COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, March 06, 2014

Central American Surf Breaks

Costa Rica Surf Spots

 Tamarindo remains to be the most popular and well known, “surf mecca” on the northern pacific coast. 
This area is centrally located on the coast to offer easy access to a wide variety of surf breaks for all abilities including beach, 
rivermouth and of course, reef breaks such as Witches Rock and Ollie’s Point.
Best Time: December ~ April


Playa Avellanes and Playa Negra offer some excellent surfing and for those looking for a remote vacation experience,
these are the ideal destination. Remote but great surf
Consistent Surf- laid back atmosphere
 Best Time: December ~ April


Playa Hermosa and nearby Jaco is THE definitive surf mecca of the central pacific coast. 
This area arguably offers the most consistent year-round surf with over 3 ½ miles of steep beaches
 with excellent exposure to swells from almost any direction. Although this area is extremely popular, 
there are so many peaks up an down the beach that you are likely to find an uncrowded, head high peak at almost any time of year.
Best Time: May ~ November


Mal País, located on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, is another rising, yet still fairly untouched, 
surf destination in Costa Rica. Mal Pais/Santa Teresa is a very small community scattered along the pale, 
gold beaches with a beautiful backdrop of green vegetation.
Best Time: December ~ April


 Manuel Antonio is a beautiful town located about 45 minutes south of Hermosa offering beginner surfers,
 or, surfers traveling with non-surfing partners, an excellent destination.
Manuel Antonio is one of Costa Rica’s most visited destinations, 
with one of the most popular national parks in Costa Rica. 
It has it all – from the small town life offered in Quepos to the beautiful beaches of Manuel Antonio
Incredible Beaches!
Best Time: May ~ November


Matapalo offers the extreme adventurer with an opportunity to witness one of the few untouched,
 pristine regions in Costa Rica, the extreme tip of the Osa Peninsula.

Matapalo combines dense jungles, breathtaking beaches, world class surfing in a peaceful, 
remote setting. Matapalo offers three excellent point breaks that, with the right swell, will make any traveler unpack, and stay a while.

However, there are several downsides to staying in Matapalo. First of all, the surf is not very consistent. 
Second, because this area is one of Costa Rica’s few remaining pristine destinations, the “locals,”
 (which in this case, any American who got there before you)
Best Times: May ~ November


Pavones is one of Costa Rica’s most famous surf breaks offering one of the world’s longest lefts…… 
which on a good day, can connect for 2 – 3 minute rides. The wave has several sections which allow for ...
carving, pumping and, of course, showing off for the folks sipping on their Imperials at the Cantina at the end of the break. 
This area is extremely remote and if you can catch it on a good day, the logistical nightmares surrounding your arrival will be well worth it.
 Best Times: May ~ November


Puerto Viejo has certainly most known for being home to what has been called the heaviest wave in Costa Rica: Salsa Brava. 
Salsa, although fickle, has definitely earned this reputation offering a thick “sauce” breaking over a shallow reef. 
The wave is very competitive and certainly, for experts only
More intermediate surfers can check out the beach break just south at Playa Cocles.
The Caribbean coast is quite different than the Pacific as you will find it is not as nearly built up.
 the culture/atmosphere is even more laid back than other parts of Costa Rica.
Best Times: November ~ March

http://www.crsurf.com/costaricamap.html



Imagine a blend of surfboards, wakeboards and kiteboards. Now, add motor power and a Formula 1 design engineer. That’s it. Meet the new JetSurf, a custom designed carbon fiber hull equipped with a two-stroke engine that can ride waves of all kind. The Jet Surf has an automatic electronic control unit that is manually operated to reach a maximum speed of 57 km/h (35 mph). Looks like awesome fun. 

Powered surfboards have become the must-have water toys for yacht owners and seaside dwellers, and no model offers a more impressive combination of speed and lightweight construction than the Jet Surf Factory GP 100. 


The board uses a 17 hp 100 cc gas-powered water-jet engine (similar to that of a Jet Ski or Sea-Doo) 
to propel riders along the surface of the water at speeds as fast as 35 mph. 

Riders stand on the carbon-fiber board, loop their feet through a pair of straps, and grab the handheld throttle, 
which is tethered to the front of the board. Other boards can achieve similar speeds, but they weigh 100 pounds or more. 

The GP 100, which measures nearly 6 feet long and about 2 feet wide, weighs about 30 pounds.



Panama


Santa Catalina
Santa Catalina is one of the best and most consistent rock bottom point breaks in Central America. 
Catalina is a 6 hour drive northwest of Panama city and the hotels sit on the point overlooking the long right hand lava rock point break, 
or a 2 minute walk from the town of Santa Catalina.



Playa Venao
Venado has to be one of the funnest and most consistent sand bottom beach breaks in Panama. 
Venado is a 6 hour drive northwest of Panama city and lodging is either directly on the beach overlooking the perfect pealers,
 or in a nearby town about a 15-20 minute drive inland from the beach.

 
Bocas del Toro
Bocas dl Toro consists of the main island of Bocas, with several smaller islands within a few minute boat ride from it. Here you will find some of the best surf ever discovered in Panama. The surf gets so good and perfect that people sometimes compare it with Indonesia or Tahiti. 

The biggest and most consistent swells hit Bocas from December thru March. 


You can also expect to find great waves during June and July. 



The climate in Bocas is tropical. Air and water temperatures are about 80 degrees feranheit. Bocas is surrounded by lush green primary forest. The beaches are long with white sand and the water is very clear and blue, so you can see the reef while you surf.


Surf's UP!


94 comments:

  1. Jackrat is, let us admit it, doing a fairly decent job of attempting to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the inexperienced blog reader.

    Nice post, really.

    I would rather look at those rear ends than the rear ends of the horses any day.

    Never have really surfed, though Q has told me he is great at it and that, for him at least, the girls around the beaches and hotels, which he calls the Marias, are easy pickings.

    He was jailed once in Panama City for borrowing beach umbrellas and bikini tops and I had to bail him out traveling all that long distance. The Maria that just left him worked in the Police Department in Panama City. She reduced the bail for Q, based on his watery blue-grey eyes, which she said reminded her of the Pacific on a grey day, and put her in a state of grace. Q hadn't become hooked on the killer Vodka at this time but was always sucking up something he called a pinya something or other, which had about 5 boozy ingredients. It kept him falling off his surfboard, I recall that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Q later wrote a semi-autobiographical novel he called "Under The Beach Umbrella", the idea and themes of which he stole unashamedly from Malcom Lowry's - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Lowry - "Under The Volcano". A fervid novel in all sorts of illicit ways, it was of middling quality and never sold many copies, but it seemed to mean everything to Q at times.

      Quirk later confided to me that wrote it in a Hemingway sort of way to get rid of his distaste for some of the things he had experienced and learned of in Central America, things he never talked to me about, ever, things that haunted him, things he was trying to forget by writing about them. He had read somewhere that Hemingway had said that you can rid yourself of bitter experiences by writing about them, and then they are gone, forever, and one can go on.

      Delete
    3. And indeed, Q went on, and began the founder and majority stock owner in SoulsRUs, a famous consort-ium engaged in international trade, money transfers, and laundering, and international fraud.

      Delete
    4. I am aware that back in Soviet times, Q once or twice moved 'merchandise' for the then young KGB agent Vladimir Putin, and became so repelled by the man that he vowed to never let that man get away with anything ever again, which is why Q is in Kiev right now, inside the Maiden in Independence Square, squinting his blood shot eyes down the barrel of a 50 caliber machine gun, teeth clenched in his grizzled grey whiskered jaw, and muttering to himself, "Let that fucking Pootie just try".

      Delete
  2. Focus Nigeria, con't. -


    Interfaith outreach in Nigeria: Muslims murder 16 Christians, destroy 200 Christian homes

    Robert Spencer Mar 6, 2014 at 4:09pm Muslim persecution of Christians, Nigeria 14 Comments

    ******Islamic jihad mass murder attacks are practically a daily occurrence in Nigeria now. ******

    When will Daniel Varisco and John Esposito hold a seminar at Georgetown University about Muslim persecution of Christians, its Islamic doctrinal bases, and what can be done about it? Or is such treatment only reserved for the chimera of “Islamophobia”?

    “Muslim Gunmen in Nigeria Kill 16 Christians, Destroy Numerous Homes,” from Morning Star News, March 5:

    JOS, Nigeria, March 5, 2014 (Morning Star News) – Armed gunmen believed to be Muslim Fulani herdsmen yesterday and early today attacked a cluster of villages in Plateau state, killing 16 Christians and destroying numerous homes, Christian leaders said.

    The assailants, reportedly dressed in military camouflage, shot randomly as they struck Torok, Gwon, Gwarim, Gwareng and Rim villages in Rim District of the Riyom Local Government Area west of Jos. Musa Gunduma Dang of Gwon village said they killed his mother, wife, four children and three other relatives.

    “They shot sporadically and set my house ablaze, killing all members of my family, and the entire village has been destroyed,” Dang said.

    Daniel Bitrus Manjang, a pastor with the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), told Morning Star News the attacks were “very tragic.”

    “About 200 houses were burned, and 16 Christians were killed,” said Manjang, a resident of Rim.

    About 10 years ago Manjang lost his father, the Rev. Bitrus Manjang, a former COCIN vice president, to a similar attack in Rim village, he said.

    The Rev. Patrick Kim, COCIN pastor in Gwarim, told Morning Star News by phone that the Muslim attackers invaded the villages at about 4 p.m., killing and destroying until 12:30 a.m.

    The church leaders said two worship sanctuaries and residences of two COCIN pastors were among the buildings set ablaze.

    They said it was the second such attack in the district in less than a week, as Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed two other Christians in Diyan late last week.

    On Jan. 6, Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed 33 Christians in an attack on Shonong village in Riyom LGA in which Special Task Force soldiers assigned to protect the villagers were said to turn their weapons on them….


    http://www.jihadwatch.org/

    ReplyDelete

  3. WONDER LAND
    Henninger: Putin Carterizes Obama, Totally
    The Democrats are vulnerable again on handling the world.


    The consequences of Mr. Obama's Carterization overseas are coming so fast it's hard to keep track. Ukraine, though important, is the tip of the iceberg. Here's what else happened in the week Mr. Putin captured Crimea.

    Israel on Wednesday intercepted in the Red Sea an Iranian shipment to Gaza of dozens of Syrian-made surface-to-surface rockets. These are our new Iranian negotiating partners.

    North Korea last Thursday test-fired four short-range ballistic missiles and another this Monday. Then on Tuesday it deployed a new multiple-rocket launcher that fired four missiles with enough range to hit American and South Korean military bases near Seoul.

    In Moscow last Wednesday,Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia plans to use military bases in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua for its navy and to refuel strategic bombers. Three months ago, Secretary Kerry ostentatiously announced in a Washington speech, "The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over." Naturally the Russians took this as a green light to return to one of the Soviet Union's favorite playpens. The next day, a Russian spy ship, the Viktor Leonov SSV-175, slipped unannounced into Havana Harbor.

    Then this Wednesday, a news bulletin: "China announces 12.2% increase in military budget." That boost comes within 24 hours of the Obama budget proposing a decline in U.S. defense spending.

    This is all in one week!

    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303369904579421171476596640


    The Chinese used to call us a pitiful, helpless giant. We are making progress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ****** Three months ago, Secretary Kerry ostentatiously announced in a Washington speech, "The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over." Naturally the Russians took this as a green light to return to one of the Soviet Union's favorite playpens.******

      Delete
    2. .

      Israel on Wednesday intercepted in the Red Sea an Iranian shipment to Gaza of dozens of Syrian-made surface-to-surface rockets.

      Hmmm.

      .

      Delete
  4. GREAT POST, Rat. I like horses, but, well, . . . . . . . this one is hard to beat. :)

    ReplyDelete

  5. German energy giant RWE has taken a massive loss of €2.8 billion – it’s first loss in 60 years – after admitting it got its strategy wrong, and should have focused more on renewable and distributed energy rather than conventional fossil fuels.

    RWE, like other major German utilities, has spent much of the past decade fighting against the country’s “energiewende”, the energy transition that is seeing it dump nuclear energy and transform the electricity system of Europe’s biggest manufacturing economy to one dominated by renewables.

    Read more at http://cleantechnica.com/2014/03/07/germany-fossil-fuel-industry-decline-unstoppable/#9zZeYxEIKY7ddL6T.99

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Last night, Peter Terium, who has been CEO for less than two years, conceded that the company had got it wrong. He admitted that the change in electricity markets, which has seen earnings from conventional generation gutted by the impact of solar and wind energy, was “unstoppable”. It was now time to change strategy, and focus on what the electricity market will look like in the future.

      “I grant that we have made mistakes,” Terium said in a prepared speech to a media conference accompanying his result. “We were late entering into the renewables market – possibly too late.”

      Analysts have been pointing this out for years. Indeed, the big three German utilities have accounted for just 7 per cent of the renewable energy installations that now account for more than one-quarter of the country’s generation, and which have transformed the market. Most renewable capacity has been installed by home and industrial consumers, and smaller and smarter energy companies.

      Instead, RWE ploughed on with coal and gas. Now, Terium says, it is making less and less money from its conventional power stations, and it is closing nearly 7GW of capacity. “This trend will continue in the next few years and it is irreversible,” he says.

      Conventional power stations are being driven out by solar PV, particularly during peak load, and the huge expansion of renewables has pushed the market price of electricity to less than €37 per megawatt-hour, where it is virtually impossible to operate conventional power stations economically.

      The question is what to do now. Terium says it is not all bad news, because much of the new plant that has been installed is highly flexible; designed to fit in and around a renewables-dominated grid. For instance, he said, the entire 10,000MW capacity of power stations in the Rhenish region can be reduced and increased again by about 5,000 megawatts within 30 minutes. (Interestingly, RWE cut is Co2 emissions from generation by 9% in the last year).



      However, to secure its future, RWE – as was revealed in this insightful piece by Energy Post’s Karel Beckman – is going to focus more on future technologies: renewable energy, distributed generation and smart, enabling systems.

      Terium says centralised generation is losing its primacy and the decentralised energy world needs an ‘integrated energy manager’.

      “In other words, someone to coordinate the many activities of the individual market players: someone to look after networking the various individual initiatives involved in the transformation of the energy system at a technical and economic level – to bring them all together as a single, integrated unit.”

      Terium intends to try to join the “little pieces to form the bigger picture.”

      Probably not what Pootie Poot wants to hear

      Delete
  6. Germany gets most/much of it power from nuclear power stations in France, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does !

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2031786/Germany-importing-electricity-France-decision-shut-nuclear-reactors.html

      My niece went to a Green Party Congress or meeting in Germany a little while ago. I told her she was out of her mind.

      Quirk needs to get one of those motorized surf boards. That should be priority.

      Delete
    2. But statistics on Germany’s electricity sector for the whole of 2012 are now in, and when you look beyond the cherry-picked hype, the results are dismal and disquieting. Despite massive construction of new capacity, electricity output from renewables, especially from wind and solar, grew at a sluggish rate. Germany is indeed avoiding blackouts—by opening new coal- and gas-fired plants. Renewable electricity is proving so unreliable and chaotic that it is starting to undermine the stability of the European grid and provoke international incidents. The spiraling cost of the renewables surge has sparked a backlash, including government proposals to slash subsidies and deployment rates. Worst of all, the Energiewende made no progress at all in clearing the German grid of fossil fuels or abating greenhouse emissions—nor is it likely to for at least a decade longer.

      Green Energy Bust In Germany

      http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/green-energy-bust-in-germany

      Delete
    3. On paper the buildup of wind and solar looks colossal. In 2012 Germany built 7.6 gigawatts (GW, or one billion watts) of photovoltaic nameplate capacity and 2.4 GW of wind. Added to existing capacity, that brought total German wind and solar nameplate power to about 32 GW each at the end of 2012. Since it came online gradually, figure the average nameplate power in 2012 at about 30 GW of wind and 29 GW of solar—an enormous amount of capacity.

      Unfortunately, the nameplate capacity trumpeted in the media is a drastically misleading measure of the electricity added to the grid. While wind and solar nameplate capacity represented 84 percent of Germany’s average electric power generation of 70.4 GW, it ultimately generated only 11.9 percent of total electricity (up from 11.2 percent in 2011). There are simple reasons for that discrepancy: night, cloud, and calm. The output of wind and solar generators varies wildly with weather and the time of day; during most hours they produce a small fraction of their nameplate power—or nothing at all.

      Delete
    4. .

      Quirk needs to get one of those motorized surf boards. That should be priority.

      Had one but kept losing the key and eventually said screw it.

      .

      Delete
  7. How Germany Phased Out Nuclear Power Only To Get Mugged By Reality

    The energy shortage that’s hit Germany since the nuclear shutdowns is indeed taking place mainly in the country’s industry-heavy south, says Konrad Kleinknecht, the former climate commissioner of the German Physical Society, the world’s largest organization of physicists, and it will require more fossil fuel power generation as a result. “Where are we supposed to get the rest of our energy in the next ten years?” Kleinknecht asks. “If nuclear power plants are taken off the grid, we’ll need to build around 30 coal and gas plants, mostly in the south.”

    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/environment-and-energy/96838/germany-merkel-fukushima-nuclear-activists

    Everyone hates getting mugged by reality. I do.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just like last month's jobs report was much better than the talking heads would have had you believe, this month's is not nearly as good as they're letting on.

    The "key" is the Participation Rate vs the Unemployment Rate. Last month's numbers in this regard were, actually, very good, whereas, this month's numbers are Bad - a tick up in the unemployment rate w/o a corresponding increase in Participation.

    The bright spot in this report is the 0.4% increase in average hourly earnings. (possibly a little belated effect from several states increasing their minimum wage in January)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Germany actually exports a lot of electricity to France during peak periods when the Solar is kicking in the strongest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed, the big three German utilities have accounted for just 7 per cent of the renewable energy installations that now account for more than one-quarter of the country’s generation,

      Delete
    2. more than one-quarter of the country’s generation,

      Delete
    3. The sources seem to disagree among themselves, probably depending on for whom they work.

      Delete
    4. .

      A salient point, Bobbo.

      Most articles I have come across lately talk of discontent in Germany, primarily at the high cost of energy. Of course, I don't often read Clean Technica.

      I googled 'what is the status of the German electricity industry'. The first three links that came up were pretty general information from German government and trade sources, two from www.make-it-in-Germany.com, and one from GTAI (Germany Trade and Invest). There is also a Wiki article which is short but goes into the current trends (going green, getting out of nuclear, higher costs, lower efficiency).

      The next three articles are

      Germany's Green Energy Destabilizing Energy Grid by Institute for Energy Research

      German Industry in Revolt as Green Dream Causes Cost Spiral article in the Telegraph

      Germany's Solar Industry is Imploding article from Forbes

      The last three articles were from 2013.

      .

      Delete
  10. OPINION: EDITORIALS
    Examiner Editorial: Lois Lerner stays silent to protect someone outside the IRS
    BY WASHINGTON EXAMINER | MARCH 6, 2014 AT 7:54 AM
    TOPICS: EDITORIAL BARACK OBAMA IRS ERIC HOLDER DARRELL ISSA LOIS LERNER
    Photo - House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., swears in former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner during a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building March 5, 2014 in Washington. (Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla)
    House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., swears in former...
    So, Lois Lerner still won't talk about her role in the illegal targeting and harassment by the IRS of conservative and Tea Party groups seeking 501(c)(4) tax exemptions. Lerner appeared for a second time Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and claimed her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. It isn't hard to figure out why Lerner's lips are sealed.

    First, she knows the House of Representatives can cite her for contempt of Congress, but Attorney General Eric Holder would decide whether she is prosecuted on that charge. Lerner need not worry since President Obama has already told the world there wasn't “a smidgen of corruption” in the IRS actions, and Holder allowed a major Obama campaign contributor to have a role in Department of Justice's faux investigation of the scandal.


    Lerner knows the House of Representatives can cite her for contempt of Congress, but Attorney General Eric Holder would decide whether she is prosecuted.


    Sign Up for the Politics Today newsletter!
    The second and far more revealing reason Lerner is being what the Mafia calls “a good soldier” is seen in the questions posed to her by Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican who chairs the oversight panel. For example, Issa noted that Lerner told a Duke University group in October 2010 that “everyone is up in arms” over the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision and that “the Federal Election Commission can't do anything about it. They want the IRS to fix the problem.” Lerner refused to answer Issa's request that she explain who was the “they” to which she referred or how they made clear their desire that the IRS “fix the problem.”

    Similarly, Issa asked about her statement in a September 2010 email to subordinates in which she directed them to begin “a c4 project” and warned them that “we need to be cautious so it isn’t a per se political project.” Lerner refused to explain why she was worried that the project could be viewed as political. Then Issa asked her about a February 2011 email in which she said “Tea Party Matter very dangerous.” Lerner refused to say either what the Tea Party “matter” was or why she viewed it as “dangerous.”

    Finally, Issa told Lerner that another IRS executive had told the oversight panel that she had ordered that Tea Party applications be subjected to a “multi-level review.” She refused to explain why she singled out Tea Party applications for such reviews.

    These simple questions – each based on indisputable facts – establish that somebody outside of the IRS told her they wanted the tax agency to “fix” something involving groups seeking 501(c)(4) tax status, that she directed subordinates to begin a (c)(4) project she feared could be seen as “political,” that she viewed Tea Party groups as “dangerous,” and that she ordered that such groups be subjected to “multi-level review.” Those are the four essential points of the IRS scandal: Who ordered the tax agency to get involved, who in the tax agency responded, who they targeted and what actions they took. She cannot answer these questions because, as she herself has claimed, that would be incriminating. Lerner and others must hope Issa doesn’t already have the answers.

    http://washingtonexaminer.com/examiner-editorial-lois-lerner-stays-silent-to-protect-someone-outside-the-irs/article/2545145

    ReplyDelete
  11. What I just can't understand, try as I might, is how someone as intelligent as IRS Commissioner Shulman must be to have such a job simply cannot remember why he visited The White House over 100 times.

    But, that is what his testimony was before the House Committee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You always have lacked understanding, Farmer Bob

      Delete
    2. .

      It's a reasonable question, Bob, one that has been asked often with this administration.

      With all the scandals in this administration, with all the apologies by Obama and his minions, with all the 'this is unacceptable", with all the 'internal reviews', with all the "I accept responsibilities", it is also reasonable to ask why none, as far as I can remember, have ever suffered for their sins and/or incompetence in these affairs. The Obama record has been of five years of cover-ups, one following the other.

      .

      .

      Delete
    3. You possess the understanding I lack, Jack. So, I turn to you.

      Please explain to us all how someone as intelligent as IRS Commissioner Shulman must be to have such a job simply cannot remember why he visited The White House over 100 times.

      Don't try to scurry back to your hole on this Jack, you opened yourself to the question.

      And you can't take the Fifth.

      Delete
    4. Jack's mind is turning, whirring, looking for some escape......they'll all laugh if I say this or that.......but I can't say what everyone knows to be true......because I've said it doesn't go to the top, I've said no evidence of that......what to do, what to say, Jack asks himself.....

      Delete
  12. Now were talkin'! Screw the ponies - ya to babes on boards. Tamarindo - great place. Nachos as big as your ass - eat at Joes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those babes all dream of you, Ash, during those hot nights.

      They dream.......'so that's how Ash got his fat ass.......by eating those Nachos as big as his ass at Joe's' !

      Delete
    2. .

      Screw the ponies

      We'll have none of that talk here. This is a family blog.

      .

      Delete
    3. Ash doesn't have the package to screw a real mare. Give him a break.

      Delete
  13. Here Rufus, Mat sent this to me just now, I think by mistake, it may have been intended for you -

    http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/84902/crazy-continue-believing-collapse

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The whole arc of the godawful trends point to the coming sale of heroin in our pharmacies, if you ask me.

      Delete
  14. Obamas to vacation in FLA keys...

    Bidens to Virgin Islands for Second Time in Three Months.......drudge

    They all figure they can run the foreign policy of the United States of America in times of crisis just as well from the beach as at The White House.

    Barack is gonna get one of those motorized surf boards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They're probably right, too. They probably can run the foreign policy of the USA just as well from the beach as from The Situation Room, judging by past performance.

      Delete
  15. .

    CPAC, land of the lost, home of the dead and the duds.

    Cruz, Christie, Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Mitch McConnell, Rick Perry, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul. These are the people that will be doing the speaking. Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney won't be there as they are on the outs with CPAC. Not many other governors were mentioned in the articles I saw.

    If these are what are today considered 'conservatives', conservatism is dead, as is the GOP in terms of presidential politics. There are candidates at the state level but they aren't usually mentioned as having a chance other than possibly Jindal or Walker.

    The GOP may control the House and the Senate going into 2016 but they will still have a hard time winning the presidency even against a zero like Clinton.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hillary's got that charisma, don't forget that. And she's the most intelligent woman ever to leave footprints on the soil of planet earth. Don't forget that. And honest as the day is long, honest as Abe. And she plants cherry trees. And is a perfect wife. She is unbeatable.

      Delete

    2. Why Scott Walker was smart to skip CPAC




      Wannabe presidential candidates are parading through the Conservative Political Action Conference this week, trying to woo the activist base of the Republican party. One face is noticeably absent -- that of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

      What gives? Why did Walker take a pass on, arguably, the first major cattle call of the 2016 election? The stated reason was that he had events in his home state. There are plenty of other reasons, though -- all of them smart from a political perspective -- for why the Wisconsin governor stayed away. Here are four.

      1. Scott Walker 2014

      Before Walker can (or should) think about running for the presidency, he needs to win re-election to his seat in Wisconsin.

      The politicians most excited to attend CPAC are the ones hoping to catch fire in the ten minutes (or so) they have to address the crowd. CPAC is for the Tim Scotts and the Ted Cruzes (circa 2010 and 2011) of the party, not for people who already managed to assemble the entire infrastructure of the Republican campaign machine behind them, donors and organizers and ad makers included, for a high profile fight with labor unions, as Scott Walker has already done. At last year's CPAC, he came in sixth place in the straw poll, beating neurosurgeon Ben Carson by 1 percent. The results shows how the straw poll (especially in non-presidential election years) is a measure of how much conservatives liked the speeches they heard that weekend, rather than any really indication of who the most popular candidate might be. Conservatives know who Walker is, and they don't need a reminder of that two years away from the primaries.

      3. There's nothing wrong with being mysterious two years out from a presidential contest

      Yes, CPAC is a chance for lesser-known conservatives to make a name for themselves and build some buzz. But, it's also a place literally teeming with national reporters -- many of whom are watching every word, hand gesture and response from the crowd for signals as to whether you are connecting (or not). By staying away, Walker avoids that judgment-fest.

      Delete
    3. Quirk has conveniently "forgotten" his prediction of Walker's early demise.

      Delete
  16. You'd look great on a motorized surfboard, Quirk.

    And think how easily you could escape the beach police.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh, oh......

    STUDY: Writing Mean, Anonymous Comments Online Unhealthy, Done By 'Angrier' People...

    Judge Orders News Website To Reveal Name.......drudge

    Jackrat better stick with his new moniker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What's next? A thread about puppies?

      Delete
    2. The K-9 Corps, military, police and rescue dogs!

      Good topic suggestion!

      Delete
    3. Because when th light og out on civilization, it'll be horses, cattle and dogs that see us through.

      Don't know about you city slickers, but we're good to go in the Sierra Ancha.

      Delete
    4. Because when the lights go out on civilization, ...

      Delete
  18. The centerpiece of the Democrats' comeback agenda was the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.


    Since Obamacare was passed in early 2010, more than . . . . . . .

    Great Charts

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      :-0

      :-o

      :-l

      :-)

      :-) :-)

      :-) :-) :-) :-)

      :-) :-)

      :-)

      /

      Delete
    2. Obamacare has not yet turned America into a nation of part-time workers, as many of its strongest critics have long said it would.

      In fact, the opposite seems to be happening, according to new government numbers published Friday: The number of part-time jobs is actually shrinking, and full-time jobs are being created instead.

      Specifically, the number of part-time workers in the U.S. fell in February to about 27.3 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. That number is down by about 300,000 since March 2010, when the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, became law.

      Meanwhile, the ranks of full-time workers have grown by more than 2 million within the past year to 117.8 million in February. The number of part-time workers fell by about 230,000 over that period.


      Republicans argue . . . . . .

      Another false meme shot all to hell

      Delete
    3. Another damnable coot who thinks printing something in deep black makes an impact, like yelliing.

      Ir doesn't.

      Delete
    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    5. Statisticians are now at a loss to explain previous recession and recovery cycles which mirror this one, except this recovery has been more anemic than average.

      They have scheduled Think Tank sessions to explain previous cycles which occurred in the absence of Obamacare.

      Asteroid Strikes and Tsunamis will be considered as well as old favorites like Earthquakes and Hurricanes.

      Delete
  19. .

    Anyone been watching the soap opera currently going on in court with this 18-year-old entitled teenager who refused to obey rules set up by her parents so she left home, went to live with here friends, and is now suing her parents for tuition to private schools and college, room and board, living expenses, and legal fees.

    The judge shot down all of her arguments on expenses, etc. but will review the claim for college tuition in a month (I think there is a specific law that addresses this issue in her home state).

    Now she is blaming all her problems on the 'baby boomers'.

    http://nypost.com/2014/03/07/teen-suing-parents-baby-boomers-are-the-spoiled-ones/

    I noted Ash was on his abortion kick again yesterday. And as I've stated before, I'm pretty much against it with a couple exceptions. However, a term that was mentioned in the first comment on the attached link has spurred my attention, retroactive abortion.

    :-)

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Retroactive abortion:

      Everyone should have that choice.

      Many might take it.

      At least it would be one's own choice.

      Preventative suicide, so to say.

      Delete
    2. We could sit around and try to talk one another in to a retroactive abortion.

      heh heh heh

      I'd work hard on Jackrat.

      heh

      heh

      heh

      Delete
    3. A Retroactive Tuber Elimination is in order.

      Delete
  20. "The Jet Surf has an automatic electronic control unit that is manually operated to reach a maximum speed of 57 km/h (35 mph)"

    That's disabled on my board.

    I've been given a special disabled parking spot on the beach.

    ReplyDelete
  21. .

    DougFri Mar 07, 07:29:00 PM EST

    Quirk has conveniently "forgotten" his prediction of Walker's early demise.


    You geriatric little prick, you are starting to get on my nerves. You post the same bullshit every other day. I answered you back in January.

    1. QuirkFri Jan 24, 04:52:00 AM EST
    .

    DougThu Jan 23, 10:19:00 PM EST

    He don't even remember predicktin that Scott Walker would be laid low by Wisconsinite cheese-eating union thugs in payback for his bravery in office.


    This from the president of Maui Mensa who daily offers stories of and bemoans his failing mental faculties. Our initial discussion on Walker came in 2011 (as I recall) when he was, like many governors across the US demanding concessions from public service unions.

    I have always held the position that unions in the private sector although sometimes overstepping on demands have for the most part been a positive factor with regard to the US economy and the creation of today's middle class. On the other hand, whereas a private company can go bankrupt when caving to unreasonable union demands, a municipality rarely does because of the blank check taxpayers end up providing. Therefore, there are not the checks and balances in place where I could support public sector unions as other than advisory rather than negotiating entities.

    Therefore, I made no comments about specific changes Scott Walker was trying to implement with the public sector unions. What I did comment on was the Walker issue in conjunction with the move by other governors, many if not most GOP, in moving aggressively against public sector unions. The point I made was that as we were approaching 2012, the GOP had a lot of things going for them with regard to the economy. One of them, and important one IMO, was what was described as the 'indifference' being perceived in the Democratic base. I made the point that by taking the actions they were with regard to the attacks on the unions, the GOP was providing the Dems with a rallying point for their base. My statement was merely a political calculation and observation. Naturally, as is your wont and as we have seen displayed here recently, you read more into it than that.

    As for my 'predicktin that Scott Walker would be laid low', I assume this had to do with the recall though it is often hard to decipher exactly what you are saying. Also, I assume that the claim is itself merely another those ghostly spectres floating around in the miasma encompassing that addled brain of yours. I don't often speculate on elections or recalls at the state level, not even here in my home state though I may speculate on the pros, cons, or factors affecting either candidate going into an election. The Walker/union issue was in all the papers, easy to find the exact time. You ought to be able to go back in the archives. If you find a quote of me 'predicktin' Scott Walkers demise, please bring it forward (with the date of the post) and I will be glad to admit to a faulty memory.


    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I then followed up with this post.

      I then followed up with this post.


      QuirkFri Jan 24, 04:53:00 AM EST
      .

      As for Walker's billion dollar surplus, Governor Snyder here in Michigan, a state in as bad and probably worse condition than Wisconsin during the start of the recession, is trying to figure out what to do with the $1.3 billion dollar surplus we have. Hopefully, he will do something more sensible than giving it back to the public. Snyder did it through tax reform and cost cutting across the board no on any particular sector.

      As for my prognostication, if you were actually talking about the recall and can produce a post from me proving your point, bring it forward and I will admit my error. If not, no harm done. I will simply chalk it up as another Dougism.

      With regard to my comment that the push by the GOP to reign in public services unions might, despite any justification there might have been, unify and energize the Democratic base, well, we have the 2012 election results. The Dems won the popular vote and picked up seats in both the house and Senate. Obama became the first president since Ike to win two elections in a row with popular vote tallies over 51%.

      There were six states that I recall that were being talked about at the time of the Walker debate in Wisconsin. In addition to Wisconsin, there was Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maine. The all had Republican governors and with the exception of Indiana, they all went for Obama in 2012. It doesn't prove I was right or that my speculation on the union issue actually did help unite the Dem base; but on the other hand it sure doesn't show that my predicktin was wrong either.

      .







      Delete
    2. .

      If you can find a quote where I predicted Scott Walker's 'early demise' or that he would be 'laid low' go back and find it. I will then admit that not only was I wrong but that I evidently have a faulty memory. The time frame should be relatively short probably in or around February or March, 2011. What the hell else have you got to do?

      Besides it will probably be a good experience for you. As I recall those were the 'days of wine and roses' at the old Elephant Bar. Most of the old crowd was still here under their normal names. Whit was here. Melody was here on a regular basis. Trish was here and in a pretty good mood (for Trish I mean), smart and sassy. The trip down memory lane might do you some good.

      .

      Delete
    3. He just makes shit up, Q.

      Always has.
      Always will, then, when he is called on it, he claims he being abused.

      But, he did call for the killing and butchery of four million Americans, then said he was just funnin', with you.
      Joking about murder and cannibalism.

      Like all civilized English Lit majors do ...

      NOT!

      Delete
    4. Do you find murder, human butchery and cannibalism at all humorous, Q?

      Delete
    5. .

      Come on, rat, get your shit together. I think you are getting Bob and Doug mixed up.

      .

      Delete
    6. Easy to do given the regular airing of the dougshit and boobie show. Then again it is quite obvious if one were to step in the dogs hit or peer into a boobie dropping. They are he same yet different.

      Delete
    7. You have obviously gotten closer to it than I ever intend to.

      Delete
    8. Yeah, quirk seems to read both closely and to take them seriously. Doug forms an opinion and believes the world understands his truth. Bob just rattles off whatever comes into his head as if it were knowledge handed down from the mountain. Quirk considers it all and comes to the same conclusion each time - they are big PC swinging dicks

      Delete
    9. (reply to Rufus, obviously)

      Delete
    10. I'm taken very seriously in Quirkland.

      ...if only I could only get him to do the searches he recommends for me.

      Delete
    11. .

      Why would I want to be searching around to confirm your friggin delusions you dumb shit?

      If you ate right and got some sleep, perhaps you wouldn't be hallucinating.

      .

      Delete

    12. Well, here's what I'll say:

      Fuck you all except Doug.

      heh heh heh

      heh

      heh

      heh

      Delete
    13. rat's so messed up he can't even keep who posts what in his mind any longer.

      I believe all the projecting he does contributes to this problem, which has been noticeable for quite some time now.

      As far as rat getting his shit together, Quirk is simply asking far too much.

      Never happen.

      Delete

  22. A Colorado man's purchase of $42 of Girl Scout cookies has led to a court date and more than $700 in debt for what he says was an error by a Girl Scout troop's bank.

    Tad Osborn, an IT professional in Fort Collins, Colo., bought about a dozen boxes last year from a scout from his neighborhood. He wrote a check for $42 and enjoyed the cookies with his family.

    Then last summer, he received a notice from a collection agency, informing him that his check had bounced and nearly doubled his bill to $82, as first reported by CBS4.

    He called the local Girl Scout troop who directed him to an office in Denver.

    "When someone called me back, they said my account was marked as closed. That was the first sign that we had a problem here, because my account was not closed," he told ABCNews.com.

    He explained to the Girl Scouts that his account was not closed, even asking his bank manager to send a letter that his account had remained opened.

    Osborn said he believes the Girl Scouts' bank had an issue processing his check.

    Read More: Girl Scouts Asked to End Partnership With Barbie

    View galleryColo. Man to Go to Trial in May Over $42 Girl Scout …
    Colo. Man to Go to Trial in May Over $42 Girl Scout Cookie Purchase (ABC News)
    Rachelle Trujillo, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Colorado, declined to comment specifically about this case due to pending litigation but said the cookie operation is like any other large business. The state organization sells 3.5 million cookies.

    "When a check is reported as bad debt by a troop's bank, the troop attempts to contact the customer and the council then attempts to resolve the debt," the organization's statement reads. "Like any other business, after multiple attempts to resolve, we use a professional collection agency."

    "The problem is I was never notified," Osborn said, claiming he never received a phone call, letter or knock on the door notifying the check had bounced. "Because they never contacted me, I never had the chance to set this straight."

    The debt collection agency, AAA Collectors Inc., sued Osborn for $739.85, the bulk of which is $450 in attorney fees, followed by court and principal costs.

    An office manager for AAA Collectors Inc. declined to comment to ABCNews.com, explaining that the company is bound by federal law from discussing a collection with a third party.

    Osborn had to pay $100 to file a legal response just so the agency doesn't win a judgment by default.

    That cost was "the thing that really got me upset," he said.

    The attorney for the agency, Randall Purvis, has asked Osborn if he wants to settle, Osborn said, but he declined. Purvis did not respond to a request for comment.

    Today Osborn received a notice for a trial date of May 8, and he feels he will likely need to hire an attorney. He has filed a complaint with the state attorney general's office on Monday.

    The legal headache hasn't prevented him from buying Girl Scout cookies this year however.

    His daughter recently became a Girl Scout in an unrelated troop.

    ReplyDelete
  23. .

    Stupid Crook Tricks

    Brooklyn, N.Y., man arrested in 3 Michigan bank robberies after Facebook posting

    From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140307/METRO06/303070115#ixzz2vLb9yYmG

    .

    ReplyDelete
  24. .

    Stupid Cop Tricks

    Cop Assaults Women Who Calls 911 Because She Had Been Assaulted

    http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140307/METRO01/303070084/Detroit-cop-charged-sex-assault-911-caller

    .

    ReplyDelete
  25. .

    Be afraid. Be very afraid.

    The Super Lice are coming.

    They’re the creepy-crawly critters that make every parent squirm. And new research shows that they are becoming increasingly difficult to kill.

    The bugs known as super lice have developed genetic mutations that make them resistant to many of the over-the-counter and prescription chemicals that used to kill them.

    ----------------------

    He said that if the instructions aren’t followed exactly, the lice can not only survive, but grow stronger. They’re then able to tolerate that same medication the next time it is applied. Then, those more-resistant bugs can move from the head of one child to another, spreading super lice.


    Forget the Nix and RID and go directly to Sklice, Natroba or Ulesfia, and even that might not be enough.

    Isn't this how that zombie thing started in The Walking Dead?

    http://www.freep.com/article/20140308/FEATURES08/303080007/Super-chemical-resistant-lice

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The super lice are coming?

      Look around this blog, you'll find some already here.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Hint: they often find it difficult to discriminate between posters.

      They often aim their fire at people who are not even here, out of habit.

      People who are at a Casino, or something.

      It's a hardy laugher, it is.

      Heh heh heh

      heh

      heh

      heh

      Delete
  26. What is this with all the heavy black print? A contagion of some kind?

    It doesn't add anything to a statement. In fact it distracts. Most people find it irritating.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's compensating for his inability/unwillingness to post a proper link by "showing off" with his BOLD TAG Acumen.

      Delete
    2. It's like shouting, shouting in a quiet bar.

      I don't blame those who can't resist shouting back, but the whole practice is uncouth.

      The whole stupid practice started with that moron rat, quickly spread to Ash, and then on to Quirk........

      Delete
    3. What they are really saying is: "My comments I know are filled with b.s. but this is the point I want to get across......"

      The point to be gotten across is generally b.s. too, but at least it is usually and mercifully short.

      It would be much better to just not post all the b.s. and make a simple statement without the heavy black print.

      Delete
  27. #4 has 'Quirk' written all over it. Looks like Q nursing another hangover.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Your Post is very useful, I am truly to this blog which is specially design about the SeaDoo GTI SE JetSki, It helped me with ocean of awareness so I really appreciate your blog.
    SeaDoo GTI SE JetSki

    ReplyDelete
  29. Really very interesting and very valuable information about the gelcoat restoration well done and keep posting.
    gelcoat restoration

    ReplyDelete
  30. You have a very good blog about the boat name plates well constructed and very interesting i have bookmarked you, hopefully you keep posting new stuff, many thanks
    boat name plates

    ReplyDelete