It seems the whole Epstein debacle keeps popping in and out of the media spotlight. I know I can’t speak for anyone else, but quite frankly I am sick to death of the whole thing. So much of it revolves around the Democrats’ insistence that Trump was one of his clients, citing ‘proof’ of e-mails, ones they won’t show unredacted, which also have problems with timelines as some Democrats have claimed Trump was taking advantage of underage girls while at the same time he was with friends and family while also under the eyes of the media. Somehow, he was in two places at the same time.
There have been other claims of all kinds of alleged misdeeds Trump committed, none of them substantiated and others having been proved to be total fabrications by either the Clinton or Biden campaigns, yet some Democrats keep trying to use them as ‘proof’ even though they were debunked years ago.
Every time I hear some news ‘report’ mentioning Epstein, Epstein’s list, Epstein’s island on one of the network news broadcasts, I cringe because I know they will bleat about Trump and Epstein again…repeatedly. I guess the media is taking a page from Joseph Goebbels book, telling the Big Lie over and over again until people believe it and will act like it’s the truth, holding on to that belief like a new religion. The truth won’t matter, even with positive proof that their belief is based upon a Big Lie. They will believe it’s true.
Frankly, I wish all of the documentation on Epstein was either released to the public or destroyed because I am sick to death of the whole thing.
11/15/2025
11/14/2025
11/10/2025
50 Years Ago Today
It is hard to believe that it’s been 50 years since the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm on Lake Superior. While it wasn’t big news “back in the day”, Gordon Lightfoot immortalized the sinking and the loss of 29 men in his song “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, telling the story of the ship and the men who manned it.
When Gordon Lightfoot passed away in 2023, “the Mariners' Church in Detroit (the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral" mentioned in "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald") honored Lightfoot the day after his death by ringing its bell a total of 30 times, 29 for each of the crewmen lost on the Edmund Fitzgerald and the final time for Lightfoot himself.”
There have been a small number of covers of the song, but only one has stood out, at least to me, that being the one performed by Home Free. It was released early this year in commemoration of the 50 years since the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with all hands.
When Gordon Lightfoot passed away in 2023, “the Mariners' Church in Detroit (the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral" mentioned in "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald") honored Lightfoot the day after his death by ringing its bell a total of 30 times, 29 for each of the crewmen lost on the Edmund Fitzgerald and the final time for Lightfoot himself.”
There have been a small number of covers of the song, but only one has stood out, at least to me, that being the one performed by Home Free. It was released early this year in commemoration of the 50 years since the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with all hands.
11/09/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
The Weekend Pundit Computer Follies continue, with efforts to restore both the laptop and desktop having been partially successful. I did manage to backup all the files off of the desktop by booting Linux from a USB key and copying the files onto one of my external 2TB hard disks. That was one of my major concerns, but everything was intact. Restoring the laptop, on the other hand, has been problematic as it did not want to boot from the USB key. I didn’t have this issue when I did so a few months ago in order to backup all the files that resided there. I keep getting an error I have not yet been able to translate. I haven’t given up, I’m just taking a step back to see if I have another approach I can use. I may try booting to a different distribution of Linux to see if it may be a problem with the disk image I’m using to do all of this.
One thing I did complete today was dropping off the trusty RAM 1500 at the body shop this afternoon. It will be waiting for them first thing in the morning.
And one more thing I finished – cleaning out the front gutters on The Gulch…again. I took care of it early yesterday and with all the wind and rain overnight they had collected a lot more leaves. I will also be doing likewise for a neighbor.
It seems the remaining leaves decided to come off the trees all at the same time which has made it an ongoing chore to keep the gutters open over the past couple of days. With the rain we have coming overnight and on Tuesday, I must keep the gutters clean. Thank goodness it is only one set of gutters on the front of The Gulch and the neighbor’s house I must attend to, so it only takes about 10 minutes or so to take care of each of them.
This doesn’t exactly surprise me. My only question about the move is why did Ford what so long to do so?
Report: Ford Might Kill the F-150 Lightning Electric Pickup Truck.
Seeing as the F-150 Lightning did so poorly in towing comparisons I can see why Ford might be willing to kill the Lightning. My old 2004 F-150 with the V6 and four-speed automatic outperformed the Lightning when towing, and cost a small fraction of the cost of a Lightning, even taking into account inflation. Some folks may have bought it for the same reason folks who bought the Tesla Cyber Truck and the Rivian, and it had nothing to do with their suitability for use as an actual work truck. It’s been virtue signaling across the board.
With that in mind, I will not lament its passing should Ford kill off the Lightning.
I don’t know about you, but I am finding it more difficult to shift back to Standard Time than I have in the past. Being that I live on the eastern edge of the Eastern Time Zone might have something to do with it, so that sunset is around 4pm now and will be closer to 3:30pm by the winter solstice. (Actually, the sun will dip down behind the surrounding hills by 2:30pm.)
I am still waking up at 4:30am EST, a good hour earlier than necessary. It’s taking me a lot longer to adjust to the time change. Frankly, we here in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts would be better served if we stayed on Daylight Savings Time year-round, or alternately, moved from the Eastern Time Zone to the Atlantic Time Zone and stayed on Standard Time. Being at the extreme eastern edge of the Eastern Time Zone makes the shift back and forth a real pain. I know it’s likely the folks on the extreme western edge of the Eastern Time Zone would rather stay on Standard Time year-round. I think that is true of the four time zones in the Continental US, but probably more so in the Eastern Time Zone since it seems to me it is wider than the Central, Mountain, and Pacific Time Zones.
I know most folks would prefer to have more daylight later in the day despite it being darker for longer in the morning. Some make the argument that dark mornings will put school children at risk, but the same argument could be made for them being at risk at the end of the afternoon as well.
I think the twice-yearly switch between Standard and Daylight Savings Time has outlived its usefulness, at least on the eastern and western edges of the time zones. It also makes no sense that Standard Time is in effect for four months and Daylight Savings Time for eight months.
Let’s save time and annoyance by staying on one time or other.
This is something I’ve known for a long time, “this” being that socialism/communism doesn’t work. It never has and never will, particularly if it’s human beings trying it. We have hundreds of years of history showing again and again that it doesn’t work. One of the first trials here in the US was the Mayflower Compact of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts back in the 1620’s. The colony almost died out because the “From each according to their ability. To each according to their needs” didn’t work because everyone wanted to draw from the common larder but no one wanted to work to fill it. Once the Plymouth colony abandoned their experiment in socialism it started to thrive. But it seems we can’t learn the lessons from the endless failures and now it looks like New York City is going to learn that lesson the hard way.
If Mamdani gets his way I think we’ll see New York City starting to resemble the Moscow of the Bad Old Days of the Soviet Union and not a Socialist Utopia.
I think we can place the following under the “Well, That’s Obvious You Moron” heading.
The More Violence You Find Acceptable the More Violence You Will Get
I think we can safely replace the word “violence” in the above with “crime” and it will be equally valid. We’ve seen that amply demonstrated in US cities that have been ignoring crimes and taking on bail reform of the kind that means little or no bail for criminal miscreants who then go out and commit more crimes. Then they wonder why crime is skyrocketing, not making the connection between their actions and the dramatic rise in crime. This in turn leads to businesses and citizens deciding it is no longer viable to remain in the crime-ridden areas and leave.
In the case of the article linked above, they are looking at violence as being politically motivated and the worries that people have about the increasing violence, particularly politically motivated violence. Their concerns are no less valid.
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the winds and rain have done a good job of stripping many of the remaining leaves from the trees, those same leaves are clogging gutters and causing some roads to be as slippery as if they were covered in ice and snow.
One thing I did complete today was dropping off the trusty RAM 1500 at the body shop this afternoon. It will be waiting for them first thing in the morning.
And one more thing I finished – cleaning out the front gutters on The Gulch…again. I took care of it early yesterday and with all the wind and rain overnight they had collected a lot more leaves. I will also be doing likewise for a neighbor.
It seems the remaining leaves decided to come off the trees all at the same time which has made it an ongoing chore to keep the gutters open over the past couple of days. With the rain we have coming overnight and on Tuesday, I must keep the gutters clean. Thank goodness it is only one set of gutters on the front of The Gulch and the neighbor’s house I must attend to, so it only takes about 10 minutes or so to take care of each of them.
==+++++==
This doesn’t exactly surprise me. My only question about the move is why did Ford what so long to do so?
Report: Ford Might Kill the F-150 Lightning Electric Pickup Truck.
Seeing as the F-150 Lightning did so poorly in towing comparisons I can see why Ford might be willing to kill the Lightning. My old 2004 F-150 with the V6 and four-speed automatic outperformed the Lightning when towing, and cost a small fraction of the cost of a Lightning, even taking into account inflation. Some folks may have bought it for the same reason folks who bought the Tesla Cyber Truck and the Rivian, and it had nothing to do with their suitability for use as an actual work truck. It’s been virtue signaling across the board.
With that in mind, I will not lament its passing should Ford kill off the Lightning.
==+++++==
I don’t know about you, but I am finding it more difficult to shift back to Standard Time than I have in the past. Being that I live on the eastern edge of the Eastern Time Zone might have something to do with it, so that sunset is around 4pm now and will be closer to 3:30pm by the winter solstice. (Actually, the sun will dip down behind the surrounding hills by 2:30pm.)
I am still waking up at 4:30am EST, a good hour earlier than necessary. It’s taking me a lot longer to adjust to the time change. Frankly, we here in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts would be better served if we stayed on Daylight Savings Time year-round, or alternately, moved from the Eastern Time Zone to the Atlantic Time Zone and stayed on Standard Time. Being at the extreme eastern edge of the Eastern Time Zone makes the shift back and forth a real pain. I know it’s likely the folks on the extreme western edge of the Eastern Time Zone would rather stay on Standard Time year-round. I think that is true of the four time zones in the Continental US, but probably more so in the Eastern Time Zone since it seems to me it is wider than the Central, Mountain, and Pacific Time Zones.
I know most folks would prefer to have more daylight later in the day despite it being darker for longer in the morning. Some make the argument that dark mornings will put school children at risk, but the same argument could be made for them being at risk at the end of the afternoon as well.
I think the twice-yearly switch between Standard and Daylight Savings Time has outlived its usefulness, at least on the eastern and western edges of the time zones. It also makes no sense that Standard Time is in effect for four months and Daylight Savings Time for eight months.
Let’s save time and annoyance by staying on one time or other.
==+++++==
This is something I’ve known for a long time, “this” being that socialism/communism doesn’t work. It never has and never will, particularly if it’s human beings trying it. We have hundreds of years of history showing again and again that it doesn’t work. One of the first trials here in the US was the Mayflower Compact of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts back in the 1620’s. The colony almost died out because the “From each according to their ability. To each according to their needs” didn’t work because everyone wanted to draw from the common larder but no one wanted to work to fill it. Once the Plymouth colony abandoned their experiment in socialism it started to thrive. But it seems we can’t learn the lessons from the endless failures and now it looks like New York City is going to learn that lesson the hard way.
In January 1996, Democratic President Bill Clinton declared during his State of the Union address that “the era of big government is over.” And following America’s decisive victory in the Cold War, it seemed it might be so. Socialism began as a hypothesis – that central planning would improve the human condition. The ensuing decades-long experiment, stretching across all corners of the world, resulted in the opposite: Where communism spread, liberty’s flame was extinguished, ushering in unprecedented human suffering for billions.While the linked article posits that socialism and its even more malignant cousin, communism, was more of a modern phenomenon, but as I mentioned above. It’s been tried again and again under different names in many places and it never worked.
By every empirical measure, the socialist hypothesis has been falsified. And yet, socialism is catching fresh wind in its sails – not in Moscow, Havana, or Hanoi, but in New York City, capitalism’s capital.
This week, New York voters elected self-declared and unapologetic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a man endorsing proposals like widespread rent control, fare-free public transit, and government-run grocery stores. In November 2025, the Democratic mayor-elect declared during his victory speech, “We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about.”
The incoming mayor’s policies have been tried and tested many times, and robust evidence shows they don’t work, putting their continued advance in the same category as flat Earth theory, Moon-landing denial, and chemtrail conspiracies.
If Mamdani gets his way I think we’ll see New York City starting to resemble the Moscow of the Bad Old Days of the Soviet Union and not a Socialist Utopia.
==+++++==
I think we can place the following under the “Well, That’s Obvious You Moron” heading.
The More Violence You Find Acceptable the More Violence You Will Get
I think we can safely replace the word “violence” in the above with “crime” and it will be equally valid. We’ve seen that amply demonstrated in US cities that have been ignoring crimes and taking on bail reform of the kind that means little or no bail for criminal miscreants who then go out and commit more crimes. Then they wonder why crime is skyrocketing, not making the connection between their actions and the dramatic rise in crime. This in turn leads to businesses and citizens deciding it is no longer viable to remain in the crime-ridden areas and leave.
In the case of the article linked above, they are looking at violence as being politically motivated and the worries that people have about the increasing violence, particularly politically motivated violence. Their concerns are no less valid.
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the winds and rain have done a good job of stripping many of the remaining leaves from the trees, those same leaves are clogging gutters and causing some roads to be as slippery as if they were covered in ice and snow.
11/08/2025
Computers And Trucks
It’s a busy weekend for yours truly between trying to resurrect two of the Weekend Pundit computers and prepping the trusty RAM 1500 for its visit to the local body shop.
One computer, the Official Weekend Pundit laptop seems to be working after I reloaded the OS – Ubuntu Linux – and seeing if I lost anything. Fortunately, I have a full backup of the laptop data files which I will check on Sunday. The other computer, the Official Weekend Pundit Desktop, also needs the OS reloaded. I need to download the latest image and create a bootable USB key so I can do that. It gives me the option to run Linux from the USB key or to load the OS. I plan to run it from the USB key first and see if I can access the files on the hard drive. If I can, I will backup the files before reloading the OD, in this case Linux Mint.
I have no idea why two Linux machines could not boot after installing an upgrade and restarting. This happened about 6 months apart and I haven’t seen an answer on the Linux forums I’ve pinged.
I’ve used Linux for years and never had any issues with it until recently, something surprising. Hopefully, I can get the desktop squared away by the end of the weekend.
As mentioned above, the trusty RAM 1500 is headed to the body shop first thing Monday morning to have both front fenders replaced as the rust has gotten to them (though only in two places on each fender). One of the ‘preps’ I did was perform the twice yearly repaint of the RAM’s bed with a half-can of Rustoleum, something I do to deal with the scratches on the truck bed from all of the stuff that goes into and out of it during the year. The scratches generally aren’t deep or down to the metal. Rather they are surface scratches that expose the primer layer. If there’s rust showing the wire wheel gets installed on my drill to get rid of the rust, then primer is sprayed and once that dries, a coat of Rustoleum. I haven’t had to deal with any deep scratches/rust streaks over the past year and a half, and that suits me fine.
The trusty RAM 1500 will be in the body shop until Friday, and the week after that it will be going to the mechanics shop for an oil and lube job, tire rotation, and undercoating. Then the it will be ready for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and the travel it will entail.
One computer, the Official Weekend Pundit laptop seems to be working after I reloaded the OS – Ubuntu Linux – and seeing if I lost anything. Fortunately, I have a full backup of the laptop data files which I will check on Sunday. The other computer, the Official Weekend Pundit Desktop, also needs the OS reloaded. I need to download the latest image and create a bootable USB key so I can do that. It gives me the option to run Linux from the USB key or to load the OS. I plan to run it from the USB key first and see if I can access the files on the hard drive. If I can, I will backup the files before reloading the OD, in this case Linux Mint.
I have no idea why two Linux machines could not boot after installing an upgrade and restarting. This happened about 6 months apart and I haven’t seen an answer on the Linux forums I’ve pinged.
I’ve used Linux for years and never had any issues with it until recently, something surprising. Hopefully, I can get the desktop squared away by the end of the weekend.
As mentioned above, the trusty RAM 1500 is headed to the body shop first thing Monday morning to have both front fenders replaced as the rust has gotten to them (though only in two places on each fender). One of the ‘preps’ I did was perform the twice yearly repaint of the RAM’s bed with a half-can of Rustoleum, something I do to deal with the scratches on the truck bed from all of the stuff that goes into and out of it during the year. The scratches generally aren’t deep or down to the metal. Rather they are surface scratches that expose the primer layer. If there’s rust showing the wire wheel gets installed on my drill to get rid of the rust, then primer is sprayed and once that dries, a coat of Rustoleum. I haven’t had to deal with any deep scratches/rust streaks over the past year and a half, and that suits me fine.
The trusty RAM 1500 will be in the body shop until Friday, and the week after that it will be going to the mechanics shop for an oil and lube job, tire rotation, and undercoating. Then the it will be ready for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and the travel it will entail.
11/07/2025
11/06/2025
11/02/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
As you may have seen in yesterday’s post, my Linux desktop failed to boot after an OS update. I ma using my work laptop to craft today’s musings, but I am hoping to have everything squared away by the end of the day tomorrow as I am taking my time before applying the needed fix. One thing I did was boot Linux Mint from a USB key which allowed me to access files on the machine and back up the most recent ones onto an external drive in case my restoration effort fails, and I must reload the OS from scratch. It’s a pain in the butt, but at least I can be sure I won’t lose anything…I hope.
It was quite windy up this way over the previous two days and a lot of leaves have been blown off quite a few of the trees. Some are bare, primarily those which hit their peak colors early. Those that followed recently still retain a lot of their leaves and I don’t expect to see them fall anytime soon. The winds also caused quite a few power outages across the state, but fortunately our area wasn’t affected.
Today’s post will be abbreviated for the reason mentioned above.
I know it was getting bad, but I didn’t realize it was getting this bad.
NBC News Spins Illegal Alien Pedophile as “Undocumented Father”
Really?
This is something of which I have been aware for some time.
Study: Onshore Wind Turbines Are Major Cause Of Environmental Damage
I’ve known of the environmental issues with off-shore wind turbines and have seen more than a few reports of the effects of land-based wind turbines as well. However, now there’s some data showing that such damage isn’t just anecdotal but is a real problem.
The trusty RAM 1500 is heading to the body shop next week to get the last of the rust taken care of, in this case on the two front fenders. I stopped by the body shop last week to get an updated estimate for the work to be done and then scheduled the work.
As with the original estimate a couple of years ago, both front fenders will be replaced rather than repaired as the owner of the body shop, someone I trust, stated “If we just fix it, you’ll be back in two or three years to have it done again.” At least he was able to get me OEM replacements for the cost of aftermarket fenders.
Some of you may wonder why I’ve been putting thousands of dollars into an 11-year-old pickup truck. The answer is simple: It’s a lot cheaper than buying a new pickup.
Seeing as a 2025 version of my present pickup costs about three times what I spent to buy my 2014, it is a lot cheaper to put the money into the existing pickup. While it is 11-years-old, it only has 101,000 miles on it and it is in excellent condition mechanically. I have kept up with all of the regular maintenance as well as preventative maintenance to keep it that way. I figure between all of that and the body work over the past couple of years I’ll have dropped about $8500 into my pickup. That’s a lot cheaper than having to make loan payments on a $75,000 truck. What I’ve spent would amount to approximately 8 months of loan payments on a new truck. (I’ve seen some auto loans running $1000 a month. Thanks, but no thanks.)
Once the body work is done, the trusty RAM 1500 will be headed to the mechanic for an oil change, lube, tire rotation, and undercoating. It will all be done before Thanksgiving comes around and it will all set for another New England winter.
In light on my tale above, I find it interesting that Chrysler has decided to resurrect the Hemi-V8 in the RAM 1500 pickups. It had switched over to the twin-turbo inline V6 Hurricane engine as a means of reducing some costs (and emissions), but Mopar enthusiasts didn’t like that and a revamped 5.7-liter Hemi is returning to the RAM1500 line for the 2026 models.
Give me the rumble of a V8 any day…
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee where the leaves have finally dulled and are falling, nights are getting close to freezing, and where Monday is coming around to plague us yet again.
It was quite windy up this way over the previous two days and a lot of leaves have been blown off quite a few of the trees. Some are bare, primarily those which hit their peak colors early. Those that followed recently still retain a lot of their leaves and I don’t expect to see them fall anytime soon. The winds also caused quite a few power outages across the state, but fortunately our area wasn’t affected.
==+++++==
Today’s post will be abbreviated for the reason mentioned above.
==+++++==
I know it was getting bad, but I didn’t realize it was getting this bad.
NBC News Spins Illegal Alien Pedophile as “Undocumented Father”
Really?
An NBC News affiliate is facing backlash for attempting to portray an illegall immigrant with an extensive criminal background—including lewd and lascivious acts with a child—as merely an “undocumented father.”How can they possibly explain their ‘support’ of a pedophile with a long criminal history?
Gerardo Rojas-Leyva, an illegal immigrant whose arrest by federal agents was covered by NBC Bay Area … has “a rap sheet including lewd and lascivious acts with a child, battery of a spouse, domestic battery, and providing compensation for prostitution,” according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
==+++++==
This is something of which I have been aware for some time.
Study: Onshore Wind Turbines Are Major Cause Of Environmental Damage
I’ve known of the environmental issues with off-shore wind turbines and have seen more than a few reports of the effects of land-based wind turbines as well. However, now there’s some data showing that such damage isn’t just anecdotal but is a real problem.
Fresh insights into the ecological devastation caused by onshore wind turbines around the world are contained in a shocking new paper published last month by a group of ecologists in Nature. The paper is paywalled and has attracted little mainstream media interest, but it highlights research that illustrates that the effect of utility-scale wind energy production “can be far reaching and sometimes have large and unexpected consequences for biodiversity”. An annual figure of around one million bats are killed in the countries with the highest number of turbines, but harmful effects are seen in many other parts of the ecosystem. The number of top predators such as jaguars, jungle cats and golden jackals can be changed by turbines in tropical forest gaps, leading to the “possibility for cascading effects” along similar latitudinal levels.Yet another example that “green” energy isn’t automatically better than more traditional means of generating electricity, but that it can be worse.
==+++++==
The trusty RAM 1500 is heading to the body shop next week to get the last of the rust taken care of, in this case on the two front fenders. I stopped by the body shop last week to get an updated estimate for the work to be done and then scheduled the work.
As with the original estimate a couple of years ago, both front fenders will be replaced rather than repaired as the owner of the body shop, someone I trust, stated “If we just fix it, you’ll be back in two or three years to have it done again.” At least he was able to get me OEM replacements for the cost of aftermarket fenders.
Some of you may wonder why I’ve been putting thousands of dollars into an 11-year-old pickup truck. The answer is simple: It’s a lot cheaper than buying a new pickup.
Seeing as a 2025 version of my present pickup costs about three times what I spent to buy my 2014, it is a lot cheaper to put the money into the existing pickup. While it is 11-years-old, it only has 101,000 miles on it and it is in excellent condition mechanically. I have kept up with all of the regular maintenance as well as preventative maintenance to keep it that way. I figure between all of that and the body work over the past couple of years I’ll have dropped about $8500 into my pickup. That’s a lot cheaper than having to make loan payments on a $75,000 truck. What I’ve spent would amount to approximately 8 months of loan payments on a new truck. (I’ve seen some auto loans running $1000 a month. Thanks, but no thanks.)
Once the body work is done, the trusty RAM 1500 will be headed to the mechanic for an oil change, lube, tire rotation, and undercoating. It will all be done before Thanksgiving comes around and it will all set for another New England winter.
==+++++==
In light on my tale above, I find it interesting that Chrysler has decided to resurrect the Hemi-V8 in the RAM 1500 pickups. It had switched over to the twin-turbo inline V6 Hurricane engine as a means of reducing some costs (and emissions), but Mopar enthusiasts didn’t like that and a revamped 5.7-liter Hemi is returning to the RAM1500 line for the 2026 models.
After Tavares’ departure from Stellantis late last year, the company immediately set to work righting the ship, and the reintroduction of the Hemi became one of its top priorities. Aside from a few tweaks that were needed to get it to play nice with the truck’s recently revamped electrical architecture, the 5.7-liter Hemi returned to the Ram 1500 lineup for the 2026 model year essentially unchanged from the version that had bowed out in 2024.As someone who has owned a few turbocharged vehicles (a ’85 Dodge Daytona and an ’88 Dodge Dayton Shelby Z), they do have the advantage of lower weight and a lot of horsepower. The only downside to owning both of those cars was that I had to use high-octane gas – minimum 91 octane – in order to extract all of the horsepower and fuel economy. My present RAM 1500 requires minimum 89 octane mid-grade gas, but it’s a lot cheaper than the high test gas.
Even with Ram’s eTorque mild hybrid system now standard for V-8-equipped models, the 5.7-liter Hemi still lags behind the standard-output Hurricane engine in terms of both horsepower and torque (395 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque versus 420 hp and 469 lb-ft, respectively), and it requires an additional $1,200 outlay over the more powerful standard-output I-6. So why, you might ask, are these less powerful and more expensive V-8-powered trucks selling so well?
The baritone bark that’s triggered by a press of the engine start/stop button immediately makes it clear what you paid for. In a stroke of product planning brilliance, Ram also decided to make a sport exhaust system standard equipment on all 2026 Ram 1500s equipped with the V-8, and while the 5.7 might be getting on in years, it still sounds fantastic both at idle and when you’re muscling the truck through traffic. There’s an emotional connection here that you just don’t get from the inline-six, which, while totally competent at its job, is virtually silent in almost everything Stellantis has used it in so far. Even in the admittedly excellent Ram 1500 RHO, which uses an active exhaust setup that allows the high-output Hurricane to sing the song of its people a bit louder, it just feels like something’s a little bit off.
Give me the rumble of a V8 any day…
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee where the leaves have finally dulled and are falling, nights are getting close to freezing, and where Monday is coming around to plague us yet again.
11/01/2025
Oh...Doggonnit!!
The Officcial Weekend Pundit Linux Desktop suffered a malfunction after an OS upgrade and I am in the nidst of a recovery before reloading the OS. As such, I did not put together a post for Saturday. There will be a Thoughts On A Sunday post as I should have the computer up and running again by then.
10/31/2025
10/30/2025
I'll Tell You The Story - Haunted New Hampshire
Considering Friday is Halloween, I thought this might be appropriate.
10/26/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
We’re finally seeing rather cool temperatures up here at the lake. So far we have not seen freezing temperatures overnight, but the nighttime temps have been in the upper 30’s around here. Daytime temps have been in the 50’s, so it isn’t time to break out the heavier jackets.
We have had some rain and ironically that has helped some of the fall colors to ‘pop out’ seemingly overnight. Though we were supposedly past peak foliage colors, I have been seeing more trees changing and with more brilliant colors than we saw during the alleged peak. However, due to the lengthy drought they do not last very long and the trees seem to be shedding them more quickly than is usual.
The water level on the lake continues to drop, though this time it seems to be due to what is called “draw down”, where the lake level is dropped on purpose to help prevent ice damage to docks and piers during the winter months. Quite a few of us are asking they the state is doing this seeing as how the lake level was already close to the normal draw down level due to the months long drought. It doesn’t make sense to us.
The New Hampshire legislature has brought forth a bill that “will reaffirm that it is the state legislature…that holds the sole authority to regulate weapons on public property.” Not state agencies. Not local governments.
It looks like Germany is taking yet another step in de-industrialization by eliminating yet another source of energy needed by its industrial sector, in this case by demolishing the cooling towers of an inactive nuclear power plant.
I find it inconceivable that Germany has shut down and is decommissioning its nuclear power plants in favor of wind turbines, coal, and Russian natural gas to generate electricity. I have a feeling that Germany will end up being yet another object lesson showing why governments shouldn’t be listening to the rabid and deluded “green energy” faithful when it comes to what is and is not green energy.
I have to wonder if this is true:
Just the sight of an American Flag entices people to vote for Republicans.
Can it be that easy?
I’m not sure I understand the logic behind this reasoning, that being that dropping gasoline prices are actually bad news for President Trump.
Really?
A drop in gas prices isn’t all that unusual around here once we get into mid-October as tourist traffic drops off after summer and again after fall foliage season comes to an end.
I’m curious as to what heating fuel - #2 heating oil and propane – will cost over the heating season.
Well, the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout was dropped off at the boatyard for winterization and storage this past week. It will be serviced, cleaned, shrink wrapped, and then stored away for the winter. Seeing the large number of boats waiting at the boatyard to be winterized I figure it will be at least another week or two before they get to it, something not unusual at all. Even with boats being pulled out of the lake earlier than usual because of the low water level, there are still quite a few that are still at their slips in our local cove. Again, something that isn’t all that unusual.
And that’s the (abbreviated) news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the temps are getting chillier, the boats are still coming out of the water, and where Daylight Savings Time will be ending next weekend...
We have had some rain and ironically that has helped some of the fall colors to ‘pop out’ seemingly overnight. Though we were supposedly past peak foliage colors, I have been seeing more trees changing and with more brilliant colors than we saw during the alleged peak. However, due to the lengthy drought they do not last very long and the trees seem to be shedding them more quickly than is usual.
The water level on the lake continues to drop, though this time it seems to be due to what is called “draw down”, where the lake level is dropped on purpose to help prevent ice damage to docks and piers during the winter months. Quite a few of us are asking they the state is doing this seeing as how the lake level was already close to the normal draw down level due to the months long drought. It doesn’t make sense to us.
==+++++==
The New Hampshire legislature has brought forth a bill that “will reaffirm that it is the state legislature…that holds the sole authority to regulate weapons on public property.” Not state agencies. Not local governments.
House Bill 609, sponsored by Rep. Samuel Farrington (R-Rochester), seeks to close what he calls loopholes in the state’s existing firearms preemption law after learning the New Hampshire Department of Transportation barred its employees from carrying firearms on the job.If this bill becomes law, a lot of so-called “Gun Free” zones would be eliminated. Not that Gun Free zones have ever stopped criminal miscreants from carrying and/or using guns in those zones. All they do is signal that everyone on those zones are unarmed and are easy targets.
“The intent here is to emphasize that the Legislature’s preemption is the last word on the subject,” Farrington told the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
New Hampshire’s current preemption law , signed in 2003 by then-Gov. Craig Benson, already reserves regulation of firearms, components, ammunition, and supplies to the Legislature. In 2011, Gov. John Lynch expanded that statute to include knives.
Farrington’s proposal would extend those protections even further—covering stun guns, Tasers, pepper spray, and other self-defense tools. It also bars any state, county, or municipal agency from creating or enforcing its own weapons rules that conflict with state law.
==+++++==
It looks like Germany is taking yet another step in de-industrialization by eliminating yet another source of energy needed by its industrial sector, in this case by demolishing the cooling towers of an inactive nuclear power plant.
I find it inconceivable that Germany has shut down and is decommissioning its nuclear power plants in favor of wind turbines, coal, and Russian natural gas to generate electricity. I have a feeling that Germany will end up being yet another object lesson showing why governments shouldn’t be listening to the rabid and deluded “green energy” faithful when it comes to what is and is not green energy.
==+++++==
I have to wonder if this is true:
Just the sight of an American Flag entices people to vote for Republicans.
Can it be that easy?
==+++++==
I’m not sure I understand the logic behind this reasoning, that being that dropping gasoline prices are actually bad news for President Trump.
Really?
To recap: low gasoline prices are bad for Trump. If prices fell further, that would be more bad. If prices went up again, that’s more bad news for Trump.Yesterday I saw gas prices at the gas station where I usually buy my gasoline for the trusty RAM 1500, with regular at $2.79 and mid-grade (89 octane) at $3.19 which are down about 20 cents from about a week-and-a-half ago.
The national average gasoline price stood at $3.07 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA. That’s down from $3.16 a month ago and $3.15 a year ago.
A drop in gas prices isn’t all that unusual around here once we get into mid-October as tourist traffic drops off after summer and again after fall foliage season comes to an end.
I’m curious as to what heating fuel - #2 heating oil and propane – will cost over the heating season.
==+++++==
Well, the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout was dropped off at the boatyard for winterization and storage this past week. It will be serviced, cleaned, shrink wrapped, and then stored away for the winter. Seeing the large number of boats waiting at the boatyard to be winterized I figure it will be at least another week or two before they get to it, something not unusual at all. Even with boats being pulled out of the lake earlier than usual because of the low water level, there are still quite a few that are still at their slips in our local cove. Again, something that isn’t all that unusual.
==+++++==
And that’s the (abbreviated) news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the temps are getting chillier, the boats are still coming out of the water, and where Daylight Savings Time will be ending next weekend...
10/25/2025
Democrats Deception
Listening to the rhetoric flying back and forth about what is now being called “The Schumer Shutdown” and the media’s reaction to it one would think that it’s The Mean Old Fascist Republicans stealing food from the mouths of homeless orphans. But we must remember that the battle of the Continuing Resolution has to do with funding the government until the end of November until a full budget can be presented, period. However, the Democrats in the Senate are using the shutdown as a means to extort $1.5 trillion taxpayer dollars to fund things that won’t make the cut in an actual budget, or that the Democrats aren’t willing to negotiate in order to get what’s needed versus what they want, even if what they want is not wanted by a majority of the American people.
They have used the “We need the expiring tax subsidies for Obamacare to be extended or millions will lose their health insurance” trope as one ‘reason’ to extort the Republicans by blocking the CR. This is something that could be taken care of during normal budget negotiations. (I am going to mention that the expiration of the tax subsidies was built in to the Obamacare legislation. Democrat legislation.
They are choosing to ignore that they also want to force taxpayers to pay for benefits for millions of illegal aliens who are not eligible for them while ignoring American citizens that need their benefits continued. Any money spent on illegal aliens should be for sending them back to their countries of origin, not providing them with housing, medical care, and other welfare benefits.
Am I being heartless? No. I am merely stating what reason and logic dictates. We have a tough enough time meeting the needs of American citizens without having to do the same for up to 20 million illegal aliens. Or worse, putting the needs of those illegal aliens ahead of those of American citizens. But somehow, that doesn’t bother the Democrats in the least.
Schumer’s Shutdown has created conditions that are strangling the benefits of American citizens in need and the pay of numerous government employees, including the military, as a means of extorting funding for things they know won’t otherwise make it through the normal budgeting process.
Shame on them.
They have used the “We need the expiring tax subsidies for Obamacare to be extended or millions will lose their health insurance” trope as one ‘reason’ to extort the Republicans by blocking the CR. This is something that could be taken care of during normal budget negotiations. (I am going to mention that the expiration of the tax subsidies was built in to the Obamacare legislation. Democrat legislation.
They are choosing to ignore that they also want to force taxpayers to pay for benefits for millions of illegal aliens who are not eligible for them while ignoring American citizens that need their benefits continued. Any money spent on illegal aliens should be for sending them back to their countries of origin, not providing them with housing, medical care, and other welfare benefits.
Am I being heartless? No. I am merely stating what reason and logic dictates. We have a tough enough time meeting the needs of American citizens without having to do the same for up to 20 million illegal aliens. Or worse, putting the needs of those illegal aliens ahead of those of American citizens. But somehow, that doesn’t bother the Democrats in the least.
Schumer’s Shutdown has created conditions that are strangling the benefits of American citizens in need and the pay of numerous government employees, including the military, as a means of extorting funding for things they know won’t otherwise make it through the normal budgeting process.
Shame on them.
10/24/2025
10/23/2025
10/19/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
The weather has been nice up here at the lake, warmer than it has been over the previous few days. One thing that nicer weather made easier was pulling the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout out of the water, something BeezleBub, our friend Bruce, and I took care of yesterday afternoon. My boating season is officially over.
The boat presently resides at Beezlebub’s as I have some work I need to take care of before it’s winterized and stored away for the winter. Today was spent taking care of those last things: emptying the boat of all the gear, making sure the ‘well’ drains are open and all the water is gone, removing the mooring lines, removing the anchors, wiping down the interior surfaces, vacuum the carpeting in the cockpit, and removing any of the mildew or mold that has accumulated. The boat will be moved to the boatyard for the aforementioned winterization and storage on Tuesday afternoon. It will reside there until early May when the boat will go to the fiberglass shop for some minor repairs before it is put back in the water.
One thing I must mention is that ‘leaf peeping’ season is still in full swing, being we are at or just past peak here at the lake. I have to say that the colors have been somewhat muted, due primarily to the drought we’ve been dealing with since early June. The leaves still change but do so less evenly than we usually see, once changed they do not last nearly as long, and they fall off the trees sooner than usual. But that hasn’t stopped the tourists from visiting and spending their time and money here.
I have been hearing the news about the No Kings protests and I have to wonder how big were they, really? One viral video supposedly showing a large number of protesters in Boston has one little problem…
It’s actually from 2017.
One giveaway? Not one of the trees shows even the hint of fall foliage colors which should be quite visible in Boston by now.
Is this one of those instances of “Fake But Accurate” reporting once touted by former CBS anchorman Dan Rather?
I do like Speaker Johnson’s take on the whole “No Kings” protests.
Umm, doesn’t this go against the very thing they’re trying to ‘fix’?
100,000 Amazon Trees Chopped Down to Build Road for COP30 Climate Conference
Wouldn’t it be better if they used a place that was already accessible?
This doesn’t surprise me in the least.
Rhode Island Public Schools Sued for Discriminating Against White Teachers
You don’t cure racism by using racism.
Maybe the Department of Education needs to learn that too:
EPP Presses Education Department to Expose Hidden DEI and Discriminatory Aid Programs
It looks like we’re in for some heavy – and much needed – rain starting Monday afternoon. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we haven’t seen much rain since the beginning of June. It has had the water level of the lake a good foot-and-a-half below normal which has made it difficult to navigate the waters in some portions of Lake Winnipesaukee. Getting into the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout required me to sit on the dock in order to be able to step down on its transom. Getting out at the town docks was also problematic as it was a long way up onto the dock.
The ramp at the town docks was also problematic as some trailers couldn’t go deep enough down the ramp without going off the lower edge of the ramp in the process. This made pulling some of the larger boats out that much more difficult.
What gets me is that the state is still talking about what is called “draw down”, lowering the level of the lake before winter. We’re already seeing water levels that equal what we’d see after “draw down” and they want to drop the lake level even more?
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where boats are coming out of the water, the rains are coming...as is Monday. Again.
The boat presently resides at Beezlebub’s as I have some work I need to take care of before it’s winterized and stored away for the winter. Today was spent taking care of those last things: emptying the boat of all the gear, making sure the ‘well’ drains are open and all the water is gone, removing the mooring lines, removing the anchors, wiping down the interior surfaces, vacuum the carpeting in the cockpit, and removing any of the mildew or mold that has accumulated. The boat will be moved to the boatyard for the aforementioned winterization and storage on Tuesday afternoon. It will reside there until early May when the boat will go to the fiberglass shop for some minor repairs before it is put back in the water.
One thing I must mention is that ‘leaf peeping’ season is still in full swing, being we are at or just past peak here at the lake. I have to say that the colors have been somewhat muted, due primarily to the drought we’ve been dealing with since early June. The leaves still change but do so less evenly than we usually see, once changed they do not last nearly as long, and they fall off the trees sooner than usual. But that hasn’t stopped the tourists from visiting and spending their time and money here.
==+++++==
I have been hearing the news about the No Kings protests and I have to wonder how big were they, really? One viral video supposedly showing a large number of protesters in Boston has one little problem…
It’s actually from 2017.
One giveaway? Not one of the trees shows even the hint of fall foliage colors which should be quite visible in Boston by now.
Is this one of those instances of “Fake But Accurate” reporting once touted by former CBS anchorman Dan Rather?
I do like Speaker Johnson’s take on the whole “No Kings” protests.
He didn't just call the protests ridiculous. He pointed out the obvious: if Trump really were the autocrat Democrats claim he is, none of those protests would have been possible in the first place. "If President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now," Johnson said. "If President Trump was a king, they would not have been able to engage in that free speech exercise out on the Mall."Ayuh.
==+++++==
Umm, doesn’t this go against the very thing they’re trying to ‘fix’?
100,000 Amazon Trees Chopped Down to Build Road for COP30 Climate Conference
Wouldn’t it be better if they used a place that was already accessible?
Spare a thought for the BBC’s Justin Rowlatt as he considers his upcoming trip to the Brazilian city of Belém to report on COP30. Saving the world and its environment is his gig so how will he face the prospect of travelling down a new four-lane highway cut through the dense Amazon rainforest to help speed him and his 70,000 other political activists to their luxury hotels? Based on trees per acre, an estimated 100,000 mature specimens have been chopped down and logged to build the eight-mile Avenida Liberdade causing untold disruption to local wildlife. Happily, all is not lost in despair. If he wishes, the BBC’s activist-in-chief can consider recent findings published in Nature Plants that increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have led to substantial growth in the remaining Amazon forest, with mature trees growing by over 6% a decade. Perhaps he could start promoting on the BBC the enormous benefits of CO2, rightly known as the gas of life. He could front a campaign to assuage his dented COP conscience along the lines: ‘Forward with Carbon Dioxide, not Chainsaws.’This eight mile long road seems like a paradox, particularly in light of it being built to support the COP30 Climate Conference. Talk about hypocrisy. Then again, I have become convinced a lot of what goes on at COP is to support the worldwide scam that is climate change, allowing billions, if not trillions of dollars to be ‘obtained’ to spend on ‘fixing the problem’ even if that problem really doesn’t exist.
==+++++==
This doesn’t surprise me in the least.
Rhode Island Public Schools Sued for Discriminating Against White Teachers
White students are not always welcome in public schools. White teachers aren’t either:How many times does this have to be repeated?
A lawsuit recently filed by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and Providence Public School District (PPSD) violated federal law by establishing a loan forgiveness program that is open to every ethnicity—except whites.
You don’t cure racism by using racism.
Maybe the Department of Education needs to learn that too:
EPP Presses Education Department to Expose Hidden DEI and Discriminatory Aid Programs
==+++++==
It looks like we’re in for some heavy – and much needed – rain starting Monday afternoon. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we haven’t seen much rain since the beginning of June. It has had the water level of the lake a good foot-and-a-half below normal which has made it difficult to navigate the waters in some portions of Lake Winnipesaukee. Getting into the Official Weekend Pundit Lake Winnipesaukee Runabout required me to sit on the dock in order to be able to step down on its transom. Getting out at the town docks was also problematic as it was a long way up onto the dock.
The ramp at the town docks was also problematic as some trailers couldn’t go deep enough down the ramp without going off the lower edge of the ramp in the process. This made pulling some of the larger boats out that much more difficult.
What gets me is that the state is still talking about what is called “draw down”, lowering the level of the lake before winter. We’re already seeing water levels that equal what we’d see after “draw down” and they want to drop the lake level even more?
==+++++==
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where boats are coming out of the water, the rains are coming...as is Monday. Again.
10/18/2025
Average Price Of New Cars Above $50,000
That average new car prices have skyrocketed is not news to anyone paying attention. That the cause appears to be the sales of EVs causing this rise might be.
I was curious to see what it would cost me to replace my 2014 RAM 1500 Express with it’s present day equivalent and I found the MSRP is $77,550, more than three times what I paid for my present pickup in 2017 ($24,150). In 2017 the MSRP for a new one was somewhere around $27,500. The price has more than doubled in 8 years. I know my pay hasn’t gone up anywhere near that over the same period of time. However, the present day price isn’t nearly as high as what I saw almost 2 years ago when I saw some listed for over $90,000! I had a local dealer here in New Hampshire offer me what I paid for my 2014 RAM when the market for used vehicles was hot. At the time it had less than 100,000 miles on it and was (and still is) in good shape.
As such, I will be doing my utmost to keep the trusty RAM 1500 in good shape as it will cost me far less to do so than to buy a new one. In fact, it will be going into the body shop early next month to have the last of the rust taken care of (both front fenders) before it gets undercoated prior to winter. I aim to make it last at least another nine years.
I understand that tariffs are having an effect on some new vehicle prices, so rising prices of some vehicles make sense. (The Honda Civic Sedan I mentioned above is manufactured in the US as are most of the parts used to make it.)
It will be interesting to see how the new and used car markets will be like going forward. I expect new car sales might flatten though used car sales may rise, much as happened a few years ago.
Kelley Blue Book, which is about as reliable a source as you can have for tracking vehicle pricing, says September was a watershed moment for new-vehicle pricing. It claims that, for the first time, the median price of a new car in the United States is over $50,000. And yes, the higher cost of EVs and the rapid uptick in EV purchases are to blame.That more EVs selling does drive up the average selling price of cars doesn’t automatically equate to all car prices having gone up. For instance, looking online I found the price for a new 2025 Honda Civic Sedan is $24,250 (MSRP), less than half the price of the average EV ($58,124).
This finding isn’t sudden, though. EV sales have been on the rise for months, and the average cost of an EV hasn’t risen dramatically. The average EV selling price ($58,124) was up 3.5 percent in September when compared to August, but it’s considered a “normal” inflation rate. Year over year, EV pricing is essentially flat, Kelley Blue Book says. The average price for a new vehicle is $50,800.
I was curious to see what it would cost me to replace my 2014 RAM 1500 Express with it’s present day equivalent and I found the MSRP is $77,550, more than three times what I paid for my present pickup in 2017 ($24,150). In 2017 the MSRP for a new one was somewhere around $27,500. The price has more than doubled in 8 years. I know my pay hasn’t gone up anywhere near that over the same period of time. However, the present day price isn’t nearly as high as what I saw almost 2 years ago when I saw some listed for over $90,000! I had a local dealer here in New Hampshire offer me what I paid for my 2014 RAM when the market for used vehicles was hot. At the time it had less than 100,000 miles on it and was (and still is) in good shape.
As such, I will be doing my utmost to keep the trusty RAM 1500 in good shape as it will cost me far less to do so than to buy a new one. In fact, it will be going into the body shop early next month to have the last of the rust taken care of (both front fenders) before it gets undercoated prior to winter. I aim to make it last at least another nine years.
I understand that tariffs are having an effect on some new vehicle prices, so rising prices of some vehicles make sense. (The Honda Civic Sedan I mentioned above is manufactured in the US as are most of the parts used to make it.)
It will be interesting to see how the new and used car markets will be like going forward. I expect new car sales might flatten though used car sales may rise, much as happened a few years ago.
10/17/2025
10/16/2025
10/12/2025
Thoughts On A Sunday
I can’t believe it’s Columbus Day Weekend already. The leaf peepers are out and about, particularly around here as we are supposedly approaching peak color. I’ve been seeing a lot of out-of-state license plates, a wider array than we see during the summer. I’ve also been seeing a lot more of those same vehicles wandering around, apparently lost. But I’m not seeing as many leaf peepers as usual for this season. The lack of rain which started in early June certainly hasn’t helped as the colors have been kind of muted this year.
I still see a lot of green here with only a few trees having turned and a few more just transitioning now, so the forecast that we’ll see peak color sometime this week seems to be wishful thinking. We’ll see.
I’ve been hearing contradictory information about China, particularly its economy. The ‘official’ line from China’s government says everything is just fine, just some minor economic fluctuations that aren’t anything to worry about. Then you see something like the following from the China Observer YouTube channel that paints an entirely different picture:
Is this something that happened in one area of China or is it more widespread? If it’s widespread, just how bad is China’s economy? Is it just deep into a recession or is the economy on the edge of collapse? If it does collapse, what does that mean for both China and the rest of the world? It will certainly mean both economic and political problems for China, both internally and externally. Will China be unable to ‘help’ Russia in it’s three-year long “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine even if it gets Russian crude oils as payment?
My employer uses parts from China, more specifically optical and opto-electronic components used in fiber optic systems. We have been looking for alternate sources for some, finding them in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and pleasingly surprising, in the US. I have no doubt that our competitors are doing likewise as a “Just in case” move, just like we are.
China is also a large supplier of lithium-ion batteries, needed for phones, tablets, laptops, power tools, medical equipment and many other types of portable equipment as well as e-bikes and EV’s. However, there are a number other countries where lithium-ion batteries are manufactured.
All of this contradictory news and information brings to mind an old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”
I have a feeling China is experiencing those “interesting times” writ large.
New York Attorney General Letitia James isn’t getting anywhere near the abuse she deserves. Look up the word “hypocrite” in the dictionary and you’ll see her picture there.
She ran for office promising that she would “Get Trump” if she were elected. She did just that, using creative interpretation of banking laws to ‘prove’ that standard financial practices for obtaining loans was somehow fraudulent, found Trump liable, and got a $300+ million fine levied upon him. An appeals court found the fine was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment by an appeals court for being so over-the-top.
But when she commits bank fraud while obtaining mortgages in Virginia by claiming her legal residence is in Virginia, that’s okay? Oh, and then there’s the issue of claiming her legal residence is in Virginia. That would automatically make her ineligible to be New York’s Attorney General because that office requires the Attorney General to be a legal resident of New York. Seems she’s found herself in the middle of a legal pickle, particularly now that she’s been indicted for decades of mortgage fraud.
Time will tell how this all works out.
This isn’t really all that surprising any more: Vice President JD Vance annihilates George Stephanopoulos in fiery live interview.
As the linked post states, it was so bad that ABC cut Vance’s feed.
Vance doesn’t suffer fools gladly and he told Stephanopoulos truths he didn’t want to here.
Trump’s Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is much the same way as she doesn’t let the press get away with their usual shenanigans and calls them out on it all the time.
Refreshing, isn’t it?
I’ve always liked reading about the Darwin Awards. The way people accidentally do themselves in never ceases to amaze me. One of my favorite types usually has something to do with stupid people trying to steal electrical cabling from inside buildings, telephone poles, electrical substations, and so on. More often then not they fry themselves when they try to cut a cable carrying thousands of volts using bolt cutters. It became so common that the Darwin Awards website no longer accepts such stories of self-elimination.
Sometimes it is the Runner Up stories that are entertaining, like this one:
Some folks just don’t get it.
And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is cooler, the leaves are turning (slowly), and where I don’t have to worry about Monday this week because I have the day off.
I still see a lot of green here with only a few trees having turned and a few more just transitioning now, so the forecast that we’ll see peak color sometime this week seems to be wishful thinking. We’ll see.
==+++++==
I’ve been hearing contradictory information about China, particularly its economy. The ‘official’ line from China’s government says everything is just fine, just some minor economic fluctuations that aren’t anything to worry about. Then you see something like the following from the China Observer YouTube channel that paints an entirely different picture:
Is this something that happened in one area of China or is it more widespread? If it’s widespread, just how bad is China’s economy? Is it just deep into a recession or is the economy on the edge of collapse? If it does collapse, what does that mean for both China and the rest of the world? It will certainly mean both economic and political problems for China, both internally and externally. Will China be unable to ‘help’ Russia in it’s three-year long “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine even if it gets Russian crude oils as payment?
My employer uses parts from China, more specifically optical and opto-electronic components used in fiber optic systems. We have been looking for alternate sources for some, finding them in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and pleasingly surprising, in the US. I have no doubt that our competitors are doing likewise as a “Just in case” move, just like we are.
China is also a large supplier of lithium-ion batteries, needed for phones, tablets, laptops, power tools, medical equipment and many other types of portable equipment as well as e-bikes and EV’s. However, there are a number other countries where lithium-ion batteries are manufactured.
All of this contradictory news and information brings to mind an old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”
I have a feeling China is experiencing those “interesting times” writ large.
==+++++==
New York Attorney General Letitia James isn’t getting anywhere near the abuse she deserves. Look up the word “hypocrite” in the dictionary and you’ll see her picture there.
She ran for office promising that she would “Get Trump” if she were elected. She did just that, using creative interpretation of banking laws to ‘prove’ that standard financial practices for obtaining loans was somehow fraudulent, found Trump liable, and got a $300+ million fine levied upon him. An appeals court found the fine was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment by an appeals court for being so over-the-top.
But when she commits bank fraud while obtaining mortgages in Virginia by claiming her legal residence is in Virginia, that’s okay? Oh, and then there’s the issue of claiming her legal residence is in Virginia. That would automatically make her ineligible to be New York’s Attorney General because that office requires the Attorney General to be a legal resident of New York. Seems she’s found herself in the middle of a legal pickle, particularly now that she’s been indicted for decades of mortgage fraud.
After four years of relentless lawfare against President Trump, with Democrats shouting that “no one is above the law,” they’ve made one thing perfectly clear: in their world, Democrats are above the law. The evidence that New York Attorney General Letitia James engaged in mortgage fraud is extensive and damning, yet Democrats react with outrage, accusing Trump of “targeting his enemies,” with zero self-awareness or irony.The double standard of too many Democrats in power showed itself far too often during the Biden Administration. Now that the law applies to them again, they’re finding out their arrogance is coming back to bite them. James is going down and so is Senator Adam Schiff as it looks like he may have pulled similar mortgage fraud as well.
Make no mistake—unlike James’s baseless case against Trump, the proof that James herself broke the law is overwhelming. Conservative filmmaker and journalist Joel Gilbert laid out a detailed and troubling case, showing that her alleged pattern of mortgage fraud spans decades, and is far more serious than her defenders admit.
Speaking on Real America’s Voice, Gilbert made a detailed James’s extensive history of mortgage fraud.
“Letitia James probably should not have been charging Donald Trump with trumped-up charges of mortgage fraud in New York, given the fact that New York is a public record state and that all of her mortgages for 43 years were online for myself or anybody else to pull up,” Gilbert said. He then outlined a pattern of alleged mortgage fraud dating back to 1983, when James was just 24 years old. “She purchased her first home with her father, claiming that her father was her husband,” he said. “They purchased it as husband and wife in order to help Letitia qualify for a mortgage that she was not entitled to.”
Time will tell how this all works out.
==+++++==
This isn’t really all that surprising any more: Vice President JD Vance annihilates George Stephanopoulos in fiery live interview.
As the linked post states, it was so bad that ABC cut Vance’s feed.
Vance doesn’t suffer fools gladly and he told Stephanopoulos truths he didn’t want to here.
Trump’s Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is much the same way as she doesn’t let the press get away with their usual shenanigans and calls them out on it all the time.
Refreshing, isn’t it?
==+++++==
I’ve always liked reading about the Darwin Awards. The way people accidentally do themselves in never ceases to amaze me. One of my favorite types usually has something to do with stupid people trying to steal electrical cabling from inside buildings, telephone poles, electrical substations, and so on. More often then not they fry themselves when they try to cut a cable carrying thousands of volts using bolt cutters. It became so common that the Darwin Awards website no longer accepts such stories of self-elimination.
Sometimes it is the Runner Up stories that are entertaining, like this one:
He was told that his rental 4X4 wasn't good enough. He didn't believe them. Tourist in Kia Telluride Comes Dangerously Close to Tumbling Down Black Bear Pass, Forces Trail Closure.While I haven’t seen anything quite that severe here in New Hampshire, we have seen people who made the mistake of mindlessly following their GPS which can, during certain times of the year, lead people down roads that aren’t maintained during the winter and they end up getting stuck in the snow. Signs have been put up on some of those roads stating “Your GPS Is Lying To You. Turn Around Now.” or some such language. Other seasonal roads have had gates installed which are closed once winter weather rolls in. They also have signs stating the roads aren’t maintained or accessible during the winter. That still doesn’t stop some people from trying to take those roads.
People have died on Black Bear Pass, well, falling off the pass.
--snip--
It isn't exactly clear how he came to drive off the trail, since there seems to be plenty of room. (As these things go.) One of the commenters guessed that he was busy "looking at the scenery" instead of looking at the trail and paying attention to driving.
There are a couple of lessons.
• Not all 4X4s are created equalThere are probably more lessons, but that is enough to be going on with.
• Not all roads are like they are where you live
• If a local gives you advice about local hazards, you should consider taking the advice.
Some folks just don’t get it.
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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather is cooler, the leaves are turning (slowly), and where I don’t have to worry about Monday this week because I have the day off.
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