A little more information

The two main activities in my life: Helping the hungry in the late hours of the night and helping guitar players sound better one amp at a time.

I always try to remember that in order to do good one has to take action and actually do something.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I have watched the city and Southern California change for well over half a century.

I can be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/mylesr or on twitter at www.twitter.com/myles111us

As of late 2019 the music related links and prints noted on this page which had their links to by GAB (Guitar Amplifier Blueprinting) website are no longer accessible. I grew weary of updating my GAB website and let it go away. You can contact me on Facebook. Saunders Stewart Models continues full operation but we are not accepting new clients without a referral.

Los Angeles Architectural History

Los Angeles Architectural History
1935 Art Deco at some of its finest: No. 168 - Griffith Observatory- (click on the photo for information)

Friday, April 29, 2011

To our troops out there - stay safe

Remember, no matter what the job or branch of the military, all active duty personnel generally have somebody at home who miss them and worry about them. All of our troops are in danger in various forms whether on the street searching house to house, in the ocean off the coast of Japan washing down the deck of an aircraft carrier for radiation, moving cargo or explosives to be deployed to other areas or sitting silently under the ocean as the world situation grows in volatility. 

Our troops deserve respect and the highest level of support when they come home that this country has to offer regardless of cost. God knows this country spends enough money on things that mean so much less.

To the men and women holding positions at the highest levels in our government:  Stop bickering and fix your priorities at least in this one area - Support our troops whether they are on their way to serve, are in service or are back at home.


Afghan children approach a U.S Forces convoy to ask for spent brass, pens and water in the Alingar district of Laghman province, Afghanistan, July 13, 2011. The convoy includes members of the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction team, en route to check on a school construction site and talk with Alingar leaders. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Veteran Treatment


The Wall.  These folks are from my generation.  The names of two close friends which I served with have their names on this wall.  There are others who I knew or crossed paths with whose names are on the wall.

Many movies have been made on the treatment of our Veterans.  Born on the Fourth of July, Forrest Gump has V.A. Hospital segments.  The list goes on.

Since my era of military service and my time spent in a wheelchair for a number of years there have been additional places on the globe where our military have been deployed.  With each new conflict the technology advances and our troops are expected to know more and perform at a higher level of proficiency for longer periods of time.  When those who come home finally do come home their treatment has not advanced since the days I was in the military.  Not advanced?  Medically perhaps but treatment as a human being who has sacrificed so much for their country. 

I have a very good friend who wrote me today about his treatment by his local V.A. facility.  I will copy and paste his writing here and copy and paste my own response:

I just sent this to FOX 24 News

At the the V.A. Hospital in Dublin Georgia they treat you like you are bothering them ,they are very rude and disrespectful.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

10 Doomsday Trends America Can't Survive

This is one person's point of view.

doomsday-trends-america-marketwatch: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance
by Paul Farrell Tuesday, April 19, 2011

There are a number of points in this piece that echo things I have written over the last few years.

The original piece can be viewed from the link above.  The piece is also below in it's entirety. 


Commentary: We are past the point of no return, thanks to Super Rich

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Doomsday Capitalism? Capitalism is killing America? Yes, that's the message in my tenth book. "Doomsday Capitalism, 10 Self-Destructive Trends." But you'll never see it in print. No one, even book publishers want to read this truth: Capitalism is destroying America.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Nuclear power: U.S. increases nuclear power through uprating - latimes.com



The U.S. nuclear industry is turning up the power on old reactors, spurring quiet debate over the safety of pushing aging equipment beyond its original specifications.

The little-publicized practice, known as uprating, has expanded the country's nuclear capacity without the financial risks, public anxiety and political obstacles that have halted the construction of new plants for the last 15 years.

The power boosts come from more potent fuel rods in the reactor core and, sometimes, more highly enriched uranium. As a result, the nuclear reactions generate more heat, which boils more water into steam to drive the turbines that make electricity.

The entire story is as the link at the top of this post.

6/19/11 Update - Not only in Japan. Rising water is rising water no matter where it comes from.
http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/18-Jun-2011/US-orders-news-blackout-over-crippled-Nebraska-Nuclear-Plant-report





Friday, April 8, 2011

America - downsizing, outsourcing?



My last post was about an upcoming traffic problem as the President comes to Los Angeles to campaign for the next election. 

My post was about the expected traffic but once the post went live on my facebook page there were all sorts of political comments.  I added many of the comments into the blog piece.

Things are tough in America.  The democrats blame the republicans and visa versa.  People comment that Obama has done little or nothing in two and a half years.  I suppose these folks expect magic.  What else could fix decades of decline in America overnight?  Nothing short of magic.

I try to lead a simple life and try to look at problems in simple ways.  This includes complex problems.

The issue with our economy is very complex but I try to break it down into a few simple issues.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Guess Who's Coming to Town (to Screw Up Our Traffic!)?

Guess Who's Coming to Town (to Screw Up Our Traffic!)?: LAist

The other day I posted the link above on my facebook page.  I was concerned with the traffic and tried to stay out of the politics.


Here are a few of the comments and dialogue from my facebook wall.

My first comment which I posted with the link:  Remember his last L.A. visit? Stopped folks for HOURS and gas was half the cost that it is today. The traffic, the delays, the idiot folks that planned this and after utter chaos finally used a helicopter at the end of the debocle.

I added:  If his idiot staff does not use a helicopter (plenty of places to land on a movie lot) and asks for ANY street closures in a city which already has record breaking traffic issues, I will start my own campaign against the man in the next election. If he repeats his mistakes it means he either does not learn from past mistakes, does not care how he impacts millions of people or has no control over his staff in how they plan these things.

Then the other comments started coming in ....

Saturday, April 2, 2011

AT&T Watchdog - the latest





There are two main pieces I wrote and continue to update on ATT.  This is the second ongoing piece.

You can read the original companion piece  (which is updated often as is this piece) at
http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2010/11/at-so-wrong-is-every-way.html

The original piece at the above link are some of my own ATT issues which started in November of 2010.

The focus of the piece is multi-faceted and includes my own service problems on a variety of problems, customer service ineffectiveness, policy changes by ATT which announce limited service at increased costs, Uverse changes, DSL policy changes, service interruptions and more.

This piece takes more of a focus on ATT buying up the competition and reducing service, raising prices and changing contracts.

I am surprised that any corporation such as Netflix, Hulu, Skype, World of Warcraft or any folks whose business is any sort of online gaming, video streaming, music streaming or our government would allow ATT to change their original agreement for unlimited data for what is in essence, the world. 

As our economy is trying to climb out of the abyss I cannot believe that our government is allowing ATT to buy up competition to raise prices and reduce services.  It is the job of ATT to grow their network, not to take away service, raise prices and eliminate competitors buy buying them.

Shame on ATT.  Shame on our Government for allowing one of the few places business is growing in this economy (Internet based businesses) to be smacked down by ATT with their newly implemented data caps.  These caps impact their DSL services, Uverse services and cell based services. 

ATT - some news on Sam Brownback, Governor of Kansas.   ATT is the second largest contributor to Govenor Sam Brownback's campaign.  ATT is also moving to Kansas.  Makes you think?  Our government is watching out for us?  Yeah, right.

Some folks might ask me; if the service is so bad why not switch?  Well, as the old phrase goes, evil can only take hold when good men do nothing.  In reality, I can only be a direct observer if I continue to be a customer.  I have met a few good people at ATT over the course of my ongoing journey and hope that they can influence the direction of a company which was once a company in America where our country had pride.  Unfortunately this is not the case today.  Survey after survey rank ATT customer service as the worst in any industry.  At the height of the BP oil disaster the perceived service view of many might have been that BP retained a better customer service image than ATT.

Click on "read more" for the entire ongoing story.