“The Governor of California has done a terrible job of forest management" Donald Trump, 2019

 

How years of corruption and mismanagement led to LA running out of water in the middle of the Palisades wildfire    "As Los Angeles firefighters faced down the most destructive blaze in the city’s history, they ran out of water.

"“The hydrants are down,” a firefighter said over the radio, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Another chipped in: “Water supply just dropped.”

"Fire crews were forced to watch as entire blocks of the Pacific Palisades — one of the most scenic and celeb-packed neighborhoods in LA — were incinerated in a matter of hours late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

" 'There’s no water in the fire hydrants,” Rick Caruso, who owns the Palisades Village mall in the heart of the devastated area, fumed to local media. “The firefighters are there, and there’s nothing they can do — we’ve got neighborhoods burning, homes burning, and businesses burning. … It should never happen.”  . . .

. . .“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt… but didn’t care about the people of California,” the incoming president ranted on his Truth Social Platform.

"Trump has also slammed Newsom for failure to clean up underbrush and dead trees that can fuel forest fires — though it’s not yet clear whether that is a factor in these latest blazes.

" 'I told him from the first day we met that he must ‘clean’ his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers,” Trump posted to X in 2019.

"Trump was referring to measures such as prescribed burns and fuel breaks, or firebreaks, which help keep wildfires from spreading.Newsom has bragged about his forestry accomplishments, but a 2021 investigation by CapRadio and NPR’s California Newsroom found that he overstated the number of acres treated with fuel breaks and prescribed burns by a whopping 690%." . . .  Read More...

Trump repeatedly warned Gov. Newsom about ‘terrible’ wildfire prevention in wake of deadly Palisades fire   “The Governor of California, @GavinNewsom, has done a terrible job of forest management. I told him from the first day we met that he must ‘clean’ his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers,” the former and upcoming president posted to X in 2019. 

" 'Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing-and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more. Get your act together Governor. You don’t see close to the level of burn in other states,” the thread continued. 

"Trump’s message to Newsom came as the Kincade Fire raged in Sonoma County from Oct. 23 to Nov. 6, 2019." . . . 

Daniel Penny seeks dismissal of lawsuit by subway chokehold victim’s father

 Yahoo

  "Zachary is seeking a judgment awarding damages “in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all lower Courts which would otherwise have jurisdiction.”

"Daniel Penny, a former U.S. Marine who was acquitted of criminal charges in the death of a Black man on a New York City subway, has filed to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the victim’s father.

"In court filings on Monday, Penny’s lawyers denied claims laid out by Andre Zachary, Jordan Neely’s father, that he is culpable for civil damages after using a chokehold on Neely that ultimately led to his death.

"Instead, said Penny’s lawyer Steven Raiser, “all injuries or damages” were caused by Neely’s own “culpable conduct, negligence, carelessness, and lack of care.”

" 'We are committed to defending this ill-conceived civil action brought by Jordan Neely’s estranged father with same the vigor with which we defended the criminal case,” Raiser said in a statement to The Associated Press.

"Penny placed Neely in a chokehold on May 1, 2023, after the Michael Jackson impersonator began shouting at passengers on the subway that he was hungry, thirsty and suicidal.

"Video of the incident showed Penny held Neely in a headlock position for several minutes as another passenger pinned Neely’s arms and a third held down his shoulder.

"The chief medical examiner’s office determined Neely died from compression of the neck and ruled his death a homicide.

"Last month, Zachary filed his complaint in the New York Supreme Court, accusing Penny of negligence, assault and battery.

"But days later, a Manhattan jury cleared Penny of criminally negligent homicide.

"Zachary is seeking a judgment awarding damages “in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all lower Courts which would otherwise have jurisdiction.”

It's Raining Cats and Dogs in California—but What Happens to All That Water?

 Bob Hoge  

"Editor's Note: This article was originally published on January 9, 2023, almost exactly two years ago. We are reprinting it in light of the wildfires sweeping through the Los Angeles region and the water supply problems experienced by fire crews." 

 

"It’s absolutely pouring in Los Angeles Monday night as another storm hits the area, with rivers running down my street, my yard turned into a large swimming pool, and evacuations being ordered in Prince Harry’s town of Montecito (just south of Santa Barbara).

"I wrote last week about how instead of welcoming this desperately needed precipitation, the media has largely been portraying it in a negative light, bemoaning the terrifying-sounding “bomb cyclone” and predicting horrible things. Yes, the historic onslaught will cause some damage, but you don’t get Nature on your terms—you get it on Nature’s.

The question is, with billions of gallons dropping out of the sky, where does all that water go? Shouldn’t this be enough to end the drought and leave us with oodles of H2O?

"Turns out, the answer lies in bad planning, wasted resources and bureaucratic entanglements. Why do I say that? Because most of this water will fly down the LA River and into the ocean, an ephemeral visitor that we fail to capture or effectively utilize. In effect, God is giving us the very answer to one of California’s most vexing problems—and we’re simply letting it slip through our hands."

The Los Angeles Times explains:

It was by all accounts a washout, but despite heaps of water pouring into the area, drought-weary Los Angeles won’t be able to save even half of it. The region’s system of engineered waterways is designed to whisk L.A.’s stormwater out to sea — a strategy intended to reduce flooding that nonetheless sacrifices countless precious gallons.

Voters in 2018 approved Measure W, which is aimed at improving L.A.’s aging stormwater capture system. Officials are making progress, but experts say there’s a long way to go. Of an estimated 5 billion to 10 billion gallons pouring into the Los Angeles Basin from current storms, only about 20% will be captured by the county.

. . . ?Despite being one of the highest-taxed states in the nation, California continues to watch one of its most valuable resources simply slip away into the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile,Governor Gavin Newsom and the Sacramento legislature enacted strict water use measures this summer, leading to most of our lawns dying, and enforced tough standards on home devices—meaning our showers barely get you wet and our toilets hardly flush. It’s part of the culture of “lack” that has taken over in our society; despite having vast resources, we are always focused on what we don’t have."

LA fire updates from CAL FIRE

 Where are the wildfires around Los Angeles? See maps

Fires in Los Angeles County

KTLA 5 News photojournalist Paul Sanchez recorded this video from an airplane flying over the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. Jan. 7, 2025.

Incidents | CAL FIRE   Ongoing emergency responses in California, including all 10+ acre wildfires.

Palisades Fire | CAL FIRE  Evacuation Orders are in effect for the following zones:

• DRY-U026-A, LOS-Q0767, MAL-C111-A, MAL-C111-B, MAL-C112-B, MTN-U028, RMB-U030-A, RMB-U030-B, RMB-U030-D, RRC-U027, SAN-Q1395-B, SAN-Q1396-B, SDP-U029, SSM-U010-A, SSM-U010-B, TOP-U001, TOP-U002, TOP-U003, TOP-U004, TOP-U005, TOP-U006, TOP-U007, TOP-U008, TOP-U009

Eaton Fire | CAL FIRE    Evacuation Orders  Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW. The area is lawfully closed to public access.

• ALD-ARROYOSECO, ALD-CALAVERAS, ALD-CANON, ALD-CASITAS, ALD-CHANEY, ALD-EASTLOMA, ALD-EATONCANYON, ALD-FARNSWORTH, ALD-GARDEN, ALD-GARFIAS, ALD-LAUREL, ALD-MEADOWS, ALD-MENDOCINO, ALD-MIDLOTHIAN, ALD-MILLARD, ALD-MOUNTLOWE, ALD-PALM, ALD-RUBIO, ALD-WAPELLO, ALD-WHITEPARK, ARC-001, ARC-002, ARC-004, GLN-E018, GLN-E027, GLN-E028, GLN-E029, GLN-E030, GLN-E039, GLN-E040, GLN-E041,GLN-E043, GLN-E044, KIN-KINNELOA, LAC-E183, LCF-ALTACANYADA, LCF-BERKSHIRE, LCF-CASTLE, LCF-CIVICCENTER, LCF-COMMONWEALTH, LCF-CREST, LCF-CROWN, LCF-DESCANSO, LCF-FOOTHILLEAST, LCF-FOOTHILLWEST, LCF-HAMPSTEAD, LCF-HILLARD, LCF-INVERNESS, LCF-JPL, LCF-MEMORIAL, LCF-PARADISE, LCF-STARLIGHT, MRV-101, MRV-102, MRV-201, MRV-202, MRV-203, MRV-204, PAS-E001, PAS-E002, PAS-E003, PAS-E006, PAS-E008, PAS-E010, PAS-E012, PAS-E019, PAS-E022, SMD-E001, SMD-E002, SMD-E003, SMD-E004, SMD-E005, SMD-E006, SMD-E007, SMD-E008, SMD-E009, SMD-E010, SMD-E011, SMD-E012, SMD-E013, SMD-E014, SMD-E015, SMD-E016, SMD-E017, SMD-E019

• The area north of Orange Grove/Rosemead Blvd., east of Lake Ave., and west of Michillinda Ave

Hurst Fire | CAL FIRE  Not a CAL FIRE Incident. Updates will be made as they become available.

Woodley Fire | CAL FIRE  Not a CAL FIRE Incident. Updates will be made as they become available.

Olivas Fire | CAL FIRE   Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW. The area is lawfully closed to public access.

Apocalypse in Los Angeles

Monica Showalter

Source: Cal Fire Data updates every 10 minutes.  By The New York Times

  "It started with a tweet by conservative Hollywood actor James Woods, posting a video of a fire in a Pacific Palisades canyon threatening his neighbor's house, and saying, "Leaving":

Leaving pic.twitter.com/yJDQ8xIhbI

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 7, 2025

Given the wind seen, I had a bad feeling about it.

Within an hour or two, a flood of tweet videos followed, showing a full blown inferno, with stories about cars jammed in gridlock, and people abandoning their cars to flee on foot. Writer Naomi Wolf, who might have been one of them, or who may have been in a similar incident earlier (I couldn't tell from her tweet), said they fled because they literally couldn't breathe.

The orange smoke that nearly killed me…get far away from it everyone if you can… https://t.co/yzidqrtzd1

— Dr. Naomi Wolf. 8 NYT Bestsellers. DPhil, Poetry. (@naomirwolf) January 8, 2025

Landmarks went up, palm trees caught fire, cars burned, homes burned, streets and streets of homes burned, the Getty Villa containing a massive collection of art and artefacts from antiquity was on and off reported on fire with videos showing flames licking up its hillside, firefighting planes were coming in from Oregon and Canada, with some scooping water from the ocean to drop as fire hydrants ran dry, zero fire fighters anywhere as multi-million dollar mansions went up in flames, the fire jumped highways and other breaks, reports emerged of people trapped in their homes, windspeeds reached 99 miles per hour, and the inferno videos started looking like Lahaina. " . . .

A check of Los Angeles’ budget shows Democrat LA Mayor Karen Bass cut about $20 million from LA’s budget for fire services in this current fiscal year and she had demanded even higher cuts. This as massive wildfires devastate Los Angeles with at least 80K evacuating, and local… pic.twitter.com/HmumAp4byL

— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) January 8, 2025

Self-driving cars use various sensors and require powerful computing ability to achieve driver-less operation.

 Animagraffs

"Self-driving cars use various sensors and require powerful computing ability to achieve driver-less operation."   Video

Is it true that 'The View' suggested Jill Biden for surgeon general?

 “So you have two choices,” she continued. “You have my husband, Joe, who you all know who has integrity, he’s strong, he’s steady, he’s a leader, he’s smart, he’s energetic, or you have chaos.”  Jill Biden on 'The View,'

On 'The View,' Jill Biden Addresses Critics of Joe Biden's Age: 'This Election Is About Character' (VIDEO)    "First lady Jill Biden joined the hosts of The View today to champion her husband’s achievements in the White House (and draw a strong contrast between him and his opponent, who at least two cohosts refuse to name these days)." . . .

Tulsi Gabbard: I know who’s really running the White House — and it’s not Joe Biden - nj.com  . . ."President Joe Biden may have a seat in the Oval Office, but he’s not running the show according to former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

"Gabbard sat down for a recent interview with Tucker Carlson to explain:

"Gabbard: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are not in office right now, but they still continue to wield immense power in influencing the decisions that are being made.Carlson: Who is running the government? At at this point, it’s obviously not Joe Biden. You think Hillary?

"Gabbard: It’s not a leap of imagination to know that that’s true. When you look at the people who are in Joe Biden’s administration, they are the people who were the right hands for the Obama administration, for President Obama and for Hillary Clinton.

"Hillary Clinton said herself the other day, she said, ‘Oh, yeah, I talked to the White House every day.’ So it’s no shock or surprise who the influences are behind the policies that are coming out of this White House that many people say is the most radical and woke White House that our country has ever seen." . . .

Why Is Jill Running the First Biden Cabinet Meeting in Nearly a Year? – PJ Media

. . . "It’s one thing for a First Lady to use her platform to champion personal causes. Michelle Obama focused on child nutrition, Laura Bush prioritized child literacy, and Hillary Clinton pushed healthcare reform. But leading a cabinet meeting as if she holds actual governmental power is a different story. It doesn’t matter what Jill Biden was there to comment on — what matters is that she was there at all. 

"She’s neither an elected nor appointed official. No one voted for her, and she has no political power, which makes her input on policy completely symbolic and essentially an extension of her husband. But when she shows up to a cabinet meeting, it sends the message that she is the one in charge and that her husband is an extension of her." . . .

While it may be true that past first ladies have participated in Cabinet meetings, the optics of Jill Biden at this meeting at the head of the table, looking and acting like she's running the show, are horrible. I'm sure Biden's handlers in the White House knew that.

Fact Check: Did 'The View' advocate for Jill Biden to become surgeon general? - MEAWW News   . . ."In 2020, Whoopi Goldberg remarked on 'The View' that the future first lady might assume the role of surgeon general if Joe Biden were elected president, referring to her as a "hell of a doctor."

"I'm hoping Dr Jill becomes the surgeon general, his wife," Goldberg said. "Joe Biden's wife. She would never do it, but yeah, she's a hell of a doctor. She's an amazing doctor." . . .

In which way? I would ask. TD

Where did all the fascism talk go?

 Byron York 

. . ."Scarborough and Brzezinski traveled to Mar-a-Lago for an audience with Trump. Afterward, they said they wanted to "restart communications" with the incoming president, as if he were a normal political leader and not the fascist they said he was."    And maybe Biden was a bit less than "cogent"

"On Monday, the journalist Glenn Greenwald asked on X, "Is there a single person in DC or media acting as if Literal Adolf Hitler is about to assume power in 2 weeks in order to end American democracy, install fascism, and create a white supremacist dictatorship? Is it possible those who said this for years never believed it?"

"You can answer that for yourself. But the fact is, the Donald Trump transition is turning out to be quite … normal. The president-elect is busy hammering out policy proposals and staffing his administration. Democrats are, of course, criticizing Trump and promising to give some of his nominees a hard time in confirmation hearings. But that is the sort of thing one always sees in transitions from one party to the other. What is absent is the kind of ugly, fevered, frenzied, over-the-top rhetoric about Trump that characterized the campaign.

"Remember? Vice President Kamala Harris called Trump a fascist) (From 'joyful' to 'fascist' - Why Kamala Harris adopted Biden's playbook on blasting Trump. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called Trump a fascist. Media talkers such as Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski called Trump a fascist. Journalists and academics called Trump a fascist. (Sample headlines from the New Yorker: "What Does It Mean that Donald Trump Is a Fascist?" and the Atlantic: "Trump Is Speaking Like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini.") For a while, it seemed like everyone on the Left with a podcast, TV show, or X account called Trump a fascist.

"Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden became the focus of nearly nonstop discussion about fascism and Nazism. In the run-up to the event, it was entirely commonplace for media commentators to compare the rally to the infamous Nazi rally held at the Garden in 1939. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate Trump defeated in 2016, told CNN that Trump would be "actually reenacting the Madison Square Garden rally in 1939."

"The fascist talk got so crazy that ABC News conducted a poll asking voters whether the 2024 candidates were fascists. The result was that 44% of registered voters said Trump was a fascist, 18% said Harris was a fascist, and 5% said both were fascists. Only 32% of those surveyed gave the obviously correct answer, which was that neither was a fascist.

"In retrospect, perhaps that was the moment — the poll was released on Oct. 25 — when the fascist talk jumped the shark. If a large majority of voters called the major-party candidates fascists, and a combined 67% said Trump, Harris, or both were fascists — then the concept of fascism had lost any meaning. It was just talk." . . .

Argus Hamilton Speaks

 Jewish World Review    

"• Washington, D.C., was coated in beautiful snow after the season's first winter storm Monday, which happened to be January 6th. Hundreds of happy kids paired off for a huge snowball fight on the National Mall. We'll never know how many FBI agents were planted on both sides of the snowball fight." 

 Stilton toon posted by TD

"• The Carter Center in Atlanta held a two-day memorial for Carter's presidency. People attending Carter memorial had to line up the first day by even-number license plates and the second day by odd-number plates. On the drive up to Washington, D.C., Carter's hearse was ticketed for going 70 mph in a 55.

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he will step down from office and resigned as leader of the Liberal Party on Monday in the face of sinking polls and mounting calls for him to resign. Trudeau became prime minister ten years ago. At the time, he was the only black guy in Canada.

• Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a report urging a warning label be placed on all alcoholic beverages. His reasons included a study showing that every beer that a man drinks over five a week subtracts nine minutes from a man's life. Thus, according to my calculations, I died September 3rd, 1846.

• The New York Post reported a survey which showed that most people give up on their New Year's resolutions in ten days. I didn't make one until I saw an impressive vehicle demonstration in Las Vegas. In 2025, I'm getting a Tesla Cybertruck to protect the public in case one of my jokes bombs.

• Politico reported the terror attack in New Orleans on New Year's Eve raised the nation's alarm level over ISIS activity in the U.S. Last weekend I received an invitation to a party along with instructions to Dress to Kill. Apparently a turban, a beard, and a backpack is not what they had in mind.

• Allstate CEO Tom Wilson faced angry backlash for posting a video after the New Orleans attack saying if we act nicer that terrorists won't attack us. People are outraged at Wilson for appeasing ISIS. What is it about insurance company CEOs that makes everybody want to shoot them in the back?

• Panama's president slammed Trump's bid to retrieve the Panama Canal. He misses how Anglo-Saxons think. We stole North America, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa, so taking back a canal that we built in the first place is no worse to us than O.J. stealing back his own merchandise.

• Donald Trump sided with Elon Musk and came out in favor of the H1B immigration status for hundreds of thousands of high-tech jobs for qualified foreign workers in the U.S. The program is opposed by the GOP's anti-immigration wing. Elon loves H1B so much he named one of his kids after it.

• The Dallas Morning News reported that a dozen large drones hovered in the night sky over North Texas in a fixed formation before zooming off, resulting in more shaky explanations and public panic over these drones. I don't care what the U.S. government says. I am NOT getting the UFO vaccine." . . .More here