Inquiring Minds Want To Know

One of the pressing questions of the presidential campaign has yet to be answered:  what’s up with Daffy Donald’s hair?  Is it a receding hairline?  Is it a fashion statement?  Is there something underneath? 

Hair stylists are bewildered by the Donald’s yellowish orange do.  Trump’s mop is a “cross between an otter’s tail and an ear of corn,” quipped Frederic Mennetrier, a French coiffeur.  “In a word: abstract. Contemporary art,” he added. “It makes us think of many things — except what he’d like us to.”

The Donald insists there isn’t anything going on with his hair.  “It may not be pretty but it’s mine,” he has insisted.  This summer, he went so far as to summon a supporter on stage during a campaign event in South Carolina to prove his point.

But, the debate lingers.  “I think it is real hair and that is the reason he has a combover,” said Cristophe, a Beverly Hills stylist.  “Eighty percent of Donald Trump’s hair is combed over to one side to cover as much as possible and make it look as thick as possible,” he added.

Joseph Kendall, cofounder of Joseph Martin Hair and Beauty in Beverly Hills who has counted Paris Hilton among his clients, was blunter.  It is “a combover to hide either a receding hairline or bald spot,” he said.  “Looked a lot better on singer Little Richard than on Mr. Trump.”  “I would then suggest cutting it into a more normal style that would not raise so many negative comments.”

So, Donald… what is the deal with hair?  Inquiring minds want to know.

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Don't Have To Worry About This

The New Jersey Supreme Court has upheld a state appeals court ruling that an Atlantic City hotel and casino can regulate the weight of its employees.  In 2008, cocktail waitresses at the Borgata Hotel and Casino, aka the “Borgata Babes,” accused the casino of discrimination because it subjected them to random weigh-ins and suspended them if they put on weight.

Borgata’s policy for the “Babes” and their male counterparts requires them to be physically fit with a clean smile. Women must have an hourglass shape; and men must have broad shoulders and a slim waist.  The casino has fired “Borgata Babes” over the years for violating the policy, which prohibits servers from gaining or losing more than 7 percent of their body weight.

According to the appeals court: “The Borgata Babe position comprised more than a job serving drinks and washing glasses.  From its inception, an element of performance and a public appearance component was part of the described Borgata Babe position.“

I have heard of a phrase in the law called “bona fide occupational qualification,” which essentially means that it is not discrimination in employment if there is a specific company image that has to be maintained.  I suppose that is why you see only well endowed waitresses at Hooters.  

At my age (and weight) I’m sure glad I don’t have to worry about this.  

* someone pass me another beer *

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We'll Adapt

Today we attended the Bloggerfest in Quartzsite, hosted by George of Our Awesome Travels.  We arrived a little late since we spent more time than expected at the rock and gem show in town.  Kudos to George and Suzi for all the work they went to for a great gathering.

I was pleasantly surprised by other bloggers who said they read my blog.  Hopefully they will leave comments occasionally. You can credit (or blame) Croft Randle of Crofts Mexico since he guided me into blogging.  Since then we have met with Croft and Norma and become good friends.

On another note, we were a bit surprised and disappointed to find out the the US Bank closed the branch office at the Safeway in Wickenburg when were there last week.  We have been a customer of US Bank for nearly 40 years and back when I travelled seven states for my job it was easy to find one of their branch offices in those states.

We don't like to carry a lot of cash when we RV to Arizona for the winter, so it was super handy to have the bank branch at the Safeway in Wickenburg.  It means that if we need cash we will have to drive into Phoenix or keep more cash around.  We'll adapt I'm sure.

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At What Cost

Yesterday morning an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet from Luke AFB, piloted by a Taiwanese air force student pilot, crashed near Bagdad, a mining town northwest of Wickenburg.  Thursday's crash is the third such incident with a Luke-affiliated F-16 in less than three years.

Here are some interesting statistics:

Cost of F-16:  $22.7 million

Per hour cost to fly F-16:  $24,000

Per hour cost of each search helicopter:  $3400

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Stupid Is

On Monday the Supreme Court refused an appeal from Maricopa County, Arizona to be removed from a lawsuit stemming from a judgement in U.S. District Court against Sheriff Joe Arpaio for racial profiling. 

The underlying lawsuit, launched in 2007, claims that Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office were unlawfully stopping cars whose passengers appeared to be Latino to question them about their immigration status.

The issue arose after Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the sheriff's office questioned whether the office was a nonjural entity — that is, it lacks separate legal status from Maricopa County and therefore was incapable of suing or being sued in its own name.

The Ninth Circuit panel in April ordered that Maricopa County be substituted as a party in its place.  (Law360)

Once again Arpaio’s tactics are costing the taxpayers of Maricopa County.  Since he first took office in 1993 lawsuits involving him or his office has cost taxpayers $142 million in legal expenses, settlements and court awards. 

There have been enormous court awards for deaths in Arpaio’s jail and taxpayers paid for it.  His deputies arrested journalists for writing about him, and taxpayers paid for it.  In 2008 and 2009 he arrested sitting judges, supervisors and county employees.  All sued, got settlements and taxpayers paid for it.  Arpaio refuses to recognize the U.S. District Court judgment against his department for racial profiling, all costing the taxpayers in appeals. 

Arpaio has averaged more than $6 million in lawsuits and legal expenses for every year he has been in office, all paid by taxpayers, yet they keep reelecting him.  Forrest Gump was right,  “stupid is as stupid does” and the taxpayers of Maricopa County certainly are.

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Need An Assault Rifle?

Background checks?  Background checks?  We don't need no stinking background checks!

On my way back from Wickenburg yesterday I stopped at a roadside flea market.  Along with the usual junk that is at these extemporaneous markets, next to the Mexican fruit and vegetable stand, was a guy with a couple folding tables selling hand guns.

My photos aren't the best since they were taken with my cell phone surreptitiously and no doubt these guys would not have appreciated the taking of photos.  Take my word for it, I know enough about guns to recognize the semi automatic high caliber hand guns the guy was selling.

As I watched one transaction the buyer wasn't asked for ID or anything.  The last thing anyone had to be concerned about was a background check.  Never mind if the gun was on its way to Mexico (or who knows where).  Never mind if you were one of the so-called "bad guys with a gun."  Never mind if you were a felon.  Just plunk down enough cash and it's yours.  Need any ammunition to go with that?

I don't know how many guns this guy had in his van and speculate if you asked he could probably come up with others.  I saw a couple times where he took someone over to his van.  Need an assault rifle?

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Déjà vu (with bonus)

On the way to Arizona last month the turn signal on our pickup went goofy.  If I tried to signal a left turn the right turn signal was activated.  If I tried to signal a right turn nothing happened.  Not something good to happen on a long trip, especially towing a fifth wheel trailer.

Thinking it was a bulb, we stopped at the Dodge dealer in Deming and had the bulbs replaced.  It wasn't long before we got on down the road and the turn signal acted up again.  At the first truck stop we came to I picked up a couple more taillight bulbs.  I had disconnected the trailer plug and it still didn't work correctly, so it had to be in the pickup wiring.  Once again I replaced what I thought was a bad left bulb.  Just before we got to Hope it quit working again.

After we got settled in Hope I did some research on the internet and found that the likely cause is the "multifunction switch."  I also found where Dodge had issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) describing this problem and had extended the warranty to 10 years or 100,000 miles.  As luck would have it our pickup is a 2006.  We have an older pickup we use on the farm, so the Dodge is used only for towing our camper and has only 75,000 miles on it.  Since the multifunction switch is located in the steering column it isn't an easy fix with the part and labor. Woo Hoo... the fix is covered by an extended warranty. 

I contacted the Dodge dealer in Wickenburg and made an appointment to have the switch replaced.  I also had a recall on the airbag and they said they would fix that also since they had to pull the steering wheel to replace the switch.  Off we went yesterday on the 60 mile drive to Wickenburg.  

Shortly after they had the pickup in the shop they said they didn't have the part and I would have to bring the truck back the next day.  What?!  I thought I made an appointment to have the switch replaced!  You didn't think to order one or is it you just didn't take my word for it that it wasn't working?

Anyway, we're off again this morning to Wickenburg.  This whole day will be Déjà vu.  Oh well... I'm retired.  What else do I have to do with my time?

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Edit:

Guess the trip was worth it.  Wish I could find diesel price like this everywhere.  And that was even the credit card price. 

Consider KIVA Instead

Off to the right on blogs is an area called the "sidebar."  Some bloggers use it and some don't.  Those who use the sidebar often list common things, such as followers, archive and blogs they follow.  Sidebars can contain other interesting tidbits.  However, some are outright pandering.

On the sidebar of this blog are three gadgets, inter alia, which include "ad free blog", "no donate here" (paypal) and "no pandering here" (amazon).  Essentially, I follow other blogs to learn, be entertained and for information, not for advertising or pandering.  It's especially odious when someone is asking you to donate money to them via paypal when they have the wherewithal to travel all over the country in a big RV.  Same thing when they get a kickback from Amazon to get you to order through their blog.  

Ads are one thing, but when someone is asking me to financially support their lifestyle by giving them money I generally skip those blogs.  One other gadget on this blog in the sidebar is for KIVA.  If you really want to make a donation to someone who needs it, rather than to someone who likely doesn't need it, consider KIVA instead. 

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Payback Is A Bitch

So, have you been watching the story about the rich teen kid (Ethan Couch) who killed four people in a car wreck in 2013 while driving drunk and only got 10 years probation?  His lawyer had successfully argued for leniency, claiming the teen’s family wealth and poor parental relationships left him with no sense of responsibility.  It has been called the “affluenza” defense.

But, probation was too much for the kid, so in keeping with his pampered lifestyle his mom hustled the kid off to Mexico - and, where else but Puerto Vallarta.  After all, hiding him in some out of the way little Mexican village would be too traumatic for the little weasel.  Authorities caught them after they used a cell phone to order a pizza (not only are they affluent, they are stupid).

The kid is being held in a Mexico jail (I wonder how he's liking their penal system) and mom was brought back to the states and is being held on a $1 million bond.  On Friday, Tonya Couch appeared before a judge in a jail jumpsuit. She complained that it was too bright to sleep in her cell, whereupon the sheriff responded “It’s jail, not a resort.”

Payback is a bitch, eh Tonya?

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Priorities Still Wrong

Today is the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and eighteen others in Tucson. 

Even when one of their own is shot, Congress did nothing to pass some reasonable assault weapons regulations.  

Not even after the shooting of first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary a little over three years ago did Congress act.

In fact these shootings had the opposite effect.  Gun sales went up.  Armed vigilantes are stalking the U.S. - Mexico border.  Armed militia are seizing federal property.  Gun nuts are strutting around flaunting "open carry."  Shootings of innocents with assault weapons continues.  All the while Congress does nothing but suck up to the crazies at the NRA.

Clearly, our priorities in this country are still wrong.

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Factually Wrong

Americans bought more new cars in 2015 than ever before.

Automakers reported another month of strong sales for December, taking full-year sales to nearly 17.5 million cars and trucks, according to figures from sales tracker Autodata. That's up about 6% from 2014 and just edged out the previous record of 17.4 million set in 2000.

It's a dramatic rebound for an industry that was on life-support six years ago. In 2009, massive job losses and tight credit sent car sales plunging to only 10.4 million. General Motors (GM) and Chrysler Group ended up in bankruptcy.  Sales have climbed steadily every year since then.

In 2015, a major factor in the sales rebound was strong hiring by employers, who added some 2.3 million jobs.  The growth in auto sales is expected to continue in 2016; most forecasts put sales this year above 18 million.  (CNN Money)

So, what do all the crackpots who say the economy has been worse under the Obama presidency have to say now?  One more statistic why they are factually wrong.

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