Ron's Log

Vegas Nudity

If this article is correct, the Palomino in North Las Vegas is the only place where full nudity and alcohol are permitted "in the area," and one would think the "area" means not just Las Vegas proper, but also the strip. And they have male dancers who will, for $20, give a lap dance to female customers. The author of the post says he's checking out the provisions regarding lap dances for male customers this very night.

Joshua Tree Clean Up

The clean up in Joshua Tree National Park went really well today. They said it was the first time they did it, but it was well organized and there was a big turnout — but no team of Marines, to my disappointment. Gardner, Andy and Tim showed up from the Coachella Valley, and we all joined the team to go clean up Indian Cove campground.

I'd never been to Indian Cove before, and heard it referred to rather dismissively a couple of times. But the site is really beautiful...and awfully clean, even before we started. It's a lot easier to clean up BLM land where you can stand in one place and pick up 50 pounds of trash, and a team can fill a gigantic trash bin in only a couple of hours. In the circuit that Gardner and cleaned at Indian Cove we were reduced to picking up bottle caps, bits of glass, about 6 soda cans, some nails, 3 or 4 cups, two condoms (very well used). In more than 2 hours we got less than half a bag of trash, and I was exhausted. Give me a couple of filthy mattresses and a dead pig any day.

I had time to squeeze off a few photos. There were some petroglyphs that were so easily accessible that I hope I haven't been fooled by modern graffiti.

There was this bush bearing a little reddish flower that I don't recall ever seeing before.

A few other things we saw:

And here are the signature rocks that form the camping area. This would be a pretty decent campground for families with kids. You're only a couple of miles drive from total civilization, and you can camp right at the base of jumbo rocks for your kids' playground. Of course, there's no guarantee all your kids will survive with all their limbs, but that's the excitement of a national park.

Foley

"It's vile. It's more sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexual addiction."

That's Mark Foley commenting on President Clinton on September 12, 1998.

Naturists will also recall that it was Foley who so actively campaigned against naturist youth summer camps.

ABC News has provided this PDF version of an online chat between Foley and the very young man of his dreams. Foley even uses the classic "you need a massage" line. I was pleased to see that the young man is in advanced placement English, and his spelling is better than Foley's.

DHS Police Officer Arrested

The Desert Sun isn't naming the name of the DHS police officer who was arrested yesterday for sexual assault on his own child. The Desert Sun is doing this to protect the identity of the child. A fine police. But then they go on to provide so much detail (there are only 25 officers on the force) that everybody who knows anything knows who it is. This afternoon the bag boys (high school students) at Stater Bros. were talking about the officer's identity openly. One boy acknowledged being arrested once by the officer.

The officer, 35, has been one of the more prominent in the department, often speaking to the media. The Desert Hot Springs resident also recently received the Golden Bear award given to officers who make five or more arrests based on fingerprints found at a crime scene, officials said.

"He's been one of the fair-haired officers over there - or should I say, one of the more visible police officers in the Police Department," City Manager Ann Marie Gallant said.

He is one of only a handful of the city's officers who actually live in Desert Hot Springs. He had worked as the DHS High School resource officer and was recently reassigned to the special investigations unit, where he was in charge of juvenile investigations. He earns $62,400 annually.

UPDATE: The Press-Enterprise names the officer.

Are You A Sculptor?

Cathedral City is accepting proposals for sculptures at four different entry points into the city.

In implementing the City's "cathedral" theme, the City Council has stipulated that Public Art at additional entryways also represent cathedrals. They can be interpretive free forms, or more conventional architectural structures. The inspiration for the cathedral theme comes from the light playing on the granite mountainsides, which reminded early explorers of the inside of a grand cathedral. It is not intended to have religious connotations. Therefore, symbols of the cross and angels should not be incorporated into any of the submissions. Artists are encouraged to think "Cathedralesque".

Let's hope the accepted proposals are something better than the controversial one they put up on Date Palm which just looks like surfboards to me.

What The Hell?

Michael Hillyard was riding his motorcycle on Andreas when he was attacked by a man in a Jeep Liberty who called him a "straight boy" and then bit off a part of Hillyard's ear! Now, interestingly enough Hillyard is gay, but one wonders if this may qualify as a hate crime because the attacker perceived Hillyard as straight!

New Cactus Flower

I was completely surprised to see this cactus flower in my front yard this afternoon. Even as late as this morning I thought it was just growing a new leaf, or maybe even fruit. This cactus started as a cutting (actually a "fall off") from a friend's cactus in Cathedral City cove. It and its twin have done well in pots, and this one has done VERY well since I depotted it and put it in the ground earlier in the summer.

Tahquitz Canyon Baby

A woman give birth yesterday morning in a homeless encampment in Tahquitz Canyon. She cut the umbilical cord herself and then passed out. They say she and her son are now doing fine after being taken to Desert Regional Medical Center.

Owens River Restoration

"A state Court of Appeal panel late Wednesday gave Los Angeles a strong push to move ahead on restoring a 62-mile stretch of the Lower Owens River by upholding a court order that would ban the city from using a key aqueduct if it continues delaying the project."

Los Angeles began taking water from Owens Valley in 1913 and has, over the decades. turned it into desert. I go through Owens Valley on the way to Saline Valley, and the first time the name "Owens Valley" rang a bell. "Is this the Owens Valley of Los Angeles water infamy?" I asked myself. There is a muddy looking stream there, and a big dry lake bed.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has missed 13 court-imposed deadlines in this restoration project, but the spokesman for the city attorney says they have been in compliance and will meet the next deadline.

Salton Sea

A photo of the Salton Sea from high in the Mecca Hills, plus a couple of the newly-lined Coachella Canal near North Shore on the Salton Sea.