When I was a boy, I wore mostly hand-me-down clothes. The neighbors next door had a son a year or two older than I, about my size, and I got his discarded shirts and pants.…
Are You Now or Have You Ever Been…
The recent defeat of the Scott Walker recall in Wisconsin, an election in which Walker soundly defeated the same Democratic challenger who ran against him when he became governor in 2010, has generated much discussion.…
The Moab Giants Dinosaur Park
I have written about Moab, Utah many times. The natural beauty of the region around the town astounds the senses: two national parks (Arches and Canyonlands), innumerable canyons, the La Sal Mountains, petroglyphs, pictographs,…
Wage Slaves in Our National Parks
This past January, twenty-seven year old Ryan Hiller died when a tree fell on his tent cabin during a storm at Yosemite National Park. Tent cabins are structures with concrete flooring and walls, canvas roofs,…
Poisoning People in Apollo: All in a Day's…
Apollo is a small town in western Pennsylvania, part of the old coal and steel belt that surrounds Pittsburgh. The shallow Kiskiminitas River, a tributary of the Allegheny, flows through the borough. Although it is…
The National Parks Were Made for You and…
Arches National Park in Utah is a jumble of strange and beautiful rocks, spires, arches, and fins. The more times you come here, the more amazing wonders you might find: a fifty-feet long natural rock…
On Vacation
Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate is going on vacation for awhile. I've run out of things to say. Thanks for reading.
Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die (Working)
We were in a Wal-Mart in Richfield, Utah. The greeters at the door were an elderly man and woman. Both were in wheelchairs. At a grocery store in Colorado, an old man bagging groceries was…
It's Still Slavery by Another Name
Right-wingers like Fox’s Bill O’Reilly are fond of saying that whites don’t have a monopoly on racism. Some black people hate whites, so they are racist too. Whites must stop being racist, but so must…