5/27/2018

Thoughts On A Sunday

The first 'official' weekend of summer is here, and all that goes with it. That includes the insane traffic, most of which started Friday morning. I took Friday off in order to do some work on The Manse in preparation for putting it on the market, and that entailed running some errands during mid/late Friday morning. That there were traffic tie-ups at some of the local intersections was surprising. That many of the vehicles in those traffic tie-ups were from away was not.

Deb and I went to one of our local eateries this morning and found we were going to have to wait to be seated as we had forgotten to take into account the summerfolk were back. When we did get seated we were fortunate enough to be at a table next to some other locals, and we got into a conversation about the heavy presence of folks from away. One of us (I forget who) made mention that it appeared that everyone from Massachusetts was up here for the weekend. It certainly seemed that was a a very large majority of the out of state plates were from there, with a smattering of Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey plates thrown in for good measure.

Summer has returned, even if the calendar say it won't actually be here for another three and a half weeks.

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One of the biggest problems I find in regards to alternative energy is that too many proponents choose to ignore the negatives. Between low energy densities (both wind and solar are actually rather diffuse compared to oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear), lack of dispatchability (immediate generation capacity decides on sources, not demand), their vulnerability to weather conditions, and lack of energy storage. These are all “problems to be solved down the road” that need to be solved now in order to make wind and solar viable at reasonable costs. But neither wind or solar provide power at reasonable costs.

While the energy for wind or solar is free, the costs of collecting and converting that energy is not. Both are horrendously expensive which is why they are subsidized, and even then they cost a lot more than conventional power sources.

Then there are the other hidden costs, particularly when it comes to both economic and environmental costs. One of the bigger issues being devoutly ignored by the renewable energy proponents is the amount of toxic waste generated by their manufacture. And that's just on the making them side. There's also the toxicity of panels when they reach then end of their useful lives.

Solar panels are not easily recyclable, they contain lead (which no one mentions), cadmium (which is far more toxic than lead, which no one mentions), antimony, and a host of other toxic substances than cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel and properly processing them to recover the toxic materials. Even that process can generate toxic waste all on its own.

Because solar panels contain those materials, they are not supposed to be landfilled because those materials can leach out and contaminate ground water.

So all of that so-called 'clean energy' isn't so clean after all.

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I find it interesting that the most of the media, specifically the LSM, haven't caught on to the fact that President Trump is playing them like a virtuoso violinist. He's had decades of practice at manipulating the media and he does it so well.

Or if that analogy doesn't work for you, how about this one: He's a stage magician that gets the media to focus on the shiny object in one hand while he uses the other one to 'take care of business'. Think about it.

He (or one of his staffers) posts a tweet about one subject or another. The LSM goes insane over the tweet, focusing all of their effort and attention on his latest Twitter 'outrage'. In the mean time they aren't paying attention to what's going on in the background. It's not that he's hiding anything as everything he's accomplished has been out in the open. It's that he's diverted their attention away from it by giving them something else to pay attention to. When they finally do pay attention, they're surprised. And then the process repeats itself.

Could it be that's how he's gotten the judicial nominees he's wanted appointed? Is that how he's managed to be so effective in regards to foreign policy? (You have to admit he's certainly gotten the attention of a certain leader in a country north of the 38th Parallel.) Is that how he's managed to roll back many of the economically damaging regulations imposed by his predecessor?

Yes.

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Truer words were never on a tee shirt!

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The more we hear about Stormy Daniels' lawyer, the more disreputable we're finding out he is.

Between stiffing his partner for monies earned by their practice, shorting clients on money they were awarded in lawsuits, and now it appearing that he's a tax cheat, why would anyone, including Stormy Daniels, trust this publicity-seeking shyster? He certainly has a less than stellar reputation.

I figure it's only a matter of time before he's busted for something or Stormy wises up, fires the jerk, and finds a more reputable attorney. Or maybe both will happen.

Either way she should put as much distance between her and this Avenatti guy.

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I have to add the same comment Glenn Reynolds added about this piece, that being “It’s very important to list all the things you won’t do for your future husband before you meet him.”

While I can understand why some women don't want to change their names after marriage, one has to wonder what other things some women might not do for/with their husbands after marriage.

I know I've mentioned overheard conversations between young women expressing their totally unrealistic expectations about marriage. More often it sounded like they were talking about a relationship with a monied doormat who would let them have sex with anyone they wanted outside of the marriage, not a man. (Not even a beta male.) That's not a marriage, that's a financial arrangement with a whore. No, strike that. A professional would give value for the money paid to her. These women wouldn't.

How did I make the connection between a women explaining why she wouldn't change her name after marriage to a cuckolding gold digger? I didn't really. It was just that Glenn's comment triggered the memory of the overheard conversations.

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If things go well on Monday I will have the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee in the water and tied up at its slip before the sun sets. I had to delay the launch as the owner of the docks where I berth The Boat informed me that they had not yet finished laying down the new deck after some structural repairs were made. Without that deck there was no way I would be able to make it from the dock to the shore without walking the proverbial tightrope. So launching The Boat was delayed.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where summer has (unofficially) arrived, as have the summerfolk, and where we're still plugging away at getting our house ready to sell.