California Rains Spread Fear

It wasn't so long ago that the Santa Anna winds blew the wildfires all around Santa Barbara and other places, destroying all the trees and ground cover and many homes. Now the homes that are left are in danger of mudslides. When there is nothing to hold the ground from slipping, it will. Those people living near the areas that were scarred by recent wildfires are sandbagging around their homes. In some places they were urged to leave their homes on Tuesday as a storm approaching from the Pacific brought a threat of floods and mudslides.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneger ordered state agencies to prepare to aid local organizations in case of disaster. He said that the state stands ready to help local governments protect lives and property. There is a low-pressure area about 700 miles off the coast that was heading northeast and could bring an inch of rain through Thanksgiving and up to 4 inches in the mountains.

Shiites Burn Bush Effigy in Protest

On Friday, supporters of a radical Shiite cleric, while chanting "no to America" burned an effigy of President Bush. This was in a protest demanding parliament scuttle a U.S.-Iraqi security pact and American troops begin withdrawing from Iraq immediately. The demonstration drew nearly 20,000 followers of Muqtada al-Sadr to Firdous Square, the same spot where U.S. Marines toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein and exultant Iraqis pummeled it with debris in what became an iconic image of the fall of Baghdad and the end of the dictator's rule. It is too bad there are so many different factors among the Iraqi. They can't seem to agree on anything.

Friday's protest was the latest display of opposition to an accord that could push Iraq into new political turmoil even though the ruling coalition appears to have enough parliamentary votes to narrowly approve the deal. Monday Parliament is scheduled to vote on the pact. I wonder how this is going to come out. Guess we will find out soon.