Fascism

I keep hearing the political left calling Donald Trump a Fascist. In as much as I suspect most of those individuals do not know the definition of Fascism, I looked it up: "Fascism - a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government". In my opinion, this sounds more like the Democratic Party of the last eight years than the Republican Party or how President-elect Trump has acted since winning the election.

Consider the following:

• "a government ruled by a dictator" - would not the 260+ executive orders issued by President Obama in order to circumvent Congress and our duly elected representatives be akin to a dictatorship.
• "controls the lives of the people" - would not the 21,000+ federal regulations that were passed in the last eight years be a way to control our lives.
• "not allowed to disagree with the government" - would not calling someone a fascist, racist, misogynist, homophobe or climate denier be a way to discourage disagreement with the government, not to mention an assault on the first amendment (free speech).

Which leads me back to Donald Trump being called a Fascist. His stated goals are to reduce the size of government, limit federal regulation and lower taxes. He has met with and listened to both proponents and opponents of his agenda. This seems to me to be just the opposite of a Fascist.

PS - If you have not read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, I would highly recommend it. In the book there is a fictional language called "Newspeak". It is a controlled language created by the totalitarian state Oceania as a tool to limit freedom of thought and concepts that pose a threat to the regime such as freedom, self-expression, individuality and peace. Any form of thought alternative to the party’s construct is classified as "thoughtcrime". 

Another great read is Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It's a little wordy for my taste but presents an excellent portrayal of government and politicians run amok.

Chloride Arizona

Chloride is a onetime silver mining town founded in 1862 and is considered the oldest continuously inhabited mining town in the state. After talking to a couple of locals, I got the impression that it attracts an eclectic crowd, who appreciates the remoteness and laid back lifestyle.

Click on photos to enlarge

Apparently, graffiti is encouraged

Looks like the train could pull up to the pumps for fuel

Huh!?!

Chloride is also known for the Roy Purcell rock murals which are located ~1.5 miles east of town. The dirt road to the murals was quite rough today so I would recommend a high clearance vehicle to access them...

The murals were in the shade so I was unable to fully capture the brilliant colors

In 2006 Roy, along with other artists, returned to Chloride to restore the faded murals which were originally painted in 1966. I was told Roy is now 80 and has a gallery south of Tucson.

Merry Christmas

Except for breaking my arm last Spring, 2016 was a good year for me. I got to see and do some pretty interesting things and met some wonderful people along the way. Here's hoping I get to do more of the same in 2017.

For everyone who visits this blog, may Santa grant all your wishes and fill your stocking(s) to the brim...

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Shark Fishing (1988)

It has been cold and windy here the past couple of days so I have stayed busy by digitizing some old camcorder tapes. One of my favorite memories of my Dad is us shark fishing together off the coast of Dana Point, CA. Here's a highlight video...

The downside to catching these large sharks is I no longer enjoy bass fishing as much as before. As I told my cousin, "my bait was bigger than the bass we are catching".

Desert Bar

One of the most popular and unique watering holes in the area is the Desert Bar / Nellie E Saloon which is located... you guessed it, out in the middle of nowhere east of Parker. The bar is pretty much off the grid with its own well for water and solar power for electricity...

I rode with a group from the Prospector RV Resort which included my friends from the Nebraska mafia, Kenny & Dee and Larry & Carol. On the way to the bar, they erected a memorial to their friend, Martin, who passed away last year at age 60 and after having just retired. In his memory everyone had a shot of "Fireball". Larry may have had more than one...

On the way back, we took the Defiance Trail which had a few "pucker points"...

All in all, another great day riding in the desert with good friends.

Oatman Arizona

Oatman is an old gold mining town known for its "wild" burros...

It is also located on the longest, continuous stretch of historic Route 66 still left...

When I first entered Oatman, there was a large group of Asian tourists wandering all over main street taking pictures and oblivious to everything around them (even the burros had enough sense to get out of the way of oncoming traffic). Fortunately, the local sheriff stepped in and quickly restored law & order in town...

Caveat: Parking for your buggy can be a little difficult...

Lastly, for those young-at-heart but a little older in other places, remember the 60s TV show Route 66. Perhaps, Buz and Tod stopped here to fill up the corvette...

Desert Oddities

While driving across the California desert on Highway 62 in the middle of nowhere (there's a lot of that out here), I came across a couple of sights that I thought were worth photographing.

For my friends, Sunny & Stormy, who are back on the east coast experiencing bumper to bumper traffic...

Rush hour
(click on photos to enlarge)

Next was a large collection of shoes on a fence...

Then there were these names formed from rocks on the embankment of a railroad track. It was not just one but hundreds of names that ran for miles and miles...

What I found particularly interesting about the above items was that as far as I could tell there was not a house or any sign of civilization within 30 miles. Must get pretty boring in the desert.