The Vent and Rant Thread

[Dylrob]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Bless your heart! It does sound like you are spinning your wheels going nowhere, doesn't it. I wish you could get a scholarship that pays enough to cover campus housing, so that you could make a break from home and start your life. You just reminded me why I wouldn't want to be 18 again. That big yawning maw called "the future." Maybe I sympathize so much because I got off to a slow start also. I'll be thinking of you and hoping for the best for you.

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

But you have US. And thats no small thing.

Do not let it get you down, we've all (us older folks!) struggled while young to get on our feet. You will get where you want to be eventually, you must believe that and continue working towards your goals.

Thank you both.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Have you ever thought about who you are really speaking to when you post?

I'm actually 18, with flowing blonde hair, a body to melt steel, and an IQ of 175.

...

Wow! You're a good actor/actress!

Cheers,
Marc (Run away!)

[slayda]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I "picture" all the people on the forums that I chat with look like that. Well, not the IQ... you can't picture an IQ... although some people think you can.

BOb

Sure you can.

[nohmi2]

This is a real 'Rant and Rave'.
Every arsonist who causes even one death should be thrown in jail and charged with murder.
Australia is in mourning for all of the 173 (one hundred and seventy-three) and counting, victims of the fires which have raged for the past few days in two states. Some of these fires have been deliberately lit, and in some cases families have lost children.
Personally, I feel that when there is no doubt about who committed thse crimes, then the death penalty should be enforced.

[DixieGal]

My heart goes out to those families. There is a lot of news coverage of it here in the US, and it looks horrible. I hope you and Marc and all of the rest of our Aussies are safely a long long way from the fires.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by nohmi2

This is a real 'Rant and Rave'.
Every arsonist who causes even one death should be thrown in jail and charged with murder.
Australia is in mourning for all of the 173 (one hundred and seventy-three) and counting, victims of the fires which have raged for the past few days in two states. Some of these fires have been deliberately lit, and in some cases families have lost children.
Personally, I feel that when there is no doubt about who committed thse crimes, then the death penalty should be enforced.

I agree.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by nohmi2

This is a real 'Rant and Rave'.
Every arsonist who causes even one death should be thrown in jail and charged with murder.
Australia is in mourning for all of the 173 (one hundred and seventy-three) and counting, victims of the fires which have raged for the past few days in two states. Some of these fires have been deliberately lit, and in some cases families have lost children.
Personally, I feel that when there is no doubt about who committed thse crimes, then the death penalty should be enforced.

Agreed - setting fires that kill people is murder.

Can't agree with the death penalty - there's always doubt.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Agreed - setting fires that kill people is murder.

I think here, Ricky will correct me if I am wrong... it is called "Felony murder". If someones dies as a result of you committing a felony then it is felony murder. I am pretty sure arson is a felony.

BOb

[nekokami]

I expect the laws are different in different countries, and I don't believe Ricky is licensed to practice in Australia.... That being said, why on earth would anyone want to be setting fires in the middle of a drought???

And I'm quite vague on Australian geography. Were the fires near any of our MR members?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I expect the laws are different in different countries, and I don't believe Ricky is licensed to practice in Australia...

Understood. When I said "I think here" I meant here in the US.

bOb

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I expect the laws are different in different countries, and I don't believe Ricky is licensed to practice in Australia.... That being said, why on earth would anyone want to be setting fires in the middle of a drought???

And I'm quite vague on Australian geography. Were the fires near any of our MR members?

For the same reason they set fires anywhere. Because they like it. Seriously.

[nekokami]

Sigh. I guess I knew that.

From BBC News:

"It's a huge field which has been inadequately researched," says Adam Brett, a forensic psychiatrist in Western Australia, who has specialist knowledge of the arson.

"All fires start with a small fire and the consequences are not always anticipated," says Dr Brett.

"There are subtypes of people who light fires, from people covering up crimes, to people who are expressing their pain to people who light fires due to mental illness. There are very few people who light fires for the fun of it.

"Then there is a group of hero firefighters - people who light fires so they can put them out."

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by nohmi2

This is a real 'Rant and Rave'.
Every arsonist who causes even one death should be thrown in jail and charged with murder.
Australia is in mourning for all of the 173 (one hundred and seventy-three) and counting, victims of the fires which have raged for the past few days in two states. Some of these fires have been deliberately lit, and in some cases families have lost children.
Personally, I feel that when there is no doubt about who committed thse crimes, then the death penalty should be enforced.

I'm with you on this one all the way. I was in Greece during the fires and it was terrifying. I hope they catch the people who did this and punish them to the full extent of the law.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by nekokami

...
That being said, why on earth would anyone want to be setting fires in the middle of a drought???

To watch it all burn. This type of arson (bushfire) I suspect rarely extends beyond that when it comes to rational explanations. Except for the possibility of debilitating mental illness (which may remove judgement of consequences), most Australians know, over and over and over again, every "bushfire season", the consequences of bushfire arson. It would be someone of so little intelligence it's a wonder they remember to breathe who tried the "I didn't realise it would go so bad" excuse.

It should be noted though that these fires all occurred over largely seperate areas of the state. Temperatures were, over multiple days, well over 40C (104F) and Melbourne (the capital of the state) scored 46.4F (116F) on Saturday, and 90% of state hit the hottest temperatures on record that day (Victoria is between Minnesota and Michigan in size, or about the size of the United Kingdom). Couple this with extended, severe drought, the possibility that forest areas were not necessarily sufficiently "controlled" (eg. backburning) for a significant period, and you get forests, dry as tinder, filled to the brim with combustible material, just waiting for a car crash (which did set off one fire), sparks from a train, light focussed through a bottle, lightning, a casually discarded match...well, suffice to say arson isn't the only available culprit (though, from experience, likely a cause of some of the many fires).

And I'm quite vague on Australian geography. Were the fires near any of our MR members?

If I drove for two, full days, south on the freeway/highway through the state of New South Wales, I'd be into Victoria and in the range of the closest of the fires (around Beechworth). From there, you're looking between three and six hours drive to get to each of the other major outbreaks (Bendigo, Bunyip Ridge, Gippsland, Yarra Valley) in Victoria. For what it's worth, it'd likely take me the same time going north to get to north Queensland's floods. Queensland is my state, but I live in the most populous south-east corner. I'm not sure where nohmi lives, but she's in Queensland, so she's either similar distance or even further away from the bushfires.

I don't know where a lot of the other MR Aussies live. I've friends (the folks that found Oscar for me to "rescue") in the middle of it in Yarra Valley, but, though it reached and burnt down their fences, they're okay (and [crosses fingers] possibly now past major threat). It's possible you won't hear from them if they are in the midst as, aside from focus, communications are often knocked out for some time (Telstra - our major telecommunications infrastructrure provider, are talking "hundreds of millions of dollars" to repair communications in bushfire and flood-hit areas).

Some of the stories coming out are pretty shocking. I keep thinking of all those who did exactly what you're supposed to do in a bushfire (be that staying put in your house, or in your car, and so on) and died anyway. It reminds me that the warnings and advice are to help reduce risk, but if the disaster is big enough well...it doesn't read the instruction manual before it crashes through.

Cheers,
Marc

[nohmi2]

Queensland is my state, but I live in the most populous south-east corner. I'm not sure where nohmi lives, but she's in Queensland, so she's either similar distance or even further away from the bushfires.

We live in Robina which is many miles away from the fires.
Having lived in Zimbabwe(Rhodesia) and South Africa which also got it's fair share of 'bushfire seasons' it's is still pretty hard to comprehend that someone would deliberately light fires.