6/08/2014

Thoughts On A Sunday

We've had beautiful weather all weekend which has allowed me to take care of some long overdue outdoor chores. While the Official Weekend Pundit Lawnmower is still hors du combat, I did manage to hit the grass with the weed-whacker to cut it back to a reasonable length. That should allow me to mow it once I have the lawnmower up and running again.

At least the good weather has made it possible to hang the laundry out to dry, something I doubt many of the more rabid warmists are willing to do to “save Gaia”. Even though we have a new clothes dryer being delivered this upcoming week, we'll stay hang much of the laundry up to dry during the warm weather months, just as we did when we had a working dryer.

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In his essay about why he is not scared of climate change, Walter Starck sums it up with one single phrase: “Models aren't evidence.”

Too much of the hysteria being generated by the warmists is based entirely upon climate models that are known to be seriously defective. Why anyone would take them seriously is beyond me.

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You know it's getting bad in our public schools when they ban students from bringing sunscreen for a class outing because it's 'toxic.'

Yeah, like a severe sunburn is so much better than a little sunscreen. About the only thing toxic about the whole thing is the stupidity of the school administrators.

As Glenn Reynolds asks, “Is it parental malpractice to send your kids to public schools?”

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Assistant Village Idiot has some thoughts on The Way New Hampshire Used To Be.

I have to agree with a lot of the issues he brings up, but I still see the New Hampshire Presidential Primary as one of the better means of an unknown or underfunded candidate to gain some traction.

While some think a bigger state should have the opportunity to go first, that would lock out anyone without deep pockets and little name recognition. Most larger states require a candidate to spend a lot of money on radio, TV, and newspaper ads because they can't possibly trek across that state to meet enough voters.

When it comes to town meeting, I both agree and disagree with him, but that's a topic for another post.

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Bill Whittle reminds us that being an intellectual does not equate to being intelligent. It's our misfortune that too many intellectuals believe it does.

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“Male Privilege” indeed.

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The headline reads “Dems Are Glum About Economy Despite Upbeat Jobs Report.”

I should say so considering it's really only upbeat if you squint hard and look at it out of the corner of your eye. Between no change in the U3 unemployment rate and a record low labor participation rate, I wouldn't consider the report 'upbeat'. The U6 unemployment rate remains unchanged – still over 12% - something no Democrat wants to run on. Inflation is there as well, it's just been masked. (See what food prices have been doing lately? They aren't counted as part of the inflation rate. Some food prices have remained stable, at least on paper, but when you look at the details you find you're paying the same price for less food. The package sizes have decreased while the prices have remained the same.)

The numbers are upbeat in name only. The reality of them still sucks.

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As a follow up to the 'upbeat' jobs report, there's this chart from Doug Ross that shows us a most disturbing economic trend during the Obama era, that being the job participation rate numbers (adjusted for seasonality) has never increased.

It has been a downward slope from the moment Obama took office in 2009. The chart shows the labor participation rate back to 2004 which shows it hovering right around 66% from 2004 through 2008. It's now at 62.8 percent.

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I have to admit that I no longer have any patience with the either the easily offended or perpetually offended. Too often they are offended by little things that are either meant to be sarcastic or humorous. (They understand neither.)

One of the latest examples of this phenomenon is the offense they took to a tee-shirt.

I have a suggestion for these folks: If you are easily or perpetually offended by the words or actions of a majority of other people, don't try to force your viewpoints on those people. The problem isn't them, it's you. I suggest in order to prevent any of your sensibilities from being offended from here on out that you move away to some rural, remote location where no one else lives. By doing this you can live your life without the fear of being offended by anyone and in turn you will stop offending us with your nonsensical and humorless belief in how our lives should be lived. A reminder to you – nowhere in the Constitution or in our laws does it state you have the right to not be offended. I know. I've looked.

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I have noticed on a number of blogs over the past six months or so that a number of people are deleting their Facebook accounts. My dear brother has done that on more than one occasion as have a number of people where I work.

I have a Facebook account but I only log in about once a month. Frankly, not much there interests me and the only reason I've kept it is because it makes it a little easier to maintain contact with some of my friends. I don't spend time reading other people's posts or comments about the latest cute things their kids have done or about their changes in relationship status and so on. I won't waste my time playing the online games that seem to eat up so much time or that friends invite me to join. Frankly, I'd rather watch something on Netflix or go out to the lake rather than waste my time on that. I get more out of it.

My missus spends a lot of time on Facebook, though not nearly as much time as she used to. BeezleBub has dialed back his time on Facebook as well, though I think Horse Girl more than makes up for it.

I don't like the idea of baring the details of my life to everyone else as if it's the only way I can interact. I think people expose way too much information on social media like Facebook. Goodness knows more than a few people have had their lives upended because of things they've posted on their Facebook pages.

If I want to post about something I do it here on this blog or make comments on others. I have unlimited space to express my opinion on any subject and am not constrained by Facebook's Terms Of Use. If I want to offend or comment about controversial topics I can do so without the fear that some politically correct and easily/perpetually offended administrator will delete my post or my account because I've crossed some arbitrary line.

I have no plans to delete my Facebook account and I will continue to log in now and then. But don't expect me to keep updating my status. Don't invite me to play online games that I have no interest in playing. Don't expect me to interact on anything but a hit-or-miss basis. If I log in I may initiate a chat if one of my friends is online, but that's it. If you want to find out what I'm thinking or saying, come to this blog. This is where you'll find me...or maybe out on the lake.

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Bogie took some time out from renovating her new home to make a trip to New York for Americade. She and her friends made a roundabout return to New Hampshire by way of a northern route that took them through the White Mountains and into Maine.

She has both narrative and pictures!

I wonder if she'll make a trip up to the Lakes Region of our home state for Bike Week which starts next weekend?

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This does not bode well for seniors.

UnitedHealthcare is cutting 700 doctors in Massachusetts from its private Medicare plan network.

UnitedHealthcare says it will help trim costs, but it means a number of senior citizens have just lost their doctors. What's worse is that many of those seniors cannot change their health insurance plans until October, meaning some of them will be stuck without doctors within a reasonable drive until then.

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Nothing more needs to be said about this picture.

(H/T Pirate's Cove)

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This morning I heard my neighbor's weed-whacker which reminded me I have to go out some time today and finish what I started yesterday. It also made me realize that I have never heard a lawnmower running at her place. That's when I realized she's been doing the same thing I have over this weekend: she uses the weed-whacker to 'mow' her lawn. I hadn't thought about it until today, but it makes sense.

As bad as the slope on my lawn is, the slope on hers is worse, making it even more difficult and dangerous to use a lawnmower. Under those circumstances I would use a weed-whacker as well.

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Considering the Narcissist-In-Chief is who he is, it's no surprise to find that America has disappointed him. Then again, it's always about him, isn't it?

I find nothing paradoxical about Obama’s recent pattern of behavior, nothing mysterious about the golfing, partying, traveling. It is quite obvious: Obama has given up.

He knows that his agenda is now limited to executive orders and bureaucratic regulation, and that even these measures are likely to be in the courts for years. He knows that his foreign policy agenda of engagement with the enemies of America will prove controversial and unpopular. He knows his staff has been ducking-and-covering ever since Lois Lerner announced the IRS had targeted Tea Party groups, and that they have been playing defense through Edward Snowden and Syria and Healthcare.gov and Crimea and the VA and now Bowe Bergdahl. He knows there is a chance that the Republicans will control Congress next January, and he has said, according to Politico, that this “would make his last two years in office unbearable.”

Some think it is imperative that we do just that, make his last two years in office unbearable.

I wholeheartedly agree.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is gorgeous, yard work is getting done, and where the need to earn a living will be getting in the way of enjoying yet another day off.