There's just no group dumber than...
 

....Republicans.

Deseret News
GOP in Idaho's Bonner County doesn't like 'Fiesta' theme
Published: Thursday, July 8, 2010 1:25 p.m. MDT

SANDPOINT, Idaho — Some Republicans are unhappy with the Bonner County
Fair's theme of "Fiesta at the Fair," in light of ongoing battles to
stop illegal immigration from Mexico.

The Bonner County GOP said it will decorate its booth with the word
"celebrate" instead of "fiesta." The Republicans have also asked Arizona
officials for some license plates to put in the booth, to show support
for that state's controversial law targeting illegal immigrants.

"The Republicans at BCRCC want to make it very clear that English is our
primary language, and call our booths 'Celebrate!' and display some
Arizona license plates if you have some to spare," Bonner County
Republican Central Committee Chairman Cornel Rasor wrote in a letter to
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, according to The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

The fair runs Aug. 24-28 in Sandpoint, Idaho, a town with relatively few
minorities that is about 90 miles north of Spokane, Wash.

Bonner County fair board Chairman Tim Cary said the fair was just
looking for a theme that's fun to decorate with, and the choice had
nothing to do with official language or immigration disputes.

Cary noted that one of the fair's regular offerings is the Mexican food
sold at the Search and Rescue booth.

"Are we supposed to change the name of a burrito to something in
English?" Cary said. "I'm thinking there's some narrow-mindedness here,
but that's just my opinion."

The county GOP at its monthly meeting in June voted to "affirm"
Arizona's tough immigration law and to send the letter seeking the
license plates for the fair booth to Arizona's governor.

Rasor, also a county commissioner, sought to distance himself from the
clash Wednesday but acknowledged he signed and sent the letter.

"Having a fiesta theme at the fair was OK with me, I didn't even think
about it 'til somebody brought it up," Rasor said. "But their concerns
are very real to them, so I don't want to downplay it."

Rasor said the words "fiesta" and "celebrate" mean the same thing.

"So technically speaking we didn't have a different theme than the fair,
it's just a different spelling," he said.

Last year's fair theme was "A Black Tie and Blue Jeans Affair."

The Arizona law, not yet in effect, is intended to drive illegal
immigrants out of Arizona and discourage them from coming in the first
place. It requires police investigating another crime to ask people
about their immigration status if there's "reasonable suspicion" they're
in the country illegally. It also makes being in the country illegally a
misdemeanor under state law.

The Idaho Legislature may consider a similar law in its next session.


- - -

Republicans find the word "fiesta" offensive. Dumbfochs, all of them.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

\\\Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:45:30 -0400, Harry ?
wrote:

...Republicans.

Deseret News
GOP in Idaho's County doesn't like 'Fiesta' theme
Published: Thursday, July 8, 2010 1:25 p.m. MDT


dont forget, the GOP is the party of palin

res ipsa loquitur
\\\\


]

There's just no group dumber than...
 

"bpuharic" wrote in message
...


\\\Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:45:30 -0400, Harry ?
wrote:

...Republicans.

Deseret News
GOP in Idaho's County doesn't like 'Fiesta' theme
Published: Thursday, July 8, 2010 1:25 p.m. MDT


dont forget, the GOP is the party of palin

res ipsa loquitur
\\\\


]

Correction... the GOP is the party of Faux News.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:23:24 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Correction...

How is that sailboat partnership coming along?

There's just no group dumber than...
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:23:24 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Correction...

How is that sailboat partnership coming along?


I'm assuming you ask because you don't like my correction?

Actually, had an interesting discussion yesterday with the other three.
We're going to take a small trip in August, partly work (for Brian and me),
and we're going to be take a look at a possible contender (a Valiant 40).
It's a deliberately long process, since the money is significant.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

Harry  wrote:
...Republicans.

Deseret News
GOP in Idaho's Bonner County doesn't like 'Fiesta' theme
Published: Thursday, July 8, 2010 1:25 p.m. MDT

SANDPOINT, Idaho — Some Republicans are unhappy with the Bonner County
Fair's theme of "Fiesta at the Fair," in light of ongoing battles to
stop illegal immigration from Mexico.

The Bonner County GOP said it will decorate its booth with the word
"celebrate" instead of "fiesta." The Republicans have also asked Arizona
officials for some license plates to put in the booth, to show support
for that state's controversial law targeting illegal immigrants.

"The Republicans at BCRCC want to make it very clear that English is our
primary language, and call our booths 'Celebrate!' and display some
Arizona license plates if you have some to spare," Bonner County
Republican Central Committee Chairman Cornel Rasor wrote in a letter to
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, according to The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

The fair runs Aug. 24-28 in Sandpoint, Idaho, a town with relatively few
minorities that is about 90 miles north of Spokane, Wash.

Bonner County fair board Chairman Tim Cary said the fair was just
looking for a theme that's fun to decorate with, and the choice had
nothing to do with official language or immigration disputes.

Cary noted that one of the fair's regular offerings is the Mexican food
sold at the Search and Rescue booth.

"Are we supposed to change the name of a burrito to something in
English?" Cary said. "I'm thinking there's some narrow-mindedness here,
but that's just my opinion."

The county GOP at its monthly meeting in June voted to "affirm"
Arizona's tough immigration law and to send the letter seeking the
license plates for the fair booth to Arizona's governor.

Rasor, also a county commissioner, sought to distance himself from the
clash Wednesday but acknowledged he signed and sent the letter.

"Having a fiesta theme at the fair was OK with me, I didn't even think
about it 'til somebody brought it up," Rasor said. "But their concerns
are very real to them, so I don't want to downplay it."

Rasor said the words "fiesta" and "celebrate" mean the same thing.

"So technically speaking we didn't have a different theme than the fair,
it's just a different spelling," he said.

Last year's fair theme was "A Black Tie and Blue Jeans Affair."

The Arizona law, not yet in effect, is intended to drive illegal
immigrants out of Arizona and discourage them from coming in the first
place. It requires police investigating another crime to ask people
about their immigration status if there's "reasonable suspicion" they're
in the country illegally. It also makes being in the country illegally a
misdemeanor under state law.

The Idaho Legislature may consider a similar law in its next session.


- - -

Republicans find the word "fiesta" offensive. Dumbfochs, all of them.

Northern Idaho you say? I'd bet they have no problem with Octoberfest.

--
Jordon

There's just no group dumber than...
 

On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:37:36 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

So, to be on topic.... what did you think of my anchor retrieval system
using a fender? Here it is again:

Here you go... obviously this is not to scale, but I think you'll get the
idea. More than one fender could be lowered, and in the drawing, the anchor
marker is already on board.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7...rretrieval.png

All you have to do is to have the marker attached to a line that already
goes through a block at the anchor. You could even leave it as a light line,
then if there's a problem, tie a heavier line to the lighter line and pull
it through to the point where you could attach a fender.

Another option (not sure if it's really workable) would be to have a CO2
cartridge ready at the anchor... you pull the float line, and pop! My
inflatable vest claims 36 lbs. of lift... something like that..., but I
still think the multiple fender option would work better.


Creative thinking and good art work but not useful in real life - no
one ever sets a trip line with a block at the anchor, and it would
take a much heavier trip line than normally deployed.

In actual practice trip lines are usually referred to in the context
of: "Should have used a trip line".

Fortunately broken anchor windlasses are a fairly rare event, and much
easier to deal with on a sailboat due to the availabilty of powerful
sheet winches.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:37:36 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

So, to be on topic.... what did you think of my anchor retrieval system
using a fender? Here it is again:

Here you go... obviously this is not to scale, but I think you'll get the
idea. More than one fender could be lowered, and in the drawing, the
anchor
marker is already on board.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7...rretrieval.png

All you have to do is to have the marker attached to a line that already
goes through a block at the anchor. You could even leave it as a light
line,
then if there's a problem, tie a heavier line to the lighter line and pull
it through to the point where you could attach a fender.

Another option (not sure if it's really workable) would be to have a CO2
cartridge ready at the anchor... you pull the float line, and pop! My
inflatable vest claims 36 lbs. of lift... something like that..., but I
still think the multiple fender option would work better.


Creative thinking and good art work but not useful in real life - no
one ever sets a trip line with a block at the anchor, and it would
take a much heavier trip line than normally deployed.

Thanks!

I wasn't actually advocating using a trip line. I was advocating a small
line with a buoy to mark the anchor spot, which I understand is a fairly
common technique. If one had a block on the anchor as well, then it would be
fairly simple to route a larger line through it using the buoy line as a
beginning.

In actual practice trip lines are usually referred to in the context
of: "Should have used a trip line".

That took me a second... LOL

Fortunately broken anchor windlasses are a fairly rare event, and much
easier to deal with on a sailboat due to the availabilty of powerful
sheet winches.

Would it be common for a 40' sailboat to have a power winch? All we saw had
them as options... but I suppose you could add one yourself.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:02:45 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Would it be common for a 40' sailboat to have a power winch? All we saw had
them as options... but I suppose you could add one yourself.

They are an expensive add on. If shopping used boats, better to find
one properly equipped.

I would say that all well equipped 40 foot cruising boats have a
windlass, usually electrically powered, sometimes manual. Properly
sized ground tackle on a boat that large, typically a 45 lb anchor
with a substantial amount of chain, needs a windlass of some sort.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:02:45 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Would it be common for a 40' sailboat to have a power winch? All we saw had
them as options... but I suppose you could add one yourself.

May have misunderstood your question. Are you talking about a powered
sheet winch or an anchor windlass?

There's just no group dumber than...
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:02:45 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Would it be common for a 40' sailboat to have a power winch? All we saw
had
them as options... but I suppose you could add one yourself.

They are an expensive add on. If shopping used boats, better to find
one properly equipped.

I would say that all well equipped 40 foot cruising boats have a
windlass, usually electrically powered, sometimes manual. Properly
sized ground tackle on a boat that large, typically a 45 lb anchor
with a substantial amount of chain, needs a windlass of some sort.


You're talking windlass... or electric winches?

There's just no group dumber than...
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:02:45 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Would it be common for a 40' sailboat to have a power winch? All we saw
had
them as options... but I suppose you could add one yourself.

May have misunderstood your question. Are you talking about a powered
sheet winch or an anchor windlass?


Ah.. sorry.... windlass is part of minimum equipment for sure on a boat that
size, but I was thinking you were saying adding a power sheet winch (for
sail adj and raising, right)?

Sounds nice, but I'm wondering if it's worth it for normal sailing. I
suppose they can be turned off but the winch used manually? I could see one
for raising the main. Big boat.. lots of effort I'd imagine!

There's just no group dumber than...
 

On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:35:20 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

I was thinking you were saying adding a power sheet winch (for
sail adj and raising, right)?

Sounds nice, but I'm wondering if it's worth it for normal sailing. I
suppose they can be turned off but the winch used manually? I could see one
for raising the main. Big boat.. lots of effort I'd imagine!

A powered sheet winch makes a lot of sense for larger cruising boats.
I have only sailed on a couple of boats that had them, but I helped a
friend deliver his boat NY to the Chesapeake a few years back. He had
a powered winch on the cabin top, and I thought it was a good location
and very useful. It was positioned primarily for use with the main
halyard but it was also possible to use it on the jib sheets by first
taking several turns on the normal sheet winch, and then leading the
sheet forward to the powered winch. It had two power switches, one
for low speed and another for high speed.

The biggest caveat is that a great deal of care is required when
hoisting sails. Normally you feel the extra resistance right away if
a sail jams in the track but with a power winch it is possible to do
some damage if you don't catch it quickly.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:35:20 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

I was thinking you were saying adding a power sheet winch (for
sail adj and raising, right)?

Sounds nice, but I'm wondering if it's worth it for normal sailing. I
suppose they can be turned off but the winch used manually? I could see
one
for raising the main. Big boat.. lots of effort I'd imagine!

A powered sheet winch makes a lot of sense for larger cruising boats.
I have only sailed on a couple of boats that had them, but I helped a
friend deliver his boat NY to the Chesapeake a few years back. He had
a powered winch on the cabin top, and I thought it was a good location
and very useful. It was positioned primarily for use with the main
halyard but it was also possible to use it on the jib sheets by first
taking several turns on the normal sheet winch, and then leading the
sheet forward to the powered winch. It had two power switches, one
for low speed and another for high speed.

The biggest caveat is that a great deal of care is required when
hoisting sails. Normally you feel the extra resistance right away if
a sail jams in the track but with a power winch it is possible to do
some damage if you don't catch it quickly.

Interesting! Thanks for the detail about the power winches. I think they
would be a good thing to have, but I guess there would be some concerns
about complexity (more complex a system, the more unreliable it tends to
be), including a big drain on the batteries if there's no shore power. I
guess that opens up the question of self-generating power such as wind or
solar.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:43:23 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Interesting! Thanks for the detail about the power winches. I think they
would be a good thing to have, but I guess there would be some concerns
about complexity (more complex a system, the more unreliable it tends to
be), including a big drain on the batteries if there's no shore power. I
guess that opens up the question of self-generating power such as wind or
solar.

Serious cruising boats that are going to spend a lot of time at anchor
in the boondocks usually have both solar and wind power. I also
recommend a high output alternator with a "smart", 3-stage regulator.
A powered sheet winch needs only short bursts however and has little
effect on long term battery drain. The big battery killers are
things like refrigeration, the auto pilot, navigation equipment, wind
instruments, lights, etc.

There's just no group dumber than...
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:43:23 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Interesting! Thanks for the detail about the power winches. I think they
would be a good thing to have, but I guess there would be some concerns
about complexity (more complex a system, the more unreliable it tends to
be), including a big drain on the batteries if there's no shore power. I
guess that opens up the question of self-generating power such as wind or
solar.

Serious cruising boats that are going to spend a lot of time at anchor
in the boondocks usually have both solar and wind power. I also
recommend a high output alternator with a "smart", 3-stage regulator.
A powered sheet winch needs only short bursts however and has little
effect on long term battery drain. The big battery killers are
things like refrigeration, the auto pilot, navigation equipment, wind
instruments, lights, etc.


Thanks for the GREAT information!