Emma sends me this: Imagine having a vision for Vets and just desperately wanting to reach out and help them. Well, pilgrim, what better way than to start your own TARP program and start throwing around some serious money stimulating your local economy (and probably your brother-in-law’s construction and land clearing company)? Yep. In an act of largesse that will be remembered by CalVets for a long, long time, one of their own administrators took it upon herself to help the locals out and start converting a 200-acre backwater for old Vets into a go-to destination for zip line enthusiasts. Envisioning seven chained zips from one platform to another connected by short paths, mountain hiking and biking paths and a lake attraction, she invested $650,000.00 + of Veterans’ funding  on clearing, setting up the beginnings of the zip lines and breaking ground for the internet cafe. Oh, and of course the brewhaus. Brewskis and celebratory photos  after surviving the dreaded ziplines are a given. Anything less would be uncivilized.    

It seems in her haste to make sure the Vets would be able to enjoy all this for free, she overlooked the median age dynamic of the 1,100 inhabitants–79 years young. Not even fazed in the least, she pursued her vision with gusto right up until they pulled the plug on the shindig. It appears she has moved on to greener employment pastures. Perhaps Solyndra Solar Energies® has a home for her in marketing. Ice cubes for Eskimos?

Our poor native Americans were the subject of land-grabbing in the 19th century but finally got wise to the program. It seems West LA’s campus and Yountville are part of the new Mexifornia dynamic to “create wealth” having exhausted all the other possibilities. Vets should be grateful for their concerns about how to fund Veterans homes.

Proposed Yountville ziplines
(Artist’s rough conception)