Thoughts On A Sunday

It’s been one of those days where the weather can’t seem to make up its mind. It’s been switching between rain and snow since late this morning. Not that the Weather Guys^TM are predicting much in the way of snowfall here at The Gulch. If nothing else it’s a good excuse for not venturing out today.

It’s hard to believe that Christmas only 3 weeks away. Where has the year gone? Summer was too short because of the lousy weather. I didn’t do much in the way of boating because of that weather. I did a lot more boating after Labor Day...which is why it felt like fall was also too short. An extra four weeks of fall would have extended my boating season, but as we know it doesn’t work like that.

As such, it seemed the Thanksgiving leftovers were still cooling when the WP Mom had me taking out some of the Christmas decorations from the attic. It always seems too early to me.

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I am a die-hard New England Patriots fan, but I have not been watching the games this season as it appears the guys in the Patriots uniforms aren’t really football players. I don’t want to torture myself as they blow game after game after game. The Pats haven’t been this awful since the 1970s.

At least for today’s game they pulled Mac Jones from the starter QB position and have put second-string QB Bailey Zappe as starter.

As I finish this up the Patriots are behind at the end of the 3rd quarter, 6-0.

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It’s one thing to hear foolish people supporting Palestine (without realizing or caring they by doing so they are also supporting Hamas) versus what Arab nations are telling Israel privately. They aren’t even close to being the same thing.

It feeds into everything that’s been reported about Israel’s Arab neighbors and why they don’t want Palestinian refugees roaming wild in their country: they bring trouble. The late King Hussein had to declare war on them and successfully drove them out. The problem is the Palestinian Liberation Organization set up shop in Lebanon, where they caused problems for the government while also attacking Israel from the southern part of the country. Israel had to invade in 1982 and remained in Southern Lebanon until 2000. Egypt has closed its border with the Gaza Strip in Rafah due to terrorism concerns.

In the days after the brutal October 7 attacks executed by Hamas, Egypt knew what was going to happen. They deployed tanks to the border while their prime minister vowed that his country would sacrifice millions to keep their borders safe. He was not referring to Israel. So, what’s the latest? Well, Haaretz is reporting that Israel’s Arab neighbors are telling Jerusalem privately that they shouldn’t stop military operations until Hamas has been annihilated. They view them as a domestic threat.

They understand just how dangerous the Palestinians are, the unrest and death they bring with them.

As one commenter put it:

Who are the biggest killers of Arabs in the world today?

Other Arabs.

This is something the Egyptians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Libyans, Jordanians, Syrians, Yemenis and others know all too well.

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From the “Just When I Thought They Couldn’t Get Any Stupider” Department come this:

Moonbats Transsexualize Dinosaur

WTAF?? Was there a note with the 65 million year old fossil stating its preferred pronouns?

These woke lunatics need to be hospitalized until they are no longer delusional.

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From the “Just When I Thought They Couldn’t Get Any Stupider” Department come this second bit of insanity:

The Washington Post “Fact Checks” San Francisco Poop Map

Really? Umm, okay...but why?

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Just how bad is *Resident Biden’s approval rating these days?

This bad:

F. Joe Biden, the worst president in American history, has seen his worst approval rating in his idiotic presidency. At the moment, Biden is sitting at a twenty-seven percent approval rating.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think he can get that down closer to 20% if he stays the course. With only a few exceptions, I don’t know of any of the Democrats that I know up here in New Hampshire that will support SloJoe in 2024. My only concern is that it will get so bad that Michelle Obama will become the candidate who won’t be much different than Biden when it comes to policies and programs. At least she’s not demented...but that’s no reason to vote for her.

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Normally I would have saved this for a Friday (Not So) Funny, but somehow it felt like an appropriate way to close out this week’s edition of TOAS...because it is so true. We see the truth of this every day.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’ve been seeing thin skins of ice on some of the ponds, the snow is falling lightly, and once again Monday is returning to foul up our weekend.

Was Black Friday In The Red?

It was while I was out running errands and doing some of my usual weekend shopping that I thought to ask a number of staff at the stores I frequent how they fared during Black Friday, knowing that it is The Big Shopping Day For Christmas with all kinds of deals and discounts. The answers I got were surprising.

One of my regular shopping destinations – Walmart – saw an above average number of shoppers that day, but nowhere near what they expected. As I mentioned in a previous post, I postponed making an early shopping trip to Walmart the morning of Black Friday because I didn’t want to fight the frenzied crowds as I picked up my victuals. Since I was off that day it almost made sense to make my usual Sunday morning shopping trip on Friday morning instead...until I remembered what day it was.

It wasn’t until I was out shopping today that I remembered I should ask about Black Friday. One of my friends (and a former neighbor) who works at Walmart told me it had been “uncharacteristically quiet” for a Black Friday. It was pretty much the same thing at some of the local outlet stores, at our local BJ’s (Berkley-Jensen’s) discount store, as well as a couple of others. The crowds usually seen out on Black Friday weren’t quite as large as usual.

Seeing a few YouTube reports and blog posts that reported similar shopper turnouts in some areas begs the question, “Is inflation and the recession the Biden Administration and WRBA say don’t exist affecting the willingness of consumers to open their wallets, wallets that don’t have nearly as much cash in them as there was in previous years?” From what I’ve seen the answer is a qualified “Yes”. Other reports say in-person purchases were up as compared to last year, but it must be remembered the previous couple of years we were still dealing with Covid.

Seeing the numbers for Cyber Monday’s sales, it looks like some portion of Black Friday in-person sales were shunted to online purchases, including those made on Cyber Monday even though the discounts weren’t as big as they have been in the past.

According to Adobe, shoppers spent a record $9.8 billion online Friday — marking a 7.5% jump from last year. Meanwhile, Salesforce, which also tracks online shopping, estimated that Black Friday online sales totaled $16.4 billion in the U.S. and $70.9 billion around the world. And Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-person and online spending across all payment forms, reported that overall Black Friday sales excluding automotive rose 2.5% from a year ago — a smaller but still notable jump compared to 2022’s double-digit growth.

According to the firm, online sales rose 8.5%, while in-store purchases were up just 1.1%. Those numbers are not adjusted for inflation, which means that real sales in-stores could have dipped due to high prices.

Other data showed Black Friday saw some increases in store traffic — with large crowds in stores nationwide feeling more similar to pre-pandemic days.

RetailNext, which measures real-time foot traffic in stores, reported that store traffic rose 2.1% on Friday. Sensormatic Solutions, which also tracks store traffic, saw a bigger increase — reporting a 4.6% jump in shopper visits on Black Friday compared to a year ago. That also marks a turnaround from an average decline in store traffic seen throughout 2023 to date, Sensormatic said.

--snip--

Retailers began offering holiday deals in October this year, continuing a trend that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been resurrected multiple times due to supply chain clogs or inflation woes. But many consumers waited to buy until Black Friday.

It will be interesting to see what the actual sales figure are once the feds are able to run the numbers.

All I know is I won’t be spending as much on Christmas presents this year as money is tight and I have to keep my spending under control...so no Porsche Boxster for the WP Girlfriend (if I had one) unless it is one of the Hot Wheels models.

Friday (Not So) Funny (I Can Be Such An Idiot Edition) - Top 5

I wish I could say I just forgot to click the "Publish" button or was too busy or out on the town. But I was too smart by half, figuring I'd put together this post Thursday evening and schedule it to be published Friday night. The problem is I set the date wrong, setting it for Friday...December 8th.

Imagine my surprise when I didn't see it this morning when I checked the blog.

I can be such a maroon.

Click on image to embiggen

Thoughts On A Sunday

As I mentioned in my belated Friday post, I partook of the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert Friday night. It is a concert I have attended three times over the past five years and it’s been a better show each year. I went down to the big city of Manchester, met up with one of my oldest friends, had dinner and then headed to the concert.

It was over two hours of wonder and delight.

I look forward to seeing them again next year around this time.

Click on image to embiggen

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I don’t know about the rest of you, but I still can’t get used to all of the Christmas decorations already up and the Christmas music in all of the stores...all while we’re still eating leftovers from Thanksgiving Day.

Yes, I know Black Friday took place with loads of people trying to get Christmas gifts with a heavy discount. (As a side note, I almost forgot about Black Friday and was going to make my usual weekend shopping trip to Walmart a day or two early. But the WP Mom reminded me and said that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea, so I went this morning instead.) This morning’s trip to Walmart didn’t see the frenzied shopping, but as soon as I walked into the store the Christmas music slapped me across the face. At least it wasn’t loud, one saving grace. I didn’t have to wrestle a pint of Half-and-Half away from a Black Friday crazed shopper or elbow my way towards the cat food aisle or beat someone semi-conscious when they tried to take the two gallons of spring water from my shopping cart.

I’d like to think that the Internet won’t be overloaded on Cyber Monday.

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Ed Driscoll is on a roll and delves into the past, specifically Salon’s past when it comes to their push to make the US a socialist state.

A few of their ‘headlines’ over the past 10 years:

“Hugo Chavez’s economic miracle.”

“Let’s nationalize Fox News: Imagining a very different media…Excerpted from ‘Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA.’

“Let’s nationalize Amazon and Google: Publicly funded technology built Big Tech. They’re huge and ruthless and define our lives. They’re close to monopolies. Let’s make them public utilities.”

Give it a rest, Republicans — no one wants to take away Turkey Day.

Salon Magazine Warns of ‘Democracy’s Last Thanksgiving’ If Trump Becomes President.

What a bunch of leftist losers.

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And one more thing from Ed Driscoll about defunding police and the results thereof.

It all breaks down to this: Those blue cities that did that are finding out their crime rates have skyrocketed and police are quitting in increasing number, adding even more to their problems.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch. Those suffering under these conditions must remember that they bought the woke bullsh*t and voted for this...and are getting it good and hard.

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This isn’t exactly news since this has been happening since shortly after SloJoe became *Resident:

Democrats See Mass Exodus Of Black Voters

Left wing New York Times is recording that as much as 22% of black voters are supporting Trump for 2024. Those numbers, if they are accurate are historically high for any Republican candidate. Black voters are slowly growing tired of communist Democrats and old, senile Joe Biden, though not fast enough. Despite constantly voting for communist Democrats for more than the last 50 years, black voters have remained among the poorest demographic in the country. Democrats have done nothing for the black voter despite the claims of how “racist” Republicans are.

Interesting that the racists in the room – Democrats - are calling Republicans “racists”. The Democrats are the party of the KKK. They are the party that practices “soft racism”, the racism of low expectations, the racism that puts forth the belief that Black Americans cannot get ahead without their guiding hand – a hand that more often than not holds them back – all while decrying how the “Evil Republicans” are going to “put y’all back in chains”. (Biden actually said that during Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012.)

It will be interesting to see how many Black Americans will actually vote for the GOP nominee as well as Hispanics, another demographic that has been abandoning the Democrat Party in increasing numbers.

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Steve MacDonald asks “Is it just me, or are there fewer EV car commercials airing?”

He’s not imagining it.

I like to sneer and make snide comments when commercials for Electric Vehicles interrupt whatever I happen to be streaming. My wife has learned to ignore them, and I am trying to keep those opinions to myself, but recently, within the past few weeks, I’ve had no need.

There has been no shortage of commercials or ads for cars and trucks. Christmas is coming, and they pepper the breaks more frequently than Pharma or food ads (only barely). But not one of them has been for Electric Vehicles. This is very odd.

In the recent past, it was unlikely for a spate of ads to pass without someone pimping an EV, typically doing things EVs can’t do, like traveling long distances, climbing rocky slopes with a trailer or something heavy in tow. It would be more realistic if they showed drivers looking for a charging station, stranded, or watching from a distance as their car ignited a parking garage full of other people’s cars and trucks.

The past few weeks? Nothing. Zilch. Naught, nix, nil, nada! No hay coches eléctricos. Not a one. And they aren’t appearing while I sneak off “during the break” to relieve myself or grab a snack. I ask.

I know I have certainly seen a lot less ads and I know the reason why: EV sales have tanked big time and automakers have dialed back or even halted production of EVs.

Despite the ads, the motoring public isn’t buying. Despite claims to the contrary, EVs ‘aren’t ready for prime time’. There are too many downsides for most motorists, one of the biggest ones being the cost to buy one. Then there’s the cost to repair them and, increasingly, the cost of insuring them which have driven potential buyers away. Charging can be problematic, particularly during longer trips.
It doesn’t help that our electrical infrastructure isn’t up to handling the demand that EVs will add. It isn’t even close to being able to do so.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the battle between fall and winter continue, Black Friday is just a fading memory, and where Christmas is a lot closer than many of us realize.

Is What She's Saying True?

I can’t believe this is now in the open, but it appears the conspiracy theorists were right about January 6^th, at least according to Nancy Pelosi’s daughter who said on video the whole thing was “a marketing gimmick to propagandize the public for the benefit of the Democrat Party.”

The video, apparently filmed surreptitiously in the style of Project Veritas and released by CitizenLens, reportedly between Pelosi and a January 6 defendant she was courting so as to appear in her documentary of the event, featured Pelosi discussing the political implications of the Jan 6 show trials and their effects on the upcoming 2022 mid-term elections.

--snip--

She then goes on to explain how she knows Gavin McInnes (the purported former leader of the Proud Boys) and used, in fact, to party with him. She knows that he’s a provocateur and doesn’t actually mean what he says.

It’s all bread and circuses, people.

Were FBI provocateurs the only ones behind much of the chaos? We know from video and photos that quite a few known Antifa instigators were among the crowds, wearing MAGA hats and carrying Trump signs. (Hmm, weren’t some of the FBI guys doing the same thing?)

If what Alexandra Pelosi said on video is correct, then there are a lot of people that need to go to prison, and it’s not those who are being charged with insurrection and those already imprisoned by the Democrats.

Personally, I think Nancy Pelosi would look good in prison orange...

Friday (Not So) Funny - What A Difference Four Years Make - (Post-T.S.O. Concert Edition)

No, I did not forget to hit the 'Publish' button or forget that yesterday was Friday. I was out most of the day yesterday, ending the day down in the "Big City" - Manchester, NH - to dine with friends and then attend the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert. I didn't get back until almost midnight as it took longer to leave the venue and get back to the trusty RAM 1500 than I had anticipated.

So without further ado:

Click on image to embiggen it.

Thoughts On A Sunday

I was surprised to see how much the temperature changed between Friday and Saturday, being in the upper 50’s/lower 60’s on Friday but in the upper 30’s and breezy on Saturday. Such is fall in New Hampshire.

Since I am off for the coming Thanksgiving week I have been doing work around The Gulch in preparation for the upcoming winter. Much of that deals with rearranging things in the garage, moving things used during spring, summer, and fall out of the way and making sure all those things needed for winter are easy to reach. Not that there’s a lot that needs to be moved, but it’s where it needs to be moved that takes time – from the garage up into the attic and vice versa. A few things will also need to be moved between the garage and the Official Weekend Pundit Storage Unit.

There will also be some last cleanup around the outside of The Gulch, mostly cleaning up the last of the leaves from both the ground and out of the gutter along the front side of the roof.

And then during the rest of the week…

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It looks like the kid gloves are coming off as Elon Musk is filing a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters and "all those who colluded" for "completely misrepresenting" the real user experience on X.

Musk is saying Media Matters falsely pushed ‘news’ that X was supporting "white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories" when in fact no such support was given or implied. This in turn triggered a number of corporate advertisers to pull their ads (and the revenue that goes with them). Says Musk:

X has seen a number of attacks from activist groups like Media Matters and legacy media outlets who seek to undermine freedom of expression on our platform because they perceive it as a threat to their ideological narrative and those of their financial supporters.

It will be interesting to see how well Musk does against the leftist media organizations, the same organizations that have no problems censoring ideas and opinions that disagree with their Marxist doctrine.

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I am beginning to agree the only way to salvage the FBI as a law enforcement agency is to fire everyone and start from scratch. It has shifted from law enforcement to becoming the leg-breakers and a 21st century version of the Geheim Staatzpolizei, working on the behalf of the Party, in this case the DNC, SloJoe, and WRBA (Whoever is Running the Biden Administration).

What has me thinking this?

How about this?

On January 6, 2021, the FBI explicitly chose to abandon a sting on a child pornographer in Virginia who was messaging with an undercover agent about having sex with a nine-year-old boy, opting instead to focus on prosecuting Donald Trump’s supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol. Less than three years later, the FBI discovered the same man living in Alaska where he appears to have been performing sex acts on a 10-year-old boy, according to court documents.

On December 2, 2020, an internet user with the screen name “gayboy69freak” messaged an undercover agent with the FBI’s Washington Field Office, who was posing as a father pimping out his 9-year-old son, and told him that he wanted to travel to D.C. to have sex with the boy. The man also sent the agent a video of “a prepubescent minor male being anally penetrated by an adult male’s erect penis.” His IP address led the FBI to Brogan Welsh of Glenn Allen, Virginia.

What appears to be a slam-dunk case against a child predator was abruptly abandoned just one month later.

Yeah, it was far more important to railroad J6 protesters, particularly those who had done nothing wrong, to let the people know that no opposition to the Party would be allowed.

The only way to fix the FBI is to clean house.

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As dumb as a box of rocks.

Indeed.

Do these people understand what the people they are supporting would do to them if they ever met?

I’m guessing the answer is a resounding “No”.

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Gee, it seems California talks a good game...but they don’t deliver. Case in point: 40% of EV charging stations in LA don’t work.

As Cap’n Teach notes, “One would think that a place like LA would have operational charging stations, considering that California was the first state to mandate all of the peasants having to forgo petrol cars, well before Let’s Go Biden pushed his mandate.” I have to wonder whether those non-functional charging stations are located where most of the neo-serfs live. Only the New Nobility will have access to working EV charging stations. Let the peasants take the bus, or better yet, walk.

Joanna Stern, a WSJ reporter, visited over 120 EV charging stations throughout LA and found many of them didn’t work for one reason or another.

This is only part of the problem.

It won’t matter of charging stations aren’t functional if there’s no electricity to run them. Considering how fragile its electrical grid has become and it’s decreasing generation capacity – caused by California’s obsession with over the top environmental regulations and laws - even working EV charging stations will be unusable because there will be no electricity available to operate them.

As such, one has to wonder if that is the actual intent of California’s Progressive-run government.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where preparations for Thanksgiving continue apace, pre-winter cleanup continues, and where I don’t have to worry about Monday this week.

Smart Phones Are The Debbil!!

I feel I must put here what I’ve been posting in comments to a number posts elsewhere, ‘what’ being how destructive smart phones and social media have become, primarily among teens and young adults. Not that we more ‘mature’ adults are immune from the lures and traps they represent, but I’d like to think we wouldn’t be affected nearly as much as our kids and grandkids. I’d like to. Really.

This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned this here, but I think it bears repeating – If you want to raise healthy kids and teens, ban them from owning smart phones or using social media. (I am going to include tablets in this as well since they are almost as ubiquitous as smart phones.) Once they turn 18 they can indulge to their heart’s desire.

Since the two are intricately linked together I shall refer to them as one or the other while meaning both.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but it seems so many kids, teens, and young adults are addicted to their smart phones and the ‘world’ it represents. The only problem is that world is not real. It is smoke and mirrors, a mirage, a fever dream, an illusion. A lie.

But to too many it appears to be real, to be more important than the real world. They are mesmerized by what’s presented on the screens, believing everything that appears on them. With social media I think some things are amplified. Observations, events, scandals, and disses are of greater import. People will say things on social media they would never say to someone’s face, even if their posts or videos aren’t anonymous. (It’s even worse when such postings are anonymous.)

People lie on social media, particularly when it comes to their lives and how they portray them. They rarely show real life, trying to portray their lives as perfect with never a worry or sorrow. However, as we all know life is rarely like that. But others may not realize that and they see the ‘perfect’ lives of others and wonder why their own is nothing like that. They don’t understand that those they envy are only showing one aspect of their lives, assuming what they are presenting on social media is the true. All too often it isn’t. But those viewing those perfect lives don’t know that and they see their own lives diminished in comparison.

Then there’s the dating apps, something that may have started as a something to help people interested in finding someone with whom to share their lives. These days they are little more than a means for arranging a hookup. They are grossly imbalanced with far more men using them than women...and with far more men being ignored by women. (You can’t tell me so many men being ‘left-swiped’, i.e. rejected, doesn’t have some effect on men.)

So much of social media is being used as a means of validation by men and women (though it seems mostly women) via Twitter/X, Instagram, Snap Chat, Tinder, Match, TikTok, and a host of other social media apps. They all can paint a false narrative, show a world that does not exist (in some cases should not exist), gives people the impression they aren’t good enough because they can’t meet impossible or unrealistic expectations.

All of this affects people, particularly teens, emotionally and psychologically. You can’t convince me that social media hasn’t driven an increase in mental illness among teens and young adults.

It must be said again and again that social media can be a disease driven by the need for validation or the Fear Of Missing Out. It is one we must work to lessen its effects, not by regulating or banning social media since the last thing we need is for government to get involved. It has to be driven by parents, social organizations, religious groups, and peers.

In the mean time it might be a good idea to take away your kid’s smart phone...until they turn 30.

Friday Funny - The Problem

Thoughts On A Sunday

The older WP Sister was up visiting this weekend and it was a pleasant one, for the most part. It’s always nice to see her as we don’t get a chance to do so as often as we might like.

The weather cooperated, being sunny though a bit cool, being only 27ºF this morning. However, it looks like it will be warmer as we go through the upcoming week. It will allow me to finish up some of the pre-winter cleanup including a last clean-out of the gutters, removing the last of the fallen leaves which had come down in large amounts just before last week’s snowfall. This will let me take care of all of that prior to going on vacation for a couple of weeks.

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I came across the following comment on a YouTube video dealing with relations between men and women and how they have changed, and not for the better.

“Wanna know how to make a woman miserable? Give her everything she wants.”

I will admit that at first I nodded in agreement as I have seen more than a few instances where this was proven out. But the more I thought about it the less I liked it. Have things deteriorated to the point where this comment is the rule rather than the exception? If so, why has this happened? There are plenty of people out there positing all kinds of causes. I don’t know which, if any of them have brought us to this point.

I can honestly say that I am glad I am not a young man trying to date in today’s dating environment as it seems there are a lot of angry and/or delusional people out there.

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We’ve seen major jumps in shoplifting in California after the ‘limit’ for felony theft was raised to $950 from $200. One of the biggest changes seen was ‘mob’ shoplifting when 20 or more people would come rushing into the target store grab merchandise, and run back out, making it difficult if not impossible to stop them. Add in Soros DA’s who were soft on crime and bail laws changed which saw perpetrators were back out on the street before the police paperwork was completed.

It seems that particular malady has spread to Texas, specifically Dallas, where shoplifting has increased by 73%.

The shopping experience in Dallas is starting to change as retail theft increased 73% through the first six months of this year, according to a report released Tuesday.

Dallas and Los Angeles, where shoplifting increased 109%, experienced the highest reported retail theft in the first half of this year, according to an analysis of 24 major cities by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice.

The data helps to explain new scenes around Dallas.

At a Walmart in northeast Dallas flashing lights frame a camera above an aisle of locked cases holding men’s underwear, socks and wallets. It comes with a warning: “Security camera in use.” Electric toothbrushes are also behind locked cases. The electric razors are behind lock and key at a nearby Target.

Kroger has added security gates to some Dallas stores to prevent quick exits of full shopping carts of consumables such as laundry detergent. Tide and Oxi are behind new locked cases at a Kroger on Mockingbird Lane. A box asks shoppers to press the button if they need help. Armed guards in uniform are more visible in Dallas stores and malls.

Things are different in Texas, one of the biggest being Texas gun laws are far more liberal than the draconian gun laws in California. I figure it’s only a matter of time before someone gets stupid and tries to rip off the wrong store and gets ventilated by a store owner...legally.

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Here’s yet another “stake through the heart” of EVs, in this case New York City giving up on EV snowplows.

Winter is on the way. Time to put away the asinine EVs and fall back on vehicles that work in the cold — or that work period:

Three years ago, the New York Department of Sanitation ordered seven electric rear loader garbage trucks made by Mack LR Electric. The department has not been able to find electric trucks that are powerful enough to plow snow like the original diesel ones.

No worries. According to The Experts, the climate will soon punish us for not fully embracing central planning by withholding snow anyway.

It seems the transition was more about virtue signaling and less about being ‘green’. As we’ve seen in one example after another, virtue signaling can be more expensive and less effective than solutions based on reality. That New York City decided EV snowplows would be a good idea baffles me. Snowplows sometimes have to operate continuously for hours or days, stopping only for crew changes, refueling and for those that also include sanders, refilling the hoppers with sand and road salt. EV snowplows can do everything ‘regular’ snowplows can do except refuel quickly and operating continuously. I’m not sure how well they can move snow or for how long.

At least someone in New York understands that EV snowplows aren’t going to work very well in a place that has frigid temperatures and can measure snowfall in feet.

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Springtime for Hitler and MIT…

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This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this and I doubt it will be the last:

Credit Card Debt has Skyrocketed Thanks to Joe Biden’ Horrendous Economy

Between inflation, a stupid energy policy that has done far more harm than good, a spendthrift administration and Congress, and the Treasury printing presses running at full speed further eroding the value of a dollar, that an increasing number of Americans are relying on credit cards to make ends meet is not surprising.

Paychecks have not kept up with the rising cost of living. I don’t know about you, but my pay hasn’t kept up with inflation. Over the past three years I figure I have lost about 10% of the value of my pay. My pay raises were wiped out in as few as 4 months due to inflation.

The only thing I’ve got going for me is that I have no debt. That includes credit card debt. The trusty RAM 1500 pickup is paid off. If I can’t afford to pay for something without using a credit card, then I do without. Unfortunately too many Americans can’t do that, still dealing with the effects of the Covid panicdemic.

I (and others) think it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better...if it ever does.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where it’s still getting dark far too early, the last of the boats have been pulled from the water, and where we’re setting the thermostat a little higher to fend off the evening chill.

A Clash Of Civilization

It seems two opposing forces have been increasingly clashing against each other and that clash is getting noisier and more contentious. This clash is affecting more people all the time. What is this clash?

Here’s a hint: It isn’t in Gaza or Israel.

This clash is between the Biden Administration’s EV mandate and reality, specifically the reality of the high cost of EVs and the electrical grid’s lack of capacity to charge all those EVs we’re being told we’ll have to drive.

That clash is already having some fallout with one automaker after another rethinking their shift towards EVs. Ford has ceased production of EVs and GM is ramping down production of theirs. Demand is falling off and EVs are filling dealer lots with no takers.

Toyota and Honda are moving away from battery EVs and towards fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines. (Toyota has also been touting their new ammonia-fueled internal combustion engine.) Volkswagen dialed back EV production and may cease it altogether. BMW has seen EV sales fall off and has also reduced EV production.

There’s another downside of EVs, that being that most of them are heavier than an equivalent ICE vehicle which increases wear and tear on the roads and bridges. (Some have made the claim EVs aren’t any heavier than regular vehicles, but that claim is easy to debunk with a little research online.)

Range anxiety is also a problem, with EV owners/drivers worried about having enough charge left in the battery pack to make it to their destination. (At this point I have to bring up this joke: “95% of all EVs are still on the road. The other 5% made it to their destinations.”) They also worry about being able to find a charging station if it turns out that they don’t have enough charge left in their battery to make it back home.

I know one issue that is often ignored by EV advocates is the problem of temperature, specifically cold temperatures. The batteries don’t like below freezing temperatures, causing the effective capacity to decrease. In places like where I live, New Hampshire, the winter temperatures can get to well below zero. It is not unusual to see -20ºF in the depths of winter. At temperatures like that an EV battery pack can lose up to two-thirds of its capacity. You won’t go far. You aren’t likely to stay very warm as there may not be enough battery charge available to both move the EV and heat the interior. Being stranded on a lightly traveled rural road at night with very little battery charge available when it’s -20ºF is not anything I want to experience.

Yet there are those supporting the EV mandate that think that would be just dandy. And that is just one aspect of the clash taking place – What is demanded versus what is possible. The mandate ignores what is possible. Proponents don’t care whether or not what is mandated is possible. They just want it done. However, those who are subject to such mandates don’t care what the mandates being pushed on them say. They will either ignore them, if possible, or push back and tell The Powers That Be to “Piss off”.

This will be a long, drawn out clash. I have no idea who will prevail in the end, but I think it’s going to get nasty, it will be expensive, and it’s going to hurt a lot of people and a lot of businesses. But “They” don’t care as long as they get their way.

Friday (Not So) Funny - It's The Economy, Stupid - Part Deux