1/30/2011

Thoughts On A Sunday

It's been an uneventful weekend so far here at the Weekend Pundit Manse, with just the 'normal' stuff going on. We're still cleaning up from the last two snowfalls - chopping ice forming on the decks as snow melts on the roof and drips onto the decks below, cutting back the snow bank on either side of the driveway to enhance visibility when pulling out, scraping the frozen snow and brittle ice off of the driveway and parking areas outside the garage, and moving some of the snow piles back to make room for future snowfalls. (It seems there are two storms forecast for this coming week, a small one for Tuesday and a second much larger one for Wednesday.)

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For the first time in some time I am not running for office for one of the elective positions in our town. Not that I've given up on the idea. It's just the opposite, in fact.

I realized I don't really know enough to be good elected official. I presently serve on one of the town committees and it's given me far more insight than I thought it would. It's also made me realize that I didn't know enough about our town government, so I'm working to correct that lack.

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It looks like a little bit of New Hampshire wisdom is making inroads in Washington.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) has proposed changing the federal budget from an annual to biannual process, just like is done here in the Granite State.

In New Hampshire all budgetary items must be passed during the first year of the two year legislative session. That decreases the chance of legislators 'buying' votes with budget gimmickry that benefit the folks in their home districts.

At the federal level it could save both time and money as the budget would only need to be done once every two years and it removes the temptation of the party in power to play games with the budget - such as continuing resolutions – just before elections.

From reading some of the comments to the article linked above it is apparent some folks out there have no idea how the budget process works, or worse, they do and they want to exploit the existing process to push forward bankrupt progressive policies regardless of the consequences.

Tie the two year budget process in with some kind of balanced budget amendment and the level of financial shenanigans should decrease considerably.

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I remember this SNL skit, and I always thought it might contain a little bit of truth, more than most people realize, Michael Reagan's book notwithstanding.

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Despite all the controversy about Obama's State Of The Union speech, primarily that being it was highly plagiarized (it seems he borrowed from a number of other speeches, including New Hampshire governor John Lynch's State of the State address earlier this month), it also delivered a less well recognized message: “We're broke.”

(H/T Viking Pundit)

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Bogie has some photos from Mount Washington, which has the world's worst recorded weather. As I have mentioned more than once I have been at the summit numerous times (primarily at the Observatory, but occasionally at the Yankee Building). I've only 'visited' once. All the other times there I was working. It's an awe inspiring place regardless of the time of year.

As Bogie mentioned, the Mount is also a deadly place. I know from personal experience as a friend I worked with died there when hiking along the Headwall one winter. A gust of wind literally blew him off the trail and over the edge, where he fell almost 300 feet to his death.

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While I have not suffered some of the problems mentioned here, I have certainly seen others afflicted by the “connected”, meaning those blabbing on their cell phones, texting, or be-bopping to the music on their iPods.

It's bad enough when we have to deal with distracted drivers, but distracted walkers are even worse. Some are a danger to others, but most are a danger to themselves, so engrossed with what they are doing on their smart phones they forget to pay attention to where they're going.

While legislation banning such activities while walking might seem to be the answer, I must disagree. Instead, it might be better to make any injuries these people might suffer entirely their own responsibility. Ban such 'victims' from suing anyone, any municipality, or any company for any injuries they received because of their distracted walking. And make them liable for injuries to others because of those same activities.

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A major downside to all those wonderful electric cars all the “green” folks seem to be in love with?

They don't work nearly as well in the cold.

Most battery chemistries work fine until you get below freezing temperatures. After that the effective battery power decreases as the chemical reactions inside the batteries slow down. On top of that, some batteries, specifically Lithium-Ion, have a relatively narrow charging temperature range – 0ºC to 45ºC. Outside that range either the batteries won't charge completely or the charge cycle will damage the battery cells, greatly reducing their service life.

That's something the hybrid and electric car folks don't advertise.

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Now it's official.

Reuters claims Republicans are at fault for climate change.

Yeah. Right.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the sun has been melting the snow and ice off the local roads, snow piles are being moved by the local towns, and preparations are under way for more snow later this week.