Solar Comes to Groveton NH

I attended a briefing up in Coos County about plans to build a 5 Megawatt solar power plant just outside of Groveton.  Present were Bennie Lamontagne from the department of business and economic affairs, Senator David Starr, Tara Giles from Salmonpress, and Barry Normandeau of Normandeau Trucking.   Tom Wemyss of Pure Point Energy gave the briefing.  He showed maps.  They already own a 600 acre site on the east bank of the river (Groveton is on the west bank) of which they plan to clear some 60 acres to make room for the solar panels.  The solar arrays will be mounted on solar tracking bases to improve power output.  The topography is such that the solar array will not be visible from the roads which will preserve the up country ambiance of the area.  There is a big Eversource substation close by to accept power to the ISO New England grid.  At one point Tom Wemyss mentioned selling power in Groveton for 8 cents a kilowatt hour.  That sounded good to me, since I am paying 20 cents a kilowatt hour in Franconia. 

    The project is waiting for the NH Legislature to authorize net metering for operations as large as 5 Megawatts.  Right now net metering is limited to plants no larger than 1 Megawatt.  Costs to install are roughly the same for large or small solar plants.  A five Megawatt plant can make enough revenue to justify construction, a smaller plant cannot.  There is a bill, HB365, to raise the net metering threshold to 5 Megawatts.  We passed it thru both House and Senate this spring.  Unfortunately the governor vetoed it.  A veto override will be voted upon in September. 

   Assuming a successful veto override, they have to do some more paperwork with DES and others.  Funding is in hand and construction could start next summer. 

That Federal Deficit, why it grows and what it means

The Wall St Journal and Fox News have been complaining about the federal deficit and debt this week.  They condemn both and let it go at that.  They never talk about fixes.  There are two fixes, both of them painful.  We could reduce federal spending or we could raise federal taxes, or both.  Do enough of this and the deficit goes away.  However any attempt to reduce spending will provoke howls of pain from those whose federal gravy train has been cut off.  Hiking taxes produces screams from taxpayers.  No congresscritter has the stones to brave either one, so nothing happens. 
   So, the feds continue to spend more than they take in from taxes.  How do they do this? Simple, they print more money and use it to pay the bills and meet payroll.  They do this every year, to the tune of trillions of new paper dollars.  And this works in a way.  Printing trillions of dollars makes the dollar worth less. 
  In my life time I have seen gasoline go from 28 cents a gallon to $2.80 a gallon.  New cars used to be $2000, now they are $20,000.  Comic books used to 10 cents.  Now they are $2.50.  In short, prices of everything are ten times what they were in my childhood.  Or put it another way, the US dollar is worth only a tenth of what it used to be worth.  This is a concealed tax on everyone  Over a lifetime, 90% of all the money everyone holds is sucked out by the feds. 
  How long can this go on?   Who knows?  We put up with a ten times devaluation of the dollar, we can probably put up with a lot more. 

Asylum ?? For entry to the US ??

Been a lotta talk on TV about asylum, some kind of US policy that might let people from hell hole countries into the US just because the place they come from is so bad. 
   Not sure I understand what' going on here.  Ought to be, used to be, that would be immigrants filed paperwork, perhaps too darn much paperwork, with someone, State Dept? ICE? and in all good time someone might get back to them with rejection notices or invitations to immigrate.  You would think that ordinary fairness requires that all would be immigrants get treated the same, no matter where they are coming from.  And you would think that in this age where everything and everyplace is on the internet, with broadband no less, that the someone who accepts the would be immigrant's paperwork get back within a reasonable length of time, say 5 weeks, not 5 years. 
   And just what is the US asylum policy? and how does it fit in?  And is it fair to give would be immigrants from hell holes a leg up on everyone else?  Just because there home country is dreadful?
   Inquiring minds want to know. 

Recesson Talk

Been a lot of talk on TV, even on Fox.  The newsies talk about rates of return on US T-bills.  Uncle sells a variety of T-bills, short term, long term, forever term.  The rate of return on the longer T-bills fell below the rate of return on shorter T-bills.  The newsies are claiming this is a sure fire recession indicator. 
   Dunno about that.  We have bond markets, open 5 days a week, every week.  You don't have to hold a bond until maturity, you can sell a long bond anytime.  Your broker can have the cash in your account within one business day.  That's faster than a check can clear.  People (people with money) buy T-bills when they don't have anything better to do with some excess money.  T-Bills pay a little interest, not much but better than nothing, and they are as safe as cash.  The US has always paid it's debts, ever since the revolution, the US economy is the largest in the world, it is protected by the strongest military in the world, and the US has anything thing you might want for sale, just as long as you have the money to pay for it.  
   If the investor doesn't have anything better to invest in, like new plant and equipment, new product development, dividends, hot stocks, whatever, he will park the unused cash in T-bills, until he needs it for something more lucrative.  I don't think investors really care if it is a 5 year T-bill or a 30 year T-bill.  They will sell their T-bill when they need the money for something else. 
  I don't see any connection between long and short T-bill returns and recessions.  The TV newsies do, and they are talking it up, but what do they know? Really?

Heal US political polarization. Stop Name Calling

Racist.  White Supremacist, Fascist, Nazi, and others.  I hear and read this trash talk every day.  It is just name calling.  It doesn't explain the writer's position, or offer alternative policies, it just slams political opponents.  We used to have a policy on the internet, the first one to mention Hitler or Nazis lost the argument.  We  should  bring it back. 
   Political pundits should concentrate on slamming or advancing policies, rather than doing character assassination on working politicians.  Start by giving the policy's name, or bill number, or case name, something so we could recognize it and maybe even Google it for more info or alternate opinions.  Describe just what the policy does that is good or bad.  Layout a better policy.  Explain how the policy is in line with, or dead set against, the basic ideas of America, like the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution.   Make a case, for or against a policy.
   Understand, that it is far easier for newsies to just name call.  You don't have to know anything, research anything, or understand anything to call someone a name.  Understand that the newsies who name call do it because they have nothing of interest to contribute to the conversation. 

End of Fossil Fuels? Winter is coming

Been hearing a lot of silly talk from Democrats about eliminating fossil fuels.  Chilly.  We have a long cold heating season up here and I burn quite a bit of furnace oil every winter.  The house would be uninhabitable without the furnace.  And I need gasoline to get to the grocery store.  Mac's Market is only four miles away, but it is down at the bottom of Three Mile Hill, and I am too old to walk that, lugging groceries.
   If the Democrats gets elected and outlaw fossil fuel I need to think about relocating to the Carolinas.    
   Vote a straight Republican ticket.

Budget Committee hearings

House and Senate Finance Ad Hoc Committee on the Budget met at 10 AM in Concord.  I went down mostly to lend morale support to the Republican side.  We heard testimony from representatives of Claremont, Senate Ed and Workforce Development committee, New Hampshire Judicial Council, Office of Chip Advocacy, Nursing Home Family Council, NH Legal Affairs, DES, American Cancer Society, NH Dept of Safety, and the NH Dept of Revenue.  Everyone complained about spending plans put on hold by the Governor’s veto of the budget.  None of the complaints sounded all that desperate to me.  The committee chairperson repeatedly stated that the purpose of the hearing was to chastise Governor Sununu for vetoing the budget. 

   Nearly everyone mumbled and spoke too softly.  We need to have a public speaking requirement in New Hampshire high schools.  At my old high school, public speaking was required of all seniors, and was taught by the school headmaster.  Class was in the school theater, we had to speak from the stage.  The headmaster sat in the last row of seats.  Occasionally some unlucky senior would hear “I can’t hear you!” shouted from the back row.   I repressed the urge to do the same today.  We learned quickly under that threat.  Debate and testimony in Concord would be vastly improved if New Hampshire required public speaking in the public schools.

   I left the house at 8:45 AM and didn’t get home until 3 PM.  Cat was pleased to see me when I got home.

Is "white supremacy" real? or just a Democrat slam on Republicans?

Democrats have been talking up "white supremacy" lately.  I wonder what it is, and how you tell who is one?  For an ideology to be dangerous, it needs an organization, with a name, pushing it.  Last two names I remember were the KKK and the American Nazi party.  That was years ago.  I suppose there might be a few of 'em still around, but there cannot be all that many.  And neither name has been mentioned in this latest  burst of "white supremacy" talk on the MSM.  And to be dangerous, an ideology needs a book, like The Communist Manifesto, Rules for Radicals, Mein Kampf.  I never heard of such a book from the KKK.
   Back in the 1950's you could tell the Communists by their party cards.  Do "white supremacists" carry cards?  Is there a modern Joe McCarthy to call them out?
   In short, I think the latest burst of "white supremacy" slams in the MSM is just another way of calling Republicans racists. 

Why does NH education cost $16-$18 K per kid per year?

Assume we put 25 kids in each classroom, and assume we pay the teacher $50K per year.  That's $2K per kid to pay the teacher.  Double that to pay janitors and principals and what ever.  Double it again to pay for building maintenance, heat, light, etc.  We are still only up to $8K per kid.  Yet all the NH town officials I talk to say they need double that to put a kid thru public school.  I never hear just where all that money goes.   I hear the charter schools actually do get by on $8K per kid and everyone agrees the charter schools do a fine job.  They have waiting lists of kids who want in to them. 
   I am all in favor of educating our children.  I am not in favor of paying useless mouths.  Used to be, back when I was going to school,  teachers and janitors were the only people on the payroll.  Headmaster at my old high school taught public speaking to seniors every week all year long.  Miss Blinstrube ran St Mary's parochial school in Melrose with nobody on the payroll except teachers.  How many administrators do we have on NH school payrolls today?  What do the "SAU"s do for a living, other than drawing their pay?  How many bureaucrats do we pay in the Department of Education down in Concord?  

Words of the Weasel Part 50

"gun violence".  The proper word is murder, an old English word, understood by all.  People use "gun violence" to stir up political support to outlaw private ownership of firearms.  Calling the hateful act murder stirs up support for punishing the murderer. 

The British are Coming Rick Atkinson 2019

It's new.  I had the Village Bookstore order it for me.  Only took a couple of days to come in.  Atkinson is writing military history,  little to no discussion of politics, diplomacy, homefront morale, and all the other things that happen in a country at war.  He opens his history with Lexington and Concord, and takes the story up to Trenton and Princeton.  Two more volumes are planned to finish up the Revolutionary War.  He writes about the American army, its maneuvers, its battles, victories and defeats, morale, leadership, Washington and his generals.  Atkinson quotes extensively from soldier's letters, giving his work a fine authenticity.   He writes of the high points (victories) and the low points (defeats, prison camps, looting of civilians, casualties).  The British came close to winning in 1776 at New York.  Washington started with 30,000 troops defending New York from a British force of roughly the same size, backed up by total naval supremacy, important in a well watered place like New York, where everything is close to the water.   Sailing ships could move faster than troops could march, allowing the British to land forces anywhere they chose.  By the end of the battle Washington's forces had been whittled down to 5000 men, close to annihilation.  Had those survivors given up hope and gone home, the British could have won.  They didn't, they stuck around long enough to fight Trenton and Princeton that winter.  Washington managed to  throw superior forces across the Delaware River against unwary British detachments and wipe them out.  As you might expect, these victories did great things for American army morale.    
   A good read.   

Jericho Lake ATV Festival

I attended the annual Jericho ATV festival today.  It is held in the Jericho Lake state park, a bit north of Berlin.  State route 110 from Berlin took me right there.  It’s big.  Roads were crowded with ATV’s for miles around Berlin.  At Jericho Lake they had tents selling ATV’s, ATV parts and accessories, NH Fish and Game, and food and drink.  They were holding mud races between ATVs and an ATV jumping contest.  The jumpers could soar 30 feet in the air, do some acrobatics, and land safely.  Quite a show.  I didn’t get an attendance count, but I figure there must have been at least a thousand ATVs, and four or five times that number of people.  Weather was perfect, sunny and nice.  Everyone looked happy and enjoying the show.  They had big ATVs that could seat 4 (driver and three passengers) and medium (two seaters) and small ones (single seaters), plus off road motorcycles. 

Justice delayed is justice denied; and lawyers bill more hours

The Garner story, from New York, an over weight and out of shape black man, arrested by NYC cops  for selling loosies, (single cigarettes) who died during the arrest, crying " I can't breath" as cops put him in a choke hold.  The case has been enraging NY citizens and paying  lawyers billable hours for FIVE YEARS.  That  is outrageous.  The NYC law against selling loosies which gave to cops the excuse to hassle and then kill Garner is outrageous.  They are just cigarettes, it isn't like Garner was selling heroin or even pot.  The law against selling loosies was pushed by the brick and mortar merchants who did not want street vendors competing with them.
  As of right now, the NY courts have FINALLY rendered a verdict against the cop.  The NY police commissioner has a chance to confirm or overturn the court's verdict.  This is outrageous too.  The cop should have been charged with murder, and the verdict of the court should be final.  Allowing an employee of the city government to overrule a court verdict is ridiculous.
   Note to NH.  We don't want to do anything the way New York does it.   

Democratic Presidential Debate, late July version

I watched both nights.  Fell asleep during the second night.  First night, Warren and the Bern, was amusing to watch, but I don't think any of 'em said anything that will win them votes.   And they all said a lot of things that turn voters like me off.  Government run health care, higher taxes, the Hiawatha life style (Green New Deal) open borders.