11/21/2010

Thoughts On A Sunday

Today I went to see the new Harry Potter movie with Submarine Tim and his boss, Dawn. That in itself isn't unusual as the three of us have always gone together to see each Harry Potter movie.

What was different this time was that the theater in downtown Plymouth where we've seen all the previous movies no longer shows first run films. It was a tradition we started when the first Harry Potter movie came out and we never missed a single one. Instead we had to go to the local 297-screen Mega-Cine-Plex not too far from The Manse.

While the movie was great, it wasn't quite the same as seeing it in the old theater.

In case you're wondering, BeezleBub didn't come with us. Instead he went to see the movie with some friends from school (though we saw him there).

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Jim Simpson wonders whether Gadsen flag license plates are becoming a national movement. I can see where they would become quite popular, particularly in red states. As I wrote lase Sunday, I'd gladly get one for the trusty F150.

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Bogie's making plans for Thanksgiving. She's actually going to be staying home an preparing a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner, something she says she rarely does. But this year she has a good reason.

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David Starr questions the problems with the Rolls-Royce Trent jet engines used on the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787. But it looks like the problems may not reside just with Rolls-Royce. As David mentions, when the crew of that Qantas A380 that blew an engine tried to shut down the fuel flow to the disabled engine, the flight control computers wouldn't let them.

That's not a hardware problem. That's a software problem, something Airbus has had to deal with in the past.

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At least one Democrat says he isn't going to underestimate Sarah Palin.

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Even as we read about California's economic suicide versus the economic resurgence of Texas, we can't forget that another much smaller state is also surging forward as well.

The WP home state of New Hampshire has managed to keep some semblance of a business friendly state despite four years of Democrat tax-and-spend policies doing its darnedest to change that. Now that the GOP has control of both chambers of the state legislature it's possible that much of the damage of the four past years of profligate spending can be undone and, perhaps, prevented from happening again any time soon.

New Hampshire has been one of the economic powerhouses over the past 40 years or so, with low taxes, small government, and business friendly policies. While many of the other states in the Northeast suffered the vagaries of the series of recessions since the 1970's, New Hampshire managed to avoid them for the most part. And when it still felt the sting of economic turmoil, it felt it to a much lesser extent than the rest of the Northeast, coming out of the recession many months ahead of its neighbors.

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As if we need even more evidence that the Progressives in our country have no problem with using totalitarian means to achieve their aims, there comes a call from the George Soros funded Center for American Progress for President Obama to use the US military to push the Progressive agenda, bypassing Congress and the Supreme Court.

I believe that's called a dictatorship. But then again, Progressives love dictatorships. Witness how the Left has sucked up to fellow Leftists like Castro, Chavez, and a host of other Central and South American leftist dictators or dictator wannabes.

Of course the Progressives may have forgotten something: there's no guarantee the military will follow orders that contradict the oaths they took to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Under the above circumstance, I think the Progressives and the President would qualify as domestic enemies.

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Victor Davis Hanson explains why the world we read of does not resemble the world we see about us.

At least the Internet has made it more likely we will question reports and claims made by government and the media when we can see for ourselves that what they tell us must be taken with a very large grain of salt.

(H/T Maggie's Farm)

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Eric the Viking sends an open letter to NASCAR explaining why he will no longer attend or watch any more NASCAR races.

While I won't necessarily stop watching the races, I do agree with his reasons.

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It is often said that a prophet is never honored in his own country. That is certainly true of Morgan Kelly, a professor of Economics at University College in Dublin, Ireland.

The so-called “nutty professor” had been warning the Irish government for some time that Ireland's economy was headed for a meltdown. He was derided as “of being ridiculous, alarmist, a scare-mongering Jeremiah. He was laughed at, even sneered at, by other financial experts who regarded him as a maverick.” Despite the claims of his detractors, it turns out he was right. Those same detractors are now curiously silent.

It makes one wonder if they will listen to his latest warnings about accepting an EU/IMF bailout which will have the effect of turning control of the Irish economy over to Brussels. If history is any gauge, the answer is “no”.

(H/T Vermont Tiger)

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Despite claims to the contrary, it appears Sarah Palin is far more popular with the American people than some are willing to admit.

As many of us have asked since the 2008 Presidential campaign, if she is so bad and so incompetent, then why have so many – particularly Democrats - been working so hard to discredit her? It seems there's a disconnect there somewhere.

At least Joe Biden appears to take her seriously (see above).

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

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The New England Patriots managed to hold off the Indianapolis Colts today down in Foxboro, beating them 31-28, giving them an 8-2 record.

Hopefully the Pats will be able to rest up enough as they'll be playing again on Thanksgiving Day, taking on the Detroit Lions in Detroit.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the temps have been below freezing (at least at night), the woodstove has been running 24-hours a day, and where we're looking forward to a very short work week.