There Is No Job 3

 

There are other things to write about today.  There is nothing else to write about today.

For the second time in this brief New Year, one of our greatest cities is under attack.  Last week, it was New Orleans; now it’s Los Angeles.  Curmie isn’t going to pretend that there aren’t other issues, other crises, out there… but right now the fires around Los Angeles are the story.

Curmie has spent little time in that area—roughly 6/100 of 1% of his life—but, of course, he has numerous friends there.  As might be expected from his line of work, Curmie knows colleagues at area universities, former classmates and students, and of course folks in a totally different profession who just happen to be located in that particular urban area instead of in Pittsburgh or Atlanta or wherever.

One of those friends recently posted on Facebook that she and her partner “are safe and evacuated.  EXHAUSTED keeping up with these fires. It’s like WHACK-A-MOLE.”  [Edit: here’s part of a more recent post by a different friend: “Everyone is on edge. No one really feels safe because just when you take a breath, another fire randomly appears. We’re all in shock. We can’t let our guard down. It’s not over.”]  That is the issue here.  Not just the destruction of property, not just loss of life (although that’s obviously the worst part of the ordeal)—the exhaustion, the not knowing, the stress, and the loss.

Naturally, as has been the case with every headline-making tragedy in recent years, the Manchurian Cantaloupe has taken every opportunity to politicize the event, blaming everyone from Governor Gavin Newsom to the firefighters themselves for failing to anticipate a literally unprecedented catastrophe.  Virtually no rain in months, coupled with hurricane force winds… that’s a recipe for disaster if some idiot drops a lit cigarette or whatever (we know the fire started in a residential area, not that unraked forest we heard a lot about last time).  Curmie here antiphrastically avoids using the phrase “climate change.”

And, of course, we heard nothing about how the Republican governors of those states battered by hurricanes this fall should have been better prepared.  No, there was Trump, interfering in the relief effort and suggesting that FEMA workers were the enemy. 

Of course, our less than beloved President-elect has a somewhat less than amicable relationship with the truth.  Curmie rather suspects that if Mr. Trump were to utter an entire paragraph that was both coherent and honest, the result would be something akin to the Wicked Witch of the West being doused with water.  Here’s a rebuttal from Brian Krassenstein, who at least apparently knows more about what’s going on than either Trump or Curmie do:

After millions of views spreading lies about the Palisades firefighters lacking water because of regulations, the boring truth comes late like usual and wont be shared. Here it is: 

1 - Reservoirs and water tanks were at normal levels and completely full before the fire. 

2 - All 114 city water supply tanks were fully stocked pre-fire. 

3 - A 15-hour surge at four times normal demand reduced water pressure. 

4 - High demand at lower elevations slowed refilling tanks at higher elevations. 

5 - This unprecedented fire was fueled by 8 months of no rain and 85 MPH winds. Water is being brought in continuously. 

6 - Even if, like Trump claimed, the protection of the Delta Smelt caused over regulation by California, it's the FEDERAL Endangered Species Act that requires the protection of endangered species like the Delta Smelt and their habitats, not Gavin Newsom or California.

Here's the thing.  Perhaps, perhaps, there is a grain of truth in Trump’s allegations (insert stopped clock analogy here).  Apparently many insurance companies recently (before this situation, but recently) dropped coverage in the area because of the high risks involved.  If they could anticipate disaster, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that state officials should have been able to do so, as well.  Of course, Curmie’s own homeowner’s policy was cancelled a few years ago because… wait for it… there were apparently newly-discovered 30-year-old trees on the property.  (They also sent out an “inspector” who claimed to have found “mildew”; it was dirt.)

Irrespective of the legitimacy of the critique, however, the time for that reflection has not yet arrived.  Job 1: get people to safety.  Job 2: do what we can to protect property—homes, businesses, etc.  As of now, as the title of this piece suggests: There Is No Job 3.   

Curmie was about to say that all he can do, Gentle Reader, is to send good and healing thoughts to those whose lives and property are in danger, and thanks and admiration to the fire-fighters and others who are struggling to limit the damage.  That isn’t quite the case, though.  He can also help a little: here’s a link to make a donation to the cause.  Curmie contributed; you know Donald Trump won’t.  We can’t even get him to STFU.