an-otter day at the beach

A cormorant guide was on hand…

Returning to the wreck of a fishing vessel, I was focused on it when another  beachcomber swam into view. Very elusive on this part of the coast, I only got this slightly blurry photo before it went back the otter way.

Seagulls swallow starfish alive and whole, taking sushi to another level.

On the rocks in a hard place, the boat was approximately 30 feet in length, there are numerous other pieces of it on the bottom of the tidepool.

In a crevice at the pools edge lays one of the spark plugs from the engine, which somehow ended up around the point about 100 yards away.

A fun day, had a couple of good conversations with other beachcombers. Sat with one fellow for awhile as we sifted for agates and discussed rocks and unemployment, another gentleman came along later, looking for the humming boxes recently dropped off by UFOs here on this stretch of the coast. Told him I hadn’t seen any. “Some people find all the good stuff, eh?” We laughed.

Watering Hole: Monday, February 20, 2012 – Republican Wars

The Republicans have declared war on the majority of Americans.  Here are some examples:

• War on Women – Virginia’s State Sanctioned Rape by forcing women that are seeking an abortion to undergo an unnecessary, vaginal ultrasound probe WITHOUT informed consent.  The Nazis subjected women to various “experiments” without their consent, too.  The war on women continues with the Republicans pushing to make birth control illegal.
• War on Immigrants – Republicans have passed “show your papers” laws in Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia.  The Republican controlled state government of Missouri is currently pressing a slew of anti-immigration laws.  These anti-immigrant laws have cost the taxpayers money.  Then again, since when have Republicans been truly concerned about spending taxpayers money?  NEVER.
• War on Marriage/Sexual Identity - The Republicans want to decide who should be allowed to be married.  Love has nothing to do with marriage.  They want to tell you who can marry and who can’t.  It’s the bible or some verse in the bible that dictates marriage to Republicans.  Even if you don’t believe in the bible, you are still screwed.  They are at war with people’s sexual identity.  Why are Republicans so obsessed with sex and sexual identity?
• War on Latinos/Hispanics… see above War on Immigrants.
• War on Seniors – The voter ID laws disenfranchise seniors that are unable to get to a state sanctioned photo ID location.  These seniors will be denied their right to vote.  The Republicans want to dismantle Social Security through privatization and they want to dismantle Medicare by giving seniors discount coupons to be used to purchase high premium, private health insurance.
• War on Young Adults – Republican controlled state legislators and Republican governors are cutting funds for higher education which will make college more difficult for young adults to afford.  It will also deepen the debt for many college students that are already up to their noses in debt.  When college students exceed the amount of money that they can borrow through the federal government, they turn to banks which charge them a higher rate of interest.  The rate is variable so it can increase over time and private student loans are the ONLY loans that are not forgiven in a bankruptcy.  Default on a private student loan will follow them to the grave and payment can be taken out of a seniors Social Security check to pay back a private student loan.

Republicans have been waging wars on women, immigrants, marriage, Latinos/Hispanics, seniors and young adults.  Who is left to support the GOPers?  As far as I can tell, it would be racists, bigots, fundies/evangelicals, and the tea bag party.  Can they win an election with just that group of voters?

The Republicans are always screaming for smaller government yet all their “wars” sound like big government to me.

Late entry:  I forgot to mention the War on Gays.  This has been going on for as long as I can remember.  The link to yesterday’s Zoo post.  There are that handful of gays that think being “left” isn’t proper enough so they choose the people that hate them the most, the “right”.

This is our Open Thread.  Did I miss mentioning any “Wars on…”?  It’s your turn to Speak Up!