Thoughts On A Sunday

We’re finally seeing rather cool temperatures up here at the lake. So far we have not seen freezing temperatures overnight, but the nighttime temps have been in the upper 30’s around here. Daytime temps have been in the 50’s, so it isn’t time to break out the heavier jackets.

We have had some rain and ironically that has helped some of the fall colors to ‘pop out’ seemingly overnight. Though we were supposedly past peak foliage colors, I have been seeing more trees changing and with more brilliant colors than we saw during the alleged peak. However, due to the lengthy drought they do not last very long and the trees seem to be shedding them more quickly than is usual.

The water level on the lake continues to drop, though this time it seems to be due to what is called “draw down”, where the lake level is dropped on purpose to help prevent ice damage to docks and piers during the winter months. Quite a few of us are asking they the state is doing this seeing as how the lake level was already close to the normal draw down level due to the months long drought. It doesn’t make sense to us.

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The New Hampshire legislature has brought forth a bill that “will reaffirm that it is the state legislature…that holds the sole authority to regulate weapons on public property.” Not state agencies. Not local governments.

House Bill 609, sponsored by Rep. Samuel Farrington (R-Rochester), seeks to close what he calls loopholes in the state’s existing firearms preemption law after learning the New Hampshire Department of Transportation barred its employees from carrying firearms on the job.

“The intent here is to emphasize that the Legislature’s preemption is the last word on the subject,” Farrington told the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

New Hampshire’s current preemption law , signed in 2003 by then-Gov. Craig Benson, already reserves regulation of firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies to the Legislature. In 2011, Gov. John Lynch expanded that statute to include knives.

Farrington’s proposal would extend those protections even further—covering stun guns, Tasers, pepper spray, and other self-defense tools. It also bars any state, county, or municipal agency from creating or enforcing its own weapons rules that conflict with state law.

If this bill becomes law, a lot of so-called “Gun Free” zones would be eliminated. Not that Gun Free zones have ever stopped criminal miscreants from carrying and/or using guns in those zones. All they do is signal that everyone on those zones are unarmed and are easy targets.

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It looks like Germany is taking yet another step in de-industrialization by eliminating yet another source of energy needed by its industrial sector, in this case by demolishing the cooling towers of an inactive nuclear power plant.

I find it inconceivable that Germany has shut down and is decommissioning its nuclear power plants in favor of wind turbines, coal, and Russian natural gas to generate electricity. I have a feeling that Germany will end up being yet another object lesson showing why governments shouldn’t be listening to the rabid and deluded “green energy” faithful when it comes to what is and is not green energy.

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I have to wonder if this is true:

Just the sight of an American Flag entices people to vote for Republicans.

Can it be that easy?

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I’m not sure I understand the logic behind this reasoning, that being that dropping gasoline prices are actually bad news for President Trump.

Really?

To recap: low gasoline prices are bad for Trump. If prices fell further, that would be more bad. If prices went up again, that’s more bad news for Trump.

The national average gasoline price stood at $3.07 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA. That’s down from $3.16 a month ago and $3.15 a year ago.

Yesterday I saw gas prices at the gas station where I usually buy my gasoline for the trusty RAM 1500, with regular at $2.79 and mid-grade (89 octane) at $3.19 which are down about 20 cents from about a week-and-a-half ago.

A drop in gas prices isn’t all that unusual around here once we get into mid-October as tourist traffic drops off after summer and again after fall foliage season comes to an end.

I’m curious as to what heating fuel - #2 heating oil and propane – will cost over the heating season.

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Well, the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout was dropped off at the boatyard for winterization and storage this past week. It will be serviced, cleaned, shrink wrapped, and then stored away for the winter. Seeing the large number of boats waiting at the boatyard to be winterized I figure it will be at least another week or two before they get to it, something not unusual at all. Even with boats being pulled out of the lake earlier than usual because of the low water level, there are still quite a few that are still at their slips in our local cove. Again, something that isn’t all that unusual.

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And that’s the (abbreviated) news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the temps are getting chillier, the boats are still coming out of the water, and where Daylight Savings Time will be ending next weekend...

Democrats Deception

Listening to the rhetoric flying back and forth about what is now being called “The Schumer Shutdown” and the media’s reaction to it one would think that it’s The Mean Old Fascist Republicans stealing food from the mouths of homeless orphans. But we must remember that the battle of the Continuing Resolution has to do with funding the government until the end of November until a full budget can be presented, period. However, the Democrats in the Senate are using the shutdown as a means to extort $1.5 trillion taxpayer dollars to fund things that won’t make the cut in an actual budget, or that the Democrats aren’t willing to negotiate in order to get what’s needed versus what they want, even if what they want is not wanted by a majority of the American people.

They have used the “We need the expiring tax subsidies for Obamacare to be extended or millions will lose their health insurance” trope as one ‘reason’ to extort the Republicans by blocking the CR. This is something that could be taken care of during normal budget negotiations. (I am going to mention that the expiration of the tax subsidies was built in to the Obamacare legislation. Democrat legislation.

They are choosing to ignore that they also want to force taxpayers to pay for benefits for millions of illegal aliens who are not eligible for them while ignoring American citizens that need their benefits continued. Any money spent on illegal aliens should be for sending them back to their countries of origin, not providing them with housing, medical care, and other welfare benefits.

Am I being heartless? No. I am merely stating what reason and logic dictates. We have a tough enough time meeting the needs of American citizens without having to do the same for up to 20 million illegal aliens. Or worse, putting the needs of those illegal aliens ahead of those of American citizens. But somehow, that doesn’t bother the Democrats in the least.

Schumer’s Shutdown has created conditions that are strangling the benefits of American citizens in need and the pay of numerous government employees, including the military, as a means of extorting funding for things they know won’t otherwise make it through the normal budgeting process.

Shame on them.

Friday Funny - Am I Adopted?

I'll Tell You The Story - Binky Does Standup

Thoughts On A Sunday

The weather has been nice up here at the lake, warmer than it has been over the previous few days. One thing that nicer weather made easier was pulling the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout out of the water, something BeezleBub, our friend Bruce, and I took care of yesterday afternoon. My boating season is officially over.

The boat presently resides at Beezlebub’s as I have some work I need to take care of before it’s winterized and stored away for the winter. Today was spent taking care of those last things: emptying the boat of all the gear, making sure the ‘well’ drains are open and all the water is gone, removing the mooring lines, removing the anchors, wiping down the interior surfaces, vacuum the carpeting in the cockpit, and removing any of the mildew or mold that has accumulated. The boat will be moved to the boatyard for the aforementioned winterization and storage on Tuesday afternoon. It will reside there until early May when the boat will go to the fiberglass shop for some minor repairs before it is put back in the water.

One thing I must mention is that ‘leaf peeping’ season is still in full swing, being we are at or just past peak here at the lake. I have to say that the colors have been somewhat muted, due primarily to the drought we’ve been dealing with since early June. The leaves still change but do so less evenly than we usually see, once changed they do not last nearly as long, and they fall off the trees sooner than usual. But that hasn’t stopped the tourists from visiting and spending their time and money here.

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I have been hearing the news about the No Kings protests and I have to wonder how big were they, really? One viral video supposedly showing a large number of protesters in Boston has one little problem…

It’s actually from 2017.

One giveaway? Not one of the trees shows even the hint of fall foliage colors which should be quite visible in Boston by now.

Is this one of those instances of “Fake But Accurate” reporting once touted by former CBS anchorman Dan Rather?

I do like Speaker Johnson’s take on the whole “No Kings” protests.

He didn't just call the protests ridiculous. He pointed out the obvious: if Trump really were the autocrat Democrats claim he is, none of those protests would have been possible in the first place. "If President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now," Johnson said. "If President Trump was a king, they would not have been able to engage in that free speech exercise out on the Mall."

Ayuh.

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Umm, doesn’t this go against the very thing they’re trying to ‘fix’?

100,000 Amazon Trees Chopped Down to Build Road for COP30 Climate Conference

Wouldn’t it be better if they used a place that was already accessible?

Spare a thought for the BBC’s Justin Rowlatt as he considers his upcoming trip to the Brazilian city of Belém to report on COP30. Saving the world and its environment is his gig so how will he face the prospect of travelling down a new four-lane highway cut through the dense Amazon rainforest to help speed him and his 70,000 other political activists to their luxury hotels? Based on trees per acre, an estimated 100,000 mature specimens have been chopped down and logged to build the eight-mile Avenida Liberdade causing untold disruption to local wildlife. Happily, all is not lost in despair. If he wishes, the BBC’s activist-in-chief can consider recent findings published in Nature Plants that increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have led to substantial growth in the remaining Amazon forest, with mature trees growing by over 6% a decade. Perhaps he could start promoting on the BBC the enormous benefits of CO2, rightly known as the gas of life. He could front a campaign to assuage his dented COP conscience along the lines: ‘Forward with Carbon Dioxide, not Chainsaws.’

This eight mile long road seems like a paradox, particularly in light of it being built to support the COP30 Climate Conference. Talk about hypocrisy. Then again, I have become convinced a lot of what goes on at COP is to support the worldwide scam that is climate change, allowing billions, if not trillions of dollars to be ‘obtained’ to spend on ‘fixing the problem’ even if that problem really doesn’t exist.

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This doesn’t surprise me in the least.

Rhode Island Public Schools Sued for Discriminating Against White Teachers

White students are not always welcome in public schools. White teachers aren’t either:

A lawsuit recently filed by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and Providence Public School District (PPSD) violated federal law by establishing a loan forgiveness program that is open to every ethnicity—except whites.

How many times does this have to be repeated?

You don’t cure racism by using racism.

Maybe the Department of Education needs to learn that too:

EPP Presses Education Department to Expose Hidden DEI and Discriminatory Aid Programs

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It looks like we’re in for some heavy – and much needed – rain starting Monday afternoon. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we haven’t seen much rain since the beginning of June. It has had the water level of the lake a good foot-and-a-half below normal which has made it difficult to navigate the waters in some portions of Lake Winnipesaukee. Getting into the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout required me to sit on the dock in order to be able to step down on its transom. Getting out at the town docks was also problematic as it was a long way up onto the dock.

The ramp at the town docks was also problematic as some trailers couldn’t go deep enough down the ramp without going off the lower edge of the ramp in the process. This made pulling some of the larger boats out that much more difficult.

What gets me is that the state is still talking about what is called “draw down”, lowering the level of the lake before winter. We’re already seeing water levels that equal what we’d see after “draw down” and they want to drop the lake level even more?

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where boats are coming out of the water, the rains are coming...as is Monday. Again.

Average Price Of New Cars Above $50,000

That average new car prices have skyrocketed is not news to anyone paying attention. That the cause appears to be the sales of EVs causing this rise might be.

Kelley Blue Book, which is about as reliable a source as you can have for tracking vehicle pricing, says September was a watershed moment for new-vehicle pricing. It claims that, for the first time, the median price of a new car in the United States is over $50,000. And yes, the higher cost of EVs and the rapid uptick in EV purchases are to blame.

This finding isn’t sudden, though. EV sales have been on the rise for months, and the average cost of an EV hasn’t risen dramatically. The average EV selling price ($58,124) was up 3.5 percent in September when compared to August, but it’s considered a “normal” inflation rate. Year over year, EV pricing is essentially flat, Kelley Blue Book says. The average price for a new vehicle is $50,800.

That more EVs selling does drive up the average selling price of cars doesn’t automatically equate to all car prices having gone up. For instance, looking online I found the price for a new 2025 Honda Civic Sedan is $24,250 (MSRP), less than half the price of the average EV ($58,124).

I was curious to see what it would cost me to replace my 2014 RAM 1500 Express with it’s present day equivalent and I found the MSRP is $77,550, more than three times what I paid for my present pickup in 2017 ($24,150). In 2017 the MSRP for a new one was somewhere around $27,500. The price has more than doubled in 8 years. I know my pay hasn’t gone up anywhere near that over the same period of time. However, the present day price isn’t nearly as high as what I saw almost 2 years ago when I saw some listed for over $90,000! I had a local dealer here in New Hampshire offer me what I paid for my 2014 RAM when the market for used vehicles was hot. At the time it had less than 100,000 miles on it and was (and still is) in good shape.

As such, I will be doing my utmost to keep the trusty RAM 1500 in good shape as it will cost me far less to do so than to buy a new one. In fact, it will be going into the body shop early next month to have the last of the rust taken care of (both front fenders) before it gets undercoated prior to winter. I aim to make it last at least another nine years.

I understand that tariffs are having an effect on some new vehicle prices, so rising prices of some vehicles make sense. (The Honda Civic Sedan I mentioned above is manufactured in the US as are most of the parts used to make it.)

It will be interesting to see how the new and used car markets will be like going forward. I expect new car sales might flatten though used car sales may rise, much as happened a few years ago.

Friday Funny - It Was Getting Crowded In Heaven

I'll Tell You The Story - Old Movies With Binky

Thoughts On A Sunday

I can’t believe it’s Columbus Day Weekend already. The leaf peepers are out and about, particularly around here as we are supposedly approaching peak color. I’ve been seeing a lot of out-of-state license plates, a wider array than we see during the summer. I’ve also been seeing a lot more of those same vehicles wandering around, apparently lost. But I’m not seeing as many leaf peepers as usual for this season. The lack of rain which started in early June certainly hasn’t helped as the colors have been kind of muted this year.

I still see a lot of green here with only a few trees having turned and a few more just transitioning now, so the forecast that we’ll see peak color sometime this week seems to be wishful thinking. We’ll see.

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I’ve been hearing contradictory information about China, particularly its economy. The ‘official’ line from China’s government says everything is just fine, just some minor economic fluctuations that aren’t anything to worry about. Then you see something like the following from the China Observer YouTube channel that paints an entirely different picture:


Is this something that happened in one area of China or is it more widespread? If it’s widespread, just how bad is China’s economy? Is it just deep into a recession or is the economy on the edge of collapse? If it does collapse, what does that mean for both China and the rest of the world? It will certainly mean both economic and political problems for China, both internally and externally. Will China be unable to ‘help’ Russia in it’s three-year long “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine even if it gets Russian crude oils as payment?

My employer uses parts from China, more specifically optical and opto-electronic components used in fiber optic systems. We have been looking for alternate sources for some, finding them in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and pleasingly surprising, in the US. I have no doubt that our competitors are doing likewise as a “Just in case” move, just like we are.

China is also a large supplier of lithium-ion batteries, needed for phones, tablets, laptops, power tools, medical equipment and many other types of portable equipment as well as e-bikes and EV’s. However, there are a number other countries where lithium-ion batteries are manufactured.

All of this contradictory news and information brings to mind an old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”

I have a feeling China is experiencing those “interesting times” writ large.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James isn’t getting anywhere near the abuse she deserves. Look up the word “hypocrite” in the dictionary and you’ll see her picture there.

She ran for office promising that she would “Get Trump” if she were elected. She did just that, using creative interpretation of banking laws to ‘prove’ that standard financial practices for obtaining loans was somehow fraudulent, found Trump liable, and got a $300+ million fine levied upon him. An appeals court found the fine was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment by an appeals court for being so over-the-top.

But when she commits bank fraud while obtaining mortgages in Virginia by claiming her legal residence is in Virginia, that’s okay? Oh, and then there’s the issue of claiming her legal residence is in Virginia. That would automatically make her ineligible to be New York’s Attorney General because that office requires the Attorney General to be a legal resident of New York. Seems she’s found herself in the middle of a legal pickle, particularly now that she’s been indicted for decades of mortgage fraud.

After four years of relentless lawfare against President Trump, with Democrats shouting that “no one is above the law,” they’ve made one thing perfectly clear: in their world, Democrats are above the law. The evidence that New York Attorney General Letitia James engaged in mortgage fraud is extensive and damning, yet Democrats react with outrage, accusing Trump of “targeting his enemies,” with zero self-awareness or irony.

Make no mistake—unlike James’s baseless case against Trump, the proof that James herself broke the law is overwhelming. Conservative filmmaker and journalist Joel Gilbert laid out a detailed and troubling case, showing that her alleged pattern of mortgage fraud spans decades, and is far more serious than her defenders admit.

Speaking on Real America’s Voice, Gilbert made a detailed James’s extensive history of mortgage fraud.

“Letitia James probably should not have been charging Donald Trump with trumped-up charges of mortgage fraud in New York, given the fact that New York is a public record state and that all of her mortgages for 43 years were online for myself or anybody else to pull up,” Gilbert said. He then outlined a pattern of alleged mortgage fraud dating back to 1983, when James was just 24 years old. “She purchased her first home with her father, claiming that her father was her husband,” he said. “They purchased it as husband and wife in order to help Letitia qualify for a mortgage that she was not entitled to.”

The double standard of too many Democrats in power showed itself far too often during the Biden Administration. Now that the law applies to them again, they’re finding out their arrogance is coming back to bite them. James is going down and so is Senator Adam Schiff as it looks like he may have pulled similar mortgage fraud as well.

Time will tell how this all works out.

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This isn’t really all that surprising any more: Vice President JD Vance annihilates George Stephanopoulos in fiery live interview.

As the linked post states, it was so bad that ABC cut Vance’s feed.

Vance doesn’t suffer fools gladly and he told Stephanopoulos truths he didn’t want to here.

Trump’s Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is much the same way as she doesn’t let the press get away with their usual shenanigans and calls them out on it all the time.

Refreshing, isn’t it?

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I’ve always liked reading about the Darwin Awards. The way people accidentally do themselves in never ceases to amaze me. One of my favorite types usually has something to do with stupid people trying to steal electrical cabling from inside buildings, telephone poles, electrical substations, and so on. More often then not they fry themselves when they try to cut a cable carrying thousands of volts using bolt cutters. It became so common that the Darwin Awards website no longer accepts such stories of self-elimination.

Sometimes it is the Runner Up stories that are entertaining, like this one:

He was told that his rental 4X4 wasn't good enough. He didn't believe them. Tourist in Kia Telluride Comes Dangerously Close to Tumbling Down Black Bear Pass, Forces Trail Closure.

People have died on Black Bear Pass, well, falling off the pass.

--snip--

It isn't exactly clear how he came to drive off the trail, since there seems to be plenty of room. (As these things go.) One of the commenters guessed that he was busy "looking at the scenery" instead of looking at the trail and paying attention to driving.

There are a couple of lessons.

• Not all 4X4s are created equal

• Not all roads are like they are where you live

• If a local gives you advice about local hazards, you should consider taking the advice.

There are probably more lessons, but that is enough to be going on with.

While I haven’t seen anything quite that severe here in New Hampshire, we have seen people who made the mistake of mindlessly following their GPS which can, during certain times of the year, lead people down roads that aren’t maintained during the winter and they end up getting stuck in the snow. Signs have been put up on some of those roads stating “Your GPS Is Lying To You. Turn Around Now.” or some such language. Other seasonal roads have had gates installed which are closed once winter weather rolls in. They also have signs stating the roads aren’t maintained or accessible during the winter. That still doesn’t stop some people from trying to take those roads.

Some folks just don’t get it.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is cooler, the leaves are turning (slowly), and where I don’t have to worry about Monday this week because I have the day off.

Oh So True

I saw this on Facebook this morning and I nodded as I read it, recognizing everything as something that was true, something I had experienced myself and knew to be true.

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My name’s Richard. I’m 74.
And I’ve come to realize something about my generation: we are the bridge.
We were born in one world… and grew up in another.
A world where summers meant open windows, the hum of a box fan, and the smell of fresh-cut grass.
Where neighbors waved from their porches, and if your bike chain broke, you didn’t Google it — you knocked on a door and someone came out with a wrench.
We lived in a world built on patience.
We waited for letters to arrive.
We waited for the library to open.
We waited for our favorite song to play again on the radio — and when it finally did, it felt like magic.
Then, almost overnight, everything changed.
Phones shrank. Music became invisible.
News arrived before the coffee finished brewing.
We learned to type, to swipe, to tap.
We learned to talk to machines — and to have them talk back.
We’ve seen milk delivered to the door in glass bottles…
and we’ve scanned groceries without speaking to a single cashier.
We’ve dropped coins into payphones…
and we’ve made video calls to loved ones across oceans.
We’ve known the deep quiet of a world without notifications — and the noise of one that never stops buzzing.
And sometimes, the younger ones look at us like we’re behind.

But what they don’t see is this:
We know both worlds.
We can plant tomatoes and write an email.
We can tell a story without Google — and then fact-check it with Google.
We know the weight of a handwritten letter and the reach of a message sent in seconds.
We’ve lived long enough to understand that you can change without losing yourself.
That you can honor where you came from while still learning where the world is headed.
We’ve buried friends and welcomed grandchildren.
We’ve seen diseases disappear and new ones arrive.
We’ve unfolded paper maps — and followed glowing blue lines on GPS.
We’ve sent postcards with stamps — and emojis with a single tap.

And maybe that’s our greatest gift:
the memory of a slower, gentler time,
and the courage to adapt to a world that never sits still.
We can teach the young that not everything needs to happen instantly.
And we can remind our peers that it’s never too late to try something new.
Because that’s what we are —
the bridge between what was and what will be.
And as long as we keep standing strong, the world will always have something solid to cross on its way forward.
Because every generation builds the road a little further —
and ours? Ours remembers both the dirt path and the highway.