I'm still feeling the aftereffects of a nasty chest cold that's been kicking my butt since last weekend. It was bad enough that I was out of work for two days, and would have been out for four, but I had a hard deadline to meet at work, so I dragged my sorry self into work the other three days and managed to get enough work done to file a preliminary report and meet my deadline. I've been paying the price for it all weekend.
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The weekend weather was a drag, with rain, rain, and more rain. It certainly put a damper on the Deerfield Fair, one of the annual events we try to attend. I guess we'll have to save our fair attendance to the Sandwich Fair next weekend, traditionally the last fair of the year.***********
It seems Obama's team is doing everything they can to demonize those who actually produce the wealth in an effort to justify what he plans to do to them...or at least the wealthy who do not support him, meaning most of them. Call it class warfare instigated by those who will profit by it, meaning Obama and his fellow Marxists.All we have to do is remember that the ideology of the Left is one of envy and greed, the very things they say is true of their opponents, meaning the rest of us.
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As I wrote three weeks ago, we had to replace our 20+ year old Electrolux Renaissance vacuum cleaner, not so much because it didn't work than because it didn't work the way it supposed to. We ended up with a new Kenmore model that was highly rated by Consumer Reports.Bogie also had to replace a vacuum cleaner (back in July), and like us, she ended up going to Sears for a new one. But she also got a “twofer” bonus – a handheld vacuum - when she bought hers and recently had the opportunity to use it. Her verdict: It is awesome.
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It's time to make a few changes to the blogroll, removing some now dead blogs – either inactive for quite some time, or just plain gone – and adding a couple of new ones.We say goodbye the following: COTErack (inactive), Scotto Bloggo (inactive), No Looking Backwards (inactive), Pardon My English (gone), Hub Politics (inactive and for sale), Hub Blog (gone), Ex-Donkey and by extension Llama Butchers (inactive), Dog Snot Diaries (inactive), ConChrist (inactive), Blogmeister USA (inactive), Bitter Girl (inactive), Ben Kepple's Daily Rant (inactive), and the Accidental Verbosity archives.
I still have a whole host of blog sites to go through, but I figured I'd start with New England bloggers and work my way up.
I will be adding: Gonzalo Lira, someone who can give us a viewpoint from the eyes of a filmmaker.
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It seems the so-called Verizon Curse is continuing to claim victims. First, it was HawaiiTel, then FairPoint, and now Frontier (again), this time with labor problems.A word of advice to anyone thinking about buying any Verizon landline operations: DON'T.
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Isn't it interesting that Herman Cain is gaining momentum in his presidential bid while both Rick Perry and Mitt Romney seem to be standing still?The only thing that can explain his rising popularity? Tea Party Racism. At least that's what that fount of Leftist wisdom, Janeane Garafalo, claims.
But seriously, I think the folks in Florida know something the rest of the GOP establishment still refuses to acknowledge – Cain is a contender.
I know I've been paying more attention to what he has to say than either Perry or Romney. And should he win the GOP nomination, the 2012 race will be between Cain and Unable.
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It looks like the Weekend Pundit Clan will be gathering here at The Manse for Thanksgiving this year. As I have mentioned more than once Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, beating out Christmas. (I find the time leading up to Christmas to be quite stressful, even though I enjoy the holiday itself.)I expect the repairs to The Manse will be completed before then, but even if they are not they shouldn't interfere with our plans.
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By way of Glenn Reynolds come this prediction by ECRI: A new recession is unavoidable.ECRI has never had a false alarm, so I'm inclined to believe them. However, like Glenn, I think we never really got out of the last one.
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And now for a small bit of drama. I have to admit I didn't know what to expect and I found it surprising.Very cool.
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The New England Patriots played the Oakland Raiders in Oakland today. These two teams have had a long time rivalry, and some bad blood between them. (It was Oakland's Jack Tatum, aka “The Assassin”, who ended Darrell Stingley's career when he broke Stingley's neck during a game, turning him into a quadriplegic. Tatum ended a lot of NFL careers during his tenure as an 'enforcer'.)The first half was very back and forth, with Oakland receiving seven penalties for a total of 70 yards, three of which were personal fouls, which cost them 45 yards alone.
In the end the Patriots pulled it off, winning 31-19.
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Jay Tea gives us yet another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences coming back to haunt the Democrats.This time around it's the Bank of America hitting up their customers for a $5/month fee for using their debit cards to make purchases because they've been limited by law how much they can charge merchants for debit card sales.
This is a great thing B of A is doing for us. They’re reminding us of some very important principles.Jay Tea also reminds us of this truth the Democrats are working hard to forget: “Under the law, corporations have a legal obligation to their shareholders to make as much money as they can. This isn’t a question of morality or fairness, but legal duty. (emphasis added)
First up, pretty much any time the government interferes in business to “help the little people,” it’s more than likely to end up boning the little people even worse.
Next, whenever the government decides that it needs to cut into business profits (either through increased taxes and fees, or limiting their ability to charge), the businesses will try to find a way to make up for the losses.
Finally, this presents a grand opportunity for other banks to steal away Bank of America customers by plugging how they don’t charge such fees, and actually care about their customers.
Folks like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd chose to forget that in their efforts to “make things fair.” But as usual, they also have a skewed idea of what is fair. Then again, they never really believed in market forces or profits or the law.