11 November 2010

The TSA is out of control - they DON'T provide any real security

The TSA is entirely out of control. It's nothing but a group of small people given unlimited powers.

I wish I was flying some where on November 24th, 2010, because I would join the National Opt Out Day. You can be assured I will opt out when I do next fly if they haven't taken these machines out.

http://www.optoutday.com/

Read what the full body scanners can do besides showing you entire body (yes, down there, too) and what the so-called security agents do to innocent people:
http://www.dontscan.me/
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-safety-security-222/
http://www.thousandsstandingaround.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJGvsAgpfig
http://www.nudeoscope.com/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20022477-281.html

16 October 2010

NO Justice in the so-call Justice System of California

The California justice system needs reforming.

My girlfriend was convicted of embezzling, a crime she doesn’t deny. She embezzled and gave all of the money abusive boyfriend. He spent it on a motorcycle, guns, and other items. She didn’t spend any of the money on herself.

She didn’t know about the programs available to help stop this beast from abusing her - she just wanted the pain to stop.

She wants to pay restitution. She was able to get another job that paying a decent wage. She was able to pay partial restitution of $15,000.

She had five strikes against her.

The company she took the money from was mismanaged. The found the perfect scapegoat in my girlfriend to cover up their ineptness..

The DA was more interested in seeing people go to prison and making voters think he’s hard on crime. He didn’t care that my girlfriend is 59 years old and has many medical problems. Justice would have been served if he had recommended probation to allow her to continue working and paying restitution.

Her lawyer refused to believe her when she said the amount taken was nowhere close to what the company and DA said was taken.

Another strike was the judge who saw nothing wrong with sending her to an overcrowded prison. The prison she is at is at 150% capacity. There are women sleeping on the floors!

How is justice being served when a meek woman who has shown true remorse for her crime and wants to pay restitution is sent to prison? A place where medical help is delayed or even denied, the water has arsenic, where she can’t sleep due to the excessive heat, and where she is a victim of harden criminals?

California needs to reform its “justice” system now!

28 June 2010

Byrd Dead - I Have No Sorrow!

The New York Times, the bastion of liberal media, headlines on June 28, 2010, read "Robert Byrd, Respected Voice of the Senate, Dies at 92."

Respected? He was in the Senate for 51 years. That does not make him respectable. It makes one wonder about the citizens of West Virginia who would vote for this many every time he was up for election. Oh, wait, there's a reason why: he was the Pork King.

The Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonpartisan watchdog group,voted him the pork king. He brought the state federal money. Many things were named after him: the Robert C. Byrd Highway, two Robert C. Byrd federal buildings, the Robert C. Byrd Freeway, the Robert C. Byrd Center for Hospitality and Tourism, the Robert C. Byrd Drive and the Robert C. Byrd Hardwood Technologies Center, just to name a few.

It isn't until about the 18th paragraph that the New York Times admits that Byrd was a KKK member. Later they admit he voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Good riddance, Byrd!

27 June 2010

Trip to Aunt's 70th Birthday

Just got back from an overnight trip to LA for my aunt's 70th birthday. She sure doesn't look 70!

We started out about 4:30 Saturday morning. Little early but the party started about 1 so we needed to leave early. Discovered a much better way to get to West Covina. The GPS indicated I5 to I10 but I hate that interchange. Instead, I took I210 from I5 and then I605 to I10. Just a few minutes longer but so much easier on the nerves! Also for the first time in all my road trips between the Bay Area and Southern California I was able to make it without refueling along the way. Granted, the EVIC (electronic vehicle information center) complained about low fuel but, still, I made without refueling. Couldn't say the same on the way back. Unfortunately, I had just under a full tank. It's still amazing, thought, that the gas in Santa Nella, in the middle of no where, had gas that was 3 to 25 cents cheaper than the Bay Area and LA!

My aunt was really surprised, especially when the other guests started showing up. She and my uncle got home from their trip to Houston about 12:20. The family was already there. She was surprised to see us there. About 1:00 her Sunday School and Bible Study members started showing up.

We spent the night at my mom's house then left for the Bay Area around 8:00. We had breakfast at the Iron Skillet at the Petro Truck Stop on the northern side of the Grapevine. Not much a of selection but it was very tasty at a reasonable price.

In the southbound lanes of I5 when we were going home I saw a helicopter being towed behind a truck! I caught part of the registration number and am trying to find the make and model of it based on the registration.

As long as the traffic isn't bad, the trip between the Bay Area and LA isn't too bad. It gets a little boring looking at nothing between the two points but we had our CD's and listened to talk radio so it wasn't too bad. Of course, having Cathy in the car with me made it even better!

22 June 2010

SEIU: aka tacky thugs

I saw a very tacky thing last Sunday.  The jackasses from SEIU (Service Union International Union) were picketing at a cemetery.  A cemetery! Have these selfish idiots have nothing better to do than think of themselves only?  To picket at a cemetery is just about as low as you can go!

Leave us alone!

I am so frigging tired of groups telling us what to do.  A good example is the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).  Their latest tirade?  McDonald's Happy Meals.  They are upset because Happy Meals come with toys and the CSPI thinks that's just awful.

Come on, you idiots, it is not your job to demand legislation telling people what they can and cannot eat. When it comes to children, it's up to the parents.  When it comes to adults, it up to the adults.  It is none of your business if I want to eat three days' worth of sodium and fat in a single seating. 

The CSPI is just like Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition.  They both have one thing in common:  They like to shake down companies.

20 June 2010

Niles Canyon Railway

We went to Golden Corral in Tracy for their breakfast buffet  On the way home we stopped in Sunol for a ride on the Niles Canyon Railway. They have recently started running the M200 Skunk Train from Sunol to the east.  They plan on eventually extending the track to Pleasanton.  It was an interesting ride.

Niles Canyon is part of the original transcontinental railroad.  In 1869 the transcontinental railroad was completed between Omaha and Sacramento.  A few months later the track was extended from Sacramento to Oakland. 

17 June 2010

06 June 2010

The Trip to Columbia Was Great

The trip to Columbia was great. After a short stop in Jamestown, we arrived at Columbia about 10:30. We had some shaved ice then went on a walking tour of the town. The park ranger leading the tour was really great.

We left Columbia around noon, going back through Angel's Camp. I've passed the turn-off of Copperopolis many times on trips to the Sierras. I decided to actually take the turn-off to see what the town looks like. Copperopolis was celebrating their 150th anniversary. We got there just as the parade ended and the road was reopened.

We stopped in Tracy for a late lunch at a place called Golden Corral. It's a great buffet with all sorts of food ranging from baby back ribs to pizza to okra.

04 June 2010

Columbia, California

Looking forward to tomorrow (Saturday, 5 June 2010). My girlfriend and I are going to Columbia State Historic Park. I haven't been there in years. It'll be great to get out of the city and go to the country.

01 June 2010

A great day trip - by air

It was 1987. AirCal had just been merged into American Airlines. American offered AAdvantage members the chance to fly anywhere along the west coast - AirCal's old stomping grounds - for only 10,000 miles. I decided to take them up on the offer.

Even though I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I decided to start my trip in Modesto. That way I could fly on an aircraft I had never flown on - the Metro.

Modest to San Francisco
American Eagle 5130, Fairfchild Metro, registration N2683B
I left about 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning for my flight departing Modesto at about 6:00.

San Francisco to Seattle
American 2759, B737-159, registration N472GB
The flight to Seattle was on a former AirCal aircraft.  Not too many 100 series 737's were produced.  I was glad to be able to get a flight on one.

I took the bus from Seattle/Tacoma Airport to downtown Seattle.  On the way I passed Boeing Field.   Downtown Seattle surprised me.  I hadn't realized Seattle was so hilly. I stayed in Seattle a couple of hours before returning to the airport

Seattle to Los Angles via San Francisco
American 2718, B737-293, registration N463GB
Another former AirCal aircraft. It was kind of strange to know that when the flight stopped in San Francisco I was only a few miles from where lived yet I had another 650+ miles to go to get home.

Los Angeles to Modestto via Fresno
American Eagle 5082, Fairchild Metro, registration N352AE
My final flight of the day was great. After leaving Los Angeles, there was spectacular sunset. The pilot mentioned that the sunset was compliments of American Eagle.

When we departed Fresno we had to hold for a couple of minutes while a couple of fighter aircraft from the Air National Guard base in Fresno took off.

After arriving in Modesto, I got back into my car for the drive back home. I got there about 9:30 or 10:00 p.m.  It had been a long day but well worth it.


Would I take this trip again? Probably not. Air travel is now longer as fun as it use to be. It's such a hassle today to fly. The flying portion itself is not too bad, at least on Southwest. It's all of the hassles of going through the so-called security screening that I hate.

31 May 2010

Stupid Legislators Tricks

They're up to it again! The stupid legislators (SL) in Sacramento now want to make people pay for plastic or paper bags at the supermarket! Do these people live anywhere close to reality? They call them "single use bags." Bull! I don't know about you but when plastics bags are reused in my household.

They are used to bring the groceries or other goods home from the store
They are reused to bring lunch to work
They are reused to clean the litter box
They are reused to store items in
There are many other uses for them.

You know what it is, don't you? It's just another way the SL want to control our daily lives. AB1998, if passed, would require stores to charge at least 5 cents bag. It would also ban in-store recycling of bags beginning January 1, 2011.

Here's the letter I emailed to my assemblyman:
I want you to vote NO on AB1998 regarding the banning of so-called “single use” bags.

First of all, plastic and paper bags used to carry goods home from the store are NOT single use bags. My household use these bags more than once. In addition to carrying items home from the store the wrongly called “single use” bags can be used for (and this is NOT an exhaustive list):
- Carrying lunch to work
- Storing items
- Cleaning out the litte box
- Protecting items when painting

This is just another way to increase prices.

You, as a representative of the people, should not be voting in favor of bills such as AB1998. Let the marketplace take care of it. If people want plastic or paper bags and the stores are willing to provide these to their customers then let them do it. Don’t force them to have more government regulation imposed on businesses.

Finally! I've updated my home page!

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE

I now have my own web domain: http://damiross.net

After a couple of years of just letting it sit idle, I've finally updated my home page. I'm planning on updating the rest of the site over the next few weeks.

The pages currently updated are:
David's Eclectic World (Home page)
Astronomy

Climategate

I just finished reading a book called "Climategate: A Meteorologist Exposes the Global Warming Scam" by Brian Sussman.

I highly recommend it. It exposes the myth that global warming is caused by humans. It gives the truth about carbon dioxide. It's not a pollutant, folks! Without carbon dioxide we would not be here. Plants need CO2 in order to grow. In turn, plants provide animals with oxygen.