6/29/2008

Thoughts On A Sunday

BeezleBub made it back from the WP In-Laws Friday and was back at his job at the farm first thing Saturday morning. He's now working his summer schedule, meaning Wednesdays through Sundays in the fields. I'm also starting my summer work schedule after Fourth of July, working 4 days a week – Tuesdays through Fridays – meaning BeezleBub and I will have Mondays off together all summer.

It's going to great summer!

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I loved this “cheap shot” handed out by Tom Maguire during his Heller post because it's all too true:

The same folks who can read the Constitution and Bill of Rights and find an unassailable right to abortion and gay marriage can't find a right to possession of a firearm.

All too true.

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It's been another NASCAR weekend here in New Hampshire. The new owners of the local track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway (formerly the New Hampshire International Speedway), have done a lot of upgrades and renovations in order to make the fan experience better. It would have been nicer if the weather had been a bit more cooperative, the rain on Friday delaying qualifying for the Lenox 301.

The race today was shortened by thunderstorms, ending after 280-some laps. That's how it goes in New England.

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Have you wondered what's really driving the rising cost of oil? While some point the finger at the “greedy” oil companies, others to speculators, and yet others to simple supply and demand, the answer isn't necessarily all that simple. At least Coyote gives it a shot, and his ideas sound a lot more likely than some I've heard.

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One not entirely unexpected side effect of higher oil prices is the move of some manufacturing from overseas back to the US. While many goods can still be manufactured cheaper overseas, the cost of transporting them to US markets has skyrocketed, making those goods more expensive than if they had been made here. If oil prices remain high, and it is expected they will, we may see a long lasting resurgence in American manufacturing.

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First Chicago mayor Richard Daley goes ballistic about the Heller decision. Then San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom loses his mind, blathering about the rights of the housing authority versus the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Is one of the requirements to be a mayor of a major city to have their common sense surgically removed?

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Paul Marks asks whether collectivism is triumphing in Europe and the US?

...in the United States the totalitarians look set to take over soon. I have presented evidence that they (both key members of Congress and others) are totalitarians in a previous posting and I will not type it all out again - so I will content myself with wondering whether, when the spiritual son of Saul Alinsky becomes President of the United States, he will invite Bill Ayers (and the other comrades he left Harvard to join in Chicago) to his inauguration.

Let us pray it is not so.

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Former New Hampshire Governor and Democratic US Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen has pledged to severely trim oil company profits in an effort to lower fuel prices. Sounds like a great idea until you do the math and find out that even if the oil company profits were cut to 0%, it would only drop gasoline prices by approximately 36¢ at best (assuming gas is $4 per gallon). 36¢.

That's not a big drop in prices, is it? Like too many Democrats, Mrs. Shaheen has overlooked two important facts about the price of any product for sale: profits are usually a small percentage of the sale price; and what profits are made are used to pay stockholders and to invest in future projects.

A 9 percent profit margin is pretty common for just about any business. Some have higher margins, some lower. Do you hear anyone complaining about other businesses with 9% profit margins? I certainly haven't.

If Jeanne Shaheen gets her way, how will she explain it to the millions of stockholders why they'll now receive little or nothing in return for their investments?

Who are the biggest investors in oil companies? Retirement and pension funds.

How will she explain to millions of retirees that their retirement funds have been confiscated by the government? Oh, wait! I almost forgot. That's exactly what Democrats like Shaheen want. It gives them even more control over the American people. Control their money, control the people. After all, we aren't intelligent enough to spend our own money.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the thunderstorms have been having their fun, the NASCAR fans have left until September, and where we're still wondering how we'll pay for heating fuel next winter.

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