Posts from — March 2008

(Excerpt from Chapter II, The Art of War – written 298 BC)

1. Sun Tzu said:  In the operations of war,
    where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots,
    as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand
    mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them
    a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front,
    including entertainment of guests, small items such as
    glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor,
    will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day.
    Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

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God Damn America indeed! Obviously “Americans”, or at least those who are afraid of black people, don’t know how to listen to a cross-cultural distress call. The vast majority of the American people are too ignorant, by choice, too blind, too deaf and too politically correct to listen to what the Honorable Reverend Wright was saying in his inflammatory pulpit rave. The US federal prisons  from 1995 to 2003, had a 49% growth in inmates for drug offenses.  A justice department report from 2006 shows that males incarcerated in the 25-29 age group were, 8.1 percent Black men – about one in 13 – compared with 2.6 percent of Hispanic men and 1.1 percent of White men. Black women were more than twice as likely as Hispanic women and more than three times as likely as White women to be in prison at the end of 2005.

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On 15-Mar.08 I planned to paddle from “the beach” at Lake Carlsbad NM to “the flume”.  The lake was drained in January to allow city workers and residents to repair their docking facilities.   I arrived about 10:45am with winds out of the southwest at 3-4 mph.  The river was refilled as promised and the water was cold but would probably not cold enough to cause “shock”.  [Read more →]

To, The PGA Leadership, PGA Sponsors and Mr. John Henry Isenhours Sponsors,

The December killing of a Red-shouldered Hawk in Florida by John Henry Isenhour III is a deplorable and senseless act and must not be passively tolerated by the PGA or it’s Sponsors. I am a tour fan, golfer and at times a political activist. I have spent much of my life in a volunteer capacity working for the protection and recovery of injured Birds of Prey.

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After a break from Kayaking over the coldest part of the season I decide to go paddle at the Carlsbad Municipal Lake.  Upon arrival it was obvious that they didn’t make their March 1st commitment to refill the lake.  The lake was drained in January to allow the city and residents who live on the banks of the lake to maintain docks, retaining walls and other infrastructure.  The lake should be full on 08-Mar.

Lake Carlsbad is about 128 Acres and spans nearly three miles from the Upper Tansil Dam (South) and  the Flume (North).  It’s fed by fresh water springs which originate near the Flume and the Pecos River.   The lake has blue gill, bass, carp, catfish and is stocked with trout in the colder parts of the year.  There is a no wake lake that spans about 1.5 miles from Upper Tansil Dam (North) and Lower Tansil Dam (South). 

Since the water was low in Carlsbad Lake I decided to paddle the Lower Tansil Lake instead.  Though it was not quite as long as Carlsbad Lake it is still a great paddle.  There were a lot of people fishing from the banks on on this 70 degree day in early March.   The usual Coots, domestic geese, gulls and mallards and one yet to be identified red crested duck of some type, perhaps a merganser but I will have to verify this next time I’m on the lake.  There were dozens of snapping trutles sunning on the bottom of the Upper Tansil Damn which usually has water on it from the overflow from Lake Carlsbad.  The fishing was good for trout.  Apparently the Game and Fish also stock large catfish in the Lower Tansil Lake. 

Great day for paddling….