URLs du Jour

2019-06-15

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  • I believe there may be sarcastic content in Drew Cline's post at the Josiah Bartlett Center: Our legislators must be scientific super geniuses.

    For years, legislators have been on a relentless quest to raise electricity rates for Granite Staters. Because unlike the rest of us, they are geniuses.

    None of us knows exactly what New Hampshire’s energy mix should be. None of us could say precisely how much of the state’s energy should come from solar or biomass.

    But they know.

    Bottom line: consider our high electric bills to be "the price we pay for living under the benevolent guidance of brilliant elites who know best how to spend the money we earn."


  • At Reason, Peter Suderman reports: Democrats Are Fighting Over Socialism, and the Socialists Are Winning.

    On Wednesday, Bernie Sanders, the independent senator and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, delivered a major speech on socialism. Titled, "How Democratic Socialism Is the Only Way to Defeat Oligarchy and Authoritarianism," the speech sought to give us Sanders' own definition of socialism. But the address left enough lingering questions that it might better be understood as a declaration simply that Sanders is a socialist, whatever that is.

    Socialism—what it is, whether it's any good, and who counts as a socialist—has become a major divide in the Democratic primary and is likely to play a role in the 2020 general election, no matter who is on the ticket.

    As others have pointed out: the difference between Sanders and Warren and Biden and O'Rourke and … are not so much in their (invariably statist, expensive, prosperity-destroying) policy proposals, but in the (invariably dishonest) labels they use to describe themselves.


  • Jim Geraghty's Morning Jolt newsletter is usually an entertaining hodgepodge of stuff, and yesterday's was no exception, but I especially liked this bit, about President Trump's latest "outrageous" statement:

    […] why is there surprise that Trump said he would accept opposition research or dirt from a foreign government if offered in the 2020 cycle? He never apologizes. He never admits mistakes. In his mind, something or someone who helps him is good, regardless of all other factors, and something or someone who criticizes him is bad, regardless of all other factors. This is why he keeps talking about how nice those letters from Kim Jong Un are. He cannot assess the quality of someone or something outside of the context of self-interest.

    Trump will say whatever pops into his head in response to any question, and he’s demonstrated time and time again that he does not care where he is — whether it is in front of the wall of stars at CIA headquarters or whether he’s sitting in front of the graves at Normandy.

    He is who he is, he will not change, he will not modify or adapt, and most of us figured that out a long time ago. This is why the “You won’t believe what Trump said” coverage gets tuned out after a while. Yes, we will believe it.

    As Paul Hollywood occasionally comments when a brilliant contestant has committed some sort of baking blunder: "It's a shame, really."


  • The Google LFOD News Alert brings us The Day columnist Steve Fagin advising us: Don’t be a loser on the trail. After relating the embarrassing (and expensive) rescues of wannabe outdoorsmen, he notes that we do it different here in New Hampshire:

    The Granite State is one of few to demand reimbursement from hikers, hunters and others whose negligence resulted in a need for rescue services. This gives new meaning to the state motto, "Live Free or Die."

    Steve advertises our state's Hike Safe Card, a revenue-raising scheme for NH's Fish & Game Department. It's a mere $25 for individuals, and your rescue is free even if you "acted negligently" in getting into that situation.

    Unless (this gets complicated) you've "done any of the actions in RSA 153-A:24, I: being Under the Influence; take one or more people hostage; threaten yourself or others; create a said situation "Recklessly or intentionally".

    Just to be safe, you might want to take printed copies of the RSAs and the State Constituion on your next hike.


  • I went to see Neal Stephenson at the Music Hall Loft in Portsmouth last night. Got a personally-signed copy of his latest novel Fall, and exchanged a few words about Iowa, our common state of origin. He's got a very dry sense of humor.

    But our LFOD alert was triggered by this story in our local paper's "EDGE" entertainment guide: Lucette [Lauren Gillis] to the Music Hall Loft June 15. It's an interview:

    EDGE: You’re heading to New Hampshire for a gig at the Music Hall Loft on Saturday, June 15th. What are you most looking forward to when you visit us here?

    Gillis: I have played at the Loft a few times! It’s always such an enjoyable venue with great people.

    What else am I looking forward to? Honestly, eating seafood. I go to Row 34 every time I’m there and get a lobster roll, usually for breakfast. It’s a definite splurge, but I always look forward to it. I also love the state motto “Live free or die.” It sounds like a song (laughs).

    Well, it is a song.

    Well, I'm doin' ten to twenty
    In the frozen granite state
    And every day I go to work
    To stamp out license plates
    Everyday I got to work
    And every night I cry
    Cause every license plate I make tells me to
    Live Free or Die
    
    [Chorus]
    Live free or die
    Oh Lord tell me why
    Can't they say seat belts fastened
    Or Oklahoma is okay
    Vacation land sounds mighty great
    I wouldn't mind stampin' out the Garden State
    It's enough to make me cry
    Live free or die
    
    Well I didn't mean to shoot that man
    Why the gun just went off in my hand
    I caught him with my wife
    And it cost that man his life
    I'd just got home from the factory
    And that man was sittin' where I'm supposed to be
    Now he's up there in the sky and I'm stuck with
    Live free or die
    
    [Chorus]
    
    So let this be a lesson
    To all you married men out there
    That patience is a virtue
    So make your plans with care
    So if you catch your wife with another man
    It's best to hold off as long as you can
    Then shoot him in another state where they got
    A different license plate
    

    That is… kinda brilliant.


Last Modified 2024-01-24 6:12 AM EDT