Posted On: October 24, 2007, 5:21 pm CDT

Posted By: DJ

Ohioan: I don't know what you mean by not expecting anything more from a native Californian. You don't know me so your statement is curious.

I am under stress, but my barrage doesn't have anything to do with the stress. I didn't like the insinuations being made and your first comment just set me off.
I just happen to be a proud Californian providing facts to those who don't have them.

Bureauracy is not confined to California, it is part of life and we all live with it.
I don't know of many politicians who actually act in the best interests of the people - if they did, the approval rating for Congress would be much higher.

Prevention is not an option and and we do as much of that as we can. If you look at the enormity of the situation and the relatively small numbers of structures lost, you have to know that we have taken precautions but there are some things bigger than we can control. Had we not made changes in the past and had not taken precautions, the numbers of structures lost would have been much higher. Do you realize the numbers of structures in the path of the wind-driven flames ? Do you realize some of those winds were clocked at 108 mph ????? How do you protect against that ???

If you watch what is going on in San Diego, we are reaching out and helping each other. Even those who have lost everything are helping others. Say what you want about "native Californians" but over all I'm awfully proud of how we have been handling the cards we've been dealt. That is how you truly judge the character of people.