[artplumber]

Originally Posted by techweenie

And, BTW, Flea's house didn't burn down.

Another resident who lost his home was Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose real name is Michael Balzary, property records showed.

Balzary had bought another home in Malibu last year, but the one destroyed was for sale for $4.8 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.

from: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071125/ap_on_re_us/california_wildfires

Originally Posted by techweenie

Interesting litmus test here. Class envy, knee-jerk assumptions...

.....
No mansions there. These are among Malibu's lowest income neighborhoods.

I'm not aware of anyone asking for Federal assistance, but maybe there's some special knowledge at work here?

As to this being lowest income neighborhoods; the definition of a low income household is nowhere near one that could afford an 800K house.

Finally, what Strup may be trying to say, is that although a number of these people have insurance, the state and fed largely pay to fight the fire, and if the area gets disaster funding (FEMA), then in fact, the Fed is subsidizing the housing in this fire prone area. (All of California might fit too). Perhaps, this is meant as somewhat a sarcastic reminder to all those who wrote negatively about allowing building along hurricane-prone regions, or flood plains of the Missouri river, that now the shoe may be on the other foot. Or not. Who knows...