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« April 27, 2008 - May 3, 2008 | Main | May 11, 2008 - May 17, 2008 »
Gentle Readers,
Spring flowers at Red Rock Canyon, near Lost Wages.
Places like Red Rock Canyon bring out the primeval in my boy. Within minutes after we unchained them, the kids vanished into some slot canyon at the base of the Calico Hills, eventually surfacing, intact, some forty-five minutes later.
As Always,
TWC
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
It comes as no surprise that Governor Schwarzzengroper, a man who makes ex-governor Moonbeam look sensible, opposes a ballot initiative that would prevent local government from seizing your property for the benefit of wealthy, politically well-connected developers and corporations like Costco.
Legal battles came to a head.....when Cypress officials tried to take Cottonwood's land at the corner of Katella Avenue and Walker Street for Costco. Church officials fought back and in 2003 agreed to a land swap selling the city its land and buying a larger neighboring property.
After a three year battle, the city agreed to a compromise and then paid the church 18 million for the land. Costco then bought the land from the city for 12.5 million. Some people call that your tax dollars at work. I call it corporate welfare.
Despite Poletown and Kelo, and despite what Souter and the Supers think, the real Constitution prohibits any taking of private property except for public use and then only after due process and upon payment of a fair price.
No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Not to mention the ethical and moral considerations implicit in this question: Whose property is it anyway?
Put another way, you either own the property or you are the property.
As Ever,
TWC
And tired always followed sick. Worst beating I ever got in my life.....
My
mother said, Well I am just sick,
and I said And tired.
I don't
remember anything after that.
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
This makes it around the email circuit about this time every year. It also happens to be Storytellin' Mama's mantra.
Happy Mother's Day.
As Always,
TWC
Tip of the glass to Noelle for the nudge.
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Just a quick note of thanks to Virginia Postrel for the shout out. Milton Friedman's Cinco de Mayo shirt was pretty cool.
Virginia is one of the good ones.
As Always,
TWC
....I didn't notice any Dead Head stickers on no Cadillacs but I DID accidentally and distractedly listen to a bit of Dr Laura, a woman who obviously detests her audience.
Granted, if you call up a talk show host during prime time to bare your soul you may be pathetically disconnected from any semblance of self-esteem. Some may say you even get what you got coming. But still, Dr Laura is Don Rickles in drag without a trace of humor. Even when she's right, she's wrong. Except, she actually is the mother of her children. We think.
For something a little more upbeat, try this one:
As Ever,
TWC
Gentle Readers:
Overheard:
That Boy: Mom, can you take me to the Renaissance Faire while I'm still into sticks and swords and stuff?
TWC doesn't do Medieval. Not even back in the day when the true Renaissance Faire was run by drug crazed hippie freaks gone Bohemian.
As Ever,
TWC
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Got a few emails questioning the 43 trips around New York, New York Casino and Hotel in the roller coaster. Some even suggested that TWC was engaging in rank hyperbole.
Nope, that is an actual number. The coaster costs fourteen bucks for the first ride. Seven bucks for a reprise. But, if you buy a pass for $25.00 you can ride as many times as you want between 11:00 AM and 11:00 PM AND you get priority seating without waiting in lines. Course, mid-week the lines were short anyway. TWC spent a goodly amount of time hanging around with a tall plastic cup, filled with Simi Cabernet waiting for the munchkins to alight and dash for the next train.
Body Damage? Yes, Jake was rubbed raw like road rash from where the mechanism clamps onto your shoulders so's you don't plummet to your death on the double loop. One elbow was pretty banged up as well. With the House Blond, it's harder to tell cuz she's pretty beat up anyway, but she seemed to have fared better.
Video is here. Night run here (taken from inside the train)
As Always,
TWC
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Although the revelry is largely confined to the Great American Southwest, Cinco de Mayo, like St Paddy's Day, is an American holiday that spontaneously evolved within the culture, irrespective of the fact that CONgress never officially legislated it into existence.
Despite the significance of Zaragosa's tequila inspired victory over the Frogs, south of the border, public school is in session and nobody but tanked Americans in places like Cabo celebrate the Fifth of May.
Bonus: A couple of years ago TWC had the opportunity to spend Cinco de Mayo with the godfather of free market economics and school choice.
That's Uncle Miltie and Cato's Andrew Coulson. Is that a GREAT shirt? Or what?
As intriguing as the idea was, jawboning with Milton Friedman was kinda out of the question. I felt intrusive enough just taking his picture. Besides, what the heck do you say to Milton Friedman?
Uhhh, Good Job, Dude. How's the wine?
Lot's of fringes to being hooked up with Mrs TWC, one of which was the Los Cabos tag along. And, the night before at Villa Penasco, where TWC had THREE gracious and well dressed waiters to himself.....
Oh, Señor TWC, you look like you need a leetle more wine. Eh?
......our friends Shikha and Arthur actually found something to say to the Nobel Laureate and I suspect it had to do with Arthur's long ago summer camp counselor, a brash young man named David Friedman. That's Mrs TWC to the right, sliced nearly in half, vertically.
Milton Friedman bio here.
As Ever.
TWC
Oh yeah, and it's also Linda R's birthday! Happy, Happy!
