From Wikipedia

Hadji “Hi Jolly” Ali (1828 — December 16, 1902) was a Greek-Syrian specialist who was one of the first camel drivers ever hired by US Army in 1856 to lead the camel driver experiment in the Southwest.

I took this photo today in the blistering 110 degree heat at Quartzsite. Very few people were visible. Come winter though, everything changes. Snowbirds in RVs come from all over the country to winter there, and they come in huge numbers - around 100,000-125,000 last year. Vendors from the huge Tucson Gem show come too, as do RV manufacturers, companies selling solar for RVs, and lots more.

We passed through Quartzsite on our way from L.A. to Tucson. About 18 miles west of Blythe CA on I-10 doing about 75, the car driven by Sue’s parents lost a tire and we watched it shred and smoke. They pulled over ok, I changed the tire to the little temporary tire in the baking 110 degree heat. We limped into Blythe where, miracle of miracles, a used tire shop was open on the 4th and had us on our way in fifteen minutes.

I-10 through the desert there has many shredded tires by the side of the road, and other things too. (Sue found a little girl’s purse where I changed the tire.) High temperatures and cars routinely going 80-90 mph apparently result in tires failing on a regular basis. Bring lots of water (it’s HOT) and be aware that cell phones don’t always work in the desert.

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A financial analyst fresh from a tour of construction sites in the Inland Empire is warning Wall Street of a “ghost town” where finished homes sit vacant and additional homes are still under construction.

This is in the Inland Empire area of southern California. Developments of large high-end homes in remote areaslay partly completed, with empty homes and no buyers.

The cities where these homes are will face revenue shortfalls, which will mean service cutbacks. That in turn will mean more people will leave.

The State of California will soon have regulation requiring that abandoned homes mut be maintained. That such a law just passed the legislature and will be signed by Schwarzenegger shows that such ghost towns are becoming a state-wide problem.

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Uber-geek blogger Doc Searls took this amazing photo of the now-serious Gap Fire.

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…the least educated.

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An excellent idea. May more states follow.

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Not the other way around. All commodities traded on the futures market are priced this way. So, yes, speculators can influence prices. But they can’t control them. Besides, speculators don’t move en masse. Some are short, hoping prices will fall, while others are betting on a rise.

If supply is falling while demand is rising, then such a stressed system probably is more able to be somewhat gamed. But supply and demand are the real deciding factors.

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We just moved to a new web host, they are moving things around on servers this week and we’re traveling. So our regular posting schedule has been a bit bouncy these past few days. Things should be back to normal by the end of the holiday weekend. Have a good weekend, all!

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