Traveling

[Vrede too]

Maybe I was a little rough on Amanda herself, but I'll stand by my ridicule of a belief that "less damgummint and more freedom" can be consistent with anti-abortion and anti- gay weddings. I guess I just blamed the messenger.

ICYMI, just 2 miles from the Naples Airport destination:

At least 2 dead after small plane crashes onto Florida highway: Authorities
Five people were on board the jet, which crashed onto Interstate 75 near Naples.

[O Really]

I hadn't seen that. The airport there has a huge number of private jets in and out. Lots of money.

[O Really]

Take a tour of O Really and Lady O land.

https://easyreadernews.com/travel-san-d ... -over-for/

[Vrede too]

We took a car road trip up to Banff. There's a lot of nothing north of Coeur d'Alene on US 95/2. Northern Virginia battle flags were not unusual. Gas station/convenience stores are not very inviting. Probably most of the (fairly few) people along there are not domestic terrorists, but fershure some of them are....

Coeur d’Alene:

Utah coach says team was shaken after experiencing racial hate at hotel during NCAA Tournament

Utah coach Lynne Roberts said her team experienced a series of “racial hate crimes” after the arriving at its first NCAA Tournament hotel and was forced to change hotels during the event for safety concerns.

Roberts revealed what happened after Utah lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAAs on Monday night. Roberts didn’t go into detail but said there were several incidents that happened last Thursday night after the team arrived in the area for the tournament and were disturbing to the traveling party to the point there were concerns about safety.

Utah was staying about 30 miles away in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and was relocated to a different hotel on Friday....

Utah, South Dakota State and UC Irvine were all staying at hotels in Idaho even with Gonzaga as the host school because of a lack of hotel space in the Spokane area. Several years ago, the city was announced as a host for the first and second rounds of the men’s NCAA Tournament and there was also a large regional youth volleyball tournament in the area during the weekend.

That left limited hotel space and Gonzaga received a waiver from the NCAA to allow teams to be housed in Coeur d’Alene.

“Racism is real and it happens, and it’s awful. So for our players, whether they are white, black, green, whatever, no one knew how to handle it and it was really upsetting,” Roberts said. “For our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA Tournament environment, it’s messed up.”

... Far-right extremists have made a presence in the region. In 2018, at least nine hate groups operated in the region of Spokane and northern Idaho, including Identity Evropa, Proud Boys, ACT for America and America’s Promise Ministries, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Dammit, I was fighting this in North Idaho 40 years ago

[Vrede too]

Take a tour of O Really and Lady O land.

https://easyreadernews.com/travel-san-d ... -over-for/

Maybe all old news to you:
9 short and sweet road trips from Vancouver that aren't just to Whistler

Just for fun:
12 Things You Shouldn’t Say to Canadians

Interesting, eh?

[O Really]

We've visited most of those places - and there are lots of others that could have reasonably made the list including taking the ferry across to Port Angeles to the Olympic peninsula. Maybe that was a little out of their travel time restriction, though.

The list of what not to say could be summed up as "don't believe all the stereotypes of other countries" but IMNVHO the worst is thinking Canada is just like going to another state and Canadians are the same as Americans. Sure, there are a lot of similarities and a good bit of cultural overlap, but Canada is definitely not the US. Which is among its most endearing features to Lady O and me. A lot of tourists think that just because it's next door that Canadian stores will take US dollars. And some do, particularly the touristy shops, but they don't make a proper exchange, just go with face value. So if the touron pays in US dollars, they're paying about 20% extra. A lot of Americans think it's strange that Canada use kilometres for distance and litres to fill the petrol tank, not ever realizing that they (the US) are the ones in the minority with the "unusual" measurement system.

[Vrede too]

American Airlines blames girl, 9, for not noticing she was being recorded by flight attendant in bathroom

... The airline is being sued in a Texas court after a now-former flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, used a recording device to film girls between the ages of seven and 14 years old using the American Airlines bathroom for several months in 2023.

After Mr Thompson’s arrest, the family of a nine-year-old victim sued the airline, alleging that the company should have known he was a danger to guests.

On Monday, a lawyer representing the airline wrote in a filing that the little girl should have been aware that a device was recording her while she was using the bathroom.

“Any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device,” the filing said....

[O Really]

So we got back from a few days up at Big Bear Lake. Had a couple of good hikes with views of still-snowed mountaintops, took a boat tour of the lake to see the mountain version of "(vacay) homes of the rich and famous", and took an off-roadish ride up to a deserted mine town (Doble) that was at one time the biggest gold town in California.



Not us, but where we went to the mine

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doble ... ?entry=ttu#

[Vrede too]

...

Have you escaped?

California Heat Wave Map, Update as Lethal Warning Issued

[O Really]

The "heat wave" will force high temps in Oceanside to around 74 by next weekend. Further inland in San Diego County is a bit warmer, up into the 80's. Of course, the desert is another thing altogether, with over 100 all next week.

During May and June, living at the beach is not exactly what most people think (and what the Chambers of Commerce claim). We have "Gray May" and "June Gloom" where a big cloud bank ("marine layer") lives just offshore and for about 5-7 miles on shore. So instead of "Sunny San Diego", our little strip of Southern California paradise from Dana Point to La Jolla is mostly cloudy and chilly. Clears off some days by mid-afternoon, and it's still better than most everybody else's weather, and it doesn't stop the tourists from trotting off to lie on the beach in the chilly cloudy wind.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but we're not going north this summer. We are taking mostly car road trips to places not easily accessible in the urban assault vehicle.

[Vrede too]

The "heat wave" will force high temps in Oceanside to around 74 by next weekend. Further inland in San Diego County is a bit warmer, up into the 80's. Of course, the desert is another thing altogether, with over 100 all next week.

During May and June, living at the beach is not exactly what most people think (and what the Chambers of Commerce claim). We have "Gray May" and "June Gloom" where a big cloud bank ("marine layer") lives just offshore and for about 5-7 miles on shore. So instead of "Sunny San Diego", our little strip of Southern California paradise from Dana Point to La Jolla is mostly cloudy and chilly. Clears off some days by mid-afternoon, and it's still better than most everybody else's weather, and it doesn't stop the tourists from trotting off to lie on the beach in the chilly cloudy wind.

Sounds miserable

I don't know if I mentioned it, but we're not going north this summer. We are taking mostly car road trips to places not easily accessible in the urban assault vehicle.

New avatar?

[O Really]

Naa, at least not that one. We see this summer as an aberration, and will be back to the True North next summer.

Or maybe I'll try this one. https://votecnp.org/

[O Really]

Today turned very nice. Clouds cleared away by about 1, with about 73 temp. Tourists are happy..

[Vrede too]

Naa, at least not that one. We see this summer as an aberration, and will be back to the True North next summer.

Or maybe I'll try this one. https://votecnp.org/

https://www.californianational.party/wp ... square.png

... Our platform is divided into ten planks. You may view the full 2022 Platform here.

Opps.

... As of January 2022, 413 California voters have registered as members of the California National Party. To achieve qualified party status, the CNP would need 0.33% of total registered voters, or approximately 73,000 registered voters.

413 voters in 7 years = 59/year = qualification in the year 3254

[O Really]

Oh well, I guess it's just another of the thousand fringe groups in the Golden State. I would have thought they'd have more members, though.

[Vrede too]

Oh well, I guess it's just another of the thousand fringe groups in the Golden State. I would have thought they'd have more members, though.

Naples in the news:

CBP officer pleads guilty to stealing $18K from flight passengers during inspections, officials say
William Timothy stole the money from international passengers at the Naples, Florida, airport while he was doing currency checks as part of his job, officials said.

The Border Patrol’s trademarked motto – “Honor First” ...

[O Really]

Most of the people flying into that airport, and particularly international likely wouldn't have noticed it was missing. Some might even have given a thou for a tip if he had just passed them on through.

[Vrede too]

Most of the people flying into that airport, and particularly international likely wouldn't have noticed it was missing. Some might even have given a thou for a tip if he had just passed them on through.

I saw elsewhere that it's a bougie airport.


Stumbled on this, Coronado Bridge:



Gorgeous, but the sweeping curve confused me.

... By 1964 the Navy supported a bridge if there was at least 200 feet (61 m) of clearance for ships which operate out of the nearby Naval Base San Diego to pass underneath it. To achieve this clearance with a reasonable grade, the bridge length was increased by taking a curved path rather than a more direct path to Coronado. The clearance would allow an empty oil-fired aircraft carrier to pass beneath it – it is not sufficient for Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers in light load condition....

Artwork

The pillars supporting the bridge on the eastern end are painted with huge murals as part of Chicano Park, the most extensive collection of Chicano art murals in the world. This neighborhood park and mural display were created in response to a community uprising in 1970, which protested the adverse effects of the bridge and Interstate 5 on the Barrio Logan community. Local artist Salvador Torres proposed using the bridge and freeway pillars as a giant canvas for Chicano art at a time when urban wall murals were rare in the United States, and he and many other artists created the murals when permission for the park was finally granted in 1973.

Cool!

Chicano Park

Gallery

... Chicano Park, like Berkeley's People's Park, was the result of a militant (but nonviolent) people's land takeover. Every year on April 22 (or the nearest Saturday), the community celebrates the anniversary of the park's takeover with a celebration called Chicano Park Day.


"Mi Gente" (My People)

... The murals at Chicano Park act as a way to transmit the history and culture of Mexican-Americans and Chicanos. Murals have many themes including addressing immigration, feminist concerns and featuring historical and civil rights leaders.

... A 2003 plan to renovate the park was stalled when Caltrans objected to the word "Aztlán", which for years had been spelled out in rocks on the park's grounds. Calling the term "militant", they claimed that using federal funding for the project would violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by showing preference to Mexicans and Mexican Americans. However, Caltrans district director Pedro Orso, after consultations with civil rights experts from within the agency and from the Federal Highway Administration, decided that the word did not violate the law, and the $600,000 grant was allowed to go through.

... On September 3, 2017, Roger Ogden, leader of a far-right group called Patriot Fire, organized a "Patriot Picnic" in the park as a protest against "anti-American" murals. Over 500 community members and supporters held the park in response, and Ogden and his supporters were escorted from the park by police.


Shows Ice Agent Choking Illegal (Undocumented) Immigrant at Chicano Park

On February 3, 2018, a second "Patriot Picnic" was organized by an anonymous group calling itself "Bordertown Patriots", with the intention of forcing down the Aztlán flag in the park and replacing it with a U.S. flag. Numerous far-right figures, including Ogden and white nationalist Kristopher Wyrick, attempted to enter the park, but were prevented from entering the park by hundreds of Barrio Logan residents and supporters. Four people were arrested in connection with the protest, including a man who urinated on a mural....


Emiliano Zapata

[O Really]

So for our visit in Monterey area, we plan to take a drive about an hour north to see some more redwoods while they're still there, and take a drive about an hour south on the PCH to the Pfeiffer state park while it's still there and you can still get there. Kinda sad to think about it like that, but it's true.

And everytime we come through the Central Valley or places like Salinas I always think everybody in the US should be required to take at least a virtual tour. See all those fields and all that food out there? See any white faces growing that food? Now go on an complain about immigrants ruining the country. They're not ruining the country, they're feeding your ass.

[GoCubsGo]

Now go on an complain about immigrants ruining the country. They're not ruining the country, they're feeding your ass.

Yeah, but are they voting?