Switchfoot has a brand new song for download

Switchfoot has released a brand new single via their website with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity and the San Diego fires. According to antimusic.com:

The band just released a track on their website that also features Matt T. from Relient K and Dustin from Ruth and they are asking fans to either make a donation or volunteer time with Habitat for Humanity in return for the download.

The song is called "Rebuild" and the band offers several options for donating time and/or money to the cause. They also allow for a free download for those feeling less than generous (but they are going to put your name on a list and shame you publicly, kidding, maybe).

The band wrote on their site:

So we came up with this idea, more than just giving a dollar a ticket this tour we've decided to give a song away. We love giving things away whenever we can, our hope is that you do too. Download the song, "rebuild" and give your money or your time directly to Habitat for Humanity.

Well played Blackwater, well played

Sign on San Diego is reporting that Blackwater is donating shelter supplies for those affected by the wildfire residents in Barrett Junction.

A tent city is set to spring from the ashes near Barrett Junction as wildfire-weary residents in the rugged community near the Mexico border have been told they will be without water and electricity for another 10 days. Trucks carrying makeshift quarters for up to 200 people, with tents, cots, toilets, showers, power generators, laundry facilities and a community room with TV, are scheduled to arrive today. The tent city, a donation from the controversial private-military company Blackwater Worldwide (formerly USA), is expected to be constructed tomorrow with equipment and materials coming from the firm's North Carolina headquarters.

Not that this would have anything to do with them wanting to build in the area even though there's a bunch of protesters and people who are concerned about a company currently embroiled in lawsuits and questions about their actions in Iraq.

But hey, I'll take it. Thanks for the generator and the TV.

Sure it's going to be tough but San Diego will pull through

With an economic BOOM no doubt:

Initial estimates of insured losses in the county fall in a range of $1 billion to $2 billion as many homeowners return to properties to find only slabs, fireplaces and charred remains of their possessions. The fires will disrupt the county economy in the near term, but their thorough destruction points to a local building boom over the next year as burned-out residents rebuild homes with payments from insurers -- a process the region knows well after wildfires
there in 2003 ago consumed 2,600 homes and the local economy rebounded in the
following year.

I say go out and boom the economy tonight. Plenty of opportunity to contribute, it's Halloween after all. (Later you can go home and boom something else but that's between you and the guy dressed up as Amy Winehouse you picked up at some bar, no judgment)

More rules, rules, rules in Rancho Santa Fe

I swear, one day I will write all about my Nanny/Tutor/Babysitter experience in Rancho Santa Fe. It's a whole other world up there folks, so much so that when you are on your cell phone crossing the line into THE Rancho Santa Fe the phone always CUTS OFF. They don't want no poor people cell phone waves in their area. And did you know they have the fanciest McDonalds ever?! They serve freaking Gellato and Panini's there (no joke). And their Rite Aid, their cheap potted flowers are bright, shiny and healthy. Anyway, I digress.

In the wake of the San Diego fires Rancho Santa Fe residents are pleased with the outcome of their strict construction and landscaping standards adopted in 1997.

The San Diego suburb lost 53 houses, but none of them were in the five subdivisions that embraced restrictions designed to be so tough that people can say in their homes if they cannot evacuate. The fire department in Rancho Santa Fe, whose past residents include Bing Crosby and Howard Hughes, scrutinizes plans for every tree and bush and sends inspectors with measuring tapes to make sure its orders are obeyed.

And those residents who weren't willing to adopt the rules in the first place are reconsidering. Rancho Santa Fe is mulling new rules for new areas. Changes would include fire proof roofing.

She ain't no Hollaback girl!

Gwen Stefani annouced today that she's going to donate proceeds from her San Diego concert to the San Diego fires.

proceeds from her Tuesday night October 30th, concert in San Diego at Cox Arena will go to local San Diego charity the San Diego Foundation (http://www.sdfoundation.org/), to benefit victims of the recent catastrophic area fires.

Forgive me for this next one...

That shit is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! (Yeah, yeah, it's Monday gimme a break)

Dick Cheney is tired. You'd be tired too if you had a country to run while that other guy ran off to fly around Southern California...

Vice President Dick Cheney fell asleep during an emergency briefing by President Bush on the California Wild Fires. But I get it, when you're up all night doing that last minute studying of how you could better handle this whole thing then you did that little Katrina snafu (sooo long ago now, cause we ROCKED San Diego)you're bound to be tired during the lecture. Sleep on Dick, sleep on.

National News Roundup: The Blame Game

It's choose your own simplified reason why the fires got so crazy last week, week!

It was the slow response to the danger!

It was the bueraucracy of government!

It was the crazy people living in areas that are known for having fires!

It was California's policy on fire suppression!

It was Arnold!

No it wasn't!

Yes it was.!

It was the winds!

It was the drought!

It was the weather!

It was Global Warming!

It was arson!

If you ask Google (because Google is the Oracle of our times): Poor urban and unsound rural residential planning and development arguably contribute to climate change, and to excessive burdens on our infrastructure.

And there you have it.

Evacuees are moving to the Del Mar fairgrounds

The switch is happening at noon tomorrow when they pack up and move to the Del Mar fairgrounds. According to some it's to prepare Qualcomm for the scheduled game on Sunday, according to others, well actually that seems to be the consensus.

As mentioned before, the NFL was "waiting" to see if San Diego would be ready for such a game on Sunday. "Getting back to normal" seems to be at the forefront of the city's mind. Some still worry about the air quality (less about the whole losing money from tourism thing).

Just got this information from the BIA regarding Tribal/Reservation Damage

Most Indian reservations are out there in the midlands and are usually hit pretty rapidly with fires and fire related issues. Sometimes due to the isolation it's hard to get information but here's what they sent. I have a special place in my heart for all things Native, so it's important to know that there were some HUGE businesses affected. All over the news you hear about it being "mostly homes not businesses" affected, but here are some prime examples. I also have a good friend working with the Sycuan Fire Agency, and guess what he was out there fighting from the beginning.

***********************************************************************************

Barona Reservation
Members evacuated to the hotel/casino. Structure and homes lost. Unknown number at this time. No deaths or injuries reported.

La Jolla Reservation
Members evacuated off reservation. 20 homes and structures lost. Fire started in a home on the reservation and spread to other parts of the reservation and off reservation toward the Rincon Reservation. No reports of death or injuries.

Mesa Grande Reservation
Members evacuated off reservation to nearby Pala Reservation Hotel & Casino. Structure loss unknown. No reports of deaths or injuries.

Pala Reservation
Members evacuated to hotel/casino on reservation. Structure loss unknown. No reports of death or injuries. The tribe has offered the hotel and casino as an evacuation site to other tribes in the area.

Pauma Reservation
Members evacuated. Most went to the Pala Reservation hotel/casino. Structure loss unknown. No reports of death or injuries.

Rincon Reservation
Members evacuated to hotel/casino on reservation. 15 structures lost. 8 tribal members injured. No deaths reported. The fire is burning off reservation toward the San Pasqual Reservation.

San Pasqual Reservation
Members evacuated to various locations off reservation. Structure loss unknown. No reports of death or injuries

Santa Ysabel Reservation
Members evacuated to various locations off reservation. Structure loss unknown. No reports of death or injuries

Viejas Reservation
Evacuations unknown. Damage sustained- type unknown. Structure loss unknown. No reports of death or injury

Read this article: because it's about time to start comparing San Diego to Katrina, wait we've already done that?

Okay, how about including stereotypical "this is how a Californian would approach disaster relief?" *Does anybody remember that scene in Clueless when Cher is walking out the front door with her ski equipment and her Dad says "Cher, what are you doing?" "I'm Captain of the Pismo Beach disaster relief." "I don't think they need your skis." "Daddy, some people lost everything, don't you think that includes sports equipment?" Yeah, me neither.*

The Time Online likes their California nice and California-y:

Massages, acupuncture and stress counselling are being offered to around 10,000 wildfire evacuees gathering at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego — along with Starbucks coffee, beef empanadas and fresh Caesar salads.

“The people are happy. They have everything here,” said the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, after touring the site. “Nobody does disasters better than California,” agreed David Paulison, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Of course this is an article about the biggest disaster since, oh, what was that one thing again, that thing in New Orleans, anybody... anybody?

It is all a long way from the scenes inside another stadium — the Superdome in New Orleans — two years ago when thousands sheltered from the floods of Hurricane Katrina for several days without proper food or water supplies, sanitation or government assistance.

Yeah, that Katrina thing. So anyway, that was a long time ago, you see, and now we have a chance to learn from our really big, huge, gigantor mistakes, when we totally messed up everything and acted like it wasn't such a big deal to be drowned out by water. I mean we're going to admit that we f'd up that one, right?

Mr Paulison appeared on a succession of morning television yesterday to emphasise there would be no repeat of the Katrina experience — when “things didn’t run so smoothly” — saying: “This is a new FEMA.”

Or we're going to go with "things didn't run so smoothly." Heh, heh, like days without food, water, electricity or help in sight. But whatever, we're willing to try and move forward, now that you've pledged so much help to those trying to rebuild. It's going to be great to get everything taken care of in the quickest and easiest way possible, like I'm sure you helped those poor people in New Orleans, right?

Thousands of people from New Orleans were still living in FEMA trailers and many more had been unable to obtain compensation for the loss of their homes. “I don’t think FEMA has learnt any lessons. If they had, New Orleans would not still be in the situation we find ourselves in now.”

Oh snap. Could be a LONG road ahead.

Bush is touring, Christi something or other from Headline News is happy we're watching her, you're welcome Christi something or other.

President Bush just finished getting a first hand look of wild fires and says the nation owes debt of gratitutde to thousands of fire fighters on front line. He also pledged immediate and long term federal help to those who need it in the area.

And now back to the burned houses and this really cute guy named Reggie taking us through the rubble. I like his shirt. I'm falling in love with CNN news.

Et tu New York Times?

From The New York Times: With Katrina Fresh, Bush Moves Briskly

For a presidency still haunted by memories of Hurricane Katrina, the forceful round-the-clock response was a political no-brainer — the “anti-Katrina,” in the words of Peter Wehner, a former domestic policy adviser to Mr. Bush.

Then "Man you totally f'd up that whole Katrina thing, sir."
"I sure did, didn't I? Man, when are they gonna forget about that?"

And now... "So remember how you f'd up Katrina?"
"No, I do remember we did so well in San Diego."
"But you really f'd up Katrina..."
"No, no, San Diego... SAN DIEGO. We rocked San Diego."

Arson? Are we looking at arson?

Looks like more and more news outlets are picking up on the arson investigation story. The FBI has joined the investigation which is concentrating it's efforts on pinning down any arson related information.

In Riverside County, officials said that investigators had determined that the 411-acre Rosa blaze in Temecula was intentionally set. Authorities already had said that a nearly 20,000-acre fire in Orange County was set by an arsonist.
“It’s definitely arson, and it’s been deemed a crime scene,” said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

There are also reports about the shooting death of a man in San Bernardino County. According to reports from various outlets, a man was shot to death by police after officers approached him to see if he was setting a fire.

For more information about arson investigations click here.

I personally like Sign On San Diego for their less doomsday coverage

There is still cautious optimism in the San Diego area. While winds have died down and thousands have been allowed back to their homes to survey the damage, others are still in shelters and there are still some fires burning completely unchecked.

Since Sunday, the wildfires in San Diego County have forced about 560,000 people to flee their homes. The fires also have caused more than $1 billion in property damage, disaster-relief experts said yesterday.

As of early last night, fire officials reported that five blazes had burned more than 327,000 acres and destroyed at least 1,100 homes.

Although some critics (online bloggers are mentioned!) voiced concern over the original lack of help from the air, Governor Schwarzenegger refutes such claims saying that aircrafts could not fly because of high winds at the start of the week.

“Anyone complaining about the planes just wants to complain because that's a bunch of nonsense,” Schwarzenegger told ABC News during a morning interview.

The calmer conditions are a great help to firefighters trying to get blazes under control but they will not help improve air quality in and around San Diego.

President Bush is expected to speak in California later this afternoon.

Sign on San Diego is way more positive than any other news source...

Good old Sign on San Diego is keeping the positive vibes going with reports of fires being contained, fire fighters able to get ahead of the once out of control flames and the return of residents to their homes.

“The worst is behind us,” said Ron Lane, director of the county Emergency Operations, at a news conference featuring Michael Chertoff, chief of federal Homeland Defense.

President Bush is expected to visit San Diego Thursday to view the fire damage, according to the governor's office.

There are still out of control fires burning, but with the weather looking up and the helicopters better able to fly and drop water, it looks like a turning point. (They've been promising a turning point for a while, so we'll call this cautious optimism.)

National News Roundup : Personal Stories from MSNBC

MSNBC has posted personal fire stories and accounts from all over Southern California. They are still adding stories on a consistant basis. Below is a reposted Oceanside account.

'Worst fires I've witnessed in my 30 years'

I work in San Diego and was astonished by the amount of smoke along my coastal ride south on the train to work. Many of my co-workers are not at work as we have at least of half of a dozen in just my department of 30 who have been evacuated from their homes. I left early due to uncertain transportation back to the train and when I arrived at my home in North San Diego County (near Fallbrook) I'm looking at smoke from fires up here as well. These are the worst fires I've witnessed in my 30 years living in California. While many people are affected, our emergency services were as prepared as best they could for this disaster.

--Greg Weir, Oceanside, CA (submitted on Oct. 22, 2007)