Yahoo News–(AP)

photo slideshow

SAN DIEGO - On the fourth day of a vicious firestorm, exhausted firefighters and weary residents looked forward Wednesday to a break — an expected slackening of the fierce wind that has fanned the state’s explosive wildland blazes.

Forecasters said the Santa Ana wind whipping across Southern California will begin to weaken late Wednesday afternoon, followed by cooling sea breezes. The 16 wind-fed wildfires have destroyed nearly 1,300 homes and forced a half-million people to flee.

The shift could allow for a greater aerial assault and help firefighters beat back the most destructive blazes, said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff during a tour of an evacuation center at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

“If the weather cooperates, maybe we can turn the tide,” he said.

Crews were anticipating an injection of additional firefighters and equipment from other states, mostly throughout the West. Frustration over the firefighting effort began to emerge Tuesday when a fire official said not enough had been done to protect homes.

Orange County Fire Chief Chip Prather told reporters that firefighters’ lives were threatened because too few crews were on the ground. He said a quick deployment of aircraft could have corralled a massive blaze near Irvine.

“It is an absolute fact: Had we had more air resources, we would have been able to control this fire,” he said.

The fires have burned 410,000 acres, or about 640 square miles, causing at least $100 million in damage. Twenty-one firefighters and at least 24 others have been injured. One person was killed by the flames, and the San Diego medical examiner’s officer listed four other deaths as connected to the blazes.

The state’s top firefighter said Prather misstated the availability of firefighters and equipment. Eight of the state’s nine water-dumping helicopters were in Southern California by Sunday, when the first fires began, along with 13 air tankers, said Ruben Grijalva, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Grijalva said the fires, spread by winds that at times topped 100 mph, would have overwhelmed most efforts to fight them.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dismissed the criticism when questioned by an ABC News reporter, and praised the rapid deployment of fire crews and equipment across a region from north of Los Angeles to the Mexican border.

“Anyone that is complaining about the planes just wants to complain because there’s a bunch of nonsense,” he said. “The fact is that we could have all the planes in the world here — we have 90 aircraft here and six that we got especially from the federal government — and they can’t fly because of the wind situation.”

Thousands of people packed evacuation centers, where many had an agonizing wait to find out whether their homes had survived. At the Del Mar Fairgrounds in northern San Diego County, which was converted into a shelter, many stared at television sets blaring reports from the fire lines and damaged neighborhoods.

“We’re going crazy trying to get back into our apartment just to see what kind of damage we’ve got,” said Tim Harrington, who arrived at the racetrack with his wife, son and their two pet rats. “Then we’ll pick up the pieces from there.”

source

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In the largest mass evacuation in California history, and the largest in the United States since Hurricane Katrina, California authorities have declared a state of emergency as over 500,000 acres continue to burn. Mass evacuations have been ordered from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Over 1200 homes and businesses in Sand Diego have burned, and more than 40 persons have been reported injured.

The winds are not expected to die down until Wednesday night. Read more

In Orange County, fire officials are now stating that the Orange County Santiago fire was purposely set and there is speculation that other fires may have also been deliberate. See Interactive Map

Fire officials found three separate “points of origin,” all near the intersection of Silverado Canyon Road and Santiago Canyon Road. Two were on one side of the road, and the third was on the other. “Whoever did this knew what they were doing,” said Kris Concepcion, a fire authority battalion chief. Also, the fire traveled 3 miles in its first 20 minutes when it was ignited about 6 p.m. Sunday, he said. Source

Updated and Bumped
Momentum is building. Google hits 1,680,000 entries for the phrase “the greatest campaign finance scandal in American history.” Hillary Rodham Clinton is now at the top of the heap. Keep it going folks!
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“the+greatest+campaign+finance+scandal+in+American+history”

“the greatest campaign finance scandal in American history”

Now that this phrase has been published by a respected member of the MSM, and, as such, is now in the LexusNexis search database, it seems appropriate to associate that phrase with the person to whom it refers: Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I received a ping from FReeper “Spirit of Allegiance” this morning which pointed to an article which featured our pal, “Dougfromupland.”

The article was in the San Francisco Chronicle’s on line edition. Here is the introductory paragraph of the article about “the greatest campaign finance scandal in American history.”

In his other life, Douglas Cogan, 59, is a San Bernardino County commercial real estate broker. But for years, the conservative Republican has spent thousands of hours painstakingly researching what he calls “the greatest campaign finance scandal in American history” by a woman he calls one of the most dangerous political figures the country has ever seen - Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Since it appears that Google has enabled “google-bombing” again, I thought it might be interesting to get the phrase, “the greatest campaign finance scandal in American history,” permanently associated with Hillary Rodham Clinton. That is the purpose of this post. And, if any of you bloggers out there want to join in, just copy+paste this post at your blog, or pass it along in the comments section of your favorite blogs. The more the merrier. I’m going to track-post it to Linkfests, and post it at FR and Hannity. I’ll also activate every tag I have ever used to associate it with this post. Heh.
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UPDATE: Labeet “has ties to” Miami islamic community….developing

(((Live video reporting from WSVN TV7)))

Miami Dade County– A massive manhunt is under way after four Miami-Dade police officers were shot during a standoff at a Southwest Miami-Dade apartment complex.

Police are looking for a man they’ve identified as Kevin Wehner, a black male, who is 30 years old.

The scene unfolded after a shooting at an apartment complex Southwest 143rd Court and Southwest 280th Street.

Shawn Sherwin Labeet, 25, wearing a bullet-proof vest, fired a high-powered weapon and fled the scene after officers approached his vehicle for a traffic stop, according to police.

Intial reports that the killer was Kevin Wehner were INCORRECT

Now, a helicopter is hovering over a wooded area at Southwest 216st Street and 129th Avenue, where a man armed with an AK-47 rifle is hiding, Local 10 reported. A worker cleaning a pool said he spotted a man running to the woods, Local 10 reported. Reports are that the man may be wearing a bulletproof vest.

A white Honda Accord with a black hood was spotted abandoned near a canal near Southwest 216th Street and 129th Avenue and it is believed it is the car that fled the scene following the shooting. The car appeared to have a shattered front window from bullet holes.

Officers called for major response from all police around 11 a.m. Thursday after several shots were fired.

At one point, a car that police believed was connected to the crime was driving northbound in the southbound lanes on the Florida Turnpike and the freeway was shut down.

Sky 10 was overhead as one of the police officers was transported in a Miami-Dade Rescue helicopter. The helicopter arrived at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The other officer was transported to a hospital closer to the scene, Local 10 reported.

The area where the altercation took place is east of US 1 and west of the Florida Turnpike, near Leisure City.

UPDATE: Here’s a photo of a clean-shaven Labeet…..

FoxNews is reporting 4 officers down……one of the police officers has died……developing

More from CNN.com

CBS News is reporting …”There may have been another man involved in the shooting.”

FoxNews is reporting policed searched his apartment and found evidence that Labeet shaved. Also, that he had purchased 3 AK’s in March.

FOXNews reporting Labeet caught….
Nobody else is saying this. I’m watching Channel 10 Live, and they have reported the vehicle that Labeet was travelling in with a woman and two children, a 2007 black Pontiac Vibe, may have been found in a Target parking lot.

Police spokesman has just announced the woman and children have been taken into custody, and the car was indeed the 2007 Pontiac Vibe they were looking for. A man is in custody, but it is not Labeet. The report from Fox was not correct.

The manhunt for Labeet continues……

STORY AND PHOTOS FROM BBC

Rescuers are still pulling bodies from ruined buildings in the rural town of Pisco and nearby villages, 200km (190 miles) south-west of the capital, Lima.

Hospitals and morgues were overwhelmed by the disaster, forcing residents to place dead bodies on the streets.

At least 450 people died and many more were injured, but officials say they expect the death toll to rise.

President Alan Garcia declared that all public buildings would be closed for three days - including schools, military bases and museums.

Mr Garcia had earlier announced a state of emergency and sent cabinet ministers to the area.

The UN’s Margareta Wahlstrom said power and communications were down and that 80% of houses in some areas had been destroyed because of poor construction.

Ms Wahlstrom, UN deputy emergency relief co-ordinator, said that the death toll was likely to rise as the destruction of buildings in the area was “quite total”.

The 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday evening at 1841 (2341 GMT), just off the coast of Peru.

The province of Ica was the most damaged, but even in Lima, 150km (95 miles) from the epicentre, people stood trembling on the streets as buildings around them shook.

Juan Mendoza, mayor of Pisco, told a radio station that “the dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets”.

He estimated that 70% of his coastal city was in ruins.

“We don’t have lights, water, communications. Most houses have fallen, churches, stores, hotels, everything is destroyed,” he said.