I know he's still a long shot to win outright next week, but I hope he gets enough votes for a run off with Bass. All these AI vids are too good to just give up cold turkey.
This is awesome
@spartans9312 I love how they keep harping on the idea that "it's MAGA and we don't want that here."
https://twitter.com/dsonoiki/status/2061120363611001332
In real life media, they're trying so hard to connect the guy to Trump.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
@hooky OMG yes! all the major legacy networks are desperate to label him maga. i was just watching a prick abc pos reporter pressing him about trump. he did a very nice job of deflecting the trump stink.
They did the same thing to Paul Vallas in Chicago during his mayoral run against Brandon Johnson. Vallas is a lifelong Dem, but he's white, and has some common sense, so . . .@spartans9312 I love how they keep harping on the idea that "it's MAGA and we don't want that here."
https://twitter.com/dsonoiki/status/2061120363611001332
In real life media, they're trying so hard to connect the guy to Trump.
They did the same thing to Paul Vallas in Chicago during his mayoral run against Brandon Johnson. Vallas is a lifelong Dem, but he's white, and has some common sense, so . . .
Ro Khanna was on one of the news shows over the weekend and said Trump was the reason that there haven't been homes rebuilt after the fires. Something about Trump refusing to work with Bass and not releasing money.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
They did the same thing to Paul Vallas in Chicago during his mayoral run against Brandon Johnson. Vallas is a lifelong Dem, but he's white, and has some common sense, so . . .
Ro Khanna was on one of the news shows over the weekend and said Trump was the reason that there haven't been homes rebuilt after the fires. Something about Trump refusing to work with Bass and not releasing money.
Anything to that?
They did the same thing to Paul Vallas in Chicago during his mayoral run against Brandon Johnson. Vallas is a lifelong Dem, but he's white, and has some common sense, so . . .
Ro Khanna was on one of the news shows over the weekend and said Trump was the reason that there haven't been homes rebuilt after the fires. Something about Trump refusing to work with Bass and not releasing money.
Anything to that?
Nothing concrete. As of a month or so ago, there had only been a handful of permits issued to rebuild anything. That seems like the bottleneck, not federal funding, but I don't really know. When I'm out there, I may as well be in a different country. LA and San Fran each focus on their own issues and who to blame for them.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
@hooky adam carolla has a youtube devoted to how worthless calif dems are and the rebuilding/permit process in LA. 22 billion has already been paid out by insurance. he says the bottleneck is the permit process
@hooky adam carolla has a youtube devoted to how worthless calif dems are and the rebuilding/permit process in LA. 22 billion has already been paid out by insurance. he says the bottleneck is the permit process
A bunch of those people had been dropped by private insurance and had to move to the state funded plan, which is shit from everything I've read. As we deal with stuff for my FiL, there's something new and stupid on a regular basis that's related to CA's regulatory regimes. We've decided we want nothing to do with owning property out there, so it's all going on the market when he passes.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
I doubt there's one single bottleneck. That's how lazy people with an agenda like to look at things. No doubt permitting is one of several hoops or hurdles one needs to jump. It wouldn't be the first time Trump has held up funding for places and people he doesn't like, either. Then there's question about how badly they fucked up FEMA in the last 18 months.
Looks like I was off base when I used the term handful. I guess it's a relative handful when looking at the thousands of homes.
With the prompt "why hasn't rebuilding started in the palisades?"
Rebuilding in the Palisades has faced challenges due to a lengthy permitting process, which remains slow despite efforts to streamline it. Although many permits have been issued, the overall pace of construction has declined, causing delays in the rebuilding efforts.
Challenges in Rebuilding Efforts
Lengthy Permitting Process
Rebuilding in the Pacific Palisades has been significantly hindered by a lengthy permitting process. Despite efforts to streamline this process, it remains slow, causing delays in construction.
Decline in Permit Issuance
Although many permits have been issued, the pace of construction has recently declined. The number of building and electrical permits peaked in October 2025 but fell in subsequent months:
| Month | Permits Issued |
|---|---|
| October | 495 |
| November | 356 |
| December | 373 |
This decline indicates that while initial recovery efforts were promising, the momentum has slowed.
Coordination Issues
The permitting process often requires approvals from multiple departments, which can lead to inefficiencies. Many applicants face challenges in obtaining the necessary clearances, with some reporting that they needed up to 16 different approvals for a single project.
Conclusion
Overall, the combination of a slow permitting process, a recent decline in permit issuance, and coordination issues among city departments has contributed to the delays in rebuilding efforts in the Palisades.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
@unclemark my guess is far less trump and far more dems being dems. red tape. bureaucracy etc. 13,000 homes. state farm alone has apparently closed 13,000 claims and payouts amongs insurers are 25 billion. only 28 homes were rebuilt. you follow carolla walking the hoods talking to people it's local gov. dems gonna dem tho. they'll vote for bass
Looks like I was off base when I used the term handful. I guess it's a relative handful when looking at the thousands of homes.
With the prompt "why hasn't rebuilding started in the palisades?"
Rebuilding in the Palisades has faced challenges due to a lengthy permitting process, which remains slow despite efforts to streamline it. Although many permits have been issued, the overall pace of construction has declined, causing delays in the rebuilding efforts.
Challenges in Rebuilding Efforts
Lengthy Permitting Process
Rebuilding in the Pacific Palisades has been significantly hindered by a lengthy permitting process. Despite efforts to streamline this process, it remains slow, causing delays in construction.
Decline in Permit Issuance
Although many permits have been issued, the pace of construction has recently declined. The number of building and electrical permits peaked in October 2025 but fell in subsequent months:
Month Permits Issued October 495 November 356 December 373 This decline indicates that while initial recovery efforts were promising, the momentum has slowed.
Coordination Issues
The permitting process often requires approvals from multiple departments, which can lead to inefficiencies. Many applicants face challenges in obtaining the necessary clearances, with some reporting that they needed up to 16 different approvals for a single project.
Conclusion
Overall, the combination of a slow permitting process, a recent decline in permit issuance, and coordination issues among city departments has contributed to the delays in rebuilding efforts in the Palisades.
Gemini gave far more...only the first of which seems like government bureaucracy...and may well be warranted.
The lack of visible rebuilding in Pacific Palisades following the devastating January 2025 wildfire boils down to a massive, multi-layered bottleneck. While the city has tried to fast-track permits and introduce pre-approved home plans, residents and contractors are stuck behind severe financial, legal, and bureaucratic walls.
The primary factors stalling the recovery efforts include:
1. The Critical Infrastructure Report Is Stalled
Before massive residential construction can safely begin, the city requires a comprehensive roadmap to address the area's highly vulnerable infrastructure. Los Angeles hired consultants (AECOM and Hagerty Consulting) to draft a Long-Term Recovery Plan to address power line safety, water system pressure, and evacuation routes.
However, that critical report has been stuck under review by the L.A. City Attorney’s Office for months. Without its official release and implementation, heavy rebuilding cannot safely coordinate with necessary utility upgrades.
2. Deep Insurance Gridlock
An estimated 80% of affected property owners are locked in prolonged disputes with their insurance companies. The initial estimates provided by insurers were often far too low, utilizing national average pricing rather than the hyper-localized, actual cost of building on the steep topography of the Palisades.
Because families don't know exactly how much compensation they will ultimately receive, they cannot confidently hire architects, sign contracts, or commit to a multi-year build.
3. Outdated Building Codes and Exploding Costs
For homeowners who want to rebuild on their existing lots, updated building regulations are causing massive budget shocks. For example, homes built decades ago on caissons (deep foundation piers) must now meet modern structural and seismic codes. Upgrading just the foundational supports to meet 2026 requirements is adding as much as $800,000 to individual project budgets before a single wall even goes up. Combined with high construction inflation and contractor shortages, many are priced out of starting.
4. Psychological Weariness and Community Shift
The sheer emotional toll of the disaster, paired with the reality that a full neighborhood recovery could take 3 to 7 years, has caused widespread paralysis. Many residents are hesitant to be the first or only family on their block to rebuild. This prolonged delay has also seen property values drop significantly for vacant lots, leaving the area vulnerable to outside investors buying up land at heavy discounts, which alters the timeline and the fabric of the community.
5. Ongoing Environmental and Roadway Stabilization
The hillside terrain remains highly unstable. Caltrans and utility crews have spent the last year just trying to stabilize slopes, repair retaining walls, and clear mud and debris along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and State Route 27 (Topanga Canyon Blvd). PCH only recently stabilized enough to fully reopen to regular traffic with fewer restrictions, meaning the heavy equipment access required for widespread residential rebuilding has been physically logistically restricted until now.
A tiny handful of homes have finally broken ground—the first completely from-the-ground-up residential rebuild only just framed its walls—but for the vast majority of the Palisades, the invisible paperwork, legal, and financial battles are keeping the recovery at a crawl.
@unclemark https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/wildfire-relief-fund-california-eaton-palisades-fire/3896539/
relying on gov for anything is insane. if these people weren't fully funded with their own insurance, or had the means to rebuild on their own, wtf were they doing @hooky as you said with your fam's property. sell it and get the hell out of calif. waiting on the gov process no chance
@unclemark https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/wildfire-relief-fund-california-eaton-palisades-fire/3896539/
relying on gov for anything is insane. if these people weren't fully funded with their own insurance, or had the means to rebuild on their own, wtf were they doing @hooky as you said with your fam's property. sell it and get the hell out of calif. waiting on the gov process no chance
No fire association with our stuff. We had an icemaker that leaked, and had to replace the flooring in the kitchen, DR and FR; drywall for a shared internal wall between the Kitchen and FR, plus a cabinet footer that was particle board. It happened Memorial Day Weekend last year and everything finally got finished in Nov. The demo and dryout was done in a week. The process of getting things approved through CA's insurance clearing house took months. Quotes for flooring, drywall, paint, and cabinet repair all had to be submitted by the insurance company (Farmers) to a state review process where California had set guidelines as to what was an acceptable replacement cost for materials and associated labor. Thank goodness we just used the contractors that Farmers had on their preferred vendor list. If we hadn't, there would have been another layer of bureaucracy to go through.
I could have done it all myself over 3 weekends, maybe 2 if I did it without drinking any beer before 7 pm on a Saturday.
I can't imagine what rebuilding your entire house would be like.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB