Now, without further ado:
7/12/2025
Friday Funny (Saturday Edition) - Men Are Simple
Yes, I did not post this last night as I have a great excuse - I was at the Rod Stewart concert at our nearby venue last night. The concert was part of his farewell tour.
Now, without further ado:
Now, without further ado:
7/10/2025
7/06/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
It’s been a long holiday weekend with those wanting to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday up here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire making their appearance. From Wednesday evening onward the traffic was heavy, heavier than I can ever remember it being. The WP Mom and I went grocery shopping Thursday morning, figuring we’d beat the rush.
We were wrong.
It usually takes us about 5 to 10 minutes to make the trip between The Gulch and the local supermarket. (If we have to stop at all 4 traffic lights during the trip it takes us 10 minutes.) It was closer to 15 minutes before we pulled into the parking lot in front of the supermarket. The lot was full. Even though we were able to park in a handicap parking space, it was out in the East Overshoe section of the lot which meant it was a bit of a hike for the WP Mom.
Once inside the supermarket chaos reigned.
Surprisingly it didn’t take us as long as we thought it might to finish our shopping as the market had every checkout lane open and baggers on each lane. We made it back to the car in about 20 minutes...but then it was almost 20 minutes before we made it back to The Gulch as the traffic had gotten even heavier and slower.
In general, traffic was heavy all weekend. I didn’t see nearly as much traffic this morning when I made my usual Sunday morning Walmart run. But then, I made that shopping run almost an hour earlier than usual – 7 am rather than 8 am.
I will be heading out again later today to run a couple of errands so it will be interesting to see how heavy the traffic is this afternoon.
On Wednesday I saw a Facebook post made by a distant cousin (who shall remain nameless in order to keep her from being flamed) that claimed that the June job numbers showed a first time loss of jobs and laid the blame on Donald Trump. I did ask where she got her job numbers but I never heard back from her. The official jobs numbers from the Labor Department for June showed 147,000 new jobs filled which was 37,000 more than predicted.
Yes, I understand that monthly jobs numbers are almost always adjusted a month or so later once all the reports have been tallied, either upwards or downwards. But it seems that every jobs report since Trump started his second term have been revised upwards while they were almost always revised downwards during the Biden Administration.
The Wall Street Journal reports that even though some “manufacturers have paused hiring amid tariff uncertainties, the unemployment rate fell partly because fewer people are looking for work.” (The link may be paywalled.)
On a local note, I know our school system has a problem when it comes to jobs, that being that even as our school population has shrunk by 15% over the past 15 years, the number of school employees has grown by 40%. Why?
If the non-education growth in local government jobs was due to growth in the population in towns and cities, I see that as more of a positive. I’ll admit some skepticism to the growth in state government jobs being a positive things.
It will be interesting to see what the adjusted jobs numbers for June will look like in a month or so.
What sounds true isn’t always actually true, particularly when it comes to illegal immigrants and taxes.
Liberals Claim Illegals Pay Taxes and Add to Society… The Numbers Don’t Show That at All
This is something that needs a deeper look and the numbers better defined. If it is indeed true that the Democrats’ claims about illegal immigrants and taxes is not true, then we must make sure their their claims are exposed. This isn’t something that should be relegated to the “Everyone knows” category of misinformation.
What does the Left always seem to root for the bad guys?
Could it be because the bad guys do the things that they’d like to do, but are too chicken to do themselves?
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’re recovering from the holiday weekend, the heat and humidity have returned, and where Monday is coming back to plague us again.
We were wrong.
It usually takes us about 5 to 10 minutes to make the trip between The Gulch and the local supermarket. (If we have to stop at all 4 traffic lights during the trip it takes us 10 minutes.) It was closer to 15 minutes before we pulled into the parking lot in front of the supermarket. The lot was full. Even though we were able to park in a handicap parking space, it was out in the East Overshoe section of the lot which meant it was a bit of a hike for the WP Mom.
Once inside the supermarket chaos reigned.
Surprisingly it didn’t take us as long as we thought it might to finish our shopping as the market had every checkout lane open and baggers on each lane. We made it back to the car in about 20 minutes...but then it was almost 20 minutes before we made it back to The Gulch as the traffic had gotten even heavier and slower.
In general, traffic was heavy all weekend. I didn’t see nearly as much traffic this morning when I made my usual Sunday morning Walmart run. But then, I made that shopping run almost an hour earlier than usual – 7 am rather than 8 am.
I will be heading out again later today to run a couple of errands so it will be interesting to see how heavy the traffic is this afternoon.
==+++++==
On Wednesday I saw a Facebook post made by a distant cousin (who shall remain nameless in order to keep her from being flamed) that claimed that the June job numbers showed a first time loss of jobs and laid the blame on Donald Trump. I did ask where she got her job numbers but I never heard back from her. The official jobs numbers from the Labor Department for June showed 147,000 new jobs filled which was 37,000 more than predicted.
Yes, I understand that monthly jobs numbers are almost always adjusted a month or so later once all the reports have been tallied, either upwards or downwards. But it seems that every jobs report since Trump started his second term have been revised upwards while they were almost always revised downwards during the Biden Administration.
The Wall Street Journal reports that even though some “manufacturers have paused hiring amid tariff uncertainties, the unemployment rate fell partly because fewer people are looking for work.” (The link may be paywalled.)
U.S. job growth continued at a steady pace last month, surprising economists who had predicted a slowdown in hiring amid uncertainty over trade and fiscal policy.That much of that job growth in April and May was “heavily concentrated” in state and local government bothers me seeing most of them were in education, though the growth in healthcare jobs is promising.
The country added 147,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department reported Thursday, above the gain of 110,000 jobs economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2%.
Revisions showed that hiring was stronger in prior months than previously thought. The number of jobs added in April and May was a combined 16,000 higher than prior estimates. Job growth was heavily concentrated in state and local government and in healthcare.
On a local note, I know our school system has a problem when it comes to jobs, that being that even as our school population has shrunk by 15% over the past 15 years, the number of school employees has grown by 40%. Why?
If the non-education growth in local government jobs was due to growth in the population in towns and cities, I see that as more of a positive. I’ll admit some skepticism to the growth in state government jobs being a positive things.
It will be interesting to see what the adjusted jobs numbers for June will look like in a month or so.
==+++++==
What sounds true isn’t always actually true, particularly when it comes to illegal immigrants and taxes.
Liberals Claim Illegals Pay Taxes and Add to Society… The Numbers Don’t Show That at All
Liberals are always quick to say that illegal aliens pay taxes from their paychecks and add to American society, however, the actual numbers don’t make their case at all. Indeed, the numbers show that, overall, they don’t add anything but, instead, take from is all.From the quote above one could make the argument that the non-citizen households include legal immigrants, but if one looks at the charts included in the linked article, it is stated that “59% of households headed by illegal immigrants, also called the undocumented, use at least one major program.” Only 52% of legal immigrant households do so.
Democrats even go farther in their support for illegals and claim that they really don’t benefit from our system at all and that WE are the ones that reap all the benefits from illegal aliens.
--snip--
...yes, some of them pay taxes. But are they really a plus for us? The answer to that is a resounding no. And the reason for that is because they take far more in government services (both federal and state) than they ever pay in taxes.
The Center for Immigration Studies noted that 59 percent of non-citizen households are on welfare of one sort or another. That is compared to only 39 percent of citizens.
This is something that needs a deeper look and the numbers better defined. If it is indeed true that the Democrats’ claims about illegal immigrants and taxes is not true, then we must make sure their their claims are exposed. This isn’t something that should be relegated to the “Everyone knows” category of misinformation.
==+++++==
What does the Left always seem to root for the bad guys?
Could it be because the bad guys do the things that they’d like to do, but are too chicken to do themselves?
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’re recovering from the holiday weekend, the heat and humidity have returned, and where Monday is coming back to plague us again.
7/05/2025
Friday Funny...On Saturday - A Twofer
Seeing as I am still recovering from celebrating the Fourth of July...as well as the Fifth, I'm hitting you up with two 'funnies' today.
The first is a clever cover of Thunderstruck:
And then there's this:
The first is a clever cover of Thunderstruck:
And then there's this:
7/04/2025
July 4th - This Must Be Remembered
July 4, 1776
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
7/03/2025
6/29/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
Other than a brief respite last weekend, we’ve had 14 rainy Saturdays out of the last 15 Saturdays. Not that I am really complaining. I’m just stating fact. Others here in the Lakes Region don’t like it, particularly those who run tourism-oriented businesses. It’s just weather and it’s something we have to deal with.
The wet weather doesn’t stop us from taking care of our weekend chores, for the most part. Yes, it’s true the lawn may not get mowed until mid-week and garden work will have to be postponed for another day.
It certainly hasn’t affected Amateur Radio Field Day which started yesterday and ends today. It is an annual ‘test’ of emergency communications in the form of a contest. Amateur radio operators set up “in the field” to prove they can provide emergency communications in the event of an emergency that disrupts and takes out normal communications like phones, texts, Internet, etc. It takes place during the last weekend of every June. Field Day runs regardless of the weather, so the rain we had yesterday didn’t disrupt one of our local Amateur Radio clubs from participating.
As an aside, this will be a short workweek for yours truly as I will be taking both Wednesday and Thursday off in preparation for July 4th. I’ve got a few things to take care of prior to then, so why not burn up a little vacation time to do so?
In my post yesterday I mentioned that the Supreme Court got it right when it came to federal judges not having the inherent right to issue nationwide injunctions. The 6-3 decision split along part lines.
What’s ironic about this is that one of the dissenting Justices, Elena Kagan, had just the opposite opinion only three years ago when she wrote:
In this case, the question and its answer are moot since the Supreme Court has already ruled on the matter.
Why doesn’t this surprise me in the least? Maybe because I understand math and engineering.
‘Net Zero’ Is Collapsing in U.S. States
In the US we’ve seen large scale renewable energy projects fail to meet the energy needs, producing a fraction of the power predicted with questionable reliability and service life. We’ve been finding out that windfarms aren’t the panacea so many claimed they would be, that solar farms take up so much land area they create damage to ecosystems because trees and other vegetation must be removed. Both are vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather, and solar is only usable for part of the day. The one thing rarely mentioned by the Net Zero cultists is that renewables require backups capable of carrying the load when renewables aren’t available. The problem is that in many cases those backups don’t exist, or worse, are ‘dirtier’ than what was replaced by the renewable sources. (A lot of those backups are fueled by coal, at least in Europe.)
There are ways to reduce carbon emissions, at least for power generation, but some of them are anathema to the Greens, one of the better ones being nuclear power. It doesn’t matter that nuclear power can provide a full load 24/7/365 even when the wind isn’t blowing or is blowing too hard or the sun is below the horizon or the sky is covered by clouds.
It seems to me that Non-Reciprocal Theory of Theory versus Practice has come into play regarding Net Zero:
It appears the Democrats are learning the lesson of “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.”
In this case it is precedents they set for January 6 congressional subpoenas that is now coming back to bite them.
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the heat and humidity are returning for the next couple of days, the summerfolk will start arriving one Tuesday to celebrate the Fourth of July, and where Monday is sneaking back in...again.
The wet weather doesn’t stop us from taking care of our weekend chores, for the most part. Yes, it’s true the lawn may not get mowed until mid-week and garden work will have to be postponed for another day.
It certainly hasn’t affected Amateur Radio Field Day which started yesterday and ends today. It is an annual ‘test’ of emergency communications in the form of a contest. Amateur radio operators set up “in the field” to prove they can provide emergency communications in the event of an emergency that disrupts and takes out normal communications like phones, texts, Internet, etc. It takes place during the last weekend of every June. Field Day runs regardless of the weather, so the rain we had yesterday didn’t disrupt one of our local Amateur Radio clubs from participating.
As an aside, this will be a short workweek for yours truly as I will be taking both Wednesday and Thursday off in preparation for July 4th. I’ve got a few things to take care of prior to then, so why not burn up a little vacation time to do so?
==+++++==
In my post yesterday I mentioned that the Supreme Court got it right when it came to federal judges not having the inherent right to issue nationwide injunctions. The 6-3 decision split along part lines.
What’s ironic about this is that one of the dissenting Justices, Elena Kagan, had just the opposite opinion only three years ago when she wrote:
It can't be right that one district court, whether it's in the Trump years ... the Biden years, and it just can't be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks, and leave it stopped for years — that it takes to go through the normal process.Then why did she vote just the opposite way earlier this week? Mike Miller asks the questions:
So what was the deal, Justice Kagan? Why did you, in 2022, make a perfect case against district courts handing down decisions that stop nationwide policy dead in its tracks, yet on Friday, make a 180-degree U-turn and vote against stopping district courts from doing so?Could it be that when such injunctions work for them the Democrats are all for them, but that when it works in the opposite direction they are against them?
Why, it couldn't be hypocrisy, could it?
In this case, the question and its answer are moot since the Supreme Court has already ruled on the matter.
==+++++==
Why doesn’t this surprise me in the least? Maybe because I understand math and engineering.
‘Net Zero’ Is Collapsing in U.S. States
From New York to California, state renewable electrical power dreams are collapsing. Power demands soar, while the federal government cuts funding and support for wind, solar, and grid batteries. Renewables cannot provide enough power to support the artificial intelligence revolution. The Net Zero electricity transition is failing in the United States.Could it be because we’ve been seeing the increasing failures experienced by other countries trying to achieve Net Zero and don’t want to go down that rat hole with them?
In the US we’ve seen large scale renewable energy projects fail to meet the energy needs, producing a fraction of the power predicted with questionable reliability and service life. We’ve been finding out that windfarms aren’t the panacea so many claimed they would be, that solar farms take up so much land area they create damage to ecosystems because trees and other vegetation must be removed. Both are vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather, and solar is only usable for part of the day. The one thing rarely mentioned by the Net Zero cultists is that renewables require backups capable of carrying the load when renewables aren’t available. The problem is that in many cases those backups don’t exist, or worse, are ‘dirtier’ than what was replaced by the renewable sources. (A lot of those backups are fueled by coal, at least in Europe.)
There are ways to reduce carbon emissions, at least for power generation, but some of them are anathema to the Greens, one of the better ones being nuclear power. It doesn’t matter that nuclear power can provide a full load 24/7/365 even when the wind isn’t blowing or is blowing too hard or the sun is below the horizon or the sky is covered by clouds.
It seems to me that Non-Reciprocal Theory of Theory versus Practice has come into play regarding Net Zero:
In Theory, Theory and Practice are the same thing. In Practice, they are not.To quote Dennis Miller, “That’s just my opinion. I might be wrong...”
==+++++==
It appears the Democrats are learning the lesson of “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.”
In this case it is precedents they set for January 6 congressional subpoenas that is now coming back to bite them.
While Oversight digs into the question of who was REALLY running Biden’s White House, the walls are closing in on Doctor Jill’s top aide.“What goes around, comes around.” I guess the Democrats conveniently forgot that until it came back to bite them.
Any of the excuses, deflections, and dodges that might have shielded Anthony Bernal from having to answer to Congressional oversight were shredded by the heavy-handed precedents set under the J6 committee.
After ignoring an invitation to testify before Congress, Bernal is now receiving a formal subpoena to appear, whether he wants to or not. And since Democrats were more than happy to throw Republicans in prison for refusing the subpoena, the precedent has been set for the same rules to apply to them.
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the heat and humidity are returning for the next couple of days, the summerfolk will start arriving one Tuesday to celebrate the Fourth of July, and where Monday is sneaking back in...again.
6/28/2025
The Supreme Court Got It Right
I admit to feeling relieved the US Supreme Court ruled that federal judges do not have the power to issue nationwide injunctions. Judges should not have the power to do that on matters that are generally under the power of the Executive branch, and particularly on issues that are not class actions.
Some of my less cognizant acquaintances have claimed that federal judges have always have that power, but only if they define ‘always’ as since the end of the George W. Bush administration. Too many federal judges have gotten it into their heads that they are the ultimate power, that they can ignore the Constitution and order the Executive branch to do anything they want done. Some believe their rulings have power outside the US, Judge Boasberg (DC District Court) being one of the more recent examples of that when he ordered aircraft that were in international air space to turn around and return to the US and tried to stop further deportations of illegal aliens from Texas. He had no jurisdiction there either. We’ve had a federal judge in Hawaii issuing rulings and orders to districts that were well out of their jurisdiction.
It appears that other judges have decided that they can ignore or overturn US Supreme Court decisions because “they know better”. It’s time to prove to them they’re wrong with one sure way of doing that being by throwing them off the bench, if not having them disbarred. Judicial activism by ignoring the Constitution is not bravery. It is malice and authoritarianism. It is more about ‘feelz’ than it is about law. It is more about supporting The Narrative than the law.
It is something that needs to stop.
Some of my less cognizant acquaintances have claimed that federal judges have always have that power, but only if they define ‘always’ as since the end of the George W. Bush administration. Too many federal judges have gotten it into their heads that they are the ultimate power, that they can ignore the Constitution and order the Executive branch to do anything they want done. Some believe their rulings have power outside the US, Judge Boasberg (DC District Court) being one of the more recent examples of that when he ordered aircraft that were in international air space to turn around and return to the US and tried to stop further deportations of illegal aliens from Texas. He had no jurisdiction there either. We’ve had a federal judge in Hawaii issuing rulings and orders to districts that were well out of their jurisdiction.
It appears that other judges have decided that they can ignore or overturn US Supreme Court decisions because “they know better”. It’s time to prove to them they’re wrong with one sure way of doing that being by throwing them off the bench, if not having them disbarred. Judicial activism by ignoring the Constitution is not bravery. It is malice and authoritarianism. It is more about ‘feelz’ than it is about law. It is more about supporting The Narrative than the law.
It is something that needs to stop.
6/27/2025
6/22/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
The roar of motorcycle engines has been building since last weekend, with a majority of the motorcycles arriving here since Thursday. The 102nd Laconia Bike Week is winding to a close, with a lot of the bikers having already departed from the Lakes Region for home. Some are likely to hang around for a few more days before heading home. In any case, the rumble of the motorcycles as they pass by The Gulch’s neighborhood has become less frequent and I doubt I will hear any overnight.
From what I understand officials have estimated that over 300,000 bikers made the trip to Laconia and the surrounding area. I certainly saw that the restaurants, ice cream stands, pubs, and attractions have been very busy since last weekend.
I did venture out during the week, between travel to and from work, running errands, grocery shopping, and attending to the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout.
All in all, I have no complaints.
Something I heard at our town docks after attending to the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout:
Boatercycle.
I like it!
I don’t know about you, but I was surprised about the USAF air strike against Iran’s three nuclear weapons sites. We still don’t know all of the details of the strike, including the reason(s) for striking now rather than later.
I must say that the misdirection of having B2 Spirit stealth bombers deployed to Guam was a masterstroke. Some may wonder why they were sent there, but if one looks at a globe they would see the flight path from Guam to Iran is about 1,000 miles shorter than the flight path between Whiteman AFB and Iran. (Yes, I know both are direct path distances, but even figuring in a number of ‘jogs’ in the flight path, Guam is still closer.)
One has to wonder what intel the Pentagon and the White House had that would have prompted Trump to order the strike now.
One other thing: We must also remember that we have been in a de facto state of war with Iran since 1979, either directly or through proxies. Iran has had no problems attacking shipping, and particularly US Navy vessels, in the Persian Gulf for decades. They have had their proxies, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, doing likewise in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea over the past few years.
What’s the fallout from this strike going to be? I could posit all kinds of scenarios, most of which would be absolutely wrong, but frankly, I haven’t a clue. We have heard from ‘experts’ stating everything from widespread terrorist attacks across the US by Iranian commando teams who entered the US illegally when the Biden Administration opened the boarders and allowed 9+ million people to enter the US illegally and unvetted, to a complete collapse of the Iranian Islamic regime, and everything in between.
Was this strike a good idea? I’ll admit that I don’t know because I just don’t know enough one way or the other. But then, neither does the other 99.9999999999% of the US population. I would like to think there was a damn good reason for it rather than it being a capricious move by the White House. Only time will tell.
Yeah, this has worked out so well.
I particularly have an issue with Assistant Chief Larson’s attitude. If that’s what she thinks then maybe she should step down from the LAFD.
Oh, NO!!
Dr. Demento has retired!!
I used to listen to Dr. Demento on the radio when I was driving into work on Sunday nights. It was there that I heard some of Weird Al Yankovic’s first songs like Another One Rides The Bus and My Bologna. Then there was Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes.
I guess 55 years is long enough for any radio DJ.
This isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention:
Former Democratic Adviser Says Party Has No Agenda Beyond Hating Trump
They have also forgotten that at one point they used to be the “Party of the Working Man” and are now the party of the Woke, the Progressive elite, the Socialists, and an endlessly growing list of “victims”. Demographics they could once count on are now abandoning the Democrats much as the Democrats have abandoned them.
While I was attending to some work on the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout I had the opportunity to talk to a few of folks living along the shore where I dock the boat. One was the wife of the guy from whom I rent the slip every season. Another was a fellow who lives next to the dock where I berth the boat and keeps an eye on things. We talked about all kinds of things including Bike Week, the start of summer now that all of the schools are out for the summer, changes to some of our local restaurants – renovations, expansions, menus and so on – and one of the perpetual topics of discussion, that being property taxes.
No one thinks we’re paying too little. I know I haven’t liked the increases, much of which can be blamed on expanded town and school spending.
School spending is always the largest expenditure we see, with it being between 60% and 70% of all spending in town. Town spending is between 20% and 25%, and the balance is split between the county and the state.
At least the folks I talked with had voted at Town Meeting this past March so they had every right to complain. I doubt it will be a surprise to anyone that those who complain the loudest are often those who couldn’t be bothered to take the time to vote at Town Meeting. They expect us to ‘fix’ things after the fact even though that isn’t how it works.
After wrapping up the tax discussion we all commented upon and lamented the ever growing number of Cap’n Boneheads we see out on the lake. We’ve all seen the dumb stuff boaters are doing out on the lake and it seems to get worse every summer. It’s one reason I rarely will go out onto Winnipesaukee on a summer weekend. Most of my summer boating takes place during the week after work. It’s safer...and more relaxing. Once we get past Labor Day I start boating on the weekends as most of the Cap’n Boneheads are gone and we can enjoy our boating in peace.
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the rumble of motorcycles is fading away, the number of boats on the lake is increasing, and where it looks like Monday is going to be “a scorchah” with temps in the upper 90’s with high humidity.
From what I understand officials have estimated that over 300,000 bikers made the trip to Laconia and the surrounding area. I certainly saw that the restaurants, ice cream stands, pubs, and attractions have been very busy since last weekend.
I did venture out during the week, between travel to and from work, running errands, grocery shopping, and attending to the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout.
All in all, I have no complaints.
==+++++==
Something I heard at our town docks after attending to the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout:
“Look, daddy! A boatercycle!!”The young lad pointing this out was talking about someone launching a jet ski at the ramp. It’s when I realized his term for a jet ski was absolutely perfect.
Boatercycle.
I like it!
==+++++==
I don’t know about you, but I was surprised about the USAF air strike against Iran’s three nuclear weapons sites. We still don’t know all of the details of the strike, including the reason(s) for striking now rather than later.
I must say that the misdirection of having B2 Spirit stealth bombers deployed to Guam was a masterstroke. Some may wonder why they were sent there, but if one looks at a globe they would see the flight path from Guam to Iran is about 1,000 miles shorter than the flight path between Whiteman AFB and Iran. (Yes, I know both are direct path distances, but even figuring in a number of ‘jogs’ in the flight path, Guam is still closer.)
One has to wonder what intel the Pentagon and the White House had that would have prompted Trump to order the strike now.
One other thing: We must also remember that we have been in a de facto state of war with Iran since 1979, either directly or through proxies. Iran has had no problems attacking shipping, and particularly US Navy vessels, in the Persian Gulf for decades. They have had their proxies, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, doing likewise in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea over the past few years.
What’s the fallout from this strike going to be? I could posit all kinds of scenarios, most of which would be absolutely wrong, but frankly, I haven’t a clue. We have heard from ‘experts’ stating everything from widespread terrorist attacks across the US by Iranian commando teams who entered the US illegally when the Biden Administration opened the boarders and allowed 9+ million people to enter the US illegally and unvetted, to a complete collapse of the Iranian Islamic regime, and everything in between.
Was this strike a good idea? I’ll admit that I don’t know because I just don’t know enough one way or the other. But then, neither does the other 99.9999999999% of the US population. I would like to think there was a damn good reason for it rather than it being a capricious move by the White House. Only time will tell.
==+++++==
Yeah, this has worked out so well.
I particularly have an issue with Assistant Chief Larson’s attitude. If that’s what she thinks then maybe she should step down from the LAFD.
==+++++==
Oh, NO!!
Dr. Demento has retired!!
I used to listen to Dr. Demento on the radio when I was driving into work on Sunday nights. It was there that I heard some of Weird Al Yankovic’s first songs like Another One Rides The Bus and My Bologna. Then there was Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes.
I guess 55 years is long enough for any radio DJ.
==+++++==
This isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention:
Former Democratic Adviser Says Party Has No Agenda Beyond Hating Trump
Dan Turrentine is a former adviser to the Democratic Party, and he had some tough words for his fellow Democrats during a recent appearance on Jesse Watters Primetime.Turrentine thinks the Democrat Party is focusing on the wrong things, saying “they’d rather, unfortunately, be talking about ‘kings’ than talking about Iran right now.”
Turrentine pointed out that the party lacks an agenda and vision beyond hating Trump and suggested that this might be related to their recently reported fundraising troubles.
They have also forgotten that at one point they used to be the “Party of the Working Man” and are now the party of the Woke, the Progressive elite, the Socialists, and an endlessly growing list of “victims”. Demographics they could once count on are now abandoning the Democrats much as the Democrats have abandoned them.
==+++++==
While I was attending to some work on the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout I had the opportunity to talk to a few of folks living along the shore where I dock the boat. One was the wife of the guy from whom I rent the slip every season. Another was a fellow who lives next to the dock where I berth the boat and keeps an eye on things. We talked about all kinds of things including Bike Week, the start of summer now that all of the schools are out for the summer, changes to some of our local restaurants – renovations, expansions, menus and so on – and one of the perpetual topics of discussion, that being property taxes.
No one thinks we’re paying too little. I know I haven’t liked the increases, much of which can be blamed on expanded town and school spending.
School spending is always the largest expenditure we see, with it being between 60% and 70% of all spending in town. Town spending is between 20% and 25%, and the balance is split between the county and the state.
At least the folks I talked with had voted at Town Meeting this past March so they had every right to complain. I doubt it will be a surprise to anyone that those who complain the loudest are often those who couldn’t be bothered to take the time to vote at Town Meeting. They expect us to ‘fix’ things after the fact even though that isn’t how it works.
After wrapping up the tax discussion we all commented upon and lamented the ever growing number of Cap’n Boneheads we see out on the lake. We’ve all seen the dumb stuff boaters are doing out on the lake and it seems to get worse every summer. It’s one reason I rarely will go out onto Winnipesaukee on a summer weekend. Most of my summer boating takes place during the week after work. It’s safer...and more relaxing. Once we get past Labor Day I start boating on the weekends as most of the Cap’n Boneheads are gone and we can enjoy our boating in peace.
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the rumble of motorcycles is fading away, the number of boats on the lake is increasing, and where it looks like Monday is going to be “a scorchah” with temps in the upper 90’s with high humidity.
6/21/2025
I Have Seen The Past
I don’t know how many times I have quoted or paraphrased Thomas Sowell who said “The past four decades have seen things that work being replaced by things that sound good.” Of course it is closer to five decades today. As I was going through the Weekend Pundit Archives I came across this from just a couple of years ago, something that echos what Sowell told us.
**********
I was born in the 1950s. I’ve lived in seven decades, two centuries, and two millennia.Amen.
My generation had the fastest cars, the prettiest girls, drive-ins, soda fountains, and happy days.
You could understand the words in our music, and you could dance to it.
We carried knives in our pockets, and guns in our pickup trucks, and nobody got killed.
I have seen the past.
And it works.
6/20/2025
6/19/2025
6/15/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
Yesterday was the start of the 102nd Laconia Motorcycle Rally week, with thousand of bikers arriving here in central New Hampshire to enjoy a week of celebration and activities. While a majority of the bikers won’t start arriving until this coming Thursday, there are already a large number here as we can hear the roar of their engines almost everywhere we go. There can be anywhere between 300,000 and 500,000 bikers attending Motorcycle Week. While most of the activities will be taking place in Laconia and surrounding communities, there are some taking place all over New Hampshire.
It’s going to be an interesting week.
One other thing taking place is our first “pool party” in our neighborhood, celebrating the start of the summer season. It’s nothing big, just a bunch of us bringing snacks and drinks down to the pool, talking with our neighbors - year-round and seasonal – lying about how great our lives are going, as well as other topics of interest. (I get quite few people asking me about town stuff since I am so involved with our town functions and activities.)
Is the ‘Progressive’ social media site Bluesky failing because the Left are “humorless scolds”? Sci Fi author John Scalzi certainly thinks so.
I have to wonder if it will still exist a year from now. I’m guessing that it won’t.
I almost shot coffee out of my nose when I read this:
The New York Times complains Florida taxes are too low.
Why is the NYT getting involved with this? Because it has to do with NHL teams and how much players for those teams pay in taxes depending on where they are located.
I find it interesting that as the Israelis struck Iranian targets with airstrikes and missile barrages the Iranian people were not chanting “Death to Israel”.
Instead they were chanting “Death to Khamenei.”
Senator Alex Padilla denies staging his outburst at DHS Director Christ Noem. The problem is that no one, including Democrats, believe him.
Maybe he should get some tips from Bernie Sanders.
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the motorcycles are roaring, the summerfolk are returning now that schools are out, and where once again Monday is returning.
It’s going to be an interesting week.
==+++++==
One other thing taking place is our first “pool party” in our neighborhood, celebrating the start of the summer season. It’s nothing big, just a bunch of us bringing snacks and drinks down to the pool, talking with our neighbors - year-round and seasonal – lying about how great our lives are going, as well as other topics of interest. (I get quite few people asking me about town stuff since I am so involved with our town functions and activities.)
==+++++==
Is the ‘Progressive’ social media site Bluesky failing because the Left are “humorless scolds”? Sci Fi author John Scalzi certainly thinks so.
He posted, “It’s been a year since I left the former Twitter, in terms of posting there, but I kept the account active so that tweets that were linked to from elsewhere would still be active, and to keep anyone from using my handle there, since it’s been identified with me for 16 years and I wanted to keep an impostor or troll from picking it up and pretending to be me.”While originally meant as a counter to Twitter – aka ‘X’ – after Elon Musk purchased that platform, it appears it has devolved because, as Scalzi mentioned above, it has become an echo chamber. If you have the audacity to disagree with ‘opinions’ on Bluesky you become a non-person because you are obviously “not one of them”.
“But you know what? In both cases, I don’t really care any more,” he continued.
He didn’t care so much that he had to post about it. Much like he apparently doesn’t care at this point about BlueSky losing a lot of its following as most people realized the engagement levels on the site are zero because of the echo chamber.
An article from Fortune was released this week saying, “Bluesky is backfiring. Mark Cuban says the ‘lack of diversity of thought’ is actually pushing users back to X.”
The article details how the echo chamber failed to generate any meaningful engagement, and Mark Cuban has noted a change where the extreme left userbase has started to turn on themselves saying the site has gotten “ruder and more hateful.”
Those normal folk on the other side of the aisle who have been targets of the left’s ire for years can only help but smile knowingly at how rude and hateful the BlueSky crowd can be.
Cuban continued saying, “Engagement went from great convos on many topics, to agree with me or you are a nazi fascist. We are forcing posts to X.”
I have to wonder if it will still exist a year from now. I’m guessing that it won’t.
==+++++==
I almost shot coffee out of my nose when I read this:
The New York Times complains Florida taxes are too low.
Why is the NYT getting involved with this? Because it has to do with NHL teams and how much players for those teams pay in taxes depending on where they are located.
Canada’s Benjamin Franklin—Lord Stanley of Preston— once said. “In this world nothing is certain except death, taxes and the NHL.So the NYT is claiming it’s unfair that some states have lower taxes which makes it more difficult to get professional hockey players to sign on to teams in places that will tax the heck out of their income? I would like to think this was more a tongue-in-cheek opinion, but knowing the NYT they are likely quite serious. If they really want to level the playing field (no pun intended), then perhaps they need to address the states and provinces that are taxing the bejeezus out of people’s income to drop their tax rates. I have a feeling that would be a lot more popular.
OK, maybe I made that up but it is befitting the manufacture of a controversy of the New York Times and others that live in states with high state income taxes. Their NHL teams suck while the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, and Seattle Kraken all flourish in states that do not tax income.
Canada has not won a Stanley Cup in 32 seasons although the Edmonton Oilers may break that that spell this year now that Canadians rid themselves of Justin Castreau after President Trump humiliated him.
But Canada’s taxes remain the same.
While Canada’s top marginal tax rate is 33% and America’s is 37%, the top marginal rates for its provinces range from 11.5% to 21.8%.
The combined provincial and national tax rates top 50% in 8 provinces. Who is going to argue for $2 million more a year just to receive less than a million more? Take the lower pay and sign with Tampa Bay for the better weather.
==+++++==
I find it interesting that as the Israelis struck Iranian targets with airstrikes and missile barrages the Iranian people were not chanting “Death to Israel”.
Instead they were chanting “Death to Khamenei.”
I expect we will see a lot more of this as the regime falls. People in Iran have done this before, taken to the streets in the cause of freedom, and were brutalized and killed by the tens of thousands.Read The Whole Thing.
“The Israelis just gave the Iranian people a reason to believe”. Not my words, theirs.
==+++++==
Senator Alex Padilla denies staging his outburst at DHS Director Christ Noem. The problem is that no one, including Democrats, believe him.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), whom most people couldn’t pick out of a line-up before last week, wants America to believe his little performance during a Homeland Security press conference was totally spontaneous. Just an organic moment of righteous frustration, he claims. But we know better—his whole stunt reeked of a desperate cry for attention, and the more he tries to explain it away, the more obvious that becomes.It was theater, pure and simple. It was bad theater and no one wants to back up his claims.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Padilla tried spinning his headline-grabbing antics as an innocent attempt to get information. “You can’t script this in Hollywood,” he said with dramatic flair, insisting he just happened to be near the press conference while waiting for a briefing and spontaneously decided to pop in, wearing plain clothes and lacking his Senate Security pin. He was apparently stunned—stunned!—that the press conference didn’t meet his expectations: “Surprise, surprise, no substance came from that press conference, just political attacks.”
Maybe he should get some tips from Bernie Sanders.
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the motorcycles are roaring, the summerfolk are returning now that schools are out, and where once again Monday is returning.
6/14/2025
She Got It Wrong
I had thought to post something lengthy and profound today, but listening to one of the news reports about the “No Kings” protests figuratively stopped me in my tracks.
If memory serves, I heard one of the protesters state that she believed in the Constitution and that what the President and ICE were doing regarding illegal immigrants was illegal and unconstitutional, and that a majority of Americans agreed with her .
What?!
This told me that the protester had absolutely no idea what either the law or the Constitution said about immigration, the powers of the Executive Branch, or the limitations of the Judicial Branch. She only knew what someone else, some one who was either as clueless than she was or who outright lied to her. I doubt she even realized that what she was supporting was ignoring the rule of law and instead promoting law by fiat and, even worse, anarchy. I also have no idea what polls she’s been looking at, but a “majority of Americans” don’t agree with her. It’s just the opposite.
Some, including one or two of my family members, may question why I hate immigration. I don’t. I have no problem with immigrants who came here legally, filled out the paperwork, waited their turn, and then entered when the government said “Come on over!”
I do have problems with immigrants who broke the law to get here, crossing the border illegally or coming here for a visit and then overstayed when their visas expired. That over 9 million illegals crossed out borders, with a large portion of them being criminals before they even crossed the border, bothers me. That a sitting President, even if he was just a figurehead, opened the border and let them come flooding across with absolutely no vetting of any kind is one hell of a criminal act in and of itself. That his successor has to clean up the mess and that a small percentage of the population has decided to riot, burn, and loot as a means of trying to stop the clean up of Biden’s mess tells me all I need to know.
It’s not a protest. It’s a rebellion fueled by our Progressive ‘betters’...who are anything but.
If memory serves, I heard one of the protesters state that she believed in the Constitution and that what the President and ICE were doing regarding illegal immigrants was illegal and unconstitutional, and that a majority of Americans agreed with her .
What?!
This told me that the protester had absolutely no idea what either the law or the Constitution said about immigration, the powers of the Executive Branch, or the limitations of the Judicial Branch. She only knew what someone else, some one who was either as clueless than she was or who outright lied to her. I doubt she even realized that what she was supporting was ignoring the rule of law and instead promoting law by fiat and, even worse, anarchy. I also have no idea what polls she’s been looking at, but a “majority of Americans” don’t agree with her. It’s just the opposite.
Some, including one or two of my family members, may question why I hate immigration. I don’t. I have no problem with immigrants who came here legally, filled out the paperwork, waited their turn, and then entered when the government said “Come on over!”
I do have problems with immigrants who broke the law to get here, crossing the border illegally or coming here for a visit and then overstayed when their visas expired. That over 9 million illegals crossed out borders, with a large portion of them being criminals before they even crossed the border, bothers me. That a sitting President, even if he was just a figurehead, opened the border and let them come flooding across with absolutely no vetting of any kind is one hell of a criminal act in and of itself. That his successor has to clean up the mess and that a small percentage of the population has decided to riot, burn, and loot as a means of trying to stop the clean up of Biden’s mess tells me all I need to know.
It’s not a protest. It’s a rebellion fueled by our Progressive ‘betters’...who are anything but.
6/13/2025
6/08/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
The drenching rain that plagued us at the beginning of the weekend has departed, leaving us with sunshine and temps in the 70’s today. Other parts of New Hampshire were affected more by the rains with flooding and washouts, but fortunately it wasn’t widespread. I am looking forward to exploiting today’s weather to get some cleanup done around The Gulch and some follow-on cleanup on the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout. Heck, I might even venture out onto the lake for a brief jaunt before the end of the day.
While the ‘summer’ season is not yet in full swing – that won’t happen until the schools are out – it’s been pretty busy, even with the rain we’ve seen for the past 12 weekends. The summer eateries are open as are the ‘amusements’. The local restaurants are busier than they were a few weeks ago, the local beaches are seeing visitors, there are a lot more cars and trucks “from away” around, and the campgrounds are getting busy. The upcoming Motorcycle Week which starts next weekend will be signaling the switch to full ‘Summer’ mode. It is a time I both love and dread simultaneously. I know I’m not the only one in the Lakes Region that feels that way.
There are a couple of links over at Instapundit dealing with the anti-ICE riots taking place in Los Angeles. One of the not so surprising things about them is that there is heavy evidence that they are being paid for via government funds.
People need to go to prison for this and that government funding needs to be investigated. That’s a perfect job for DOGE.
Something the Left and the MSM have missed, or are more likely ignoring, is the reason Musk left DOGE: He was a temporary government employee and as such he would have had to “jump through the bureaucratic hoops” to stay longer as ‘regular’ government employee. Temporary government employees are limited to 130 days in service. Musk left on day 130.
While I may have mentioned this in passing once or twice over the past few years, I am a town official in our small town, something that is both great and terrible at the same time. As such, I get to do lots of things for our town, one of those being assisting in the updating and revision of out town’s Master Plan. More specifically the Telecommunications portion of that Master Plan. It helps that I work in the telecommunications industry as that gives me insight as to what it can and cannot do, both technologically and regulatory.
Dealing with this duty has brought up a lot of questions I have as to how telecommunications – phone, Internet, cell service, cable TV, and so on – are handled at both a local, state and federal level. A lot has changed over the past 25 years and I have to say that there are a lot of regulations that haven’t kept up with the realities.
One of the biggest changes has been with differences between the traditional telephone companies – Telcos - and cable TV multi-system operators – aka MSO’s – have shrunk to the point that they provide the same services but operate under different regulations and laws. Those services include video, Internet, phone – both landline and cell service. The two may handle video differently with cable offering traditional “Linear TV” and Telcos offering streaming services, though even cable also offeres streaming services as well.
Why do they operate under different rules if they are, to all intents and purposes, providing identical services? Maybe it’s time to change that.
One of the biggest differences in the how they are treated. Telcos are treated like a utility, no different than electricity, water, sewer, or natural gas. Cable operators are treated as a service provider, something that is ‘optional’ as compared to traditional utilities. Unlike utilities, cable operators have to have a franchise agreement, a contract, with the towns and cities they serve. They have a limited term meaning they they expire after a number of years. (It’s ten years up this way. It may be different in other states.) Power utilities and telephone companies don’t. Depending upon the terms of the franchise agreements, cable operators aren’t necessarily required to provide services to everyone in a community while telephone companies are. As the differences between services offered by Telcos and cable MSO’s disappear, shouldn’t the different laws and regulations that cover them do likewise?
This has got to gall a lot of people who really don’t understand why Trump won the election last year:
Trumps Approval Rating Jumps 8 Points In May.
Yeah, this is going to play well and win voters in California big time:
California Assembly Approves 50-65 Cent Gas Tax Increase Under Low Carbon Fuel Standard – Gas Prices Could Hit $8.44/Gallon in 2026 in the state.
If Gavin Newsom is serious about running for president in 2028, this is one bill he should veto. Making it increasingly expensive to live in California is no way to win the hearts of the electorate, particularly outside the Pyrite State. Too many people will think “If he’s willing to impoverish the residents of his state based on a scam, what will he do to the rest of the country if he were to become president? No way I’m going to vote for this jerk!”
Doesn’t anyone in government in California understand they are sowing the seeds of the state’s destruction? Or is it that they really don’t care...as long as they are in charge?
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is somewhat better, summer traffic is getting heavier, and where Monday has found its way back to us...again.
While the ‘summer’ season is not yet in full swing – that won’t happen until the schools are out – it’s been pretty busy, even with the rain we’ve seen for the past 12 weekends. The summer eateries are open as are the ‘amusements’. The local restaurants are busier than they were a few weeks ago, the local beaches are seeing visitors, there are a lot more cars and trucks “from away” around, and the campgrounds are getting busy. The upcoming Motorcycle Week which starts next weekend will be signaling the switch to full ‘Summer’ mode. It is a time I both love and dread simultaneously. I know I’m not the only one in the Lakes Region that feels that way.
==+++++==
There are a couple of links over at Instapundit dealing with the anti-ICE riots taking place in Los Angeles. One of the not so surprising things about them is that there is heavy evidence that they are being paid for via government funds.
People need to go to prison for this and that government funding needs to be investigated. That’s a perfect job for DOGE.
==+++++==
Something the Left and the MSM have missed, or are more likely ignoring, is the reason Musk left DOGE: He was a temporary government employee and as such he would have had to “jump through the bureaucratic hoops” to stay longer as ‘regular’ government employee. Temporary government employees are limited to 130 days in service. Musk left on day 130.
==+++++==
While I may have mentioned this in passing once or twice over the past few years, I am a town official in our small town, something that is both great and terrible at the same time. As such, I get to do lots of things for our town, one of those being assisting in the updating and revision of out town’s Master Plan. More specifically the Telecommunications portion of that Master Plan. It helps that I work in the telecommunications industry as that gives me insight as to what it can and cannot do, both technologically and regulatory.
Dealing with this duty has brought up a lot of questions I have as to how telecommunications – phone, Internet, cell service, cable TV, and so on – are handled at both a local, state and federal level. A lot has changed over the past 25 years and I have to say that there are a lot of regulations that haven’t kept up with the realities.
One of the biggest changes has been with differences between the traditional telephone companies – Telcos - and cable TV multi-system operators – aka MSO’s – have shrunk to the point that they provide the same services but operate under different regulations and laws. Those services include video, Internet, phone – both landline and cell service. The two may handle video differently with cable offering traditional “Linear TV” and Telcos offering streaming services, though even cable also offeres streaming services as well.
Why do they operate under different rules if they are, to all intents and purposes, providing identical services? Maybe it’s time to change that.
One of the biggest differences in the how they are treated. Telcos are treated like a utility, no different than electricity, water, sewer, or natural gas. Cable operators are treated as a service provider, something that is ‘optional’ as compared to traditional utilities. Unlike utilities, cable operators have to have a franchise agreement, a contract, with the towns and cities they serve. They have a limited term meaning they they expire after a number of years. (It’s ten years up this way. It may be different in other states.) Power utilities and telephone companies don’t. Depending upon the terms of the franchise agreements, cable operators aren’t necessarily required to provide services to everyone in a community while telephone companies are. As the differences between services offered by Telcos and cable MSO’s disappear, shouldn’t the different laws and regulations that cover them do likewise?
==+++++==
This has got to gall a lot of people who really don’t understand why Trump won the election last year:
Trumps Approval Rating Jumps 8 Points In May.
==+++++==
Yeah, this is going to play well and win voters in California big time:
California Assembly Approves 50-65 Cent Gas Tax Increase Under Low Carbon Fuel Standard – Gas Prices Could Hit $8.44/Gallon in 2026 in the state.
If Gavin Newsom is serious about running for president in 2028, this is one bill he should veto. Making it increasingly expensive to live in California is no way to win the hearts of the electorate, particularly outside the Pyrite State. Too many people will think “If he’s willing to impoverish the residents of his state based on a scam, what will he do to the rest of the country if he were to become president? No way I’m going to vote for this jerk!”
Doesn’t anyone in government in California understand they are sowing the seeds of the state’s destruction? Or is it that they really don’t care...as long as they are in charge?
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is somewhat better, summer traffic is getting heavier, and where Monday has found its way back to us...again.
Has It Really Been 23 Years?
I was looking back through the WP archives and I realized that today is the 23rd anniversary of Weekend Pundit.
My dear brother and I had been blogging on Geocities, the blog back then called World Domination, Inc. where our motto was "Subjugating Humanity One Individual At A Time." That effort was mostly my brother's and I contributed now and then. But then we discovered Blogger and the rest is history.
Weekend Pundit has resided on three different platforms over the years. One - Blogmosis - was provided by a couple of our readers (Thanks, Matt and Vicky!!) and then on space provided by Skip over at Granite Grok. We ended up returning to Blogger years ago and have been here ever since.
In that time we have made over 6,000 posts, seen over 1.7 million views (with 1.24 million of them here on Blogger alone). My brother and I used to post just about every day. Then he departed as there was something else he wanted to devote time to - writing a novel with Dean Esmay - and I kept posting. However, family and work commitments took up more of my time and I dialed back my postings to weekends only which was the intent of this blog to begin with, hence "Weekend Pundit".
It's been fun. It's been frustrating. It's been wonderful. It's been daunting. And I plan to keep doing it as long as I can as I do enjoy it.
My dear brother and I had been blogging on Geocities, the blog back then called World Domination, Inc. where our motto was "Subjugating Humanity One Individual At A Time." That effort was mostly my brother's and I contributed now and then. But then we discovered Blogger and the rest is history.
Weekend Pundit has resided on three different platforms over the years. One - Blogmosis - was provided by a couple of our readers (Thanks, Matt and Vicky!!) and then on space provided by Skip over at Granite Grok. We ended up returning to Blogger years ago and have been here ever since.
In that time we have made over 6,000 posts, seen over 1.7 million views (with 1.24 million of them here on Blogger alone). My brother and I used to post just about every day. Then he departed as there was something else he wanted to devote time to - writing a novel with Dean Esmay - and I kept posting. However, family and work commitments took up more of my time and I dialed back my postings to weekends only which was the intent of this blog to begin with, hence "Weekend Pundit".
It's been fun. It's been frustrating. It's been wonderful. It's been daunting. And I plan to keep doing it as long as I can as I do enjoy it.
6/07/2025
Social Media Driving Depression In Children?
Knowing how the lives of teens and pre-teens can be quite stressful, particularly when it comes to their social lives, is it really any surprise when it turns out that social media can make it worse and lead to more depression amongst kids? The revelation isn’t much of a surprise to me.
I don’t know how many times I have stated either here on the pages of WP or in comments to other posts that social media is an addiction, one that paints false pictures about real life. What we see on social media is rarely as good or rosy as some people try to claim. For kids it can be even worse.
One other negative aspect to social media when it comes to kids is cyberbullying which can be worse than the more traditional forms of bullying.
What’s the answer to the problem? I’m not sure. But on thing I think we can do is emphasize again and again that much of what kids see on the screens of their phones is not real life. It isn’t even close. We also need to make sure they know it is perfectly okay to block others and, if things get worse, to tell their parents, their brothers or sisters, or their school counselors. Too often they keep these things to themselves which can make things feel even worse.
I don’t know how many times I have stated either here on the pages of WP or in comments to other posts that social media is an addiction, one that paints false pictures about real life. What we see on social media is rarely as good or rosy as some people try to claim. For kids it can be even worse.
As rates of depression and suicide among young people continue to rise, a question has captured experts’ attention: Does social media make kids more depressed, or are kids who are already struggling simply spending more time online?I find it interesting the study found that depression “did not lead to more time spent on social platforms.” One would think depression would lead to more time on social media. But that might be a saving grace. However, with more social media use adding to depression, I stand by my statement above that social media too often paints a picture that is an illusion. Comparing one’s life to that of someone on social media can certainly lead kids to the conclusion that their own lives are awful in comparison.
A new study from UC San Francisco is shedding light on the issue. Researchers found that when preteens increased their social media use, their depressive symptoms also rose. Interestingly, the opposite was not true. Higher levels of depression did not lead to more time spent on social platforms.
The numbers are eye-opening. Over the three years of the study, kids’ daily social media use jumped from just seven minutes to 73 minutes. During that same period, their depressive symptoms climbed by 35%. The study, supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was published in JAMA Network Open.
One other negative aspect to social media when it comes to kids is cyberbullying which can be worse than the more traditional forms of bullying.
The study found kids aged 11 to 12 years who were cyberbullied were 2.62 times more likely to report suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt one year later. Additionally, those kids were also 2.31 times more likely to experiment with a substance (4.65 times more likely with marijuana, 3.37 with nicotine, and 1.92 with alcohol) in the following year.It is a balancing act to deal with both the pros and cons of social media with kids. I know the ex and I had to deal with that with our son. While smart phones weren’t all that prevalent back when he was in high school, we worried about issues with cyberbullying via text and our son did not get a cell phone until his senior year. He’d seen what some of his friends were going through with that and he didn’t want any part of it.
Increasingly, the youngest generations find themselves facing a catch-22, with growing evidence that social media is associated with depressive symptoms and risky behavior, yet it is also a primary area for them to connect and communicate with friends.
What’s the answer to the problem? I’m not sure. But on thing I think we can do is emphasize again and again that much of what kids see on the screens of their phones is not real life. It isn’t even close. We also need to make sure they know it is perfectly okay to block others and, if things get worse, to tell their parents, their brothers or sisters, or their school counselors. Too often they keep these things to themselves which can make things feel even worse.
6/06/2025
6/01/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
The weekend up this has been very wet, seeing almost 2 inches of rainfall with most of it falling yesterday. If the Weather GuysTM are right we should see much, if any rain today. But it will only be in the 50’s today.
BeezleBub moved the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout from the boatyard to his place late yesterday. We will be spending a portion of the day today performing any last minute cleanup and getting the gear stowed on board in preparation for launching it and getting it tied up at its slip. This is considerably later than we usually do so, but the weather during the weekends of this just departed May has not really been conducive to doing so. Usually the boat is put into the water around mid-May. If things go well today we should be able to launch it sometime tomorrow. We would have done that today, but it is far too windy which would have made docking a lot more problematic.
Here’s an interesting little tidbit that had an effect on me and the trusty RAM 1500 in an unexpected way way.
First, I have to mention that the New Hampshire Department Of Transportation repaired and repaved a stretch of state road that passes by The Gulch, something that required me to take a roundabout route to get to and from work for about three weeks. This circuitous route had me passing near the previous abode of yours truly – The Manse – twice a day. However, that isn’t the interesting tidbit by any means.
It was as I was taking this route to work one morning that the always dreaded “Check Engine” light came on with an ominous ‘ding’ announcing its presence. A quick check of the dashboard’s multi-function LCD didn’t show anything blatantly wrong, but I did notice that the oil pressure was considerably lower than I usually see it.
Once I got to work I called my mechanic, told him what I saw, and later that afternoon dropped off the trusty RAM 1500 at his shop for diagnostics. To make a long story a little shorter, it was found that the oil pressure was indeed low, though not so low as to cause any damage to the engine, but it was out of range to ensure the Variable Valve Timing – or VVT - would work properly on the 5.7L Hemi powering the trusty RAM 1500. A number of possibilities for this condition were brought forward, the worst being the oil pump was failing. If it was indeed the cause, my mechanic informed me I would have to take it to another shop because he didn’t have an engine hoist, something that would be needed in order to replace said oil pump. I contacted one of the shops he suggested that could handle the job and made arrangements to have the work done, if needed. Now here comes the interesting tidbit:
Did you know that oil filters can actually be too efficient? I certainly didn’t.
It turns out that a lot of the newer ‘better’ aftermarket oil filters can be too good, too efficient and can cause a restriction in oil flow in some engines. That was the case with the trusty RAM 1500. The shop in question, in this case a RAM dealership, had seen a number of pickups with the Hemi engines with exactly the same problem over the past six months or so. Chrysler had issued a Technical Service Bulletin outlining the failure and cause. The cure?
An oil filter change using one of the less efficient oil filters.
As soon as that was performed on the trusty RAM 1500, the oil pressure was back where it was supposed to be.
I did pass this on to my mechanic along with the technical service bulletin that covered it, so going forward I won’t have to worry about a “too good” oil filter being used during my next oil change.
Does this affect other makes and models of cars and trucks? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case.
To quote Glenn Reynolds, “I was told this was impossible.”
And then there’s this impossible thing, too.
The media hammered the Trump administration after it canceled the controversial Energy Start program, something I have always thought sounded good but didn’t deliver on its promises. However, the criticism over the cancellation of the program ignores “several inconvenient facts.”
We had to replace the washing machine here at The Gulch and found we had to have the water level sensor ‘adjusted’ on the new Energy Star washer to allow a higher water level in order to make sure a load of clothing was properly washed.
What good are energy efficient appliances if they don’t work, don’t actually save energy?
This next one doesn’t surprise me in the least as this is not the first time I’ve heard this.
It appears that Electric cars lose half or more of their value after two years.
Two. Years.
Yes, there are issues like heavily discounted prices for new cars that one might think might be depressing the value of used cars, but that turns out not to be the case. The EVs are still competing against ICE cars and people seem willing to pay more money for used ICE vehicles than electric cars. Of course some of that might be explained by the high cost of replacing the battery pack of an EV when the time comes.
While the post linked above covers the used EV market in the UK, the same thing can be seen with the used EV market here in the US.
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the marinas are full, the weather hasn’t been cooperating, and where it’s hard to believe that the Fourth of July is a little over 4 weeks away.
BeezleBub moved the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout from the boatyard to his place late yesterday. We will be spending a portion of the day today performing any last minute cleanup and getting the gear stowed on board in preparation for launching it and getting it tied up at its slip. This is considerably later than we usually do so, but the weather during the weekends of this just departed May has not really been conducive to doing so. Usually the boat is put into the water around mid-May. If things go well today we should be able to launch it sometime tomorrow. We would have done that today, but it is far too windy which would have made docking a lot more problematic.
==+++++==
Here’s an interesting little tidbit that had an effect on me and the trusty RAM 1500 in an unexpected way way.
First, I have to mention that the New Hampshire Department Of Transportation repaired and repaved a stretch of state road that passes by The Gulch, something that required me to take a roundabout route to get to and from work for about three weeks. This circuitous route had me passing near the previous abode of yours truly – The Manse – twice a day. However, that isn’t the interesting tidbit by any means.
It was as I was taking this route to work one morning that the always dreaded “Check Engine” light came on with an ominous ‘ding’ announcing its presence. A quick check of the dashboard’s multi-function LCD didn’t show anything blatantly wrong, but I did notice that the oil pressure was considerably lower than I usually see it.
Once I got to work I called my mechanic, told him what I saw, and later that afternoon dropped off the trusty RAM 1500 at his shop for diagnostics. To make a long story a little shorter, it was found that the oil pressure was indeed low, though not so low as to cause any damage to the engine, but it was out of range to ensure the Variable Valve Timing – or VVT - would work properly on the 5.7L Hemi powering the trusty RAM 1500. A number of possibilities for this condition were brought forward, the worst being the oil pump was failing. If it was indeed the cause, my mechanic informed me I would have to take it to another shop because he didn’t have an engine hoist, something that would be needed in order to replace said oil pump. I contacted one of the shops he suggested that could handle the job and made arrangements to have the work done, if needed. Now here comes the interesting tidbit:
Did you know that oil filters can actually be too efficient? I certainly didn’t.
It turns out that a lot of the newer ‘better’ aftermarket oil filters can be too good, too efficient and can cause a restriction in oil flow in some engines. That was the case with the trusty RAM 1500. The shop in question, in this case a RAM dealership, had seen a number of pickups with the Hemi engines with exactly the same problem over the past six months or so. Chrysler had issued a Technical Service Bulletin outlining the failure and cause. The cure?
An oil filter change using one of the less efficient oil filters.
As soon as that was performed on the trusty RAM 1500, the oil pressure was back where it was supposed to be.
I did pass this on to my mechanic along with the technical service bulletin that covered it, so going forward I won’t have to worry about a “too good” oil filter being used during my next oil change.
Does this affect other makes and models of cars and trucks? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case.
==+++++==
To quote Glenn Reynolds, “I was told this was impossible.”
And then there’s this impossible thing, too.
==+++++==
The media hammered the Trump administration after it canceled the controversial Energy Start program, something I have always thought sounded good but didn’t deliver on its promises. However, the criticism over the cancellation of the program ignores “several inconvenient facts.”
Several news outlets have recently reported that the administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to eliminate the Energy Star program, while seeming to gloss over criticism of the program and the fact it received multiple unsatisfactory reports from federal government audits. While Energy Star has reportedly saved American households and businesses over $500 billion in energy costs since 1992, some experts have warned that the program can negatively impact consumers, such as by pushing them to purchase less effective appliances.I have mentioned more than a few times my experiences with Energy Star compliant appliances that did not adequately perform their functions. I have discussed a past experience with looking for a new front-loading washing machine to replace one that had been lightning damaged. My then-wife had spent time going Consumer Reports and other evaluations of Energy Star washing machines and found there wasn’t a single one that either CR or the other reports could recommend because none of them properly cleaned clothes. We ended up spending money to repair our old machine even though it cost us more than buying a new one because at least the old washing machine cleaned clothes. When I replaced the dishwasher at the WP Mom’s I found it used more electricity than the machine it replaced, taking over three hours to wash a load that took the old machine a little over an hour. Yes, the new machine used less water, but the cost of the lower water use did not offset the higher energy usage.
We had to replace the washing machine here at The Gulch and found we had to have the water level sensor ‘adjusted’ on the new Energy Star washer to allow a higher water level in order to make sure a load of clothing was properly washed.
What good are energy efficient appliances if they don’t work, don’t actually save energy?
==+++++==
This next one doesn’t surprise me in the least as this is not the first time I’ve heard this.
It appears that Electric cars lose half or more of their value after two years.
Two. Years.
Yes, there are issues like heavily discounted prices for new cars that one might think might be depressing the value of used cars, but that turns out not to be the case. The EVs are still competing against ICE cars and people seem willing to pay more money for used ICE vehicles than electric cars. Of course some of that might be explained by the high cost of replacing the battery pack of an EV when the time comes.
While the post linked above covers the used EV market in the UK, the same thing can be seen with the used EV market here in the US.
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the marinas are full, the weather hasn’t been cooperating, and where it’s hard to believe that the Fourth of July is a little over 4 weeks away.
5/31/2025
Returning To The Tried And True
It seems the auto industry is finally waking up to a problem that was. one of their own making, that problem being the replacement of things like knobs, switches, buttons, and sliders with touchscreens, something that may have been seen as a way to lower costs and provide more advanced functions in cars and trucks. However, it hasn’t worked out that way.
On more than one occasion I have commented on the use of touchscreens in vehicles, stating that I have always thought it was a bad idea for a number of reasons, two of them being that they require a driver to take their attention away from road in order to change settings on everything from the volume on the radio to running the heat or A/C to turning headlights on or off and the fact that something called muscle memory is useless when it comes to using touch screens. I have also heard numerous friends and acquaintances complaining about the same things as the much prefer the physical controls – knobs, switches, buttons, and sliders – over touchscreens.
It seems that automakers are listening to their customers, with some of them changing their interior designs to bring those knobs, switches, buttons and sliders back.
It generally means a driver knows where the headlight switches, heating, A/C and ventilation controls, radio tuning and volume controls and so one are located without actually having to look at them to use them because they’ve preformed those actions time and time again. The knobs, switches, buttons, and sliders are always in the same location and always perform the same functions. Touchscreens don’t allow for that because the menus and ‘buttons’ on the screen change function and location depending upon what the driver is trying to do. The driver must look away from the road and at the touchscreen in order to use it. Muscle memory doesn’t work.
My trusty 2014 RAM 1500 has a small touchscreen which controls a number of functions with most of them being related to entertainment or communications functions – AM/FM radio, Sirius XM, media player (by Bluetooth or USB), and phone functions (calls and texts). Things like tuning the radio station, adjusting the volume, selecting radio station presets and the like are controlled by knobs and buttons, not the touchscreen.
It’s time to dial back the multifunction touchscreens and start using physical controls again to increase safety and reduce driver distractions.
On more than one occasion I have commented on the use of touchscreens in vehicles, stating that I have always thought it was a bad idea for a number of reasons, two of them being that they require a driver to take their attention away from road in order to change settings on everything from the volume on the radio to running the heat or A/C to turning headlights on or off and the fact that something called muscle memory is useless when it comes to using touch screens. I have also heard numerous friends and acquaintances complaining about the same things as the much prefer the physical controls – knobs, switches, buttons, and sliders – over touchscreens.
It seems that automakers are listening to their customers, with some of them changing their interior designs to bring those knobs, switches, buttons and sliders back.
In today’s automotive market, big touchscreens and digital interfaces dominate the cabin experience, often at the expense of usability and safety. While these features offer a high-tech aesthetic and access to a virtual library of fancy features, they also increase the time to execute the most basic automotive operations, like adjusting climate and audio. Fortunately, a few automakers still understand the value of intuitive physical controls—dials, knobs, and buttons placed within easy reach of the driver. We laud certain manufacturers in 2025 for their commitment to driver-focused ergonomics, blending modern tech with excellent switchgear that makes life behind the wheel simpler and safer.It’s bad design whenever a driver has to stop paying attention to the road in order to use a touchscreen to perform some of the aforementioned functions, something that drivers could do in the past without the need to look away from the road. This is where muscle memory comes into play.
It generally means a driver knows where the headlight switches, heating, A/C and ventilation controls, radio tuning and volume controls and so one are located without actually having to look at them to use them because they’ve preformed those actions time and time again. The knobs, switches, buttons, and sliders are always in the same location and always perform the same functions. Touchscreens don’t allow for that because the menus and ‘buttons’ on the screen change function and location depending upon what the driver is trying to do. The driver must look away from the road and at the touchscreen in order to use it. Muscle memory doesn’t work.
My trusty 2014 RAM 1500 has a small touchscreen which controls a number of functions with most of them being related to entertainment or communications functions – AM/FM radio, Sirius XM, media player (by Bluetooth or USB), and phone functions (calls and texts). Things like tuning the radio station, adjusting the volume, selecting radio station presets and the like are controlled by knobs and buttons, not the touchscreen.
It’s time to dial back the multifunction touchscreens and start using physical controls again to increase safety and reduce driver distractions.
5/30/2025
5/29/2025
5/26/2025
Happy Birthday, Dad
Today would have been my father's 92nd birthday.
It's been 10-1/2 years since he passed and even after all this time I miss him.
I still hear his voice now and then, giving words of advice, telling a joke, or proffering words of comfort.
Happy birthday, Dad.
It's been 10-1/2 years since he passed and even after all this time I miss him.
I still hear his voice now and then, giving words of advice, telling a joke, or proffering words of comfort.
Happy birthday, Dad.
A Poem About Decoration Day aka Memorial Day
Sleep, comrades, sleep and rest
On this Field of the Grounded Arms,
Where foes no more molest,
Nor sentry's shot alarms!
Ye have slept on the ground before,
And started to your feet
At the cannon's sudden roar,
Or the drum's redoubling beat.
But in this camp of Death
No sound your slumber breaks;
Here is no fevered breath,
No wound that bleeds and aches.
All is repose and peace,
Untrampled lies the sod;
The shouts of battle cease,
It is the Truce of God!
Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
Your rest from danger free.
Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
On this Field of the Grounded Arms,
Where foes no more molest,
Nor sentry's shot alarms!
Ye have slept on the ground before,
And started to your feet
At the cannon's sudden roar,
Or the drum's redoubling beat.
But in this camp of Death
No sound your slumber breaks;
Here is no fevered breath,
No wound that bleeds and aches.
All is repose and peace,
Untrampled lies the sod;
The shouts of battle cease,
It is the Truce of God!
Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
Your rest from danger free.
Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
5/25/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
It’s the long Memorial Day weekend and even if we didn’t look at the calendar we would have known. How?
The traffic.
Starting around noon on Friday the traffic into New Hampshire was quite heavy. A lot of that traffic was bound for the Lakes Region as we saw a lot of it in my town as summerfolk arrived to open up their cottages and summer homes. The local state park ‘camping’ area was almost full when I went by there yesterday afternoon. Parking lots at the local shopping centers were full earlier yesterday morning. About the only place that wasn’t as busy as I had expected was our town boat ramp as the weather wasn’t conducive to launching boats – cool, very windy, and a lot of white caps out on the lake. Not that some folks weren’t launching their boats, but the usual line we see at the ramp wasn’t there. I have a feeling there will be one tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be pretty nice and warm.
Michael Mann hasn’t received a fraction of the abuse he so richly deserves.
Michael Mann's Legal Defeat and the Climate of Accountability
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that one of the things we need in order to bring back nuclear power is a reduction in over-the-top regulations. It looks like that it is finally going to happen, something that is long overdue.
I remember when the project to build two nuclear power plants in Seabrook, New Hampshire started. The projected cost of the project was $800 million for the two units. Construction started in 1976...and it all went downhill from there. Between lawsuits filed by anti-nuclear groups, temporary restraining orders that stopped construction on more than one occasion, changes in NRC regulations that required “do overs” on parts of the plants already completed, then a governor hostile to nuclear power that pushed legislation to make a long existing funding mechanism known as CWIP – Construction Works In Progress – illegal, that ended up bankrupting one of the utilities involved in the project and financially damaging some of the others which in turn caused abandonment of the one of the two units being built.
Seabrook Unit 1 was finally completed and went online in 1990. The final cost?
$6.2 billion, almost eight times the projected cost, and for only half the original project.
Modern plants are not going to be built in the same fashion as the Generation I and II power plants, all of which were in effect custom built. Even two nuclear plants built side by side at the same time were not identical, something that greatly increased the cost. The French got it right when they built their nuclear power plants because they all used the same design, sections were built in a factory, and almost 80% of all of France’s electricity comes from nuclear. And the did it for a fraction of the cost of what it cost the US.
If we want ‘green’ reliable electrical power, nuclear is the way to go, at least for baseload generation.
Yeah, this doesn’t surprise me at all. Then again, I am an engineer...
How The A.I. Takeover Might Affect Women More Than Men.
This doesn’t surprise me in the least knowing just how much of a failing society the Pyrite State has become over the past four decades...and it was all done on purpose.
Parents Pulling Their Little Ones Out of California Public Schools in Massive Numbers.
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee where the summerfolk have returned, the weather isn’t quite as nice as we would have liked, and where this Monday has an entirely meaning than other Mondays.
The traffic.
Starting around noon on Friday the traffic into New Hampshire was quite heavy. A lot of that traffic was bound for the Lakes Region as we saw a lot of it in my town as summerfolk arrived to open up their cottages and summer homes. The local state park ‘camping’ area was almost full when I went by there yesterday afternoon. Parking lots at the local shopping centers were full earlier yesterday morning. About the only place that wasn’t as busy as I had expected was our town boat ramp as the weather wasn’t conducive to launching boats – cool, very windy, and a lot of white caps out on the lake. Not that some folks weren’t launching their boats, but the usual line we see at the ramp wasn’t there. I have a feeling there will be one tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be pretty nice and warm.
==+++++==
Michael Mann hasn’t received a fraction of the abuse he so richly deserves.
Michael Mann's Legal Defeat and the Climate of Accountability
There was a time, not so long ago, when climate scientist Michael Mann could bully critics into silence with the mere threat of a lawsuit. He was the face behind the infamous "hockey stick" graph, a man lauded by progressives, featured in Al Gore's documentary, and embraced by a media eager to label skeptics as dangerous deniers. But the courtroom, as it turns out, is no place for manufactured myths or moral grandstanding.Mann’s downfall was of his own making, pushing his infamous climate “hockey stick” chart as a warning and going after anyone who disagreed with his findings. However, it turns out his findings were bogus, the mathematics of his chart designed to give the hockey stick graph regardless of the data used.
A Washington, D.C. court just handed Mann a bruising legal defeat. After more than a decade of litigation, he has been ordered to pay over $1 million in attorney's fees to the very people he accused of defamation: National Review, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), and writer Rand Simberg, a former PJM contributor.
Even more humiliating, the court revealed that Mann grossly misrepresented his financial damages. Once celebrated as a martyr for the climate cause, he now stands exposed as a fabricator, not just of projections, but of personal injury.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) elevated the hockey stick to icon status. Schools taught it. Politicians cited it. Al Gore plastered it in "An Inconvenient Truth," like a gospel.Too bad this court case hadn’t been decided before Mann’s suit against Mark Steyn, where Mann was awarded $1 million USD in a defamation suit against Steyn. It turns out that Steyn was telling the truth and Mann’s reputation is trash. The million dollar award was later reduced to $5000.
But critics soon noticed that something wasn’t right. Canadian researchers Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick uncovered glaring flaws in Mann’s methodology, showing that his algorithm could produce a hockey stick shape even when fed with random data. This wasn’t just bad science; it was political theater dressed in lab coats.
==+++++==
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that one of the things we need in order to bring back nuclear power is a reduction in over-the-top regulations. It looks like that it is finally going to happen, something that is long overdue.
Donald Trump took a huge step toward ensuring America's energy future by signing four executive orders that gave the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) a long-overdue overhaul.I have seen how overregulation, hostile legislation, and licensing delays can add billions of dollars to the cost of building a nuclear power station.
Currently, it takes about 12 years to plan, design, and construct a nuclear power plant, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Getting all the license approvals takes an average of five years.
One of Trump's executive orders directs the NRC to streamline its rules so that it takes just 18 months to approve applications for a new reactor.
Another order directs the Energy and Defense departments to explore placing reactors on federal land, thus bypassing the NRC entirely. It would also allow those departments to develop their own faster, more efficient approval process for building nuclear reactors.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum participated in the signing ceremony in the Oval Office.
“This is a huge day for the nuclear industry,” said Burgum, adding: “Mark this day on your calendar. This is going to turn the clock back on over 50 years of overregulation.”
I remember when the project to build two nuclear power plants in Seabrook, New Hampshire started. The projected cost of the project was $800 million for the two units. Construction started in 1976...and it all went downhill from there. Between lawsuits filed by anti-nuclear groups, temporary restraining orders that stopped construction on more than one occasion, changes in NRC regulations that required “do overs” on parts of the plants already completed, then a governor hostile to nuclear power that pushed legislation to make a long existing funding mechanism known as CWIP – Construction Works In Progress – illegal, that ended up bankrupting one of the utilities involved in the project and financially damaging some of the others which in turn caused abandonment of the one of the two units being built.
Seabrook Unit 1 was finally completed and went online in 1990. The final cost?
$6.2 billion, almost eight times the projected cost, and for only half the original project.
Modern plants are not going to be built in the same fashion as the Generation I and II power plants, all of which were in effect custom built. Even two nuclear plants built side by side at the same time were not identical, something that greatly increased the cost. The French got it right when they built their nuclear power plants because they all used the same design, sections were built in a factory, and almost 80% of all of France’s electricity comes from nuclear. And the did it for a fraction of the cost of what it cost the US.
If we want ‘green’ reliable electrical power, nuclear is the way to go, at least for baseload generation.
==+++++==
Yeah, this doesn’t surprise me at all. Then again, I am an engineer...
How The A.I. Takeover Might Affect Women More Than Men.
Women are more likely to have their jobs replaced by generative AI, and they are slower to adopt AI technology into their work. Eight out of ten women in the workforce are in ‘occupations highly exposed to generative AI automation,’ compared to six out of ten men, said a 2023 analysis by the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.Much of what the linked article states makes sense. However, it might not happen nearly as quickly as some folks think because, quite frankly, there isn’t enough electricity to run all those A.I. data centers that will be needed to take over all those jobs, at least not yet.
==+++++==
This doesn’t surprise me in the least knowing just how much of a failing society the Pyrite State has become over the past four decades...and it was all done on purpose.
Parents Pulling Their Little Ones Out of California Public Schools in Massive Numbers.
Parents are saving their children. The left has destroyed a generation of young minds. No country can thrive let alone survive the destruction of the mind.As dire as the numbers are I have to wonder if there isn’t another possible explanation for the decline, that being that there aren’t nearly as many children in California as there used to be. It could be because of a low birthrate. It could be that because families are leaving California in growing numbers because they can no longer afford to live there or state regulations are making it increasingly difficult to do business there. It could be a combination of all of these things.
There are now 20 percent less 1st graders than 12th graders. Los Angeles Times: California public school enrollment has declined for the seventh straight year and the number of students from low-income and homeless families has increased as many school districts throughout the state face financial pressures to downsize. Statewide, perhaps the most stark figure is a comparison between enrollment in 12th grade — 488,295 students — and in 1st grade — 384,822. That’s a more than 20% difference between the size of the class leaving school and the size of the class beginning its trek through the public school system.
Why wouldn’t a parent want their precious little one in a California public school? After all, they rank in bottom quarter of public schools across the nation—at number 38. Golden State public schools are 42nd in high school graduation rate and 43rd in college readiness.
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee where the summerfolk have returned, the weather isn’t quite as nice as we would have liked, and where this Monday has an entirely meaning than other Mondays.
5/24/2025
Is The Fake Green Energy 'Boom' Dead In The US?
Are the days of government subsidized “clean energy” programs coming to an end? I certainly hope so.
Clean energy – aka Green energy – sounds great, but the means of achieving has been less than effective. Those pushing it think of two main sources for that energy – wind and solar – while ignoring other more tradition energy sources of clean energy such as hydro and nuclear. While the legislation mentioned in the Reuters article affects the monies brought forth by the Biden administration in 2022, the long list of clean energy programs that have not met their goals but have eaten up billions of taxpayer dollars goes back to at least the George W. Bush administration, but a lot of taxpayer money was spent during the Obama administration for clean energy programs that failed, with Solyndra being just one of them, as well as desert solar plants like the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating in the Mojave Desert which has never produced anywhere near the amount electricity promised by the developers. (The plant is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2026.) Another failure has been the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Tonopah, Nevada which which was shut down in 2019 after its only customer, NV Energy, canceled its contract. This was after almost $1 billion had been spent on the project of which $737 million was from government guaranteed loans.
How many more billions have been wasted on wind farms and large solar photovoltaic arrays that haven’t lived up to the hype? Experience has shown us that wind is a loser, particularly since the promised longevity of wind turbines has been found to be optimistic at best and the maintenance and repair intervals have been a lost shorter as well. Their dependence of weather is another weakness to proponents choose to ignore even when we have seen the effects when there is no wind just when the electricity from those wind farms is needed the most. (Texas and Germany are two places that have proven that to be a problem over the past few years.)
I’d rather see all that money being spent on nuclear power, particularly advanced Generation III and IV reactors, and specifically Small Modular Reactors that are built in a factory and then shipped to the power plant sites to be installed. Nuclear is not dependent upon weather, can provide baseload power 24/7/365 for years between refueling. Some designs like Molten Salt Reactors or Liquid Fluorine Thorium Reactors can be refueled while they are operating.
Another advantage to nuclear? They don’t take up nearly as much land area as wind or solar.
But will any of that happen? Maybe. At least we are seeing some action being taken by government at both state and federal levels to reduce much of the overly restrictive regulations and overly long licensing process. There are a number of new nuclear power plant projects in the works.
Only time will tell if any of them come to fruition.
WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The House budget bill that narrowly passed in an early morning vote on Thursday would effectively put the brakes on a clean energy production boom in the United States spurred by subsidies enacted in 2022.To quote Stephen Green in his Instapundit post, “Here’s a tip for Reuters: It’s not a boom if it’s financed by tax dollars and summoned into existence by mandates. It’s just another boondoggle.”
Republican lawmakers' "one big beautiful bill" to carry out President Donald Trump's plan to cut taxes and boost spending on the military and border enforcement would end Biden-era tax credits for clean energy projects years sooner than planned in an earlier draft, rendering them unusable for most companies.
Clean energy – aka Green energy – sounds great, but the means of achieving has been less than effective. Those pushing it think of two main sources for that energy – wind and solar – while ignoring other more tradition energy sources of clean energy such as hydro and nuclear. While the legislation mentioned in the Reuters article affects the monies brought forth by the Biden administration in 2022, the long list of clean energy programs that have not met their goals but have eaten up billions of taxpayer dollars goes back to at least the George W. Bush administration, but a lot of taxpayer money was spent during the Obama administration for clean energy programs that failed, with Solyndra being just one of them, as well as desert solar plants like the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating in the Mojave Desert which has never produced anywhere near the amount electricity promised by the developers. (The plant is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2026.) Another failure has been the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Tonopah, Nevada which which was shut down in 2019 after its only customer, NV Energy, canceled its contract. This was after almost $1 billion had been spent on the project of which $737 million was from government guaranteed loans.
How many more billions have been wasted on wind farms and large solar photovoltaic arrays that haven’t lived up to the hype? Experience has shown us that wind is a loser, particularly since the promised longevity of wind turbines has been found to be optimistic at best and the maintenance and repair intervals have been a lost shorter as well. Their dependence of weather is another weakness to proponents choose to ignore even when we have seen the effects when there is no wind just when the electricity from those wind farms is needed the most. (Texas and Germany are two places that have proven that to be a problem over the past few years.)
I’d rather see all that money being spent on nuclear power, particularly advanced Generation III and IV reactors, and specifically Small Modular Reactors that are built in a factory and then shipped to the power plant sites to be installed. Nuclear is not dependent upon weather, can provide baseload power 24/7/365 for years between refueling. Some designs like Molten Salt Reactors or Liquid Fluorine Thorium Reactors can be refueled while they are operating.
Another advantage to nuclear? They don’t take up nearly as much land area as wind or solar.
But will any of that happen? Maybe. At least we are seeing some action being taken by government at both state and federal levels to reduce much of the overly restrictive regulations and overly long licensing process. There are a number of new nuclear power plant projects in the works.
Only time will tell if any of them come to fruition.
5/23/2025
5/18/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
It was a bit of an exciting day on Saturday with fog, rain, and more than a couple of thunderstorms sweeping across the lake later in the day. It wasn’t a great day to be out of doors. However, we will make up for that weather with some sun this morning and again later this afternoon. It will only be in the 60’s today, but that’s just fine with me.
I have been seeing signs of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend with a lot more traffic as folks get their cottages ready for the summer. Lots of cars seen with out of state plates, parking lots at stores and shopping centers being more crowded, particularly during the Saturday morning “rush”. Our seasonal restaurants have been open, though some of them only on the weekends until Memorial Day weekend, one of my favorite ice cream joints being one of them. A large number of boats are now back in the water with quite a few more waiting to be launched, the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout being one of them.
This weekend has also been “Getting Ready for Summer” cleanup around The Gulch, with the last of the winter stuff being stored away and the summer stuff coming out of the attic. Windows and window screens have been cleaned, the last winter drapes have been swapped out with some of the ‘sheer’ drapes we for the larger windows. (They let in a lot more light!) The annual “Let’s get this stuff to the dump” pile is growing, with yours truly going to make that dump run next Friday. (I swear, that stuff grows on its own as I don’t remember nearly that amount junk being stored away in the attic last fall!)
I admit I feel of two minds about this.
German Chancellor Merz promises to “build Europe’s strongest military.”
Reading the comments in this referring Instapundit post I see that quite a few others have been having some of the same thoughts as I.
One of my first questions was “How is Germany going to do that? Between Net Zero, non-Net Zero related energy shortages, Increasingly draconian EU environmental regulations, and Germany’s industrial decline, how can they possibly do that?” At the moment I would have to say that Poland is one of the stronger military powers in Europe. They don’t want a repeat of their WWII and post-WWII history so they are making sure if anyone gets any ideas that they will pay a heavy price for doing so. I have no doubt that Poland is looking closely at Ukraine’s war against Russia to see how more can be done with less. The only countries with a military stronger than Poland are the UK, Italy, and France, and I have my doubts about them. (There are a couple of different lists out there about European military power by country and they don’t agree...or are outdated.)
In light of Russia’s continued occupation of Ukrainian territory and its not-so-subtle hints that they “want to get the old gang back together...whether they want to or not”, it’s not surprising the European nations are seeing that they need to start addressing their defense needs. For too long they have been letting Uncle Sam pick up the tab as they have been decreasing their defense spending as a percentage of their GDP despite their commitment under the NATO treaty.
Should Biden’s “Autopen” pardons be declared null and void? If it can be proven that Biden did not authorize such pardons (this assumes he would remember even if he had), than all such pardons should be revoked as they were never legitimate.
Uh oh, they’re planning the Greatest Looting Spree in History, also known as Reparations.
If they get away with it it will be never-ending and it will bankrupt this nation.
It looks like yet another European nation is finding out that renewable energy isn’t the way to go. A few months ago it was Sweden announcing it was “going nuclear” because they didn’t see any future in renewables. They already have two new nuclear power stations planned. Today, it seems that Denmark is going to follow Sweden’s example and go nuclear which makes sense, particularly in light that a large percentage of Denmark’s power comes from wind, something they are finding isn’t working as promised.
Weather also plays a part when it comes to renewables, particularly when the weather doesn’t cooperate and renewables generate little or no electricity. We saw that in Texas a couple of winters ago when the grid almost collapsed because there was no wind and power demand was very high due to sub-freezing temperatures.
The case with Denmark is that it has too much wind as part of its generation portfolio and that has caused problems, particularly as electrical demand grows, so they are looking to nuclear power as a solution.
The US is seeing steadily growing electrical demand and renewables cannot possible meet the needs, particularly in light of their dependence upon weather (and sunlight). Demand is growing as data centers are being built since those data centers use a lot of electricity. I won’t get into the EV demand because as it stands now EVs are not ready for the real world despite claims to the contrary. If we had to expand the electrical grid to cover both we would need to increase the generation and transmission capacity by a factor of three in order to meet the demand. That’s not going to happen, at least not without a lot of new nuclear power plants being built.
Let’s just hope that happens, both here and in Denmark...and Germany...and the UK...and…
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is being a little schizophrenic, the cleanup and prep of summer cottages continues, and where Monday is having a decreasing amount of power over us as summer gets closer.
I have been seeing signs of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend with a lot more traffic as folks get their cottages ready for the summer. Lots of cars seen with out of state plates, parking lots at stores and shopping centers being more crowded, particularly during the Saturday morning “rush”. Our seasonal restaurants have been open, though some of them only on the weekends until Memorial Day weekend, one of my favorite ice cream joints being one of them. A large number of boats are now back in the water with quite a few more waiting to be launched, the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout being one of them.
This weekend has also been “Getting Ready for Summer” cleanup around The Gulch, with the last of the winter stuff being stored away and the summer stuff coming out of the attic. Windows and window screens have been cleaned, the last winter drapes have been swapped out with some of the ‘sheer’ drapes we for the larger windows. (They let in a lot more light!) The annual “Let’s get this stuff to the dump” pile is growing, with yours truly going to make that dump run next Friday. (I swear, that stuff grows on its own as I don’t remember nearly that amount junk being stored away in the attic last fall!)
==+++++==
I admit I feel of two minds about this.
German Chancellor Merz promises to “build Europe’s strongest military.”
Reading the comments in this referring Instapundit post I see that quite a few others have been having some of the same thoughts as I.
One of my first questions was “How is Germany going to do that? Between Net Zero, non-Net Zero related energy shortages, Increasingly draconian EU environmental regulations, and Germany’s industrial decline, how can they possibly do that?” At the moment I would have to say that Poland is one of the stronger military powers in Europe. They don’t want a repeat of their WWII and post-WWII history so they are making sure if anyone gets any ideas that they will pay a heavy price for doing so. I have no doubt that Poland is looking closely at Ukraine’s war against Russia to see how more can be done with less. The only countries with a military stronger than Poland are the UK, Italy, and France, and I have my doubts about them. (There are a couple of different lists out there about European military power by country and they don’t agree...or are outdated.)
In light of Russia’s continued occupation of Ukrainian territory and its not-so-subtle hints that they “want to get the old gang back together...whether they want to or not”, it’s not surprising the European nations are seeing that they need to start addressing their defense needs. For too long they have been letting Uncle Sam pick up the tab as they have been decreasing their defense spending as a percentage of their GDP despite their commitment under the NATO treaty.
==+++++==
Should Biden’s “Autopen” pardons be declared null and void? If it can be proven that Biden did not authorize such pardons (this assumes he would remember even if he had), than all such pardons should be revoked as they were never legitimate.
This brings us to the issue of Biden’s pardons, especially those granted to his family and public figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci. Put simply, did Biden have any idea what he was doing when his autopen scratched the surface of those presidential papers?If those Autopen pardons were not signed with Joe’s knowledge or consent, then that pushes the narrative that maybe he was never in charge of anything during his administration. Rather it was the WRBA (Whoever is Running the Biden Administration) cabal running the show...and the Autopen. It makes us wonder if Joe was nothing more than a “John Gill” figurehead. Even now that the MSM is admitting it did cover up Joe’s increasing mental decline, they aren’t willing to actually own up to being complicit in the cover up by offering all kinds of lame excuses for doing so. One has to wonder if they knew about the abuse of the Autopen as well.
In the case of the pardon for his son Hunter, Biden is on the record just months earlier saying he would never ever do that. Sure, it’s possible that he was lying, but he did give us his word as a Biden.
If, as Democrats and their media allies insist, Biden’s decline was so swift, starting in 2023, that it caught everyone off guard, then shouldn’t we question whether the Joe Biden who signed Hunter’s pardon wasn’t deeper in the throes of dementia than the one who promised not to?
The worst part of the mendacity from the Biden administration is that all those smarmy spokespeople like Ian Sams and all his bosses knew that the harm they were doing probably could not be undone, even if the actions were born of lies.
They knew that, as a practical matter, it is likely impossible to deport 10 million illegal aliens, and they knew that it would be almost impossible to challenge Biden’s pardons, even if he thought he was signing a pool pass for Corn Pop.
==+++++==
Uh oh, they’re planning the Greatest Looting Spree in History, also known as Reparations.
If they get away with it it will be never-ending and it will bankrupt this nation.
==+++++==
It looks like yet another European nation is finding out that renewable energy isn’t the way to go. A few months ago it was Sweden announcing it was “going nuclear” because they didn’t see any future in renewables. They already have two new nuclear power stations planned. Today, it seems that Denmark is going to follow Sweden’s example and go nuclear which makes sense, particularly in light that a large percentage of Denmark’s power comes from wind, something they are finding isn’t working as promised.
Most of the renewed interest in nuclear seen around the world stems from the expected growth in electricity demand from AI data centres, but Denmark is different. The Danes are concerned about possible blackouts similar to the one that struck Iberia recently. Like Spain and Portugal, Denmark is heavily dependent on weather-based renewable energy which is not very compatible with the way power grids operate.The loss of synchronization of the 50Hz alternating current was one of the causes of the major electrical blackout in Spain, Portugal, and portions of France earlier this year.
Conventional generators produce alternating current, creating a stable output of current and voltage that alternates at a frequency which is directly – synchronously – linked with the rotating turbines which drive the generators in gas, coal, nuclear or hydropower plants. All of these turbines rotate at a speed of 3000 revolutions per minute, so producing electricity with current and voltage that varies in a sine wave shape with a frequency of 50 cycles per second (ie 50 Hz).
--snip--
Electrical equipment is highly sensitive to this frequency and can break if it deviates too much from 50 Hz. For this reason, power stations, substations, switching equipment and other devices in the grid have fail-safes which will cause them to trip out should frequency fall outside acceptable bounds.
--snip--
However, wind and solar do not produce synchronous alternating current. Although wind turbines rotate, they do not do so at a constant speed, and solar has no moving parts at all. They produce direct current which is converted to alternating current using electronic devices known as inverters. Wind and solar also have no inertia.
Weather also plays a part when it comes to renewables, particularly when the weather doesn’t cooperate and renewables generate little or no electricity. We saw that in Texas a couple of winters ago when the grid almost collapsed because there was no wind and power demand was very high due to sub-freezing temperatures.
The case with Denmark is that it has too much wind as part of its generation portfolio and that has caused problems, particularly as electrical demand grows, so they are looking to nuclear power as a solution.
The US is seeing steadily growing electrical demand and renewables cannot possible meet the needs, particularly in light of their dependence upon weather (and sunlight). Demand is growing as data centers are being built since those data centers use a lot of electricity. I won’t get into the EV demand because as it stands now EVs are not ready for the real world despite claims to the contrary. If we had to expand the electrical grid to cover both we would need to increase the generation and transmission capacity by a factor of three in order to meet the demand. That’s not going to happen, at least not without a lot of new nuclear power plants being built.
Let’s just hope that happens, both here and in Denmark...and Germany...and the UK...and…
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is being a little schizophrenic, the cleanup and prep of summer cottages continues, and where Monday is having a decreasing amount of power over us as summer gets closer.
5/17/2025
Los Angeles Goes Stupid On Minimum Wage
It seems California hasn’t learned the lesson about raising the minimum wage to unsustainable levels. More specifically, Los Angeles has voted to raise the minimum wage to $30 at hotels and for LAX. I expect we’ll see the same outcome as when California raised fast food minimum wage to $20.
Layoffs. Lots and lots of layoffs.
It’s already starting.
Are there any economists left in California that are not Marxists? If there are, have they been silenced by The Powers That Be because their warnings don’t support The Narrative?
Why they think that this jump in minimum wage for this particular group will somehow solve problems that can’t be solved in this fashion puzzles me. It merely makes things cost more because the wage raise will cause the cost of services to increase. It ripples through the local economy. It’s no different than when energy costs increase, something that effects the cost of everything. Decisions made in Washington that adversely affect energy prices triggers inflation that generally cannot be offset by other measures.
Will the folks in LA realize they’ve made a mistake and rescind the wage jump? Of course they won’t because they really aren’t all that smart. Look at the people they elect to office as proof of that.
Layoffs. Lots and lots of layoffs.
It’s already starting.
1. They may not hire the worker at all. Outlawing jobs below a certain pay doesn’t guarantee higher-paid work; it guarantees unemployment for those priced out. If a person’s skills or experience don’t merit $30 in the market, this law has made it illegal for them to earn a wage at all. Consider an immigrant with limited English who might start in hotel housekeeping, dishwashing, or entry-level service jobs. At $15 – $20 an hour, an employer might take a chance and hire them, training them on the job. At $30 an hour, that same employer will likely demand a more experienced, highly productive worker for the role (if the role isn’t eliminated altogether). The rung at the bottom of the ladder gets sawed off.So we’ll see a repeat of what happened when California raised the fast food minimum wage. It is insane to think it won’t happen again. Remember Einstein’s the definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result this time.”
2. Employers substitute and automate. When labor gets costlier, it drives businesses to find ways to get by with less labor. That can mean investing in machines or tech or shifting work onto customers or remaining staff. Many chains curtailed daily housekeeping and never restored it fully (often spinning it as “green choice” to save water, while conveniently saving on payroll).Expect more automation at the airport and hotels: kiosks instead clerks, mobile ordering in airport eateries, robotic floor cleaners. Even trash collection can be automated; Pittsburgh deployed robotic vacuum sweepers. When labor costs skyrocket, technology that replaces that labor suddenly looks a lot more attractive.
In effect, L.A. could make itself even more expensive, driving away the very tourism dollars it’s trying to redistribute.
Are there any economists left in California that are not Marxists? If there are, have they been silenced by The Powers That Be because their warnings don’t support The Narrative?
Why they think that this jump in minimum wage for this particular group will somehow solve problems that can’t be solved in this fashion puzzles me. It merely makes things cost more because the wage raise will cause the cost of services to increase. It ripples through the local economy. It’s no different than when energy costs increase, something that effects the cost of everything. Decisions made in Washington that adversely affect energy prices triggers inflation that generally cannot be offset by other measures.
Will the folks in LA realize they’ve made a mistake and rescind the wage jump? Of course they won’t because they really aren’t all that smart. Look at the people they elect to office as proof of that.
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