Are EV Charging Stations A New Gateway To Hack The Electrical Grid?

It’s bad enough we must worry about cyber-crackers getting into the electrical grid and bringing down the grid across the nation. There could be a new gateway for hackers to clandestinely gain entry into the grid – Electric vehicle charging stations.

… a new report raises the specter that plug-in electric vehicles — and the charging stations that supply them — could be prime vectors for cyberattacks on urban power grids.

“In simulations using publicly available information about charging station usage in Manhattan and the structure of the island’s power grid, our research team found that a fleet of just roughly 1,000 simultaneously charging electric vehicles would be adequate for mounting an attack whose effects could rival the blackout that affected the city’s West Side last month,” said Yury Dvorkin, assistant professor in NYU Tandon’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

--snip--

Electric vehicle charging stations represent a link between plug-in electric vehicles and the power grid — a high-wattage access point that hackers can potentially exploit to manipulate the grid.

Electric vehicles using public charging station generate data that includes location, charging time, and power draw from the charging station, information that is useful for a cyber-terrorist to wishing to control demand at any specific charging station. All of the data is accessible via the wireless information sent to the EV owner’s smart phone via the appropriate apps.

Together, these elements allow an attacker to use charging stations as portals to remotely manipulate electric vehicle charging and the power grid by causing instabilities that could range from barely noticeable to significantly disruptive.

The number of EVs is quite small at the moment, but as the number of EVs grows the vulnerabilities grow with them unless a way to secure the charging stations is implemented. The question is, will the manufacturers take the time and money to do so?

Thoughts On A Sunday

We had one of the WP Sisters up for the weekend. We spent the visit catching up on family doings and heading out to one of our favorite local restaurants for dinner late last afternoon. My sister is planning to move up into town after she retires in a couple of years, having had enough of the People’s Republic of Massachusetts to last a life time.

We didn’t get a chance to get out on the lake last evening as we had planned because Mother Nature decided her thunderstorms were more important than out jaunt out onto the lake. She even went so far as to cause the cancellation of the Hall & Oates concert at the Meadowbrook concert venue in our town as the lightning, thunder, and downpours made performing a dangerous thing to do.

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Is the reason health care costs have increased at well above the rate of inflation the always growing size of the health care bureaucracies, be they government, insurance, or hospital/clinic bureaucracies? It all depends upon who you listen to.

My personal experience tells me the number of administrators has increased at a far greater rate than the number of health care personnel. Every additional bureaucrat and paper-shuffler adds cost without adding any additional health care.

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How sick and twisted is the Left that they are actively hoping for (and working towards) tanking the American economy just to get Trump?

If they’re willing to do that, what will they be willing to do to the rest of us to get their way? We already know from history that gulags, re-education ‘centers’, and death camps are in their list of tools to subjugate the non-elite. (That’s you and me, folks.)

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You know it’s falling apart for the Left when Bill Maher slams his leftist brethren by telling them “BDS is a bulls**t purity test by people who want to appear woke but actually slept through history class.”

Every now and then Bill Maher hits a left-wing dogma squarely on the head and it’s particularly persuasive coming from someone who is on the left. We’ve covered several such occasions, even if most of the time we disagree with Maher.

Maher just did it again with regard to the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, setting off a fury of recrimination from Rep. Rashida Tlaib and other anti-Israel activists.

Is this yet another example of Leftist autophagy? Of course it is. Should Maher not fall back in line he will be made an “un-person” in the eyes of the Left.

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Antifa is ‘peaceful’…if you describe an MMA fight as ‘peaceful’. They seem to have no problems with threatening bystanders, using pepper spray on them, chasing them while wielding a baseball bat, and worse, beating them unconscious. At least that’s what they’ve been doing in Portland…again.

For so-called anti-fascists, they are using fascist tactics and espouse fascist points of view. It’s like watching on old film about the SA (Sturmabteilung), the bully boys of the German Nazi Party’s early days. The only differences are that Antifa wears black while the SA wore brown shirts (hence the nickname “Brown Shirts”), and today’s video is shot in high definition and posted on the ‘Net in seconds while SA activities were shot on film in black and white. Otherwise, there’s little difference between them as best I can see.

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The Left needs to get themselves a time machine so they can learn lessons of H. G. Wells’ A Time Machine.

It has become fashionable in recent years to condemn iconic figures from American history because they possessed slaves. “Progressives” wish to tear down statues now, even of Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the greatest contributor ever to the advancement of human liberty, because he had been a slave owner. What they fail to understand is that societal mores change over time. What is acceptable today may not be considered societally acceptable 100 years from now. And they may want to be careful with their retrospective moral outrage, as it may come back to haunt them.

--snip--

I want to offer this mental exercise to those who wish to condemn American giants like Thomas Jefferson and blather on about reparations over practices that took place in our country over two centuries ago: Place yourself into a hypothetical time machine, dial it to the year 2119, and find out what Americans have decided is an odious practice in Future America. I predict that you will find that abortion – that practice in which doctors punch a hole in the skull of a baby in the womb, vacuum out its grey matter, crush the skull, dismember the baby’s body, and extract the parts from its mother’s womb – has been deemed by society to be an outrageous, barbaric practice.

Americans who are down for that procedure, which includes virtually all Democratic politicians today, may find that society has decided they were ogres and, regardless of any great accomplishments they achieved in other fields of endeavor, condemn them as we do slave owners today. Americans may insist that statues of them be torn down, streets named after them be rechristened (as it were), and that any vestige of their existence be expunged from our national memory.

So be careful, and show a little humility.

As the old saying states, “What goes around, comes around.” And so it will be for our oh-so-woke Democrats living in these, the Crazy Years.

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The Sean Spicier parody Twitter account has been active for years and the Leftist tweeters still haven’t figured out that it isn’t the real Sean Spicer, Donald Trump’s former press secretary.

Sean Spicier’s on a roll, hitting the Left for all it’s worth. He hits everything from tariffs, Beto’s umpteenth campaign reset, Fredo Cuomo, Epstein, Russia, to Elizabeth Warren running the Internet. The responses from the Left are comedy gold.

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The gaffe-tastic Joe Biden’s aides are working hard to limit his exposure in order to reduce the number of gaffes he’s making in public.

That he’s making more ‘mistakes’ than I have ever seen him make, along with his advanced years makes me wonder if there’s something else going on regarding his health. If there is, then I must ask whether he’s fit enough to serve as President of the United States. The last thing we need is a president slipping into dementia.

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Uh-oh. This doesn’t bode well.

I wonder when we might be seeing such signs posted on the outskirts of places like Los Angeles or San Francisco, considering what they’re already experiencing in regard to medieval diseases (typhus and hepatitis) that have been making a reappearance and the spreading failure to keep the streets clean from human waste. It’s only a matter of time before diseases like typhoid and bubonic/pneumonic plague return unless they start cleaning the piles of human feces and garbage from the streets and sidewalks.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where summer is quickly passing, boating is increasing the closer we get to Labor Day, and where Monday again ruins a perfectly good weekend.

Scary "Deep Fake" Video - Portents Of The Future

I saw this over at Powerline and I have to admit that it scared the bejeezus out of me. Not the interview itself as it’s years old, but the technology displayed that means we can trust nothing we see on TV or the Internet. It’s one thing to fake photos, but it’s an entirely different thing to be able to fake video like the one you’re about to see. Hint: Pay attention to Bill Hader’s face.

EV Hypocrisy Paradox

What’s wrong with this picture?

In case you hadn’t noticed, the EV in the picture is being charged by a portable charging station. But where does the charging station get its power?

From the diesel generator behind the charging station pedestal.

(H/T Maggie’s Farm and Manhattan Contrarian)

A Good Quote

Seen in a Disqus comment on PJ Media:

“…before you condemn someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Because then you’ll be a mile away from them...and you’ll have their shoes.”

Thoughts On A Sunday

It’s been a quiet weekend here at Lake Winnipesaukee, with only a few events going on around the area. The biggest thing happening is the Alice Cooper concert at our local concert venue this evening. (Yes, Alice Cooper.)

One ‘event’ that has generated some excitement, at least for the WP clan, is BeezleBub’s purchase of a jet ski, something he’d been thinking about for some time. The numbers finally made sense to him and he didn’t hesitate. He picked it up late last week and has made use of it at least twice since then. I expect he’ll be using the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout less than he has been, particularly if it’s just he and his girlfriend heading out on to the lake for a late day cruise. That means it will be available for me to take out on the lake!

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Uh-oh, one of their ‘hereditary’ constituents has escaped from the Democrat plantation!

On Thursday, Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee for attorney general in Kentucky, urged his fellow black Americans to think for themselves and reject the Democratic Party's narrative.

"My message is pretty simple: The Democratic Party needs to stop telling black Americans how to think," Cameron told Brian Kilmeade, filling in for Tucker Carlson on Tucker Carlson Tonight.

--snip--

"The black community is told, day in and day out, that they have to speak with one voice and that’s the voice of the Democratic Party. I don’t subscribe to that belief," Cameron said. "I think we ultimately need to have a diverse group of folks that are on both sides of the aisle. I’m a Republican and proud of it, and stand with our president, day in and day out."

‘Nuff said.

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How often have we heard or seen the demand “Do Something!” made by people, trying to prod politicians into acting? All the time.

It turns out “Do Something!” is a dangerous demand to make of politicians. How often does that “something” turn out to be the wrong thing, or worse, has unintended consequences that go beyond the original problem, perceived or real? More often than you might think.

While the linked article focuses on the gun control issue, the elements of the article can be applied to a wide range of issues.

Why do we have states? Why do we elect political managers of them? The elevator pitch is that the state protects us from violent disruptions in our attempt to live better lives in peace with others. This is the bare minimum that has always been asked of the state.

Evidently, the state is not doing its job. People are demanding to know why.

But here is a truth. The state is limited in its competence. Utopia is not born of more laws, restrictions, regulations, and prohibitions. For this reason, not every tragedy has a political solution.

--snip--

Communities, companies, surveilling technologies, punishment, and deterrence can assist in making the world a more peaceful place. Institutions that grant people opportunities in life so that they stop romanticizing death are essential. In the end, however, human evil and terrible tragedy such as we’ve seen have only one solution: a culture of peace and cooperation so widespread and so penetrating that the world around us is thereby made safe. There is no easy path to that place. But we must try.

What is not helping us get on that path is this politics of group-based revenge in which one tribe seeks the demoralization, degradation, and disempowerment of the enemy tribe. No matter how you slice it, such thinking can only lead to more abuse and violence, whether perpetrated by lone actors or whole legislatures.

Too often the “Do Something!” demand has just opposite effect of the one expected. It is time that those along the entire political spectrum to realize that and temper their “Do Something!” demands and seek solutions that do not require ill-advised and possible short-sighted legislative intervention.

How do we do that? I don’t know, at least not off the top of my head. But I bet there are a lot of people out there who do.

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You know it’s time to start questioning the validity of some of these drug field test kits when they identify bird poop as cocaine.

That’s what happened to Georgia Southern University quarterback Shai Werts when he was pulled over in South Carolina for speeding. He was arrested for the cocaine. However, subsequent lab tests of the suspicious substance on the hood of his car showed it was not cocaine, but seagull poop and charges were dropped.

As noted by the Washington Post, "In 2016, The New York Times and ProPublica found that field-testing drug kits, which cost about $2 a piece, are wildly inaccurate. False positives can result from officer errors, the weather or poor lighting, and are so common that as many as one in three tests might come back wrong,

It’s time to come up with better drug field test kits.

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This is what life would be like under Left-wing rule.

During the Obama Dynasty, his corrupt bureaucrats released privileged information to harm political opponents. It is the basis for all “transparency” narratives on the left. Not to make politicians accountable but to keep political opponents in line.

To secure unassailable power and control for the Left.

Today’s lesson comes courtesy of Texas Democrat Rep. Joaquin Castro. He went out of his way to identify Trump’s top donors in El Paso. Individuals who maxed out their contribution to his campaign.

This “member” of congress then publicized the list.

It’s not precisely Doxxing. That information is publicly available. But anyone who has ever waded into the FEC data-mine knows it takes determination (and paid staffers) to do it effectively, which makes me wonder. Did Castro ask his staff to do his political work?

And regardless of who did it, the point of the exercise is obvious. Intimidation. Use the mob to frighten future donors or supporters of not just Trump but any political opponent the Democrats target. As in everyone who disagrees with Democrats.

Is this the direction we want out political system to take? Campaigns won’t be based upon the issues but on who has got what on who, and “Mob”-like intimidation against donors. (“That’s a nice business you got there. It would be a shame if something were to ‘happen’ to it.”)

This is speech suppression, plain and simple.

-Create a culture of fear that prevents people from donating to candidates the left likely opposes.

-Stop folks from publicly (or “privately”) speaking in favor of certain candidates or issues.

-Stifle free speech of any sort that is not aligned with the Left’s ideology.

-Prevent People from showing public support (wear a hat, carry a sign, show up at a rally, you could get beat up).

Not a pretty picture, is it? Yet it’s been happening and too many people (including the MSM) are condoning it.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weekend has been quiet, the weather has been cool, and where the summer has been passing all too quickly.

Thoughts On A Sunday

It’s been a busy weekend up here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, with a visitor staying with us here at The Gulch. A long time friend of yours truly spent the weekend up here unwinding, travelling about, and looking at the some of the available real estate with an eye towards a possible relocation to this area some time in the future.

I did manage to get him out on the lake for a while after a driving trip around the lake for a look-see. He was also able to partake in some of the cuisine in a number of our local diners, something he enjoys.

While it made for a long and tiring weekend, it was still had a great time.

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It seems the economy is refusing to cooperate with the Democrats, stubbornly remaining strong with high employment, a high labor participation rate, high consumer confidence, and a strong stock market, just to name a few factors. It isn’t an issue the Democrats will be able to use other than making lame and unproven claims about how the economy isn’t making everybody rich.

Of course “rich” is a relative term, something the Democrats rarely if ever define other than it’s something bad…unless the person being described is a Democrat.

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Yet another example of Leftist autophagy: More of the 2020 Democrat Presidential candidates are turning on Obama.

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No, the United States does not have the most mass shootings in the world. It ain’t even close.

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Oh, by the way. The Dayton, Ohio mass murderer Connor Betts was a registered Democrat (and has been since 2012) despite what the Left has tried to claim.

One of his victims? His own sister.

Another thing to remember: Betts committed his murders in a gun free zone. Funny that a very large majority (>96%) of mass shootings in the US have taken place in gun free zones is something that is never mentioned by the Left.

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It seems more snowflakes are doing their best to insult first responders, damage their employer’s reputation, and basically leave everyone with the impression that too many of our younger generation do not understand that their feelings do not take precedence at their workplace.

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And that’s the (abbreviated) news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where it was a great weekend, the weather was perfect, and where I wish Monday was still two days away.

Thoughts On A Sunday

Another summer weekend has come and gone, with many things have been done and experienced, and another set of summer memories made.

We enjoyed an evening out on the lake Friday evening where we enjoyed one of the better sunsets I think we’ve ever seen.

One of the events I had the pleasure of partaking was the annual island cleanup day, where island residents load all their junk and castoffs onto their boats and offload them at the town docks for disposal. We saw everything from old mattresses and box springs to refrigerators, air conditioners, electric/gas ranges, old furniture, construction demo (old wood, old bags of concrete mix, doors, windows, water pipe, electric wiring, and even a kitchen sink), sailboards, and an old rowboat. It is amazing how much junk can be carried over from the islands in a little over three hours.

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President Trump is lambasted for labeling parts of Baltimore as “rat infested” in a tweet. He’s labeled a “racist” because the area of Baltimore to which Trump referred is in Elijah Cummings (D-MD) congressional district. That Bernie Sanders called that same district a “Third World country” back in 2015 is forgivable because, after all, he’s a Progressive and Progressives get a pass.

But it turns out that President Trump was right, something pest control company Orkin has confirmed – Baltimore is one of the “rattiest cities” in the US, coming in at No. 8. (That Los Angeles and San Francisco rank higher is not a surprise.)

So the Progressive media is wrong to flame Trump for telling the truth. But then, it isn’t their truth, so it’s okay to slam the President.

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Here’s a more local view of how the $15/hour minimum wage will hurt businesses and workers, this time in my home state of New Hampshire.

Of course, the victims of a $15 minimum wage can be safely ignored because it is the intentions that count, not the outcome.

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One would think now that Bob Mueller has been sacrificed on the Democrats’ Altar of Get Trump, that they could get back to working for their constituents as they were elected to do. But it seems that between the Mueller Report and Mueller’s “testimony” at the Congressional hearing, the Democrats have decided to double down on stupid and continue flogging a long dead horse, continuing their inquisition and wasting even more time and taxpayer money in order to “get” the President.

The Mueller investigation took 22 months and to all intents and purposes turned up nothing actionable. Millions of dollars were spent, wrongdoing by the Clinton campaign and the FBI was uncovered, yet it’s Trump who’s at fault for their wrongdoing because “Orange Man Bad”.

I expect these shenanigans to continue for years, maybe even after Trump leaves office in 2025.

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Speaking of 2025, here’s a story from that year related to the posting above.

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By the way, “not exonerated” means “innocent” in our legal system.

The anti-Trump forces wish that were not the case. Heck, I think even if he were exonerated they would still find him guilty…of something.

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As a change of subject, it must be noted that Socialism sucks the life from everything. It can’t help but do so considering its ability to spread misery, envy, greed, and fear everywhere it goes. It destroys economies, obliterates social contracts, replaces things that work with things that sound good because it supports the narrative, and tries to sell everyone on the idea that somehow they are better off even though it is obvious to anyone paying attention that they are not.

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If there weren’t double standards, they’d have no standards at all.

An Antifa student who tried to chain the classroom doors at a College Republicans meeting won’t be charged.

That’s the wrong message to be sending and will merely encourage more bad acts. What if the next Antifa activist tries to do the same thing and adds a gallon of gasoline to the mix? It would be foolish to assume some nut somewhere won’t try such a thing. After all, other Antifa ‘protesters’ have vandalized property, committed acts of arson, and have physically assaulted people they see as “not them”. Burning people alive that they see as Nazis in a room where the doors have been chained shut doesn’t seem like much of a step for some of these nuts.

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I’m glad to see CBS has cancelled the execrable The Code.

I gave it a go for three episodes as I understand that sometimes it takes time for a show to find its groove. It never found that groove and if nothing else got worse with each episode. It got so much wrong in such a short period of time. CBS did the right thing in killing it.

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I figure it’s only a matter of time before the Black Plague makes an appearance in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I figure Denver won’t be too far behind.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is perfect, the lake water temperature is likewise, and where I wish the weekend were a couple of days longer.

Thoughts On A Sunday

It was a three-fer weekend up here in central New Hampshire with dangerously hot temperatures, NASCAR weekend, and a Jason Aldean concert at out local venue. These three factors made traffic around here very heavy, between the folks seeking relief from the heat on and/or in the lakes around here and the NASCAR/Jason Aldean fans. It certainly made getting around far more difficult.

To add a bit of anxiety to the mix, we ‘misplaced’ one of the feline contingent here at The Gulch, with Pip disappearing and nowhere to be found. We thought that at one point that she had gotten out, something for which she was ill prepared as she has been an indoor cat since we took her and her brother Henry in as kittens. Fortunately she had merely found a new place to hang out and announced her ‘return’ some time after the cats’ regularly scheduled dinner time.

It’s amazing how they can work their way into your heart.

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It looks like an ancient mystery has finally been solved, that mystery being the components of Roman concrete which is better, stronger, and far more durable than modern day concrete.

Roman concrete, particularly that used in water, and more specifically seawater, is stronger than any concrete being used to day. It can last for centuries, with some examples of it dating back over 2000 years that show little or no deterioration. Modern concrete starts deteriorating from the moment it is exposed to the environment. (All you have to do is look at the concrete paving or steps leading up to the door of your house or business to see how quickly it starts spalling and crumbling away.)

Roman concrete may revolutionize construction, particularly along seacoasts.

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Now that Tom Steyer has entered the race for the Democrat nominee for president, I think we should remind him at every turn that the United States is not a democracy. He talks about wanting to preserve our democracy and to expand it.

But we aren’t a democracy. We are a republic. The last thing we want to be is a democracy because true democracies are dangerous and are more akin to mob rule. Mob rule is nothing we want or should desire as they tend to turn on the very people it is supposed to represent. One of the proofs of that is the aftermath of the French Revolution which replaced the monarchy with a true democracy and whose motto was “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” – Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. But the true democracy went too far, particularly under the influence of the Jacobins, and devolved into the Reign of Terror which killed thousands because the democratic mob demanded their deaths. One such death was that of one of Jacobin instigators - Maximillian Robespierre.

Mister Steyer had best learn the lesson of history lest he repeat it.

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How hot has it been up here in New England this weekend?>br>
This hot:

BRAINTREE (CBS) — The Braintree Police Department had some fun explaining to residents that they should “hold off” on any crimes they are planning this weekend.

In a Facebook post, they wrote, “Folks. Due to the extreme heat, we are asking anyone thinking of doing criminal activity to hold off until Monday.”

They said doing so would be dangerous because of the hot temperatures.

Instead, police provided alternatives: “Stay home, blast the AC, binge Stranger Things season 3, play with the face app, practice karate in your basement. We will all meet again on Monday when it’s cooler.”

The post was signed, “Sincerely, The PoPo. PS: please no spoiler alerts. We’re just finishing season 2.”

See, the police don’t want people, even criminals, to suffer from heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

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From the Just When I Thought They Couldn’t Get Any Stupider Department comes this gem:

18 Ridiculous Bias Complaints Filed On College Campuses

Some of these folks should seriously consider checking themselves into a mental hospital.

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Is Oberlin College going to be able to pony up the cash it owes to Gibson’s Bakery? Gibson’s is owed $32 million, between damages and attorney’s fees and they are concerned that Oberlin is maneuvering to delay payment for three years. Gibson’s attorneys are having none of that.

Reading the motions of both parties it is quite evident Oberlin is stalling, putting together an appeal that may take up to three years to make its way through the courts, and as such, they want to forego having to post a bond for the amount they owe. This is something required under Ohio law for those who have been found liable and ordered to pay plaintiffs damages and attorney fees. That they are asking for relief from posting a bond tells me Oberlin doesn’t have the cash to spare.

It doesn’t help that Oberlin “has experienced a ‘significant’ and ‘steady’ decline in enrollment” over the past 4 years. That doesn’t surprise me much seeing as how other ‘woke’ liberal arts colleges have been experiencing similar enrollment declines. They still haven’t learned the “Get Woke, Go Broke” reality and it seems they won’t before it’s too late.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of ‘woke’ administrators.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where people are using every trick in the book to stay cool, NASCAR is running the Cup race today, and where I am looking forward to going into work on Monday in order to get some rest.

Thoughts On A Sunday

It’s been another great weekend here at Lake Winnipesaukee. Good weather, good food, and not too many Cap’n Boneheads to deal with out on the lake. (That’s always a good thing.)

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What is it about pushing a destructive hike in the minimum wage to $15 that appeals so much to the Left? Is it that by destroying jobs that they can take more control over the populace? Do they believe they can bring about True Socialismsup>TM by damaging or destroying the pillars of our economy?

One commenter proves to be one of those who looks at things based entirely upon the numbers and chooses to ignore the human element.

You know, if I didn't graduate as finance major and had written numerous business plans and then moved on to work in the finance industry, I might think you had some idea what you were talking about with all of the stupid crap you are saying.

First off, economics and supply and demand are a model and do not work in every situation. For instance monopolies so government intervention is required as a check to the system. So yes, government mandates are REQUIRED as part of our economic model.

Moving on from that, yes minimum wage was never defined as that, until recently. People want it to be that. The reason is that all of the money in our economy is coming out of the hands of the workforce to the point where people can't survive. People have about 40% less discretionary income than they used to and there are numerous factors that contribute to that, a large amount is that automation is allowing companies to do without a large number of employees which is resulting in wages going down for the remaining people competing. As such, people are unable to get jobs, so businesses have to adjust for that. As a result whatever state government of the jurisdiction you're in, passed a law mandating that people be paid $15 and hour, ensuring the remaining people received a living wage. If the company didn't suck, it would have been able to afford to pay the employees a living wage before that.

Regardless, it's possible and not only that it's needed and it is a natural function of a capitalist society that relies on economic models that rely on government intervention for corrections.

“…rely on government intervention for corrections.” Yeah, we’ve seen how well those work and how, in many cases, the intervention dragged out economic recovery, or worse, caused the economic problems to worsen. He’s the type that I believe would have no problem mouthing the words “It’s not personal. It’s business,” as he destroys a business because he sees more worth in destroying it rather than letting it continue and provide jobs and chances for advancement by employees. That he can damage or destroy lives while doing so does not concern him. All his decisions are based on the spreadsheet. He’s a friggin’ bean counter and from my experience bean counters are the worst people to run any business. (Yes, I know it’s a bit off topic, but this particular bean counter pissed me off.)

It all boils down to this: Fifteen dollars an hour for a minimum wage will cause far more harm than it will ‘fix’. We’ve seen that harm everywhere it’s been implemented yet the proponents ignore it and assume it won’t happen when they do it.

I ‘m not sure whether that’s arrogance or hubris…if not both.

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Mark Robinson, a man who vigorously defended the Second Amendment before the Greensboro, NC city council back in 2018, announced his candidacy for Lt. Governor of North Carolina.

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More people should use Jon Gabriel’s response to offended snowflakes.

“You’re offended? So what?”

Here’s an interaction I had on Twitter, the Algonquin Round Table of the digital age. One interlocutor noted that vaccinations might cause autism. (They don’t.) Another wondered if a government can mandate immunization. (Sure.) But shouldn’t parents have the right to say no? (Not if they put the community at risk; at least that’s how I see it.)

All fair questions and a fine debate to have. And on it went until one person replied with what he felt was the trump card: “That really offends me!”

To which I said, “So what?”

A brusque response, but the anonymous stranger’s taking of offense is not my or anyone else’s concern; public health is. Harrumphing “that offends me!” has no bearing on any argument, pro or con. It’s a non sequitur revealing naught but a delicate constitution.

I don’t intend to argue the pros and cons of vaccination; that specific debate isn’t the point. As our culture has slid to the so-called “social justice warriors” of the left and the trolls of the “alt-right,” activists on all sides believe that their being offended carries some sort of moral authority as a victim. Does their sense of grievance make their arguments more compelling? It does no such thing.

I have never had problems offending people who so richly needed or deserved it. I have no problems making someone uncomfortable, particularly about something that no one in their right minds would ever be offended over. As Mr. Gabriel has stated, the Progressives and their snowflake dupes use the “I’m offended” line to shut down discussion or debate, particularly if it is about a subject that is near and dear to their alleged hearts. It is time we ignore their claims of offense and push the limit, get them to fess up about their true motives.

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I’ve always liked Scarlett Johansen, particularly in her roles as Black Widow in The Avengers movies and in Lucy. I like her even more now after her un-PC comment in regards to roles she should take, stating “You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job.”

Her comment caused the meltdown of the Liberal Gliterati. It’s Hollyweird at its worst.

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Speaking of Hollyweird, and actually California, here’s one that really takes the cake when it comes to California weird: It is illegal to work on your own car in your own garage in Sacramento County, California.

What’s next? Will it soon be illegal to mow your own lawn with your own lawnmower?

I figure it will only be a matter of time.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather has been great, the seasonal food places have been doing a lot of business, and where Monday is yet again returning too soon.

Thoughts On A Sunday Wednesday

I don’t know what is happening, but I’ve been having problems posting to Blogger the past few days. I can enter text directly, but it hasn’t been taking the ‘copy and paste’ I usually use, and even then it seems to only take part of it. I have been working with Blogger to solve the problem.

In the mean time I have taken part of what I originally put together for a very abbreviated TOAS.

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The Fourth of July weekend is winding down, with long lines of traffic leaving the Lakes Region. (I can attest to the traffic, having witnessed heavy traffic on one of our state highways while trying to leave the diner where Deb and I had breakfast late this morning.) Most of the traffic had out of state plates – Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, along with a disproportionate number of cars bearing New York plates.

The weekend really started on Wednesday, with inbound traffic picking up starting around noon. There were a lot of summerfolk up for the Fourth, much of the evidence being seen on Lake Winnipesaukee as the number of boats plying its waters was huge. (Unfortunately the increased number of boats meant there were a proportionate number of Cap’n Boneheads skippering some of them.)

The restaurants were busy as were the ice cream stands and the beaches which was not surprising because it was hot and humid all week. The only ‘cool’ day was today, which meant it was only in the upper 70’s.

Not a bad way to end the holiday weekend.

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Is there nothing Donald Trump cannot do?

In this case he managed to get the Democrats/Socialists to protest against the Fourth of July, between Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley trashing the Declaration of Independence as sexist/racist/whateverist to Teen Vogue trashing patriotism as racist/sexist/whateverist to the Left trashing President Trump’s July 4th speech as racist/sexist/whateverist.

Thoughts On A Sunday - Uh Oh

I know I put my TOAS post somewhere, but I don't know where it ended up.

It appears my usual Sunday post ended up lost somewhere. Imagine my surprise when I checked it this morning and it wasn't there. Was there a hiccup at Blogger? Did I only dream that I put together my TOAS post and upload it?

I haven't a clue.

Since I am not at my usual 'compose and post' computer, I do not have the means to repost my thoughts until some time later today when I return home. (Yes, I am posting this from wor...uhh...not from home.)

Sorry for any inconveniences.

A Reminder On This Fourth Of July

It seems fitting to quote from the July 4th, 1926 Address by President Calvin Coolidge, particularly in light of the oppression we see coming to the forefront, committed by our countrymen who wish to see the freedoms we take for granted taken from us. Coolidge addressed this issue in a prescient fashion.

About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.

“If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people.” Isn’t that exactly what the Left has been working towards for over a century?

They do not believe in the tenets of the Declaration of Independence, do not believe in the Constitution, and specifically the Bill of Rights. This isn’t conjecture on my part. They have come right out and said it and done so in a million small ways.

Free speech may include hurtful and hateful speech? Get rid of it and that hurtful a hateful speech will disappear with it. The problem is that dissenting speech also disappears, meaning no one will be allowed to speak out against any wrong being done by our purported ‘betters’.

Guns can be used to kill people? Get rid of them and people won’t use them to kill people…except those people controlled by our purported ‘betters’, and they will kill those our ‘betters’ tell then to kill.

Freedom of religion? Gone.

Due process? Gone.

Protection against double jeopardy? Gone.

Right to be secure in your Private property? Gone.

Right to remain silent? Gone.

Right to not incriminate oneself? Gone.

Right to an attorney? Gone.

All of the things that make our nation great, but that we take for granted? GONE.

They want us to be serfs and they want to be the nobles. They won’t admit to it and will couch their language to hide their intent. By they want to take us back to the past, before the freedoms we enjoy were wrested from the tyrants that ruled us. They really want to be in charge and the won’t care what they have to do so they can be in charge. And they won’t care about those who made it possible as those who did so are nothing more than disposable NPCs to be eliminated and forgotten once they are no longer needed or wanted.

We can’t say we weren’t warned 93 years ago.

Thoughts On A Sunday

It was a farm wedding weekend here in the Lakes Region. The oldest son of the owners of the farm where BeezleBub makes his living got married yesterday. The ceremony was held in one of the meadows overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee and the White Mountains, and the reception in a large tent in another field with a similar view. There was good food, good live music, and lots of good company.

A good time was had by all.

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Antifa strikes again in Portland. (No surprise.) They physically assaulted journalist Andy Ngo. The Portland Police stood by and did nothing. As I have seen elsewhere, Portland is now under control of Antifa just like Birmingham, Alabama was under the control of the KKK.

I think what will spark a general uprising against Antifa is when they finally kill someone “for the cause” and the normal folks will finally fight back. Or worse, the President declares that Portland is in insurrection and sends in the US Army to restore order. In either case I expect a lot of Antifa thugs will die should that happen.

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If the some of the Democrats presidential candidates get their way, we could see the return of busing as a means of decreasing racial imbalances in schools. The only problem?

It didn’t really work the last time it was tried.

It appears that once again the Dems want to ignore history and give it another go, expecting the results will be different this time. (It won’t.)

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I don’t think they thought this one through.

The St. Louis Park, Minnesota city council voted unanimously to do away with citing the Pledge of Allegiance because “it might offend Muslims”.

So, they kowtowed to a minority population while offending everyone else? Were they afraid someone within the Muslim community might kill them if they were offended? Or was it purely Leftist virtue signaling, and the consequences be damned?

If I had to guess, it’s both.

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Socialism: The True Gospel of Greed. Just as Churchill stated decades ago.

If anything, Churchill understated it.

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Once again, my home state has managed to avoid the Democrat-majority crafted tax-and-spend, deficit-ridden state budget due to Governor Sununu’s veto.

The budget made assumptions about revenues that anyone familiar taxes knew wouldn’t be there, increased state spending by a whopping 13% that revenues wouldn’t cover and used one-time revenues to fund programs that required annual funding to maintain, throwing the state into a position of deficit spending which contravenes the state constitution.

The governor also vetoed a stealth income tax that was to be used to fund a state family leave fund. The Democrats promised they would never raise that tax in the future. But that promise wouldn’t last and they’d find some reason to raise it, probably by promising property tax relief or more funding for education. As history has shown us, none of that tax money would go to property tax relief, the most recent examples being Connecticut and New Jersey. Also, any state education funds would come with huge strings attached, including loss of local control of schools, something history has shown always leads to a lower quality of education.

There are also several gun control bills passed by the New Hampshire House and Senate that severely restrict the Second Amendment rights of New Hampshire citizens that are also headed for vetoes. One such bill would allow town school boards to declare schools and school-owned/leased property as gun free zones. That would extend to school buses, even those on the road, which means that anyone carrying a firearm within 300 feet of a school bus would be violating a gun free zone. In effect, that would ban anyone carrying a firearm anywhere.

What’s ironic is that New Hampshire is a constitutional carry state, has the lowest violent crime in the nation, has had no mass shooting, gunfights like one at the OK Corral, or drive-by gang shootings, and a very high percentage of citizens owning and carrying firearms. Yet the Democrats are slinging around restrictive legislation like we were seeing shooting like the ones in Parkland, Florida and Virginia Beach, Virginia every week. These bills are merely feelgood measures that serve two purposes – to disarm law abiding citizens and to make the legislators feel good about themselves for having “done something” even though it was the wrong something.

The next election cycle cannot come soon enough to get these Leftists out of office.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where wedding bells have rung, everyone is preparing for Fourth of July, and where I am taking a few days off this coming week.

They Did Complete The Assignment...

There’s one in every bunch.

In this case the student did complete their homework as assigned, but with a twist as only a smartass (like me) would include.

I hope they got an ‘A’.

(H/T Knuckledraggin My Life Away)

Thoughts On A Sunday

It’s been another glorious weekend here at Lake Winnipesaukee, the weather being great. At least we haven’t had to deal with the weather Wirecutter has been dealing with down in Tennessee.

We’ve been fortunate that we haven’t had to deal with that kind of weather up here in New England, though the downside has been that we’ve been experiencing cooler and wetter weather than is the norm for this time of year. The growing season is running behind schedule and the lake water temps are below what we would normally see by now which has made swimming a bit of a dicey experience.

Still, I have no real complaints and am looking forward to the summer and early fall.

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By way of Granite Grok comes this timely joke:

A Democrat walks into a bar and asks “What is your most popular drink?”

The bartender replies “A Russian Collusion.” The Democrat orders one.

The bartender delivers an empty glass…

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The latest bit of outrage being displayed by the Democrats?

They’re angry that President Trump has the gall to defend himself against a ‘perfectly timed’ accusation that he committed rape many years ago.

Although none of us can be sure whether anything happened between President Trump and [author E. Jean] Carroll, we do know that high-level politicians are more often accused of such horrendous crimes, simply because their political enemies know that such an accusation in itself can destroy their careers. The president has just launched his reelection campaign. There can be little doubt about the timing of this attack on his character; it's purposefully timed to destroy his chances of winning a second term.

Furthermore, what we also know is that President Trump denies the allegations. He responded with tremendous anger to Carroll's accusation, which makes sense if he is indeed innocent. An innocent man obviously isn't happy to be accused of such a terrible crime and would fight back with all that's in him.

How dare he defend himself!! Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to quit and let the Democrats retake the White House and continue their conversion of the United States into a failed socialist state? Just who the hell does he think he is?

He’s the freakin’ President of the United States, that’s who he is.

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I don’t know if anyone else out there has noticed this, but I’ve been seeing a lot more incidents of distracted driving over the past month or so. Invariably it turns out the driver is fiddling with their smart phone, either texting, calling, and maybe using a navigation app.

I have been seeing this problem for some time, but it seems the problem has become more prevalent with the start of the summer season with more folks “from away” spending time up here. Even though we have a well-publicized Hands Free law (signs at the state border remind people of the law as well as the fact that recreational marijuana is not legal in this state), they still will use their phones in a manner that promoted distracted driving.

To illustrate just how much of a problem this can be, it has been suggested that a deadly pickup truck versus motorcycles accident up in northern New Hampshire on Saturday may have been due to the pickup’s 23-year old driver having been distracted by his phone. His pickup crossed over into oncoming traffic and collided with a group of 10 motorcycles, killing 7 riders and injuring 3 others. If this indeed the case, then it shows just how deadly distracted driving can be.

One has to wonder what’s so important that people are willing to put their lives and the lives of those around them into danger because they absolutely have to answer texts, comment on Facebook or SnapChat or Instagram, or select the next genre of music to play? Have those ‘indispensable’ smart phones become so addictive that people can’t put them down long enough to pay attention when they’re driving, something that is far more important?

Yes. Yes they have.

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What is the greatest cause of death for law enforcement officers in this country?

Suicide.

Your communities' finest have a better chance of taking their own life than being killed in the line of duty. That is not a misprint or misstatement. Police officers are two to three times more likely to kill themselves than to be killed in the line of duty. In 2018, at least 159 officers died by suicide, which is 10 percent more than the 144 line of duty deaths, which include felony assaults, patrol vehicle accidents, heart attacks, and duty-related illnesses.

Male officers are overwhelmingly more likely than female officers to commit suicide by a ratio of 151 to 8.

This has always been a problem and these days it’s been growing and becoming worse. Yet it is a quiet epidemic, one ignored by the public. It should not be.

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There’s a move afoot to decriminalize ‘magic’ mushrooms in California.

Despite what might be claimed, I think the real reason for the move is to further anesthetize the populace to the descent into socialist hell that California’s Progressive government has been working towards for so long.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather has been superb, the summerfolk have been here in droves, and where Monday has (again) returned to soon.

Farm Wisdom

Every so often we have to be reminded about ‘old’ wisdom that still applies here in the second decade of the 21st century.

Old Farmer's Advice:

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered... not yelled.

Meanness don't just happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about, ain't never gonna happen anyway.

Don't judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good and honorable life, then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

Don't interfere with something' that ain't bothering you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every morning'.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

If you get to thinking' you're a person of some influence, try ordering' somebody else's dog around.

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and enjoy the ride.

Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just shoot you!

Thoughts On A Sunday

It is the last day of Motorcycle Week and the bikers have been making the best of it. While it wasn’t sunny today, we did manage to dodge most of the rain (it kept to the south of us for the most part). The weather over the past week was good, with only two days with any rain. The rest of the days have been warm and sunny. From what I’ve heard most of the bikers have enjoyed their time here.

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I have been keeping an eye on the responses to the $33 million in damages awarded to Gibson’s Bakery in the Gibson’s versus Oberlin College lawsuit. With only a few exceptions, most have been positive, with the general thread being “Oberlin is getting what it deserves. Other ‘woke’ colleges better pay attention lest they become another Oberlin.”

For once, the institutions of indoctrination once known as colleges and universities understand that actions have consequences and that they are not above the law, that they cannot ignore the Constitution, and that they are responsible for the actions of their administration, faculty, and students.

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Does anyone else out there believe the whole “Plastic straws are killing sea life everywhere” meme? While at first blush it seems logical, one quickly realizes that it is just so much bulls**t.

First, how many plastic straws are recycled? Just watching customers at local restaurants, both fast food and ‘sit down’, plastic drink straws end up in the trash, not in recycle bins. Even when they are included in takeout orders, most folks toss the wrappers, drink containers, and straws into the trash.

Second, how many people toss their plastic straws into streams, rivers, or the ocean? One, maybe two thousand out of 7.5 billion people on the Earth?

Third, it’s led restaurants and waitstaff to go ‘stupid’ in regard to straws.

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Considering the Gibson’s versus Oberlin College decision, Progressives need to consider any of their divisive actions before they take them. One that should heed the lesson of Oberlin College’s poor decision making is New Hampshire State Representative Jan Schmidt. Her mistake?

Lying about and disparaging a conservative New Hampshire blog, claiming that because of their posts and public forums that a few State Representatives have had to request police protection. A simple Right-To-Know request made to the police department ‘involved’ in providing such protection disclosed no such protective details existed or were requested.

I would consider that actionable as the State Rep in question tried to damage the reputation of a blog that did nothing but report happenings at various public functions and forums and by expressing opinions that differed from hers. She wanted to stifle their First Amendment rights by coming right out and saying they were inciting violence. She lied.

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Bernie Sanders has a bit of a problem, one he’s going to have a difficult time getting past.

His problem? His proposed “Economic Bill of Rights” was cribbed heavily from Stalin’s 1936 Soviet Constitution.

Does he really think he can get people to buy into recreating the old Soviet Union? Maybe. Then again, he is a fan boy of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party. He even took his honeymoon in the old Soviet Union.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the rumble of motorcycle engines is slowly fading away, cash registers are full, and where we can finally get some rest on Monday.

Thoughts On A Sunday

It was the opening weekend of Motorcycle Week, the rumble of bikes being heard all throughout the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.

With the weather forecast for the week looking good (with the exception of the possibility of showers or thundershowers on Tuesday), we expect to see between 250,000 to 300,000 motorcycle enthusiasts over the next 7 days.

Sections of Weirs Beach have been closed off to 4-wheeled traffic for the duration with other roads scheduled to be closed to anything other than motorcycle traffic starting Thursday.

Laconia Motorcycle Week is one of the Big Three motorcycle rallies in the US, with Daytona and Sturgis being the other two. Laconia is the oldest, celebrating its 96th year this year.

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It seems that Oberlin College has been doubling down on stupid, sending out a mass e-mailing criticizing the jurors decision in Gibson’s v Oberlin College, a suit that claimed that Oberlin College defamed, libeled, and slandered Gibson’s Bakery and damaged the business after the bakery had three Oberlin College students arrested for shoplifting wine from the shop. The jury found in favor of Gibson’s and awarded $11.2 million in compensatory damages.

As mentioned numerous times, “from the start of this case I have questioned the aggressive and demeaning attacks on the Gibsons as a defense strategy,” and “I’m still shaking my head at the tone-deafness of the defense in belittling this family business.” The jury seems to have agreed, rendering a combined $11.2 million compensatory damages verdict against Oberlin College and its Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo.

The next stage is a punitive damages hearing, since the jury found the defendants acted with intent and malice. A separate punitive damages hearing is required under the Ohio Tort Reform legislation that passed several years ago. The point is to keep some of the more inflammatory evidence that does not go to liability or compensatory damages away from the jury during the initial deliberations. That additional evidence relevant to punitive damages could include information as to the wealth of the defendants, but also additional information supporting the need for punishment.

In this context, there is nothing more baffling than a statement sent to alumni after the verdict by Donica Thomas Varner, Oberlin College’s Vice President and General Counsel.

The statement was contained in a mass email sent to alumni (and possibly others) criticizing the jury verdict and repeating the same stale defenses that failed at trial…

Seems stupid of me to antagonize jurors who will be deciding how much additional damages may have to be paid to Gibson’s. Then again, we’re dealing with a ‘woke’ college who let uninformed, overly emotional know-nothing students go off on a crusade that wrongly accused the bakery of racism, canceled long-standing contracts with the bakery, and gave blatant support to the SJW students who protested and defamed the bakery.

Oberlin isn’t receiving a fraction of the punishment they deserve.

If I had to guess, I’d say that no one in the Oberlin administration is likely to lose their job despite their major screwup despite that fact that they should be fired and thrown out bag and baggage.

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John Ringo adds his take on the Oberlin matter:

One point that none of the commentors seem to be making/noticing is the ‘town/gown’ dynamic.

Oberlin is the classic small liberal college in a less liberal (though still very) town that exists entirely to support the small liberal college.

Thus the jury was made up of ‘townies’ who resent the college, the students and the administration and the college resented that the unwashed townies were ALLOWED to have any input on the actions and deportment of their superiors.

Throw in the many notable examples of the current ‘elites’ being both lacking in competence and unlacking in hubris and you get everything from the protests against an innocent (townie/unwashed/ignorant) baker through the hubristic email. Not to mention a jury that’s about to throw the Oxford Unabridged Dictionary at them.

I’m not getting why others aren’t getting this. The dynamic is obvious to me.

Indeed.

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Common Core has failed. Seven years of a liberal education experiment shows it doesn’t work.

How much damage has this “experiment” caused? A lot, damage from which our kids may never recover.

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Sometimes it take the viewpoint of a foreigner to teach us the American Dream.

Starr DeJesus admits she learned a lot about both the generosity of the American people and her own potential from an immigrant who spoke to her civics class.

--snip--

The larger lesson she and 100 or so other high school students here at East Allegheny High School learned was something they sheepishly admitted afterward that they had taken for granted: how lucky they are to be born in America.

Nick Adams, the immigrant from Australia who spoke to the students, appreciates this in a way a native may never truly understand.

Read The Whole Thing.

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And that’s the (abbreviated) news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where motorcycles abound, the lake waters are slowly getting warmer, and where the schools are closing for the summer over the next two weeks.

Thoughts On A Sunday

It was one of those fifty-fifty weekends, weather-wise. Decent weather on Saturday followed by so-so weather today, including some heavy showers.

BeezleBub and I managed to get the Official Weekend Pundit Runabout, aka The Boat, launched and to its summer berth just before the weekend. There had been some issues that had required the boat to be pulled from the water for some additional work. There are still some issues we’re working on, but minor ones that won’t prevent its use.

One small issue we did have was our slip, that being a number of cleats and uprights were missing, making it difficult to tie off the mooring lines to secure The Boat to the dock. The owners were notified and they hoped to have the problem squared away some time during this coming week.

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We been watching the deterioration of our institutions of higher learning as feelz have been replacing logic, reason, and science. The latest victim of just such deterioration is Williams College where students’ Social Justice ideology is overriding science.

The Atlantic published a piece Tuesday by a biology professor at Williams College who offers her perspective on how students at the school have changed in the past couple of years, coinciding with Trump’s election. Luana Maroja said she never had any trouble teaching students about basic biological concepts like heritability before, but now some of her students are putting their social justice ideology ahead of science.

It’s difficult to imagine the arrogance of an 18 or 19-year-old student telling their professor she ought not to be teaching. But that sort of arrogance seems par for the course when it comes to campus Social Justice Warriors.

This is something that Bret Weinstein, a former biology teacher at a similarly progressive school, has warned about. The students are getting these verities from the humanities departments and trying to apply them to everything, including the sciences. It sets up an inevitable showdown where what can be discussed about what is becomes limited by student conceptions of what should be.

Facts, evidence, data, experiment results, and experience hold no sway with this kind of SJW. Only what they want to be true, even if it defies the laws that govern existence (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.), is important. They want to live in the world of Harry Potter, not the world of muggles. Too bad for them the former doesn’t exist despite how hard they try to make it so.

In their delusional state they make the rest of the world miserable. Maybe it’s time someone take them over their proverbial knee and give them a long overdue spanking.

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Do you need yet another example of just how far the SJW rot has set in within the halls of academia? Then here’s one for you.

A business professor at the University of Utah was reported to university administrators for “assigning too many historical texts written by influential male economists of the past.” Yeah, male economist like Smith, Hayek, and Friedman.

Apparently, the student didn’t think the professor delved deeply enough into their ‘sexist’ beliefs. Of course, the same student didn’t bother to detail those sexist beliefs allegedly held by the economists.

The student continued: “Many of these figures are of great importance. But at what cost do we continue to plant the seed of sexism in the minds of individuals? But especially in a course and college that is already deemed to be a ‘boys club’, continuing those teachings, and those teachings being delivered by a professor of [his] character is dangerous.”

“As a top university in the nation, I believe we have a duty to lead by example. Pave a new path and right the wrongs of those before us. Some may argue enduring this type of behavior is what needs to be done to play in the ‘big leagues’ of male-dominated fields, such as business. And I can agree to play the game to some degree, but if an opportunity to help change the game presents itself, you take it. [My] professor’s behavior and certain choice of text have greatly affected me both emotionally and academically.”

The student still had not delineated the sexist beliefs of the economists in question or how economic theory is sexist. (She didn’t come right out and say it, but her rhetoric certainly implies that she thinks economic theory is sexist by nature and that somehow endless apologies must be made by all male business/economics professors for the still undefined sins of Smith, Hayek, Friedman and others.

If that student is that sensitive to things like this then I must suggest that she withdraw from the university and seek treatment at one of the other fine state institutions in Utah. It is obvious to me that she is not capable of dealing with the real world.

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Seeing the large field of Democrat hopefuls running for president, one would think that at least a few good (and feasible) ideas would be put forth. Instead we’re seeing the same old stale and unworkable ideas being repackaged and put forth as something “new and improved”.

What’s worse is that the ideas aren’t really ideas. “They are feelings. Strongly held feelings, mind you. But feelings, nonetheless”

Take health care. There is only one interesting public policy question there: If we paid for care in a different way (for example, through taxes instead of fees for services rendered) would health care become cheaper, better and more accessible?

Would you believe that Democratic presidential candidates have no interest in even discussing this question?

They assiduously avoid telling us how national health insurance would be paid for or how it would work – except to assure us that there would be no lengthy waits for care or lack of access to modern medical technology, as there is in Canada. But how do they know nothing bad would happen, if they refuse to think about the details?

Throw out a good sounding idea, provide no details about how it is supposed to work, ignore how it will be paid for, and hope ‘the rubes will buy it’. Yup, sounds like standard Democrat campaign tactics to me.

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This isn’t news to anyone paying attention over the past few years.

Green Energy Incentives Are Failing To Keep The Lights On.

Australia has gone heavily into renewables and its finding that they don’t work the way promised, have created a growing grid instability and an increasing number of blackouts. The push to go ‘green’ has had just the opposite effect of the one intended, with higher emissions of carbon dioxide as consumers are driven to install generators in order to ensure a stable electrical supply.

How has the Australian government responded to the issue? Not the way most would expect, with it finally confessing that green energy doesn’t work and is adversely affecting their economy. Nope, it looks like they’re going to double down on stupid, even with the big shakeup after the recent Australian elections.

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And that’s the new from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is being fickle, summer is still only sorta-kinda here, and where Monday has returned far to quickly.