PLAYING WITH TOY SOLDIERS
Trump knew he'd lost 2020 — and that's when he ordered abrupt military withdrawals around the globe: Jan. 6 hearing

Sarah K. Burris
October 13, 2022




Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Thursday during a hearing held by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack that former President Donald Trump knew full-well that he lost the 2020 election. Meanwhile, he was acting on that loss, and trying to quickly withdraw troops from around the globe even though the Department of Defense urged him not to.

Kinzinger showed videos of several defense officials who testified that it was young staffer Johnny McEntee, who did nothing more than run the staffing office of the White House, and who penned the directive ordering all troops out of Afghanistan and Somalia.

"Knowing that he had a lost and had only weeks in office, President Trump rushed to complete his unfinished business," said Kinzinger. "One key example is this: President Trump issued an order for a U.S. troop withdrawal."

"He disregarded concerns about the consequences for the fragile government on the front line of the fight against ISIS and terrorists. Knowing he was leaving office, he acted immediately and signed the order on November 11, which would have required the withdrawal of troops from Somalia and Afghanistan all to be complete before the Biden administration on January 20."

RELATED: Trump’s ‘false’ victory speech was a ‘premeditated plan’ to stay in office: Jan. 6 hearing

He showed clip after clip of high-ranking military and security officials revealing that Trump wanted the "immediate" withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan. Military leaders told him it would be a disaster, but Trump didn't care. When Joe Biden entered office, it was the mess that he was forced to clean up and for which he was blamed. The implication is that it was what Trump wanted.

Watch video below or at this link.



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Former Trump official: He 'wanted people to die' in the riot so he could declare martial law and stay in power

Matthew Chapman
October 13, 2022

Capitol rioters (Photo by Saul Loeb for AFP)


On Thursday's edition of MSNBC's "Deadline: White House," during a discussion about the final January 6 Committee hearing, former Trump administration Homeland Security official Miles Taylor said he believes the former president wanted members of Congress to be killed on January 6.

Taylor, a Trump-skeptic who wrote the infamous anonymous New York Times op-ed describing himself as part of a "resistance" within the executive branch, argued the former president would have used such deaths as a pretext to declare martial law and remain in office in perpetuity.

"It made my heart race to watch today's hearing, really, because they brought up Trump's mindset, and the question was, what was his mindset?" Taylor told anchor Nicolle Wallace. "I'm going to demystify that for America right now. I've spent time with the guy in the Oval Office, the White House situation room, and Air Force One. I'll tell you what his mindset was on January 6th."

"I believe Donald Trump wanted people to die," said Taylor. "He wanted people to die who were elected officials, en masse, so he could call out the military, so he could invoke the Insurrection Act, so he could prevent the peaceful transfer of power. That's not a conspiracy theory. In fact, in hindsight, it's pretty damn clear to me this is what he had in mind from day one in office."

This plan from Trump, said Taylor, explains something that had mystified himself and other national security officials about the former president from day one: why he continually refused to condemn right-wing domestic terrorist groups every time there was a violent incident. "Why did he make excuses for domestic terrorist groups? Because he was on their side."

"We saw in testimony the other week in courts that the January 6th plotters knew they were engaging in an insurrection, an armed insurrection. That's what they intended," said Taylor. "And we have people, extremists ... two hops away from the president of the United States who were planning on making that happen. He wanted people to die on January 6th so that he could use those presidential powers to prevent our democracy from transitioning to a new president. And I think the committee presented that in extremely powerful passion."

Watch below or at this link.

Miles Taylor says Trump "wanted people to die" on January 6

Feeling “schadenfreude” about Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis may have impacted people’s views on the election

2022/10/12


A recent study examined Americans’ feelings of schadenfreude and sympathy toward Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis in 2020. The findings, published in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology, revealed that Democrats expressed more schadenfreude and less sympathy toward Trump’s diagnosis compared to Republicans. Democrats were also more likely to think that the diagnosis would sway people’s votes in the upcoming election.

Schadenfreude, a German word that has been adopted by the English language, describes a feeling of pleasure at another person’s misfortune. This emotion tends to occur within competitive environments, often when there is a conflict between two groups. Study author Joanna Peplak and her co-authors wanted to explore the role of schadenfreude within a particularly heated intergroup context — the latest U.S. presidential election.

“I have been interested in schadenfreude (i.e., feeling pleasure in others’ misfortunes) for some time now and have been primarily conducting research on individual and development differences in children’s and adolescents’ experiences of schadenfreude in social interactions,” explained Peplak, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California-Irvine.

“My primary research questions include: When and why do individuals experience schadenfreude? Do frequent experiences of schadenfreude influence how we treat others? Although schadenfreude is primarily thought to be immoral, can it reflect moral facets as well?”

“For this paper, I was interested in investigating similar questions except in the political context—specifically in response to former President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis within weeks of the Presidential Election. My goal was to shed light on the emotions that contribute to partisanship and voting behavior,” Peplak said.

In October 2020, it was announced that then president Donald Trump had contracted COVID-19. The 2020 election campaign was particularly competitive given Trump’s controversial politics and the ongoing pandemic. Because Trump was perceived by many to have mishandled the COVID crisis, some Americans may have felt that he deserved his diagnosis, particularly Democrats.

Peplak and her colleagues opted to investigate feelings of schadenfreude (and its opposite, sympathy) among the American public in response to Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. The researchers also explored whether these feelings influenced citizens’ voting intentions.

About a week after Trump’s diagnosis was announced, 506 Americans answered an online questionnaire. With both open-ended questions and scale items, the survey assessed participants’ levels of schadenfreude and sympathy concerning Trump’s diagnosis. Participants were next asked whether they thought the diagnosis would affect their and other Americans’ voting intentions in the upcoming election.

In general, the respondents reported slightly more sympathy than schadenfreude. As expected, Democrats demonstrated more schadenfreude than toward Trump compared to Republicans. But even among Democrats, the levels of schadenfreude were not high (about 3 on average on a 5-point scale).

“Given the political climate prior to the 2020 Presidential Election and the influx of media responses that displayed individuals’ schadenfreude, I was surprised that feelings of schadenfreude in the sample of Democrats we surveyed for this study were relatively low,” Peplak told PsyPost. “This may be because our participants took COVID-19 diagnoses seriously. That is, even though Democrats may not have liked and/or agreed with former President Trump, their feelings of schadenfreude following his diagnosis may have been tempered by the relative severity of the diagnosis.”

The researchers next assessed the nature of participants’ feelings of schadenfreude and sympathy. There are said to be different subtypes of schadenfreude depending on the cognitions behind the emotion — deservingness-based schadenfreude, competition-based schadenfreude, and malice-based schadenfreude.

By coding participants’ responses to the open-ended questions, the researchers ascertained that the higher schadenfreude and lower sympathy among Democrats was motivated by deservingness beliefs and very little malice. For example, of the total sample, 43% indicated that they felt Trump deserved his diagnosis, 16% expressed care for his well-being, and only 5% expressed malice. These themes were associated with participants’ level of schadenfreude — Americans who expressed that Trump deserved the diagnosis or expressed malice toward him demonstrated higher schadenfreude.

Interestingly, respondents felt that Trump’s diagnosis would impact others’ voting intentions more than their own. Democrats were especially likely to anticipate a shift in votes. Across the sample, of those who thought votes would change, most (76%) thought it would sway more votes toward the Democrats. When they expressed why they thought this, most felt that Trump’s diagnosis would help voters recognize Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic.

Neither schadenfreude nor sympathy was linked to anticipated shifts in voting intentions. However, feeling that Trump deserved his diagnosis was. The authors report, “Those who believed then-President Trump’s diagnosis was deserved (cognition strongly associated with schadenfreude) were four times more likely to believe the public would change their vote to the Democratic Party.”

Peplak said the study provided three important takeaways:

“1. The groups that you belong to and associate with shape your emotional reactions. We found that schadenfreude was higher in Democrats and sympathy was higher in Republicans following former President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis.”

“2. Schadenfreude might not always reflect hatred or malice. We found that many participants experienced schadenfreude following former President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis because they believed it reflected deservingness or justice following his mismanaged response to the pandemic.”

“3. Experiencing schadenfreude in response to a political event may (indirectly) influence voting behavior. We found that the more Americans believed Trump’s diagnosis was deserved (a belief strongly related to experiences of schadenfreude), the more likely they were to think others would change their vote to the Democratic Party in the 2020 Presidential Election.”

Overall, the study shed light on how emotionally charged political events may influence the public’s thoughts about an upcoming election. But the authors noted that their study only examined voting intentions and not voting behavior. It would be interesting for future research to explore whether emotions like schadenfreude might actually change voting behavior and influence election results.

“There is still much to be learned about schadenfreude in the political arena and whether and how feeling schadenfreude might change behavior,” Peplak said. “For example, future work should seek to answer questions such as: Does expressed schadenfreude (e.g., via social media) expand political party divided? Does schadenfreude based in correcting injustice motivate us to correct our own injustices?”

The study, “Schadenfreude and Sympathy Following President Trump’s COVID-19 Diagnosis: Influence on Pre-Election Voting Intentions”, was authored by Joanna Peplak, J. Zoe Klemfuss, and Peter H. Ditto.

Illnesses of controversial celebrities can negatively affect public health

 MASS HYSTERIA, SOCIAL PATHOLOGY, 

MASS MEDIA HYPERCONDRISM 

PENN STATE

Research News

 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- Not all public figures are equally beloved, and sometimes when more controversial celebrities get sick, it may negatively affect people's health intentions. In a study of people's reactions to radio host Rush Limbaugh's announcement of a lung cancer diagnosis and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's announcement of a diagnosis of COVID-19, researchers at Penn State found that those who took pleasure in their misfortune were themselves less likely to take steps to prevent lung cancer or COVID-19.

"Schadenfreude is the emotion of feeling pleasure in another's misfortune," said Jessica Gall Myrick, associate professor of media studies. "In our study, after learning the news of a politician's illness, if people felt schadenfreude, they were much less likely to intend to take the actions that would prevent either lung cancer or COVID-19."

In general, previous research by Myrick has found that coverage of celebrity ailments can raise public awareness of serious illnesses, which can then serve as a motivation for people to avoid bad activities or start new healthy routines. But most studies on the topic examine how the public responds to well-liked celebrities. Respondents were not asked if they liked or disliked the person reporting the illness in the current study, but rather if they felt schadenfreude upon hearing the news of Limbaugh and Paul.

Myrick and doctoral student Jin Chen of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications recently conducted two online surveys shortly after news coverage of illnesses associated with two provocative public figures. Their results were published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.

The first survey was conducted with 414 American adults following Limbaugh's February 2020 announcement that he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. The second survey was conducted in March 2020 to 407 American adults following Paul's announcement that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Paul was the first national politician to confirm a diagnosis. Respondents were recruited and the surveys were conducted using Amazon Mechanical Turk.

The researchers tested the idea that when the average person sees news coverage about the illness of a public figure that they do not like, then they can experience the emotion of schadenfreude. They examined how that feeling affected people's intentions to prevent themselves from getting sick after hearing the news about Limbaugh and Paul, respectively.

Both of these surveys showed the same pattern; the respondents who felt greater schadenfreude toward Limbaugh and Paul after learning of their illnesses were less inclined to take the steps to prevent lung cancer and COVID-19.

Political ideology was not related to feelings of schadenfreude, according to these studies. The only factor that could predict how much schadenfreude people felt was how well they believed they knew these famous individuals through the media.

"The more media exposure people had to these political figures, and the more familiar people felt they were knowledgeable about the political figures, the more pleasure they experienced in learning of their illness," Myrick said. "That pleasure in the political figure's pain seemed to demotivate people to take action to protect themselves."

Myrick added that schadenfreude is a positive emotion and when "we feel happy and pleased, we also feel safe." This may be the reason people are less likely to avoid the health risks.

"Basically, why would we do anything to alter this good feeling by confronting a depressing health threat and thinking about bad things that could happen to us?" Myrick said. "Because schadenfreude puts us in a pleasant, pleasureful state, we let our guards down for risks to our own health."

The findings could have serious public health implications, according to Myrick. It makes it hard for health advocates to convince some segments of the population to take preventative actions when controversial political figures get sick.

"We need additional research to figure out the underpinnings of these feelings to see if there are other ways," she said. "Either through encouraging empathy for the ill or maybe even by better channeling the feelings of schadenfreude toward positive action."

###

Myrick is affiliated with the Science Communication Program, a program in the Bellisario College that supports research in the science of science communication.

Is this the Schadenfreude moment for China sceptics?

The Evergrande crisis is merely the tip of the iceberg of an overheated and indebted property sector.

 AFP

Updated: 04 Oct 2021,

Vivek Deheji

The woes of Chinese property development firm, Evergrande, heavily indebted to both domestic and foreign lenders and on the verge of collapse, has engendered a Schadenfreude moment amongst China sceptics: but is it premature? After the crisis broke out, some proclaimed that the imminent failure of Evergrande might just be China’s “Lehman moment", referring to the 2008 bankruptcy of the New York investment bank, Lehman Brothers, which was the opening salvo in the global financial crisis. Yet, global financial markets settled after a day or two of turmoil, as investors bet that that the Chinese state, which still heavily regulates the economy, will restructure the debt-laden firm in a manner that forestalls any potential international contagion. The critics might just have to wait before popping the Schadenfreude champagne corks.

Yet, even absent contagion, the Evergrande saga is but the tip of the iceberg of an overheated and indebted property sector which potentially threatens the edifice of the larger Chinese economy and, therefore, indirectly the global economy too. In a fascinating long read, British-born historian Niall Ferguson makes just such a case 

(“Evergrande's Fall Shows How Xi Has Created a China Crisis", Bloomberg Opinion, 26 September bloom.bg/3A9KCWI).

As Ferguson observes, Evergrande is emblematic of a China that has developed in the past decade with an economic development paradigm premised on “urbanization on steroids". For all of the skyscrapers, both commercial and residential, that dot the landscape of Chinese cities, large and even small, many of them remain empty and their property developers unable to sell enough units to pay-off the debt incurred in putting up the buildings to begin with.

In other words, the property sector in China, larger even than in the US on the eve of the collapse of Lehman, is a ticking time bomb that could have significant macroeconomic consequences beyond the property and financial sectors through the impact on Chinese households, who are heavily invested in a property market that has been in bubble territory for some time. Citing research by Harvard economics professor Kenneth Rogoff and his co-author Yuanchen Yang of Beijing’s Tsinghua University, Ferguson notes that housing wealth accounts for a whopping 78% of total assets in China, much higher than the 35% share in the United States, for instance. The upshot is that consumer spending in China is, as per Rogoff-Yang, “significantly more sensitive to a decline in housing prices" than in the US. The impacts of a more generalized collapse in the property market in China could be large and consequential for the global economy.

For those with a long enough memory, none of these recent developments should come as a surprise. As long ago as 2004, economist James Dean and I argued, and as I summarized for Mint readers much later (“Will the elephant overshadow the dragon?", 5 March 2015 bit.ly/3ixSLyx), that the Chinese model is characterized by the glaring contradiction between ever-increasing economic freedoms and an authoritarian political dispensation. What is more, the economic development paradigm of the Chinese Communist authorities was focussed on an infrastructure-driven, “build and they will come" model, in sharp contrast to, say, the Indian model in which the supply of new infrastructure is driven by the demand for it, rather than the reverse.

The consequence, as Dean and I argued in 2004, was a Chinese development success story that was something of a house of cards, and built upon excessive investment, including in housing—what the Austrian school of economics would call “malinvestment". Chinese growth statistics would, therefore, in an important sense be inflated. After all, if the economy grows rapidly because of a stock of property and infrastructure that ultimately will never be put to use, and which leads to the accumulation of large debts, such rapid growth may be unsustainable and, in a certain sense, illusory.

Up until now, China sceptics, including your columnist, have been confounded by the reality that successive generations of the Chinese leadership have shown a remarkable ability to continue to refresh and reinvent their model—both economic and political—thus ensuring that growth rates remain high and that the spectre of social chaos and unrest remains at bay. Every Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping and his pioneering reforms of the late 1970s have managed to maintain the unwritten but all-important bargain with the populace: “we will give you the opportunity to get rich, and the price is that you must stay out of politics". But perhaps, just perhaps, the chickens may finally have come home to roost on the watch of authoritarian strongman, Xi Jinping—what, writing in 2015, I had reckoned might be an “implosion" in the Chinese economy or a “belated and disorderly democratization" of the society.

What might make this time different is that in the past few years, Xi has begun to rewrite the unwritten social compact, and increase government and party control over the economy, and reign in what he clearly believes is an excessively free and insufficiently regulated market economy, undoing the premise of Deng’s reforms. He has also been, first quietly and now overtly, building a cult of personality to match that around Mao. If the economy and the public mood sour, Xi may end up ruing these choices.

SCHADENFREUDE

Embattled Tesla recalls Cybertrucks over risk of panel detachment


By AFP
March 20, 2025


US President Donald Trump (R) with Tesla CEO Elon Musk (L) and a Cybertruck at the White House - Copyright AFP/File Mandel NGAN

Tesla is recalling more than 46,000 Cybertrucks because of a defect that can lead an exterior panel to detach, increasing the risk of a crash, according to a safety notice reviewed Thursday by AFP.

The recall affects essentially all of the futuristic-looking vehicles delivered in the United States.

The move is due to a part Tesla calls a “cant rail” — an exterior panel — that was affixed with an adhesive “susceptible to environmental embrittlement,” according to a company filing on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

Detachment of the part, which Tesla describes as “cosmetic,” poses the risk of creating a “road hazard for following motorists and increase their risk of injury or a collision,” according to the NHTSA document.

The recall is the latest blemish on the stainless steel behemoths, a signature vehicle for Elon Musk’s electric auto company.

It comes as the brand encounters consumer blowback in the wake of Musk’s key advisory role in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Tesla received two field complaints in January about the issue, but company engineers determined there was no problem.

Then in February, the NHTSA notified Tesla of another complaint.

The company, which also cited social media postings on the issue, undertook another investigation that led to a voluntary recall, said Tesla, which will use a different adhesive to attach the part.

As of March 14, Tesla had 151 warranty claims that may be related to the condition. The company said it knows of no accidents.

Demand for the Cybertruck and other Tesla vehicles has tumbled in recent weeks in many consumer markets as Musk presses on with deep cuts in US government departments and staffing through his Department of Government Efficiency.

Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities called for Musk to clearly define how he will balance his role with Trump and his duties as Tesla CEO.

“Let’s call it like it is: Tesla is going through a crisis and there is one person who can fix it….Musk,” said Ives, who argued that Musk must provide details on when new vehicles will arrive in dealerships and about a plan for autonomous driving in Texas.

“The violence at Tesla dealers, cars being keyed in parking lots, social movements against Musk around the globe…have all created a massive overhang for Tesla’s stock,” Ives said. “This is a moment of truth for Musk.”

Tesla shares fell in early trade Thursday.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SCHADENFREUDE

SCHADENFREUDE

Hillary Clinton’s Reaction To Trump 2020 Election Case Indictments On ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ Goes Viral

Armando Tinoco
Mon, August 14, 2023 


Hillary Clinton was all laughs and giggles Monday during her appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show, which coincided with a Georgia grand jury returning 10 indictments in the Trump 2020 election interference case.

“I can’t believe this,” Clinton said while she laughed as Maddow introduced her on the show.

Clinton leaned back in her chair and laughed some more as the MSNBC host said, “This is not the circumstances in which I expected to be talking to you.”

“Nor me Rachel,” Clinton added. “It’s always good to talk to you. Honestly, I didn’t think that it would be under these circumstances. Yet another set of indictments.”

Clinton had been set to appear on Maddow’s show to talk about an opinion piece she wrote for The Atlantic in which she talks about the politicization of social issues. The former First Lady of the United States and Secretary of State wound up giving her take on the latest indictments surrounding Trump.

“I don’t know that anybody should be satisfied. This is a terrible moment for our country to have a former president accused of these terribly important crimes,” Clinton said. “The only satisfaction is that the system is working. That all of the efforts by Trump and his allies and enablers to try and silence the truth and undermine democracy have been brought into the light. And justice is being pursued.”

Trump was Clinton’s opponent in the 2016 presidential race which she ultimately lost. During his campaign, Trump incited his crowd of followers to chant “Lock her up,” in reference to Clinton using a personal e-mail system to handle classified information.

“I hope that we won’t have accountability just for Donald Trump and if there are others named in these indictments along with him for their behavior but we will also have accountability for a political party that has just thrown in with all the lies and the divisiveness and the lack of any conscience about what has been done to the country,” Clinton also said tonight

Hillary Clinton Promises She Gets No Satisfaction From Trump Indictment, Really

Igor Bobic
Mon, 14 August 2023 

Hillary Clinton said she took no pleasure from Donald Trump’s legal troubles as a grand jury investigating the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results returned an indictment Monday night in what could be his fourth set of criminal charges this year.

“I don’t know that anybody should be satisfied,” Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 presidential election, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday after initially smiling and shaking her head at the news. “I just feel great profound sadness that we have a former president who has been indicted for so many charges.”

“He set out to defraud the United States of America and the citizens of our nation,” Clinton, a former secretary of state, added of Trump. “He used tactics of harassment and intimidation. He made threats. He and his allies went after state officials... . We’ll wait to see what [Georgia prosecutors] say ... but I don’t know that anybody should be satisfied. This is a terrible moment for our country to have a former president accused of these terribly important crimes.”

Trump was indicted by the Department of Justice earlier this month over his attempts to ensure the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden, was not certified as president. Georgia’s case deals explicitly with Trump trying to get that state’s electoral vote results overturned.

In 2016, Trump rode to the White House in part by accusing Clinton of being “crooked” amid an investigation into classified materials kept on a private email server during her time as secretary of state, prompting chants at his campaign rallies of “Lock her up.”

Now Trump is the one facing criminal charges, including in a separate federal probe stemming from his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office.

But if Clinton is feeling any schadenfreude at the fact that Trump is facing possible jail time, she didn’t show it during Monday’s interview.

“The only satisfaction may be that the system is working,” she said. “That all the efforts [to subvert the 2020 election] have been brought into the light and justice is being pursued.”

The former Democratic senator also referred to Trump as a “demagogue” and said he led a “deliberate effort to divide Americans [and] to lie to Americans.

“What happened on January 6 — ‘Don’t believe what you saw, believe what I tell you’ — those are all the hallmarks of authoritarian, dictatorial kinds of leaders,” she added.

Fox News Is Taking Trump’s COVID Diagnosis Just Fine, Why Do You Ask?
By JUSTIN PETERS SLATE OCT 02, 2020

At 6 a.m., they were wondering why Joe Biden hadn’t said anything. Fox News

Early Friday morning, when the world learned that both President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump had been diagnosed with COVID-19, I went to bed with one question on my mind: How would Fox News cover the story the next day?

The network has been a key vector for bad coronavirus information all year. From initially claiming that COVID-19 was basically just the flu, to touting hydroxychloroquine as a remedy without any compelling scientific evidence for the claim, to amplifying the president’s sneering disdain for masks, state and regional shutdowns, and his own administration’s health experts, Fox News personalities speaking to the network’s vast and elderly audience have surely helped make the pandemic worse than it otherwise might have been. Now that their beloved leader has been hit by the virus, how would they react? By 9 a.m. Friday, after watching Fox & Friends, I had my answer: by pandering to the president, incessantly referencing hydroxychloroquine, and somehow still finding a way to make the story about Joe Biden, the Democrats, and the sickos in the liberal media.

Trump’s diagnosis was the only story that Fox & Friends covered on Friday, but the potential leadership vacuum left by an ill executive was hardly on the anchors’ minds. After noting that the president’s case of COVID appeared mild, citing a statement from Trump’s personal physician, co-host Steve Doocy came around to the real story: “It is unclear whether or not Joe Biden even knows this has happened yet, because famously, out on the trail, he has said a number of times, ‘I get up at 8.’ You got to wonder whether or not his aides woke him up early to tell him the news.”

“Well, you have a good point, Steve,” correspondent Griff Jenkins responded. “It’s interesting: [It’s] now after 6 a.m. on the East Coast and the former vice president has not responded. No statement, no Twitter.” Even now, the message was that slugabed Biden is hardly a match for our vigorous president, who gets up with the crows (to spend many, many hours watching morning television each day).

Next came Fox News medical contributor Marc Siegel, who reassured viewers—especially the program’s most important viewer—that the president’s lack of comorbidities, such as diabetes or heart disease, bode well for his recovery, despite his age and his obesity. To be clear, Trump does have moderate heart disease, and Siegel’s assessment of his health was, to be generous, rosy. Anyway, the Friends wanted to know about possible pharmaceutical remedies. What about the fact that the president had at one point been taking hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic measure? Would that impact anything?


Fox's Dr. Marc Siegel on hydroxychloroquine: "Research has not really backed that up" as a covid treatment but "I don't think it's ever been ruled out. We're in the middle of a pandemic here. Things are going at lightning speed." pic.twitter.com/xZb8Ai93Bg— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) October 2, 2020

Even now, Fox News still just can’t let go of Trump’s favorite discredited miracle cure.

“Well, listen, Steve, I think early in the pandemic we all thought that that was a really good treatment,” Siegel said. (We did not all think that.) “As time has gone on, research has not really backed that up. But it’s still being used in many places around the world with zinc. And I would have to tell you honestly, I don’t think it’s ever been ruled out.” (A recent study showed that the drug “did not show any benefit versus placebo in reducing coronavirus infection among healthcare workers,” according to Reuters.)

Later, we heard from Dr. Qanta Ahmed, from NYU Langone Medical Center, who advocated blasting the president with remdesivir while also noting that Trump is “constitutionally incredibly strong. He operates more like a 45-year-old than a 74-year-old in terms of his stamina. He has no underlying comorbidities. He will naturally resolve this quickly.” Ahmed also suggested the president’s early dabbles with hydroxychloroquine may well “have conferred him some protection” and that hydroxychloroquine has been ”unfairly vilified.” It is remarkable that even now, after most rational people have decided Trump’s early fixation with hydroxychloroquine was bizarre and possibly suspect, Fox News still just can’t let go of this discredited miracle cure.

At the top of the 7 a.m. hour, Doocy recapped the headlines for viewers who were just tuning in and reiterated that “we do not know at almost 7 Eastern time whether or not Joe Biden has been told that the president tested positive for COVID. You know, the president and first lady sent out tweets in the 1 a.m. hour, and Joe Biden has famously said out on the campaign trail that he doesn’t get up until 8 in the morning. So, it’s interesting.” (It was not!)

Fox & Friends is the president’s favorite show, in part because the three hosts spend much of each program talking directly to him. The synergy loop between Trump and the show’s three hosts has been well documented, and the stories on any given episode of Fox & Friends can set the president’s Twitter agenda for hours thereafter. You can’t really say that Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade use their power wisely or responsibly, but they do use it. At one point on Friday, Doocy and Earhardt also lobbied hard for a check-in call from the program’s most famous viewer. “I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if the president did phone in something today or put something else on Twitter,” said Earhardt.

“He knows our number,” said Doocy.

“Exactly,” Earhardt said. “Because, just to assure the American people.” Trump didn’t take the bait—he hasn’t been heard from in daylight hours on Friday, even on Twitter—and the program soon turned to another favorite pastime: giving airtime to hacky Trump cheerleaders.

On Fox News, almost all criticism of the president is inevitably interpreted as a sign of moral depravity on the part of his critics. “I was disappointed—genuinely disappointed—to see the glee with which some people responded to this news,” said Fox contributor Mollie Hemingway later. “There is a proper way to respond to this news. For people who pray, it is a good time to pray. You should be praying for your world leaders, your leader of your country every day, but this is a good time to do it.”

Such affected incredulity over the mainstream media’s purportedly unfair treatment of Trump was a theme throughout the morning. Germ truther Pete Hegseth echoed Hemingway soon thereafter, shaking his head at the gall of those people who have expressed schadenfreude on Twitter. “Would you expect anything else at this point?” Hegseth asked. “The level of hatred for this president that they have has dehumanized him. Cue the wild conspiracies at this point. Cue the rabbit trails. Cue the vitriol.” Hegseth also noted that people who attended Trump rallies “made their own risk calculation as human beings who can make choices as free individuals to go to a rally to wear a mask or not. There will be conversations about that. I get it. But I like respecting people, and the president has respected people at every turn in this case.” (He has not!)

Chris Wallace, who came on the show in the 8 a.m. hour, had a different stance on the mask matter. Wallace noted that, at Tuesday’s debate in Cleveland, the Biden side of the room wore masks while Trump’s family did not—even after staffers from the Cleveland Clinic came up and offered the Trumps masks, in case they’d forgotten to bring them. “There was no sign during the debate of any problems with the president in terms of his health, but it is worth noting that different people treated the safety rules inside the hall differently,” Wallace said, and the Friends let him say it.

Wallace is one of the few hosts in the network’s stable who is consistently free to deviate from the network’s standard positions on any given issue. Geraldo Rivera also fits into this “loose cannon” category, and as soon as he came on Fox & Friends Friday morning, he noted that,“politically, there will be scorn heaped on the president, as soon as he is out of danger, about his cavalier attitude toward masks.” Rivera then essentially decided to speak directly to the president.

“I want the president of the United States to take a break. Take a break, for goodness’ sake,” said Rivera. “We want you to get better. We don’t want you holding, you know, little pocket campaign rallies. I think the American people would look at that askance.” It was good, sound advice—so of course Kilmeade disagreed with it.

“Geraldo, you’ve got it wrong,” Kilmeade said, creating a little angel-devil dichotomy jockeying for position in Trump’s eardrums. He argued that asymptomatic COVID patients—Trump was assumed to be one Friday morning—could actually “get a lot done” as long as they stayed away from people during their infection. “I think there’s no reason to isolate and not do anything if you’re OK,” Kilmeade said.

Geraldo lost it: “This disease kills old people, Brian. Period. And if you take it in a way that ‘Oh, I can handle this cause I’m a tough guy,’ then shame on you. I want him to be prudent now. Enough about, you know, ‘I have a mask in my pocket.’ Why wasn’t the mask on your face, Mr. President?”

It was a question too difficult for the three hosts to answer, which is perhaps why they chose to wash away Rivera’s words with a visit from congressional motormouth Jim Jordan, the Ohio representative who earlier this week had flown on Air Force One with Trump. Jordan reminded everyone of the real issue here: Joe Biden’s ongoing silence on Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. “Look, it doesn’t surprise me that he hasn’t said anything for 12 hours,” Jordan said. “He goes days after days where he’ll close his campaign down first thing in the morning. I think he gets up, has a cup of coffee, and then calls it a day.” The president might have COVID-19, but Joe Biden is a lazy bum. Take that, Democrats!

By the time the Friends were ready to sign off for the day, the narrative they’d been peddling had taken a turn. Doocy noted that, according to the New York Times, “the president is said to have minor symptoms,” meaning that he was not actually asymptomatic, as had been the program’s assumption. Still, Kilmeade hastened to praise the president’s preternaturally robust immune system, noting that Trump “hasn’t had a cold” since entering politics several years ago. “I’m certain he’s had a cold in the last four to five years,” said Fox contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier. (In response, Kilmeade blinked.) “That being said,” Saphier continued, “it’s great news going forward right now. I have every feeling of optimism that he is gonna get through this just fine.” Just like every morning, from their mouths to Trump’s ears.

SCHADENFREUDE

More snow in forecast for Greater Victoria, wind chill values near -20 C for parts of Island

While the snow may be good news for sledders, police reported “degrading road conditions” throughout the capital region, creating less-than-ideal driving conditions. 

Cindy E. Harnett

about 4 hours ago

Snow on Veteran's Memorial Parkway at Goldstream Avenue in downtown Langford on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. DRIVE B.C.

As snow continues to fall throughout parts of Vancouver Island with multiple warnings in effect for freezing temperatures, snowfall, and hazardous highway conditions, police are advising drivers stay of the roads if possible. 

While the snow may be good news for people enjoying snow sports and children looking to toboggan, Saanich police reported “degrading road conditions” throughout the capital region this morning, creating less-than-ideal driving conditions. 

“Avoid driving unless necessary as icy roads and snow continue to build up on all roadways,” advised Saanich Const. Spencer Loverock. 

Environment Canada updated an Arctic outflow warning early Sunday for Greater Victoria and eastern Vancouver Island forecasting wind chill values as low as -20 C — near record cold temperatures — today through Wednesday. 

An Arctic ridge of high pressure over the B.C. Interior will bring “strong and bitterly cold outflow winds” to coastal communities beginning tonight, said the national weather forecaster. The outflow winds will create wind chill values of -20 and lower. Mainland inlets and areas are more likely to experience these very cold wind chill values. 

Environment Canada also issued a snowfall warning advising that an “unstable air mass” and colder outflow winds will bring further accumulations of up to five centimetres of snow throughout Greater Victoria and the Gulf Islands. That warning was lifted just before 11 a.m. Even greater amounts could fall on the east coast from Duncan to Nanaimo, where the warning remains in effect. 

The weather forecaster is advising Islanders to adjust their driving as “rapidly accumulating snow will make travel difficult.” Another 5 cm of snow is forecast to fall over the Malahat portion of the Trans-Canada Highway from Goldstream to Mill Bay. 

Drive B.C. has issued a winter driving advisories for Highway 14 between Metchosin and Sooke, the Trans-Canada between Chemainus and Mill Bay, and the Malahat. Travel is not recommended unless absolutely necessary.

Several B.C. Transit routes in Greater Victoria have detours due to the snow.

The Victoria Harbour Cats baseball team, on its official Twitter page, offered to get vulnerable seniors, fans and supporters, to essential destinations using its four-wheel-drive vehicle. 

More than 1,000 B.C. Hydro customers in the central Island were without power early Sunday morning. By 10 a.m., that number was down to about 340 customers around Courtenay, Nanaimo, and Qualicum Beach. 

Cold weather prompted the opening of a warming centre in Victoria at the James Bay United Church at 511 Michigan St. from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. starting Christmas Day until Dec. 29.

An emergency warming centre has also been opened in Campbell River. It will operate from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. nightly until Dec. 30.

Meanwhile, bird lovers are reminding residents with hummingbird feeders to keep them filled and unfrozen. The B.C. SPCA advises feeders that are left empty or left to freeze can lead to starvation for the birds that have come to rely on them.

“If you commit to winter feeding, you must commit fully," says the SPCA website. Non-migratory hummingbirds may come to rely on this food source and will suffer if it is interrupted.

In current freezing temperatures, its advised to bring your feeder in overnight to prevent freezing and put it back out first thing in the morning or alternate between two feeders.

Metro Vancouver wakes up to a 'White Christmas' — in pictures
It was a rare snowy Christmas Day morning around Metro
Vancouver

Posted: Dec 25, 2021

Several ducks are seen swimming in a Vancouver park on Christmas Day
alongside a family enjoying the snow with their dog. (Enzo Zanatta/CBC)

An Anna's hummingbird is pictured sitting on a snowy stem in Richmond, B.C. on Christmas Day. (Submitted by Richard Topping)

A pond in a Vancouver park is seen flanked by snow-blanketed trees. (Enzo Zanatta/CBC)

10 PICS
Metro Vancouver wakes up to a 'White Christmas' — in pictures | CBC

B.C. bracing for extreme cold, near record lows expected in Metro Vancouver
By Elizabeth McSheffrey Global News
Posted December 26, 2021 

A frigid arctic air mass has arrived over the South Coast, as forecast. Daytime highs will be below seasonal by several degrees this week, with the coldest being today through Tuesday. Global New

Environment Canada has issued warnings for extreme cold, winter storms, snowfall and chilly Arctic winds for much of the province.

A “bitterly cold airmass” has settled over the B.C. Interior, the federal agency said Sunday, warning that overnight lows could range between minus 30C and minus 50C with the wind chill.

Records were broken in Agassiz, Burns Lake, Port Alberni and Vernon on Sunday, with temperatures of minus 11.9C, minus 38.6C, minus 12.3C and minus 19.2C, respectively.

Vernon made the greatest leap — it’s previous record for Dec. 26 was minus 15.4 in 2008.


Some parts of B.C. have already shattered records for the coldest Dec. 26 on record. Global News

READ MORE: Flooding, fires and heat: A year of unprecedented weather extremes in B.C.

Extreme cold warnings are in effect for the Cariboo region, 100 Mile area, Peace River region, Cassiar Mountains, and Bulkley Valley and the Lakes District.

A warning has also been issued for Fort Nelson, Williston, Yellowhead, McGregor, Prince George, Watson Lake, the Muncho Lake and Stone Mountain parks, and Stuart-Nechako region.

The cold will last until Monday morning, Environment Canada forecasts, with some moderation in temperature on Monday afternoon.

B.C. evening weather forecast: Dec. 25B.C. evening weather forecast: Dec. 25

Meanwhile, Arctic wind warnings have been issued for the Central Coast regions, East Vancouver Island, Greater Victoria, the Howe Sound area, Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, and Fraser Valley.

Wind chills below minus 20C are expected between Sunday night and Wednesday, with “near record temperatures” early in the week, said Environment Canada.

The City of Vancouver has released a list of facilities with shelter space, including the Langara YMCA, Cascades and Tenth churches, the Evelyne Saller Centre, and the Bud Osborn EWR.

On Sunday, temperatures were 10C below the seasonal average for Vancouver with a high of minus 4C and a wind chill of minus 13C.

The winter conditions also prompted a series of travel advisories and road closures throughout the province, along with ferry cancellations in Upper Arrow Lake on Sunday morning.

Via DriveBC, the Ministry of Transportation is discouraging non-essential travel on several portions of Highways 1, 14, 17 and 3.

A snowfall warning of up to four centimetres has also been issued for East Vancouver Island.

How the ultra-wealthy infiltrated anti-capitalist Burning Man

Story by By Allison Morrow, CNN •10h

Burning Man, the desert confab that descended into chaos over the weekend, isn’t quite the scrappy, free-spirited revelry that it once was.

For many watching the disarray of Burning Man from afar, the rain and mud that left 70,000 people stranded quickly became a symbol of the festival’s departure from its roots.

Or, more simply: how the billionaires ruined Burning Man.

The festival began as a small gathering in 1986 on a San Francisco beach, and eventually grew into a gritty countercultural community of “Burners” who eschew commercialism within their makeshift city, erected annually in a desiccated lake bed known as the playa.

There’s no money trading hands on the playa — that’s core to to the community’s “decommodification” ethos. But there is, increasingly, a lot of money on the playa.

Going to Burning Man is, in some elite circles, akin to having climbed Everest or taken ayuhuasca on a meditation retreat — a spiritually transformative experience, undertaken with a considerable safety net of privilege.

Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, has been a regular at Burning Man, telling Recode in 2014 that “if you haven’t been, you just don’t get it.” Mark Zuckerberg flew in for a day in 2012 to serve up grilled cheese sandwiches and even set up his own tent, according to his friend and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. In 2018, shortly after she was indicted on federal fraud charges, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes retreated to the desert and burned an effigy for her failed startup, she told the New York Times.

One of the 10 pillars of Burning Man is “radical self-reliance,” and in that spirit most revelers haul their own water and shelf-stable food in for the week, and “rely on their inner resources” for survival, according to the organization’s website.

For the one-percenters in attendance, however, self-reliance can be outsourced.

The ultra-wealthy have been known to fly in personal chefs for the week, and pay as much as $50,000 to camp in luxurious tents, as the New York Post reported in 2019. A Business Insider reporter, similarly, wrote about so-called fancy camps around the playa that came with chandeliers, party rooms and outdoor showers.

“Burning Man is the perfect example of how many rich White people recreationally manufacture hardship because they are immune from it systematically,” wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter, this weekend.

The infiltration of the jet set is the driving force behind the schadenfreude emanating from social media in response to video footage of Burners — some of whom paid $2,750 for a single ticket — tromping through ankle-deep mud, unable to drive out of the camp following unusually heavy rain.

“It’s a tiny violin emoji for me,” wrote one TikTok user.

While some festival-goers found the situation scary — a “Lord of the Flies” vibe, as one attendee described it — many seasoned Burners were taking the weather and road closures in stride, offering food and shelter to those who need it. While one person died at the festival, the death was “unrelated to the weather.”

One attendee, Andrew Hyde, told CNN the rain and mud have taken the meaning of the event back to its roots.

“You come out here to be in a harsh climate, and you prepare for that.”

— Nouran Salahieh and Holly Yan contributed to this article.


Burning Man costs most people a minimum of $800 for just a ticket and a parking spot. All the other expenses can easily push the total cost into the thousands.

Story by sjackson@insider.com (Sarah Jackson) •8h

Nevada's nine-day Burning Man festival can cost Burners hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars to attend. JULIE JAMMOT/Getty Images© Provided by Business Insider
Burning Man may be "decommodified" but it's still pretty expensive to attend.
The 9-day festival cost most Burners at least $800 this year, just for a ticket and a vehicle pass.
Transportation, food, and other survival-related supplies can easily push the cost into the thousands.


1 of 9 Photos in Gallery©Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
See the mass exodus of vehicles inching through the Nevada desert as people clamor to escape Burning Man's soggy Black Rock City playa
Burning Man 2023's Exodus — when all its attendees depart — officially began on Monday.
Festivalgoers had been trapped as desert roads became waterlogged from torrential rains.
Photos show hundreds of vehicles making their escape from muddy festival as it draws to a close.

Festivalgoers could finally depart Burning Man on Monday after being trapped for days by heavy rains that swamped event's makeshift desert town in thick mud.

The nine-day party event turned into a soggy disaster when a downpour turned the desert into a massive mud pit. Attendees were told to hunker down and ration food and water, and organizers rebooted their guidelines page, called a "survival guide," into a "Wet Playa Survival Guide."

A driving ban was lifted at 2 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday as roads out of the festival site began to dry, allowing a remaining 64,000 attendees to leave.

Hundreds of trucks, buses, and other vehicles poured out of Black Rock City on Monday, with attendees being asked to consider postponing their exit to avoid a traffic build-up.

Here's a look at the exodus from Burning Man 2023 as the beleaguered event draws to a close.See More


Burning Man only sells ice on site, but don't let that fool you: Burners still shell out a small fortune to be there.

The typically nine-day event in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, roughly 120 miles north of Reno, draws tens of thousands of attendees each year, and sets them all back at least $630 for a ticket including its taxes and fee — with total costs easily ballooning into the thousands.

The survival supplies aren't anything to scoff at either. This year, a storm put a damper on the festivities, turning much of the famous playa into mud and resulting in stranded attendees.

Here's a closer look at the expenses you're on the hook for as a Burner.

Tickets alone aren't cheap

Most tickets sold directly from Burning Man cost $575 each this year, according to the event's website. (There are 5,000 tickets available at a discounted $225 for people with financial hardships, and "FOMO" tickets priced at $1,500 and $2,750 for Burners who want to secure their spots two months before the main sale opens.) Vehicle passes, which are required for every vehicle driving into Black Rock City, cost $150 each; for Burners who qualified for discounted rates due to financial hardships, vehicle passes are $75 each.

All tickets are subject to the 9% Nevada Live Entertainment Tax; on the $575 tickets, this tax comes out $51.75 each. Both tickets and vehicle passes are subject to a $4 fee each. There's also a 3.4% credit card processing fee on purchase subtotals.

All told, this means Burners are shelling out at least $800 between tickets, vehicle passes, fees, and taxes if they're attending solo. Lots of people carpool, however, which means you can share the cost of the vehicle pass, but the ticket and its taxes and fees alone will set you back around $630.

Transportation and lodging can easily cost thousands

Lots of Burning Man attendees opt for an RV — which can be costly to rent. Matt Mills McKnight/REUTERS© Matt Mills McKnight/REUTERS

Don't forget you have to actually get to the playa. And you also have to figure out where you're going to sleep for 9 days.

CNN

Huge exodus of people getting out of the Burning Man festival in Nevada.

Duration 0:37  View on Watch

Related video: Man stuck at Burning Man tells Channel 13 about festival conditions (KTNV Las Vegas, NV)

Duration 2:25  View on Watch

The Wall Street Journal Burning Man Revelers Describe ‘Disaster Like Never Been Seen’

1:31

NBC News  Burning Man attendees makes the best of muddy festival: ‘The best burn ever!’

1:08

Daily Mail  Enormous lines of Burning Man attendees make painfully slow departure

2:05

Burners coming from other parts of the country will likely have to cover airfare or the cost of other transportation to Reno, and then take additional transportation from the Reno airport to Black Rock City. Some attendees of the festival, which is popular with influencers and the wealthy tech elite, even fly in on private jets, which were the subject of protests at this year's Burning Man.

Once you've arrived, there's also the matter of food, water, and lodging. One Burning Man veteran recommends budgeting $10 a day for food, water, and supplies when cooked in a communal kitchen for a group, which would come out to another $90. In keeping with the festival's emphasis on "radical self-reliance," Burners should also be budgeting for supplies like shade structures, sleeping gear, and toiletries. A list of recommended survival supplies on Burning Man's website could easily add up to $100 or more.


A screenshot from Burning Man's website of items "you should probably bring." Burning Man© Burning Man

As for lodging, many people pitch tents, rent RVs, or even stay in yurts.

RV rentals can easily set you back thousands of dollars: Multiple RV rental websites estimate even a basic rental will cost anywhere between $5,500 and $7,000, and if you're staying with other attendees, the biggest RVs start at around $10,000.



Yurts at a past Burning Man. Aly Weisman/Business Insider© Aly Weisman/Business InsiderOne website advertising yurts for Burning Man lists structures ranging in price from $3,000 to $11,500. Many attendees often camp together, sometimes paying a hefty price to do so: One luxury camp infamously charged up to $100,000 for accommodations, private chef included, before Burning Man shut it down.

Smaller, optional expenses can add up

Black Rock City, the temporary city constructed once a year, is enormous and can take a while to traverse by foot — so many people opt to bring or rent a bicycle to get around, as driving is prohibited on the playa except when arriving or departing the festival. Burning Man's approved bike shops offer rentals from $80 to $125 and up for the duration of the festival.

Then, there's also the freewheeling fashion of Burning Man. Another one of the festival's central tenets is self-expression, and attendees are known to sport flamboyant outfits and costumes, with people dressing up in steampunk or sci-fi outfits. It's entirely optional and you can always cobble together something unique from what you already own, but if you're starting from scratch or want a more elaborate costume, it's yet another expense to consider.

The Burning Man disaster is ‘a teachable moment’ about climate change

Story by Dino Grandoni, Kim Bellware •
The Washington Post
Burning Man Topper

Burning Man is supposed to arrive and disappear like the desert breeze.

Near the end of every summer, attendees of the multiday mega-festival venture to the Nevada wilderness. Their motto: “Leave no trace.”

This year, thousands got stuck in the mud instead after about a half an inch of rain hit what is normally the driest state in the nation. Instead of leaving no trace, many self-described “burners” abandoned bicycles and vehicles on the drenched, muddy Black Rock Desert.

Once an underground carnival for free spirits, Burning Man today is famous as a party spot for Hollywood stars, Silicon Valley tech bros and other jet-set elites. The latest event offers a glimpse at how extreme weather can — and more frequently will — dramatically transform the environment in a moment’s notice.


The Burning Man disaster is ‘a teachable moment’ about climate change

“It’s a teachable moment, as far as climate disasters and extreme weather” go, said Anya Kamenetz, a Burning Man attendee forced to flee the festival. “This is very much just a trial run under really, really easy conditions for what a lot of people go through.”

No single storm can be attributed to climate change. But flooding in Nevada is expected to become more frequent as storms intensify and snow shifts to rain due to higher temperatures, according to state officials.

On Aug. 27, as the festival was getting started, climate activists blockaded a road into Burning Man in protest of its environmental footprint.

This year’s event is only expected to fuel critics who have long charged the festival for leaving trash in surrounding communities and not living up to its eco-conscious goals as crowds rush away from the encampment. As festivalgoers made the long trek to the exits, they left more behind than usual, including cars, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said.

“This behavior definitely does not fall within the 10 principles of Burning Man,” he said. The neglect, he added, is “a societal issue” and not necessarily the fault of the Burning Man Project, the group behind the festival.

Burning Man gets rained out

At first, a sprinkling of rain helped settle some of the dust swirling through the encampment. But by Friday evening, the rain didn’t stop — and it didn’t take much precipitation to turn the playa into a muddy mess.

“By the time we went to bed that night, it was really clear that this is going to be something that would shut down the city,” said Kamenetz, who writes a Substack newsletter about climate change.

By Saturday morning, the burners were trapped. Those who remained held a camp meeting, Kamenetz said. No more showers, no more dishwashing. No more portable toilet use except for solid waste.

Unsure of when attendees would be able to leave, organizers urged those who remained to conserve food, water and fuel. The gates and airport in and out of what was supposed to be a desert oasis were closed.

So, burners sheltered in place. Festivalgoers covered their tents in tarps to keep the rain out. The mud was so thick and sticky that many abandoned their hiking boots, trekking through the encampment barefoot or slipping plastic bags over their socks.

To dig mud out of a portable toilet, Kamenetz unbolted a gold-colored decorative shovel attached to a zebra-striped, safari-themed vehicle brought to Burning Man as an “art car.”

“It was gold,” she said of the shovel. “It’s not gold anymore.”


Sept. 3 | Black Rock City, Nev. A portable toilet covered in mud.

© Instagram @martinposc/Reuters

Revelers tried to make the best out of a bad situation. During the day, the group sculpted a statue of an elephant out of mud. At night, they played music. As a sign, perhaps, that things would be okay, a rainbow arched across the playa Saturday.

“People really didn’t miss a beat,” Kamenetz said.

‘Better prepared than the average Joe Schmo’

This year’s Burning Man brought some of the most extreme weather Christine Lee had seen in the eight years she’s attended the festival.

But many burners, particularly veterans of the festival, are resourceful and well-prepared for the week-plus of off-the-grid survival, said the 39-year-old circus performer. Lee traveled with friends in a built-out conversion van, so they were equipped with heat, air conditioning and power — as well as stacks upon stacks of foil-wrapped packs of tuna.

“I did have enough tuna for an extra week,” Lee said. While there were moments of panic over the sight of overflowing toilets and calls to reserve food and water, people coming to Burning Man follow the principles of self-reliance and community, she said.

“They’re going to be prepared better than the average Joe Schmo,” Lee added.

The social contract Burning Man is known for largely held up, though Lee noticed human waste outside one trailer, and more forks and litter — sights she hadn’t seen in past year. Lee chalked it up to a small percent of attendees behaving selfishly.

The broader community stepped up to clean the grounds and shelter, and to feed burners who were struggling as resources dwindled, she said. Burning Man is famously “commerce-free” — or at least strives to be — which means everything including meals and bicycle repair is barter and community-based.

“It totally worked — there’s nowhere else I’d rather be in the middle of a zombie apocalypse,” Lee said. “I’d see people walking around with trash bags, offering water, handing out food. You see someone clearly struggling because they look hungry and doesn’t have a poncho and you help them.”

The rain arrived as Reno, the largest nearby city, is in the middle of its second-wettest year on record, according to Scott McGuire, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The area has entered a “boom-or-bust” mode when it comes to rain, oscillating between wet and drought years. “We swing on this pendulum,” McGuire said.

Rainstorms like the one over Labor Day weekend are unusual but not unprecedented for the region, he added.

The Southwest United States has seen more rain than normal this year, both because of an active monsoon as well as the passage of Tropical Storm Hilary. Around the same time downpours drenched Burning Man, torrential rain also brought flooding to Las Vegas, which has received 2.55 inches of rain during the monsoon season, the 11th-most on record.

On Friday, the Weather Service’s forecast had predicted isolated thunderstorms and scattered showers for the area over the weekend.
A muddy exodus

Burning Man Project chief executive Marian Goodell told NBC News that the group was “prepared for the whole spectrum” of weather scenarios.

“We’ve chosen a dry lake bed” for the event, she said. “The environment is always a survival environment.”

Yet by Sunday, an exodus was underway even as roads remained closed. Over Labor Day, people pushed RVs and kicked mud out from under wheels to get them to move. Others hoofed it by foot. Kamenetz walked more than three miles through mud to catch a bus.

Every year, large piles of trash are left in Reno and other spots outside the desert, said Allen, the Pershing County sheriff.

“This year is a little different in that there are numerous vehicles strewn all throughout the playa for several miles,” he added. “Some participants were unwilling to wait or use the beaten path to attempt to leave the desert and have had to abandon their vehicles and personal property wherever their vehicle came to rest.”

The Burning Man Project, Allen added, is responsible for cleaning up the trash in the desert. The project did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post.

By Tuesday morning, the departure was “going smoothly” despite the heavy volume of travelers, Pershing County Sheriff Sgt. Nathan Carmichael said. The only major incident from Burning Man that the sheriff’s office was actively investigating Monday was the death of Leon Reece, a 32-year-old attendee who was found unresponsive at the festival Friday.

At the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, operations were returning to “business as usual” after a double dose of traffic from Labor Day travelers and the influx of burners headed home, according to spokesperson Stacey Sunday.

The airport on Monday tallied around 7,000 passengers, Sunday said, citing TSA data — compared with 4,000 to 6,000 travelers on a typical day.

Among the ways airport officials typically prepare for Burning Man travelers is to have plastic bags on hand to wrap their dust-covered luggage so that baggage machines don’t get clogged. This year, the airport provided travelers with disposable booties to cover their mud-caked shoes.

“[It’s] our biggest thing because there’s construction going outside, there isn’t the curb for burners to sit on, make flight arrangements,” Sunday said. “They’re either inside or out, but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal.”

This year’s experience hasn’t deterred Lee from Burning Man, though she plans to pack more boots and ponchos in case of rough weather next year. Even the hard rain, she said, created a joyful, art-filled memory. During a brief period when the rain slowed this past weekend, people started walking the streets and creating mud art: clay Minions and Buddhas and snowmen.

But Kamenetz, a nine-time attendee, said this would be her last Burning Man, a decision she had considered even before the rain.

“Is this really how I want to be spending my leisure time?”

Jason Samenow contributed to this report.

The Washington Post
Rain falls during Burning Man

Duration 0:23
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Burning Man mud after rainfall
Duration 0:23
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Burning Man attendees create mud statue
Duration 0:17
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Burning Man attendees become trapped in mud
Duration 0:21
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Burning Man effigy ignites
Duration 0:20
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A Burning Man attendee and their costume in front of dozens of bikes on the playa. Aly Weisman/Business Insider© Aly Weisman/Business Insider

It's not mandatory, but since gift-giving is one of Burning Man's 10 core principles, it's common for attendees to also factor into their budgeting equations gifts to bring and share with one another.

Add it all up, and Burning Man can easily set you back at least $1,000 to $2,000 unless you've gotten really creative and figured out a way to pinch pennies and carpool — and even then you're looking at the high hundreds of dollars.

Let's just hope next year's Burners get more for their money than a giant mud pit.