From "America Is on the Verge of Ratpocalypse/Warmer weather is fueling a rodent surge, straining public health systems and the economy. It's time for the federal government to step in" (in The New Republic).
The article frets that Trump may resist rat control because the "ratpocalypse" alarm has to do with global warming. The part I quoted above is an effort at a different pitch, which seems to be an effort to appeal to Trump's vanity, with rats presented as a formidable enemy that he might feel pride in stepping up and fighting.
You don't really have to try that hard. Trump has made "fixing the inner cities" a core promise:
"I’ll tell you, we’re spending a lot of money on the inner cities. We’re fixing the inner cities. We’re doing far more than anybody’s done with respect to the inner cities. It’s a priority for me. And it’s very important."That's a quote from a few days ago. I cut and pasted it from "President Trump’s claim that he has done ‘far more than anyone’ for ‘inner cities’" at The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" — which gives the statement 4 Pinocchios.
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Some lefty was commenting at the Phoenix rally, the convention center was "full of rats."
Of course they want to wipe our those Rat Trump voters !
Make all those cat ladies donate their cats to the cause. Conscription for cats!
here's a bunch of well-loved rats loving bananas
wapo has problems with figures of speech that trump uses
You could go the mousetopia route. Supply everything rats need and they'll get dependent and lose all interest in sex.
After day 600, the social breakdown continued and the population declined toward extinction. During this period females ceased to reproduce. Their male counterparts withdrew completely, never engaging in courtship or fighting. They ate, drank, slept, and groomed themselves – all solitary pursuits. Sleek, healthy coats and an absence of scars characterized these males. They were dubbed "the beautiful ones." Breeding never resumed and behavior patterns were permanently changed.
The conclusions drawn from this experiment were that when all available space is taken and all social roles filled, competition and the stresses experienced by the individuals will result in a total breakdown in complex social behaviors, ultimately resulting in the demise of the population.
This just in: Miami has fallen! The rats head North.
The Post's alleged fact checker is going to give that claim four Pinocchios no matter what its truth or falsity might be.
Democ rats have a problem. A refugee cat crisis in the spirit of Obama's clean wars is the solution.
Coyotes not far behind.
In general, trying to sell the urban rat problem as a "global warming" problem is dumb, because people already hate rats. Trying to link it in to climate change does absolutely nothing whatsoever to build public support for dealing with rat infestations. If anything, selling it as a climate change phenomenon turns it from a policy that should enjoy something like 99% public support and has enjoyed popular support for a long time into something that seems narrow and sectarian.
That's just stupid.
For a mere $13 million (plus inflation), Trump could stop the ratpocalypse before it begins.
The ratpocalypse has already been stopped before it begins because it hasn't begun.
Pro Tip! Put garbage in garbage cans, not on the ground.
When you wish upon a rat
It doesn't matter where you're at
Chicago had super rats in the 70s and 80s. How were they caused my MMGW?
How about fewer diversity programs with fewer staff and more money spent on the basics?
I propose that Northern cities plow the rats into the rapidly rising sea with their soon-to-be unneeded snow plows.
Pro Tip: If Trump gets rid of the rats, be sure to pay him what you agreed to, or you may never see your children again.
The International Rat Registry offers gift naming of rats after somebody, entered into the US Copyright Office.
"President Trump’s claim that he has done ‘far more than anyone’ for ‘inner cities’" at The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" — which gives the statement 4 Pinocchios.
Seems a bit over the top, but my suspicion is that WaPo's "4 Pinocchios" may be over the top as well. Once again, the media over reacts to Trump's over the topness.
I personally believe that the best thing any President could do to help inner cities is actively pursue policies that lower unemployment among minorities. Since Trump became president, unemployment has gone down, whether or not you'd want to attribute that to anything Trump has specifically done in terms of policy.
What about Pizza Rat? NY's finest.
Think of rats as Thai rabbit.
The article frets that Trump may resist rat control because the "ratpocalypse" alarm has to do with global warming.
The type of thing to fret about is connecting anything and everything concerning with global warming. Twenty seconds following the provided links in the article. NOAA cites El Nino as the problem then just tosses in 'global warming for good measure.
This is how you lose people.
Besides, cold winters don't kill rat populations. In winter rats hide in warm places- foundations, sewers, subway tunnels, etc. Critical is cutting off their food supply. Cities like Boston are dirty and have plenty of open dumpsters and trash bins.
Place a bounty on them. There are tens of thousand of young gangbangers in the cities with guns who could make some good money, instead of shooting each other.
Leftie cities focusing on virtue signaling instead of sanitation is a major cause of Ratpocalypse.
Why are Democrat controlled cities such pits of rat, lice and bed bug infestation?
"Ratpocalypse" engenders visions of a 30 story rat king swarming over a cityscape.
They're easily startled. But they'll soon be back- and in greater numbers...
Urban heat islands. A few isolated large cities probably make no major difference, but when you have megalopolises like New York City the amount of heat retained is enough to affect climate. When you get enough megalopolises exceeding some population level you get...dum dum dum... global warming.
Clearly population densities exceeding some amount, to be determined by research, ought to be illegal in the name of global warming.
...The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" — which gives the statement 4 Pinocchios.
Which does not, in itself, prove the statement is true, but when the speaker is a Republican, that's the way to bet.
What did the Obama Administration do with respect to the Rat Problem?
If the expense is a "mere 13 million", why can't Leo Decaprio pick up the tab?
Climate change - is there nothing it can't do?
Out of curiosity, what city/state can't afford to take care of its own rat problem? What makes this a federal issue?
I could see a federal angle if there was significant interstate migration of rats, or if they were spreading diseases to humans, who then traveled and spread those diseases further. Are we seeing any signs of this?
Sigh, why is the local rat infestation a problem for the Federal Government?
steve
Lure the rats to the Washington Post building. They'll feel at home.
Seeing Red @ 9:47
In all fairness those are patronage rats.
Those are the rats that get out the votes.
Which set of rats?
The one that creeps around on four legs, sneaking and stealing.
Or the ones that walk on two legs who also sneak and steal and who also vote Democrat.
"Chicago had super rats in the 70s and 80s"
The real super rats were in the 40s and 50s. I knew guys who went to the Stockyards where they had rates the size of small dogs and you could shoot them.
The best way is the Argentine cat farm. You also have a rat farm. You feed the rats to the cats and then skin the cats and sell the pelts for cheap fur coats. Then you feed the cat carcasses to the rats.
That way the cats eat the rats, the rats eat the cats and you get the skins for free.
Guaranteed return.
Don't urban rats live in buildings? Why would the climate warming affect them that much? It seems that it would have a bigger effect on rural rats.
On the other hand since it's only $13 mil maybe the cities should puggle up and do their own rat abatement. They are mostly Dem strongholds telling us rubes how much smarter and better they are.
They think they need 13 million dollars from the federal government to kill rats.
No. No they don't.
Michael K said...
"Chicago had super rats in the 70s and 80s"
The real super rats were in the 40s and 50s. I knew guys who went to the Stockyards where they had rates the size of small dogs and you could shoot them.
The best way is the Argentine cat farm. You also have a rat farm. You feed the rats to the cats and then skin the cats and sell the pelts for cheap fur coats. Then you feed the cat carcasses to the rats.
That way the cats eat the rats, the rats eat the cats and you get the skins for free.
Guaranteed return.
Aaaaaaaand...
When they try that in practice, some of the cats kill rats. And other cats kill native songbirds.
Nasty situation. Not a good choice.
If it can be solved for only $13 million, why can't the cities pull together the money? Seriously to any seasonably sized city that is nothing. Hell throw a hoity toity ball and raise the 13 mill that way. Why is it ALWAYS the feds that have to step in with money?
Take the money you were going to waste on new crap art, on removing old statues no one really cares about, and throw in the money ear marked for those free street concerts. Problem solved...
"Why are Democrat controlled cities such pits of rat, lice and bed bug infestation?"
Nice takeoff from Instapundit.
The answer is fairly obvious - big city Dem political machines invariably and inevitably end up running their cities into the ground. It is a systematic proble with the Dem big govt model and esp how it works with cities Put simply, city money is traded for votes, with different constituencies getting their allotted share. Leveraging this, one important constituency are govt workers. When budgets start getting tight, elected officials trade present wage increases for more generous pensions in the future, which they do everything in their power to avoid funding. But those promised pensions have to be paid, and paid usually before current expenses like fire, police, an, critically here, sanitation.meanwhile, large numbers of the middle class leave the shitholes that the cities have become because they can, leaving mostly the poor who are net drains on the city coffers. Services decline further, driving more of the middle class out. And meanwhile the pensions, that were never properly funded, still have to paid, for a former workforce who worked there when the city was bigger, more middle class, and, thus with a higher tax base.
Which provides my answer - suburbia and rural America have different problems. Why should they be tasked with bailing out Dem politicians who have driven their cities into the ground through generations of their greed? My solution to the rats? Abandon the cities and distribute the population more evenly around the country. The rats survive because of the high concentrations of humans. Eliminate that, and they mostly cease to be a problem. Dense big cities are an artifact of an earlier, pre-Internet environment, perpetuated, I think, mostly in this country these days, in order to perpetuate Dem power bases.
Why isn't it the responsibility of the cities themselves, mostly run by Democratic machines, to deal with the rats? Why is it the responsibility of a Republican president?
Unknown said...
Sigh, why is the local rat infestation a problem for the Federal Government?
Because that would mean they'd have to spend their own money fixing their own problems instead of spending it on things they'd like to have. It's a matter of priorities. That money could go to killing rats or to sponsoring theaters, parks, and other recreational venues. Which is more important to them?
What a mess: this town's in tatters!
You got rats on the Westside, bedbugs uptown
Shattered!
"That way the cats eat the rats, the rats eat the cats and you get the skins for free."
I would worry a bit about the second level cannibalizm. Maybe carnivores like a cat could do this safely, but omnivores like humans (and rats?) seem to have problems and herbivores, like cattle even more, with canibalism. I am thinking in particular of the prions in Mad Cow Disease but understand that there are probably other issues with canibalism. Or, maybe the evolutionary distinction is that animals that routinely engage in some canibalism (brown bear, and probably rats) build up a resistance to its problems (and as a species, we haven't done it enough to build that up).
Global Warming. Is there anything it can't do or be blamed for causing.
They should try one of these...>Squirrelinator They work rather well on the ground squirrels. One neighbor trapped over 100 squirrels last year. This year probably not so much since many of them drowned in the flooded areas in the spring. (Yay)
Of course, rats are probably smarter than squirrels and some rats are even bigger so perhaps a more tricky and larger trap.
Why should WE pay taxes to take care of rat problems in the cities? No one helps us with our rodent problems. Screw 'em. Take care of your own problems.
Cats may have a hard time with rats as many rats are almost as big as the standard house cat.
Now....they don't call these dogs Rat Terriers for no reason. Intelligent, diligent hunters who will actually LISTEN to you and obey (well....mostly). Unlike cats which do what they want, when they want.
The $13 million dollar figure sort of gives away the game, right? Seriously, if it is only $13 million dollars, then why haven't the cities already taken care of the problem?
This is from August 2016. Not sure if it's still a problem, but being NYC, my guess is that it still is:
NY Post
New Yorkers are making a big stink about the city not picking up their trash.
They’ve called in 16,936 complaints of missed pickups to the city’s 311 hotline from Jan. 1 to Aug. 1 — a surge of 26 percent from 13,489 over the same period last year, and 32 percent more than the 12,784 gripes in the same period in 2014, according to city records.
For $1 Million, I will consult NYC on how to solve their rat problem.
Take a look at this graph
Rat complaints don't seem correlated to temperature. Oh, I'm sure they are, on average. But maybe there's something else cities do that affects the rat population.
$13M is what, a couple of weeks of soda tax in NYC, right? Chump change!
Take a few bucks from your "find subway tiles that look a tiny bit like a Confederate battle flag pattern" and put them into an actual public health problem. Right?
Pfffft. It's got nothing to do with global warming/climate change/climate disruption/whatever. At least in Seattle it's because of the composting, gardening, and chicken-raising craze. A bunny-pocalypse is starting up this year as well.
Why is this a federal issue?
The line among academics is that no one is going to give you a million dollars to study the migratory patterns of butterflies in the Midwest.
However, plenty of people will give you a million dollars to study the impact of climate change on the migratory patterns of butterflies in the Midwest. Maybe substantially more than a million dollars. So grant requests get pitched accordingly.
I suspect people have just gotten into the habit of looking for funding through climate change, even in circumstances where it doesn't help their case. It's a learned behaviour that will take time to unlearn.
OK, Lucien, I can see that.
I need $14 million dollars to study the affects that climate change has on the concentration and/or ethnic make up of hot, 21 year old girls on Caribbean beaches during spring break. This will be a multi-year study conducted at some of the larger beaches where hot, 21 year old spring break girls gather.
I may need an intern or two to assist me...
The line among academics is that no one is going to give you a million dollars to study the migratory patterns of butterflies in the Midwest.
However, plenty of people will give you a million dollars to study the impact of climate change on the migratory patterns of butterflies in the Midwest. Maybe substantially more than a million dollars. So grant requests get pitched accordingly.
I think that was the case under Obama, but maybe not as much now. The Trump people may be overreacting in the opposite direction. I know of one university research group that had much of its NSF and DoE funding put on hold for a bit. Then, was reopened except for methane detection. Took a lot of pointing out its relevance to fracking before that funding was reopened.
If they want Trump to ACT NOW, they need to send him photos of rats from the 70's in mini-skirts.
Shadooby.
big city Dem political machines invariably and inevitably end up running their cities into the ground. It is a systematic proble with the Dem big govt model and esp how it works with cities
California is demonstrating how it can be done with states. Big states.
I'm honored to given such good advice about my rat farm proposal.
I will take it under advisement.
Why is this a job for the federal government? Is it because rats can cross state lines?
Yeah, why is "Urban Rat Control" (unabashedly a good thing!) a Federal matter at all?
Can't NYC and LA and the like fund that kind of thing?
Which enumerated power is that? Why can't the big cities I'm assured "make all the money and support those awful flyover people" pay for rat control themselves?
Also, you can cast your EPA & NEA environmental justice programs in terms of Thornton Wilder and the country's most performed play.
To promote rat control, perhaps a production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin?
From EPA's environmental justice list-serve.
2. National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Application, FY2018
Details at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=293915
Applications close September 11, 2017.
Funding range: $25,000 to $200,000
The Our Town grant program supports creative placemaking projects that help to transform communities into lively, beautiful, and resilient places - achieving these community goals through strategies that incorporate arts, culture, and/or design. This funding supports local efforts to enhance quality of life and opportunity for existing residents, increase creative activity, and create or preserve a distinct sense of place. Through Our Town, subject to the availability of funding, the National Endowment for the Arts will provide a limited number of grants for creative placemaking. Our Town requires partnerships between arts organizations and government, other nonprofit organizations, and private entities to achieve livability goals for communities. Eligible applicants include Independent school districts, County governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, State governments, Private institutions of higher education, City or township governments, and Special district governments.
Remind me where local rodent control is among the enumerated powers the Constitution authorizes fro the national government? Article I? Article II, no Congressional action required so we can lay this on Trump?
WTF...
"The article frets that Trump may resist rat control because the "ratpocalypse" alarm has to do with global warming"
For years it was the case that the only way you could get funding in many fields was to do some BS tie-in with the fantasy of AGW.
Now the people pushing those fantasies are going to lose their funding for hewing to the previous corporate line. I laugh. a lot.
Bruce Hayden said...
...animals that routinely engage in some canibalism (brown bear, and probably rats) build up a resistance to its problems (and as a species, we haven't done it enough to build that up).
Speak for yourself.
Todd, I would be happy to support your project as an intern. I'd be willing to do so without pay - you know, for work experience. And because I love the environment.
"Speak for yourself."
My point there is that humans don't seem to have yet evolved the ability to eat the flesh of their own species safely yet. Cultures that do practice canibalism seem to disproportionately suffer from weird maladies that are likely to stem from that practice. Not everyone, of course, but a statistically significant number. Some of these maladies are akin to the mal-folded prions that apparently cause Mad Cow Disease. Which suggests to me that we haven't yet evolved this ability - but some other species seem to have done so. My point there was that for cat/rat farming to work successfully over time, both species would have to have evolved this ability.
"For a mere $13 million (plus inflation), Trump could stop the ratpocalypse before it begins."
For a mere $13 million of other people's money ....
Sheesh, for $13 million Trump could fund the program out of his own money. Except that the article itself says that NYC by itself already spends $32 million in rat control programs so I doubt $13 million nationwide from the frds is.the real issue.
Sheesh, for $13 million Trump could fund the program out of his own money. Except that the article itself says that NYC by itself already spends $32 million in rat control programs so I doubt $13 million nationwide from the frds is.the real issue.
Wait...I thought the cats were eating the rats and the rats were eating the cats...........
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