6/11/2023

Thoughts On A Sunday

It is the beginning of the 100th Annual Laconia Motorcycle Week and there is no doubt it’s going to be a big one. I don’t recall seeing the number of motorcycles that are already here this early in Rally Week. It isn’t really all that surprising considering all of the Covid restrictions are gone and that many will be coming to celebrate the 100th Motorcycle Week. This is the longest running motorcycle rally in the nation so it’s not a surprise there will be so many attending this year. During a ‘normal’ Bike Week we see between 300,000 and 400,000 bikers visiting. I have no problem believing we could see 500,000 bikers this year.

The only downside is the noise, something no one can do anything about. Personally, I have no problem with the roar of the thousands upon thousands of motorcycles. It may sound corny, but along with the roar of those bikes we also also see lots of dollar signs. The hotels, motels, inns, B&B's, AirBnB’s, and campgrounds are full. (The AirBnB behind The Gulch is one of them.) The restaurants are certainly busy and the vendors selling various Bike Week wares have been seeing a lot of business...and it’s only Sunday. If things follow the usual pattern, most of the bikers will be arriving starting Thursday. (I will be working from home both Thursday and Friday so I won’t have to deal with the heavy traffic. It’s a sacrifice I am willing to make.)

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“Be careful what you wish for...because you just might get it.”

It is an old adage that far too many people ignore and they end up paying the price for doing so. Chris Queen is warning the Democrats they should be careful what they wish for after the latest Trump indictments.

Regardless of what you think about the Trump indictment, it’s hard not to believe that it smacks of the Democrats’ endless attempts to nail Donald Trump for — something. We’ve gotten used to it over the past few years, and these legal maneuvers always seem to play out the same way.

“We’re all familiar with the ‘Trump facing…’ news loop by now,” writes Freddy Gray at The Spectator. “America is stuck in Trump legal groundhog day — he’s remorselessly prosecuted, over and over, on so many fronts. He always responds the same way, protesting his INNOCENCE in capital letters on Truth Social, saying he can’t believe this is happening in America. Then his team fires out fundraising emails.”

Maybe they have him this time, but maybe not. After all, we’ve heard the rhetoric about the “walls closing in” on Trump for a long time now.

It seems every time they believe “We’ve got him now!” it turns into either a nothingburger or blows back on them and they come under scrutiny and investigation.

Should Trump get elected in 2024 I think we’ll see him go on a tear to give Democrats a taste of their own medicine.

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At least one governor is doing something about the negative effects of social media on children, something I’ve brought up more than once over the past few years.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu https://www.governor.nh.gov/news-and-media/governor-chris-sununu-signs-executive-order-2023-04>issued an executive order requiring a “statewide response to the impact of social media platforms on New Hampshire’s youth.”

Under the Executive Order, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services are called upon to work collaboratively to create guidelines for a curriculum to be submitted to the State Board of Education to be included in all K-12 health education courses in the state that explains the potential negative impacts of use of social media platforms by children. These guidelines shall be submitted to the Governor within 90 days of the Executive Order having been signed.

As part of the initiative, state agencies will also promote a new GoPlayNH Initiative, encouraging kids and families to spend more time off their screens and outdoors. The initiative will highlight the various recreation opportunities available across the Granite State.

The effect of social media on children is profound, and in most cases, a negative effect. If everything they do becomes about what they see and read on social media the real world fades away and only the crap they experience via their smart phones, tablets, and computers is seen as real. But it’s smoke and mirrors, illusion, and lies, large and small. (My son BeezleBub didn’t get a phone until after he graduated from high school. He didn’t have the social anxiety or issues so many of his peers suffered. While he is on social media these days, it’s on an occasional basis and more often than not deals with his farming activities.)

Less screen time and more real life interaction with family and friends in and outdoors is one way to lessen the the increasingly invasive social media addiction.

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Oh no! People living in Singapore, an island city located only 85 miles north of the equator, are using air conditioners to beat the tropical heat and humidity! How dare they!

It’s obvious the folks living in Singapore don’t care that they’re contributing to climate change.

CNN Is claiming that the use of AC is a Bad Thing. When will the main CNN building, located in the hot, humid, and sweltering city of Atlanta stop using it? Even without the massive urban heat island effect of Atlanta, the area would be rough during large parts of the year.

It’s funny (but not surprising) CNN doesn’t see the hypocrisy of their report slamming Singapore for their ‘contributions’ to climate change because of the tropical city’s use of air conditioning.

When the temperature soared to 99 degrees Fahrenheit last month, Singapore resident Chee Kuan Chew saw just one option: cancel all plans and stay indoors in air-conditioned comfort.

“You can’t survive without air con in Singapore,” Chee said. “It’s impossible with the heat.”

The 20-year-old university student lives with his family in a four-bedroom flat in Ang Mo Kio, a bustling district that made headlines in the Southeast Asian city state when its temperatures hit a 40-year high in a recent heat wave. Thankfully, Chee said, his home has five air conditioners – one in each bedroom and a larger unit in the living room.

“I drank plenty of water, took cold showers and kept the air conditioning on for the entire weekend. That’s my way of managing the heat,” Chee said.

Taking solace in air conditioning in Singapore is hardly unreasonable behavior. Situated roughly 85 miles north of the equator, the island nation is famously hot and humid, with temperatures that stretch into the 80s year-round – a climate that has helped make it one of the most air-conditioned countries in the world, with more units per capita than any of its Southeast Asian neighbors.

But Singapore’s love affair with air conditioning has an enormous cost.

It has trapped a nation already hot – and getting hotter – in what experts describe as a “dangerous, vicious cycle.” It’s a climate change Catch 22 paradox that faces all nations which rely on air conditioning to make life just that little bit more tolerable.

Put simply: the warmer the world gets, the more people turn to their air conditioners. And the more they turn to their air conditioners, the warmer the world gets.

CNN makes the claim that A/C makes climate change worse, yet offers no proof...and makes no offer to shut off their own air conditioning to help fight climate change...”and CCN can piss off.”

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This is just plain stupid. But then what do you expect from a leftist court?

Court Decrees Women-Only Spas Unconstitutional

Despite the reasoning of the court, the decision was the wrong one. It was based on ‘woke’ and not law.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the roar of motorcycles is continuous, the weather is cooperating, and the sound or cash registers is getting louder.