I'll say a prayer for the people but piss on Calif.

Quite a paradoxon. As this is man made, prayers won't help I fear.

Explain how a post meant to garner sympathy and good vibes for a part of our country going through hell turned into "piss on Calif."?

Also nitpicking the point I was making? Why can't you say a prayer for a man made disaster? I got no idea if prayers or positive thoughts sent make a difference but it certainly doesn't hurt.

I didn't want to go on a diatribe about climate change. I thought the story I linked to went over how climate change has played a major role in this disaster. That is a big point.

In the end I think that the events happening in California are just a precursor to all sorts of different disasters caused by climate change all over the world. It's only going to get worse.

Bushfire season started in NSW about 2 months ago....about 3 or 4 months early....we ain't even into the last month of spring yet.

The way we are going...with this fire season overlap someone better get of their arses and build some more Sky Cranes.... there ain't enough to spread around Oz and Calif at the same time...

If you are going to piss on California, at least stop and ask a firefighter for directions where you can go.

Environmental/climate science is still quite young.  It's not surprising that some choices had unintended consequences.

Yrgal, what do ya want me to say when the calif. tells its employees they can visit certain states because they don't believe the way they do.  Then you have San Fran. telling its employees they can visit 23 states because they don't believe their way.  We never used to be like that when I grew up there.

Well, I for one read this post's title and decided to take a look, mostly because I find "praying" to be an over-used sentiment that comes with some baggage... and felt that there would likely be controversy (and therefore, I'm a bit interested lol).

But to answer your question? (about how this led to "piss on Cali" and other negativity:

1) So I suspect "piss on Cali" sentiment you've experienced comes from jerks who have a problem with California because it's a haven of liberal (by US standards) policy (which conservative thinkers find threatening since California is a fairly successful state at a very large scale).

2) Sending prayers is now fully associated with "Being ineffectual" for many who read it, because of the oft used "Thoughts and Prayers" phrasing used by US politicians in response to gun violence... which is of course, completely ineffectual.

3) I personally for example, felt a tinge of dislike for your post, because I actually DO believe that "prayers" actually DO make things worse. I generally believe that optimism leads to greater damage... whilst pessimism (AKA realism) prepares us for the worst and to take action. Prayers also often give people the FEELING that they've done something useful, when in fact, they've done effectively nothing and some people use prayers selfishly excuse themselves from actually acting on a problem.  Furthermore, this can be doubly frustrating since prayers carry a religious overtone and a undercurrent of moral superiority.

So for those of us who eschew any particular religion/spirituality, we find it extra annoying to read.

But hey... none of that is reason enough to rake you over the coals and be a jerk to you (or California). I'm sorry you've had a bad experience posting. I hope my response is useful to you, it's not intended as anything else.

Let me say that I am not religious at all. At WC people post about personal things and sometimes they ask for prayers to be sent. For me this means sending out positive energy. This also means that people sometimes find comfort in doing this. The feeling that whatever it is that is wrong, they aren't alone. There's nothing harmful in doing that even if it isn't logical.

I know full well that the what California needs, what the whole world needs is a complete reversal of the path that led us to rely on fossil fuels for our energy needs. Prayers aren't going to do that, only a concerted effort by the worlds governments. Our federal government, currently, won't even acknowledge that climate change is a problem. This will go down in history as a big mistake and is pretty stupid.

I don't think you understand the full point of the post. Did you read the story at the link? That's the real point of the post.

I was addressing your question and the possible reasons you received some negativity.

I understand your point about climate change/etc. that you are making. I think my comments are relevant because the act of "Sending thoughts" or "Sending Prayers" is a useful mental tool that people use and abuse to avoid acting, and while you may use it earnestly, your encouraging a practice that on the whole... is counter-productive. Especially when it's done publicly... I think your point about offering comfort are perfectly valid when that sentiment is expressed privately.

It's sort of a version of the bystander effect if you will, and thus relevant to climate change, because so much of that problem is related to individuals not relating the problem to effective action.

There are some good arguments out there for example, that things like paper-straws are counter productive, because ultimately, even if every plastic straw was magically converted to paper, the climate change problem would not be (even remotely) solved... but people FEEL like they are "Doing their bit!" by merely using paper straws and this excuses them (in their minds, often unconsciously) to then resist or ignore other more effective actions.

Opinions on what would be most effective vary, obviously, and expert opinions should generally be amalgamated to determine action... but off the cuff... some of my personal choices...

• Endorse nuclear energy as a stop-gap (for a century or two) to alleviate reliance on fossil fuels.
• Continue research into superior battery technology.
• Enforce strict guidelines on methane and even more dangerous greenhouse gasses.
• Invest more in the ITER fusion project or similar.
• Increase taxes on basically everyone to pay for these things.
• Encourage a generally lessening of material expectations for everyone. Whilst the rich should stop being able to own private airplanes, the common American should perhaps also not be able to get the latest I-Phone every single model. Breaking the consumerism that dominates 99% of our culture... somehow???
• Encourage right to repair and discourage and regulate designed obsolescence.
• Embrace genetic engineering for the purpose of climate durable crops.
• High powered plasma furnaces for trash-burning energy production.

Now there is obviously many more choices, but I specifically chose for this list, some of the ones that are controversial or lesser talked about, that I feel are far more effective than the recycling industry (in the US), straws, etc. 

For those not in the know....we [Oz] still have a month of Spring to go before summer....

I currently live in California and the situation is truly horrific in southern Cali, where I am not. The black plague has an active presence in southern California because of the trash in the streets along with human waste. You know... the plague that wiped out half the population of Europe in the what we call the "dark ages." Rats infest the entire state.  It's because the state doesn't care about the huge homeless problem here. Every city in California has a homeless population but southern Cali is the worst by far. Sacramento is also very very bad. People who are not homeless but get bitten by fleas in LA are getting diseases that haven't had a presence in the USA on a large scale before. A city attorney in LA sued the city for about 5 million because she was bitten by a flea and got typhus! It's worse than a third world country in many places here.

In northern California you need to make about $30/hour working full time just to qualify for a studio apartment if you live by yourself. Minimum wage here is $12/hour. Many other States you can get a mortgage on a house and pay $400-$600 a month. To rent a room out of someone's house in California costs about $1,000-$2,000 a month depending on which part of the State you live in.

LA garbage pile up.