State and federal officials on Monday said they were investigating the death of thousands of game fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta after a federal agency drained the water around a protected island during a levee repair.
Masses of fish could be seen floating in shallow water on Prospect Island, a 1,253-acre plot next to Sacramento's Deep Water Ship Channel that is administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The bureau on Monday halted drainage of the remaining water behind the levee and started removing the fish carcasses, spokesman Jeff McCracken said. He said the agency would begin adding oxygen to the water in hopes of saving some of the remaining fish.

"When we realized how many fish were there, we quit pumping," he said. "By then, we certainly, apparently, had passed the point of causing some fish loss."

The bureau had no estimate on the number of fish killed. Bob McDarif, owner of Cliff's Marina near the delta town of Freeport, estimated the number in the tens of thousands.

"It's like a disaster out there," he said.

The California Department of Fish and Game launched its own investigation Monday, focusing on how and why the fish died.

Although the fish deaths were on federal land, the striped bass, salmon, carp, bluegill and other game fish are considered public trust assets for the state. The results will be sent to state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

The levee under repair is around - See California levee repair blamed for killing thousands of game fish for the full report.

Is the Hollywood and Westside Pot Market in crisis? No, it is not the DEA or FBI this time hampering marijuana sales, this time a major group of customers have stopped buying. But why you ask? Well the Hollywood Writers must have been on something when they decided to strike recently, as they already are over paid by any free-market standard, they are indeed the highest paid writers on the Planet. Of course, some people think Hollywood is in a World of its own?

What do Marijuana Growers think of all this? Well, they must be very upset because if these writers are on strike, then they are not being paid and will not be able to buy the quality marijuana grown in the hills of Los Angeles or imported from Northern California. Some TV watchers think this is good because maybe if the writers stop doing drugs, then the content will improve on TV?

You can obviously see that the Hollywood Writer's strike is affecting more than just the Movie and TV industry, it is affecting local drug sales, which is a major underground industry in Los Angeles and 12,000 fewer marijuana buyers in LA is sure to hurt small business distributors there of the popular pot products. Worse off growers are worried that the Hollywood Writers might try to grow their own crops at home for personal consumption to make ends meet.

One grower of the product is said to have said: "I do not think the Hollywood Writers have the patience it takes to grow quality weed, most of them are on Prozac and are ADHD - so I am not worried" but for the meantime we have seen a huge drop in sales and that makes for a tough Christmas for my family and some pretty crummy TV re-runs too.

By: Lance W.
My name is Lance Winslow and I am a semi-retired entrepreneur, retired Franchisor and now I am a consultant brain-4-hire, internet writer and author. I got bored in retirement so I founded the Online Think Tank - http://www.worldthinktank.net.

We lost our homes in the wildfires of 2003 in Lake Arrowhead. It was a time that we just didn't think we would ever get over. So to see homes burning once again in Lake Arrowhead and San Diego was a déjà vu.

At the time, it was heart wrenching to see everything we had go up in smoke. There was nothing left in the ashes, absolutely nothing, except for a jar of pennies my son was saving but we couldn't tell that they were pennies, as they had all melted into one big heap of copper.

From where all the houses had burned, it looked like a nuclear war had come through. The fire randomly picked and chose which homes to take. Three hundred homes in our neighborhood had burned to the ground yet one house across the street made it completely unscathed, and a few yards up the road a lone wooden playhouse had been spared.

We lost everything. Our thirteen year old family cat, Baby Ruth, perished in the fire. All of our physical memories like photos of ancestors, my great grandma's rocking chair, a violin that had been played by my husband's great great grandfather; all of it gone. Yet in spite of all the destruction, we felt very thankful. Our family was intact.

We lived next door to my parents who had a cute little mother-in-law house. Our daughter could walk to Grandma's every day with it being only twenty yards away. Our homes were deep in the woods of Cedar Glen and even deeper in the stands of trees that were dying from the bark beetle. The unforgiving pest, which had already ravaged forests from Colorado to Alaska, beetle had been attacking Lake Arrowhead and its surrounding communities for years. The result of its ravenous consumption was millions of trees standing like matchsticks ready to fuel a fire unlike anyone could have ever imagined.

In mid October 2003, Lee and I were scheduled for a number of lectures in the Midwest. We decided to take my mom and our then four year old daughter with us to the Colorado dates. Dad and our three teenagers stayed at home.

On our way back from Colorado, our teenage daughter reached us by cell telling us there was a fire up on the mountain. She was concerned. From the tightness in her voice, we knew this was real. The "Big One" everyone on the mountain had feared for so long had arrived.

Lake Arrowhead and the surrounding mountain communities had just two escape routes, and they were inadequate in the best of circumstances. Lee called some colleagues at the newspaper and some friends we knew at the fire department. They related the seriousness of the situation. There were fires everywhere, and some were threatening Big Bear and Cedar Glen. Evacuation was still voluntary, but the firefighters said it would be wise to get out now. We called our kids and Dad and told them to meet us at the bottom of the mountain at a local hotel for the night. No one expected the houses to burn. We assumed we'd be back in our house within a few days. We left food out for Baby Ruth since she was nowhere to be seen, and we commenced our waiting out the fire.

One of the problems when there is a fire is that there are rarely accurate news reports. One report will swear that all the local businesses are totally wiped out, and then moments later another reporter on another channel will be standing right in front of them depicting them as perfectly fine. We didn't get accurate news. The only news that was real was of true videos capturing neighborhoods that burned. We actually saw our homes burning on the television news. We knew at that moment that we were officially without a home.

It took over a week for the fire to be extinguished before we were able to return home. When you lose your home to fire, there is something inside of you that insists you have to see the remains.

When we turned onto our block, we couldn't even tell where one block ended and the next one began. The fire had taken our roads, our cars, and our animals. It had eaten everything and left nothing. The ashes were still warm after a week. It was a moonscape.

While we were there, a woman approached, asking if this had been our home. We nodded but just couldn't speak. She said she owned a rental in Lake Arrowhead and wondered if we would like to live there until we figured out what we were going to do. Amazing. An angel (and many more angels) would come to our aid that day. When we arrived at the rental home, someone we didn't even know had already gone from neighborhood to neighborhood asking if they would be willing to clean out their garages and give us anything we might need. That evening a huge moving van pulled up full of new everything: clothes, dishes, bedding, beds, more than we could have ever needed. Phone calls came from people with gift cards to grocery stores and clothing stores. It was truly incredible, the kindness that was offered us.

FEMA was a gem. Right after the fire they met us at a restaurant parking lot to fill out all the paperwork required to put money in our hands as soon as possible. We expected maybe a week's worth of rent, or maybe some grocery money, but FEMA set us up with funds for everything we lost and additional living money for six months. Again, the kindness and the help was overwhelming.

It can be hard to look at the bright side when something like a fire uproots one's life, but by concentrating on all the good and kindness offered from strangers, and by concentrating on what you do have and what you can rebuild, will reduce some of the sting.

A house is just a thing, possessions are replaceable, and our memories are something we brought with us and we can keep. The wildfires could never steal those from us.

Four years later we have seen firsthand that even out of the darkest time, or impossible situation, that good can still peek through and take the day. We had always wanted to live in Oregon and the 2003 fire gave us the freedom to do that. We are so grateful for our lives and especially grateful for all the people who helped us through such a trying experience.

To those of you who may have lost a home in the wildfires in California, life will get better. It may be hard to believe or understand right now, but in a few years you will see and appreciate the fact that you have made it through. You will appreciate your family all the more and will always hold a special place in your heart for the kindness exhibited by all the volunteers who helped you through this trying time. And one day, when you return to look at the place where your house once stood, in addition to the new signs of life and regrowth sprouting from the ground, you will have the memories that will keep you in good stead. Life always regenerates itself.

By: Beth McCain
Beth McCain is a published author and writer in self improvement as well as humor genres. Beth and her husband, Lee, are instructors and lecturers in applying the Law of Attraction, or better known as the Secret, in your life to attain what you desire. Please visit: http://www.bethandleemccain.com.

Appearing as a guest on the late night Craig Ferguson show Wednesday October 17, 2007 Vicente Fox former President of Mexico until 2006 was asked how he viewed America. In a Republican-ese right wing kind of reply he said we should "return to our values." He added that the rest of the world is still looking to us for the leadership we had given in the past. At this juncture in our national life this notion is little more than syrupy nostalgia, although it was good to hear an outsider saying what millions of us have known all along.

Fox also said that we needed to exercise "tolerance." He reiterated the call for tolerance several times and added that even though he is a devout Catholic he is very tolerant of all others who pursue the "spiritual life." He intimated that tolerance was the very heart and principle of all good diplomacy and politics.

President Fox's statement coupled with President Bush's recent statement about "all religions praying to the same God;" make for good news but are proof that politicians make poor theologians. Some one should remind them that not all that is "spiritual" is divine. Cultism, witchcraft, tarot, channeling, and a long list of spiritual practices are indeed "spiritual" but the question remaining is; what spirit?

Not all that is spiritual is generated by God. The god of this world (Satan) is also a spirit and only the woefully or willfully ignorant can't see that he has a lot of spiritual tricks, callings, manifestations and religions in his little bag.

We have only to look at recent legislation in California to see what happens when the popular notion of "tolerance" crosses into the realm of law. In California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill in October 2007 that disallows the use of the words, Mom, Dad, husband and wife in California schools.

The new language laws in California are an example of tolerance becoming militantly intolerant. But now gays and transsexuals are protected from any offence imagined or real. This is accomplished at the expense of offending over 95 percent of the heterosexuals and their families who reflect the make up of California schools. Is this tolerant?

Has any one asked the question; just how many high school and elementary students are gay or transsexual? Gay high school students, a few perhaps but transsexual or elementary school transsexuals; just how many of them are there in California? Has California changed its laws to defend the sensitivities of a non-existent group of people?

Have we traversed from the silent majority up to the moral majority only to slide over to the tolerant majority; then all the way back to the silent majority again? This trek to nowhere is reminiscent of a line from a Marx Brothers movie. Groucho trying to get someone to join him in a business venture said he would give his potential partner a full 20 percent of the business. After reminding him that 20 percent of nothing is nothing, he offers this assurance. "Don't worry because I've worked myself up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty" Enter American morality; the new partner of tolerance and diversity!

From the days of the Hula Hoop craze to the present Americans have loved the pop swings from one new thing to another and until now no one was seriously hurt on the way. Now we risk hurting ourselves irreparably with something that claims to take the hurt off of everyone. Vicente Fox may have hit the nail on the head. What we once had is looking qualitatively better than what we're getting into.

Tolerance is a word that is sailing around at the speed of stupidity. The confusion it creates is apparent when Islamic groups like CAIR go about pointing out every perceived insult to Islam in America even as America and the rest of the world are not afforded a speck of tolerance in return, in fact the doctrine and ideology of Islam forbids it. A cartoon, a negative statement about Muhammad or refusal to convert to Islam can result in death. Yet there are Americans who also watch for any and all possible intolerant language as it pertains to Islam. Double standards notwithstanding; this is the stupidity connected to the word "tolerance" that betrays its obvious lack of wisdom and social importance.

It does well to note that the Bible says in the spiraling immorality predicted in the last days one person will emerge to bring the entire age to its culmination. That person is referred to as the antichrist. One trait or proclivity that he possesses is that he decides the world would be better if he changed the way we count time and he calls for a change in the laws. (Daniel 7:25)

Since the antichrist is referred to as the man of "anarchy" you needn't guess at the way he plans to change the laws. Somewhere between "if it feels good, do it" and the word "tolerant" he will pull the plug on almost every folkway, more, commandment or moral code ever known. The only law that will be seriously enforced will be the one that calls for the supremacy of his rule.

For over 35 years now I have explained to thousands of people that the singular difference between the antichrist and every other despot or dictator in history is what causes him to succeed where all others have failed to dominate the world. Instead of using military might to draw the world into submission he uses the economy.

In the EU today the newly forming seat of the antichrist is already checking the morality of the countries waiting with baited breath to join the economic mega block. Poland is but one example. The EU is insisting that the Poland which is the native land of the former much beloved John Paul, must lessen or eliminate its stand against abortion and the practice of homosexuality before it can come under the full graces of the European Union. Poland, however, is not the only country under EU scrutiny for its moral stand.

Tolerance can hardly be tolerated when it is used to contort or eliminate the very binding threads that have held civilization together through every scourge, war or catastrophe. A woe is pronounced on the architects of the unbridled and poorly defined idea of tolerance as it is being touted in today's thinking. It will go unheeded by most but it should be heard nevertheless... Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord. (Mal 2:17)

By: Michael Bresciani
Rev Bresciani is the author of two Christian books one that is entirely on the second coming of Christ. He is a contributing columnist for several online news and commentary sites. His articles are read throughout the world. Please enjoy a visit to http://www.americanprophet.org.

Recently many of the illegal immigration marches have indeed been called immigration marches, which in itself is deceptive. Additionally if you support immigration to this nation, then why support it carrying a foreign flag?

If you truly support immigration and this nation and you are truly exercising your right to free speech thanks to our Constitution perhaps then one might consider holding up an American Flag while demonstrating instead of a Mexican Flag in defiance of our laws here. Illegal Immigration is about jumping the fence or sneaking into our nation illegally.

You see, I support legal immigration to my country if an individual proves worthy to become one of us and pledges to support our nation's values, unity and strength. I do not support illegal immigration at all. I do not believe this to be a partisan issue; I believe this to be an American issue.

And I support counter viewpoints to a point. But I cannot support illegal aliens until I know who they are and what their intentions are, probationary period can prove that, tracking ID Cards and checks for diseases, prior criminality and character. We have too much to lose by indifference. This issue must be addressed correctly and implementation, streamlining and enforcement are key to getting it done.

By: Lance Winslow
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington.