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Photo by MaryLindsay via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

• SoCal es en fuego...there are fires burning in Sylmar, Corona, Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills. Hundreds of homes have been lost and thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate. A state of emergency has been declared in LA County. For official updates, check out the websites for the LAFD and the Orange County Fire Authority.
• We got a txt msg (how cool is that!) from the City of Santa Clarita telling us that the 5 and 14 freeways have been reopened (for now, anyway). We signed up for text alerts here -- and other communities might want to think about installing similar systems.
• Thousands of protesters braved the heat and the wrath of the Mormons today to protest prop H8. LAist has pictures of Democracy in action in Downtown LA.
• Speaking of h8, the election of our first (half) African-American president has spurred 'hundreds' of racial threats and crimes: cross burnings, nooses and kids chanting "assassinate Obama." What is a matter with some people?
• Upset in the making? Stanford and USC are tied at halftime. Remember last year's football game when Stanford was a 41-point underdog and ... well, ended up beating 'SC 24-23?
• Tomorrow marks the start of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (Nov. 16-22). With the economy in the crapper and Los Angeles burning down, it's a reminder that we all need to be a little more aware of the hardships many families face right now. We got a heads up e-mail from someone video documenting those "invisible people" right now.
• Are you watching a lot of TV? A recent poll showed that unhappy people watch the boob tube 30 percent more than happy people. But hey, it's cheaper than therapy.
• File this under celeb nonnews: SamRo is PO'd that LiLo got hit with a flour bomb whilst she was wearing a fur coat in Gay Paris.