Larry Kush just can’t help himself. After another bloviation from him in the so-called Independent, he once again took me to task for criticizing him for advocating for elimination of single-family zoning. I memorialized the thread here, in case the censors at the Independent decide to nuke it. Kush: Actually the Biden administration is saying […]
Honor and Truth
With the ongoing protests against providing temporary housing within an otherwise-empty Scottsdale hotel property (which I’d think would be good for the local economy), for legal asylum seekers complying with federal law, a news item about US Army Private Marcelino Serna, caught my eye today. I wrote about Serna a couple of years ago, in […]
And Then Came the High-Rises
In the past, I’ve been critical of former Republic columnist John Talton’s loose cannon, anti-automobile ranting. I haven’t seen much from him lately, but his older piece, Phoenix 101: What killed downtown, Part II, recently came to my attention, and contains a nugget worth noting. Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in […]
Quote of the Day: Curmudgeon
I have been called a curmudgeon, which my obsolescent dictionary defines as a “surly, ill-mannered, bad-tempered fellow.” … Nowadays, ‘curmudgeon’ is likely to refer to anyone who hates hypocrisy, cant, sham, dogmatic ideologies, the pretenses and evasions of euphemism, and has the nerve to point out unpleasant facts and takes the trouble to impale these […]
“A city government exists only for the purpose of…”
During a refreshing, unplanned visit to the Phoenix North Mountain Visitor Center, I saw on display this letter to the residents of the Sunnyslope area, sent to them upon annexation of the area into the City of Phoenix. It says, in part, A city government exists only for the purpose of performing necessary municipal services for […]
“I deserve affordable housing in Scottsdale”
I recently had an–interesting–social media conversation with a couple of keyboard warriors who are essentially demanding cheaper (“affordable”) housing in Scottsdale. It’s clear from the comments they made that, while cloaked in proletariat self-righteousness, their motivation is really more about self-interest and entitlement than the “working class.” The conversation started with an opinion piece posted […]
The Noblest of Dogs
“Noblest of all dogs is the hot-dog; it feeds the hand that bites it.” Dr. Laurence Johnston Peter, EdD (1919 – 1990), Canadian educator and “hierarchiologist,” who postulated the Peter principle: “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence… [I]n time every post tends to be occupied by an employee […]
Quote of the Day: Action
Action is the only Truth. Marcus Aurelius, 121 AD to 180 AD, the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors of Rome. His death marked the end of the Pax Romana and the beginning of the eventual fall of the Western Roman Empire. (via John Groseclose)
San Marino, California – Wikipedia
The Huntington Library in San Marino, California The San Marino City Council page states: “San Marino was formed to protect your personal rights and to control the growth and activities of the City in such a way that each individual resident will be guaranteed a pleasant place in which to live with a minimum of […]
Desert Discovery Center and a Venetian Blind | Phoenix New Times
Someone mentioned the “Canals of Scottsdale” project in a Facebook comment this morning pertaining to the Desert Discovery Center controversy. Boy, did that kick off a little trip down memory lane. I moved to Scottsdale shortly after a grass roots effort had crushed this silly “Venice in the Desert” idea at the ballot. Here’s a little […]