Ramp 49 Hatteras Island

On our last day  Ralph, the dolphins and I had a fun session at Ramp 49.  Light offshore winds and the waves got bigger and better as the tide dropped.  My first time on the Naish Mana 9'0 - sweet responsive board. 

Windsurfing Hatteras

Six days of windsurfing and suping on Hatteras Island.  What a great way to start the season.

Windsurfing Update

Two weekends in a row we've had fun windsurfing at Belews Creek.  Here's Ralph showing me how to tack and jibe.

The People's Party

The Birth of the People’s Party

Robert Reich

Monday, March 7, 2011

Look at the outrage in Madison, Wisconsin. Look at the crowds in DesMoines, Iowa. Look at the demonstrations in Indiana and Ohio and elswhere around America.
Hear what they’re saying: Stop attacking unions. Stop making scapegoats out of public employees. Stop protecting the super-rich from paying their fair share of the taxes needed to keep our schools running.
Stop gutting the working middle class.
Are we finally seeing average Americans stand up and demand a fair shake in an economy now grotesquely tilted toward the wealthy and the privileged? Are Americans beginning to awake to the fact that our economy now delivers a larger share of total income to the very top than at any time in living memory? That big corporations are making more money and creating more jobs abroad than in the United States?
That this concentration of income and wealth has so corrupted politics that corporations can extort whatever they want from the government — tax breaks, loan guarantees, subsidies — while the super-rich can take most of their income as capital gains (taxed at 15 percent), and the rest at the lowest top rate in 25 years? And that because of this our kids are crowded into classrooms, our streets and highways and bridges are falling apart, and our healthcare bills are out of control?
The Tea Party grew out of indignation over the Wall Street bailout — an indignation shared by the vast majority of Americans. But the Tea Party ended up directing its ire at government rather than at big business and Wall Street. Was this because billionaires Charles and David Koch and their like funneled money to the Tea Party through front organizations like Dick Armey’s Freedom Works, and thereby co-opted it?
Now we may be seeing the birth of a genuine populist movement. Call it the People’s Party. Like the Tea Party, the People’s Party doesn’t have a clear organization or hierarchy or single address. It doesn’t have lobbyists in Washington. It’s not even yet recognized by the mainstream media.
But the People’s Party seems to be growing in numbers and in intensity. And it’s starting to push elected officials — first at the state level — to listen and respond.

We Are All Part of the Labor Movement Now

Story Here

Solutions

What's Possible?-Story Here

Look What's Happening in the Streets Got a Revolution Got to Revolution!

Revolution for the Middle Class

Today at the state capitol in Raleigh, I had the privilege of standing in solidarity with the Wisconsin public employees in defense of the middle class against the attacks of the Koch brothers, corporations and others whose greed knows no bounds.

The extremely wealthy in this country control the media, the narrative, the lobbyists, and the politicians.  They have shifted the blame from themselves and their financial recklessness, their gutting of the treasury from their excessive tax cuts, and their shipment of jobs overseas and duped many in this country, against their own best interests, into believing that government and government employees somehow caused our economic problems.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

As these speeches show, a revolution for the middle class has begun as people everywhere realize what is really going on in this country.  The extremely wealthy have already gutted the middle class, now they are trying to take away one of the last bastions of organized economic representation of regular people -- the labor movement.  We all need to take a stand for regular working people who absolutely did not cause this crisis, yet are being blamed for it so that the extremely rich can have even more power and wealth.

Wisconsin's Tunisia Moment

The Real Story - Here

Take Action: Call and Email your State and Federal Congressman/woman

Gorgeous Sunny Day at Freeman Park

 

Abs had a blast.  Small but clean and fun waves at Marker 9 and the pier.

From Windsurfing to Longboarding

Sambo completed the no-surf weekend with some longboard skateboarding on Sunday courtesy of a loan from NC Board Rider's quiver.  First session was a warm up on the flats with Abby pulling me with her leash.  Second session I was drawn to the big hill, working my way up to the top as I kept loosening the trucks for carving to control the speed.    

No Surf, No Problem

 
NC Board Rider Ralph and I windsurfed Saturday in excellent winter conditions at Belews Lake.  Strong SW winds, warm air, and relatively warm water made it a fun day.  Abs joined us and behaved except for stealing and tearing to pieces Ralph's boxers and socks while he was changing into his wetsuit.

We All Need to Play More - Great Article

I think all of us who surf already know these truths, but this article really brings it home and to the forefront of my consciousness:


The Key to Happiness: A Taboo for Adults?

Some quotes from the article:

We're at our happiest when we're involved in engaging leisure activities.

There are few things more important to your happiness than frequent doses of play.

It's not about the end, but the experience. 

Play is the world of the spontaneous that is home to real knowledge.

Play isn't a character defect; it's the builder of character, developing persistence, competence, mastery and social skills that take us beyond perceived limitations.

Contrary to stereotype, engaged play is the gateway not to time-wasting, but to times that let you contact deeper realms.

It's the coming together of mind, body, and spirit.  It's one of the highest of all highs.

Snowboarding Video

Time for a new video editor.

When you're blessed with 8 inches of fresh powder, you go snowboarding

We got up early Sunday morning and headed out through the back country for some unauthorized, out-of-bounds virgin powder snowboarding on Federal government property.  Abs had the time of her life.

Lightnin Hopkins Plays the Blues

Goin' Down Slow