Cactus Thorns

With Super Tuesday right around the corner, I thought it is time to give you an idea of how I feel about the Propositions on the February 5th Ballot.

BLM Give Away: Sierra Club in cahoots

Here are some photos from our Ivanpah trip Friday. We are at the actual site that will be crushed and scraped for this hideous abomination. Does this land look blighted to you?

Pay particular attention to picture 019. This is the "scam" artist's rendition of what the project will look like. Notice how the Brite Source illusionists are attempting to give a very disingenuous impression that the land being used for this project is already barren and useless.

ALL 7,000 acres (OUR LAND) that will be "given" to these monsters are rich, healthy, pristine, plant and animal dense Mojave desert acres! Look at how lush this land really is! This is not barren dry lake land. This is not scorched Sahara desert. Over half of the 7,000 acres being applied for will be scraped to the topsoil. Well, it's not a total loss - Brite Source has agreed to leave all the roots intact. Gee what swell folks!

Brite Source is no more than an eco-terrorist corporation about to embark on a mission to destroy thousands of unmolested acres of our Mojave Desert. In my eyes, ANY person or organization that does not stand up and adamantly oppose this horrific potential catastrophe is no better than the eco-terrorists that are proposing it.

We just started a new organization The National Alliance for Sensible Energy Policy. We intend to fight these projects tooth and nail! We are a non-partisan group adamantly opposed to BLM giving our lands to energy corporations, thereby changing the "multi-use" designations to single private use. This new direction is counter to their original mission and charter, and it must be stopped.

Unfortunately for BLM, it is not entirely their fault. This whole issue stems from the Energy Policy Act of 2005, where our federal legislature has mandated that BLM take on this new role through unlikely partnerships with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Department Of Energy (DOE), among others.

I have the website www.stopgreenpath.com with the maps and catalogues for these projects.

We are fighting a solar project up near the Ivanpah dry lake area. Seven thousand acres will be given to Bright Source for a mirrored solar farm, just north west of one of the most popular OHV areas in SB county. Those dry lakes will be affected by the abomination, as well as access roads going in and out.

This is not a partisan issue. We ALL must unite to stop this garbage. Bighorn Sheep lovers, turtle lovers, and OHV lovers must get together as one and win this. By the way, Sierra Club and NRDC support these projects.

Jim Harvey

LDS leader dies

President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died this last night. He was 97.
Hinckley's life spanned the 20th century, a time marked by LDS global outreach and technological advances. He saw his church evolve from a tiny sect in the Intermountain West to a respected religious movement with more than 13 million members worldwide. He embraced each new communication device, from radio to satellite to YouTube, as a chance to spread the Mormon word.
He began his career in the 1930s as a missionary defending the faith on a soapbox in London's Hyde Park and lived to see the country's first viable Mormon candidate for president. MORE

Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was the fifteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death. He was the oldest person to preside over the Church in its history. As president of the Church of Jesus Christ, he was considered by its members to be a prophet, seer, and revelator. His presidency was noted for the building of new temples and the creation of the Perpetual Education Fund. Hinckley holds the record for dedicating the most Church temples and dedicated more than half of the current church temples.

BLM Screws OHV Community Again!!!!

It is hard to believe that the BLM in it's infinite wisdom, gives a good rats ass about the plight of the loss of allowed land that can be used by the Off-Road Community. Quietly and almost with out any type of notice, a total that could easily exceed 26,800 acres of the Johnson Valley OHV Area, is going to be closed off for wind or solar energy generation. More that 15% of the total acreage will be gobbled up in one of the few areas left in California for OHV use.

How many times have you heard, "If you want to ride your OHV, go to the OHV areas designated by the BLM!. You've got 189,000 acres to run your foul smelling contraptions around in circles out in Johnson Valley." Right? Well not if the BLM has it's way.

Off-roading is one of the fastest growing family sports in the nation. Yet its popularity has been its own worst enemy. Environmentalists have attacked its legitimacy as a responsible recreation to such a point that the BLM now considers those areas that it has relegated OHV use, is now expendable. Just because we ride or drive Off-road vehicles does not mean we do not enjoy beauty of nature.

If the environmentalist want to keep the off-road community on the "reservation" they better join with the likes of FOGR and other off-road organizations to either stop this "Taking" or mitigate the loss with additional acreage to compensate the loss to the Johnson Valley OHV Area.

I'll tell you right now, the OHV community will not stand by and suffer additional losses of recreational opportunity. Neither will they accept mitigation in the manner of porta-potties, visitor centers or motocross tracks.

Here is the study material.

An additional 14,000 acres off Gammel Road in Wonder Valley is on the list for Solar Arays. If you haven't figured that out, that will mean a transmission line and service road, opening the door for more OHV use.

Yucca Valley: Plants have more Rights than the People

I’ve always heard it as “Government of the People, By the People and For the People,” but apparently in Yucca Valley, Joshua Trees have more rights than do Home Owners.

The Dale family have a nice piece of property out on Valley Vista. The Dale's have small children. They want to landscape their property. They want to improve the property. They want to beautify their desert environment. With over 40 Joshua trees on their small plot its a "Joshua Tree Jungle." They would like to be able to thin a few. They are not talking about killing them but professionally relocating them. Just a few to make it possible for the kids to safely play in the yard. They would like to be able to step out of the house and not be threatened with being stabbed or barbed.

The Town of Yucca Valley on the other hand, will only let them remove plants that might be a liability to the city itself, but not the plants that might cause a danger to the Dales, their children and their pets.

They had no idea that they were buying a "Joshua Tree Preserve" and thought they had a right to use all of their property.

Yeah we know that “Joshua Trees are a protected species” but it is hard for the Town of Yucca Valley to on the one hand deny a home owner the right to reasonably thin an overgrowth of Joshua Trees, yet let a large development to uproot and destroy thousands of Joshua Trees carte blanche. The Dales planned to have them professionally relocated, yet the Town of Yucca Valley turned a blind eye recently when a developer stacked their harvested Joshua trees on the back side of the developer's property only to be destroyed by a mysterious late night "arson" fire.

This is a double standard. This defies property rights. This is as close to a "Taking" as I have ever seen. This is just plain stupid.

I'd like to know, who the hell is running the insane asylum down at the Yucca Valley Town Hall?

See documents and correspondence.

You'll notice that the information was CC:ed to the local paper and radio station. I would hope that they would have the same take on this story. Let's hope they look into it.

Democrats Staying Home, GOP Voting In Droves

This morning I got up turned on the laptop to get my morning news. I went to see about the Nevada Caucus. Am I missing something here? Am I so out of step with the Main Stream Media (MSM) that I don't get it?

One thing is obvious even for a guy like me, the Democrats are in deep trouble. Nevada has historically been a strong Union and Democrat state. Oh yeah there's been recently a shift to the right but the Democrat Party has had a handle on the politics of Nevada since I can remember. In a State with over 2.5 million people you would have thought that the Democrat front runner Hillary Clinton would have won with a lot more that a total of 5,355 votes. Mitt Romney the Republican leader garnered 22,649 votes for the GOP caucus. Hell, Ron Paul pulled 6,087 votes from the caucus and he gets no respect at all from the MSM.

A total of 10,560 Democrats voted at the Nevada Democrat Caucus yet at the same time 40,803 Republicans attended the Nevada GOP Caucus held on the same day. That's 4 Republicans to 1 Democrat came to caucus for their parties nominee. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

"Wait a sec," I say to myself, "I thought the Dems were all hyped up for this election." I then looked at the results of all the primaries and caucuses. Low and behold a startling truth becomes evident. Republicans are coming out in droves to vote and participate in the primary process but the Democrats are not. They are staying home. This is systemic to all contests thus far.

We've all heard about Iowa, right. Obama winning with 38% of the vote, right? Did the press tell you that that amounted to a total of 940 votes? While at the same time Huckabee pulled only 34% of the GOP vote but his total was 40,841votes. Ron Paul got 11,817 votes in the same caucus, eleven times more that the closest Democrat, 4.73 almost 5 times as many votes as all Democrats combined.

I know right now you're saying "Dan, you got it wrong." But I am telling you the numbers do not lie. While we've been told that the Democrats are charged up for this election by the likes of Tom Brokow and Katie Curic, that fact is this supposed Democrat Party Renaissance is Bull Crap, a fairy tale. I don't know if it is the quality of the candidates or just a lack of interest, I leave that for others to figure out.

Where are the Conspiracy theorists when it comes to MSM Propaganda?

Base to grow in size

Ray Pessa of Friends of Giant Rock reports that he and Mike Hawkins attended a meeting with Brigadier General Meldon Speis from 29 Palms combat center.

The general outlined the base expansion plan. Over the next ten years the base will increase personnel, 1700 by June of this year.

The type of training needed for long range weapons will require land acquisitions of substantial size. No specifics of when or where were available, however the general stated that the secretary of defense has approved an EIS/EIR for this purpose that may take as long as two years.

Ray made contact with community liaison and public affairs officer and has asked to be placed on a mailing list for current information regarding base expansion progress.

CSA70-M meeting held

Luckily I found out through a friend, who just happened to surf over to a obscure web site that San Bernardino Special Districts /CSA70-M had a meeting at 4:30 PM Thursday in the Wonder Valley Community Center. It was a good thing he found it because I'll be danged if I could find a public notification in the local paper not as if it might be a good idea to cover your Brown Act bases and put it in the paper of record. But I might have missed it so who is to say. About 30 people showed up.

Well lets say it was pleasantly informal. I wasn't sure if the board was representing the county, or the residents at large. It was hard to tell who was running the meeting at times. It was a real change from the structure of a council meeting.

Code Enforcement was there to answer questions. They made a fair presentation of what they were doing in the field.

I was rather astonished at how over the years since I last attended a CSA meeting how neighbor has turned against neighbor. A couple of folks were quite proud at turning in their neighbors to code enforcement. Its to bad that the old live and let live credo of the old Wonder Valley seems to have disappeared. I guess that is somehow to be viewed as progress.

The crowd heard from the new Division Fire Chief Al Stocker. He immediately was pummeled about why the County stopped using PCF firefighters. Turns out it's a State law and has to do with liability. He managed to escape from a tit for tat by one of the board members unscathed.

As has always been the case, everyone pitched a tizzy about road maintenance. There was some talk about raising taxes for road maintenance. Pam Vanderhoort, the CSA regional manager suggested that it would require a vote by the residents of the area. That sort of quieted down the call for a full time grader.

One interesting thing I learned about the dirt road system that I bet none of us knew, is unless posted the speed limit on dirt roads is 55 MPH. Yep, Fifty-Five Miles Per Hour. Is there any wonder why the roads are messed up?

I'd advise the next time one of these meetings come up, it would behoove every resident to attend. For those that work even in town it might be a stretch to make the 4:30 PM start times of these meetings so plan ahead. The next Commissioners Meeting is tentatively planned for April 17th, 2008 again at 4:30PM.

I had an interesting and substantive conversation with Robert Eland, Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt's field Rep. I'll write a separate blog on that later.

Making 29 A Tourist Destination

It is absolutely ridiculous to on the one hand boast that Twentynine Palms is a tourist destination because of its appeal to those who now travel here for what ever reason, then suggest on the other, that they would not extend their vacations if they had attractions that would complement the tourist experience.

There is no reason to think that the addition of a Casino to compliment the tourist experience would be anything but a success. As it is now; once you've made the Mural tour, visited the galleries and made the Park Loop there is nothing to keep the tourist in town or any hook to keep them on the line for a return visit. A Casino would be a vast improvement to the conditions that now exist. It can be that hook.

The current General Plan is all about making Twentynine Palms a resort and retirement community. Yet every time a resort or retirement proposal is floated in this town we have a small but vocal group of malcontents that gird their loins to do battle against any hint of change.

One fellow suggested by saying, "I stand by my prediction. It's going to be an economic disaster and they will pile abomination upon abomination on the park border to rectify. When it's finally abandoned, 160 acres of nice wild land will have been raped beyond repair."

Well there is a great example of the duality of the left. God forbid that the Native American steps out of the pigeon hole that the environmentalists and left wing cultural anthropologists have placed them in for the last 80 years. As long as the "Indian" plays the roll of the down trodden, happy with a life of poverty and stuck in the 19th century, the left will sing the praises of their "Salt Songs." But, if Native Americans have the gall to take advantage of their unique positions as both American Citizens and members of sovereign nations with in our boarders by bootstrapping themselves into economic independence, the left turns upon them as they do any Capitalist enterprise.

Any negative predictions by some pessimists in town concerning the NüWü is in essence nonsense. The decisions made by the Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians was well thought out. To think otherwise is to insult the tribal leadership and to completely dismiss their economic track record of success.

Think of that 160 acres at Baseline and Adobe as Switzerland. President Grover Cleveland signed a treaty with the Chemehuevi in 1895. You have little voice in its sovereign status. While I have no doubt that the Tribal Leadership is interested in hearing from each of us and will give due consideration for all concerns, we have no right to force our will upon them.

It's about time we start acting like a good neighbor.

As a separate state, the Inland Empire's current population of 3.13 million people would rank 30th, just behind Connecticut (3.27 million) and Oregon (3.28 million). U.S. Commerce Department data shows the Inland Empire with $60 billion in total personal income during 1997. That exceeds the total personal income figures of 18 states, starting with Arkansas ($49 billion). That is one hell of a pool to draw from.

Vasquez Gets Life Without Parole

The 1998 murder of Mary Schultz, 24 was one of those events in town that just shocked the hell out of everyone. A young mother brutally eviscerated right in front of her own children. I for one am glad this case is finally closed and the perpetrator is in prison for life.

NüWü Casino: A PR Plus

Getting the word out about the advantages of visiting, living in and doing business in Twentynine Palms has always been a problem. It's not like we have an unlimited bucket of money to dip in to. We've all dreamed of having an intensive Major Media Campaign promoting the benefits of the Basin.

It's always been a big problem promoting the virtues of Twentynine Palms outside the region. Hey it costs big bucks to advertise. One of the benefits to having the NüWü Casino here will be the necessity for them to extoll the advantages to come to Twentynine Palms. A single regional television advertising campaign will do more to promote tourism and the town itself than all the full page ads in all the periodicals that the good folks at the Chamber have been able to buy since incorporation.

From a Public Relations standpoint the NüWü Casino will help every business in town.

Hear it from them

There seems to be a lot of confusion around what the NuWu Casino is all about. Every so often I am going to give you a link to their web site so you can keep up with all that is going on. It doesn't take long to realize from the presentations given on the website that many of the negative rumors have really no basis in fact. You can also get on their mailing list.

COW provokes AMA

April should prove to be pivotal for the OHV controversy. As the basin welcomes the annual Hilltoppers 29 Palms Gran Prix that traditionally fills the motels and restaurants on the first weekend of April, a small but vocal group of anti-off-road zealots will be holding a "convention" at the Joshua Tree Community Center.

In an obvious attempt to play off the popular annual off-road classic by COW, we wonder if many of the members of COW are aware of the economic boost this event gives to the City of Twentynine Palms. The 29 Palms Gran Prix for a dozen years has been a positive example of a community event bringing in thousands of tourist during the first weekend of April. I do not find it coincidental that COW chose that weekend to gather to protest off-road activity.

With thousands of avid and serious off-road enthusiasts gathering at the same time as a few radical environmentalist a few miles apart who are on record for banning all off-road activity we view this as a provocative act by COW. A slap in the face and a drop of the gauntlet to AMA District 37, COW is putting the huge Off-Road Community on notice. It is time for the AMA to wake up and smell the dung and take this as a serious threat to what they have thought to be protected events. AMA Pull your head out of your asses, you're next on their enemies list.

DEADLINE TO REGISTER

January 21st is the deadline to register to vote for the February 5th Presidential Primary Election.

You must be registered within the county in which you live at least 15 days before the election. If you are registered in the county but have moved to another address in the county, you can request an address change in writing. If you have changed your name, you must re-register. Voter registration forms are available at DMV offices, Social Security offices, post offices, libraries, city halls, political party headquarters, and from the Registrar of Voters office.

Registered voters who wish to vote by mail must also apply for a mail ballot soon. It is not necessary to be “absent” to request a vote by mail ballot. This option is available to all voters. All vote by mail ballot applications for the February 5th Presidential Primary Election must be in the hands of the Registrar of Voters no later than 5:00 p.m. on January 29, 2008.

Vote by mail ballot applications are available on the back cover of the sample ballot, on the Internet at http://www.sbcrov.com, or from the Registrar of Voters office Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In lieu of the pre-printed application, an eligible voter may send a letter of request that must contain all of the following information:

National Elections, promise to bore one to tears

Is it just me or does the 2008 Presidential election cycle seem entirely too long, too tedious and boring beyond tears? Am I the only one that can not find a single candidate in either party that I can identify with? Can it be that we've ran out of Renaissance men and women that are able to uplift the People without giving away the farm?

Today's campaigns have less to do with vision and ideas, and more to do with the promises of damage control of problems created out of broadcloth. As for me, I am concerned with anyone that promises you stuff that they don't own. It takes a real leader to say no to the palms up mentality of a "give me" society.

With the exception of the current crop of politicians, no one promised that life was going to be easy. No one said we'd all be rich, famous or good looking. It is not governments responsibility to right the perceived failure of the good lord to give us all a bucket of gold and sex appeal. It is not government's responsibility to make sure you drink your milk and eat your veggies.

Our forefathers did not intend us to be children of the state. They provided through the Constitution and providing us with the promise of Representative Democracy a clear stage to make whatever of your life. It is you who makes it a success or failure.

Politicians today what to circumvent the natural physics of life. They want to tell you they want to even the playing field. Well think about this, Andrew Carnegie was a poor weavers son, Bill Gates was the son of the middle class. Both became the richest men in the world by their own abilities. Both have left or intend to leave an indelible mark that betters American Society. They amassed such huge fortunes that they gave of their own volition most of it back to the country that made such fortunes possible by building libraries and institutes of learning to further the chances of others to make good.

I'm not about to follow a leader who fails to recognize that governments responsibility is to do little more than protect the liberty of the individual to make of life what one can make of it. No one promised me a rose garden.

Where are the Trumans? Where are the Reagans? Where are the leaders? Is there anyone out there that can spark my interest?

Could this be the year of change?

We've been asking for it. We've prayed for it. We've demanded our elected representatives to implement it. Half fight to bring it. Half fight to stop it. No one has control of it. Will the year 2008 will bring it? What is it? It's inevitable change.

We as a town, argue more over change more than any city in America. While we all want the goodies that growth and change will bring. None of us seem to want the change in our lifestyles that growth and change would require of us. Each of us are stuck into our selective ruts and refuse to change course.

Who, if they would have had a Crystal Ball would have foresaw that in twenty years of incorporation we would have had less than more? Who today can see any change or improvement 20 years from now? It's going to take a cardiopulmonary shock to reset the heartbeat of this community.

Enter stage right, the Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians with an economic TASER^® in hand, that just shocked the snot right out of the status quo. Could this be the economic stimulant that will bring our city fighting and kicking into the 21st Century? Will this be the reason to expand our horizons beyond Donnell Hill and Adobe Road?

For many it's, damned if we do and damned if we don't. That seems to be general concensus concerning the Casino issue here in Twentynine Palms. I'm hoping that this is the Seminal Moment in our history that we decide what we want to be as a city. The opportunities and choices are limitless.

The Graditute Campagin

The next time you see a soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine so him or her your Graditude. This from the Graditude Campaign.

NuWu meets GD in AM on KCDZ FM

In case you didn't get this in your email box this afternoon, I thought I would share with you all.

This might be one of the few times you'll have to voice your opinion on this issue. So no matter how you feel about it, get on the phone and call. We might all learn something tomorrow.

February 5 Sample Ballots on their way to voters

The Registrar of Voters has begun to mail sample ballot pamphlets to registered voters in San Bernardino County. Voters not registered in time for the initial mailing will be included in the second mailing later in January. The purpose of the sample ballot pamphlet is to provide general information pertaining to the upcoming February 5, 2008 Presidential Primary Election.
The pamphlet is an information guide that includes information on:
• Contests to be voted
• How to vote using the county’s voting systems
• Mail ballot voting information
• Arguments and rebuttals for local measures
• Candidate statements
Additionally, on the back cover is the location of the polling place and an application for an absentee ballot that includes a box to apply for permanent absentee voter status.
The following are other important dates leading up to the February 5 Presidential Primary Election: (more)

New Laws

• SMOKING IN CARS: It is now an infraction subject to fines of up to $100 to smoke in a vehicle when anyone younger than 18 is in the vehicle. Police cannot pull over motorists only for smoking when children are present, but can issue citations if the driver is stopped for another reason, such as speeding or erratic driving.

"This is an opportunity for a lot of folks to be educated and stop smoking around their kids in a car," said Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Redondo Beach, who wrote the legislation. "Even if we never have one citation written, I would feel like the bill is a success. It's really not about catching people. It's about educating them and getting them to change their behavior around the kids."

• OLDIES, NOT GOODIES: This law tries to protect music fans who buy tickets to oldies concerts from deceptive advertising. The legislation places requirements on performing groups to meet certain authenticity standards, such as ensuring that at least one member has the legal right to use the name of the original recording artist. It wouldn't apply to "tribute" groups.

• OH, BIG BROTHER: This law, written by Simitian, bans employers or anyone else from requiring employees or others from having a radio frequency identification device inserted under the skin. The devices, about the size of a rice grain, can be used to track and transmit personal information about the user.

• GIFT CERTIFICATES: This law, by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, allows shoppers to receive cash when a gift certificate has less than $10 left in value.

• ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: Cities and counties can no longer require landlords to obtain and report the immigration status of their tenants. It also prohibits ordinances preventing landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.

• HIV TESTING: The measure drops a requirement that patients fill out a form to be tested for HIV and AIDS. Patients now only have to give a doctor verbal consent to add HIV to other conditions for which they are being tested.

• TOILET CONSERVATION: This law, by Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, will conserve water and electricity by mandating the use of high-efficiency toilets and urinals in all new construction. The law will be phased in, achieving 100 percent compliance by 2014. Over 8 billion gallons of water will be saved within the first 10 years.

• HOMELESS SHELTERS: Cities and counties must now designate areas where shelters can be located without obtaining a conditional-use permit.

• GANGS AND PARENTING: Courts could require the parents or guardians of gang members to attend parenting classes.

Popping the 2008 Cherry

With 9 minutes into the New Year, Jonathan David Wuite 32, was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol at Sunset and Desert Air and arrested for the possible driving of a drunken automobile, thereby claiming first to get arrested in the Morongo Basin for 2008. Good show John!

Not to be outdone by the male gender at 2:21 AM 24 year old Mikell Esther Burns was safely pulled over by the CHP at 62 and Mojave Ranch Rd, again accused of and arrested for piloting an inebriated vehicle. I'll bet mom and dad are so proud.

Both were cited and released early on the morning of the 1st from the local holding facility and were both able to be home for the start of the Rose Parade.

All persons arrested are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. All information culled from the current Booking Report provided by the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department.

California State Propositions