Smokey the bear is 78 years old tomorrow.

Fire is dangerous.

Nine out of ten forest fires are caused by humans. The word preparedness and prevention are the most important words in ending forest fires. The number of forest fires started by lightning is far fewer than started by humans.

Utility companies across the country go through awareness training of it's subscribers to call before digging anywhere.

It is that same PRESENCE OF MIND Americans need to use when near or in forests.

1. Always have a water source nearby. This is in case the fire begins to be out of hand. Like a fire extinguisher indoors, a container of water is very important when near or in forests.

2. Never leave a fire unattended, even for a minute. This seems obvious to me, but, always extinguish a fire and be sure the embers are no longer hot when leaving a campsite.

3. Keep a metal shovel and bucket nearby. The shovel and bucket are methods of extinguishing fires that have leapt out of the containment stones or brim of a fire pit. Shoveling any available dirt near the fire will smother it by eliminating oxygen to feed it.

4. Put out fires completely with water. Always be sure the embers of a fire are completely extinguished by water. Every park, be it state or national has water somewhere nearby like a water pump station. Do yourself a favor and douse the fire with water to be sure the campfire is completely cold. It takes only a small effort to save the forest from flames for next years outing.

5. Don’t burn on windy days or during dry weather. That also seems obvious to me, but, people get anxious about waiting until the wind dies down and figures "It is only a small fire." There is no such thing as a small fire. Any fire is dangerous. If in a droughted area the chance of a small fire spreading by wind is very high. There is little to nothing that can be done with a shovel or water bucket if the fire is carried by wind to another droughted spot. Be patient and wait for the wind to end before starting a fire for any reason.

"Only you can prevent wildfires."

Trump raid

About time. It is a known fact he stole items that belong to the country to his Florida estate. The FBI might want to ask the Coast Guard to check the waters off Maralago with sonar for objects disposed.

This is from a website that identifies itself as the government of Taiwan.

 

• Dutch and Spanish settlers (click here) established bases in Taiwan in the early 17th century.
• 
  
• Around 1.2 million people relocated from China to Taiwan along with the Republic of China (Taiwan) government in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The ROC was founded in 1912 in China. At that time, Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule as a result of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, by which the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan. The ROC government began exercising jurisdiction over Taiwan in 1945 after Japan surrendered at the end of World War II.

The ROC government relocated to Taiwan in 1949 while fighting a civil war with the Chinese Communist Party. Since then, the ROC has continued to exercise effective jurisdiction over the main island of Taiwan and a number of outlying islands, leaving Taiwan and China each under the rule of a different government. The authorities in Beijing have never exercised sovereignty over Taiwan or other islands administered by the ROC.

The island of Taiwan never a possession of Taiwan. Taiwan is where the emigrants of the Chinese civil war went to get away from the Chinese communists. The Republic of China has governed Taiwan for at least decades. China never possessed that island and to say it is part of a "One China Policy" because it was promised to China after WWII would be wrong.

The Pacific declaration was made by China and the USA with Japan. But, the island of Taiwan was never anyone's to give away. China even admits it was a reward for winning the war. Well, I don't see it like that. The Republic of China was always an autonomous government and the only reason the Chinese communists claim it is to expand their borders AND they figured Taiwan was so small and insignificant it would be overpowered by China's military. Well, guess what? China is wrong and Taiwan is an autonomous governance.

To me, there is a lot more to the people of Taiwan than being the place where there is a border incursion with the USA. I only covered China's borders to 200 or so B.C. The fact of the matter is Japan never settled that island. The Japanese slaughtered the aboriginal people of Taiwan. It is the aboriginal people of Taiwan and any ancestors that have the sincerest interest in the island and it's people. Not China. Not Japan. Not The West. Taiwan has been bounced from one owner to another and the aboriginal people were never regarded with importance. It is time the people of Taiwan have their say over that of China or any other major power. 

Taiwan has it's own economy and it is respected worldwide. China has no right to disturb that and Taiwan NEVER threatened China the same as Ukraine never threatened Russia.

The Taiwanese or the Ukrainians aren't leaping with joy at being part of a communist dictatorship. It is time to end THE COLD WAR and settle the hatred that exists for reason of power when no power is needed!

The world has become to small and the Climate Crisis is not in need of any more heat from idiotic wars. The world needs to settle into reality and stop hating each other's ideology.