The Divine Mr. M

~It is presently 96° and 15% humidity. It got down to 66° around two this morning, but we stayed sealed up because of the tower of smoke looming over us.



via CA-KRN-CANYON - #WUIFire - 13,473 acres - 10% contained (MAPS) #CaFire

Just FYI that lil burg down on the lower right, Rosamond; that's our 10-20. Fun eh? But the gray area next door is Edwards Air Force Base. It's kind of important - the Space Shuttle used to land there - so I expect the various authorities to do Their Very Best to contain this fucker.

by Myrddin on 8/27/2011 11:44:00 AM

Reason TV has been looking into some very strange and heavy handed tactics being used to drive people off desert land in the Antelope Valley, LA County.



For people who prefer to read, LA Weekly has an article on the situation.

Mark Frauenfelder over at Boing Boing is as puzzled by this piece as I am. Why would the local government be trying to drive people off their land when there is nobody else living in the area. More important, why won't the county supervisor, Michael Antonovich answer any questions on the matter?

The local residents being bullied think that there is some kind of development plan behind the moves. If I was in that situation I would probably come to the same conclusion.

From a political perspective, Republican Antonovich has to go. Whatever his motives, whatever his reasons, there should be no place in public office for officials who won't explain or be accountable for their actions.