Obama speaks to British Parliament

There he was, Mr. President, speaking the King's English to the English. It was vintage Obama, statements followed by pauses, head turning side to side, but earnest, emphatic, if not bold. But it was reassuring to the Allies, to hear the Pres articulate foreign policy, reaffirm support for positions long represented by the USA.
He touched on the African Spring, the Arab Spring, and the Palestinian Spring; and Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq. Some Pakistan, and nuclear Arms and the threat to peace. It was warmly accepted and appreciated by the members of Parliament. The backdrop of Westminster Abbey provided an historic context to his speech, placing it in a position familiar to students of history, and the history of Great Britain and the United States. Hearing our President speak these days is heartwarming, restorative in many ways, after the Bush years and his public speaking limits that were painfully obvious.
It can be assumed that many in the audience saw the President in person for the first time. It must have been a revelation to view this eminent personage who puts a face on Democracy and Freedom. It must also be encouraging to hear him voice the common ground of our alliance, past, present, and future. It underscores the commitment of the USA to continued intervention around the world on behalf of peace and human rights.
In 30 minutes, he was able to speak to the masses around the world and affirm our engagement to world peace.
Bravo, Obama.

Memorial Day the Weekend

Children,
Yes, Memorial Day Weekend is upon us. Are we ready? Maybe, if highway 50 stays open, that would be nice. If there aren't any conflagrations to block access, that's good,too. Now if only we could chop some more off the price of a gallon of gas, we might make a touchdown. The trend is down, so we're hoping it continues. Wednesday will be huge because the price per gallon on Wednesday will set the mental mind set for the whole weekend. Prices high= no driving long distance(200 miles +). Prices going down= take a driving trip=more visits/visitors to the Lake Tahoe Basin and Tahoma/Homewood=$$$$$$.
Keep your fingers crossed.
No snow in the forecast-yea!

Echo Summit Reopens

Yes, children, Highway 50 is now open. After a 9 day closure for needed repairs, the key connector to South lake Tahoe is open for business. It has created a whole group of closure "supporters" who enjoyed the lack of through traffic. They were in sharp contrast to those businesses that depend on traffic for their livelihood. Restrictions will apply during the work week, but the highway will be unrestricted on weekends.
So,my friends, enjoy the newly opened highway. Drive safely.

Winter Winter Go Away

Forecast: heavy snow, high winds, freezing temperatures. Sounds like February-but it's Mid-May! So, the big Bike Race is cancelled/postponed reset- and relocated. Oh, well, that's life.
Maybe by Memorial Day springtime will arrive. We all got excited about spring , put away the shovels, chains, cables, snow blowers, etc. Now, out of the shed they come,again. This is the Sierra, everybody's favorite mountain chain.
The weekend visitor rate just plummeted again. Businesses thought they could look forward to a seasonal uptick in numbers. But no, they'll have to wait for another springtime to begin.
Stay tuned, stay warm, be careful driving, look out for bears, hungry bears.

West Shore on the Front Page again

The S.F. Chronicle loves Lake Tahoe. Any articles written about "The Lake" elicit comments from far and wide. Yesterday, Mother's Day, May 8,2011, they did it again. The article included a stunning photo taken from the top of the Quail(lake) chairlift at the Homewood Ski Resort. The article includes 3 bylines representing 3 viewpoints regarding west shore development. The authors are: Rochelle Nason of the League to Save Lake Tahoe; Theresa May Duggan, a planning consultant of the Place-Based Planning Process; and Rob Weston, a very small business owner in Homewood(bikes and skis).
The three are not authoritative in any way, nor do they represent the heavy hand of county, state, or regional government. Any discussion of the "Lake" without some government input is a hollow gesture on the part of editors and writers both. Any resident or visitor understands that this area is not newly developed or discovered-it's been around awhile. Whether you're visiting to enjoy the Lake, gamble some at the casinos, or just to enjoy the environment within the basin, it becomes evident that the overlay of government is EVERYWHERE!

The Parks
In addition to Tahoe National Forest, State parks also can be found around the shoreline. Many offer a variety of attractions, mainly, camping and hiking. On the west shore, the big sites are at Sugar Pine Point Park, just south of Tahoma. Here was the site of the 1960 Olympic crosscountry events, including the biathlon. The park includes lake frontage along the shore in front of the Erhman mansion(now an historic site).
Continuing south, there's the Meeks Bay Resort with its boat ramp, small boat harbor, and camp ground(RVs OK). Across Meeks Creek is the public camp ground that fronts the lake on the other half of Meeks Bay.
After another 5 miles, there is D.L.Bliss State park. This public camping area is large, and has a great beach with large boulders at waters' edge. Shoreline hiking trails are an added bonus.
From Bliss, Highway 89 continues on to Emerald Bay, the iconic landscape known around the world. Here are 2 more parks, one is available for camping, the other, for day trips(Vikingsholm).
Moving south, the Richardson Camp straddles the road before coming to the Wye, where US 50 meets State 89.

North of Homewood, toward Tahoe City and the stateline, numerous parks dot the lake area.
Arriving in Tahoe City, one can see the park at the lake outlet(Fanny Bridge area).
Whereas one can see much development along this stretch of 89, there isn't much commercial development at all. Take away the ski resort area, and that's about the extent of it all. Obexers makes an impression, but only in the abbreviated summer season.

The Summer Season-Where have you gone??????
The article seems to focus on the Homewood Resort and Village Development and what it will mean to the West Shore and to the Lake itself. What is not addressed is the rational behind the investment: why would a property owner invest millions in light of the recent recession and the continual ebb of economic factors, mainly reduced spending by visitors, reduced visits, higher taxes on property, higher costs of living in the basin, drop in resident population, and the inability of Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to see beyond its nose?
Any one factor would /should give the builder pause. The permit application process has been going on now for over two years and more time to come before approval. This is typical and doesn't include anytime for build out on the site. Since 1969, close scrutiny of everything inside the basin by TRPA has slowed growth to a trickle. Getting a permit for anything requires patience and a bit of luck.
On top of all this is the new Lake Tahoe Research Center in Incline Village, Nevada. The $35 million dollar project was funded by the Feds and planted in Harry Reid's backyard(US Sen Reid!) This center for the ongoing study of the Lake is a state of the art building on the campus of Sierra Nevada College. IT holds great promise, and has already contributed much to the knowledge base.
But all of this concern hinges on the assumption that hoards of visitors will debase the basin environment. But will they? Have you seen what passes for summer vacation lately? What a face!!!! Summertime used to begin on Memorial Day-May 30. Now, it starts on 4th of July and barely makes it to August . Some folks stick around to August 7th or August 10th, and that's it.

Goodbye Middle Class Vacationers

The high cost of gasoline puts a crimp in driving habits and trips to Tahoe have taken hits along with all the others. With sales taxes, utilities, and food prices going up and wages going down, there is falling demand for recreation at the Lake. Witness the continued closing of restaurants, motels for sale, and lack of beach goers on any weekend. The signs are all there.

The authors fail to recognize the obvious as they grind their favorite axes, hoping somebody will listen. The editors call this article a "New future for Old Tahoe". I call it "the Sad Future of Tahoe".

Washington Mall in the Rain

After viewing several memorials on the Mall, the group decided lunch was in order. A site in Arlington was selected and folks split up to find their way. As the springtime shower continued to fall, it seemed that a retreat to a Federal building nearby was in order. The Museum of Natural History was crowded with vacationing families, taking advantage of spring/Easter break. Just a short distance away, the National Gallery offered the next best site. The gallery was offering an outstanding trio of visiting exhibitions: 1) Gauguin- a look at his later period, 2) Canaletto and his Rivals-a look at Venice before Napolean(1700's), 3) Dutch masters.
The visiting shows were set in the new wing and many visitors had found the shows too tempting to pass up. Many show goers were resting in the restaurant, and the galleries were actually less than crowded. It was a great day.

Osama is no mo

So there you have it: Osama is dead after 9 1/2 years of searching, this wretched beast has been eliminated. Good riddance as they say. Now we can take a close look at all our activities in the neighborhood and decide which will continue and which will be terminated. With Pakistan, we are bound up with our Afghanistan effort, so we can't just walk and cut off the Pakkis if we wanted to.
Their day will come soon, for all their duplicitous dealings with thw west and their neighbors to the east-that would be India for the geographically challenged.
I hope no crabs become ill after consuming Arab sea bottom rubbish.