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.