5/13/2012

Thoughts On A Sunday

Summer-like weather returned this weekend, making it possible to start dealing with the almost overwhelming amount of yard work needed around The Manse. I'm even taking a couple of days off during the upcoming week to try and get ahead of it as well as get the decks cleaned, stripped, and re-stained.

Hopefully I can get BeezleBub to give me a hand with a few of the chores that require two people to deal with.

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As Blue states in his post, this is only a story...maybe.

Heaven help us if there's even a grain of truth to it.

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The “Romney was a bully in prep school” meme has been dying out rapidly, proving there was no “there” there. If the Obama campaign has started with digging up potentially embarrassing incidents from Romney's youth, it means they're desperate and they have nothing they can use to skewer his chances.

In the mean time Obama's campaign has been running his re-election ads and the one I've seen on TV has a couple of small truths, but for the most part it's an attempt to put a good spin on a do-nothing-but-hurt-the-economy-and-our-international-standing presidency. One thing's for sure, he's been a big disappointment to the rest of the world.

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Deb had a People of WalMart moment yesterday, spotting a fellow with a gaudy cowboy hat, overalls, no shirt, and a thick pelt of fur. If she hadn't been so hell bent on getting out of there she would have followed him and snapped a picture with her phone.

As she also noted, Massachusetts has emptied out and headed for the Lakes Region this weekend as most of the cars in the parking lots of WalMart and the local supermarket chain were dominated by cars with Massachusetts plates.

The summerfolk have returned, along with the always dreaded “summah people”. With the good weather I'm not surprised to see them here to open up their cottages and summer camps.

Another indicator was the parking lot of one of our favorite breakfast joints this morning. The split between New Hampshire and Massachusetts plates favored New Hampshire, but barely. That will change once Memorial Day weekend arrives. Between then and Labor Day the ratio will favor Massachusetts plates.

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Speaking of summerfolk, summah people, and folks from away, I have been digging through the Weekend Pundit archives and re-reading pieces I wrote dealing with those three groups. This activity has made me realize that maybe it's time to revisit those posts, update a few of them, and putting a few together in an easily read compilation. Much of what I wrote 10 years ago (Has it really been that long?) is still true today. A few things have gotten better. Some have gotten worse.

If nothing else it gives me the opportunity to let my few dozen readers to see the Lakes Region of New Hampshire though the eyes of a year-round resident.

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With the recent elections in France and Greece it looks like the EU economy is heading to a major collapse. Both countries have elected leaders who will drive them hard to the left, increasing already unsustainable government spending, raising taxes to the point where anyone with money will leave, taking jobs and the economy with them when they go. It's obvious that neither they nor the people who elected them into office understand how economies work, how they can be negatively affected by government policies, regulations, and confiscatory taxation.

Ironically the UK learned that lesson the hard way during the 1970's and the only thing that turned it around was Maggie Thatcher's ascension to Prime Minister in the early 80's. She undid much of the damage done by previous governments, de-nationalizing industries, doing away with onerous tax rates, and letting business people run businesses. The economic turnaround was dramatic.

But now it looks like Great Britain will be dragged down by folks in the rest of Europe making the same mistakes as the UK made in the 70's. It's Santayana's axiom proven...again.

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Rand Simberg delves into the increasingly uncivil war between the Warmist and Skeptic camps in the AGW debate.

The Warmists are using increasingly eliminationist rhetoric to try to win people over to their totalitarian viewpoint of what must be done, while Skeptics are pointing out that the Warmists are trying to impose draconian measures to deal with a problem that may not exist. In fact, the 'problem' may be more helpful than harmful, but don't tell the Warmists that.

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Does Obama really think publicly attacking donors to Mitt Romney's campaign is going to silence them? According to one recent 'victim' of this tactic, the answer is a resounding “No!” In fact, it may end up doing more harm, particularly when it gets compared to Dick Nixon's enemies list. That is not a positive image by any means and one you'd think the Obama campaign would want to stay away from.

Then again, the Obama campaign hasn't been showing much in the way of smarts lately.

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As if we need yet another example of how things aren't going so well for the Teleprompter In Chief, a stump speech he gave in Reno, Nevada drew dozens.

I remember when he drew thousands, even at such a small venue such as the one above.

(H/T Instapundit)

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Is the Chinese economic bubble about to burst?

From indicators many of us have been seeing over the past year or so, I'd say it's imminent. Between a housing market bubble that makes the one in the US look like a minor glitch (there are entire cities that are empty, built in anticipation of high housing demand that hasn't materialized). Wages are going up. Other business costs are rising. All in all, China is catching up with the rest of the world and the explosive growth of the Chinese economy has been grinding to a halt.

Some American companies that off-shored a lot of work to China are now bringing it back to the US. Rising costs in China and ever increasing transportation costs are making it more attractive to bring the work back here. That certainly isn't helping the Chinese economy.

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There's that word again - “Unexpectedly.”

That's only true if you bought the hype coming out of the governor's office in Sacramento.

Anyone else with a lick of sense knew California's budget deficit was going to be higher than the official estimate, particularly in light of tax rates have passed the point of diminishing returns a long time ago.

The gummint folks in California still haven't realized their state does not have a revenue problem, but a spending problem. Until they're willing to admit to this, there is no hope the problem will be fixed.

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When it comes to energy news in the US, not much surprises me any more, including this:

The US Government Accountability Office reports that there are more oil reserves in the states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming as the entire proven reserves of the rest of the world combined.

As Glenn Reynolds opines, “If I were the Russians and the Saudis, I’d be paying off some Green groups to block development.”

Hey, wait a minute!!....

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Leave it to Bob Parks to ask the really important questions.

In this case he wants to know if fast food service has really gone down hill?

Frankly, I find this to be more important than 99% of the crap the Obama Administration is heaping upon the American public.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the summerfolk have been returning, the summah people have too, and where we'd much rather deal with the first rather than the second.