The Wandering Minstrel

I went on to the Garmin website this morning to make sure that the maps and software for my Nuvi 205W GPS. I was all up to date so I surfed around their site for a few minutes and found the Garmin G500H “glass cockpit” display.

I had no idea that Garmin makes products for helicopters. I’m intrigued by one instrument they make - the G500H helicopter flight display. I watched this video at the Garmin website and found they had uploaded it to You Tube. If you’re an aviator or a gadget fan in general, you should find this very interesting.

I’m retired from flying these days but watching this video got the old juices flowing. Avionics has certainly come a long way since my first liftoff in a needle, ball and airspeed equipped Bell 47D1 forty-some years ago.

When we take the drive from Wickenburg to Surprise (our closest Wal Mart), we pass a place where we get a glimpse of this railroad trestle over a desert wash in the canyon next to US Hwy 60. This BNSF track goes from the Phoenix area up to Las Vegas. The track runs through downtown Wickenburg on its way to Kingman and points north. Clickable image courtesy The Better Half.

The other day when I posted a picture of a custom ‘54 Chevy in Tip’s lot, there were actually two classics that The Better Half photographed. This classic 1952 Chevrolet station wagon was parked twenty feet away. It’s not actually a ‘woody’ since the wood siding is painted on. My folks had a 1951 Pontiac wagon with the same sort of trim. I got my California driver’s license in that car at age 16.

This is the ninth in a series of ten articles intended to dispel misinformation generated by illegal aliens and open-borders liberals about SB 1070, the new immigration law in Arizona. The myth discussed here once again invokes the goose-stepping moron card:

MYTH: S.B. 1070 authorizes Nazi-like requirements for aliens to carry their “papers”.

FACT: Federal law already requires aliens to register with the federal government and carry their documentation (e.g., “green card”) pursuant to 8 United States Code §§ 1304(e) and 1306(a). A violation of these laws is a federal misdemeanor. S.B. 1070 makes this a concurrent state misdemeanor by mirroring these same sections of federal law. “In addition to any violation of federal law, a person is guilty of willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document if the person is in violation of 8 United States Code Section 1304(e) or 1306(a).” A.R.S. § 13-1509(A). These federal requirements have been in place for decades.

When I read SB 1070, I could clearly see references to Federal law throughout the document. The Obamination’s refusal to enforce Federal laws left Arizona no choice but to draft a law that would allow Arizona Law Enforcement to get the job done.

Field strip a Jeep and rebuild it in under 4 minutes . . .

I did a couple of chores this morning but then decided to relax and watch some of the afternoon college football games. The Better Half had a crock pot full of fifteen bean soup that she served with a slice of toasted Jewish Rye bread. We had all three of our TVs going this afternoon. (Clickable image: right to left: Stanford at Notre Dame, Alabama at Arkansas and UCLA at Texas.) Tonight we’re watching Oregon State at Boise State (we’re both football junkies).

When I tell people we’ve moved to Wickenburg, they often ask “why there?” I give them the usual answers that the climate is nice (we like the heat), property values are good for buyers, historic small town atmosphere, friendly neighbors, plenty of services for a small town and most importantly, one of the lowest crime rates in Arizona and the U.S. I studied crime rates within the state at four locations which seemed reasonable places to relocate; Tucson, Marana, Phoenix Metro and Wickenburg.

Tucson and Marana are located in Pima County in the southern part of the “Valley of the Sun” (basically along I-10 south of I-8). Phoenix and Wickenburg are in Maricopa County (Sheriff Joe’s turf). Even though the vertical scales differ slightly on the clickable graphs above, you can see that personal and property crime rates in Wickenburg are relatively small. The graphs came from a real estate appraisal website’s demographics section for each of the four areas.

Initially, we picked Arizona because we have Utah CCW permits which are honored in Arizona. That point has since been rendered moot when Arizona Constitutional Carry went into effect in July of this year. We’re going to get our Arizona CCW anyway since it’s honored by as many states as Utah’s and we’ll be traveling out of state for vacations and such. We’ll try and stick to states with reciprocal permits.

This is the eighth of a series of ten articles intended to dispel misinformation generated by illegal aliens and open-borders liberals about SB 1070, the new immigration law in Arizona. I’ll start this one out with a quote from Ben Stein:

Fathom the odd hypocrisy that Obama wants every citizen to prove they are insured, but people don’t have to prove they are citizens.

MYTH: S.B. 1070 may compel local police to ignore more serious crimes because they will be required to enforce federal immigration laws to the “full extent permitted by federal law.”

FACT: Police officers are only required to determine a person’s immigration status “when practicable.” A.R.S. § 11-1051(B). Individual police officers are not required to enforce federal immigration laws to the “full extent permitted by the law.” This provision solely applies to a law enforcement “official or agency” and not to individual police officers. A.R.S. § 11-1051(A). S.B. 1070 prohibits law enforcement officials and agencies from limiting or restricting the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law by adopting so-called “sanctuary city” policies. A.R.S. § 11-1051(A).

Arizona needs this law because of the hypocrisy of the Obamination, who will shove unnecessary spending and unwanted social programs down our collective throats, but will completely ignore their responsibility to protect the citizens from foreign enemies.