CaliforniaDisasters

Imagine if Biden: • Created a $1.8 billion slush fund to hand out to rioters who assaulted police officers • Banned the IRS from auditing him, his family, and his companies • Accepted a $400 million luxury jet from a foreign monarchy Pardoned hundreds of people who assaulted police officers • Openly promoted his own meme coin while in office • Had family members cutting international business deals while he was in office and directly profiting from them • Repeatedly “joked” about staying in office past two terms • Repeatedly praised Xi, Putin, and Kim Jong Un The outrage would never end. The fact that people are becoming numb to this level of corruption is insane.

May 2026

#sandyfire Jumps Containment And Burns Over Runkle Canyon Neighborhood In Simi Valley Simi Valley, Calif. (May 19, 2026 4:30pm) A fast moving wildfire dubbed the Sandy Fire exploded across rugged hills in southern Simi Valley on Monday, rapidly growing to nearly 1,700 acres and forcing thousands of residents from their homes. The blaze, which ignited Monday morning off Sandy Avenue near Sequoia Avenue, was driven by strong winds through dry brush. The flames came up behind the homes from the wash below and jumped across the top of Sequoia Avenue and directly threatening homes in the area, prompting urgent structure protection efforts along Redwood Grove Court and nearby neighborhoods. The embercasting from the fire caught the hill behind the homes on fire which quickly spread. Dozers were dropped in and started clearing additional brush and kept it from reaching any other homes. As of Tuesday, the fire had burned 1,698 acres and was only 5% contained, according to Cal Fire and Ventura County officials. At least one home was destroyed, with additional structures threatened or damaged. Mandatory evacuation orders remained in place for large portions of southern Simi Valley and surrounding areas, affecting more than 30,000 people. Evacuation warnings extended into parts of Los Angeles County, including Chatsworth and West Hills. Schools in the Simi Valley Unified School District were closed. Hundreds of firefighters, supported by helicopters and air tankers, worked through the night and into Tuesday to contain the blaze and protect homes. Winds eased somewhat overnight but remained a concern. Residents were urged to stay vigilant and follow official updates from Ventura County Emergency Management. Shelters were established for evacuees and their animals. Also check @watchdutyapp for updates! For licensing contact newsdesk@royolnews.com See more local news on royolnews.com #vcfd #royolnews #simivalley #breakingnews

Insane stat of the day: California almonds use roughly 3–5.5 million acre-feet of water per year, depending on methodology. That's ~4-7x more water than all data centers in North America used combined in 2025.

Imagine your boss doubled your pay tomorrow. Henry Ford did exactly that to his factory workers on January 5, 1914. The New York Times' financial editor walked into his newsroom and asked if Ford had lost his mind. It built the American middle class. Before Ford's announcement, the auto industry paid roughly $2.34 a day for nine hours of work. Ford bumped his minimum to $5 for an eight-hour shift. More than double the pay for one less hour of work, and no factory in America had ever paid that kind of money for unskilled labor. Twelve thousand people showed up at the Ford factory gates the following week, sleeping outside in a January blizzard. Fire hoses came out to push the crowds back. Ford had to announce that only people who had lived in Detroit for six months would be hired. Two years later, Ford's profits had doubled. Before the raise, he had been losing nearly four workers a year for every single job on his factory floor. After, he was losing barely any. Output per worker rose 40 to 70 percent. In 1914 alone, Ford sold 308,000 Model Ts, more cars than every other carmaker put together. A Model T in 1908 cost the average American 18 months of pay. By 1925, it cost 4 months. The car got faster to build too: twelve hours per car dropped to 93 minutes. By 1918, half the cars on American roads were Model Ts. Fifteen million rolled off the line over 19 years. Then in 1926, Ford did it again. On May 1st, he gave his workers a five-day, 40-hour week, with no cut in pay. Other manufacturers were forced to match, and the two-day American weekend spread across the country. Twelve years later, federal law made it official. Henry Ford was generous with his own money too. He gave away about a third of his income every year, well above the 5 percent that rich Americans typically gave back then. He also put about $14 million into building the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, which is still one of the city's largest today. The Ford Foundation, set up in 1936, was originally a way to avoid taxes and keep his family in control of the company. The foundation got huge later, but only because Ford Motor Company stock kept rising. Even his charity money came from the business. Ford's personal giving helped a few thousand patients at his hospital. The $5 day, the cheap Model T, and the weekend reached hundreds of millions of working families over the next hundred years. Almost everything that became normal "middle class life" in America, a steady paycheck, the weekend off, a car in the driveway, came from choices Ford made to win in business. Bezos has a point. Ford's wages, his car, and his weekend did more for the average American family than every check Ford himself wrote to charity.

Did you know this about The King of the Dead in The Lord of the Rings? The King of the Men of the Mountains, who swore an oath to Isildur at Erech and pledged allegiance to Gondor on behalf of his people, refused to turn against Sauron when he rose again, as they had come to worship him during the Dark Years. Because they failed to fulfill their oath, Isildur cursed them, declaring that there would be no other King after him and that they would never find rest unless they were called upon again. During the War of the Ring, Aragorn, Isildur’s heir, summoned them through the Paths of the Dead and led them to Pelargir, where they drove off the enemy. Having fulfilled their oath, the King of the Dead broke and threw down his spear, bowed to Aragorn, and turned away, as the Shadow Host vanished. Thus, their spirits finally found peace.

#SandyFire afternoon update: Firefighters on the ground and in the air continue battling the Sandy Fire in steep, stubborn terrain. The images and video below are from the northeastern portion of the fire near the Sequoia Ave area in Simi Valley. Crews are deploying hose lines and constructing handlines to strengthen containment efforts, while air tankers continue dropping retardant ahead of the fire to slow its spread. Approximately 900 firefighters remain assigned to the incident. For the latest evacuation warnings and orders, monitor emergency.venturacounty.gov. @CountyVentura @SimiValleyPD @City_SimiValley @VENTURASHERIFF @Venturaoes

‼️🇺🇸🇨🇳 Blinken’s Stark Warning: America Alone May Not Beat China Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered a blunt assessment of the global balance of power: “If we’re competing with China one on one, that’s a game that we may lose.” Blinken pointed to the scale of China’s advantages: A larger domestic market Manufacturing output roughly three times that of the U.S. Higher purchasing power parity More scientific papers and patents The world’s largest navy by ship count His conclusion: the United States cannot outmatch China alone. But when Washington aligns with Europe, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and Canada, the equation changes dramatically. Together, that coalition represents 50–60% of global GDP, creating an economic and technological bloc that Beijing cannot easily challenge. Blinken’s message was clear: America’s greatest strategic advantage is not acting alone, it is leading an alliance too large for China to ignore.

The enemy owns the sky. You own the underground. Build missiles. Hide launch sites. Survive the retaliation. SALVO — An asymmetric warfare sim. Wishlist Now on Steam.

Why are cities liberal and rural areas conservative? I thought I knew the answer, but discovered that it's a new phenomenon. The rural/urban divide occurred in my lifetime. Here's what happened ...

This pilot calling 911 from the top of a tree sounds almost unreal 😳 After crashing short of the runway, he ends up stuck high in the branches calmly telling dispatch he doesn’t even need an ambulance… he needs a tree climber, and fast. What gets me is how composed he sounds considering his plane is literally hanging in the trees. You can hear the mix of frustration and disbelief in his voice like he knows this is going to become a story nobody will ever let him live down. Honestly, the outcome could’ve been so much worse. The fact he was able to make that call at all feels incredibly lucky ✈️🌲

Leslie Nielsen didn’t just play Frank Drebin. He committed several felonies against comedy and we let him. Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult is the last time Hollywood was allowed to be this unhinged. RIP King. 🎬🎥Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult❤️🔥

The most iconic bass line of the 2000s (Seven Nation Army) is not a real bass! The White Stripes were just two people (Jack on guitar/voice and Meg White on drums) and never had a bass player. Jack created that legendary riff by playing a Kay semi-acoustic guitar connected to a DigiTech Whammy pedal.

Willow released 38 years ago today. 20 May 1988 ⚔️

#BainFire yesterday

Hegseth: “Europa necesita el estrecho de Ormuz más que nosotros. Que se suban a un barco. Esta es su guerra, no la nuestra”. EEUU empieza una guerra contra Irán. Irán cierra el estrecho de Ormuz. ¿Y de quién es el problema? De Europa. EEUU incendia, los demás pagan la factura.

One of Southern California's remote, wild, sub-tropical islands is completely engulfed in flames and nobody is talking about it.

So let me get this straight: Donald Trump sues his own IRS, and before a judge even sees the case, Trump’s lawyers and Trump’s IRS lawyers strike a deal creating a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded settlement fund that Trump himself will oversee—deciding who deserves compensation for supposedly being “weaponized” by the justice system. The agreement also bars the IRS from ever investigating Trump, his businesses, or his family again. Then they tell the court the case was settled before it was even filed, so the judge has no jurisdiction. Corruption on a scale "we’ve never seen before!" 4-D level corruption.

This episode was where my professional career started!