I spent some time out on the Big Lake yesterday, it being sunny and warm – in the upper 70’s – but windy in the afternoon. There were a lot of boats on the lake. I am assuming they were doing the same thing I was, that being one last trip out on the lake before putting our boats away until next spring. I know our town’s public docks were very busy yesterday as folks were taking their boats out of the water, not wanting to wait until today when the weather was much cooler – mid-40’s today – and rain.
On the other hand I pulled the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout this morning. It took BeezleBub and I about 30 minutes to get it out of the water, draining the water from the bilge and engine block, emptying all the gear out of the boat, and then hauling it to the boatyard for winterization. Then, to add to it all, it started to rain – a not unexpected event – but mixed with some sleet, something no one expected.
So my boating season is over for the year. I wish it had been a better one. With the wet summer I wasn’t out on the lake nearly as often as is normal for me. Most of my boating took place between Labor Day and this weekend. To give you an idea, I used not quite a single tank of gas between mid-May and Labor Day. But I’ve used 4 tanks between Labor Day and this weekend.
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I and many other have been saying for decades that the US should leave the UN. It serves no useful purpose other than supporting tyrants, death cults masquerading as a religion, and pretending like human rights are nothing but a mythical concept. The US has provided a large portion of the funding for the UN. After what has happened in Israel and Gaza, there are others considering withdrawing from the UN. The latest to do so?
The Czech Republic.
One must not stand silent in the face of a second Holocaust, the Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová said as she called on her country to withdraw from the United Nations to protest its failure to condemn Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.It’s long past time for the US to get out of the UN. It’s long past time for the UN to get out of the US.
She spoke of her outrage one day after the UN General Assembly voted 120-14 for a ceasefire for the Gaza War, which focused primarily on the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.
The UNGA resolution which also had 45 abstentions, did not mention or clearly call for the release of the 230 hostages the terror group took captive on that day.
"I am ashamed of the UN. In my opinion - the Czech Republic has nothing to expect in an organization that supports terrorists and does not respect the basic right to self-defense. Let's get out.”
“Exactly three weeks ago, Hamas murdered more than 1,400 Israelis, which is more victims per their population than the militant Islamist organization al-Qaeda murdered on 9/11/2001 in the USA.
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As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am not a fan of EVs. From an engineering, environmental, and financial point of view, they make no sense to me. Despite claims about how ‘green’ EVs are, anyone paying attention or willing to do a little research will find they are anything but green, are no better than fossil fueled vehicles, are more expensive to buy/maintain/repair, and under many circumstances don’t/won’t/can’t meet the needs of many motorists. Then add the rapidly increasing cost of insuring them, and they make even less sense. Many under-perform and won’t be able to do the jobs they’re supposedly designed to do, one example being the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup.
EVs aren’t selling all that well. Dealers are seeing EVs going unsold and filling up their lots. With the exception of those who like ‘different’ vehicles, most motorists don’t like EVs. Once some of them find out what they really cost, they don’t want anything to do with them. Even the used EV market is moribund.
Then there’s this: Ford has cut back on production of the F-150 Lightning because of lackluster demand.
Then, to add insult to injury, GM has announced its intention to move away from EVs towards fuel cell vehicles (FCVs):
It’s ironic considering GM had done a lot of research and development of fuel cell vehicles many years ago. But GM isn’t the only automaker looking to FCVs. Honda, Toyota, and Kia are looking into FVCs, with Honda having fielded some for ‘real world’ testing. Japan has also pioneered methods for producing large volumes of hydrogen using gas-cooled nuclear reactors.
And then there’s this: Akio Toyoda, Chairman of the Toyota Motor Company, expressing his disdain for EVs. One point he made agrees with my analysis, that being hybrids make a lot more sense than EVs.
He explained that if the world were serious about climate change or reducing car emissions, we’d adopt hybrids instead. Hybrids are cars with both gas and electric engines. One of the things that he loved to say was that Toyota could make eight hybrids with the minerals required for one Electric Car.Hybrids don’t require an updated infrastructure while EV’s require major upgrades to the electrical grid to meet the expected demand. The existing infrastructure – gasoline and diesel distribution – is more than sufficient to support hybrids. Knowing just how much the NIMBYs, BANANAs, and Watermelon Environmentalists will fight every single new powerline, substation, and powerplant, there’s no way the electrical grid will be updated to handle the projected demand.
In any case, it will be interesting to see how all of this will play out, particularly if we can get SloJoe and WRBA out of the loop.
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One last thing before I close out this week’s TOAS: One last picture of the last day out on the Big Lake.
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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the boating season has ended, the temps have dropped by over 30 degrees, and where Monday will be as cold and rainy as it was today.