Thoughts On A Sunday

The first real sign of spring finally arrived.

It's not the first robin, nor the first shoots of perennial plants making their appearance. The real sign of spring is when BeezleBub goes back to work on the farm.

Yesterday was his first day back, spending most of the day setting seeds in the plug trays as part of the weekly plantings. While this is something just about every member of the field crew has to do, BeezleBub is one of the first of the crew called back, so he's the first to deal with this rather tedious but vital task. He also had to stoke the wood-fired boiler used to heat the greenhouses used to give the various flowers and vegetables an early start.

He was tired, but tired in a way that a good day's work gives one.

Spring has indeed returned.

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One thing I've found is a number of people that are aware of the upcoming Tax Day Tea Party aren't aware that it's more than a local phenomenon. As I mentioned to one of them, the protests are scheduled to take place in more than 300 cities across the country. He was incredulous, happily so.

I for one will be attending the Tax Day Tea Party protest in Manchester, NH.

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Does Obama's arrogance know no bounds? Apparently not.

During his recent European jaunt, Obama called America’s past attitude towards Europe arrogant. He failed to offer any particulars, and with his concomitant criticisms of predecessor George Bush, my guess is that he’s referring at least in part to that cowboy swagger Europeans so loved to hate.

But [my own observations] of Obama is as least as much (if not more) in line with the defintion of the word “arrogant”, which has always seemed to me a perfect description of the man: “overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors.”

George Bush may have been cocky. But I don’t recall him having an air of looking down on others. This is precisely the attitude Obama conveys, and it’s all the more strange since he is relatively devoid of real world experience other than the academic. But arrogance is a trait I’ve often noticed in academics, as well.

As have I. It has become quite apparent our President does indeed look down upon those he considers his inferiors, including the four still-living former Presidents.

What an arrogant jerk!

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Even the Washington Post is now saying there's no way Obama won't be raising everybody's taxes. It will be unavoidable given the massive deficit spending he has planned for the next 10 years.

When even Obama's MSM supporters are calling him on his claims, you know there might be a paradigm shift in progress.

(H/T Viking Pundit)

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Is this any surprise? Not to those of us that understand motivation and compensation.

Big banks lose top talent to foreign competitors and startups.

More than one bank warned Congress this would happen, but were ignored.

Here's more on the exodus.

The message couldn’t be clearer: no seasoned investment banker worth their salt wants to work for the government if they can help it. Unfortunately for the taxpayer, who now shares in the prosperity of Goldman Sachs and Bank of America via the recent bailout packages, the bankers who packed their bags and jumped ship last week are arguably some of the most seasoned professionals the industry has to offer.

There's no way such an exodus will be good for the banks or the depositors.

(H/T Instapundit)

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I never thought it would come to this: competing protests. The Tea Party protests have been drawing hundreds, if not thousands. The pro-Obama/pro-socialism New Way Forward protests have been drawing...umm...a dozen or so.

Which ones do you think are truly grassroots protests?

Hint: It ain't the ones calling for more government control of everything.

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It appears even the conservative media has had to cut costs, including laying off some of their personnel. Unfortunately one of the casualties was Ben Kepple, a reporter for the conservative Manchester, NH Union Leader.

As Benjamin reported on his blog:

ALL GOOD THINGS come to an end. In my case, the particular good thing that came to an end was my great job working as a reporter. It was interesting and engaging work, tough at times but also a lot of fun, and it was made even better by the great people with whom I worked. Plus, the pay and benefits I received were fantastic for the field, which made the work even better.

It wasn't entirely a surprise that I lost my job, of course. Since journalists love writing about themselves, the papers have been filled with stories about the troubles facing the media industry. So it's not as if I'm the only reporter to find himself studying up on rules and regulations about his unemployment benefit. Rather, I'm simply U.S. Media Sector Casualty No. 36,012 of the Global Economic Downturn. Business is business, and when you're at the bottom of the seniority list, these things can happen. So I certainly don't have any hard feelings about it, particularly since my employer kept me on as long as it could in my job.

Let's hope he won't be out of work for long.

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BlackFive brings us another story of Jesse MacBeth-like douchebaggery by someone trying to scam money from the parents of a former NCO.

His parents were skeptical and scam artist got nothing from them (thank goodness).

Frankly, hanging is too good for a scumbag like this guy.

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I just found out two friends of ours we met through the blogosphere way back when are in the process of divorce. Deb and I thought these two were in it for the long haul, so this is one heck of a surprise to us.

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Bob Parks reports on the end of the Somali pirate saga, with three of the four pirates killed by Navy SEALS and the captain of the Maersk Alabama safe and sound.

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One other bit of information from Bob Parks that I find interesting: It's become apparent the biggest racists are the lefty commenters.

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Also from Bob Parks, an eerily clairvoyant quote from Ronald Reagan:

You cannot pour billions of dollars into make-work while destroying the economy that supports them and call that opportunity. And you cannot build up years of dependence on government and dare call that hope.

If only Barack Obama understood Reagan's words.

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Henry Waxman (D-CA) must be destroyed.

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An unusual and early review of the new Star Trek movie premiere (in Kuwait, of all places).

(H/T Instapundit)

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the thermometer is saying it's still winter, the woodstove is still running, and where the countdown to the Star Trek movie is winding down.