4/18/2010

Thoughts On A Sunday

Winter returned to New Hampshire, dropping sleet and snow starting on Friday. So much for late-spring weather coming early and giving us an early start on summer.

I was planning on pulling the winter storage cover off of the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout, but the winter weather changed that plan. If the weather had remained warm and sunny I would have considered launching the boat at the beginning of May rather than over the Memorial Day Weekend. But this latest bit of winter weather has convinced me stay with the usual schedule.

**********

Lori Inghham has a final link round up of the TEA party protest in Manchester, NH that took place this past Thursday.

There's lots of bloggy goodness to be found!

**********

Is there another GOP upset in the offing in the Bay State? Considering Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's tumbling numbers, recent tax hikes, and even more profligate deficit spending by the state, is it possible he might be defeated by a GOP challenger in November?

**********

And speaking of upsets, is it possible the Democrats could lose over 70 seats in the House this coming November?

**********

ClimateGate: The gift that keeps on giving and giving....

Despite massive efforts by the UN IPCC to explain away the deficiencies and outright falsehoods in their 2007 report, the people and the scientific community aren't buying it. It doesn't help that the IPCC is trying to use more knowingly tainted data from the CRU to prove their report is correct.

**********

I'll bet you didn't know that AGW causes volcanic eruptions, slavery, and was caused in ancient times by bad Native Americans.

I'll bet they'll also find a link between AGW and the Boston Red Sox not making it to the World Series the past couple of years, too.

**********

First it's a new period of low solar activity, expected to last the next 30 years or so.

Now it's increased volcanic activity in Iceland, expected to continue for the next 60 years.

Between the two of them we can expect cooler temperatures, particularly in the northern hemisphere. We can also expect some colorful sunsets for the next year or two as the ash from the latest volcanic eruption in Iceland circles in the upper atmosphere.

Another effect of the higher volcanic activity: disruptions of air travel across the Atlantic on a more frequent basis. Both Steven Den Beste and Glenn Reynolds believe such disruptions will increase the use of teleconferencing.

**********

Does any of this look like economic recovery to you? I guess it does if your intention is to tank the economy with useless 'stimulus' spending and future confiscatory tax rates to pay for it all.

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

**********

It appears crime is causing problems in one small New Hampshire town. The local police department has been receiving investigative help from the state police.

**********

It appears New Hampshire Governor John Lynch has a thin skin.

A TV ad slamming Lynch's failure to keep his promises about controlling state spending, not raising taxes, and vetoing a gay marriage bill has been airing for a couple of weeks on local stations . Lynch doesn't like the ad (big surprise there), claiming the organization paying for the ads are “attack on New Hampshire and an attack on the people.”

Frankly, I don't see how this ad is slamming either the state or the citizens. It is accurately targeting Lynch's failures to wield his veto pen as he promised he would to control state spending (which has increased by over 30% over the past two budgets) and control taxes (which have increased dramatically because of overly optimistic revenue estimates used to justify increased spending). He also supported the state's efforts to confiscate $110 million surplus funds of a private agency set up to provide medical malpractice insurance, claiming that because the state passed the legislation to create the agency they owned the funds. (The state Supreme Court decided otherwise, stating that since no state funds, personnel, or facilities were provided to the agency and because the legislation that set up the agency stated any surplus premiums had to be returned to the policyholders, the state had no claims to the surplus funds.)

**********

From Gateway Pundit: Obama & Dems make great strides...in achieving Communist goals in America.

Reading an original address made to the House of Representatives back in 1963, it is easy to see far too many of their goals have been achieved.

**********

The focus on self-esteem and feel-good advocacy has replaced actually studying subjects like science in our schools. As this Forbes op-ed piece states, such a focus is doing our kids a great disservice.

Every schoolchild these days seems to be a devoted environmentalist, able to spell "sustainable" before "dog." However, much of the indoctrination about environmentalism--especially in schools--is of the passion-is-more-important-than-fact variety. These kids are being misled and shortchanged, to their own and society's detriment.

For last year's Earth Day, for example, sixth-grade students at a tony private school near San Francisco were given this bizarre assignment: Make a list of ways Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates' fortune could be spent on environmentally friendly projects. There was no hint that systematic market-based incentives for people and businesses could protect the environment--merely that it is OK to appropriate wealth from someone as long as it's for a good cause. (emphasis added)

Ah, yes, the “ends justifies the means” doctrine so prevalent amongst the PC/Socialist crowd. Never mind that it's theft. Never mind that the unintended consequences may be far worse than whatever such theft is intended to 'cure'. Never mind the kids won't learn the critical thinking skills they'll need to succeed once they get out of school...unless they decide to go into education or politics.

**********

And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where winter has returned, the woodstove is running, and where we're waiting for spring to return.