Reminder: The first presidential debate before this year's election occurs tonight, Tuesday, at 7 p.m. ET.
"Red Flag" warnings of fire danger are back here on the coast, after a brief stretch when the air seemed clear and the sky brighter. The air thickened with smoke overnight early Monday, apparently from the two new fires listed below.
I don't know if the fires are due to climate change, as Gov. Newsom says, but they do presage a necessary change in the California lifestyle.
How many people are going to continue to be willing to risk living in the fire zones if along with that sweet mountain air and the comfort of tall trees comes the constant risk of losing everything, even their lives?
As September sneaks off, we're still a long way from the rainy season, assuming we even have one this year. We may not, because California is also given to droughts, which exacerbate the fire problem.
Come to think of it, *everything* seems to exacerbate the fire problem, even heavy rains.
That's because the rains stimulate the growth of grasses and brush that dries out and turns brown during the hot season, becoming fuel for the next cycle of wildfires that always seem to be poised to resume their race through this region.
Despite all of this, I love it here and I'm still itching to get on the road and go somewhere -- anywhere -- no doubt in rebellion against all of the restrictions I have faced the past six months.
My thoughts, admittedly irrational, go like this: "Okay, I was really sick for a long time last year. That meant being trapped in hospital beds. But I willed myself back to health and did a lot of physical therapy to build back my strength, so I wouldn't be trapped anymore. I wanted to be free. So I was good.
"Well now I am free but this effing pandemic and the fires and the heatwaves have kept me from living out that freedom. I'm feeling almost as trapped as when I was in the hospital beds.
"Looking on the bright side, at last I don't have to wear those damned hospital gowns that open in the back. But still, this good boy is gonna go bad, to misquote Tammy Wynette."
***
Here you go. Watch out for those swearing parrots.
* Two new wildfires grew by nearly 10,000 acres in a day in California, where more than 3.6 million acres have burned this year. (CNN)
* 3 Killed in Fresh Wildfires in Northern California -- In addition to the deaths, the famous Chateau Boswell winery is gone, a community of tiny homes for homeless people has burned, and an untold number of houses are feared lost. (NYT)
* Ocean heat waves linked to climate change are disrupting the food webs of sea lions and other marine creatures. (NYT)
* During a press conference in Delaware, Biden warned Americans that their health care will be in jeopardy if Trump's nominee Barrett is confirmed and the court gains a 6-3 conservative majority. “It’s no mystery what is happening here: President Trump is trying to throw out the Affordable Care Act,” Biden said. “He’s been trying to do it for the last four years. The Republican Party has been trying to eliminate it for a decade.” [HuffPost]
* Ransomware attacks against small towns, big cities and the contractors who run their voting systems have federal officials fearing that hackers will try to sow chaos around the election. (NYT)
* Despite Trump’s repeated insistence that COVID-19 is largely a blue state problem, cases are surging in red states just five weeks before the election. Twenty-two states are currently seeing increases in cases, including in the Midwest, the Great Plains and some in the South. The biggest spikes in new cases have been in North and South Dakota (scene of the massive Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August), Wisconsin, Utah, Oklahoma and Iowa— all of which voted for Trump in 2016. Among those states, Trump is particularly vulnerable in Iowa and Wisconsin. [HuffPost]
* Most Americans Want To Wait Until After The Election To Fill The Supreme Court Vacancy. (538)
* Trump in 2011 said lower-income Americans should have to pay taxes to 'be a part of the game' and said he paid 'a lot' (CNN) I guess zero means "a lot" (DW)
* Tax Records Reveal How Fame Gave Trump a $427 Million Lifeline -- “The Apprentice” rescued Donald J. Trump, bringing him new sources of cash and a myth that would propel him to the White House. (NYT)
* Ethics experts see national security concern in Trump’s debt (AP)
* Trump’s 'biggest fear' is 'massive' IRS bills and potential tax fraud charges, says Michael Cohen (Yahoo News)
* More than one million votes have already been cast in the November election, according to data from the United States Election Project, marking a noticeable increase over voting trends in 2016 even before the first presidential debate. (Forbes)
* Nearly three-quarters of voters plan to watch first debate, poll finds. (WashPo)
* Parrots removed from UK wildlife park after they started swearing at customers -- Steve Nichols, chief executive of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park, said the five African grey parrots were adopted in the same week and while in isolation taught each other to swear. (Mirror)
***
Road Trippin' Blues...
I don't have my license yet
But I think it might be fun to try with you
You live far and I don't have a car
But I think it might be fine and the sky looks so blue
We'd fill up with gas and we move pretty fast
Is that something you'd like to do?
-- Chloe Moriondo
-30-
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