Acting on Trump’s order, federal officials opened up two California dams : usa

[–] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 64 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Feel free to look up Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Lake Success. Both runoff rivers flow AWAY from Los Angeles and basically drain into other lakes or into the soil (at least as far as I can tell from the maps). There was no plan to capture any of this water, and Trump is demanding the release of water from several more dams shortly.

So not only has he wasted water which won't be used to help fight the fires (and wouldn't have been of any use anyway), but he has greatly depleted the reservoirs used to grow crops this coming Summer. He's not trying to fight fires, he's just depleting the food that the US will have available this year.

Trump -- too dumb to know that water doesn't flow uphill.

[–] ShareMySims@lemmy.dbzer0.com 45 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Trump – too dumb to know that water doesn’t flow uphill.

The fact that people still think he doesn't know what he's doing (or his advisers, anyway) is concerning. None of this is accidental, it is all about manipulation of the food supply and economy, and deliberately worsening living conditions for most people to make us even easier to exploit and oppress.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 24 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I guess he could be trying to provoke mass unrest so he can declare a national emergency and start shooting people.

But I'm pretty sure he could declare a national emergency and start shooting people whenever he wants, no need to actually create mass unrest. Just declare that there's mass unrest, who cares if it's real?

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

no need to actually create mass unrest. Just declare that there's mass unrest, who cares if it's real?

I joked with my buddy earlier today about something similar. Tensions are so high that someone could realistically kick off a revolution simply by convincing people that the revolution had already started. Get a few fake (but convincing) articles about revolutionaries across the country. Spread them far and wide, and shout them as loud as you can… If you got enough reach to hit critical mass, there’s a sizable part of the population that would likely go “well fuck it, I guess we’re doing this” and hit the streets with a real revolution.

Things have gotten to the point where if I woke up tomorrow morning to news of a revolution, I wouldn’t really be shocked. And that says a lot about the current state of affairs…

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Get a few fake (but convincing) articles about revolutionaries across the country.

They already have been describing migrants as an "invasion force", and describing male migrants in their 20's as "military-age"....

[–] shasta@lemm.ee 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Nah he's probably just fucking with California because he hates them for not voting for him, and also not liking their governor.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah this is what I think too - I don't think Trump is playing 5d chess, he's just a petulant bully and getting revenge on a blue state.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I guess he could be trying to provoke mass unrest so he can declare a national emergency and start shooting people.

He's running the Hitlerian playbook. Why do you think he's engaging in mass persecution of various minority groups? Behind hatred, his real goal is power. If you put the screws on people hard enough, eventually people start setting off bombs and executing reprisal shootings. If you ruin enough people's lives, some are bound to respond violently. Then you can use that violence to declare an emergency. And as we saw after 9/11, nothing increases a presidential power like acts of terrorism.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 weeks ago

But he could just lie, say that people are violent, and then respond violently to the lie he made up.

[–] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 13 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm really not sure... The way he rants about things, I feel like he's dumb as a rock. On the other hand, the people who have gotten in close to him? It's not hard to figure out that for someone with Trump's ego, all it takes are a few careful suggestions, something to make him think people will admire him, and he'll be happy to do the rest.

[–] ShareMySims@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The idea that someone just stumbles their way in to a presidency is wild. It's also ableist to blame his bigotry and oppressive actions on how intelligent you think he is, that has nothing to do with it.

So I'll reiterate - the fact that anyone can still think that what's happening is accidental or not thought out is frankly more than concerning, it's scary.

These people are following a playbook, they've got their own playbook for fucks sake, and they will do as much damage as they fucking can deliberately and with forethought. Pretending otherwise because it's easier to punch down and dismiss him as "dumb" than to confront the reality of things and punch up at a much bigger and scarier target is counterproductive.

[–] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 8 points 3 weeks ago

Oh I'm not doubting that all of this isn't orchestrated. The plan is transparent and obvious to all but his lapdog supporters. My only question is who is pulling the strings? Is it Trump himself, or the people behind him?

There was some discussion last year before the election on the Project2025 group on reddit. Perhaps a conspiracy theory, but the idea was that Trump would come out with all these really terrible policies to really push people to their breaking point. And at that time Vance would come along and say oh yeah that's bad, I'm relieving Trump as being unfit for office, and sure, we'll just have to look into these policies. It gives -them- a scapegoat, then they go back to business as usual but more behind-the-scenes. By that point they will have taken over most, if not all of the government. The theory at the time was this would all take about 6 months. The way things are going, I don't think it will take that long before "plan B" goes into effect. We'll see what actually happens, but at this point it's not outside the realm of possibility.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 weeks ago

He’s no rocket surgeon but he’s also not as dumb is he pretends to be. All politicians are actors, and Trump is a master of kayfabe.

[–] zephorah@lemm.ee 4 points 3 weeks ago

So you think he’s slapping Gavin Newsom around with this. And deliberately screwing over California crop GDP and the little guy via increased grocery prices. Trump isn’t good for farmers. When will farmers realize that?

I initially saw it as political theater to go with his false statements about fire preparedness.

[–] DigitalNirvana@lemm.ee 9 points 3 weeks ago

It seems to be part of the plan.

[–] Yankee_Self_Loader@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Wait, you’re telling me that trump lacks a fundamental understanding of California’s hydrology and is just lying to get what he perceives as a political win? That doesn’t sound like him at all.

Do I need to say /s?

[–] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 3 points 3 weeks ago

Of course you need to say /s !!! MAGA doesn't get jokes, especially when they're the target.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-01-31/trump-california-dams-opened-up

And his own voters have had to beg to get the flow shut so that their farms don't flood.

[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 weeks ago

My favorite part is how they buried the issues releasing the water will cause a the bottom of the piece. At least they put it in there at all as opposed to the other RFK piece they just botched.

[–] andrewth09@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think this is the worst thing he has done.

This will impact the number of calories the US produces and may lead to a famine. Starving your own citizens and countries that rely on US exports is beyond cruel. Hunger does not discriminate (except for the very wealthy of course)

Who relies on US food exports? Surprise! Its China, Mexico, and Canada.

[–] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago

No food for them, but in turn no food for us from Mexico, and no gas from Canada. Since the tariffs were announced to begin today, I'm surprised gas prices haven't jumped yet.

[–] zephorah@lemm.ee 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Remember, this is the newspaper with the owner who will creatively edit things to be in tune with Trumps status quo.

Including an editorial being altered to claim RFK was a great way to change healthcare problems.

I’m looking for the reasons you wouldn’t release water right now and can’t find any in the article. Does that mean this is a great idea with no downside or that this article too, has been creatively edited by the Trump licking owner?

[–] KickMeElmo@sopuli.xyz 6 points 3 weeks ago

Basically this is going to risk flooding at farms and then not have water available later on when those farms need the water. It's also unlikely to help anything right now.

[–] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Huh I'm surprised that an LA newspaper would cater to Trump, but it was the first article I found that seemed to have a lot of information (or maybe they've changed the page since I linked it?). Here's another article which is currently very negative of the situation... https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/us/trump-water-california-central-valley.html

So basically, dams were opened up spilling water on the other side of a mountain away from the fires. There are no pipes connecting these reservoirs to LA to fight the fires. Even if you wanted to collect the water with fire-fighting airplanes, you would have done that in the reservoir, you can't scoop it up from a river. Basically he drained all the water out into the ground to affect this Summer's crops, there is no other logical explanation.

[–] zephorah@lemm.ee 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Political theater. It also reads like a shot across Gavin Newsom’s bow that says he can fuck with CA water whenever he likes. Details that are given include how there was no coordination with CA officials, Trump just went over all their heads and drained water from reservoirs, followed by a social media post of the flow bragging about releasing the needed water.

What is the currency CA needs most? Water. Trump admin showed a distinctive “power over” move here that says to Newsom he can drain the reservoirs whenever he likes.

I think we need to consider authoritarian interpretations of behaviors like these going forward.

[–] Grapho@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

With all the noise there was about California seceding this might bite him in the ass. Throwing away the water for no good reason is such an easy sell.

[–] zephorah@lemm.ee 1 points 2 weeks ago

That feels like an entire west coast thing should it happen. With the State of Jefferson screaming as they go along for the ride, or go full bore militia.

Frankly, it doesn’t feel like we’re there yet. The physical of what he’s done is executive orders. With hella overspending on moving small numbers of immigrants.

His birthright thing was shut down in court with a shame on you for even trying this to the lawyers from the Reagan judge. His spending freeze is dead. Elons attempt to get people to quit, because it’s safer than firing, is legit backfiring because those federal employees WANT to resist.

Ask yourself why he isn’t introducing congressional bills, if he owns both the house and senate, instead of executive orders down the line. A bill is more solid ground after all.

Showmanship. And a bid to see how many will roll over and play subdued to an idea that isn’t fully a reality unless you choose to believe it.

We’re not there yet. Not enough believe this chicanery bid to make a king and tear down the constitution as of yet. Even the Reagan judge said he did t believe when he made that constitutional decision.

But if it goes, it would be full west coast, en force. Granted, even then, how does that even work with the naval bases and military forts? Is it really that simple?

[–] thefluffiest@feddit.nl 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

What a waffling article from the LA Times

[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago

You and I just read and thought and typed this thought at the same time.

[–] doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago

My theory is he's doing this to fuck with the billionaire landowners in California who haven't bent the knee yet

[–] itsonlygeorge@reddthat.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

By the time they run out of water it will be too late and people will have forgotten all about this.

[–] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

With the way dams seem to be failing in the US, maybe this is a preventative measure? /s

[–] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago

Well, it will certainly prevent the production of food anyway...

United States | News & Politics