Fires are raging northwest of Sacramento in Northern California, which may seem very far away, but the conditions that caused the fires in the north also exist here in Southern California. The combination of four years of drought, 100-degree temperatures, parched land, grass with extremely low moisture content and fuel loads that have building for several years are all here as well. All it takes is a strong wind blowing off the desert and one match, and we have canyon fires. This is not hypothetical; it actually has happened before, but generally not this early in the season.
In the November 1993 Topanga/Malibu fire, 268 homes were burned in Malibu and entire neighborhoods went up in smoke. I know because we lived in the La Costa area of Eastern Malibu and most of the neighborhood, including our house, went up in that fire.
There are a few things you can do to protect your home and property from fires.
Make sure brush is cleared away from the house. You may love some of those vines, but if they’re old and dry, they’re a danger. Talk to your insurance agent and make sure you have enough coverage to rebuild at today’s prices and within the new code requirements. If you burn out, you will need coverage for a rental while you rebuild, and, these days, that might take several years. Lastly, get enough contents insurance so you can replace things. Believe it or not, with toothpaste, pots and pans, carpets, and the rest, you’re up to $300,000-$400,000 before you’ve finished counting. We all think it’s not going to happen to us, but stuff happens, so make a few basic preparations and hope you never need it.
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There is a multi-nation controversy surrounding the killing of the African lion named Cecil who was apparently lured out of a protected area and into an area where you are allowed to hunt lions, and then was killed. The amazing thing is that some dentist from Minnesota did it with a crossbow. To me, dentists always seemed like such timid souls that it’s hard for me to visualize one killing a lion just for a photo op and bragging rights at the next dental convention. Frankly, I have no idea why people want to go out and hunt lions, unless you happen to be a Maasai warrior out to prove your manhood. I really think this dentist is getting a bit of a raw deal. After all, there are companies that take you out to hunt big game in Africa with approval from the local governments and there are special preserves set up for hunting, for which the government and the travel company get paid. How would the dentist know that the lion was not from the local neighborhood? It isn’t like lions to carry around little document packages with driver’s licenses. His mistake is that he shot a lion with a pedigree. If he shot some anonymous lion — no one would have cared. If he shot “Chuck the Man-Eating Lion” people would have said, “Well, Chuck got what he deserved.” If he shot at the lion and accidentally hit one of the native guides, people would have said, “Well, accidents happen.” But he shot Cecil, good old Cecil, and the rest is Internet history.
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Thursday is the big Republican debate and all — both Democrats and Republicans — are holding their breath to see what “The Donald” has to say. It seems every time he opens his mouth and says something outrageous, his numbers go up among the faithful Republicans. Trump said McCain was not a hero, just a chump who got caught, and Trump’s numbers went up. Then he said if the government insists on funding Planned Parenthood, we should shut the government down, and his numbers went up again. So what’s next? Trump’s problem is that he has to top himself each time, which isn’t easy, but think of all the things he could say. He could say, “Once I’m elected, I’m going to give Iran an ultimatum. Give up your nuclear program in the next 72 hours or we’re going to hit you with our full nuclear arsenal, period, end of discussion.”
Stay tuned.