Iconic surf city and site of WSL world title San Clemente decider to debate “god ordained” resolution declaring it an abortion-free zone as shocked mayor responds, “(The) document could have been written by a Taliban tribunal, and I’ll say that as a conservative, pro-life Republican!”

“We believe that life is God-ordained and God is the author and finisher of every life. No matter if at the beginning or at the end."

Give and inch and they’ll take a mile or so the old proverb goes.

It ain’t a secret that the pretty surf town of San Clemente, home to the cream of American surfing, including Kolohe Andino and Griffin Colapinto as well as “cool mom that will let everyone drink at the house as long as no one’s driving” Matt Biolos, leans to the right politically. 

It’s changing, howevs. 

In 1980, over seventy percent of its residents voted Republican, plunging to fifty-three in the Trump-Biden showdown two years go. 

Still, the joint is redder than most. 

And, ever since Roe v Wade got iced, giving states the right to allow, or more pointedly, disallow, abortions, San Clemente’s pro-lifers have come out swinging. 

In a resolution set to be debated on August 16, Councilman Steven Knoblock, yeah ironic, writes in part, “We believe that life is God-ordained and God is the author and finisher of every life. No matter if at the beginning or at the end. We stand in agreement that, as a City Council, we will protect and sustain life at every stage.” 

Knoblock wants the City Counsel to “considers life to begin at conception” and to push back against Planned Parenthood health centres or anywhere the unborn are killed. 

Per the LA Times, “There probably isn’t a family in America that hasn’t been impacted by abortion,” Knoblock said. “The [resolution] will get people thinking about what society has been doing for 50 years.”

San Clemente’s mayor Gene Walsh, also red, said he was “appalled” by the resolution, “It appears to me to be a document that could have been written by a Taliban tribunal, and I’ll say that as a conservative, pro-life Republican.”

Still, the mayor says “there is no issue that’s more important to me than protecting the unborn”.

The resolution, even if passed, is mostly symbolic.

“The fact is, California is a state where abortion is legal and there’s nothing the San Clemente City Council can do about that regardless of whether we are pro-life or pro-choice,” said Walsh.

Knoblock’s retort is that the rez is necessary ’cause it puts pressure on the state to change the law.

“The cities and counties in the state are part of that process,” Knoblock said. “I just wanted our voice to be heard from San Clemente.”

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The irresistible Peter Mel!

Dirty Water: Beloved surf-hero Peter Mel on his bombshell wave at Mavericks and the reckless flirtation with Methamphetamine that nearly put him behind bars, “When you’re at your lowest it feels nothing can help you!”

The year of the Condor continues!

Methamphetamine is a terrific drug if used in correct proportion and for right reasons etc, a weekend-long sex party, to put the brakes on a kid with ADHD.

For Peter Mel, the big-wave surfer turned occasional WSL commentator from Santa Cruz, California, he put on the beast’s collar ’cause, well, that’s what y’do when you’re chasing rhinos in northern California.

Mel, who is fifty-three, no longer has the foaming jaws of a meth addict. Today he is the sort of man who loves his children with a passion, his parents with respect, his wife with generosity and his friends with loyalty.

He wears slightly too big flannel shirts and pants with stone washing applied at the factory.

On January 8 last year, Pete rode a thirty-foot tube at Mavs.

“Everyone on earth should see this ride,” said Kelly Slater.

In this interview by Ben Mondy, Pete talks about how he stuck his lance into that monster wave’s neck, how he was lucky to avoid jail during his meth years and the mysterious beauty of BeachGrit’s below-the-line commentators.

 

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Lau (right) and world's other greatest surfer Tia Blanco (right).
Lau (right) and world's other greatest surfer Tia Blanco (right).

Surf fans to have trouble falling asleep like its Christmas Eve when realizing “Ultimate Surfer” Zeke Lau into quarterfinals of world’s most popular surf contest, burnishing reputation as being better than Kelly Slater!

Try to sleep tonight.

Fans of competitive professional surfing, or not fans maybe but those who watched ABC’s much-lauded The Ultimate Surfer just last summer and fell in love with its winner Zeke Lau, went to sleep thrilled, tonight, realizing their hero has made it into the quarterfinals of the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach which just so happens to be the most popular surf contest in the world.

The premise of the aforementioned The Ultimate Surfer program was to find just that, the “ultimate surfer,” a surfer so good as to rip that crown off 11x World Champion Kelly Slater’s head and wear it, proudly, 12x at least.

Lau won, was given wildcards into the 2022 Championship Tour season, which he didn’t need because he qualified by his lonesome, then apparently lost those wildcards as we was beheaded in the World Surf League’s brutal mid-year cut.

Fans of competitive professional surfing, or not fans maybe but those who watched ABC’s emotionally successful The Ultimate Surfer just last summer, became extremely sad, then, wondering if Lau was not, perhaps, the promised savior.

Now that he is in the quarterfinals of the world’s most popular surf contest though?

Headed up against Jacob Wilcox?

Sorry, Liam O’Brien?

Christmas morning tomorrow.

Imagine he wins.

Imagine he wins the whole thing.

Will you riot?

Surfing, in any case, for the win.

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Preview of the Taiwan Open longboard division.
Preview of the Taiwan Open longboard division.

World Surf League on extreme edge as U.S. Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi visits island nation of Taiwan thereby infuriating China ahead of upcoming Taiwan Open of Surfing!

Tensions high.

Geopolitical waves smashed into the Santa Monica headquarters of the World Surf League, last night, as Democrat Nancy Pelosi touched down in Taiwan for what was billed as a “visit.” As you might know, the island nation, officially called the Republic of China, is very much claimed by the other China across the straight, officially called the People’s Republic of China.

A little history lesson for those of you, here, whose parents pulled them out of school in order to follow a competitive professional surfing dream.

Taiwan and China were both part of the same Qing empire until Taiwan was absorbed by the Empire of Japan after defeating the dynasty in 1895’s First Sino-Japanese War. Following Japan’s own defeat in World War II, Taiwan was returned to China which, at that point, was called the Republic of China. Except, civil war raged in that land, the Chinese Communist Party bashing up against Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalists. The CCP, fronted by Chairman Mao Zedong, was beating the the nationalists good and so Kai-shek up and fled to Taiwan in 1949 with much gold and many people and the two have been angry with each other since. The People’s Republic of China claiming Taiwan as its territory, theoretically. The Republic of China (i.e. Taiwan) claiming it is independent and chill.

Pelosi’s visit, in any case, inflamed tensions with China, People’s Republic not Republic of, which began conducting military exercises close to the island. According to Bloomberg, “The exercises threaten to disrupt shipping and airline routes in Taiwan, one of the world’s most-crucial suppliers of computer chips. Several airlines are planning adjustments to their flights, while pilots of Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. were advised to carry 30 minutes worth of extra fuel for possible rerouting in Taiwan.”

What’s worse, they may disrupt the Taiwan Open of Surfing set to get underway this November 13 and carrying with it 3000 points. The World Surf League has already lost the Quiksilver French Open, this year, due a lack of “financial support” and the loss of this second, important event would be devastating.

It must be assumed that CEO Erik Logan and Senior Vice President of Tours, Head of Competition Jessi Miley-Dyer are burning the midnight oil and working the phones, using their clout to preserve the fragile peace.

Viva them.

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Sexy Tizi gobbles Great White.

Sexy food vlogger cooks and eats juvenile Great White shark; posts video to delight of eight million followers, “It may look vicious, but its meat is truly super tender!”

Spectators watch as Tizi lays down beside the Great White to illustrate its size, slices it in two, barbecues the tail then boils the head in a spicy broth!

The food blogger Tizi has delighted and thrilled her eight-million followers by cooking and eating a juvenile Great White shark, a protected species even in her native China where exotic animals are regularly enjoyed as delicious treats. 

Tizi, who posted the video on Chinese streaming channel Duoyin, collects the Great White at a fish market in Nanchong, a city in Sichuan Province. 

Spectators watch as Tizi unwraps the fish, lays down beside it to illustrate its size, even if small by Great White standards, slices it in two, barbecues the tail then boils the head in a “spicy broth.” 

The food was shared with the locals, who unanimously praised the rare meat. 

“It may look vicious, but its meat is truly super tender,” says Tizi.

She’s getting a little heat now even though she says she got the animal legally, farm bred, which don’t happen, cause nobody can keep a White in captivity longer than a week before they start belting ‘emselves against the wall of a tank.

The local agriculture bureau says Tizi’s farm-bred claim was “inconsistent with the facts.” 

Five-to-ten in jail if she gets done. 

In other videos, Tizi has eaten an ostrich and an insanely cute baby croc.

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