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The Funny Thing Is

Bill Bunker — Thu, 8 May 2008 11:50:50 -0400

The funny thing about the present fuel crisis is the following.

Clinton and McCain want to roll back the gas tax which would be about 45 cents on fuel for the three months of the Summer.

Opponents argue that this would save the "average" person about $75.

When fuel was $3.12, no one was complaining or calling it a crisis. Over the last two months, it has climbed in price to $3.55-$3.60, which is by all measures the same amount the roll back of the gas tax would be...45 cents.

Now if you do the math, that means that over two months the gas increase has cost the "average" person $50.

Over 8 weeks that is an increase of $6.25 in their weekly gasoline bill. Heavy commuters aside, it seems to me that is not alot of money. Anyone who is anxious about the increase should be able to find a way to shift the burden and save $6.25 elsewhere.

Long commuters are the ones that would be most affected.

The second half of that story is that some politicians are saying that we would ONLY save $75. That tells me that those same politicians can not care much that we have ONLY spent $50 more over the last two months if we were an "average" person.

Americans feel entitled to certain things and I am not sure why. Fuel and health care are front and center.

Terri is correct that we do not need to drive monster vehicles. The ones that give me the biggest anxiety are the four wheel drive Dodge RAM trucks that many of the contractors and their employees drive 100 miles an hour on the interstate. These guys drive like they are shielded like a tank and as if they are invincible. There sitting on the back is strapped a ladder and nothing else in the truck and most of the time no passengers.

The speed and offensive driving aside, they are flushing fuel down the toilet!

American way of life

Terri Oberg — Wed, 7 May 2008 09:07:09 -0400

....that is essentially what it boils down to. We are a country made up of spoiled children. We have become a nation of people who like the freedom of just hopping in our cars and driving where ever we wish to go, from around the block to the pizza joint to cross country to visit friends or explore some wondrous place.

I am as guilty as the next guy. Until gas prices started sky rocketing, I thought nothing of making more then one trip into Concord in one day (a 15 + mile round trip each time). Trains went the way of the dinosaurs because they weren't as convenient as hopping in the car. There are schedules to keep, one would have to plan their trip to Boston around the train schedule. How much more convenient is it to just come and go when you want and/or need? Who wants to share a ride with strangers when we can go in the solitude and comfort of our own cars? New Hampshire is growing by leaps and bounds from the influx of people wanting to experience that solitude and comfort.

This is the mentality of the country we live in. I mean, seriously, do we really need to drive a vehicle that is nearly the size of a small house? Until I start using a bicycle to get around, walk to the pizza joint to get dinner and sell my S.O.'s big truck and boat I won't be complaining about the rising gas prices.

I remember the gas shortages in the 70's. That's when car companies started producing smaller, "compact" cars. I remember my Dad getting a Vega and calling it "the bug" because it was so much smaller than any other car they'd ever owned. Now it would be considered a mid-size car by today's standards. We are a nation that waits until there is a crisis that effects our way of life before we demand changes be made. This spike in gas prices is no different.

Also, those countries that have been around for so much longer then us, have an infrastructure that won't accomodate our big, gas guzzling vehicles. There is more then one reason they drive minis and find other modes of transport. There are plenty of times I think simpler is better. There are even times I think some of God's other creatures are smater then we are because they aren't raping and mutilating Earth; they just take what they need and leave the rest alone.

Tied to RFID and Real ID

SueNH — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:57:13 -0500

Tied hand in hand is NAIS, The National Animal ID system. The federal government has dangled out some bait money for registering of premises that keep livestock and poultry. Horses are included even though they aren't a food animal.

It will do nothing to prevent disease. It will be a rehash of tracking for cattle expanded to other creatures. No property will be exempt. Grandma with her 3 pet hens she keeps for company and fresh eggs will have to register her house and in the future ID each individual bird. Beyond the initial bait money nothing is given to the states. The cost is theirs to bear. Computer reporting and RFID chips and readers will be purchased by the farm or homestead. This will greatly increase the price of farm fresh foods. Many will be forced to give up, unable to handle the technology or increased costs. At a time when we should be cherishing our small farms the USDA is set to put them in a strangle hold. Much more lucrative sending support money to the likes of Cargill, Tyson and Monsanto. Much more lucrative to prevent the private companies that want to test their meat for mad cow from doing so. Send the money to the giant feedlots and factory farms and choke out Ma and Pa.

The State of NH has hidden the NAIS agenda from the people. It's time it got covered and in the depth it needs to be.

I don't want chicken from China or beef that has been fattened on old poultry bedding.

For more information see:

http://www.nofamass.org/programs/nais_info.php

http://www.nonais.org

If you eat food it's important!

Election day - NH's biggest disaster in 84 years

CNHT — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:40:18 -0500

And so begins the nanny state indeed!

Driving off raccoons

Mike Lorrey — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:46:37 -0400

Well, I assume you want your pets free reign of the yard, so I'll not suggest trapping the coon (I mean the leg or head crushing type, those namby pamby live traps only free the coon to find his way back to your porch).

Personally, a 20, 28, or .410 guage shotgun should do the trick, with #5 or #6 shot in target loads, and you'll have a pelt to make a coonskin cap out of, perfect for the next Porcupine Freedom Festival. You may do it in with a .22 if you are a good shot, as well, with less noise. Aquila makes some very nice subsonic .22 LR cartridges with 60 grain bullets you can buy through Cabelas. These produce hardly any noise at all, so you won't have to worry about any complaints from the neighbors, and they are slow and soft enough that there should be little risk of ricochets. Just be very careful about your field of fire.

If you live in a dense urban setting I suppose you can live trap it, but call the towns animal control officer to see if there is some way they can put the animal down for you once you've trapped it (a baseball bat is all we used to use, back in the days when my black lab used to bring home animals alive (you'll never see a dog more disappointed in his master than the day he plops a live racoon down at your feet and you fail to execute)).

If you, or they, just set the animal free somewhere, he'll find his way back to your yard. Oh, and make sure you don't need a trapping license from the state to operate a live trap, you never know these days, given the bambi lovers Shaheen let in at Fish & Game.

I didn't go to the

Nicole Henninger — Wed, 5 Jul 2006 00:21:27 -0400

I didn't go to the Canturbury display this year, but my fiance and I went to it last year... Their fireworks show is probably by far one of the best I've seen.... and it's not nearly so crowded and cumbersome to go to as Concord or Manchester.

Get a balloon, fill it with

Nicole Henninger — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 00:25:33 -0400

Get a balloon, fill it with pepper spray, and cover it in Easy Cheese.

No raccoon can resist.

And when he pops the balloon with his pointy claws, he gets a surprise, and he won't be back!