Extra, Extra: Fires Force Ferocious Feelings

• Fires raged across Southern California for the second day in a row. Helicopters joined the effort as did a Boeing 747, according to NBC TV. Also, 250,000 San Diegans were told to evacuate their homes. LAist is on top of recent developments.
  
• Fires in the region always make me think of when NBC newscaster Chuck Henry reported on the forest fires in 2003. His news van caught on fire and he and his crew had to be rescued by the fire department. As he reported on the unfolding inferno, Henry couldn't contain his emotions. Sobbing to the camera, he said, "Stupid truck, full of equipment." Ahhh, in such tragic times, it's good to laugh.
  
• But who will allow you to share your innermost thoughts and feelings about this ferocious inferno? Why, the LA Times blog, of course, where one inquisitive commenter asked, "Where is the fire?" and another commented, "Why wuld we care if some movie stars house may burn down? This happens every year. It's getting boring......Let move on!!!"
  
• In other news, an annual march against police brutality got under way in Downtown today. This year marks the seven-year anniversary of when cops ironically fired rubber bullets at protesters. I was there at the time and, in the cops defense, people dressed in black with bandannas around their faces is downright scary. Rubber bullet scary.
  
• All this talk about the New England Patriots gunning for a perfect, unbeaten season reminds me of when the Raiders almost went undefeated last year. Oh wait, right. We don't have football and, according to Mayor Sam (via Daily News), we might not ever have a team.
  
• Looking for a way to get a pre-Thanksgiving workout in and see one of L.A.'s main artery's? Franklin Avenue is following up their walk down Wilshire last year with a jaunt down the entire stretch of Pico on Nov. 17. If Massive Attack did it, you can too.
  
• KPCC asks, will California's Feb. 5 primary make a dent in the national presidential race? If recent polls are any indication, it looks like our vote will be less an experiment in activism than a lesson in civics.
  
• Colbert is causing quite a stir in his bid to "run" for President. I have mixed feelings on Colbert's run, but am excited that, in as much as this is fake, it is energizing a pretty placid campaign trail.
  
• Are taco trucks under attack? For the love of all things delicious, I hope not.
  
• And finally, Bush requested more money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Best quote about this issue from the Salon War Room: "The additional $46 billion the president seeks today is about one-and-a-half times as much as the amount Bush says the government can't possibly spend over the next five years on the State Children's Health Insurance Program." Fuck it: Colbert 08!
  

Photo by sundogg via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr