It's time for breakfast!

This was the breakfast I had every morning on vacation at the Hilton. Bacon, egg, salt, pepper, and ketchup on a toasted bagel. A shitpot full of breakfast sausages and potatoes. Coffee.

I hit the buffet every morning, The wife couldn't do that because she had to be gluten-free. But we did what we always do and made friends with the people working there. I called the waiter over and introduced myself. He said his name was Aurelio and I said, "Hey that's the name of one of the greatest third basemen of all time." He knew of Aurelio Rodriquez of the Tigers who he was named after, and we hit it off.

I said to him, "I see that you have gluten-free bread on the menu so maybe the Chef can make my wife gluten-free French Toast." He said, "Don't worry Jim I will take care of it." He came out with some beautiful gluten-free French toast with berries on the side. She had that every day.

Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio....

I haven't been around for a while, and I apologize. 

I have been busy writing and trying to get some of my work published. Hopefully, I will have news soon on that front.  In the meantime, we have been living our life as best we can. I had my pacemaker replaced in June and it was a slow recovery, but I am back to snuff. So much so that we were able to take a short vacation. To California of all things!

Lisa's brother lives in Cali so we went to visit him in Santa Monica where he lives near the beach. I took advantage to sit by the hotel pool for a while to soak up the rays. It was too cold to go to the beach, but we visited a lot of places. We went to the Santa Moncia Pier. Malibu. The Hollywood Sign. Beverly Hills. Grauman's Chinese theatre. Even California Pizza Kitchen. I kid you not.

There are a lot of homeless people that scared my sister-in-law but we are from Brooklyn so nothing really phased us. We just gave off our normal don't fuck with us vibes and we had no problem. We were lucky and didn't run into any truly crazy ones so it was all good.

To sum it up, California is a great place to visit but I could never live there. 

I will post more about it at Trooper York as I don't want to clutter up Lem's spot with my personal life.

Voter Fraud That Will Never Be Checked

(that's my handiwork, so no need to link to original)

From Power Line:

It’s hard to single out the most delicious example of the post-Trump liberal freak out, but the din about California secession has to rank high on the list. Among other obvious things, California provided Hillary Clinton with her entire margin of victory in the popular vote—without California, Trump wins the popular vote in the other 49 states handily. (Without California and the five boroughs of Manhattan, Trump’s popular vote victory starts to approach a landslide.)

Read the whole thing

Related: California has "conservatives" but they aren't who you think they are. They are the status quo. The one-party state mimics the Old South, politically. We had this discussion here: Who Are California's Conservatives. It's truer now more than ever.

"Southern California fire destroys 18 home; dozens at risk"

AP:  A massive wildfire destroyed at least 18 homes and threatened 1,500 more Sunday as flames churned through tinder-dry canyons north of Los Angeles where authorities found a burned body in a neighborhood.

Planes and helicopters dropped water and retardant on the blaze that has blackened more than 34 square miles of brush on ridgelines near the city of Santa Clarita and the Angeles National Forest. About 300 miles up the coast, crews were battling another blaze spanning 16 square miles north of the majestic Big Sur region.

Crews faced another day of hot weather, low humidity and high winds that could once again fan the fires’ explosive growth. Shifting winds sent smoke away from greater Los Angeles and into desert communities, where residents were warned about poor air quality.

"Doctor to Start End-of-Life Practice in Berkeley"

NBC Bayarea.com:  As California's right-to-die law goes into effect Thursday, a Berkeley-based doctor will open one of the first practices in the state that specializes in end-of-life options.

"I think it's an important right for the patient to have at the end of their life to control the way they die," says Dr. Lonny Shavelson.

The new law will allow terminally ill patients who meet certain criteria to ask their doctor for a prescription for life-ending medication. But in the event the patient's doctor declines to participate, Shavelson will step in. He already has several appointments with patients to evaluate their situations.

"This needs to be a well thought out, carefully planned," he says. "It's not something you call on Tuesday and say, 'Doctor, I'm suffering,' and on Wednesday we give you a prescription."

San Diego #NeverTrump up against Black Trump supporter

Link to video

Wild poppies at Grass Mountain, Los Olivos, CA

Click Link for blow up

Lake Tahoe, California

Link to source

"14 Dead, 14 More Wounded In San Bernardino"

Fourteen people were confirmed killed and 14 more wounded in a mass shooting at a San Bernardino community social services building.

“We do have some preliminary numbers of upwards of 14 people that are dead and upwards of 14 people that are injured,” said Chief Jarrod Burguan of San Bernardino Police.

The shooting that was first reported at about 10:59 a.m. at the Inland Regional Center, 1365 South Waterman Avenue. The gunfire erupted in a conference room being rented by an outside group, according to Mary Beth Fields of the Inland Regional Center. She said she was not aware of which outside group, but another worker told reporters he believed the group was a San Bernardino County public agency. (read more)

"California motor-voter law will flood rolls with noncitizens, critics predict"

"The New Motor Voter Act automatically registers to vote all eligible voters when they obtain or renew their driver’s licenses at the Department of Motor Vehicles instead of requiring them to fill out a form. Those eligible may opt out of voter registration."

The goal is to ease barriers to voting, but election-integrity advocates warn that the measure could inadvertently add millions of illegal voters to the rolls given that California allows undocumented aliens to obtain driver’s licenses.

Eleven states and the District of Columbia now allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, which are different in appearance from those issued to citizens. In California, noncitizen licenses carry the words “Federal Limits Apply” and “not valid for official federal purposes,” according to DriveCA.org.

In California, however, state officials “specifically chose not to make noncitizen license holders searchable in their DMV database,” said True the Vote spokesman Logan Churchwell, who called the newly signed bill “unprecedented.”

California pushes gateway drugs

"California Governor Signs Bill To Legalize Physician-Assisted Suicide"

In a statement, Brown, a Democrat, said that he carefully considered the theological and moral implications of his decision.

“In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death,” said Brown, a former Roman Catholic seminary student. “I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”

Tim Rosales, a spokesman for California Against Assisted Suicide, criticized Brown’s decision, saying that for some patients, the cost of medical treatment could far outweigh the cost of assisted suicide.

“His decision was based on his personal background, as somebody of wealth and access to medical care, and that’s a very different background and a very different reality for millions of Californians living without that same access,” said Rosales, “These are the people who will be hurt by giving doctors the ability to prescribe lethal overdoses for patients.”

"NASA Finds Evidence Of Water On Surface Of California"

Reprinted in it's entirety...

NASA scientists said Monday they have found evidence of intermittent water flow on the surface of California, a finding that challenges prevailing views about the desolate planet, sources report.

In a news conference today, NASA officials announced that imagery from the Bayside Reconnaissance Orbiter (“BRO”) revealed trace amounts of water flowing down the slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

“California is not the barren, arid hellscape we thought of in the past,” said Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters. “Of course, the search continues for intelligent life.”

Researchers noted this is not the first sign of water in California. In 2012, satellite imagery showed celebrity actors carrying bottled water in Hollywood, a lifeless crater in the state’s southernmost desert. Later research found this water had been imported from Fiji.

The potential consequences of the discovery are far-reaching, but NASA officials cautioned Earth inhabitants of the dangers that await potential human occupants of California.

“As crazy as it sounds, California may be a habitable planet,” said Green. “But new colonies will still have to contend with earthquakes, oppressive heat, and the residents of Los Angeles.”

"'No Californians' stickers being slapped on For Sale signs in Portland"

"Portlanders apparently upset with the direction of the local housing market are slapping "no Californians" stickers on For Sale signs in the city, real estate agents say."

When one of realtor Lori Fenwick's buyers sent her a picture of one of the stickers, she took it to a real estate group on Facebook to see if any other agents had seen them around town.

Three other realtors replied they had. One of them was Quinn Irvine, of M Realty. Somebody plastered one of the stickers – showing a silhouette of California with a "No Smoking"-like red slash through it – on his sign outside a house on North Burrage Avenue.

"A lot of these homes are going into bidding wars and going over ask price," Irvine said. "And a lot of these guys are getting outbid. And I think they're going around to agents who have properties that have sold over ask price and putting anti-California stickers."

California Wildfires

"13,000 Under Evacuation Orders as Rocky Fire Rages"

 

Link to video

Northern California on fire pic.twitter.com/MGMU1ompxP

— California in Pics (@CaliforniaPicz) July 11, 2015

"We’re not all equal when it comes to water"

"Rich Californians balk at limits"

People “should not be forced to live on property with brown lawns, golf on brown courses or apologize for wanting their gardens to be beautiful,” Yuhas fumed recently on social media. “We pay significant property taxes based on where we live,” he added in an interview. “And, no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water.”

“California used to be the land of opportunity and freedom,” Barbre said. “It’s slowly becoming the land of one group telling everybody else how they think everybody should live their lives.”

Jurgen Gramckow, a sod farmer north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, agrees. He likens the freedom to buy water to the freedom to buy gasoline.

“Some people have a Prius; others have a Suburban,” Gramckow said. “Once the water goes through the meter, it’s yours.”

Yuhas, who hosts a conservative talk-radio show, abhors the culture of “drought-shaming” that has developed here since the drought began four years ago, especially the aerial shots of lavish lawns targeted for derision on the local TV news.

“I’m a conservative, so this is strange, but I defend Barbra Streisand’s right to have a green lawn,” said Yuhas, who splits his time between Rancho Santa Fe and Los Angeles. “When we bought, we didn’t plan on getting a place that looks like we’re living in an African savanna.”

Jenneration X

The Portola Expedition (1769-1770) was the first exploration of Southern California by Europeans. The Spanish explorers traveled by foot and hoof northwards from San Diego  along the coast and discovered San Francisco Bay and many points in between. Many Southern California place names were given during this historic expedition. 

Along the way, the explorers encountered scores of friendly Indian encampments (villages really). Here are explorer Miguel Costansó's first impressions of those native Americans in their natural state:

Both the men and the women are of good figure and appearance, and are fond of painting and staining their faces and bodies. They use large tufts of feathers, and hairpins that they put through their hair with various ornaments and coral beads of different colors.

The men go entirely naked, but when it is cold they wear long capes of tanned otter skins, and cloaks made of the same skins cut into long strips, and turned in such a manner that all of the fur is on the outside. They then weave these strips together, making a fabric, and give it the form mentioned above.

The women are dressed with more modesty, wearing around the waist tanned deerskins, which cover them in front and back more than halfway down the leg, and a little cape of otter skin over the body. Some of them have attractive features.

Polygamy is not permitted among these people; the chiefs alone possess the right to take two wives. In all of their towns there was noticed a class of men who lived like women, associated with them, wore the same dress, adorned themselves with beads, earrings, necklaces, and other feminine ornaments, and enjoyed great consideration among their companions. The want of an interpreter prevented us from ascertaining what kind of men they were, or to what office they were designed; all suspected however, a sexual defect or some abuse among those Indians. Link

If current trends continue, we'll see a reversion to more or less the same state.

"Some People Have a Right to More Water Than Others"

Arsenic In Wine

A lawsuit filed in California claims that dangerous levels of arsenic exist in many popular wines:

Link in case the video doesn't load

I'm not much of a wine drinker but I think that this news could be devastating for California wine producers and those who sell them; they must fend off the claims and charges if they're spurious.

"California threatens to seize land..."

[F]rom billionaire if he doesn’t start letting surfers use his beach.

“This is the route he’s chosen, and it’s unfortunate because certainly this is a property that hopefully can be available for those who want to come and enjoy it,” said Betty Yee, California’s controller and a commission member who would help make the eminent-domain decision. “My hope is that it can get resolved through negotiations.”

“I live here, and I want to be able to bring my kids here,” said Krishneil Maharaj, a 35-year-old information technology project manager who recalled scattering his grandmother’s ashes at a family ceremony at the beach a decade ago. “I don’t think one man should be able to cut off access to this beautiful spot.”