April
1 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 1, 1923I awoke tired this morning with an elevated resting heart rate. This is usually a good sign that I need some rest. Knowing that I also had laundry to do and maybe dump holding tanks, I took a walking day off.
This also allowed me to get into the laundry room before it filled up. It is a very small laundry for the number of people that live here and there is usually a wait. I got that chore taken care of while having coffee in the Clubhouse - practicing my multi-tasking skills. HA
It has become HOT, maybe 90° today then mid-80s tomorrow. But this is Nevada in the spring, the forecast for Sunday is mid-60s with a chance of rain.
The United States has a long history of military involvement in Libya, President Obadiah is only the latest. I'm not convinced that he is going to have much more success than his predecessors.
The first United States military action overseas, executed by the U.S. Marines and Navy, was the Battle of Derne, Tripoli, in 1805. It was an effort to destroy all of the Barbary pirates, free the American slaves in captivity, and put an end to piracy acts between these warring tribes on the part of the Barbary states. The opening line of the "Marine's Hymn" refers to this action: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli..."
The U.S. Army's Egypt-Libya Campaign ended on 12 February 1943, when the Allied forces finally succeeded in driving all Axis forces out of Libya although the U.S. Army provided no ground combat troops to the Egypt-Libya Campaign.
After several days of diplomatic talks with European and Arab partners, President Ronald Reagan ordered a strike on Libya on April 14 and 15, 1986 with the stated objective that their destruction would send a message and reduce Libya's ability to support and train terrorists.
On December 20, 2003 Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has made a "historic" decision to scrap his country's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and to allow international inspectors to verify and oversee the process. If then President Bush had not pressured him into doing so what do you think would have happened in 2011?
2 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
There were a lot of high clouds and a slight wind when I did my walk. The clouds stayed around long enough that I could dump my holding tanks in their cool shade when I got home.But the wind picked up and scattered them for the remainder of the day. I think that was our chance for rain. The forecast has now been changed to be a little cooler tomorrow but clear and no rain.
While it was still cool I made up a batch of corn pone to have with my chili that I cooked yesterday. The Roaster Oven will bake just fine but it does not brown the top of anything for lack of a top heating element.
I used Silk Almond milk rather than water or milk and it tastes really good. The next time I make some I think I'll add some diced green chili. There are a lot of corn pone recipes that I might give a try now that I have the Oven.
I was on the couch a lot after getting those chores done, enjoying the breeze that was blowing through Desperado and finishing my latest novel. I don't usually comment on what I have read because most of the books do not merit comment.
However this latest one, Mortal Allies by Brian Haig, is an exception that I do recommend. When I traded for the book I did not know that the author was the son of Alexander Haig, Secretary of State under President Reagan and Chief of Staff to Presidents Nixon and Ford.
Howard Roark's Courtroom Speech in The Fountainhead
“Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light. He was considered an evildoer who had dealt with a demon mankind dreaded. But thereafter men had fire to keep them warm, to cook their food, to light their caves. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had lifted dardness off the earth. Centuries later, the first man invented the wheel. He was probably torn on the rack he had taught his brothers to build. He was considered a transgressor who ventured into forbidden terrritory. But thereafter, men could travel past any horizon. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had opened the roads of the world.
“That man, the unsubmissive and first, stands in the opening chapter of every legend mankind has recorded about its beginning. Prometheus was chained to a rock and torn by vultures—because he had stolen the fire of the gods. Adam was condemned to suffer—because he had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Whatever the legend, somewhere in the shadows of its memory mankind knew that its glory began with one and that that one paid for his courage.
“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received—hatred. The great creators—the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors—stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.
“No creator was prompted by a desire to serve his brothers, for his brothers rejected the gift he offered and that gift destroyed the slothful routine of their lives. His truth was his only motive. His own truth, and his own work to achieve it in his own way. A symphony, a book, an engine, a philosophy, an airplane or a building—that was his goal and his life. Not those who heard, read, operated, believed, flew or inhabited the thing he had created. The creation, not its users. The creation, not the benefits others derived from it. The creation which gave form to his truth. He held his truth above all things and against all men.
“His vision, his strength, his courage came from his own spirit. A man's spirit, however, is his self. That entity which is his consciousness. To think, to feel, to judge, to act are functions of the ego.
“The creators were not selfless. It is the whole secret of their power—that it was self-sufficient, self-motivated, self-generated. A first cause, a fount of energy, a life force, a Prime Mover. The creator served nothing and no one. He lived for himself.
“And only by living for himself was he able to achieve the things which are the glory of mankind. Such is the nature of achievement.
“Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. Man has no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons, and to make weapons—a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from a single attribute of man—the function of his reasoning mind.
“But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. There is no such thing as a collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. It is a secondary consequence. The primary act—the process of reason—must be performed by each man alone. We can divide a meal among many men. We cannot digest it in a collective stomach. No man can use his lungs to breathe for another man. No man can use his brain to think for another. All the functions of body and spirit are private. They cannot be shared or transferred.
“We inherit the products of the thought of other men. We inherit the wheel. We make a cart. The cart becomes an automobile. The automobile becomes an airplane. But all through the process what we receive from others is only the end product of their thinking. The moving force is the creative faculty which takes this product as material, uses it and originates the next step. This creative faculty cannot be given or received, shared or borrowed. It belongs to single, individual men. That which it creates is the property of the creator. Men learn from one another. But all learning is only the exchange of material. No man can give another the capacity to think. Yet that capacity is our only means of survival.
“Nothing is given to man on earth. Everything he needs has to be produced. And here man faces his basic alternative: he can survive in only one of two ways—by the independent work of his own mind or as a parasite fed by the minds of others. The creator originates. The parasite borrows. The creator faces nature alone. The parasite faces nature through an intermediary.
“The creator’s concern is the conquest of nature. The parasite’s concern is the conquest of men.
“The creator lives for his work. He needs no other men. His primary goal is within himself. The parasite lives second-hand. He needs others. Others become his prime motive.
“The basic need of the creator is independence. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated to any consideration whatsoever. It demands total independence in function and in motive. To a creator, all relations with men are secondary.
“The basic need of the second-hander is to secure his ties with men in order to be fed. He places relations first. He declares that man exists in order to serve others. He preaches altruism.
“Altruism is the doctrine which demands that man live for others and place others above self.
“No man can live for another. He cannot share his spirit just as he cannot share his body. But the second-hander has used altruism as a weapon of expoloitation and reversed the base of mankind’s moral principles. Men have been taught every precept that destroys the creator. Men have been taught dependence as a virtue.
“That man, the unsubmissive and first, stands in the opening chapter of every legend mankind has recorded about its beginning. Prometheus was chained to a rock and torn by vultures—because he had stolen the fire of the gods. Adam was condemned to suffer—because he had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Whatever the legend, somewhere in the shadows of its memory mankind knew that its glory began with one and that that one paid for his courage.
“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received—hatred. The great creators—the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors—stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.
“No creator was prompted by a desire to serve his brothers, for his brothers rejected the gift he offered and that gift destroyed the slothful routine of their lives. His truth was his only motive. His own truth, and his own work to achieve it in his own way. A symphony, a book, an engine, a philosophy, an airplane or a building—that was his goal and his life. Not those who heard, read, operated, believed, flew or inhabited the thing he had created. The creation, not its users. The creation, not the benefits others derived from it. The creation which gave form to his truth. He held his truth above all things and against all men.
“His vision, his strength, his courage came from his own spirit. A man's spirit, however, is his self. That entity which is his consciousness. To think, to feel, to judge, to act are functions of the ego.
“The creators were not selfless. It is the whole secret of their power—that it was self-sufficient, self-motivated, self-generated. A first cause, a fount of energy, a life force, a Prime Mover. The creator served nothing and no one. He lived for himself.
“And only by living for himself was he able to achieve the things which are the glory of mankind. Such is the nature of achievement.
“Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. Man has no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons, and to make weapons—a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from a single attribute of man—the function of his reasoning mind.
“But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. There is no such thing as a collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. It is a secondary consequence. The primary act—the process of reason—must be performed by each man alone. We can divide a meal among many men. We cannot digest it in a collective stomach. No man can use his lungs to breathe for another man. No man can use his brain to think for another. All the functions of body and spirit are private. They cannot be shared or transferred.
“We inherit the products of the thought of other men. We inherit the wheel. We make a cart. The cart becomes an automobile. The automobile becomes an airplane. But all through the process what we receive from others is only the end product of their thinking. The moving force is the creative faculty which takes this product as material, uses it and originates the next step. This creative faculty cannot be given or received, shared or borrowed. It belongs to single, individual men. That which it creates is the property of the creator. Men learn from one another. But all learning is only the exchange of material. No man can give another the capacity to think. Yet that capacity is our only means of survival.
“Nothing is given to man on earth. Everything he needs has to be produced. And here man faces his basic alternative: he can survive in only one of two ways—by the independent work of his own mind or as a parasite fed by the minds of others. The creator originates. The parasite borrows. The creator faces nature alone. The parasite faces nature through an intermediary.
“The creator’s concern is the conquest of nature. The parasite’s concern is the conquest of men.
“The creator lives for his work. He needs no other men. His primary goal is within himself. The parasite lives second-hand. He needs others. Others become his prime motive.
“The basic need of the creator is independence. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated to any consideration whatsoever. It demands total independence in function and in motive. To a creator, all relations with men are secondary.
“The basic need of the second-hander is to secure his ties with men in order to be fed. He places relations first. He declares that man exists in order to serve others. He preaches altruism.
“Altruism is the doctrine which demands that man live for others and place others above self.
“No man can live for another. He cannot share his spirit just as he cannot share his body. But the second-hander has used altruism as a weapon of expoloitation and reversed the base of mankind’s moral principles. Men have been taught every precept that destroys the creator. Men have been taught dependence as a virtue.
To be Continued
3 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
Another fine day. High temperature in the mid-70s with a gentle breeze. The morning walk was to the VFW where I got a very good omelet; even better than the one I had at my fist visit.A routine day. Started a new novel for my time on the couch. Continued to catch up to current with two blogs. Finished getting current on the third one and have begun reading those blogs that I only read every month or six weeks rather than daily.
Have also spent some time researching future camps for the period July through September. The most important stop will be in August when I need to find a dental office for a cleaning.
I prefer a periodontal dental office because they are familiar with the needs of someone that has had periodontal surgery in the past.
I have nothing fixed in my mind but July will probably be in WY then August and maybe September in CO. More thinking will go on until May when I will make a decision and try to get a dental appointment; where I get the appointment will dictate where I stop.
President Obama on Monday, in his Libya speech said "And tonight I can report that we have stopped Qaddafi's deadly advance." This was to be a humanitarian mission to protect the people of Libya and the President declared the Mission Accomplished. Here it is Sunday, not yet a week later, and this is the News of the day.
NATO has asked the U.S. military to continue flying airstrike missions over Libya through Monday, extending the previously announced timeline for U.S. participation in that mission by two days, NATO and Pentagon officials tell Fox News...
Qaddafi is still standing, with a few uncertain signs that his inner circle could crack. The Obama administration is hoping that if Qaddafi's government doesn't implode soon, a relentless campaign of airstrikes on his tanks, air defenses and most trusted army units will at least weaken his ability to survive a renewed uprising by a disjointed opposition. The rebels initially rattled Qaddafi but in recent days have given up most of their gains. The bottom line, according to Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "He's still killing his people."
Howard Roark's Courtroom Speech in The Fountainhead
Continued
“The man who attemps to live for others is a dependent. He is a parasite in motive and makes parasites of those he serves. The relationship produces nothing but mutual corruption. It is impossible in concept. The nearest approach to it in reality—the man who lives to serve others—is the slave. If physical slavery is repulsive, how much more repulsive is the concept of servility of the spirit? The conquered slave has a vestige of honor. He has the merit of having resisted and of considering his condition evil. But the man who enslaves himself voluntarily in the name of love is the basest of creatures. He degrades the dignity of man and he degrades the conception of love. But this is the essence of altruism.
“Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to achieve, but to give. Yet one cannot give that which has not been created. Creation comes before distribution—or there will be nothing to distribute. The need of the creator comes before the need of any possible beneficiary. Yet we are taught to admire the second-hander who dispenses gifts he has not produced above the man who made the gifts possible. We praise an act of charity. We shrug at an act of achievement.
“Men have been taught that their first concern is to relieve the sufferings of others. But suffering is a disease. Should one come upon it, one tries to give relief and assistance. To make that the highest test of virtue is to make suffering the most important part of life. Then man must wish to see others suffer—in order that he may be virtuous. Such is the nature of altruism. The creator is not concerned with disease, but with life. Yet the work of the creators has eliminated one form of disease after another, in man’s body and spirit, and brought more relief from suffering than any altruist could ever conceive.
“Men have been taught that it is a virtue to agree with others. But the creator is the man who disagrees. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to swim with the current. But the creator is the man who goes against the current. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to stand together. But the creator is the man who stands alone.
“Men have been taught that the ego is the synonym of evil, and selflessness the ideal of virtue. But the creator is the egotist in the absolute sense, and the selfless man is the one who does not think, feel, judge or act. These are functions of the self.
“Here the basic reversal is most deadly. The issue has been perverted and man has been left no alternative—and no freedom. As poles of good and evil, he was offered two conceptions: egotism and altruism. Egotism was held to mean the sacrifice of others to self. Altruism—the sacrifice of self to others. This tied man irrevocably to other men and left him nothing but a choice of pain: his own pain borne for the sake of others or pain inflicted upon others for the sake of self. When it was added that man must find joy in self-immolation, the trap was closed. Man was forced to accept masochism as his ideal—under the threat that sadism was his only alternative. This was the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on mankind.
“This was the device by which dependence and suffering were perpetuated as fundamentals of life.
“The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. The choice is independence or dependence. The code of the creator or the code of the second-hander. This is the basic issue. It rests upon the alternative of life or death. The code of the creator is built on the needs of the reasoning mind which allows man to survive. The code of the second-hander is built on the needs of a mind incapable of survival. All that which proceeds from man’s independent ego is good. All that which proceeds from man’s dependence upon men is evil.
“The egotist is the absolute sense is not the man who sacrifices others. He is the man who stands above the need of using others in any manner. He does not function through them. He is not concerned with them in any primary matter. Not in his aim, not in his motive, not in his thinking, not in his desires, not in the source of his energy. He does not exist for any other man—and he asks no other man to exist for him. This is the only form of brotherhood and mutual respect possible between men.
“Degrees of ability vary, but the basic principle remains the same: the degree of a man’s independence, initiative and personal love for his work determines his talent as a worker and his worth as a man. Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value. What a man is and makes of himself; not what he has or hasn’t done for others. There is no substitute for personal dignity. There is no standard of personal dignity except independence.
“In all proper relationships there is no sacrifice of anyone to anyone. An architect needs clients, but he does not subordinate his work to their wishes. They need him, but they do not order a house just to give him a commission. Men exchange their work by free, mutual consent to mutual advantage when their personal interests agree and they both desire the exchange. If they do not desire it, they are not forced to deal with each other. They seek further. This is the only possible form of relationship between equals. Anything else is a relation of slave to master, or victim to executioner.
“No work is ever done collectively, by a majority decision. Every creative job is achieved under the guidance of a single individual thought. An architect requires a great many men to erect his building. But he does not ask them to vote on his design. They work together by free agreement and each is free in his proper function. An architect uses steel, glass, concrete, produced by others. But the materials remain just so much steel, glass and concrete until he touches them. What he does with them is his individual product and his individual property. This is the only pattern for proper co-operation among men.
“The first right on earth is the right of the ego. Man’s first duty is to himself. His moral law is never to place his prime goal within the persons of others. His moral obligation is to do what he wishes, provided his wish does not depend primarily upon other men. This includes the whole sphere of his creative faculty, his thinking, his work. But it does not include the sphere of the gangster, the altruist and the dictator.
“A man thinks and works alone. A man cannot rob, exploit or rule—alone. Robbery, exploitation and ruling presuppose victims. They imply dependence. They are the province of the second-hander.
“Rulers of men are not egotists. They create nothing. They exist entirely through the persons of others. Their goal is in their subjects, in the activity of enslaving. They are as dependent as the beggar, the social worker and the bandit. The form of dependence does not matter.
“But men were taught to regard second-handers—tyrants, emperors, dictators—as exponents of egotism. By this fraud they were made to destroy the ego, themselves and others. The purpose of the fraud was to destroy the creators. Or to harness them. Which is a synonym.
“From the beginning of history, the two antagonists have stood face to face: the creator and the second-hander. When the first creator invented the wheel, the first second-hander responded. He invented altruism.
“The creator—denied, opposed, persecuted, exploited—went on, moved forward and carried all humanity along on his energy. The second-hander contributed nothing to the process except the impediments. The contest has another name: the individual against the collective.
“The ‘common good’ of a collective—a race, a class, a state—was the claim and justification of every tyranny ever established over men. Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive. Has any act of selfishness ever equaled the carnage perpetrated by disciples of altruism? Does the fault lie in men’s hypocrisy or in the nature of the principle? The most dreadful butchers were the most sincere. They believed in the perfect society reached through the guillotine and the firing squad. Nobody questioned their right to murder since they were murdering for an altruistic purpose. It was accepted that man must be sacrificed for other men. Actors change, but the course of the tragedy remains the same. A humanitarian who starts with declarations of love for mankind and ends with a sea of blood. It goes on and will go on so long as men believe that an action is good if it is unselfish. That permits the altruist to act and forces his victims to bear it. The leaders of collectivist movements ask nothing for themselves. But observe the results.
“The only good which men can do to one another and the only statement of their proper relationship is—Hands off!
“The man who attemps to live for others is a dependent. He is a parasite in motive and makes parasites of those he serves. The relationship produces nothing but mutual corruption. It is impossible in concept. The nearest approach to it in reality—the man who lives to serve others—is the slave. If physical slavery is repulsive, how much more repulsive is the concept of servility of the spirit? The conquered slave has a vestige of honor. He has the merit of having resisted and of considering his condition evil. But the man who enslaves himself voluntarily in the name of love is the basest of creatures. He degrades the dignity of man and he degrades the conception of love. But this is the essence of altruism.
“Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to achieve, but to give. Yet one cannot give that which has not been created. Creation comes before distribution—or there will be nothing to distribute. The need of the creator comes before the need of any possible beneficiary. Yet we are taught to admire the second-hander who dispenses gifts he has not produced above the man who made the gifts possible. We praise an act of charity. We shrug at an act of achievement.
“Men have been taught that their first concern is to relieve the sufferings of others. But suffering is a disease. Should one come upon it, one tries to give relief and assistance. To make that the highest test of virtue is to make suffering the most important part of life. Then man must wish to see others suffer—in order that he may be virtuous. Such is the nature of altruism. The creator is not concerned with disease, but with life. Yet the work of the creators has eliminated one form of disease after another, in man’s body and spirit, and brought more relief from suffering than any altruist could ever conceive.
“Men have been taught that it is a virtue to agree with others. But the creator is the man who disagrees. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to swim with the current. But the creator is the man who goes against the current. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to stand together. But the creator is the man who stands alone.
“Men have been taught that the ego is the synonym of evil, and selflessness the ideal of virtue. But the creator is the egotist in the absolute sense, and the selfless man is the one who does not think, feel, judge or act. These are functions of the self.
“Here the basic reversal is most deadly. The issue has been perverted and man has been left no alternative—and no freedom. As poles of good and evil, he was offered two conceptions: egotism and altruism. Egotism was held to mean the sacrifice of others to self. Altruism—the sacrifice of self to others. This tied man irrevocably to other men and left him nothing but a choice of pain: his own pain borne for the sake of others or pain inflicted upon others for the sake of self. When it was added that man must find joy in self-immolation, the trap was closed. Man was forced to accept masochism as his ideal—under the threat that sadism was his only alternative. This was the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on mankind.
“This was the device by which dependence and suffering were perpetuated as fundamentals of life.
“The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. The choice is independence or dependence. The code of the creator or the code of the second-hander. This is the basic issue. It rests upon the alternative of life or death. The code of the creator is built on the needs of the reasoning mind which allows man to survive. The code of the second-hander is built on the needs of a mind incapable of survival. All that which proceeds from man’s independent ego is good. All that which proceeds from man’s dependence upon men is evil.
“The egotist is the absolute sense is not the man who sacrifices others. He is the man who stands above the need of using others in any manner. He does not function through them. He is not concerned with them in any primary matter. Not in his aim, not in his motive, not in his thinking, not in his desires, not in the source of his energy. He does not exist for any other man—and he asks no other man to exist for him. This is the only form of brotherhood and mutual respect possible between men.
“Degrees of ability vary, but the basic principle remains the same: the degree of a man’s independence, initiative and personal love for his work determines his talent as a worker and his worth as a man. Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value. What a man is and makes of himself; not what he has or hasn’t done for others. There is no substitute for personal dignity. There is no standard of personal dignity except independence.
“In all proper relationships there is no sacrifice of anyone to anyone. An architect needs clients, but he does not subordinate his work to their wishes. They need him, but they do not order a house just to give him a commission. Men exchange their work by free, mutual consent to mutual advantage when their personal interests agree and they both desire the exchange. If they do not desire it, they are not forced to deal with each other. They seek further. This is the only possible form of relationship between equals. Anything else is a relation of slave to master, or victim to executioner.
“No work is ever done collectively, by a majority decision. Every creative job is achieved under the guidance of a single individual thought. An architect requires a great many men to erect his building. But he does not ask them to vote on his design. They work together by free agreement and each is free in his proper function. An architect uses steel, glass, concrete, produced by others. But the materials remain just so much steel, glass and concrete until he touches them. What he does with them is his individual product and his individual property. This is the only pattern for proper co-operation among men.
“The first right on earth is the right of the ego. Man’s first duty is to himself. His moral law is never to place his prime goal within the persons of others. His moral obligation is to do what he wishes, provided his wish does not depend primarily upon other men. This includes the whole sphere of his creative faculty, his thinking, his work. But it does not include the sphere of the gangster, the altruist and the dictator.
“A man thinks and works alone. A man cannot rob, exploit or rule—alone. Robbery, exploitation and ruling presuppose victims. They imply dependence. They are the province of the second-hander.
“Rulers of men are not egotists. They create nothing. They exist entirely through the persons of others. Their goal is in their subjects, in the activity of enslaving. They are as dependent as the beggar, the social worker and the bandit. The form of dependence does not matter.
“But men were taught to regard second-handers—tyrants, emperors, dictators—as exponents of egotism. By this fraud they were made to destroy the ego, themselves and others. The purpose of the fraud was to destroy the creators. Or to harness them. Which is a synonym.
“From the beginning of history, the two antagonists have stood face to face: the creator and the second-hander. When the first creator invented the wheel, the first second-hander responded. He invented altruism.
“The creator—denied, opposed, persecuted, exploited—went on, moved forward and carried all humanity along on his energy. The second-hander contributed nothing to the process except the impediments. The contest has another name: the individual against the collective.
“The ‘common good’ of a collective—a race, a class, a state—was the claim and justification of every tyranny ever established over men. Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive. Has any act of selfishness ever equaled the carnage perpetrated by disciples of altruism? Does the fault lie in men’s hypocrisy or in the nature of the principle? The most dreadful butchers were the most sincere. They believed in the perfect society reached through the guillotine and the firing squad. Nobody questioned their right to murder since they were murdering for an altruistic purpose. It was accepted that man must be sacrificed for other men. Actors change, but the course of the tragedy remains the same. A humanitarian who starts with declarations of love for mankind and ends with a sea of blood. It goes on and will go on so long as men believe that an action is good if it is unselfish. That permits the altruist to act and forces his victims to bear it. The leaders of collectivist movements ask nothing for themselves. But observe the results.
“The only good which men can do to one another and the only statement of their proper relationship is—Hands off!
To be Continued
4 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
Continue to have some great weather. Slightly cooler morning temperature, in the high 40s, with the high near 80 this afternoon.I finished my walk at the Clubhouse where I exchanged the Brian Haig novel. Then had some coffee and a small dose of socializing.
Filled the remainder of my day with reading while on the couch letting a slight breeze waft over me. This was interrupted from time to time by reading blogs or Internet News.
There was even a very brief nap in there sometime, I don't remember exactly when that happened.
Howard Roark's Courtroom Speech in The Fountainhead
Continued
“Now observe the results of a society built on the principle of individualism. This, our country. The noblest country in the history of men. The country of greatest achievement, greatest prosperity, greatest freedom. This country was not based on selfless service, sacrifice, renunciation or any precept of altruism. It was based on a man’s right to the pursuit of happiness. His own happiness. Not anyone else’s. A private, personal, selfish motive. Look at the results. Look into your own conscience.
“It is an ancient conflict. Men have come close to the truth, but it was destroyed each time and one civilization fell after another. Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.
“Now, in our age, collectivism, the rule of the second-hander and second-rater, the ancient monster, has broken loose and is running amuck. It has brought men to a level of intellectual indecency never equaled on earth. It has reached a scale of horror without precedent. It has poisoned every mind. It has swallowed most of Europe. It is engulfing our country.
“I am an architect. I know what is to come by the principle on which it is built. We are approaching a world in which I cannot permit myself to live.
“Now you know why I dynamited Cortlandt.
“I designed Cortlandt. I gave it to you. I destroyed it.
“I destroyed it because I did not choose to let it exist. It was a double monster. In form and in implication. I had to blast both. The form was mutilated by two second-handers who assumed the right to improve upon that which they had not made and could not equal. They were permitted to do it by the general implication that the altruistic purpose of the building superseded all rights and that I had no claim to stand against it.
“I agreed to design Cortlandt for the purpose of seeing it erected as I dedigned it and for no other reason. That was the price I set for my work. I was not paid.
“I do not blame Peter Keating. He was helpless. He had a contract with his employers. It was ignored. He had a promise that the structure he offered would be built as designed. The promise was broken. The love of a man for the integrity of his work and his right to preserve it are now considered a vague intangible and an inessential. You have heard the prosecutor say that. Why was the building disfigured? For no reason. Such acts never have any reason, unless it’s the vanity of some second-handers who feel they have a right to anyone’s property, spiritual or material. Who permitted them to do it? No particular man among the dozens in authority. No one cared to permit it or to stop it. No one was responsible. No one can be held to account. Such is the nature of all collective action.
“I did not receive the payment I asked. But the owners of Cortlandt got what they needed from me. They wanted a scheme devised to build a structure as cheaply as possible. They found no one else who could do it to their satisfaction. I could and did. They took the benefit of my work and made me contribute it as a gift. But I am not an altruist. I do not contribute gifts of this nature.
“It is said that I have destroyed the home of the destitute. It is forgotten that but for me the destitute could not have had this particular home. Those who were concerned with the poor had to come to me, who have never been concerned, in order to help the poor. It is believed that the poverty of the future tenants gave them the right to my work. That their need constituted a claim on my life. That it was my duty to contribute anything demanded of me. This is the second-hander’s credo now swallowing the world.
“I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life. Nor to any part of my energy. Nor to any achievement of mine. No matter who makes the claim, how large their number or how great their need.
“I wished to come here and say that I am a man who does not exist for others.
“It had to be said. The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing.
“I wished to come here and say that the integrity of a man’s creative work is of greater importance than any charitable endeavor. Those of you who do not understand this are the men who’re destroying the world.
“I wished to come here and state my terms. I do not care to exist on any others.
“I recognize no obligations toward men except one: to respect their freedom and to take no part in a slave society. To my country, I wish to give the ten years which I will spend in jail if my country exists no longer. I will spend them in memory and in gratitude for what my country has been. It will be my act of loyalty, my refusal to live or work in what has taken its place.
“My act of loyalty to every creator who ever lived and was made to suffer by the force responsible for the Cortlandt I dynamited. To every tortured hour of loneliness, denial, frustration, abuse he was made to spend—and to the battles he won. To every creator whose name is known—and to every creator who lived, struggled and perished unrecognized before he could achieve. To every creator who was destroyed in body or in spirit. To Henry Cameron. To Steven Mallory. To a man who doesn’t want to be named, but who is sitting in this courtroom and knows that I am speaking of him.”
“Now observe the results of a society built on the principle of individualism. This, our country. The noblest country in the history of men. The country of greatest achievement, greatest prosperity, greatest freedom. This country was not based on selfless service, sacrifice, renunciation or any precept of altruism. It was based on a man’s right to the pursuit of happiness. His own happiness. Not anyone else’s. A private, personal, selfish motive. Look at the results. Look into your own conscience.
“It is an ancient conflict. Men have come close to the truth, but it was destroyed each time and one civilization fell after another. Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.
“Now, in our age, collectivism, the rule of the second-hander and second-rater, the ancient monster, has broken loose and is running amuck. It has brought men to a level of intellectual indecency never equaled on earth. It has reached a scale of horror without precedent. It has poisoned every mind. It has swallowed most of Europe. It is engulfing our country.
“I am an architect. I know what is to come by the principle on which it is built. We are approaching a world in which I cannot permit myself to live.
“Now you know why I dynamited Cortlandt.
“I designed Cortlandt. I gave it to you. I destroyed it.
“I destroyed it because I did not choose to let it exist. It was a double monster. In form and in implication. I had to blast both. The form was mutilated by two second-handers who assumed the right to improve upon that which they had not made and could not equal. They were permitted to do it by the general implication that the altruistic purpose of the building superseded all rights and that I had no claim to stand against it.
“I agreed to design Cortlandt for the purpose of seeing it erected as I dedigned it and for no other reason. That was the price I set for my work. I was not paid.
“I do not blame Peter Keating. He was helpless. He had a contract with his employers. It was ignored. He had a promise that the structure he offered would be built as designed. The promise was broken. The love of a man for the integrity of his work and his right to preserve it are now considered a vague intangible and an inessential. You have heard the prosecutor say that. Why was the building disfigured? For no reason. Such acts never have any reason, unless it’s the vanity of some second-handers who feel they have a right to anyone’s property, spiritual or material. Who permitted them to do it? No particular man among the dozens in authority. No one cared to permit it or to stop it. No one was responsible. No one can be held to account. Such is the nature of all collective action.
“I did not receive the payment I asked. But the owners of Cortlandt got what they needed from me. They wanted a scheme devised to build a structure as cheaply as possible. They found no one else who could do it to their satisfaction. I could and did. They took the benefit of my work and made me contribute it as a gift. But I am not an altruist. I do not contribute gifts of this nature.
“It is said that I have destroyed the home of the destitute. It is forgotten that but for me the destitute could not have had this particular home. Those who were concerned with the poor had to come to me, who have never been concerned, in order to help the poor. It is believed that the poverty of the future tenants gave them the right to my work. That their need constituted a claim on my life. That it was my duty to contribute anything demanded of me. This is the second-hander’s credo now swallowing the world.
“I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life. Nor to any part of my energy. Nor to any achievement of mine. No matter who makes the claim, how large their number or how great their need.
“I wished to come here and say that I am a man who does not exist for others.
“It had to be said. The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing.
“I wished to come here and say that the integrity of a man’s creative work is of greater importance than any charitable endeavor. Those of you who do not understand this are the men who’re destroying the world.
“I wished to come here and state my terms. I do not care to exist on any others.
“I recognize no obligations toward men except one: to respect their freedom and to take no part in a slave society. To my country, I wish to give the ten years which I will spend in jail if my country exists no longer. I will spend them in memory and in gratitude for what my country has been. It will be my act of loyalty, my refusal to live or work in what has taken its place.
“My act of loyalty to every creator who ever lived and was made to suffer by the force responsible for the Cortlandt I dynamited. To every tortured hour of loneliness, denial, frustration, abuse he was made to spend—and to the battles he won. To every creator whose name is known—and to every creator who lived, struggled and perished unrecognized before he could achieve. To every creator who was destroyed in body or in spirit. To Henry Cameron. To Steven Mallory. To a man who doesn’t want to be named, but who is sitting in this courtroom and knows that I am speaking of him.”
5 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
This morning I did an out and back route to Mountain Falls Grill for breakfast. I do not prefer to do out and back routes, they are not as interesting, but wanted to go to the Grill one last time this visit to Pahrump.The out and back was a little shorter walk than usual and I needed that today. I'm having a little soreness in the tendon and muscle on my right shin so shorter was better.
Another great weather day here in Pahrump. I have just over a week left here before starting for Reno. In checking the forecast for there and here it looks like I'll be moving into temperatures that are 10° cooler, both the highs and the lows.
I had salmon and brussel sprouts baked in my Roaster Oven again today. A large spinach, romaine, onion and tomato salad starts the meal and a yogurt with capers on the salmon is the finishing touch. This has become my every third 'linner' for the past couple of weeks - it is excellent.
I have seen this same question posed many times by RV Fulltimer 'wannabes': How much money does it take to live as a Fulltimer? I have always answered the question by saying: However much you have, we seem to spend what we got.
The report discussed below would probably be a better place to start in answering that question. Go to wowonline.org to read about The Basic Economic Security TablesTM for more information.
A separate report being released Friday tries to go beyond traditional measurements like the poverty line and minimum wage to show what people need to earn to achieve a basic standard of living. The study, commissioned by Wider Opportunities for Women, a nonprofit group, builds on an analysis the group and some state and local partners have been conducting since 1995 on how much income it takes to meet basic needs without relying on public subsidies. The new study aims to set thresholds for economic stability rather than mere survival, and takes into account saving for retirement and emergencies.
"We wanted to recognize that there was a cumulative impact that would affect one's lifelong economic security," said Joan A. Kuriansky, executive director of Wider Opportunities, whose report is called "The Basic Economic Security Tables for the United States." "And we've all seen how often we have emergencies that we are unprepared for," she said, especially during the recession. Layoffs or other health crises "can definitely begin to draw us into poverty."
According to the report, a single worker needs an income of $30,012 a year - or just above $14 an hour - to cover basic expenses and save for retirement and emergencies. That is close to three times the 2010 national poverty level of $10,830 for a single person, and nearly twice the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. A single worker with two young children needs an annual income of $57,756, or just over $27 an hour, to attain economic stability, and a family with two working parents and two young children needs to earn $67,920 a year, or about $16 an hour per worker.
6 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
There has been a high gray cloud cover all day but pleasant with a high of near 70°. Tomorrow through Saturday are to be cooler with some chance of rain.I did my usual walk with a stop for coffee at the Clubhouse when I returned home. Then my usual reading, either a novel on the couch or Internet on my computer.
I have a VA doctor appointment tomorrow. When that is finished I will go into full 'hitch itch'. It has been building up during this past week.
Don't want to do much of anything except move on down the road.
A quote from One Hit Wonderland by Tony Hawks.
"Somewhere along the way I'd learned that life isn't actually about fulfilling your dreams. Maybe it's more to do with having a damn good shot at them and ensuring that you enjoy the process. Then, the key thing is to rejoice in the outcome, however much it may have differed from the original [dream] vision."
The media does not want this to be News at this time but I will continue to report our war casualties every quarter; the table below is for the 1st quarter of each year. There have not been any yet in Libya but I have added it to the list of wars that we are currently involved in (excluding Mexico).
| Total US Casualties Iraq & Afghanistan | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bush | Obama | |
| 2001 | -0- | -0- |
| 2002 | 30 | -0- |
| 2003 | 88 | -0- |
| 2004 | 133 | -0- |
| 2005 | 209 | -0- |
| 2006 | 173 | -0- |
| 2007 | 264 | -0- |
| 2008 | 124 | -0- |
| 2009 | -0- | 85 |
| 2010 | -0- | 106 |
| 2011 | -0- | 86 |
7 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
It wasn't very cold when I walked to Terrible's Lakeside for breakfast (last time this trip). There was a steady wind of 15-20 mph that had stronger gusts later in the day.All of this wind was blowing in some clouds that looked like they might be carrying some moisture. It wasn't until late afternoon, as I was coming out of the grocery, that they released some of it in the form of rain.
The higher peaks, Mt Charleston and others nearby, will probably get some more snow. I also heard that the Sierra was getting more snow but probably not in Reno.
The big event of the day was to un-hook and go to my VA appointment. The results are in - I can move on down the road. My next appointment will be a year from now and my doctor is reducing the blood pressure dosage by 1/3.
She agreed with my self diagnosis regarding the PEH (Post Exercise Hypotension) episodes that I have experienced and believes that it is time to reduce my dosage. It did not hurt my case any that my blood pressure was 106/64; I tend to have higher 'white coat' numbers in the office so this was excellent.
My attempt to eat better and exercise more has paid off with some weight loss but did nothing for my cholesterol. I take medication for it and all the numbers were good (not excellent) but had not improved over the past 7 months.
Did a grocery stop at Smith's after I left the VA Clinic. The store aisles are now marked with what is in the aisle for the most part; a big improvement, but the re-model continues.
The next few days will now be devoted to moving down the road preparation. There is not that much that I need to do but I'll be thinking about it all a lot.
8 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 8, 1923Not a very good weather day. Winter has returned. The low was back in the 30s and the high struggled to break 50° by noon.
Winds were a steady 15 mph or more with gusts over 30. A cold miserable day; no walk and bundled up on the couch for much of the day. Even worse, tomorrow will be the same.
I did take time to cook a Thermal pot of Italian Stew. This will last me until I leave next week as I alternate it with some fish. Today will be Pescado a la veracruzana then salmon with sprouts on Sunday.
I also did some 'stuff' purging. During the process of removing the dinette cabinets I saved the mirrored doors, the Ford radio speakers and the 12v light fixture. Then, over the past couple of months, I remover then same from the couch side of the 'living room'.
All of that 'stuff' plus the TV was placed in the 'Free Stuff' pile here at the Park this morning.
By removing the TV from my basement I gained enough room to stow away my scanner and a file box (about 1/3 full of 110 slides, VCR tapes, 8 mm film and a few pictures). I now have the old dinette area cleared and ready for the recliner that I want to buy. Maybe will order it soon.
I also tried to eFile my Income Taxes. To do that I needed a missing 1099R for my small pension. Went to Plan B, filled out the 1040 Forms, wrote a check and mailed it in. the IRS can sort out my return without the 1099R copy; I'm sure that they will cash the check and are happy to get my money!
9 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
No walk again this morning. It was 35° with a wind that I did not wish to confront. The forecast is for increasingly warmer days, and nights, through next week. I'm ready for that; this return of winter was not appreciated.Went to the Clubhouse for a long morning coffee break. Strayed longer than usual just for the warmth of the building as much as the coffee.
Became current with the two blogs that I have been catching up on for a long time. Then started two others from their beginning.
I also finished my latest novel while wrapped up in my sleeping bag on the couch. Wanted to finish it before I left so I could exchange it here, the Park has a large selection to chose from.
The drama of the 2011 Budget has ended with what the pundits are calling a 'historic' agreement. The media has gone overboard with this story, trying their best to make us common people forget that it only became an issue because the Democrat controlled House and Senate were afraid to vote on a Budget before the election.
The following quote shows how little things have changed in over 2000 years
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." -- Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Roman Statesman, Philosopher and Orator
10 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
Another 35° morning but no wind. Did my last walk, this trip, to the VFW for breakfast. By the time I started for home the wind had started to come up also so it felt colder although it had warmed up.Baked my last salmon fillet and finished up all the brussel sprouts I had left. Will have the refrigerator almost empty when I leave here, then do a grocery stop in Reno/Fernly when I set up camp.
That will probably not be until after my dental appointment on the 18th. I'll blacktop boondock along the way to Reno and then through the weekend.
I am continuing to learn what this 'follow the sun' travel is all about. I was right to leave southern NM when I did. Then made a mistake in January and February by staying in Huachuca City; much too cold there.
Now I think I may be making a mistake again by moving north too soon. I'll find out, and will then adjust next year.
Just being ABLE to move gives me the FEELING that I have some control over my environment even if I'm wrong. For my mental health that is better than being in a sticks-n-bricks and taking what ever Mother Nature throws at me.
11 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
A couple of days ago I wrote that I had been to Terrible's Lakeside for the last time. I thought I had, but this morning I had a craving for hash and eggs which the Homestead Café does not serve.Another trip to Lakeside was required to assuage the craving. I did take a slightly modified route to avoid the pack of ankle biters that have confronted me in the past.
ALL of my routes have Barking dogs running along their fence lines for almost every property that I walk past. These ankle biters are little bundles of fur with teeth that come through the fence - all six of them.
It was still in the low 40s this morning but with no wind. Warmed up to near 70° this afternoon and I had the windows open once again. There was some high thin clouds but only a breeze and lots of sun; the good weather has returned.
Tomorrow will be a busy day for me as I prepare to leave on Wednesday.
The 2011 Budget drama has concluded, it is now time to bring onto the theater stage the Debt Ceiling and the 2012 Budget. President Obama has already announced a repudiation of his original 2012 Budget in preparation for this fight. If it is anything over what the Federal government spent in FY 2008 then IMO the Budget is too high.
If the Budget and the Debt are not cut then neither Party is well positioned for the 2012 election cycle; it is an invitation for a Third Party and the established powers know this.
This is getting to be a habit. President Obama ferociously resists tax cuts, trade agreements and spending cuts - right up to the moment he strikes a deal with Republicans and hails the tax cuts, trade agreements and spending cuts as his idea. What a difference an election makes.
This is the larger political meaning of Friday's last minute budget deal for fiscal 2011 that averted a government shutdown. Mr. Obama has now agreed to a pair of tax cut and spending deals that repudiate his core economic philosophy and his agenda of the last two years - and has then hailed both as great achievements.
12 April
Pair-A-Dice Escapees Co-op
Pahrump,NV
No walk this morning. I did laundry and had my last coffee-social hour in the Clubhouse while doing so. Also exchanged two books that I have finished in the past few days. I now have a fresh library of 5 unread books that will carry me until I find another Park exchange.One of those that I finished was written by J A Jance. She uses Arizona for her settings and this one had Bisbee, Douglas, Tombstone, Tucson and Sierra Vista as the local. I knew exactly where many of the places that she named were; she even correctly described the underpass into Douglas that is now gone.
Went to El Jefe for breakfast after I got my laundry chore finished. Then filled up with gas at the Smith's station. It was as jam packed as the grocery store. The price of gas has not hurt their business any from what I saw today.
One last stop at my UPS Store where everything that had come in this past week or 10 days was 'junk'. Exception, the VA mailed me a notice that I had an appointment with them on April 7th. The way I get my mail it may as well have been 'junk'.
The final stop in town was at Big O Tire to have them check my tire pressure and add or subtract air to all six tires.
Upon arriving at home I dumped the holding tanks and filled the fresh water one. I believe I'm now ready for an early morning departure.
13 April
El Capitan Casino
Hawthorne, NV
Today was a bit of work.I left Pahrump soon after 6:00 am with some wind blowing but it was mostly a tail wind. By the time I got to Tonopah it was a side wind but still not too bad.
Then the farther north I went the worse it got. A lot of blowing dust from the playa at the junction of NV360 and US95. Soon thereafter I was in a light rain shower for about 10 minutes with a probable snow storm in the Sierra just to my left.
The last 40 miles into Hawthorne was a real white knuckle drive; the winds were gusting hard. As I sit here in Hawthorne writing this I am continued to be rocked with more gusts.
The total route was 273 miles with one stop for breakfast at the Stagecoach Casino in Beatty, NV. The route: Oakridge, Manse, Homestead, US160 & US95.
I am blacktop boondocking in the El Capitan Casino RV parking lot, where I have stopped a few times before. No hook-ups and there are rules against running the generator so I will not be on my computer very long.
Will settle in for the rest of the day and tonight with the hope that the weather is better tomorrow. Currently it is in the mid-50s with winds at about 25 mph gusting to 40.
The forecast is that it will freeze tonight but warm up to the low 60s tomorrow with winds at 10 mph (in this part of NV, 10 mph winds are about as good as it gets - that is a fine forecast).
14 April
Rivers Edge RV Park
Sparks, NV
At about 3:00 pm yesterday there was a 4.4 magnitude earthquake in Hawthorne, NV. I did not notice it or if I did I simply thought it was the wind that was rocking me.This is the latest in a 'swarm' of earthquakes in the Hawthorne area that started on April 10th. Yesterday there were 4 in the 'swarm' within one hour of each other, the 4.4 being the largest, and all of them centered about 12 miles southwest of Hawthorne.
Got up in time this morning to make the 6:00 am opening of the El Capitan restaurant. After breakfast I stopped for some $4.199 per gallon regular gas before leaving town. I noticed a Texaco station in Tonopah yesterday that had regular for $4.299 but took a chance on lower in Hawthorne.
The route today was 155 miles on US95, US95A, US50, US395 & Reno/Sparks City Streets.
I could have made it to Yerington, NV before needing gas and probably could have made it to Reno where it is a little cheaper. It would have been stretching it somewhat to get to Reno and I don't like to go below 1/2 tank.
Stopped in Dayton to visit with the last Boss that I ever worked for but he was not at work. His 'normal' days off are Thursday and Friday.
When I got into Reno I drove past where I thought the VFW was but did not see the building, had considered trying to boondock there - O well.
Next stop was at My favorite Muffin to see 'A Responsible Adult'; this was the girl that worked there that helped me out with my colonoscopy visit at the VA. She no longer works there so I probably will not see her while I'm in Reno.
Another stop was made at my Reno barber where I gave her some pictures of Desperado. I had promised her some the last time I was in town (August 2010).
Then picked up a pizza for my 'linner' today and checked into the Rivers Edge for a week. It, as are all the area RV Parks, is very expensive by my standards. I'm going to try and change how I stop in Reno for my annual dental appointment next year.
The forecast of freezing in Hawthorne was an accurate one; the low was 28° last night and about 30 when I got up. The low in Reno was 35° with a high today to be in the low 60s.
Both the high and low to move up 5-10 degrees through the weekend then colder and maybe rain on Monday (dental appointment day).
The 'historic' agreement on the 2011 Budget was actually historic. It has to be the biggest con passed by our Federal Legislators since the Social Security Act.
A new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office suggests that the 2011 spending deal struck by Republicans and Democrats late Friday would save only about $352 million this year, a small fraction of the $38.5 billion touted by negotiators on both sides.Then President Obama followed that up with his smoke and mirror Deficit Speech. He gave a rousing Campaign speech but I can not place much faith in any of the numbers that he is claiming will reduce the Deficit.
The nonpartisan budget office for Congress reports that the two sides succeeded in cutting the government's spending authority for this year by the larger amount. But because some of the cuts would be slow to take effect, and because some of the money was unlikely to be spent in any case, the reduction in actual "outlays" would come to a small percentage of the announced amount.
The total reduction will be $4 Trillion over 12 years with $1 Trillion to come from reduced interest on the $14+ Trillion Debt. The Deficit for 2011 is projected to be $1.6 Trillion with $1 Trillion per year for as far as the eye can see. Therefore the total Debt will continue to increase. How can the interest on that increased Debt go down by $1 Trillion during the 12 years?
15 April
Rivers Edge RV Park
Sparks, NV
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 15, 1923I have taken too many days off from my usual morning walk. It is going to be very hard to make up the miles lost.
To double my miles for the next four days is not a reasonable expectation but to walk everyday is not unreasonable. I did get out this morning and went to the Western Village Casino restaurant for breakfast.
It was even cheaper by $2 because I had a coupon from the RV Park. So I did 6 miles, had a good breakfast and saved some money, how good is that?
After I got home it was time to un-hook from electric and run a couple of errands.
I wanted to stop at my broker's new office to find where it was and to say hello. We had a brief visit and I told him what I was planning to do with my account; IF the market will go my way.
From there I went to a Smith's in south Reno and picked up groceries for the week. They are just introducing the Smith's Reward Card and I got a nice Reward Points Bonus that I'll be able to use for a gas discount next week - Good Deal.
The pressing domestic chore awaiting me when I got back home was to get a Thermal Cooker filled with some chili. This will be for tomorrow, Monday and Wednesday.
Today I'll have Pescado a la veracruzana as well as on Tuesday with salmon and sprouts on Sunday.
I received an email a few days ago that told about the good benefits of asparagus so I picked up a couple of cans that I'll fit into this week somewhere. I like it cold as well as cooked so I can add it to my daily salad if nothing else.
16 April
Rivers Edge RV Park
Sparks, NV
Walked to 'downtown' Reno this morning and then stopped for breakfast at JimBoy on Wells & 2nd St. Their Huevos con Chorizo may not be the best but it is the cheapest that I have found in town.I started eating there in 1998 when I lived nearby. I think I stopped once last August but the cook/owner still recognized me and asked where I had been. He also remembered what I always ordered.
I did not see many changes since I had last been along today's route. A coffee shop that I liked had closed before I left in November of 2009 has now become a restaurant/bar.
The Sienna Hotel & Casino is closed for a major re-model; I think it is only about 10 years old. I think I remember that they also did some extensive re-modeling after the first 2-3 years but did not close.
It was a little cool yesterday with some wind. Today warmed up into the low 70s with a morning low of 42°. There are a few clouds but no wind; my kind of weather. It would be great if it would stay this way but the forecast still predicts a chance of rain on Monday.
17 April
Rivers Edge RV Park
Sparks, NV
Another great morning, I have had three lucky days so far with the forecast that it will end tonight and tomorrow - colder with rain. It clouded up this afternoon with some wind blowing the storm over the Sierra which will probably get more snow.I did my longest walk since I left Huachuca City by following the Truckee River Trail to Alamo Casino for breakfast. The casino is also a Petro truck stop with an Iron Skillet restaurant.
This is probably the first time that I have been on this section of the Trail since I moved out of Sparks. Only noticed a couple of changes; the is a large cement mixing plant and Rock Park (adjoining Rivers Edge RV Park) has new tables, ramadas and concrete walkways.
The River still looks the same and the old cottonwood trees are just leafing out. There continues to be evidence that one or more beaver are still in the River and trying to cut down a tree here and there. Many of them have been trapped and relocated over the years but they keep returning.
Spring has arrived here about three weeks behind Pahrump. However, spring fluctuates back and forth with winter during most of April and May and then suddenly jumps to summer.
The budget compromise that Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reached in the final moments before the government shut down last Friday included language effectively eliminating the czar positions overseeing health care, climate change, the auto industry and urban affairs - positions that don't require Senate confirmation.How would you like to work out a business deal with someone like this? Would you ever do it a second time?
But after signing the legislation Friday that funds the government through the end of September and cuts $38 billion in spending, Obama issued a signing statement saying he would ignore the part about his czars, arguing that defunding those positions violated his constitutional authority.
He agreed in the budget compromise to eliminate the four 'czar' positions. Then he signed the Budget Bill into law knowing that there was a provision in it to eliminate the funding for the 'czar' positions.
He then "issued a signing statement" that says to eliminate the funding for those four 'czars' violates his constitutional authority.
I have always thought that a mans word is his bond. There is something great and noble about a man who lives by his word. What distinguishes ordinary men and women from the great is the way people see or view them. I do not view President Obama's actions as great and would certainly not do business with him.
18 April
Rivers Edge RV Park
Sparks, NV
The rain forecast was a 50% chance last night and a 70% chance today. When I got up this morning there was no evidence that it had rained last night. I could see the moon and some stars through the broken cloud cover so I took a chance and went for my walk.Went west on the Truckee River Trail this time to the end in 'downtown' then back home on city streets. I wanted to stop at a Mexican restaurant where I have eaten many times (even before it changed from a Country Kitchen type place) but they have a habit of not opening at the time their sign claims.
This morning I did not want to wait. I continued on toward home, past the new Wal*Mart that was only a foundation the last time I was here and to Baldini's Casino. This was the last place that I worked and I had not been back for probably three years; the food at the restaurant is not great but breakfast is not too bad.
The day became more and more clear as I walked and when I got home. Went to my dental cleaning appointment and it was sprinkling when I came out. I good example of what a northern Nevada spring is all about.
The dental cleaning went well and I got an 'all is well' with my periodontal situation. I also got some bad news, I have a cavity on the root of one of my molars that need to be fixed.
That will happen tomorrow. The fix will either be a filling or since the tooth is not opposed (I don't chew with it) maybe pull it. The cost is about the same either way and is not something that I can afford but then again I can NOT afford to NOT fix it.
It has been a busy News day. I doubt that the lame stream media will be reporting the following story on page one, they may not report it at all.
A Pentagon inquiry into a Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal has cleared him of wrongdoing.I have pointed out that taxing the rich is not going to fix our deficit/debt problem a number of times. My point is made again in a Opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal today. The tax reforms that President Obama wants that will 'sock the rich' will get the middle class also because that is where most of the money is.
The investigation's results, released Monday, also called into question the accuracy of the magazine's report in June. The article led to Gen. McChrystal's dismissal as commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
A dominant theme of President Obama's budget speech last Wednesday was that our fiscal problems would vanish if only the wealthiest Americans were asked "to pay a little more." Since he's asking, imagine that instead of proposing to raise the top income tax rate well north of 40%, the President decided to go all the way to 100%.Oh what a difference three years make. James Howard Kunstler was an Obama champion during his last Campaign and during his first year in office but for the last year he has become downright critical. He is now saying those hateful things that he at one time attributed to the NASCAR crowd.
Let's stipulate that this is a thought experiment, because Democrats don't need any more ideas. But it's still a useful experiment because it exposes the fiscal futility of raising rates on the top 2%, or even the top 5% or 10%, of taxpayers to close the deficit. The mathematical reality is that in the absence of entitlement reform on the Paul Ryan model, Washington will need to soak the middle class�because that's where the big money is.
Consider the Internal Revenue Service's income tax statistics for 2008, the latest year for which data are available. The top 1% of taxpayers - those with salaries, dividends and capital gains roughly above about $380,000 - paid 38% of taxes. But assume that tax policy confiscated all the taxable income of all the "millionaires and billionaires" Mr. Obama singled out. That yields merely about $938 billion, which is sand on the beach amid the $4 trillion White House budget, a $1.65 trillion deficit, and spending at 25% as a share of the economy, a post-World War II record.
Barack Obama has waited a bit too long to change the national storyline using the authority of his high office. It's not about "growth" and "recovery." It's about managing contraction and becoming a different sort of American society. Observers of the scene have made a mistake about Obama. He's not "eloquent." He's merely respectable. Being able to speak in grammatical sentences is not the same as having anything to say.
19 April
Rivers Edge RV Park
Sparks, NV
My second dental appointment was at 7:45 this morning so I did not walk. I had a walk planned that I would have taken from the office if the tooth had been filled.The dentist could not guarantee that a filling would stay in and since it was not opposed - he pulled it. He pulled, he pulled then he drilled/cut(?) and then pulled some more.
Finally got it out and said that I have some really strong bone holding my teeth. I knew this from my past experience with having teeth pulled and was pleased that it is still true considering my periodontal problems.
Went home and recovered for a couple of hours with gauze in my mouth. Then had some soup for 'brunch' which seemed to go down just fine. The numbness in my lips and tongue had almost gone away so I didn't even have any soup dripping off my beard.
There was also very little pain by late in the afternoon. I have a mild ache but it is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and I have taken no pain medication.
Cloudy today but with a high in the mid-60s. Tomorrow and Thursday (travel day) will be colder by about 10° for both the high and low (near freezing) with some chance of rain.
President Obama seems to have a recurring problem with news reporters interrupting him during interviews. First it was with Bret Baier of Fox News and now a Texas journalist. I see a pattern developing, they interrupt and then he dons his professorial robe.
I think he needs to change his ways. Either quit giving interviews or give answers to the questions rather than lectures. Lashing out at the interviewer, like an interrupted professor is not going to help his cause. But then he is who he is, it is doubtful that he can change or control himself.
20 April
Rivers Edge RV Park
Sparks, NV
I went back to Western Village Casino again (by way of a different route) this morning. I lived near there when I was in Sparks, NV and wanted to see the neighborhood. Plus, I had a second $2 coupon that needed to be redeemed.There was not a lot of changes that I noticed. The Target that closed soon after I moved is still vacant and a Longs Drug is also closed.
The coffee shop that I liked to frequently go to closed soon after I moved. It then stayed closed for a long time but I saw that it has re-opened under a new name.
The weather was fine in the early morning. However, within and hour of my getting home the wind started to pick up. I got my holding tanks dumped before it got too bad and have been rocking inside the rest of the day.
My tooth extraction has been a non-issue. I beat myself up badly with fear, carry on like I'm being tortured while in the chair.
I suffered virtually no pain after I left the office and now 36 hours later it is almost like it never happened.
I'll be traveling tomorrow with a continuing chance of rain to make it more interesting.
21 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
I woke up to rain on my roof at about 4:00 am; went back to sleep. At around 5:30 (my normal time to get up) it was still drizzling; stayed in bed. I did get up at 6:00 with a few sprinkles still coming down and the very dark sky convinced me that it would not be a good morning to walk.Thought I would give La Taqueria Parada a second chance; they did serve some of the best Huevos Rancheros in town. I got there at their stated 7:00 opening but this time there was a sign on the door that they would be closed today.
Still craving a Mexican food breakfast, I drove to my favorite - La Michoacana restaurant. They are open 24/7 (I have never found them closed), serve very authentic Mexican food and have very good prices.
I usually get their Huevos con Chorizo which I did again this morning and was not disappointed.
From there I went to Smith's and filled the cupboards with groceries. I usually do not travel with much food on board but I knew that today was going to be a short day. I also wanted to use my Reward Card to get gas at their station. Was able to save $0.60/gallon or about $20 on my fill-up.
The day was short at only 42 miles on route: City Streets, I-10 & US50A.
There were wind warnings for the Reno area and I had some gusting on I-10 as I followed the Truckee River through the canyon to the east. No more rain and all the new snow was at about 5,000-5,500 feet so I had no chain requirements although some Sierra roads did.
I stayed here at Desert Rose for a month last August and do not remember it being expensive. This time I'm staying for 10 days; got their weekly rate plus three days at the Passport Club discount rate.
The total seemed high but was cheaper than Rivers Edge for the one week that I was there. The monthly rates are always the best deal but I was not looking for a month in Reno or here.
A follow up on the Sienna Casino. I saw a local News item on-line that said it was going to re-open today. It had been closed and sold because of financial problems. The new owner was doing the re-model prior to the new opening.
From what I can remember, this is only the second casino in the Reno area that has closed and then re-opened. There have been at least a dozen large casinos close in the Reno area in the past 15 years and not more than 2-3 new ones built. The California Indian Casinos have hurt Reno a lot.
22 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 22, 1923Went from the Park along Alt US50 to Pioneer Crossing Casino for breakfast this morning. There is a lot of traffic but the highway has a very wide shoulder so I felt comfortable walking it.
I wanted to go to the Pioneer for breakfast but also to see if my former Boss is ever there. His primary work location is in Dayton, NV but the casino here is part of the same ownership.
He was not here today but usually does come to this location on Friday - I'll try for him again next week.
It felt colder than the reported 39° this morning and I have stayed cold all day. I think it is due to the solid gray cloud cover that we have had. The high for the day did not make it over 60° so with no sun, it is cold.
Tomorrow and Sunday promise to be the same then it is to warm up starting on Monday.
My daily routine remains the same although I have changed locations. The more expensive Park rent and the tooth extraction will make finances even tighter than usual so other activities become even less likely.
Continue to catch up on new blogs, became current on one today. It has been added to my To Read Monthly list and another was started from its beginning.
I rarely mention the names of the blogs that I am reading, or have read, but The Oasis of My Soul does merit comment. It is well written, has some good pictures and just the IDEA of traveling on a motorcycle with a dog in a sidecar excites my imagination.
23 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
This morning I went east on ALT US50 to the junction with NV828 (Farm District Road). The same road conditions as I found going west to Pioneer Crossing yesterday.I awoke to a drizzle at about 3:00 am but it was not raining when I started to walk. After about a mile there were a few sprinkles and then a very light rain during the last mile.
Very dark cloud cover all day with an occasional rain shower during the day after I got home. It also stayed cold all day. I fired up my heater during the morning after my walk.
It was still below 50° at noon and never reached the high forecast of 60.
A lot of time bundled up on the couch trying to stay dry and warm. Will probably do much the same tomorrow but can look forward to 70° on Wednesday.
24 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
Today was almost a repeat of yesterday. The biggest difference was that I woke up late, stiff, sore and lazy - did not walk.It stayed cold again and I had the heater in operation from time to time throughout the day. A rain shower or two but not much fell. Stronger winds today (gusts near 40mph) which I hope is an indication that the storm is blowing through.
What little planning I did concerning my next camp was mostly just thinking. That thinking was to spend a month in Winnemucca, NV.
Yesterday and today I tried to reserve a space at two RV Parks there and was told that there are no spaces available. All the RV spaces have been taken by construction workers for a project in the area (a pipeline I think).
I then looked for an alternate stop and checked on-line for Parks in Elko, NV and Burns, OR. From the reviews that I read, there is only one Park in Elko that I would want to stay at - it is very expensive.
So I'm going to be in Burns for the month of May. Will then mover to Weiser, ID for the month of June where I made a reservation a long time ago.
25 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
I walked to Pioneer Crossing Casino again this morning for breakfast. They have a $1.99 breakfast special that is hard to pass up.It was warmer than it has been for the past few days, with even warmer to come, with almost no wind. When I got home it was time to do laundry and within the hour plus that it took the winds came back.
Started at about 9:00 am and have been blowing steadily at 25 mpg with gusts up to 40.
I'm back on the couch. Trying to finish the Tom Clancy novel that I started before I left Reno. I selected it for its bulk, 914 pages, so that it would last awhile but want to exchange it before I leave here on Sunday.
I am posting this Opinion written by Daniel P. Kessler for The Wall Street Journal in it entirety. More unintended consequences of a poorly thought out law that was passed only for political reasons not for the purpose claimed.
Supporters of ObamaCare acknowledge it will have some unintended consequences. Yet surprisingly little attention has been focused on the law's most problematic provision: government subsidies to help individuals and families purchase health insurance.
This new entitlement—which the chief actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates will cost more than $100 billion per year once it is fully implemented—will damage the country's long-term fiscal outlook. It also will introduce far-reaching negative effects on rewards to work and bizarre new inequities into American life.
The health law establishes insurance exchanges—regulated marketplaces in which individuals and small businesses can shop for coverage—and minimum standards for the insurance policies that can be offered. Because the policies will be so costly, there's a subsidy for buyers that phases out as family income rises. This sounds reasonable—but the subsidies required to make a "qualifying" insurance policy affordable are so large that their phaseout creates chaos.
Starting in 2014, subsidies will be available to families with incomes between 134% and 400% of the federal poverty line. (Families earning less than 134% of poverty are eligible for Medicaid.) For example, a family of four headed by a 55-year-old earning $31,389 in 2014 dollars (134% of the federal poverty line) in a high-cost area will get a subsidy of $22,740. This will cover 96% of an insurance policy that the Kaiser Family Foundation predicts will cost $23,700. A similar family earning $93,699 (400% of poverty) gets a subsidy of $14,799. But a family earning $1 more—$93,700—gets no subsidy.
Economists call large, discontinuous changes in program benefits like this "notches." Although notches might be administratively convenient, they have terrible incentive effects. As Prof. Raj Chetty of Harvard points out in a recent National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, prior research on notches show that they induce sharp reductions in labor supply.
Consider a wife in a family with $90,000 in income. If she were to earn an additional $3,700, her family would lose the insurance subsidy and be more than $10,000 poorer. In addition, she would also pay more in income and Social Security taxes. Taken together, these policies impose a substantial punishment on work effort.
Notches also lead to unfairness. The principle that families of the same size with similar incomes should be treated similarly by tax law and transfer programs has deep philosophical roots and appeals to basic notions of equity. The notch turns this principle on its head. Next-door neighbors with virtually identical circumstances could receive very different levels of government assistance, depending on which side of the notch they happen to fall. This feature will justifiably increase public cynicism about the law and government in general.
Fixing the notch is not so easy. To phase out the subsidy smoothly for families with incomes of 134% to 400% of poverty, the law would have to take away $22,700 in subsidies as a family's income rose to $93,700 from $31,389. In other words, for every dollar earned in this income range, a family's subsidy would have to decline by 36 cents. On top of 25% federal income taxes, 5% state income taxes, and 15% Social Security taxes, this implies a reward to work of less than 20 cents on the dollar—in economists' language, an implicit marginal tax rate of over 80%. Although economists may differ on the effect of taxes on work effort, it is hard to fathom how anyone could argue that this will not reduce economic activity.
It gets worse. There are also subsidies to cover the deductibles and co-payments of insurance policies purchased through an exchange—and like the premium subsidies, these subsidies also phase out with income. There is also the likelihood that federal and state income taxes on upper-middle income families will have to be raised above current levels to finance the cost of the subsidy, the Medicaid expansion, and other provisions of the new law. Both of these effects exacerbate the law's negative work incentives.
Either leaving the notch in or smoothing the notch out seems impossibly unattractive. Yet these choices are the inevitable consequences of the law's attempt to redistribute around $20,000 to someone making $30,000, but nothing to someone making $94,000. The only fix is to drastically reduce or eliminate the premium subsidies. As the 2012 elections approach, voters will have to decide: For middle-income families, should economic success be determined by work and savings, or by participation in a government program?
26 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
I did a 6+ mile loop this morning, more enjoyable than an out-n-back route.The first leg was through a housing development built around Golf Club of Fernley and abutting the RV Park. Turned west on Farm District Road for two miles, it is a narrow 2-lane road with light traffic and scenic.
Then through another housing development before turning for home on ALT US50 (seeing a lot of ALT US50, but it is not that bad).
There were a lot of cottonwood trees along Farm District Road, as well as some flowering trees and bushes. It looked like spring is about 1-2 weeks later getting here than in Reno.
I'm not sure why that might be, they are both at about the same elevation. Perhaps Reno is warmer because of all the buildings and pavement?
It was 36° when I started out and warmed up very slowly, finally breaking through 50° at noon. I had the heater on again for part of the morning after I got home.
27 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
The plan for this morning was to walk to the Black Bear restaurant. Plans change. The Black Bear is a little over 1 mile past the Pioneer or over 2 miles round trip.By the time I reached the Pioneer I no longer had the desire to do that additional 2 miles. Had breakfast at the Pioneer and settled for a 6.4 mile morning walk.
It was warmer this morning and has gone over 70° this afternoon – very nice. Tomorrow should be about the same then Friday it will get much colder again with the possibility of rain.
The Big News of the day:
President Obama released his original birth certificate Wednesday, saying the controversy surrounding the issue had become a "sideshow."I tend to agree with what he said. However, the Birth Certificate issue has been a sideshow for almost 3 years now. Why did he not put a stop to it when it first became an issue? What did he gain by not releasing his Birth Certificate then?
“We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do," said Obama.
By releasing it now he has not remove those questions from my mind or from the mind of others.
Is he now going to release his education records? How did he get into Harvard? How did he get a scholarship and from whom?
All these questions should have been answered over 3 years ago. He promised the most transparent administration in our history which was just so many words like so much of what he says. Word, words just words!
28 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
The forecast that today would be like yesterday was wishful thinking. The forecasters seem to be right that a storm is coming but it got here sooner than they expected.It was not very cold this morning but the stiff wind made it feel much colder than I wanted to be out in it walking.
Drove to the Black Bear for breakfast before going to the Blue Beacon Truck Wash at the Pilot tuck stop here in Fernley. Desperado has been in need of a bath for some time now but I am far too lazy to try and do it.
My other excuse is that most RV Parks will not allow you to wash your RV in the Park. A few have a designated space where it is allowed but that is rare and a few will allow washing at your site also quite rare.
The trip to Blue Beacon this morning was much easier and worth the price. From there I went to Scolari's market to pick up a couple of grocery item that will carry me until I leave on Sunday.
The storm clouds were blown in during the afternoon by a steady wind. This storm is coming in on a cold front that will drive the low to near freezing tomorrow and Saturday morning with the high on those days only in the mid-50s.
Not a pretty weather picture for my last couple of days. Not surprising either, this is northern Nevada in the spring and this is the kind of weather that can be expected.
I'm hoping that this is the last cold snap and warmer temperatures will come soon. Will be moving further north and Burns, OR is forecasting the possibility of snow, highs in the 40s and freezing nights during this storm front.
On or about April 24th the Home Page and the month of April in the Archives of this web site became corrupted. I first saw it as a lot of diamonds with a ? inside. The following day these were replaced with the unreadable characters – and � .
I tried a few things to correct the problem to no avail including asking Yahoo, my host, and Ubuntu, my Operating System, for help. Received no help from anyone so today I re-typed corrections for all the unreadable characters in the Archives. The Home Page postings will be deleted in a few days so I left them as they now are.
We continue to hear that inflation is not a problem; Ben 'Helicopter' Bernanke leading the cheer at his Press Party yesterday. The important inflation measures seems to be the price of an iPod, a new cell phone or maybe a flat screen TV.
The price of food and gas are not important to those that are worried about the price of gadgets and apps for said gadgets. However, for us that have just enough money to buy food and gas those prices are important and they are going up.
Examples: beef is projected to be up 6-7% year over year (YOY), pork 7-8% YOY, corn and wheat are at record levels, gasoline at $4-5/gallon and paper towels or toilet paper up 5%.
I have three major expenses in my life: rent for campgrounds, gas to get from one to the next and food. I can assure you that there is inflation in all three of those expense areas and no amount of denial by the government is going to convince me that there is not.
29 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 29, 1923I walked to Pioneer again for breakfast and was almost finished when my former Boss, Mike, came in and found me. We had a good visit for about and hour.
His position with Pioneer is his second since leaving Baldini's a couple of years after I left. He seems to be happy with were he is now and the owners of Pioneer appear to be on his 'wave length'.
His oldest boy was 'into' baseball and now has a scholarship to the University of Nevada – Reno. Suffered a shoulder injury in this, his first, year and will have surgery paid for by the University – how good is that?
He will also be 'red shirted' so he will still have 4 years of eligibility to play college baseball. The younger son is now in Little League so Mike gets to do the raising a ball player all over again.
It did freeze last night but when I started my walk it did not feel that cold. The mountains to the west acquired a light dusting of snow during the night but this morning the sky was cloud clear.
That changed during the day with the wind picking up again and bringing in more clouds by the afternoon. High temperatures were cold, as forecast, with the same for tomorrow. A promise of warmer days and nights to begin on Sunday!
The following is an excerpt from an Opinion written by Charles Krauthammer for The Washington Post. As Krauthammer so often does, he has got this exactly right.
Obama may be moving toward something resembling a doctrine. One of his advisers described the president’s actions in Libya as “leading from behind.” — Ryan Lizza, the New Yorker, May 2 issue .
To be precise, leading from behind is a style, not a doctrine...And it surely is an accurate description, from President Obama’s shocking passivity during Iran’s 2009 Green Revolution to his dithering on Libya, acting at the very last moment, then handing off to a bickering coalition, yielding the current bloody stalemate. It’s been a foreign policy of hesitation, delay and indecision, marked by plaintive appeals to the (fictional) “international community” to do what only America can.
But underlying that style, assures this Obama adviser, there really are ideas. Indeed, “two unspoken beliefs,” explains Lizza. “That the relative power of the U.S. is declining, as rivals like China rise, and that the U.S. is reviled in many parts of the world.”
Amazing. This is why Obama is deliberately diminishing American presence, standing and leadership in the world?...
Proposition two: We must lead from behind because we are reviled... Pray tell, when were we not? It is the fate of any assertive superpower to be envied, denounced and blamed for everything under the sun. Nothing has changed. Moreover, for a country so deeply reviled, why during the massive unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan and Syria have anti-American demonstrations been such a rarity?
Who truly reviles America the hegemon? The world that Obama lived in and shaped him intellectually: the elite universities; his Hyde Park milieu (including his not-to-be-mentioned friends, William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn); the church he attended for two decades, ringing with sermons more virulently anti-American than anything heard in today’s full-throated uprising of the Arab Street.
It is the liberal elites who revile the American colossus and devoutly wish to see it cut down to size. Leading from behind — diminishing America’s global standing and assertiveness — is a reaction to their view of America, not the world’s.
30 April
Desert Rose RV Park
Fernley, NV
It was below freezing again this morning and I just didn't feel like walking in the cold today. Went to the Clubhouse to stay warm and finish my Clancy novel.Made an exchange but this Park does not have much of a selection. Almost no choice at all compared to what was available at the Escapees Park in Pahrump.
It didn't warm up very fast so I had my heater going again during part of the morning. It did get up into the 50s as promised but that is still cold unless you can find a place in the sun and out of the wind.
In the afternoon when it got as warm at I thought it was going to I went out and got my holding tanks dumped. Filled the fresh water tank and now ready to travel tomorrow.