Recently in New Hampshire Category

Here it is, the closing hours of Labor day, the unofficial end of summer.

It's always a bittersweet time for me, seeing the yearly wonders summer brings coming to an end.

In days the local beach will be closed.

The boating season may well run for another month or so, but it won't be the same. No one will be anchoring to do some swimming. Boats won't be towing waterskiers, wakeboards, or tubes behind them.

Many of the waterfront eateries and amusements will be shutting down during the weekdays and not long from now will be closed until next summer. And not long after that the diehard boaters (like me) will be pulling our boats from the water and getting them ready for winter storage.

Another summer will fade away, to live on only in our memories. It is these that will sustain us through the coming winter, reliving some of the great moments of this wonderful summer.

And as always happens this weekend, Don Henley's Boys Of Summer runs through my mind, with almost every line evoking the very feelings the end of summer entails.



It's been a great summer, one of the best in a long time. It only ended too soon for many of us.

It's in Laconia, behind the former state prison that was recently closed down (again), and its state of disrepair is lamentable. Which is remarkable when one considers its great location and wonderful potential bordering Lake Winnisquam. I discovered it recently and was amazed. A picturesque, tangled web of beauty.

I thought of that when reading today's UL editorial on the general state of disrepair of NH's state parks. It's the case that public amenities in NH typically lag behind other states that I'm familiar with: Michigan and Maine.

But who cares when it seems the alternative is a state income tax.

But the potholes in the road...my goodness. It puts the expression "benign neglect" into the meaning of "this looks worse than if we were in a post-apocalyptic future." Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes had better amenities on his way to the Statue of Liberty.

No inciteful post tonight because BeezleBub and I were out on the lake this evening.

It was such a nice day that we decided to celebrate the last part of his birthday with a trip out on the lake. On the way to The Boat we picked up one of his friends who works at the farm.

Rafael is from Brazil and in the time he's been in the US he's never been out on a boat, so BeezleBub asked if we could take him.

What I thought would be a quick jaunt out on the lake lasted almost 2 hours. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I enjoyed every minute of it. But after getting back I had absolutely no ambition (or energy) to write anything profound, semi-profound, or completely inane. So instead you got this.

Until tomorrow, when regular blogging will resume.

It's nice weather at the moment, though the Weather Guys™ have us under a Tornado Watch the rest of the day. That means that once the nasty weather appears I'll be pulling the plug on the computers here at The Manse.

Deb, BeezleBub and I made it out on to Lake Winnipesaukee late yesterday afternoon, before the weekenders showed up. The conditions were perfect, with few boats and no wind. It made for a nice 2-hour jaunt, the first of many this season.

On our way back to our slip we noticed boat traffic picking up quite a bit, showing the weekenders had arrived and were getting at least one run in before the less then great weather arrived (meaning today).

There are advantages of living at the lake!

BeezleBub and I managed to beat the Memorial Day Weekend holiday rush, launching the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout (aka The Boat) Thursday evening. Even so we had to wait in line to use the town boat ramp as there were two other town residents ahead of us, one launching their boat and the other pulling it out of the water. After a 20 minute wait (the fellow pulling his boat out of the water didn't realize he needed to winch it tight up against the bow stop while most of the weight was still supported by the water) we were backing The Boat down the ramp and, just like that, it was afloat and BeezleBub piloted it to one end of the two docks flanking the ramp.

A few minutes later we were motoring slowly to our slip in the nearby cove.

We got The Boat tied up at its slip and headed home.

Yesterday we took it out for a quick 30-minute shakedown cruise to make sure everything was working properly. We did find a couple of minor problems, including a loose connection on the gas gauge sender and a broken bezel on one of the instruments at the helm. One will be fixed over the weekend and the other will be fixed once the new bezel arrives.

All in all, not a bad start to the boating season.

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This weekend also signals the unofficial beginning of summer, meaning a lot of the summerfolk are here, opening their camps and cottages (assuming they haven't done so already). Resort owners have also gotten their lodgings squared away, anticipating a decent summer...if the weather isn't a repeat of the last two summers, which both suffered from a plethora of rainy days in June and July.

The corporate jets started arriving at the local airport just past noon yesterday, signifying the well-heeled folks owning lakeside McMansions have made their appearances as well. This weekend also means the ever dreaded "summah people" have arrived as well. (I've covered these folks more than once, so I'm not going into any detail other than to describe them as obnoxious boors with some money who lack common sense or manners, and are condescending as hell towards year-round residents, seasonal tourism workers, local business owners, and the 'normal' summerfolk.)

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This being the 'start' of summer, many of the local ice cream stands/burger-hot dog-lobster roll joints are now open all week long. This makes it easier for those of us working during the week to partake of their offerings during some of those long, nice-summer-day lunches we'll take between now and Labor Day.

It helps that some of those places happen to be close to where we dock The Boat, meaning we can sample the great summer fare while cruising the lake. There are a few places that are right on the water with their own docks, making it even more convenient.

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One of our favorite summertime haunts is the town boat ramp. It may sound like a strange place to hang around, but the entertainment makes it worthwhile. The breadth of hilarious events as people launch their boats (or pull them out) never ceases to amaze me. The two most common occurrences that bring on barely suppressed laughter? Boaters forgetting to install bilge plugs that cause their boats to start filling with water the instant they're launched; and failure to remove the tie-down straps attaching at the stern of the boat to the trailer before backing them down the ramp. The ensuing scramble from these two oversights never ceases to amuse.

(Am I being cruel? Not really. Just about every boater has experienced one or both of these oversights at one time or another during their years of boating. That being said, there are only two kinds of boaters out there: those that have done them, and those that will.)

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We stayed away from the lake today, and are likely to do the same on Sunday. The last thing we need is dealing with all the other boats out there, generating all kinds of wake-driven chop. It's no fun being out on the lake when the water is rough. It makes for an exhausting trip.

One of the advantages of living here is that we can avail ourselves of the opportunities to head out on the lake during the week when the traffic will be a fraction of what it can be on weekends.

Who says there's never a cop around when you need one?

As these two teens found out, a cop could be the guy in the car in front of you that you just harassed and threatened in a road rage incident.

Two teens who allegedly followed, then threatened an off-duty police officer at his home after a road rage incident were arrested Friday night.

Apparently they didn't like seeing the officer's car in front of them even though he had passed them while they were driving well under the speed limit. So they sped up, followed him home, and threatened him with a baseball bat once he pulled into his driveway.

My son is acquainted with one of the teens involved in the incident and was not surprised to find out he was involved. I know the police officer they threatened (he lives just down the street from us), and know he's a pretty cool customer.

Let's hope these two jerks learned a valuable lesson. But if what my son told me about one of them is true, it's unlikely.

This is a funny comment by a decidedly anti Taurus gun owner. I own two Taurus pistols, one of which I was carrying when I literally came face to face with a mother bear and her yearling cub, about 25-30 feet away. Both were already filling out from trash diving.

I was hiking the new lot in Center Harbor yesterday with the sun going down. Center Harbor Woods was recently acquired by the efforts of donors and the Lakes Region Conservation Trust (LRCT). The trails are still really primitive and hardly used, which makes them great. There are free maps of it, including one listing flora and fauna, at the LRCT headquarters. (They've moved from Meredith to a formerly private residence in Center Harbor on Route 25B.)

These bears were likely the ones that have already raided my garbage once. My sidearm was a Taurus Millennium Pro PT 140, a ten-round .40 caliber double action semi-auto. Why the bears didn't run when my dog began frantically barking at them and waited until I approached from the south (wind was north-northeast) shows how territorial and aggressive they become when making a living off humans' trash.

The mother even angrily barked at me before reluctantly it seemed turning away. And I had felt like a fool strapping on! With the bile in my throat and ten ticks on me, I returned to the car with my knees shaking together, wishing I had had a more powerful revolver with me. Like the Ruger Redhawk in the .45 Colt. But that is difficult-to-find ammo.

Thursday I attended one of the hundreds of TEA party protests held around the nation. Turnout was around 1000, which was similar to last year's Tax Day TEA Party protest.

Of the myriad of speakers at the protest, only one was a sitting member of the House of Representatives and he was visiting from Michigan. A number of Congressional hopefuls were there, but none spoke, preferring to press the flesh and speak one-on-one with TEA party supporters. Not surprisingly, only GOP candidates showed up even though invitations were extended to candidates from all parties.

Three of the more inspiring speakers included former US Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH), Thom Thomson - son of the late New Hampshire governor Meldrim Thomson, and former New Hampshire Senator George Lovejoy.

Senator Humphrey related his experiences of serving in the Senate for two terms. (He promised when he was elected that he'd only serve two terms, then come home. He kept his promise.) The one thing he said that stuck in my mind was his comparison of Congress to "a pit of vipers." He also warned that even those with the best of intentions when they arrive in Washington are eventually seduced by the power their office confers. It doesn't happen quickly, but it does happen, which is why he has supported term limits. He also led the call to "Throw the bums OUT!", something the crowd quickly picked up and chanted with increasing volume. Humphrey said we shouldn't discriminate as there were plenty of Republican bums deserving to be thrown out as much as their Democrat colleagues.

Both Thom Thomson and Senator Lovejoy spoke about the fiscal problems visited upon the people of New Hampshire by both the legislature and the governor, with legislative Democrats willing to spend money the state doesn't have, implementing tax hikes that hit the people most affected by the recession, and attempting to 'appropriate' private funds from a medical malpractice fund in an effort to fund the runaway budget. The governor also failed to protect the taxpayers in the state by refusing to use his veto pen to stop the 30% increase in state spending over the past 2 budgets.

While other TEA party protests drew some number of infiltrators/agitators, the Manchester protest drew only one 'visitor' from the New Hampshire Democrat Party, and he pretty much just watched the activities.

All in all it was a great gathering with appreciative crowd all sharing the same message: "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more!"

I attended the Tea Party in Manchester, New Hampshire this afternoon/early evening and got back just before 9PM.

I'll have an honest to goodness post about it tomorrow Saturday.

I attended the gathering outside the Laconia, NH City Hall for Carol Shea-Porter's town hall meeting. (I didn't get to actually attend the meeting as there were only 60 seats and I got there too late to even stand in line to get in.) She was there to convince us that ObamaCare was going to do wonderful things for everyone and that there would be no problems paying for it all, but it appears most of the 60 folks actually in the meeting weren't buying it. She chose not to answer other questions asked of her, either doing a rope-a-dope, giving a non-answer answer, or giving a constituent the runaround rather than a straight answer. And she wonders why we're angry?

Since I couldn't get into the meeting I spent time talking with the folks outside, some of whom supported CSP and her vote in favor of ObamaCare and the rest that did not.

Almost all of the supporters were retirees, with one or two of the rest being dyed-in-the-wool don't-let-the-facts-get-in-the-way government-is-the-answer-to-all-our-problems-even-the-problems-the-government-created liberals. Discussing the issues with them was enlightening. One of the first things I realized about the folks I was talking to was that they had little understand of economics, particularly in regards to ObamaCare, and did not understand the implications of the heavy economic burden ObamaCare will impose. They were of the opinion that "the rich will pay for it all" and that they don't pay nearly enough. I asked one of them how much money the rich, as they defined them, made in a year. She guessed over a couple of trillion dollars a year. Even after I informed her that even if they took 100% of what the rich made in a year to pay for ObamaCare, the government would only collect about $400 billion. I also mentioned the government would only collect that much the first year and that the second and subsequent years they would collect $0 because either the rich would pack up and leave or they would 'go Galt' (go on strike).

Her response?

The government should force them to work so they could "pay their fair share of taxes." At that point I said her "So you would advocate turning the rich into slaves just to fulfill some twisted ideal of 'social justice'?" Of course she said no, but I pointed out she had just said they should be forced to work against their will. That, by definition, is slavery, something that is unconstitutional, immoral and unethical.

From that point the discussion pretty much ended as I think she realized she had strayed into a topic that was indefensible from any viewpoint and didn't want to talk to me any more.

I did manage to have an intelligent discussion with a couple of pro- and anti-ObamaCare folks. We all agreed some kind of health care reform was necessary. We merely disagreed on the level of reform needed. But after about 30 minutes of debate some of the pro-ObamaCare folks appeared to be shifting their outlook on ObamaCare as written. As one of them said, "We have to do something!" But one of us on the anti-ObamaCare said something along the lines of "True, but let's make sure it's the right something and not the most expedient and seriously flawed something like the present law."

Unfortunately I had to leave the discussion at that point to get back home. But I felt that perhaps we had put some doubt in the minds of some not-so-wholehearted ObamaCare supporters.

Very cool video about my home state (with apologies to Jay Z).

It was reported today in the Berlin, NH Berlin Daily Sun that the new Federal Prison just completed near that city will be housing the detainees from Guantanamo Bay as that detention facility is phased out.

Word has it some of the detainees were dismayed to learn they would be moved to the new prison in northern New Hampshire in light of the much colder climate and the miles and miles of dense forests and the sparsely populated countryside. Supposedly one detainee was heard to say something about their new home being an "Allah-forsaken wilderness filled with bears, lions, and wolves."

The full story is below the fold.

This is something I've written about in the past, that being the declaration of Ice Out on Lake Winnipesaukee. On average it usually occurs right around April 19th, though it's been as late as May 12th (1888) and as early as March 28th (1921).

This year I expected it would be earlier than the average due to the warm weather this month, but I didn't expect it to be this early.

Ice Out was declared at 2PM yesterday afternoon, beating the old record by four days.

I expect some of the AGW faithful will cite this as proof that human caused global warming caused it. But I can counter with the rather late Ice Out back in 2001 (May 2) and the average Ice Out declaration over the previous 10 years occurring around April 16th.

To those of you out there insisting it is AGW all I have to say is something you've said to me whenever I've pointed out the cooler global temps over the past few years: "It's not climate, it's weather."

Resistance to ObamaCare at the state level is growing. AG's of a dozen states have already said they'll bring suit to the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare, in particular the part making to mandatory for American citizens to purchase a service or be fined (or imprisoned). Some states are working on or have passed legislation negating that requirement, seeing it as a violation of the Commerce Clause and the Tenth Amendment.

New Hampshire State Senator Jeb Bradley has filed such legislation here in the Granite State, making mandatory health insurance illegal without due process, meaning a court could order someone to obtain it as part of divorce/custody/child support agreement, but only then.

I wonder if the Democrats, and specifically Obama, will get the message that this piece of legislation is hated by a majority of the American people. No need to answer that as we already know they know, but don't care.

Mid-March is usually the end of Town Meeting season here in New Hampshire.

Here in our small town Tuesday is the second session of our town meeting, where residents will vote on list of warrant articles that cover everything from town and school district budgets, capital reserve funds and bond issues, to zoning changes and voter petitions. It's also town elections, where a number of citizens, including yours truly, are seeking offices ranging from cemetery or library trustee, road agent, school board, to selectman.

Many towns have tried to hold the line on spending, keeping both the town and school portions of their budgets under tight control. Some have even managed to cut their budgets, like our town, knowing that with today's economy their residents are struggling to make ends meet. Unfortunately a few towns are acting as if the good times are still here, attempting to expand their spending despite the poor economy.

Regardless, the people will be speaking, letting their town leaders know what they think via the ballot box and whether they really want to spend the extra $20,000 for the chihuahua dog park.

As the saying goes, if you don't attend town meeting or vote, you have no right to complain about your taxes.

Sometimes the Precautionary Principle serves us well. Other times it comes back to bite us in the butt.

Today it proved to be the latter.

The Weather Guys™ predicted snow for today, with 5 to 9 inches accumulation expected here on the south side of Lake Winnipesaukee. The local TV and radio news outlets played up the first snowfall in over a month, trying to make it sound like the Apocalypse was coming. (To those of you not familiar with northern New England winters, 5 inches of snow is usually considered not much more than a dusting.)

Towns and cities all over central and southern New Hampshire canceled school today in anticipation of heavy snowfall expected in the early afternoon. But the joke was on them because the snow didn't start falling around here until well after the time the school kids would have been home on a normal school day. (A few towns on the southeast part of the lake decided not to cancel school, planning to send kids home early if the weather started deteriorating. Their gamble paid off because they got a full day of school in, meaning they'll get out that much earlier at the end of the school year.)

It's time once again for us to exercise our rights in the annual expression of small town democracy. It's time for town meeting.

Town meeting in our fair town is tonight and I will attend, as I always have.

As the saying around here, "If you don't attend town meeting you have no right to complain about town spending or property taxes."

It appears that for once in a long while, the New Hampshire Supreme Court got it right in the case of the Georgia Tuttle, MD et al vs. the New Hampshire Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriters Association et al, where the state legislature tried to raid $110 million of JUA premium surpluses to fill a budget deficit.

The state failed to make its case during its first attempt, the Belknap County Court deciding in favor of the plaintiffs, clients of the JUA, stating the State of New Hampshire had no rights to those funds even though the state created the JUA to begin with because the JUA is not a state agency. The state provided no tax monies, no state personnel, and no facilities to the JUA. The JUA was a state sanctioned private entity created in 1975 to ensure malpractice insurance was available to all physicians and other medical personnel in New Hampshire. All funding came through premium payments to the JUA. The law that created the JUA clearly states that surplus premiums balances must be returned to the policy holders past and present or used to reduce premiums to those it served.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court decided 3-2 that the state could make no claim and had no rights to the JUA funds, upholding the lower court decision and denying the state the right to take the funds. (The complete text of NHSC decision can be found here.)

The basis of the decision dealt more with the Legislature's passage of the bill that would have 'acquired' over two-thirds of the JUA's surplus funds in violation of the contracts the JUA entered into with their policyholders, stripping from them the disbursements of surplus funds as guaranteed in their policies. And since both the lower court and the Supreme Court agreed the JUA is not a state agency, the state had no rights to the proceeds of judicious investment and policy disbursements by the JUA, particularly in light of the fact that even state agencies cannot violate contracts with private individuals at the behest of the Legislative or Executive branches of government.

While the dissenting opinion was strongly worded, I believe the Supreme Court made the right decision. Had the decision gone the other way it would have possibly opened the door for other state seizures of surplus finds from insurance companies (they are all licensed by the state) or other state licensed businesses without due compensation as guaranteed in both the New Hampshire and US constitutions. And don't believe for a minute the Democrat-controlled Legislature wouldn't do exactly that if they thought they could get away with it. After all, they have ever more profligate and wasteful spending to fund.

Today was Deb's birthday and BeezleBub and I took her out to our all time favorite restaurant to celebrate. (In case you're wondering she had a great time and we had great meals...but that isn't entirely germane to the story.)

One thing that can make or break the dining experience is the person waiting upon you. Some are merely adequate. Others are not in any way, shape, or form. And yet others can be exceptional. In our case, the waitress serving us tonight, Alicia, was one of the exceptional ones. On a scale of one to five Wes's, she scored a four and three-quarters!

That being said I should explain our rating system to you. The "Wes Scale" is named in honor of our dear friend Wes. Other than being a good friend and an excellent real estate agent, he was also known for being a heck of a waiter in his day. He knows the trade inside and out and is far less forgiving of poorly performing waitstaff than either Deb or I. Hence, we decided that if we were going to rate our dining experiences, we would use Wes as the standard to measure against.

The fact that Alicia rated 4 and three-quarters on the Wes scale means she is indeed exceptional. I believe even Wes would agree with us on our assessment.

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Sometimes it's easy to forget that New Hampshire is a multi-season tourist destinations.

On our way back to The Manse after the wonderful repast we experienced, we noticed the heavy traffic on the northbound side of Interstate 93. The skiers from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York were heading to the White Mountains for three days of skiing over the Martin Luther King Day weekend. I'd forgotten what it was like on the highway during ski season weekends, having moved from the foothills of the White Mountains to the heart of the Lakes Region of New Hampshire some eight years ago. Living within a stone's throw of one of New Hampshire's fine ski areas, it's easy to overlook the other, much larger ski resorts like Waterville Valley, Loon Mountain, Attitash/Bear, Cannon, Wildcat, and Bretton Woods, just to name a few. The heavy traffic seen heading north at 8PM on a Friday night is testament enough to the popularity of skiing in New Hampshire.

Walter Williams writes the obituary of man-made global warming, connecting the dots. Don't forget the read the H.L. Mencken quote at the end.

It may very well be time to start considering the 1970s all over again with climate: the coming mini Ice Age. I should have stuck with that. Now I'd be looking like a genius.

JP of Warner, NH, has a great point in the Union Leader story about the gun-grabbers trying to get an ovary of steam going. He writes: