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The Voice of the Turtledove: "There are no Palisades""As I'm coming down the middle of the night -- no lights. I didn't know where it was on PCH, because all of the landmarks are gone.You don't know what street you've crossed; you don't know which house you've passed.It's -- it's just done. It's all done.You don't -- even --- yeah, you feel a little guilty if your house is still standing, kind of. But, you know so happy.And it's not the house. It's just stuff in your house. And it's the house.But -- I don't, I don't know. I mean,...

Past antagonisms keep repeating themselves The U.S. border crisis has an historical underlay that is generally disregarded in analyses of the “illegal migrant crisis.” Unconscious as well as longstanding conflicts impact so-called current events. Most of the “migrants” are from Mexico, Central and South America, although clearly with the Biden-manipulated influx we also see cohorts of Chinese, Middle Eastern, and African “migrants.” [The word migrants is in quotation marks because at one level they are migrants, but they also might be referred to as invaders, illegal border crossers, Trojan horse warriors sent to undermine the politics and economics of the...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that an aircraft was damaged by a drone Thursday while fighting the deadly Palisades fire in Los Angeles. “Fire officials informed the FAA that a firefighting aircraft struck a drone while it was operating over the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles on Thursday, Jan. 9,” the agency issued in a statement. “The aircraft landed safely. The FAA will investigate,” the agency added. Officials have implemented several Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) in the area and have warned citizens of the danger aircrafts can pose while circulating wildfires. The FAA said unauthorized air activity during the...

For many Gen Zers, paying off student loans and affording decent housing may seem like a pipe dream. But this may be a distant problem for young Japanese talent emerging from universities heading into the workforce. 40% of Japanese pupils graduating in March this year have already had at least one job offer a full year before they’re set to wrap up school. That’s the highest percentage since 2016. With an aging population and low birth rates, there simply aren’t enough skilled young workers to go around, so firms are resorting to recruiting students before they’ve left college—and it’s creating...

Special Dispatches to the New-York Times. WASHINGTON, Monday, Jan. 9. THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. The vote on the constitutional amendment will, by arrangement, be taken late to-morrow evening. The speech of to-day, made by MOSES F. ODELL, of New-York, was a convincing argument in favor of this measure, and an able appeal to the Democratic party to throw aside all partisan feeling and sustain it, thereby setting at rest forever the subject which has caused so much agitation and excitement in our national counsels. Mr. YEAMAN, giving voice to the aspirations of loyal Kentucky, made a powerful and eloquent appeal in...

Meta employees are furious with the company’s newly announced content moderation changes that will allow users to say that LGBTQ+ people have “mental illness,” according to internal conversations obtained by 404 Media and interviews with five current employees. The changes were part of a larger shift Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday to do far less content moderation on Meta platforms. “I am LGBT and Mentally Ill,” one post by an employee on an internal Meta platform called Workplace reads. “Just to let you know that I’ll be taking time out to look after my mental health.” On Monday, Mark Zuckerberg announced...

Powerball winner Edwin Castro’s multimillion-dollar Malibu getaway has been destroyed in the horrific Palisades Fire, reducing the once-luxurious digs to a pile of ash. After the deadly fire tore through the area, all that remained of Castro’s $3.8 million home was concrete pillars and smoldering wood, photos obtained by The Post show. The destroyed Malibu abode was one of several Castro purchased after he won the historic $2.04 billion prize back in November 2022.

The Pacific Palisades area ravaged by wildfires in Los Angeles is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the U.S., home to Hollywood A-Listers and multimillion dollar mansions. And ahead of this week's disaster, its insurance costs were among the most affordable in the country, according to a Reuters analysis of insurance and real estate industry data. That may be about to change. The scale of losses anticipated in the wildfires now ringing Los Angeles, as well as regulatory changes enacted late last year, could spell an end to relatively cheap homeowners' insurance in areas like the Palisades that are...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass demanded her Fire Department make an extra $49million of budget cuts last week, a leaked memo revealed. This cut is already on top of $17.6million of cuts in her latest budget. The extra cuts, requested just days before fires broke out and devastated swathes of Los Angeles, would have shut down 16 fire stations and crippled the department's ability to respond to emergencies, sources said. ** We have fire engines we can't get parts for. When one breaks down we strip it of parts to put on other fire engines because we can't buy any...

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday morning in his New York hush money case after a jury in May convicted him on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to an "unconditional discharge" -- allowing Trump to avoid prison, fines or probation -- out of respect for the principle of presidential immunity, which takes effect on Jan. 20 once Trump becomes president.

The most politically damaging video to emerge from the massive wildfires burning Los Angeles could have been of Mayor Karen Bass staring blankly into a camera like a deer in headlights as reporters asked her if she had anything to say to the thousands of people whose homes were incinerated. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) did one worse than Bass by telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “The local folks are going to have to figure that out,” after Cooper asked why so many fire hydrants in the city had no water to douse the flames threatening homes. Newsom shouldn’t have been...

DGIST researchers developed a nitrogen-doped carbon material to boost the performance of lithium–sulfur batteries, achieving faster charging, improved capacity, and long-term stability, paving the way for their commercialization. Professor Jong-sung Yu’s team developed a nitrogen-doped porous carbon material that boosts lithium–sulfur battery performance, achieving rapid charging (12 minutes) and long-term stability (82% capacity retention after 1,000 cycles). This breakthrough could accelerate battery commercialization. A research team led by Professor Jong-sung Yu from the DGIST Department of Energy Science and Engineering, under President Kunwoo Lee, has developed a groundbreaking technology to dramatically improve the charging speed of lithium-sulfur batteries. The team...

A homeless man allegedly trying to start a fire with a blowtorch was tackled and zip-tied by furious Los Angeles locals carrying out a citizens' arrest. Locals claim the man was riding a bicycle around the Woodland Hills neighborhood on Thursday afternoon and carrying a large 'propane tank or a flamethrower'. Community members claim they surrounded the man, brought him to the ground, and tied him up with zip ties after they allegedly saw him trying to set fire to an object behind a vehicle. One local said the man was 'very focused on moving forward with the blow torch',...

Lars Ultra MAGA Larson @LarsLarsonShow Those 60 engines sent yesterday to the Cali fires are not on the fire lines...yet. https://opb.org/article/2025/01/08/oregon-sending-crews-help-battle-los-angeles-area-wildfires/ They've been ordered to submit to a DOT inspection in Sacramento that's scheduled for 4:30 pm today. If they clear the inspection, they'll THEN be able to drive 400 miles to Pacific Palisades. Talk about "looking a gift horse in the mouth." Then, on the way home, they get inspected again, and if they get red tagged, it's "fix it before you can return." Does liberal stupidity know no bounds? (I'm still waiting for a return call from @OSFM...

Trump and his MAGA allies are already targeting the four major pillars of resistance to Trump during his first term. As we prepare for Trump’s second regime — which promises to be far worse than the first — it’s important to do what we can to protect and fortify these four centers of opposition. 1. Universities University faculties are dedicated to finding and exposing the truth — which has often meant calling out Trump’s lies. But Trump has warned that he’ll change the criteria for university accrediting in order to force university faculties into line...... 2. Nonprofits America’s nonprofits have...

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) endorsed Democratic National Committee vice chair candidate David Hogg on Friday, marking the latest big name endorsement for Hogg. “David Hogg represents exactly the kind of bold, dynamic, and courageous leadership the Democratic Party needs right now,” Walz said in a statement. “After campaigning with David throughout the country, I know firsthand his unique ability to connect with the American people and to speak to the strengths of our party,” he continued. “This is exactly what we need right now: experienced, thoughtful, and energized leadership that meets people where they are and takes bold action...

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) defends President-elect Trump's criticism of Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) handling of the California Wildfires, and slams Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Jesus said, “When you welcome the stranger, you welcome me….” Matthew 25:35At no time has the church in the US had a greater opportunity to welcome Jesus among us as he journeys with migrants, immigrants, and refugees than today. We your bishops are clear that the situation these beloved of God face as the Trump Administration comes to power threatens their humanity, livelihood, and basic human rights. For decades, a broken immigration system in the U.S. has kept migrants, immigrants and refugees in this country living in the shadows of society in a state of perpetual fear. They have come...

VIDEOThey just can't stand it. How dare Barack Obama talk amiably with President Trump. It is just something they can't tolerate since they think Orange Man Bad should have been OSTRACIZED at Jimmy Carter's funeral. Watch the Bluesky Bolsheviks throw conniption fits over Obama talking in a very chummy manner with Trump.

Border officers in Arizona recently seized a rocket launcher and two rocket-propelled grenades they say were “likely” going to end up in the hands of the brutal Mexican cartels. The weapons cache was concealed in a vehicle bound for Mexico and discovered by officers working at the port of entry in Nogales, AZ, on Dec. 28, according to Customs and Border Protection. Nogales Port Director Michael Humphries wrote on X that “the cache was likely intended to protect the cartels and their fentanyl production labs in Mexico.” The US Attorney’s Office in Arizona said that the weapons were inspected and...