Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Air-conditioning the Black Rock Desert

From the files of Michael Shannon at The Whole Shebang (mostly) and Newsmax.com

Leave it to members of the coddled ‘counter–culture’ to decide it makes sense to bring more heat to the desert.

But like Pope Francis says, if the Burning Man festival wants to build an enormous bonfire in an already blazing desert, who am I to judge?

Burning Man is a week–long bacchanal that began in 1986 on a San Francisco beach when a derelict fell into a fire pit. Now it’s moved to Nevada and climaxes with the burning of a 40–foot tall wooden effigy.

Black Rock Desert, current home of Burning Man, is a barren tabletop as devoid of plant life as a BLM bureaucrat is of mercy. Temperatures range from over 100 degrees in daylight to near freezing at night. Wind has been known to gust to 70 mph, which comes in handy if you want to sandblast an ill–advised tattoo.

Climate is probably why BLM bureaucrats are now demanding organizers spend an extra million dollars to build air–conditioned VIP boxes for bureaucrats so they can enforce regulations without breaking a sweat. You couldn’t expect Sec. of the Interior Sally Jewell to share an outhouse with any old taxpayer.

Combustible conclusion is in the Shannon column at Newsmax