There were many differences between the chaos at the Astro Dome during the Katrina Hurracaine and the orderly cooporative endeavor at the Qualcomm Stadium.

There is no doubt that between the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisanna many mistakes were made, however, one thing struck me.

The victims of these fires, many poor, many immigrants came together to help each other, including volunteering to give to the others.

The victims of Katrina didn’t seem to have that same Spirit of Community. There was a “welfare” mentality amongst many of these people that undermined their own ability to make “lemonade out of lemons”.They didn’t come together to help each other, they created a “hell” on earth.

The fire victims were poor but they were working poor, not welfare poor. Welfare does rob people of their own ability to rise above their circumstances.

This is the first time that I saw the distinction.

The Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons do not help their people. Welfare as a way of life weakens people ability to problem solve.

We all know that air pollution can damage our lungs. Did you ever notice pictures of people in China are usually wearing a face mask to keep the particles out of their noses?

This past week the air quality in all of Southern California has been poor. The sun is filtered through smoke from the fires. Even in the San Fernando Valley we see the smoke, though the fire hasn’t touched us here.

Now there is a report out that fire ash can damage your car’s paint. If not washed off thoroughly it will erode the paint.

So, car wash operators will love the additional busines from these fires–wash and wax your car.

Last Sunday night at 6PM my heart stopped as I heard the news;there was a fire at Silverado Canyon in Orange County.

I live in the San Fernando Valley, however, my disabled brother lived in that rural canyon. The roads are extremely narrow. The houses are modest in this canyon, especially in the section my brother lived in.

A few years prior torrential rains caused a huge boulder to crash through the General Store’s window killing the store owner’s daughter. I’ve been concerned about this area for my brother,especially since he had had a heart attack in July. He was reluctent to move as he had a large dog, but he did realize in Sept. that he needed to leave the canyon. We spoke in Sept. and he was waiting for a vacancy in an Assisted Living facility. He didn’t tell me the name, nor am I sure of the city in Orange County. I called him the beginning of Oct. and his telephone number was disconnected. I wrote him a note and I haven’t heard from him,nor has the letter been returned.

Then the fire, started by an arsonist who in my opinion is an evil human being. I don’t excuse this kind of behavior with psychological interpretation.Sociopaths don’t have a conscience and this arsonist chose of terrain was calculated to create an inferno.

Thursday, I felt a great relief to find out that my brother had moved before the fire, even though I still don’t know where he is.

One of the residents of the Silverado Canyon was interviewed on TV. He said, they are not people with expensive houses, they are just plain people.

These people had to fend for themselves because there were few fire fighting assets for Orange County. They did a heroic job.

I will have more to say about these fires.