Tag Archives: politics

Predators and Dominators and Aggressors and…

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…Sexual crimes.

BUT first- There is new stuff on Page II and Page III. none political and Semi-Serious. PLUS, there’s an update on my novel, “Swamis!” Check it out! ALSO, I am writing a Halloween night dream story on Page VII. Not surf related. Or is it?

To deny there’s some connection between surfing and sex… Wait. Backpedaling A step or two. That criminal abuse can exist in organized sport, that it does, and has, doesn’t ignore that the sexual predator/victim scenario is, and always has been, part of our shared history.

I have added comments on numerous Instagram sites that were covering the suspension of a World Surf League competitor after he and others engaged, allegedly, in a sexual attack on an under aged Australian girl.

While many of the comments followed the usual arguments of ‘alleged, not proven,’ and ‘why let one indiscretion ruin a man’s career,’ it was encouraging to see support for the victim, and for a ex girlfriend of the alleged perpetrator who revealed his violent acts toward her. Seeing Slater and Media and Toledo, an others, condemning the criminal acts was reassuring.

Then there are the deniers. Like, “This couldn’t be happening.” What? I have to believe that anyone who went to high school, public or private, went to summer camp, went to any dances, had any contact with others at all, has to know stories, most likely has stories of predators, frequently offering drugs, liquor being a drug, in order to achieve what they will report as a conquest. Not a relationship.

What happens to the conquered? Depends. If reputation matters, it is frequently a lot, a frequently for a long time. Perhaps the aggressor gets to be labeled a womanizer. Whether this is a good thing comes down to intent. Conquest over relationship?

I realize I at risk of appearing to be, I don’t know, old fashioned. May be true.

If I say we shouldn’t victimize others, to have respect, I must add that ignoring known sexual criminality is very close to condoning it. Still, I have never really intervened in the (several) instances where I was an an almost witness, or had knowledge of. Still, I’ve never respected anyone who bragged about their sexual conquests.

NOTE- I did want to write about this subject on Word. There will be edits and some lame excuses for my alleged wave hogging.

Oh, and China, since you’re so intent on following realsurfers, STOP. NOW!

In the Street, On the Road, Down the Road… MAY DAY/International Workers’ Day, and…

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…and sure, why not celebrate the folks who actually DO THINGS, BUILD THINGS, providing services to the folks who profit on the backs of workers. Not to be in any way political; it’s more like a cultural anthropological and historic question broken down to a harsher core: Do slaveholders support the slaves, or do the slaves support the slaveholders? Okay, change it to stockholders and CEOs, and workers.

If you are a worker, celebrate other workers… and yourself. In the midst of a hostile takeover of our fought-for, bled-for, died-for, always fragile democracy, it isn’t a bad time to take to the street in support of the former, supposedly, right wing ideals of rule of law, of due process, of independent and co-equal branches of government, of freedom of speech, of common fucking decency; not to mention, because I don’t want to go religious zealot here, but folks who boast about or even claim some loose connection to ANY religion or ideology that values treating other human beings with some amount of respect, how about a little fucking compassion?

INTERMISSION- SURF STUFF-

Olympic Peninsula ripper KEITH DARROCK is in Mexico, hoping to score at several mainland spots, and has agreed to represent.

“Waves all day right out front of where I’m staying. That’s Stinky’s, a mellow right hand reef. Pretty ideal for easy longboarding. Lots of surfers around. There are other spots nearby up the point and down that look bigger. It’s pretty chill except that I’ve already been stung by jellyfish and gotten some urchin spines in my foot. Not too stoked on that!”

STUFF I COULDN’T get right from Sunday:

A lovely spring day with no surf but lots of characters and sailboats and stuff, a cruise down Surf Route 101, a new sign on the Quilcene Historical Museum, also on 101.

INTERMISSION OVER, back to May Day:

Again, I am not a radical of any sort; and either are those on the street protesting; but there has been a shift in who believes what. Conservatives, out of fear, or hatred, or blindness, and perhaps this is what is meant by ‘staunch conservative,’ now embrace the lies, that, if you’re not someone who benefits from corporate greed, seems to not be in your best interest. That doesn’t seem really, um, uh, intelligent. AND, It is now radical to ask for the truth from those who deny it; to question the lies designed to further the interests and the accumulated wealth of… not workers, not folks who get W-2s, who pay into social security for years; nope, that money could be better served. Or, wait, is that a lie?

That’s my rant. Done. I have to go work. Because I mentioned the phrase, ‘down the road’ is a term I learned when I went to work painting Navy housing. It was late summer, 1971, families were being transferred, and painters were needed. It was a ‘temporary’ job. As the season wound down, less painters were necessary. Some were sent ‘down the road.’ It makes sense, and the fear if not acknowledgement of losing my job has always been there, and I did everything I could, learned all I could, because I wasn’t going to be selected for a layoff because I wasn’t good enough.

It’s May day, 2025, and… guess what? All work is temporary. Any worker can be replaced. But, any politician can be replaced, any CEO can be voted out, golden parachute and all. And, just because it’s so exhausting thinking about how dire our country’s position is right now, I have to mention that we are all here on a temporary basis. Again, not to go religious-ish, but when you do ‘down the road,’ where do you believe you’re going?

WORKS IN PROGRESS- Two from when I was waiting for a tire repair at Les Schwab, one from something else I’ve been working on.

That’s it. Happy International Workers’ Day! If you’re not getting waves today, I’m sure you will soon. They are out there. Thanks for checking out realsurfers. The drawings are subject to copyright restrictions, all rights reserved by Erwin A. Dence, Jr.