Thoughts On A Sunday

We experienced our first accumulating snowfall yesterday. While we did not receive a measurable amount of snow here at The Manse, it was just enough to turn the fields, yards, and roadsides white. The changeover to rain later in the day made the snow melt away, but ‘the damage was done’. Our first snowfall is now on the books.

At least we won’t have worry about snow for Halloween, at least according the weather forecast. (We have had more than a couple of Halloweens that required the kids’ costumes to fit over a snowsuit!)

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Wirecutter over at Knuckledraggin’ My Life Away brings up a couple of points to ponder in regards to accused serial hoax bomber Cesar Sayoc.

First, Sayoc has been labeled as a registered Republican. However a screen capture from Instagram lists Sayoc as a registered Democrat.

Second, official Florida voter registration shows Sayoc registered as a Republican in 2016. However, Sayoc is a convicted felon. How can he be registered to vote? Unless felons have their right to vote restored by the state, a lengthy process, they cannot vote. Sayoc had a felony conviction in 2014 for grand theft and drug dealing in 2015. At this point no one has been able to confirm one way or the other that his voting rights have been restored.

Just who is this guy?

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This is something that has been evident to anyone paying the least bit of attention :

California ranks as the poorest state in the US and has the worst income inequality.

It seems that everything California and its various cities have done over the past few decades has been an effort to achieve those results. Diving deep into the socialist goodie bag and pushing nonsensical feel good legislation, boosting/adding taxes, and creating a plethora of regulations on every aspect of people’s lives, is it any wonder California has degenerated into a place where there will be only the very wealthy and the very poor?

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Chicks on the Right covers the #WalkAway march that happened today.

Apparently the number of registered Democrats dissatisfied and/or disgusted with their party and the direction it has taken is growing.

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Only those of us of a certain age remember what it was like before there was streaming TV. Heck, there are those of us around that remember TV long before cable TV was around.

There were three, maybe 4 TV channels you could receive (ABC, CBS, NBC, and maybe PBS). There were no remote controls (except for the kids who needed to get up to change the channel, move the rabbit ear antenna to get a good picture, or turn the volume up or down). Ther was more:

Now that streaming and pausing live television are second nature to most of us, it might be really simple to forget what life was like before technology revolutionized how we consume our entertainment. Anyone who was raised in the Netflix era of programming has no idea of the hardships the rest of us faced growing up. (And don't even get me started on life before remote controls...)

Recently some good people took to Twitter to reminisce about the days when you had to catch your favorite show at the time that it aired (or somehow figure out how to set your VCR to record) in order to watch it at all. There was no DVR, there was no streaming, and there absolutely was no pausing — which, as we will see, often caused a boatload of problems.

Yep, there was a time when you had approximately 90 seconds in which to get things done in order to not miss a moment…

Yup. Those were the Bad Old Days indeed.

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Is this the energy version of paying farmers to not grow crops?

In this case, some wind farm operators in the UK were paid £4.8 million in one day to shut down some of their wind turbines because electrical supply exceeded demand.

Of course the money paid to those wind farm operators came from the ratepayers.

I’m sorry, but electricity ratepayers should not be on the hook for utilities paying producers to not generate electricity. If they aren’t generating electricity to meet demand then they shouldn’t be paid, period.

I’ve always thought that things like wind and solar are nothing more than a means of picking the public’s pocket for the benefit of the renewable energy supplier’s bottom line. It’s basically subsidy mining.

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Later this week the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout, aka The Boat, will be taken out of the water. While this is by no means the latest I’ve removed the boat from the Lake, I doubt we’ll be seeing warm enough weather to make a trip out onto the lake worthwhile.

My last jaunt on the lake was about a week and a half ago when we had temps in the 80’s. But looking at this coming week’s forecast it looks like it’s time to tow the trailer down to the boat ramp and get the boat loaded onto it, and get it hauled over to the Boat Shoppe to be winterized and stored away for the winter.

I certainly can’t complain about this year’s boating season as we were out on the lake a lot this year. All in all, it was a good boating season!

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee where winter weather made a brief visit, the leaves are falling off the trees in increasing numbers, and the woodstoves are being fired up to ward off the evening chill.

Thoughts On A Sunday

Cooler than normal temps have arrived here in central New Hampshire and rather than burning expensive propane I fired up the Official Weekend Pundit Woodstove for the first time in almost two years.

I did have to open a couple of windows while the woodstove came up to temperature as I had touched up the paint on it prior to putting The Manse up for sale back in early September. The new paint tends to throw off some fumes the first time high temps are applied and those fumes usually trip the smoke detectors unless I open a couple of windows until those fumes disperse.

Once the windows were closed the temp in The Manse rose up to 68°F and dialed back the air into the stove to keep it from getting too warm.

The feline contingent has been enjoying the return of “The Warm Box”, making themselves comfortable in front of the woodstove and basking in its warmth. Two of the ‘cat towers’ now reside in front of the woodstove, providing 5 spots for the cats to curl up in front of the fire. That means I will have to deal with at most only one of my furry, four-footed executive assistants while trying to use the laptop.

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The Left talks constantly about ending “White Privilege” while at the same time using Liberal Privilege to excuse behavior that would destroy other people’s lives or reputations, or in more extreme cases, tried and imprisoned. Writes Sarah Hoyt:

For instance, take the Kavanaugh hearings when all the liberals were assuring us that we didn’t need to presume innocence until guilt was proven. Did you notice that not only didn’t any of them revise their opinion of the sexual scandals of Bill Clinton – against whom guilt was overwhelmingly proven – but they were also adamant that the same principles they were trying to apply to Kavanaugh didn’t apply to Keith Ellison?

This makes absolutely no sense. If you “believe all women” (and btw, that too is privilege. Where is the “believe all men?”) why not believe Ellison’s battered girlfriend, who has the hospital visit to prove it, or Juanita Broderick before you believe Christine Ford?

--snip--

Liberal privilege ranges from quite literal private law — anyone see a Republican who left a girl to die in his car go on to become the Lion of Senate? — To an easing of the way, a magic carpet ride to the top for good little boys and girls who express the right (left) position.

Being liberal means never having to say you’re sorry.

It all comes down to this simple viewpoint – The laws apply to you because you aren’t one of us. We don’t have to answer to your laws because we’re your betters. Now get back to work, you deplorable serf!

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I have wanted to ask a number of people this question.

I have to wonder what the answer to that question will be?

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I have been seeing a TV ad running that has been slamming Donald Trump in the run up to the midterm elections next month, saying that very few people are actually benefitting from Trump’s policies. My problem with it: It shows multitudes of people who apparently aren’t benefitting from the economic upswing. With very few exceptions, all of them are white.

I have a question for the folks who paid for the ad buy: Just where the heck are all of these people?

I can think of only one place where folks like that shown in the ad would be: California.

Sorry, but California is not Trump’s fault. The Democrats own 100% of that crap sandwich.

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Along the line of the above, there’s this from Twitchy:

These used to be blue states, and now they’re seeing YUGE jobs increases under Trump.

‘Nuff said.

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After having read a number of op-ed pieces from various sources (NYT, NY Mag, TNR, WaPo, Fox News, Vox, and RCP, to name just a few), it appears that some folks on one side are living in some kind of a dream world where Democrats have the midterm elections sown up, and both the House and Senate, as well as some governorships will be in the hands of the Left after November 6th.

Are these folks off their meds?

My take from the polls and what I’ve been seeing elsewhere is telling me that at worst it’s going to be a toss-up, with little shift in the makeup of the House and Senate. At best we’ll see the GOP take a larger majority in both the House and Senate.

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I’ve seen (and commented) upon a theory that Alzheimer’s is an infection. More than one epidemiologist has stated that the disease appears to act like an infection.

Ruth Itzhaki, a molecular neurobiologist has taken it one step further, putting forth her theory that Alzheimer’s is caused by the Herpes Simplex 1 virus.

If it turns out that is indeed the case then there may be both treatments and vaccines that will prevent Alzheimer’s.

As the Instaprof writes from time to time, Faster please!

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the foliage is in full color, my boating season is ending this coming week, and where I’m glad I have a decent sized woodpile.

Wait...WHAT?!!

For years now we’ve been hearing how CO₂ is an evil gas generated by the Evil Humans that will, in the end, Kill-Us-All when it causes the Earth’s surface to become an inferno. The AGW faithful have never waivered from their beliefs, working to silence unbelievers who dare question the One True Faith.

However, it is quite possible that their faith is about to be shaken.

The warming over the past 100+ years may have a cause that has little to do with CO₂: air pollution.

In a recent article in the Journal of Geography, Environment and Earth Science International, Transdyne Corporation geoscientist J. Marvin Herndon makes the startling claim that climate scientists, including the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have been chasing the wrong culprit for global warming and climate change.

--snip--

Inspired by Gottschalk’s data, Herndon considered “the broader activities of WW2,” especially those capable of “altering Earth’s delicate energy balance by particulate aerosols.” Herndon then “generalized [these] to post-WW2 global warming.” The geoscientist used relative-values of pollution-causing proxies to demonstrate “the reasonableness of the proposition that increases in aerosolized particulates over time is principally responsible for the concomitant global warming increases.”

These proxies for global particulate pollution – increasing global coal and crude oil production, as well as aviation fuel consumption – rise in strikingly parallel fashion to the rise in global temperature as shown in the accompanying figure.

What if Herndon is right? What if it has been air pollution driving the climate change we’ve been seeing and not CO₂?

I expect some heads will explode. Others will see their finances take a downward turn, specifically those who have “bet the farm” on things like carbon taxes and mandated changes to non-carbon based energy sources. If it hasn’t been CO₂ all this time, all of the mandates, sanctions, and snake oil cures being foisted upon an unwilling public will have no value.

While Anthony Watts, founder of Watts Up With That, doesn’t agree with the hypothesis, he decided to post it if for no other reason than to spur some discussion. If nothing else make sure to read the comments as they can be as informative as the post itself.

Thoughts On A Sunday

Fall-like weather has finally arrived, with cold (almost freezing) temps at night and daytime temps in the 50’s. There was even some snowfall in the White Mountains and the notches on Saturday!

That hasn’t stopped the preparations for moving out of The Manse as the closing date is in less than 2 weeks. Nothing was moved into rental storage yesterday because it was raining pretty heavily in the morning and the last thing I needed was soggy possessions. But a trip or two every day over the next week and a half should have just about everything moved out by the end of next weekend.

I have forgotten how much I hate moving.

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Things are definitely out of control in Portland, Oregon.

It is run by a mayor who doesn’t believe in the law, bends over backwards to promote/protect Progressive causes and antifa violence, and appears to care very little for things like freedom of speech (unless it’s Progressive speech).

He comes across as a personable guy, but his actions tell me he has no problem with his city descending into anarchy.

This isn’t going to end well.

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It appears Glenn Reynolds and his wife, Dr. Helen Smith, had a chance to discuss the problems of being ‘connected’ to things like smart phones 24/7. I haven’t been calling this kind of dependence “being addicted to electronic fentanyl” for nothing.

I can almost always tell when someone has been disconnected and is ‘jonesing’ for a fix. It’s sad. Really sad.

And people wonder why I still use a flip phone!

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It’s déjà vu all over again!

Like it will turn out any better than the last time these idiots did this.

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Do you need any more proof that Christine Blasey Ford was nothing more than a failed Hail Mary play by Senate Democrats on the Senate Judicial Committee? If so, all you need to do is look at how quickly they dropped her and are trying hard to pretend she doesn’t exist.

It’s not all that surprising considering she is no longer of any use to the Democrats.

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Juliette Ochieng shows us how and why hysterical females are deadly. Writes Juliette:

Will they outdo themselves if (when) the midterm election is successful for the Republican Party?

I look forward to finding out — from a distance. Those creatures are dangerous.

Indeed.

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Cap’n Teach delves into the LA Times piece that tells us that America needs its own version of Día de Muertos,” or “Day of the Dead”.

But I thought that ‘cultural appropriation’ was extremely PC? How can a newspaper in the heart of Progressive California put forth such an idea?

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While this post about good economic times is specific to New Hampshire, it applies to every state.

This year, New Hampshire entered historical territory for jobs and labor force participation. More GraniteStaters are participating in the labor force, and more of them are employed than at any point in the state’s history.

New Hampshire has been on a program of business tax cuts and a hands-off approach to hourly wages for years. Republicans who put their trust in employers and employees have been rewarded with a productive and responsive marketplace and a surplus in tax revenue on top of that.

The Democrat Party answer to this economic bonanza is to mess with it the first chance they get. They have promised to raise taxes on job creators and to use the power of government to meddle with the cost of labor.

The net effect everywhere else this has been tried is the opposite of what New Hampshire is experiencing. Fewer full-time jobs, fewer part-time jobs, decreased labor force, higher unemployment, reduced personal income. Higher welfare burdens for unemployment benefits, Medicaid, and food stamps. A significant strain on dwindling resources which means more and higher taxes.

If you want those things then by all means, vote for Democrats.

The problem is that some people will vote for the Democrats because they want those things to happen, all in the name of some twisted version of “fairness”. Some carry the “If everyone can’t have ‘X’, then no one should have ‘X’” mentality or believe that wealth follows the zero-sum fallacy, so feel that anyone doing well should be punished, including some of those who now have jobs and are making a good living during these good economic times.

How twisted is that?

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the leaves have changed into their autumn finery, the boating season is rapidly coming to a close, and where we need that extra cover on the bed at night.

Thoughts On A Sunday

The Columbus Day Weekend has seen a wave of leaf peepers heading up to the White Mountains and North Country of New Hampshire. Despite the cloudy weather the traffic has been heavy. The warm temps certainly have helped keep the tourists flowing into the state and the cash registers at the various inns, hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, factory outlets and various tourists traps ringing. The foliage is in full color up north and at least a full week from reaching peak here in the Lakes Region.

This has always been one of my favorite times of the year.

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Hearing “the lamentation of the vimmen” after Kavanaugh’s confirmation has been both annoying and pleasing at the same time. One would think that the end of the world is nigh, listening to the braying from the women who think that they will die now that Judge Kavanaugh is now addressed as Justice Kavanaugh.

They ascribe to him future actions that his judicial record says he would not take, such as overturning Roe v. Wade. Not that the Supreme Court can capriciously revisit and overturn a previous Court decision on whim. A case would have to be brought before the Court that challenges the standing decision, assuming the Court would certify such a case to begin with. Unless some new compelling evidence were brought forth that would change the perception of the Justices and overrides the stare decisis, it is unlikely the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade.

Or maybe they’re upset that the now 5-4 conservative bent of the Court will actually adhere to the Constitution and base their decisions upon the limits and rights codified by it. Heaven forbid that the Justices won’t legislate from the bench or base their decisions upon ‘feelz’.

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Now this is a dream presidential ticket! Not that I’d vote for them, but it would certainly make for an interesting campaign season.

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Do you need any further proof that California is becoming a Third World nation? Between streets filled with human feces and used drug syringes, the Pyrite State has seen typhus make a return to the streets of LA, reaching epidemic levels.

What’s next, bubonic plague?

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I have believed this for quite some time.

It’s well past time to break up Facebook, and perhaps Twitter, as it seems they are still being disingenuous, blocking or censoring posts made by anyone “not one of them”.

The latest example – Facebook blocking a post by Mike Williamson which included the phrase “that depends on what the meaning of is, is.”

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We constantly hear about how anthropogenic climate change will make all kinds of weather worst, particularly things like hurricanes and tornados. But records are showing that, at least in the US, the number of tornados is the lowest it’s ever been in the 65 years records have been kept.

We’ve also seen the number of hurricanes making landfall in the US fall off as well, just the opposite of what the warmists have been predicting.

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As a follow-up, here’s a twofer.

Apparently the warmists are worried that the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court will impede ‘climate action’ because of his judicial record of adhering to the rule of law.

Apparently they believe that the only way they can put forth their agenda is through judicial activism rather than legislation. What that tells me is that they know they have a weak case and figured that the only way they can get their way is by having a judge shove changes down the throats of the American people rather than going through the process of working with Congress to get legislation passed. It could be that they know the chances of getting laws passed that would severely damage the American economy and greatly limit the freedoms of Americans run somewhere between slim and none, hence their hopes for getting judges to do their dirty work for them.

What’s ironic about the whole thing is that the Democrats the warmists were counting on to kibosh Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court instead a ensured his confirmation with their over-the-top efforts to destroy his reputation based upon unsubstantiated claims of a sexual assault that took place 36 years ago.

Who ever said that karma was a bitch was absolutely right, particularly in this case.

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To show just how low some people will go in regards to political differences, the wife of Senator Cory Gardner received a text that included a video showing a horrific beheading after he voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. To add to that, someone also posted the address and phone numbers of Gardner’s family members.

Class act, Democrats. Class act.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the sun has been hiding, the temps have been warm, and the leaf peepers are everywhere.