Located between patio slabs at a house in Southern California. Am looking to possibly replace it during the cosmetic repairs planned for the area. Even if I don't replace it, am wondering what this stuff is called and what it's supposed to do.

A hutch table made by my father in the 1960s with boiled linseed oil finish was damaged in a January 2025 California urban fire. It, and all other house contents, still emit a heavy toxic smell. Room surface tests have shown that lead and other metals are present.

I've successfully remediated a few other furniture pieces but they had been sealed with polyurethane (or similar). The visible surfaces of this hutch (all solid pine or oak) were finished in multiple layers of boiled linseed oil. The other surfaces (interior solid pine and drawer bottom plywood) are unfinished.

Am seeking remediation advice. How best to remove as much of linseed finish as possible - so that a fresh linseed finish can be applied? The hope being to remove most of the toxins and encapsulate the remaining.

For the rest: sealing the unfinished interior surfaces seems advisable but linseed in drawers is not recommended, right? So polyurethane there is the way to go?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. My father was better at this than I am!

Los Angeles school police will set up a safety perimeter around campuses and school events — including graduations — to keep federal immigration agents away from students, employees and families, school officials said Monday.

“We stand strongly on the right side of law,” Carvalho said. “Every student in our community, every student across the country, has a constitutional right to a free public education of high quality, without threat. Every one of our students, independently of their immigration status, has a right to a free meal in our schools. Every one of our children, no questions asked, has a right to counseling, social emotional support, mental support.”

Carvalho did not rule out the potential for a standoff involving school police if federal officers attempted to enter a school or an off-campus school event — such as a graduation ceremony — without a judicial warrant.

“I think that would be a preposterous condition,” Carvalho said. “But then again, we have seen preposterous actions taken recently by this administration. We are prepared for everything,” Carvalho said, adding that he’s in consultation on contingency plans with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.

Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted in 2022 that the Cybertruck “will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes & even seas that aren’t too choppy.” This truck, however, quickly sank in 8 feet of water, said Carson Shevitz, captain of TowBoatUS Ventura, who helped coordinate the rescue.

They dried nicely overnight. I washed most of the ziplock bags yesterday and will clean the others today. It's nice to work through the stack that have been waiting to be reused.

But in a shrinking movie industry, DIY microbudget filmmaking may increasingly be left to fill some of the void left by risk-averse, corporate-driven Hollywood.

“I hope people can stop shooting things to make them look like commercials and just get back to more of the nitty gritty and letting your imagination flow,” says Tews, who also co-wrote the movie with Cheslik. “I just hope we stop bowing down to Hollywood and thinking they’re the gold standard. Because they just aren’t.”

The old one was looking kinda sad. I'll keep it around for extra dirty cleaning jobs though.

cross-posted from c/california: https://lemmy.world/post/21827756

Anyone here on c/law have thoughts on this?

Question sparked by comment on this post....

For instance: if the Trump administration tries to coerce CA to drop its climate change initiatives by cutting off federal highway funds, could port fees be increased to make up for the change?

Is this something the Governor could do unilaterally, or would it take legislative action?

Question sparked by comment on this post....

For instance: if the Trump admin. tries to coerce CA to drop its climate change initiatives by cutting off federal highway funds, could port fees be increased to make up for the the change?

Is this something the Governor could do unilaterally, or would it take legislative action?

The tower uses a new technology called mass timber. In this kind of construction, massive, manufactured wood elements that can extend more than half the length of a football field replace steel beams and concrete. Though still relatively uncommon, it is growing in popularity and beginning to pop up in skylines around the world.

Mass timber is an appealing alternative to energy-intensive concrete and steel, which together account for almost 15 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Though experts are still debating mass timber’s role in fighting climate change, many are betting it’s better for the environment than current approaches to construction.

"And when the puzzle dust settled, the Busy Birdies — Redwood City resident Taylor, San Francisco’s Peng and Washington sisters Cathy and Jeanne Roiter — had won the first place trophy, completing two 1,000-piece puzzles in 1 hour, 16 minutes and 7 seconds."

archive (But really, if you're in the Southland please subscribe, they have consistently good/important articles)

SpaceX’s plans to launch more rockets from the California coast were rejected by a state commission this week, with some officials citing Elon Musk’s political posts on X and raising concerns about the billionaire’s labor record at his companies.

The plan to increase the number of rocket blasts into space up to 50 a year was rejected by the California Coastal Commission on Thursday despite assurances from Space Force and Air Force officials that they would increase efforts to monitor the effects that rocket launches have on nearby wildlife.

Among the issues raised were Musk’s decision to insert himself in the presidential race, his spreading of conspiracy theories, the labor record of his companies and derogatory comments he has made about the transgender community.

Military officials argue that launches by SpaceX, a leading contractor at Vandenberg Space Force Base, should be considered a federal activity because all of its launches benefit military objectives... As such, Space Force officials don’t have to obtain a permit or permission from the California Coastal Commission for rocket launches; they only need to reach an agreement to mitigate the effects.

But commissioners in recent months have questioned whether SpaceX launches, which carry private Starlink equipment on up to 87% of their flights, should be considered private activity.

Military officials have gone before the commission repeatedly this year to try to significantly increase the number of SpaceX launches, and officials said they plan to once again ask for another increase — for up to 100 annually — by early next year.

“Today’s vote hasn’t changed the [Department of the Air Force’s] or Vandenberg’s unwavering commitment to preserving the California coastline and the precious species that reside there,”

Chilimbi says the first step toward AI agents will likely be chatbots that proactively recommend products based on what they know of your habits and interests, as well as a grasp of broader trends. He acknowledges that making this feel nonintrusive will be crucial. “If it’s no good and annoying, then you’ll tune it out,” he says. “But if it comes up with surprising things that are interesting, you’ll use it more.”

Future AI agents might, for instance, navigate various websites to sort out a parking ticket, or they might operate a PC to file a tax return.

My percentages: 0 / 0 / 100%

The buyer, a New York-area leasing company called American Lease, says in a new filing that Fisker now believes there is no way to transfer the information connected to each SUV to a new server not owned by the bankrupt EV startup. Since American Lease needs that information to operate the vehicles after Fisker is dissolved, the leasing company has filed an emergency objection to the startup’s liquidation plan.