Tag Archives: California

Newsom’s solution to prevent homes from burning? Ban plants/shrubs within five feet of homes

You have to wonder how long California and the Los Angeles area will put up with the most feckless and incompetent leadership that they have ever elected.

After the California wildfires that devastated so many people, Gov. Newsom signed an executive order enacting new wildfire prevention rules.  Homeowners are now required to clear flammable materials (including mulch, bushes and plants) except for mature trees within five feet of their homes.

According to Newsweek, state officials and researchers claim that embers are responsible for 90 percent of structures destroyed by wildfire.

Clearing plants five feet around houses will stop this ferocious fire?

Given that the Santa Ana winds can blow up to 100 miles per hour, you have to wonder how not planting bushes within five feet from one’s house will actually save a structure.

I mean, I don’t believe that lawns and flower beds are what fueled the catastrophic fires to begin with. You know what did? A combination of ineptitude among many, many leaders.

First, there’s the Los Angeles Mayor, Karen Bass. Despite the National Weather Service warning of the potential for extreme fire conditions, the good mayor decided to take a taxpayer-funded trip to Ghana to attend the inauguration of their president. Once she learned of the disaster unfolding in her city, she headed back to the USA. Stone-cold silent she was as areas of Los Angeles went up in flames.

Another thing that fueled the fires? Not. Having. Water.

Santa Ynez reservoir: EMPTY at the time of fires.

Instead of being full of water, as a reservoir should be in a fire-prone area, the reservoir sat empty, leaving water supplies and hydrants dry after hours of intense firefighting. The reservoir sat empty for a year after a tear was discovered in its rubber-like protective cover. But no worries, leaders at the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power are now hiring an independent engineer to assess whether the empty reservoir contributed to the failure of its water system during the Palisades fire.

Mayor Bass nominated LADWP CEO Janisse Quiñones with an annual salary of $750,000. Janisse knew about the empty reservoir and broken hydrants months before the fires. Quiñones past employer is also linked to fire scandals. She was previously a top executive at electricity company PG&E, which went bankrupt over liability for several massive wildfires in California.

Another failure of leadership at LADWP to provide water to known fire zone areas during a wildfire event.

Failure at so many levels and to date, no accountability for any of their actions. But you, homeowner, better not plant a rosebush for grandma by her front door! No pretty flowerbeds along your front window sills!

No doubt Newsom’s executive order will ensure that the wind can only blow burning embers four and a half feet or less. You democrats never learn…

DCG

Place your bets: How long will it take to re-build the burned downed areas of California?

The California citizens affected by the fires are in for a world of hurt.

While fires continue to burn more than a week later after the Palisades fire, residents are trying to return to their residences to find the fate of their homes and possessions.

With more than 12,000 structures destroyed, AccuWeather estimates the cost of rebuilding is expected to be between $250 billion and $275 billion. No doubt rebuilding will take years, if not over a decade, due to cleanup, insurance claims processing, the amount of materials and labor required, and, of course, bureaucracy.

On January 12, Governor Newsom on Sunday issued an executive order aimed at cutting red tape for rebuilding efforts in the wake of the deadly Los Angeles County wildfires.

The order suspends regulations under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to allow people to rebuild their destroyed or damaged properties faster. Newsom’s office said the governor is also directing state agencies to find more ways to suspend permit requirements to help speed up rebuilding efforts.

Three days later, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health issued their own order prohibiting cleanup or removal of fire debris at fire damaged and burned properties located in Critical Fire Areas until a hazardous materials inspection is completed by an approved government agency.

If you thought residents were let down by the criminal mismanagment of their democrat politicians who enabled this inferno, just wait until they attempt to rebuild.

Their “California dream” is gone due to decades of incompetence and deriliction to provide even the most basic services. As residents seek even the first chance to cleanup, they are going to be met with bureaucracy. And that will happen at every step they take to obtain permits and rebuild.

Place your bets as to how long it will take for this area to recover. Or, place your bets as to how many packup and leave this mismanaged state.

DCG

Decades of democrat leadership on display in Oakland, CA

Outsted Oakland demorat mayor Sheng Thao (left).

Oakland, California has been under demorat rule for decades. As a result, crime, homelessness, and overall decay is on the rise within the city.

Mayor Sheng Thao, who started her term in January 2023, was recalled this past November by nearly 65% of the voters. She leaves behind a mess of a city in which many are now calling a “zombie apocalypse.”

Thanks to feckless leadership, Oakland now has a massive graveyard of abandoned cars and illegal dumping. Check it out:

Abandoned cars along UPRR in Oakland.

From the Daily Mail:

Oakland likened to ‘zombie apocalypse movie’ thanks to horrifying trend

“Oakland has been compared to a ‘zombie apocalypse film’ as the crime-ridden city has seen a recent up-tick in a horrifying trend where abandoned cars are left along the Union Pacific Railroad. 

A massive ‘graveyard’ of ditched vehicles, including GMC and Ford pickup trucks, cargo vans, sedans and Chevrolet Tahoes have consumed the area for years, but recently, the problem has only grown worse

The area has been plagued by illegal dumping, leading officials and angry residents to speak up about the issue, which they say depicts a set from a ‘zombie apocalypse film,’ the San Francisco Chronicle reported. 

Oakland residents are determined to make the illegal dumping ground a high priority for the struggling city. Oakland officials, who have been trying to tackle the surging issue for some time now, told the outlet they don’t have access to enough resources to fight the trend. 

What’s more is there is an issue with the location of the dumped cars, as it is technically owned by multiple parties – Union Pacific, Caltrans and Alameda County.  Union Pacific said it previously cleaned up the area in November, and plans to clear the impacted spot out again next week, the Chronicle reported. Meg Siffring, a spokesperson for Union Pacific, told the outlet the company is currently ‘working on a plan’ with the county and city to clean up the cars. 

Meanwhile, the Oakland Police Department said they have towed stranded vehicles, arrested people and installed barriers to try to fight the rising trend. 

Despite the department’s best efforts, the police union said they can’t fully clear the slew of vehicles because towing abandoned cars in the city is a job for the transportation department.

Although they came in to help, Oakland Police Sgt. Tim Dolan said progress has decreased since the transportation department took over because of training requirements and a heavy workload

‘It’s mind-boggling,’ Dolan said. ‘It’s an ongoing issue. But it’s just gotten out of control over the last few years.’ 

The city previously implemented surveillance cameras in dumping hotspots in 2022 in a bid to catch those abandoning the cars and other items in the junkyards. A total of 457 incidents were caught on camera from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, but only 59 were given citations, the outlet reported. The city was unable to issue more citations because 23 percent of the vehicles did not have license plates on them.”

Read the whole story here.

City Councilmember Kevin Jenkins is the interim mayor until voters choose a new mayor in an April special election.

As of Monday, eleven candidates have filed campaign account paperwork to run for Oakland mayor in April, including former Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D), Johnny Gatlin, Wendy Adams, Tyron Jordan (D), Peter Liu (famous for his anti-semitic comments in a mass email), Mindy Pechenuk (a Trump supporter) Fabian Robinson (his Instagram profile shows him with Gavin Newsom), Derrick Soo, Elizabeth Swaney (an American who competed for Hungary in the 2018 Winter Olympics), Loren Taylor (D), Renia Webb (who has the endorsements of the founders of Moms Demand Action) and Larry Lionel Young Jr.

Choose wisely this time, Oakland:

DCG

Momma Rottweiler & pups saved from California Park Fire

So glad this man was able to find them!

DCG

Get out of California: Newsom’s budget will defund fighting crime

We all know about the crime in California. Get ready for things to get worse as it’s no doubt going to happen. From the Daily Mail:

California’s Dem. Gov Gavin Newsom unveils new plans to defund the police in crime-ridden state after massive budget deficit

In 2022 Newsom bragged of having a $97.5 billion surplus. Fast forward two years later and the state now faces a $45 billion deficit. Great job, democrats.

From the article:

California governor Gavin Newsom‘s proposed new budget would slash funding for the police as the state struggles with a massive deficit of at least $45 billion.

Last month the Democrat unveiled his budget for the next fiscal year, admitting that ‘difficult decisions’ are needed to address the state’s deficit – including a 1.6 percent reduction in the state’s Department of Justice’s overall funding.

The proposed budget includes a $97 million cut to trial court operations, $10 million to the Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement and over $80 million to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as reported by Fox News. 

Newsom’s plan comes as major national stores and local businesses in California say they continue to face rampant theft. Videos of large-scale thefts, in which groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight, have often gone viral.

Crime data shows the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles saw a steady increase in shoplifting between 2021 and 2022. Across the state, shoplifting rates rose during the same time period but were still lower than the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, while commercial burglaries and robberies have become more prevalent in urban counties.

Meanwhile homelessness jumped 6 percent to more than 180,000 people in California last year, federal data show. And since 2013, the numbers have exploded by 53 percent with the state accounting for a third of America’s entire homeless population.

The state’s criminal justice record which saw the number of violent crimes jump by 27 percent between 2013 and 2022, and pickpocketing more than double.

Read the whole story here.

Voters in California about to learn the hard way:

DCG

Los Angeles, failed city (part 2)

Hollywood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, is another democrat-run area that is failing its citizens.

We all know that Los Angeles is a mess: Homelessness, increased crime and open-air drug use are the norms in that city. It flows into the city’s neighborhoods as well. Check out the streets of Hollywood:

The Daily Mail shared more  information about what is happening on the streets of Hollywood:

“As rampant homelessness continues to plague the streets and neighborhoods of Los Angeles, a new video sheds light on the issue as it impacts LA‘s iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The video, taken earlier this summer, shows dozens and dozens of homeless people collapsed and prostrated on the streets of Hollywood, laying on public benches, and lining the streets with makeshift tents

‘Hidden between the glitz and glamour, homelessness has cast a shadow over the streets,’ says the video’s narrator, as he walks around the neighborhood.”

Read the whole story here.

These problems in Los Angeles (which hasn’t had a republican mayor since 2001) have plagued them for years. So what have the voters done about it? Last December they elected democrat Karen Bass, the first woman to serve as mayor and the second black person to serve in that capacity.

Less than eight months later, the citizens are booing the new mayor they elected:

Maybe that’s because despite allocating a $609.7 million budget for the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative, there was a 9 percent rise in homelessness in Los Angeles County between 2022 and 2023.

Before the mayor was booed at the August meeting, she said this in June: Bass announced a lofty goal of ending street homelessness in LA by 2026.

Don’t. Hold. Your. Breath.

DCG

Oakland, California, failed city

Oakland demorat mayor Sheng Thao (left).

Earlier this month the Oakland NAACP called for a “state of emergency” over soaring crime in their city. From my post:

“Oakland NAACP leaders have called for a state of emergency over soaring crime in the area, as they blame the defund the police movement and the George Soros- backed district attorney for the rising violence.

She wrote a letter alongside Bishop Bob Jackson of the Acts Full Gospel Church to ring the alarm about the shootings, robberies and murders that have become a common occurrence in the district

The NAACP letter comes as North Oakland has seen a a 22 percent increase in robberies and 18 percent increase in violent crime this year.

Murder levels abruptly spiked from the 78 seen in 2019 to 109 in 2020 – the same years calls for defunding the police, spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement, were introduced in earnest.

Read the whole depressing (and predictable) story here.

But democrats never learn, as Oakland hasn’t had a republican mayor since the 1960s.

So this is now what they get:

Outrage in Oakland as wild video shows woman being violently dragged on the ground during armed robbery

From The Daily Mail:

“Shocking video has emerged of a woman being pistol-whipped and dragged across gravel by two thugs in Democrat-led Oakland as the city grapples with a surging crime wave.

The attack happened last week Wednesdayat 6.15 pm on International Boulevard, and left the unidentified woman with severe injuriespolice investigating in the East Bay city said.

Footage shows the woman being confronted by two men who try to grab several items from her, including her purse, before she’s violently struck with the weapon.

She is then seen falling to the ground before being pulled across the floor by her purse as both men rifle through her pockets.  The attackers are both on the run and the woman’s condition as of Tuesday is unknown.”

You can read the whole story here and watch the disturbing video at the link, if you so choose.

Under Biden’s America, democrat-run cities are absolutely failing their citizens. Just look at what’s occurring in Los Angeles, Portland, Chiraq, Philadelphia, Seattle, Baltimore, New York, etc. etc.  It may be too little, too late for democrats to realize the obvious point:

DCG

California, failed state: Swarm of masked thieves rob L.A. Nordstrom of $100k

The (UK) Telegraph reports,

Dozens of masked thieves used bear spray to take down security guards before stealing around $100,000 (£78,800) worth of goods from a department store in California.

A gang of between 30 and 50 people descended on Nordstrom, a high-end clothing store, at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Woodland Hills, near Los Angeles.

They used bear spray to incapacitate security guards before they made off with handbags and designer clothing, according to the Los Angeles Police Department….

Footage of the incident circulating on social media shows intruders wearing hoods and masks darting between aisles while staff look on.

It follows a spate of similar raids in Los Angeles and other major US cities.

Republican politicians have blamed soft-on-crime policies in Democrat-controlled areas for a rise in crime….

The same Nordstrom store was hit two years ago by a group of five masked robbers who pepper-sprayed a member of staff and made off with about $25,000 worth of goods….

Just days earlier, another flash-mob style robbery took place at a Yves Saint Laurent store in Glendale, just north of Los Angeles.

The thieves stole around $300,000 worth of goods, according to the local NBC News network.

Starbucks has already closed six of its branches in Los Angeles amid safety fears. They include two spots near Hollywood Boulevard and another near Santa Monica Boulevard.

The coffee shop chain said issues with chronic homelessness, vandalism and theft were driving factors for the closures….

Karen Bass, the Democrat mayor of Los Angeles, called the robbery “absolutely unacceptable” and vowed the perpetrators would be “held accountable”…. [Blah, blah, blah]

See also:

~E

Too little, too late: Oakland NAACP calls for state of emergency over soaring crime

Progressives never think through to the cosequences of their “brilliant” propositions. Any one with a brain could have told you that the Defund the Police movement which began in 2020 after the death of Saint George would have disasterous consequences. Proof: See here, here, here and here.

Now Oakland citizens are learning the hard way that actions have consequences. From The Daily Mail:

“Oakland NAACP leaders have called for a state of emergency over soaring crime in the area, as they blame the defund the police movement and the George Soros- backed district attorney for the rising violence.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch president Cynthia Adams called on local officials to come together with local and federal resources to tackle the mounting public safety issues in the district.

She wrote a letter alongside Bishop Bob Jackson of the Acts Full Gospel Church to ring the alarm about the shootings, robberies and murders that have become a common occurrence in the district

The NAACP letter comes as North Oakland has seen a a 22 percent increase in robberies and 18 percent increase in violent crime this year.

Murder levels abruptly spiked from the 78 seen in 2019 to 109 in 2020 – the same years calls for defunding the police, spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement, were introduced in earnest. 

Last month, Oakland cops urged residents to secure their homes – including by trimming hedges and shrubs so thieves have nowhere to hide – amid a rise in brazen burglaries while residents are inside their homes.”

Read the whole Daily Mail article here.

Soros-backed Alameda County DA Pamela Price

The Alameda County DA is Pamela Price, who was elected in January 2023. George Soros heavily funded her races through his California PAC.

Less than two months after the citizens elected Price, they’d already had regrets. Back in March prosecutors were quitting over her radical agenda. And the families of crime victims were calling for the ousting of Price following the her failed bid to slash a sentence in a triple murder case.

I suppose I can’t blame the voters for electing Price when her vision as a district attorney sounded plausible. She promised to “end gun violence,” “restore trust in our criminal justice system,” and “establish prosecutorial accountability.”

Yet if voters had done their homework, they would have seen the first red flag that was backing from George Soros. Also, several red flags on her platform such as:

  • “…support a Conviction Integrity Unity to evaluate unfair prosecutions and excessive sentencing practices with a special focus on racially-biased prosecutions.”
  • “Stop over-criminalizing our youth.”
  • “…pursing comprehensive alternatives to incarceration for those who come in contact with the criminal justice system.”

But I don’t expect the majority of democrat voters to be well informed. Between them voting (D) for decades and the intentional misinformation of the media, democrate-run cities are now facing the consequences of their actions.

As they deserve. One day, maybe, just maybe, voters will realize the cold hard truth:

DCG

Whale watchers witness baby calf birth

How amazing would it be to see something like this?

Read the full story about this whale watching adventure here.

DCG