New Twist In Case of Missing Joshua Tree Hikers

Above, the south entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The investigation of two missing hikers in Joshua Tree National Park may be taking a different twist.

They were reported as being seen outside of the park after they were reported missing.

KESQ reported:

JOSHUA TREE, Calif. - The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department confirms to News Channel 3's I-Team Reporter Karen Devine that there is an on-going investigation outside of Joshua Tree National Park in the search for Joseph Orbeso and Rachel Nguyen.  

One man has come forward telling Karen Devine that he believes the pair along with another couple were actually staying at a different Airbnb across from his house in Joshua Tree after they had been declared missing. 

To read more, go here.

Miscellaneous

My patio thermometer says it is 50 degrees outside, but when I went out to The Beast to put my Clamper barbecue apron inside (photo, above), I found it to be too cold out to stay out for long. It has to be colder than 50 out.

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Jessica Tseang posted this photo of Super-Cholo, Captain Mexico and Vato-man (photo credit: Hollywood Firsts) from WonderCon at the L.A. Convention Center (San Bernardino could use these guys to keep order):

Too bad I missed the show. Oh, well. There's always next year.

No, Mr. President, the NRA is not to blame: Chris Cox

In response to the Dunce-In-Chief Barack Obama, Chris Cox, the executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, wrote an op-ed in USA Today.

It begins with:

Just when we think that politics can’t sink any lower, President Obama once again proves us wrong by politicizing the tragedy in San Bernardino before the facts were even known. What we do know is that the American people are heartbroken by these horrific crimes — and despite what the president would have us believe — America’s law-abiding gun owners are heartbroken by these horrific crimes as well. At the same time, we are sick and tired of this president suggesting the men and women of the National Rifle Association are somehow to blame. 

The National Rifle Association is not to blame. Neither is our Second Amendment freedom. An act of evil unfolded in California. President Obama used it not as a moment to inform or calm the American people; rather, he exploited it to push his gun control agenda. Policy discussions should be intellectually honest and based on facts, not politics. And the fact remains that California has already adopted President Obama’s gun control wish list: "universal" background checks, registration, waiting periods, gun bans, magazine bans and an expansion of prohibited gun categories. But those laws did nothing to prevent this horrific crime from taking place. Nothing.

To read the full op-ed, go here. 

Contrasts In Statements On San Bernardino Massacre

Here's the contrasting differences between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in their statements on the San Bernardino Massacre:

Shooting In San Bernardino

Just what we all need, another shoot-out!

A friend in the area told me:

Three suspects escaped in a black SUV and wearing body armor.  What the hell they would be doing shooting up the Regional Center is beyond me.  That is the place for the gravely disabled and developmentally disabled. 

12 dead and 20 injured is last I heard.  Courts not allowing sheriffs to leave court, in case it turns to @#$% there next. 

From (San Bernardino County) DA RAMOS:  We are still on lockdown.  We are directing our personnel NOT to return to court at 1:30 despite being open for business.

Before you know it (and we all know this will be the case), the liberals will play politics with this before all the facts are in.

However, this MAY be terrorist-related. The suspects are still at large.

The Crazies Were Out Last Night In San Bernardino

The crazies were out in force in San Bernardino, California last night.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

At least six people were arrested Thursday night in San Bernardino after rocks and bottles were thrown and officers and pedestrians were attacked in a protest against the George Zimmerman trial verdict. 

The incident began about 8 p.m. as marchers moved south along Highland Avenue and were joined by others not initially involved with what was a peaceful protest at that point, according to police. 

Protesters ended up at a Jack in the Box restaurant near Waterman Avenue and Baseline Street and began hurling rocks and bottles at passing vehicles and officers who arrived at the scene, said Lt. Mike Madden of the San Bernardino Police Department.

I was alerted about this last night by a friend whose daughter works in the area as an EMT. She told me that her daughter has been assaulted and faced other horrific situations on the job.  As the city is bankrupt, the fire department and police don't respond to calls as they are supposed to.

Thankfully, she made it home okay last night.

Of course, San Bernardino is another Democrat-controlled city that has gone bankrupt.

To read more, go here. 

Meeting The Boss, Etc.

As many who have known me know, I've been working for almost a year and a half for an independent adjuster from out of San Bernardino, California (around 70 miles from L.A.). Funny thing is, although we talk on the phone all the time, we've never met face-to-face.

That is, until noon today. She will be in the area on business and we decided to take the opportunity to meet. We're to meet up at the local Coffee Bean.

I'll post an update after the meeting.

One can usually tell how busy I am by the number of blog posts I put up. This one will be the first in several days. Thankfully, I have been busy with insurance work that has kept me on the road. I also have a "parachute" job of patrolling in Malibu. The independent adjusting business can be very sporatic. One can be overloaded with work or it can slow down to a trickle. It was pretty much dead (as far as I was concerned) from about October of last year until March.

Last night was interesting. One of the residents at a gated community I patrol decided to throw a big party. The residence is not large and there were several hundred college-age and teens showing up. Cars were all over the place. Noting that there was freely-flowing beer there and things were getting out of hand (plus complaints by neighbors), we had to call in the sheriff (the L.A. County Sheriff handles law enforcement in Malibu under contract). Two words will definitely get the cops out: "Underage drinking." They soon got there and busted up the party.

It was interesting to see what the girls who showed up were wearing. The vast majority of them favored black dresses with hemlines just barely below the crotch. Is this the latest fad or something?

One other thing has kept me busy. A gal I met last July popped back up. We had lost touch for a few months and she no longer has the phone number that I programmed into my phone. Well, we're now an item. There's a few things that need to be worked out. I'm taking it slow. This has also kept me busy. With the year beginning in such a crappy way, this has been a most welcome development.

Lately, things have been going good. The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan is doing good, there's plenty of work and I've a new diversion. So I can't complain (it doesn't do any good anyway).

Anyway, I need to prepare breakfast and get ready to meet the boss.

UPDATE: Met the boss and the meeting went well. She is about my age and still an attractive lady. She plans on reducing her time on the road and wants to assign more work in my direction. The meeting couldn't have gone better!