Tag: Los Angeles

Things that go bump in the night

Ghost Hunter's Guide to Los Angeles (Ghost Hunters Guides) [rating:4/5]

For some strange reason, I’ve had a sudden interest in local ghost stories. Why? I really haven’t a clue. I suppose it could be because the topic is rather entertaining (even though I really don’t believe in ghosts – at least I haven’t met any yet <smile>). I recently read another book which I found in the bargain bin at the bookstore. That book, “The World’s Most Haunted Places: From The Secret Files of […]” was poorly written and did little but put me to sleep. While Ghost Hunter’s Guide to Los Angeles follows the same format (just a few pages on each alleged “haunting”), the author’s prose is far better and the stories remain interesting (albeit, unconvincing).

It is apparent the Jeff Dwyer must have done a far amount of research before writing this book and his tales are a good read. Even so, the book lacks any “hard evidence” that the spooks he reports on exist – most are simply good stories that outline the history of the “haunted” places he writes about. Having lived in the Los Angeles area essentially all of my life, I am familiar with a large number of the places he writes about and was surprised to find that Dwyer reports on many of the lesser known landmarks, in addition to the “standard” ones (i.e., the Queen Mary, Disneyland, and many of the large cemeteries).

While I remain a skeptic (and nothing in this book convinced me otherwise), the book was both interesting and enjoyable. I would certainly recommend it to those who are interested in Los Angeles historical landmarks as many are covered in this book. Of course, it also adds a bit of character to the history of those places.

State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America

State of Emergency: Third World Invasion and Conquest of America[rating:5/5]

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would agree with Pat Buchanan. However, with his latest book, State of Emergency, I can’t help but hope and pray that he’ll run for President again – this time, I’ll vote for him.As a native Californian (from Los Angeles County, no less), I have watched the onslaught of illegal aliens destroy our once Golden State – our schools WERE the best in the nation and we were once the envy of the world. We have now become a third-world dung heap where Los Angeles merely mirrors Tijuana, only on a much grander scale. Our schools and medical institutions are in shambles – one can no longer go anywhere without being inundated with the Spanish language (even though I do speak Spanish [and yet there is no Spanish ancestry in my background], I find the need to have EVERYTHING translated into it to accommodate illegal aliens repugnant). Mexifornia is now a welfare state that, as Pat Buchanan coherently describes, will cease to exist – sooner, rather than later at the current rate.

As far as the bigots who whine that the United States is a “nation of immigrants” that should allow the never-ending, unmonitored flood of lowlife that is now flowing in unheeded, I would like to suggest that they look in a mirror. On my father’s side, I am just a second-generation American and yet EVERYONE in my family took great pride in becoming an American – all of them learned English and pledged allegiance to the United States of America. In fact, I never heard my grandparents speak anything other than English – which was NOT their native tongue – they always insisted that they were AMERICANS and took great pride in that fact. Unlike the millions of illegal aliens, as well as many of the legal immigrants now flooding in from third-world countries, who refuse to assimilated into American culture, my grandparents and father were proud to be AMERICANS. Never did they protest in our streets waving the flags of other countries, never did they demand that others speak their native tongue, never did they violate the laws of this country by sneaking across the border. Instead, they worked hard to become AMERICANS. As my great-grandparents also came to this country, legally, they too strived to EARN their citizenship. My great-grandfather wasn’t spoon feed everything in his native tongue, instead, he LEARNED ENGLISH as a requirement to gain his citizenship. In fact, it took three attempts for him to gain it because his English didn’t meet the requirements. Did he quit? No. Did the government kowtow to his language barriers? No. he had to work hard to EARN it.

It’s time to bolt the doors tightly, take the suggestions that Pat Buchanan provides and send every last illegal alien back to Mexico (or wherever) now! If we don’t do something immediately, all will be lost – forever – and America will be no more.