east side blog
4.29.2010
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3.20.2010
First South
The nexus of the spring equinox and first south swell of the season. The weather was beautiful and the water was clear. The tide kept the kelp thin and wind provided a light texture; and Tiburones was showing its south swell face. I surfed a good rotation with Rach. That's it. After a while, Esteban and Anthony joined in the fun, and just before I got out of the water, the Mayor showed up to keep in touch with his constituents. Really small rotation for the first south of the year.
Word from Gerry - our summer visitor from H-land - is that the south shore is going off - double overhead. Gerry surfed Threes, and given the exclamations in his email - must have been good. We should see the swell in a few days - served up by Cyclone Tomas.
Final Word
Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969)
3.17.2010
Windy
Spring-like wind swell has been a staple for 10 days, but things started to change today as a west-northwest groundswell showed. Surfed low-tide Second Bowl during the wind swell and ventured out at Sharks for the groundswell that showed today. Had fun with no adverse effects. As the swell momentum picks up – the mass count should rise – so be it. The kelp is definitely doing its part.
I’ve been watching maps that show a potential swell coming from the southwest. Apparently, the cyclone generating the swell is hammering Fiji – that is Cyclone Tomas - packing winds of up to 130 mph (205 kph) at its center and gusts of up to 175 mph (280 kph). Anyway, swell models suggest the associated swell may hit our coast with the first south of the year.
My latest photo upload shows the Zealand boyz having summer fun. The story that goes with the pics – James, a mate that stayed at the house for a few months, and the rest of the boyz decided they wanted to catch a shark while shore casting. Unfortunately, they could not cast beyond the ledge that allowed access to deep water, and sharks. So, James, being a problem solver, volunteered to swim the bait out beyond the deep-water ledge and drop hook, line and sinker. As he was swimming back, the boyz hooked-on. Yes, our hero dangled the bait beyond the ledge so his mates could have a good time – what are friends for?
Health care in the USA is money – shareholders – growth. With these come fundamental problems that clash with the government’s constitutional responsibility to “insure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare.” Enough said. But the back and forth between supporters and detractors is revealing – it opens a window into the real government. Check the statement from the Whitewash – referring to the “public option” – “there isn’t enough political support in a majority to get this (public option) through.” Now consider the poll data:
“Creating a government-administered public health insurance option to compete with private plans" - 2/17-18/10 – 50% favor, 42% against, 8% undecided.
“Creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private companies" - 2/12-15/10 – 51% favor, 48% against, 1% undecided.
Seems there is a gap between the “political support” and the majority of voters – Let me postulate that the gap is corporate influence. In other words, voters don’t weigh in as much as corporations.
Last Word - I really think the discussion in this country needs to consider the words of a former president -
Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough. -Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd US President (1882-1945)
2.16.2010
I Confess
The weekend saw good sized surf, nice conditions, and all the people in the western states. I surfed short sessions, got a few nice ones and bailed. Today, the swell got small and the surf session was local. But - I just couldn't fit in - I couldn't groove with everyone else. I had to burn the Burner. Ranger, I confess. I don't know what came over me - it was like DYSM took control of my mind and body. I did ten Hail Marys but I still don't feel absolved.
Final Word:
"Bigmouth strikes again, and I've got no right to take my place in the human race" The Smiths, 1983.
2.12.2010
It's On
Tomorrow the Mavs contest is slated to occur. Much fanfare, a lawsuit, and hopes for good conditions and big surf. While it's a facet of surfing, I'm not that intrigued. Don't get me wrong - I respect what the surfers accomplish - it's just that for me, the fun factor is not proportional with size. Anyway, here in town it looks like the swell will wrap in and provide some fun surf - over the weekend. It was nearly flat for the week prior, with the last swell showing on - you guessed it - the weekend. And it is fortunate for all those folks who live for an xtreme weekend. Just a note for Penguin, took another surf trip to the Gate and caught a couple of fun ones. Just like old times - your favorite. Well, we've seen storms come and go, and the kelp is still matted as thick as ever; entrenched as cockroaches. Still, some great waves to be had at the right spots - Jackson was there and snapped the picture above.
Next Up: In September 2008, as the worst of the financial crisis engulfed Wall Street, George W. Bush issued a warning: "This sucker could go down." Realism at it's best - and I kinda miss it. Today I heard Olame-a state that he doesn’t begrudge the million-dollar pay-outs made to two of Wall Street’s most powerful men because, after all, “there are some baseball players who are making more than that.” Fuck You - If a high-priced baseball player - say Derek Jeter - does not perform, he's dropped. The government doesn't provide him with 20 homers and gold glove stats to see him through. He works hard, fills the stadium, and helps his team win - period. These bankers failed, got propped up by Corpgov, and then through virtually no effort or creativity of their own, received mega payouts. It's an insult to the ball players to hear this comparison of free-market values. And then this: "I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system." What free-market system is he talking about - Corporate socialism? Success? These guys lost billions of investor's money - retirement savings for countless who relied on them - they fucked up - blinded by easy profit and greed, and then got rewarded for success? SPB.
And on the foreign front - Lawyers for five Blackwater guards say they were acting in self-defense, but witnesses and family members of those killed maintain that the shooting on 16 September 2007 was unprovoked. Brought to justice in the US; District Judge Ricardo Urbina said the US justice department had used evidence prosecutors were not supposed to have. Blackwater employees escaped justice and a defending lawyer's statement celebrates: "It's tremendously gratifying to see the court allow us to celebrate the New Year the way it has, it really invigorates your belief in our court system." I am left wondering what belief he has in our justice system – moreover; I wonder what the Iraqi families who suffered losses are thinking. There is a lot of wonder - Ordinary Iraqis are left wondering at the apparent double standards of a legal system, which could pioneer rendition, imprisonment and torture based on far less evidence, but fumble a case like this.
Health care cost about $7,681 per person in 2008. Taken at face value, this means that even a single-payer program would require each American to pay $$$$. It’s clear changes in health care would have to be more encompassing than what single payer would bring. Hard negotiation leveraging a single payer market, associated innovations and moderation on costs - who knows - I understand the Japanese model contains some lessons.
At his State of the Union address, President Obama called for a three-year freeze on non-security federal discretionary spending. The Pentagon will be exempted from the freeze, as will the Department of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs. The freeze would cover many domestic areas, including education and the environment. This is scary news – military state with no educational opportunities except if linked to the military. Essentially, lets build a castle and live in austerity and ignorance while the world moves on. This guy is a fucking joke.
I understand there is a group here in the state that wants to legalize carrying loaded guns - why? I heard it said-
“Only a man who carries a gun needs one” Angel and the Badman - 1947
12.30.2009
Longer Days and Shorter Nights
Indeed, the days are getting longer, and so it seems the kelp is too. Since I last scrawled my observations on this web log (we blog), there has been a mixture of storm surf, double-up ill-wind mixed with groundswell, and straight up groundswell. As expected, the swell has traveled from the west, west-northwest, and steep north. Out in front, we've had overhead waves at the TOP down to head-high and smaller from the Steps to the Gate. For my part, I have indulged in the glide at Tiburones and full-DTL at Segundo Bol and larger Tiburones. Pretty much -JTH. I am starting to get used to the kelp; the last two sessions have been low tide kelpfests at Segundo Bol. During one of those session I discovered reverse tow-in. Yes - all natural. Here's the deal - Paddling into a low tide kelp-ridden peak, the kelp elongated perpendicular to the wave. You know what I mean. I stood up, and was dragging my hand behind me. As the wave started to fold, my hand found a thick strand of kelp that just so happened to be nearly taut. I don't know why, but I grabbed onto the kelp strand and held on tight. Tension gripped the kelp strand as it pulled on its anchor, and it stretched. The combination of the tension pulling back and the wave moving forward swung my board around so that I was set for a run DTL. The tension and stretch of the kelp strand, location of the kelp anchor, and my position on the wave all acted to provide a whip effect - when I let go - and as luck had it, at the optimal moment - I was whipped DTL. Closest I'll ever come to feeling the whip at the end of a tow rope. I'm sure the kids can advance this concept and add the kelp whip to the air launch and get a couple more feet. And its all natural.
The cliff stabilization project has come to the Steps, and no matter what the speculation is, things will change. The picture shows one of the losses. The steps carved into the sandstone by countless meanderings of surfers past and present. Who walked in these casts? The foot-carvings speak of a long history of formation - they were gone in 30 minutes. The path forced you to move on one step at a time. Change does the same.
Just as fast as those foot-holds were gone, I lost my father. He fell off a step stool while hanging Christmas lights and that was that. Again I was reminded of our fragile existence, what we have, and what it means to lose it. Hot Dog, you know what I mean. I was sure he had another 20 years in him - but it was not to be. I was taught as a child to pray, and I know he would want me to pray for him. But lately, religion has made me tired. My faith is worn out; all I see screams of its control and darkness, but he would want me to pray. Positive thoughts – I will put my energy into positive thoughts. We hoped for a miracle in recovery; but the miracle was his life. Today, 16 December 2009, I was married 31 years ago. Today, my father died. I spend the days thinking back over his life, as I knew it – but it doesn’t happen all at once. Without trying, a memory will flash into my mind, dwell there for a while, and disappear. I guess at some point the total sum of our time will be revealed; spotty, but providing some resolution.
The Senate passed a bill that essentially mandates that all Americans buy private health insurance. It provides subsidies to some of them, but to a large number of Americans who are quite poor and will have difficulty buying these products, it essentially forces them, on their own, under penalty of law, to purchase health insurance. This sounds like corporate socialism with citizen capitalism. Government created market demand (socialism benefiting corps) – people must buy at rate set by corporations (capitalism benefiting corps) – prices not set by market demand (socialism benefiting corps). And remember, there is no competition between insurance corps (socialism benefiting co). They’ve just agreed on how to split up the pie. Wall Street investors and the health care industry leaders – and all that pie. All those SPB that fought to be free from government run health care will be forced by law to pay the same Wall Street folks that bilked them out of a future. Enron, Banks, Wall Street – and no end in sight – good luck all. Gee – if we are going to have socialism in the mix, why can’t it be for the people instead of the corps? Like the fire department – they respond to corps and people alike. Fire protection and police protection is socialized – single payer – and it works pretty well. Does anybody recognize the similarities with what could be single payer health?
And - since October 27, when independent Senator Joe Lieberman announced that he would filibuster any healthcare reform bill that included a public option, the stock value of CIGNA has jumped 29 percent; Aetna, 27 percent; UnitedHealth, over 20 percent; and Humana, almost 14 percent. During that same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen by just over two percent. What does this say about the health care bill – proves my point. It’s all about corpgov.
Some numbers for the decade:
Millionaires in the Senate: 30 (1999); 67 (2009)
Millionaires in the House: 66 (1999); 170 (2009)
Median Household Income: $44,900 (1999); $50,303 (2008); in 1999 constant dollars $44,900 (1999); $38,924 (2008)
Defense Budget: $270.5 billion (fiscal year 1999); $680 billion (fiscal year 2010); in constant 1999 dollars $270.5 billion (fiscal year 1999); $524 billion (fiscal year 2010)
Last Words of the Year - you got all year to think about 'em.
Going Forward: : "These are desperate times. But I don't think we should join in with the desperation. We should conquer it. I'm fed up with this depressive attitude people have." - Morrissey
And Our Time: Jobs reduce people. One of our lines goes 'I've never had a job because I don't want one': jobs reduce people to absolute stupidity; they forget to think about themselves. There's something so positive about unemployment. It's like, Now We Can Think About Ourselves. You won't get trapped into materialism, you won't buy things you don't really want..." - Morrissey
Have a brilliant 2010!!!!!
12.10.2009
Tea Leaves
I read the tea leaves, and as a commenter said - I was dreaming. All right, I was wrong about the swell – I heard late Tuesday it was well overhead and conditions were nice, but I have no hard evidence. I checked today, and it could have been all time – except for the east wind scallop. The pics as my witness.
In other news: Democracy Now reported - “In Honduras, a prominent supporter of the coup has won the nation’s presidential election. Porfirio Lobo, a rich landowner, received 55 percent of the vote. The election comes five months after the Honduran military ousted the democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya. The leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other Latin American countries say Sunday’s presidential election is invalid because it was backed by the coup leaders and could end any hope of Zelaya returning to power and completing his term, which is due to end in January. But the United States has vowed to recognize the results.No pro-Zelaya candidate ran Sunday due to a boycott of the elections called by Zelaya. Human rights groups reported widespread abuses by the Honduran military and police ahead of Sunday’s vote. In the city of San Pedro Sula, soldiers used water cannons and tear gas to break up a march by 500 unarmed protesters. On Saturday, 50 masked soldiers and police raided a collective of farmers and small scale agricultural producers known as Red Comal.” This is important because what you have is the US supporting land grab. And who knows, maybe provided support. The US is not happy with the way things are going in Central and South America. Democratically elected governments in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Ecuador, to name a few, are taking back natural capital from international corporations and going socialist – considering the people in the economic deal – everyone’s welfare optimized. This is real significant since the indigenous people of these countries have been the butt-end of capitalism since colonization. I am suspicious of US intentions given corporate ties and the ease of which the US accepted a military coup and supposed election. It works out great for corporate agriculture, wealthy landowners and the like. For me, it lends credibility to accusations by leaders in Venezuela and Ecuador regarding US ties to right-wing groups active in trying to overthrow the elected governments in their countries. How does land grab fit into neoclassical economics? Consider - Two U.S. corporations—Chiquita (formerly United Fruit Company and United Brands) and Dole (formerly Standard Fruit and Steamship Company and Castle & Cooke)—hold a disproportionate amount of the country’s agricultural land.
The Obama administration has decided not to sign an international convention banning land mines. What could possibly be the explanation? Can’t deal with nuclear weapons, nor can we deal with indiscriminate killing. Pussies. There is no change. Obama – change you can believe in? All I see is a change of color.
Neo-classical economics, the flavor of policy over the last five or more decades, pushes the free market and zero regulation/intervention. Keynesian thought includes regulation – the magic hand may eat itself. Now, why would those who are firm neo-classicals, Bernanke and Geithner, go in for regulation? Yet, they were the ones in charge of regulation. Check it: “We don’t really need new rules. The rules are there. What we need are regulators willing to use them. The Fed has all the power it needs. And the very fact that Chairman Bernanke yesterday was listing all the good things they had done proves that they had the power under existing laws. He just didn’t want to use them. Tim Geithner, as head of the New York Fed, could have done whatever needed to be done, but they didn’t do it.” So, why would those who firmly believe in the market apply regulation? They won’t – they didn’t. And the punch line – they are all still manipulating the puppet strings.
Hey – spill, baby spill. Officials believe that ice plugged up a pipeline and likely caused a rupture that sent 46,000 gallons of crude oil and water gushing onto snow-covered tundra on Alaska's North Slope late last month. More worries - I mean No worries. Anytime you hear somebody say technology has reached a level where the environment is safe from human endeavors – just say no!
Did get some surf up until Sunday - couple fun ones at Tiburones and Segundo Bol, but came down with the sickness and missed the epic swell I was touting. Serves me right.
Last Word
"I like the rapid punch of solid-state for the bottom, and the rodent-gnawing distortion of the tubes on top." John Cipollina