Opinion

What is money? Money is energy, low wattage energy most of the time, an alternating current that flows back and forth, the emphasis being on the forwarding of good energy. Though to a few, less charitable, money is direct current, money being their god, how to get it their religion.

It was refreshing to see a couple teens vie for this year’s US Open Championship, and see a qualifier win it for the first time ever. Britain’s 18-year-old Emma Raducanu defeated Canada’s 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez, 6-4, 6-3. Happy? As Huckleberry might say, “I reckon not!”

When the lake we love for its scenic splendor showed up in a photo on the front page of the New York Times with the caption "The lake that Mark Twain once called ‘the fairest picture the whole Earth affords,’ looks and smells like the bottom of an ashtray,” well, that was enough to sink my heart to the very bottom of Lake Tahoe.

Huckleberry and Emmeline are pet Jays that stop by for breakfast, lunch and Happy Hour. This morning, quite out of the ordinary, they showed up together, and got into a furious fight over a peanut. I had to go out onto the deck and separate them.

Carson City Mayor infringes upon citizens’ rights to be heard

I, Jim Shirk spoke at the Board of Supervisors meeting held on September 2nd.
This is what I said…

Perhaps it’s time we recognize the world for what it is, one humongous ventilator, and we’re all on it. The air that we leave to our grandkids will determine their longevity. Remember what our mothers told us, “Cleanliness, Honey, is next to Godliness.” Mom was right, and she still is when it comes to washing our hands and cleaning the air that we breathe.

One night over dinner, away back in 1873, the wives of Mark Twain and neighbor Charles Warner challenged the two distinguished authors to collaborate on a book about a sensational murder, and paint that murder with political satire. That challenge was met, and we have The Gilded Age to enjoy today.

(The former host of Good Day Nevada speaks out about the mistreatment and lack of integrity in the business venture of NGBN.TV and its founder.)

As some of you may know, I was part of a project and show called Good Day Carson, that then turned into Good Day Nevada. I hosted & produced this local show for a year. I was extremely passionate about this show and poured my heart into it every single day.

I, Jim Shirk spoke at the Board meeting (August 5.) This is what I said......
Today’s consent agenda this Board will again approve as they do every meeting. They do so, without first discussing how today's total sum of $1,122,700.04 will be spent. The Board should openly discuss all agenda items to disclose to the citizens how their tax dollars are being spent. The consent agenda bypasses citizens’ rights to know.

When was the last time we checked on the big health picture? How are our kids doing after a year and a half of existing entirely on Drumstick Sundae Cones? Let’s take a look under the hood at some of the social determinants of good health, clean water, good nutrition, safe shelter, subsistence income, those essential elements in avoiding disease. Or should we cover our eyes?

“Remember the Maine,” was the casus belli of advocates for the Spanish American War of 1898. Just as readily, “Remember the Defender,” could become the casus belli of advocates for the Russian – United Kingdom War of 2021. And here’s how it could happen.

In December of 2019 the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ordered the Dutch government to cut the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the end of 2020. This marked the very first time any nation had been ordered by its own courts to take action against climate change.

Why is nobody sounding the alarm? The raging Tamarack Fire is quickly approaching the Leviathan Mine Toxic Superfund Site. As of writing the fire is within 1 mile of the EPA toxic site. In the foothills above Holbrook Junction sits the open pit mine. It was described in the Reno Gazette-Journal as "a toxic stew of acid and dissolved heavy metals [that have]collected at the 250-acre site for half a century and polluted streams in the upper Carson River basin." "making the Superfund list of the country’s most polluted sites".

Emperor Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico was San Francisco’s first eccentric citizen of notoriety. As a commodities trader of 1859, whose rice deal went bell-up, Joshua Abraham Norton proclaimed himself to be nobility and adorned himself in outlandish military attire, including epaulets and stovepipe hat that boasted a single imperial ostrich feather.

Did you know that School Board approved the Fall School Reopening Plan at their July 13th meeting? Did you see the Reopening Plan?

Hear about other policies governing School District operations, curriculum revisions, teaching standards, safety, budget or teacher's professional training at the bi-monthly school board meetings, every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at the Robert Crowell Board Room, Community Center, 851 E William Street, Carson City. Next meetings are on July 27th, Aug 10th, Aug 24th, Sept 14th, Sept 28th. Mark your calendars.

On July 15, 2021, Douglas County implemented a revised VHR permit ordinance. Sweeping changes affected approximately 500 to 600 second homeowners in the county and an indeterminate number of bad apple real estate investors running wildcat hotels. “Heads in beds” and occupancy tax revenues support the Tahoe-Reno region. However, this county action is not a balance of Tourism Rules vs. Distressed Residents, but indication of poor local government administration and possible conflict of interest of those enlisted to support enforcement.

The pandemic split our country open like a ripe watermelon. I got so lonesome sometimes I could hug Casper the Ghost. Presently I’m reading our Surgeon General’s book, Together, and in it Dr. Murthy reveals that, “People with strong social relationships are 50 percent less likely to die prematurely than people with weak social relationships.” And too, “Loneliness is a built-in reminder that we are stronger together.”

I think people in power have a vested interest to oppose critical thinking.
— Carl Sagan

On Christmas Eve of 50 years ago, 17 year old Juliane Diller was seated comfortably next to her mother aboard an 86-passenger turboprop bound for Pucallpa, Peru, when they flew into a thunderstorm. Storage bins started flying open, spilling their Christmas contents across isles into laps. A bolt of lightening struck a wing and the plane started to break apart.

Dear America, It's been so long since I've written to you.

For nine months, a group in a south Carson City neighborhood of 1 acre+ lots battled to stop the approval of a zoning change to Single Family 6,000 on an adjacent lot which should be a transitional area from low density residential to higher density development. On March 18, 2021, that fight was summarily ended by the Board of Supervisors (BOS) who have heard the Siren songs of "affordable" housing and infill.

At the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the normal rhythm of live is restored, when we cease to view our neighbors next door and strangers on the street as potential harbingers of disease, each of us needs to do our own analysis of what went wrong with the handling of this “national crisis”.

While lifeguarding at South Shore away back in the summer of ’61, I got to experience my first Red, White & Tahoe Blue 4th of July, which, fireworks aside, was no different than any other idyllic Tahoe summer day. How could I guess that half a century later I would be reading the Declaration of Independence on the Village Green at North Shore with a Marine Corps flyover following the words, “…we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” Va-vaVOOM! It gives me chicken-skin to think of it.

The spectacle of this summer’s Opening Ceremonies at the Tokyo Olympic Games is scheduled to commence on Friday, July 23rd at 4am Tahoe time. I already have my alarm set for 3:30. There are two kinds of spectators of Olympic games, spectators, and those most intense of all lookie-loos, the athletes who tried out for the Olympic Games, and did not make the team.

In the meeting rooms of legislatures, city councils, boards of directors and school districts across the country, the conversation regarding race has, in many cases, devolved into a clash between ideologies, where “equality” and “equity” (similar sounding words) stand in stark contrast to one other.

If the first six months of the pandemic made us stir-crazy, the next nine months made us just plain nuts. Fourth graders are acting out, airline passengers are getting into mid-flight brawls, sports fans are tossing water bottles, and Dad’s blood is rising from a slow simmer to a roiling boil. Whoa! Dad is in need of a time out.

So let us call a worldwide time out for Dads during the entire month of August to temper our emotions and calm our anxieties. We can simply call it, “Time Out for Dad Time.”

Anyone who has visited Layne Haven in the past year has had the pleasure of meeting Huckleberry, my pet Tahoe Jay, who stops in for breakfast at eight, lunch at noon, and Happy Hour at five.

So, are pandemics like Cicadas? Where Cicadas have a 17 year cycle, might pandemics have a 99 year cycle? Mother Nature does offer-up some intriguing specimens of symmetry. So do Cicadas and pandemics have built-in alarm clocks that go off on time every time? Or might climate change spring their clocks forward like we do with daylight saving time?

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum when Josh Swain was bored out of his mind after dutifully practicing pandemic tactical dispersion for more than a year.

And oh, did I ever love to bet on sports. My specialty was the over-under bet on the National Anthem prior to the Super Bowl. Below average on the Super Bowl outcome itself, I hardly ever misfired on the length of the National Anthem.