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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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?
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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.