Random News: January 9, 2025

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s January 9, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Just waking up this morning for another day in the land of flames and smoke. We’ll definitely be discussing that in more detail. Once again, I need to reiterate… other than shitty air quality, I’m in little to no danger from fire where I live.

• You may have heard the phrase “Santa Ana Winds” a number of times in relation to the ongoing large-scale fires here in Southern California.
• Those are nothing new. The term long predates me. We’ve referred to them as such for many decades. Steely Dan’s 1980 song “Babylon Sisters” famously has the line, “Here come those Santa Ana winds again.”
• But what are they?
• Santa Ana winds are most common during the cooler months from September through May. They are caused by high pressure over the desert of the southwestern U.S., that pushes through the mountain passages in Southern California toward an area of lower pressure off the Pacific coast.
• The key characteristic is that the winds are what's known as katabatic, meaning they flow downhill. As the air mass drops in altitude, it compresses and heats up — by about 18 degrees Fahrenheit per half mile.
• So, the main characteristics of Santa Anas is that they are hot and dry. And then, hitting a drought-stricken area full of dried scrub, fires flare up with the finest spark or cinder that could come from a vehicle tailpipe, a careless cigarette ash, some idiot using their fireplace, and so on.
• Or on purpose via arson, but let’s not go there.
• Here’s the current update on the SoCal fires.
• More gusty winds were forecast for today as fire crews struggled to gain containment on the 17,000-acre Palisades Fire — the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history.
• At least 1,000 structures, many of them homes, have been destroyed by fire, which first erupted Tuesday amid hurricane-force, dry Santa Ana winds in the area of North Piedra Morada Drive.
• It quickly swept through residential and commercial districts in this affluent coastal community, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee.
• At last check a few minutes ago, the fire was mapped at 17,234 acres with zero containment. The cause remains under investigation.
• The Palisades Fire is one of several that broke out in the past couple of days. At least five people are dead and many more are injured.
• Thousands of firefighters are battling at least five sprawling wildfires spread around the Los Angeles area, as well as several smaller blazes. Thousands of structures have been damaged or destroyed and more than 100,000 people evacuated as uncontrolled infernos spread.
• In addition to Palisades, the Eaton Fire in Altadena began on Tuesday. It expanded to 10,600 acres and is at 0% containment. About 500 structures there have been damaged or destroyed.
• The Hurst Fire in Sylmar, northwest of San Fernando, began on Tuesday and has burned 855 acres. It is at 10% containment.
• The Lidia Fire erupted yesterday on the northwest edge of the Angeles National Forest. It has grown to 348 acres and is at 40% containment.
• And then last night, the Sunset Fire broke out above West Hollywood, burning 43 acres near a densely populated area. They’ve done a great job managing that one, and a short while ago this morning lifted the evacuation orders.
• Again, the scale of the damage and disruption wrought in Los Angeles is unprecedented. Yesterday, President Joe Biden approved a federal major disaster declaration for Los Angeles County.
• All of the other information about the direct causes of each blaze will be determined later. For now, the important thing is taking care of the people and animals affected.
• Most schools in LA County — including the country’s second largest district, the LAUSD — are closed. And as I mentioned, even in areas miles from the fires (like my home in Redondo Beach), we’re dealing with awful air quality and ash/soot blanketing the area.
• I should mention that smoke is no joke.
• Researchers sought to quantify the long-term outcomes of smoke exposure from California wildfires between 2008 and 2018. Their paper modeled statewide levels of tiny particles in wildfire smoke called PM2.5, and applied mortality data by ZIP code. 
• They estimated that up to 55,710 premature deaths were attributable to wildfire-related PM2.5 in the air.
• Around 90% of wildfire smoke is made up of these particles, which are 30 times smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair. PM2.5 particles can migrate deep into the lungs, and, from there, into the bloodstream, causing everything from inflammation to asthma attacks to sudden cardiac death.
• High-risk groups include the elderly and people who already have compromised breathing — those with asthma, COPD, and so on.
• Most of us in SoCal are very familiar with the Air Quality Index, or AQI. It’s likely accessible via your weather app on your phone. Yesterday morning, mine was as high as 183. A few minutes ago it was at 134.
• If the AQI is above 100, avoid outdoor exercise. If it's above 150, wear a tight-fitting N95 mask when you're outside.
• And even inside, you’re not safe. Keep all windows and doors closed. I have a high-efficiency air purifier downstairs, and smaller units upstairs. They’ve been running a lot in the past couple of days.
• Okay. Let’s move on.
• As I’m writing this, the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter is going on at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
• In attendance are five living men who have also served as president: Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and George W. Bush. There are also current and former vice presidents, supreme court justices, and congressional leaders.
• Carter will be buried in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, following a private funeral service at Maranatha Baptist Church, where the former president taught Sunday school.
• Note that the stock market and many federal services (like the post office) are closed today in honor of the national day of mourning during Carter’s memorial.
• In other news…
• Why does Donnie Dump give a shit about his sentencing tomorrow when the judge has already stated he will face no punishment?
• Over the past week, Dumpy’s lawyers have fought in four courthouses to make his Friday hush-money sentencing date disappear — and safeguarding the liquor licenses at his three New Jersey golf courses may be one reason for that effort.
• Again, be aware that New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has said he's inclined to hand down a zero-punishment sentence. Dump won't need to attend in person.
• However, the instant he becomes a sentenced felon, Dump will have received what Jersey liquor officials consider to be a final judgment of conviction.
• That finality would allow the state's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control to resume last year's efforts to revoke two of his licenses.
• All of the licenses are in Donald Trump Jr.'s name, not his father's, but the ABC said last summer that the president-elect is the sole financial beneficiary of those licenses.
• Stupid man-baby.
• Moving on.
• In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court tomorrow in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.
• TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok’s sale by its Chinese parent company.
• The justices also have before them a plea from Ol’ Dumpy, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach what they call a “political resolution” and avoid deciding the case.
• It’s unclear if the court will take the president-elect’s views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.
• And now, The Weather: “I Figured” by Lutalo
• From the Sports Desk… more fire news.
• The NFL said yesterday that it is monitoring the LA County fire situation's potential impact on Monday night's wild-card playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. They have a contingency plan that involves moving the game to Arizona should the need arise.
• In a statement last night, the NFL said it continues to prepare for the game to be played at SoFi Stadium, but if it had to be moved, it would take place Monday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the home of the Arizona Cardinals.
• That has happened before. In 2003, the league moved a Monday night regular-season game between the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, due to wildfires.
• Today in history… King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements measures against the Jews in Spain (681). The Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated (1349). Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the United States Constitution (1788). British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars (1799). The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process (1822). Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861). Ernest Shackleton plants the British flag 97 nautical miles from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time (1909). Battle of Bear Valley, the last battle of the American Indian Wars (1918). British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty (1957). The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail (1992). Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco (2007). 
• January 9 is the birthday of composer John Knowles Paine (1839), activist Carrie Chapman Catt (1859), engineer Joseph Strauss (1870), art collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875), psychologist John B. Watson (1879), philosopher/activist Simone de Beauvoir (1908), US president Richard Nixon (1913), actor Lee Van Cleef (1925), NFL player Bart Starr (1934), actor Bob Denver (1935), singer-songwriter/activist Joan Baez (1941), guitarist/songwriter/producer Jimmy Page (1944), singer Crystal Gayle (1951), actor J. K. Simmons (1955), NBA player Muggsy Bogues (1965), singer-songwriter Dave Matthews (1967), and NFL player Chad Johnson (1978).

So listen… there’s a lot more news, but I’m out of time. That happens when things are… interesting. But as always, my advice to you — take it or leave it — is that you are much more powerful than you give yourself credit for, as well as being more resilient than you realize. No matter what’s going on, how you choose to react is what’s important. Stay positive and do what you can to not only help yourself, but those around you as well. Enjoy your day.