Thoughts On A Sunday

The Lakes Region of New Hampshire looked like a winter wonderland this morning, with snow coating the trees and a blanket of white from horizon to horizon.

If I believe the Weather Guys™, a good portion of the snow will melt away today, leaving the roads clear and dry and most of the snow cover gone.

The snow made for an interesting trip to the farm this morning, with Deb's car (shod with snow tires) having great difficulty making it up The Manse's steep driveway.

BTW, the Great Ice Storm of 2008 hit the Northeast a year ago, leaving over a million people without power, 400,000 of them in New Hampshire alone. We were fortunate here at The Manse because we were without power for only 16 hours. Even without power we had heat, light, and hot water (think baths and showers).

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I caught a portion of ABC's Good Morning America this morning during a 'report' about the upcoming Copenhagen climate conference and I was dismayed. This so-called report was nothing more than a propaganda piece pushing the AGW agenda. No mention of ClimateGate, no mention of growing dissent among knowledgeable scientists, and only a passing reference to a decline in public acceptance of AGW theories.

As I and many others have said, the fix is in.

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Another indication that AGW 'heretics' are being silenced: many respected science professionals are “losing their positions” on BBC-TV.

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Maggie's Farm has a round-up of ClimateGate posts and stories. Thanks to the News Junkie for doing this so I woundn't have to.

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The New England Patriots played the Dolphins in Miami this afternoon, and following their usual pattern, the Patriots had problems during the second half, between missing coverage, blown plays, and penalties costing them dearly. The Patriots lost yet another one, 22-21.

As much of a Patriots fan as I am, I have to say I believe the Patriots are done for the season and tat they won't even make the playoffs even though they are leading their division of the moment. Their morale is shot and their defense has huge holes in it, some of which can be laid at the feet of Bill Belichick (trading away Mike Vrabel was a huge mistake, particularly in light of the retirement of Tedi Bruschi and Junior Seau).

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Cap'n Teach informs us Sarah Palin is so popular that even the media is showing up in growing numbers for her appearances.

Maybe the media is finally catching on that's she's actually quite popular with much of Middle America.

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Darleen Click illustrates the differences between the Left and the Right, specifically in regards to 'death' taxes (also know as the estate tax). Unfortunately the Left still sees only 'the rich' paying such taxes. But the definition of rich is far too broad, with the unintended consequence of far too many family owned businesses going under because the government will confiscate a good portion of those businesses in taxes. How does impoverishing families by confiscating their wealth (as small is it might actually be) help anyone?

A message to the Leftist looters: Closed businesses and their now unemployed workers don't pay taxes.

Part of the Left's problem is that it still thinks of wealth as a zero-sum game, meaning that they believe that in order for one person to become wealthy they somehow had to impoverish someone else. That may have been true back in the days when wealth was measured purely by how much gold, silver, and precious/semi-precious gems you had in your treasury. But that hasn't been the case in the West for a few hundred years now.

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Here's another difference between the Left and the Right: Egocentrism versus Theocentrism.

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It's official – Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs fame has gone full lefty. It appears he is also suffering from selective amnesia, forgetting things he wrote only 2 years ago.

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The Official Weekend Pundit Christmas Tree is up, though not yet fully decorated. Deb and I assembled our tree (we have no need to go out and kill a tree needlessly for the holiday, so an artificial tree we can use again and again is our preference), strung the lights (including some new LED Christmas lights I picked up early this year for $2), and draped a few garlands. The rest of the decoration we'll leave in BeezleBub's hands as it's something he does so well. (He's also particular about where various ornaments go on the tree, so better that he does it rather than us so he doesn't have to undo it and then “do it right”.)

While our original plan was to spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the WP In-Laws, we've had to change it. Deb has to work both those days as she's the new person on the ward (she's just started a new job). Instead the In-Laws will be coming to The Manse.

This is the second major holiday in a row where we've not had to travel. I doubt that will happen again any time soon.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the snow has finally fallen, more cold weather is moving in, and where Christmas will arrive all too soon.