Highway Drivers

   After just returning from a vacation in which we drove aver 1500 miles of highway in a week, I have much to say about drivers I encountered along the way.  Most drivers are good and safe behind the wheel, but many are not so.  Here are some things to consider while highway driving.

1. Find a safe speed and maintain it.  Keep the vehicle in one lane as much as possible, only changing lanes to pass, then get back into your cruising lane.  Too many people think driving slow in the middle or left lanes is okay to avoid the big trucks, campers and boats.  If you're driving out there, keep pace with traffic around you, or move back to the right.  If someone faster comes along, move right and let them pass if possible.
2. Pay attention to the road and other vehicles, and not your smart phone, navigation system, food and drinks,  or music.  Get a hands free devise for your phone if possible.
3. If you have cruise control, use it.  Speeding up and slowing down only causes problems for other drivers.
4. Driving 5-10 MPH faster than other drivers is just as dangerous as 5-10 MPH slower.  Let's pick a speed and go.  If you really want to drive down the highway flashing your lights so others will get out of your way, then become a policeman.
5. When you pull off the highway for gas, be courteous to others also getting gas.  I pulled into a busy station and waited behind a car at the pump for a few minutes.  After a brief wait, a woman returned to the car from the store, with coffee in hand, before pumping her gas.  Gas pumps are for gas filling, not for parking.  Park someplace else while shopping, eating or using the facilities.
6. To be safe it is recommended to maintain a safe driving distance between your car and the one in front of you.  That space helps avoid accidents when traffic suddenly slows or stops.  When you change lanes you should account for that same safe distance.  
7. When driving in rain do not use your emergency flasher lights.  Turn on your headlights, and your tail lights come on with them.  Emergency flashers indicate an emergency situation has been encountered.  Rain is not necessarily an emergency, so just turn on the lights, not the flashers.  If you're not comfortable driving in rain, exit the highway and wait for it to stop raining before resuming your trip.
8. Anticipate exits, curves and hills and plan ahead for them.  You'll be in the correct lane for your exists, and you'll cause few problems for other drivers around you.  Last second lane changes to make you exit is risky driving.  Risky driving at high speed is potentially deadly.
9. Secure your packages, luggage and gear on trailers, in truck beds, and boats.  I've seen cooler and container lids flying off at 70 MPH, causing other drivers to avoid such objects flying or on the roadway.  Use cargo straps and netting for any items not packed inside the vehicle.

My Thoughts on Gun Control

There are my own thoughts on the subject of gun control.
When people say "gun control" it means different things to different people.  To some it means you want to take away their guns.  To others it means proper sale of and handling of guns.  And yet others, it means they really want to take your guns away.
I seldom hear politicians say what law they think needs to be passed when they speak on gun control.  They tend to speak in generalities such as "common sense gun regulations".  Please be specific.
We have many gun laws on the books already, but some people just don't seem to understand, and are led to believe America is still the wild, wild west.
If gun laws worked to prevent crimes, then why are so many people killed with guns in Chicago, Paris, Brussels, or 'fill in the blank'?  France has very strict gun laws, and even their police were not carrying weapons before the most recent attacks.  During the month of May 2016 there were over 400 shootings in Chicago.  400! In one month!  Talk about mass shooting!  What did those gun control advocates have to say about Chicago in spring time?  Yeah, still waiting for that comment.
Prisons are full of law breakers.  Why do you think more gun laws will stop gun violence?  Laws don't stop criminals.  Rather laws make it possible to charge, try and convict them of those crimes.
President Obama's administration is responsible for allowing thousands of guns into the hands of drug cartels.  Why do you suppose someone so opposed to gun violence would do that?  I think so he could then say how bad the problem is and force the legislation through congress.
We protect our banks with guns.  Politicians and celebrities with guns.  Judges and courtrooms with guns.  But then we put up signs that say "Gun Free Zone" where are children go to school.
Since 1950 all but three scenes of mass shootings were in gun free zones.  The Aurora Colorado movie theater shooter passed up other theaters that were not designated as such to get to one that was gun free.  Why?  Because shooters don't want potential victims shooting back at them.  Simple.
People generally agree on the horrors of gun violence.  But the violence is a result of what is in the heart of the shooter, not the weapon.
Then you hear about only certain types of guns, which mostly includes semi-automatic weapons.  Are you any less wounded or dead if your shot with a shotgun or handgun?
We often hear that "If it saves even one life, we should ban ...".  But they don't say that when discussing hammers, knives, cars, fireworks, or swimming pools, or space heaters, or countless other devices that kill people.
People who settled America came here to be free of tyranny, both religious and political.  They wrote a great document detailing the freedoms we all have that come from our creator, not from a king, or some government official.  That includes the right to bear arms.  Arms not for hunting and sport, but for protection from all sorts of evil.
A right is something you have that does not come at some cost to another.  You do not have a right to free tuition because that would come at the cost of others.  The same with health insurance.  But your right to defend yourself with arms does not cost anyone else anything.
There are millions of law abiding gun owners who never shoot anyone.  There are also many victims of crime who fought back and killed their assailants with guns.  The FBI statistics show from 2008 to 2012 there were 1108 such justified shootings of felons during the commission of a crime by the intended victim. (Source: Violence Policy Center)
Evil people are creative.  Who would have thought of using a rental truck and fertilizer to blow up a building?  Guns are a weapon, or a tool, like a truck and fertilizer.
The reason we have a right to bear arms is because our creator wants us to be free from said tyranny.  Since the Constitution was written there are several examples of tyrannical governments taking away weapons from the citizens, thus enslaving them.  Russia, Germany, China, Venezuela and North Korea all come to mind.  Which of those countries would you choose to live in today if you left the USA?
We are free men and women.  Free to choose to follow the rule of law or not.  Suffer the consequences of your choices.  But be free.
You are not free if you cannot defend yourself and your loved ones.

Take It A Step Further Please

Elitist Arrogance Part II


    Dr. Williams, in this article, tells us the elitists who proclaim the need for a $15 minimum wage know better than everyone, when it comes to what to pay for labor.  As we know, labor is a cost of doing business.  Like paying the utility company, rent, buying materials, and more, labor has a price.
    Williams explains how the business might change their normal operations to economize so as to remain profitable.  But those advocating higher wages never seem to understand how a business must remain profitable and will adjust to a changing business environment.
    No one seems to misunderstand how a business reacts to competition.  The owner will work harder to improve quality and efficiency, offer special price promotions, change hours of operations, or reduce costs so he can offer a better deal to customers who would then choose doing business with him instead of the competition.  The same options apply to rising labor costs.   
    Proponents of $15/hour minimum wage also say it is not possible to raise a family on less.  I say you should not have a family if you make minimum wages.  Minimum wage jobs are entry level jobs by design.  They are to be a way for low skilled, uneducated workers to gain experience working, developing a work history, so the worker can begin to progress upward in skills and wages.
    If raising the price of unskilled labor is the correct thing to do, then raising the prices of gasoline, milk, bread, shoes and eye glasses, etc., would be even better, would it not?

The Thin Blue Line

    This line refers to the police standing between criminals and law abiding citizens.  Investigating crimes, standing guard against criminals, and general protecting and serving the general peace of society.  As we have seen in recent years this line is being erased by politicians, mayors, governors, President Obama, and many others.
    Let's go back to the Ferguson riots following the shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Wilson.  Protestors quickly escalated their actions into lawlessness: damaging cars and buildings, burning and looting businesses, stopping traffic on highways, and much more.  The governor of Missouri failed his state by not quickly and forcefully calling out the national guard to quell such lawlessness.  Statements by politicians that implied, or outright stated, that police were to blame for the riots.  And the media repeatedly called the rioters protestors.
    In the case of Cambridge, MA professor William Gates, who was arrested without identification trying to break into his home after locking himself out, President Obama said the police acted stupidly.  Mind you, Gates could not identify himself as the owner of the home he was obviously breaking into.
    More recently, the Mayor of San Jose, CA said the lack of police action during riots against Donald Trump supporters following a political rally, was commendable.
    Is it any wonder we have anyone wishing to become a police officer at all anymore?  Especially in light of what transpired in Baltimore, MD, after the arrest of 6 officers following the death of a suspect in their custody?  I am speaking of the riots which followed, lasting for days following the orders from the mayor for police to give them room to riot.
    If police are to do their jobs maintaining order and taking criminals off of the streets, they must have the support of the elected political class.  This does not mean all cops are always good guys.  It does not mean some cops don't behave badly or criminally, or make mistakes in actions or judgments.  But it should mean that in general our politicians and society support police in their duty to society.  Making broad brush statements condemning police departments does not serve the peaceful coexistence of citizens.  Rather it makes people distrust police and emboldens criminals to commit more crimes or more violent and costly crimes.
    Giving lip service to police is not enough either.  We must support police with active encouragement and not assuming the worst in a group when one goes awry.  Sending administration officials to the funeral of criminals and ignoring funerals of police killed in the line of duty sends a terrible message to both police and community.
    We want people to trust police, feel safe going to police, and follow the orders of police in carrying out their sworn duty to protect and serve.

The Tolerant Left?

Recent campaign events for Donald Trump have become more violent and less protestation than ever.  In San Jose this week a woman was pelted with eggs, spat upon, and otherwise threatened.  The people doing these things to her were 'protesting' in opposition to Donald Trump, candidate for the office of President of the United States.


As Trump is a Republican, and those protestors supporters of Bernie Sanders, Democrat, it seems obvious the political left is becoming less and less tolerant of the right.


In recent years the left has been less tolerant of police, Christians, whites, and heterosexuals.  They like to state how we must be more tolerant, and yet they are less so.


I am amazed that protestors who throw rocks and bottles at police, eggs at lone women, burn cars, break into store fronts, and yell threats at citizens attending political rallies, are still called protestors and not rioters.


Those demanding more tolerance from others must believe they live on a one-way street.