Wednesday, January 08, 2025

News and Views: January 8, 2025

LA Fire Summary: Fast-moving, wind-driven fires are sweeping through the Los Angeles area, forcing mandatory evacuations for over 49,000 residents. The fires remain 0% contained.
-The Palisades Fire (caused unknown) has burned nearly 15,000 acres, while the Eaton Fire has scorched 10,600 acres. 
-AccuWeather Estimates $52 billion to $57 billion in preliminary damage and economic losses
-Gov. Gavin Newsom deployed 1,400 firefighters & declared a state of emergency.
-Nearly 300,000 residential and/or commercial customers are without power in the LA region.
-NWS: Worst fire conditions (high winds) will peak Wednesday morning. 
-Malibu residents warned about potential evacuation.
-Fires ZERO PERCENT CONTAINED

Some people have noticed that Los Angeles is on fire. And it’s true, but more importantly it’s really breaking all sorts of ceilings. And not just with fire, but also with diversity.
   Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley is used to shattering glass ceilings. She isn’t just the first LGBTQ+ person to the lead the department, but also the first woman.

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Yes, I'm about to go off on those islands some of my ancestors got the hell out of  The grooming and serial rape of thousands of English girls by men of mostly Pakistani Muslim background over several decades is the biggest peacetime crime in the history of modern Europe. It went on for many years. It is still going on. And there has been no justice for the vast majority of the victims.
     Social workers were intimidated into silence. Local police ignored, excused, and even abetted pedophile rapists across dozens of cities. Senior police and Home Office officials deliberately avoided action in the name of maintaining what they called “community relations.” Local councilors and Members of Parliament rejected pleas for help from the parents of raped children. Charities, NGOs, and Labour MPs accused those who discussed the scandal of racism and Islamophobia. The media mostly ignored or downplayed the biggest story of their lifetimes. Zealous in their incuriosity, much of Britain’s media elite remained barnacled to the bubble of Westminster politics and its self-serving priorities.
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It’s Time to End Debanking...The incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress can protect Americans from government overreach  Customers are debanked for various reasons, including suspicion of money laundering, being a terror-finance risk, or posing risks to the “safety and soundness” of the financial institution. Of course, banks sometimes have legitimate reasons for ending a customer relationship: a depositor may indeed be a fraudster or terror financier.
    But law-abiding Americans too often lose access to financial services. While the exact number of people affected is unknown, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has reportedly received more than 15,000 complaints of Americans being debanked since 2016.

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Last week Joe Biden awarded George Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States. It was for ‘his lifelong commitment to advancing more just societies and promoting human rights around the world’. Biden’s encomium followed: ‘His inspiring generosity reminds us all of our capacity and our obligation to stand up to the abuse of power and to be guardians of democracy and all people yearning to be free.’
Well, no, it does not remind us of that at all. Image 

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