Grumpy Old Nasho Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Mayor of LA remains tight-lipped, she cut funding for Fire Department funding to spend on homeless. Now there's thousands more homeless.
Jerry_Atrick Posted January 10 Posted January 10 (edited) In this case, she was quite visionary in making sure there was more money to handle the increase in homelessness 😉 I haven't watched that clip as Sky Australia is not exactly an impartial news source, and it has been shown that they use clever editing can take things completely out of context before.. But it does highlight a real challenge to politicians or more accurately, administering public services; where is the balance against the immediate needs? Could a fire like this have been predicted and what probability, against the need of remediating a bigg issue in the US (and getting bigger in Aus) - homelessness. And did she had to tackle it with resources that are in real terms dwindling. They only have limited resources, and they have to ptioritise things. Fires, especially like this, historically don't happen.. new data may adjust priorities. Also, what other factors are in play. You can have a million firefighters, but it will be next to useless if, as had happened, they ran out of water. There is some discsussion about a water redirection project from Nth CA to south CA, whiuch was rejected, but, again, why? Have to look behind the headlines and agenda pushing. It may be she did make bad decisions, or ideologically driven decisionsm ignoring striking a proper balance. But I am not relying on what sky pushes out, as I can point to many things they suypport that, when you look beyind ideology, are advasntageous to their owners and advertisers, but disadvantageous to most of the population. Edited January 10 by Jerry_Atrick 1 2
old man emu Posted January 10 Posted January 10 56 minutes ago, red750 said: Anthony Hopkins home, before and after. I heard that Paris Hilton's place went up in flames also. We should not make light of the losses of these rich people. Wealth is no salve for the loss your life's memorabilia no matter how much wealth you have or have not. 1 1 1
red750 Posted January 10 Author Posted January 10 Here's a list (not conclusive) of celebrities who have lost their homea. Mandy Moore, Anna Faris, Rainn Wilson, Paris Hilton, Bozoma Saint John, Billy Crystal, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, Cary Elwes, James Woods, Diane Warren, Cameron Mathison, Ricki Lake, Jhené Aiko and record producer Lou Adler are among the luminaries who have confirmed that they have lost their homes. TMZ has reported that the homes of Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Eugene Levy, John Goodman and Anthony Hopkins have also burned down.
red750 Posted January 10 Author Posted January 10 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14264179/A-listers-left-California-wildfires-Destroyed-homes-Adam-Brody-Anna-Faris-James-Woods.html
red750 Posted January 10 Author Posted January 10 https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/mel-gibson-s-house-burned-down-in-la-wildfires-while-he-was-on-joe-rogan-s-podcast/ar-BB1rdtZ0?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=8d6e8f9941664a8be0d9adb940143ed3&ei=11
onetrack Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Sorry, I don't have any sympathy for the "stars" and "celebrities" that are losing, or have lost, their mega-million dollar homes. 1. They are all vastly overpaid for what they do. Let them find a real job that means they have to work 70hrs a week for $10 an hr - as so many working class Americans have to do. 2. They would likely have to be advised which ONE of their mansions burnt down - because most of them have mansions in multiple countries, and multiple mansions in a number of States. 3. They would ALL be fully insured, and are not going to suffer huge financial losses, and have to start all over again from scratch. The people I DO feel great sympathy for, are the poor buggers in Vanuatu, who have bugger all at the best of times, but who managed to scrounge enough building materials, to put a roof over their head - then, the last earthquake reduced that "mansion" they built to rubble - and they have NO insurance, NO Govt assistance, and NO financial reserves - so they have to start again from scratch, to put a just a basic roof over their head again. THESE are the people who deserve our sympathy and support, not overpaid actors and "stars" who have ALL their petty 1st world pathetic problems, taking up reams of print and webpages every day. 2 2
Jerry_Atrick Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Not that I get any satisfaction from it, but there are tragedies all over the world all the time where the people need help and there is little, if any coverage or news time given to them. I feel sorry for them and anyone who loses irreplacable memories or posessions.. A teacher of mine had his house burnt down, and when he returned, that was the loss that hurt him, all the other stuff,, he said was replaceable. Nor do I take any pleasure from hearing from the deaths, and of course extend condolences.. but I also lament the many others were it not for celebrity or in a big city in the US, would unlikely be more than a passing reference in the news. The other thing is that these people are probably the bigger contributors, on a per person basis, for personal contributions to climate change, Big houses, cars, bizjets, etc... I also live in a big house that requires copious energy just to keep warm.. And of course, I drvie to London weekly.. But I am trying to divest myself of all that crap.. I have written to the The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and local council that the listend building rules are cazy that we can't just replace single glazing with double galazing, we can just put solar on the rooves, etc.. without significant cost and time in getting planning for it... I can't wait until the place is dine up so I can live less carbon intensively. 1
pmccarthy Posted January 10 Posted January 10 A lot of people put their most precious possessions in the car, then had to abandon it to burn when they got stuck in the traffic. 2
nomadpete Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Having seen the footage of the fire, and speaking as a fire fighter, no amount of fire department funding could have done anything to stop that fire. You can't blame the mayor for the outcome. Wild fire with that high wind behind it - is unstoppable. 1 2 1
nomadpete Posted January 10 Posted January 10 As for funding the homeless.... Although the fire has caused sad loss of memorabilia, those wealthy people probably have ample wealth to rebuild their homes. They aren't likely to be sleeping rough on the streets, Unlike the homeless ones who the mayor was trying to help. The loss of life is tragic and I am in no way trivialising that. Perhaps they do not have emergency warnings on their mobile phones? 1
facthunter Posted January 10 Posted January 10 You don't expect such weather in the middle of winter. Winds like those can't be coped with if fire fighting situations. I wouldn't put all rich people in the same category as the worst examples either. Nev 2
old man emu Posted January 11 Posted January 11 3 hours ago, nomadpete said: Perhaps they do not have emergency warnings on their mobile phones? I heard via a new bulletin that they do have that system. Unfortunately there was an instance where the warning was sent to a location that was definitely not in danger, and the authorities are telling people it was a mistake and that they should not ignore that type of warning at any time. 2 1
onetrack Posted January 11 Posted January 11 The American system of fire protection is all about the "I'm right Jack" system. Notice the billionaire with his private firefighting force, raging on about the public firefighting force funding being cut back. But note also, the number of people pointing out that this same billionaire was always trying to avoid property taxes - which pay for the public firefighting force!! Then there's Trump spouting more BS and misinformation, stating that the water mains supplies were restricted by the California Govt allocating more water to protect endangered species, rather than sending all the water to fight fires. As always, Trump's ranting has no basis in fact, it's all about him gaining more political point scoring utilising a disaster for personal ego gain. He's just a BS artist of the highest order. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-10/water-supplies-ran-dry-los-angeles-when-needed-most/104803994 1 2
facthunter Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Those who Oppose paying taxes still want to be helped when things go bad They are the freeloaders. Nev 4
spacesailor Posted January 11 Posted January 11 " they are the freeloaders " . You mean all those giant corporations and the ' filthy ' rich, that pay less than a labourer pays in tax . ( the Paris Hilton's & Donald Trumps ) . spacesailor 1 2
facthunter Posted January 11 Posted January 11 EVEN General Motors space. What's the saying? "What's GOOD for GM is good for AMERICA. HMMmm. Nev 1 1 1
Grumpy Old Nasho Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Better safe than sorry. It appears not enough was done to prevent wildfires from getting close to residential suburbs. Complacency was probably their worst enemy. 2
ClintonB Posted January 11 Posted January 11 I heard on their Radio this afternoon that firefighters from Mexico are coming to help, how will that work from the 20th when dipsh!t takes over and Mexicans aren’t welcome.
ClintonB Posted January 11 Posted January 11 2 minutes ago, Grumpy Old Nasho said: Better safe than sorry. It appears not enough was done to prevent wildfires from getting close to residential suburbs. Complacency was probably their worst enemy. Same when Lahaina burnt down in Hawaii, didn’t expect it so wasn’t prepared for the worst outcome.
Grumpy Old Nasho Posted January 11 Posted January 11 I saw a report about the cops arresting a guy who had a bicycle and a blowtorch. He was held down by civilians until the cops arrived. Don't know any more about it at this stage, just waiting to see what's going on.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now