Huh? 

Hard to say what is going on in Washington. Drudge seems to have an opinion...

I get concerned when Lyndsey Grahamnesty and the Neville Chamberlain Wing of the Republicans show up for closed meetings with House Speaker John Boner.  History has shown that this is not a good sign.....

Furnace.... 

Been getting a little brisk here in the morning. Yes, time to clean the Furnace in October.  The annual Rumbear migration to the attic.  Filters changed. Vents checked. Pilot on. Running now with all the windows opened.


What could go wrong?!!

Thai Carry?

Ohhhh, I get it.

Public Service Announcement

From those of us who care here at the Chronicles.

You savvy?

 

The Brass Section... 


Quiet afternoon around Rumbear Manor.  

Time for a retreat to the loading dock to play with some brass....if ya know what I mean.

 

Ta Daaaaa......varmint loads.  Now, I needs a varmint......

I Was A Ruminating...

The Shutdown Theater is in full swing.  King Baracke the Petulant, is closing parks, throwing old folks out of their homes and houseboats, harrassing WW II veterans and tourists alike.....he has instructed his minions to make life difficult.  He even went so far as to cancel death benefits for the survivors of soldiers killed in his wars. But he did pay $445 MILLION to Big Bird on day #1 of the shutdown.  

One article brought a chuckle, referring to NPS head Ranger,  Jonathan Jarvis as one of the "Little Eichmanns", in charge of harassing citizens. Little Eichmanns....you remember the last time that phrase was used as a pejorative right?  It was that famous Libtard Professor from University of Colorado, Ward Churchill.  He defined it as "i.e. as those who banally conduct their duties in the service of evil.". Of course, the slam comes from the comparison to that famed NAZI, Adolph Eichmann, who blindly followed the orders of another dear leader during WWII to exterminate Jews, post haste.  Thus, it was with some humor I read the left being hoisted on it's own petard for following King Barracke. How far we have come..

But, I digress...

The actions of Baracke the Petulant were taken due to the Gubbermint being "shutdown"  Woe is us!  Look at all the fine things you citizens will have to do without!  Then, something strange happened. We started hearing that not everything was hut down.  The WWII memorial is fenced, yet the WWI memorial is not.  Some National Parks are shutdown, others not so much. The Mall in D.C. is closed, except it was opened for a bunch of illegal aliens and select Democrats to march on. Some National Park concessionaires are closed, others are open for business. All of which begs the question...Is the Gubbermint shutdown or not?

So Rumbear...why is this important?  Well, pull up a chair my little shutdown friend.  From a legal standpoint, I posit, it will matter.  Each of the citizens infringed has rights under the Constitution.  Remember that pesky 14th Amendment, Equal Protection clause?  All laws are to be applied eqaully. So how do you explain some folks on the Mall and other not?  I don't know either.  Send in the lawyers.

Oh it gets better.  Each concessionaire has an agreement with the Feds to inhabit said shop and earn money. Except now they have been ordered to vacate. Revenues are being lost. Livelihoods impacted. Etc, etc, etc....again the lawyers will enter. Now, I do not know what the contracts betwixt the parties say, perhaps they do address a government shutdown. However, we seem to have a partial, selective shut down by a petulant president in the midst of a hissy fit. Thus, we are back to the argument....why am I closed and that shop is not.  In simple terms it's not fair. Here in America, when something is not fair, someone gets damages in the form of money. Yup, damages.

There you have it. When will the litigation flood begin?  What will be the final tally of the hissy fit of Baracke the Petulant? Who knows?  Not me, although being smarter than the average bear, I know who will be paying for it.....

And the lawyers will get rich.

Yup....  


...one more cuppa should do it.

VDH..  

Long time readers know that I am a huge fan of Victor Davis Hanson. This Stanford via the Central Valley boy has insight to matters that are always of note. The Works & Days site is a cornacopia of articles and information.  His latest on the foibles of president Zero is good.  Really good.

 Amid all the charges and countercharges in Washington over the government shutdown, there is at least one common theme: Barack Obama’s various charges always lead to a dead end. They are chaos, and chaos is hard to understand, much less refute.

He points out that what old Zero says is, more often than not, good old homestyle BS.  

In short, whenever the president prefaces a sweeping statement with one of his many emphatics — “make no mistake about it,” “I’m not making this up,” “in point of fact,” “let me be perfectly clear” — we know that the reverse is always true. For Obama, how something is said matters far more than what is said.

Read the whole thing.  

Barrycades... 

Apparently our president is in the midst of a royal hissy fit and these barriers are cropping up all over the country.  Dim witted minions are doing the bidding of a petulant Comander in Grief harrassing veterans, throwing old people out of homes, closing concessionaires, roadside pull outs, etc, etc, etc. About the only things open are Barry's golf course, Moochelles food website, the southern border, and The Mall for an Immigracion protest.  (Hello....14th Amendment, anyone?!)  

Trust me I'll have more later.....

I Went to Mexico... 

Caught an invite for SNO and I on a Swan 57 out of the Club. The kid wanted the experience and WTH it had been awhile for me. Nice owner. Great boat. 9 guys as crew.

The 50th running of the Sandy Eggo to Ensenada Race it was called.  Aboot 65 miles in a straight line.  But yannow sailboats abhor straight lines. 50 + boats entered. 11 in our class.  Plan was to do the race and head for home.  Yes, we would eschew the drinking & frivolity of the after race to be home in bed Saturday evening. That was the plan.  Plans are good.  Ask any military tactician. 

Our class started around 11:15 AM on Friday.  We started around 11:19 AM.  Having the fleet right where we wanted them, in our sights, we proceeded to pick em off.  10-12 knots of breeze and the Swan 57 was nicely making way.  The reaching sails were humming and we hugged the coast looking for the Santa Ana offshore that was forecast. Well sort of.  

Usually a sailor checks the weather before a race.  I went on line and was confronted with one of president Zero's Shutdown Theater antics.  The NOAA website is down. (i.e. kaput) 

Fortunately some capitalist over a SailFlow had the data and the information was noted. One Barrycade hurdled.

One of the debates that has raged over the 50 years of this race is do you go offshore and catch the sea breeze or hug the coast and wait for the adiabatic effect to come in and push you to victory.  Given the forecast, we stayed tight.  Made good time all afternoon passing Rosarita Beach in the late thereof.  (Yeah, the place they filed Titanic & Master & Commander) Last time I was down this way there was one hotel. Now there are, well, a lot.

What is a Swan 57?  I don't have an actual picture, but this is reasonable facsimile. (Use GOOGLE) Think top
of the line Mercedes...on the water.  60,000 lbs of passage making fun.  Everything on the boat is big. Move a sail? Two men. Move the big jib...three men.  But ohhhhhh does it move through the water. 

So we flew the reaching spinnaker until just before sunset when the wind lightened.  What a great afternoon of sailing.  Night time had us chasing zephyrs and keeping the boat moving. We were about 2-4 miles off the coast and waiting for the wind. 

My watch came on for the midnight to 4 AM shift.  We took turns driving, chasing puffs, and stars.  Driving at night takes a toll as the senses get overloaded on a moon less night. (But, oh the stars)  At 3:00 AM we were moving at 2 knots and about 5 miles from the finish.  The decision was made to take down the drifter and go with a #1 jib.  At 3:10 we were doing 7 knots and building. I handed off the helm exhausted. At 3:15 AM we spotted the strobe of the Committee boat on the finish line. It was now blowing 15 knots and things were getting busy. Suddenly we were in with 4-5 competitors who had appeared out of the dark.  The wind increased to 20 knots and we were flying.  Several tacks crossing other boats and we were driving on the finish line in 22 knots of breeze. Dove across the line and spun the boat for our turn and burn.

Exciting finish to a long day.  Now a leisurely motor sail home. No doubt the wind would die when we left the bay. I had the off watch at 4:00 AM and was looking forward to some rack time.  Grabbed some space on the settee in the main cabin and settled in. 

I tried to sleep but kept sliding on the cushions. At some point, I was out, only to be awakened after being launched across the cabin and landing next to the lower berth. My shipmate, that was in said birth, was surprised to see me. Hey Rumbear, what's up?  He was even more surprised when a drawer full of sailing stuffs landed next to me and spilled its contents. (i.e exploded) The boat seemed to be healing...a lot.

WTH? The pain in my back was subsiding as the fog in my brain cleared. I had been asleep across yon cabin 6-7 feet away and now, well, I was not. The boat had a bone in her teeth and was charging north in 45 knots of breeze. This was not gonna dissipate, the Santa Ana had arrived. Lot's of shouting up on deck. Time to reef the main and douse that big jib. Amen brother.

Working on deck in the dark of night when it is blowing 45 knots is, well, inspiring.  This was SNO's watch and seeing him on the foredeck was pretty cool.  Scary, but cool. Did I mention this was his first overnight ocean race?

The wind cranked all morning as we headed north.  What a fricking sleigh ride!  We had 25-30 knots sustained coming offshore.  The seas were confused as the Pacific swells heading towards the beach collided with the wind induced offshore waves. This big beautiful Swan just hunkered down and performed. 8-9 knots flying through the waves.

The wind died as we got north of Tijuana.  We cleaned up the boat as we sailed towards the South Bay approach to Sandy Eggo. Bounced the Customs Dock around 12:30.  Some kind of record coming North.  

Great trip.  Great crew. Next up is the Hot Rum Series.

Rumbear out.....

  

Maybe..... 

I'll renew my subscription.


Bawawahahaha....

Keepin It Simple

Monday's Pun(s) !!! 

When the snake charmer wanted to get dressed up, she put on an extra garter.

After hours of waiting for the bowling alley to open, we finally got the ball rolling.

Just after thimbles were invented there was a shortage, so many people got stuck without one.

It's Aloha Friday....          
.....no work till Monday !!!  


Doo de doo, de doo, de doo ....
 
San Diego to Ensenada Race starting at noon today.  Southbound and down on a Swan 57.  Y'all have a great weekend!!!

Doo de doo, de doo, de doo ....

"Get your island fix on the Internet with KPOA!"

Listen live to the island sounds from Maui!

Amen! 
I was gonna post an excerpt and a link. Frankly, the whole thing is a worthy read. Thanks Matt Walsh!

An open letter to President Obama

Posted on October 3, 2013 by The Matt Walsh Blog

Dear President Obama,
You strike me as the sort of man who spends a lot of time staring at his own reflection. I wonder, what do you see when you gaze so admiringly at yourself? What image do you find in that mirror of yours? Let me guess: a graceful Greek god with a golden crown, draped in luxurious robes, perched on a giant, magnificent throne atop a mountain in the sky? You see a throng of angels singing your praises and masses of subservient peasants prostrated before you, trembling with fear and awe? You see a man who is more than a man, and a president who transcends the presidency; you see a historic figure of immortal importance? 

Yeah, that’s what I thought, and I can’t blame you, Mr. President. By all accounts, you’ve always been an arrogant, haughty narcissist — and that was before you became president. Your supporters and your enemies may argue over whether you descended from heaven on the back of a Pegasus, or were birthed from the bowels of Hell to bring about a Biblical apocalypse, but they both agree on one thing: you are a figure of great significance and immense power. You are either the anti-Christ or the Second Coming, with no room for anything in-between. Surely, this talk might cause even a humble man to slip into a state of vanity and pride, so I can only imagine what it must do to a man such as yourself, already so aloof and so conceited. 

That’s why I’m writing this letter. My impression of you is quite different, and it has only been solidified by your performance during this shutdown/Obamacare debate. I find you to be a very small man, Mr. President. Far from larger than life, you are petty, frivolous, pathetic; sneering and pompous but also trifling and narrow. I don’t mean to dismiss or underestimate the damage you have done to this nation — it has certainly been profound and lasting — but I want you to know that your legacy will not be one of grandeur and brilliance; it will be the legacy of a shameless, desperate bully. Both your opponents and your proponents hoist you up as a world leader with a grand vision, whether benevolent or malevolent. I, on the other hand, believe you have the vision of a temperamental two year old. You simply want to feel like you’re in control; you want to “win,” you want everybody in the room to pay attention to you, and you’ll stomp your feet and whine until you get your way. You govern like a coddled toddler; it’s inappropriate to pejoratively refer to you as a “dictator,” but only because it lends you a certain unwarranted credibility. I think you wish to be a dictator, but instead you’re just a bumbling bureaucrat; easily replaced and even more easily forgotten. You have the ethics of Genghis Khan, but the leadership skills of Michael Scott. This is why we are forced to witness the spectacle of, for instance, our president brazenly threatening to invade another nation for no reason, only to clumsily abandon the idea after being publicly spanked by Putin. 

Your legacy, Mr. President, will be defined by small, shameful things, as your presidency has been primarily a succession of small, shameful things. The platitudes you spouted during your campaign — the theatrics, the pomp, the hype — have all faded. Replaced by the scheming partisan machinations that have come to define your tenure. 

Every president has a moment that encapsulates their time in office; your moment, Mr. President, happened this week. Sure, future generations will look at you with mockery and scorn because of bigger scandals — Benghazi, the IRS targeting conservatives, Obamacare, the birth control mandate and your attacks on religious liberty, spying on journalists, arming terrorists overseas, Fast and Furious, the green energy scams, the bailouts, your support for infanticide, the billions you’ve given to the abortion industry, your cowardice in refusing to address the Gosnell murders, your reckless exploitation of the Zimmerman trial, the out of control deficit spending, your refusal to enforce immigration laws, the massive expansion of the Welfare State, the lies, the broken promises, etc — but I think, in an understated way, what you’ve done this week is a better microcosm of your entire reign. 

I’m not just referring to the fact that you are peddling the lie that “Republicans” have “shutdown the government,” when, in fact, they have attempted to pass several bills that would fund the government. Mr. President, you tell these fables to the trained seals in the media and your voting base, but you know damn well that any American with a capacity for critical thought will roundly reject this absurd narrative. YOU have chosen to “shut down” the government because you have made Obamacare the ultimate priority. You have said, “Obamacare or nothing,” and then accused Republicans of being the “hostage takers.” They are holding the government hostage by trying to fund it? What a silly idea. But then, you are a silly, ridiculous president. Speaking of which, this takes us right to your defining moment: barricading memorials and monuments in a ploy to win an argument. 

Comparatively insignificant when stacked up against your war crimes and constitutional infringements, but it is nonetheless an apt illustration. The Lincoln Memorial is just a giant statue. There isn’t any reason why people shouldn’t be able to look at a statue during a government shutdown. In past shutdowns, the memorials were open, with only the information centers closing down. The Lincoln Memorial has never been completely closed off from the public until now. You have decided to spend money to block and guard open-air monuments, when it would be cheaper, require less staff, and be less onerous to simply leave them be. Is this some sort of bizarre punitive measure against the American taxpayer? 

Infamously, you even attempted to stop WW2 veterans from visiting the WW2 memorial. That memorial is mostly privately funded, and is open 24 hours a day. You SPENT MONEY to physically guard the monument from a group of elderly war veterans. This is truly unprecedented. We have had horrible presidents in the past, but none quite so shallow, cheap and contemptible. You tried to close down Mt. Vernon, which is privately funded, but had to settle for closing its parking lot — even though the parking lot requires no immediate on-going maintenance or surveillance from any federal workers. Did you have to shut down the Normandy cemetery and memorial? Are we saving money that way? I doubt it. 

It’s the same game you played during the sequester, and it comes as no surprise to those of us who pay attention (which means it came as a surprise to a large number of people). Rather than leading like a statesman, you hide in the shadows; scheming, conniving, exploiting. You emerge only to make hyper-partisan speeches, with rhetoric best left to Democratic talking heads on afternoon cable news shows. Far from being a “new kind of politician” (as you were advertised), you are the most political politician this country has ever seen. You are political to your core, in your essence, at an atomic level, and so you are unable to offer any direction or clarity when the nation needs it most. Sometimes, Mr. President, the affairs of this nation require a man, not a politician, and it is during those times that you are especially useless. You don’t have any interest in fixing our present crisis because you’re too busy finding ways to keep a busload of 90 year old war veterans from looking at a memorial. 

Closing down parks, monuments and memorials just to score political points is hardly your most insidious deed, but it’s certainly one of your pettiest. That’s why it stands, ironically, as a monument of its own. If we ever build a statue of you, Mr. President, you won’t be triumphantly holding a flaming torch like Lady Liberty, or standing authoritatively with a look of determination, like the MLK memorial. No, it will be a statue of you pulling the wings off of a fly, or spitting in someone’s orange juice. It will show you in your essence, as monuments are meant to do. It will show you as a petulant, skulking, juvenile bully. It will you show you as you are.

And we’ll make sure it’s always open, especially during a government shut down.

Sincerely,
Matt Walsh

Obamacare.... it's the law of the land!  

Surely you have heard this claim by the Libtard Chorus in the past few days. Republicans are obsessing over Obamacare when Congress passed it, a president signed it and the Supreme Court ruled. The Republicans are extremists!  Tea Baggers are anarchists! Republicans hate people!

Notwithstanding the fact that president Zero, Our Hero, has taken it upon himself to bestow waivers on those he favors, the historic nature of this statement rings empty. Indeed, while we all wonder from where it was ordained that a President can simply waive off the enforcement of said Law of the Land, his minions carp about it being the law.  The law for me and not for thee?

Most folks seem to think that history started when they were born....or 2008, take your pick.  Positing that "It's the law of the land" is a hollow argument.  You may recall some other things that were THE LAW OF THE LAND. Let me help you out...

-Slavery

-Desegregation

-Civil rights

Remember these little events from our collective history?  Do you also remember that Conservative Republicans fought each one of these "Laws of the Land"? Lincoln, Eisenhower, Nixon, King.  Who was against these men? Kennedy, Johnson, Gore (Sr.), Byrd, Wallace, pretty much all the "great" Democrats.....

Now the Demoncrats attack Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Mike Lee...if history is any type of an indicator, I'd say these lads are in good stead.

Facts, they can be pesky things......

Fences.

It wasn't to long ago during the immigracion debate that we were told unequivocally that fences do not work.

So here we are in the middle of the Shutdown Theater and what does president Zero do to prevent veterans from touring WWII Memorials?

He puts up fences.....

San Diego to Ensenada Race. 


Heading south for the weekend. Well, somebody's gotta do it.  Taking SNO along. Should be fun!

What's This??


An  anniversary.....of sorts.

 




Mentally gone, but still here... 


Ever have one of those periods when you WANT to go somewhere however, the facts refuse to LET you go somewhere?

Yup, that's where I be.....

Shutdown Theater: Let me get this straight...within 24 hours of Congress failing to grant a Continuing Resolution the many branches of the Federal Government launched a coordinated plan to shutter National Parks, Cemeteries and other public property. Yes, within a period of hours each department had mustered miles of barricades, deployed guards, and secured otherwise non secure sites.  Their efforts even reached overseas.

A cynic might think this was planned.....

Where's Officer Barbrady? I call Shenanigans! 

 UPDATE:  Proof has more. 

LEADERSHIP....

Hello? 

Is anyone out there?

...

Hey Babe....  

Why We Win...   

 
Today's The Day!!!  

I can't wait to watch the news tonight and see the video of our President enrolling his badself and family in the new affordable healthcare plan. 

Certainly Chris Matthews will have a tingling exclusive! Rachel Madcow will be live! 

Oh. The. Excitement.....