@Cassiodorus Theories abound regarding the cause. Homeless addicts set it ablaze? DEW? The Globalists and Blackrock?
The common assessment is that the government was totally unprepared. I agree. Maybe small government is not a remedy, methinks. Just make the one we have actually work for the people, regardless of size.
Glad you are not there.
Have a great weekend, friend.

Good music selections!

I've been following the fires in southern California.

It's all over YouTube now.

I see two argumentative options.

1) the fires are amplified by climate change. I mean, sure, one reads in the biographies of Aldous Huxley that a fire destroyed his home in Beachwood Canyon in 1961. But the ongoing flames of, you know, right now, are more serious than those were. We know, moreover, from observation, that the average global temperatures are increasing 0.2 degrees Celsius each decade since the Seventies. So maybe? Hard to prove.

2) The fires are what you'd expect from an overbuilt semi-desert that used to routinely see some sort of fire every century.

Either way, it feels good not to live in southern California anymore, even if my old neighborhood is a fair distance away from the current action.

@soryang Man, what a high quality and extremely loyal security detail!
Kim is a dirty little wench, ain't she?
Do we have any ally that runs fair and truly democratic elections?
I suppose we are their model for faking them.
The value of the internet for non-business purposes is getting to be limited because of propaganda. Just getting news reports that get slanted far left, or far right, diminishes their informational value. As Marvin says, "what's goin' on?" Did the government-run media take Jack Nicholson at face value, "You can't handle the truth!"?
This past week, a young man wanted to hire me to defend him for a felony, namely, possession of 4 Adderall pills in his pocket while at the Fair and Rodeo last October. Fun at the Fair! Seems he had a prior where he got a once in a lifetime sweetheart deal to get his earlier felony of possessing Ecstacy, so I figure the prosecutors would be highly unlikely to give him much of a chance. I didn't take the case, figuring he was just too damn stupid to fool with. You can't fix stupid.
Another woman asked me to examine her mom's will. Handwritten, but legal, except it left her estate to her husband if she predeceased him. She told me she would hire me when the 89 yr old step-dad died, and just destroy the will, proceed to claim property as an heir. Can you imagine me stating to a judge that the women died without a will? I told her I declined the job, that it would require me to enable her to commit perjury and fraud, and I was really busy working on honest estate matters. She was a phone conference from out of state. If she had been in the office, I would have pushed her sorry ass out the door.
I just wasn't mentally prepared for this first week after a lovely vacation!
Check out Pluto TV for old tv shows and old movies. It is free, although you must get interrupted by commercials. When in doubt, Gunsmoke!
Thanks for the SK news, and I hope all your friends and family that live there are safe.
Enjoy your weekend, friend!

There is a scandal known as "Myung Tae-kyun gate" which was a substantial factor in driving the Yoon coup d'etat plans. This is from an October report of illegal interference in a national assembly nomination by Yoon's wife if not Yoon himself. When Myung, a political broker, was arrested by prosecutors he made public threats against the administration saying attempts to jail him would result in disclosures by him that would "bring down the administration." Apparently, this threat has come true, as disclosures of his chat records reveal 280 conversations between Myung Tae-kyun and Kim Gon-hee related to party election nomination processes that have taken place over the last three years. Myung fell under prosecution investigation after appearing Kang Hye-kyung appeared before the National Assembly last October. Yoon/first lady unlawful interference in PPP nomination processes for elections took place over multiple elections and must have been known to prosecutors by November 2024.

Kang Hye-kyung, who reported Kim Gun-hee's "suspicious intervention in the nomination...

Kang Hye-kyung, who raised suspicions about Kim Gun-hee's involvement in the nomination and illegal procurement of poll costs for Myung Tae-kyun, answers questions at a parliamentary audit of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Yeouido, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 21st. [Photo source = News1]

Kang Hye-kyung, who reported Kim Gun-hee's "suspicious intervention in the nomination" and political broker Myung Tae-kyun's illegal procurement of public opinion polls, said, "You got a call, right? "I think (that brother) refers to the president of Yoon Suk Yeol," he said, referring to his brother in the conversation, who mentioned, "It's going to work out."

Kang raised suspicions that Kim interfered in the nomination process, saying that former lawmaker Kim Young-sun, a member of the People's Power, was nominated for the June 2022 by-elections in exchange for Myung's "illegal opinion poll" to President Yoon Suk Yeol during the last presidential election.

Yoon appears to have publicly lied about his relationship with Myung Tae-kyun in the past when the accusations were first raised. He claimed he didn't know Myung well, and didn't have a relationship with him. This is odd because the wording of suggested memes from Myung recorded in the chats appeared later in Yoon's public statements. This suggests that Myung was an advisor/strategist for Yoon. The question always arises about prosecution investigations of Kim Gon-hee, how was this evidence swept under the rug? The diversion or obstruction of investigations into the First Lady and Yoon, by the prosecution, seems to be a pattern that preceded the coup attempt and impeachment, and has actually gone back years, as careful Yoon observers have suspected.

So now, in addition to the preexisting Deutsche Motors stock manipulation scheme, the Dior Handbag scandal, and the interference in the military investigation into Cpl. Chae's death (which implicated a general on friendly terms with the first lady), we now have first lady/Yoon interference in party nomination/election processes over three successive elections. All of which, has been suppressed by various prosecution obstruction of justice moves to divert and set aside such suspected unlawful acts.

The commander of the Presidential Security Guard submitted to prosecution questioning yesterday and has been arrested. The deputy commander is now in charge of Yoon's resistance to arrest at the presidential official residence. The expiration date of the warrant for Yoon's arrest is secret at this point, and all are wondering when Yoon's arrest will be carried out. Yoon has announced he will not appear before the Constitutional Court to answer charges, because "his security cannot be assured." In other words because if he steps foot outside the fortress, he will be arrested.

Thanks for the O&E Onthecusp. As far as the legal matters you are working on, admire your ability to stay with it. I've been having difficulty staying on line lately. Don't know what the cause is. As soon as I'm ready to load my comments, the connection drops, and my PC fails to recognize the connection. The modem acts as if it doesn't know my device and I have to try repeatedly to reconnect.

(edit- correction, Myung Tae-kyun was summoned to the hearing but I don't think he appeared. Kang reported on Myung's party nomination activity.)

@gjohnsit to buy into that. What starts out as a joke typically winds up as a bad joke.
Bitcoin never made sense to me. We are constantly having cyber attacks and weather events that disrupt the intertubes. That kills any incentive to buy into that crap.
Well, to each his own, gj!
Have a great weekend!

Madness

Fartcoin’s ascent (literally can’t believe I’m typing those words), marked by a 2,940% return since November 2024, dwarfs gains in almost all other assets — the risk averse and the risky. Since November 4, 2024, the S&P 500 has risen approximately 5.7%, while long-term Treasury bonds, oil, and gold have experienced slight declines.

Cryptocurrencies are about as speculative a financial asset as you can put money into right now. I’ve written extensively about how I think it’s the lowest-hanging fruit on the risk tree and how the asset class will likely be the first to dive and deleverage in the event of a market crash. Its use case remains uncertain over the long term, and there are infinite layers to the ecosystem — populated by got-rich-quick techno-dweeb ultra-billionaires with questionable personal hygiene and addictions to World of Warcraft — that have proven to be riddled with fraud and abuse.

@snoopydawg Sam is a riot!
Never a dull moment with her.
Lots of videos and articles linking the wildfire to Build Back Better Smart Cities. Supposedly videos of cars burned up right beside a tree that wasn't even scorched, but I haven't run across them. Have you?
Drop in links of anything you find interesting, chica!

.

Dunno why she thinks they belong in bed, but that’s the 3rd one in 2 days.

BTW they do not hold their shape, but get flattened out by her mouth. She carries them from room to room.