Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News
| About Us | Contact Us | Calendar | Publish | RSS |
|---|
|
Features • latest news • best of news • syndication • commentary Feature Categories IMC Network:
Original Citieswww.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/Île-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotechSurviving Citieswww.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv |
printable version
- js reader version
- view hidden posts
- tags and related articles
View article without comments Information on firesby Helpful Harry the Cyclist Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 at 2:59 PMMainstream media makes it practically impossible to find out actual information about the fires. They prefer to concentrate on decontextualized human interest stories instead of providing sources of information. So, for those of us that like data here's some links to find out about the fires The gubmint doesn't just use those satellites for military purposes -- some of them are used by the US Department of Agriculture in collaboration with NASA to watch the fires and you can get maps that are refreshed every 4 hours right here. There are also maps taken with time-averaged data compiled at 3:00am and 3:00pm at this location. Both of those were courtesy of some NASA satellites. If you've been wondering about what the official word is on the fires and just been frustrated by the uninformative Los Angeles Fire Department, or infuriated by the laughable City of Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Department , then wonder no more and use the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's great page which includes hotline numbers for people in emergency areas. Air Quality is on many of us cyclists minds and the official word can be found at the Air Quality Management District pages. As a cyclist I do wonder about what this is doing to my lungs -- I couldn't even see Griffith Park clearly from Silverlake, let alone the San Gabriels but this data seems to claim that it's all OK. I wonder. That's what the EPA said about air quality after the Twin Towers were attacked and it turned out to be untrue.
Report this post as:
Guess I was too hard on the EPAby Harry the Helpful Cyclist Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 at 6:10 PMThey've released a statement saying that we should avoid outdoor activity. They don't say how that matches up with their data on the AQMD page though. However the statement mentions that pyrobenzenes and other contaminants (which are not monitored on the AQMD page) are released by the fire. There's a good general page about the effects of smoke on air quality also from the EPA. There's some nice animations of satellite data there too.
Report this post as:
NASA fire-smoke imageby Helpful Harry the Cyclist Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 at 6:18 PM
So, no more cycling for me until the winds shift about and blow all this stuff way inland. Wonder how long it takes to disperse and does it rise up or will people inland be suffering?
Report this post as:
Curiousby fresca Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 at 6:23 PMHaven't heard anything about ways for an average Joe to help the victims of these fires in any way.
As frightening as it might be for some of you to accept, even an evil right wing supertroll as myself would be willing to help. ANyone?
Report this post as:
Mo' linksby Helpful Harry the Cyclist Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 at 9:38 PMSome more links on the fire. Here's an advisory from the LA Dept. of Health telling us to stay indoors and to breath as little as possible. And here are some of the up-to-date neato images from NASA The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has set up a Fire Emergency Relief Fund. For information and contributions, phone 323 761-8200, or mail checks to Jewish Federation, 6505 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif., 90048, and write "Fire Relief Fund" on the memo line.
Report this post as:
Thanksby fresca Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 at 10:16 PMThanks for the links. I appreciate it.
Oh the irony is killing me.
Report this post as:
erby fresca Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 at 10:36 PMI am a drug fiend.
I am a hate monger. I am a beast of burden. I am condemned to Hell, in heaven as it is on earth i am destined to repeat my hate onver and over for a billion more lifetimes after a die. My reality will forever be consumed with Hate and anger. As long as i have conscience
Report this post as:
LOlby fresca Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 at 9:33 AM"beast of burden"?!?!?
Report this post as:
frescaby fresca Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 at 9:37 AMI contacted my local fire department and have worked 5 of the last 7 days assisting them with getting needed supplies, etc. I guarantee you not one individual of the LA-IMC collective not sheep, or kpc nor any of the left-wing/anarchists who regularly post here has lifted one of their elite fingers to help anyone during these fires.
Report this post as:
Wel...by fresca Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 at 9:40 AM..who knows? Maybe they have and maybe they have'nt.
But the complete absence of any mention of the fires or ways to directly help the community short of a rally is very telling.
Report this post as:
Fire situation is being addressedby Helpful Harry the Cyclist Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 at 11:21 AMWell, Fresca, you should try reading the news a little more and not bending everything into a pointless political argument. In case you've missed it: Bush has declared a disaster area which allows federal funding (from our taxes)to be spent on disaster relief. Meanwhile there are approximately 11,000 firefighters (again paid by our taxes) out saving lives and property. People are being evacuated in a timely and efficient manner. Many of those that lost property are covered by fire insurance and those that aren't took a risk and will be looked after by the social welfare system (such as it is).
Now, where's the crying need for aid and activity? This isn't like the situation in Africa where thousands die daily due to lack of clean water, or the situation in Iraq where people die because we're dropping bombs on them. This is an example of a collective system (collection of taxes for the common good and use of those taxes for disaster relief and aversion) working properly. Some might question why so much money has to be spent to protect people that insist on building in areas where it's known that fires are a threat and whether planning permission should have been granted, and I'll agree that is an important point. So .... is that more along the lines of the sort of thing you wanted?
Report this post as:
Uh, thanksby fresca Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 at 2:14 PM"Well, Fresca, you should try reading the news a little more and not bending everything into a pointless political argument."
I didn't actually. Infact, I didn't even bring it up originally. But I do maintain that it's very curious that a site which is supposed to be very community oriented and "people before profits" and such tripe, should be so utterly unconcerned by the suffering of so many people in our own area. I mean, look at the main page. Constant bullshit about the petty strikers, transgenders, Diebold voting machine conspiracy theory. No mention of our county, literally burning down. Sorta pathetic. And your implication that these people are somehow partially responsible because they own houses in an area where fires are a threat is unimaginably insulting. The fact is that these fires are fucking arson. No one is responsible for that. Anyway, I'm going to do what I can, and i would hope that everyone here, at least those who live here in LA, would do something as well, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they find themselves.
Report this post as:
You're welcomeby Helpful Harry the Cyclist Friday, Oct. 31, 2003 at 8:28 PMJust don't deal with the issues whatever you do. Here's a nice extract from Mike "Ecology of Fear" Davis' essay on the recent fires which may interest a "conservative" like yourself that believes in embracing personal responsibility and choosing rugged individualism:
http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?pid=1032 Fire, as a result, is politically ironic. Right now, as I watch San Diego's wealthiest new suburb, Scripps Ranch, in flames, I recall the Schwarzenegger fund-raising parties hosted there a few weeks ago. This was an epicenter of the recent recall and gilded voices roared to the skies against the oppression of an out-of-control public sector. Now Arnold's wealthy supporters are screaming for fire engines, and "big government" is the only thing standing between their $3 million homes and the ash pile.
Report this post as:
why no fire storiesby johnk Saturday, Nov. 01, 2003 at 1:52 AMThe reason why there are no fire stories is because there are only a few people who participate in the center column meetings are are eligible to put stories there. (People who wish to join up with IMC may, at our next meeting, on the Nov. 8th. See the calendar.) I know that one was busy with a big home improvment project. I got swamped under two different jobs, as well as having had a relative staying over because of the fire, and I try to have a social life, too. (I've also offered up space out here to the people I know in the IE, in case they need to get away, so don't give me sh-t about compassion, fresca. I'm tapped out!) I don't know about what's keeping the others busy, but they are probably busy.
Also, I waste a lot of time scrubbing the newswire of all the fighting that goes on here. That's right, I'm one of those hated IMC censors. I also post from time to time. When KOBE's on, I'm not out writing stories, so, those annoying posts *are* working to harm the left in LA. If that's your goal, "f-ck you very much." Please go play in another sandbox. Besides, there's a ton of human interest stories about the fire all the time on the news, and it's displacing news about the strikes. In case you all didn't notice, most of the news on IMC is stuff you don't see on the TV news or on the front of the LA Times. We try to highlight stuff that's local, or of interest to radicals and left-ish liberals. That's the way it's done here. If you don't like it, you should visit another site that's more to your liking.
Report this post as:
This sucksby yoyokinno Friday, Nov. 07, 2003 at 3:10 PMthis stuff sucks
Report this post as:
|
