I got to know Spec Bowers during the Greg Moore … oops, sorry; of course, I mean the Bill O’Brien … speakership. For a “Yale man,” he was a good guy. A rare breath of intellectual fresh air in the very short-lived GOP supermajority elected in 2010 by the TeaParty wave.

But I don’t know what the hell he is talking about when he claims in GOP Campaign Strategy – The Governor’s Race that:

It seems that NH Democrats are worried about Kelly Ayotte, and not interested in policies that are important to NH citizens …

Actually, my dear Spec, it is just the other way around. “Democrats” … you should be calling them Woke-Communists … are obviously talking about things that matter to voters, while Republicans, or what passes for Republican in New Hampshire, are NOT. Do you, my dear Spec, have a better explanation for how the Woke-Communist GAINED seats in the New Hampshire House in 2022, in what should have been a Red Wave election?

Take public education, for example. The Woke-Communists’ mantra is that they are going to adequately fund public education, invest in public education, blah, blah, blah. The NHGOP response: EFAs! EFAs! EFAs all the way, everyday! EFAs are like EVs. There is no unmet demand among consumers of public education for EFAs. The NHGOP should be talking about IMPROVING public education as a counter to “investing” in public education. More specifically, by cutting the bureaucracy … especially the DEI bureaucracy …. and putting that money into classrooms. An excellent example is Massachusetts which spends roughly the same per pupil, but pays its teachers much more than New Hampshire does.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for the NHGOP to do so … they apparently are more interested in getting pats-on-the-head from AFP and Josiah Bartlett than actually winning elections. Stated slightly differently, my dear Spec, only about one-sixth of New Hampshire voters are “conservatives” and making EFAs the be-all and end-all of NHGOP education policy essentially writes off the other five-sixths.

The Woke-Communists are also going to save us from Climate Change. What’s the NHGOP response? Do they even understand, never mind have the ability to articulate, that “green energy” makes electricity more expensive? Are they proposing any policies to actually bring down the cost of electricity? All I am hearing is that the Choo-Choo train to Boston must be stopped … that this is the proverbial hill to die on.

My dear Spec, we could walk through the Woke-Communists’ other issues … abortion, “affordable housing,” “access to healthcare,” etc., etc., etc. … and see the same dynamic. The Woke-Communists are resonating with the voters … who increasingly are progressive-extremists attracted to New Hampshire because the Granite State has become a magnet for progressive-extremists … while the NHGOP is not: “smaller government,” “cut burdensome regulations,” blah, blah, snooze.

For example, here is a campaign mailer from the Woke-Communists in Manchester. All of the candidates pictured won. So, if any Party is guilty of not talking issues in a way that resonates with that ever-shrinking pool of persuadable voters, it is the NHGOP:

The post Spec, What The Hell Are You Talking About? appeared first on Granite Grok.

From the Women’s Defense League: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Inexpedient To Legislate on House Bill 1711 – the gun confiscation bill passed in the House thanks to a majority of gun control representatives. This bill will now be voted on by the entire NH Senate.

You can read more about the bill here: https://wdlnh.org/2024/04/urgent-extremely-important-gun-control-hearing/.

Your efforts to help kill the bill in the committee were excellent. According to a senate hearing report, more people (of course) were AGAINST the legislation than were for it. The majority of people against the legislation are regular Granite State citizens such as yourself, while the majority for it were paid lobbyists or hacktivists, many funded by out-of-state gun control organizations.

You need to ACT one more time to get this bill killed, once and for all, in the full Senate.

The Senate will be voting on HB 1711 on Thursday, May 16th.

You can find out who your Senator is here: https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/members/wml.aspx

You can email and call the Senators below. Calling is very helpful as they take a tally of how many are against the bill. Emailing is also important as it becomes public record.

You know what to do!! And please share!!!

Senator	Email	Phone
Daryl Abbas	Daryl.Abbas@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-4151
Debra Altschiller	Debra.Altschiller@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-7875
Kevin Avard	Kevin.Avard@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3077
Regina Birdsell	Regina.Birdsell@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3479
Jeb Bradley	Jeb.Bradley@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3479
Sharon Carson	Sharon.Carson@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3266
Shannon Chandley	Shannon.Chandley@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3092
Lou D’Allesandro	Lou.Dallesandro@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-2117
Donovan Fenton	Donovan.Fenton@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3469
Bill Gannon	William.Gannon@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3077
Carrie Gendreau	Carrie.Gendreau@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-8631
James Gray	James.Gray@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-4980
Daniel Innis	Daniel.Innis@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-2609
Timothy Lang	Timothy.Lang@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-8631
Keith Murphy	Keith.Murphy@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-4063
Howard  Pearl	Howard.Pearl@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-4151
Rebecca Perkins Kwoka	Rebecca.PerkinsKwoka@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-2104
Suzanne Prentiss	Suzanne.Prentiss@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3092
Denise Ricciardi	Denise.Ricciardi@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-1403
Cindy Rosenwald	Cindy.Rosenwald@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3207
Donna Soucy	Donna.Soucy@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3207
Ruth Ward	Ruth.Ward@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-2609
David Watters	David.Watters@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-2104
Rebecca Whitley	Becky.Whitley@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 271-3092

The post ACTION ALERT – GUN CONTROL appeared first on Granite Grok.

• These are the most liberty-critical hearings for the week
• Click on the bill number to read the bill.
• Click on the committee name to email the committee your thoughts.

Of the 1 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 0 and opposition of 0 with 0 being of interest.
Of the 5 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 1 and opposition of 1 with 1 being of interest.

Position	Bill	Title	Committee	Day	Time	Room	State Analysis
Support	HB1291	relative to accessory dwelling unit uses allowed by right.	Commerce	Tue 5/14	9:30 AM	SH Room 100	This bill increases the number of accessory dwelling units allowed by right from one to 2, adds definitions, and increases the maximum square footage. It also gives municipalities the right to require accessory units meet the definition for workforce housing.
Oppose	HB1593-2024-1885s	Hearing on proposed non-germane Amendment #2024-1885s, making an appropriation to the department of health and human services to support recreational activities for individuals with developmental disabilities and relative to the uncompensated care and Medicaid fund, to HB 1593-FN, making an appropriation to the department of health and human services to support recreational activities for individuals with developmental disabilities.	Finance	Tue 5/14	1:35 PM	SH Room 103	I. Makes an appropriation to the department of health and human services to fund recreational activities for individuals with developmental disabilities. II. Restructures the uncompensated care and Medicaid fund under RSA 167:64 as the Medicaid payment fund and disproportionate share hospital fund, administered by the department of health and human services.
Of Interest	HB1525-2024-1839s	Hearing on proposed non-germane Amendment #2024-1839s, relative to credits for the business profits tax and business enterprise tax, to HB 1525, relative to historic horse racing game operator employer licensing.	Ways and Means	Wed 5/15	9:30 AM	SH Room 100	This bill extends tax credits for the business profits tax and business enterprise tax.

The post Bill Hearings for Week of May 13, 2024 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

Wednesday, the NH Senate Judiciary Committee met to vote on HB619, which would ban genital sex reassignment surgery for kids. Sen. Cindy Rosenwald and Sen. Shannon Chandley pushed back against the bill. Sen. Chandley said, “We as legislators should not be engaging in the legislation of the practice of medicine.”

No one on the committee brought up the therapy ban that prevents therapists from helping a gender-confused child to feel comfortable in his own body or the regulations restricting the prescribing of opioids, both of which Senators Rosewnwald and Chandley support.

Related: Stop Genital Gender Reassignment Surgery on Kids in New Hampshire

The Democrat senators were like sheep repeating the talking points given to them. They didn’t think at all about the children going through these barbaric procedures, not to mention the vulnerable adults.

Below is a post from Reddit that exemplifies the horrors of vaginoplasty, where the doctor removes the testicles and inverts the penis into the facsimile of a vagina. If a patient was on puberty blockers, they have to find skin elsewhere to form the canal, as was done to Jazz Jennings. The clitoris, referred to in the post, is the tip of the penis that is removed and grafted back onto the canal opening.

20.5 weeks post op PIV Vaginoplasty. Still numb and can’t orgasm
byu/Legal-Ad4972 inTransgender_Surgeries

It’s getting progressively more painful to sit. My vaginal canal feels incredibly sore. I can only use the petite dilators and I’m far away from the first dot. I still have a very numb labia and no ability to orgasm. My clitoris is completely hidden behind fused skin and since that skin is numb I’m guessing that’s part of the struggles to orgasm. Any sensation I do feel in the clitoral area does not feel pleasurable at all. I’m on day 146. It’s a slow process. I have no functional depth or width, no visible clitoris, can’t orgasm.

I have a revision scheduled next month for depth width, bringing forward the clitoris and connecting the labia to the introitus. How painful is revision surgery recovery? I haven’t gone a day without pain in 146 days. 146 days of pain is brutal and I’m about to restart the pain clock and the dilation clock. This has been an incredibly difficult journey for me. I deal with major depression and have no clue what the future holds.

How can the NH Democrats oppose banning this barbaric operation for children? It should be banned for everyone, but the least New Hampshire can do is ban it for those under 18.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Ought to Pass 3-2, with Senators Carson, Gannon, and Abbas supporting it. The bill now goes to the full NH Senate and could be voted on as early as Thursday, May 15. Contact your senator and ask him or her to support HB619 and contact Governor Sununu to ask him to sign it into law.

The post Take Action to Ban Barbaric Genital Sex Reassignment Surgery for Kids in New Hampshire appeared first on Granite Grok.

While there is likely an endless supply of embarrassing COVID-related content on the average Liberal’s Social Feed (and please, by all means, grab that while you can), this latest revelation is a far more perfect example of how the Left’s trust in the government makes them untrustworthy.

While the COVID cure was neither safe nor effective, this Trump Court Documents case revelation shows how the US Justice Department has nothing to do with justice. It is (as most of you know) a mercenary arm of the uniparty willing to do anything to destroy its enemies.

And it’s great to know that, but it’s better when it comes out in Court.

Thanks to heroic work by Trump’s lawyers, and following several stern orders from Judge Cannon forcing the government to respond to basic discovery requests, we’ve now learned that the documents in the picture aren’t even the documents in the picture.

What I mean is, the FBI has now admitted that the documents seen splayed on the floor are dummies, props. At the time the picture was taken, the original classified documents had already been secured and removed. So the FBI took some other random papers and  — get this — put classified cover sheets on them and then posed those dummy documents on the floor. Picture time.

Not only weren’t the documents found on the floor, and not only weren’t the documents in the picture the actual documents, but the official-looking classified document cover sheets as seen in the photo were totally fake. There were no classified cover sheets on any of the original documents. It was all made up.

Trump-deranged uniparty stooges across the spectrum may have taken the publication of this photo by the entire corporate media (as proof of Trump’s guilt) and shared it. Your job is to find local elected officials in NH who did share it. Please find it and send it to me. Fraud is so much better when it is shared.

To be clear, President Trump’s possession of classified material was never illegal. He had clearance long after the raid and the ability to declassify any document while in office. The raid had nothing to do with alleged nuclear secrets—it was a witch hunt for a binder filled with incriminating evidence that is still unaccounted for (meaning they didn’t find it).

That firestorm was meant to distract from the unstoppable revelation of then-Vice President Joe Biden illegally taking classified documents during the Obama Administration. Thanks to the mad rush to erase presidential immunity to get Trump (pending judgments and relitigation of the principle), this opened Biden and Obama to future prosecution.

And at this rate, the TDS fan club isn’t going to “Get Trump” yet again.

[T]he government now faces two new, potentially fatal problems: the evidence tampering (or at least, evidence negligence), and lying to the court. And the CNN article mentioned, this is just one of the many complex and potentially novel issues now confronting the government’s case.

This latest error, along with many others, has delayed that trial indefinitely and will likely result in its being thrown out.

Trump should sue them all, and maybe he will.

The post Search Progressive Social Media Feeds for This Photo and Screen Grab Whatever They Shared appeared first on Granite Grok.

Why should we be surprised? The multiple trials and 91 counts of indictments were Biden’s equivalence of Iran shooting hundreds of missiles and drones into Israel. Iran’s efforts were futile because of a lack of technology and military might.

The Trump trials are collapsing because the people in Biden’s legal teams are as competent as Joe was as a Lawyer. Oh, Jeez, what am I thinking? Joe was never a practicing lawyer, and neither should any of the attorneys Biden sent to bury Trump in New York, Georgia, or Florida. These lawyers may have the same passion as Biden to eliminate Trump, but like everyone else in Joe’s administration, these legal hacks are incompetent and playing out of their league. The cases are collapsing, and it is beautiful to watch.

It started with Leticia James in New York with her overreach trial to attempt to prove Donald Trump’s real estate empire was built on fraud. The problem is that to prove fraud, you have to have victims, and all she had on her side was banks that made millions working with Trump, and she was anxious to work with him again. These comments don’t sound like victims of fraud to me. Leticia was salivating at the possibility of putting the padlocks on Trump’s prize properties. You can picture Leticia sobbing herself to sleep on the day Trump posted the $500 million bond. She never saw that happening and thought he was going directly to a guilty verdict by the Mayberry RFD judge. It’s not going to happen.

The case in Florida regarding the handling of classified documents has been placed on perpetual hold after it was discovered the government lawyers mishandled the documents and violated their own laws. There is little chance the case will see a courtroom before the election. In Georgia, the election interference case is crashing down as Fannie Willis is now under review, and there is a strong possibility of the prosecution team and trial shut down.

The Democrats expected these trials to keep Trump busy until the election and hoped he would end up behind bars. Their fantasies are going unfulfilled. Trump will not see inside a cell at the hands of a Biden lawyer, but the country is the winner. Though Trump’s approval numbers rise with each news alert from one of the three courthouses, the country continues to become more polarized as the cases continue. Shutting them down will help to calm the chasm between the two factions.

The Justice Department, especially Merrick Garland, should be admonished for what they have done to the former President. All of these other players are merely puppets in this sad story and chapter in our history. Unfortunately, the media refused to see the real reason for these trials and reported on them as legitimate legal proceedings involving a former president.

As both sides do their best to campaign, the real push for the White House will begin with the conventions in July and August. We will watch the polls, campaign enthusiasm, the Republican Vice Presidential pick, and whether Biden, Trump and possibly Kennedy appear on a debate stage. This election promises to be the most unique in our history, and the drama will be palpable. The outcome of the election is critical. Though Biden continues to call Trump a threat to Democracy, it is actually him and his feckless administration that has done incredible damage to America. We need Donald Trump to fix the damage.

The post Trump Trials Falling Like A House of Cards appeared first on Granite Grok.

Grant Bosse … Deputy Chief of Staff for the N.H. Senate. And an incorrigible NeverTrumper (see screenshot below). Bosse has been a NHGOP insider for as long as I can remember. Just from memory: He ran and lost the GOP primary for CD-2 in 2008, and the NHGOP-powers-that-be placed him at Josiah Bartlett. Subsequently, he worked for Stinky-Joe McQuaid at the Union Misleader. At some point later, the NHGOP-powers-that-be placed him at the NH-DOE, presumably to keep Edelblut under control. When the GOP regained the State Senate majority in 2020, Bosse was handed a gig there as “Policy Director.”

So here is the consummate NHGOP-insider, the consummate GOP-establishmentarian announcing that he remains firmly NeverTrump. But don’t let that stop you from “voting NHGOP up and down the ballot,” bitter-clingers. Just keep pretending that the very grifters who look down their noses at you are “on your side.”

The post Night Cap: They Are NOT On Your Side appeared first on Granite Grok.

It’s a foregone conclusion that young minds are being successfully bombarded by any tidbit of crap which will decimate America, but it’s more than our minds; it’s our hearts that these evil-doers have also targeted.

For me, the term “heart” generalizes what actually takes in a person’s inner drives, ambitions, attitudes, and motivations—essentially, one’s being. Talk about total conquest! By the time these urchins get through, the outer visual of one’s appearance will be the only recognizable portion left from God’s creation! As a matter of fact, this summation defines the average communist!

There you have it: the child you brought into the world, the one you raised and loved, has, through all his or her education levels, undergone a personal vacuuming! Without a will, self-pride, individual hopes and expectations, or the overall ability for independent thought, just who or even what is it that says hello to Mom and Dad? While this might pose a scary turn-off, so are the robotic-like rampages on today’s college campuses!

Ask yourself, if a loving mom and/or dad is unable to connect, influence, and hopefully alter the thinking of these breathing manikins, what are the down-the-road possibilities for an eventual turnaround? The sad truth is that it must come from within, similar to the decision to enter an AA program, but in this case, just what is there within? This forecast of the future for your children is a far cry from your reasoning that a college degree was the only logical path forward toward living “a better life.”

Actually, aiming for the heart makes sense since it’s loyalty’s best protection, and without it, the mind has a difficult time focusing. After all, biologically speaking, without it, where are we? So, by grabbing the hearts of our young, their minds will obey.

All this features a sad predicament for us to overcome, especially since we have yet to admit its dreadful reality. Yet, for these patient evil-doers, time is their ally and bears today’s fruit by the class full. And, why such surprised reactions when learning that faculty members are supportive of their little anarchists; after all, they did the indoctrinating! In addition to its possible virtue, it seems that patience may also offer rewards as well.

So, as November nears, with Biden being Biden and Trump gaining support, the call probably went out, which sparked this college upheaval. Likewise, their tenured misfit professors were also called to provide support for their younger comrades. The bugle was also heard in the corporate world, which in turn showed their preferences to be with the bottom line rather than national loyalty. This disloyal and un-American showing has caused the public wondering as to what is happening, what to do, and above all, what this’s all about. Times have certainly changed, as today’s public incisiveness plainly shows.

Back on 9/11, this type of bewildering inaction would never have been! Not with those leaders that were on site nor with our public’s instinctive pro-American gusto! This comparison stands as a testament to our indifference, which these intervening years have introduced.. During that time, another generation moved on with its newly acquired and specific beliefs. It’s that brand of knowledge that has ridiculed and weakened the gusto that had been America’s calling card since 1776!

What to do? Just pick a target, but for current parents, center your concerns upon your loved ones by sacrificing a paycheck and trimming down those extra delights so that your children remain wholesome and virtuous due to your loving guidance. This home-based learning will produce a well-centered American citizen who is justly proud of that title!

For the rest of us, again, pick a target. Direct purchases with like minded businesses, connect with your official representation, research and learn more about what is America, about how she works and operates and then, spread these facts to others. That’s just a start but our Country’s worth it!

The more information gained, the more one may realize that yes, even you have been duped, not so totally but enough to hesitate, to limit, and to doubt, all of which is helpful for the orchestrating of this violent revolution. Most of all, realize the worst and shoulder up; know that either America survives or we will be slaves or just dead! There is only one option if this title of American still holds the merit for bringing forth our traditional sense of purpose and pride.

The post Also Our Hearts appeared first on Granite Grok.

Trump and RFK are fighting to get on the stage at the Libertarian Party Convention. Will Libertarians start accepting their ideas are winning, or will they shoot themselves in the foot while clinging to their victimhood blankie?

Also, a scandal is brewing at the Sununu Youth Rape Center with the first jury award of $38 MILLION being set to be overturned by the judge. Also, why was the bipartisan housing bill killed?

The post Manch Talk: Is Trump Taking Over the Libertarian Party, Or Is It… Brain-Worm Bobby? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Last week, a bill that would limit the power of local public health officials to impose mask mandates lost by one vote – one Republican vote. The legislation was tabled, often a death knell, but that one lousy vote meant Merrimack (Town, not County) Rep. Bill Boyd could ask for a vote to pull it off the table.

It took work to make that happen.

Local activists dug in their heels and got to work. RebuildNH asked constituents to call Bill and ask him to rethink the value of this legislation after reporting that “Rep. Bill Boyd was the only Republican and deciding vote that stymied this bill.”

Bad news folks. Thanks to Rep. Bill Boyd, who may not even have a 50 percent voting record on our issues, SB 63 was not passed by one vote in the N.H. House and was laid on the table. We think Rep. Boyd ought to hear from you to convince him how important it is for him to undo his bad move.

Currently, health officers have a god-like power to make any ordinance they desire. For example, health officials could mandate you dye your grass blue by whim—let’s not give them any ideas, right? Now, we know the greater issues are local mask and vaccine mandates or maybe even forcing an unauthorized WHO Treaty edict onto local citizens, and the important thing is that the state’s legal definition of the word “nuisances” would limit that authority.

That seems to have worked. Rep. Boyd called for a reconsideration vote this week, and after a handful of parliamentary actions, SB63 passed the House. Here is a bit of play-by-play from our own Rep. Judy Aron.

Things got real fun when SB63 was pulled off the Table with a “Remove from Table” motion that passed 185Y-180N. This bill was laid on the Table last week on a voice vote. The bill seeks to clarify, in statute, the subject matter of which health officers may utilize their authority to draft health ordinances. House Democrats decried the bill as having the basic intent to curtail the authority of municipal public health officers and to limit the ability of towns and cities to enact ordinances in response to public health threats (eyeroll). After the bill was removed from the table an ITL motion failed 179Y-187N, and OTP Reconsideration motion passed 186Y-180N, and then the bill passed on a roll called vote 186Y-180N (with all House Democrats and Dan Wolf (R-Newbury) voting NO). See what good things can happen when we have the numbers!! Now it’s off to the Governor.

The bill limits local action to the state definition of nuisances, significantly limiting their purview.

Currently, health officers have a god-like power to make any ordinance they desire. For example, health officials could mandate you dye your grass blue by whim—let’s not give them any ideas, right? Now, we know the greater issues are local mask and vaccine mandates or maybe even forcing an unauthorized WHO Treaty edict onto local citizens, and the important thing is that the state’s legal definition of the word “nuisances” would limit that authority.

It is unclear (to me) whether Governor Sununu will sign it. His Excellency has a bipolar relationship with the concept of local control, so he may need some polite reminders that you’ve got his back if he does, or he could just let it become law without a signature.

Either way works for us.

 

The post Bill Limiting Power of Local Public Health Officials Heads to Governor’s Desk appeared first on Granite Grok.

Headlines proclaiming that bird flu in cows has impacted the milk supply—and that cows are then spreading the disease to laying hens—are disturbing contributions to the cacophony of looming doomsday threats to humanity. Americans already spooked by the government takeover of speech, travel, assembly, and bodily autonomy during the COVID-19 pandemic are understandably unnerved by new zoonotic threats.

The “real science” suggests risks to human health are minimal; the “real propaganda” seeks to foment fear to advance ideological goals more dystopian than the bird-cow-chicken virus.

Bird Flu in Cows and Eggs

Federal officials are monitoring milk-producing cows after the USDA determined that the bird flu (officially the H5N1 virus) is spreading between dairy cows within the same herd to other herds when cows are transported and from cows to egg-laying poultry. It is not clear where the new cow-jumping virus arose, though US officials believe it was contracted from wild birds.

The virus has been discovered in approximately 20% of pasteurized milk on grocery store shelves, but it is generally considered that pasteurization prevents the transmission of live infectious viruses and that the tests are merely detecting lingering dead virus particles. The USDA states, “There are no concerns about the safety of the commercial milk supply,” but both the CDC and FDA warn against consuming raw milk or related products. Officials are closely following the spread among cows, as wide and sustained spread provides the virus opportunities to acquire mutations that make it more transmissible to humans.

Alarmist Globalists?

The only recorded human cases have been among dairy workers, and there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Yet some biased “stakeholders” have fanned the flames of fear in order to increase the regulatory powers of an increasingly Orwellian federal government. In one typical clarion call to action, Jaime M. Yassif, Ph.D. claimed:

“….many of us in the biosecurity and pandemic preparedness community believe that leaders in capitals around the globe should be working to get ahead of this new public health threat in case the H5N1 flu virus gains the ability to spread among humans.

“While we face uncertainty about what will happen next, many scientists say stepped-up government action is warranted because of the risk that bird flu could turn into a pandemic. Many researchers believe that Covid-19 may have started in a similar way — spreading from animals to humans by first gaining the ability to spread among mammals that came into contact with humans, and then evolving to transmit directly between humans.”

This is not a very scientific assessment; ‘’many of us believe,” “many scientists say,” “many researchers believe,” and “may have started in a similar way” are all speculative. Such phraseology does not assert consensus within a “community” that cannot determine whether COVID-19 “gained” its ability to spread between humans in a gain-of-function laboratory or the animal-to-human trajectory speculated here. Americans certainly do face uncertainty about what happens next – they still have no certainty about what happened during the pandemic!

Dubious Credentials

Dr. Yassif’s dubious credentials taint her call to arms for Big Pharma and ever-bigger government. She hails from the Nuclear Threat Initiative, formed by Ted Turner and Sam Nunn to advocate against nuclear weapons, yet she is here advocating for increased biological research. Prior to this, Yassif served at the left-leaning Open Philanthropy Project, created by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, which gives to numerous left-of-center organizations concerned with criminal justice policy.

The Open Philanthropy Project is also keen on animal welfare, according to its website, seeking to “expand the global farm animal welfare movement” and “the development of alternatives to animal products to reduce the demand for factory-farmed products.” They are “especially focused on work that can reduce the taste and cost barriers to wider adoption of these products.”

It is hard to discern what Yassif’s true mission is – nuclear nonproliferation, animal welfare, or biosecurity. Such lofty goals are blended together in many globalist NGOs. Attacks on cows and farmers in the name of climate change have swept through Europe and arrived in America. Yassif was a policy advisor at the US Department of Defense, where she “helped lay the groundwork” for the WHO and Global Health Security Agenda. She now counsels an expansion of Big Brother with advice that is arguably creepier than bird flu virus in cows’ milk:

“In the short term, governments should act now to deploy the capacities at their disposal to guard against the uncontrolled spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus if it evolves to spread between people. This includes funding research on vaccines that are likely to be effective against the virus, stepping up surveillance of livestock and humans and wider emergency response planning.

“Moving forward, it will be critical for human and animal health sectors — including the CDC and the US Department of Agriculture — to work together on bio-surveillance, including by developing a shared approach to monitoring human and animal populations and by exchanging data, to keep tabs on how the virus is evolving.”

Keeping an Eye on Surveillance

Attentive Americans are keeping tabs on voices like Yassif’s. Arguing for ever more China-like surveillance systems to track all humans and farm animals for a disease that does not yet exist, Yassif is practically advertising the provisions of the new pandemic treaty, which proposes to collect and monitor animal diseases in an interconnected global “sector” of disease-sharing laboratories. In the name of security from as-yet-nonexistent pathogens, Yassif calls for compromises of privacy and constitutional liberties. Perhaps “misinformation” about cows and bird flu must also be prohibited prophylactically – “just in case” a new disease pops up and “just in case” someone dares suggest it did not jump from bird to cow, or cow to human, but from lab to human. Such scientific questions are verboten, as the world witnessed during the pandemic Yassif cites as positive justification for expanded powers.

Flu vaccines do not have the greatest record of efficacy. The CDC notes: “When flu vaccines are not well matched to some viruses spreading in the community, vaccination may provide little or no protection against illness caused by those viruses.” However, should cows become a vector for transmission, humanity already has vaccines for H5N1 bird flu: “….a trio of H5N1 vaccines for humans has already been developed and approved in the U.S. ….While there hasn’t been an outbreak among people to put them to the test, human-to-human transmission would “drive the need” for H5N1 vaccines….”

The Biden administration has steadily increased regulatory burdens on small farmers through EPA, SEC, and USDA rule changes. Now, a disease crops up that undermines local (raw milk) food production and is being leveraged by global disease “experts” to expand surveillance of humans and animals to design and manufacture “just-in-case” vaccines and to increase globalist regulatory powers. What could possibly go wrong?

 

John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.

The post Experts Say Bird Flu ”Jumps” To Animals The Elites Don’t Want Us to Eat … appeared first on Granite Grok.

There is so much going on in D.C., not just with Joe Biden and the Misfit Toys. Things are explosive on the Hill, and even the Supreme Court is chipping in. And don’t forget the fabricated farce of a trial in New York where the poor excuse of a D.A., Alvin Bragg, has been assigned the task of keeping Donald Trump off the campaign trail for six to eight weeks.

We have a never-ending battle in Ukraine and the retaliation by Israel against Hamas that is causing weeks of unrest in American colleges. America is in chaos, and we are pulling the world into the vortex. All of this distortion is taking our attention away from our biggest concern, and that is the open spigot of humanity at what used to be our southern border.

I will not give Biden credit for creating this plethora of distractions. He is incapable of such a sophisticated operation, but I will give him 100% credit for the broken country we must put back together after we oust him on November 5. The attention given to these ancillary situations works in the favor of Biden by taking the focus off the border and the economy.

The border is still hemorrhaging, and we know it is a two-fold issue. We still have over 300,000 unvetted migrants from around the globe, and these people are transported into cities and towns coast to coast. The latest numbers are in for what Biden’s border crisis is costing us, and the numbers are huge. The total cost in 2023 was $150 billion or nearly $9,000 per migrant. That is more than what is paid to Seniors for Medicare or veterans. In other words, two of our most treasured groups, the people who protected our freedom and the folks who have been investing in America the longest, are below illegal migrants when it comes to the country paying back. Nobody in Washington should sleep well with those sinful facts.

To compound the border crisis, Biden will start importing Gaza refugees. It is unclear when this influx will begin or how many refugees Biden intends to bring to America. There are many countries, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, in the Middle East that could take refugees, but every country said no, thank you. None of these countries wants to take the risk and danger these refugees would present, and many of them will be Hamas terrorists. But Joe thinks it a good idea to bring them to America. Joe, do not bring any more than will fit into Delaware. Many Democrats, led by John Fetterman (D-PA), have seen enough and realize if they do not speak out, they will suffer the same peril as Biden in the fall.

Gas prices, grocery prices, home heating fuel, home/apartment costs, and interest rates continue to rise, far outpacing any wage increases. New job numbers are disappointing, including far too many new government jobs, and unemployment numbers are ticking up. There are no positive numbers in the economy that Biden can point to and say are a result of Bidenomics. It is becoming impossible for anyone to say they are better off under Biden than Trump.

The smoke will clear before the election, especially if Trump is able to get Biden on the debate stage. Biden’s faults will be exposed, and hopefully, voters, especially the undecided, will see the real Biden and realize we need Trump back in the White House to fix what Biden broke.

 

The post Do Not Lose Focus On The Border And Economy appeared first on Granite Grok.

To all those who are sending in memes, thank you!  Many, many good ones!  Please do share this post, and if you share an individual meme, consider mentioning you saw it on the Grok!

Announcement: From a time standpoint I have to drop to Monday-Friday.  These posts take a surprising amount of time, and since I’m job hunting (or customer hunting, either works) I just can’t do three days a week right now.  And I’m taking a week (at least) off from the Israel posts too.

 

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Speaking of, from this week, Monday Edition and Wednesday Edition.  Also check out my latest Israel-focused meme & commentary post if this is a subject of interest to you.

 

*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***

 

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On trusting Democrats Bumper Sticker | Zazzle

 

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Somehow I get the feeling a few of these are repeats.

 

 

The only thing I can think of is that WOKE is an intellectual parasite.  It infects company leaders, who then act to advance wokeness, not the company.  In fact they do the former to the detriment of the latter.

 

 

 

 

Sure feels like it these days.

 

 

When your declared enemy, who openly hates you, supports someone… yes, question that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This seemed way too pat & convenient, so I checked:

Australian gun law: Inside John Howard’s battle to rid guns from Australia | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

At the time, an inflamed NSW Premier Barrie Unsworth said: “It will take a massacre in Tasmania before we get gun law reform in Australia.”

Mr Unsworth would go on to regret his statement, with the tragic prophecy unfortunately coming true.

Brings this to mind:

 

 

 

All the outrage for one country and one situation only.  Others have correctly pointed out that Arabs have killed orders of magnitude more Arabs than Israel has… even with Israel having an unprecedented low civilian-to-combatant death ratio, unheard of in modern warfare.  And begging your pardon for inserting a video, this is one large reason why.  Watch as an IDF call to an Arab in a lined-up targeted building results in the Arab saying they won’t move, and celebrating their potential martyrdom.  Including the deaths of the children there:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/arab-will-not-evacuate.mp4

 

Israel Warns Civilians To Evacuate Rafah In Most Incompetent Genocide Ever | Babylon Bee

 

 

I pray with my kids every night.  Still working on getting them to say prayers over food.

 

 

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PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

 

Rally harder!  Write letters harder!  Protest harder!  And don’t forget to VOTE HARDER!

 

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Democrat privilege.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just… sad.  Reminds me of this one:

 

 

 

 

I remember watching this movie.  Some good messages, but at the same time, IMHO, steeped in Leftism.

 

 

 

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Link Section (some mine, some from my Jarhead friend):

 

In a win for all us “conspiracy theory” people, AstraZeneca has finally admitted that, yes, there ARE some bad side effects of their shots, and decided to pull them:

AstraZeneca pulls COVID-19 vaccine from global markets – UPI.com

So when will the enemedia issue an apology to all those they vilified about the “jab hesitancy”?  I’m thinking the 2nd Tuesday of never…

—

This is why you always pay for your guns and ammo with CASH:

Colorado Signs Bill Requiring Credit Card Tracking of Gun and Ammo Purchases (ammoland.com)

—

The feds are FORCING some states to give illegals a voter registration form:

Feds Force S.C. To Give Voter Registration To Foreign Nationals (thefederalist.com)

—

They are sending the Marines to the southern border, but no-one seems to understand why:

US Marines Headed To Mexican Border Ahead Of Migrant Tsunami – Great America News Desk

—

Some good charts showing how the “energy transition” is REALLY going (hint: not well):

What The Media Won’t Tell You About The Energy Transition – Watts Up With That?

—

James O’Keefe recently released an undercover video where a CIA contractor admitted that the TLAs withheld information from Trump (while he was President), and that they are actively working to make sure he never takes office again:

CIA’s INSIDER THREAT PROGRAM: O’Keefe Media Group Recording More Important Than People Realize – POLITICAL MOONSHINE

The Deep State’s attempts to sink Trump in the public opinion and/or shackle him with lawfare have backfired “bigly”, and they are getting desperate.  Given that, more and more “little things” are adding up to the TLAs green-lighting using the “JFK solution” on Trump:

Has Trump’s Assassination Been Green-lighted? – POLITICAL MOONSHINE

Related:

Eight Options to Deal with Teflon Don – POLITICAL MOONSHINE

—

The judge in Trumps “false bookkeeping entry” trial (the one with Stormy Daniels testifying in NY) has now put a “gag order” on one of the main witnesses for Trump.  But there’s no agenda here, oh no…:

When the judge gags a key witness for Trump’s defense – Washington Examiner

Related:

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/what-if-donald-trump-just-walked

—

Regarding Trump’s “classified” documents case, it’s been put on hold.  Recently the prosecution had to admit (in court) that the evidence had been “mishandled”, which is a nice way of saying it could have been tampered with by the DOJ.  So they basically don’t have a case any more.  Also, more is coming out that it was a total set-up from the git-go.  Here is a timeline showing how the White House, the DOJ, and NARA all worked together to set this up for the Mar-a-Largo raid:

https://hardfacts.substack.com/p/timeline-of-collusion-doj-and-nara

Related:

An Honest Judge Exposes The Dishonesty Around The Mar-A-Lago Case – American Thinker

—

After the shameful “withdrawal” (really abandonment) of the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in August 2021 (where 13 servicemembers were killed, and we left 1000’s of our allies to the clutches of the Taliban), LTCOL Stuart Scheller (then a Marine Corps infantry officer) made a video asking about holding the leadership accountable.  However, instead of being praised for asking about accountability, he was fired, jailed, and then vilified for “questioning the policies of the government”.  It’s now almost 3 years later, and still NO ONE has been held accountable for the withdrawal debacle.  To add insult to injury, they now teach what happened to him at the Senior Staff NCO school.  Not the honest questioning mind you, but the fact that he dared to question “the narrative” is what got him fired.  In this article he makes a good case for firing the entire General staff of the US military:

Commentary: Typically, That General Is Removed – Tennessee Star

 

 

—

For my Jewish friends; The National Union of Students has just voted to expel Jewish students from their group (because they support Israel).  Keep your heads on a swivel, as this shows that antisemitism is ramping up and getting to be very pervasive.  I expect it will get “kinetic” in the coming months, so watch your backs:

National Union of Students Has Voted to Expel JEWISH Students – Geller Report

—

9 Things Not to Do in a Widespread Civil Unrest – Ask a Prepper

Good read IMHO.  Grey man.  And if SHTF and you have food, diet like insanity.  You CANNOT be seen as someone who is clean and well-fed.

—

NOAA Forecasts Severe Solar Storm: FIVE CMEs ARE HEADING FOR EARTH – Watts Up With That?

Grid down?  How… convenient.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Pick of the Post:

 

 

Bolding added:

“Damn, Claire, you have a flair for drama, delivering just the margin needed at 3:00 am.”

TINVOWOOT.  Because the GOP has done nothing serious, IMHO, to address this.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Palate Cleansers:

 

—

—

 

TGIF!  I’ll show myself out…

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

And don’t forget… come back Monday for another edition.  Same Meme Time.  Same Meme channel.

Please do consider buying me a coffee.

Buy Me a Coffee

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

This was my very first cartoon concept!  Please consider my T-shirt with this graphic.

 

The post Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

It’s not just your child who has almost no privacy protections in a public school, but it looks like school board members and elected union officials may not have privacy, too.

The Rochester Voice reported that Kyle Repucci, the ex-Superintendent of Rochester Schools, Asst. Supt. Saundra MacDonald, Rochester School Board Chair Paul Lynch have been accused of harassment and wrongful termination of Rochester School Department’s former IT chief:

Yasenchock, who for 23 years served as chief technology officer of Rochester Schools, alleges in his lawsuit that two months before his firing Repucci ordered him to search for emails between various school board members and elected union officials and provide paper copies back to him.

Repucci allegedly wanted to view the emails to determine if certain school board members had worked on a file presented to the school board by union officials, according to the complaint.

On Sept. 17, 2020, Yasenchock voiced concerns over the legality of what Repucci had ordered and requested he state in writing the exact scope of what he wanted his IT chief to do.

That’s when it all went south, according to the complaint.

Whether this results in a financial payout to the plaintiff or not, take a good look at what your administrators earning 6-figure salaries are working on.

The Voice goes on to report:

Yasenchock alleges he was summoned to Repucci’s office and angrily confronted by both the superintendent and assistant superintendent after which he left but not before telling the pair he was going to report the matter to the full school board.
The complaint alleges Rochester Schools soon afterward hired Municipal Resources Incorporated (MRI) to identify and provide a narrative for grounds to fire him, which they did on Nov. 13, 2020.
Yasenchock, a combat veteran who suffers from PTSD, notes in his lawsuit that Repucci was well aware of his disability and exploited it when he confronted him in his office and again immediately after he left.

This is what taxpayers are funding in Rochester. Just think if administrators were concerned about math proficiency, and making sure all of the students were fluent with their math facts.

Repucci has left theRochester district, and has been hired by the Concord School district. As I’ve warned in the past, watch for those administrators who jump from district to district; often times they are running from their incompetence, or problems they’ve created in the school they are leaving.

Listen to the May 6th School Board meeting in Concord here.

You can watch the Concord School Board and administrators gush over their candidate, Kyle Repucci, and how they went through the interview process with him. Shockingly, the lawsuit wasn’t brought up. No one asked Repucci if he would be spying on the board members or union officials in Concord.

Why didn’t Repucci bring this up during this meeting?

It seems to me that whether you are guilty or not, you’d bring this up and either admit to what you’ve done or let them know exactly what happened if the facts are not accurate. I would want the person I’m hiring to have two important characteristics: honesty and integrity. Addressing the lawsuit and offering as much information as possible, allows the decision-makers to be fully informed. Not bringing the lawsuit up would cause me to believe the candidate wasn’t honest or had something to hide.

Then there’s The New Hampshire Code of Ethics and Conduct. Did The New Hampshire Department of Education conduct an investigation on the three administrators to see if they violated the Educator Code of Ethics or Conduct?
Who pays the bill on this lawsuit if the plaintiff wins a settlement? The taxpayers?

This is why people use the term “passing the trash” when referring to administrators who jump from school to school after being involved with incidents like this.

The post Rochester’s Ex Superintendent Is In Court Over Spying, And Now Working in Concord appeared first on Granite Grok.

New Hampshire Dems like to talk about diversity and equity and POC or even BIPOC, minorities “being seen,” Critical Race Theory, and even white supremacy, so you’d be right to wonder why this doesn’t translate to candidates for federal offices.

Ann Kuster announced her retirement at the end of this congressional session, so we expect a few Democrats to line up to feed at that through. It’s NH CD-2. If you get into the office, you can milk that cow forever. And line up they did, but it looks a bit more like what you’d expect from their plantation South ideological ancestors.

Pasty white.

Colin Van Ostern, one of the whitest carbon-based life forms in the Granite State, announced before the echo faded from Annie’s retirement announcement. Shortly after, Becky Whitley, a lighter shade of pale, tossed her pasty-white hat into the ring. And now we’ve got Maggie Tamposi Goodlander, who “lives” in New Hampshire, to run for federal office (probably a DNC-foisted favorite). An arrangement not lost on one other primary opponent.

“As a second district voter myself, I believe strongly this race will be decided by the people of our district — not by wealthy or powerful interests from outside our state,” Kuster said. “Colin is a proven New Hampshire leader who has won this district before and will again.”

A little catfight is good for the race, but Goodlander will probably have a lot of money from her DC contacts (she was a White House Lawyer for Biden and worked at State), and her mom and dad have deep developer roots in the State. Cash won’t be a problem. She is also younger and prettier than Colin, but he’s right about the carpetbagger feel. And since Goodlander was probably farmed by DNC Beltway insiders, including folks in the Biden White House who were responsible for stripping New Hampshire of its First in the Nation Democrat Presidential primary (over people of color and lack of diversity issues), you’d be right to ask why they didn’t try harder to find a black woman, if they tried at all.

 

The post And Then There Were Three Pasty White Dems Running to Replace Pasty White Ann Kuster appeared first on Granite Grok.

Attendance was better this week than last for Republicans, by which I mean more Demcorats were absent. And a few folks we don’t typically see missed votes. They likely had other obligations that could not be avoided. That happens with a citizen legislature. And then there were O’Hara and Trottier.

As usual, Belmont when unrepresented or underrepresented if you prefer.

The number to the left is missed votes, yesterday. On the right we have missed votes for the full session to date.

5/9		YTD
13	O’Hara, Travis (R, Belmont)	170
13	Trottier, Douglas (R, Belmont)	127
13	Infantine, William (R, Manchester)	75
13	Brouillard, Jacob (R, Nottingham)	69
13	Summers, James (R, Newton)	57
13	Verville, Kevin (R, Deerfield)	46
13	Dumais, Russell (R, Gilford)	42
13	Gerhard, Jason (R, Northfield)	23
13	Hobson, Deb (R, East Kingston)	21
13	Hoell, J.R. (R, Dunbarton)	15
13	Pearson, Stephen (R, Derry)	13
9	Durkin, Sean (R, Northumberland)	29
8	Bordes, Mike (R, Laconia)	35
8	Roy, Terry (R, Deerfield)	24
5	Ouellet, Mike (R, Colebrook)	11
4	Crawford, Karel (R, Moultonborough)	55
3	Guthrie, Joseph (R, Hampstead)	47
2	Sanborn, Laurie (R, Bedford)	221
1	Cole, Brian (R, Manchester)	51
1	Thackston, Dick (R, Troy)	33
1	Packard, Sherman (R, Londonderry)	21
1	Osborne, Jason (R, Auburn)	8
1	Ankarberg, Aidan (R, Rochester)	5
1	Harvey-Bolia, Juliet (R, Tilton)	5
1	Lascelles, Richard (R, Litchfield)	5

The post NH House Republican Attendance for 5/9/2024 appeared first on Granite Grok.

Today, we learned that session days can be productive when Republicans show up and vote together. Our numbers were less than usual, but so were the “other guys.” With 19 or so bills, it was supposed to be a short day – and that did not actually happen.

After our “opening ceremonies” (invocation, pledge, anthem), we started with a House Resolution to honor 50 years of the National Conference of State Governments (NCSL). From there, we welcomed the Consul General of Japan in Boston (and New England), Ambassador Suzuki Kotaro. He spoke about Joe DiMaggio, baseball, and cherry trees in Washington DC, plus peace, trade, mutual cooperation, and investments in NH. Japan has many ties to our state, and we enjoy many good working relationships, historically and in the present.

We learned that two bills came back to the House from the Senate, HB398 (relative to notice of PFAS contamination prior to the sale of real property) and HB1060 (relative to establishing a geologic resources committee), and the House concurred with Senate changes on both bills since the Senate didn’t mangle them too badly. We are now beginning concurrence and committee of conference season. Let the horse trading and gnashing of teeth begin!

We learned that we started out the regular calendar with SB592, which passed on a congenial voice vote since this bill renamed route 127 from Central Street in Franklin to the town line of Sanbornton as Bradley Haas Memorial Highway. This was done in memory of the officer who was shot and killed in the lobby of NH Hospital in Concord on Nov 17, 2023. He was a good man with many years of public service, and we hope that his memory lives on in his hometown of Franklin with this legislation.

We learned that SB537 allowing the pre-processing of absentee ballots died a well-deserved death after the floor amendment died 180Y-185N, and then a Table motion died 180Y-186N, and then it was Indefinitely Postponed 187Y-179N. This was a horrible bill whereby election day could be turned into election week. It boggles the mind that the Senate passed this bill that allows absentee ballots to be handled, have their envelopes opened, and be examined before election day supposedly to make election day “run smoother” and “ballot cure” deficiencies that are discovered. This was a process that was put in place during COVID-19 due to the influx of absentee ballots. We don’t need this anymore. The truth is that opening absentee ballots before election day invites the opportunity for errors and fraud, degrades the election process, and turns Election Day into Election Week. All House Democrats and “Republican” Dan Wolf (Newbury) voted to Table this bill, hoping they could take it off the table later in the day and pass it. I’m glad we killed it off when we did.

Things got real fun when SB63 was pulled off the Table with a “Remove from Table” motion that passed 185Y-180N. This bill was laid on the Table last week on a voice vote. The bill seeks to clarify, in statute, the subject matter of which health officers may utilize their authority to draft health ordinances. House Democrats decried the bill as having the basic intent to curtail the authority of municipal public health officers and to limit the ability of towns and cities to enact ordinances in response to public health threats (eyeroll). After the bill was removed from the table an ITL motion failed 179Y-187N, and OTP Reconsideration motion passed 186Y-180N, and then the bill passed on a roll called vote 186Y-180N (with all House Democrats and Dan Wolf (R-Newbury) voting NO). See what good things can happen when we have the numbers!! Now it’s off to the Governor.

We learned that this was the time of day to have a lunch break, but before we were allowed to go we listened to a talk by House Security and the House Sergeant-at-Arms, JB Cullen, about House Evacuation Plans. With only a couple of House sessions left, it left many wondering why a presentation like this wasn’t done at the start of the year. Anyway, they talked about where people should go if we needed to evacuate quickly, especially during an “active shooter” event. Chances are an active shooter wouldn’t get too far with all those folks armed on the House floor anyway, although they were advised not to shoot back as they may confuse House Security if there’s a bunch of crossfire going on. They were advised to hold their fire until they were in a position of needing to defend themselves. (Huh?) That being said, with everyone quickly clamoring for the doors to go to grab the free vegan lunch offered by the Humane Society in the State House Cafeteria, I am still uncertain how those evacuation plans would work smoothly.

We learned that SB413 passed OTP/A 188Y-178N. This bill was a double bonus bill after passing amendment 1678h. This bill creates expanded remedies for the state for PFAS contamination and also creates an express private right of civil action for such contamination. This was a good bill to begin with, and seeing as we wanted to make this Senate bill even better, House Judiciary decided to whip up an amendment to tack onto it! The language from HB1115, grants landlords the ability to terminate a tenancy at the end of the lease term. If you recall, HB1115 already passed the House with a bipartisan vote but the Senate effectively killed it by voting for Interim Study. Now, the Senate will be getting back, for concurrence, what the House deems is a much better bill!

We learned that our next fun bill was SB462, relative to raising the cap on damages for wrongful death loss of consortium claims. Some House members wanted to see this bill killed because they believed raising the caps would result in increased insurance premiums. There has been no proof to that since the Insurance Department has not conducted an actuarial assessment of the effect the increases would have on these areas of concern. Other House members believed it was time to raise these caps. The State of New Hampshire places a cap of $150,000 on insurance claims for loss of consortium due to the wrongful death of a spouse, and $50,000 for a child or parent. This bill would increase the damage amount awarded to a surviving spouse for wrongful death from $150,000 to $500,000 and the damage amount awarded for a minor child from $50,000 to $300,000. All the other states in New England except for one have no cap. The other state is Maine, which has a cap of $1,000,000. In the end, the bill passed 191Y-174N on division votes, and reconsideration failed 162Y-191N. Now the bill goes to the Governor.

We learned that Republicans had another great win with SB576. This bill requires simply that the executor of an estate notifies the town clerk of the death of any person within 30 days of being appointed. This bill would keep voter rolls up-to-date and ensure that only living individuals are voting in our elections. House Democrats insisted throughout the debate that “dead people don’t vote”. However, it was reported that Rep. Tim Horrigan (D-Durham) claimed his mother voted absentee and died before the elections. So there’s proof that it can happen. However, the other side of the story is that election clerks did not count her vote (they may have known about her and her demise personally). One has to wonder how many other dead voters get to vote because towns may be too big for clerks to know who has died. The initial ITL motion failed on a tie vote that the Speaker also voted on: 179Y-179N (with all 173 Democrats and 6 Republicans voting to ITL). After a roll called Tabling motion failed 180Y-181N, Speaker Steve Smith (R-Charlestown) exclaimed, “This is getting exciting!”. The final roll called vote for OTP passed 182Y-180N. It was remarked that no dead people voted in House chambers today. We certainly have dead people in portraits though, and at the end of the day we’re dying to go home.

We learned that SB383 passed on a roll called vote 184Y-177N, This bill is enabling legislation that adds a new optional adjustment method to the RSA 32:5-b local tax cap and also provides for a new optional school district budget cap and establishes an annual cap on proposed spending. The school district budget cap is adopted or rescinded by a 3/5 supermajority vote; and, in each year, the school district budget cap can be overridden by a 3/5 supermajority vote of the legislative body. In summary, this bill provides an additional practical method for a local tax cap and establishes a new school district budget cap, each which can be optionally adopted, and both of which automatically adjusts with inflation and population changes within the town or school district. This bill provides Granite State taxpayers the ability to adopt optional budgetary tools at the local level in order to more effectively manage town and school district budgets in fiscally responsible manner. Of course House Democrats were opposed to this.

We also learned that SB532 also passed on a voice vote after an amendment (1847h) that fixed some drafting errors passed 253Y-104N. This bill requires all municipalities and school governing bodies to post on their official town or school website within 30 days the amount of funds received by the state either by allocation or grant. The House majority voted for financial transparency, specifically with respect to money flowing to the municipalities and school districts, and that that information should be disclosed in a manner that is transparent to the public and easily accessible. Now it’s back to the Senate for concurrence.

We learned that 4 bills were pulled off the Consent Calendar. 3 were pulled off the calendar to add amendments to them before sending them back to the Senate. SB574 was a bill about appointment of temporary agent for a minor or incapacitated person. We added amendment 1853h to it to add shared parenting legislation to the bill. I believe that was language from a previous House bill (HB1659) that the Senate killed with Interim Study. The vote on the amendment was 184Y-173N and the bill passed OTP/A 352Y-7N. We hope the Senate enjoys the new and improved SB574.

Rep. Tom Mannion (R-Pelham) pulled SB426 off Consent. This bill had to do with being able to transport marijuana in a motor vehicle or OHRV as long as it was in the original sealed container. Rep. Mannion wanted to add the “Defend the Guard” language (HB229) to the bill that was killed in the Senate. Because some people believed this to be a “Defund the Guard” bill, the amendment failed 126Y-231N, as did a tabling motion 141Y-216N. The original bill then passed OTP 194Y-160N.

SB508 (relative to the duties of the superintendent of the county department of corrections concerning mental health and substance use disorder screening of inmates and coordination for services upon reentry into the community) was taken off consent and 1728h amendment was added. This amendment places language in statute that further defines antisemitism for the purpose of enforcing anti-discrimination laws on the basis of race, religion, or national origin. In the amendment, the term “antisemitism” means the definition of antisemitism adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), including the examples of antisemitism set forth therein, and incorporated by reference in Presidential Executive Order Number 13899, 84 F.R. 68779, December 11, 2019. I am a person of the Jewish faith and I actually voted against this because I believe that our anti-discrimination laws were adequate enough and did not need to specifically define anti-semitism as anti-discrimination. Nonetheless, the amendment passed 189Y-160N, a tabling motion failed 168Y-186N and then the whole amended bill passed 210Y-143N. Now the Senate will have to deal with it. Will they concur?

Finally we learned that SB481- establishing Juneteenth as an annual holiday was unanimously ITL’d by the Executive Departments and Administration Committee and placed on Consent. I have no idea why it was pulled off Consent only to be voted ITL 194-154. Add that to the mystery of why people bother to pull things off consent only to garner the same result.

Next week House members get a break, but we’ll be back on May 23rd for more Senate bill fun and games.

The post So Kids, What Did We Learn From This Week’s House Session (5/9/24)? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Today Joa is filing his MOTION TO DISMISS #2 based on the theory of “Entrapment by Estoppel” and New Hampshire RSA 626:3 II.  These arguments are now in writing to preserve them for appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court should a trial be held and things not go our way.

Interestingly, Attorney George Wattendorf (who like I have said multiple times, has been very cool to work with) who represents the Hillsborough Police Department, has taken the position that Joa’s criminal trespassing is completely separate from his denial of the right to film.  We are of the opposite opinion.  This will be a judgement call for Judge Susan Ashley when we go to trial.

What do you think?

I would like to extend a huge thanks to New Hampshire Judicial Branch General Counsel Erin Creegan who awesomely took the time to hunt down the authorization forms we were looking for.  My experience in dealing with court staff and Judicial Branch officials has been nothing but stellar.  These people truly have wanted to help at every turn.

If New Hampshire is going to allow males to participate in sports, then fairness demands that girls be allowed to take PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs… e.g., testosterone). There should be a level playing field … right?

I would rather that New Hampshire require boys to compete against boys because PEDs can cause major health problems. But apparently, achieving “diversity” or “climate-justice” or “democracy” in New Hampshire requires that boys be allowed to compete in girls’ sports. So, let’s at least give the girls a chance. Every school district should have a PED officer whose job is to dispense PEDs to girls. And, NEEDLESS TO SAY, parents do NOT need to know if their daughter is taking PEDs … NO FORCED OUTING OF PED-GIRLS!

Not to weigh in on another controversial topic, but here goes:

When we screen female athletes in the Olympics for testosterone supplementation etc., we do so because we understand that male hormones can give female athletes a material and unfair competitive advantage.

How then… https://t.co/x2w0EIvArF

— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) May 6, 2024

 

The post Night Cap: Make PEDs Legal For Female Athletes appeared first on Granite Grok.

My guess is that if our primary is decided on personality, then Ayotte will win due to higher name recognition and having won a statewide election.
And my guess is that if the primary is decided on policy that Morse will win. He has a long history of enacting the policies that have made NH the best state in the nation.

So far, I would say that we have started off badly, and if we continue on the current track, we could lose in November.

BUT I think there is a good way to get back on track and win in November.

It seems that NH Democrats are worried about Kelly Ayotte, and not interested in policies that are important to NH citizens. This is what NHJournal reported today:

“When New Hampshire’s Democratic candidates for governor gathered for a forum at Exeter Town Hall Sunday afternoon, the top topics were affordable housing, abortion rights, climate change, Education Freedom Accounts, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte. Left unmentioned?”

“Inflation, illegal immigration, anti-Israel protests roiling Granite State college campuses, and the other GOP candidate for governor, former state Senate President Chuck Morse.”

Three points:

Democrats will be campaigning on personal destruction more than policy

1. They think Ayotte will win the primary
2. They have already started the general election campaign
3. We can and should start the general election campaign right away, and we should focus on policy, not personality.

We know the policies of the Democrats. It doesn’t matter who the person is; they all have the same (bad) policies.

Morse (and preferably also Ayotte) should focus on the Democrats’ policies, not on each other. Compare and contrast Republican policies vs. Democrat policies. Morse can say that he knows how to keep NH great. He has been enacting good NH policy for a dozen years.

Make the primary an audition for the general election – Republican vs. Democrat rather than the traditional circular firing squad. Let’s see how each of our candidates would perform against the Democrat. Let voters choose the one who is seen to do the best job beating the Democrat.

Morse can have a strong campaign about his leadership helping to make NH the best state in the nation, which would weaken the eventual Democratic nominee. The traditional approach of attacking the other Republican does nothing to strengthen his own position and nothing to weaken the Democrat. It leaves the Republican very little time to make our case.

Can we convince Morse that this new approach gives him the best chance to win the primary and then the general?

The post GOP Campaign Strategy – The Governor’s Race appeared first on Granite Grok.