Los Angeles burning. We’re covering it at our USC-based Neon Tommy.
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August 31st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Waiting for Woody to make some rude comment celebrating the fires, home burnings, and deaths. It is really funny you know.
I am sure the fatty GM has some stupid argument to make about environmentalists or god as well.
Reg will come back and battle with them as well.
Bring it on.
August 31st, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Neon Tommy’s site is currently down.
It’s the same thing every year. California can’t control earthquakes, but something sure could be done about reducing these fire disasters along with the related deaths of firemen. I wonder who’s to blame for throwing roadblocks in the way of prescribed burning of the underbrush…let’s see. I know! It’s those evil, greedy Wall St. executives!!
August 31st, 2009 at 7:54 pm
This is horrible…
(GMH – Celeste has slapped back at the moron on her site over this more effectively than I ever could…)
August 31st, 2009 at 7:57 pm
GMH and Woody: Tedious, both of you.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Uh Oh
Ridge backpedals on pressure to raise terror alert level
“Now, Ridge says he did not mean to suggest he was pressured to raise the threat level, and he is not accusing anyone of trying to boost Bush in the polls. “I was never pressured,” Ridge said.”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-30-tom-ridge_N.htm
September 1st, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Wildfires are scary, scary things. I remember a few years ago as we watched one of the fires burn itself into the center of San Diego county, raising the possibility of the fires burning all the way to the ocean. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people in the path of the fires. The problem is, no one really knows what that path will be.
There is now a severe tropical storm off the west coast of Baja Mexico, approaching Cabo San Lucas. If that storm proceeds north, it may reach the wildfires. The question is whether the rain the storm would bring helps more than the winds it also brings would hurt.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Hester:
You read the article. Ridge states in his book that he was pressed by Ashcroft and Rumsfeld to raise the terror threat-alert level prior to the election.
Ridge says now that he wasn’t pressured. he just did it because he was “out of the loop”, “not invited to WH meetings”, and “tendered his resignation right afer the election”.
Conclusion. The terror threat alert was raised prior to the election for political purposes.
What other conclusion can one draw based on this article?
The key paragraphs indicating Ridge’s state of mind concerning this issue:
“His most explosive accusation: that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft pressed him to raise the national threat level after Osama bin Laden released a videotape criticizing President Bush shortly before Election Day 2004. Ridge writes he rejected raising the level because bin Laden had released nearly 20 such tapes since 9/11 and the latest contained nothing suggesting an imminent threat.
Noting that Bush’s approval ratings typically went up when the threat level was raised, Ridge writes that Ashcroft and Rumsfeld pushed to elevate it during a “vigorous” discussion.
“Ashcroft strongly urged an increase in the threat level, and was supported by Rumsfeld,” he writes. “There was absolutely no support for that position within our department. None. I wondered, ‘Is this about security or politics?’ ”
Hester seems to focus on reactions from former Bush officials who labeled Sec’y Ridge’s statement as “Nonsense”.
However as we have discussed here earlier the subjective nature of the whole color-coded alert system precluded any measurable standard for the relative threat levels, nor did they serve any unguent purpose (except favorable public opinion for Bush policy).
Further actual intelligence that could serve to provide elevations of the terror threat alert came chiefly from enhanced interrogation which is proven as unreliable because it induces pavlovian responses from the victim.
Thus there was an actual investment by the Bush WH to maintain a paranoia which required a large pool of suspects who were questioned ad-nauseum until they provided the actionable intelligence deemed necessary to maintain a high alert and justify the policy of torture.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Actually Woody, it is the homeowners who live in the vulnerable areas. Some of which do happen to be very wealthy.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:29 pm
“Hester seems to focus on reactions from former Bush officials who labeled Sec’y Ridge’s statement as “Nonsense”.”
?????????
Well no actually, I did not focus on the Bush officials at all. I believe I have focused ONLY on what Tom Ridge has said in the past and the present.
September 1st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Hester:
I an attempt to stay on theme, let me just add that the nation was burned by Bush and even people like Tom Ridge felt the heat and just had to say something; something he didn’t take back or “backpedal” on.
September 1st, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Astonishing, apocalyptic images. As a Los Angeles native these fires are very disturbing and I remember as a child a trip up 101 and coming home having to pass through a big burn on both sides of the road and howling about my dog, Taffy, who was at home in North Hollywood…safe.
A friend of mine had that San Diego 03 or 04 fire lick her back door and the first one up in Morongo Valley a few years ago chased out my brother with flames stopping at their driveway. Fortunately their house was untouched. And years ago when I lived in Topanga we were forced to evacuate.I will never forget the sight of a Noahs Ark/Grapes of Wrath like parade down the canyon of everyone with their animals and pick ups full up of their valued worldy possessions.
God awful. Nearly had a nervous breakdown last year when Big Sur burned and the Nepenthe and Miller library were at risk.
How bad is the air? Hope all of you in the area are being smart and trying to stay in as much as possible and not sucking smoke.
Woody, I am sure, loves the fires as it reminds him of his childhood and the excitement of crosses burning across the lawns of the good people
September 1st, 2009 at 9:22 pm
If you want to read the sheer vileness of the person who calls himself Woody, by all means, go read a couple of his comments on Celeste’s posts over on WitnessLA (the posts themselves are, of course, very good)
September 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 am
GMH and Woody: Tedious, both of you.
GM and Woody are tedious — to be incredibly kind. GMH, OTOH, rarely fails to amuse.
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
@anna
The air in the foothills of Pasadena is not fit to be outside in — has been for the last 4 days (since Sunday). Earlier (on Friday and Saturday) there was no wind, and the smoke was going mostly straight up. This meant it was possible to get within a half-mile of the flames and have everything seem normal. If you know the area at all, people were gathered around the north rim of the Rose Bowl (the Arroyo Seco, actually) and along Foothill Blvd from Pasadena to La Crescenta, looking and taking pix and video. Especially in the evening, you could see the flames very clearly. It was eerie — knowing trained people were working hard to keep the flames from sweeping into populated areas, but basically doing nothing but watch.
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Hester, if you don’t believe the Bush administration was exceedingly political then I think you’re petitioning for wingnut status.
Just to run down a few:
The US attorney firings
The Plame affair (to be fair, the intentions may not have been nakedly political. That said, the pardoning of Libby sure was).
The Terror Alerts
Hiring under-qualified, under-age kids of Republican donors to run the Iraq reconstruction.
Appointing Brownie, a crony with no experience in disaster mngmt, head of FEMA.
Editing EPA reports to change their meaning.
Treasure Sec Paul O’Neil’s accusations about plotting the Iraq War.
That’s just what I can think of in 10 minutes.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Libby was not pardoned.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
His sentence was commuted. We must all thank Woodrow for the uninformative correction.
September 4th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
There’s a big difference.