Monday OT: Sept 14 is Boston Marathon Day

Sept 14 is day 258 of the Gregorian Calendar year,
Boomtime, Bureaucracy 38, 3186 YOLD (Discordian)
And let us not forget 13.0.7.15.4 mlc (the Mayan Long Count)

Boston-DSS-016-20180416

Boston Marathon

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Today is The Boston Marathon

  

Boston 42° 21' 40.1220'' N 71° 3' 25.4988'' W
Marathon 38°07'3.00" N 23°58'25.19" E

Boston to Marathon is 41190.507 stadia, or 4,735 mi

On September 14, 1992, The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the breakaway Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia to be illegal.  This is the Balkans here, and  a balkanized chunk thereof without much of a history of independent statehood.  Nonetheless, true to form it followed the rule that arbitrarily created and fused breakaway nouveau political entities refuse and meet with force if necessary any attempts by ethnic or political factions therein to form smaller breakaway nouveau political entities.  This pattern is also almost invariably supported by the larger international community, which is theoretically supportive of plebiscites but in reality has no fondness whatsoever for same.  That this generally causes no cognitive dissonance supports the theory that the whole idea and process of the formation and dissolution of nation states does not involve cognition

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On this day in history:

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1741 – George Frideric Handel completed his Messiah.
1752 – The British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar
1812 – The French Grande Armée entered Moscow. 
1814 – Francis Scott Key. wrote "Defence of Fort McHenry" aka the US National Anthem.
1917 – The Russian Empire was officially replaced by the Russian Republic.
1959 – The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashed onto the Moon
1960 – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded.
1960 – The CIA backed coup by Mobutu Sese Seko in the Congo
1969 – The US Selective Service selected September 14 as the First Draft Lottery date.
1984 – Joe Kittinger became the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic 
1985 – Penang Bridge, connecting the island of Penang to the mainland, opened to traffic.
1992 – The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the breakaway Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia to be illegal.
2000 – Micro$oft released Windows Me widely considered to be the worst os of all time
2015 – The first observation of gravitational waves was made but not announced by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations until February 11,  2016

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Born this day in:

We are women. We are a subject people who have inherited an alien culture.
  

Kate Millett

1713 – Johann Kies, astronomer and mathematician
1769 – Alexander von Humboldt, geographer and explorer
1804 – John Gould, ornithologist and illustrator
1816 – Mary Hall Barrett Adams, book editor and letter writer
1843 – Lola Rodríguez de Tió, poet, abolitionist, and women's rights activist
1857 – Julia Platt, embryologist and politician
1860 – Hamlin Garland, novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer
1867 – Charles Dana Gibson, illustrator
1868 – Théodore Botrel, singer, songwriter, poet, and playwright
1879 – Margaret Sanger, nurse and activist
1883 – Richard Gerstl, painter and illustrator
1909 – Peter Scott, ornithologist, painter, and sailor (
1915 – John Dobson, astronomer and author, designed the Dobsonian telescope 
1916 – Eric Bentley, singer, playwright, and critic
1918 – Cachao López, bassist and composer
1920 – Alberto Calderón,  mathematician and academic
1928 – Jay Cameron, reed player and saxophonist
1934 – Sarah Kofman, philosopher and academic
1934 – Kate Millett, author and activist
1934 – Don Walser, singer, songwriter and, guitarist
1936 – Ferid Murad, physician and pharmacologist
1936 – Lucas Samaras, painter and photographer
1937 – Renzo Piano, architect and engineer
1941 – Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, civil rights activist
1941 – Alberto Naranjo, drummer, composer, and bandleader
1941 – Alex St. Clair, guitarist and songwriter
1942 – Oliver Lake, saxophonist, flute player, and composer
1942 – Roger Lyons, trade union leader
1943 – Irwin Goodman, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1943 – Marcos Valle, singer, songwriter, pianist, and producer
1947 – Jon Bauman, singer
1948 – Marc Reisner, environmentalist and author
1949 – Steve Gaines, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1949 – Ed King, guitarist and songwriter
1949 – Tommy Seebach, singer, songwriter, pianist, and producer
1949 – Fred "Sonic" Smith, guitarist and songwriter
1949 – Eikichi Yazawa, singer, songwriter
1950 – Paul Kossoff, guitarist, and songwriter
1950 – John Steptoe, author and illustrator
1954 – Barry Cowsill, singer, songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1955 – William Jackson, harp player and composer
1958 – Arlindo Cruz, singer and songwriter
1958 – Beth Nielsen Chapman, singer and songwriter
1959 – John Berry, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1967 – John Power, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1970 – Craig Montoya, singer, songwriter, and bass player
1970 – Mark Webber, guitarist
1971 – Jeff Loomis, guitarist and songwriter
1971 – Andre Matos, singer, songwriter, and pianist

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Died this day in:

There have been daring people in the world who claimed that Cooper could write English, but they are all dead now -- all dead but Lounsbury. I don't remember that Lounsbury makes the claim in so many words, still he makes it, for he says that "Deerslayer" is a "pure work of art." Pure, in that connection, means faultless -- faultless in all details -- and language is a detail. If Mr. Lounsbury had only compared Cooper's English with the English he writes himself -- but it is plain that he didn't; and so it is likely that he imagines until this day that Cooper's is as clean and compact as his own. Now I feel sure, deep down in my heart, that Cooper wrote about the poorest English that exists in our language, and that the English of "Deerslayer" is the very worst that even Cooper ever wrote.

I may be mistaken, but it does seem to me that "Deerslayer" is not a work of art in any sense; it does seem to me that it is destitute of every detail that goes to the making of a work of art; in truth, it seems to me that "Deerslayer" is just simply a literary delirium tremens.

A work of art? It has no invention; it has no order, system, sequence, or result; it has no lifelikeness, no thrill, no stir, no seeming of reality; its characters are confusedly drawn, and by their acts and words they prove that they are not the sort of people the author claims that they are; its humor is pathetic; its pathos is funny; its conversations are -- oh! indescribable; its love-scenes odious; its English a crime against the language.

Counting these out, what is left is Art. I think we must all admit that.

Mark Twain on James Fenimore Cooper,  from Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses by Mark Twain, a true joy to read, which may be found here: https://twain.lib.virginia.edu/projects/rissetto/offense.html  as well as a great follow-up essay here: http://strangebeautiful.com/other-texts/twain-coopers-prose-style.pdf 

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1321 – Dante Alighieri, writer

1712 – Giovanni Domenico Cassini, mathematician, astronomer, and engineer

1715 – Dom Pérignon, monk and priest
1851 – James Fenimore Cooper, novelist, short story writer, and historian
1927 – Isadora Duncan, dancer and choreographer
1981 – Furry Lewis, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1989 – Pérez Prado, singer, songwriter, pianist and band leader
2015 – Martin Kearns, drummer

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Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Boston Marathon Day
Eat a Hoagie Day
Gobstopper Day
National Cream-Filled Donut Day

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Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies Wink

The CIA & Mobutu Sese Seko

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Eric Bentley

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Cachao López

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Jay Cameron

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1941 – Alberto Naranjo

,br.

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Oliver Lake

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Irwin Goodman

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Marcos Valle

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Jon Bauman

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Steve Gaines

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Ed King

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Furry Lewis

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Pérez Prado

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Image is public domain

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It's an open thread, so do your thing

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Lookout's picture

to model his stories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_and_rescue_of_Jemima_Boone

In addition to the marathon, the tour de France is happening too.
https://www.letour.fr/en/

Have to clean ditches and weeps today to prep for Sally's rain. About 4 inches expected here, and a foot or more on the coast. Wish we could send some to the west to calm down the fires and clean the air.

Take care everyone!

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14 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

@Lookout
Boone - Cooper connection. It's funny, mostly stuck inside with an aqi of 196 as of 6 am being more or less typical lately and heat wave before, yet so busy with so much that I haven't even thought about the tdf.

Good luck with the incoming storm. We sure could use about 4" of rain about now, but not all at once, mind you.

be well and have a good one.

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4 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Ambrose Bierce both would have a field day documenting our current society which is more a collection of offenses than anything else.

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usefewersyllables's picture

@randtntx

a totalitarian society: simply make everything illegal. "Everything not forbidden is compulsory". Then, everyone is by definition a criminal, and can be dealt with as such. This simplifies the bookkeeping to no end.

We're getting there, aren't we? Shoot, this here water's not nearly boiling yet. Ribbit...

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7 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

enhydra lutris's picture

@usefewersyllables
of "culture" as part of those of law:

"Everything not forbidden is compulsory".

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6 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@usefewersyllables , to say nothing about loading up the prisons to capacity, keeps the money for the investors rolling in. It's a great system.

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2 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@randtntx

msm would publish what they wrote. Sadly, the modern press created the exact audience that it deserves by catering exclusively to such a clientele meaning that they would probably exclude both of those worthies. Circulation is, after all, the name of the game and, as Schopenhauer told us:

“The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.”

be well and have a good one

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8 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris we'd probably have to pick around the intertubes to find their stuff.

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usefewersyllables's picture

about the human condition this weekend, while shopping for groceries.

I've been diagnosed as on the ASD spectrum, albeit with only very, very mild Aspie symptoms, primarily those concerning focus. I'm extremely single-tracked, and I'm very fortunate in that that has actually been a net positive for my career. But please don't interrupt me when I'm focused on something, because it won't end well. I've always had problems coping with people in crowds, and I finally figured out part of why.

When I shop, I go directly from item to item. I look where I'm going, and I do not "browse". Ever. I go in, I get what I need, and I leave. I know where the items I need are, I walk to them, put them in my cart, and I then proceed directly to the next item. I move at a very reasonable but consistent pace, and my actions are *entirely* predictable.

You'd think I would be running people over all the time. Nope- I look where I'm going. And yet, every time I'm in a store, 5 or 6 people run into *me*. I can be standing completely still, and they'll *still* run into me.

My epiphany? I realized yesterday that regular people never go where they are looking. Ever. They look at something, and then abruptly accelerate off in some other random direction. Consequently, if you look where their eyes are focused, and try to go somewhere else, they are damned near guaranteed to suddenly pivot and ram into you, and then look at you as if it is your fault. They appear to be completely unaware that there is anybody else in the world, and therefore not colliding is everybody else's problem: you shouldn't have been there. Bottom line: I observed that if one were to assume that not going where they are looking will help avoid being smacked into by them, one would be wrong 90% of the time.

I have been wrong all my life.

I set a personal record in the baking aisle this trip- I got run into 6 times in a single aisle. Spelt flour (oof), dark rye flour (elbow in the kidneys), corn meal (wham, texting), headon when a lady threw a U-turn to get back to the canola oil (thud), blindsided from behind while stationary and waiting for the traffic to clear to get out of the aisle ('scuse me, that was my Achilles tendon), and trying to turn the corner to get to the eggs (crunch, yelling at the kids). And there might have been a total of 50 people in a very large store, at 8am on a Sunday morning.

I never noticed this before (and after 60+ years, you'd think I would have). I saw some people who I would swear shop entirely by skating backwards, as if they were NHL referees.

I'm told that difficulties dealing with eye contact as part of social interaction is one of the indicators of a spectrum disorder. That's no news, as I've always had problems there. But it finally occurred to me after all these years of grocery store rage that *I* might not be the one who is always getting it wrong. I simply pay too much attention to people's eyes. And I go where I'm looking, which is the wrong answer.

Regrettably, I've also discovered that it is entirely reasonable to fight fire with fire. Randomly wandering from side to side, throwing sudden U-turns, parking the cart so as to block entire aisles and the egg rack, and shoving the cart between a parent and their screaming 5-year-old while looking at Halley's Comet? That's all just fine. In fact it is the expected behavior, and people just somehow cope, avoid you somehow, and you can come out unscathed. If you do something other than that expected behavior? You get run into.

All who wander are not lost: they are just trying to fit in and not get maimed. Anyway, if you see me in the police blotter in the local paper- you'll understand why...

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10 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables they don't drive their cars like they drive their shopping carts. Oh...wait... I take it back.

I have to confess to doing a U-turn on occasion...but in my defense, I'm very careful!

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usefewersyllables's picture

@randtntx

actually look where you're going, too, you outlier... Don't do that, it just infuriates them. (;-)

The good thing about driving (at least for me) is that I typically can't see their eyes. If I could, I suspect that I wouldn't drive.

I remember driving to work once, stopped at a stoplight, and I looked in my mirror at the car behind me. And a couple was in it, with the man driving, and his lady was leaned over and was ever-so-lovingly shaving the yoda fronds on his ears with a disposable razor.

I suppose that I must have been staring, because she suddenly stopped and sat back up very straight. The light changed, I drove away more briskly than usual, and I hope I never see that again...

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3 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Anja Geitz's picture

As of last night:

9:25 pm. #BobcatFire – Throughout the day, strategic control burning was utilized in the south as fire remained very active reaching Chantry Flat in Santa Anita Canyon. Hand crews and dozers are working in the areas around Mt. Wilson and Mt. Harvard as the fire has grown significantly west:

No bueno for me and my neighbors. Pray for no strong winds or we will all be toast. Shout out to the Los Angeles firefighters . I’m beginning to feel about them as I did the NYFD during 911.

D1144A28-C1A0-4967-A386-B547BC1557DC.jpeg
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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Anja Geitz's picture

@Anja Geitz

https://arcg.is/vCa1P

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7 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

enhydra lutris's picture

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Anja Geitz's picture

@enhydra lutris

Google Earth visualization of the perimeter and terrain of the #BobcatFire burning near Los Angeles. As of the morning of 9/13, the Bobcat Fire has burned over 31,900 acres.

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6 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

enhydra lutris's picture

@Anja Geitz
be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Anja Geitz's picture

@enhydra lutris

The good news is the Emergency Fire crews did amazing work keeping the fire contained for Monrovia residents, and logistically speaking the fire is still a ways away from me, even if it’s just not going in the direction Altadena residents would like to see. The other consideration in our favor is that all the vegetation surrounding the mountains near Altadena is very new, having been burned away during the Station Fire 10 years ago. So there isn’t a lot of fuel there, which I think is a good thing. Winds are my greatest concern because flying embers can jump containment lines, land on roofs and trees nearby and then who knows what could happen. Fingers crossed and a heap of optimism.

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8 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

snoopydawg's picture

@Anja Geitz

Fighting them has become just another way for people to make money. Plus the forests have been neglected for decades because states keep cutting the budget for it. What’s happening now didn’t need to happen.

https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-megafires-wh...

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Anja Geitz's picture

@snoopydawg

But my battered state of mind really can't take in another story about the different ways wealthy people fuck us all in the ass for the sake of lucrative profits. It's enough just keeping up with what and who is in danger and making sure all of my friends, and myself, and our animals are safe.

Be well, Snoop.

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5 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Below is a Xinhuanet posting quoting the Russian FM Lavrov

"
MOSCOW, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticized the U.S. policy of forming alliances against third countries, including China.

Responding to a question about Washington's attempt to pitting other countries against China, Lavrov said "the policy is alien to us."

"Neither Russia, nor China, nor our allies ever offer someone to be friends against someone," Lavrov said Sunday on a local TV program.

"We have a completely different diplomatic and political culture. We have a desire to develop good relations with everyone," he said.

Russia never puts forward preconditions for cooperation that its partners must deliberately worsen relations with some countries in the first place, Lavrov noted.

"'To be friends against someone,' in my opinion, contradicts the very meaning of the word 'friendship,'" he added.
"

U.S. 'diplomacy' was probably always belligerent, but seems to have become more so over time, possibly in keeping with the increases in U.S. wealth.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@Marie
is a Western/European thing carried forth to the colonies. History is certainly full of it, including the infamous Triple Alliance And Triple Entente, NATO, SEATO, and the like. The US has certainly made a great deal of use of it, initially using its wealth and power after WWII to gain yet more wealth and power, and now using to try to protect its position as its empire collapses.

be well and have a good one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Anja Geitz's picture

Photo-Cal-Fire.jpg
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5 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Granma's picture

@Anja Geitz zoom in until you find the fire you are interested in. A little box comes up by the flame icon. You choose that and get an incident report. That gives you information about that specific fire.

If you Twitter, try a search for that fire. For the fire I watch up here, it would be like this Twitter.com/fire_riverside
Whether that would work for yours, I don't know. I'll try to find the inciweb link for the bobcat fire. If successful, I'll send the link to you.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@Anja Geitz

Call me crazy, but I don't think this is enough

That's because there is no such thing, and probably never will be.

We humans have no tools equal to this sort of task, any more than we have them to deal with a significant avalanche, tsunami, or volcanic eruption. The Planet is still bigger than all of us combined, and can still squash us like bugs if It becomes so inclined.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

enhydra lutris's picture

@thanatokephaloides
afternoon and evening yestidday with e-grief, router, devices, youname it, wasn't ignoring you.

be well and have a good one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

magiamma's picture

@Anja Geitz
My thoughts are with you.

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

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Granma's picture

@#https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7145/
This should give you more specific information, Anja.

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travelerxxx's picture

@Granma

Granma, that link you posted takes me to Montana or something. Evidently, there' more than one Bobcat Fire. I did a search using the site and found Anja's Bobcat Fire: It's here.

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Granma's picture

@travelerxxx @Granma to Anja. I wonder if they were listed together and I copied the wrong one the first time. Thanks.

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magiamma's picture

et al

Long day. Up to Boulder creek to the vet. Highway 9 where the fire was. No sign of burn. Controlled burn was three blocks above 9. No one in the vets office lost a house though near misses. There was one spot the fire got down to the road but I did not see it. Lots and lots of signs along the way thanking the first responders. That whole area was evacuated. Three cities and down to the ocean. Heard this morning that the SC city arborist lost her house. So lots of fire news today.

Take good care everyone.

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

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enhydra lutris's picture

@magiamma
clearly an effect of all of this madness with covid travel restrictions and fires with their travel restrictions and smoke and craziness. Funny, your post triggered that, and then I saw the Hwy 1 and Hwy 9 interesction in my mind's eye, approaching from the south, as I have seen it hundreds of time. Almost never have actually used 9, maybe once or twice, funny that. Glad to hear the vets came through it ok.

be well and have a good one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --