Love your photographs. It’s refreshing to hear from someone who won’t give us his opinion on Iran. Too many people out there just can’t wait to give us theirs.
I have learned this to be the most important rule, especially with the Trump Admin. They move so fast, one's initial take often is proven wrong 24 hours later.
Need to get granular on that quote: “love thy neighbor” can mean different things to different segments of Christianity… I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere but am too tired to find it
I’m gonna go with China. But whoever it is, the saddest and funniest part is the dude honestly thinks NYT and The Atlantic pay him because they like him.
Lovely California. BTW, David French has weighed in so we know Trump is on the right path: "Here’s the bottom line: Trump should have gotten congressional approval for striking Iran, or he should not have struck at all." I would quote more of French's gas baggery but I have better things to do today, and so do you.
There was a reason our founders held the power to declare war belonged only to Congress. Are you one of those progressives who finds the Constitution to be overly constricting on the power of the Executive?
Trump used the Congressionally approved War Powers Act passed in the 70's, that all other Presidents have used to conduct similar operations. Perfectly legal. Thankfully, this one was not at the behest of the globalist deep state; or the petro dollar as the Bush regime did.
As for Constitutional, the Federal Reserve and the IRS are not considered Constitutional by many, and that is why they are being dismantled by this Admin.
All other presidents - yep, that's the imperial presidency. The very thing the Constitution was built to stop, but, you can't stop what the people demand.
"So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable." -- Aldous Huxley
Some of the Founders, Hamilton, thought the Presidency should be imperial and lifetime. They understood the deficiencies of a hobbled king; as did Churchill.
Adams understood the dangers of an immoral electorate... And here we are.
I agree Congress should be taking their responsibilities seriously and declaring wars rather than the weasel games they've played since 1950. But there's zero chance of that happening.
The founders, while visionary for their time, drastically underestimated laziness and escape from accountability. Congress has consistently avoided doing its job yet wants to back seat drive at and only at their convenience. If ever they pipe up for reasons that aren't obnoxiously self-serving, I may give their argument more credit.
That Act is of debatable constitutionality. What isn't debatable is what the Constitution actually says - Congress has the exclusive power to declare war.
last week, I got assaulted and attacked by winds and sands for five days. there were no hammocks, no stargazing, and no aliens... that's how it goes...
Ah! Death Valley! As a native Californio (we're somewhat rare, these days), I spent many happy days & nights down there when I was just knee-high to a Gila Monster. A large chunk of my middle-school days was spent very close to Mojave (and the AF Flight Test Center at Edwards), so I became and have remained a dedicated desert rat ever since. Good training for 15 years of expat medical contracts in KSA (in the 80s and 90s) that followed, where the summer highs in the high desert of Riyadh occasionally pegs out at 130-140 F. But since it was nearly bone-dry heat (5-10% humidity), like DV, it was idyllic by my reckoning (Taif in the Hejaz, by comparison, could be absolutely Heavenly). A HS buddy and I used to bicycle from Stovepipe Wells over Daylight Pass to Beatty and then south to Amargosa (in Spring, of course), before heading west and back to Furnace Creek (and Stovepipe). Life doesn't get much better at such times, especially when you're young and all the wildflowers blossom forth. I'm sure you had a fantastic time down there, Chris. Once a desert rat, always a desert rat (Insha'allah!)! Here's something I wrote about the Kingdom you might enjoy: https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?id=69344 (One tale of many about KSA).
"...bicycle from Stovepipe Wells over Daylight Pass to Beatty and then south to Amargosa (in Spring, of course), before heading west and back to Furnace Creek (and Stovepipe)."
> A HS buddy and I used to bicycle from Stovepipe Wells over Daylight Pass to Beatty and then south to Amargosa (in Spring, of course), before heading west and back to Furnace Creek (and Stovepipe).
I admit, it was QUITE a challenge, even with a good quality derailleur! I seem to recall that the total mileage from Stovepipe back to the origin by that route was a total of about 140 or so miles. We spent the night at the Furnace Creek Campground, then back the last day to Stovepipe (origin), and thought we were pretty Sierra Hotel (hot stuff), but I have friends in the Berkeley Wheelmen who have done multiple Sierra Nevada "Death Rides", so while the Death Valley loop is somewhat challenging it's NOT anywhere near the legendary and arduous "Death Ride." But like I said, I was just a whipper-snapper, back then, and thought I would live forever, LoL!
Not necessarily annually - some springs are a bust and some are abundant. Usually a good wet winter sets the stage, but as you can see, not required this year. Really tough to predict - we managed it in May, here it is in March.
There is something very beautiful about extremes. My neighbor, a C-17 pilot, just got back from a mission in New Zealand where they took supplies to Antarctica. Showed me some of those photos--and I made the comment that it is similar to high deserts--breathtakingly beautiful and scary in the same moment. Raw. Unapologetic.
I'm in the 'take a knee, drink water, weapons out' phase for Iran. Saw a post by Kim DotCom a week or two ago, he's like "Trump, do not start WWIII!".
The truth now is that I have come to trust this administration. What often feels impulsive and reckless has mostly turned out to be strategically brilliant, courageous, and the world is better off because of it. I think the only thing Trump enjoys more than talking is taking action. It is so refreshing to see a POTUS who does things. Fixes things. Tries things.
Oh a trip to Death Valley is a totally doable thing for me. Thanks for the reminder! Though I have been going up to Lone Pine and further north since I was a child (a long time ago), I have never been out to Death Valley.
Several years ago, we took a short hike in Death Valley (a very short one; it was June), then drove to Whitney Portal, spent the night, and day hiked Whitney the next day; dinner at Seasons, and spent the night in Lone Pine. Great weekend trip. Our knees were younger then…
It certainly was a treat! A couple of glasses of red wine lessened the pain of our knees and feet, and a steak replenished us (we were starving after the hike)…and we usually stay at the Dow Villa. What a great place to get married! Wedding photos with the Sierra in the background: priceless.
Bet the temps are bearable this time of year. And yes we will know more by next weekend. I do enjoy Jeff’s takes on Coffee and Covid. He seems reasonable and funny.
Love your photographs. It’s refreshing to hear from someone who won’t give us his opinion on Iran. Too many people out there just can’t wait to give us theirs.
The 3 day rule is always the best reaction to stuff like this.
I have learned this to be the most important rule, especially with the Trump Admin. They move so fast, one's initial take often is proven wrong 24 hours later.
bsn
Agree.
Yes I call it my 72 hour rule!
Death Valley is the coolest place I’ve been - obviously no pun intended. My avatar pic here is Devils Golf course.
That golf course looks like a good place to lose your tee shot. At least with a white ball...
Make friends with a golfball-nabbing corvid, is my advice. :^>
“The Conservative Case for a Multi-Polar Middle East: Why a nuclear Iran wouldn’t be as bad as you think.” by David French
TRUE Christians offer their unwavering support to an Islamist regime
After all, isn’t that the very definition of “love thy neighbor?” A lesson we clearly have yet to learn.
The pope said he wants more dialogue. Why didn’t he go to Iran to talk to his religious counterpart to discuss things?
Glenn Reynolds: “I’ll believe it’s a problem when the people who say it’s a problem start acting like it’s a problem.”
Need to get granular on that quote: “love thy neighbor” can mean different things to different segments of Christianity… I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere but am too tired to find it
Sublime.
French should pay you for that idea.
Who is still bankrolling this doofus
I’m gonna go with China. But whoever it is, the saddest and funniest part is the dude honestly thinks NYT and The Atlantic pay him because they like him.
Ughhh to David French
Lovely California. BTW, David French has weighed in so we know Trump is on the right path: "Here’s the bottom line: Trump should have gotten congressional approval for striking Iran, or he should not have struck at all." I would quote more of French's gas baggery but I have better things to do today, and so do you.
David French's opinion is the perfect upside down barometer
There was a reason our founders held the power to declare war belonged only to Congress. Are you one of those progressives who finds the Constitution to be overly constricting on the power of the Executive?
Trump used the Congressionally approved War Powers Act passed in the 70's, that all other Presidents have used to conduct similar operations. Perfectly legal. Thankfully, this one was not at the behest of the globalist deep state; or the petro dollar as the Bush regime did.
As for Constitutional, the Federal Reserve and the IRS are not considered Constitutional by many, and that is why they are being dismantled by this Admin.
All other presidents - yep, that's the imperial presidency. The very thing the Constitution was built to stop, but, you can't stop what the people demand.
"So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable." -- Aldous Huxley
Some of the Founders, Hamilton, thought the Presidency should be imperial and lifetime. They understood the deficiencies of a hobbled king; as did Churchill.
Adams understood the dangers of an immoral electorate... And here we are.
My favorite are Franklin's remarks at the end of the convention...
https://rathercurmudgeonly.substack.com/p/a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it
Congress delegated all of its authority in pursuit of full time campaigning. Even the payola is doled out by the executive.
I was speaking to the wisdom of the founders, not the spinelessness of the common Congress-critter of the last 50 years.
I agree Congress should be taking their responsibilities seriously and declaring wars rather than the weasel games they've played since 1950. But there's zero chance of that happening.
The founders, while visionary for their time, drastically underestimated laziness and escape from accountability. Congress has consistently avoided doing its job yet wants to back seat drive at and only at their convenience. If ever they pipe up for reasons that aren't obnoxiously self-serving, I may give their argument more credit.
No. Unlike you, I am one of those people who is aware of the War Powers Act, and have read it.
That Act is of debatable constitutionality. What isn't debatable is what the Constitution actually says - Congress has the exclusive power to declare war.
GREAT POST, Chris!
No Iran, no Epstien, no Trump.
All that, and wonderful pics, too.
I was in my cabin , outside of 29palms marine base last week.
(In wonder valley CA). Unincorporated 29palms and a magical place.
The weather was horrible and culminated in a two hour hurricane and power outage. (Thank god for gas lamps and wood stoves )
The day I left the perfection began. Of course it began the morning I left.
So for that you are welcome!
I still enjoyed it. The bloom is lovely.
Willy the shooting stars are beautiful there .
We get nights where we lie in hammocks under the Milky Way and they keep shooting every minute or two on average. For hours.
How awesome 👏🏻
last week, I got assaulted and attacked by winds and sands for five days. there were no hammocks, no stargazing, and no aliens... that's how it goes...
Willy I see a lot of large drones that past from your area through Desert Hot Springs / North Palm Springs , are they from the military base ?
no idea, I see a lot of stuff in the sky here.
If you have good eyes, you can watch satellites cross the sky. They are fast-moving pinpoints.
Tell Uncle Sam Davis that I love him!
Sometimes the boys buzz the house.
Sounds like you're one of those Weathermakers, son.
:^>
You occasionally post something, like this, that causes me to put the smart-phone down and go outside. Thanks Chris.
Yes indeed. And Chris, your pic is getting hung in my sunroom art gallery, with full credit of course. It made my heart swoon.
Go outside and then put your smart-phone down, so I can steal it. I´m smarter than your smart-phone.
I have an opinion on Iran already: if they can still send missiles, the bombing isn't over.
Ah! Death Valley! As a native Californio (we're somewhat rare, these days), I spent many happy days & nights down there when I was just knee-high to a Gila Monster. A large chunk of my middle-school days was spent very close to Mojave (and the AF Flight Test Center at Edwards), so I became and have remained a dedicated desert rat ever since. Good training for 15 years of expat medical contracts in KSA (in the 80s and 90s) that followed, where the summer highs in the high desert of Riyadh occasionally pegs out at 130-140 F. But since it was nearly bone-dry heat (5-10% humidity), like DV, it was idyllic by my reckoning (Taif in the Hejaz, by comparison, could be absolutely Heavenly). A HS buddy and I used to bicycle from Stovepipe Wells over Daylight Pass to Beatty and then south to Amargosa (in Spring, of course), before heading west and back to Furnace Creek (and Stovepipe). Life doesn't get much better at such times, especially when you're young and all the wildflowers blossom forth. I'm sure you had a fantastic time down there, Chris. Once a desert rat, always a desert rat (Insha'allah!)! Here's something I wrote about the Kingdom you might enjoy: https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?id=69344 (One tale of many about KSA).
"...bicycle from Stovepipe Wells over Daylight Pass to Beatty and then south to Amargosa (in Spring, of course), before heading west and back to Furnace Creek (and Stovepipe)."
Legs like steel cables
*Young* steel cables.
Get a real job, slacker.
> A HS buddy and I used to bicycle from Stovepipe Wells over Daylight Pass to Beatty and then south to Amargosa (in Spring, of course), before heading west and back to Furnace Creek (and Stovepipe).
And you still have knees? :^>
I admit, it was QUITE a challenge, even with a good quality derailleur! I seem to recall that the total mileage from Stovepipe back to the origin by that route was a total of about 140 or so miles. We spent the night at the Furnace Creek Campground, then back the last day to Stovepipe (origin), and thought we were pretty Sierra Hotel (hot stuff), but I have friends in the Berkeley Wheelmen who have done multiple Sierra Nevada "Death Rides", so while the Death Valley loop is somewhat challenging it's NOT anywhere near the legendary and arduous "Death Ride." But like I said, I was just a whipper-snapper, back then, and thought I would live forever, LoL!
Me too. Desert rat, biding my time (respectfully) in Minnesota.
Always remember! 'Gastrocs' are our best friends, LoL! ;))
People try for years to catch the DV wildflower bloom and mistime it. Consider yourself most fortunate (as do I the year we caught it).
When the Twatter says there's a bloom, we get in the car
Yeah, living anachronism that I am, I was recalling the era before the internet.
Hehehe 🤭
How often does it occur?
Not necessarily annually - some springs are a bust and some are abundant. Usually a good wet winter sets the stage, but as you can see, not required this year. Really tough to predict - we managed it in May, here it is in March.
And how long does it last?
That varies too but probably not more than 2 weeks. It really is an ephemeral thing.
Springtime in the desert, yearly
More great pictures:
https://x.com/aburkhartlaw/status/2028146430234513525
This is why people still choose to live in California despite all of its horrors
Exactly this, and it's exactly why we have to destroy the communist idiots.
Bingo. We won't be ceding one inch of our finest territory to Commie scumbags.
There is something very beautiful about extremes. My neighbor, a C-17 pilot, just got back from a mission in New Zealand where they took supplies to Antarctica. Showed me some of those photos--and I made the comment that it is similar to high deserts--breathtakingly beautiful and scary in the same moment. Raw. Unapologetic.
I'm in the 'take a knee, drink water, weapons out' phase for Iran. Saw a post by Kim DotCom a week or two ago, he's like "Trump, do not start WWIII!".
The truth now is that I have come to trust this administration. What often feels impulsive and reckless has mostly turned out to be strategically brilliant, courageous, and the world is better off because of it. I think the only thing Trump enjoys more than talking is taking action. It is so refreshing to see a POTUS who does things. Fixes things. Tries things.
bsn
Nothing really changed while you were gone. The USA has been at war with Iran since 1979.
I think it was Iran who declared war on the US and we never bothered to reciprocate. Their sense of discretion was much greater than ours.
The gauntlet has now been picked up.
I think it kicked off in 1953 with Operation Ajax.
They look different. Kill them.
Oh a trip to Death Valley is a totally doable thing for me. Thanks for the reminder! Though I have been going up to Lone Pine and further north since I was a child (a long time ago), I have never been out to Death Valley.
Several years ago, we took a short hike in Death Valley (a very short one; it was June), then drove to Whitney Portal, spent the night, and day hiked Whitney the next day; dinner at Seasons, and spent the night in Lone Pine. Great weekend trip. Our knees were younger then…
I used to camp up in that area in the summers with my parents and their friends, who lived in Lone Pine. They had a motel The Frontier Motel in LP.
The Frontier Motel is still going strong in Lone Pine, being run by a 4th generation member of The Powell Family!
I’ve never stayed there, but I’ve walked by it on several trips to the Sierra.
I've stayed there a couple of times. Great motel with a great view of the Sierras.
Seasons after Mt Whitney? What a treat?
I'll put in plug for the Dow Villa in Lone Pine. I got married there.
It certainly was a treat! A couple of glasses of red wine lessened the pain of our knees and feet, and a steak replenished us (we were starving after the hike)…and we usually stay at the Dow Villa. What a great place to get married! Wedding photos with the Sierra in the background: priceless.
Bet the temps are bearable this time of year. And yes we will know more by next weekend. I do enjoy Jeff’s takes on Coffee and Covid. He seems reasonable and funny.
I was not disappointed by his early summary of the Iran strike, I totally agree with him on most things.