It couldn't have been a better day for the gathering, with sunny and warm weather.
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The bob houses are all gone from the big lake and the ice is starting to look soft. In my trip along the southern shore of Lake Winnipesaukee yesterday afternoon I got the chance to see a broad expanse of the lake. While there didn't appear to be any ice breaking up yet, open water has been appearing along the shoreline. Alton Bay showed a lot of open water around the M/S Mount Washington dock and where the river empties into the bay.My original prediction of Ice Out – when the M/S Mount Washington can make all five of its ports of call around Lake Winnipesaukee – may have been too pessimistic. I was thinking ice Out would be declared on April 21st, but now I'm thinking maybe April 15th. The snows have been melting away so quickly that I have no doubt the lake ice will follow the same pattern.
Only time will tell.
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It was 50 years ago today that Laconia, NH switched over from the old manual telephone switchboards to dial phones. On that day the phrase “Number, please?” disappeared from people's lives here in this part of the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.********
My favorite political cartoonists, Cox & Forkum, have a new (and rare) cartoon post, along with links to commentary about the disaster-in-making that is Barack Obama's stimulus and budget plans.
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It looks like Obama will use ACORN to form his brigades of Obama Jugend. I figure it's just a matter of time before ACORN becomes an official branch of the Executive Branch of the US government. Maybe a new version of the Sturm Abteilung or worse, the Geheim Staats Polizei?If this doesn't scare the hell out of you, then you have no idea what's going on and/or have forgotten your history. Obama's presidency is quickly expanding the cult of personality that is Obama, and is starting to resemble a similar cult of personality in a certain country in Europe during the mid to late 1930's.
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Mark Steyn has the right of it.
As President Reagan said, we are a nation that has a government, not the other way round. The nation pays for the government, not the other way round. I pay for Congressman Frank and Senator Dodd, not the other way round. I would appreciate it if they'd take up a less destructive pastime, perhaps joining Senator Kerry in windsurfing off the Irish coast in buttock-hugging yellow Lycra. If you have even a modest asset — a small house, a sluggish savings account, or pension provision — these people are making you poorer. Good luck digging yourself out from under.
It's obvious that Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and President Obama are working hard to make us all wards of the state. After all, they believe they know better than we do what we need...even though they don't.
(H/T Maggie's Farm)
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George Will believes the stimulus bill is unconstitutional. It cedes legislative authority to members of the Executive Branch of the government, violating the separation of powers as defined in the US Constitution.I agree. Here's why:
The Supreme Court has said: "That Congress cannot delegate legislative power to the president is a principle universally recognized as vital to the integrity and maintenance of the system of government ordained by the Constitution." And the court has said that properly delegated discretion must come with "an intelligible principle" and must "clearly delineate" a policy that limits the discretion. [The stimulus bill] flunks that test.
To paraphrase an old saying, “Legislate in haste, repent at leisure.”
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As I mentioned above, Obama has created a cult of personality, not unlike Hugo Chavez and Adolph Hitler before him. Do you think I'm exaggerating? Then take a look at Ali Sina's Understanding Obama: The Making Of A [Führer].
When cheering for someone turns into adulation, something is wrong. Excessive adulation is indicative of a personality cult. The cult of personality is often created when the general population is discontent. A charismatic leader can seize the opportunity and project himself as an agent of change and a revolutionary leader. Often, people, tired of the status quo, do not have the patience to examine the nature of the proposed change.
He can create a cult of Personality by associating himself with the idea of change. He convinces everyone that things are terrible and a drastic change is needed. He then casts himself as the only person who can deliver this revolutionary transformation that everyone is waiting for. He portrays himself as a benevolent guide; the only one who cares about people and their needs and can pull them out of their alleged misery. In reality, they have no clue about how to address the problem - have no experience, no track record. But they are convincing because they are self assured.
These revolutionary leaders need foes. They exaggerate the problems. They make everything look gloomy. They lie, cheat and slander their opponents while casting themselves as the saviors of the nation. Hitler chose the Jews to blame for everything that was wrong in Germany. Khomeini made the Shah and his westernization plans his scapegoats. Obama has chosen President George W. Bush to smear.
A cult of personality is excessive adulation, admiration and exaltation of a charismatic leader, often with unproven merits or achievements. It is similar to hero worship except that it is created specifically for political leaders.
It certainly sounds exactly like what is happening and what Obama is promoting. He'll need that cult to keep him in office after he fails to keep his promises and strips the US economy of its energy and wealth. (All we need to do is look to Venezuela to see where our economy is headed should Obama succeed.)
(H/T Townhall.com)
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One thing hampering the recovery is the mixed messages banks are receiving from regulators, “prodding them to lend more to get the economy pumping while examiners order unwarranted clampdowns on loans.”Yet another example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.
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Bill Whittle comments on AIG, bonuses, and the faux outrage being expressed by Congress about the whole thing.Make note that Bill Whittle has moved his blog over to Pajamasmedia!
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It turns out that the five questioners publicly identified at Obama's online Town Hall meeting Q&A session weren't just ordinary members of the public chosen at randomk, but supporters that helped him during his election campaign.
They included: a member of the pro-Obama Service Employees International Union, a member of the Democratic National Committee who campaigned for Obama among Hispanics during the primary; a former Democratic candidate for Virginia state delegate who endorsed Obama last fall in an op-ed in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star; and a Virginia businessman who was a donor to Obama's campaign in 2008.
That doesn't sound so random to me.
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Has the nuclear power renaissance finally arrived in the US, or will the leftist envirowackos yet again kill off another form of power generation that might actually provide power to the people?It seems that no matter what kind of power technology is developed, they find something to dislike about it and work hard to prevent its general deployment, be it nuclear, wind, solar, hydro, tidal, or any other kind of technology.
Of course once the lights go out they'll be the first to make sure they get power while the rest of us go back to living in the 18th Century, or if they had their way, in caves. After all, they'll need power to keep an eye on the rest of us to make sure we don't try to use any “forbidden” technology.
Of course they're real wish is to see the human race wiped off the face of the Earth in order to “protect” it.
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