• LA Fires

    From Avon@21:1/101 to All on Thursday, January 09, 2025 18:14:23
    Folks, sending sympathies, kind thoughts and best wishes to anyone impacted by the terrible fires happening now in LA. I hope if you (or anyone else you know in the area) are impacted you and your family are safe and sound.

    Just terrible stuff ... I'm watching some of the coverage on YouTube via local media with choppers and cameras and it's heart breaking stuff :(

    Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to AVON on Thursday, January 09, 2025 09:01:00
    Just terrible stuff ... I'm watching some of the coverage on YouTube via
    ocal
    media with choppers and cameras and it's heart breaking stuff :(

    Saw something yesterday that indicated the Palisades fire (the one getting
    the most coverage) may have started as a fire in someone's backyard. I am picturing a BBQ or something getting out of hand and how awful I would feel
    if it was my backyard. :(


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  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to Avon on Thursday, January 09, 2025 18:35:02
    Folks, sending sympathies, kind thoughts and best wishes to anyone impacted by the terrible fires happening now in LA. I hope if you (or anyone else you know in the area) are impacted you and your family are safe and sound.

    My Lord - one of the worst events I've ever witnessed. I know the area, a bit - as a tourist anyway - and can't imagine how CA has let this fire issue become such a HUGE one.

    For now, I'm praying for all involved - for tomorrow, I'm worried about more insurance companies leaving and the repercussions for those who AREN'T filthy rich - this is insane!



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to paulie420 on Thursday, January 09, 2025 21:34:49
    paulie420 wrote to Avon <=-

    Folks, sending sympathies, kind thoughts and best wishes to anyone impacted by the terrible fires happening now in LA. I hope if you (or anyone else you know in the area) are impacted you and your family are safe and sound.

    My Lord - one of the worst events I've ever witnessed. I know the area,
    a bit - as a tourist anyway - and can't imagine how CA has let this
    fire issue become such a HUGE one.

    How this has come to pass is very obvious... I would tell you (and
    I'm sure you actually already know), but... we aren't supposed to talk politics in here... :-)



    ... A politican will double-cross that bridge when he comes to it.
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  • From Dundarach@21:1/193 to All on Friday, January 10, 2025 16:47:21
    Just to echo what Avon has said, my thoughts go out to everyone, stay safe and look after one another.

    The world's in a right mess at the moment however, just remember most people are nice, kind and want peace.

    The fire are terrible, you have our love and prayers.

    Take care, Dundarach.

    ... Honk if you love peace and quiet!

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  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to Gamgee on Friday, January 10, 2025 17:45:01
    My Lord - one of the worst events I've ever witnessed. I know the are a bit - as a tourist anyway - and can't imagine how CA has let this fire issue become such a HUGE one.

    How this has come to pass is very obvious... I would tell you (and
    I'm sure you actually already know), but... we aren't supposed to talk politics in here... :-)

    I can list the reasons too, Gamgee. We agree about one thing, anyway... :P



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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to PAULIE420 on Friday, January 10, 2025 09:51:00
    My Lord - one of the worst events I've ever witnessed. I know the area, a bit as a tourist anyway - and can't imagine how CA has let this fire issue become such a HUGE one.

    They had some warning from the weather forecasters that it would be a much worse Santa Ana event than normal, i.e. that the wind gusts would be much higher than average, and that the fire danger was abnormally high. They apparently have had very, very little rain over the past 6+ months, so the
    high winds, warmth, and low humidity were an accident waiting to happen.

    Not sure what they could have done with that information, but the risk was predicted.

    I have heard reports from not so trusted sources that there were areas
    where there was no water in the hydrant network. :(

    For now, I'm praying for all involved - for tomorrow, I'm worried about more insurance companies leaving and the repercussions for those who AREN'T filthy rich - this is insane!

    Apparently, even some of the rich folks whose houses are gone are alredy running into insurance problems. Can't imagine what it will be like for
    those who are of lesser means.


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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Dumas Walker on Sunday, January 12, 2025 09:57:16
    Dumas Walker wrote to PAULIE420 <=-

    I have heard reports from not so trusted sources that there were areas where there was no water in the hydrant network. :(

    All of our cities have crumbling infrastructure, because improvements
    need to be voted in. You're seeing water infrastructure that's close to
    a century old that has been voted down over the years by republicans and democrats. But, that's being left out by the accusers.

    And, this is an unprecedented fire. LA water district is reporting 4
    times over their normal consumption over a 15 hour period.

    For now, I'm praying for all involved - for tomorrow, I'm worried
    insurance companies leaving and the repercussions for
    those who AREN'T filthy rich - this is insane!

    One of the sports teams decided to play their game this weekend in
    Arizona due to health and safety concerns. The irony is, they're playing
    at State Farm Field.

    Apparently, even some of the rich folks whose houses are gone are
    alredy running into insurance problems. Can't imagine what it will be like for those who are of lesser means.

    That's OK, the landlords of residences still standing are already
    starting to price-gouge. We're All Fine.



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to poindexter FORTRAN on Sunday, January 12, 2025 13:48:30
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Dumas Walker <=-

    I have heard reports from not so trusted sources that there were areas where there was no water in the hydrant network. :(

    All of our cities have crumbling infrastructure, because improvements
    need to be voted in. You're seeing water infrastructure that's close to
    a century old that has been voted down over the years by republicans
    and democrats. But, that's being left out by the accusers.

    Please tell us all when the last time a Republican's vote mattered even
    the slightest bit, in L.A. or even in California anywhere.

    Who were the ones in the last few years who drastically cut the budgets
    of the local Fire Departments, and also/especially in preventive
    measures such as undergrowth removal? That's right. Bass and Newsome.

    This disaster didn't happen because of "crumbling infrastructure". The
    pipes worked fine. The cause of it was how
    budgets/equipment/preparations were gutted by Democrat policies, even in
    the face of overwhelming warnings given. It was more important to
    shelter illegal aliens and support LGBQT folks than it was to protect
    the general population from obvious and looming threats. Really, it's that simple.



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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Gamgee on Monday, January 13, 2025 05:05:52
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Dumas Walker <=-

    This disaster didn't happen because of "crumbling infrastructure". The
    pipes worked fine. The cause of it was how
    budgets/equipment/preparations were gutted by Democrat policies, even in
    the face of overwhelming warnings given. It was more important to
    shelter illegal aliens and support LGBQT folks

    This has nothing to do with illegal immigrants or LGBTQ folks.

    There is not a fire depatrment anywhere in the world that can take on a fire like those happening in the LA area. If there is a fire in your house you call the fire dept and they come and put out the fire. If they get there early enough the damage may be minimal or if the fire rages enough the damage will be bigger.

    These fires are very different.

    than it was to protect the general population from obvious and looming threats. Really, it's that simple.

    The LA fire dept is there to protect people. Fire and hurricane force winds and dry conditions don't mix very well.

    Something like that happened here about five years ago. Fires started mid summer and it was dry from lack of rain. The fires burned well into the fall before they could all be put out.

    Most (but not all) of our fires burned unpopulated areas although several structures did burn. In LA these fires are burning in heavily populated areas.

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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Al on Monday, January 13, 2025 08:07:35
    Al wrote to Gamgee <=-

    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Dumas Walker <=-

    This disaster didn't happen because of "crumbling infrastructure". The pipes worked fine. The cause of it was how
    budgets/equipment/preparations were gutted by Democrat policies, even in
    the face of overwhelming warnings given. It was more important to
    shelter illegal aliens and support LGBQT folks

    This has nothing to do with illegal immigrants or LGBTQ folks.

    Not directly, no, and I didn't say it did. If you read what I said, it
    says that budgets were diverted to those things, which could have been
    better used to support the fire department(s). It's an easy search to
    find out that fire budgets were slashed, who did that, and for what
    purpose.

    There is not a fire depatrment anywhere in the world that can take on a fire like those happening in the LA area. If there is a fire in your
    house you call the fire dept and they come and put out the fire. If
    they get there early enough the damage may be minimal or if the fire
    rages enough the damage will be bigger.

    These fires are very different.

    Agreed on all of that.

    than it was to protect the general population from obvious and looming threats. Really, it's that simple.

    The LA fire dept is there to protect people. Fire and hurricane force winds and dry conditions don't mix very well.

    True, of course. What might have made a difference is that nobody did
    any (pre-fire) preventive work, such as the critical removal of dry "underbrush" which was prevalent there. The best way to rapidly let a
    fire move along. It should have been removed, as was warned/suggested
    many times. Lazy homeowners and under-funded public safety departments
    played a big part in this. The super-high Santa Ana winds were not a surprise, either. Predicted and warned, and ignored. <SHRUG>

    Another question is why there was no water in many/most of the hydrants. "Drought" is not the answer to that, by the way. Mis-management of
    water resources (and again the pesky budget management issue) was the
    cause of that.


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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Gamgee on Monday, January 13, 2025 06:49:16
    Gamgee wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    in the face of overwhelming warnings given. It was more important to shelter illegal aliens and support LGBQT folks than it was to protect
    the general population from obvious and looming threats. Really, it's that simple.

    No, it's not that simple. It's not either/or.




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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Gamgee on Monday, January 13, 2025 07:13:22
    This has nothing to do with illegal immigrants or LGBTQ folks.

    Not directly, no, and I didn't say it did.

    I don't think talk of illegal immigrants or LGBTQ folks belongs in this conversation.

    The LA fire dept is there to protect people. Fire and hurricane force
    winds and dry conditions don't mix very well.

    True, of course. What might have made a difference is that nobody did
    any (pre-fire) preventive work, such as the critical removal of dry "underbrush" which was prevalent there.

    That underbrush is always going to be there. When you clear it it grows back.

    If there was a way to know when and where a fire will happen in advance you can plan for it, but there is no way to know in advance.

    Another question is why there was no water in many/most of the hydrants.

    There was water at most hydrants. Hydrants at some higher elevations like the Pacific Palisades ran dry because of the high usage by fire deptments.

    I don't think the infrastructure is in place for that kind of demand.

    "Drought" is not the answer to that, by the way. Mis-management of
    water resources (and again the pesky budget management issue) was the
    cause of that.

    Pesky budget issues have been around since the beggining of time and when the last human turns out the lights those problems will remain. ;)

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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to POINDEXTER FORTRAN on Monday, January 13, 2025 09:54:00
    Apparently, even some of the rich folks whose houses are gone are
    alredy running into insurance problems. Can't imagine what it will be like for those who are of lesser means.

    That's OK, the landlords of residences still standing are already
    starting to price-gouge. We're All Fine.

    Your optimism seems to be unique among folks out that way. ;)


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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to AL on Monday, January 13, 2025 10:39:00
    There is not a fire depatrment anywhere in the world that can take on a fire like those happening in the LA area.

    That is correct, they could not. Most of the criticism is being directed
    at the lack of preparation for such a catastrophe, especially when it has
    been predicted. Cutting back on, or outright preventing, brush removal
    makes your fire danger go way up.

    If you've ever built a campfire, you know that you need kendling to get the logs to burn. Forest fires work in a similar manner. The more kendling
    (dry brush and undergrowth), the easier it is to get the trees to dry out
    and start burning. Even more so when you are in a drought.

    Within the past year or so, I was reading an article about the Native
    Americans further north in the state. For years, the state would not allow them to conduct their traditional rituals when it came to clearing out (by controlled buring) the underbrush because it was *illegal* to do so.
    After a few catastrophic fires, someone who knew how fires worked finally convinced the state to allow the natives to resume their rituals in the
    forests in question.

    Guess what? No more castastrophic fires in these forests.

    Preparation would not have prevented the 100mph Santa Ana winds they are
    having this year, it would not have prevented the drought, and it would not have prevented the arsonists who may have set some of the fires.

    Preparation would have very much prevented these fires from being so destructive, especially when you *know* you are in a long-term drought.


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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Dumas Walker on Monday, January 13, 2025 08:58:58
    Preparation would have very much prevented these fires from being so destructive, especially when you *know* you are in a long-term drought.

    Prevention and preparation are always good but these fires are in built up areas, more or less in the city. I'm not sure there is much underbrush there or what activities are done to clear it or how much of a difference that would make.

    This reminds me of a time in my youth when I was in the Yukon somewhere around Yellowknife. All I had to do to start a fire was gather a few handfulls of needles that were laying on the ground all about and that was enough to get the fire started. At that time of year those needles lay on the ground everywhere. Thankfully heat and drought are not issues in the Yukon.

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  • From Rixter@21:1/242 to paulie420 on Monday, January 13, 2025 12:44:49


    My Lord - one of the worst events I've ever witnessed. I know the area, a bit - as a tourist anyway - and can't imagine how CA has let this fire issue become such a HUGE one.

    For now, I'm praying for all involved - for tomorrow, I'm worried about more insurance companies leaving and the repercussions for those who AREN'T filthy rich - this is insane!

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    There won’t be many fire policies written for a while in the impacted areas, now that the ‘fuel’ for fires has been consumed, it will be less fire risk for a while.

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  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Al on Monday, January 13, 2025 13:22:00
    Hello Al!

    Preparation would have very much prevented these fires from
    being so destructive, especially when you *know* you are in
    a long-term drought.

    Prevention and preparation are always good but these fires
    are in built up areas, more or less in the city. I'm not
    sure there is much underbrush there or what activities are
    done to clear it or how much of a difference that would
    make.

    My understanding is that ground-zero for these fires was in the
    unhinhabited areas (nearby hills) and then moving close to buildings/communities.

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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Ogg on Monday, January 13, 2025 12:05:06
    My understanding is that ground-zero for these fires was in the
    unhinhabited areas (nearby hills) and then moving close to buildings/communities.

    I read that the fire started southeast of Palisades drive. I don't know what that means.

    The New York Times has an article about the cause..

    https://tinyurl.com/57zh4u9m

    The story contains more questions than answers.

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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Al on Monday, January 13, 2025 22:31:44
    Al wrote to Gamgee <=-

    This has nothing to do with illegal immigrants or LGBTQ folks.

    Not directly, no, and I didn't say it did.

    I don't think talk of illegal immigrants or LGBTQ folks belongs in this conversation.

    Your opinion is noted. Would you rather use the term "misplaced budget priorities by state/local government"?

    The LA fire dept is there to protect people. Fire and hurricane force
    winds and dry conditions don't mix very well.

    True, of course. What might have made a difference is that nobody did
    any (pre-fire) preventive work, such as the critical removal of dry "underbrush" which was prevalent there.

    That underbrush is always going to be there. When you clear it it grows back.

    Yup, and you clear it again. Do you mow your lawn on a regular basis? Why...? Yes! To keep it cleared!

    If there was a way to know when and where a fire will happen in advance you can plan for it, but there is no way to know in advance.

    There are ways. Weather conditions are well-predicted. The high winds
    were KNOWN to be about to happen. The dryness was KNOWN. The uncleared
    brush in residential areas was KNOWN. The short staffing/budgeting of
    the fire departments was KNOWN. Need I go on?

    "Drought" is not the answer to that, by the way. Mis-management of
    water resources (and again the pesky budget management issue) was the
    cause of that.

    Pesky budget issues have been around since the beggining of time and
    when the last human turns out the lights those problems will remain. ;)

    True enough, but when governments mis-manage available money (wrong priorities) with KNOWN dangerous conditions, bad things happen. You can deny/defend them all you want, but the facts are right there in your
    face and can't be denied. Should we talk about un-maintained electrical distribution equipment/infrastructure, which MAY have been the cause of
    these fires starting? It's certainly been known to happen in northern California, where they even have had planned power cut-offs during high
    fire danger periods, for ...... reducing the chance of crappy equipment starting wildfires... Hmmmm......



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to poindexter FORTRAN on Monday, January 13, 2025 22:31:44
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Gamgee <=-

    Gamgee wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    in the face of overwhelming warnings given. It was more important to shelter illegal aliens and support LGBQT folks than it was to protect
    the general population from obvious and looming threats. Really, it's that simple.

    No, it's not that simple. It's not either/or.

    Okay, but it's a matter of priorities. Why were the fire department
    budgets slashed under Mayor Bass? To the tune of MILLIONS of dollars.
    Where did that money actually go?



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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Gamgee on Monday, January 13, 2025 21:40:35
    Re: Re: LA Fires
    By: Gamgee to poindexter FORTRAN on Mon Jan 13 2025 10:31 pm

    Okay, but it's a matter of priorities. Why were the fire department budgets slashed under Mayor Bass? To the tune of MILLIONS of dollars. Where did tha money actually go?

    https://www.ocregister.com/2025/01/09/factcheck-was-the-lafd-budget-cut-no-it-a ctually-increased-heres-how/


    "On Thursday, a spokesperson for L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who was budget chair last year, said the city increased the fire department's overall budget by approximately $53 million in the current fiscal year. However, $76 million - intended to pay for fire department personnel - was placed in a fund separate from the fire department's regular account when the budget was adopted because contract negotiations with department employees were still taking place at the time."

    As a result, if you just compare the LAFD's budget last year to this year's, it looks like it went down $23M. But that's because when the budget was adopted last May or June, the city was still negotiating those new contracts. The $76M that was set aside in a separate account ultimately was moved once the MOUs were finalized.
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  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to Gamgee on Monday, January 13, 2025 21:37:33
    True enough, but when governments mis-manage available money (wrong priorities) with KNOWN dangerous conditions, bad things happen. You can deny/defend them all you want, but the facts are right there in your
    face and can't be denied. Should we talk about un-maintained electrical distribution equipment/infrastructure, which MAY have been the cause of these fires starting? It's certainly been known to happen in northern California, where they even have had planned power cut-offs during high fire danger periods, for ...... reducing the chance of crappy equipment starting wildfires... Hmmmm......

    I thought I hated you, Gamgee - but we're on the same page.... just a couple wierdos here...



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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Gamgee on Monday, January 13, 2025 23:55:24
    I don't think talk of illegal immigrants or LGBTQ folks belongs in this
    conversation.

    Your opinion is noted. Would you rather use the term "misplaced budget priorities by state/local government"?

    That is a political opinion. I was (trying to) discuss the fires in LA without the politics getting involved, because politics are off topic here.

    I have nothing against talking politics but we'd have to do that somewhere else like POLITICS, ALL-POLITICS, FIDONEWS or somewhere that such conversations are not off topic.

    That underbrush is always going to be there. When you clear it it grows
    back.

    Yup, and you clear it again. Do you mow your lawn on a regular basis? Why...? Yes! To keep it cleared!

    I do it to keep my yard looking good, not because it is a fire hazard.

    If there was a fire hazard I would work that too, as I am sure people in LA do as well.

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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Al on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 08:02:36
    Al wrote to Gamgee <=-

    That underbrush is always going to be there. When you clear it it grows
    back.

    Yup, and you clear it again. Do you mow your lawn on a regular basis? Why...? Yes! To keep it cleared!

    I do it to keep my yard looking good, not because it is a fire hazard.

    Ahhh, but..... if you didn't ever cut it, and it turned into a dry
    hayfield, wouldn't it then be a fire hazard?

    If there was a fire hazard I would work that too, as I am sure people
    in LA do as well.

    Well, it's quite obvious that many/most/all of them don't, as the
    underbrush that was WARNED about was NOT removed, by anybody. A
    probable significant contributor to the rapid spread of the fires. Not
    sure why you would even say that...



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to paulie420 on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 08:02:36
    paulie420 wrote to Gamgee <=-

    True enough, but when governments mis-manage available money (wrong priorities) with KNOWN dangerous conditions, bad things happen. You can deny/defend them all you want, but the facts are right there in your
    face and can't be denied. Should we talk about un-maintained electrical distribution equipment/infrastructure, which MAY have been the cause of these fires starting? It's certainly been known to happen in northern California, where they even have had planned power cut-offs during high fire danger periods, for ...... reducing the chance of crappy equipment starting wildfires... Hmmmm......

    I thought I hated you, Gamgee - but we're on the same page.... just a couple wierdos here...

    Heh, glad you don't hate me. I don't hate anybody. I'm just here
    trying to talk some sense to people that don't seem to understand some
    of the root causes of this disaster. It wasn't just an "accident", and although it may not have been completely preventable, there were *LOTS*
    of things that were not done correctly due to both ignorance and willful mis-management (by both citizens and government). Especially
    government, IMHO.



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to poindexter FORTRAN on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 08:02:36
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Gamgee <=-

    Re: Re: LA Fires
    By: Gamgee to poindexter FORTRAN on Mon Jan 13 2025 10:31 pm

    Okay, but it's a matter of priorities. Why were the fire department budgets slashed under Mayor Bass? To the tune of MILLIONS of dollars. Where did tha money actually go?

    https://www.ocregister.com/2025/01/09/factcheck-was-the-lafd-budget-cut- no-it-actually-increased-heres-how/


    "On Thursday, a spokesperson for L.A. City Councilmember Bob
    Blumenfield, who was budget chair last year, said the city increased
    the fire department's overall budget by approximately $53 million in
    the current fiscal year. However, $76 million - intended to pay for
    fire department personnel - was placed in a fund separate from the fire department's regular account when the budget was adopted because
    contract negotiations with department employees were still taking place
    at the time."

    As a result, if you just compare the LAFD's budget last year to this year's, it looks like it went down $23M. But that's because when the budget was adopted last May or June, the city was still negotiating
    those new contracts. The $76M that was set aside in a separate account ultimately was moved once the MOUs were finalized.

    Yeah..... Interesting article. However.... (as is your tendency) - you
    left out some important parts. In FACT, you quoted the first couple of paragraphs of that article. I'm wondering why you stopped after only
    that much... So I'll quote the *REST* of that SAME article, that you
    didn't want to include. Did you do that by "accident"? Here's the
    "rest of the story": (the below is *QUOTED* from the same article):

    ****************
    Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley lashed out at city leaders on
    Friday, Jan. 10, saying that budget cuts to her department hampered firefightersâÇÖ ability to respond to the deadly wildfires that have ravaged Southern California.

    How money was allocated seems to be what is now called into question. While the budget increased to support salaries, LAFD Chief went on CNN to say the city had failed her and the department with cuts to certain areas, such as civilian personnel.

    âÇ£Let me be clear. The $17 million budget cut and elimination of our civilian positions like our mechanics did and has and will continue to severely impact our ability to repair our apparatus,âÇ¥ Crowley said on CNN, adding that more than 100 fire apparatuses are out of service.

    âÇ£Having these apparatus and the proper amount of mechanics would have helped,âÇ¥ she said on CNN.

    On Friday, Crowley told a Fox 11 reporter that there were cuts to her department. âÇ£Yes, it was cut and it did impact our ability to provide service,âÇ¥ she said.

    In social media posts this week, L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia jumped in, posting:

    âÇ£Seeing City officials in the press ignore the severe impacts of these budget cuts, especially the ones covering for their poor budget decisions to cut a majority of departmentsâÇÖ budgets & even AFTER Chief Crowley told them about the impacts these cuts have had, is DISGRACEFUL. âÇ|

    âÇ£Btw the money that they keep saying is being held for LAFDâÇÖs raises are in this âÇÿseparate accountâÇÖ HASNâÇÖT even been transferred to the LAFDâÇÖs operating budget as of this date! How do we know all this? Because weâÇÖre the CityâÇÖs Accountant! We know the CityâÇÖs budget and finances.

    âÇ£We didnâÇÖt want to get into the CityâÇÖs budget and finances during these times, but to see City officials come out and ignore the Fire ChiefâÇÖs warnings/impacts of the departmentâÇÖs budget cuts made us jump in.âÇ¥

    *************

    What do you have to say about *THAT*, Poindexter Fortran?



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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Gamgee on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 06:18:30
    If there was a fire hazard I would work that too, as I am sure people
    in LA do as well.

    Well, it's quite obvious that many/most/all of them don't, as the
    underbrush that was WARNED about was NOT removed, by anybody. A
    probable significant contributor to the rapid spread of the fires. Not
    sure why you would even say that...

    What underbrush was warned about and not removed?

    I don't think the Pacific Palisades is an overgrown tangle of underbrush.

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  • From Uber-Geek@21:1/161 to Gamgee on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 09:34:38
    Since this topic has been clogging the feeds for a while, I'll give my two cents:

    It was never about lack of money or water.

    As stated by an LA firefighter offical: No system in existence would have been able to deliver enough water to supress the fires. The amount of sustained water release needed to quell a fire driven by high winds simply isn't available.

    When fires like this happen they rely on air units to deliver the majority of the water supression. With the winds in the 70MPH+ range, that was not possible during the initial stages of the fires.

    Once the winds had died down, you got an idiot out there flying his drone and it hits one of the planes, which resulted in them grounding all air operations for a time. I hope his Youtube channel gets lots of views.

    We're seeing positive suppression now that the air units are able to resume operations. Had they been able to do so in the beginning, it would have been a different story.

    The time for focusing on money and who to point a political finger at is not now. Right now everyone needs to focus on fighting the fires and helping people. Those in the policital spectrum who only point fingers should remember there are three others pointing right back to them.

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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to AL on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 08:56:00
    Preparation would have very much prevented these fires from being so destructive, especially when you *know* you are in a long-term drought.

    Prevention and preparation are always good but these fires are in built up areas, more or less in the city. I'm not sure there is much underbrush there o
    what activities are done to clear it or how much of a difference that would make.

    If you look at the fires on a map, two of them (Hurst and Eaton) are on the edge of where civilization meets the Angeles National Forest. IIRC, Eaton
    is the one that affected Altadena. When they show footage on the news, a
    lot of it shows the destruction in the suburban areas, while other footage shows the fires up in the hills above town (where the forest is).

    The Santa Ana winds fan those flames in the hills and cary the embers down
    into the populated areas.

    The fire that seems to get the most attention is Palisades, which seems to be farther away from a forested area than the others. Not sure what the
    current hypothesis is, but it is the one that was suspected to have started
    in someone's backyard and has (apparently) damaged a more affluent area (Palisades and Malibu).

    This reminds me of a time in my youth when I was in the Yukon somewhere around
    Yellowknife. All I had to do to start a fire was gather a few handfulls of needles that were laying on the ground all about and that was enough to get th
    fire started. At that time of year those needles lay on the ground everywhere.
    Thankfully heat and drought are not issues in the Yukon.

    Dry needles are good kendling, IIRC. Didn't they have a big fire around Yellowknife, or someone in the Yukon/NWT, in pretty recent times? I took
    note of it as it is an area I hope to visit someday (along with Alaska).


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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to OGG on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 09:26:00
    My understanding is that ground-zero for these fires was in the
    unhinhabited areas (nearby hills) and then moving close to buildings/communities.

    The one in Palisades is not so certain, but for the other two big ones this
    is correct.


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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to GAMGEE on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 09:30:00
    Your opinion is noted. Would you rather use the term "misplaced budget priorities by state/local government"?

    That is a good way to describe it.

    Pesky budget issues have been around since the beggining of time and when the last human turns out the lights those problems will remain. ;)

    True enough, but when governments mis-manage available money (wrong priorities) with KNOWN dangerous conditions, bad things happen. You can deny/defend them all you want, but the facts are right there in your
    face and can't be denied. Should we talk about un-maintained electrical distribution equipment/infrastructure, which MAY have been the cause of
    these fires starting? It's certainly been known to happen in northern California, where they even have had planned power cut-offs during high
    fire danger periods, for ...... reducing the chance of crappy equipment starting wildfires... Hmmmm......

    Part of that issue may be PG&E has several politicians in its back pockets
    that allow them to get away with a whole lot of things they should be held accountable for... like starting fires with poorly maintained equipment.

    I am not sure that PG&E powers the areas in question, but it is a big
    provided in California.


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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to AL on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 09:40:00
    I do it to keep my yard looking good, not because it is a fire hazard.

    This past year here it was a little of both. Kept it looking good during
    the Spring/early Summer, but then didn't want to cut it too short as it was really drying out in late Summer. Dry grass burns easy and also attracts chiggers so, when we'd get a little rain I let the yard look a little
    scraggly so there'd be some green, not-so-dry stuff growing.


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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Gamgee on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 07:56:30
    Gamgee wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    Yeah..... Interesting article. However.... (as is your tendency) -
    you left out some important parts.

    I included the URL for people to investigate.

    We've gone down the political rabbit hole here, which we all know to be
    against Avon's wishes. If you want to continue this discussion, please
    find me online elsewhere.




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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Uber-Geek on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 07:56:30
    Uber-Geek wrote to Gamgee <=-

    When fires like this happen they rely on air units to deliver the
    majority of the water supression. With the winds in the 70MPH+ range,
    that was not possible during the initial stages of the fires.

    Good point. Although Pacific Palisades is relatively urban, lots of
    fires start and flourish in areas where roads can't get you to the fire,
    which is where air support comes in.

    The time for focusing on money and who to point a political finger at
    is not now. Right now everyone needs to focus on fighting the fires and helping people. Those in the policital spectrum who only point fingers should remember there are three others pointing right back to them.

    Amen. We have 3 families in my company evacuated, one house is a
    confirmed loss, the other two unconfirmed.



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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Dumas Walker on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 08:07:54
    Dry needles are good kendling, IIRC. Didn't they have a big fire around Yellowknife, or someone in the Yukon/NWT, in pretty recent times? I took note of it as it is an area I hope to visit someday (along with Alaska).

    The last big fire I remember now was the 2016 Fort McMurray fire. It started on May 1 that year and was finaly put out around Aug 2.

    https://youtu.be/T0xE6Myk_CA

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  • From Digital Man to Avon on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 11:17:04
    Re: LA Fires
    By: Avon to All on Thu Jan 09 2025 06:14 pm

    Folks, sending sympathies, kind thoughts and best wishes to anyone impacted by the terrible fires happening now in LA. I hope if you (or anyone else you know in the area) are impacted you and your family are safe and sound.

    Thank you. All safe here for now, but still windy as hell.
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Steven Wright quote #25:
    If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
    Norco, CA WX: 61.9°F, 16.0% humidity, 7 mph N wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Al on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 13:42:08
    Al wrote to Gamgee <=-

    If there was a fire hazard I would work that too, as I am sure people
    in LA do as well.

    Well, it's quite obvious that many/most/all of them don't, as the
    underbrush that was WARNED about was NOT removed, by anybody. A
    probable significant contributor to the rapid spread of the fires. Not
    sure why you would even say that...

    What underbrush was warned about and not removed?

    It's a pretty easy search term... Here's one example:

    https://nypost.com/2025/01/09/us-news/bass-newsom-ignored-past-warnings-about-la-wildfires/

    There are plenty more. Let me know if I can help you understand things better.



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to poindexter FORTRAN on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 13:42:08
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Gamgee <=-

    Yeah..... Interesting article. However.... (as is your tendency) -
    you left out some important parts.

    I included the URL for people to investigate.

    Yes, and you *QUOTED* the portion of it that supports your agenda, but
    not the rest of it.

    We've gone down the political rabbit hole here, which we all know to
    be
    against Avon's wishes. If you want to continue this discussion, please
    find me online elsewhere.

    I don't think this has been political, just trying to keep the FACTS
    straight. But OK.



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Dumas Walker on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 13:42:08
    Dumas Walker wrote to GAMGEE <=-

    True enough, but when governments mis-manage available money (wrong priorities) with KNOWN dangerous conditions, bad things happen. You can deny/defend them all you want, but the facts are right there in your
    face and can't be denied. Should we talk about un-maintained electrical distribution equipment/infrastructure, which MAY have been the cause of these fires starting? It's certainly been known to happen in northern California, where they even have had planned power cut-offs during high
    fire danger periods, for ...... reducing the chance of crappy equipment starting wildfires... Hmmmm......

    Part of that issue may be PG&E has several politicians in its back
    pockets that allow them to get away with a whole lot of things they
    should be held accountable for... like starting fires with poorly maintained equipment.

    Absolutely, and this is well-documented. It's a known thing.

    I am not sure that PG&E powers the areas in question, but it is a big provided in California.

    I don't know if it's PG&E either, but I do believe I read this morning
    that charges have already been filed against whatever utility company it
    is, regarding the probable source of these fires. As my whole point in
    these conversations has been, it all goes back to budget cuts and utter mis-management (fraud) of the available money; especially in the
    maintenance of equipment and preventive measures.



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Uber-Geek on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 13:42:08
    Uber-Geek wrote to Gamgee <=-

    Since this topic has been clogging the feeds for a while, I'll give my
    two cents:

    Clogging the feeds? It's been a busy topic of discussion, for sure, for
    what should be obvious reasons.

    It was never about lack of money or water.

    It's always about money, if you're honest about it.

    As stated by an LA firefighter offical: No system in existence would
    have been able to deliver enough water to supress the fires. The amount
    of sustained water release needed to quell a fire driven by high winds simply isn't available.

    Very likely true.

    When fires like this happen they rely on air units to deliver the
    majority of the water supression. With the winds in the 70MPH+ range,
    that was not possible during the initial stages of the fires.

    Yup.

    Once the winds had died down, you got an idiot out there flying his
    drone and it hits one of the planes, which resulted in them grounding
    all air operations for a time. I hope his Youtube channel gets lots of views.

    Grounding all flights seems like an over-reaction to one incident.

    We're seeing positive suppression now that the air units are able to resume operations. Had they been able to do so in the beginning, it
    would have been a different story.

    Maybe, and if pigs had wings, they could fly.

    The time for focusing on money and who to point a political finger at
    is not now. Right now everyone needs to focus on fighting the fires and helping people. Those in the policital spectrum who only point fingers should remember there are three others pointing right back to them.

    From what I've seen, what's being discussed are the possible/probable
    causes and contributing factors to the fires. Not political, just
    factual.



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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Gamgee on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 12:30:22
    What underbrush was warned about and not removed?

    It's a pretty easy search term... Here's one example:

    https://nypost.com/2025/01/09/us-news/bass-newsom-ignored-past-warn ings-about-a-wildfires/

    There are plenty more. Let me know if I can help you understand things better.

    Are you serious?

    The New York Post is not a place to get facts. They publish stories.

    The underbrush is not the problem. Search that.

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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Gamgee on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 12:34:50
    I don't think this has been political, just trying to keep the FACTS straight. But OK.

    You started out with "illegal immigrants" and "LGBTQ people" and then went on to "the underbrush".

    Those are just right wing political narratives.

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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Gamgee on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 12:34:32
    Re: Re: LA Fires
    By: Gamgee to Uber-Geek on Tue Jan 14 2025 01:42 pm

    From what I've seen, what's being discussed are the possible/probable causes and contributing factors to the fires. Not political, just factual.

    You accused me of supporting an agenda. That's where fact checking becomes political.
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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Al on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 16:19:04
    Al wrote to Gamgee <=-

    What underbrush was warned about and not removed?

    It's a pretty easy search term... Here's one example:

    https://nypost.com/2025/01/09/us-news/bass-newsom-ignored-past-warn ings-about-a-wildfires/

    There are plenty more. Let me know if I can help you understand things better.

    Are you serious?

    The New York Post is not a place to get facts. They publish stories.

    The underbrush is not the problem. Search that.

    Okay, I searched that *exact* wording, and found these:

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckdevore/2019/02/25/wildfires-caused-by-bad-environmental-policy-are-causing-california-forests-to-be-net-co2-emitters/

    https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/416956-california-failed-to-sufficiently-manage-its-forests/

    https://climatechangedispatch.com/why-california-doesnt-need-to-burn/

    https://cei.org/opeds_articles/clearing-the-national-forests-underbrush-freeman-simmons-op-ed-in-raleigh-n-o/

    Before you claim that I cherry-picked these articles to suit me, I will
    tell you that those were simply the first four hits to my search of "the underbrush is not the problem", as you suggested. Do that search
    yourself, and see what you see.

    I await your next response, but please try to NOT be political about it.



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Al on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 16:19:04
    Al wrote to Gamgee <=-

    I don't think this has been political, just trying to keep the FACTS straight. But OK.

    You started out with "illegal immigrants" and "LGBTQ people" and then
    went on to "the underbrush".

    Those are just right wing political narratives.

    Not sure where you're coming up with this stuff.

    Do you mean to say that California does NOT spend loads of money on
    illegal immigrants and the LGBTQ community? Or that they DO spend money
    on proper forest/land management to minimize fire dangers?

    Because if that's what you think/say, it simply.... isn't true. Again,
    I'm pointing out FACTS here, whether they are difficult for you to
    accept, or not.



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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to poindexter FORTRAN on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 16:19:04
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Gamgee <=-

    From what I've seen, what's being discussed are the possible/probable causes and contributing factors to the fires. Not political, just factual.

    You accused me of supporting an agenda. That's where fact checking
    becomes political.

    Would you say that your post of that link, and the VERY selective
    quoting, was *NOT* supporting a certain viewpoint that I was arguing
    against, with simple facts? You don't think that post of yours was
    political in any way?



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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Gamgee on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 15:06:46
    You started out with "illegal immigrants" and "LGBTQ people" and then
    went on to "the underbrush".

    Those are just right wing political narratives.

    Not sure where you're coming up with this stuff.

    You posted it.

    If you want to continue we can do it in one the areas I listed earlier or you can suggest an area we can move to.

    I won't reply further in this net for the reasons I mentioned before.

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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Al on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 20:29:10
    Al wrote to Gamgee <=-

    You started out with "illegal immigrants" and "LGBTQ people" and then
    went on to "the underbrush".

    Those are just right wing political narratives.

    Not sure where you're coming up with this stuff.

    You posted it.

    Why'd you snip out the remainder of my previous reply?

    Rhetorical question - I know the answer.

    If you want to continue we can do it in one the areas I listed earlier
    or you can suggest an area we can move to.

    I won't reply further in this net for the reasons I mentioned before.

    Yeah, I'm done with you too. You've got your mind made up, and don't
    want to hear the actual facts. <SHRUG>



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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Gamgee on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 19:57:44
    Why'd you snip out the remainder of my previous reply?

    Have you forgotten what you said? I read it and so did everyone else.

    Rhetorical question - I know the answer.

    So much rhetoric.

    If you want to continue we can do it in one the areas I listed earlier
    or you can suggest an area we can move to.

    I won't reply further in this net for the reasons I mentioned before.

    Yeah, I'm done with you too. You've got your mind made up, and don't
    want to hear the actual facts. <SHRUG>

    Suit yourself. Bye now.

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  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Al on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 05:12:28
    Re: Re: LA Fires
    By: Al to Gamgee on Mon Jan 13 2025 07:13 am

    That underbrush is always going to be there. When you clear it it grows back.

    Well, I will stop trimming my nails, since they are going to grow back anyway.


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  • From Al@21:4/106 to Arelor on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 03:43:44
    That underbrush is always going to be there. When you clear it it grows
    back.

    Well, I will stop trimming my nails, since they are going to grow back anyway.

    I'm not saying you shouldn't trim your nails just because they will grow back anyway. Trim your nails if you want/need to.

    I reject the idea that underbrush was the cause of these fires.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106)
  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to GAMGEE on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 09:23:00
    âÇ£Let me be clear. The $17 million budget cut and elimination of our civilian
    positions like our mechanics did and has and will continue to severely impact our ability to repair our apparatus,âÇ¥ Crowley said on CNN, adding that more than 100 fire apparatuses are out of service.

    âÇ£Having these apparatus and the proper amount of mechanics would have helped,âÇ¥ she said on CNN.

    Interesting indeed.


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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to POINDEXTER FORTRAN on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 09:27:00
    Yeah..... Interesting article. However.... (as is your tendency) -
    you left out some important parts.

    I included the URL for people to investigate.

    We've gone down the political rabbit hole here, which we all know to be
    against Avon's wishes. If you want to continue this discussion, please
    find me online elsewhere.


    You are both free to discuss this in FIDO POLITICS if you so desire.


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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to GAMGEE on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 09:28:00
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Gamgee <=-

    I included the URL for people to investigate.

    We've gone down the political rabbit hole here, which we all know to be
    against Avon's wishes. If you want to continue this discussion, please
    find me online elsewhere.

    You are both free to discuss this in FIDO POLITICS if you so desire.


    * SLMR 2.1a * Sheesh! You start havin' fun, and they send the lawyers!
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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to GAMGEE on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 09:30:00
    Once the winds had died down, you got an idiot out there flying his drone and it hits one of the planes, which resulted in them grounding all air operations for a time. I hope his Youtube channel gets lots of views.

    Grounding all flights seems like an over-reaction to one incident.

    Probably, unless they thought it was done on purpose.


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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to ARELOR on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 09:41:00
    That underbrush is always going to be there. When you clear it it grows back.

    Well, I will stop trimming my nails, since they are going to grow back anyway.

    <BIG GRIN> Thanks for the laugh.


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  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Digital Man on Thursday, January 16, 2025 13:26:01
    On 14 Jan 2025 at 11:17a, Digital Man pondered and said...

    Thank you. All safe here for now, but still windy as hell.

    I'm pleased to hear it... it's just terrible the folks who have lost so much so quickly :(

    Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Gamgee on Thursday, January 16, 2025 13:28:09
    On 14 Jan 2025 at 08:29p, Gamgee pondered and said...

    Al wrote to Gamgee <=-

    You started out with "illegal immigrants" and "LGBTQ people" and then
    went on to "the underbrush".

    Those are just right wing political narratives.

    Not sure where you're coming up with this stuff.

    You posted it.

    Why'd you snip out the remainder of my previous reply?

    Rhetorical question - I know the answer.

    If you want to continue we can do it in one the areas I listed earlie or you can suggest an area we can move to.

    I won't reply further in this net for the reasons I mentioned before.

    Yeah, I'm done with you too. You've got your mind made up, and don't want to hear the actual facts. <SHRUG>

    Dude, take the 'debate' and 'politics' to an othernet thanks.

    Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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  • From Bob Worm@21:1/205 to Avon on Thursday, January 16, 2025 09:22:27
    Re: Re: LA Fires
    By: Avon to Gamgee on Thu Jan 16 2025 13:28:09

    Dude, take the 'debate' and 'politics' to an othernet thanks.

    Hallelujah!

    Thanks, Avon.

    BobW
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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Dumas Walker on Thursday, January 16, 2025 07:55:39
    Dumas Walker wrote to POINDEXTER FORTRAN <=-

    You are both free to discuss this in FIDO POLITICS if you so desire.

    I'm done - can't believe I got caught up in the rhetoric here. It hits
    close to home, literally.



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  • From The Godfather@21:3/165 to Digital Man on Thursday, January 16, 2025 18:05:19
    Thank you. All safe here for now, but still windy as hell.

    Where abouts are you Digital Man? My niece(12 years old) and brother in law are in Monrovia, we haven't heard from them in some time. They had to evacuate but I'm not on facebook so not privy to the status updates as to whether they have a home left or not or have been allowed to return. So apocolyptic, I pray all within our retro community are safe and with homes intact. This has been so hard to watch. I hope everyone is able to reserve finger pointing and political conversations until all are known healthy and safe again. I can't imagine the trauma my family would be going through if that happened in our backyard.

    Hows the air? If it's that windy thats gotta be tough. I was raised in Colorado (born in Alameda CA,) and remember how bad Denver would get when the foothills would catch fire. Bad stuff.

    Glad you're alright!

    |15-|12t|04G
    |15www|08.|15theun|07dergrou|08nd|07.|08us|15:|0810023

    ... I wish life had a scroll-back buffer.

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  • From Digital Man to The Godfather on Thursday, January 16, 2025 16:44:11
    Re: Re: LA Fires
    By: The Godfather to Digital Man on Thu Jan 16 2025 06:05 pm

    Thank you. All safe here for now, but still windy as hell.

    Where abouts are you Digital Man?

    My home is in Riverside Count, about 50mi to where the Palasades fire was, about 40mi to Altadena.

    My niece(12 years old) and brother in law
    are in Monrovia, we haven't heard from them in some time. They had to evacuate but I'm not on facebook so not privy to the status updates as to whether they have a home left or not or have been allowed to return. So apocolyptic, I pray all within our retro community are safe and with homes intact.

    Indeed, I hope your family and their property all made it out unscathed!

    Hows the air? If it's that windy thats gotta be tough. I was raised in Colorado (born in Alameda CA,) and remember how bad Denver would get when the foothills would catch fire. Bad stuff.

    The smoke and ash having been blowing west, so we're most just impacted by the allergens and dust that comes with these winds. In the words of Han Solo, we're all fine here now, thank you, how are you? :-)
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Steven Wright quote #2:
    Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back.
    Norco, CA WX: 60.7°F, 30.0% humidity, 9 mph WSW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
  • From Utopian Galt@21:4/108 to The Godfather on Thursday, January 16, 2025 21:08:53
    BY: The Godfather (21:3/165)

    |11TG|09> |10and with homes intact. This has been so hard to watch. I hope everyone|07
    |11TG|09> |10is able to reserve finger pointing and political conversations until all|07
    |11TG|09> |10are known healthy and safe again. I can't imagine the trauma my family|07
    |11TG|09> |10would be going through if that happened in our backyard.|07
    I live in the state and I live 30-40 miles from what happened, the problem is without reforms no one is going to get insurance for their homes. Even people in Rancho Cucamonga who live near the mountains face the spectre of getting their policies canceled.

    When the next fire happens, we will end up having to pay for that too. The goal is to reduce the risk, prevent future damages and save some lives with better policies.


    --- WWIV 5.8.1.3688[Windows]
    * Origin: inland utopia * california * iutopia.duckdns.org:2023 (21:4/108)
  • From The Godfather@21:3/165 to Digital Man on Sunday, January 19, 2025 13:45:19
    Indeed, I hope your family and their property all made it out unscathed!

    We haven't heard from them as of late. Have the winds died down and fires out? I feel like it just dropped off the news, not to mention the frozen Arctic Canada is handing to us Today through most of the week. We should be at -20 windchill here in a few hours. Things in Indiana are otherwise typical -- a bit on the boring side with a pinch of mundane.

    |15-|12t|04G
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    ... Calling me wrong does not make you right

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  • From The Godfather@21:3/165 to Utopian Galt on Sunday, January 19, 2025 13:51:31

    I live in the state and I live 30-40 miles from what happened, the
    problem is without reforms no one is going to get insurance for their homes. Even people in Rancho Cucamonga who live near the mountains face the spectre of getting their policies canceled.

    I heard insurance was an issue. It's devastating that many lost their coverage through, I believe State Farm(?), prior to the fires. These are those moments I'd consider myself lucky to be alive, and then likely be putting pressure on people to make needed reforms. Glad you're ok.

    |15-|12t|04G
    |15www|08.|15theun|07dergrou|08nd|07.|08us|15:|0810023

    ... The person who snores the loudest will fall asleep first

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  • From Digital Man to The Godfather on Sunday, January 19, 2025 23:08:25
    Re: Re: LA Fires
    By: The Godfather to Digital Man on Sun Jan 19 2025 01:45 pm

    Indeed, I hope your family and their property all made it out unscathed!

    We haven't heard from them as of late. Have the winds died down and fires out? I feel like it just dropped off the news

    Yeah, they tend to burn themselves out too (e.g. reaching the ocean, desert or a concrete jungle). Winds died down last week and all's good though the air quality is crap right now.
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Breaking Bad quote #27:
    Other than Gomey here pees sitting down, here's what we know. - Hank Schrader Norco, CA WX: 46.5°F, 91.0% humidity, 0 mph NNE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to THE GODFATHER on Monday, January 20, 2025 09:36:00
    It's devastating that many lost their coverage
    through, I believe State Farm(?), prior to the fires.

    I have heard that but have also read they might have had reason to make coverage prohibitive or unavailable.

    Here in Kentucky, we have a lot of rivers. Here in town, there are folks
    -- "river rats" -- that want to live right on the river. They build their houses -- sometimes nice ones -- right in the flood plain. When their
    place gets damaged or worse, they often rebuild in the same spot.

    The threat of a flood every X number of years doesn't stop them from (re)building on the flood plain. What eventually stops them is when their
    home insurance rates become unaffordable or they can no longer get insurance
    at all (or, in a few cases, when the government does something to prevent it).

    My understanding is that at least some areas out in California saw
    insurance become unavailable for similar reasons... the homes were in areas where the fire danger is similarly too high to ignore.


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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Dumas Walker on Monday, January 20, 2025 09:34:31
    Dumas Walker wrote to THE GODFATHER <=-

    My understanding is that at least some areas out in California saw insurance become unavailable for similar reasons... the homes were in areas where the fire danger is similarly too high to ignore.

    I know people in California who've never experienced a fire in their
    lifetime get their coverage declined after many years for "fire danger".

    The stories of State Farm using drones to find technicalities to get out
    of policy renewal has made the news, too.



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  • From Accession@21:1/700 to poindexter FORTRAN on Monday, January 20, 2025 17:53:00
    Hey poindexter!

    On Mon, Jan 20 2025 11:34:31 -0600, you wrote ..

    I know people in California who've never experienced a fire in their
    lifetime get their coverage declined after many years for "fire danger".

    The stories of State Farm using drones to find technicalities to get out
    of policy renewal has made the news, too.

    Just so happens I have State Farm here in Wisconsin. No fire danger here, but we've been comfortable with them for quite some time now. I think I'm going to search around to see if I can find something better/cheaper, and when asked why I want to leave, I'll give them this reason, right here.

    I know insurance companies are crooked as all get out, but this seems to be a bit over-the-top blatantly obvious. :(

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
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  • From Dumas Walker@21:1/175 to POINDEXTER FORTRAN on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 08:56:00
    My understanding is that at least some areas out in California saw insurance become unavailable for similar reasons... the homes were in areas where the fire danger is similarly too high to ignore.

    I know people in California who've never experienced a fire in their
    lifetime get their coverage declined after many years for "fire danger".

    You don't have to have a fire to live in an area that has become a fire
    danger area, whether it be due to climate change, poor land management,
    poor utility management that goes unchecked, over building beyond what can
    be covered by fire protection, etc.

    The stories of State Farm using drones to find technicalities to get out
    of policy renewal has made the news, too.

    If the "technicalities" cause increased fire danger, I cannot really blame them.


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