Recently in Thoughts On A Sunday Category

It was a half-and-half weekend here in the Lakes Region, at least in regards to the weather. Saturday was sunny, but cool. Sunday was rainy and warm. Better that it had been sunny and warm on one day and rainy and cool on the other. But we take what we get, don't we?

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I have been looking at a number of blogging programs to replace the 'broken' Moveable Type platform I've been using for the past few years. So far Wordpress is coming out ahead. The change over will take some time as I have to create backups of all posts and make sure they're in a format that Wordpress handles. Don't be surprised if at times the URL for this site takes you to the backup site. It will only be temporary until everything is properly configured in the new software.

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Seeing that New Hampshire is considered a swing state (and one that is now classified as a toss up between Obama and Romney), the level of political ads playing on TV and radio has reached a point of saturation. It's gotten to the point that I no longer watch live TV, using the DVR to record everything I usually watch and skipping ahead to bypass the campaign ads.

I've never seen this much in the way of political advertising in all the years I've been a voter.

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I know Bogie really likes to put a bit of herself into her work, but this is taking it too far.

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"Leftover women?" Really? In a country with a female population deficit?

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Ed Driscoll delves into the mess that is the MSM, showing us why it is so out of touch with Main Street America to the point that at one time in 2004 David Westin, then president of ABC News said:

I think we don't do that enough, and I'm not just talking religious communities. I'm talking all sorts of communities across the country. I think that... You understand this, Tina, living in New York or in Los Angeles, we have busy jobs. We go into the office every day. We tend to socialize with the same people, or the same types of people, and I think it's terribly important for journalists to get out whether it's overseas or domestically and try to understand.

So it turns out that even 8 years ago someone in the MSM understood that they didn't understand a majority of Americans, those being the ones not living in the liberal urban enclaves like New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and so on. That truth is as valid today as it was 8 years ago. Yet they continue to operate as if they know how everyone thinks. And they wonder why fewer people buy their newspapers and magazines or watch their newscasts.

As long as they continue to believe their own hype they will continue their long slide into irrelevance, and ultimately, oblivion.

It couldn't happen soon enough for me.

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Powerline reports that Obama is now biting the hand that feeds him, namely the Clintons.

Obama wants Bill's support but is willing to throw Hillary under bus for his mistake in Benghazi. This isn't a surprise by anyone who has paid attention to Obama's political career over the years.

To save his political career, Obama would throw his own grandmother under the bus she supposedly rode to her job at the bank everyday because his grandfather thought it would be racist to give her a ride. And Biden's 2016 presidential ambitions (no, I'm not joking) provide him with an extra incentive to see Hillary Clinton become the fall-gal for Benghazi.

This may end up backfiring on Obama depending on what the Clintons decide to do, and when.

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Cap'n Teach gives us a great quote of the day, this one by Patton Oswalt.

I agree with Oswalt.

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The New England Patriots played the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle, losing to them 24-23.

Frankly, the Patriots didn't deserve to win. Between a number of bad passes by Brady, in one case missing the same open receiver three times by severely underthrowing the ball, two interceptions, one of which occurred by again underthrowing the ball, and the almost non-existent pass defense, there was no way the Patriots deserved to win the game, and they didn't.

The Pats are now 3-3.

Damn.

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Once again we point to Cap'n Teach and his link and comments about how Climate Progress wants to use bribes to reduce power consumption.

Yeah, like that will work. As always, there are unintended consequences these folks haven't thought out. If they're so worried about so-called "vampire power", the power that appliances and equipment use even when they're off, then maybe it would behoove manufacturers to redesign their equipment to reduce the vampire loads Climate Progress is so worried about. The solution could be as easy as adding a main power switch on each appliance that cuts off even vampire loads.

But just unplugging these appliances as Climate Progress wants us to do has its own downsides. Two I can think of right off the top of my head: greatly increased wear on electrical plugs and sockets; and increased inconvenience from those appliances that require a post-power-on reset/configuration. Of the two, the first is the most dangerous and the second is just a pain in the ass.

Most residential electrical sockets and plugs aren't made to withstand thousands of plug/un-plug cycles. Both the plugs and sockets will wear out, increasing electrical resistance and with it, increase the possibility of a socket or plug overheating and causing a fire. (No this isn't something I just pulled out of thin air. Most electrical fires that aren't caused by old wiring, improper use of extension cords, or the intentional overloading of sockets are caused by worn out sockets.)

So we'll save power but burn down our house as a result. As I said, unintended consequences.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is going to be nice once we get back to the work week, the tourist traffic has fallen off to nothing, and where we're still waiting to get our winter supply of firewood.

It's been a wet, rainy, and cool weekend here at Lake Winnipesaukee. That has meant almost all activities have been confined to the indoors.

I must admit I had hoped for dry weather which would have allowed my to finish up some of the still undone summer chores (I still need to finish re-staining the steps to both the front door and door to the mud room). But that wasn't the case.

The wet weather meant BeezleBub didn't have to work at the farm Friday or Saturday evening because the farm's corn maze was closed. It also meant I was going to haul the laundry I washed today over the WP Parent's place to use their clothes drier. (It also meant I was going to watch the New England Patriots game on their 42" HDTV, not a bad deal!) Instead, it meant a trip to the local laundromat to use their big driers because what would have taken 4 hours at the folks took only an hour at the laundromat...plus they had a TV tuned to the game!

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And speaking of cool weather, we had the chimney sweeps here this past week to clean the chimney so we could use the Official Weekend Pundit Woodstove when the time comes. The Official Weekend Pundit Gas Furnace is still waiting a repair part, but the folks who service it say it should be in some time next week. (We can still use the furnace as it is but it makes all kinds of noises when it runs, something the furnace repair tech said was nothing to worry about.)

The furnace gets used mostly during the beginning and end of the heating season as it's far easier to use it 'take the chill off' than firing up the woodstove to the same thing (and then overheating The Manse). It also comes into use on those nights when it's well below zero and the woodstove can't quite keep up

Now all we need for the woodstove is our three cords of wood to be delivered. (We still have a little over one cord left over from last winter so we're good to go for some time.)

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The self-destruction of California is accelerating. Unfortunately they just might take the rest of us with them as far too often what starts in California spreads to the rest of the nation.

I hope that instead California will stand as a object lesson that what has happened in Greece can certainly happen here. The only problem is that too many people have short attention spans.

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And then there's this from California, where some big name companies are pulling the plug on some of their California operations.

Both Campbell Soup and Comcast are closing facilities in the Golden State, with Campbell stating they are doing so to "improve supply chain productivity," meaning it's costing them too much to keep their plant in Sacramento open. Comcast didn't sugar-coat their reason for shutting down three of their northern California call centers, stating "We determined that the high cost of doing business in California makes it difficult to run cost-effective call centers in Northern California."

California still hasn't realized that if they continue to make it too expensive to do business in California that businesses will leave, taking their jobs with them.

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Glenn Reynolds makes me wonder if the fellow named in his post has been using Atlas Shrugged as a manual rather than a warning.

What's scary is that the fellow making the proposition has likely never had to run a business of his own. Not that he would have learned anything. He certainly didn't learn anything in his previous post as the U.S. Register of Copyrights.

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How is it Democrats have come to believe the economy is absolutely awesome when just about everyone else sees it for the dismal thing it is?

It must be the same delusion that has driven a lot of these same folks to think increased economic activity that creates good jobs is a bad thing.

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Assistant Village Idiot gives us this warning in regards to the undecided voter: "...the indecision of voters that is more key to politicians are those who are undecided whether they are going to bother to vote, not who they are going to vote for."

Indeed.

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It looks like France has decided to further cripple their economy by "sticking it to the rich" by increasing their income tax rate to 75%.

So, I guess you're not really planning on addressing your two main problems -- a hugely bloated national budget with too much public spending, and a stagnant economy with high unemployment -- er, at all? You're just going to tax the hell out of any individual or business audacious enough to be successful at providing a useful product/service, instead of even trying to slim down public expenditures? ...I see. Interesting strategy you've got there, France.

It's apparent they did not learn the lesson taught by their neighbors just across the English Channel.

The UK tried something similar in the 1970's and it made their already struggling economy collapse as wealth and investment capital fled for friendlier climes. Considering France already has an unemployment rate of 10% I would think the last thing they'd want to do is something that is guaranteed to make that rate go higher.

It doesn't help that French labor laws also make it almost impossible to lay off workers when there's a downturn, meaning a lot of employers are reluctant to hire new employees under any circumstances. Instead they make do with the workers they have or outsource work to other countries without such overreaching labor laws.

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This is just about what I expect for small town in northern Maine. Then again, I once lived in small New Hampshire town that could easily match it for such activities.

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I usually will link to some post listed in Cap'n Teach's Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup link roundup. But today's is too good to single out just one so I'm going to link to the whole thing and let you pick your favorite.

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Bogie tells us about a package she got from home that included preserves, a quilt, and some fun stuff for one of her kitties.

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Tom Bowler links to and comments on some of the questionable polling numbers, where aggregate numbers for Obama and Romney don't seem to reflect the breakdowns of the actual voting populace.

It also appears the MSM is ignoring the poll results of independent voters who were so crucial to Obama in 2008. So far Romney has the edge with independent voters in both Ohio and Florida, states that Obama barely won in 2008 because of those same independent voters.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the wet and cool weather continues, the leaves are changing color, and the crowds of leaf peepers are growing every day.

Despite yesterday's gloomy looking weather, it was quite nice out. I did have to delay work on the main deck as it took a while for the fog and low clouds to burn off and let things dry out enough to continue staining. On the last day of summer I was still only half way through my summer honey-do list. I probably won't even get started on my autumn honey-do list until some time in the middle of October.

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It's also NASCAR Weekend with New Hampshire's second Sprint Cup race of the season taking place down at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. About 110,000 fans will fill the stands for the Sylvania 300.

The fans started showing up this past Monday and the traffic within 20 miles of the track has been heavy (and crazy) since Thursday. But it's only twice a year so I have no problems dealing with it. Call it the "last gasp of summer".

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Speaking of traffic, I had to make a quick trip to Deb's place of employment to drop off her purse. In her haste she'd left it behind when she left for work.

Normally this wouldn't be an issue but one of the surrounding towns runs a sobriety check point on Saturday nights and being without any form of ID when going through it causes all kinds of problems and delays. So off I went late yesterday afternoon with her purse.

The traffic was awful.

I could go on and on about the various bits of traffic stupidity and cluelessness I witnessed on my way there and back, but I won't bore you with them...except for one.

Passing through the town where Deb works, one of the main roads passes over the main north-south Interstate highway, meaning traffic can be quite heavy just on either side of it. One fellow seemed to think the heavy traffic gave him leave to cease paying attention to driving and more attention to his cell phone. As we stopped at each set of traffic lights (there's quite a few of them on that stretch of road), he paid less attention to the traffic lights and more to his phone.

At the first set of lights just past the Interstate, he didn't finish texting (I assume that's what he was doing) until just before the lights turned yellow. He, the truck right behind him, and I made it through before the lights turned red. At the next set of lights he again didn't move when the lights turned green and actually raised his index finger on his right hand as if to say "Wait a sec!" as the horns of the vehicles behind (including mine) him blared. Not a single vehicle in his lane made it through the lights before they again were red. At the next green light cycle he (and the rest of us) moved. At the very next set of lights he was once again fooling with his phone, the lights changed to green, and he didn't move.

At this point the guy in the pickup truck directly behind him apparently had enough, got out of his pickup, walked to the car, grabbed the guy's phone out of his hands and tossed it into the back seat. Over the sound of the still blaring horns I heard the pickup's driver yell something along the lines of "Put down your effin' phone and effin' drive, s**thead!" By the time he got back to his truck Texting Guy had taken off and we didn't see him again.

Some folks just don't get it.

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While the summer tourist season has ended we are gearing up for the foliage season. Fall colors have already started appearing north of the notches. A few of the swamp maples here in the Lakes Region are already showing crimson (they tend to lead the rest of the trees by three or four weeks), as are the sumacs. Some of the beeches are already showing some yellow here and there, but I don't expect to see much in the way of color for at least another two weeks.

I have no idea how brilliant the colors will be this year, but since it was a nice summer it's quite possible that they'll be awesome. Only time will tell.

The leaf peepers will be up in droves over the next few weeks, with folks coming from all over the world to take in the sights. I expect to see lots of tour buses and cars, minivans, and SUVs with out-of-state license plates showing up.

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I find it illuminating that the Obama campaign has been slamming Romney's 2011 tax returns, showing he paid "only" 14.1% taxes on his $13 million income, all of which was from capital gains. (In case you aren't aware, capital gains tax is a nominal 15%. What may also not be aware of is that income taxes were already paid on the money invested to generate those capital gains.)

What they fail to mention is that of the Romney's $13 million of income last year, he gave away $4 million to charity. $4 million. That's almost 31% of his income, and he didn't even write it off. Joe Biden, on the other hand, donated about 0.15% of his income to charity. It wouldn't surprise me that Obama donated a like amount. They're rather tight-fisted with their money. But neither of those two seem to have any problem with donating large amounts of your money to 'charity', in this case government charity.

At least Romney's money will be used to do real charity work (and probably more effectively than any government program), and he'll have some say about where it will be spent. That's not so of taxpayer funded government 'charity'.

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When Romney claimed that 47% of the American people receive benefits from the federal government, he was wrong.

It's closer to 49%.

(H/T Instapundit)

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This is not a surprise to me: Sunspots Do Impact Climate.

I've known that since reading some of Dr. Henrik Svensmark's papers on the subject. One thing Svensmark's work has over that of Mann, Jones, Hansen, and the whole list of the usual suspects? His work is reproducible.

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I've read a lot of opinions about the reasons for the anti-American protests/riots across parts of the Middle East. I think David Starr has one of the better ones.

It all comes down to one thing: "Could the real reason be, that they just plain hate our guts?"

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The New England Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens tonight down in Baltimore.

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News You Can Use: German troops riot in Italy over Disney film mocking Der Fuhrer!

(H/T Instapundit)

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This makes sense. Well, no, not really.

If you have so-called "Victim studies" in academia, you always end up with an ever expanding world of victims.

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You know the Obama administration lacks integrity when it briefs the New York Times before it briefs senate Republicans, a major breach in protocol.

But then Obama has never stood by protocol. In fact he's never even stood by the law, doing end runs around Congress and violating long-standing bankruptcy laws to 'reward' his cronies.

The sooner we get rid of this Hugo Chavez wannabe, the better.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where summer has fled, cottages and camps are slowly being prepared for winter, and where the leaves have just barely started to turn.

The summer-like weather has fled for the time being, with night time temps in the upper 30's and day temps in the upper 60's/lower 70's. This change prompted me to pull out the air conditioner from the dining room window and replace the screen. The air conditioner now sits down in the basement until next summer. There are still two more to remove but those will wait until later today or some time during the week.

Summer chores are slowly winding down while fall chores start taking their place. I still have decks and front steps requiring refinishing but I hope to get those done by the end of next week, weather permitting. Brush needs to be cut back again, the lawn (what little there is of it) requires mowing but with the mower deck set lower, and the parking area next to the garage needs to be cleaned up to allow firewood deliveries some time over the next couple of weeks. The chimney sweeps will be here in a little over a week to clean the chimney in preparation of the coming heating season. (Firewood is cheap. Propane is not.)

And how are your fall preparations coming?

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Despite the water-carrying the MSM is doing for Obama, the narrative has been shifting from Romney's perceived 'deficiencies' to Obama's failures, both foreign and domestic.

His Middle East foreign policy has been shown to be a disaster - Egypt and Libya were just starters. Tied in with that he seems more than willing to allow foreign religious fanatics to dictate to us what can and can't be said despite our Constitution saying we have freedom of speech.

He has no understanding of economics, and doesn't want to. He's placed ever higher burdens on business and individuals and he wonders why the economy has recovered and is headed back down. He blocks much needed construction projects that will help ensure our energy independence but is willing to waste billions of tax dollars on 'alternative' energy sources that will never meet more than a very small percentage of our energy needs. He ignores laws he doesn't like, interferes with laws on the behalf of his 'supporters', and has no problem lying to the people and then doing just the opposite of what he promised.

No amount of the MSM's effort to paint his incompetence, malfeasance, and non-feasance as 'success' will prevent the truth from being known. There are too many ways around the propaganda that portrays itself as news.

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And speaking of the MSM and it's increasing irrelevance, there's this little gem that exposes how uncaring the MSM has become. They no longer look at the unintended consequences of their actions, feel no remorse in endangering others to 'get their story', and have shifted from being the "preventers of tyranny" to the enablers.

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Eric the Viking offers his take on the whole embassy attacks/YouTube movie protests issue.

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Susan Duclos points out there have been four days of terror attacks since 9/11/12 and Obama has spent three of them campaigning. Susan also gives us this:

Protests have spread from Egypt and Libya and now have been reported in Australia, Germany, Tunisia, more in Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon,  Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey England, Israel, Nigeria, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India among other locales, just to name a few from CNN.

Does anyone truly believe that a clip that had been up for over 2 months (see here), coincidentally became known in time to spark worldwide anti-American protests on September 11, the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil?

As she also states, the attacks were preplanned and used the protests as cover.

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

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Cap'n Teach wonders: Why the Arab World is so easily offended?

One possible cause: Cap'n Teach thinks they're still a little pissed about the Mongol invasion in the 13th century that tore apart the Caliphate. It could also be that they're trying to keep their culture stuck in the 13th century, but the West insists upon living in the 21st century.

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David Starr dumps on David Gregory of Meet The Pressfor his trying to bait Benjamin Netanyahu into saying something damaging to Israel.

As David writes: "...Gregory is not a trustworthy newsman. He is partisan, out grinding his axes."

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The New England Patriots played the Arizona Cardinals in Foxboro today...and lost. It was their first home opener loss in 10 years.

It was a low scoring game and, quite frankly, the Patriots didn't do all the great a job. What's worse is they they were in a position to win the game with a field goal and their kicker, Gostkowsi, missed by a mile! He never misses by that much.

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One more trip over to Cap'n Teach's place points us to the foolishness that is the EPA and its demand that we use more food crops for fuel.

From many examples we know ethanol is a loser, between eating up valuable food stocks and driving up food prices, causing problems with fuel systems, decreasing fuel economy, creating more CO2 than using straight unblended gasoline, and not cutting back our dependence on foreign oil by one iota. (All we need to do to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil is to be allowed to fully develop our own oil and natural gas resources, but Obama and EPA won't let us do that.)

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where cooler nights prevail, the crowds of summerfolk isn't as small as we expected them to be, and a long list of summer chores are still undone.

It's been relatively quiet around The Manse this weekend. The large crowds of summerfolk have dwindled now that school is back in session, so it's only the weekenders making the trip to the lake. And even then it's mostly those folks with summer cottages and lake houses making the trip. For the most part the rental business has slacked off.

BeezleBub worked at the farm, though last night's activities (running the farm's corn maze) was canceled due to the heavy rain and wind we experienced last night. He couldn't get together with Horse Girl because she was out of town, so he had a rather sedate night at home.

Deb worked at her job and on her homework for school. (She started her nursing program classes this past week.)

About all I had to do was some painting on The Manse's main deck and some laundry. Some of that was curtailed due to the rain and wind. (I have to wait for the still unstained wood on the deck to dry before I continue applying stain.)

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Now that the GOP and Democrat conventions are done, the campaign ads have kicked in to high gear. That's going to get old real quick. I think that most folks have already made up their minds.

Of course we'll have to wait for the so-called October Surprise. I expect the Dems will pull something out of the old Chicago Democrat Political Machine Playbook to try and paint Romney as some kind of deviant, monster, or other type of social reprobate. It wouldn't be the first time something like that has been pulled by Obama's campaign team. ('Someone' released the sealed divorce documents of his GOP opponent, Jack Ryan, during their 2004 election run for the US Senate. Ryan eventually dropped out of the race.)

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At least there will be less voter fraud in some states during the upcoming November elections.

My home state of New Hampshire now requires ID in order to vote. The 'dry run' of the voter ID requirement will be implemented during the statewide primaries being held this coming Tuesday. No one will be prevented from voting Tuesday, but it gives the election officials the opportunity to fine tune the system and to inform voters of the need to present a valid ID to vote come the nationwide elections in November. No ID, no vote.

And before people start screaming about "poor voters being disenfranchised by the onerous requirements", these same poor have to have valid ID in order to collect benefits from the state, to cash checks, or to pick up certain OTC and prescription medications. Many of the poor already have drivers licenses, so the argument that they will be locked out of the voting process are nonsense.

But it will keep the dead from voting.

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I think the headline on this says it all:

"Son, you were going 160 miles an hour OVER THE SPEED LIMIT."

I. Want. One.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Could it be that blue state Connecticut may be shifting a bit to the red?

Between an ineffective tax-tax-tax-and-spend Democrat governor deeply beholden to the public employees unions, and GOP candidate Linda McMahon leading Democrat Chris Murphy in the race for retiring Senator Joe Lieberman's seat, it could be that the taxpayers (and voters) in the Nutmeg State have had just about enough of the blue model.

What's striking is that it appears many of the rank-and-file members of the labor unions in Connecticut are supporting McMahon in her run.

If McMahon wins, she'll be the first Republican senator from Connecticut since Lowell Weicker, and he was more liberal that most Democrats.

(H/T Instapundit)

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The New England Patriots played their first game of the regular season against the Titans, beating them 34-13.

With the many changes seen in both the defense and offense, it's going to be interesting to see how well they'll do this season. The pre-season games weren't an indicator by any means as it was mostly second and third string players along with the new players the Pats picked up during the off-season who played.

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Watching this evening's ABC World News, you'd think Barack Obama has the election all sewed up. The latest Gallup daily poll has Obama over Romney by 49% to 44%. But as we always have to remember that polls, particularly at this stage of the game, mean very little. The only poll that counts is the on held on November 6th. And if the economy weakens, as some have projected it will, it is unlikely Obama will win a second term, the polls notwithstanding.

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I know recycling is supposed to be a socially acceptable activity, helping to "save the planet". But it's not such a great thing to do with speeches, particularly speeches that commemorate one of the greatest tragedies in American history. And in this case a speech from the President of the United States.

As Cap'n Teach tells us, President Obama "mailed it in" in regards to commemorating That Awful Day. Frankly, I expected better.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the summerfolk are fewer in number, the weather is good, and the the lake water temps are still in the 70's.

The Labor Day Weekend is half gone and the crowds seen here are impressive.

Folks are making the best of the last weekend of the summer season. (Yes, I know summer doesn't officially end until the 22nd of this month, but to all intents and purposes most of the summer activities that have been going on since Memorial Day weekend come to a close.) Deb headed out to the Seacoast with a friend from work to see comedian Gabriel Iglesias. (She says the show was great.) BeezleBub spent last evening working at the farm's corn maze. (They had a record number for an opening evening.) And I headed up to Plymouth for an evening of food and chat with Submarine Tim's boss, Dawn at one of our favorite restaurants. (It was packed 10 minutes after we got there, meaning our timing was just right. The parking lot was full of vehicles with out of state plates, meaning Dawn and I were likely one of the few locals there last evening.)

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I wish I could say I got the decks at The Manse stained today, but the weather didn't cooperate, with clouds and occasional showers. However the weather forecast says Monday will be clear and sunny, meaning I can get a good portion of that task done then.

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While watching GMA this morning, they played a bit of a speech by President Obama in Iowa yesterday. I thought it ironic that he accused Mitt Romney of claiming he knew how to create jobs but not revealing how he planned to do so.

Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? (No, that isn't racist.) Obama has made grandiose promises over the past 4 years, but never once told anyone how he would go about making them come to be. He's big on promises yet rarely carries through on them, except for the one where he said he'd necessarily make energy prices skyrocket. It figures that's the one he'd manage to keep.

It all comes down to the Democrats accusing the GOP of doing what it is they themselves are doing.

We'll see how that plays in Peoria.

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Much abuse has been heaped upon Bain Capital by the Left. But I find it interesting that many of the same groups excoriating Bain as eeevvviilllll have also parked over $1.5 billion in funds with Bain. (That's "billion", with a "b".)

As Glenn Reynolds comments, "Republicans should challenge these lefty groups to divest, or shut up."

Indeed.

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More then once I've commented on the lack of Obama campaign signs here in portions of New Hampshire. During my travels yesterday which took me through three towns I hadn't been through lately, I noticed the same lack. In college-town Plymouth I didn't see a single Obama sign, even on the Plymouth State University campus. (I didn't go through the entire campus. But unlike the previous election where Obama signs popped up like dandelions right around this time of the election cycle, there weren't any to be seen.)

Is this an indicator that Obama is in big trouble? Or is his campaign organization husbanding its financial resources for a final push after the convention, knowing Romney's campaign has been raising a lot more money than they have? Is this also indicative that Obama's in trouble?

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By way of Eric the Viking comes these two bits of news the Democrats could do without just before the DNC convention: US auto production is set to plunge by most in 16 months, and the US debt is about to hit $16 trillion on Labor Day.

Yeah, that'll be something to crow about on the convention floor.

Of course I expect the DNC to lay the blame entirely on the GOP despite the fact that it's been a Democrat president and his cronies in Congress - Pelosi and Reid - who boosted the federal debt by 50% in less than four years.

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Much has been made of the fact that Mitt Romney made a trip to visit storm-ravaged Louisiana before President Obama. Much of this from the MSM, and some of it criticizing Romney for stealing Obama's thunder.

Why did Obama wait so long before going to Louisiana? He didn't want to change his planned campaign stops.

It wasn't like Hurricane Isaac sprung up out of nowhere, surprising everyone. Yet President Obama put off visiting the disaster area until well after storm had passed, finally canceling a campaign trip to Cleveland, Ohio. But once he made that visit, he was off to Toledo, Ohio and back on the campaign trail.

So campaigning was far more important to the President than visiting a storm-ravaged red state?

At least we now know exactly where his priorities lie, and it ain't with the "little people".

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the summerfolk are making the best use of their time on this last weekend of summer, the BBQ's are running full tilt, and where some of us wuill be laboring on Labor Day.

It was Old Home Day in our small town yesterday, a gathering of town residents past and present to celebrate our little town. There was everything from a pancake breakfast at the village church to a parade in the morning, vendors selling everything from arts and crafts to all kinds of food, and games and other competitions in the afternoon, to a band concert and fireworks in the evening, The local historical society had its buildings open to the public, giving residents and visitors a view of town life over the past 200 years.

I made it to the festivities only for an hour or so in the afternoon (a lot of chores to take care of back at The Manse), and BeezleBub and Horse Girl were there for the band concert and fireworks in the evening. (BeezleBub remarked that privately-funded fireworks shows, which these were, always seem to be bigger and more impressive than the publicly-funded ones. Call it yet another lesson in economics.)

Unfortunately Deb was working this weekend and was unable to attend. Maybe next year.

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Call it what you will, but Chris Muir has it right: Just Think.

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I was sorry to hear that Neil Armstrong had passed away.

I remember watching the moon landing and the following walk that July evening back in 1969. (Yes, I'm that old!)

We were at our family's beach house in Connecticut and were preparing to leave for home when we heard Armstrong and Aldrin were going to leave the LEM and venture out on to the Moon's surface. We delayed our departure because we didn't want to miss a minute of it.

I, like many kids of that era, were big fans of NASA and the moon program. I even had a four-foot tall model of the Saturn V in my bedroom that I'd built. And on that July evening the culmination of all our dreams came to be with those famous words: "That's one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind."

The Eagle has landed one more time. Godspeed, Neil Armstrong....

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Harvard economist Greg Mankiw points us to a paper showing the proper way to the government budget deficit: Cut spending. Don't increase taxes.

This paper studies whether fiscal corrections cause large output losses. We find that it matters crucially how the fiscal correction occurs. Adjustments based upon spending cuts are much less costly in terms of output losses than tax-based ones. Spending-based adjustments have been associated with mild and short-lived recessions, in many cases with no recession at all. Tax-based adjustments have been associated with prolonged and deep recessions.

Cut spending. It's what we do on a personal, individual level, particularly when we cannot increase our 'revenues'. It's something we've had to do here at The Manse, cutting back on all kinds of non-essential expenditures to be able to meet all of our other obligations (read 'bills'). Government at all levels has to do the same thing. There are plenty of examples we've seen of what happens when they don't - California (including a number of now bankrupt municipalities there), Illinois, and the cities of Cleveland and Detroit, just to name a few. Raising taxes during a recession only makes it worse and makes it last longer. How does that help anyone?

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I want one of these!

This wouldn't be called a bike in my home state of New Hampshire because by statute a bike has 2 or 3 wheels. The contraption in the link above has none, therefore it can't be called a bike. (Thanks, Bogie!)

(H/T BogieBlog)

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Also by way of Bogie and Jeff Soyer comes this photo essay explaining 19 reasons cats are better than dogs.

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Stuart Schneiderman asks What Do Feminists Want Women To Want?

If we ask what feminists want women to want, the answer is clear: feminists want women to repress their feminine mystique, the better to be good feminists.

They do not just want women to adhere to feminist ideology, but they want women to live their lives as feminists want them to live their lives.

No men need apply, as too many so-called feminists see all of their problems being caused by men. So all they have to do is cast off traditional relationships and adopt the "hook-up" mentality and everything will be just great. But as Stuart explains, it doesn't really work out that way in real life and too many of the women following this path will find themselves unprepared to have a real relationship should they decide they want one, leaving them fundamentally unhappy....but at least they'll have great careers!

As the saying goes, Read The Whole Thing.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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A couple of days ago I wrote about the dearth of Obama campaign signs in some sections of New Hampshire, while Romney signs are seen everywhere, as are those for many from both parties running for Congress, the New Hampshire legislature, and various county offices.

Yesterday I made an inquiry of fellow New Hampshire blogger David Starr up in the northern tier of the Granite State, asking whether he'd seen the same thing. His response:

Well, I haven't seen diddly in the way of Obama signs, anywhere from Manchester all the way up to Littleton. But then I haven't seen all that many Romney-Ryan signs either. Not compared to the number of signs for Jerry Thibedeau, Ovide Lamontagne, and Charlie Bass ( Second Congressional District representative of the US House - ed.) . On the other hand, the sign printers are just now, this week, getting Romney-Ryan signs into production, so I expect those to increase shortly. There aren't many signs up for democrats for governor, US rep, or other state offices. To temper that, remember this is Grafton County which is still pretty Republican.

It appears the wave of Romney signs hasn't quite made it up to the northern counties of New Hampshire yet, but neither have Obama signs.

Yes, this is an unscientific anecdotal survey, but it can be telling.

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Speaking of Romney and Obama, there's this by way of Tom Bowler about electoral college predictions made by two University of Colorado political science professors. The two used a prediction model based upon economic indicators and they claim their model has correctly picked the winner of every presidential election going back to 1980.

Their call: Romney, with 320 electoral votes and that he will win in every swing state - Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Colorado.

Writes Tom:

I happen to believe the election outcome will be worse than the model's predicted 320-218 Obama loss. This will be the very first Tea Party presidential election. Tea Partiers are much better organized than they were going into 2010, and they aren't any less motivated. There has never been such a huge movement of conservative activists before, at least not in my lifetime.

But, to quote Glenn Reynolds, "Don't get cocky, kid!"

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Is Obama's relentless negative campaign backfiring on him? From the poll numbers, I'd have to say the answer is yes.

As I and many others have written before, Obama can't campaign on the economy. Everyone but a few narrow-focused and blindered supporters understand that when it comes to the economy, Obama hasn't anything to crow about. So he tries to hit Romney on everything but the economy. But when the voters are focused on the economy, as are Romney and Ryan, then the other issues he's trying to run on are losing him voters.

(H/T Instapundit)

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Q&O delves into the question of the definition of the word "compromise", at least when it's used by Obama and congressional Democrats. All to often it's the Republicans who are expected to compromise, but not the Democrats.

I've believed for some time that when Obama uses the word "compromise" he means "Sit down, shut up, and vote the way I tell you to vote!" That isn't compromise, that's capitulation.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather has been delightful, the summerfolk are still here enjoying themselves, and where kids start school on Monday.

The dry weather has returned to the Lakes Region which means that once again I can get some work done around the outside of The Manse. It also looks like the weather will continue through next weekend, meaning I will finally get the chance to stain the main deck!

Of course I wish I'd been able to do this at the beginning of summer rather than the latter half of it, but there was far more work involved in setting things right that I had thought.

And so it goes with the joys and obligations of home ownership.

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Traffic around the southern side of Lake Winnipesaukee has been disrupted by the annual Timberman Triathlon, one of the qualifying events for the famed Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. Fortunately I was able to get all my errands completed yesterday, working around the bicycle portion of the Half-Timberman. (The full triathlon is today.)

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President Obama visited New Hampshire yesterday, making a campaign swing through parts of the southern tier.

I have only one question for the Obama campaign in regards to this trip: Will the towns be stuck with the costs of providing extra security as has been the case in the past, or will it pay up as does the Romney campaign? It doesn't seem fair to stick local taxpayers with the cost of a campaign trip.

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Eric the Viking gives us an interesting comparison between the paradigms of GM and Volkswagen.

As Eric writes, "More than anything, the Volkswagen chief's pique illustrates the difference between car companies gaining market share (VW) and those losing the market (GM)."

Indeed.

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We're already seeing the effects of the entitlement/dependence culture being promulgated by the Obama administration and the Left. Two examples come to the forefront, one in Brooklyn, New York and another right here in New Hampshire.

In Brooklyn, a patron slashed the face of a deli clerk when he refused to sell the man a beer he wanted to buy with food stamps. The clerk had seen the man receive cash from a teenaged girl outside the deli and knew the beer was for her. The man obviously wanted the cash, which is why he tried to use his food stamps. (New York recently passed legislation that makes it illegal to use their taxpayer-funded benefits for cigarettes, alcohol, gambling, or strip clubs.)

In late June in New Hampshire, a man tried to buy cigarettes with his EBT (Electronics Benefit Transfer) card. The clerk refused to sell them to him because he was using the card. The clerk was fired because it is perfectly legal for welfare recipients to use their EBTs for this purpose. However New Hampshire is looking into restricting the use of welfare benefits to essentials and banning their use for cigarettes, alcohol, and other non-essential items or services. Federal law already requires states to pass legislation that prohibits the use of welfare benefits at liquor stores, casinos, and adult entertainment venues.

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You know it's really getting bad in Detroit when a pizza joint has to impose a "no deliveries after dark" policy in order to protect their delivery drivers.

But then it's not been a good idea to go out in the dark in Detroit for some time, particularly when they have been shutting off street lights in order to save money.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Bill Whittle has some real issues with the lease on his new place of residence in California.

I have to agree with him on this one: Savages!

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This ought to get the watermelon environmentalists knickers in a twist: US Carbon Emissions Hit 20-Year Low.

And to think we did it without the need to resort to carbon trading schemes, draconian government intervention, or buying into the Kyoto Treaty. Yet other signatories have seen their carbon emissions go up, and those 'exempt' from those limits (China and India, to name two) have seen their emissions skyrocket.

How did this happen? Natural gas, that's how.

For years, American greens have pushed carbon-trading as the best way to reduce carbon emissions. Yet now carbon emissions are dropping, thanks not to an intrusive government tax on carbon, but to the brown industry and fracking technologies greens vociferously oppose.

It appears the greens only want renewable sources that don't provide the energy needed when it's needed and work against building the power distribution systems required to use the very alternative energy sources they've been promoting.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where summer is getting short, the kids will be back in school in a couple of weeks, and where there's still plenty of summer chores to do around the house.

Very little got done around The Manse this weekend as yet again the weather has not been cooperative. The lawn did not get mowed, the main deck has not been stained nor have the smaller decks been fully stripped of their old stain. Only one load of laundry was washed and hung to dry (and even then it had to be finished off in the rather balky clothes drier).

All in all, most of the activities have been in The Manse rather that around it.

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Now that the initial hub-bub over Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate has died down, it appears the MSM is already returning to form, with much of it criticizing his choice because Ryan isn't black, Asian, female, or other supposedly underrepresented or 'oppressed' minority.

I seem to recall the last GOP running mate was excoriated (and still is) for being female and an unapologetic successful businesswoman and governor.

Nothing new to see here folks. Move along....

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And then there's this from Ryan, going after President Obama's campaign:

"Obama has gone from 'Hope and Change' to 'Attack and Blame.'"

Yup, I'd say that about sums it up.

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I also find it interesting that the Dems have rolled out the "Romney and Ryan are going to cut taxes for the rich!" gambit.

My response to that: "Well, DUH! That makes sense considering they're paying most of the taxes as it is!"

Cutting taxes for people that already pay no income taxes makes no sense and doesn't help the economy in any way.

Another reminder for the Obama team about how things really work: "I've never been hired by a poor person."

It's the class warfare, divide and conquer tactics that have been part and parcel of the Obama administration from Day One. They want to continue pushing economic policies that have been proven not to work time and time again throughout our history. As much as the Obama administration claims Romney-Ryan want to "roll us back to the bad old days", it is this President that has taken us back to the bad old days of the economic malaise of the 1970's, using the same old disproven policies, punative regulations, and confiscatory taxation that crippled the US economy back then.

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Assistant Village Idiot gives us a twofer today.

First, he delves into the "lie" he told when he said "I care only about the theological connection when people reflexively prefer the natural to the artificial. I also care about the poor logic that boils down to "Well it only stands to reason that..."

Odd that [liberals] should prefer lots and lots of human intervention and control by large, distant entities when it comes to an economy, but not when it's food or medicine. I imagine that's related to their dislike and distrust of corporations (because they don't understand how they work) contrasted to their trust and confidence in nonprofits and ahem, Public Servants.

And then there's AVI's confession that he used to be a pacifist until he read C.S. Lewis's "Why I Am Not A Pacifist." As he writes, it "was one of the most powerful single reading experiences I have ever had."

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Though this dates back to March of this year, I have to say I have used this guide about "How To Have A Rational Discussion" on more than one occasion since then. It has saved me from wasting precious minutes and hours better used for other purposes. I saved and printed out the flowchart just to make it easier to remember, hanging copies here in my office at The Manse and at work near my desk and in our engineering lab.

If more of my liberal friends and acquaintances adhered to this guide I dare say many of our more political, ideological, and 'science' discussions would have been more enjoyable, assuming we had any 'discussions' at all.

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Oh, here's a great idea!

Take the Malthusian population trap theory, add a few modern touches, and what do we end up with?

An eco-blogger who believes our 'problem' with over-population can be solved by denying medical care to everyone over 50. As one commenter wrote, "Done! It's called "Obamacare"."

Of course over-population isn't much of an issue in developed countries as population growth tends to self-correct and levels off towards zero. It's in poor undeveloped/underdeveloped nations run by despots and dictators where over-population is an issue.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Apparently woman-hating feminist Erin Gloria Ryan needs therapy. It seems the appearance of sexy female Olympic athletes makes her nauseous.

It must be some kind of psychosis that makes her hate the beauty of her own gender. Maybe she wants all women to start wearing burqahs so neither men or women will have the chance to appreciate the appearance of a pretty woman.

She seriously needs help.

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Sarah Palin weighs in on the Romney-Ryan ticket and warns us the media will do all it can to distract us from the really important issues in the upcoming election, the biggest being Obama's failed record and his flawed vision for America.

Obama's vision for America will make the rest of the country look like California, minus the beautiful scenery and warm weather.

Obama's America is today's California - complete with $100 billion taxpayer funded bullet trains to nowhere; out of control environmental extremists who have destroyed family farms and left some of the most fertile farm land in America fallow in order to protect a three inch fish; permanent high unemployment; government policies hostile to small business job creators; crippling high taxes; an abysmal real estate market; bloated government that wastes taxpayer money; endless budget shortfalls due to massive unfunded liabilities; city after city declaring bankruptcy; and a state government run by, in the words of one Wall Street Journal writer, "a brothel of environmentalists, lawyers, public-sector unions and legislative bums."

I'd say that pretty well describes it.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the summerfolk are staying busy, the retailers and hospitality folks are liking it, and where once again Monday is returning all too soon.

It's been hot and humid at Lake Winnipesaukee this weekend, though not as bad as some other places in the US have been experiencing. The weather has made it difficult to get some work around the outside of The Manse done. Not so much the actual work as the conditions haven't been right for the work to get done. Two examples: mowing the lawn and staining the deck.

The lawn (what there is of it) tends to be wet after a warm humid night, making it very difficult to mow in the morning. I usually have to wait until late in the afternoon mow, otherwise the Official Weekend Pundit Lawnmower bogs down with wet grass, greatly slowing down the mowing process.

The deck can't be stained when the surface is wet. It's wet due to the condenser runoff from the air conditioning in BeezleBub's bedroom. All I need is three dry days in a row and the deck will be dry enough to stain.

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BeezleBub has learned yet another lesson in personal economics, in this case the cost of maintaining a vehicle. While he has had some experience with his 1975 Jeep CJ5, it's not quite the same thing as the Jeep is more of a classic vehicle used only during the summer months. However, his main ride, a 2003 Dodge Dakota 4x4, is his everyday transportation and it required quite a bit of work to make sure it passed its annual state inspection. BeezleBub dropped a substantial amount of his hard-earned money into his truck to have the upper and lower ball joints on both sides replaced and to have a new O2 sensor installed.

While I could have done both myself, I told him that it would take me considerably longer than our favorite garage and that I was not inclined to do so. It was his truck, his responsibility, and if he didn't want to have the garage do it that I would help him do it instead, but I wasn't going to be the one actually doing the work. After thinking about it for a few microseconds, he decided he had better things to do with his time and had the local garage do the work instead.

One of the lessons learned? Time is money. If he doesn't want to spend the time then he'll have to spend the money.

And so it goes with another economic lesson.

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To paraphrase Glenn Reynolds quoting a line from Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, I'd have to say these folks chose poorly.

Immediately following the Rush Limbaugh/Sarah Fluke contraception controversy, a number of sponsors dropped Limbaugh in protest. But it turns out that may have been a hasty decision that in the end hurt them far more than it did Limbaugh. One example - Carbonite.

So how has dumping Limbaugh worked out for Carbonite? Not so well. Turns out alienating Rush's fans may have been more damaging than alienating his critics.

--snip--

On August 1 Carbonite released its 2d Quarter 2012 results, the first full quarter after dropping Limbaugh in March. The results shocked Wall Street, as Carbonite did not meet its growth targets, causing multiple analysts to drop the target price. The stock dropped 15% in a day.

What's more, in a conference call, [Carbonite CEO David] Friend linked the decline to the Limbaugh action.

As is always said, actions have consequences. And as one commenter to the linked piece wrote, "It's true Darwinism at work!"

Later in the comments comparisons are made between Carbonite and Chick-fil-A and the moral stands between the CEOs of these two companies. The biggest difference? Chick-fil-A is a privately owned company and CEO Dan Cathy was risking his own family's money with his moral beliefs. Carbonite is a publicly owned company and CEO David Friend risked the stockholders' money with his 'moral' stand. That's not his job. His job is to make money for the stockholders, period. In this case, he didn't do that.

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Assistant Village Idiot makes a comparison between the US Postal Service of the past and Britain's National Health Service, showing how the latter isn't as good as many in the UK (and elsewhere) believe it is, and showing how the former isn't as good as it once was, and why.

A good friend of us here at The Manse is married to a fellow from Eastern Europe and he commented upon the lack of socialized medicine here in the US and how great it was 'back home'. But my missus countered with, "Yeah, but how long do you have to wait to get treated if you were actually sick?"

There are lessons to be learned from both of these examples. Unfortunately the socialist Powers-That-Be in the US (the White House and Senate) have chosen to ignore them and are pushing hard for us to make the same mistakes again. (Insert definition of insanity here...)

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Bogie disproves Obama's claim that "the private sector is doing just fine." Thursday afternoon she became a part of that "fineness" when she was laid off from her job.

She spent part of her now-free time getting the last of her things from her former employer and taking care of a large number of chores around her home.

To quote Glenn Reynolds, "How's that hopey-changey thing workin' out for ya'?"

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Harvard Economics professor Greg Mankiw points out how the Obama administration's rosy scenario about the economy doesn't even come close to what most private forecasters are predicting, and that overly optimistic forecast is being used to predict tax revenue. The problem: the projected revenues won't be there and that will drive the budgets that much deeper in to the red.

(H/T Viking Pundit)

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Neo-neocon posts about "speaking truth to perceived lack of power" and the risks that entails, using both Bill Cosby and Mitt Romney as examples of how outrage can be directed towards people telling an unwanted and unpopular truth to the so-called victim classes.

Telling them that their misfortunes are based upon their own uninformed decisions and allowing those who say they are 'helping' them to take control of the narrative isn't something they want to hear. But that doesn't make what they're hearing any less the truth.

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Mike Rogers of GraniteGrok quotes from David Brinkley's book, Washington Goes To War. It's telling, at least to me, that Brinkley and I were on the same wavelength when it came to the installation of air conditioning in our nation's capitol.

I have always believed that HVAC in the Congressional offices and the Capitol Building was the beginning of the end for our great nation. After all, it gave the Congresscritters more time to come up with unnecessary laws, over the top spending, political machinations, and ways to take even more money away from the American people. I firmly believe HVAC should be outlawed in all Congressional offices and residences. That way, when it's too hot or too cold, they'll go home. If they're home they can't cause problems or do things in an effort to justify all their time in Washington.

Congress doesn't need to be in session most of the year. It doesn't even need to be in session for half the year. Almost all of the important things can be handled in only a few months. Everything else is surplusage, wasteful, and in the end, non-productive.

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Amy Payne asks, "Has any administration policy not killed jobs lately?" Unfortunately the answer is a resounding "NO!"

She goes on to list just a few of them, including foot-dragging on free trade agreements, moratoriums and new heavy-handed regulations on offshore oil drilling, delaying the Keystone XL pipeline, over-reaching regulations imposed by the EPA that go well beyond their charter (both Congress and the court system has tried to rein it in, to no avail), greatly extending unemployment benefits (something that always seems to make unemployment last longer), the "stimulus" program that did nothing but stimulate graft and corruption, and of course, ObamaCare. And it appears Obama and the Congressional Democrats want to do even more to kill jobs, one of the biggest being increasing taxes on small businesses. It's the small businesses that create most of the jobs and Obama, Reid, and Pelosi want to add an ever greater burden upon them.

Talk about a disconnect from reality....

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I managed to finish up most of the outdoor work here at The Manse just before the skies opened up and dropped a lot of rain. Deb had been lounging out on the main deck out back and managed to get herself and her things back inside just as the rain started to fall.

Not a bad way to end a Sunday afternoon.

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And that's the nes from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the hot and humid weather is departing, the rain is falling, and where we got almost all of our weekend chores done.

Note: It wasn't until this evening I realized that a part of my Sunday post was missing. So I've reposted it to include the missing parts.

There wasn't anything in the way of outdoor activities at The Manse this weekend as Mother Nature didn't cooperate and rain dominated the weather for the most part. Even though there was some sun Saturday, the decks weren't dry enough to sand or stain so there was no progress made for that project.

So other than doing some laundry and a little cleaning up inside and outside, not much got done this weekend.

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I think the President can no longer blame Bush for anything taking place on Obama's watch, particularly the budget deficits. The latest projections of shortfalls exceed $1.2 trillion (that's "trillion" with a "T"), which is still greater than seven Bush budgets combined. (Yes, seven budgets. His last budget never saw the light of day due to purposeful foot-dragging by congressional Democrats, waiting until after Bush left office before passing a budget $600 billion out of balance, which President Obama signed. Perhaps we should label that last budget the Pelosi budget as it was hers and not Bush's.)

Of course it might help if the Senate Democrats would ever get off derrieres and pass an Obama budget, something they haven't done in over 3 and a half years.

As Glenn Reynolds constantly asks, "How's that hopey-changey stuff workin' out for ya?"

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Let's add yet another bit of abuse upon the Obama administration for its lack of understanding about economics.

It appears the feds are ready to commit the same stupid act that helped usher in the housing bubble and mortgage crisis: use the Community Reinvestment Act to force banks to give mortgages to low-credit-rated blacks and Hispanics. The feds are already threatening banks refusing to do so. But wait, there's more!

Moreover, this time they're going even further. They're going to take over the credit rating agencies and force them to change their standards to accommodate blacks and Hispanics so that nobody will have any idea who is a bad credit risk and who is not. In so many words, the government is about impose its will on the whole home-lending market and force another round of bad loans so that the banks are going to be looted once again so that even the federal government may not be able to bail them out this time.

It's bad enough the CRA was used as a bludgeon before (with the help of community organizer Obama who was part of a class action suit that forced banks to lend to unqualified borrowers). Now they want to do it again as if the results will be different this time. And rather than being pushed by the Justice Departent or Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, it's a side effect of the that damnable Frank-Dodd Act which created the Consumer Finance Protect Bureau, with the emphasis on "Protection", Chicago mob-style) , which has had nothing but negative effects on the economy, consumers, and the banks.

These idiots still don't understand the concept, have no inking that the results won't be any different than the last time, except maybe worse. And if there's no way for banks to check the creditworthiness of a potential borrower then they probably won't lend to anyone, black, Hispanic, Asian, or white. (That isn't discrimination if they won't lend to anyone, is it?) And I have to wonder if taking over the credit bureaus will end up tying up the feds for years as the bureaus take them to court.

Yeah, that ought to help the economy recover. Yup. Really. Uh-huh.....

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Another argument that can be put forth to stop the nonsense explained above: We can make the claim the government is putting forward a racist policy, giving preferential treatment of one or more races over another at the expense of that 'other'. Maybe we can con the ACLU into filing a class action suit if we frame the argument that non-blacks and non-Hispanics are being discriminated against.

But then the Democrat Party was always the party of racism, discrimination, and Jim Crow laws.

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There are all kinds of indices that give us a feeling for how the economy is performing (or more recently, not performing). Some look at the stock market, others at bonds, and yet others at costs of commodities and consumer goods. But there's one that is overlooked that has a pretty decent record (82% correlation) in showing us what's happening with the economy. Call it the Garbage Index.

Despite all the claims made by the Obama administration how the economy is getting better, the Garbage Index says otherwise.


When you think about it, it makes sense. As the article linked states, "This should be pretty intuitive. The more you produce, the more you throw out." And the more you buy in way of goods, perishable or durable, the more you throw out. We've certainly seen that here at The Manse, with the amount of garbage I've been taking to the dump having dropped off by ~20%. (I make the trip to the dump every 5 weeks now rather than every 4 weeks. It takes that long to fill the garbage barrels.)

As one of Glenn Reynolds readers comments, "That waste car load chart also hints there may have been some creative accounting regarding GDP numbers during "Recovery Summer", after pretty decent correlation in previous years."

(H/T Instapundit)

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Skip at GraniteGrok warns us about a move by outgoing Democrat Governor John Lynch to take away our water rights here in New Hampshire.

The argument put forward by the commission overseeing this property grab? It's for the common good. Isn't that always the answer by those who think they know better than you do how to run your own lives or control your property?

There has been no legislative oversight nor much in the way of public input (meetings on this subject by the commission are usually scheduled when most folks concerned with this issue are at work).

I remember when a previous Democrat governor thought it would be a great idea to take control of all shoreland along the various lakes, ponds, and rivers in New Hampshire "for the common good" until it was pointed out that since it would deprive property owners of their land the state would have to buy it from them (eminent domain, don'cha see) at the cost of over a $1 billion, something the state didn't have and that the taxpayers would balk at spending.

Could water rights be the same thing, with the state taking away 'property' from land owners without just compensation?

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Pat Austin gives us Twelve Reasons Not To Vote For Obama times two point eight three.

Reasons 1 thru 12 can be found here.

Reasons 13 thru 24 can be found here.

Reasons 25 thru 34 can be found here. (H/T Pirate's Cove)

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If we need further examples of how almost every plan Obama has for the economy falls under the Law of Unintended Consequences, here's one by way of Cap'n Teach.

A medical equipment manufacturer has scrapped plans to open five new plants in the US because the taxes imposed by ObamaCare has made it financially impossible to do so without taking a sustained loss. No business is in business to take a loss.

With those factories now canceled, the potential 1500 jobs that would have been created by them have also gone by the wayside. Also, with the additional taxes the business in question, Cook Medical, the actual impact will reduce after tax earnings by the company by an additional 15 percent. This is supposed to help the economy how?

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The Chick-fil-A scandal continues, in this case with a good dose of Palin Derangement Syndrome thrown in.

You have to hand it to the Progressives, they really know how to hate. They also show how truly intolerant they are, but then we already knew that.

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There's also this on the Chick-fil-A brouhaha: Apparently a number of city mayors seem to think it's up to them to decide who can and cannot sell chicken sandwiches based entirely upon the business owners' personal political and/or religious beliefs.

Call it yet another version of Chicago mob-style thuggery.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the rain is falling, yard work has stopped, and where there's still so much to do.

It's been busy around The Manse, with BeezleBub working at the farm, me working around the inside and outside, and Deb doing what she does.

I finally finished sanding the floor of the main deck, making it comparatively smooth to what it was after pressure washing it to strip off the old stain and surface dirt. There's still plenty of trim to work on, mostly sanding to remove the last of the old stain, but that won't prevent me from staining the rest of the deck next weekend, weather permitting.

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I had brunch with the WP Parents this morning at one of our favorite eateries, allowing us time to catch up on news about old friends and exchanging observations about the goings on around the Lakes Region. One of the WP Dad's observations was about how easy it is to forget what traffic is like during the summer with all the summerfolk around. Saturday mornings are particularly busy followed closely by Sunday late in the morning.

I've certainly noticed it Friday afternoons on my way home from work, with traffic on the highways and byways much heavier than we see during the rest of the year. But even knowing it will happen still doesn't make us any less grouchy about it.

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I've read this piece by James Taranto a couple of times and I have to agree with his assessment: Obama resents success by others because they earned it.

I can see where that might gall someone who's unearned success has been the central theme of their life story.

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Why do women quit science? Maybe it's due to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Essentially, the article is about a study that tracked female science professor's discussions at work (using some very cool/mildly creepy in ear recording devices), and came to the conclusion that women left science fields not because they were being overtly discriminated against, but because they're scared that they might be. (Emphasis added. -ed.)

So it's not about actual discrimination against women in science so much as it's about the anxiety about the possibility of being discriminated against.

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Two interesting factoids:

The number of fires in the US has fallen by 40% over the past 35 years, but the number of firefighters has increased by 40%.

Incidents of school violence has dropped as well.

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I tried something new for dinner tonight, something from our local butcher shop:

Steak House marinated sirloin burgers.

The butcher said they'd be the best burgers I've ever had.

He was right.

They also offer Grillmaster marinated burgers as well, something I'll try later. If they're anything like their Grillmaster sirloin tips, they'll be awesome!

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Cap'n Teach tells us about the latest AGW believers' talking points, meaning they believe all of us SUV driving humans are making weather worse than it should be, except where it's not, and even then it's still all our fault.

Climate change, an unscientific phrase in itself, is making the current natural warm period worse than it should be. Essentially, this poop against the wall is attempting to create a position that "sure, Mother Nature has created this warm period, but all those Other People who live modern lifestyles have made it much, much worse, because weather never happened before."

Yup, it's because weather never happened before.

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These are three names that we all should remember: Joe Blunk, Matt McQuinn, and Alex Teves.

These three did what real men are supposed to do - protecting the women they love, even at the cost of their own lives. Somehow I doubt beta male "metrosexuals" would have done such a thing.

Of course I expect the feminazis to push out some excrement about how it was somehow unfair that these men didn't let the women die, as is only fair because, after all, they are nothing but victims of the men who saved them.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where summer is still here in all its glory, the work around the house is getting done, and where I have Monday off!

It was a relatively uneventful weekend here at The Manse. Probably the most exciting thing was Deb and BeezleBub's trip to Hampton Beach for the day Friday. (Both of them had the day off.) Of course where BeezleBuib goes, so goes Horse Girl. At least it wasn't as trying as it might have been until recently as she's been shorn of her leg cast, making it easier for her to get around and allowing her to go swimming for the first time this summer.

On the other hand I spent my time working on the decks here at The Manse. The prep work prior to staining has taken far longer than I had anticipated, but seeing how good the wood looks now I can say it was worth it. While I could have taken a shortcut by using a chemical stripper, the lengthy precautions required before I even applied it made me rethink that strategy. Not that I'm not going to use it, but I will apply it only in places where other means are too lengthy or too difficult to achieve the results I desire. And even had I used it I still would have had to sand the deck surfaces to smooth them out considering how much of a beating they've taken over the past three years.

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It's also NASCAR Weekend here in New Hampshire, with the first of two Sprint Cup races this season taking place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. To say the traffic has been insane would be a major understatement. Just running a simple 20-minute errand to the local hardware store yesterday turned into a 45 minute ordeal with bumper to bumper traffic on the major thoroughfares. Even the local airport was jammed, with numerous bizjets from the NASCAR teams and their sponsors taking up every available space on the ramp.

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Eric the Viking gets into a little linky love showing just how awesome our President really is!

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David Starr has been doing his part in northern New Hampshire, manning a political phone bank and making calls to potential voters. His take? People's minds are already made up.

Says Dave: "[T]here are a LOT of ardent Democrats out there who are gonna vote Obama no matter what." Just like the good little Obamabots they are.

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There's also this from David as well, where his local cable company has stopped carrying the local TV station (WMUR), meaning he has no means of watching the local (meaning New Hampshire) news.

This is something that has been happening all across the country as TV stations that were once glad that cable systems were carrying their signal at all (it meant more viewers without the need to spend any money) are now charging cable systems and satellite carriers to rebroadcast their signals. In some cases the demands were too high and the cable companies stopped carrying them. (One of the latest has been DirecTV pulling all of Viacom's programming from their lineup because Viacom wanted way too much to carry their channels. Viacom's lineup includes such popular channels such as MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon.)

This is something that will be happening more often as content providers ask for more money from cable and satellite companies.

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In line with what's been happening in northern New Hampshire (as well as a number of other places around the country) and the dispute between Viacom and DirecTV, a lot of customers are asking why they have to pay for channels they don't watch just in order to get the channels they want. They'd prefer a la carte programming, allowing them to choose and pay for only the channels they want. However, as appealing as that sounds (even the cable companies like the idea), content providers like Viacom, Discovery, and so on offer their channels in bundles, meaning it's an all-or-nothing contract. The content providers even dictate which of their channels go on to the various programming tiers offered by the cable and satellite carriers. The argument has been made that by doing so niche channels that would not otherwise survive can remain on the air. Maybe the content providers are looking this the wrong way.

If a niche channel cannot survive on its own, then maybe it shouldn't, at least not on cable or satellite. I can see providing some start-up capital to get going and some kind of support for a limited period of time. But if it can't survive after that time then it's likely there isn't enough (if any) viewership to allow it to continue. Or maybe it should be a narrowcast, using the Internet and operations like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, or iTunes to provide the program to those who really want to watch the 'channel'.

Something has to change in the business model presently being used by content providers and carriers or they won't survive.

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As Scary Yankee Chick asks, "Remind me again why putting corn in everything was a good idea?"

With the drought being worse than predicted, corn harvests are expected to be off. In turn we can expect higher food prices across the board and corn-derived ethanol prices will rise as well.

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Earlier I had commented upon how NASCAR weekend has been playing havoc with traffic. I thought it would have settled out once the race itself was under way. Nope. Not even close.

The clueless and inattentive drivers were still out there this afternoon as I had to run yet another errand to the local Wally World. Folks just weren't paying attention to what they were doing, where they were going, or the various traffic signs (including speed limit signs, with some folks driving 30mph in a 55mph zone). This inattention also extended itself to parking lots where I saw almost a half dozen almost collisions on my walk in and out of WalMart.

These folks have got to get a grip.

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It looks like the Obama campaign is hedging its bets when it comes to speech venues.

Rather than going to some of the larger institutions of learning like George Mason University, he's been stumping at places like Centreville High School in nearby Clifton, VA.

As one of Glenn Reynold's readers e-mailed:

The Obama supporters who came to the rally at Centreville High School in Clifton, VA (Fairfax County) came from outside the voting precinct. Many drove cars with Maryland license plates and none of them were recognized by the 100′s of neighbors who turned out to protest Obama's tax increases. The Obama rally was a terrible inconvenience as streets were closed and traffic stacked up, preventing residents from leaving or returning to their homes. And it appeared there weren't even enough Obama folks to fill the high school gymnasium.

That does not bode well for Obama.

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Speaking of Obama, it seems he's caught the Elizabeth Warren disease. You know, the one that makes people like Warren claim that no one ever built a successful business without the helping hand of government. Hmm. I always thought they built successful businesses in spite of government.

Government isn't necessary for anyone to build a successful business. However the Left will claim that without government there would be no roads, no electricity grid, no water, no sewer, no nothing. And while technically correct, those are the expected functions of government. They weren't doing the businesses any favors. And in more recent business expansions the developer usually pays for infrastructure to be added (those self same roads, electricity, water, sewer, etc), not the government.

And it's true that no business succeeded without the help of others, but those others were usually private institutions or businesses like banks, venture capitalists, consultants, and so on. Not one government agency is involved in any of that (except to take their cut, of course).

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the roar of Sprint Cup cars and bizjets have faded away until September, the warm and humid weather is back, and where our big deck is one day closer to being stained.

I wish I could say I spent the weekend doing something really neat and interesting. Instead, I got into the zen of deck refinishing.

While I have not yet completed the task, I have made a pretty good dent in the work. The main deck and the steps leading up to it have been washed and are in the process of being sanded to smooth out the rough spots. That leaves the smaller second and third decks to be done as well as the stairs out in front of The Manse.

What I had thought would be a one or two weekend task has stretched out to a full month as I worked out the best means of stripping the old stain without the need to use caustic chemical strippers. (For the most part I have succeeded though I will still have to use the stripper on spots where the other methods failed.)

At this rate I won't get this job done for a couple of more weekends.

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Cap'n Teach points out that Obama has unintentionally blamed himself for the "crummy economic conditions."

[O]ver the past decade, Obama has been president for 3 1/2 years. He was a junior Senator who was supposed to be getting Bill Clinton coffee for 6 of those years. Democrats controlled the Senate for 5 of those years. Democrats had full control of Congress during his first two of being President. So Obama just unintentionally blamed himself and Democrats for the poor economic conditions and poor economic security.

As they say in the political game, "Oops!"

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I think it's interesting when one of the leading Democrats in the state of New Hampshire, Ray Buckley, warns Mitt Romney that he has to be careful who he picks as a running mate otherwise he's likely to lose the vote here in New Hampshire and will in turn lose the national election. This comment was made during a report about Ohio Senator Portman visiting the Granite State to stump for Romney.

I know New Hampshire can be a pivotal state during the primary season, but during the general election? I'm not so sure. But as one commenter to the report put it, "[I]f Obama and Romney split the big battleground states (MI, OH, FL, etc) then it is entirely possible that our 4 electoral votes will be the ones to push one or the other to 270."

If Buckley is right, then I have to ask this question: Why is one of the state's leading Democrats giving advice to the presumptive Republican presidential candidate?

Just something to think about.

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I suppose this is one way to make sure you have a great view from your home. It must be nice to have that kind of money.

(H/T Scary Yankee Chick)

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This just too cute! I think even our dear departed Bagheera would admit he liked this little kitty....after grumbling for a while about yet another interloper wanting to eat from his supper dish.

(H/T AMCGLTD)

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An "angry white dude with a beer in hand yells obscenities at a black politician" but there's not one mention of it on the national news! It must be because the MSM is racist, right?


Oh, wait a minute, the angry white dude is a Democrat and the black politician is a Republican! Well that changes everything. Nothing to see here folks. Move along....

(H/T Instapundit)

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When will Obama own the crappy economic conditions that have continued (or worsened) under his watch? If he had his way, never. But Ed Morrisey says it's about time that he stop using the "I inherited a bad economy" excuse and own up to the bad moves he's made that have short-circuited the economic recovery. Even dyed-in-the-wool Democrats are saying enough is enough, with Robert Reich slamming Obama on the matter.

In Ohio yesterday, Obama reiterated that he had inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression. That's true. But the excuse is wearing thin. It's his economy now, and most voters don't care what he inherited.

The chances of Obama taking responsibility for his errors? Between slim and none. After all, it doesn't fit the narrative of the Narcissist-in-Chief because it's always "someone else's fault."

Gay Patriot compares the Obama Recovery with the Reagan Recovery. Not surprisingly, the Obama Recovery comes up short. And if I recall correctly, not once did Reagan ever blame his predecessor for the lousy economy. Reagan also had a plan, that being "get government out of the way and the economy will fix itself."

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

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One question for African-Americans and Hispanics: "How's Obamanomics working out for you?"

Looking at the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, the answer is "Not at all."

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In light of this news about oil shale reserves in the US, as well as natural gas and coal reserves, why are we paying so damn much for petroleum products?

Because The One has decided it should be so and screw the economic consequences, preventing us from developing those resources. But then The One has never understood the connection between the cost of something used in the economy and the prices everyone pays for the end products.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where summer is in full swing, the weather has been delightful, and where it's expected to stay that way for the upcoming week.

It's been a quiet but busy weekend so far.

The summerfolk are here and in large numbers. I made a quick stop by the town beach yesterday to see how many people were there. The lot was full and cars were parked along the road leading to the beach. From what I could see from the road the beach was packed, though most of the folks there were congregated along the northern end close to the restrooms and concessions.

While I didn't get to all my chores yesterday, I did get most of them done. Depending upon the weather later today, I should be able to finish the rest of them. I might even get down to the beach late this afternoon or early this evening for a quick dip in the lake.

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Bird Dog rehashes the ObamaCare decision and the fallout from it, including analysis of what ObamaCare really means as well as the financial realities that, in the end, dooms it to failure.

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At least White House staffers are "doing just fine" in regards to pay. Too bad those of us the private sector aren't doing so well, particularly when we're paying even more we can't afford to help support those three White House calligraphers making between $86,000 and $96,000 per year.

Seriously, calligraphers? I thought there were computer apps for that now.

(H/T Instapundit)

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Getting back to the ObamaCare decision, Pat Austin comments and links about a couple of the good side-effects: Increased donations to the Romney campaign and more folks joining or supporting their local Tea Party organizations.

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Villainous Company covers the Washington Post fact checking the...umm...Washington Post in regards to the highly deceptive attack ads the Obama campaign is running against Mitt Romney.

I guess the Obama's campaign staff has decided to use the Big Lie concept first used so well by Goebbels in Hitler's Germany. (Yes, I know it appears I've come under Godwin's Law, but I'm not equating them to Nazis, merely stating a historical fact. That the Obama campaign has decided to go there was purely their choice and not a matter of opinion.)

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

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"Privilege for me, but not for thee."

Apparently that's the mantra from Eric Holder's DOJ when it comes to the Texas state executive and legislative branches of government. It's okay for the Feds to cite executive privilege to keep documents secret, but not for the individual states to do so.

I don't know about you, but that looks an awful lot like a double standard being applied. But then Democrats are known for applying that kind of double standard where only they and theirs get a pass while everyone else has to follow the law.

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Here's a two-fer from David Starr way up in the Northwoods of New Hampshire.

First, he explains how he found it impossible to watch a movie he Netflixed, explaining it was too darned depressing.

Second, David delves into the conspicuous consumption of the past and today's realities when it comes to consumer spending.

As David writes:

In short, Americans are consuming less, durable goods are more durable, the hot new electronic toys are fairly cheap and as consumer demand drops off, so does employment.

That's certainly true of automobiles. It used to be a car or truck was ready for the junkyard at 100,000 miles. These days, they're barely broken in. Replacing cars every two or three years is a rarity when in the past it was a regular thing.

Here at The Manse, the newest vehicle we have is the trusty 2004 Ford F150. BeezleBub's Dodge Dakota is a 2003 model. His Jeep CJ5 is of 1975 vintage. And Deb drives our 2000 Dodge Intrepid which has almost 140,000 miles on it and has been quite reliable to date. (One side note: the A/C compressor on the Intrepid has failed and we're waiting for a new one to be delivered to our local mechanic's shop.)

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Scary Yankee Chick has a timely customer relations tip.

I think this could also be applied in a few more places, like the AGW or ObamaCare debates, just to name a couple.

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Stingray also has some timely advice for meteorologists in his little part of New Mexico (Los Alamos):

Current reporting claims 45% cloud cover. Please, for the sake of us all, open the window and let the bong smoke out, you've clearly mistaken it for atmospheric conditions again, as the only thing covering 45% of the sky at the moment is heat, along with more heat and a side of dry. The remaining 55% happens to be covered by the same thing, but small details like that are easy to miss in the fever of inventing fictional climates. I imagine this fantasy Los Alamos which has been the subject of your reports and forecast for some time now to be quite a nice location, and while I'd like to consider the notion you're merely reporting on what the weather will be in late September, instead of the end of June, I'm not sure I quite buy that level of prognostication.

This reminds me of an old promo for one of the Boston TV stations' weather forecasts. Their chief meteorologist talks about how forecasting the weather is still as much of an art as it is a science when there's a sudden flash of light and rumble of thunder. He runs over to the widow, throws it open and stick his head out to look at the sky. He then looks at his watch, frowns, and then comments: "Hmm. 20 minutes late!"

If only that were the truth.

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Eric the Viking makes this prediction: "You absolutely will not see another press conference by this president. Everything will be carefully scripted and loaded onto TOTUS for delivery."

I have to agree.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the summerfolk are enjoying themselves, BeezleBub's farm is busy, and where we're enjoying reasonable summertime temperatures.

The hot and humid weather that graced us with its presence made its exit over the weekend, just in time for me to do the yard work and allowing me to do more work on the three decks here at The Manse.

There's still plenty of prep work to do before staining, in this case sanding the main deck to smooth out the rough surface. While the other decks won't require quite such drastic work, the main deck takes the brunt of the sun and temperature extremes, meaning the decking gets pretty beat up.

I'm hoping to have it completed before the Fourth if July.

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I found this surprising because it doesn't fit the usual narrative from the Left.

From the Talk Left online magazine comes this piece that comes right out and makes this totally unexpected statement:

My opinion: This is self-defense. Zimmerman was not the aggressor, he did nothing to provoke Trayvon Martin's beating him, breaking his nose and slamming his head into concrete. He had every right to respond with deadly force to stop Trayvon's physical attack on him and to prevent Trayvon from getting control of his weapon.

So different from what we'd expect from media outlets like MSNBC, the New York Times, and a host of other MSM and online media outlets.

(H/T Instapundit)

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It makes me wonder what folks are thinking when they decide to shut down Super Max prisons. It certainly isn't for a dearth of dangerous criminals to occupy them.

In almost all cases the inmates sent to such prisons are so dangerous the only way to keep them from killing other inmates and prison personnel is to put them in Super Max. Returning them to 'regular' maximum security prisons merely gives them a target rich environment. Some of the bleeding hearts say it's cruel and unusual punishment, leading to psychological problems. But those sent to such prisons already have such problems, otherwise they wouldn't be such violent inmates that it gets them sent there in the first place. They aren't sent to Super Max because they're misunderstood. They're sent there because they've maimed and killed other inmates and prison personnel on a regular basis.

You don't solve the problems of such criminals by allowing them to continue to prey on others within the prison system.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Some of the more radical environmental activists don't let such mundane things like lengthy studies and medical research get in their way when they want to ban something they wholeheartedly believe is Really Really Really Bad For Children And Other Living Things. And so it is with BPA (bisphenol A), a chemical used to harden plastics.

Never mind that lengthy studies, decades long, have shown absolutely no connection between BPA and any negative health effects. None. Yet they still want the FDA to ban its use in plastics used to make drink and food containers. After all, why should they let the facts sway their beliefs.

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It seems Nancy Pelosi has the GOP all figured out: Republicans are going after AG Eric Holder as a distraction so the states can purge their voting rolls of non-eligible voters, particularly the non-citizens and the dead, most of whom always seem to vote for Democrats.

Uh-oh, busted.....NOT.

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Gee, my home state of New Hampshire is considered the third Most Peaceful State in the US, at least according to 24/7 Wall Street.

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Cap'n Teach lets us know the reason Democrats in Congress thought ObamaCare was constitutional was because they said it was and because they passed the bill. As if that's all that's required.

But they conveniently forgot a few things, like the actual Constitution and a few other odds and ends.

The Dems simply said "it's Constitutional since we say it is, and because we passed it." Let's not forget that the vote in the House was 219-212, with 34 Democrats voting against, and that the Democrats had to offer serious bribes for Representatives and Senators to get to the numbers needed to pass this monstrosity, as well as legislative chicanery such as using the reconciliation process. And still passed it despite the massive opposition and outcry from the American People during the 10 months the Democrats were pushing it (while ignoring the economy).

Just how shocked will they be, particularly Nancy Pelosi, if/when the Supreme Court renders their decision about ObamaCare, declaring it unconstitutional? Remember Nancy's reply when asked if the bill was constitutional way back when? I expect her head to explode when the Supremes strike it down.

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One thing I have to say about my home state is that it "don't take crap" from other states. A case in point, the passage and signing of HB 1701 which prohibits the state of New Hampshire from enforcing tax payments owed by New Hampshire residents to other states.

For instance, drivers licenses cannot be suspended in New Hampshire if driving privileges have been suspended in another state due solely to a tax delinquency in that state.

New Hampshire has a long history of telling other states to "piss off" when it comes to taxes. One of the more recent cases involved the Massachusetts Department of Revenue trying to force New Hampshire retailers to collect Massachusetts sales tax from Massachusetts residents buying items in New Hampshire. New Hampshire responded by passing legislation making it illegal for New Hampshire businesses to 'enforce' sales tax laws of other states.

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Assistant Village Idiot voices his disdain for those who murder the King's English, specifically the word mischievous. He cringes every time he hears it pronounced "mis-cheevee-uss" as there's no "i" in the second syllable. Folks pronounce it as if there are four syllables in the word when there are only three.

One of my pet peeves is frustrated or frustration, both pronounced as if the first "r" isn't there, i.e. "fuss-tray-ted" or "fuss-tray-shun". Yet another word that drives me up the wall is irregardless. There us no such word. One can hold someone in irregard or do something regardless of the risk, but irregardless is a meaningless word.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where summer is in full swing, the yard work is never done, and yet again Monday has returned all too soon.

It's been quiet around The Manse, with BeezleBub at the farm haying (a sunrise to sunset operation), and Deb off to the Big-E in Springfield, Massachusetts to attend a classic car show with one of her friends.

Not that their absence has meant I can slack off from my distaff duties. There's been plenty to do in and around The Manse. And while I didn't get to everything (I never do as the 'to-do' list is quite long), I got a goodly portion done. Much of this work is in anticipation of our Independence Day activities (most of which will take place the weekend prior to the Fourth because both BeezleBub and Deb have to work that day).

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Laconia Motorcycle Week has been winding down, with today being the last day of the 9-day long event. While the crowd hasn't been anywhere near the largest (police estimate about 270,000 visited this year), many of the vendors say people have been spending more than the previous 4 or 5 years. It helps that gas prices are well below where everyone thought they would be this time of year.

While the photo below is of a previous Bike Week, it gives you a small taste of what it's been like along Lakeside Avenue in Weirs Beach.


Click on image to embiggen

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Ann Althouse and a plethora of commenters are piling on Elizabeth Wurtzel's diatribe against 1% wives, blaming them for the so-called "war on women."

It doesn't cross her mind even once that it is she (another 1%-er) that is waging a war on women, blasting them for being moms and not career-driven feminists with no children. (This 'problem' could solve itself as those like Wurtzel choose not to reproduce and they cause their own extinction.)

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Talk about another feminist FAIL, there's this from the House of Erasthenes.

One of the best comments: "Under Feminism, only women are allowed to be sexually attracted to anything, and only men are required to be sexually attractive."

Yeah, that ought to work...

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Forbes lists the most business friendly places to start a business in the US. Not surprisingly the top four are Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah. My home state of New Hampshire is one of the top eight. Also not surprising, the bottom four are California, Hawaii, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

I won't go into the reasons the bottom four are the least friendly as I think almost anyone that has been paying attention to the economy over the past couple of years or so understands the factors that make them that way.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Skip Murphy points us to an ongoing e-mail conversation about pensions. One of the more poignant quotes: "Now I realize nurses aren't treated the best, but I don't understand why she feels we owe her a pension."

The 'we' in this case is the American taxpayers.

As Skip says, "A socialist society is a selfish society - and as Government does more and more (notice that I did not say Society!), people expect and then demand more and more."

As the saying goes, Read The Whole Thing.

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First Street Journal asks whether Barack Obama is North America's Hugo Chavez. I'd have to say, no, he isn't.

Instead he's a Hugo Chavez wannabe and he's finding out the American people have had just about enough of his Chavista ploys and working around or outright ignoring the Constitution and our laws, insulting our allies, sucking up to our enemies, and working hard to undermine democracies (Honduras, anyone?) everywhere.

I think he'll find out just how much the American people want him gone come November 6, 2012.

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

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Also by way of Cap'n Teach comes the news that the UK is ending subsidies for on-shore wind power by 2020.

At least the UK government is doing something right, realizing that the 'green energy' paradigm is expensive, counterproductive, expensive, not as green as everyone has been claiming, and expensive.

As the Cap'n also informs us, the UK is also looking into axing subsidies for solar farms, too.

It's looking more and more like 'green energy' is yet another bit of feel-good ideology that has little basis in fact, doesn't perform the way 'they' said it would, creates more problems than it solves, and makes the supply of power even less reliable, all while making it more expensive.

All of this is supposed to help us how?

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MIT's Technology Review raises the question whether the Anti-Virus Era is over?

The TR article uses the example of Flame, "the most complex mal-ware ever found", showing that "conventional antivirus software is an outmoded way of protecting computers against mal-ware."

I can see anti-virus software protecting computers form the more run-of-the-mill virus put together by less competent virus programmers and "script-kiddies". But the more sophisticated mal-ware like Flame and StuxNet fly below the anti-virus radar and are usually found by accident. It might also have something to do with the possibility that both of these pieces of mal-ware were not created by some anonymous code hack in his mother's basement, but by high level government entities in order to make sure they have the high-ground if/when it comes to cyber-warfare.

I doubt we've heard the last of these sophisticated, stealthy programs.

(H/T Instapundit)

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Are all of the new wireless devices, such as the iPhones, iPads, Android phones/devices, and so on, going to create a spectrum crunch? Unfortunately the answer is yes.

That means wireless carriers will be dialing back data-speeds and limiting the amount of data for each user. It also means they'll be eying spectrum that belongs to other services, such as public safety, commercial land-mobile radio, amateur radio, broadcasting, satellite, and even military spectrum. The problem is that there's very little spectrum left to be exploited. Spectrum is a finite resource. The only way the wireless carriers can get more spectrum is to kick other users off of theirs. I doubt very much that's going to happen as there are too many other legitimate users that cannot be relocated easily, if at all.

One of the few ways wireless carriers can expand their data carrying capabilities is create smaller cells which in turn allows them to re-use spectrum they already own. This means that an area that is covered at present by a single cell site maybe be broken up into 6 or more smaller sites, each covering a smaller area. This increases the data capacity by the factor of 6 or more. The only problem is that this is an expensive proposition for the carriers because they'll have to deploy a lot more equipment to do so. The return on investment may not be there, at least not yet.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the sounds of motorcycles is slowly fading away, the first day of summer (according to the calendar) is only three days away, and where visitors have not yet been reduced to screaming into their cell phones "Can you hear me now?"

It's hard to believe that our little boy has grown up.

Yesterday BeezleBub graduated from high school along with 129 of his fellow students. The WP Parents, WP In-Laws, the WP Sister-In-Law and her husband attended the ceremony. The oldest WP Sister joined us at The Manse after the ceremony to help celebrate.

The ceremony was one of the better ones I've attended. It was short, sweet, to the point, and was enjoyable. It also helped that the weather was great, too.

And now BeezleBub starts his summer hours at the farm in earnest.

How time flies.

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Another change here at The Manse: a new member of the feline contingent.

One of Deb's friends convinced her we needed to take in Tom, an orange long-haired cat. A large orange long-haired cat. He's 19 pounds (yes he's overweight, but we'll work on that) and kind of the male version of Hilda as he's also very fluffy and loves to be brushed, just like her.

So we're back up to a full complement of 7 and three-quarters cats.

But I still miss Bagheera.

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Oh, I almost forgot to mention this: Laconia Bike Week has started!

Motorcycle enthusiasts started arriving Friday afternoon and have made their presence known all weekend. The largest part of the crowds won't start arriving until this Wednesday or Thursday.

So far it's been great weather and it's supposed to continue through at least Tuesday, with some rain late Wednesday and into Thursday. Hopefully it will clear out again and be great weather for next weekend.

Unfortunately there have already been a number of accidents, including one I saw at the end of the Laconia Bypass while I was out running an errand to WalMart. I have no doubt it won't be the last.

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Obama's "Private business is doing just fine" gaffe is paying endless dividends, making even is quasi-supporters say "WTF?!" (And we don't mean "Win The Future".)

All it proves to me is that he really has no understanding of how the economy works and what it is that drives it. It caused John Hinderaker to wonder if it was Obama's most clueless moment yet.

The gaffe has certainly boosted Romney's chances.

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Texas will soon be opening a new toll road between Austin and San Antonio. That's not big news. However, the fact that it will have an 85 MPH speed limit is.

A number of states have speed limits greater than 65 MPH, particularly out west. (It makes sense when you have to cover large distances just to get to the next town.)

The speed limit in New Hampshire is 65 MPH, but way back before the dreaded double-nickle (55 MPH) mandated by the Feds in order to "Save Gas And Save Lives", the speed limit was 70 MPH. To all intents and purposes, it's still 70. I rarely see anyone driving 65 on the Interstates, me included.

People will drive at speeds at which they are comfortable, the posted speed limit notwithstanding. Traffic engineers know this and in the past set speed limits based on the 85-percentile, meaning they would measure the speed of all traffic along a highway and set the speed to that which at least 85 percent were traveling. Most of the Interstates were designed for much higher speeds than the posted limits. (It might have had something to do with the fact that there were stretches designed to be used as runways for combat aircraft in times of war.)

I hope New Hampshire will at some point go back to its original 70 MPH limit.

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You know Obama's in trouble when veterans of Special Operations Forces in our Armed Forces are organizing against his re-election.

You know it's got to be bad when former Navy SEALs, Air Force Air Commandos, and Marine Corp MARSOC members are creating a SuperPAC to defeat the Commander-In-Chief.

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Tom Bowler links to and comments upon the increasing disappointment and dislike Progressives are expressing for Obama. They've come to realize that is he's not one of them.

I remain fascinated that anyone pretending to have Democratic, progressive, let alone liberal, political views cares whether Pres. Obama wins or loses. What it's going to take for people to understand he's not fighting any of your battles, but only waging his own for himself, is unknown at this point, but maybe when he shoots for legacy on the "grand bargain" fence of history people will tune in and, perhaps, wake up. Then it will be too late, though it already is and was a long time ago.

If he's losing even the Progressives/Marxists/Chavistas in the Democrat Party, he's toast come November.

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Jeff Soyer tells us that in Canada when it comes to guns they've doubled down on stupid.

The father of a four-year old girl was handcuffed and arrested by the police because his daughter drew a picture of him "shooting monsters and bad men". This apparently caused a panic to her "weak-minded teacher", sucked in a "gullible principal", who in turn frightened "reactionary child welfare officials", who in turn called the police.

As Jeff reports, "An exhaustive search of the Sansone home revealed a plastic toy gun."

These folks should be fired. Who needs people this stupid teaching their kids?

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James Delingpole posts a list from another blogger that gives us a number of all too true "Only in America.." insanities.

Two of my favorites are number 9 and 10:

9) Only in America could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, but still spend over a trillion dollars more than it has per year while the President complain that there is not nearly enough money to do what he wants.

10) Only in America could the people who pay 86% of all income taxes be accused by the President of not paying their "fair share" on behalf of the people who don't pay any income taxes at all.

On number 10, I've asked a number of people who've made that complaint in my presence what amount would be fair. I almost always got the ubiquitous, unthinking, and envy-filled response: "More than they pay now!"

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

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Also by way of Cap'n Teach we have this post at Say Anything reminding us that if anything is taxed at a high enough rate, a black market for that good or service will arise.

One of the first rules of free markets is that markets are dynamic, while regulations are static. Regulations, or in this case taxes, that are more arduous than consumers care to bear are usually circumvented, be it legally or illegally.

The case cited here is the onerous $4.35 per-pack tax on cigarettes in New York State. Is it any wonder there's a booming black market for untaxed cigarettes there?

Call it yet another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the rumble of thousands of motorcycles can be heard, visitors are spending their hard-earned vacation money, and where I'm still having a tough time getting used to the idea that BeezleBub has finished high school.

I have to admit it was an unusual start to the weekend.

It's not all that uncommon to hear one or more of our neighbors mowing their lawns first thing Saturday morning. It was no different this Saturday morning, except for one thing: it was raining quite heavily.

On one of the few mornings I get to sleep in (that means staying in bed until 7 or even 7:15) I hear what sounds like a lawn mower somewhere here in our neighborhood. It wasn't until I got up that I realized it was raining, and it wasn't a light rain.

The neighbor's mower ran for about an hour (that must be one heck of a lawn if it takes that long to mow) before shutting down. And then a few minutes I could hear their weed-whacker. A half hour later they were done.

I know some people are creatures of habit, but did this person really need to mow their lawn in the middle of a lengthy and heavy rain storm? They couldn't have waited until tomorrow when we would have some breaks in the clouds?

I guess not.

I'd like to think I did the smart thing and mowed the lawn here at The Manse late Friday afternoon, knowing the rains were coming and likely to stick around until Wednesday or Thursday. I knew if I waited until next weekend I'd have trouble mowing, between the much longer grass and the not-running-so-well Official Weekend Pundit Lawnmower.

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The voter intimidation has already started, with so-called "Surveillance Effect" mailers going out to registered Republicans in Wisconsin in effect saying, we know who you are and who you've given political contributions to and we're going to make sure everyone else knows, too. This must be seen as an effort to negatively affect Republican voter turnout in Tuesday's re-call election in that state.

I expect the Democrats to use the same organization to do the same thing once we start getting closer to the November elections. All of this is being done in the name of "research" to see if voting patterns change after receiving such mailings. It's one thing if they were going out to equal numbers of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans in each 'targeted' district, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

The Dems must be running scared if they have to resort to this kind of subtle intimidation. I also expect that the intimidation will become less subtle the closer we get to November.

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As Bogie states, Texas may have overlarge everything, but our turtles are just plain meaner: they stop traffic.

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By way of Eric the Viking comes this question: Can President Obama name ONE clean energy success?

I certainly can't think of one.

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Assistant Village Idiot expresses his opinion about pay-as-you-go highway express lanes, saying they he thinks they're a great idea.

When private toll roads are quicker, even poor people will use them occasionally. At the cost of a few dollars, you can even think of it as an inexpensive luxury. If you have ever comfortably passed a mile or two of stopped traffic, you know what a thrill it is. I'm rich! I'm free!

I have no problem with it.

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Oh, the horror!!

Apparently the Democrats don't like the fact that Romney is "punching back twice as hard."

I guess they feel they're the only ones allowed to do that.

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Then there's the public's growing disdain for so-called "green energy" and its growing costs. The problem is that people are starting to wonder why so much taxpayer money is being wasted on energy sources that are more expensive and less reliable. And to add insult to injury, a number of 'enlightened' governments are abandoning subsidies for green energy because the costs aren't worth the return.

In January, the Spanish government ended absurdly lavish subsidies for its renewable-energy industry, and the renewable-energy industry all but imploded. You could say it was never a renewable-energy industry at all. It was a government-subsidy industry where in exchange for creating conscience-soothing but otherwise inefficient windmills and solar panels, the government gave the makers piles of cash consumers never would have.

--snip--

The reason the Spanish example is so important is that it demonstrates how the whole green-energy "revolution" was really an ideologically driven green boondoggle from the start.

It's no different here in the US. Even private investors realize there's no "there" there, with the likes of T. Boone Pickens abandoning his plans for investing in large windfarms in Texas. The return on investment just wasn't there and he felt no need to blow hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money on something that wasn't going to pay off. Why should the government use taxpayer money to do what private investors see as a money-losing proposition?

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I thought I'd heard it all, but when I found out Eric Holder's DOJ has ordered Florida to stop removing foreigners from its voting rolls, I figured it had to be a joke.

They do understand that non-citizens aren't eligible to vote, don't they? Or has the DOJ become so indoctrinated in the incredibly stupid "the Constitution is a living document and we can ignore the parts we don't like" mindset that they feel they don't need to enforce one of the most fundamental laws in the nation? I think we can safely say the answer to this question is an unassailable "yes".

These people need to be fired, the quicker the better.

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I didn't think it was possible for Obama's so-called "Smart Diplomacy" to get any stupider, but it has. And it seems to me he really has it in for the British, insulting them not once, but twice.

This time around he's asked them to negotiate with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, something the British aren't willing to do. After all, they fought a war over the Falklands after Argentina invaded and occupied them in 1982. The British managed to kick them out after heavy fighting and at the cost of the lives to 250 British servicemen.

And let's not forget his "Polish death camps" gaffe, either.

All this says to me is that Obama is neither smart or diplomatic.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the heavy rains have ended, there's more on the way, and where I'm glad I mowed my lawn Friday afternoon.

It's Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start of the summer tourist season here in New Hampshire. All day yesterday I could hear the sound of boat motors from the lake (the bigger go-fast boats, not the runabouts like ours), the sounds of motorcycles along the state roads here in town, and the crush of out-of-state folks making the most of the weekend.

Most of what I did to start off the weekend dealt with work around The Manse. There are still decks to scrape/strip/sand/stain, laundry to wash, lawns to mow, weeds to kill, and blue stone to move. I might even make it down to the town beach before the weekend is out.

And so starts another summer.

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Deb also reminded me the tourists are out, particularly the dreaded "summah people". She told me she darned near got hit head on by one of them coming down a back road when that 'tourist' decided they needed to use the entire road rather than one side like everyone else.

And so it starts.

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This is the big difference between Romney and Obama/Biden: Obama and Biden have never worked a day in the private sector. As Romney says, Obama just doesn't understand the basics of capitalism or a free economy.

If they've never had to make a payroll, deal with government regulations, worry about whether customers would pay them on time or wonder whether they would be able to pay creditors on time, then how can they possibly understand what businesses large and small really need?

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The aforementioned lack of understanding of the basics of capitalist economics by Obama and Biden might explain why Obama's use of Bain Capital as part of his re-election strategy has backfired. It became evident that Obama and his campaign staff didn't understand that venture capital firms like Bain deal with failing companies, trying to turn them around and make them successful again. They also fail to understand that it doesn't always work and then firms like Bain will sell off the assets in order to reduce or recoup their losses. An 80% success rate for Bain isn't bad. It's not perfect, but it isn't bad by any means.

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You know things are getting bad when parents can be arrested for letting their kids walk or ride their bikes to school.

Yet another example of the nanny state stepping it where it isn't wanted...or needed.

These people need to get an effin' clue.

(H/T Instapundit)

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As if we need yet another example of the nanny state effing things up, there's this little gem:

School Nurse Refuses To Give Student Inhaler During Asthma Attack.

What's worse is that when it became apparent the student was losing consciousness due to the asthma attack, the nurse closed and locked the door to her office rather than calling 911.

The school administration officials defend the nurse's actions because "it's school policy". The ever meaningless "it's policy" gambit is used by administrators who are too stupid or lazy to actually make a decision.

That's one school system that needs to be sued, big time.

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Bogie reports on her Wonderful Spouse's trip to Washington, DC to participate in the Rolling Thunder tribute to our veterans and our honored dead.

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Oh, great! Patient Zero of the coming Zombie Apocalypse has appeared in Miami.

Not a great way to start the Memorial Day weekend.

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Also by way of Instapundit comes this story about yet another federal agency run amok, in this case the EEOC targeting a coffee shop chain in the South Shore area south of Boston.

What is the coffee chain's offense, at least in the eyes of the EEOC? Hiring pretty coeds to run the stores. Call it a coffee shop version of Hooters. And like Hooters, many seem to think the EEOC will drop their inquiry for the same reason - embarrassment.

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Memorial Day is tomorrow.

I can't adequately describe this, but I have to agree with the author that this single image and the story that goes with it haunts me.

(H/T Viking Pundit)

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Tom Bowler gets into the distinction between justice and social justice. They aren't the same thing.

Writes Tom:

Social Justice has nothing to do with justice in any sense of what is right or fair.  It's a political concept, contrived for the convenience of a political class who make a princely living by extorting money from anybody who has it and promising it to anybody who can be persuaded that they're entitled to it.  Funny how so much of it rubs off along the way.  Funny how slow some people are so slow to realize what's going on.

--snip--

It's as if some people have to be hit over the head before they get it.  Liberal politicians, or progressives as they now like to be called, talk the talk about freedom, by which they mostly mean license or entitlement, but it's all about getting and holding onto power.

It's about power, not about what is right or fair.

Yup, I'd say that sums it up pretty well.

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Kathleen Parker covers Cory Booker's being taken out behind the woodshed for speaking the truth.

But the most telling part of her op-ed piece is in the comments. More than one commenter demanded that Romney release his tax returns for the years he headed Bain Capital. For those making those demands, I have to ask them this: How long do they keep copies of their tax returns?

I don't know about you, but we keep ours for three years. Some people keep theirs for up to seven years. What makes you think Romney keeps his for any longer than that? He started at Bain in 1977, created Bain Capital in 1984, and left in 1998. I don't know about you but why would anyone keep their tax returns from 14 years ago, let alone 28 years ago?

I'd be far more interested in Obama's college transcripts, the ones that supposedly show him to be so darned intelligent.

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Steve MacDonald points out the beverage known as a milk shake in the rest of the US is called a frappe in much of New England. (I believe it's called a 'cabinet' in Rhode Island.) And it's pronounced 'frapp' not 'fraa-paayy'.

Just so you know in case you have occasion to visit New England.

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You might be a Liberal if...

(H/T Granite Grok)

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A group of 49 former NASA astronauts, scientists, engineers, and others have asked NASA to "halt what they consider its unscientific advocacy of climate alarmism."

In a letter to NASA administrator Charles Bolden Jr., these rocket scientists, space explorers, and other men and women of reason requested that "NASA and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) refrain from including unproven remarks in public releases and websites." They added: "We believe the claims by NASA and GISS, that man-made carbon dioxide is having a catastrophic impact on global climate change are not substantiated, especially when considering thousands of years of empirical data. With hundreds of well-known climate scientists and tens of thousands of other scientists publicly declaring their disbelief in the catastrophic forecasts, coming particularly from the GISS leadership, it is clear that the science is NOT settled."

"The unbridled advocacy of CO2 being the major cause of climate change is unbecoming of NASA's history of making an objective assessment of all available scientific data prior to making decisions or public statements," the March 28 letter continued.

Of course the push back from the Warmists will follow the usual line: "But these people aren't climate scientists! What do they know?"

That's true, they aren't climate scientists, but many of them are scientists in related fields and they have a thorough understanding of scientific method, something far too many of the climate scientists seem to have forgotten (or chosen to ignore).

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the summer tourist season has begun, the "summah people' are evident, and where there's still plenty of work to do around our homes.