tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post342855733383520471..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: December in SoCalUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38077158854684012382012-12-18T12:39:43.594-08:002012-12-18T12:39:43.594-08:00Ok Steve your #1 critic here, I say "so close...Ok Steve your #1 critic here, I say "so close yet so far". When I started reading your piece I felt for sure you were going to get to the Tragedy of the Commons, since you mention it in other articles. <br /><br />What you article is really about is how with population growth a common that used to be able to be freely utilized, suddenly needed rules to allocate the scarce resource and to prevent people from destroying it. And as it always turns out rules require people paid to enforce them. <br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons<br /><br />But here is the curiosity I have. Maybe the people bringing in hordes of immigrants are the kind of people that can only survive by allocating the scarce commons as they do not produce anything. Allocating scarce commons is not possible without the scarce part and trying to restrict access to Baldy was not possible with only the pre 1965 demographics, so they increased demand with immigrants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-4251984178025672562012-12-17T23:32:22.753-08:002012-12-17T23:32:22.753-08:00In Tucson, Mexicans can be found in numbers in the...In Tucson, Mexicans can be found in numbers in the trailhead parking lots and roadside parks. Back in the mountains it's pretty white, with many of the people looking like they might be affiliated with the U of A. There's a bimodal distribution of ages: students and faculty. UCC sweatshirts are overrepresented (there's a congregational church close to my favorite trailhead). <br /><br />I often see a tall, exceptionally beautiful, athletic looking young Native American man, probably Tohono O'odham, ranging far and wide in the Rincons. He is the exception to the rule, however. The Pimas are famously squatty and overweight, and were the subject of an early study on obesity that Gary Taubes takes up in his books on diet.robert61noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-35291397152573301672012-12-17T19:32:44.205-08:002012-12-17T19:32:44.205-08:00Steve, it's good that you're getting out o...Steve, it's good that you're getting out of the house. Seriously, congratulations!<br /><br />Next, Steve gets a tan!David Davenporthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03315090179595817174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-81755426904865067992012-12-17T18:00:14.306-08:002012-12-17T18:00:14.306-08:00The Mexicans only venture as far as the easy footh...The Mexicans only venture as far as the easy foothill slopes and waterfalls, where they leave lots of trash. Check out Lower Cucamonga Canyon; HBD in action.<br /><br />They also venture to the snowline in winter, where they fill their pickups with snow to bring back down. Every winter, lots of Mexicans driving around the IE with pickups full of snow. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-7692265086838219762012-12-17T17:55:16.106-08:002012-12-17T17:55:16.106-08:00Groupon also can work if you have a new business a...Groupon also can work if you have a new business and are trying to build a customer base. It will bring in customers, albeit ones not paying full fare, and of course there's the upfront money. What you hope is that a substantial percentage of the Groupon customers like what you have to offer, and become regular, full-fare customers. <br /><br />PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-39955444355227589572012-12-17T16:55:48.517-08:002012-12-17T16:55:48.517-08:00I lived in Claremont for ten years. Driving up to...I lived in Claremont for ten years. Driving up to Baldy is one of those rare LA treats. You go from a blazing metropolis to a breezy mountain village that looks plucked out of the 1950s in a ten minute drive. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82710778155665688432012-12-17T16:48:29.998-08:002012-12-17T16:48:29.998-08:00"Does anyone bar whitey frequent the SoCal mo..."Does anyone bar whitey frequent the SoCal mountains (or any other US mountains) in numbers worthy of note? Do the Scotch-Irish reconnect with their ancestral memories of the Cairngorms, Slieve Donard and Schiehallion, or are the snow-capped peaks a bit out of their vibrant metropolitan comfort zone?"<br /><br />The Santa Monica mountains are very white (and Asian). But hike or bike in the San Gabriels and you'll see a surprising number of Latino people from the Valley below, especially on the easier trails. There are even some black people from nearby Altadena (nicknamed Afrodena by locals for having the only concentration of blacks in the local area.) <br /><br />It looks like middle class NAMs are slowly gaining a love of the outdoors, at least in SoCal. The downside of this is the HUGE amount of graffiti (much of it Spanish language), garbage, and low-level vandalism in popular spots like Switzer Falls.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-22873873734962636212012-12-17T15:11:06.943-08:002012-12-17T15:11:06.943-08:00Good point about Groupon.
Snow Summit. Its fantas...Good point about Groupon.<br /><br />Snow Summit. Its fantastic. Baldy is just ... terrifying. Mountain High gets all the trash from LA, every banger and lowlife who boards, the snow gets chewed up mogul style very fast, and you have to take a bus to the other mountain because the Forest Service won't allow an 800 feet connector trail. Sigh.<br /><br />So Summit, the "back way" up Highway 38 in Redlands (the front way up Highway 15 and then through Running Springs is just scary, deep cliffs and lots of traffic). I used to leave OC, at around 4:30, and by 7 AM get to Summit, ski until about 4, 4:30 or so, with a break in the parking lot for lunch, with my own damn packed lunch, good times. Summit is easy cruising, lots of easy green/blue trails, nothing too taxing, and beautiful views. Of Big Bear Lake.<br /><br />God I love SoCal's geography. I just wish half of Mexico wasn't here.Whiskeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01854764809682029464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82890634198562055622012-12-17T14:11:46.279-08:002012-12-17T14:11:46.279-08:00Plz go back to old formatPlz go back to old formatAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-48530577036546262092012-12-17T13:44:53.712-08:002012-12-17T13:44:53.712-08:00Scree running. I remember Ben Nevis in Scotland on...Scree running. I remember Ben Nevis in Scotland one summer - 5 hours up, 45 minutes down !<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_4G8N9b89g<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50175370798458166342012-12-17T12:41:43.542-08:002012-12-17T12:41:43.542-08:00the music in the restaurant hadn't changed -- ...<i>the music in the restaurant hadn't changed -- heavy on Foreigner</i><br /><br />At 20-30 miles outside the metro (it's the same radius effect up north, just drive about an hour east or north of Oakland) one notices how weak the persistence of fashion is. In fact you can observe this as near as Ventura County. BTW this is the premise of David Brooks's careerAlcalde Jaime Miguel Curleohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11801154986193443160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63640708589532841492012-12-17T12:21:54.962-08:002012-12-17T12:21:54.962-08:00"Groupon Sex"--I think that could be a w..."Groupon Sex"--I think that could be a worthy album title for use by Keith Morris's new Calicore supergroupbugspraynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-7352804609569262472012-12-17T12:06:48.546-08:002012-12-17T12:06:48.546-08:00The downstream drainage from the mountain is calle...The downstream drainage from the mountain is called the Mt. Baldy Pipeline. It is one of greatest structures ever created for adventure skateboarding. It's a mildly a down-sloping pipe, transitioning into a large-height half pipe with lots of vertical surface ending with a six foot gap notorious for eating skateboards. A few top skaters have pulled the "El Rollo", circling the entire tube of the full pipe. Skaters have been risking incarceration for a few moments of hyper-dimensional skateboarding glory since the mid-1970's. <br /><br />That's as close to Mt. Baldy as I ever made it. We sucked it up and drove to Big Bear when we wanted to ski or snowboard.Marc Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15526121114466617234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-53776193826977212682012-12-17T11:30:59.884-08:002012-12-17T11:30:59.884-08:00Someone slips Inspector Gadget a mickey as he purs...Someone slips Inspector Gadget a mickey as he pursues Dr. Claw; lighthearted drunk driving follows.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6U4b22N57Y<br /><br />That was a cartoon for little kids in the early-mid 1980s, not like the adult-oriented Looney Tunes.<br /><br />My parents said when they look back on their house parties or dinner parties from the late '70s and early '80s (before family life began to take over), they realize that a good fraction of their guests must have driven home drunk, but they hadn't thought anything of it at the time.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82946487399359651522012-12-17T10:12:04.185-08:002012-12-17T10:12:04.185-08:00Does anyone bar whitey frequent the SoCal mountain...Does anyone bar whitey frequent the SoCal mountains (or any other US mountains) in numbers worthy of note? Do the Scotch-Irish reconnect with their ancestral memories of the Cairngorms, Slieve Donard and Schiehallion, or are the snow-capped peaks a bit out of their vibrant metropolitan comfort zone? Londonernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-31707910492767935722012-12-17T08:18:29.711-08:002012-12-17T08:18:29.711-08:00You ran down the Bowl in winter? Dude. Nuts. I cli...You ran down the Bowl in winter? Dude. Nuts. I climbed UP it once in winter (sticking to the bands of rock mostly), but I came down Devil's Backbone. Not as fun as canyoneering down the river from the ski hut. <br /><br />These days, there are a lot of Asians on the trails. Asians, especially the older generation, love the outdoors. And, man, they love their gear. They'll be on the Ice House Canyon trail in winter, and it's like they're heading up Mt. Everest. But I watch them, chattering away in Chinese or Korean, sliding their crampons on expertly, following proper trail etiquette, smiling politely at the SWPLs walking by, and I always think, "Man, I'd much rather be surrounded by this than, well, what I'm surrounded by when I go to Pomona." Not all immigrants are created equal. Never is this seen to be more true than when you spend an afternoon on Baldy and then head down for a burrito at Alberto's. <br /><br />Anyway, Steve, if you head back up there any time soon, make sure to time it right so that you're coming down through the bowl around dusk. There's a family of bighorn sheep that comes down to drink by the Sierra Club ski hut on a semi-regular basis. <br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9946197257459044672012-12-17T08:18:11.241-08:002012-12-17T08:18:11.241-08:00YawnYawnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49634244755448530292012-12-17T07:50:51.143-08:002012-12-17T07:50:51.143-08:00You basically ran down in this kind of moon-walkin...<i>You basically ran down in this kind of moon-walking style, flying about 15 feet with each step, then skidding for about 10 feet in a mini-avalanche before another big step.</i><br /><br />The Brits call this Scree Running.<br /><br />Lots of fun.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04825514560521195991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-15350534878116871632012-12-17T06:49:45.319-08:002012-12-17T06:49:45.319-08:00Groupon's not a bad deal if you run the sort o...Groupon's not a bad deal if you run the sort of business where adding a few more low-paying customers doesn't cost you much. Let's say you run a yoga studio that charges $20 for a series of group lessons. You add a few Groupon-ites for whom you're getting $5 each (they pay Groupon $10 and you get half). So long as they're not filling the studio and causing you to turn away some full-fare customers, or requiring you to hire another instructor, you come out ahead even if you disregard the benefits of Groupon's short term financing.<br /><br />On the other hand, if for example you run a restaurant with substantial food costs, accepting Groupon might be a much worse idea.<br /><br />PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-74680241472791415972012-12-17T06:44:03.238-08:002012-12-17T06:44:03.238-08:00Or it's other companion film Rudy?Or it's other companion film Rudy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73157978799002152752012-12-17T06:35:57.109-08:002012-12-17T06:35:57.109-08:00"Was drunk driving more common back then? Was..."Was drunk driving more common back then? Was it more acceptable?"<br /><br />It's quite interesting to consider how radically American views on drinking change over time, swinging almost pendulum-like between carefree acceptance and stern disapproval.<br /><br />The great American historian W.J. Rorabaugh wrote an article about changes in the way drinking was depicted in the six "Thin Man" films between 1934 and 1947. (The first films were made just after the end of Prohibition, but were set in pre-Prohibition America.)<br /><br />To quote from Rorabaugh's description of the fourth "Thin Man" film (made in 1941):<br /><br />"...a well-soused Nick drives around San Francisco drunkenly weaving, speeding, and singing. Drunk driving is portrayed as a sign of carefree lightheartedness and personal liberty rather than as a menace. In 1941 many members of the audience would have thought a scene about a drunk driver to be very funny; today, it is appalling."<br /><br />http://historyofalcoholanddrugs.typepad.com/alcohol_and_drugs_history/SHADV18.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-22472892443654509082012-12-17T05:19:04.387-08:002012-12-17T05:19:04.387-08:00I went to graduate school in Claremont in the mid ...I went to graduate school in Claremont in the mid 1990s. By then, the LA smog problem was a lot better than it had been in the worst years of the late 60s and early 70s. But there were still some summer and September days when you could not see the mountains at all. Given how close they are--like a backdrop painting to the colleges--it was spooky.<br /><br />More than one person who had been in Claremont in the 60s-70s told a story of arriving in August and not realizing that there were mountains there until November.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-88184212457275444782012-12-17T04:33:23.810-08:002012-12-17T04:33:23.810-08:00I never thought of you, Steve, as a guy who would ...I never thought of you, Steve, as a guy who would enjoy <i>Hot Tub Time Machine</i>.<br /><br />So, I'm assuming you also enjoyed its companion flick, <i>Zak and Miri Make a Porno</i>?Shouting Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09813058890609756982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-76472868266439236182012-12-17T00:47:53.509-08:002012-12-17T00:47:53.509-08:00Back in 1977, you had to have a blood alcohol leve...<i>Back in 1977, you had to have a blood alcohol level of .15 to be guilty of drunk driving. Now it's .08, just over half as intoxicated. That's fine with me. Drunks hurt innocent people. </i><br /><br />It was also common for people to enjoy drinks during their lunch hour.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-29972298358720598362012-12-17T00:13:00.642-08:002012-12-17T00:13:00.642-08:00I love Mt. Baldy. An hour and change drive, a 15 d...I love Mt. Baldy. An hour and change drive, a 15 dollar plastic sled and a 5 dollar wilderness pass and any LA family can have fun in the snow in the campground just below the ski area on a snowy weekend. The photos we send always baffle the Midwest relatives, who don't associate Los Angeles with winter snow.<br /><br />And for a few bucks more you can ride the terrifying lift to the notch along with the Asian families and Mexican guys wearing t-shirts. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com