The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to close 164 miles of logging roads by using heavy machinery to re-contour some, decommissioning another 109 miles, and allowing 55 miles to return to a natural state on their own in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument area east of Ashland, Oregon. The BLM claims culverts and drainage ditches…

The take-over of the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve near Burns, Oregon, may have ended but the federal land grab continues. President Obama is granting national monument status to nearly 1.8 million acres of Southern California desert. In all, he will name three specific regions national monuments — Mojave Trails, Castle Mountains (both in the Mojave…

One of the many part-time jobs I’ve had over the years was that of mortician’s assistant. Much of the job required me to be on-call at all hours of the day to pick up dead bodies from nursing homes, hospitals, private homes and the occasional crime scene or car wreck. The hours, though difficult at…

While en route to Las Vegas, I had to stop to fill up my trucks gas tanks and empty my coffee-strained bladder. After fueling up, I raced to the public restroom. Already there were three people, each one occupying one of the four stand-up urinals. This included a grandfather, his grown son and his grandson…

Time and time again — I’ve heard newscasters ‘ripping and reading’ the Associated Presses ‘FBI verses Apple’ story saying, “the San Bernardino Shooter.” It should be “…the San Bernardino TERRORIST.” Syed Farook is a TERRORIST; his wife is a TERRORIST! If he were jus’ a “shooter” at a post office, a “shooter” at a high…

Having hit my teens in the early 70s, I often used comic books to escape from the worry of the Vietnam War, riots as seen on TV, Watergate and gas rationing. It was nice to read some form of cheap ‘fantasy’ and tune out the real world. Those were the days when you would go…

Why do some radio and TV personalities include the call letters or channel number with their names on Facebook? Do they think that is how people identify them. Has some consultant told them this is good for their career? Don’t these personalities think they can stand on their own without adding the channel number or…

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been on the go. In fact, I’ve always craved adventure and activity of all sorts. However, as I’ve grown older, I’ve discovered that some of the things I’ve survived have left their mark. The biggest mark in this case is my broken back. Along with this…

There may still be hope for the S.S. United States as Crystal Cruises has signed a purchase option to restore the historic ocean liner and bring it back into service. The option commits Crystal to cover the costs of preserving the ship while undertaking a technical feasibility study, expected to be completed by the end…

My medication arrived via the U.S. Postal Service. The heavy plastic packaging was a mangled hole-filled mess and all but three of the 90-day supply of pills were gone, having fallen out of the severely crushed bottle. Now, I’m trying to get the prescription refilled and the VA is dragging its feet. This is bureaucracy…