Penna Dexter
I love living in Texas but, by birth and upbringing, I’m an LA girl — born in Pasadena, raised in a beach town, and educated at a university near downtown.
I’m mourning the massive damage and destruction to life, homes, businesses, and landmarks in places I’ve loved.
I remember dreading the Santa Ana winds, which sweep down from the deserts. They come every year and, because California is dry, they bring fires.
The LA Fire Department has over a hundred years’ experience fighting these fires. Each year, when the Devil Winds came, they’d be on it. Lately, the job is taking much longer.
What’s making things harder? Neglect, leftist environmental policy, and poor leadership.
Decaying power lines have been a huge problem — now (supposedly) being addressed. California promised to do better at keeping forest floors “cleaned” of burnable fuel. But “green” pushback prioritizes the “ecosystem” over humans. Voters have demanded new reservoirs. None have been built since 1979. Construction on a new one won’t begin until 2032.
Fire hydrants started running out of water during the first day of this year’s firefighting. Years of bad water policy means there’s insufficient water to fill the reservoirs they have.
In 2008, California began diverting 100 billion gallons of water per year away from Southern California and into the Pacific Ocean to “save” a fish, the Delta smelt. Governor Gavin Newsome has refused to restore the flow of excess rainwater and snow melt from the north to Southern California.
LA Mayor Karen Bass knew of the huge fire risk. Recently, she cut department funding.
And Kristin Crowley, LA’s first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief has wide experience in firefighting. But “promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion, and equity” is her stated priority. LA’s three top fire officials are lesbian women. Few males are hired as firemen.
There’s another sad reality: Insurers have been cutting coverage in at-risk areas.
California needs a political reckoning – and our prayers.
Follow this link to an interactive map: https://bit.ly/CALFIRE3Dmap

Kerby Anderson
When I first started writing this commentary nearly two decades ago, the average woman in the United States had 2.1 children in her lifetime. This is what many demographers called “the golden number.” To sustain a population in any country, women on average need to produce 2.1 children. If that number is higher, the population increases. If that number is lower, the population decreases.
Years later, Lou Dobbs devoted an entire chapter in his book, Upheaval, to the subject of “Demographics and Destiny Disturbed.” He was on my radio program back then and talked about the fact that the fertility rate in America had now declined to about 1.7. He also lamented the abortions of over 60 million unborn.
But if you think America is facing a problem, consider Japan with a fertility rate of 1.39. It is imploding. By the end of this century, Japan’s population will be less than half of its current population. Japanese consumers are buying more adult diapers than baby diapers.
Other countries also face incredible challenges because of declining fertility rates. Greece has a fertility rate (1.4) equal to Japan’s fertility rate. Spain’s fertility rate is 1.12. The fertility rate of South Korea and of China is also 1.12.
China’s “one-child policy” meant “that as many as 400 million Chinese children were not born.” By the end of the century, the country will likely have about one-third of the population that it has now. It moved from a one-child policy in 2015 to a three-child policy in 2021. But the birth rate continues to fall.
Declining fertility rates illustrate once again that demography is destiny.