The most startling early account of the pace and ferocity of the multiple, massive LA fires was likely the description of the evacuees who had to abandon their cars and escape on foot. Those vehicles would soon be bulldozed off the road to make way for first responders who faced a daunting and Dantean scene created by a perfectly terrible storm of wildfire conditions. Those searing scenes were quickly dwarfed by images the damage done by several fires burning through heavily populated areas such as Pacific Palisades. In the air, winds prevented fire-fighting planes from joining the fight. On the ground, hydrants lost pressure due to the intense demand. The region hasn't gotten rain yet this year and the Santa Ana winds whipped to hurricane-level force; the combination of which has created some of the most sweeping California wildfires in recent memory. The LA County Fire Department 'was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four,' the county’s fire chief said. The new normal Californians feared the most is here—and zero percent contained. Here's the latest from CNN, The Guardian, and LA Times.

+ "Everything, it seems, caught fire in a matter of minutes, outpacing the swarm of police and fire officials who raced to the scene. 'It’s going to burn everything,' one sergeant sighed after hearing the news come across his radio that the fire was making its way to Palisades High School. On Sunset Boulevard, the remnants of a chaotic, harrowing evacuation were littered everywhere: at least 50 cars crunched together, their mirrors and doors smashed after a massive red L.A. Fire Department dozer came through to make way for trucks. The fire moved so fast that police officers ordered the drivers to get out and run." WaPo (Gift Article): What it was like on the ground as the Pacific Palisades fire spread.

+ Here are photos from The Atlantic, NPR, and BBC.

+ SoCal officials were warning of the intense risk associated with the dry and windy conditions for days before the fires. But they knew of the general risk long before that. David Wallace-Wells with this sadly prescient forecast in NY Mag from 2019: Los Angeles Fire Season Is Beginning Again. And It Will Never End.

+ Right on cue, our next president addressed the tragic, ongoing fires by throwing water on his political opponents. Trump, Musk unleash on California Democrats over wildfires. When there are hellish fires, the devil is never far behind.

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Table for One

Yes, we may be experiencing what many have called an epidemic of loneliness. But even if you're not lonely, there's a decent chance you're alone a lot more than you used to be. You can see the trend everywhere from restaurants to movie theaters to that indentation in your recliner. Derek Thompson in The Atlantic(Gift Article): The Anti-Social Century. "The individual preference for solitude, scaled up across society and exercised repeatedly over time, is rewiring America’s civic and psychic identity. And the consequences are far-reaching—for our happiness, our communities, our politics, and even our understanding of reality."

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Meta's Morphosis

"I don’t have access to Zuckerberg’s brain, so I can’t know the precise reasons for his reversal. Has he been genuinely red-pilled by UFC founder (and new Meta board member) Dana White and his jiu-jitsu friends? Is he jealous of Musk, who seems to be having a good time palling around with Trump and turning X into 4chan? Is he simply an opportunist cozying up to the incoming administration? Or is he terrified that Trump—who not long ago threatened to send him to jail—will follow through on his promises of retribution against tech executives who don’t bend to his whims? Is this indeed just an opportunity for Meta to get back to its relatively unmoderated roots? My money is that Zuckerberg’s new posture...is motivated by all of the above." Charlie Warzel on Mark Zuckerberg's war with himself. We’re All Trying to Find the Guy Who Did This.

+ "In business and in life, Zuckerberg’s motivation has only ever been to win. And a doddering, transactional Trump presented Meta with a rare opportunity for a fresh start. All they would have to do is whatever Trump wanted them to do." Casey Newton Meta surrenders to the right on speech.

4

Squeeze My Lemon

When life gives you lemons, the old adage suggests you make lemonade. But what happens when life gives you 1.6 million pounds of lemons? Apparently, you let the robots do the work. Bloomberg (Gift Article): Chick-fil-A’s Lemon-Squeezing Robots Are Saving 10,000 Hours of Work. "The lemonade factory shows how restaurants are using automation to improve efficiency and wring more sales out of their stores as competition intensifies for diners and labor. Nearly half of quick-service chains say they’re understaffed."

+ Inside Zildjian, a 400-year-old cymbal-making company in Massachusetts.

5

Extra, Extra

Daniel's Boon: While I'm mourning the LA fires today, I'm also celebrating the inauguration of my friend, the most-excellent Daniel Lurie, who has just been sworn in as the new Mayor of San Francisco. He's a great guy and he's set to lead a great city. Daniel, an inauguration and an appearance in NextDraft on the same day is heady stuff. Thanks for giving me at least one inauguration to celebrate this year.

+ Questionable Use Case: "The highly decorated soldier who exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI including ChatGPT to help plan the attack."

+ Load Trip: "The Justice Department said Wednesday that it intends to release special counsel Jack Smith’s findings on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election but will keep under wraps for now the rest of the report focused on the president-elect’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate." I'm not sure what difference these reports make in the near term. People saw the crimes in real time. They voted for him anyway. And related...

+ Heave Ho Oh No: "You’re not imagining it: An unusually large number of Americans are barfing these days." Vox: This year’s no good, very bad norovirus season.

+ Graze Anatomy: "Perry, a Jerusalem miniature donkey, was first brought to California to help calm polo ponies, but instead he nipped at them, according to the project’s website. So in 1997, the 'spunky' 3-year-old was brought to Palo Alto’s Bol Park to live in a pasture set aside for donkeys to graze." Why is the passing of a donkey in the NYT (Gift Article)? Perry the Donkey, Model for ‘Shrek,’ Dies at 30.

+ Needles and the Damage Done: We're not the only country with some weird headlines. Belgium’s Federal Food Agency on Tuesday warned people to not eat their Christmas trees. (I nearly choked on my mezuzah when I read that...)

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Bottom of the News

CES is happening and that means some cool new tech is being announced. And some weird new tech. For example: This tiny robot cat will blow on your coffee to cool it off.

+ From encapsulated anime girls to an air-purifying cat tower, there was something for everyone at this year’s CES.

+ Scheduling note: I’ll be off tomorrow. See you Friday.