Thursday, May 20, 2010

Avoiding The Void.


I've had lots of story ideas for "Another Day" lately, but I think I'll just use my time in more productive pursuits, such as sleeping and watching TV. After two years, a couple of hundred blog entries, and hours at the computer, I've created no audience for my cyber-ramblings.

Writing this blog is a bit like the wanna-be artist in the family who paints bad portraits of sea scapes and mountain vistas, and then foists them off on friends and relatives. Said relatives are then forever obliged to pull them from the closet and hang them in the living room whenever the "artist" plans a visit. Such is stuff of bad TV sitcoms.

I'm not going to do that to you anymore. See ya later.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Welcome, Natalie.

Daughter Samantha had her baby this morning. Natalie Rose weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and is 20 inches long. Mother and daughter are doing fine.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Four Dead In Ohio...


Forty years ago, tomorrow, four students at Kent State University were shot and killed by National Guardsmen during an anti-war protest. I don't have any pithy remarks to make, and I won't dwell on how quickly the years have passed. It all seems fresh in my mind.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Unemployed? You Are Not Alone.


I love little search engines like this one, provided by the newspaper in Long Beach. Just plug in your favorite community and see just how many people are out of work. The media tends to report gross figures for the counties, but here you can really see the numbers by city.
Click on the blog post headline, or go here:

http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_12651877

Lemme give you a hint here. Check out the numbers for Berdoo County perennial losers Muscoy, Adelanto, and San Bernarghetto; you'll be shocked. None of them match Cabazon in Riverside County, thank God, where over 35 percent are unemployed.

Why Is It...


...that Caltrans (meaning the taxpayers) went to the expense of widening I-1o through town, only to then block off massive strips of the right hand lane to provide unneeded accel/decel lanes at the offramps?

...that Redlands is spending money for a revamp of the bricks and park on State Street, when the city is in a serious monetary crisis?

...that the Redlands cops allowed transients to illegally occupy a house on Alabama (clearly visible from the street) for months, until one of the tramps decided to burn it down?

...that the city has taken no action to prevent Edison and its contractors from killing city trees, especially since the city has no money to remove said trees once they die? And does this open the city to lawsuits should one or more of these trees fall over and kill somebody?

...that the Facts can be so blatant in its support of the local Tea Party folks and the proposed Super Walmart, while never writing an editorial on any subject in months?

...that the local cops, who continually cry poverty, are allowed to drive their patrol vehicles home, and leave them there, for days at a time?

...that Redlands continues to lean on its citrus and philanthropic heritage, while doing nothing to add to the city's long-term viability as a pleasing place to live?

...that nobody ever questions if the public wants the dozens of police cameras placed all over town to monitor us?

Just thought I'd ask.


The Mother Of All Press Releases.

Look what I just found on the AP wire!


5/1/10 8:57:10 AM EDT


WHITE HOUSE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

ADVANCE COPY
TEXT OF THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT
DO NOT RELEASE TO PUBLIC UNTIL FOLLOWING PRESS CONFERENCE


Press conference scheduled Monday, 5/3/2010, 9 AM, White House press room.

Attending: POTUS, VPOTUS, President of Mexico Felipe Calderon,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Credentials: White House, State Department press credentials ONLY
unless prior clear by Homeland Security / Secret Service and press office.
Contact SS media relations at 202.406.2000.

Media load-in 7:45 to 8:15 AM East gate. NO EARLY ARRIVALS.

-----------------------------------------------------
COPY AS FOLLOWS:
-----------------------------------------------------

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

The United States has always welcomed immigrants from around the world. My father, an immigrant from Kenya, came to this country seeking a better life, and chances are that some member of your own family arrived here seeking the same.

Unfortunately, millions have recently come to this country without permission, most crossing our southern border with Mexico. This has caused many communities, particularly in the southwest, increasing hardship, as they pay for increased law enforcement and health care for these undocumented families -- families who want nothing more than a better life than their native country can offer.

Therefore, seven months ago, our State Department began private negotiations with the government of Mexico to stem the tide of illegal immigration, and at the same time improve the economic conditions of our Mexican neighbors.

Today, I am proud to announce a new treaty between The United States and Mexico, that, once ratified by our Congress will address these issues. The scope and ramifications of this treaty are immense, but I want to share with you now a brief summary of what our two countries have agreed to.

Effective January 1, 2015, portions of San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, and Imperial counties in the state of California will become part of Baja California, Mexico. This will provide the nation of Mexico with billions of dollars of infrastructure -- cities, highways, electric generating plants, factories -- all in place to create an economic boon to Mexican citizens in the decades ahead.

Prior to this date, all undocumented Mexicans now in the US will be urged to move permanently to this region. After January 1, 2015, any Mexican citizen residing illegally within the boundaries of the United States will receive significant jail time, and their property and possessions seized before their repatriation to their home country.

In addition, as of the January 1, 2015 date, no child born of undocumented Mexican parents in the US will receive automatic United States citizenship.

In return for the approximately 250,000 square miles of territory, Mexico will convey to the United States 49 percent of their ownership in the state-held Permex gas and oil company, and allow unlimited off-shore oil drilling along their border with the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Revenues of these wells will be shared on an equal basis between both countries.

As for the United States citizens residing in the affected region of California, they can stay, retain ownership of their property, and hold citizenship of both the United States and Mexico; or, move out of the area and receive a one million dollar annuity from the United States government, paid out over the fifteen years after the treaty is ratified.

President Felipe Calderon of Mexico is with us today, and wishes to share a statement with the American people. Following President Calderon's message, the Secretary of State will be taking questions.

Thank you, and God Bless America.

-------------------------

END OF TEXT.

-------------------------

Nah, just kidding...