Wildfire Resources and Statistics

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com Helpful resources: •  The "Live Big Bear Scanner" has a live feed of radio transmissions by rescue workers. •  This site has a list of incidents based on scanner traffic. •  The state has a list that includes detailed information about each fire. •  USA TODAY published an interactive graphic that explains how the fires are moving across the state. •  KPBS News has a live audio feed of its reports and a Twitter feed with the latest news about the fires. (You can find a list of other Twitter feeds here.) •  This Google Map has a visual representation of the fires and efforts to contain them. •  This state map includes annotations next to each of the fires. Here are the latests statistics, according to the L.A. Times: • 420,424 acres or 656 square miles burned • 1,155 homes destroyed • 881,500 people evacuated • 1 person killed (five other deaths linked to the fires)

Woman confronts Condi Rice with 'blood' on her hands

The big version of this photo shows the look on Condi's face much better.

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com Protester Desiree Farooz confronts Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a photograph taken today by Charles Dharapak of the Associated Press. Rice was preparing to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee when she encountered Farooz inside the hearing room. Farooz had painted her hands red, apparently to symbolize her group's claim that members of President Bush's cabinet have blood on their hands because of the way they've waged war in Iraq. USA TODAY has a wire story about the secretary's subsequent testimony about the Mideast peace process.

Helping the Fed Target Asset Prices

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Joseph Carson, director of global economic research at Alliance Bernstein, thinks he has the answer. He’s created a “broad price index” combining consumer prices, producer prices and asset prices. “The weighting scheme is designed to approximate the relative importance of each sector in the overall economy, with consumer prices given the dominant share, followed by smaller shares allotted to producer, real estate and equity prices,” he says. The index registered strong surges in both 1999-2000 and 2004-2005, a signal that the Fed’s monetary policy was too easy at the time, he says. On the other hand, at present it is growing at about the same rate as core consumer prices, suggesting Fed policy is about right.

Poll: Who will win the Penn State-Ohio State game?

Go vote.

clipped from smartclips.blogspot.com Who will win this week's Penn State-Ohio State football game? clipped from www.google.com Penn State Ohio State clipped from smartclips.blogspot.com

Wildfire Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

Words could never convey the true devastation.

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com clipped from www.cnn.com clipped from www.cnn.com clipped from www.cnn.com

It looked like the end of the world

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com "It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world." How many homes did he and his crew see burn? "I lost count," he said. North of San Diego, in Orange County, fire crews are trying desperately to keep the Santiago fire from consuming hundreds, possibly thousands, of homes in Foothill Ranch (photo). The Los Angeles Times has a dramatic photo of a dozen firefighters who were trapped temporarily on a burning ridge. They escaped unharmed. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has details, though the site says it is experiencing "technical difficulties."

Watch Wildfires Devour Homes

clipped from edition.cnn.com Monday evening, Schwarzenegger asked U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to order delivery of all available Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) to help fight the fires. Watch fires devour homes and land » According to the White House, the federal Agriculture Department will provide fire crews, air tankers and helicopters to fight the fires, and the state will receive assistance grants to help pay firefighting costs. See where fires burn across Southern California »

265,000 flee massive wildfires

clipped from edition.cnn.com Fire officials said more than 265,000 people have been evacuated and nearly 4,900 firefighters are battling the fast-moving blazes, which began over the weekend. By Monday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention had reported 13 active wildfires have consumed more than 98,000 acres and destroyed or damaged at least 50 homes and businesses across six counties. Monday evening, Schwarzenegger asked U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to order delivery of all available Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) to help fight the fires. Watch fires devour homes and land » This photograph, taken from space Monday afternoon shows smoke rising from the wildfires in Southern California.

The Seven Habits of Truly Miserable People

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't this what politicians do all the time?

clipped from body.aol.com And what are the seven deadlies? They are punishing, complaining, blaming, threatening, nagging, criticizing, and bribing. <BR><BR>Unfortunately, a lot of us use the seven deadlies, as Dr. Glasser calls them, without even realizing it. <BR><BR>Your younger sister spends an hour making the salad for dinner, and you criticize her choice of ingredients as unhealthy. You say that you just want her to live long and prosper, but is that really your objective? Or are you trying to control her? Your husband rarely mops up the bathroom sink after he shaves. So just about every morning you complain, "This sink is a mess!" and blame, "I'm never on time for work, because I have to clean it up!" Oh really? Or are you trying to force him to clean up the sink

Do 30 minute workouts Work?

Sounds good, lets do it.

clipped from www.ediets.com Depending on your fitness level, these 30-minute workouts can burn 164 calories to 522 calories per 30 minutes. It varies with each individual. The Baylor studies also found that sedentary and overweight women who followed the workouts for a period of 14 weeks raised their resting metabolic rate by as much as 400 kcals/day. They reduced their weight by an average of 14 pounds and lost an average of two inches from their hips and three inches from their waists while showing a 20 to 30-percent improvement in strength and a 15-percent increase in aerobic capacity

mc cain versus clinton

clipped from thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com So here’s a puzzle. If Rudolph W. Giuliani is leading the Republican field in the national polls, and Mitt Romney is leading the field in the early states, why is John McCain running closer to Hillary Clinton than the rest of the pack? As for why Mr. McCain does less well against his fellow Republicans, Mr. Ayres said: “He has taken some positions on campaign finance reform and illegal immigration that many Republicans find discomforting.” At the same time, he said, “Republicans like to talk a lot about how they want a candidate who governs by principle rather than polls, and John McCain is the poster boy for governing by principle rather than polls, specifically on Iraq and illegal immigration.”

Ellen Searching for Best Home Town in America

clipped from ellen.aol.com Take Ellen Home Ellen is on the hunt for America's best hometown. Will it be yours? Look up your town to see what your neighbors are bragging about. Or, be the first to submit your city in a category below. Click here for a message from Ellen »