Doldrums

We are in the midst of another week of the doldrums. The cattle drive is over, and it's time to go into town for some razing. Some days it's so bad, you can't even get the glide on. Of course, I've heard of some local travels that turned up a couple of waves, but the price of fuel puts a damper on travel. Before the doldrums set in, we had a good string of south swell days complete with great weather and good tides. I surfed the Steps, Segundo Bol, and Tiburones - as did all my friends. No graphic altercations, several close calls, and plenty of DYSM. As I sat between sets during one session - on some days the wait was 20 minutes or more - and counted the mass number - I realized I could account for the LB session in terms of linear feet. Indeed, on one day I counted up at least 300 feet of LB clogging up Tiburones. Instead of critical mass, I'm talking in terms of critical length.

As I retrace my steps down to the Point, to work, and back home, others are treading new footpaths. A friend sent the pic of a recent trip.

It was also interesting to watch the internet swells show up - maybe not at the Point, but surely in the traffic, parking lots, and en mass. Thank Dog for the internet. Swells predicted, plans are made - must surf - must surf - must surf. Still - I love summer.

Notes From the Field.
It has happened in this country. For one reason or another, a person flips – mows down a teacher, lover, coworker – we have a saying regarding the situation - “going postal”. Usually, the misguided temporally insane individual takes his or her own life. Other times, they end up in prison – or death row. Recently, a Palestinian went “postal” and drove his bulldozer into cars, buses, and people. It was a tragedy for those who suffered injury or worse. He killed three Israelis. The event occurred in the Israeli-held portion of Jerusalem. What separates the Israeli incident from the US version is the government response. Like I said, in the US, if the perpetrator lived – it world be prison or death row. In the Israeli case, the perpetrator was killed on the spot; but that’s not enough. Israeli politicians are asking for the home district of the perpetrator to be cut off from the rest of Jerusalem. Additionally, they want residents of the district be stripped of their Israeli ID cards, they want the wall to be moved to cut the district off, and they want the home of the perpetrator, where a wife and children are left, to be demolished. Would that go over in the US? If this kind of collective punishment occurred anywhere else in the world, would the US protest?

“I am greatly concerned about the chilling effect that compliance with the committee's subpoena would have on future White House deliberations and White House cooperation with future Justice Department investigations," Mukasey wrote Bush. J H C! You’re got to be kidding me. Shouldn’t our elected leaders, our government, be chilled? That’s the point of transparency. The whole kit and caboodle should be worried anytime they break the law – just like the rest of us. And how do we know? - Transparency. They should be looking over their shoulders when they act in a way contrary to our interests. Chilled – seriously chilled.

“If rockets were raining down on my house, where my two daughters sleep, I would do anything I could to stop the rockets” – BO in Israel. Makes sense, but that’s not what’s happening. “Anything” is not happening – selective action is happening. Negotiation is not happening. Fair exchanges are not taking place. Humanity – on both sides – is not happening. Violence reduction is not happening. The elimination of oppression is not happening. “Anything I could” is restricted to military solutions, human degradation, collective punishment, isolation, and bigotry. It’s ironic that a black man, whose ancestors and comrades in SA suffered under oppression, accepts the suffering and oppression faced by Palestinians on a daily basis.

I didn’t say it – a BBC post from a world citizen ----Re: Obama backs Israel? Palestinian leaders need to adhere to international law? By far the biggest violator of international law in the entire world is Israel: extra judicial assassinations, routine torture, building a wall on someone else's land, attempting to annex territory acquired by war, transferring its civilian population to occupied territory, using human shields, firing artillery into civilian neighborhoods, denying Palestinians the right to freedom of movement...the list goes on.

Israel says it’s not going to negotiate the fate of Jerusalem until next year. Of course, the fate of Jerusalem is one of the cornerstones of any Palestinian solution. Face it – Islam’s connection to Jerusalem is just as strong as that of Judaism. Israel’s decision coincided with another demolition of a Palestinian residential building in East Jerusalem. Israeli officials say the owner hadn’t obtained the proper permits. Israel has demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes over the last decade. And we gripe about red tags. Just imagine Santa Cruz County bulldozers razing your house on a permit issue.

U.S. total operable refining capacity per day = 17,593,847 barrels => utilization = 88% - 10,000,000 barrels per day import, 5,000,000 barrels per day domestic production – 21,000,000 barrels per day US consumption - U.S. Motor Gasoline Consumption = 9,286,000 barrels/day (390 million gallons/day) - adding more oil to the numbers does not work out to more gasoline and lower prices. But what motivation does Big Oil have to increase refining capacity? Supply and demand favors the status quo. Note that last quarter ExxonMobile posted the largest profit for any corporation in history. Drill? A good election sidebar - and since most of the country does not live next to the ocean - fuck it.

The Olympics suck. A glutfest of digme videos. I'm over it.

Well, I'm sure the natives are restless, with no swell and all. And at the first sign of waves, the word "packed" just won't describe the mayhem. But count me in.

The US government's mission statement was set down in the Constitution by the Founding members. I think it's a good place to start when evaluating a candidate for a government office - like president. So - please read.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. -Patrick Henry, revolutionary (1736-1799  ¶ 12:14 AM 0 comments