More can be done with zoning, building codes and creating defensible spaces
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 28, 2007
Story appeared in FORUM section, Page E6.
Arnold Schwarzenegger made sure last week that no one could accuse him of ignoring the Southern California wildfires. But what the governor does in the post-disaster period will be far more crucial in preparing the state for even worse blazes in the years ahead.
More than ever, the governor needs to lead a rethinking of how California can minimize the loss of lives and property from fires. He needs to insist on a collaborative effort to reduce buildup of fuels in fire zones, and do it without undermining real environmental protections. He needs to drill down on whether local governments are taking responsibility for their own fire protection, instead of depending solely on state and federal help.
To some extent, these priorities were examined by the Governor's Blue Ribbon Fire Commission, which produced a 247-page report several months after the 2003 fires in Southern California.
But go back and read this report. You'll find it dodges some crucial issues – such as the need for stronger land-use restrictions in fire zones. It also seems overly weighted toward a militaristic approach – that California can defeat fire on the battlefield, if only we throw enough equipment, soldiers and dollars at this enemy.
The reality, of course, is that fire is a part of California's natural landscape, and we will never have an army that can fully snuff it out. The test for California is to find a better coexistence with fire – giving equal balance to fuels management, land zoning and firefighting capability.
Once the current fires are extinguished, the governor needs to reconstitute his blue ribbon panel and broaden its focus. In particular, this new panel needs to make recommendations on the following topics:
Local financial responsibility: Following the 2003 Cedar Fire, former San Diego Fire Chief Jeff Bowman pleaded for $100 million to build needed fire stations. Four months later, voters rejected a proposal to boost hotel taxes to pay for fire protection, and since 2003, only one fire station has been built in that city. California requires local governments to pay a share to receive flood control dollars. It should do the same for fire protection.
Land-use: Over the past decade, cities and counties have allowed tens of thousands of homes to be built on ridges and canyons that, as political scientist Steven Erie puts it, are a "fuel tank" for fires. The state needs to better map fire zones, and require local governments to limit building in the most dangerous of areas.
Defensible space: The previous blue ribbon commission urged stable funding for fire safe councils – local groups that help and empower residents to create defensible space around their neighborhoods. The governor and Legislature need to rise to this challenge.
Building codes: Smart investments in landscaping and building materials helped certain subdivisions survive this year's fires. Such investments should become standard.
Lastly, the governor needs to bring environmental leaders and fire officials together on ways to manage brush and dead trees through thinning and prescribed burns. Politicians who espouse a vast rewrite of federal environmental laws for fuels reduction are fooling themselves. The governor needs to break through this impasse, and find common ground.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Karma Dude off to the pokey
One Down: Obscenely Decadent War Profiteer Hauled Off in Handcuffs
By Sarah Anderson, AlterNet. Posted October 26, 2007.
It looks like the party may be over for one corporate crook.
America's most ostentatious war profiteer is no longer a free man. In a long-anticipated move, FBI agents arrested bulletproof vest maker David H. Brooks in his Manhattan apartment at dawn on Thursday...
...he blew some $10 million in profits from military contracts on a celebrity-studded party for his daughter. Leaked details of the bash drew national attention, including a description of Brooks' pink suede suit...
Aerosmith -- Dude (looks like a lady)
JP over at Welcome to Pottersville has more
By Sarah Anderson, AlterNet. Posted October 26, 2007.
It looks like the party may be over for one corporate crook.
America's most ostentatious war profiteer is no longer a free man. In a long-anticipated move, FBI agents arrested bulletproof vest maker David H. Brooks in his Manhattan apartment at dawn on Thursday...
...he blew some $10 million in profits from military contracts on a celebrity-studded party for his daughter. Leaked details of the bash drew national attention, including a description of Brooks' pink suede suit...
Aerosmith -- Dude (looks like a lady)
JP over at Welcome to Pottersville has more
Friday, October 26, 2007
Potrero and evacuees
A Town Beseiged: Potrero Residents Battling Blackwater Now Suffer Ravages of Wildfire
by: Miriam Raftery
Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 10:54:43 AM PDT
The Harris fire started in Potrero on Sunday morning
The cause is under investigation
Harris fire red on map
Harris fire Google
Google fire map
I just had a friend call and I hadn't known that he had been evacuated to Qualcomm. While I was on the phone with him a caller to Thom Hartmann's show called in from Qualcomm to say she was being told by the police to leave, but wasn't ready to go home. This is still nuts.
Update: It's definite: Game's on Sunday at Qualcomm
The comments are a trip. Emotions are still running high.
A friend just told me that they announced over the loudspeaker that they were going to be checking ID's and a thousand people left. No doubt that not everyone that was there was an evacuee. That would be the
San Diego the Tourists Never See
On PBS NOW tonight:
God and Global Warming
Raging Fires in California
Will homeowners be burned by insurance policies?
by: Miriam Raftery
Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 10:54:43 AM PDT
The Harris fire started in Potrero on Sunday morning
The cause is under investigation
Harris fire red on map
Harris fire Google
Google fire map
I just had a friend call and I hadn't known that he had been evacuated to Qualcomm. While I was on the phone with him a caller to Thom Hartmann's show called in from Qualcomm to say she was being told by the police to leave, but wasn't ready to go home. This is still nuts.
Update: It's definite: Game's on Sunday at Qualcomm
The comments are a trip. Emotions are still running high.
A friend just told me that they announced over the loudspeaker that they were going to be checking ID's and a thousand people left. No doubt that not everyone that was there was an evacuee. That would be the
San Diego the Tourists Never See
On PBS NOW tonight:
God and Global Warming
Raging Fires in California
Will homeowners be burned by insurance policies?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
update 10:29 AM 10/26/2007 THIS is what the fishwrap did correctly --- it's non partisan
This Goddanmed Fucking Fishwrap OpEd is not
I'm PISSED.
The air support for the fires was grounded while the fucking idiot president (Bush) flew over.
Update 9:24 AM 10/28/2007 firefighters were not grounded?
I think. It was probably a pain in the ass for air traffic controllers, though. I'm not apologizing for what I did, I hope the moron saw me.
RB residents wait to return until after president's photo op
He flew directly over my house on his way to RB
I gave the whole helicopter group a big fat two handed, two fingered salute as they blew fucking ash, dust, & dried leaves that are still green all over the place, even though this area didn't burn.
There are still about 800 evacuees at Qualcomm, they will be booted out by noon so that the ball game can be played this weekend. (at ten thirty am, only sixty left)
Ramona (35,000) has no water, but Jacobs said she thought all the residents should be allowed in. I was thrilled to hear Mikey from Ramona's rant on KLSD this morning, and Stacy Taylor's voice on my little transistor radio down at the stadium was so comforting. He did a six hour show, even though his house could have been in danger.
This Goddanmed Fucking Fishwrap OpEd is not
I'm PISSED.
The air support for the fires was grounded while the fucking idiot president (Bush) flew over.
Update 9:24 AM 10/28/2007 firefighters were not grounded?
I think. It was probably a pain in the ass for air traffic controllers, though. I'm not apologizing for what I did, I hope the moron saw me.
RB residents wait to return until after president's photo op
He flew directly over my house on his way to RB
I gave the whole helicopter group a big fat two handed, two fingered salute as they blew fucking ash, dust, & dried leaves that are still green all over the place, even though this area didn't burn.
There are still about 800 evacuees at Qualcomm, they will be booted out by noon so that the ball game can be played this weekend. (at ten thirty am, only sixty left)
Ramona (35,000) has no water, but Jacobs said she thought all the residents should be allowed in. I was thrilled to hear Mikey from Ramona's rant on KLSD this morning, and Stacy Taylor's voice on my little transistor radio down at the stadium was so comforting. He did a six hour show, even though his house could have been in danger.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Local news
I was watching the local news (coverage of the fire was great, but their slant to the right is typically San Diego) just now and it made me think of this book, and Wambaugh in general.
Wambaugh understands those turf wars that law enforcement types (and men in general) get into. If he were to write a book about this fire it would take him years to research all the different agencies involved.
I'm pretty sure that the bean counters had more to do with this mess than the fire department employees. I know I'll be looking for that fireman with the boot to donate into when these guys catch a break.
7:02 PM 10/25/2007 Jeebus. The fires are still burning and I just watched an ad for a mortgage company on the teevee complete with a guy in a hard hat spreading out a building plan. And then a news report that some guy was arrested for possible arson, he was dressed as a firefighter. I wonder about people in this city sometimes.
Fire politics disgust
Awww crap, living in San Diego it's pretty easy to get disgusted with the state of politics here:
{A blogger buddy send me this a few days ago (10:17 AM 9/14/2009) it's perfect for this post, but I don't remember reading it at the time}
Crews Battle Mighty Witch Fire For 5th Straight Day
POSTED: 8:41 am PDT October 25, 2007
...The roughly 2,300 firefighters and emergency personnel assigned to the blaze were aided by favorable weather Wednesday, as the Santa Ana winds that enabled the inferno to spread so quickly started to let up.
Firefighters Get Control as Questions Rise
(Page 2 of 2)
Published: October 25, 2007
..After bureaucratic snags delayed deployment, 14 military fire-fighting helicopters and 5 C-130 military planes were released Wednesday to help fight the fires, said United States Representative Duncan Hunter, Republican of California...
This would be me rolling my eyes right here. Why?
..._About 100 defense employees, including active duty military personnel and civilians, are fighting fires. That's 12 firefighting teams — mostly civilian — and their 12 fire engines.
_Some 1,500 Army National Guard and Air National Guardsmen are helping firefighters — not on the fire lines, but doing other tasks to free up the firefighters.
550 Marine Corps personnel at Camp Pendleton are preparing for possible firefighting duty. ...
...While covering a backfire designed to keep the wildfire from consuming more of the military facility, a CNN correspondent said he could hear previously unexploded munitions being detonated by the scorching heat...
Yeah, and one more thing Duncky, You can't get any aircraft into the air if it's too windy and smoky, so quit bragging and grandstanding, you can't control the weather.
I was disgusted to see DiFei bounce off of Preznit Poopypant's plane also. Bitch was probably here to see if she could profit AGAIN.
{A blogger buddy send me this a few days ago (10:17 AM 9/14/2009) it's perfect for this post, but I don't remember reading it at the time}
Crews Battle Mighty Witch Fire For 5th Straight Day
POSTED: 8:41 am PDT October 25, 2007
...The roughly 2,300 firefighters and emergency personnel assigned to the blaze were aided by favorable weather Wednesday, as the Santa Ana winds that enabled the inferno to spread so quickly started to let up.
Firefighters Get Control as Questions Rise
(Page 2 of 2)
Published: October 25, 2007
..After bureaucratic snags delayed deployment, 14 military fire-fighting helicopters and 5 C-130 military planes were released Wednesday to help fight the fires, said United States Representative Duncan Hunter, Republican of California...
This would be me rolling my eyes right here. Why?
..._About 100 defense employees, including active duty military personnel and civilians, are fighting fires. That's 12 firefighting teams — mostly civilian — and their 12 fire engines.
_Some 1,500 Army National Guard and Air National Guardsmen are helping firefighters — not on the fire lines, but doing other tasks to free up the firefighters.
550 Marine Corps personnel at Camp Pendleton are preparing for possible firefighting duty. ...
...While covering a backfire designed to keep the wildfire from consuming more of the military facility, a CNN correspondent said he could hear previously unexploded munitions being detonated by the scorching heat...
Yeah, and one more thing Duncky, You can't get any aircraft into the air if it's too windy and smoky, so quit bragging and grandstanding, you can't control the weather.
I was disgusted to see DiFei bounce off of Preznit Poopypant's plane also. Bitch was probably here to see if she could profit AGAIN.
President Bush to visit San Diego
Are you fucking kidding me? What for? He jinxes everything. Everywhere that guy visits ends up having MORE problems than it did before.
9:44 AM 10/25/2007-
Crap, he's here, I hope my folks don't have to pay for another night in a hotel because of Bush's damn photo op.
These fires are not contained and it's still really smoky.
12:53 PM 10/25/2007
I love this article:
California fire evacuees disgusted by braggarts
By Brenda Norrell,
Posted on Thu Oct 25th, 2007 at 01:50:58 AM EST
I'm thinking about this fire as my folks get ready to go home and as long as some things stay the same, other things will continue to get worse:
"The economy of California is a dominant force in the economy of the United States, with California paying more to the federal system than it receives in direct monetary benefits"...
"The economy of California is often cited for how it would compare to other countries if California were an independent nation. The statistic quoted varies widely (usually placing California between 6th and 10th), depending on the source."
Republicans and developers
California is dry
Water shortages in CA and still they keep on building.
Americans use water like the supply of it is endless and it is not.
The firefighters are working very hard to keep the fires away from population centers and they are getting extra support from other states and countries AND the weather.
Population is not only a California problem, it's worldwide:
Planet of Slums by Mike Davis
9:44 AM 10/25/2007-
Crap, he's here, I hope my folks don't have to pay for another night in a hotel because of Bush's damn photo op.
These fires are not contained and it's still really smoky.
12:53 PM 10/25/2007
I love this article:
California fire evacuees disgusted by braggarts
By Brenda Norrell,
Posted on Thu Oct 25th, 2007 at 01:50:58 AM EST
I'm thinking about this fire as my folks get ready to go home and as long as some things stay the same, other things will continue to get worse:
"The economy of California is a dominant force in the economy of the United States, with California paying more to the federal system than it receives in direct monetary benefits"...
"The economy of California is often cited for how it would compare to other countries if California were an independent nation. The statistic quoted varies widely (usually placing California between 6th and 10th), depending on the source."
Republicans and developers
California is dry
Water shortages in CA and still they keep on building.
Americans use water like the supply of it is endless and it is not.
The firefighters are working very hard to keep the fires away from population centers and they are getting extra support from other states and countries AND the weather.
Population is not only a California problem, it's worldwide:
Planet of Slums by Mike Davis
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
County fire info
Streaming KPBS
more county info
Cause this be the important info, fuck the photo ops with their political blame game and circle jerk.
more county info
Cause this be the important info, fuck the photo ops with their political blame game and circle jerk.
Stop comparing San Diego firestorm to Katrina
Lotsa big black SUVs at the stadium yesterday I'm sure this was from yesterday:
Fires are different. If vehicles can move on the highways, supplies and people can get through. Floods are different, only certain types of vehicles that can move through six or eight feet of water can move.
Still worried about people that I don't keep in contact with regularly, but close friends and family and their homes are ok.
Frankly this is just weird. I laugh at people that won't move to California because of the earthquakes. Nobody wants to talk about fires, which are much more frightening. Obviously the local, and state governments have learned something since the Cedar fire.
When you can't hear road and air traffic from my house, we are in deep shit. I hear both now.
Special note for those rich people who want less regulation and want to pay less taxes:
Do I really need to say anything?
If you still got your three or four million dollar home, you better be planning a party for fire-fighters, emergency responders, and law enforcement personnel. AND you better ask for a tax increase.
Fires are different. If vehicles can move on the highways, supplies and people can get through. Floods are different, only certain types of vehicles that can move through six or eight feet of water can move.
Still worried about people that I don't keep in contact with regularly, but close friends and family and their homes are ok.
Frankly this is just weird. I laugh at people that won't move to California because of the earthquakes. Nobody wants to talk about fires, which are much more frightening. Obviously the local, and state governments have learned something since the Cedar fire.
When you can't hear road and air traffic from my house, we are in deep shit. I hear both now.
Special note for those rich people who want less regulation and want to pay less taxes:
Do I really need to say anything?
If you still got your three or four million dollar home, you better be planning a party for fire-fighters, emergency responders, and law enforcement personnel. AND you better ask for a tax increase.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Ahhhhhh, a shower!
It's still smoky, but there's no escape from that anywhere in San Diego County, so bear with me, I'm a bit zooey. My folks house almost burnt down and they ain't out of the woods yet.
Wow.
San Diegans are REALLY GENEROUS. They had to turn people around and send them to other shelters if they wanted to give donations.
We (well, me anyway, my husband and kid kept rolling their eyes at me, eve though we were supposed to evacuate) freaked out and bounced down to Qualcomm stadium. Despite camping out in a parking lot, I felt safer until I saw military uniforms with big, obvious guns. No shit, the skanky tweakers trying to scam free stuff, & probably rip off the evacuees (you know, the ones that avoid the food lines) didn't scare me like the guns did. There were so many people driving around trying to help it was a bit overwhelming. I've never had to say "No thank you, we're fine, (we don't need popsicles ice cream water water water cheeze doodles cookies doughnuts sunscreen t-shirts) but thank you so much" so many times in my life. Someone handed us a ten pound bag of ice, and doofy me forgot the ice chest. There were so many donations I thought I would send my husband to see if somebody donated some of those $1.99 styrofoam ice chests. Guess what? He and this Red Cross volunteer get stopped dead in their tracks by some secret service looking guy. I guess the evacuee and the Red Cross Lady had the temerity to get too close to Chertoff's photo op.
I was like, Oh Shit FEMA's here, time to go home.
11:15 AM 10/24/2007 Ok, it wasn't Chertoff, it was Arnie who's secret service guys stopped my husband.
4:14 PM 10/24/2007 yeah, my husband is a dope, Chertoff was there, but it may have been Arnie's bodyguards who told my husband to stay put for a few minutes.
Wow.
San Diegans are REALLY GENEROUS. They had to turn people around and send them to other shelters if they wanted to give donations.
We (well, me anyway, my husband and kid kept rolling their eyes at me, eve though we were supposed to evacuate) freaked out and bounced down to Qualcomm stadium. Despite camping out in a parking lot, I felt safer until I saw military uniforms with big, obvious guns. No shit, the skanky tweakers trying to scam free stuff, & probably rip off the evacuees (you know, the ones that avoid the food lines) didn't scare me like the guns did. There were so many people driving around trying to help it was a bit overwhelming. I've never had to say "No thank you, we're fine, (we don't need popsicles ice cream water water water cheeze doodles cookies doughnuts sunscreen t-shirts) but thank you so much" so many times in my life. Someone handed us a ten pound bag of ice, and doofy me forgot the ice chest. There were so many donations I thought I would send my husband to see if somebody donated some of those $1.99 styrofoam ice chests. Guess what? He and this Red Cross volunteer get stopped dead in their tracks by some secret service looking guy. I guess the evacuee and the Red Cross Lady had the temerity to get too close to Chertoff's photo op.
I was like, Oh Shit FEMA's here, time to go home.
11:15 AM 10/24/2007 Ok, it wasn't Chertoff, it was Arnie who's secret service guys stopped my husband.
4:14 PM 10/24/2007 yeah, my husband is a dope, Chertoff was there, but it may have been Arnie's bodyguards who told my husband to stay put for a few minutes.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
My head hurts
Update 7:56 AM 10/28/2007
according to this map the Potrero (Harris) fire started in Tecate, Mexico and the one choking me was the Witch fire.
The smoke is choking me right now. The ash is falling. The sky grey, the light is orange. I'm gonna have to buy another air filter for my car. I'm so sick of this shit. Every October I pack the trunk and get ready to bail.
Fire prompts evacuations, road closures near Potrero
Fire spreading near Potrero
October 21, 2007
Fire crews are battling a brush fire that has consumed 50 to 80 acres near Potrero this morning.
Potrero? What the hell is a Potrero?
Oh yeah, Potrero. (Scroll down on the linked page and watch the video.)
No, I'm not in Potrero, there's fricking fires all over
according to this map the Potrero (Harris) fire started in Tecate, Mexico and the one choking me was the Witch fire.
The smoke is choking me right now. The ash is falling. The sky grey, the light is orange. I'm gonna have to buy another air filter for my car. I'm so sick of this shit. Every October I pack the trunk and get ready to bail.
Fire prompts evacuations, road closures near Potrero
Fire spreading near Potrero
October 21, 2007
Fire crews are battling a brush fire that has consumed 50 to 80 acres near Potrero this morning.
Potrero? What the hell is a Potrero?
Oh yeah, Potrero. (Scroll down on the linked page and watch the video.)
No, I'm not in Potrero, there's fricking fires all over
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Frontline ----- Cheney's Law
If you believe that democracy has a place in US government, you'll wonder how this fucker (yes, I hate Cheney, with a purple passion) got so much power and managed to stay in the highest levels of government for so long.
5:29 PM 10/20/2007
I don't know how I got to energy supplies from Cheney (Halliburton?) but I can tell that now I'm about done---the links from Growth is Madness' links started MC Hammer in my brain. Man, I didn't even see Happy Feet
5:29 PM 10/20/2007
I don't know how I got to energy supplies from Cheney (Halliburton?) but I can tell that now I'm about done---the links from Growth is Madness' links started MC Hammer in my brain. Man, I didn't even see Happy Feet
Thinking about Russia, & Russian immigrants today, all over the news
From Russia, with hate
Does this surprise me? No.
Unhh uhh
Nope
Russian Organized Crime: The New Threat? (c) 1997
Russia could be a place of brutal repression as described by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in :
The Gulag Archipelago
xviii introduction to the perennial classics edition says
"To read Gulag through the moral lens is to understand that government power can perpetrate all sorts of atrocities upon human beings, body and soul, but it can never succeed in quenching the human spirit."
Here is a survey of Russian American immigrants , which proves to me, once again, that there are all different types of immigrants in America.
Does this surprise me? No.
Unhh uhh
Nope
Russian Organized Crime: The New Threat? (c) 1997
Russia could be a place of brutal repression as described by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in :
The Gulag Archipelago
xviii introduction to the perennial classics edition says"To read Gulag through the moral lens is to understand that government power can perpetrate all sorts of atrocities upon human beings, body and soul, but it can never succeed in quenching the human spirit."
Here is a survey of Russian American immigrants , which proves to me, once again, that there are all different types of immigrants in America.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Zeitgeist the movie
What a fun time waster. Pretty basic stuff.
L R & Center
PBS NOW
Immigration on Main Street
Bill Moyers tonight,
Jeremy Scahill on Blackwater
The Military-Industrial Complex
The Balance of Trade
L R & Center
PBS NOW
Immigration on Main Street
Bill Moyers tonight,
Jeremy Scahill on Blackwater
The Military-Industrial Complex
The Balance of Trade
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Wednsday's IHOP
Remember that line in that movie "I am Sam?"
I think of that line every Wednesday when I have to read the Fishwrap.
Housing slump persists
Credit crunch fuels drop in sales, prices in 6-county region
By Roger Showley
STAFF WRITER
October 17, 2007
Credit crunch, credit crunch, credit crunch, yeah, if I repeat that enough, I'll start to believe it. It can't have anything to do with a BUBBLE (inflated by greedy moneylenders who lent money to people that didn't understand what kind of crazy balloon payment they were going to be stuck with after a couple of years) that fucking had to pop sooner or later, right?
Staph 'superbug' infections on rise
More than 90,000 cases seen in U.S. each year
By Lindsey Tanner
ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 17, 2007
Bush-era Justice officials shift focus
Less emphasis on mob, environment, civil rights
By Dan Eggen and John Solomon
THE WASHINGTON POST
October 17, 2007
Dot-com zeal raises specter of bubble bust
By Brad Stone and Matt Richtel
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
October 17, 2007
So, OK today wasn't so bad, most of the stories came from other papers. I didn't figure it would take me long to find an article in the Fishwrap that make me wonder what was missing from it.
Ummmm, yeah.
State shares its notes on quagga mussels
By Terry Rodgers
STAFF WRITER
October 17, 2007
...Quagga mussels are native to Russia and Ukraine. They were first found in North America 18 years ago in Lake Erie, having hitchhiked to the the United States in the ballast water of oceangoing ships....
Hmm, I've heard that if you have an invasive species that is taking over the native species one of the ways to control it you find out where it came from and go back and look for a natural predator. I figured one of these links would do that.
umm, not here
no, not here either
nope, not here
Frustrated with the links, I Googled what preys on quagga mussels?
I mean Jeeez, how much chlorine can you pump into the water before it's just not drinkable?
And you lazy boaters, drain your damn boats.
My progressive talk radio station is switching to sports talk.
Get a load of some of the comments. I'm a liberal, or one of "the libs" as one cretin comments. I have to deal with these people every day. *Sigh*
So the interests who fund the fishwrap got their way. They want to control the only media in San Diego, they are not used to having to explain themselves to the rabble, and they certainly don't want the rabble to have a microphone.
I think of that line every Wednesday when I have to read the Fishwrap.
Housing slump persists
Credit crunch fuels drop in sales, prices in 6-county region
By Roger Showley
STAFF WRITER
October 17, 2007
Credit crunch, credit crunch, credit crunch, yeah, if I repeat that enough, I'll start to believe it. It can't have anything to do with a BUBBLE (inflated by greedy moneylenders who lent money to people that didn't understand what kind of crazy balloon payment they were going to be stuck with after a couple of years) that fucking had to pop sooner or later, right?
Staph 'superbug' infections on rise
More than 90,000 cases seen in U.S. each year
By Lindsey Tanner
ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 17, 2007
Bush-era Justice officials shift focus
Less emphasis on mob, environment, civil rights
By Dan Eggen and John Solomon
THE WASHINGTON POST
October 17, 2007
Dot-com zeal raises specter of bubble bust
By Brad Stone and Matt Richtel
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
October 17, 2007
So, OK today wasn't so bad, most of the stories came from other papers. I didn't figure it would take me long to find an article in the Fishwrap that make me wonder what was missing from it.
Ummmm, yeah.
State shares its notes on quagga mussels
By Terry Rodgers
STAFF WRITER
October 17, 2007
...Quagga mussels are native to Russia and Ukraine. They were first found in North America 18 years ago in Lake Erie, having hitchhiked to the the United States in the ballast water of oceangoing ships....
Hmm, I've heard that if you have an invasive species that is taking over the native species one of the ways to control it you find out where it came from and go back and look for a natural predator. I figured one of these links would do that.
umm, not here
no, not here either
nope, not here
Frustrated with the links, I Googled what preys on quagga mussels?
I mean Jeeez, how much chlorine can you pump into the water before it's just not drinkable?
And you lazy boaters, drain your damn boats.
My progressive talk radio station is switching to sports talk.
Get a load of some of the comments. I'm a liberal, or one of "the libs" as one cretin comments. I have to deal with these people every day. *Sigh*
So the interests who fund the fishwrap got their way. They want to control the only media in San Diego, they are not used to having to explain themselves to the rabble, and they certainly don't want the rabble to have a microphone.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Michelle Malkin and credibility
The right wing screech monster (I have another nickname for her, but I'll be nice) that thinks concentration camps are ok, and stalks twelve year olds is worried about Air America's credibility.
Bwaaaa haa haa haaa haa ha hahahahaha.
Ok Magalang, now go back to your cage and sharpen your claws, teeth, and practice foaming until O'Liely needs you, mmmmmmkay?
Bwaaaa haa haa haaa haa ha hahahahaha.
Ok Magalang, now go back to your cage and sharpen your claws, teeth, and practice foaming until O'Liely needs you, mmmmmmkay?
Monday, October 15, 2007
NYT Oct 15 2007
Interim Heads Increasingly Run Federal Agencies
Published: October 15, 2007
By PHILIP SHENON
An Internet Jihad Aims at U.S. Viewers
October 15, 2007
By MICHAEL MOSS and SOUAD MEKHENNET
...“America needs to listen to Shaykh Usaamah very carefully and take his message with great seriousness,” he wrote on his blog. “America is known to be a people of arrogance.”
Yeah? And Saudi's aren't? Khan is a putrid little f*#kwad. His pansy ass wouldn't last ten minutes in Saudi Arabia.
A Golf Course Where Water Is No Hazard
October 15, 2007
Qargha Journal
Patients Warned as Maker Halts Sale of Heart Implant Part
October 15, 2007
By BARNABY J. FEDER
First Lady Raising Her Profile Without Changing Her Image
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: October 15, 2007
Laura Bush discussing Myanmar in May with Senators Dianne Feinstein of California, left, and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
Giuliani Sells New York as the Town He Tamed
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
October 15, 2007
Published: October 15, 2007
By PHILIP SHENON
An Internet Jihad Aims at U.S. Viewers
October 15, 2007
By MICHAEL MOSS and SOUAD MEKHENNET
...“America needs to listen to Shaykh Usaamah very carefully and take his message with great seriousness,” he wrote on his blog. “America is known to be a people of arrogance.”
Yeah? And Saudi's aren't? Khan is a putrid little f*#kwad. His pansy ass wouldn't last ten minutes in Saudi Arabia.
A Golf Course Where Water Is No Hazard
October 15, 2007
Qargha Journal
Patients Warned as Maker Halts Sale of Heart Implant Part
October 15, 2007
By BARNABY J. FEDER
First Lady Raising Her Profile Without Changing Her Image
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: October 15, 2007
Laura Bush discussing Myanmar in May with Senators Dianne Feinstein of California, left, and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
Giuliani Sells New York as the Town He Tamed
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
October 15, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Child brides, Stolen lives
I almost gave up on this show last night because the first half was so depressing.
I couldn't stop thinking about 'Planet of Slums' by Mike Davis.
The second half of the show was much more hopeful , and well worth an hour of your time, if you've got it.
I couldn't stop thinking about 'Planet of Slums' by Mike Davis.
The second half of the show was much more hopeful , and well worth an hour of your time, if you've got it.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Cheaper to keep her
California law bars landlords from asking tenants' immigration status
JULIANA BARBASSA Associated Press Writer
(AP) - SAN FRANCISCO-
California is again forging its own path on immigration reform by becoming the first state to prohibit landlords from asking tenants' immigration status.The law signed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger elicited a sigh of relief among landlord associations concerned that without it, they would be forced to take on the cost and the liability of enforcing federal laws as "de-facto immigration cops," said Nancy Ahlswede, executive director of the Apartment Association, California Southern Cities....
Effort to Curb Illegal Worker's Hiring Blocked
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 11, 2007; 2:04 PM
A federal judge barred the Bush administration yesterday from launching a planned crackdown on U.S. companies that employ illegal immigrants, warning of its potentially "staggering" impact on law-abiding workers and companies.
...the chasm that the issue has opened between the Republican Party and its traditional business allies.
The case also called attention to the gulf between Washington rhetoric about the need to curtail illegal immigration and the economic reality that many U.S. employers rely on illegal labor, as well as to the government's inability for nearly three decades to develop adequate tools for identifying undocumented workers...
In a statement, Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-Calif.), an opponent of Bush's approach who won election to the House last year on the issue, criticized the court. "What part of 'illegal' does Judge Breyer not understand?"... ...
Overall, 7.2 million illegal immigrants account for at least 10 percent of low-skilled U.S. workers and 5 percent of the total U.S. workforce, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of 2005 census data.
Illegal immigrants make up even greater portions of workers in specific industries, including 24 percent in farming, 17 percent in cleaning, 14 percent in construction and 12 percent in food preparation. But the government's record in developing tools to screen such workers is spotty, largely because of successful efforts by employers, labor unions and civil rights groups to water them down...
... On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney issued a temporary restraining order pending an Oct. 1 hearing before Breyer, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and is the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer
Correction to This Article
Earlier versions of this story gave the wrong relationship between U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer and Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer. They are brothers. This version has been corrected.
JULIANA BARBASSA Associated Press Writer
(AP) - SAN FRANCISCO-
California is again forging its own path on immigration reform by becoming the first state to prohibit landlords from asking tenants' immigration status.The law signed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger elicited a sigh of relief among landlord associations concerned that without it, they would be forced to take on the cost and the liability of enforcing federal laws as "de-facto immigration cops," said Nancy Ahlswede, executive director of the Apartment Association, California Southern Cities....
Effort to Curb Illegal Worker's Hiring Blocked
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 11, 2007; 2:04 PM
A federal judge barred the Bush administration yesterday from launching a planned crackdown on U.S. companies that employ illegal immigrants, warning of its potentially "staggering" impact on law-abiding workers and companies.
...the chasm that the issue has opened between the Republican Party and its traditional business allies.
The case also called attention to the gulf between Washington rhetoric about the need to curtail illegal immigration and the economic reality that many U.S. employers rely on illegal labor, as well as to the government's inability for nearly three decades to develop adequate tools for identifying undocumented workers...
In a statement, Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-Calif.), an opponent of Bush's approach who won election to the House last year on the issue, criticized the court. "What part of 'illegal' does Judge Breyer not understand?"... ...
Overall, 7.2 million illegal immigrants account for at least 10 percent of low-skilled U.S. workers and 5 percent of the total U.S. workforce, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of 2005 census data.
Illegal immigrants make up even greater portions of workers in specific industries, including 24 percent in farming, 17 percent in cleaning, 14 percent in construction and 12 percent in food preparation. But the government's record in developing tools to screen such workers is spotty, largely because of successful efforts by employers, labor unions and civil rights groups to water them down...
... On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney issued a temporary restraining order pending an Oct. 1 hearing before Breyer, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and is the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer
Correction to This Article
Earlier versions of this story gave the wrong relationship between U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer and Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer. They are brothers. This version has been corrected.
Danny Schechter the News Dissector
Has a blog post that we on the left should heed today:
If Fox Can Create a Business Channel, Why Can't We?
...We can sit on the sidelines and ignore this new channel, or we can snipe at and put it down it as the latest Murdochian invason by the evil empire. We can make fun of it, and feel self-righteous while exposing its likely lies and crimes against truth.
These responses won’t amount to much.
Or we can recognize that the we need credible economy/business news too, a channel and outlet that probes more deeply, that examines the shoddy practies and illicit deals by the Miliitary Industrial and Media complex and its kissing cousin, the equally insidious credit and debt complex. We need to know not just about business but about political economy. We need to know how these markets work and who influencing them and subsidizing them. We need to understand how rules and regulations were broken to permit subprime ‘ponzi” schemes like the subprime lending that is now leading to millions of foreclosures...
If Fox Can Create a Business Channel, Why Can't We?
...We can sit on the sidelines and ignore this new channel, or we can snipe at and put it down it as the latest Murdochian invason by the evil empire. We can make fun of it, and feel self-righteous while exposing its likely lies and crimes against truth.
These responses won’t amount to much.
Or we can recognize that the we need credible economy/business news too, a channel and outlet that probes more deeply, that examines the shoddy practies and illicit deals by the Miliitary Industrial and Media complex and its kissing cousin, the equally insidious credit and debt complex. We need to know not just about business but about political economy. We need to know how these markets work and who influencing them and subsidizing them. We need to understand how rules and regulations were broken to permit subprime ‘ponzi” schemes like the subprime lending that is now leading to millions of foreclosures...
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Congressional braniacs
Um, yeah, who's brilliant idea was it to bring up a hundred year old genocide whan when what's happening in Iraq could be called genocide?
Turkey mulls cutting military ties with U.S. over genocide vote
Yeah, and both the Turkish government and the US government would rather you call them civil wars, thank you very much.
Turkey mulls cutting military ties with U.S. over genocide vote
Yeah, and both the Turkish government and the US government would rather you call them civil wars, thank you very much.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Reading Now
New book to read: $30
A gallon of milk and a pack of cancer sticks: $9.40
The grin I exchanged with somebody sporting this on their vehicle: Priceless
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Louisiana Most Corrupt State in the Nation,
Mississippi Second, Illinois Sixth, New Jersey Ninth
21 Corporate Crime Reporter 40, October 8, 2007
Louisiana is the most corrupt state in the nation...
...California (23)(2.07),....
Pakistan jets pound 'rebel bases'
Pakistani warplanes have attacked suspected pro-Taleban positions near the Afghan border for a fourth day.
The army faces well-armed, well-trained militants in Waziristan
I wish I gave a crap today. About anything.
21 Corporate Crime Reporter 40, October 8, 2007
Louisiana is the most corrupt state in the nation...
...California (23)(2.07),....
Pakistan jets pound 'rebel bases'
| |
The army faces well-armed, well-trained militants in Waziristan
I wish I gave a crap today. About anything.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Finished reading
"Legacy of Ashes
The History of the CIA"
By Tim Weiner © 2007
Tim Weiner is a New York Times reporter who has written on American intelligence for twenty years. He was awarded a Pulitzer price for this work on national security programs. He has traveled to Afghanistan and other nations to investigate CIA covert operations first hand. This is his third book.
The History of the CIA"
By Tim Weiner © 2007
Tim Weiner is a New York Times reporter who has written on American intelligence for twenty years. He was awarded a Pulitzer price for this work on national security programs. He has traveled to Afghanistan and other nations to investigate CIA covert operations first hand. This is his third book.
On page 411 in the book is an interesting passage on William Casey. {Casey was the OSS chief in London during WWII. He was a Wall Street operator who made his money selling tax-shelter strategies. He was Reagan’s campaign manager.}
He was the director of the CIA at the time.
December 15, (1986) Casey had a seizure in his 7th floor office. He was wheeled out on a stretcher before anyone grasped what had happened. At Georgetown University Hospital, his doctors determined that he had an undiagnosed, central nervous system lymphoma-a malignant spider’s web spreading in his brain, a rare disease, difficult to detect. It often led to inexplicably bizarre behavior in the twelve to fifteen months before it was discovered.
{ So Reagan sleeps through briefings and the director of CIA has some weird cancer in his brain. Iran-Contra anyone? }
There’s a passage on page 510 that left me with my mouth hanging open:
The clandestine service began to abandon the techniques of the past - political warfare, propaganda, and covert action - because it lacked the skills to conduct them. The agency remained a place where few people spoke Arabic or Persian, Korean or Chinese. It still denied employment to patriotic Arab Americans on security grounds if they still had relatives living in the Middle East as most did.
Huh? Who’s security does this protect? The security of Americans? The relatives still living in the old country? So I guess deaing with liars, cheats, thieves and drug dealers has proven to be a more efficient way to gather intelligence. Yeah, tell that to all the families of the foreign CIA recruits that got killed upon discovery. Mmmmmm hmmmm, OKaybee.
On page 512 a now familiar lament from anyone with three brain cells left:
At he end of Dwight Eisenhower’s years a president, a few days after he lamented the legacy of intelligence failures he would pass on to his successors, he gave his farewell address to the nation and famously warned" "We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence whether sought or unsought by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplace power exists and will persist." Little more than a half century later the surge of secret spending on national security after 9/11 had created a booming intelligence-industrial complex.
Corporate clones of the CIA started sprouting all over the suburbs of Washington and beyond. Patriotism for profit became a $50 billion-a-year business by some estimates-a sum about the size of the intelligence budget itself. This phenomenon traced back fifteen years. After the cold war the agency began contracting out thousands of jobs to fill the perceived void created by the budget cuts that began in 1992. A CIA officer could file his retirement papers, turn in his blue identification badge, go to work for a much better salary at a military contractor such as Lockheed Martin or Booz Allen Hamilton, then return to the CIA the next day wearing a green badge. After September 11 the outsourcing went out of control. Green-badge bosses started openly recruiting in the CIA’s cafeteria.
…Lockheed Martin posted help wanted ads for "counterterrorism analysts" to interrogate suspected terrorists at Guantánamo prison.
So this book mentions some local hotshot names of people who are in hot water, and then mentions Blackwater USA. This company wants to set up a training camp a few miles from Tecate, Mexico in a tiny little place called Potrero. I was listening to the only local progressive talk radio show in San Diego this morning and a listener called in to say that she was at the protest yesterday in Potrero. She said that she felt like the Blackwater goons were trying to intimidate the Blackwater protesters. They were filming and one of these goons was pointing his finger at the protesters and making it look like a gun. I wasn’t there because I figured that something like that would happen. I've tangled with right-wing idealogues before. They're so stupid and brainwashed that reasoning with them is a waste of time, but they're kind of like cornered badgers, you don't want to fuck with them, they're nasty little shits.
Three hundred against Blackwater, and fifteen for Blackwater at the protest:
Blackwater foes begin fight with their feet
The right-wing brainwashed morons who commented on the Fishwrap article just crack me up. I wonder if any of them have ever looked up the word 'liberal' in a dictionary.
The right-wing brainwashed morons who commented on the Fishwrap article just crack me up. I wonder if any of them have ever looked up the word 'liberal' in a dictionary.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
My biggest pet peeve
The one nobody wants to talk about, deal with, pull their stupid heads out of their butts on, etc.
Overpopulation or sometimes they call it population momentum
Obviously I am not a Cornucopian
Wow, I got to here and then decided to go see what Growth is Madness had been up to lately.
Nosing around looking for information on what I consider the most important issue of my life and our time, I found this clip from a meeting last month.
It's fascinating. Let's face it, human rights don't have a chance unless population issues are addressed in a humane and productive way.
Overpopulation or sometimes they call it population momentum
Obviously I am not a Cornucopian
Wow, I got to here and then decided to go see what Growth is Madness had been up to lately.
Nosing around looking for information on what I consider the most important issue of my life and our time, I found this clip from a meeting last month.
It's fascinating. Let's face it, human rights don't have a chance unless population issues are addressed in a humane and productive way.
The Real News interviews Gore Vidal
If you're tired of being treated like an idiot by the mainstream media, this is the interview to watch. Some of the things I heard him say weren't fun to listen to, but it made me feel better to hear him say them.
Ok, now I'm off to go explore more stories on The Real News network site.
Ok, now I'm off to go explore more stories on The Real News network site.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
Chris Matthews on Jon Stewart
And this unrelated story caught my eye this morning:
The Point of Net Neutrality
Saturday, September 29, 2007; Page A17
The Point of Net Neutrality
Saturday, September 29, 2007; Page A17
Thursday, October 04, 2007
"Capitalism and Freedom" Unmasked
"Capitalism and Freedom" Unmasked
10/04/07 "ICH" -- -
Iraq above all other nations today is a ghoulish testimony to the myth of free market magic, but it's even worse than that. It proves Friedmanomics a crime against humanity and the man who led it a Nobel prize-winning fraud whose legacy is failure. His real time record is so horrific, it's unrevealed in the mainstream to suppress it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18505.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18505.htm
Today I spoke with a woman from Vietnam. She said her family of ten tried to escape from Vietnam eight times because her father hated the communists. I asked if she thought that the communists there were controlled by the Chinese communists, and she said "No, they different." When she said she had 8 siblings I asked her if I looked a little green. I didn't go off on my population control tirade, but I couldn't help wondering why so few governments consider it a priority to help women control the size of their broods. She certainly didn't seem like she wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps on that one. I love San Diego because I get to meet all kinds of neat people here. People who can share stories from all over the world.
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