Off Topic: Los Angeles Members Please Check In

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Oh?!

Classic Fox News misdirection and bias. If only LA hadn't tried to take care of those degenerates with HIV, the fires could have been contained. I mean who can take this seriously? Agenda much? Never mind, I know who.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Classic Fox News misdirection and bias. If only LA hadn't tried to take care of those degenerates with HIV, the fires could have been contained. I mean who can take this seriously? Agenda much? Never mind, I know who.

You want to get political, you fucking loudmouth twat??? This is for you, asshole...

mediabidenCPR.jpg

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

You want to get political, you fucking loudmouth twat??? This is for you, asshole...

Ummm ... JollyElm ?? Are you OK ?? lol

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Ummm ... JollyElm ?? Are you OK ?? lol

Yes, he's perfectly OK. That guy he is fed up with has been on net54 a long time, but is a know it all, who, like others on this forum, takes a contradictory stand on everything.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Never mind, not worth it.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Ummm ... JollyElm ?? Are you OK ?? lol

Yes, thanks (although you're probably just being facetious ). I am so tired of that opinionated loudmouth. He's so full of himself that he thinks everyone needs to hear his opinions on every single topic under the sun. The good news is, finally other people are seeing it, too. I have never come across a grown man who craves attention as much as he does, and I'm done with it.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

You want to get political, you fucking loudmouth twat??? This is for you, asshole...

Attachment 647021

He was hardly the 1st one to make it political in this thread.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

He was hardly the 1st one to make it political in this thread.

A few posts up from yours, I asked to keep the politics out of this thread (per forum rules, everyone knows them)
Can you help me understand how you accomplished that with your statement?
thanks


And thoughts and prayers to all those affected.
.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Personal attacks calling people fucking twats are cool though.

[oldjudge]

The intended purpose of the thread was to check in with people living in the LA area. You and others high jacked the thread and turned it into a political debate--shame on you!
We evacuated on Wednesday morning when the fires were getting close to us. I returned Friday and my wife and dog returned yesterday. While we have been very fortunate, so far over 10,000 of our friends and neighbors have been less fortunate. For them we say a prayer.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Leon

A few posts up from yours, I asked to keep the politics out of this thread (per forum rules, everyone knows them)
Can you help me understand how you accomplished that with your statement?
thanks


And thoughts and prayers to all those affected.
.

I didn't see your post when I posted my response.

Have plenty more to say on the matter...but...moving on.

This is not the place for it.

I feel for everybody who is being affected by this disaster. This is a horrible situation all around, and I can only hope it can bring people together to overcome this tragedy.

[gregndodgers]

One of the first pics I took of Lake and Morada area early Wednesday morning around 5am, a full 11 hours after the fire started. No firetucks or firemen were in this area for at least a mile in all directions.

[gregndodgers]

Embers flying everywhere due to the strong winds.

[G1911]

I doubt the $17.5M made a material difference here. I also doubt that California has to burn down every 1-3 years and we have to have water shortages frequently, and there is nothing we can do about the problems. Perhaps they could not direct as much fresh water into the ocean as they do now. A host of measures and ideas have been proposed long before this particular fire, with very little ever actually being done. Current California policy is clearly not working as this serious problem gets worse, but of course the most important thing is government never ever be held accountable or criticized since there is no meaningful opposition in the state to blame policy on. Attention is rarely focused on solving practical problems, instead of publicity stunts and virtue signaling about meaningless drivel.

[gregndodgers]

“Nearly 100 fire engines, trucks, and ambulances are out of service awaiting repairs. LAFD is already severely understaffed and experiencing unsustainable call levels and having these million dollar rigs out of service only makes things worse.”

~ LA Councilwoman Traci Park, Aug 6, 2024.

"As an all-risk fire and rescue agency serving more than four million people, the LAFD is one of the busiest and most understaffed big city fire departments in the entire country." United Firefighters of LA (UFLAC), Sept. 6, 2024

“My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded. "It’s not."

- LA Fire Chief Crowley. Jan 10, 2025.

The $7 million reduction in overtime hours "severely limited the Department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies.”

- LA Fire Chief Crowley. Dec 4, 2024

“The LAFD is extremely understaffed and under-resourced.”

- LA Fire Chief Crowley. Dec 17, 2024


Right, it does not appear that money was an issue.

[BioCRN]

Originally Posted by gregndodgers

“Nearly 100 fire engines, trucks, and ambulances are out of service awaiting repairs. LAFD is already severely understaffed and experiencing unsustainable call levels and having these million dollar rigs out of service only makes things worse.”

~ LA Councilwoman Traci Park, Aug 6, 2024.

“My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded. "It’s not."

- LA Fire Chief Crowley. Jan 10, 2025.

The $7 million reduction in overtime hours "severely limited the Department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies.”

- LA Fire Chief Crowley. Dec 4, 2024

Right, it does not appear that money was an issue.

Firetrucks, overtime hours, and training is not the droids you're looking for if you actually want things that could have or in the future will help the situation LA is currently experiencing.

This doesn't seem to be a left/right weird ass political issue.

This is a big deal that needs real solutions. The billions of personal property lost is a big deal. The displaced economic resources fighting this fire is a big deal.

If blame is really important, the damage is so extensive this very specific series of fires will be studied and results/suggestions will be made.

This event is so destructive it will change policy. What changes are to be made should matter more than anything. Money, hiring more people, and building new stations will most likely be part of these changes. While labor seems to be a major concern with these current fires, there is no amount of in-house labor or firetrucks driving to locations that have an impact on what is happening as much as water availability, localized water demand issues at a given moment, brush/land management, wind, etc...

[gregndodgers]

Originally Posted by BioCRN

Firetrucks, overtime hours, and training is not the droids you're looking for if you actually want things that could have or in the future will help the situation LA is currently experiencing.

As with any catastrophe which has a multitude of factors / causes all coming together simultaneously, a lack of funding appears to be one of the many problems. As I said in my post, "money was an issue." Never said it was the only one.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Originally Posted by gregndodgers

As with any catastrophe which has a multitude of factors / causes all coming together simultaneously, a lack of funding appears to be one of the many problems. As I said in my post, "money was an issue." Never said it was the only one.

Money wasn't the issue. If you dig deeper the LAFD actually got an increase in budget like they have in previous years. Initially the proposed budget was a decrease but we do know the final budget gave LAFD an overall increase compared to the prior fiscal year.

The real culprit for this once in a generation catastrophe is a confluence of zero rain fall (It's been over 75 years since Los Angeles has had less rain during this period) and hurricane force Santa Ana winds that blow the opposite way of normal wind currents west to east from the ocean. When the high winds downed any air support on Tuesday night, there's no amount of increased budget that would prevent what took place. You also have to remember how spread out Los Angeles is and with 4+ fires starting within 48 hours of one another stretched resources thin. And logistically it takes 2+ days to get personnel and resources from outside the county, state and country to get to the affected areas. Right now there are water planes from Mexico and Canada in the fight as well as firefighters from many neighboring states.

[gregndodgers]

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

Money wasn't the issue. If you dig deeper the LAFD actually got an increase in budget like they have in previous years. Initially the proposed budget was a decrease but we do know the final budget gave LAFD an overall increase compared to the prior fiscal year.

No offense but if I have statements from the Pacific Palisades City Councilwoman and the LA Fire Chief (both made months before the fires started) as well as a respected organization all saying that the LAFD is underfunded, I will believe them before I believe any argument you can make.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Classic Fox News misdirection and bias.

Not that a single word of what I quoted from Fox News was inaccurate. The only bias being shown here is your knee-jerk bias against Fox being the messenger.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If only LA hadn't tried to take care of those degenerates with HIV, the fires could have been contained.

Try this instead. If only L.A. hadn't wasted so much money on frivolously catering to its most favoured special interest groups, the fire department's budget would not have had to be cut. There then would have been more money to hire additional firemen, repair out of service fire trucks and perhaps install more pumping capacity to increase water pressure when needed.

May I also remind you that municipal governments are elected to take care of municipal matters such as water, sanitation, garbage removal and roads and not to advance any kind of social agenda?

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I mean who can take this seriously?

Only those who respect the taxpayers' dime which is a group it seems to which you don't belong.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Agenda much?

Yes. I belong to the group that believes politicians should be accountable for their failures. That's my agenda.

It appears that yours is to make excuses for politicians wasting taxpayers' money so that less is available for what's really critical.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Yeah, we should let those homeless people rot and not take care of them, especially if they're gay or trans. Sure, SOME of these expenses listed by FOX seem egregious, but that's probably true of the budget of any major city anywhere, or state, or the federal government, regardless of the political leanings of the leadership. And as AJ posted, I don't think there's been any showing of any causal connection here. Nor has there been any showing that all the money spent on these programs would have gone to firefighting, there are probably lots of departments competing for city funds.

[G1911]

There is a wide reasonable chasm between funding drug needles for abusing illegal substances and transgender cafes for homeless people and not giving a rats ass. I'd love to stop having my money spent on the dumbest anti-science shit and enabling drug addicts. There is plenty of tax money to solve the real, actual problems in this state, from fires to homeless.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Perhaps you are skeptical of the CDC, and in some areas there is reason to be, but according to them, and probably many other agencies, needle exchange programs benefit more than the "abusers."


https://www.cdc.gov/syringe-services...php/index.html

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Perhaps you are skeptical of the CDC, and in some areas there is reason to be, but according to them, and probably many other agencies, needle exchange programs benefit more than the "abusers."


https://www.cdc.gov/syringe-services...php/index.html

I don't doubt there are positive health impacts from giving heroin junkies needles so they get less disease. I don't think, like most people in the US, that the government should be subsidizing the drug habits of illegal substances at all. "Abusers" in quotes is pretty funny though. I'm sure the heroin junky shooting up with a California paid for needle isn't an abuser of illegal substances . This board lol

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by G1911

"Abusers" in quotes is pretty funny though.

Good eye! I hadn't even noticed that yet.



A very curious use of quotation marks indeed.

[gregndodgers]

"The LAFD budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year of $837 million was also dwarfed by the city’s homeless budget of $1.3 billion." See Note below for URL.

What? really? You're telling me that hard working families, businesses, and homeowners have to take a back seat to the homeless? That is a sign of incompetence. I am willing to help homeless but not at the expense of safety for the men and women who are out there being productive.

Oh, and since I work downtown near skid row, I know first hand that the $1.3 billion has really turned that place around. NOT. I have to wonder where that money is really going.

Note:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...b9d0e6b5&ei=10

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Yeah, we should let those homeless people rot and not take care of them, especially if they're gay or trans.

California's policy has been to facilitate homelessness by enabling those with substance abuse and psychiatric problems to squat on city, i.e. taxpayers', property! Letting a problem spread is no way to fight it.

[Peter_Spaeth]

It doesn't seem Ontario is doing much better. What do you suggest?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...bers-1.7426934