nature to other humans, I am not an ‘environmentalist’ in their sense of the word.

    Agreed. I lived in Alaska for 32 years, much of it on the highway, but many mies from town, and it made me think of all the times family would say “You don’t go camping much”. I would tell them “I don’t hunt and if I walk ten minutes past the backyard I am in the wilderness. But I don’t have to sleep in it”

51. #51
    On February 17th, 2009 at 1:52 pm, FireBlogger said:

    I posted on this issue a few days ago.
    Residents were encouraged to plant vegetation close to homes and fined if they dared to cut down trees.
    In the case you reference the individual was fined 100k for removing trees. Fortunately his property survived the recent (bush) fire storm.

    Preparing a defensible space as defined by law is a firefighter safety issue.
    The “greens” don’t get this.