Before Trump-time, a bit more about the Los Angeles County wildfire, which is approaching 30,000 acres.    How bad is that in the history of California?    Tiny, but, location, location, location!  This fire destroyed an expensive portion of  the state.  Damages have already exceeded anything in the past, so far estimated to exceed  $150 billion .  The 2018  Paradise fire was #1 in damages at only $12.5 billion .   Over 10,000 structures destroyed, placing the LA fire at #2.   The 10 so far killed could well reach and exceed the 2020 #5 North Complex fire with 15 deaths. The  2003 Lahaina  wildfire on Maui covered 3,453 acres, with  100 deaths ., exceeding the #1 85 killed in the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, California. Note below that most of the worst have occurred in this first quarter period of the 21st century. The five largest wildfires in California history August Complex fire (2020) in far no...

There have been times in the history of the United States when the presidential election determined the future of Humanity.  Which one was the most important? A case has been made for 1940, when then President Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for his third term.   The makers of the Constitution did not include presidential term limits. Some had tried. In 1880, Ulysses Grant ran for a third term and failed. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt also ran, but lost to William Howard Taft. Harry Truman sought a third term in 1952, but dropped out after losing in a primary. In  1940, FDR, a Democrat, ran against Republican Wendell Wilkie , who was an isolationist, and totally against the U.S. entering the war in Europe.  FDR too indicated his opposition to the war, but insiders knew that was just something he said in public,. Hitler and continued recovery from the Great Depression were compelling issues inducing FDR to go for a third term. Wilkie, a relative unknown, had upset Senato...