Sunday, July 10, 2011

All Sorts Of Stuff

Thankfully there is legislation afoot in Congress to eliminate the passage to CFL’s bulbs that you need a HazMat team to replace. Those little suckers give off about as much light as a birthday candle and cost about five times what I pay for Edison’s original.

Some of Obama’s pronouncements on the economy of a few years back have come back to bite him in the azz and even the Democrat operatives are now in full fledge damage control. Unemployment and economic growth have been stagnant and the traditional Democratic practice of tossing money at a problem has failed.

The Republicans express joy - of course - at the continued morass of the economy but - naturally - have managed to attempt to distance themselves from their own culpability in this mess. What exactly got us to the failed policies of Obama? Just wander down to Crawford Texas for your answer.

I see a nice lineup forming for the gig being deserted by Steve Canessa. Nothing like upward political mobility and the old “I can do more in the State House” mantra. With so many getting into the race this may be an occasion with more candidates than voters. I also am somewhat disappointed that a candidate I supported a few months ago decided to pull up stakes and attempt to move on. Maybe Allin will serve in both posts? IMO it is harder work being a member of the BOS than “On The Hill.” But those wages in the State House are nice.

Now on the next BOS race do we have M&M popping out of the woodwork?

I saw an accident scene and Brewster had one of their meat wagons show. Looked new - either that or they really kept those things shiny. Was unnecessary - thankfully.

Casey Anthony trial is finally over. I didn’t follow much of it - just the usual excerpts that appeared on the internet - but I was surprised by the verdict. I guess to prove your case beyond all reasonable doubt means to have pictures of her committing the crime.

On a recent trip I once again was witness to the utter incompetence and common sense that prevails at our airports thanks to the government version of mall cops - the TSA. I’m in line 40 minutes and the backup behind me is long, real long. So TSA opens up two new lines and then goes over and grabs the folks that just got in line. Great. After I got through I went over to the genius who ran this operation and asked if they had ever been in line at a store? I said the usual procedure is to say “May I help the next person in line” when opening up a new register. That the TSA folks could have just moved us directly to the newly opened area. This idea seemed to be beyond their comprehension.

Now TSA will certainly get more power to this quasi police force as someone - probably TSA - floated the idea of surgically implanted bombs. I can’t wait until they give these diaper checking federal goons guns.

The Patriot Act is one of the most despicable pieces on intrusive police state legislation to show up since Abe put the kibosh on Habeas Corpus during the Civil War. The PA is now being used to “enforce” warrants that have little evidence if any behind them. One even involved a school loan where a man and his family were held virtually hostage over a school loan his ex had not paid and who was no longer living in the residence. The simple fact is the more power you give government the less you have and a clear example of that is the proliferation of laws over the decades from the simplest to the complex.

And in that area of laws comes regulations. I imagine just about any business could be shuttered at any time if a government “enforcer” looked deep enough into the books of regulations. Maybe a business didn’t properly fill out some form that even in the most obscure way has little or nothing to do with their operations. That opens a door. Amazing the standards that government holds individuals and businesses to but does not hold themselves to.

The Bulger case clearly has demonstrated that just because you have the tag FBI does not mean you are incapable of accepting a bribe or somehow magically are a pristine seeker of truth and justice. The level of corruption in the agency harkens back to their pre Hoover dress wearing days.

Now the latest ban being proposed is that old evil known as chocolate milk. Another example of how all intrusive our government is becoming in managing our lives to the whims and dictates of a few who - naturally - know better than us. Why does it seem Massachusetts is always on the cutting edge of this nonsense?

The space shuttle is now history and will probably soon be joined by NASA itself.

Saw the movie “Bad Teacher” and it was hilarious.

In Texas gas prices were about $3.33 a gallon. Kroger’s Super Market sold gas for $.3.05 if you had their card. I did get some gas in Texas City for $3.39 and Texas City refines about 20% of our fuel. Go figure.

Red Sox had started to sputter a bit but woke up the last seven or so days. Even with injuries they should be in the playoffs.

Middleborough Historical Society has their annual Ice Cream Social this Sunday

14 comments:

sm867 said...

Do you think the QC for the CFL bulbs made in China is the same as we would require if they were made in the US? Neither do I. How many of those hazmat bombs are in the dump as trash right now do you think? I can hardly wait for the report that indicates the lechite coming from the dump now has mercury that will require God knows what or how much to remove from the lechite. If the current BOS member wins the seat in Boston it will be a win for the town but a big loss for the BOS. I go along with the greater good but do not want to return to the days of old.

bogofree said...

Could not agree more. The Chinese will put into play the same stringent controls they do on toys shipped out of country.

My realization on these bulbs was when I saw one being changed at a museum on a trip. The worker had on a face shield, special gloves and a suit that looked like it was built for NASA. Said he was required to wear it. Took him 30 minutes to prep for replacing a freaking light bulb! Asked what he had to do before? Oh....I'd unscrew the old bulb and put in a new one with no prep.

Interesting is how bulb manufacturing has been eliminated over this boondoggle in the U.S.

I'd like to see our representation consolidated. And I'd hate to see an open door come about for a return to the bad old days. I'm sure the Democratic apparatus would love to see Allin get into the final pageant since this is a seat they could easily lose.

sm867 said...

I think most everyone would like to see the town have one representative but I predict that will never happen given our proclivity for voting conservative. As to the CFLs I wonder if the costs of hazardous waste removal and extra costs (manpower/ area protection) for replacement of burnt out CFLs will not at some point over come the savings in energy production. I also wonder why we have this crazy desire to put our own people out of work (closing a light bulb manufacturing facility) just so we can IMPORT these mini hazmat bombs from CHINA (the land of environmental and human rights paradise).

anonymous said...

I really think that many environmentalist are closet anti-American as these hypocrites think nothing of shutting down our industries or regulating them into leaving, only to see foreign countries with virtually no environmental laws or no enforcement grab jobs.

bogofree said...

I've always felt that when new legislation is proposed the question to be asked is where is the revenue coming from? With environmental legislation maybe the question to be asked is how many jobs will we lose?

Suo Mynona said...

Send our jobs to China where they do not have as much governmemt regulation and can produce goods for less money. It is hard to believe a communist country is allowed by our government to kick the ass of our capitalist businesses and reduce the amount we can pay in taxes through employment and profits

LMAO said...

The Democrats love to pander to the kook fringe of their party that seems to exercise a wee bit too much leverage. Republicans appear to be influenced by the "Holy Roller" types but they don't seem to cut jobs all over the place.

Suo Mynona said...

**Catalytic Converters**

Bogo and SM867 you thought CFLs were bad:

pray your catalytic converter does not fail. They cost TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS for a replacement. Auto salvage yards are prohibited to sell used ones. They have to be bagged and tagged and sent to an EPA approved recycler to take out the precious metals. The EPA does not allowed used ones to be sold for parts. There is $25,000 fine if a used one is sold. (this I am told by friend in the auto salvage business)

This is just another tax on the working man that cannot afford to buy a new car or purchase a $2,000 dollar replacement part for a used car.

bogofree said...

Many can only do after market rebuilt on parts. So now if your car goes belly-up you have to take out an equity line? Maybe the Sierra Club can help out?

North Slope Rigger said...

Daddy in D.C. knows best. My rep is Lynch and he's a union guy and I'm a retired union guy and a former steward. But it seems Lynch votes lockstep with the rest of our delegation on spending and as far as jobs if you support the environmental mandates full bore then you might as well be a representative from Hong Kong.

I can see environmental issues as significant but damn it they just seem to go way too far. Must be a balance somewhere.

North Slope Rigger said...

Great first half, Bozo, and you may be right on 105 wins.

sm867 said...

So the Nitwit in charge can't get a debt ceiling increase so he walks out of the meeting? Has he offered to reduce any spending? Has he offered any cuts of any kind? How would any of you business men/women handle a shortage of money in you businesses? Borrow more or cut spending? Do away with redundancy or borrow more to pay for it? BTW isn't Congress supposed to produce the budget? Maybe they need to have their feet held to the fire to create a more balanced budget including pay cuts and layoffs.

bogofree said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bogofree said...

The Great Community Organizer seems a bit befuddled about all this. I guess he wasted his time in law school rather than business school.

The issue appears simple in we'll give you exactly what you want in exchange for corresponding cuts for the next ten years. A simple exchange.

Now if this is not done I guess we cease to exist as a viable nation and float into some defunct third world status according to the collection of grifters at Moody's. Maybe it is just about time to say enough is enough and take the great fiscal risk?

The only ones that seem to actually even come close to holding on to the principals that got them elected is a small passel of Tea Party types.