Vector Control 2007
As author of ‘Vector Control,’ the question I hear most often is, “Will you ever get back with Liza?” That seems an odd sort of question and is probably the reason I don’t get you people. Apparently, you don’t always get me or “Vector,” because the other question I hear a lot [...]

TUES OCT. 23: FEMA IS HERE!
Tues | Oct 23 Welcome to hell. Yes, another day, another fire as about one million people are displaced and an area roughly the size of Rhode Island is scorched. Just as predictable as the wind fanning the flames has been the reaction of some of the nation to our [...]

Emergency agency issues fake apology for fake news conference
Paul Brennan has blogged extensively (here and here) about last week’s press conference in which FEMA employees played the roles of reporters asking questions about the agency’s handling of the California wildfires. Today, in yet another press conference, Homeland Security boss Michael Chertoff called FEMA’s fake news [...]

As Will Swaim pointed out in this post, there are some Americans out there who cracked a pious smile as they watched our state go up in flames this week. The way Will explained it, these folks figured it was divine retribution, that the “Hollywood bunch needs a good heavenly spanking.” Not only were we [...]

LAObserved has a look at the skies over the Port. Very…orange.

About an hour ago I saw 20-30 students marching loudly past the library towards the AS building. A lot of them had ANSWER LA posters and banners with pretty standard slogans: end imperialism, veterans against the war, etc. A lot of them were chanting “WALK OUT OF CLASS” or something, one of the onlookers muttered [...]

You know, I woke up today and I was worried. I saw the pictures of fires threatening or destroying homes, heard that one million people had been forced to flee their homes and that an area roughly the size of Rhode Island had been scorched. Yes, I will admit, I was concerned. And then, it [...]

Ready for more Heck
Marx says somewhere that Hegel says somewhere that all great historical events happen twice– the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. Who knew that Michael Brown was such a fan of 19th century German philosophy? Brown, whose leadership at FEMA did so much to turn Hurricane Katrina [...]

Our beaches needn’t feel lonely: now our air sucks, too…

…and will again, every fire season. Lucky Long Beach is situated at the neck of a “wind funnel.” It’s “very dramatic,” says LAT.

Mercury rising and Mega-Fires
One more note on the fires.   As Dave Wielenga points out below:  where there’s smoke, there’s particulate matter to be inhaled.  And according to a new study, there’s also likely to be rising mercury, in the air you breathe, as well as in thermometers.