Is Everything Alright, California?

Things are hazy right now in the Golden State, and it’s not just the smog. We take our eyes off the Golden State for one second to focus on the Gold Coast and next thing we know there are pepper spray fights in surf city, nuclear waste seeping into lineups, and ridiculous statue proposals being made in San Clemente. 

So, it must be asked: What’s up, CA?

It might not have a direct effect on our time in the lineup (except the radiation thing), but certainly intriguing enough to at least gloss over. So now, the specifics:

Political Indifferences Lead To Physical Confrontation In Surf City.
Violence erupted in Huntington Beach late last week at a “Make America Great Again” rally after an anti-Trump protestor allegedly doused a female event organiser with pepper spray, sparking a brawl that ended in several arrests.

The man eventually got away, jumping over a fence and running along the Coast Highway. But he didn’t make it far before he was detained by California Highway Patrol Officers. 

“I hit him five times with a flag over his head,” said a Travis Guenther to the Los Angeles Times. Travis was attending the rally when the protestor attacked, and chased the man with a flag that said, “Trump, Make America Great Again.”   

Meanwhile, surfers in the lineup were subjected to the full viewer experience. More than likely aware of the irony of it all, they probably viewed the lunacy with the air of one who is trying to convert Fahrenheit to centigrade in their head while his or her house is burning down.

Nuclear Waste Seeping Into The Trestles Lineup.
Earlier this year, the San Onofre power plant in Southern California shut its doors. The justification for such an action being that the plant posed a serious risk to the area in the event of a serious earthquake (something California is well-known for having). Also, one of its steam generators cracked, causing a minor leakage. The result of excessive wear and tear over the years.

However, the problem with closing the San Onofre plant, besides being a major step backwards in the advancing of nuclear power, is that there is now 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste all stored up with no place to go. 

So what’s the best solution? Package that glowing junk up in plastic containers and put it in a facility a couple of hundred feet from the beach, apparently.

“The plan is to keep it in there for at least 35 to 50 years,” former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre told KUSI. The only problem is, “Those containers are meant to last 20 years. The containers, if they erode – there’s no way to get them out of there, so you just have to encase them… The containers are so large… there’s no way to move them unless you build special railway cars.”

And should they naturally corrode, where would the waste go? Yep: Into nearby lineups. Which in this case just so happens to be hallowed California locale, Trestles. Obviously, the problem presented by the power plant is a double-edged sword. But, falling on the blade doesn’t seem like the most sound solution.

A Failed Attempt At Unity?
To top off all the bear flag aberration, we have self-proclaimed “freelance journalists” Chad Kroeger (not of Nickleback fame) and Bodhi Johnson (no relation to Point Break), who went down in internet fame this week after pleading with San Clemente City Council to install a 12-foot-tall Paul Walker statue on the city’s pier.

“2017 has been a bummer year so far,” says Bodhi in a section of the above video. “You probably can’t tell by looking at me, but I’m a laid back dude, and everyone has just been so steamed lately. Well, I’m PO’d too, because we’re all just running around being literally non-unified. It’s in times like these we need a unifying figure we can all turn to. A beacon of headlights that can guide us down a dusty road.” 

Either this tribute to the late Fast and the Furious star is the most beautiful attempt at solidarity we’ll see in these tumultuous times, or it will be categorised alongside Fox News guy, New York surfer asking for a ride in the news van, and various Mason Ho interviews in a folder titled: Why The General Public’s Perception Of Surfing Is the Way It Is. We’ll let you be the judge.

In summation: Is everything alright, California? Do these sort of things happen during every multi-week flat spell?