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24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires

newsweek.com

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Re: 24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires

#41

Post by dahinds »

mikece wrote: post #31
ceejayoz wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Climate contributing to the ease of ignition and overall severity of the fires and climate making people into arsonists are two wildly different claims.

You are saying "contributing" while the reporting, which I copied verbatim, specifies the relationship as direct . Lots more where that comes from.

um did you not say "direct contributing factor" in your own words? The quote you provide doesn't seem to claim climate change is a sole cause, it says it will "exacerbate the conditions".

Re: 24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires

#42

Post by jb12 »

Australian here. Reckon our local news source might have better context when dealing with NSW police: https://www.smh.com.au/national/teenager-among-180-people-fa...

> This fire season, police have taken legal action - ranging from cautions to charges - against 180 people including 24 people charged over deliberately lit bushfires, 53 who allegedly failed to comply with a total fire ban and 47 who allegedly discarded a lit cigarette or match.

These are all separate charges. The 47 people who discarded lit ciggies likely got cautioned or fined, the 24 who lit fires are going to end up in gaol.

There are currently 131 fires burning in NSW alone, according to the RFS[0]. Not all of them were caused by arson, many of them are caused by lightning strikes and other natural causes. The reason this year is so bad is because of the drought that has increased the amount of fuel and hampered our ability to backburn, and cuts to funding in firefighting services.

[0]: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me

Re: 24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires

#43

Post by mikestew »

Vysero wrote: post #32
rdtsc wrote: post #6

What's the idea there? Insurance fraud, just causing chaos?

Well I can't speak for the actual intention of the author. However, I do know that fire fighters are often paid well. I have heard (could be completely false) of people starting fires in order to produce work for themselves. I know it sounds ridiculous but when times get tough...

Though firefighters starting fires for something to do does happen (I went to high school with a guy busted for exactly that; he was not the type that I was shocked to hear the news), you are going way out on a Limb of Supposition there.

And as sibling points out, there’s no monetary motive, they’re volunteers for the most part. (Then again, so was my high school buddy). And the paid ones, just like the paid crew down the street from my house, get paid the same if they’re fighting fires or playing Call of Duty at the station house.

Re: 24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires

#44

Post by sarcasmatwork »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #3
sarcasmatwork wrote: post #2

Not a fan of newsweek, so here is an alt https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/01/07/clima...

And you're a fan of Townhall? Newsweek is just a summarizer, but Townhall is a spin rag. Nobody claims that climate change starts fires (how can an increase in temperature of a few degrees ignite a fire?) but that it makes the forest fire season longer in certain parts of the world. Your article sets up that strawman very prettily.

You're misguided. Newsweek is not a summarizer. They make stories up. They push lies. They are right up there with CNN.

Townhall is Conservative news, not right-wing like someone else said.

Here is one from Townhall calling out Newsweeks recent lie: https://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2020/01/07/news...

Re: 24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires

#45

Post by lern_too_spel »

sarcasmatwork wrote: post #44
lern_too_spel wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you're a fan of Townhall? Newsweek is just a summarizer, but Townhall is a spin rag. Nobody claims that climate change starts fires (how can an increase in temperature of a few degrees ignite a fire?) but that it makes the forest fire season longer in certain parts of the world. Your article sets up that strawman very prettily.

You're misguided. Newsweek is not a summarizer. They make stories up. They push lies. They are right up there with CNN. Townhall is Conservative news, not right-wing like someone else said. Here is one from Townhall calling out Newsweeks recent lie: https://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2020/01/07/news...

The Newsweek headline is a direct quote from this Townhall article's author. In what way is that "mak[ing] stories up?" In order to get its summary of the Townhall author's quote correct, Newsweek even contacted him to ask about it: "Prager did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for elaboration on his comments Tuesday afternoon." Instead, he decided to play the persecuted conservative game for the rubes who read Townhall.

Re: 24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires

#46

Post by jb12 »

justinator wrote: post #9
rdtsc wrote: post #6

What's the idea there? Insurance fraud, just causing chaos?

I really hope it's just not an entire continent out for blood.

That's not really how it works in Australia. We're more focussed on (in order):

1. Helping the people who lost everything 2. Holding the country's leadership to account on why they refused to meet with fire experts before this season. 3. Prosecuting arsonists under the laws we have

You'll note that their names weren't shared, and they will be dealt with in our legal system like any other offender, from underage drinkers all the way to Cardinals in the Catholic Church.

But people starting fires (intentionally or not) is not new in Australia, sadly. What is different this year is the conditions that caused the scale of the destruction, funding cuts to fire services and the prime minister refusing to meet with fire experts, who were trying to warn him that this was going to happen.

Re: 24 people arrested and charged with arson causing Australian wildfires

#50

Post by m0zg »

iron0013 wrote: post #14
sarcasmatwork wrote: post #2

Not a fan of newsweek, so here is an alt https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/01/07/clima...

Wait, you're not a fan of Newsweek, so you're posting an alternate take from a right-wing propaganda outlet?

[flagged]
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