Cruising to Antarctica When we told people we were going to Antarctica they had some basic questions. Why is a guy who drives around with his top down all year and prefers 75 degrees and sunny going to a frozen zone? Better yet why are two people who have traveled all over the world but “don’t do” cruises going on a cruise? Well, there is really no other way to get there. This was the Beautiful Wife’s choice, so off we went. Antarctica was our final continent of the seven. It is one of the most remote parts of the planet. The Arctic is considered an ocean rather than a land mass; thus, it is not a continent. Surprisingly, Antarctica is the continent with the highest average altitude at 2,500 meters. You don’t think of it that way because the only real way to get there is by ship. Some cruises have recently started offering flights to Antarctica then boarding a ship. When you get onto land you think you are at sea level, but you are typically at about 8,000 feet. Considering the stories one hears about travel today, we were very blessed getting to our destination. We took two flights to Santiago, Chile, though we had a nonstop home. We… Read More

Orange County Classical Academy shines as a tuition-free educational alternative for OC families.

At a time when families across the state are struggling to find a satisfactory solution for the education of their children, a new, nationally popular alternative – classical education – has arrived in Orange County, California: Orange County Classical Academy. OCCA is a tuition-free public classical charter school that has, despite being only in its fifth year, grown to regularly attract a waiting list of over 1000 students, while garnering attention for its impressive student outcomes as a California Distinguished school. The irony is that OCCA’s “secret” is that it prioritizes virtue and the classical wisdom tradition over everything else.

At OCCA we understand what every parent knows in their heart, that their student’s future… Read More

Can you believe the people he is picking to be in his cabinet? There are so many billionaires. They have not worked for the departments or agencies for which they could possibly helm. Do they even have a college education? And if they have a college education, did they go to the right schools? Have you even heard of some of these colleges? Barbarians are storming us. He thinks they are going to overhaul the departments that they are appointed to oversee. How are they going to do that without having worked in them for years and have known all the players? You know if they are outsiders the people who run these departments will not listen to them and neither should they. They don’t understand how things operate in Washington. Can you believe this Musk guy wants to cut two trillion dollars out of the budget? He can’t do that. And he wants to demand that government employees work from their government offices instead of home. He is going to ruin their lives. If they make cuts, then my state will not get its promised allocation of funds. How will we exist? “I talked to and argued with groups from academia, from the media, from the financial… Read More

The beauty contest for whom to name the person of the year is always open to debate. Time Magazine, the most prominent publication to bestow this honor, named Donald Trump. Certainly, he is a logical and reasonable choice. Another might be Mr. Trump’s newest sidekick, Elon Musk, who could be chosen for many reasons including his energizing the Trump campaign to a new level. I have a different choice, and I feel quite confident mine is the best choice. That person is Daniel Penny. On May 1, 2023, Daniel Penny was taking the New York subway like he often did at that time in his life. He was a 24-year-old man who had already spent four years in the United States Marines which he left in good standing. He was currently seeking a degree in architecture from the New York City College of Technology. He was living in an apartment in the East Village section of New York City. He had two jobs — teaching swimming lessons at a gym and working at a restaurant in Brooklyn. When he entered the subway, he assumed his day would go along normally without anything more than the typical challenges of traversing New York City in 2023. Then a man who he later… Read More

Politicians from California’s Ruling Party make clear they want to get Golden State drivers out of their cars and into government transportation. The state’s own policies explicitly aim to reduce car ownership, and now it appears if they can’t persuade enough drivers, they’ll just make the experience more annoying until people give up.

I got a taste of this next-level government-imposed nuisance while visiting Germany over the holidays to visit my family. The rental car agency provided me with a nice new government-compliant Audi A6.

And it was the most obnoxious driving experience I’ve ever had.

In a preview of the new California law which will require mandatory beeping whenever one drives over the posted speed limit, the German-compliant Audi would immediately and incessantly start beeping whenever my speed exceeded the most recent speed limit sign by as little as 1 km/hr.

This would be fine, but for the fact that the system doesn’t take into account that speed limit signs were never intended to provide the level of granular micromanagement of drivers that is now being forced upon anyone who gets behind the… Read More

Upon returning from our trip to frozen Antarctica after Thanksgiving, while others were busy rushing around trying to get bargains on sweaters and toys, I took out my ever-burgeoning collection of Christmas music to listen to through December. My collection, amassed now over many years, continues to grow each year as we jointly enjoy one of the great aspects of being an American. The collection includes a wide range of music from classical to pop to rock to country to folk to soul to blues and even punk rock. When you become a fan of Christmas music, you find that just about every major artist (and most minor ones) has a Christmas album. Of course, one must have Frank, Dino, and Sammy, not to mention A Rat Pack Christmas. A must is to include the King (Elvis) and Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You, and of course the All-American group – The Beach Boys. One could just go on forever. This year I added some new friends, Samara Joy and Jennifer Hudson. I also added some more country CDs by Little Big Town and Brett Eldredge. The country stars often get into it and write some new songs to go along with the Christmas classics. Seth MacFarlane, (yes… Read More

Since The Beautiful Wife and I have been to 89 countries and all seven continents, we get asked two questions – where won’t you go and where would you go again. I tell people I will not go to any country where I can get kidnapped. One key place I want to go again and is under discussion for 2027 is Amsterdam. After recent actions we have to seriously consider that decision. Amsterdam can be a pretty wild city on any occasion. Our first visit coincided with Orange Day. It is a national holiday on April 27th known as King’s Day, but it is particularly celebrated in the capital of the country. It is a wild day of partying. The celebration is typical of a city that has a famous Red Light District offering legal prostitution and drugs. These activities are counterbalanced by the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank Guided Walking Tour through the Jewish Quarter. The Muslim population centered in the largest cities in Holland has been there in growing numbers since the 1960’s. They now constitute an estimated 5% of the population. There has been a growing revolt by the Dutch against strict observance of Islam exemplified in 2019 where face coverings… Read More

California politicians have a new excuse for wildfires: “Climate change.”

One can bet that following every major wildfire in California in the year ahead, some politician will invoke this new universal explanation for destructive wildfires, including those whose destruction could have been prevented or mitigated.

In reality, it is the failure of federal, state, and local governments that are directly contributing to elevated wildfire risk in many California communities, threatening homes, lives, and property, and causing insurance companies to stop writing policies in the state.

In my community, government is a major contributor to wildfire risk. It increases the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires in three ways.

First is by allowing an unacceptable buildup of fuel to accumulate on our public lands. Politicians love to send out press releases taking credit for “protecting” land by having the government acquire it, only to dedicate inadequate resources to maintaining that land. The result is continuous buildup of fuel awaiting the right conditions to spread fire into surrounding communities. For example, in 2020,… Read More