NBC delivered a lbelatedValentine’s Day gift to people who probably don’t watch their networks. A headline that includes the words “Immunity acquired from a Covid infection is as protective as vaccination against severe illness and death.”

This will come as a surprise to their actual audience, who have, for several years, been told that nothing could be further from the truth. No worries, they soft-sell it, wrapped in a hand-made pro-vaccine narrative to protect them from the larger truth.

 

Immunity acquired from a Covid infection provides strong, lasting protection against the most severe outcomes of the illness, according to research published Thursday in The Lancet — protection, experts say, that’s on par with what’s provided through two doses of an mRNA vaccine.

Infection-acquired immunity cut the risk of hospitalization and death from a Covid reinfection by 88% for at least 10 months, the study found.

 

NBC quickly pivots to the old narratives. Vaccination and boosters are still the preferable routes, with links to their own hogwash about the unvaccinated being at higher risk of hospitalization.

At no point do they lament another inconvenient truth. That the vaccinated are more susceptible to infection, spreading the virus to their immune depressed vaccinated brethren, or ending up in a hospital and dying. Or that the more boosted you are, the worse that problem could get. There is nothing about the vaccine risks or side effects, not even those the CDC, FDA, and Others have been admitting in recent months. Events that, for a majority, make COVID vaccination more dangerous to them than SARS-CoV2.

They left all of that out.

So yeah, that heart-shaped box of chocolates still has a bunch of left- in it. They also make you scroll through all their pro-vaccine propaganda shaded with good news about natural immunity (without ever using the word natural) to get to this.

 

The immunity generated from an infection was found to be “at least as high, if not higher” than that provided by two doses of an mRNA vaccine, the authors wrote.

 

They never say this about natural infections, from The Lancet research cited.

 

[P]rotection against severe disease remained high for all variants, with 90·2% (69·7–97·5) for ancestral, alpha, and delta variants, and 88·9% (84·7–90·9) for omicron BA.1 at 40 weeks.

 

Or that this research was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which ties in nicely with recent remarks by pro-covid-vaccine Supervillian Bill Gates.

But what’s most important of all, disregarding the mixed message from NBC, is that a major government propaganda arm has admitted that the case for natural immunity was never misinformation.

 

The post NBC’s COVID Natural Immunity Mea Culpa appeared first on Granite Grok.

To Democrats, that suggestion may seem outlandish, maybe even shameful. They might say that to suggest an American President could betray his own country is unpatriotic, and un-American. They’d say it’s the kind of rhetoric we might expect from the fringe elements of our society – anti-government fanatics, conspiratorialists, perpetual malcontents. They’d probably include most Republicans.

But those Democrats have short memories. For four years, throughout President Trump’s term of office, they were all in – falsely accusing that president of colluding with Russia and betraying America.

Today we’re dealing with a different president, a different global adversary, and more credible allegations.

The evidence that Joe Biden and his family have accepted millions of unexplained dollars from China and other American adversaries is becoming overwhelming. Those payments were authenticated by the emails on Hunter Biden’s laptop – emails that even the liberal New York Times has belatedly admitted are genuine.

With other media now jumping on board, it’s becoming difficult for Biden’s defenders to ignore the scandal. Though some still close their eyes to it entirely, others have retreated to their next line of defense, arguing that Joe wasn’t involved. It’s all about Hunter.

They haven’t read those incriminating emails.

Someone once wrote: “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” Biden’s stalwart loyalists aren’t blind. They just find comfort in the dark. For them, whether willful or unintentional, ignorance truly is bliss.

More grounded and objective Americans acknowledge that the Biden family has been enriched by China and other countries. The obvious question remains. What were they buying? What did they expect in return?

Until the recent incident involving balloon surveillance, Biden often portrayed China as a benign competitor. This is what he said as a presidential candidate: “China is going to eat our lunch? C’mon, man… They’re not bad folks, folks.” That was after a Chinese energy company linked to the Communist government had already paid the Biden family millions of dollars.

As president, Joe Biden has bent over backward to appease the CCP.

In February last year, the Biden Administration abruptly ended President Trump’s China Initiative. That program was established to help protect America from industrial espionage by the Chinese.

Then there was the Chinese Coronavirus and the global pandemic that killed millions of people worldwide. The Biden Administration had a lot to say about Covid-19, most of it related to lockdowns, masks, mandates, vaccines, and mandated vaccines. But when it came to accountability for the virus that killed more than a million American citizens, Biden issued these tepid remarks: “Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People’s Republic of China… the PRC continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information… The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them…”

It was meaningless blather. He’s done nothing to get answers or to hold China accountable in any way.

There were other signs that Joe Biden has been coddling China. Remember when Nancy Pelosi announced her planned visit to Taiwan last year? China was outraged, issuing condemnations and threats. When asked about that impending visit, Biden gave this feeble response, “Well, I think that the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now.”

And let’s not forget the sale of America’s oil to China. Even after depleting our Strategic Petroleum Reserves to dangerously low levels, the Biden Administration decided to sell some of those oil reserves to our main geopolitical adversary.

Biden’s most recent courtesy to China came by way of that surveillance balloon floating at 60,000 feet above our highly sensitive military sites. Our Commander-in-Chief, the man responsible for protecting our nation and its secrets, decided to blast it out of the sky – after allowing it to traverse the country and complete its mission. Then he said the incident was “not a major breach.”

But did all of that satisfy Biden’s debt to China? Did the CCP expect something more for the millions it paid out?

China doesn’t want to confront a proud, strong, and united America. The CCP would like nothing better than to see a militarily weak America, dependent on other countries for food and energy. They’d love to see a Balkanized country in economic ruin, beset by widespread anarchy, and dependent on the drugs it gladly supplies.

That seems to be exactly where Biden and the Democrats are taking our country. Their open border policy and the war on domestic energy production can accomplish much of that. And those open borders have also provided an opportunity for agents of the CCP and other hostile nations to infiltrate our country at will.

Maybe that’s what China paid for.

Not that long ago, Senator Joe Biden seemed to believe in strong borders, effective law enforcement, a strong military, and traditional values. But he’s also shown himself to be weak and utterly devoid of principles or conviction – a perfect target for compromise by our global adversaries.

Biden’s loyalists remain blissfully unaware of the destruction his policies are inflicting on our nation. But most Americans sense that the country is in decline. It doesn’t really matter why Biden’s positions have changed. Maybe cognitive deterioration is playing a role. Perhaps he’s just succumbed to pressure from the radical left. But everyone should be deeply troubled that the only ones benefitting from Biden’s presidency seem to be America’s enemies and the Biden family.

The post Has Joe Biden Sold Out Our Country? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Perhaps not hate but certainly don’t Trust them. Chart is over the period of 1993 to 2022:

The post is concentrating on 2022 and neither can rise to the level of being unacceptable in providing platforms that shine in the light of the First Amendment.

However, look at the 1993 numbers – both sets are under 50% on the Trustworthy axis with newspapers really below the waterline. This has been 30 years in the making and one would have thought that at least one or two Bright Light in the news industry…

Sidenote: And for all the Brian Stetlers and Chris Cuomos, there MUST be at least one or two that rise to intelligent, right?  Or is this like God telling Abraham that he would spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he could find 50 | 45 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 10 righteous men in those cities – and Abraham found none?

…could figure out their problem and fix it? Or has the weight of poor reporting already sunk them? I’ve been doing these types of Data Points for as long as the ‘Grok has been open and I’ve never seen an upward trend.

Do YOU trust any particular outlet?  National (WaPo, NY Times, LAT, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox, et al) or local (WMUR, WGIR, Concord Monitor, Laconia Daily Sun (or the other “Suns”), Telegraph, et al)?

How about in the alternative media (and for the purpose of THIS question, exclude GraniteGrok for now).

(H/T: Powerline)

The post Data Point – So When Will The News Media “Get It” That Americans Hate Them? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Here’s something a little different, Militias that I’ve recently learned actually exist right here in America. So if you think they are what you imagine, they are. Thing about these is they are approved by their counties. I attended a zoom on my computer and in case anyone tells you they are a bunch of radical white supremacists or something they didn’t seem that way to me, just regular folks. Now before any liberals get their shorts in a bunch, let’s realize they already have their own Militias. Sure do! They are called Antifa and Black Lives Matter, so what difference do any names make? They are organized with leadership, have a purpose (to intimidate and create chaos which is still a purpose), and are armed. Oh yes, they are.

Let’s be clear about the term and definition of “armed”. To be clear, being armed means to be carrying a weapon for either attack or defense. Humans have gone armed for centuries with everything from wooden clubs, spears, swords, lances, bows and arrows, and muskets up to pistols,  submachine guns,  and the AR rifles today (let’s not forget about nukes!). Possibly lasers and phasers in the future.

Remember, the Second Amendment uses the word “arms” and attests to “shall not be infringed”.

No, the Founders did not mean muskets exclusively. These men were very well educated, knew history and knew which arms were associated with what eras. So, they  knew, in times, that new weapons would be expected to be invented. They were not the idiots that today’s antigunne’s want everyone to believe they were.

Back to Antifa and BLM. Some of them do carry firearms; how else did they shoot and kill people during their riots and ambushes? Many of them carried untraditional weapons, fire bombs, old weapons like clubs, some knives, and even fireworks. These can all be classified as arms because they use them as weapons and can kill or injure.

Thus, wouldn’t it be understandable if those of us who support our Constitution and our Republic were to create County Militias? The Leftist rioters of a few years back clearly showed local police forces seldom had the numbers required to protect private property and lives. Now, with massive invaders coming across our borders with criminal drug gangs, sex traffickers, terrorists and undesirables imbedded in their numbers causing huge increases in violent crimes of all sorts while creating all kinds of chaos, is their any logical argument against Militias?

Especially since Democrats are the Party of “defund the police”?

You tell me.

The post Militia? Why Not? appeared first on Granite Grok.

While Walt Disney was really anti-Communist, it seems though that the Progressive Infection that has taken over his company no longer shares that view. After all, isn’t the Transgenderism and the CRT ideologies that are now part and parcel of everything it does (and is now living that great phrase of “Go Woke, Go Broke” as it is laying off thousands of its workers and subscribers have left it in droves (like my family)).  This from back in 2002 makes it clear this has been a long time baking:

I just finished watching the 1998 Disney movie “A Bug Life” and despite my hopes to the contrary, I was reminded how pervasive socialist ideology has become in absolutely everything Disney produces. I have come to expect collectivist overtones from Disney’s regular programming, but the extent to which its animated films are full of socialist indoctrination is simply disgusting. Unlike most liberal media companies, Disney produces more than the usual “multicultural” garbage but actually inserts Marxist ideology into the plot of its animated children’s movies.

“A Bugs Life” has all the elements of the topical Disney presentation of the class struggle: the proletariat, represented by the worker ants, the bourgeoisie, represented by the grasshoppers, the greedy slave-driving boss, represented by the “boss flea” in charge of the flee circus. Famous lines include [as I remember them]: “if the ants only realized that they outnumber us a hundred to one, we would be finished!” and “you’ve committed the ultimate sin: you put yourself before the colony!” If that were not enough, the flea-boss frequently explains “let’s go, there’s money to be made!” as he denies his worker’s request for a raise and proposes a routine where one the bugs is burnt to a crisp. Meanwhile, the movie makes it a point to show the ant-queen diligently joining the worker ants in their work, as she and Flik, the hero repeatedly explain “I care for the colony!” I’d like to say that Flik is at least a creative non-conformist, but the movie makes a point to show that none of his ideas are self-inspired, and all of them come to fruition only by collective effort.

Not surprisingly, the movie ends with the defeat of the overclass, as the revolutionary hero Flik inspires the ants to rise up and ensure that the ants get to keep all the “surplus” grain they collect by their collective effort.

(H/T: Rational Mind)

Even with knowing all that, I was a bit startled when I came across this at RedState about Disney’s newest Marvel movie:  “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”:

They seem to have concluded that “if American audiences don’t applaud radical leftist ideas, then perhaps China will.”

After all, 340 million versus 1.4 BILLION possible consumers?  Chinese Yuans shining in the C-Level suites

Disney/Marvel’s upcoming superhero flick “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” seems to do just that. While China doesn’t tolerate LGBT messaging, what it does like to hear is that political systems that lead to communism are a good thing. This is exactly what Disney/Marvel decided to get across in the movie with a line from a character. According to YouTube Valliant Renegade who got an early viewing of the flick, one character delivers a very serious line in the film.

“Unpopular take, but hear me out: Socialism is a good thing,” says the character.

“Socialism is a Good Thing” – Actual line from #AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania – this movie needs to fail HARD because it was made for Chinese Communists. Do not HATE watch it

— Valliant Renegade (@ValliantRenegad) February 15, 2023

The rest of the post talks about how it just isn’t a good movie. Period.

I have often heard and read that no one could ever conquer the United States from the outside but we can fall from the inside. You know, Trojan Horse and Fifth column activities.  Make no mistake, the Left (including communists like the Frankfurt School and Italian Antonio Gramci) knew that if their ideology made it into our cultural centers and education system, the US would indeed fall.

How does one not have periods of despair when you read “Socialism is a Good Thing” from a pinnacle of American culture and capitalism?  From movies to TV to their parks – their message is clear and it isn’t about true blue Americanism (before “true blue” was co-opted).

My only takeaway is as Disney is engaged in the Culture War against us, we all have to engage in a financial war with them. No, we don’t have their billions but remember that their billions first start off as our 10s and 20s.  Add eyeballs as well – we have a complete ban on Disney offerings here at Chez Skip.  It’s not much but when this is compounded by millions, a message is sent back.

 

The post So Disney has just gone all Critical Race Theory and Trans – And Communistic? appeared first on Granite Grok.

I assume many of you deny that systemic racism exists. It sure does. Indeed, it permeates the Biden-Regime and the permanent government. More specifically, the Biden-regime and the permanent government are full of anti-white racists. No?  Then explain to me why East Palestine was ignored for so long and why it still has NOT gotten the help it needs and deserves.

No … it’s not incompetence by “Mayor Pete.” It is anti-white racism by “Mayor Pete” and the rest of the Biden-regime and the permanent government. You see East Palestine is overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly poor and overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump. For these reasons, the people of East Palestine are despised and loathed by “Mayor Pete,” the regime and the permanent government.

If the train derailment had occurred in a town that was overwhelmingly black and had overwhelmingly voted for Biden, do you think that town would’ve received the same treatment from “Mayor Pete,” the regime and the permanent government as East Palestine has received? You know full well that that town would have received timely visits by “Mayor Pete” and Figurehead-POTUS Biden, the town would have been immediately flooded with DC-dollars, and the regime-media would have lectured nonstop about racist train-tracks.

But the people of East Palestine are white, poor and supported Donald Trump. So as far as “Mayor Pete,” the regime and the permanent government are concerned … they’re getting exactly what they deserve.

The post Yes … Systemic Racism Is A Thing appeared first on Granite Grok.

Saul Alinsky’s Rules For Radicals #4:

“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

And in this case, the Judge is the “activist”.  “Show me or….” is the threat (and yes, he has the Power to do so). Illinois just passed a SWEEPING gun ban bill, the Illinois Firearm Ban Act, that rivals what California and Massachusetts have done to their citizens’ Second Amendment Rights.  “Common sense” nothing – that’s the moniker they use instead of being honest in saying “we ARE going to take them away from you”.  THOUSANDS of firearms  (and “Mommy Govt, may I have one? actions”) are now prohibited.

They forgot about SCOTUS’s Bruen gun decision. Or, what seems more likely, trying to either believe it doesn’t hold any water or that they could get away with it. Heh – US District Court Judge Stephen McGlynn, in the lawsuit filed by the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance,  issued an order requiring the state to provide illustrative examples of each and every item banned under the Illinois Firearm Ban Act:

24 – Feb 13, 2023 – ORDER: Within the response to 16 Motion for Preliminary Injunction, Defendants shall provide illustrative examples of each and every item banned under 720 ILCS 5/24-1.9. Signed by Judge Stephen P. McGlynn on 2/13/2023. (jce)THIS TEXT ENTRY IS AN ORDER OF THE COURT. NO FURTHER DOCUMENTATION WILL BE MAILED. (Entered: 02/13/2023)…

He’s gonna need a bigger courtroom.  As the author puts it (emphasis mine):

Here’s the first of many problems for AG Illinois Attorney General] Kwame Raoul: there are so many variations in the guns listed in the ban law that identifying every forbidden firearm will prove, well, difficult at best. After all, there are so many makes, models, and variations of America’s favorite rifle that providing illustrative examples of “each and every item” is damn near impossible.

And he points out that even if you have a legal gun, the law states that IF it can be converted to an illegal one based on changed features (say, putting a pistol grip on a shotgun?), that original shotgun is now illegal as well resulting in:

That’s correct…many of the most popular pump-action shotguns ever made are now forbidden in Illinois.

And that includes all of the parts that could be used in doing so (think about what’s in your gun for parts…). Yes, this is Civilian Disarmament. The Democrats, who basically run Illinois, don’t care at all for the Second Amendment and are trying to “legislate it” away.

It could end up being almost as big as Bruen if the Judge continues on this path and the State can’t get 10s, if not 100,00,000s of guns and parts they’ve banned in front of him.

(H/T: The Truth About Guns)

The post Federal Judge: “Show Me Examples of ALL the Firearms You Just Banned, Illinois” appeared first on Granite Grok.

This was a very busy week for me; the House met on Tuesday, my committee met as usual on Wednesday and Thursday, then JLCAR on Friday. Fortunately, I’m not planning any committee work for the next two weeks: just sessions and subcommittee work.

The House session began with SB 1, a bill from Finance to postpone the scheduled March 1 closure of the Sununu Center (our juvenile jail.). Since there is no place to put the inmates at the center if it were to close (federal law, as I understand it, prohibits putting juveniles into an adult prison) something had to be done. SB 1, as amended by House Finance, delays the closure until a new facility is open, funds continued design and site selection for the new facility and creates a study commission on community impacts of the center. It was amended and passed on a voice vote with no debate; we then suspended the rules to send it back to the Senate immediately!

In the middle of the session, the Senate joined us to listen to the governor’s budget address. I won’t bother mentioning most of it because House Finance will be working exhaustively for the next month to review and amend it. If nothing else, revenue estimates from the House Ways & Means Committee will be used to set spending limits – governors are frequently very optimistic in their assumptions! I will mention that the governor plans to revamp the OPLC, eliminate a number of boards and licenses, and institute full recognition of out-of-state professional licenses. I and my committee will be reviewing that section to compare his approach with the bills we are working on (or have passed!), and likely recommending some revisions.

HB 91, creating a data privacy and security governance board for the department of health and human services, was amended and passed without comment. HB 347, creating a superior court land use docket, was amended and debated. I supported the bill because it adds a new superior court judge (currently short-staffed) who would be knowledgeable about land use law and only deal with these cases (at least until the backlog is cleared up!) This bill doesn’t change any land use law, just how the courts deal with appeals of local decisions. It passed on a voice vote.

HB 62, reducing the gas tax by 4.2 cents per gallon, was killed without comment. I was rather surprised at that, but apparently, everyone thought somebody else would debate it…

HB 234, ending renewable energy credit “sweeping,” a practice where the credits that the owners don’t file paperwork for (usually small residential solar panels) are allocated to utilities instead of them needing to pay, had been tied in committee. Supporters wanted to generate more funds for investing in clean energy; opponents (like me) wanted to lower electric bills. After some debate, it tied on the floor, 182-182. A motion to table failed, then a motion to kill it failed, 183-184. A subsequent motion to table passed, 346-20, in exhaustion. At 4 pm, a motion to take it off the table also failed, 179-182.

HB 246, suspending grants for new energy projects for two years in favor of rebating funds to electric ratepayers, also tied in committee. After debate, a motion to pass failed, 179-186; a second motion to kill the bill also failed, 184-184, with the Speaker’s help; a motion to table passed on a voice vote. HB 418, eliminating ratepayer rebates from the energy efficiency fund, also tied in committee – notice the trend? It was debated, failed (183-185) to pass, then was tabled 186-182.

HB 576, establishing a commercial PACE program, which pays back energy efficiency loans on their property tax bills, passed without comment. HB 630, creating a clean energy accelerator fund, yet again had no recommendation from the committee. A floor amendment passed, 186-184, after some debate; after more debate, the bill failed on a 185-185 tie; a tabling motion failed, 184-186, and finally a motion to kill the bill passed, 187-182. An evenly divided House takes a lot longer to settle some issues…

HB 260, prohibiting driving with an animal on one’s lap, was debated and killed, 194-172. Adding that level of detail to the distracted driving statute might make it easier for the police to convict a distracted driver with an animal on his lap, but also might make it easier for a distracted driver to claim that reading the newspaper, say, must not be distracting or the state would have put it in the law!

HB 374, granting licenses and ID cards to illegal aliens, was debated and killed, 191-179. Personally, if those advocating for licenses for illegals were willing to stamp them “non-citizen” so they couldn’t be used to vote, I’d be much more supportive of this idea. HB 388, requiring only one license plate per car, was debated before being killed, 191-181.

HB 597 had no recommendation from the committee: it authorized voluntary race and ethnicity information on drivers’ licenses. A silly idea if the intent is to collect statistical data on traffic stops or other interactions: one has no assurance that those who put this (self-identified) data on their license are similar to those who don’t, and I tend to think they wouldn’t be. It was debated before not passing, 172-200, then killed on a voice vote.

HB 34, raising the minimum age of marriage to 18, had a much longer debate than I would have thought necessary. Some years ago (in 2015, I think – I remember voting on it) we changed the minimum age so that it’s now 16 with parental consent and a judge’s order, and very few minors have gone through that process: zero in the last few years. So we killed the bill, 188-184, with the majority comfortable with the protection we have for minors, including an allowance for those who are mature enough to marry before age 18.

HB 560, establishing a voluntary program for the police to contact a responsible person when they are dealing with a physically or mentally handicapped person, passed without comment. HB 306, adding various historical events to the schools’ civil rights curriculum, was not tabled, 183-184, then debated at some length. I was undecided on this bill, as I believe that these areas need to be covered in history and civics classes, but mandating specific curriculum content is the duty of the local school board. What swayed my decision was that those in favor of killing the bill kept referring to “the alleged Armenian genocide” in deference to the Turkish population. The Turks did, a hundred years ago, kill and exile a large part of their Armenian population; it’s as solid a historical fact as the Holocaust or the Uighur persecution in China. The bill was killed, 253-118, against my vote.

HB 419, about the math learning communities in the community college system, and HB 420, about the dual and concurrent enrollment program in the community college system, both passed without comment. HB 429, requiring all public schools (including charters) to offer breakfast and lunch under the federal programs, was tabled, 190-173. I don’t like making this a mandate, especially as most schools already offer meals, some under the federal program and some in other ways. The mandate is unconstitutional unless the legislature funds it, and some schools do not want to comply with the regulations and restrictions of the federal programs.

HB 430, restricting the Education Freedom Account program to those who are in their local public school for a year, had no recommendation from the committee (a partisan 10-10 split.) After some debate, it was not passed, 185-185, with the Speaker voting, then tabled, 186-183. HB 487, creating a farm-to-school reimbursement program, was amended, 183-181, debated, and not passed, 181-187, then tabled, 195-172. I opposed this bill because the reimbursement was tiny (only $1,200/school), expensive to administer (about $300,000 in administrative costs), and unnecessary since almost a third of New Hampshire schools have some sort of farm-to-school programming.

HB 521, clarifying current practice for payment of a residential placement in an emergency, also provides guidance for determining whether the Department of Education (likely special education) or Health & Human Services (Medicaid and other programs.) HB 542, adding a data analyst position to the department of education, would give lawmakers and parents data on results of various school issues. Both these bills passed without comment.

HB 626, transferring the administration of the education freedom accounts from a contractor to the department of education, was debated and passed, 183-180. I was opposed, since the private organization was able, by private donations, to start the program much faster than a government agency could and is likely more cost-effective at the administration. The Finance committee has the bill now and should be considering these issues. HB 638, eliminating the accountability reports for “extraordinary needs” grants to schools under $50,000, was debated and passed on a voice vote.

HB 324, creating a publicly funded election system for governor and executive council, was debated and not passed, 163-200, then killed 201-163. Besides the problem of forcing taxpayers to contribute to candidates they don’t agree with, it doesn’t eliminate other political contributions! So outside money would also be available to those who asked for it, eliminating the alleged advantage of public funding.

HB 502, eliminating the “voter affidavit” ballots we created last year was debated, not passed, 179-182, and killed, 182-181, with the Speaker breaking a tie. These ballots require someone who registers to vote on election day and does not present ID or evidence of domicile to have their ballot put aside until they provide this information. There’s no change for previously-registered voters, nor for same-day registrants who have ID and evidence of living in the district – only those who wander in with nothing but a pen to sign the affidavits (a rare case in the polling places I’m familiar with!)

HB 508, requiring absentee ballots to have return postage paid by the Secretary of State, was debated before being killed, 189-172. As was pointed out, in many areas the cost of gas to drive to the polls is equivalent to the postage cost, and anyone can drop their ballot off at town hall for no extra cost.

The Environment and Agriculture committee had two bills dealing with food waste: HB 300, prohibiting anyone generating more than a ton of food waste a week from disposing of it in a landfill; and HB 462, funding the solid waste management fund to reduce and divert food waste from landfills. Both were amended and passed without comment. HB 494, creating a dedicated fund for fertilizer registration fees to pay for the required testing, passed without comment.

HB 341, establishing licenses for massage establishments, was debated and killed, 184-171. This was from my committee, and I spoke briefly on the inappropriateness of using a professional license to fight crime. HB 620, on a pilot program for early childhood education, was amended, debated, and passed, 183-174. This was harder for me to debate because the amendment removed one of the main problems with the bill, that of creating a new department for a pilot program: it was a division of the Department of Education, which is obviously more appropriate (even if still excessive – the pilot is funded with one-time federal money, but the department/division would continue forever!)

HB 102, requiring high schools to include the history of communism in their curriculum, was tabled, 314-44. HB 482, requiring ballots to have embedded traceability features, and HB 599, requiring an audit of the 2022 election, were both killed without comment. HCR 3, affirming states’ powers over the federal constitution, was tabled on a voice vote.

One side effect of such a closely divided House is more close votes: the Speaker had to vote multiple times, to break or create a tie. He said he’d voted more on one day than in the entire last session!

My committee met Wednesday and Thursday to hear more bills. HB 457 would ban the state treasurer and the retirement system from dealing with investment companies that used ESG (ecological, social, and governance) factors in addition to financial factors when they selected investments or voted their proxies. This was a principled position but brought out a great deal of opposition from fiduciaries who pointed out that they were required to invest in the best interest of the beneficiaries, and arbitrary restrictions like this limited their options. It went to the pension subcommittee for further analysis.

HB 278 was a returning bill to exempt special duty hours from the limit on part-time employment for retirees. I had an amendment prepared to fix a different issue, that the reporting requirement for retired part-time employees had been inadvertently deleted some years ago, and nobody noticed until this year – in fact we’ve continued to amend that section of law! So my amendment simply reinstates that provision; it completely replaces the original content of the bill since we have been consistently opposed to allowing expansions to that part-time limit. After some comments, the committee unanimously adopted the amendment and voted to pass the bill.

HB 461 would require an employer who eliminated a Group II position or replaced it with a part-time position to continue to pay the unfunded liability on that position, plus penalties. It is intended, according to the sponsor, to eliminate abuses such as Hooksett retiring its police chief and then replacing him with a “part-time” retired police chief from another town. We agreed that this action is abusive, granting the town in question advantages (no pension contribution for the position in question, plus being able to offer the person they wanted pay plus their pension) that left the liability to be covered by other employers in the retirement system. Still, the bill appeared to be too broad brush – a town might well want to eliminate some positions for legitimate reasons – and simultaneously too narrow – Group I positions are subject to the same abuse (consider Pittsfield’s former school superintendent.) So this bill also went off to subcommittee.

HB 559, Dan’s bill to create a defined contribution retirement plan for new state employees – GI only – had extensive testimony and a lot of questions from the committee. Most of the members are more familiar with defined contribution plans – after all, that’s what most people get nowadays! One concern was that the contributions – 7% from the employee, 2.5% from the state – are the same as currently in place in the defined benefit plan and that appears to be too low from the state (the state also covers the unfunded liability for these positions, at the same rate as calculated for other employees.) This bill, also, went off to subcommittee.

We also voted on HB 436, the last pension bill due to go to another committee. We had an amendment adopted by the subcommittee which deletes, over ten years, the tiered levels of retirement benefits that affected the people who were employed but not yet vested in 2011 when the retirement system had the third major reset to fix its underfunded position. The cost of this change is something between $200-250 million; at least the bill pays for itself from the general fund ($25 million/year) rather than downshifting it to the towns. The committee voted unanimously for the amendment and 16-3 for the bill as amended. I voted for it as an attempt to solve the drastic recruitment and retention problem we have with these employees: they believe that they were betrayed in 2011 because they felt they had a contract with their employer to get these pension benefits. So restoring these benefits should restore their trust (at least some of it…) and hopefully convince some to stay in service for another few years to collect the better pension, and stop bad-mouthing the system to potential recruits. I can understand not considering that this is a worthwhile effort, or not worth the expense – it’s a balancing act.

We heard HB 64, requiring the commission on demographics to consider race and ethnicity. This seemed silly, since race and ethnicity are part of demographics, and they would do so automatically. We voted unanimously to kill this bill. HB 228 repealed the commission on demographic trends since it has rarely met and never produced a report. There is a demographic group at UNH that provides useful data for the legislature, so having a group of amateurs as well seems unnecessary. We voted unanimously to pass this bill, killing the commission.

I presented my HB 564, ratifying the building code amendments approved by the building code review board, and an amendment ratifying some amendments to the fire code while adding a fire prevention engineer to the fire control board. These generated a lot of questions, but fortunately, the state fire marshal and the chair of the building code review board were there to provide the details. The committee voted unanimously to adopt the amendment and pass the bill.

HB 617, prohibiting requiring proprietary software to deal with the state, had our open-source software representative with us again – but with a bunch of friends! They testified for over an hour; the director of information technology rebutted many of their points. The only concrete example they had of needing proprietary software to deal with the state was Zoom meetings – and in that case, Zoom can be avoided by attending the meeting in person. The committee was not convinced that there was a real need for this bill, but we didn’t have time to vote on it.

HB 284 clarifies that municipalities and counties can release some data about bids in process – not prices from other bidders or even who the bidders are – but scheduling data, reasons for cancellation, etc. It seemed perfectly reasonable and had no opposition. A member of my committee (Dianne Schuett from Pembroke, who’s the chair of the Merrimack County Delegation) presented an amendment to increase the minimum for purchases by counties to go out for bids from $5,000 to $10,000. This also had no opposition and was supported by executives from four counties.

HB 359 was another attempt to make election day a holiday: this time, the sponsor realized it already is a state holiday and added the primary and the presidential primary, with the requirement that they be a real holiday, that is people get off work. No formal opposition, but the committee didn’t see the need for this bill.

 

Representative Carol McGuire
carol@mcguire4house

The post Your State House 2/17/23: Budget, Sununu Youth Center, HHS Privacy, Land Use Court Judge, Gas Tax and More! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Most of what you are about to read will look like old but solid ground. A series of simple one-sentence ideas that we’ve covered but that looks so good in a list like this that I feel the need to share them again.

This list is not mine, but I’ve touched on most or all of the topics, or they’ve been broached by myself or others on these pages more than once and maybe dozens of times.

The political left will call them divisive, but normal Americans will nod their heads at what appears to be a very straightforward list of things that make you go, hmmmm?

Each one by itself is a conversation starter or ender. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much.

 

• If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.
• Somehow, it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.
• Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.
• It was cool for Joe Biden to “blackmail” the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it.
• Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote.
• People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.
• Inflammatory rhetoric is outrageous, but harassing people in restaurants is virtuous.
• People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.
• Immigrants with tuberculosis, Covid and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.
• Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.
• $5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.
• If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.
• People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.
• We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.
• Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.
• Criminals are catch-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it’s a violation of THEIR rights.
• And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us “racists”?!

 

There are plenty more things like this worth thinking. It is the mission of the left to create so many of them that the people explode (because you’re not allowed to talk about them), and the system implodes.

 

Note: The original author is still unknown.

The post Some Thoughts Worth Thinking? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Growing up in what seems like a parallel universe, we learned to have almost a reverence for the men chosen to guide this great nation. Today we pay homage to our Presidents.

The names of Washington and Lincoln were honored for being the Father of our country and ending slavery to reunite the country, respectively. Cities, streets, schools, and monuments carried the names of Jefferson, Adams, Roosevelt, and even Carter. We had two days each February to celebrate our first and sixteenth commander-in-chief, and I remember seeing paper silhouettes of these pillars of our history adorning the windows of elementary schools. Unfortunately, the memories of these men are being erased, but not today. This week’s Sunday Spotlight remembers why these men need to be a permanent fixture in our history. And why we still need President’s Day.

There has only been one man who ever walked this earth without sin and faults. Every man chosen by the people to lead our country had flaws, but most did far more good in moving our country forward. One of today’s generation’s most significant issues with our forefathers and early Presidents is slavery. The use of slaves, of any race or bloodline, was something our country took from their history in Europe. It was in the 16th century that Europe began using men and women from Africa to replace almost all other ethnicities and religious enslaved groups in Europe.

In 1834, The Abolition Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire, including British colonies in North America. The bill emancipated enslaved people in all British colonies and appropriated nearly $100 million in today’s money to compensate enslavers for their losses. Reparations were not allocated for those freed. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The Progressive Movement of today wants more.

History tells us of great Presidents like Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Reagan, but it also points to some who lacked the abilities needed to lead us. They do not need to be named here, but every President’s name has been memorialized, until now.

The Heritage Foundation conducted a study that produced concerning results. Between 1986 and 2022, nearly 1,200 public schools removed the name of a past President in favor of a more generic moniker. Mind you, the number sounds large, but it is a small percentage of the 98,000 public schools in America. Any portion is too significant when looking at a movement to erase our great history.

Though flawed, the United States of America has done more for this world in our short history than any country. We have only had forty-six Presidents, and regardless of their party affiliation, they have all tried to make the country a better place for Americans. For that, they deserve our respect and celebration. They also deserve to have their stories told, not erased. On this President’s Day, I would love to see our Department of Education give a renewed push to promoting Civics in our schools. An immigrant preparing to pledge allegiance to our flag and country knows more about the civics of America than most high school students, and that needs to change.

I pray this anti-American thinking will pass or be defeated, and we can return to Americans giving thanks to God for the joy of living in the greatest experiment in history and to the men chosen to lead us along the way. Let’s unite tomorrow and give thanks to these forty-six great patriots, our Presidents.

The post Sunday Spotlight: A Day to Remember Tarnished Heroes appeared first on Granite Grok.

But is there any evidence that colleges that have gone whole hog into multiculturalism have better relations among the various groups on campus? Or is it precisely on such campuses that separatism and hostility are worse than on campuses that have not gone in for the multicultural craze?

You want to see multiculturalism in action? Look at Yugoslavia, at Lebanon, at Sri Lanka, at Northern Ireland, at Azerbaijan, or wherever else group “identity” has been hyped. There is no point in the multiculturalists’ saying that this is not what they have in mind. You might as well open the floodgates and then say that you don’t mean for people to drown. Once you have opened the floodgates, you can’t tell the water where to do.

-Professor Thomas Sowell (“Multicultural Education“)

All it has done (with BLM, Critical Race Theory, Political Correctness, and Wokeism) is to recreate the environment / atmosphere in the old Baltic States that turned into a violent civil war pitting religion vs religion and ethnicity vs ethnicity.  And here in America, we’ll have skin color thrown in as well as the “Constitutionalists vs Anti-Progressive”.

Do you really think that “UN Peacekeepers” would come in and stop it?  Most likely, they’ll set up “Pay per view” to watch the mayhem and brutality.

And do you think those that have set this stage will ever take responsibility for the after-actions?

Doubtful.  I’m betting that they will come out on top and finally will achieve their Utopia on top of the millions of bodies they sacrificed to obtain it.

(H/T: Neo)

The post Notable Quote – Has DIE (er DEI) & Multiculturalism Made Things Better? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Formerly known in the Boston I once inhabited as “Live Shot,” John Kerry regularly dragged himself in front of every local camera crew he could find.

We want to thank John Burtis for this Op-Ed. Please submit yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

Gathered to cover the collapse of a small set of portable bleachers at an itinerant circus. The opening of the latest E-Z pass lane on the Pike. A dumpster fire in the Back Bay. The mauling of an errant wandering penguin by a tiger in the Stone Zoo. Protesting the increase of wholesale lobster prices at the dock. The dangerous lack of fire extinguishers and comfortable seats on the airport ferry. Or the grave concerns he levied over the location of fire hydrants in Louisburg Square.

Kerry would offer piteously long and wearisome vituperations on the tragedies associated with the horrific situations he welcomed.

“I find it unconscionable today…” he’d intone in his practiced Kennedy-esque-Yalie-Bahstan patter, or, “It is altogether too horrifying to contemplate that…,” and, “I am ashamed to state that in America today,” he’d whine with his best patrician accent about these manifold sins visited on the hapless citizens of the City on the Hill.

You’d swear the man had a police, fire, taxi, and DPW scanner in all of his enormous SUVs. He’d materialize so quickly at every scene of those misadventures broadcast on TV.

“Don’t you know who I am?” he’d blather as he’d shove, using his best St. Paul’s Schoolboy stiff arm, his way through the growing throng of onlookers, firefighters, cops, awakened homeless and media hounds before yanking the cameraman and the lens towards his careworn visage for a somber soliloquy on the unfolding events.

I can still recall Mr. Kerry distressingly denouncing the coddling of a convicted child rapist in federal custody in Devens because the man was receiving…”counseling,” described on every yellow dog sheet as a Democrat birthright.

“I want to ensure … counseling will never serve as a get out of jail free card,” the junior senator scribbled gravely, forgetting that criminals are a Democrat-protected class, in the course of a series of missives traded with the federal bureau of prisons years ago, while overlooking the fact that the 47-year-old man in question was staring at a total 50 years in the can, between the feds and Pennsylvania, virtually insuring that his days on the street, and any further live shots of Mr. Kerry on this caper, were over.

Having wrung the cramps from his hands after these ideographic exertions, Mr. Kerry got down to brass tacks and began a series of heavy liftings in the Boston broadsheets for his favorites: mutinous armchair generals like Pinch Sulzberger, publisher of the NY Times, Honest John Murtha, that now departed anti-military former US Marine and PA representative, and the ever-present far-left anti-war crowd and today’s Chinese sell-outs.

Having e-mailed his op-ed piece to the Boston Herald, setting the stage, before he delivered his anti-war speech at Faneuil Hall in 2006, which occurred on the anniversary of his original apoplectic tirade before Congress, for what he called “an assault on the right to dissent.” Mr. Kerry charged the Republican administration of George Bush with a dreadful smear campaign against the hapless Pentagon generals in this Faneuil Hall jibber jabber, termed “jabberwacky” by his detractors, saying that any criticism of the generals, “is cheap, and that is shameful,” then called for a total and immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq, another mirroring of his own early anti-war activities and forewarning of Afghanistan.

Unlike Jimmy Stewart’s long-lost cinematic icon Mr. Smith, who went to Washington representing the Boy Rangers and stood for something sacred and American, Mr. Kerry always speaks like a highly fictive Winter Soldiers, where he whet his appetite for ever more public exposure, the lies and the stories of totally fabricated atrocities before a befuddled Democratic Congress. Mr. Kerry heaped an unbelievable level of opprobrium on millions of Vietnam vets, forever marking those combat veterans with the mark of Caine, akin to Dan Rather’s similarly concocted bunk, which still tars them today.

Today, Mr. John Forbes Kerry, unlike the majority of veterans he has damaged with his invented tales of barbarity, of arms and legs held aloft, of severed heads, can afford to go to travel in high patrician style, in a caravan of six Santorini black Range Rovers, he can float effortlessly high above the stalled traffic in the Sumner Tunnel in an opulent private $5 million Gulfstream IV jet or cruise the high seas in his fabulously appointed motor yacht, the Isabel.  His current life is unlike the vast majority of his military brothers, who must walk, take the bus or travel in a used car, to get to Veteran’s Hospitals he has never visited. His married riches float the weighty lockbox of his conscience.

Mr. Kerry remains anchored in the past, listening for that distant fading applause from the drug-addled and the disaffected, hoping for the destruction of another Republican presidency, for another claim of progressive victory, for one more lost war, for another crackdown on free speech, another raised fist, while basking in the noted fabulist Joe Biden’s golden, though increasingly tarnished, glow as he flies the world, weaving dense contrails of CO2, hoping to change the weather and bend the atmosphere to his will.

In the end, all of his live shots and his promises of the disappearing ice mean just one thing– John Kerry is a little man. He floats above us in magnificent grandeur, hustling money from his billionaire confreres and his latest cry for increased taxes to be levied on us peasants to control the weather as the Climate Tsar. We are the same peasants Mr. Smith fought for.

Without his billionaire bride’s riches and his past starring role in that nearly forgotten Winter Soldiers vaudeville, his is a life writ small.

The post Promises of Disappearing Ice from Biden’s Enviro-Ambassador: John “Live Shot” (Or Lurch) Kerry appeared first on Granite Grok.

Public Health providers in Florida have been nudged by the State’s Department of Health and their Surgeon General. Informed consent demands we notify patients of the potential health risks associated with the COVID-19 “vaccines.”

 

The State Surgeon General is notifying the health care sector and public of a substantial increase in Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports from Florida after the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. …

In Florida alone, there was a 1,700% increase in VAERS reports after the release of the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to an increase of 400% in overall vaccine administration for the same time period (Figure 1).

The reporting of life-threatening conditions increased over 4,400%. This is a novel increase and was not seen during the 2009 H1N1 vaccination campaign. There is a need for additional unbiased research to better understand the COVID-19 vaccines’ short- and long-term effects.

The findings in Florida are consistent with various studies that continue to uncover such risks. To further evaluate this, the Surgeon General wrote a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) illustrating the risk factors associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and emphasizing the need for additional transparency.

 

It’s a fun read if you’re not ideologically married to mRNA. In summary, the State Surgeon General is telling the state’s healthcare industry that there are safety signals and that they should notify patients of these risks (emphasis mine).

 

To support transparency, the State of Florida reminds health care providers to accurately communicate the risks and benefits of all clinical interventions to their patients, including those associated with the COVID-19 vaccine as additional risks continue to be identified and disclosed to the public.

 

A bit late, but it at least rises to the potential for informed consent.

One state down, 49 more to go.

 

The post Florida Tells Providers To Communicate the Health Risks from COVID “Vaccines” to the Public appeared first on Granite Grok.

The gun control crowd has been spreading absolute propaganda that firearms are the leading cause of death in children. Of course, gun control propaganda comes as no surprise to anyone who fights for 2nd Amendment rights; however, these people are actually making the claim using information from the CDC (that government bureaucracy is a whole other ballgame of propaganda and corruption, but the same stats will be used to prove the point).

Here are just a few of the titles that you’ll see spewed across the internet by gun controllers and the media (one in the same), including the current administration in D.C.:

What all of these propagandists are pushing is an annual report on deaths from the CDC, 2020 being the last update to that report. What they neglect to tell people is that, for some reason, 18 – 19 years olds, and some of them include up to the age of 24, are being including in the definition of children.

Suddenly, 18- and 19-year-old adults are considered children?

Here are the numbers when including adults in the overall death statistics ages <1 – 19:

 

Unintentional Injuries ages 1-19:

 

Homicides ages 1-19:

 

Suicides ages 1-19:

 

Here are the statistics for overall deaths when you only include actual children ages <1 – 17:

Unintentional Injuries ages 1-17:

Homicides ages 1-17:

Suicides ages 1-17:

If you break out homicide with a firearm even further, for each age grouping, you’ll find that black American children suffer far worse from gun-related homicides than white American children in the same categories.

Homicides with firearms for white American children ages 1-17:

The numbers for black American children who are murdered with a firearm is significantly higher than for white children:

While both white and black children are known to be members of gangs, the percentage of black children becoming a member of a gang is much higher than that of white children. Of course, rather than focus on the root causes of why any child becomes a member of a gang, the government, politicians, and gun controllers prefer to push gun control that does nothing to stop gang violence or murders but only seeks to make it so the law-abiding have a more difficult, if not impossible, time protecting themselves from violent criminals.

And although Hispanics make up 50% of all gang membership compared to 32% black gang membership and 10% white gang membership, the homicide with firearm stats for Hispanics is lower than both that of black and white children (NOTE: included all races in the query but Hispanic ethnicity because Hispanic isn’t a race and some in the media call Hispanics ‘white’):

According to the FBI, “around 2,000 homicides a year are gang-related” for a total of 13% of all homicides.  The 2,000 number refers to all gang-related homicides which would also include adults ages 18 and up; however, there are absolutely numbers of children who are murdered with a firearm due to gang-related activity.

Of course, federal law dictates that no one under the age of 21 can legally purchase a handgun. Possession of a handgun by anyone under the age of 18 is illegal other than in specific instances:

Exceptions [18 U.S.C. § 922(x)(3)]:

• Temporary transfer and possession of handguns and handgun ammunition for specified activities, including employment, ranching, farming, target practice and hunting, provided the juvenile is in possession of prior written consent of the juvenile’s parent or guardian who is not prohibited by federal, state or local law from possessing a firearm;

• A juvenile who is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard who possesses or is armed with a handgun in the line of duty;

• A transfer by inheritance of title (but not possession) of a handgun or ammunition to a juvenile; or

• The possession of a handgun or ammunition by a juvenile taken in defense of the juvenile or other persons against an intruder into the residence of the juvenile or a residence in which the juvenile is an invited guest.

So, why is the current administration, non-profit organizations, politicians, and the media pushing a false narrative that the leading cause of death in children is now due to firearms? To push new gun control laws (I realize this is obvious to many of you but to others, not so much). These people believe that if they fearmonger regular Americans enough, the demand for more gun control will become inevitable. To be clear, all childhood deaths are absolutely horrid. What is even more abhorrent is the gun control crowd lying about the deaths of children to further push their gun control narrative.

Gun controllers never want to have an honest discussion about the real issues that affect Americans or our youth. Any time a horrifying tragedy occurs, they instantly dip their hands in the blood of victims whose names are yet unknown, to demand more gun control. It never matters if the killer was extremely mentally ill. It doesn’t matter if the murders were gang related. It never matters if every gun control law that already exists was violated. These people will push for more gun control laws in the name of ‘safety.’

Gun control is never about safety, it’s always about control. Control over those who seek to protect themselves from the criminals the gun control crowd enables.

The post GUN CONTROL LIES & PROPAGANDA: ‘Firearms are the Leading Cause of Death in Children’  appeared first on Granite Grok.

Kevin Stocklin, The Epoch Times: Biden Admin Negotiates Deal to Give WHO Authority Over US Pandemic Policies The Biden administration is preparing to sign up the United States to a “legally binding” accord with the World Health Organization (WHO) that... Tom Bowler

Heh! A wee bit a cheeky tweeking from staunch hardcore NE Yankees:

It’s a bit different for me now – I used to really love the colder weather and I generally had no problems in going outside in a T-Shirt and shorts to do something active (as long as the wind was no more than a gentle breeze).  Hey, born here, raised here, working here – if you’re a Yankee, BE a Yankee and ACT like a Yankee. No sniveling allowed when it comes to “weather”.

As I think I’ve written before, back when I was working for Digital Equipment Corp (“DEC”), I was transferred to Honolulu for a 3 month stint. I remember a couple of days after arriving that the morning was around 65 degrees F when I got up for work. Coming from a few weeks of 10-28 degrees, this was SPRING TIME!  Just a polo shirt and khaki pants.

The locals were walking about in puffy down jackets.  Quite the contrast.

Anyways, that was a few decades ago and now my metabolism is really slowing down. I still wait all summer for February but I do have to admit that I LOVE my electrically heated gloves that TMEW gave me for Christmas…

…and no, no more “just a T-Shirt and shorts” anymore.

Sucks getting older, at least physically; I’m still trying to uphold that line “when I grow up, I never want to grow up” as Life is more fun that way!

(H/T: GeekPress)

The post Palate Cleanser – What? You want HEAT In the Winter in New England? Weaklings… appeared first on Granite Grok.

Milford, New Hampshire, got some unwanted attention this past week. The school board decided that as part of their effort to manage the unnecessarily complex problem of bathrooms and body parts, they’d ban urinals.

Stupid idea. Girls with penises can use urinals. Jeesh.

All that attention resulted in a whirlwind of “input” from all directions under the weight of which the board collapsed like a metal shed roof after a nor’easter. The whole business of segregating students’ restroom needs by tab or slot is out the window.

All-access passes have been figuratively returned.

But hey, they get to keep their urinals, not that boys who were born as girls can use them as easily, so ‘new problem’ (maybe). One that has yet to be thoroughly mined by the culture warriors. We’ve got stalls and urinals in the “boys” bathrooms. Don’t you need to install urinals in the “girl’s” bathrooms?

The approved worldview book of LGBTQI+, chapter 6 verse 9, states that girls can have a penis (just ask all those pregnant rape victims in California’s  “women’s” prisons).  There might even be a Title IX angle in there – equal accommodations and all that -for the lawyers to milk. School districts spend other people’s money, and what is insurance for if not to enrich lawyers?

If one room has wall and floor accommodations, then so shall the others. No exceptions. Just in case one of the “girls” has the other plumbing and can make use of them.

Or would that just piss someone else off?

 

 

The post Milford School Board Bathroom (Policy) Backs Up – No More Urinal Ban … appeared first on Granite Grok.

Yep, another guy out in the blogosphere that’s fairly adamant that Chris Sununu will not be the next President even as he’s traveling all over the nation faster than an F-22 chasing a Chinese spy balloon.

And for the exact same reason we think – the time when talking about taxes is long gone as the primary (and sometimes, only) words out of Republican candidates.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu. I was only vaguely aware of Sununu The Younger, but his attack on DeSantis for having the balls to fight the poison of social justice instantly rocketed him to the bottom of my list. You would think Romney’s failure would have soured the party on moderate business-oriented governors, but, evidently, Sununu didn’t get the memo. Likewise, I doubt modern voters are interested in voting for Bush Lite The Next Generation. No thank you. An unwillingness to actual fight for conservative values is automatically disqualifying, and I don’t [see] him bringing anything to the table as a Veep pick.

So there you have it. Now, I didn’t go looking for this kind of opinion but I am starting to see it where I didn’t expect to.

Overly ambitious…

(H/T:  Lawrence Person’s BattleSwarm Blog)

The post It’s Not Just Groksters Who Believe Sununu Is “Not the Guy” appeared first on Granite Grok.

I have read Dave Testerman’s explanation for voting to kill HB 396. It makes no sense.

I understand the purpose of HB 396 to be to make it clear that New Hampshire law does NOT require schools to allow biological boys into girls’ bathrooms, lorckerrooms, or to participate in girls’ sports. From Cornerstone:

HB 396 was urgently necessary because school districts—and New Hampshire’s Department of Justice—currently falsely claim that New Hampshire law prohibits all separation on the basis of biological sex. These claims have deceived many schools and other public entities into bowing to gender ideology. Most now use self-declared gender identity alone to separate athletics and private areas, without regard to whether someone has even received medical transitioning.

By way of background and context … in 2018, Sun-King Sununu and the Republican legislature added gender identity to New Hampshire’s anti-discrimination laws with respect to employment, places of public accommodation and housing. The definition of “public accommodation” does NOT encompass public schools:”

Place of public accommodation” includes any inn, tavern or hotel, whether conducted for entertainment, the housing or lodging of transient guests, or for the benefit, use or accommodations of those seeking health, recreation or rest, any restaurant, eating house, public conveyance on land or water, bathhouse, barbershop, theater, golf course, sports arena, health care provider, and music or other public hall, store or other establishment which caters or offers its services or facilities or goods to the general public. “Public accommodation” shall not include any institution or club which is in its nature distinctly private.

However, in 2019 his Majesty allowed a bill to become law that allows the choice of “other” on driver licenses and State ID cards. Apparently, the concern is that these laws would be extrapolated to require public schools to allow biological boys into girls’ bathrooms, lorckerrooms, and onto girls’ sports teams. From the bill:

2  New Section; Administration of Motor Vehicle Laws; State Recognition of Biological Sex.  Amend RSA 260 by inserting after section 21-b the following new section:

260:21-c  State Recognition of Biological Sex.  Nothing in RSA 260, RSA 263, or any related provision of law, is intended to prohibit any public entity from differentiating between the male and female sexes in athletic competitions, criminal incarceration, or places of intimate privacy, or otherwise to deny or undermine the state’s rational interest in recognizing the male and female sexes.  In this paragraph, “the male and female sexes” refers to biologically male and female human beings.

Testerman says he killed HB 396 because:

This bill will do nothing to prevent the crowning of a male in a beauty pageant for females.

Wait … WHAT?!?! Because biological males would still get to compete in beauty pageants, girls in public schools should have NO PROTECTION ALL?!?! A 13-year old girl should have to share a bathroom and locker room with an 18-year old male?

Testerman’s rationale is NONSENSICAL.

The post Rep. Testerman’s Explanation Makes No Sense appeared first on Granite Grok.

We shared a video of the overheating axel on the train that derailed in Palestine, Ohio. And that seems like the culprit. But did you know that derailing trains is a thing with the radical left, especially the enviro-fascists?

Much like the way various faces from the identity politics totem pole perpetrate hate crimes (often) against themselves, these green activists want to cause environmental disasters as a sort of I told you so.

Ace had a very detailed accounting of this practice the other day in a post about Mayor Pete “choo-choo” Buttigieg. Whoever is running the Biden administration had just turned down a request for Federal aid for Palestine, Ohio (FEMA has to rearrange their sock drawer), while Mayor Choo Choo blamed Donald Trump.

Did Palestine vote overwhelmingly for Trump or something? This seems particularly sinister, especially since the buck always stops at Biden. He’s said so himself. And so what if there are over 1000 train derailments a year, and most of them are minor without a toxic chemical spill set on fire by someone who looks nothing like Donald Trump.

What about the Antifa and Green Angst domestic terrorists who get off on train tipping?

 

Samantha Frances Brooks, 27, and Ellen Brennan Reiche, 23, were arrested Saturday night in Bellingham, located in Whatcom County, which borders Canada, as they allegedly placed “shunts” on Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington Monday.

A shunt is comprised of wire and magnets that are strung across the tracks, mimicking the electrical signal of a train.

The two women were charged in connection to Saturday’s incident, but there have been 41 incidents of shunts placed on the BNSF tracks in Whatcom and Skagit counties since January. Shunts were placed in areas that disrupt the crossing guards where the tracks cross streets, so vehicles could have tried to cross the tracks unaware of the oncoming train, U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran said.

 

Ellen Brennan Reiche is a gender warrior and a Democrat Campaign staffer.

 

Reiche, who identifies as “non-binary” and uses “they/them” pronouns, was the deputy field organizer for Washington State Democrats, according to their now-deleted LinkedIn profile.

 

They/Them is probably not a Trump Voter (Mayor Choo Choo), so you may need to go back to the narrative drawing board right after you get back from vacation. Maybe see about addressing Antifa coordination and material support of acts of domestic terrorism against US transportation infrastructure.

 

According to the federal complaint, a posting on the anarchist website Itsgoingdown.com (IGD) described the shunting campaign as being carried out in solidarity with Canadian indigenous tribes seeking to prevent the construction of an oil pipeline in British Columbia.

The post also provided instructions for how to carry out sabotage …

It is worth noting the role played by IGD, which included both publicizing terror attacks, as well as providing clear instructions for those inspired to carry out future attacks. As the Center for Security Policy testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, websites like IGD play a crucial role in anarchist and Antifa organizing:

 

And maybe this is just a suggestion, when caught ‘red-handed, put them in prison for longer than people who happened to wander into the US Capital on January 6 (after Capitol Police let them in) to take a selfie.

One more point. Palestine, Ohio, is 95% white and voted 80% for Donald Trump, and refusing aid might just be political.

Update 1: After Trump announced plans to visit Palestine, Ohio, FEMA backtracked and announced it would provide aid.

Update:2

 

Literal residents of Palestine were in the movie as extras.

— Jesus = Answer (@hollis4congress) February 14, 2023

 

 

The post Fact: Leftwing “Activists” Like to Derail Trains Moving Hazardous Chemicals appeared first on Granite Grok.