Word from El Zorro...and an explanation is deserved to the OROG community

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

     During the better part of the past five days, we have been held hostage by the Time Warner Company.   They provide our linkage to the outside world, via television, telephone, and high-speed computer connection.   All systems went out, due to the lack of a secure service box, which had apparently been violated by vandal children.

     We awaited the service man, who came at the appointed time....four days after the event....and made the diagnosis and repair (screwing the two elements of the connecting cable together) and left within fifteen minutes of arrival.   He then gave me his card and said, "From now on, just call me, and I'll notify the office that you are on my call list."   Same day or next day service.    Gee.

 

 

     We are now filtering through about 120 messages of different import.   We are also fixing to spill rancid liver bile out on the internet until the entirety of cybermundo looks like gorilla guts in a witch's cauldron.   However, more civil contributors have eased my efforts by providing an adequate contribution "de inmediato".    El Zorro weighs in on the pretendrix to the Presidency of the Republic of Texas.

 

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State Sovereignty:
Get the Women and Children out First
(or Save the Union?)

(Having some health issues, El Zorro has not been able to contribute to El Gringo Viejo's blog though there are certainly a plethora of subjects to be discussed, expounded upon and dissected.  But, my sense of well-being has been restored somewhat by the need to ride to the sound of the cannon.)

  One of the larger issues that has the attention of many in the Great State of Texas is Texas' sovereignty. This writer is a proud member of the Texas Nationalist Movement with mixed feelings. Being a sixth generation Texan, my loyalties are to this state first and the the United States second. In that regard, to clarify that it is our opinion that the good of Texas rests or has rested to a certain extent with the good of the Nation. As long as the Union acts in the interest of the States and the people this arrangement is a useful one and one to be respected. However, if the Federal government does not observe and respect the sovereignty of the states and the people, that relationship should be reconsidered.

      The United States Constitution is a brilliant document written by some of the most intelligent men of the time it was written.  It was also inspired by a common power greater than the individuals who wrote it. It was written very clearly and precisely to be interpreted literally, a very simple document by design. There are not many grey areas but for those invented by the progressives who have infected our governing systems with deliberate intent to destroy the Constitution by conjuring up grey areas. The greatness bestowed on the people by the framers in this document is being stolen bit by bit through deception and intimidation.

       Those since Woodrow Wilson have been accumulating power until we have more than a simple majority of greedy selfish politicians who would turn the republic into a socialist-communist utopia. Our liberties are being illegally taken by unchallenged unconstitutional laws and executive orders. Obamacare and the IRS, the NSA, EPA, Executive cabinet appointments, Federal bench legislation, and hundreds of unelected subdivisions of government have replaced government by the people being governed.

      This gargantuan cancer is metastasizing into the state governments as well:

The New Fabian Society is the Old Fabian Society Listen to the similarities in content, context, and speech... Andrew Cuomo George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw's socialist views, the Communist Party involvement and his membership in the Fabian Society are eerily similar to thinly masked ideology of today's government leaders. Is New York (state) lost?     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Texas we have a challenge that must be met forcefully:

Wendy Davis She who would be Governess of the Republic of Texas Wendy Davis filibustered the Texas Legislature to abrogate a bill that would restrict abortions in the state. This was a twofold trick that would impose death penalties on unborn people and to promote herself as a liberal change of executive in Texas. Her motives are transparent. Hopefully, Texans are aware enough of the potential harm to our state if this woman Greg Abbot Republican Candidate for Governor of the Republic of Texas  should be elected. Texas would become a blue state. The example set would turn other states as well. She has done what liberals always do, compromise her own aspirations by stupidly embellishing her image with lies. She overstated her impoverished situation as a young mother to get sympathy from women in Texas. She lied by implication that she worked her way through law school when in fact her then husband helped which she did not mention. She has tried to denigrate her opponent, Greg Abbot by saying he is in a wheelchair falsely claiming a disability. Even though it appears she has damaged her campaign, it is a danger to thing she will not be a force not to be taken lightly.

     These are two examples of the insidiousness and power we are facing as a free people. If the Federal government will not change direction, which is  certain it will not, then the American people have to take charge. The U.S. Constitution is in dire jeopardy. Progressivism is growing geometrically and with such issues as immigration reform, the farm bill, the military budget cuts, Obamacare, etc. there is not much hope. It is certain we have no hope for retaining the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution is action is not taken by the people.

     As a last hope, the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution has to be taken seriously by at least three-fifths of the states. That would be a first choice for preservation of the Union and the vision penned by the framers. It means the Texas legislature will have to participate and I would urge strongly that it does. There is not much to lose by giving it a chance. The one consideration is the next governor of the state cannot be Ms. Davis; however, the Fifth Amendment does not depend on the Governor, only the Texas House of Representatives is necessary. As long as the House remains conservative we can proceed with this method for restoring the Constitution.

      The last course of action is Texas secession from the Union. That works for me as a last resort even though it would be a huge effort needing more than just a majority of Texans to support it. The TNM is working to coordinate such a proposition. As a proud Texan the idea of being a sovereign country is appealing. It would be worth all who read this to check out the organization at Texas Nationalist Movement

God bless the United States, and
GOD BLESS TEXAS!

El Zorro

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Sequel: Focus Group V

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

     The entire episode presented by the president last night was simple foolishness.   Even less than sound and fury, it was the stuff of focus group phrases, spoken by dolts with little intellectual or deductive ability.   The teleprompter feeders dutifully take off the phrases....job training....income inequality.... make America a fairer place....make investments in America's future....and the like.   Then after they have 20 or 30 phrases, those phrases are strung together in an incoherent way and read off of the teleprompter with lofty, near-shouted community organiser - cheerleader - union boss assertiveness by a puppet known as the first person to have ever been given the Nobel Peace Prize for having done all that stuff about everything and whatever.

 

Message to the nephew of Auntie Zietuni and Uncle Omar:   Your task, according to the Constitution is to give a state of the Union report to  the Congrefs of the United States of America.  No report was made.  I shall give the report for the nephew of Auntie Zietuni and Uncle Omar.

 

 

     The condition of the Republic is strained.   There are more people taking than giving.  The government is abusing its authority by over-regulating and by interfering with private parties and businesses via the Internal Revenue Service among other bureaucracies.  Foreign policy matters are laughable, were they not so dangerous, and the military is sick to death of Zietuni's and Omar's nephew.   So, we can assume that the condition of the Republic is not good, therefore the president has been largely successful in his mission to begin to  fundamentally transform America into a third-world country.

 

There.
We have given the report.
Ours costs less and said a bit more in terms of discernible substance.

El Gringo Viejo.

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From Reuters: Argentina Circles the Bowl

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Being the (Sir Edmund) Hillary of South America

takes a toll on a girl.  Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

did have a brain health issue last year.   She was out of

circulation for about five weeks until appearing in public

in mid-January finally.   She and her government have

succeeded, by in large, in destroying the financial system

of Argentina, along with the peso, in the quest of establishing

"Income Equality".   Leftism brings depravity and ruin.

Always.
(the upper labelling of the photos states, "Argentina remains
aware of the health of its President.")

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

SOURCE:  REUTERS

27 January 2014   

UPDATE 4-Argentina's peso slides on first day of new currency rules

Mon Jan 27, 2014 4:05pm EST

By Brad Haynes and Hugh Bronstein
    BUENOS AIRES, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Argentina set monthly
limits on dollar purchases on Monday, widening the gap between
the official and parallel exchange rates with an erratic
currency policy that has battered the peso and rattled global
financial markets.
    By limiting the purchases of U.S. dollars to a fifth of a
worker's monthly wages, the government revived doubts about its
commitment to a more open currency market under measures
announced on Friday.
    The concerns circling the peso, which posted its biggest
daily drop in a decade last week, added to fears of an
emerging-market sell off hitting currencies from the Turkish lira
to the Polish zloty.  
    Argentina's ostracism from international credit markets
since a 2002 debt default has limited the risks to the global
financial system. However, the plunging peso could hurt trade
with neighbours such as Brazil, whose currency closed at a
five-month low on Monday.
    Argentina's central bank stabilised the official peso by
pumping $100 million of its waning reserves into the interbank
market. But private traders wary of the government restrictions
weakened the peso nearly 4 percent in parallel trading.
    Due to excess demand for dollars, the peso trades on the
parallel black market at a discount of more than 40 percent to
the tightly controlled official exchange rate.
    "This is a relief, but it is not freedom. In practise, it
gives just a little escape," said economist Rodolfo Rossi in
Buenos Aires. "The pressure on the (black-market peso) is going
to continue."
    The local currency weakened on the black market to
12.15 pesos per U.S. dollar, while the official exchange rate
 was unchanged at 8 per dollar in thin trading. Last
week, the official peso slid nearly 20 percent as investors
scrambled to make sense of the new currency regime.
    
    The rapid depreciation has raised credit risks for Argentine
banks, insurers and companies with foreign debts, analysts from
Moody's Investors Service warned in a research note to
investors.
    "It remains unclear what policies the government plans to
pursue to address the underlying causes of capital flight, curb
inflation and restore investor confidence," the ratings agency
said in a statement. "Hence, Argentina's credit quality will
likely continue to face negative pressure."
    Moody's forecast a further 50 percent devaluation of the
peso by the end of the year, with price pressures from imports
pushing inflation upward to over 30 percent in 2014, from what
is already one of the world's highest inflation rates.
    Argentine officials were quick to dismiss such risks.
    "There is no reason that the exchange rate should distort
consumer prices," said Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich in a press
conference detailing the new regulations. "Lots of businesses
just raise their prices out of uncertainty."
    Shopkeepers over the weekend hurriedly replaced price tags
on imported items, from Cuban cigars to Asian televisions.
    The price surge followed the government's decision to lift
two-year-old restrictions on Argentines buying foreign currency,
allowing savers access to coveted U.S. dollars.
    The relaxation of controls came as the central bank's
foreign exchange reserves dipped under $30 billion - a level
suggesting its interventions in support of the anaemic peso had
become unsustainable.  
    Allowing average wage-earners to access U.S. dollars should
pressure reserves as well, because the central bank is the
economy's main source of foreign exchange.
    Conditioned by previous financial crises to hold savings in
dollars, Argentines are obsessed with the greenback. The
currency controls regime ending on Monday forced many people to
go to the black market for dollars to protect against the weak
peso and fast-rising consumer prices. 
    
    INFLATION RISKS
    Consumer prices rose about 25 percent in 2013, according to
private analyst estimates. Official data, which many economists
dispute, clocks inflation at less than half that rate. A new
government consumer price index, ordered by the International
Monetary Fund, is expected to be unveiled next month. 
    While inflationary, President Cristina Fernandez's policies
were seen by most voters as the key to economic recovery from
the 2002 debacle. She easily won re-election in 2011, promising
deeper market interventions and more stimulus spending
unencumbered by inflation targeting.
    The effect of peso volatility on other countries' markets
should be limited by the fact that Argentina has been unable to
issue international bonds since its 2002 sovereign default.
    Since then, the government's unorthodox policies -
underscored by its 2012 seizure of energy company YPF 
- have kept all but the most risk-hungry investors at bay.
    The peso's recent slide added to risk aversion in global
financial markets, but foreign officials played down concerns.
    "The troubles in Argentina today find a European Union that
is much more solid and a euro that is much more solid and a
better ability to deal with this kind of concern," Italian Prime
Minister Enrico Letta told journalists on Monday.
    Consumer prices remain a big worry on the streets of
Argentina, but the issue has not sparked mass protests lately.
Tensions may rise in the coming weeks as labour unions demand
that pay increase in line with private inflation estimates.
    If Argentina suffers 30 percent inflation this year, as
private analysts expect, it would mark the fastest rate since
the 2002 crisis, when inflation reached 41 percent.
    Fernandez has mentioned neither consumer prices nor the
peso's plight in recent speeches, leaving her cabinet to
announce policy changes. The next presidential election is in
2015, with Fernandez constitutionally barred from a third term.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What? No selfie?

     Being an inveterate blowhard and self-congratulator, El Gringo Viejo reminds all OROGs that this event was predicted early last year.  The Argentine Peso is involved in a death spiral that will provoke, for the second time in the last few years, a complete and total bankruptcy of the Republica de Argentina.   Cristina was hysterically assuring the Argies and the world, less than six months ago that the fundamentals of her "share the wealth" and "make the rich pay their fair share" schemes were sound approaches to establishing a more economically democratic Argentina.

     Cristina was also threatening to re-declare war on the Brits, and/or to establish a diplomatic boycott of the Old Empire.  That measure met with similar success.   The Falkland Island issue always serves to whip up war fervour among the Argentine people for at least 22 minutes.
 

     There are so many parallels between the promises and accomplishments of Obama and this horrid demagogue princess that it is almost as if they are twins separated at birth, born under the same star, and....thankfully, both term limited out during the 2015 to 2016 period....we hope.

 

More later.  Thank you all for the time you invest in this screed.

El Gringo Viejo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Little Boxes, Little Boxes....and then he was gone....a long time passing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The nightmare of psoriasis
and cul-de-sacs

Left-think requires that we not just know...but confess, admit, and believe...that the picture on the OROG's left represents a great evil.   Simultaneously, we are demanded by the left-thinkers that we must also admit the picture on the right represents a higher form of human achievement.  The popular "folk-song" of the counter-cultural movement of the 1960s and 1970s was a sneering impeachment of the bourgeois decadence and materialistic orientation of the "artificial non-existent American Culture".  It was necessary to tear down anything that bespoke of comfort, treasure, individual sovereignty, and of course, the silly pursuit of the "American Dream".    It was always a source of humour to El Gringo Viejo to note that the marxists condemned America and Americans for materialism, when in fact, Marxism was and remains pseudo-philosophy based entirely upon materialism and envy.

 

   

Somehow, little boxes really don't
seem that attractive in the Brave
 New World of central planning.

     At worst the Gringos practiced a form of idiotic "keeping up with the Joneses", but the Bolshies practiced "let's slaughter a few hundred thousand royals and aristocrats and a few million traditionalist, prosperous peasants in the Ukraine and Georgia so that Uncle Joe can have his dacha on the shores of the Black Sea.''  And the Bolshies also practiced the art of requiring, from each citizen, that which his abilities permitted and, of course, giving to each citizen what the government determined to be his needs. 

     The OROG certainly understands the perfect yin-yang, the finest balance of karmic resolution, taking only what could be given and giving only what would be needed.   Wow!  One might wish he could have thought that up all by himself.  Except...were we to "balance" things that way, then it might possibly turn out to look like the picture on the right....Leningrad, 1989.

     So Malvina Reynolds writes the song that Pete Seeger sings, ridiculing America and the Americans and the American way of life.   The audience laughs and snickers....feels superior for a moment....without remembering what happens when pinkoes and elitist social engineers can do for a city...even in America.  Just drive by any public housing project in any of America's 100 largest cities.  Right, Pete....little boxes, really.   The government should do something about it.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

More later.

El Gringo Viejo

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 



If, then. If not, why not? Why this and not that?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Enslave Women, Beat Them Up, Disorder the Social Order.   Democrat National Socialist War on Women is alive and well, and, of course, un-reported.    

To any reasonable observer, the contradictions are massive....huge....even gargantuan.   Somehow the record of victimised women, frequently beaten and/or abused women left behind by Billy Jeff Blythe is phenomenal.  Or the disdain Theodore (Lion of the Senate) Kennedy had for your daughter, his wife, his children male and female, can also inspire future degenerates for years and generations to come.

 

    The Democrat National Socialist Workers' Party has performed phenomenally in the process of enslaving women throughout the United States of America to the notion that Aid to Families with Dependent Children is some kind of calling or a right or a way-of-life.  With each program to "help" women, domestic violence has risen to ever higher levels of per capita numbers and severity of abuse.

Anthony Wiener is a big

 supporter of the War

 on Women.

     Children are born into fatherless homes, sent to rudderless schools, fed, food banked and stamped, and suddenly decide to become gang members.  Later, when they are old...like around 16 to 22...they beat up their mothers and grandmothers and girlfriends.   It is the product produced by the Brave New World Social Organisation.    Mayhem, violence, degeneracy, profligacy are the end product of  government programmes that are "helping women".


       And, in keeping with the Leftist Rule of always accusing your opponents of doing (when they are not) precisely what the Left really is doing, they point vigorously at George Bush or Ted Cruz or Rush Limbaugh, when in fact the greatest enemy of womankind is that famous serpent, whispering, "You don't need to follow no stinkin'  natural law,  you gots the Government."


     To these remarks it will be responded perhaps that we are accusing all women involved in multigenerational welfare dependency are guilty of something.   We are.    We also point at those welfare dependency workers, the companies and industries that promote participation in slugism and welfare dependency.  

     It is called .... a purposeful War on Women...designed to enslave people to a form of dependency that is much greater than a life-style;   it is an addiction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

The Wondrous Dinesh D'Souza Evaporation Machine:

 

 

    

America's most dangerous is now being readied for death by defamation via the active measures being taken by the United States Department of Justice,

Dinesh D'Souza
Public Enemy

with direction by Attorney General Eric (the Red) Holder, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and  the Internal Revenue Service.

 

     He is being prosecuted for campaign contribution violations.   No one has ever been prosecuted for his particular way and amount of contribution.   The Clintons, the Gores, and all Democrats and leftists are absolved of any "criminal intent"....remember Al Gore being unaware of what was happening at the Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles on that pleasant afternoon when he carried off several hundred thousand dollars in illegal campaign contributions.   Red Chinese campaign contributions were legendary.   Selling pardons for Bill and Hillary became a cottage industry for both Bill's and Hillary's brothers.

     But, it is the price one pays for helping the president's little brother. Dinesh must be punished!!!   Documentary movies that say bad things about bad people are bad....especially for the people who make the movie.

 

     But now, Eric the Red Holder, who cannot "get to the bottom" of the Fast and Furious matter with hundreds of dead people resulting from a botched plan that he, the anti-private gun ownership cabal, and career bureaucrats dreamed up.   Those are the ones who have dreams about that wonderful time when only the bureaucrats and the elites will have guns and the little people will be allowed to dial 911 for the body pick-up service.   Obama's National Health Service will pass out necklaces with transmitting devices that the people can press that say, "Help me, I've been shot.  I'm dead.  Please come and pick me up".

 

This Dinesh D'Souza  thing is reminiscent of the Tom DeLay mess that turned out badly, finally, for the over-zealous, leftist, Travis County, Texas district attorney.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oy vey iz mir!

El Gringo Viejo

Humour and Adventure

    The folks who we identify as living on an isolated ranch in "Extreme Central Texas" are compelling, complicated yet plainly good and straightforward as any two can be.  We are including a bit of political humour (contradiction of terms?) and a bit of the adventurous life they live.   They are the poster-children for "Whom to Hate" among the Obamaoids.  Well-to-do, philosophically religious, conservative, Americanites, generous to a fault, and totally unpretentious are adjectives that can be reasonably ascribed to them.   As with El Zorro and Wife, these two people are also very comely folks who are always the ones who dress up the place.

Two submissions.  To wit:

 

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CALL IN THE CLOWNS ALERT:

   

Barack Obama discovers a leak under his sink, so he calls Joe the Plumber to come and fix it.

 

Joe drives to Obama's house, which is located in a very nice neighborhood and where it's clear that all the residents make more than $250,000 per year.

 

Joe arrives and takes his tools into the house. Joe is led to the room that contains the leaky pipe under a sink. Joe assesses the problem and tells Obama, who is standing near the door, that it's an easy repair that will take less than 10 minutes.

 

Obama asks Joe how much it will cost. Joe immediately says, "$9,500."

 

"$9,500?" Obama asks, stunned, "But you said it's an easy repair!"

 

"Yes, but what I do is charge a lot more to my clients who make more than $250,000 per year so I can fix the plumbing of everybody who makes less than that for free," explains Joe. "It's always been my philosophy. As a matter of fact, I lobbied government to pass this philosophy as law, and it did pass earlier this year, so now all plumbers have to do business this way. It's  known as 'Joe's Affordable Plumbing Act of 2013.' Surprised you haven't heard of it."

 

In spite of that, Obama tells Joe there's no way he's paying that much for a small plumbing repair, so Joe leaves. Obama spends the next hour flipping through the phone book looking for another plumber, but he finds that all other plumbing businesses listed have gone out of business. Not wanting to pay Joe's price, Obama does nothing. The leak under Obama's sink goes unrepaired for the next several days.

 

A week later the leak is so bad that Obama has had to put a bucket under the sink. The bucket fills up quickly and has to be emptied every hour, and there's a risk that the room will flood, so Obama calls Joe and pleads with him to return. Joe goes back to Obama's house, looks at the leaky pipe, and says, “Let's see - this will cost you about $21,000."

 

"A few days ago you told me it would cost $9,500!" Obama quickly fires back.

 

Joe explains the reason for the dramatic increase. "Well, because of the 'Joe's Affordable Plumbing Act,' a lot of rich people are learning how to fix their own plumbing, so there are fewer of you paying for all the free plumbing I'm doing for the people who make less than $250,000. As a result, the rate I have to charge my wealthy paying customers rises every day.

 

"Not only that, but for some reason the demand for plumbing work from the group of people who get it for free has skyrocketed, and there's a long waiting list of those who need repairs. This has put a lot of my fellow plumbers out of business, and they're not being replaced - nobody is going into the plumbing business because they know they won't make any money. I'm hurting now too - all thanks to greedy rich people like you who won't pay their fair share."

 

Obama tries to straighten out the plumber: "Of course you're hurting, Joe! Don't you get it? If all the rich people learn how to fix their own plumbing and you refuse to charge the poorer people for your services, you'll be broke, and then what will you do?"

 

Joe immediately replies, "Run for president, apparently."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

AND THEN THIS WONDROUS TALE OF THE HIGH SEAS AND EXCITNG, ROMANTIC DESTINATIONS:

 

     I have had a memorable December and feel compelled to tell about it.  Ten years ago, Xxxxxxxxxxx, a classmate, and his wife bought a new Island Packet 485, christened Xxx Xxxxx, and commenced their circumnavigation.  The S/V Xxx Xxxxx is a cutter rigged sloop, 51.6 feet OAL, a 15 ft. beam, drawing 5.5 to 6 ft. with a fixed keel.  We helped them sail from Ft. Lauderdale to the Panama Canal in February 2004.  Along with their son in law, they sailed across the Pacific.  Later, in 2006, my wife and I sailed in Xxx Xxxxx up the coast of Australia to Cairn.  Then in 2009, I embarked in Xxx  Xxxxx at Salalah, Oman, and sailed past Somalia and Yemen through the Gulf of Aden and up the Red Sea to the Suez Canal.  Thus you might conclude that we know each other in many ways.

 

     After the family Thanksgiving at the ranch, Nancy, my wife, and I drove to Florida in early December.  On 9 Dec 13, I flew Air Berlin from Miami to Tenerife via a plane change in Dusseldorf.  Tenerife is a prosperous island of about 800 square miles with a population of 900,000, and the highest point in Spain with a volcano of 12,000 ft. and plenty of snow at the summit.

 

     We departed on 17 Dec 13, heading WSW with 12 ft. swells and 20 kt. ENE winds, to 20N x 30W, then a slight course change to 15N x 40W, and then to 270 degrees to the north end of St. Lucia, 15 miles south of Martinique.  The total distance was about 2850 nm.  We had 15-20 kt. ENE winds increasing to 20-30 kt. ENE winds the entire 19 days and routine 15 ft., 8 sec. ground swells as well.  Sometimes local weather fronts from the north caused some cross swells.  Rolls of 25 deg. were common with endless 15 deg. rolls.  Sleeping was difficult forward or aft, thus Bob and I ended up sleeping on the settees in the main salon amidships.  We used a heavy #3 cruising genoa as our only sail for the first two weeks and routinely made over 6 knots with many 145 mile days.  While we generally had a favourable current, it rarely exceeded a knot and was less than expected.  The generator ran at least 4 hours each day to charge the batteries, mostly used for the autopilot, refrigeration and communication.

 

     The first casualty of note was the furling line on the genoa that chafed until it parted.  Xxxx ably re-rigged the remnant and we proceeded on.  Early one morning, shortly after daybreak, we noticed the genoa had a slack luff and 5 minutes later the whole sail was over the port bow in the water.  The halyard had parted at the masthead sheave.  Fortunately it was daylight and soon the genoa, was clawed back on board and lashed on deck.  We had a spare halyard, but were not sure that the fleet angle was aligned with the forestay.  The Xxx Xxxxx has a main that is furled in the mast.  It was then 80% deployed as a reefed main and back to 6 knots with an improved, slower roll period.  With about five days to go, we still had 80 to 90% of our 300 gallons of fuel and commenced motor sailing.  Running the main engine at 1600-1800 rpm kept the batteries charged, let us make water, stay above 6 knots and still not use much fuel as the main at 90% did the heavy lifting.  We arrived with well over half our fuel.

 

     Christmas and New Year’s Day were very ordinary days except for Xxxxxx Xxxxx preparing special meals and serving delicacies hidden in the freezer and other niches only known to her.  Daily at 0800Z and 1900Z, there was a “Net” on the SSB (Single Side Band) with five or six other sailboats in port or in transit.  Weather, sea conditions, progress and problems were discussed.  One boat spilled their chili on the cabin sole but raked it back in the pan for continued consumption.

 

     One of the most unbelievable aspects of this voyage was that we did not see a plane or vessel until on the 17^th day when we finally did see a passing freighter.  On four or five occasions, a school of porpoises would frolic alongside for an hour or so.  Until one sails the ocean, you cannot comprehend its magnitude.  While man has been able to alter the shape of the land, he has managed to merely transit the oceans by floating or flying over them.  In 2004, Xxx Xxxxx transited the Pacific.  The longest leg was from the Galapagos to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, about the same distance from Tenerife to St. Lucia, 2850 nm.  The sheer volume of water 10,000 ft deep and 3000 miles wide with the associated energy is mind boggling.  Standing watch with large following swells can be mesmerising.  Will this be the wave that breaks over the stern or will it lift in time and how will the steering handle the twisting, corkscrew motion as the wave passes under the hull?  A couple times we did have gusts to 40 kts, which Xxx Xxxxx handled well with brief bursts to 8+ knots.

 

     Now the difficult part, Why?  To be honest, I am still not sure?  Perhaps, at my age, introducing a challenge of uncertain outcome is a good thing.  With only wind in the rigging, contemplating the cosmos under the Almighty’s hand at 0400, with the Southern Cross and countless stars on a vast ocean is humbling and good for the soul.

 

     By pure coincidence during the passage, I started reading 1421 by Gavin Menzies, a retired Royal Navy submarine skipper and improbable historical author.  More than any book that I have read, it challenged everything I had learnt in school about the European age of discovery by altering my perspective of who first mapped the world and when.  Additionally, it has further diminished my respect for the academic community.  Why has it taken so long when so much of the evidence was obvious with much improved tools?  I approached the book with guarded scepticism, and encourage the same by others.

 

     After three weeks in steady 25 knot trade winds, I expected to see rotor to rotor wind generators on St. Lucia where the average income is $4350/year and unskilled labour is available for US$200-300 per month.  Such was not the case.  Apparently, only countries with large federal governments can afford the efficiencies of green energy.  Solar heating of hot water was effective and common.  English is the official language of St. Lucia, which received its independence in 1979.  Fourteen times ownership of the island changed.  Most streets and names are French and older citizens also speak a French patois.  The island, while not prosperous, is beautiful, lush and fertile; but I did not see any commercial agriculture other than some small banana plantations.

 

     After arriving at Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, on 5 Jan 14; my wife flew in and we spent four days at the small, 26 room Calabash Cove Resort, owned by two Germans.  It is a great place to relax, swim and read.  We expected to eat out, but found the food so tasty that we ate all four dinners in the open air dining room.  Questions are welcome.

 

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     As an aside, El Gringo Viejo's eldest brother was a Ph. D and for a good while, the head of the College of Geography and Geology of Louisiana State University.   He was an accomplished expert in historical and cultural patterns of migrations of humanity, an expert linguist, a published author concerning matters of archaeology and anthropology, and many other accomplishments.  He was disturbed by the "longbeards" unyielding and dogged demand that matters always be regarded as "settled science" even when such knowledge would be found buried under tonnes of contradictory evidence.

     For instance, the stone projectile points classified under the monikers of  "Plainview", "Clovis",  and "Folsom", and to some degree the "Castroville", are essentially identical to other stone projectile points that have been commonly found in the Celto-Gallic areas of pre-historic France.  They would have to be at least 10,000 years old, yet they were found at surface washes and/or fairly shallow trenching sites in the places named above in and near Texas.   Those places gave the points their names.

     There were hundreds if not thousands of points that my brother and his accomplices would moan and bellyache about, and for good reason.   This business of "3,000 of the World's leading scientists agree that man-made Global Warming is a unanimously accepted as incontrovertible fact" is an example.  Of course, statements such as those are untrue, and the untruths that they represent are absolutely false on many levels.

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Thanks for your attention, as always!

El Gringo Viejo