USGS Earthquake Map

I knew it was an earthquake and it’s epicenter was far away, because had it been close, the shaking would have been extremely violent, perhaps deadly. My first instinct was to think about the possibility that the structure would collapse and what I would do to save myself from the tons of concrete that would drop onto my car.

As the ground continued to shake for about 1o seconds, I looked around at other people walking to their cars and saw no reactions. What’s wrong with these people I thought; all stupidly so unaware.

It was centered near Ocotillo, south of Palm Springs and right on the Mexican border, it was a 5.7.  Not huge and not little. No reports of major damage or injuries. This was considered an aftershock from the large 7.2 earthquake that struck in Mexicali on April 4th.

Just a warning that the planet is going to rock Los Angeles and my world really soon.

Posted: 2223PST
autone.wordpress.com

Lucy Jones of Cal-Tech on the 7.2 in Mexicali

It did cause what are now called “triggered” earthquakes all around Southern California, including a little 4.0 in Santa Monica Bay, near Malibu. But unless we rock and roll, life in this part of the world continues as normal.

I’m prepared, with emergency supplies and “Earthquake kits” by my bed and in my car trunk as well as plenty of water. It will happen here, eventually.

Posted: 1755PST
autone.wordpress.com

The Station Fire in La Cañada Flintridge has burned about 20,000 acres and is 5 percent contained and has now forced evacuations as it threatens nearly 10,000 homes. Evacuations were ordered for La Cañada Flintridge, Glendale, Altadena and Big Tujunga Canyon as at least three homes are destroyed.

On Thursday night another canyon fire began in Palos Verdes Peninsula. That fire is almost out, at 90% containment. Adding to all this misery has been a blistering heat wave. Day time temperatures have been well in the 100′s and there is little relief ahead.

La Cañada Flintridge fire (Al Seib Los Angeles Times)

Owning a home in the hills and canyons of southern California has inherent danger now a days. The rainy winters create lush growth and then the hot, dry spring and summers raise the risk level off the charts.

Here are more of my posts on L.A. fires. Firestorms Ravage Southern California: UPDATE

Fires Rage In Southern California — Again

Posted: 2125PT
autone.wordpress.com

I am linked via email to the USGS and within seconds I saw that it had a preliminary magnitude of 4.7, centered 1 mile SSE of Inglewood. First upgraded to a 5.0, then down graded back to 4.7.  That’s not a great earthquake, but sizable enough for one to consider that this is a fore-shock to a greater event.

5.0 Earthquake, Los Angeles at 20:39:36

I immediately put on my hard soled shoes, grabbed my cell phone, wallet, cash and keys — just in case.

Now I’m glued to the radio and television hearing all the reports. Looks like no major damage or injuries.

Sooner than later Los Angeles will have the “Big One”, this city and state is really not fully prepared for a major disaster. Everyone will have to be prepared and on their own for possibly three days.

One consolation, no one can blame Bush or Cheney when it does hit.

Posted: 2120PT
autone.wordpress.com

Whenever an earthquake of any magnitude strikes you never know if it is a fore-shock of a much bigger event. The first thing I did was put on my running shoes and grab my emergency earthquake kit. It’s good for 3 days of survival – call me paranoid — but I’m happier being safer than sorry.

Just been downgraded to a 4.5 — that’s nothing for So-Cal standards. Here is what the (soon to be out of business) Los Angeles Times had to say here.

Posted: 2023PT  01/08/09
autone.wordpress.com

So you would think that we are always on the ready and well prepared. Unfortunately most of the citizens in Southern Cal are blissfully unaware and haven’t a clue of what to do when a natural disaster strikes.

Having lived through two major earthquakes I learned my lesson and have two separate survival kits — one in the trunk of my car and the other right beside my bed.

But nothing prepares you for a raging wind driven fire that suddenly ignites your neighbourhood.

Television News would have you believe that the entire city of Los Angeles is ablaze — such is not the case. There are four major fires burning in Los Angeles County; Sylmar and Brea in the north west and Yorba Linda and Corona in the south east. They are about 64 miles apart and about 40 miles in each direction from where I live — but I can smell the smoke in the air and my throat feels dry.

These devastating infernos are spread by the high Santa Ana winds, which blow hot embers over large distances. When it’s all over we could have over a thousand structures destroyed!

The images playing on my television set all day are of family homes being burnt to the ground. It is hard to imagine what it must feel like to see everything you own all gone. Tomorrow we will see countless victims being gawked at and morbidly interviewed on television.

My hat goes off to those thousands of brave firefighters who literally take a last stand to save someone’s family home.

The one image I cannot forget is of a lone firefighter bracing himself on a chimney of a yet un-burnt home holding a fire hose and spraying water on a raging fire just ten feet away — all to cool the air so the home he was defending did not burn as well.

I want to thank all of these brave men and women and also extend my sorrow and prayers to every one who has been displaced by these fires or lost a home.

Here are interactive maps of the Los Angeles County fires: CBS 2 News

Posted 2020PT 11/15/08
autone.wordpress.com

It’s called the Phone Tax Proposition S — and it’s being sold to the citizens of Los Angeles as a “tax savings” proposition. The L.A. City Council and Mayor Villar(aigosa) are falsely stating it will lower the city’s existing telephone users’ utility tax from 10% to 9%. Don’t believe any of this bunk.

City council rushed this measure on to the February 5th Presidential Primary ballot because the current 10% phone tax has been declared illegal as it is in violation of Prop. 218 – the City did not get voter approval for the imposition of the tax. The city has spent over $5 million to get this onto the ballot.

It’s another case of politicians dishonesty by not disclosing the facts; A yes vote will make the (new) 9% phone tax LEGAL.

A NO VOTE ENDS THIS TAX COMPLETELY.

The tax raises $270 million yearly, about 4% of the $6.7 billion L.A. budget. Television commercials featuring Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Douglas Barry and LAPD Chief William J. Bratton, warn us the loss of the tax revenue would seriously harm the city’s ability to provide public safety. More lies and bunk.

The city needs to reduce its budget by 4% and cutback on the pork. According to Walter Moore a candidate for mayor, the city wastes over $2.2 billion of its budget — that’s 33%. That amount divided by 445,763 people who voted in the March 2005 election equals a cost of $4,949 per voter. The details are here.

The Los Angeles Times supports the tax (here). It also details how special interest groups — the city unions which just got healthy pay raises as well as wealthy developers who have been rewarded with downtown mega-projects have contributed $2.6 million for the “yes” campaign. You can read the details of these kickbacks here.

STOP THE ILLEGAL TAX

VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION S

Posted: 1900PT 01/25/07
autone.wordpress.com

The article gives a lengthy description of the allegations that Burton sexually harassed Driscoll by making unwanted advances, using suggestive language and commenting on her body.

Reiterman also goes on to say, “Burton, 75, is one of California’s most prominent political figures, having served in the state Assembly, the U. S. Congress and the state Senate, where he was president pro tem until he was termed out of office three years ago.”

Mr. Reiterman never says that John Burton was a long time elected DEMOCRAT.

I am positive if John Burton was a Republican, Reiterman would have said it at least nine times. It’s another case of the left leaning Los Angeles Times leaving out the facts when they impugn a member of the Democratic party.

I contacted Tim Reiterman to explain his obvious omission — but he has declined to reply.

I stopped buying the paper a long time ago and this is why the once venerable L.A. Times is hemorrhaging money with a severely declining circulation. It’s a good fish wrap though!

Posted: 2010PT 01/23/08
autone.wordpress.com

Don’t be fooled by the slick ads and endorsements in favor of Proposition 93 in the February 5th primary — it’s a bait and switch!

You are being conned by the career politicians who will be TERMED OUT in the November election!

In the Assembly that’s 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats and 6 Democrats and 4 Republicans in the Senate.

The most conspicuous of them all is Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez who is the chief proponent of the measure.

In 1990, Californians passed Proposition 140 which set term limits for legislators to a maximum of 14 years. Our greedy state politicians try to tell us that Prop. 93 decreases Term Limits to 12 years — NOT REALLY TRUE.

If Prop. 93 passes it will give those about to be termed out more time in office: it doubles Assembly terms from 6 years to 12 and Senate terms 50% longer from 8 years to 12 years.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has softened his past opposition to changes to California’s term-limits law, by endorsing the ballot measure that would allow many sitting lawmakers to run for office again this year rather than be forced to leave the Legislature.

This is also a crock and a payback to Nuñez, who endeared himself to Schwarzenegger by pushing a health-care overhaul that the two leaders negotiated through the Assembly last month. Schwarzenegger denies that the two had cooked up “an exchange” of support for their pet measures.

Not only is Schwarzenegger sleeping with a Democrat (Maria Shriver) but he’s also kissing the ass of Fabian Nuñez.

Everything Arnold was elected on has been cast aside. The state’s deficit is now bigger than when he was first elected. His health-care plan — free care to every Californian – ILLEGALS ALIENS INCLUDED will put us deeper in the red. Now he is pandering to the elitists in Sacramento.

VOTE NO ON PROP. 93

Posted: 0012PT 01/15/08
autone.wordpress.com

The bizarre and horrifying Christmas day story of Tatiana, the 350 pound Siberian tiger, that escaped from her cage at the San Francisco Zoo, tragically killing 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and badly mauling two brothers Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23, gets weirder and weirder.

The weirdness I’m speaking of is about the Zoo’s Director, Manuel Mollinedo, who with each news conference keeps back peddling on the facts.

I watched his first press conference on Wednesday where he said that the tiger enclosure had a wall that was 18 feet high and a 20 foot wide dry moat. Today he corrected himself saying the wall around the animal’s pen was just 12 1/2 feet high and the moat was 33 feet across.

The American Zoological Assn. recommends a height of at least 16 feet — a 14-foot wall or fence, plus a 2-foot ledge pointed into the enclosure at a 45-degree angle. The S.F Zoo’s Tiger Grotto does not even come close to these recommendations.

At the Bronx Zoo, the tigers are surrounded by a 20-foot-high chain- link fence with a 5-foot overhang that curls inward at the top. An electrified wire runs along the inside of the fence.

The Philadelphia Zoo said it has 16-foot walls topped with a 3-foot overhang. At the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk, Va., the walls are 15 to 20 feet high with a 5-foot overhang and an electrified wire. At the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Ariz., the wire fence is about 17 feet.

Mollinedo is also blaming the victims for the Tiger’s escape — alleging that they were taunting Tatiana. Maybe they did — but the tiger enclosure should have been secure enough to prevent the escape from happening.

I’m calling this the “Mollinedo Curse” as this was not the first incident with Tatiana. On Dec. 22, 2006, Tatiana reached through the bars of her cage and grabbed a keeper, Lori Komejan, biting and mauling one of the woman’s arms and causing deep lacerations. Lori is currently suing for 8 million dollars in damages.

Manuel Mollinedo was in his first year as the Director of the Los Angeles Zoo when Calle an Asian elephant trampled a keeper to death in 1996. Manuel had the elephant moved form L.A, ironically to the San Francisco Zoo.

In June of 2001 San Francisco Chronicle executive editor Phil Bronstein was having an “inside tour” of the L.A. Zoo when attacked inside the cage of a Komodo dragon. Bronstein was shoeless at the time of the attack, he told The Chronicle. He had been wearing white tennis shoes but because the dragon is fed white rats, the zookeeper suggested Bronstein remove his shoes so the dragon didn’t mistake them for its next meal. The dragon, clamped down on Bronstein’s bare foot resulting in severed tendons and a crushed big toe.

Mollinedo was hired for the $200,000 a year position as the Director of the San Francisco Zoo in 2004. Barely six weeks on the job and his past with Calle the Asian elephant caught up with him.

“It is ironic,” said Mollinedo, referring to the uproar over his decision to euthanize Calle. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would ever end up at the San Francisco Zoo and see Calle again — but here she was, … It became a quality-of-life issue.”

Animal Activists had been fighting to have Calle moved to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee days before she was euthanized.

A little over a month later, in April 2004, Maybelle, a 43-year-old female 10,000-pound African elephant died after receiving pain medication. Shortly after this second death, the remaining two elephants were transferred to the Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors should immediately conduct a thorough examination of Mr. Mollinedo’s ability to run any Zoo safely. Perhaps it is time to transfer Manuel Mollinedo back to his previous job as general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

“I had aspired to it throughout my professional career,” said Mollinedo, whose background is recreation rather than zoology or veterinary medicine.

Update: According to ABC News, High Powered Attorney Mark Geragos has been hired by the Dhaliwal brothers to represent them in anticipation of filing a lawsuit against the zoo. Here is the link to the ABC News Story: Tiger Attacked Brothers Hire Legal Pit Bull.

Updated: 1532PT 01/01/08

Posted: 2325PT 12/27/07
autone.wordpress.com