October 11, 2010 ~ Bill and I have been busy in Northern Arizona since Thursday night. The scent of the pine-air and the sight of those tall trees, has provided rejuvenation for both of us.
Three nights at the Arizona Mountain Ranch outside of Williams, AZ – whose main claim to fame, was that it was the last American town to be passed by Interstate 40 – putting the final death spike into Route 66 – except that it didn’t. With the addition of the Grand Canyon Railway in the late 1980’s – the Mother Road was born again. As some readers know, my family and I used to live on Route 66 – and we did get our kicks. And so have Bill and I.
Sunday afternoon, my family drove up to join us at the historic San Marcos Hotel in Williams, and on Monday morning, we heard “All aboard” as the Conductor invited us aboard for the 83 mile journey to the Grand Canyon. My family was scheduled to stay just for a few hours before returning to Phoenix, but Bill and I were to stay the night, and return on Tuesday afternoon. I will head for home, and Bill will be boarding another train for his journey back east to his home. Continue reading
September 9, 2003
Most Americans have no idea as to the scope and power of the federal, state and local bureaucracies. Although all bureaucracies grow by their vary nature, local government has grown the most. From 1990 to 2010 federal government employment has stayed relatively steady. In the same period, state government has grown by about 1,000,000 employees, or a growth rate of almost 24%. Local government on the other hand has grown by 3,700,000 employees, or a whopping 34.3%. The growth rate is directly related to the passage of more laws and the explosive growth in social services.
I need to rant for just a moment. I’m getting old and I’ve worked hard all my life. I have made my reputation, the good and the bad, I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I have worked hard to get where I am in life. I have juggled my job, my family, and made many sacrifices up front to secure a life for my family. It wasn’t always easy and still isn’t, but I did it all while maintaining my integrity and my principles. I’ve never put anyone beneath myself or denied help to anyone. I have friends of every walk of life and if you’re in my circle, it should be understood that I don’t have to remind you of what I’d be willing to do for you. However….
Months of rioting, especially on the Left Coast and in the Northeastern cities and the Northern Midwest Region where armed, militant leftists have razed and burned entire towns is the sign of things to come, so long as half our residents continue to embrace so foreign an ideology that is so antithetical to the principles America has stood upon for over two-hundred years. And this is taking shape to be the biggest issue of the 2020 campaigns, one that Democrats are certain to lose, since they’ve essentially endorsed this violence and mayhem and they’ve denied the proper tools and resources to law enforcement needed to restore law and order, symbolically spitting in the face of their own cops; in the meantime, they also smear President Trump over his strong law and order stance, when he sent federal agents to enforce the law and protect federal buildings in these communist hellholes.