There's something about becoming an Obama Supporter than just brings out unbridled passion in some people, and this woman was no exception. She erupted into a fit of joy during an Obama Supporter rally at the California State Democratic Convention, and after explaining that she was a registered Republican who switched to the Democratic Party to vote for and volunteer for Barack Obama.
Showing posts with label california. Show all posts
Showing posts with label california. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2008
An Excited Ex-Republican Barack Obama Supporter
There's something about becoming an Obama Supporter than just brings out unbridled passion in some people, and this woman was no exception. She erupted into a fit of joy during an Obama Supporter rally at the California State Democratic Convention, and after explaining that she was a registered Republican who switched to the Democratic Party to vote for and volunteer for Barack Obama.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Congressman Jerry McNerney On Iraq, Presidential Race
At the California State Democratic Convention, Congressman Jerry McNerney took a small bit of time to talk with me about the Iraq War and the Presidential Race. He's an uncommitted Superdelegate and as such I tried to get him to explain who he was leaning to and what his criteria were for selection, but he didn't answer that, preferring to focus instead on his reelection campaign.
Kamela Harris is Giving A Good Speech
Ok, so she's not Ted Kennedy, but District Attorney Kamela Harris is giving a good speech on behalf of Barack Obama. It's well-received after a kind of rocky start. But now she's found her voice.
Migden v. Leno For Endorsements at California Democratic Convention
As I write this and as you sleep, a game came to an end at 11 PM and it's 11:58 PM now.
That game was the hunt for 300 California Democratic delegate signatures on the part of State Senator Carol Migden and termed-out California Assemblyman Mark Leno, and their supporters at the California State Democratic Convention.
As I left the San Jose Convention Center to get home and then get some sleep for tommorrow's fireworks with the visit of former President Clinton and Senator Ted Kennedy, the Leno and Migden teams were racing from room to room, and even from hotel to hotel in search of delegates and signatures.
Basically, Leno -- in trying to oust the incumbent Migden -- has mounted a charge to gain 300 signatures to block the endorsement of Leno by California Treasurer Phil Angelidies. But the Migden forces anticipated this, and had embarked on their own effort to get 300 delegates to sign a petition to thwart the Leno petition, thus assuring that their endorsements remain intact.
Get it?
This is the rough and tumble of Democratic politics in California. It's dirty and at times ugly and slimy. It has other wise good people telling massive lies -- not Leno or Migden -- about who's backing them on fliers passed out at the convention. It has people milling about late at night on a Saturday, but making a fun time of it, with dance parties and cocktail hours.
Some of us -- me -- who had to drive back to Oakland, missed this late night fun stuff. But I'll get an update soon, and be there for what may be a major floor fight if the endorsements are successfully eliminate via signature.
Stay tuned.
That game was the hunt for 300 California Democratic delegate signatures on the part of State Senator Carol Migden and termed-out California Assemblyman Mark Leno, and their supporters at the California State Democratic Convention.
As I left the San Jose Convention Center to get home and then get some sleep for tommorrow's fireworks with the visit of former President Clinton and Senator Ted Kennedy, the Leno and Migden teams were racing from room to room, and even from hotel to hotel in search of delegates and signatures.
Basically, Leno -- in trying to oust the incumbent Migden -- has mounted a charge to gain 300 signatures to block the endorsement of Leno by California Treasurer Phil Angelidies. But the Migden forces anticipated this, and had embarked on their own effort to get 300 delegates to sign a petition to thwart the Leno petition, thus assuring that their endorsements remain intact.
Get it?
This is the rough and tumble of Democratic politics in California. It's dirty and at times ugly and slimy. It has other wise good people telling massive lies -- not Leno or Migden -- about who's backing them on fliers passed out at the convention. It has people milling about late at night on a Saturday, but making a fun time of it, with dance parties and cocktail hours.
Some of us -- me -- who had to drive back to Oakland, missed this late night fun stuff. But I'll get an update soon, and be there for what may be a major floor fight if the endorsements are successfully eliminate via signature.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger puckers up to Kim Klein
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger puckers up to congratulate Kim Klein, the winner of the Fitness International Competition at The Arnold Classic. The Arnold Classic is an annual bodybuilding event the Governor established well before he became Governor of California.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Emailed Letter To Reverend Jesse Jackson On Barack Obama
Greetings Rev. Jackson,
I've grown up in Chicago -- first at 7427 Wentworth and then 7908 Kimbark -- and now live in Oakland, CA.
I have long been an admirers of yours, but I'm confused and dismayed by your column in the SunTimes.
Here:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/jackson/668053,CST-EDT-JESSE27.article
Why do you continue to make statements that publications like The Huffington Post use against Senator Barack Obama?
Also, you know Barack's the first African American cadidate who can win. He's ahead in Iowa in many polls and since many polls are rigged has a bigger advantage than you've seen. Thus your column, though I doubt it has much impact, seems timed to hurt him. Why? Why are you trying to wreck our first real chance to -- by having an African American candidate as President -- end racism as we know it?
Why do you work to deny young African Americans the chance to see someone who looks like them in the position of Commander in Chief? What's the deal? Why do you seem to want to stop the rise of a person uniquely positioned to bring America together?
Barack's a lot like me, and I'm Black. He was born one year earlier than I and on the same day. He's an inspiration to me regarding what I can achieve in my field of life. I want him to win, just as I wanted you to win in 1984.
Please stop what you're doing and join us. Please don't be what some call a "crabbarrel" dweller -- pulling someone else down just because you don't want to see them excel.
Why not help Barack, openly and without asking for a favor in return. Just help. We do need you.
I believe we will win because there are too many people like myself who are working to WILL a Win.
Join us. Join us, please.
With respect....
--
Zennie Abraham, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
http://www.sbs-world.com
Sports Business Simulations
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Southern California Fires Blaze Again - Fires Return to Malibu, Burning 35 Homes
It's not hard to wonder if this is the work of arson.
MALIBU, Calif. — A fast-moving wildfire pushed by Santa Ana winds raced through the canyons and mountains of this wealthy enclave for the second time in little more than a month Saturday, destroying more than 30 homes and forcing as many as 14,000 residents to flee.
The fire erupted shortly before 3:30 a.m. PST after the long-predicted Santa Anas finally returned, and by late morning it had grown to 2,200 acres, or about 3.5 square miles, but winds began to die down.
"Waking up at 4 in the morning with the smell of smoke in your nose and the wind beating at the windows is something that we learn to live with here, but it always comes as something of a shock," said Mayor Jeff Jennings.
Twenty-three helicopters and airplanes, including a retardant-dropping DC-10 jumbo jet, attacked from the air while 1,700 firefighters battled flames on the ground. One firefighter suffered a minor eye injury.
"It's great to be able to say that we have no loss of lives," Jennings said. "We're sorry about the one injury that's been suffered, but it's certainly not as bad as it could have been."
Helicopters lowered hoses into pools and the nearby Pacific to refill their tanks for water-dropping runs, and SuperScooper amphibious airplanes skimmed the ocean to reload.
Hundreds of firefighters and equipment from throughout the state had been positioned in Southern California for most of the week because of the predicted winds, which had been expected to blow most of the week but didn't arrive until late Friday.
Officials remained wary despite the decrease in wind speeds.
The mayor urged residents to "listen to your radios, go outside and see which way the wind is blowing. Stay alert. Stay vigilant."
An estimated 35 homes were destroyed, and 10,000 to 14,000 people evacuated, said Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman.
The fire broke out along a dirt road off a paved highway, and there did not appear to be power lines in the area, Freeman said. Investigators were trying to determine the cause, he said.
Another fire broke out Saturday morning in San Diego County near the town of Ramona and was 40 percent contained after burning 50 acres, said Roxanne Provanik, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Power lines blown down by fierce winds caused last month's 4,565-acre Canyon Fire in Malibu that destroyed six homes, two businesses and a church. That blaze was part of siege of more than 15 Santa Ana-stoked wildfires that destroyed more than 2,000 homes, killed 14 people and blackened a total of 809 square miles between Los Angeles County and the U.S.-Mexico border.
Santa Anas, triggered by high pressure over the Great Basin, blow into Southern California from the north and northeast, racing down through the canyons and passes of the region's east-west mountain ranges and out to sea, pushing back the normal flow of moist ocean air.
Malibu, with homes tucked into deep and narrow canyons along 27 miles of coast on the southern foot of the Santa Monica Mountains, is prone to Santa Ana-driven wildfires. Among them was a 1993 blaze that destroyed 388 structures, including 268 homes, and killed three people.
Saturday's fire burned to the west of the portions of Malibu that burned in October.
Neighbors alerted one another, while authorities drove through Corral Canyon, a neighborhood of about 350 homes, telling people to leave.
Meredith Lobel-Angel, 51, and her husband, Frank Angel, 54, said they had 15 minutes to leave their split-level home and managed to take little other than some clothes and their laptops.
"I ran out on the deck and I just saw a little fire and smoke up the canyon on the ridge (about a mile away)," Frank Angel said. "By the time we evacuated it was already over the ridge. It spread faster than I've ever seen it."
Carol Stoddard, 48, was told by firefighters that her home was probably gone. The 3,500-square-foot, seven-level home was worth $2 million.
Stoddard, a freelance videographer and photographer, captured some of the fire's destruction as trees beside her home and her collection of 12 uninsured cars burned.
"I stayed there until I couldn't breathe and the embers were flying everywhere," she said. "It was dark and I was standing around my house. I couldn't see. I couldn't grab enough stuff that was of importance like my passport."
As a precaution, officials at Pepperdine University told its students to move to a campus shelter, although the school remained largely empty because of the holiday weekend.
"Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday I was told the weather conditions was Santa Ana winds and we all know what that means," said university spokesman Jerry Derloshon.
Stoddard was philosophical about the probability that her house was gone and said she was determined to stay in Malibu no matter what the conditions.
"I'll maybe live in a tepee," she said.
___
Associated Press writer Noaki Schwartz in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
MALIBU, Calif. — A fast-moving wildfire pushed by Santa Ana winds raced through the canyons and mountains of this wealthy enclave for the second time in little more than a month Saturday, destroying more than 30 homes and forcing as many as 14,000 residents to flee.
The fire erupted shortly before 3:30 a.m. PST after the long-predicted Santa Anas finally returned, and by late morning it had grown to 2,200 acres, or about 3.5 square miles, but winds began to die down.
"Waking up at 4 in the morning with the smell of smoke in your nose and the wind beating at the windows is something that we learn to live with here, but it always comes as something of a shock," said Mayor Jeff Jennings.
Twenty-three helicopters and airplanes, including a retardant-dropping DC-10 jumbo jet, attacked from the air while 1,700 firefighters battled flames on the ground. One firefighter suffered a minor eye injury.
"It's great to be able to say that we have no loss of lives," Jennings said. "We're sorry about the one injury that's been suffered, but it's certainly not as bad as it could have been."
Helicopters lowered hoses into pools and the nearby Pacific to refill their tanks for water-dropping runs, and SuperScooper amphibious airplanes skimmed the ocean to reload.
Hundreds of firefighters and equipment from throughout the state had been positioned in Southern California for most of the week because of the predicted winds, which had been expected to blow most of the week but didn't arrive until late Friday.
Officials remained wary despite the decrease in wind speeds.
The mayor urged residents to "listen to your radios, go outside and see which way the wind is blowing. Stay alert. Stay vigilant."
An estimated 35 homes were destroyed, and 10,000 to 14,000 people evacuated, said Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman.
The fire broke out along a dirt road off a paved highway, and there did not appear to be power lines in the area, Freeman said. Investigators were trying to determine the cause, he said.
Another fire broke out Saturday morning in San Diego County near the town of Ramona and was 40 percent contained after burning 50 acres, said Roxanne Provanik, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Power lines blown down by fierce winds caused last month's 4,565-acre Canyon Fire in Malibu that destroyed six homes, two businesses and a church. That blaze was part of siege of more than 15 Santa Ana-stoked wildfires that destroyed more than 2,000 homes, killed 14 people and blackened a total of 809 square miles between Los Angeles County and the U.S.-Mexico border.
Santa Anas, triggered by high pressure over the Great Basin, blow into Southern California from the north and northeast, racing down through the canyons and passes of the region's east-west mountain ranges and out to sea, pushing back the normal flow of moist ocean air.
Malibu, with homes tucked into deep and narrow canyons along 27 miles of coast on the southern foot of the Santa Monica Mountains, is prone to Santa Ana-driven wildfires. Among them was a 1993 blaze that destroyed 388 structures, including 268 homes, and killed three people.
Saturday's fire burned to the west of the portions of Malibu that burned in October.
Neighbors alerted one another, while authorities drove through Corral Canyon, a neighborhood of about 350 homes, telling people to leave.
Meredith Lobel-Angel, 51, and her husband, Frank Angel, 54, said they had 15 minutes to leave their split-level home and managed to take little other than some clothes and their laptops.
"I ran out on the deck and I just saw a little fire and smoke up the canyon on the ridge (about a mile away)," Frank Angel said. "By the time we evacuated it was already over the ridge. It spread faster than I've ever seen it."
Carol Stoddard, 48, was told by firefighters that her home was probably gone. The 3,500-square-foot, seven-level home was worth $2 million.
Stoddard, a freelance videographer and photographer, captured some of the fire's destruction as trees beside her home and her collection of 12 uninsured cars burned.
"I stayed there until I couldn't breathe and the embers were flying everywhere," she said. "It was dark and I was standing around my house. I couldn't see. I couldn't grab enough stuff that was of importance like my passport."
As a precaution, officials at Pepperdine University told its students to move to a campus shelter, although the school remained largely empty because of the holiday weekend.
"Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday I was told the weather conditions was Santa Ana winds and we all know what that means," said university spokesman Jerry Derloshon.
Stoddard was philosophical about the probability that her house was gone and said she was determined to stay in Malibu no matter what the conditions.
"I'll maybe live in a tepee," she said.
___
Associated Press writer Noaki Schwartz in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Angry Man In A Box In San Francisco
This is a slice of a few seconds of life. I was walking along toward the Web 2.0 Expo conference earlier this year, when this voice from the box was basically scaring people. So I got my camcorder and went back to film him in action
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Raiders Daute Culpepper Misses Wide Open Wide Receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins (15) At End OF Vikings Game
You know, I've always believed that teams have their quarterback's just throw up the ball and hope someone comes down with it on their side at the end of a tight game. But I think it's become habit and so much so that quarterbacks miss wide open receivers on the way to the end zone.
The Oakland Raiders Daute Culpepper missed a wide open Wide Receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins (15) while dropping back to throw the hail mary pass.
I just watched a replay of the final play and the obvious was in full view: #15 was 10 yards in front of the next closest Vikings defender. He makes a catch; Raiders win.
But Dante never saw him.
Just another small reason the Raiders have two wins this year.
The Oakland Raiders Daute Culpepper missed a wide open Wide Receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins (15) while dropping back to throw the hail mary pass.
I just watched a replay of the final play and the obvious was in full view: #15 was 10 yards in front of the next closest Vikings defender. He makes a catch; Raiders win.
But Dante never saw him.
Just another small reason the Raiders have two wins this year.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Jack Cafferty Reads My (Zennie Abraham's) Response To His Question On CNN's The Situation Room
On today's CNN Situation Room, Jack Cafferty asked why Black's economic mobility was declining over past years. I wrote in this answer:
Hi Jack,
Even though I'm Black, I'm going to resist the temptation to fall right into the question. First, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that economic mobility for ALL Americans has declined sharply since 1980. Thus, it's logical that Blacks would be part of that statistical whole. We have a HUGE problem which stems from America's lack of desire to support manufacturing industry and allowing it, and now service industry firms, to move offshore and not subsidizing American firms to pay a living wage and compete internationally.
Zennie Abraham, Oakland, CA
Well, to my surprise, Jack read the entire email -- just as you see it -- on the air! It was nice to hear my message get out in the open!
Friday, November 09, 2007
Ron Paul Questions Ben Bernanke On Fed Policy
Texas Congressman and Presidential Candidate Ron Paul is really giving great questions to Ben Bernanke on Federal Reserve Policy, particularly dealing with exchange rates. Watch for yourself.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Pier 39 Fleet Week 2007 San Francisco Party - Video
I'll get back to politics, but here's some fun. My good friend Beth Schnitzer invited me to Pier 39s Fleet Week Party held October 5th 2007 on the roof of the parking lot at Pier 39 in San Francisco. It's a killer event that drew over 600 people and provided a great backdrop for products and events from various sponsors from Bauer's Limousines -- http://www.bauerslimousines.com -- to Sheri's Berries. There's great food and music and people, like Movie Critic Jan Wahl. This is the first movie in a series.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
San Diego Hills Fire - Is President Bush "Disaster Challenged?"
According to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino and the AP:
"The last thing California needs right now is a trip from the president to take away assets." Later, she said Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed during a phone call that Thursday was the best day for Bush to come.
Geez. First, the famous 9-11 delay, then the failed Katrina Response, and now the San Diego Hills Fire . It seems we have a President who's disaster challenged. In events like this, a proactive president would send in the troups.
What's that you say? They're in Iraq?
Oh.
One more reason to end the war.
San Diego County Fire - First-Hand Blogger Accounts
Having went into the Oakland Hills Fire area to help my friend and her parents move out of that area, I can only immagine what San Diego and Malibu dwellers are going through. Here's the first-hand accounts of bloggers on the scene:
Spinnerdude
Ryanstask
Howlingpoint (gave me the idea for this post)
A Life In The Day
Grrrrrrl
Hey Freak
Tenth Muse
Nate Ritter
(also on Twitter with up-to-the-minute info)
Spinnerdude
Ryanstask
Howlingpoint (gave me the idea for this post)
A Life In The Day
Grrrrrrl
Hey Freak
Tenth Muse
Nate Ritter
(also on Twitter with up-to-the-minute info)
Monday, October 22, 2007
San Diego County Fire Disaster - AP and SF Gate
Fire capt: 'A lot of people are going to lose their homes today'
By ALLISON HOFFMAN and GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writers
Monday, October 22, 2007
(10-22) 11:29 PDT SAN DIEGO, (AP) --
Nearly 250,000 people were forced to flee their homes in San Diego County Monday as about a dozen blazes pushed by hurricane-force winds burned throughout Southern California.
The fires have burned about 100,000 acres in San Diego County, said county Supervisor Ron Roberts. "This is a major emergency," he said.
"We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them," said San Diego Fire Captain Lisa Blake. "A lot of people are going to lose their homes today."
About a dozen blazes erupted over the weekend, churned up by the strong Santa Ana winds and made worse because of drought-parched land from the high desert to the Pacific Ocean. Things got worse Monday, when several new fires sprouted and other fires merged, adding to the 40,000 acres — or 62 square miles — that burned over the weekend in seven counties, including Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego.
In northern San Diego County, hundreds of patients were evacuated Monday from a hospital and nursing homes in the path of the so-called Witch Creek fire. Pomerado Hospital and neighboring nursing homes in Poway, a San Diego suburb, were evacuating patients in ambulances and school buses, said sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Knauss.
All San Diego Police Department officers and off duty detectives were ordered to return to work to help with evacuations and other fire-related emergencies.
In many cases, crews were slowed fighting fires because they were too busy rescuing residents who refused to leave, fire officials said.
"They didn't evacuate at all, or delayed until it was too late," said Bill Metcalf, chief of the North County Fire Protection District. "And those folks who are making those decisions are actually stripping fire resources."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in seven counties.
"Its a tragic time for California. The devastating fires have killed so far one person and injured four firefighters," the governor said at a press conference in Malibu, where a church, homes and historic castle were destroyed.
One person died in a fire near San Diego, which burned more than 14,000 acres — or about 22 square miles — about 70 miles southeast of San Diego, just north of the Mexican border town of Tecate, California Department of Forestry spokesman Matt Streck said.
More than a dozen people have been hospitalized with burns and smoke inhalation, including four fighters — three were in critical condition — at the UC San Diego Medical Center Regional Burn Center, officials said. Some of the injured were hikers, and others may be illegal immigrants.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered in several communities in the San Bernardino mountains, where 1,500 homes were threatened. Two fires were burning about 400 acres west of Lake Arrowhead and in the Green Valley area.
Firefighters said they were unable to send air power to the mountains because of the velocity of the winds.
A wildfire in Orange County that grew to 8,800 acres was believed to be caused by arson, Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman Lynnette Round said. It was 30 percent contained. A 1,049-inmate jail was being evacuated because of heavy smoke, said sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino. Inmates were being bused from the James A. Musick Facility in Irvine.
Twenty-five structures in the suburbs around Santa Clarita were destroyed, Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Massey said. That blaze, called the Buckweed Fire, had burned about 25,000 acres.
About 120 people spent the night on cots in the gymnasium of Saugus High School, according to principal Bill Bolde.
Michele Beard fled her Hasley Canyon home with her husband, mother-in-law and three older children.
"It just lit up the whole mountainside fiery red," said Beard, 48. "I had never seen anything like that so close before."
In San Diego, where seven fires were burning, the Witch Creek Fire, which has been burning since Sunday, jumped Interstate 15 into the densely populated Rancho Bernardo neighborhood as authorities ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to leave their homes. It merged with a smaller fire that broke out near the San Diego Wild Animal Park and moved toward the wealthy suburb of Rancho Santa Fe. By late morning, more than 30,000 acres had burned. Authorities said an untold number of homes had also burned.
Qualcomm Stadium, home to the NFL Chargers, was added to a growing list of evacuation centers.
San Diego County spokeswoman Lesley Kirk said fire crews were stretched thin and were anxiously awaiting reinforcements from other parts of the state.
"The winds are up, it's very, very dangerous conditions," Kirk said. "Fires are popping up all over the place."
Flames also forced the evacuation of the community of Ramona, which has a population of about 36,000.
Several structures were burned on the edge of town and sheriff's deputies called residents to alert them the fire was approaching the city, said San Diego sheriff's Lt. Phil Brust.
The fires were affecting border security operations, said Col. David Baldwin, director of operations for the California National Guard.
Guardsmen assigned to the border were forced to evacuate one of their barracks and troops were aiding evacuations, Baldwin said.
"The border is still secure, but agents are evacuating the threatened areas and the Guard is supporting that operation," Baldwin said.
Baldwin said four California National Guard UH-60 helicopters were fighting the fire and the state had requested help from the New Mexico National Guard in the form of two heavy-lift helicopters. Marines from Camp Pendleton also may be called in, he said.
In Malibu, about 700 firefighters worked to protect hundreds of homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills. About 1,500 people were evacuated and the blaze destroyed a church and several homes, one of them the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress with turrets and arched windows.
The castle belonged to Lilly Lawrence, the daughter of a former Iranian oil minister. She said she was able to gather a few things before the fire engulfed her home, including some jewelry and memorabilia that included Elvis Presley's Army fatigues.
In all, five homes and two commercial buildings had been confirmed lost throughout the Malibu area, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said. Nine more homes were damaged, he said.
The fire is expected to burn for another two to three days, he said. Until the blaze is extinguished, "there will literally be thousands of homes that will be threatened at one time or another," he said.
___
By ALLISON HOFFMAN and GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writers
Monday, October 22, 2007
(10-22) 11:29 PDT SAN DIEGO, (AP) --
Nearly 250,000 people were forced to flee their homes in San Diego County Monday as about a dozen blazes pushed by hurricane-force winds burned throughout Southern California.
The fires have burned about 100,000 acres in San Diego County, said county Supervisor Ron Roberts. "This is a major emergency," he said.
"We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them," said San Diego Fire Captain Lisa Blake. "A lot of people are going to lose their homes today."
About a dozen blazes erupted over the weekend, churned up by the strong Santa Ana winds and made worse because of drought-parched land from the high desert to the Pacific Ocean. Things got worse Monday, when several new fires sprouted and other fires merged, adding to the 40,000 acres — or 62 square miles — that burned over the weekend in seven counties, including Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego.
In northern San Diego County, hundreds of patients were evacuated Monday from a hospital and nursing homes in the path of the so-called Witch Creek fire. Pomerado Hospital and neighboring nursing homes in Poway, a San Diego suburb, were evacuating patients in ambulances and school buses, said sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Knauss.
All San Diego Police Department officers and off duty detectives were ordered to return to work to help with evacuations and other fire-related emergencies.
In many cases, crews were slowed fighting fires because they were too busy rescuing residents who refused to leave, fire officials said.
"They didn't evacuate at all, or delayed until it was too late," said Bill Metcalf, chief of the North County Fire Protection District. "And those folks who are making those decisions are actually stripping fire resources."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in seven counties.
"Its a tragic time for California. The devastating fires have killed so far one person and injured four firefighters," the governor said at a press conference in Malibu, where a church, homes and historic castle were destroyed.
One person died in a fire near San Diego, which burned more than 14,000 acres — or about 22 square miles — about 70 miles southeast of San Diego, just north of the Mexican border town of Tecate, California Department of Forestry spokesman Matt Streck said.
More than a dozen people have been hospitalized with burns and smoke inhalation, including four fighters — three were in critical condition — at the UC San Diego Medical Center Regional Burn Center, officials said. Some of the injured were hikers, and others may be illegal immigrants.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered in several communities in the San Bernardino mountains, where 1,500 homes were threatened. Two fires were burning about 400 acres west of Lake Arrowhead and in the Green Valley area.
Firefighters said they were unable to send air power to the mountains because of the velocity of the winds.
A wildfire in Orange County that grew to 8,800 acres was believed to be caused by arson, Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman Lynnette Round said. It was 30 percent contained. A 1,049-inmate jail was being evacuated because of heavy smoke, said sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino. Inmates were being bused from the James A. Musick Facility in Irvine.
Twenty-five structures in the suburbs around Santa Clarita were destroyed, Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Massey said. That blaze, called the Buckweed Fire, had burned about 25,000 acres.
About 120 people spent the night on cots in the gymnasium of Saugus High School, according to principal Bill Bolde.
Michele Beard fled her Hasley Canyon home with her husband, mother-in-law and three older children.
"It just lit up the whole mountainside fiery red," said Beard, 48. "I had never seen anything like that so close before."
In San Diego, where seven fires were burning, the Witch Creek Fire, which has been burning since Sunday, jumped Interstate 15 into the densely populated Rancho Bernardo neighborhood as authorities ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to leave their homes. It merged with a smaller fire that broke out near the San Diego Wild Animal Park and moved toward the wealthy suburb of Rancho Santa Fe. By late morning, more than 30,000 acres had burned. Authorities said an untold number of homes had also burned.
Qualcomm Stadium, home to the NFL Chargers, was added to a growing list of evacuation centers.
San Diego County spokeswoman Lesley Kirk said fire crews were stretched thin and were anxiously awaiting reinforcements from other parts of the state.
"The winds are up, it's very, very dangerous conditions," Kirk said. "Fires are popping up all over the place."
Flames also forced the evacuation of the community of Ramona, which has a population of about 36,000.
Several structures were burned on the edge of town and sheriff's deputies called residents to alert them the fire was approaching the city, said San Diego sheriff's Lt. Phil Brust.
The fires were affecting border security operations, said Col. David Baldwin, director of operations for the California National Guard.
Guardsmen assigned to the border were forced to evacuate one of their barracks and troops were aiding evacuations, Baldwin said.
"The border is still secure, but agents are evacuating the threatened areas and the Guard is supporting that operation," Baldwin said.
Baldwin said four California National Guard UH-60 helicopters were fighting the fire and the state had requested help from the New Mexico National Guard in the form of two heavy-lift helicopters. Marines from Camp Pendleton also may be called in, he said.
In Malibu, about 700 firefighters worked to protect hundreds of homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills. About 1,500 people were evacuated and the blaze destroyed a church and several homes, one of them the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress with turrets and arched windows.
The castle belonged to Lilly Lawrence, the daughter of a former Iranian oil minister. She said she was able to gather a few things before the fire engulfed her home, including some jewelry and memorabilia that included Elvis Presley's Army fatigues.
In all, five homes and two commercial buildings had been confirmed lost throughout the Malibu area, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said. Nine more homes were damaged, he said.
The fire is expected to burn for another two to three days, he said. Until the blaze is extinguished, "there will literally be thousands of homes that will be threatened at one time or another," he said.
___
Monday, October 15, 2007
Barack Obama - The Journal Of Blacks In Higher Education Endorses Obama For President
The Journal Of Blacks In Higher Education Endorses Obama For President and in so doing Theodore Cross, representing The Journal, wrote an article that calls into question Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's genuine commitment to African Americans.
If you read it, it's damning of Clinton, for example..
In her campaign to lock up black support, there are no qualms about playing the race card. Senator Clinton scored with black voters when she declared in a June debate at Howard University that the country would be more worried about HIV/AIDS if the disease were disproportionately affecting whites instead of blacks. The powerful political impact of her statement was not diminished by the circumstance that her facts were incorrect. The annual federal budget for HIV research is $3 billion. This is more than the nation’s entire appropriation for research on either heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or breast cancer. But Clinton’s assertion that racism drives white-controlled government decisions on the allocations of disease research stoked anti-white anger and won her acclaim among black voters.
And if that's not enough, there's this....
Probably no one at the Howard University event, black or white, was aware of the fact that in August 2006 Hillary Clinton was the only one of 20 senators of the Republican-controlled Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee to vote to gut a plan that would have redirected more AIDS funds to heavily black communities in the South. Her vote prompted the National Black Chamber of Commerce to publish full-page newspaper advertisements denouncing Clinton as being “two-faced” on the issue.
And Cross points to Senator Obama's more clearly defined set of urban policies:
Here in more detail are the Obama proposals as outlined in his campaign position paper:
• Increased funding for the Community Development Block Grant program which provides housing, job training, and other services to impoverished urban areas.
• A $1 billion, five-year expansion in job and career training programs for low-income Americans.
• The creation of a series of “Promise Neighborhoods” across America patterned after the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City. Low-income families in these promise neighborhoods will be offered parent counseling, childcare, job training, healthcare, financial advice, afterschool programs, technology training and other services to help them escape the cycle of poverty.
• An expansion of the Head Start program for preschool children in high-poverty areas.
• An increase in the maximum Pell Grant award for low-income college students.
• Expansion of the Nurse-Family Partnership where nurses visit low-income expectant mothers at home to ensure that they receive proper prenatal care.
• An increase in the earned income tax credit which will allow low-income working families to keep more of the money they earn.
• A proposal to increase funding for the Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program so that low-income workers can get to their jobs at a reduced cost and the children of these workers can receive free public transportation to childcare facilities.
• The establishment of an affordable housing trust fund that will produce 14,000 new units of affordable housing for low-income families each year.
• Increased access to capital for blacks and other minorities through Small Business Administration programs.
• Job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling, and employment opportunities for people who have been incarcerated. Since blacks are five times as likely as whites to have been in prison, these programs will disproportionately benefit African Americans.
• To further raise the minimum wage rate and the child tax credit.
Makes one wonder why Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums endorsed Clinton over Obama! Oh, I forgot, Clinton made a promise to Dellums! Excuse me!
Geez!
I could go on, but you should read what Cross has put together. It's a doozy!
If you read it, it's damning of Clinton, for example..
In her campaign to lock up black support, there are no qualms about playing the race card. Senator Clinton scored with black voters when she declared in a June debate at Howard University that the country would be more worried about HIV/AIDS if the disease were disproportionately affecting whites instead of blacks. The powerful political impact of her statement was not diminished by the circumstance that her facts were incorrect. The annual federal budget for HIV research is $3 billion. This is more than the nation’s entire appropriation for research on either heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or breast cancer. But Clinton’s assertion that racism drives white-controlled government decisions on the allocations of disease research stoked anti-white anger and won her acclaim among black voters.
And if that's not enough, there's this....
Probably no one at the Howard University event, black or white, was aware of the fact that in August 2006 Hillary Clinton was the only one of 20 senators of the Republican-controlled Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee to vote to gut a plan that would have redirected more AIDS funds to heavily black communities in the South. Her vote prompted the National Black Chamber of Commerce to publish full-page newspaper advertisements denouncing Clinton as being “two-faced” on the issue.
And Cross points to Senator Obama's more clearly defined set of urban policies:
Here in more detail are the Obama proposals as outlined in his campaign position paper:
• Increased funding for the Community Development Block Grant program which provides housing, job training, and other services to impoverished urban areas.
• A $1 billion, five-year expansion in job and career training programs for low-income Americans.
• The creation of a series of “Promise Neighborhoods” across America patterned after the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City. Low-income families in these promise neighborhoods will be offered parent counseling, childcare, job training, healthcare, financial advice, afterschool programs, technology training and other services to help them escape the cycle of poverty.
• An expansion of the Head Start program for preschool children in high-poverty areas.
• An increase in the maximum Pell Grant award for low-income college students.
• Expansion of the Nurse-Family Partnership where nurses visit low-income expectant mothers at home to ensure that they receive proper prenatal care.
• An increase in the earned income tax credit which will allow low-income working families to keep more of the money they earn.
• A proposal to increase funding for the Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program so that low-income workers can get to their jobs at a reduced cost and the children of these workers can receive free public transportation to childcare facilities.
• The establishment of an affordable housing trust fund that will produce 14,000 new units of affordable housing for low-income families each year.
• Increased access to capital for blacks and other minorities through Small Business Administration programs.
• Job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling, and employment opportunities for people who have been incarcerated. Since blacks are five times as likely as whites to have been in prison, these programs will disproportionately benefit African Americans.
• To further raise the minimum wage rate and the child tax credit.
Makes one wonder why Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums endorsed Clinton over Obama! Oh, I forgot, Clinton made a promise to Dellums! Excuse me!
Geez!
I could go on, but you should read what Cross has put together. It's a doozy!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Ron Dellums Endorses Sen. Clinton - After The Mayor Gets A Bone From Her
Mayor Ron Dellums made the massive error of backing Senator Hillary Clinton in the Presidential race, a sure sign that Barack Obama will win the nomination.
Of course, this didn't come as just a simple endorsement -- it came as yet another Clinton deal. In this case, Hillary placed Mayor Ron Dellums in some role in her campaign.
How many times she's done this in some form makes one dizzy. But what's really wild is that Dellums would back someone who's flipped-flopped on so many issues and supported the Iraq War that it's not funny.
Plus, Dellums apparently can't bring himself to back a young Black Senator named Barack Obama. It's funny with some older African Americans in Oakland. They're so afraid of anyone Black who can be in charge that they'd back someone White. I'm serious about this, and would not write it if it were not true.
The real mental slaves are those who say to me -- who are Black -- that Barack can't win because he's Black. I tell each person that they're afraid of Black success. They're not comfortable. They're also some of the same people who gave me problems when I worked to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland.
Former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb said it best to me in 1999: "Oakland is a crab-barrel city. You (speaking to me). You're young. Black. Smart. You're a threat."
I guess the same could be said for Barack Obama, which makes me fight harder all the more for him. Dellums will wind up on the wrong end of this race, because we're going to win.
But the message Dellums is sending is one I find terrible. It says the endorsement Oakland's African American leaders can be bought and that's a terrible sign. I say to anyone young and Black, pay this no mind, and continue to back Barack Obama.
Dellums Endorses Clinton - After The Mayor Gets A Bone From Her
Mayor Ron Dellums made the massive error of backing Senator Hillary Clinton in the Presidential race, a sure sign that Barack Obama will win the nomination.
Of course, this didn't come as just a simple endorsement -- it came as yet another Clinton deal. In this case, Hillary placed Mayor Ron Dellums in some role in her campaign.
How many times she's done this in some form makes one dizzy. But what's really wild is that Dellums would back someone who's flipped-flopped on so many issues and supported the Iraq War that it's not funny.
Plus, Dellums apparently can't bring himself to back a young Black Senator named Barack Obama. It's funny with some older African Americans in Oakland. They're so afraid of anyone Black who can be in charge that they'd back someone White. I'm serious about this, and would not write it if it were not true.
The real mental slaves are those who say to me -- who are Black -- that Barack can't win because he's Black. I tell each person that they're afraid of Black success. They're not comfortable. They're also some of the same people who gave me problems when I worked to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland.
Former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb said it best to me in 1999: "Oakland is a crab-barrel city. You (speaking to me). You're young. Black. Smart. You're a threat."
I guess the same could be said for Barack Obama, which makes me fight harder all the more for him. Dellums will wind up on the wrong end of this race, because we're going to win.
But the message Dellums is sending is one I find terrible. It says the endorsement Oakland's African American leaders can be bought and that's a terrible sign. I say to anyone young and Black, pay this no mind, and continue to back Barack Obama.
Of course, this didn't come as just a simple endorsement -- it came as yet another Clinton deal. In this case, Hillary placed Mayor Ron Dellums in some role in her campaign.
How many times she's done this in some form makes one dizzy. But what's really wild is that Dellums would back someone who's flipped-flopped on so many issues and supported the Iraq War that it's not funny.
Plus, Dellums apparently can't bring himself to back a young Black Senator named Barack Obama. It's funny with some older African Americans in Oakland. They're so afraid of anyone Black who can be in charge that they'd back someone White. I'm serious about this, and would not write it if it were not true.
The real mental slaves are those who say to me -- who are Black -- that Barack can't win because he's Black. I tell each person that they're afraid of Black success. They're not comfortable. They're also some of the same people who gave me problems when I worked to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland.
Former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb said it best to me in 1999: "Oakland is a crab-barrel city. You (speaking to me). You're young. Black. Smart. You're a threat."
I guess the same could be said for Barack Obama, which makes me fight harder all the more for him. Dellums will wind up on the wrong end of this race, because we're going to win.
But the message Dellums is sending is one I find terrible. It says the endorsement Oakland's African American leaders can be bought and that's a terrible sign. I say to anyone young and Black, pay this no mind, and continue to back Barack Obama.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Bob Schock - California Personal Injury Lawyer Wins $3M Case
This video is based on the lawsuit that Bob won and is discussed below and here.
Kids Get $3M in Mom's Death
Montereyherald.com
June 20, 2007
Original Montereyherald.com article: Kids Get $3M in Mom's Death
A Monterey County jury awarded almost $3 million to the children of a woman killed when a Monterey cypress toppled on her car on Highway 1 north of Moss Landing on New Year's Day last year.
'There was a message with this,' said Bob Schock, an attorney representing two of Jacine Calderon Sarmiento's children. 'After the verdict, the jurors said they hoped the state of California would do something about the trees along the highways.'
Sarmiento, 45, was driving along Highway 1 during a raging storm on Jan. 1, 2006, with her 5-year-old daughter when the tree fell on her vehicle. Sarmiento was killed and her daughter, Athena, suffered minor injuries.
At the time, emergency crews reported that two other cypress trees from the grove along the highway fell while they were trying to extricate the victims.
The jury deliberated for about five hours Monday, capping a weeklong wrongful-death trial against the state Department of Transportation, before announcing its verdict.
The jury ruled that Athena should receive about $932,000 in economic damages and another $1 million in noneconomic damages. Jacine Sarmiento's other two children, teenagers who live in Altoona, Pa., were each awarded almost $526,000 in noneconomic damages.
The cypress grove is adjacent to the Highway 1 intersection with Struve Road. Schock said an inspector had checked the trees prior to the accident, after a eucalyptus had fallen, and had determined the area was safe.
Representatives from Caltrans said the agency 'respectfully disagrees' with the judgment.
'This was a tragic but freak accident, with no negligence,' said Colin Jones, public information manager for the Caltrans regional office in San Luis Obispo.
While the tree was old -- about 90 years old -- it was not in bad health. Rather, the ground was saturated and the winds were gusty on the day of the accident, said Caltrans officials.
Susana Cruz, a spokeswoman for Caltrans, said crews inspected the trees in the grove after the accident and removed some branches.
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