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Progressive Professor: To Address Climate Change, We Must ‘Seriously Question’ Private Property Ownership

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To combat California wildfires allegedly caused by climate change, a writer at the progressive magazine The Nation is calling upon Americans to rethink the “seriously question the ideal of private homeownership.”

“Yes, climate change intensifies the fires—but the ways in which we plan and develop our cities makes them even more destructive,” writes Kian Goh, an assistant professor of urban planning at UCLA. . .

The writer says that Americans’ “aspirations of home ownership” and “belief in the importance of private property” could be “reinforcing” the conditions that result in wildfires.

“Our ideas about what success, comfort, home, and family should look like are so ingrained, it’s hard for us to see how they could be reinforcing the very conditions that put us at such grave risk,” he wrote.

Goh added that to “engage with these challenges, we need to do more than upgrade the powerlines or stage a public takeover of the utility companies.” Here comes the kicker: “We need to rethink the ideologies that govern how we plan and build our homes.” (Read more from “Progressive Professor: To Address Climate Change, We Must ‘Seriously Question’ Private Property Ownership” HERE)

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California’s Ammo Background Checks Are Blocking Legal Gun Owners from Purchase

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California’s new background check requirements for ammunition purchases appear to be stopping far more legal gun owners than prohibited purchasers, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The Bee reported Wednesday that numbers from the state’s Department of Justice show that nearly 1 in 5 attempted ammunition purchases were rejected by state authorities between July 1 and November.

California’s ammo background check law went into effect at the beginning of July. The California Department of Justice administers the program, which cost buyers an extra $1 on top of the cost of their purchase and requires store clerks to check purchaser information against two different databases. The measure was passed by a California voters in 2016 as Proposition 63. The California Department of Justice lists the requirements for ammunition purchase eligibility on its website.

In total, more than 345,000 ammunition background checks were performed in the July-November time frame, according to the figures, but only 101 of those checks flagged someone legally prohibited from buying ammunition. Outside of those prohibited purchasers, there were another 62,000 purchasers who were turned away because the information on their I.D. cards didn’t match what was in the state’s system or hadn’t been entered into it.

One of those rejected purchasers was Sutter County Sheriff’s Deputy Zachary Berg, who was barred from buying shotgun shells at hardware store ahead of a hunting trip last month because his information didn’t match what was on the state database. (Read more from “California’s Ammo Background Checks Are Blocking Legal Gun Owners from Purchase” HERE)

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WATCH: Chilling Doorbell Video Captures Woman Screaming for Help During Suspected Kidnapping

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A chilling video was captured on a doorbell camera in Los Angeles, California, and many believe it might be evidence of a kidnapping.

The harrowing event was recorded on Tuesday at about 11 p.m. and made headlines nationally.

A woman is clearly heard screaming “help me!” and “somebody please help me!” on the video.

The voice of a man can also be heard saying “I’m so sorry.”

The resident of the home that captured the video can be seen in the video stepping onto her front porch just as the car rushes by quickly.

(Read more from “Watch: Chilling Doorbell Video Captures Woman Screaming for Help During Suspected Kidnapping” HERE)

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DISTURBING REPORT: Homeless Man Randomly Poured ‘Bucket of Hot Diarrhea’ on Woman in LA

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A California woman says she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a homeless man randomly doused her with a bucket of diarrhea near the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles earlier this year.

An NBC4 investigation broadcast on Monday night revealed that the vagrant who attacked her was charged with battery, taken to jail, sent to a mental health residential facility for two months, and is now “back on the streets.”

NBC4’s I-Team reports:

Heidi Van Tassel was parked in Hollywood after having a pleasant evening out with friends at an authentic Thai restaurant. Suddenly a man randomly pulled her out of the car, dragged her out to the middle of the street, and dumped a bucket of feces on her head, Van Tassel said and public records confirm.

“It was diarrhea. Hot liquid. I was soaked, and it was coming off my eyelashes and into my eyes,” Van Tassel said. “Paramedics who came to treat me said there was so much of it on me, that it looked like the man was saving it up for a month.”

(Read more from “DISTURBING REPORT: Homeless Man Randomly Poured ‘Bucket of Hot Diarrhea’ on Woman in LA” HERE)

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Trump to Withhold Federal Aid for California Wildfires – This Is the Reason Why

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President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted that the federal government would no longer provide federal money to help with wildfires in California. According to the president, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has “done a terrible job of forest management” because of environmentalists.

Newsom clapped back at the president, clearly blaming climate change on the state’s massive wildfires.

(Read more from “Trump to Withhold Federal Aid for California Wildfires – This Is the Reason Why” HERE)

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WATCH: California Wildfire Is Dangerously Close to the Reagan Library

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Firefighters are doing their best to contain a rapidly moving wildfire in Simi Valley, California, that threatens the Reagan Presidential Library.

Fox News reports that mandatory evacuations were ordered in the area Wednesday morning as the Ventura County Fire Department works to fight off the blaze and protect the library where President Ronald Reagan is buried with first lady Nancy Reagan.

Firefighters and trucks have surrounded the library, with protection measures being taken on the Air Force One-side of the facility, according to a spokesperson. Reagan Library Executive Director John Heubusch told FOX11 the blaze was “circling the library” and that fire crews are “fighting it as best they can.”

“It’s the closest this library has ever come to this danger,” he told FOX11. “So this is really serious stuff. So far they seem to be on top of it.”

Employees who are on the scene – along with the fire and police personnel – told Fox News the move to close the library is being taken as a precaution.

Reagan Presidential Library spokeswoman Melissa Giller told the Associated Press the portion of the library housing archives faces away from the fire.

CNN video captures just how close the wildfire is to the library.

Fox11 is following this developing story with live updates you can check out here.

(For more from the author of “Watch: California Wildfire Is Dangerously Close to the Reagan Library” please click HERE)

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California Is Burning Again – Here’s What Caused It

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Liberals are blaming California’s wildfires on “climate change.” Apparently, climate change now causes wildfires, but only in the state of California. Before this week, liberals thought rising sea levels would wash the state away. Now, they believe it will go up in flames unless we do something immediately to stop “climate change.” But climate change hasn’t turned California into a tinderbox, the environmentalists have.

California power company PG&E is preparing to pull the plug on 850,000 of its customers. PG&E has been deliberately cutting power to its customers in an effort to avoid wildfires. It isn’t working. Massive wildfires erupted in areas where PG&E provides service. The Tick Fire has burned down several homes and caused the evacuation of more than 40,000 people so far, and other wildfires are burning throughout the state. In Sonoma County, the Kincade Fire has already torched 34 square miles and destroyed 49 homes. That fire was likely caused by a broken transmission line belonging to PG&E.

But PG&E’s equipment couldn’t start these huge wildfires without a bunch of dead brush fueling the flames. As Chuck Devore writes in Forbes, “the outrageous cost to remove a few dead trees from private land is a consequence of California’s Byzantine environmental regulatory patchwork.” It’s not climate change that’s responsible for these massive fires, “it’s decades of environmental mismanagement that has created a tinderbox of unharvested timber, dead trees, and thick underbrush.”

As Devore writes, “forest management is so bad on public lands that a new report, ordered by the California legislature in 2010, shows that the portion of California’s National Forests protected from timber harvesting is now a net contributor to atmospheric carbon dioxide due to fires and trees killed by insects and disease.” So if environmentalists really believed climate change was causing the fires, they would be calling for more timber harvesting to stop it.

(Read more from “California Is Burning Again – Here’s What Caused It” HERE)

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California Declares State of Emergency

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California has declared a state of emergency, the Associated Press reports, as wildfires and hurricane force winds ravage areas of the state, leaving millions without power.

Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement Sunday in an attempt to reassure Californians — particularly those in the Bay Area and in Sonoma County where the fires threaten major agriculture and industry — that the state was deploying “every resource available” to battle the blazes.

The wildfires, blazing in Sonoma County and near San Francisco, and further south near Santa Clarita, had already driven more than 50,000 people from their homes by Saturday night when experts predicted a “catastrophic wind event” with hurricane-force gusts. By Sunday, 180,000 people had been told to flee to safer ground and winds up to 80 miles per hour blew across Napa Valley vineyards, causing the fires to take on an “erratic” burn pattern. . .

Before the winds arrived, the Kincade Fire, which began Wednesday night, was only 10% contained, and had already burned 47 square miles, destroying nearly 80 structures, according to the Associated Press. Nine people have been reported injured so far, victims of a tree that came crashing down on a farmer’s market near San Francisco, but the casualties are by no means fully counted. The last fire, that swept through largely the same area in 2017, killed 24 people. (Read more from “California Declares State of Emergency” HERE)

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Here’s Why Parts of California Will Have No Power for Nearly a Week

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In an unprecedented move, Pacific Gas & Electric early Wednesday began shutting off power to about 800,000 customers across Northern California in an attempt to avoid wildfires caused by winds damaging power equipment.
The first power cutoffs, expected to affect 513,000 customers, began shortly after midnight in several counties around Sacramento, including Placer and Yuba, amid strengthening winds and continued to roll out into the early morning hours.

The blackouts will impact 34 counties in Central and Northern California. It would be the biggest power shutdown so far as utilities across the state attempt to reduce wildfire risk due to heavy wind. Utilities malfunctions have been tied to some of the state’s most destructive fires, including last year’s Camp fire, which devastated Paradise, Calif., and the 2017 wine country blazes.

“It is a very blunt way of approaching the situation, but at the same time, there’s an understanding of why it’s being undertaken,” said Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt, who noted PG&E’s announcement came on the second anniversary of the 2017 firestorm. “We have vulnerable populations, our elderly and young children. We’re mostly concerned about them.” . . .

“Power shut-offs in the face of really widespread dangerous fire weather, which is what we’re confronting, may be the best thing we can do for the time being,” Wara said. “In the long run, PG&E needs to fix its grid. And so does Edison … so they can use power shut-offs as a more limited tool like a scalpel rather than the blunt instrument they have now.”

Some state and local officials also have complained that utilities don’t always give enough notice before turning off the power. And they have expressed concerns about communications and evacuations if the power is out, especially if traffic signals don’t work and cellphone service is affected. (Read more from “Here’s Why Parts of California Will Have No Power for Nearly a Week” HERE)

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This State May Be Using Water With Chemicals Linked to Cancer

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According to a new study, 7.5 million Californians may be using water contaminated with PFAs, chemicals that never break down and have been associated with cancer. Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises a cap of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) PFAS in drinking water, the survey found that over 40% of the 74 water systems that were studied had at least one sample with a level of total PFAS over 70 ppt. . .

The Environmental Protection Agency explained where PFAS can be found:

Food packaged in PFAS-containing materials, processed with equipment that used PFAS, or grown in PFAS-contaminated soil or water. Commercial household products, including stain- and water-repellent fabrics, nonstick products (e.g., Teflon), polishes, waxes, paints, cleaning products, and fire-fighting foams (a major source of groundwater contamination at airports and military bases where firefighting training occurs). Workplace, including production facilities or industries (e.g., chrome plating, electronics manufacturing or oil recovery) that use PFAS. Drinking water, typically localized and associated with a specific facility (e.g., manufacturer, landfill, wastewater treatment plant, firefighter training facility). Living organisms, including fish, animals and humans, where PFAS have the ability to build up and persist over time.

On the effects of these chemicals, the EPA stated, “Studies indicate that PFOA and PFOS can cause reproductive and developmental, liver and kidney, and immunological effects in laboratory animals. Both chemicals have caused tumors in animals.” They added, “The most consistent findings are increased cholesterol levels among exposed populations, with more limited findings related to: low infant birth weights, effects on the immune system, cancer (for PFOA), and thyroid hormone disruption (for PFOS).”

The EWG study noted, “PFAS contamination has been found in more than 800 communities, military bases, airports and industrial sites nationwide. EWG’s analysis of unreleased EPA-mandated test data estimates that more than 100 million Americans may have PFAS in their drinking water. Because PFAS are ‘forever chemicals’ that never break down once released into the environment, they build up in our blood and organs.” The study the cited the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “virtually all Americans have PFAS in their blood.” (Read more from “This State May Be Using Water With Chemicals Linked to Cancer” HERE)

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