Here’s a report on a recent business trip to Sherman Oaks (into LAX and out of BUR).
A heroic masked Californian is turned away from the gate at PBI for not being in a sufficiently high-priority boarding group (if there were any justice on this planet, Trump would have lost the recent election and masked passengers would enjoy top priority boarding along with military personnel):
The JetBlue Mint “studio” in their new-configuration planes. The seats are angled and that leaves a little bit of extra space in the first row. They actually put a second seat belt in the suite/studio for a guest (not during takeoff/landing) and the bed ends up being a little wider. My excuse for this luxury is that I needed to get some work done.
Departing east from PBI we flew over a 20-acre estate on Palm Beach that a Democrat judge in New York appraised, in an entirely nonpartisan manner, at $18 million. (A one-acre vacant lot nearby recently sold for $85 million.)
Bold #resistance can begin within moments of stepping off the plane in LAX via access to “Books Banned Elsewhere”:
The streetscape in front of my luxurious Courtyard hotel in Sherman Oaks included $5/gallon gasoline (currently about $3/gallon in Florida), outdoor maskers, and the unhoused:
One is greeted at the Burbank airport by a sign reminding healthy travelers to “wear a mask”:
The airport also features an exhibit on the built-in-Burbank Lockheed P-38 Lightning, which helped the U.S. achieve “peace the old-fashioned way” (as B-17 and B-29 fans like to say) in World War II:
Thanks to United Airlines for getting us to SFO on time in a somewhat newer twin-engine plane.
The boom in expert witness jobs is an interesting story. Wonder if they’re pent up cases from the lockdown years or if the industry shifted from making software to patenting it.
Jeez, for a guy whose fave boy just won the election (I know you’re going to claim you don’t have an opinion, but you’ve never said anything critical about Trump even once, while Kamala could do nothing right by you), and whose party is now in control of every branch of government, you seem to be harboring a lot of bitterness. Shouldn’t you be overjoyed now, isn’t the future all rainbows and unicorns for you?
@Grumpy Cat You are correct. @PhilG become really bitter after his guy won the election(fair and square). All his hard work of writing and pointing how bad the Dems are paid of culminating with his fave boy getting elected. May be he is disappointed with Matt Gaetz withdrawal. I thought he would go back to writing about aviation or some tech stuff(the reason I started to read this blog). But for some reason he is obsessed with mask wearing people, homeless(only in Dem cities), Muslims and immigrants’. @PhilG why do you go to these liberal cities, instead can’t you select court cases in all RED states like Mississippi, Alabama, AR and the entire Midwest and enlighten us by writing about their cities(off course they are heavenly)
GC/RD: I didn’t mean to project bitterness in the original post. I was quite happy with my JetBlue “studio”, for example! Mostly I’ve been writing trip reports lately because I’ve done a lot of traveling. Those who voluntarily enter crowded environments while relying on inexpensive not-professionally-fitted masks will always delight me, regardless of who is forecast to rule from the White House.
I’m not sure where I communicated a great love of Donald Trump. During the primary season, I thought that I was clear about my preference for Nikki Haley (most electable) and Ron DeSantis (best track record of competence) over Trump. I wouldn’t expect an Argentina-/Milei-style dramatic change for the U.S. government starting on January 20. Congress has a tendency to obstruct spending cuts (Ronald Reagan set forth spending cuts that balanced his proposed tax cuts and Congress implemented only the tax cuts, for example). Is there any politician who has proposed trimming U.S. health care spending from 20% of GDP to 10% (European level) or 5% (Singapore level) or even nibbling away at this by ceasing to have Medicare offer to pay unlimited amounts?
I guess it seems possible that Trump could reduce undocumented immigration back to the 2017-2020 level and that would be a dramatic change for America’s working class, though not what they actually voted for (a closed border and an end to low-skill immigration). No politician either in Europe or in the U.S. seems willing to say “the world has changed since the middle of last century; we are a sovereign nation and, as such, will no longer offer asylum to anyone.”
On the third hand, maybe I should be delighted because the 2SLGBTQQIA+ are finally getting the recognition that they deserve, albeit for personal achievement rather than membership in a victimhood class.
https://www.advocate.com/politics/scott-bessant-gay-trump-treasury
Bessent, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, would be the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to be Treasury secretary and one of only a few to ever hold a Cabinet or Cabinet-level position.
I cannot speak for Philip, but for me, this blog highlights how misplaced our priorities have been lately.
Our leaders and media now prioritize LGBTQIA+ issues, DEI initiatives, mask mandates, vaccinations, misguided protests, cannabis use, “love is love,” welcoming undocumented illegal migrants, and a culture of shifting accountability.
When was the last time you saw our leaders or media focus on the real issues affecting our society and well-being? Education? Family values? Personal accountability and responsibility? Didn’t a great leader once say, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country?”
@Phil Peasants like me can afford to fly only in Spirit, Frontier or allegiant. As a Trump voter(Peasants Supported him) I expect a prosperous life starting Jan 20th and in 4 years I can afford Jet Blue business class. GO TRUMP and Lets start the PURGE
Anon: My brain is wired in pre-Biden dollars (“money illusion” as they say on Wikipedia) and, like our most qualified politician, I grew up in a middle class family, so I don’t typically pay for anything like JetBlue Mint unless it is a trip for an expert witness project and the expense will be reimbursed. Even then, I won’t usually pay unless the price is within 2X of economy+extra-room-seat (a.k.a., “normal room seat”).
2SLGBTQQIA+?
Really?
So last year.
Omitting “F” is tantamount to…no! IS genocide.
CR: Even ChatGPT doesn’t know what LGBTQF stands for. Maybe you can enlighten us!
My guess, “thanks” to the Internet, is “Furries.”
–Fauci
Bingo!
Bob Hope joked about leaving California.
“They made gay marriage legal.
I left before they made in mandatory.”
Bada bing!