The main thing is the local Chief, Sheriff's, Federal Agent-in-Charge, whoever should get an accurate briefing as to what happened and get the story out quickly. Then add film as soon as possible, if not at the initial briefing.Ayuh. I’d say that covers it.
So much damage was inflicted by the Left because LE Leadership was more worried about getting a comprehensive investigation done in preparation for a distant Court date or trial. You have at best hours to get an accurate story out before the Left, via social media spreads a false narrative of endless lies. Months later a comprehensive Report is released of the incident that debunks every lie--and it's instantly ignored.
Secondly, LE Leadership is often worried about optics and appearing fair and balanced. So they try to please the media instead of doing what's right. You see this when a shooting occurs in a minority area and the Left immediately claim police brutality. The next thing you see is the local Chief telling the public that a comprehensive, unbiased, and fair investigation will be done--and if it's found that early reports of the officer screaming "white power" as he unloaded into an innocent black child is true, that officer will be found guilty and spend the rest of his life in prison; or get the death penalty. This is where you see useful idiots and activists in the back of the room whooping and hollering and the Chief grins this idiotic grin believing he's done a good thing. Later the media only show the clip of him saying "that officer will spend the rest of his life in prison"--cut to the News Anchor: "Strong words from the Chief of Police to a community in pain--but is it enough? Let's talk to the head of 'We hate Cops' for their fair and balanced opinion." Cue a detailed, and well supported Report of the shooting getting released months later that finds none of the narrative was remotely true--it's a damn shame the defamed officer was fired a week after the shooting in order to "bring down the temperature" or some other stupid line. He's now suing. A billion dollars in property damage--terrible. A few will wonder why the truth, along with a strong LE response to any rioters, wasn't a better option.
Remember the false narratives:
A white police officer, for no reason, confronted a black teenager walking home from the store and executed him. The black teenager, who was starting college soon, died with his hands in the air begging the officer to not kill him. The media later released a photo of the adult that was taken at his junior high school graduation.
The truth. A police officer spotted an adult robbery suspect walking down the middle of a street. He tried to detain the suspect. The suspect trapped the officer in his patrol unit and beat him, he then tried to murder the officer with his own gun and almost succeeded, ran away after being shot in the right hand, but then turned around and tried a second time to murder the officer.. He was shot before he could reach the officer.
A young black teenager was walking home from the store when he was confronted by a white-hispanic racist who had profiled him. When the innocent black teenager asked why the man was following him--he was shot dead. A photo of the innocent black teenager was released that depicted him when he was 13-years old. A booking photo of the white-hispanic was released that depicted him when he was arrested seven years prior for a incident in a bar. In both cases the media had access to current photos of the two.
The truth. A 17-year old high school football player who had been sent to live with his father after his guardian/mother had determined he was violently out of control, and who was also credibly suspected of multiple burglaries. One night the young man went to a local store to buy the ingredients of a drug called LEAN that he had previously spoken about on social media. While walking back to his father's house, he spotted a local neighborhood watch member. This man had previously been honored by the NAACP for his speaking up about a police brutality incident he had witnessed. He was a local hero. This man also knew that his area had been victimized by a number of burglaries and for some reason, the 17-year old was looking in the windows of various houses.
The man called the police, gave a detailed description and location of the person he was watching from a distance. When asked for a street name, the man got out of his car, ran down to a corner, and relayed the information while out of breath. He had lost sight of the young man. The 911 Operator told him not to follow the young man and the neighborhood watch guy agreed and started walking back to his vehicle--the police were now enroute and were going to meet him. That is when he was suddenly confronted by the young man who knocked him to the ground and started slamming his head on the ground while the older man screamed for help. Luckily, the man being attacked was armed. He managed to get his firearm and fire one round at his attacker killing him. What followed was one of the biggest smear jobs in American history by both the United States Government and the State of Florida. The older man was charged with murder. Despite this, the man was easily acquitted of all charges.
A 911 Call was made by a man walking in a local park about a young black child causing a disturbance. A two-man police unit responded to the park. When they arrived they saw an 11-year old boy walking. One of the officers got out of the patrol unit and for no reason, shot the child down, killing him. Video was provided to the media and the country saw images of a police car stopping in front of the child--that is where they stopped the video. Cut to various activists who called it a clear murder. Cue the protests.
The truth. A 911 Call was made. The caller said a young man was walking around pointing a firearm at people. The man was frightened and left after making the call. A patrol unit was dispatched. When the unit arrived at the park they saw the suspect--who was about 5'8 and almost 200Ibs. Since it was winter the person was wearing a heavy jacket. The patrol car attempted to stop some distance away from the suspect. Unfortunately, the patrol unit skidded on some ice and mud and finally came to a stop directly in front of the suspect. As the passenger officer got out of the car--the suspect walked towards him, lifted up his jacket, and pulled what looked like a semi-automatic handgun from his front waistband. The passenger officer immediately shot him dead. He put out a radio broadcast stating he had shot a suspect who appeared to be in his 20's.
The firearm turned out to be a pellet gun that resembled a 45 caliber handgun. The suspect was 11-years old and had been pointing the gun at various people in the park. He might have been "playing," and wanted to show the cops that the gun wasn't real? The 911 caller stated it "might" be a kid--but he wasn't sure. The media edited out the part of the video where the kid pulled up his jacket and pulled out the gun. That version of the video was played thousands of times--usually followed by an immediate cut to an "expert" who told the audience how unjustified the shooting happened to be. The kids family received millions from the city--the officer was fired and demonized as incompetent.
I won't even go over Eric Garner who was supposedly "choked to death" when he actually died of a heart attack. Or Freddy Gray, who was supposedly murdered by cops in the back of a transport vehicle, when it turned out he had tried to self-inflict an injury on himself in order to sue the police--he had done it before--but this time he ended up killing himself. Then we have St. Floyd of Fentanyl OD which led to mob justice at its finest.
Does any of this mean the police don't overstep at times? Nope. Or that unjustified shootings don't occur? Clearly not--we've seen them. But none of that means anything to the media and their fellow Democrats. Every police shooting is unjustified no matter what the circumstances and the death of a black man only matters if a white cop, or civilian kills him.
1/17/2026
The Ongoing PR War - ICE Shooting In Minneapolis
I came across the following in this post about the PR battle taking place about the shooting by an ICE officer in Minneapolis and how the GOP can win it. A commenter to the linked post did a deeper dive put forth what should be done and gives examples of how PR has been used by the Left in the past to push false narratives that didn’t even come close to reality and that they shouldn’t be allowed to do that in this case.
1/16/2026
1/11/2026
Thoughts On A Sunday
It’s been a busy weekend. So busy that I didn’t get a chance to post last night. Part of that was due to celebrating the WP Mom’s 92nd birthday. Family was up today to take her out for lunch after church. All in all she had a great time.
We were expecting a small amount of snow to fall overnight into Sunday morning, but Mother Nature saw fit to make it rain instead. Not that we were expecting all that much – just a coating – but the overnight temperatures were high enough to keep all the precipitation as rain. Not that I’m complaining. On the contrary. It helped melt more of the ice on the driveway and more snow from the roof of The Gulch. We’ll see sunny skies and temperatures just above freezing on Monday. It shouldn’t affect the ice on the lake all that much…at least I hope it doesn’t. However, we’re also expecting windier conditions overnight which might break up some of the thinner ice covering the lake. At least it is likely to be below freezing over the next few nights so maybe the ice won’t be affected all that much. Only time will tell.
In last week’s TOAS I mentioned the gas station ‘meltdown’ in California caused by the mandate for double-walled underground tanks at gas stations. Well over 450 gas stations across the state had to close on January 1st when the mandate went into effect or face a $5000 per day fine if they remain open.
I came across this video from Elizabeth Davis delving a bit deeper into this mandate, outlining why so many stations weren’t able to replace their old single-walled gas tanks.
A lot of the blame for the gas stations not being able to meet the deadline can be laid at the feet of the California’s inertia bound bureaucracy which made it impossible for them to do so.
I have been reading and watching the responses to the shooting of the anti-ICE protester who was shot by an ICE officer. When I first saw the original video, particularly in slow motion, it looked to me that Ms. Good’s SUV struck the ICE officer as she tried to leave. Now that other videos have also been released, including one from the officer’s phone, I am convinced she did strike the officer, knocking him over. Whether it was purposeful or an accident doesn’t make any difference. It still came down to that she struck him with her vehicle. It may have been a glancing blow, but he was still hit. This same officer had been struck and dragged by another anti-ICE protester some months ago.
Did this affect his decision to fire on the driver? Maybe.
Despite some claims made online, Ms. Good and her wife were not there by accident, did not block ICE vehicles by accident. Their presence and action were premeditated. That it ended in tragedy is something that was always a possibility under the circumstances.
However, “The problem isn’t ICE. It’s ICE Watch.”
Oh, this will work out well for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Authorities Threaten to Arrest ICE Agents
If the rumors are true, it’s possible that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is set to resign next week.
It’s possible he’s considering it because he’s “been referred for criminal indictment over massive Somali fraud within the state.”
That he’s dropped his reelection bid because of these issues may be the first sign that he’s in trouble.
But like any rumor, I’ll believe it when I see it.
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee where we’re in the midst of the January Thaw, the Patriots are playing the San Diego Chargers in a Wild Card Playoff in Foxboro, and Monday once again is returning to plague us again.
We were expecting a small amount of snow to fall overnight into Sunday morning, but Mother Nature saw fit to make it rain instead. Not that we were expecting all that much – just a coating – but the overnight temperatures were high enough to keep all the precipitation as rain. Not that I’m complaining. On the contrary. It helped melt more of the ice on the driveway and more snow from the roof of The Gulch. We’ll see sunny skies and temperatures just above freezing on Monday. It shouldn’t affect the ice on the lake all that much…at least I hope it doesn’t. However, we’re also expecting windier conditions overnight which might break up some of the thinner ice covering the lake. At least it is likely to be below freezing over the next few nights so maybe the ice won’t be affected all that much. Only time will tell.
==++++++==
In last week’s TOAS I mentioned the gas station ‘meltdown’ in California caused by the mandate for double-walled underground tanks at gas stations. Well over 450 gas stations across the state had to close on January 1st when the mandate went into effect or face a $5000 per day fine if they remain open.
I came across this video from Elizabeth Davis delving a bit deeper into this mandate, outlining why so many stations weren’t able to replace their old single-walled gas tanks.
A lot of the blame for the gas stations not being able to meet the deadline can be laid at the feet of the California’s inertia bound bureaucracy which made it impossible for them to do so.
==++++++==
I have been reading and watching the responses to the shooting of the anti-ICE protester who was shot by an ICE officer. When I first saw the original video, particularly in slow motion, it looked to me that Ms. Good’s SUV struck the ICE officer as she tried to leave. Now that other videos have also been released, including one from the officer’s phone, I am convinced she did strike the officer, knocking him over. Whether it was purposeful or an accident doesn’t make any difference. It still came down to that she struck him with her vehicle. It may have been a glancing blow, but he was still hit. This same officer had been struck and dragged by another anti-ICE protester some months ago.
Did this affect his decision to fire on the driver? Maybe.
Despite some claims made online, Ms. Good and her wife were not there by accident, did not block ICE vehicles by accident. Their presence and action were premeditated. That it ended in tragedy is something that was always a possibility under the circumstances.
However, “The problem isn’t ICE. It’s ICE Watch.”
==++++++==
Oh, this will work out well for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Authorities Threaten to Arrest ICE Agents
Liberals seem to be serious about civil war. Larry Krasner is District Attorney of Philadelphia, having been installed by top Democrat donor George Soros.I dare say that those same Philadelphia officials are likely to be arrested by the FBI or US Marshals for interfering with federal law enforcement officials performing their duties both under US law and the Constitution. It could also lead to martial law if the city is declared to be in insurrection, or worse, rebellion.
What crimes are ICE agents committing by enforcing immigration law? Whatever crimes the moonbats running Philadelphia see fit to fabricate. As with the call by leftist senators including Mark Kelly for the military to disobey undefined “unlawful” orders, Krasner is committing sedition.
Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, who has previously declared her unwillingness to cooperate with federal law enforcement, will be happy to make the arrests.
==++++++==
If the rumors are true, it’s possible that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is set to resign next week.
It’s possible he’s considering it because he’s “been referred for criminal indictment over massive Somali fraud within the state.”
That he’s dropped his reelection bid because of these issues may be the first sign that he’s in trouble.
But like any rumor, I’ll believe it when I see it.
==++++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee where we’re in the midst of the January Thaw, the Patriots are playing the San Diego Chargers in a Wild Card Playoff in Foxboro, and Monday once again is returning to plague us again.
1/09/2026
1/04/2026
Thoughts On A Sunday
Just a note to let you know that today’s TOAS will be rather abbreviated as I am deep into resurrecting two computers here at The Gulch. They failed almost 2 months ago and I have been careful in trying to resurrect them so I don’t lose any data.
It’s been a lengthy series of below normal temperature days here at the lake starting back in early December. This has led to thin skims of ice appearing on the main waters of the lake over the past few days. I noticed them this morning when I was on my way back to The Gulch after my pre-church shopping at our local Walmart. The bays and coves around the lake have been frozen over for some time but not so much that ice fishing is possible except here and there. Monday will be one of the last below normal temperature days before we experience a few days of the January Thaw, those days seeing daytime highs in the 40’s or even 50’s here and there. It isn’t likely to cause too much loss of ice in the coves and bays, but it will likely affect the skims of ice on the lain part of the lake. That will definitely delay the time it will take for the lake to be frozen over completely, but I have no idea how long it will do so.
This will affect the upcoming ice fishing derby next month and the opening of the ice runway on Alton Bay. (It is the only ‘official’ ice runway in the lower 48 states.)
Monday (tomorrow) is also my first day back at work after over 3 weeks of vacation which I thought would be relatively quiet and uneventful. I was wrong.
I am actually looking forward to returning to work so I can get some rest!
California doesn’t get half the punishment it deserves.
The latest ‘brilliant’ idea that just went into effect with the new year? So-called “Mom-and-Pop” gas stations were required to replace their single-walled gas tanks with dual-walled tanks by January 1st, 2026. What is the average cost to do so?
$2 million.
What this means is that hundreds of gas stations across California are being forced to stop selling gasoline and diesel because they either couldn’t afford to replace their tanks or couldn’t get the required permits in a timely fashion or find a contractor whose schedule wasn’t already filled.
Yeah, this is going to help California’s economy and business climate thrive.
Sometimes the woke parody themselves and they are totally oblivious to it. Case in point?
The Metropolitan State University of Denver deciding that Standard American English is “a tool of white supremacy.” WTAF?
These folks need to stay on their meds, or if they aren’t already on meds they should be. Just how twisted can their thinking and logic become before society realizes they are seriously mentally ill and should be institutionalized?
And that’s the abbreviated news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’ll see another night of single digit temperatures, deal with some light snow, and deal once again with Monday now that my vacation is over and I have to return to work.
It’s been a lengthy series of below normal temperature days here at the lake starting back in early December. This has led to thin skims of ice appearing on the main waters of the lake over the past few days. I noticed them this morning when I was on my way back to The Gulch after my pre-church shopping at our local Walmart. The bays and coves around the lake have been frozen over for some time but not so much that ice fishing is possible except here and there. Monday will be one of the last below normal temperature days before we experience a few days of the January Thaw, those days seeing daytime highs in the 40’s or even 50’s here and there. It isn’t likely to cause too much loss of ice in the coves and bays, but it will likely affect the skims of ice on the lain part of the lake. That will definitely delay the time it will take for the lake to be frozen over completely, but I have no idea how long it will do so.
This will affect the upcoming ice fishing derby next month and the opening of the ice runway on Alton Bay. (It is the only ‘official’ ice runway in the lower 48 states.)
Monday (tomorrow) is also my first day back at work after over 3 weeks of vacation which I thought would be relatively quiet and uneventful. I was wrong.
I am actually looking forward to returning to work so I can get some rest!
==++++++==
California doesn’t get half the punishment it deserves.
The latest ‘brilliant’ idea that just went into effect with the new year? So-called “Mom-and-Pop” gas stations were required to replace their single-walled gas tanks with dual-walled tanks by January 1st, 2026. What is the average cost to do so?
$2 million.
What this means is that hundreds of gas stations across California are being forced to stop selling gasoline and diesel because they either couldn’t afford to replace their tanks or couldn’t get the required permits in a timely fashion or find a contractor whose schedule wasn’t already filled.
Yeah, this is going to help California’s economy and business climate thrive.
==++++++==
Sometimes the woke parody themselves and they are totally oblivious to it. Case in point?
The Metropolitan State University of Denver deciding that Standard American English is “a tool of white supremacy.” WTAF?
The initial Campus Reform report, published Dec. 8, detailed a Writing Center page titled “Linguistic White Supremacy,” which offered guidance for creating “anti-racist” assignments and described “Standard American English” as a “social construct that privileges white communities and maintains social and racial hierarchies.”So I suppose that Standard British English and Standard French and Standard Swedish and any language with its roots in Europe is automatically “a tool of white supremacy”?
These folks need to stay on their meds, or if they aren’t already on meds they should be. Just how twisted can their thinking and logic become before society realizes they are seriously mentally ill and should be institutionalized?
==++++++==
And that’s the abbreviated news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’ll see another night of single digit temperatures, deal with some light snow, and deal once again with Monday now that my vacation is over and I have to return to work.
1/03/2026
A Few Thoughts On Venezuela
Imagine my surprise when I heard about the US military operation in Venezuela that resulted in President Maduro and his wife being taken into custody in Caracas with extradition to the US, specifically New York, to face charges of drug trafficking, to name but one crime he’ll be answering for.
Reading some of the reactions to Operation Absolute Resolve one would think nothing like this has ever occurred before. However, folks making this ‘claim’ are wrong. All one must do is look back to the US military operation that found and detained Panamanian military dictator Manuel Noriega who was arrested, extradited to the US, and indicted for drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering. He was subsequently convicted, imprisoned, and then released in 2010 after serving 17 years. He was then extradited to France where he tried and convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 7 years. He was then extradited to Panama in 2011 to answer for crimes he committed during his rule.
Maduro has done some of the same things as Noriega as well as ‘weaponizing’ crime syndicates like Tren de Aragua. Many syndicate members entered the US illegally during the Biden Administration’s unofficial “open borders” debacle and have been responsible for drug smuggling and human trafficking into the US.
One must remember that once Venezuela was the wealthiest nation in South America and was a democracy until Hugo Chavez convinced the people that socialism was the only way to ‘save’ the country. However, after years of rule by Chavez and the Maduro, Venezuela is now one of the poorest nations in South America, its economy is a shambles despite its vast oil wealth, and it more resembles what used to be seen in the old Soviet Union during the Bad Old Days.
Other than some of his leftist allies and admirers here in the US, I haven’t heard too many others angry that Madura has been arrested. On the contrary, it has been just the opposite, particularly among Venezuelan refugees here in the US and other countries.
Reading some of the reactions to Operation Absolute Resolve one would think nothing like this has ever occurred before. However, folks making this ‘claim’ are wrong. All one must do is look back to the US military operation that found and detained Panamanian military dictator Manuel Noriega who was arrested, extradited to the US, and indicted for drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering. He was subsequently convicted, imprisoned, and then released in 2010 after serving 17 years. He was then extradited to France where he tried and convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 7 years. He was then extradited to Panama in 2011 to answer for crimes he committed during his rule.
Maduro has done some of the same things as Noriega as well as ‘weaponizing’ crime syndicates like Tren de Aragua. Many syndicate members entered the US illegally during the Biden Administration’s unofficial “open borders” debacle and have been responsible for drug smuggling and human trafficking into the US.
One must remember that once Venezuela was the wealthiest nation in South America and was a democracy until Hugo Chavez convinced the people that socialism was the only way to ‘save’ the country. However, after years of rule by Chavez and the Maduro, Venezuela is now one of the poorest nations in South America, its economy is a shambles despite its vast oil wealth, and it more resembles what used to be seen in the old Soviet Union during the Bad Old Days.
Other than some of his leftist allies and admirers here in the US, I haven’t heard too many others angry that Madura has been arrested. On the contrary, it has been just the opposite, particularly among Venezuelan refugees here in the US and other countries.
1/02/2026
1/01/2026
12/28/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
In yesterday’s post I talked about traffic observations and today I found out that yesterday a neighbor of mine was a victim of someone speeding along the road that passes by The Gulch. In this case he was broadsided as he pulled out from our neighborhood by someone going well above the posted speed limit. Both vehicles were totaled and my neighbor suffered minor leg injuries. Fortunately, he is already home, his stay in the hospital lasting only long enough to treat his injuries.
This accident shows that some people are speeding even on two-lane roads with limited visibility. I must wonder why they are in such a hurry.
I think one more than one occasion I have mentioned I am hooked on watching dashcam videos on YouTube, watching people do dumb stuff that gets them and others into accidents. I have a feeling my neighbor’s experience would have made an excellent example of why checking cross-traffic again and again and again before pulling out is a good idea. I have also seen more than a few videos of accidents caused by people running red lights, in some cases long after the traffic light turned red. It’s one reason I do not automatically start moving once my traffic light changes to green. I pause for a couple of seconds to check for cross-traffic that missed or ignored the red light. That earned me a few horns blowing because I didn’t stomp on the accelerator the instant the light changed. It has also saved me a couple of times when someone did run the red light. On one occasion the motorist behind me got impatient, pulled around me and into the intersection and got T-boned by someone who ran the red light.
On an entirely different subject it looks like we’ll be experiencing freezing rain overnight, perhaps enough to cause damage and knock out the electricity. Therefore, I will be spending some time later today to move the Official Weekend Pundit Generator and make sure it will fire up should the need arise. Even though the chance of losing power is relatively low, I know that if I don’t prepare it will be the one time I will need it and will have to move vehicles around in the dark to get to the generator. (In case you’re wondering, I did ignore prepping once and had to do the vehicle shuffle at 3 in the morning.)
And one last thing: Beezlebub and I are moving the Official Weekend Pundit Snowblower from the storage unit to his place. I haven’t needed it since we sold The Manse mainly because my present driveway is a couple of feet longer than the trusty RAM 1500, something I can handle with a snow shovel, or if I am really lazy, the Official Weekend Pundit Toro Power Shovel.
This isn’t really a surprise to me.
NYC phone ban reveals some students can’t read clocks.
For years, parents and teachers have blamed technology for a range of lapsed skills — from legible handwriting to sustained attention to reading whole books — even as their proficiency with technology far outstrips their elders. Still, while educators have widely praised New York’s statewide smartphone ban that went into effect this fall, multiple teachers told Gothamist it has also laid bare an unexpected gap: How to tell time.
So many kids are used to reading the time off their smart phones, tablets, and computers. No one ever taught them how to read a traditional clock.
My son – a millennial – never learned to write cursive in school. His mother, her parents, and I taught him how to do that after we realized he couldn’t read cursive. While he still mostly prints, he can read and write cursive. The school system here in my little town started teaching kids to write cursive again a couple of years ago.
Our state legislature banned smart phones in schools statewide earlier this year. Children’s grades and test scores started rising shortly after the ban went into effect. Some schools had banned phones well before the state ban and I think the resulting rise in test scores motivated the legislature and governor to do so statewide.
When I read the following, my reaction was “Is it all that surprising?”
The EU Could Be Gone In Four Years.
Increasingly draconian and expensive environmental regulations that have gone well past the point of diminishing return. I deal with them every day at work and they take up more and more of my time and effort to make sure we comply in order for us to be able to sell our products in the EU. It wasn’t all that difficult to do so when a bunch of new regulations that applied to electronic and electrical equipment went into effect in mid-2006. Since then, those same regulations have increased the number of substances we must quantify and added a new directive that dealt with all kinds of products, not just electrical and electronic products. At present there are 251 different chemicals covered under that newer regulation, and more are added every six months.
While in the past compliance with those regulations could be handled through documentation – statements listing the chemical components if they were on the list and what percentage of the chemicals in question were contained in the products, that will soon end, and only certified testing labs will be allowed to quantify the content. That adds a lot of time and cost to each product and testing will have to be performed again and again and again as new chemicals are added to the list even if the product in question does not contain those added to the list.
That is a sign of a runaway bureaucracy, something that has never benefitted the people under the control of those bureaucracies. It will get to the point that it becomes almost impossible to do business in EU or with the EU.
That is but one small example of the EU’s decline. There are plenty more…like Net Zero mandates.
I’m lumping these two stories together since the both deal with fraud, one about $1 billion student aid fraud and the other about daycare fraud in Minnesota.
In the first case it appears the Department of Education managed to block $1 billion in student aid fraud and are promising to block even more such fraud in 2026.
And then there’s the fraudulent daycare centers with no children and health care operations with no patients in Minnesota being funded by taxpayers:
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’re waiting for the freezing rain to start, we’ve prepped our generators, and where we won’t need to venture out on Monday.
This accident shows that some people are speeding even on two-lane roads with limited visibility. I must wonder why they are in such a hurry.
I think one more than one occasion I have mentioned I am hooked on watching dashcam videos on YouTube, watching people do dumb stuff that gets them and others into accidents. I have a feeling my neighbor’s experience would have made an excellent example of why checking cross-traffic again and again and again before pulling out is a good idea. I have also seen more than a few videos of accidents caused by people running red lights, in some cases long after the traffic light turned red. It’s one reason I do not automatically start moving once my traffic light changes to green. I pause for a couple of seconds to check for cross-traffic that missed or ignored the red light. That earned me a few horns blowing because I didn’t stomp on the accelerator the instant the light changed. It has also saved me a couple of times when someone did run the red light. On one occasion the motorist behind me got impatient, pulled around me and into the intersection and got T-boned by someone who ran the red light.
On an entirely different subject it looks like we’ll be experiencing freezing rain overnight, perhaps enough to cause damage and knock out the electricity. Therefore, I will be spending some time later today to move the Official Weekend Pundit Generator and make sure it will fire up should the need arise. Even though the chance of losing power is relatively low, I know that if I don’t prepare it will be the one time I will need it and will have to move vehicles around in the dark to get to the generator. (In case you’re wondering, I did ignore prepping once and had to do the vehicle shuffle at 3 in the morning.)
And one last thing: Beezlebub and I are moving the Official Weekend Pundit Snowblower from the storage unit to his place. I haven’t needed it since we sold The Manse mainly because my present driveway is a couple of feet longer than the trusty RAM 1500, something I can handle with a snow shovel, or if I am really lazy, the Official Weekend Pundit Toro Power Shovel.
==+++++==
This isn’t really a surprise to me.
NYC phone ban reveals some students can’t read clocks.
For years, parents and teachers have blamed technology for a range of lapsed skills — from legible handwriting to sustained attention to reading whole books — even as their proficiency with technology far outstrips their elders. Still, while educators have widely praised New York’s statewide smartphone ban that went into effect this fall, multiple teachers told Gothamist it has also laid bare an unexpected gap: How to tell time.
So many kids are used to reading the time off their smart phones, tablets, and computers. No one ever taught them how to read a traditional clock.
My son – a millennial – never learned to write cursive in school. His mother, her parents, and I taught him how to do that after we realized he couldn’t read cursive. While he still mostly prints, he can read and write cursive. The school system here in my little town started teaching kids to write cursive again a couple of years ago.
Our state legislature banned smart phones in schools statewide earlier this year. Children’s grades and test scores started rising shortly after the ban went into effect. Some schools had banned phones well before the state ban and I think the resulting rise in test scores motivated the legislature and governor to do so statewide.
==+++++==
When I read the following, my reaction was “Is it all that surprising?”
The EU Could Be Gone In Four Years.
In 1988, if you had told anyone that the Soviet Union would cease to exist just four years later, you would have been dismissed as a crank. The institutions looked solid, the bureaucracy entrenched, and the power absolute. Yet by 1992, it was history.The signal I’ve been reading that has led me to believe the EU as we know it is doomed is something I’ve mentioned before:
Today, European politicians in Brussels, Berlin, and Paris suffer from the same dangerous optimism. They believe they are so safely ensconced in their institutional frameworks that public anger can never truly throw them out of the saddle. But looking at the trajectory of the European Union, I believe we are closer to a revolutionary moment than the elites dare to imagine.
Increasingly draconian and expensive environmental regulations that have gone well past the point of diminishing return. I deal with them every day at work and they take up more and more of my time and effort to make sure we comply in order for us to be able to sell our products in the EU. It wasn’t all that difficult to do so when a bunch of new regulations that applied to electronic and electrical equipment went into effect in mid-2006. Since then, those same regulations have increased the number of substances we must quantify and added a new directive that dealt with all kinds of products, not just electrical and electronic products. At present there are 251 different chemicals covered under that newer regulation, and more are added every six months.
While in the past compliance with those regulations could be handled through documentation – statements listing the chemical components if they were on the list and what percentage of the chemicals in question were contained in the products, that will soon end, and only certified testing labs will be allowed to quantify the content. That adds a lot of time and cost to each product and testing will have to be performed again and again and again as new chemicals are added to the list even if the product in question does not contain those added to the list.
That is a sign of a runaway bureaucracy, something that has never benefitted the people under the control of those bureaucracies. It will get to the point that it becomes almost impossible to do business in EU or with the EU.
That is but one small example of the EU’s decline. There are plenty more…like Net Zero mandates.
==+++++==
I’m lumping these two stories together since the both deal with fraud, one about $1 billion student aid fraud and the other about daycare fraud in Minnesota.
In the first case it appears the Department of Education managed to block $1 billion in student aid fraud and are promising to block even more such fraud in 2026.
The U.S. Department of Education announced it has stopped over $1 billion in attempted student aid fraud in 2025, crediting strengthened identity verification policies reinstated under the Trump administration.Of course I expect the Left to scream bloody murder about the inadequate Biden guidelines and policies being blocked by the Trump Administration because how else can they fund protests carried out by Rent-A-Protester Inc., Antifa, and other leftist organizations? Let’s hope that Trump’s DOE can chop out even more fraud in the coming year.
The reforms, which include mandatory ID checks for select first-time FAFSA applicants, were introduced after a wave of fraud schemes exploited loosened rules under the Biden administration.
Federal investigators found nearly $90 million in aid had already been fraudulently disbursed, including over $30 million to deceased individuals and more than $40 million to bots posing as students.
The Department responded with a nationwide identity check in June, immediately flagging nearly 150,000 suspicious FAFSA submissions and notifying colleges of potential fraud.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said requiring an ID to access taxpayer-funded aid is common sense. “From day one, the Trump administration has been committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government,” she said. “Merry Christmas, taxpayers!”
And then there’s the fraudulent daycare centers with no children and health care operations with no patients in Minnesota being funded by taxpayers:
Minnesota’s fraud problem is no longer theoretical or buried in audit reports. It is happening openly, in real buildings, during normal business hours, with millions of taxpayer dollars flowing to providers that appear unwilling or unable to explain what they actually do.Again, organized fraud siphoning millions of dollars while providing no actual services. In this case it seems to be mostly Somali immigrants defrauding the public and stealing taxpayer dollars. Yet the state of Minnesota seems to be doing absolutely nothing to stop it. It makes me wonder if members of the state government gain something through this fraud.
Recent video investigations by YouTuber Nick Shirley show what happens when someone simply shows up and asks basic questions.
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’re waiting for the freezing rain to start, we’ve prepped our generators, and where we won’t need to venture out on Monday.
12/27/2025
More Observations From The Road
Just after Thanksgiving I posted about my observations of traffic on the highways and byways both in my home state of New Hampshire and neighboring Massachusetts over the lengthy Thanksgiving weekend. I thought what I saw might nave been primarily because of the holiday, people wanting to get to their Thanksgiving dinner and home again as well as Black Friday and Local Shops Saturday.
It turns out I was wrong.
I have been on vacation since December 11th, burning up almost 3 weeks of vacation time I had on the books. My employer has a “Use it or Lose it” policy when it comes to vacation time so I decided to use it. Not that it would put a strain on my employer as December tends to be one of the slowest months for us, so it wasn’t likely I’d be leaving anyone in the lurch. In any case, this means I had a lengthy amount of time to observe traffic as I traveled quite a bit before, during, and after Christmas.
What I saw during Thanksgiving wasn’t an anomaly.
My latest trip was earlier today down to New Hampshire’s Seacoast to celebrate the birthday of my Dear Brother’s wife. It was a 90 minute trip between the lake and the seacoast.
I saw the same thing both down and back – people traveling at well above the posted limit. Post speed limits on the divided highways were either 55 or 65 MPH. No one was driving at or near the posted limits, including me. Even in the right lanes I was traveling at 70 to 75 MPH and still being overtaken. In a few cases I had to travel at 80 MPH in order to keep up with the ‘other’ slower traffic.
At least the two-lane highways I traveled didn’t experience that. Most people were driving at the posted speed limit or slightly above.
One saving grace was that the highways were not busy. Traffic was moderate at worst, usually at the junctions of some of the major highways in the state. The rest was relatively light. No traffic jams. No bumper to bumper traffic. No backups at traffic lights.
Yes, it’s still vacation time for a lot of people so I wouldn’t expect traffic to be all that heavy until the end of next week. But It’s still disconcerting to see the much higher speeds, particularly when I know that quite a few of the drivers are driving distracted. (Yes, I saw more than a few examples of that over the past couple of weeks.)
I have to think the State Police will be cracking down on the excessive speeds at some point.
I really like to think that will be the case. Really.
It turns out I was wrong.
I have been on vacation since December 11th, burning up almost 3 weeks of vacation time I had on the books. My employer has a “Use it or Lose it” policy when it comes to vacation time so I decided to use it. Not that it would put a strain on my employer as December tends to be one of the slowest months for us, so it wasn’t likely I’d be leaving anyone in the lurch. In any case, this means I had a lengthy amount of time to observe traffic as I traveled quite a bit before, during, and after Christmas.
What I saw during Thanksgiving wasn’t an anomaly.
My latest trip was earlier today down to New Hampshire’s Seacoast to celebrate the birthday of my Dear Brother’s wife. It was a 90 minute trip between the lake and the seacoast.
I saw the same thing both down and back – people traveling at well above the posted limit. Post speed limits on the divided highways were either 55 or 65 MPH. No one was driving at or near the posted limits, including me. Even in the right lanes I was traveling at 70 to 75 MPH and still being overtaken. In a few cases I had to travel at 80 MPH in order to keep up with the ‘other’ slower traffic.
At least the two-lane highways I traveled didn’t experience that. Most people were driving at the posted speed limit or slightly above.
One saving grace was that the highways were not busy. Traffic was moderate at worst, usually at the junctions of some of the major highways in the state. The rest was relatively light. No traffic jams. No bumper to bumper traffic. No backups at traffic lights.
Yes, it’s still vacation time for a lot of people so I wouldn’t expect traffic to be all that heavy until the end of next week. But It’s still disconcerting to see the much higher speeds, particularly when I know that quite a few of the drivers are driving distracted. (Yes, I saw more than a few examples of that over the past couple of weeks.)
I have to think the State Police will be cracking down on the excessive speeds at some point.
I really like to think that will be the case. Really.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)