For years, House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) didn’t pay taxes on significant parts of his income.  When the IRS discovered this, it allowed him to pay the missing taxes without any of the normal penalties.

In 2009, Representative John Carter (R-TX) introduced the Rangel Rule, HR 735, which would extend to all U.S. taxpayers the same penalty-free and indictment-free IRS treatment enjoyed by Rangel for flagrant tax evasion — as required by the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

I was thinking about this recently in a conversation where I was surprised to find that the people I was talking to didn’t know about RSA 193-H:2, which says:

On or before the 2018-2019 school year, schools shall ensure that all pupils are performing at the proficient level or above on the statewide assessment as established in RSA 193-C.

All pupils.  There are no exceptions for pupils with special needs, pupils who don’t do well on tests, or anyone else.

Now, there isn’t a school in the state that has been within shouting distance of this since it was enacted.  This means that every school in the state is in flagrant violation of the law.

So, it seems only fair that taxpayers in school districts around the state should be able to withhold their school taxes until the schools start complying with the law.

I know, I know — ‘the law’ requires them to pay those taxes. But ‘the law’ also requires the schools actually to teach kids to read.

The Rangel Rule, generalized to what we might call the Rangel Principle, simply says that if government institutions can ignore the law without penalty, then taxpayers funding those institutions should be free to do that, too.

Applied to this particular case, the penalty for withholding school taxes should be the same as the penalty for failing to teach kids to read.  Which, apparently, is no penalty at all.

The post The Rangel Principle: If Schools Don’t Have To Teach Kids To Read, You Don’t Have To Give Them Your Money appeared first on Granite Grok.

After reviewing the new Strategic Plan for Governor Wentworth Regional School District, I would suggest trashing it and starting over. While it sounded promising with their placement of academic achievement as their top priority, nothing in this document shows the community how that will be accomplished.

The rest of the document sounds more like an appeal to the federal government than a worthwhile plan for the community to rally behind.

There are a few bright spots within the document found in Focus Area 3 Family & Community Communication and Engagement, but with all of the battles raging right. now, how does anyone have confidence this will help?

I will go through the document as it’s been presented here:

GWRSD_Strategic_Plan_2024 (1)

 

Focus Area 1 Student Wellness
This section looks like it’s paving the way for the district to transition to the CDC’s Community School model. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a goal to turn every public school into a mental health and medical clinic. This may sound good on the surface, but as this transition begins to unfold, we are seeing all kinds of problems that parents should be aware of.

We’ve found personally identifiable mental health data on students being shared without parental knowledge or consent. This is a gross violation of privacy and ethics. Parents are also discovering that their children are receiving medical treatment and medication without ever being informed.

Those who are providing mental health assessments and services have not received the proper education or training to deal with some of the more serious mental health situations that arise. There are references to trauma, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. These are serious mental health issues that should only be addressed by a PhD-level Child Psychologist — not a teacher in the classroom or the school counselor.

The federal student privacy law was gutted several years ago during the Obama administration. It used to require parental consent to share sensitive data on students. That is not necessarily the case anymore. All of this data that is now being collected by various sources could be used against these students at some point.

Just visiting the school counselor can disqualify a student who wants to join the military, and now the U.S. Department of Education can now share information with other departments like the U.S. Department of Labor. Competencies are now shared with colleges and universities when a student applies for admission. What kind of behavior, values, or dispositions will be shared with future employers or colleges?

Focus Area 2: Culture of Belonging
This area begins with a call to things like equity and DEI.  (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) There is nothing about students who come from religious homes. What does equity look like in public schools? It focuses on equality outcomes versus equal opportunities. Guaranteeing equal outcomes means less opportunities for gifted students or students who strive for excellence. DEI tends to focus on race and gender, leaving out any concern for other groups of students in the school.

This is more of a WOKE focus than any focus on real belonging. Real belonging should apply to all students regardless of political views, religious beliefs, or any other identity they use to divide us.

Parents do need to understand that their children will be in a school with other children who may have a different worldview. So, how does one make a school welcoming? Certainly not this way. This way divides children by their “identity” instead of unifying them.

School officials are not there to sway children in their beliefs, but they can certainly promote a safe and welcoming environment for all children. Sometimes that means compromise, sometimes it means teaching children to show respect and kindness to others.

This focus takes a good idea and turns it into a woke agenda instead. I’d watch that equity plan closely and also note the data collection is even included within this category.

Responsive Classroom is a program that will be used. I’ve seen mixed reactions from teachers on this. Watch for discipline or lack of discipline within the school community. Will there be real consequences for unruly or bad behavior? Teachers need a classroom where they can teach and need to be supported by the administration. Reduction in discipline can become a real problem when kids learn they can get away with unruly behavior.

Focus Area 3- Family & Community Communication and Engagement
This actually sounds good, although this is required in federal law: Parent Engagement is in Every Student Succeeds Act. But what does that look like in the schools? Parents are running into resistance just trying to remove pornographic books from the school library. Parents are concerned about biological boys and girls using the restroom opposite of their biological sex. The same is true for locker rooms and sports teams. Something like this normally requires a common sense compromise so that all children are served in their public schools.

Oftentimes, parents who do not want their children exposed to pornographic books or want their children in a sex-segregated restroom are shunned and called transphobic. Picking sides isn’t a solution, but finding a compromise can be.

All competencies for each grade and subject should be included in this area. Parents should be able to access this information on the district website. Parents should also be able to observe their child’s classroom, and also feel welcomed.

Focus Area 4 – Academic Achievement
This may be the biggest disappointment. While a statement offers hope, nothing in this plan explains how this will be accomplished. Instead, there is a lot of time spent on actions that do not produce quality results. Schools now align their curriculum to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. These standards are dumbed down, and district administrators should be focused on identifying those problems and showing how they will raise the bar.

Multiple pathways or extended learning opportunities still require adherence to the dumbed-down standards. Where will they raise the standards for students on any path?

Differentiated instruction? How? That normally means that kids will be learning off of the computer or participating in group work as the teacher becomes a facilitator. This minimizes the important role of the teacher as an instructor. Where has this been successful at improving academic outcomes?  Changing up a classroom this way should demand independent and peer reviewed studies that show any of this improves academic outcomes.

How does the MTSS-B help academic outcomes? The Multi-Tiered System of Support for Behavior is a mental health framework. We already know the multiple problems with this federal fad. Federal money comes into the school, the school counselors turn over personal mental health data on students to Keene State BHII, and they develop a fluff report that all is well. Meanwhile, we have teachers in Keene who are leaving the profession because behavior is out of control, and consequences have been turned into mental health treatment by school personnel who are not educated or trained in the profession.

Finally, they include Portrait of a Learner in this strategic plan. This is another national fad focused on data mining personal information on your children. What does that do for academic outcomes? Nothing.

Battelle for Kids was created by Battelle, an applied science and technology company that uses technology to track behaviors. The program was incentivized through policies and grants in the 2015 federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA. ESSA replaced No Child Left Behind and was signed into law during the Obama administration with bi-partisan support. These policies are an extension of Common Core reforms.

Some of Battelle’s strategic partners that direct states’ adoption of Portrait of a Graduate is CASEL. CASEL’s Tim Shriver admits teaching academics is no longer important.

Aurora Institute, ExcelinEd which is JEB BUSH’s org (who profits off of his online Charter Schools) and KnowledgeWorks, are working towards mass data collection of children’s values, attitudes and behaviors (aka..mental health) with a company called the Data Quality Campaign.

The Data Quality Campaign was instrumental in developing states’ State Longitudinal Data Systems. So, Portrait of a Graduate/Learner is, essentially, a program to expand New Hampshire’s State Longitudinal Data System, and start tracking children into all sorts of social services including health services, and into the workforce. You can read more about that here and from the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy.

In the final scheme of things, Portrait of a Graduate/Learner is the backbone for Social Credit Scoring and ESG scores for children.

New Hampshire 
As the leader in implementing competency education, New Hampshire recognized the need for a state data system that was better equipped to communicate with district systems and provide necessary supports. The Initiative for School Empowerment and Excellence reduces the burden on schools and gives information back to schools based on regularly collected data to encourage student achievement through rigorous data use and analysis.

KnowledgeWorks is a Gates-funded organization (also based in Ohio) that the State Boards of Education paid to facilitate the districts’ adoption of Battelle’s SEL framework. (Pilot programs and legislation for Competency-Based Education will align “competencies” to those in Portrait of a Graduate) Local teachers are brought into the process to determine competencies, but only for show. In actuality, they are being shifted into becoming facilitators of the SEL system, and, over time, the entire system will be geared toward SEL.

What does this strategic plan do for the students? It facilitates the data-mining of their personal information to fulfill the goals of the federal government. This isn’t about helping students, and it’s not about what parents want for their children or schools. This is a federal agenda to meet the terms the federal government laid out in Every Student Succeeds Act.

As an education researcher and parental rights advocate, I’d refuse as much of this data-mining, SEL and mental/medical services as possible. Your child’s mental and medical health is important, but it needs to be done outside the school system where you are still informed, and your child’s personal information is secure.

 

 

 

The post On Local School District’s Strategic Plan: Trash It and Start Over appeared first on Granite Grok.

Sent by a reader, this radio segment is something you should check out and, if you agree, add to your quiver of rhetorical/active arrows. Patrick Madrid is talking to a mother who is trying to defend her daughter from the groomers and queer agenda in her local public school.

He offers great advice to Anai, a valiant Catholic mom gearing up for a showdown with her daughter’s teacher. Anai’s 16-year-old daughter is facing pressure to complete an assignment that goes against Catholic teachings on sexuality, sparking a fierce defense of faith and family values. …

Patrick’s strategy is a masterclass in rhetorical judo, advising Anai to use the language of inclusivity and authenticity to advocate for her daughter’s right to hold and express her beliefs freely. This approach not only safeguards her daughter’s emotional well-being but also holds the school accountable to its own stated values. It puts the teacher on the defense rather than the other way around.

This is some excellent table-turning… Madrid explains to the caller how to put them in their own ideological box, not to be mean, cruel, or argumentative but to get their buy-in on their own stated values so they have no choice but to confront that and maybe (just maybe) they decide it is better to leave her daughter alone.

Give it a listen! (10 min).

 

 

The post “How Can I Effectively Confront the LGBT Agenda at My Child’s School?” appeared first on Granite Grok.

Warner: Hartford Has An Activist Problem – Now They Know About it

 

Martin Luther King Jr. famously said:

“Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’

Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’

Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’

But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’

There comes a time when one must make a decision that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must make that decision because their conscience tells them that it’s right.”

Monday night in the embattled town of Hartford was held a Budget and Meet the Candidates night held once a year.  The several hour meeting allows town members to hear the upcoming budget and ask questions regarding appropriations or express concerns over potential mismanagement.  Following this are speeches given by candidates for school board and select board.  Candidates typically offer a brief introduction followed by vision casting for their plans to serve the needs were they to be elected.

The town of Hartford has seen many shakeups and resignations over the past few years especially at the select board level.  At one point the board had four black citizens in a town that is 90% white and still saw members step down over cries of racism or similar complaints.  For a town that’s elected Kevin “Coach” Christie, the beloved former coach and automotive teacher at the local tech center (who is black) it can’t seem shake this popular accusation.  One prominent citizen, Joe Major, also black, sits as the executive director of the largest non-profit in town, the Aquatic Center, a massive complex visited by hundreds each day. Despite these votes of approval in town the Robin DiAngelo “find racism everywhere” gambit seems to be a steady diet.

One citizen, namely myself, has studied the culture closely over the past ten or so years.  In a town that is clearly welcoming of all, in a state that ended slavery in 1777, in a country that established civil rights and put a black man in the oval office the cry of systemic racism, led by the Black Lives Matter movement-turned-craze, resounded like a clanging gong.  The sum total of BLM’s activist led riots saw the destruction of billions of dollars in American property and the killing of more than twenty-five innocent people reverberating nearly everywhere from overseas to my tiny hamlet of Hartford.

I visited my home town of Portland, Oregon late in 2021 only to find it in shambles.  Tent cities littered the neighborhoods, burn marks covered the walls of buildings with boarded up businesses closed after 100+ days of rioting led by Antifa and Marxist revolutionaries (who had managed to get S.E. 39th street in my neighborhood renamed to Cesar Chavez Blvd), and the smell of marijuana was ubiquitous.  Black Lives Matter signs were found in nearly every yard, not due to supporting the cause but from fear of property damage if one did not comply.  A ghostly pall hung over the many colored faces of the people in my neighborhood.  The tension was palpable as I walked the streets and entered both old and new haunts and shops.  The once genial and friendly Rose City confines felt more like an open air prison being run by activist psychopaths who had taken over.

Talking with friends they said the same.  Most everyone they knew hated what was happening but were afraid to speak up thanks to the thuggish attacks from Antifa radicals who were known for acts of violence sparing no one.  Antifa even attacked a church rally on the Waterfront park pepper spraying children and assaulting women.

Antifa, the unregulated and radical enforcement arm of the new cultural Marxists, have also been seen around the country standing armed outside of Drag Queen Story Hours intending to intimidate parents and citizens who show up to object to these blatantly sexualized performances designed to groom children into queering their minds.  By “queering” is meant to break from cultural norms, in this case American, replacing them with Marxist boundary-less tendencies known as “liberation” rising all the way to sexual liberation of, yes, children.

Hartford recently held a Drag Queen Story Hour that was the subject of controversy among the select board.  Self-avowed activist Ally Tufenkjian decided to speak on the topic during a board meeting stating it was a “positive experience” despite including a hoax bomb threat that sent a shock wave through the town still reeling from the many shock waves our country has a steady diet of thanks to constant media messaging of the latest existential threat (COVID lockdowns, climate change, school shootings, rioting, wars, Jan 6th, etc.).  Fellow board member Lannie Collins responded on behalf of the town members who did not view it as a positive experience, which includes me.  I would expose the event for its patently sexual grooming of children at a board meeting two weeks after more activists showed up to denounce Mr. Collins for being “insensitive”.

My familiarity with all of these things led to my declaring a run for one of the open two-year spots on the select board.  Candidates are expected to introduce themselves and cast a vision they have for the town.  My conscience declaring it the right thing to do, I warned them of the road we are headed down with the proof being the state of my former city.

Of course, activists showed up to the meeting to denounce my warnings as “hate speech” rather than discuss the merits of my claims.  If it’s hateful to warn a tiny Vermont town to take a closer look at the source of its sudden social problems and rising incompetence at the local government level then I plead guilty.  In fact, I’ll happily declare I hate the deceptive tactics of Marxist activists, I hate their plans to abolish property rights, the nuclear family, our national boundaries and most of all their promoting the sexual grooming of our children.

For me, this is a hill worth dying on.

(To listen to my speech at the town meeting fast forward to the 1:53:00 of this video)

 

The post Hartford Has An Activist Problem – Now They Know About it appeared first on Granite Grok.

The polls! The polls! The polls! We’re winning! We’re winning! We’re winning! So say those who persist in living in that alternative reality that the rigging of the 2020 election was just a one off. We are NOT winning. We are losing. The polls don’t matter when (among many, many, many other things to rig 2024) millions of illegals get to vote … as is now the case in Arizona thanks to the Democrats’ lawfare.

But just keep on pretending that 2024 is somehow going to be different than 2020, that Putin is the real enemy, that there is a “free press” in America, that a Republican can get a fair trial in America, etc., etc., etc.

The post BREAKING … Biden Wins Arizona appeared first on Granite Grok.

Western Journal has done an excellent job of adding some balance to the business of news and media, but I laughed out loud when I read this headline: “Biden Has All But Lost His Advantage in Key Voting Bloc that Drove 2020 Win, Devastating Poll Shows.”

I laughed because you can’t poll the voting bloc that got him elected in 2020.

To give WJ its due, the report looks at polling among 18-24-year-olds, a majority of whom voted for Biden in 2020 but, having been crushed by Bidenomics, are beginning to bleed away from Democrats, some of them toward Trump.

The trend of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 was already looking negative for Democrats according to data from the 2016 to the 2020 presidential elections, with 58 percent favoring former first lady Hillary Clinton in 2016 over then-Republican nominee Donald Trump’s 28 percent, but Trump scoring 35 percent against Biden’s 59 percent in 2020.

That’s according to Pew Research data; in Axios’ 2024 survey, however, Biden, 81, scored a little worse at 52 percent and Trump, 77, came in much stronger with 48 percent — a 4-point gap compared to 2020’s 24-point gap.

The number is not insignificant, which is likely why Whoever is Running the Biden administration is playing the “We’ll forgive your student loans” in Debt-Minor, hoping to recreate past fraud. You can fool some 18-24-year-olds most of the time, but forgiving debt doesn’t solve the real issue. Even without a school loan payment, living is 18-24% more expensive (in many cases, more), and there is nothing in the Bidenista’s economic quiver that looks different from all the shots they’ve already taken. Some of those “kids” might have even figured out that the debt payoff scheme would make everything else worse (which it would). More Biden equals more Bidenomics, which means rising misery.

The Dems can’t afford to suffer too much more voting bloc attrition. It makes it much more challenging to steal elections with faked mail-in ballots, which are the “voting bloc” you can’t poll. Biden won because of a deliberately coordinated campaign to censor objection to the chain of custody issues with mail-in voting and a night’ surge in “mail-in ballots” for Vote Fraud Joe that took as long as it takes to count to ensure he won.

That demographic isn’t in prison, not that this is a deterrent, so they are still 100% for Joe Biden. Unless or until the mysterious Mail-in-Ballot voting bloc ‘demographic” changes sides (or stays home), young adults can get as disenfranchised with Creepy Uncle Joe as they like.

Not much will change if their vote for his opponent doesn’t get counted or is erased by another brute-force act of ballot box stuffing like the one we had in 2020. Democrats will simply count longer and harder until the Democrat is declared the winner.

The post The Only Key “Voting Bloc” We Need Joe Biden to Lose In 2024 Is This One appeared first on Granite Grok.

This blog is made pursuant to NH Rules of Professional Conduct 3.6 (c) (2).  The case is also publicized pursuant to Part I, Article 10 of the New Hampshire Constitution as an attempt to “reform” the government by informing the public of the facts of the case.

Recently an activist named Joseph Hart, who goes by the name Joa, was arrested for filming in the Hillsborough, NH Circuit Court-District Division.  Joa is a past host of Free Talk Live and a freelance journalist who has a popular YouTube channel called Breaking The Flaw where he posted a video about his arrest.

I will be defending him as his non-lawyer representative.

Here are the first filings in the case, apologies that my scanner is not working 100%.  I’m working on getting that fixed.

• NH Circuit Court-District Division Rule 1.3(D) Statement
• Appearance
• Power-of-Attorney

As always, I welcome your feedback…  good and bad.  You’ll notice I didn’t redact my phone number or address on these forms.  This is because I believe in standing publicly behind what I do.  Though I am not a lawyer, the People of New Hampshire paid to train me in the ways of the law and system and for that I believe I owe them a modicum of transparency, accessibility, and loyalty.

When I ran for High Sheriff a decade ago I did so under the premise that I’d be extremely available to my constituents if I were to win.  Along those same lines I make myself available to any member of the public who has questions or commentary about what legal activism I’m working on.

Feel free to text me, e-mail me, or write me a snail mail letter about the case.  If you work in the legal profession and have suggestions, those would be warmly welcomed!  When I defended Jason Talley I had anonymous lawyers contacting me offering advice and ideas I never thought of.  To them I am still grateful.

Truthfully I don’t talk on the phone very often (I work a lot), so if you call I probably wont answer.  No disrespect intended.  If you’d like to talk text me first and we can set up a time to discuss the case.

Stay tuned as this case progresses.  I will provide you with all documents involved for your personal judgement and critique.  All hearings will be videotaped and made available to you here as well.

FreeKeene.com is not just about the City of Keene (I have nothing to do with Keene, NH), it is New Hampshire’s Liberty Activism Destination!

Expect many updates.

Unfortunately, liberals have become mostly wacko. That is why ‘Liberal’ has become a word with negative connotations. The extreme religious right wing has always been the core of right-wing wackos. The transformation of liberals into “Karens” has been the failure of the mainstream liberals to maintain a core of self-respecting people who, in general, just want to help people.

Now, I can’t tell the liberals from the Wacko Liberals. There are a few semi-conservative liberals left but they are truly the minority. Both of the extremes are evil, but the right-wing religious nuts seem to be more compassionate of non-religious conservatives, and the right-wing conservatives have also been more accepting of less staunch conservatives.

Liberals, on average, have lost the ability to defend their beliefs. I have seen this time and time again in my being slightly right of center as I have been my entire life, but my move further right was not the conservatives gaining strength, but I was moved further right by the amount of leftists going off the rails.

We want to thank Ken Goodall for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.

This year is the first year in 28 years in which I did not hold my nose to vote Republican (Anti-democrat). I was never a real Republican. Although
I was always a Conservative. I was a wanna-be Hippie when I was young and at that early age did not know what liberalism was. As I grew, I learned about socialism and how it closely resembled liberalism. Then, with the Nuke plant coming to New Hampshire, I realized I was not a true hippie liberal and left the protesting to others. Good thing, too; a couple of friends at the time got arrested. It could have changed my life forever.

I ended up voting 3rd party and Libertarian for many years. Until the Clintonistas drove me to the right, and I became an Anti-democrat. The following elections, up until this year, also had the remains of the leftist loony Clintonistas. Yes, they are still there, but Trump’s failings finally put me back in the realm of being against the two-party system.

I can no longer support a corrupt two-party system. Unlike the majority of liberals, I am able to clearly defend my positions and my votes, whereas the majority of liberals are unable to do so by supporting a lying, cheating, scumbag pedophile with Alzheimer’s. And I can defend with proof each of my words describing the moron in the Whitehouse today.

I had originally asked liberals for one positive thing Biden has done while in office to make the country a better place, and after a long while, I had one answer with an actual good reply. I believe it was here in Carrol County, Uncensored, too. So now I have to ask for Two positive things. (Remember, stuff like lowering gas prices does not count since they went up under Biden).

So many items that cannot be defended, such as the lockdowns under both Trump and Biden, the monetary support of the lab in Wuhan, open borders, the ignoring of the constitution by allowing illegals to remain in this country, paying back college loans for a select group of people who made bad choices, supporting the money-grubbing medical industry in its hypocritical move to mutilate physically healthy patients, allowing males to compete in women’s sports, and this administration’s blind faith in inclusion to the detriment of this country. Biden has chosen liars, thieves, and people with much less ability than these positions require, besides the fact that inclusion seems to mean even people who are far from normal. This administration has basically claimed to want a New Normal.

I don’t know if the Liberal Hippies of the ’60s would fall in line with all the loony left has to offer today, but even dictionaries are listing the word Liberal as now having negative connotations. How did the left of the 60s, who I admired, allow their cause to be taken over, and even today, with very few leftists speaking out about the extremism going on?

The views and opinions expressed by contributors are those of the author and may not reflect the opinion or position of Grok Media, GraniteGrok.com, its authors, advertisers, donors, or sponsors.

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Well before 2020, a host of non-partisan citizens committed to voter integrity found each other in a spirit of civic duty as directed under our NH Constitution. As our ranks and trust grew, so did our efforts and work, resulting in citizen audits demonstrating significant and ongoing violations of best practices outlined in the Sec. of State Voting Procedure Manual.

Including a Pro Se’ NH Constitutional lawsuits/challenges, one of which is currently before the NH Supreme Court (Daniel Richard-V- Gov. Sununu en el case ’# 2023-0097)

Many of these formal and informal complaints have been filed before the Ballot Law Commission (appears to consist of 11 out of 12 NH attorneys – NO citizens – what could go wrong here) and NH Attorney General Formella to yet no avail. A majority of citizens now believe law enforcement and Sec. of State Scanlan are utilizing delay tactics to allow claims to expire under the statute of limitations. Justice delayed is not justice served.

Yet the most destructive piece of this long-term and ongoing deception is orchestrated by two chairmen of, ironically, the House Election Law and Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committees. Many are now convinced after years of inaction and now clear, outright coordinated deception. (HB154 Health Care bill turned in a non-germane voting machine bill via sleight of hand –in not allowing true/ honest public debate). Senator Gray and Rep. Ross Berry have violated their sworn oath of office, usurped our NH citizen’s civil rights, as well as failed to protect our sovereign and sacred voting rights.

We want to thank Carmen Sense for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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To bring some more depth to these claims, please ask Rep Ross Berry why, over the last four years, citizens, through their elected reps, have submitted over # 80 plus LSR/ Bills before his committee. Only to be marked with his infamous “ITL” recommendation (inability to Legislate). After review, it appears no less than just a few citizen bills under “ ITL” Rep Ross Berry’s leadership made it out of his committee. Yet if you’re the Sec. of State, your success before this committee is close to 100%

Now let’s pile on – add insult to the tax payer and citizen’s injury. While most citizens are working two jobs trying to pay their property taxes, food, education, etc., most are unable to attend committee hearings during the weekday from 9-5. While we are out working, just like in DC, a well-funded group of lobbyists paid for by us ( dues from town taxes) – in many cases fight against our best interests. (see Municipal Assoc. representing Town Moderators, Clerks, Selectman, and Town Attorneys alike). Ask Senator Gray if they lobbied him on HB 154.

GREAT NEWS: A revolt by 162 of our elected reps led By Rep Nikki McCarter and others in the house voted recently to send HB 154 back to a “committee of conference” to expose the sham and fix it. It failed, but hope is Eternal!

Despite the apparent silence and fear of traditional NH newspaper journalists to expose, as well as the history of lawyers (afraid for their careers) to represent “We the People” voting rights in court, you/we must now be stepping up in every town meeting, doing our civic duty. In doing so, we are teaching our children and grandchildren how to fight for our most precious and sovereign right to free, fair elections, where every vote is counted as authorized by our NH Constitution ( Part II Art:32).

In closing please ask your legislators if they were one of the Honorable 162, who stood up for your Civil Rights, Transparency & Voting Rights.

Shame on the rest!

 

Note: Whistleblowers and ()Authors of anonymous content or those using pseudonyms are identified before publication, but their secrets are safe with us.

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Do they really think we are that ignorant? Do they really think that they can gaslight us that we are safer under Biden’s policies? Do they really think that we are deaf and blind to the horrid scenes that we watch with our morning coffee and again with our evening cocktail? Since Joe Biden has been our President, one cocktail is insufficient to get through the evening news.

Joe Biden addressed the press this week about the Biden initiative to continue to make our cities safer. He painfully stumbled through a list of crime categories that he claims are all showing the lowest rates in decades. One thing that is quite clear after three years of Joe Biden is stats mean nothing because you can play with the numbers to get your desired result. You need to look no further than inflation and employment numbers to see how useless they are. When you have put the cuffs on police, do not allow arrests, and put blindfolds on your District Attorneys so that criminals who do get arrested do not get prosecuted, the crime numbers. If you ignore crime, then, of course, the crime numbers will improve. The question then becomes, if you ignore crime, are there no victims? Of course not. Remember, we are watching the news and living in this crime-riddled world of Joe Biden.

We know the explosion of crime since 2020 and the death of George Floyd. It is incredible how ironic it is that the unfortunate death of a career criminal marks the start of the movement by the Left to declassify crime. Floyd is still celebrated to this day as a bill named in his honor passes through Congress. The bill is not to make the country safer for its citizens but to make handling criminals more humane. Ignore the elderly woman who just had her handbag snatched by a gang member riding a scooter. Look away from the shop owner who had to shut down his store because his insurance was canceled after so many ransackings. Shame the young woman who has to live the rest of her life remembering the day she was raped. Please don’t mention the name of the girl in Georgia whose head was disfigured from the beating she took that ended her life. But make sure you harken George Floyd’s name when discussing the need for compassion when dealing with the perpetrators of crime.

I admire Senator John Kennedy’s ability to stick a knife into a person testifying before his committee and still maintain the good old boy demeanor. He torched Federal Prison Director Peters this week when discussing the First Step Act, which puts selected criminals back into society. Director Peters administers the program. Kennedy asked her a series of questions, which the director was unable to answer:

• How many criminals have been released in the four years of the program? (The answer is 30,000)
• Were the victims notified their perpetrator was being released? (The answer I don’t know)
• How many of the 30,000 released have been arrested for other crimes since? (The answer is I don’t know)
• How many people work in your department? (The answer is 40,000)
• How many of those 40,000 have still been working from home since COVID? (The answer is I don’t know)
• So, how do we know the program works without the answers to any of these questions? (No answer)

An exasperated Kennedy closed his questions with the comment, “this is why Americans do not trust the government.”

And Joe Biden is another reason why we don’t trust the government. He and his family make up one of the biggest crime families in the country, and he preaches to us that crime is down. Sorry, Joe, we are not buying what you are pushing.

The post Of Course Crime Rates Are Down When You Don’t Track The Crimes appeared first on Granite Grok.

I am using the nautical term “come about” because Alderman Dowd, the 2023 Secret Keeper of the Year, is a Navy veteran and has repeatedly reminded the voters that he’s a submarine expert.

The mismanagement of millions of dollars of ESSER funds was kept under wraps during his campaign until after he was reelected to a 7th term, securing another two years of his committee chairmanship last November, but that was the past.  Let’s talk about the present and the future.

At the end of Tuesday night’s meeting during public comment, Ward 2’s Mr. Gouthro spoke about transparency at 1:31:20 until he was cut off 3 minutes later and followed by Laurie Ortolano at 1:34:35.  Pay close attention to Laurie’s comments because they involve the future.  She politely requested transparency regarding the Mohawk Tannery, which The Swamp has been hoping stays low on the radar.  In spite of all current, recent, and not-so-recent baggage(assessor’s office, arts center, and litigation), the “L-Team”(Laurie Ortolano and Laura Colquhoun) has been hard at work monitoring its developments as they unfold.

Also currently a work in progress, though in Concord, is the RTK Tax, aka HB 1002, which has a House Judiciary Committee executive session next Wednesday, 3/6, at 10 am.  Consider it serendipity because her comments illustrate why the materialization HB 1002 would be a horrible thing.  Think about the fishing expedition on top of another fishing expedition that could exist at the truth seeker’s expense!  It’s been said more times than I have counted that RTK inquiries are NOT weaponized malice and that the good faith requestor is willing to work with the stewards of the public information being requested.  Laurie Ortolano has made clear that she plans to be monitoring the Mohawk Tannery project and has given ample notice, so it should be considered a fair warning.

In Nashua, it would be in everyone’s best interest that her request from the podium is properly honored, and it would be in the best interest of everyone(in Nashua or elsewhere in NH) that HB 1002 dies in the House.

The post City Hall has an Opportunity to “Come About.” 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 32 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 5 and opposition of 11 with 3 being of interest.
Of the 19 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 2 and opposition of 0 with 2 being of interest.

Position	Bill	Title	Committee	Day	Time	Room	State Analysis
Oppose	HB1608	relative to providing an induction program for new teachers.	Education	Mon 3/4	9:00 AM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill creates an induction program for new teachers.
Oppose	HB1605	relative to alternative education programs for granting credit leading to graduation.	Education	Mon 3/4	9:45 AM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill requires all alternative learning programs for granting credit leading to graduation to comply with state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
Oppose	HB1592	relative to the use of education freedom account funds in religious schools.	Education	Mon 3/4	10:30 AM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill prohibits the use of education freedom account funds at religious schools or for religious education or training, and repeals provisions relating to independence of and legal proceedings concerning education freedom account providers.
Oppose	HB1084	relative to qualifications for the commissioner of education.	Education	Mon 3/4	11:00 AM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill establishes minimum qualifications for the commissioner and deputy commissioner of the department of education.
Oppose	HB1610	relative to standardized assessment data for participants in education freedom accounts.	Education	Mon 3/4	12:30 PM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill requires all students to participate in standardized statewide assessments.
Oppose	HB1654	relative to review of education freedom account service providers.	Education	Tue 3/5	10:00 AM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill requires the state board of education to annually review education freedom account service providers for continued compliance with all state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
Oppose	HB1650	relative to the approval of alternative programs for granting credit leading to graduation.	Education	Tue 3/5	11:00 AM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill requires all alternative learning programs for granting credit leading to graduation to comply with state and federal anti-discrimination laws, and establishes a committee to evaluate applications for alternative programs.
Support	HB1093	prohibiting mandatory mask policies in schools.	Education	Tue 3/5	1:00 PM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill prohibits school boards and other public education agencies from adopting, enforcing, or implementing a policy that requires students or members of the public to wear a facial covering.
Of Interest	HB115	relative to changing the date of the state primary election.	Election Law and Municipal Affairs	Tue 3/5	9:30 AM	LOB Room 103	This bill changes the date of the state primary election to the third Tuesday in August.
Oppose	HB1102	relative to the definition of animal cruelty.	Environment and Agriculture	Tue 3/5	1:00 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill adds the sale of certain animals with deformities to the definition of animal cruelty.
Support	HB370	relative to after market window tinting on motor vehicles for drivers with medical conditions.	Transportation	Tue 3/5	1:00 PM	LOB Room 101	This bill authorizes persons with medical conditions to apply for a special permit to waive the prohibition on automobile after market window tinting on the left and right side of the driver.
Of Interest	HB1410	relative to certain professional licenses.	Ways and Means	Tue 3/5	10:00 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill repeals the chapter on the board of registration of medical technicians. This bill further makes changes to the nurse practice act.
Oppose	HB1293	(New Title) relative to the use of certain fertilizers on turf.	Ways and Means	Tue 3/5	11:00 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill prohibits the use of certain fertilizers using phosphorus.
Support	HB1565	(New Title) relative to the definition of potentially hazardous food.	Ways and Means	Tue 3/5	12:00 PM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill removes “processed acidified” food from the definition of potentially hazardous food.
Oppose	HB1611	relative to establishing a child care workforce fund.	Ways and Means	Tue 3/5	12:30 PM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill establishes a child care workforce fund.
Of Interest	HB1628	relative to regulatory authority for apples, coal grading, potatoes, cider, milk, and lumber.	Environment and Agriculture	Wed 3/6	11:15 AM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill repeals certain regulatory statutes that have been preempted by the federal government and moves regulatory authority for apples, cider, and lumber to the chapter relative to standards for farm products. This bill is a request of the committee to study the New Hampshire law relative to standards for farm products and marketing and grading commodities established in 2023, 12:1.
Support	HB1578	relative to organic food certification and labeling.	Environment and Agriculture	Wed 3/6	1:00 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill repeals the certification program and the organic processors-handlers certification fund.
Support	HB1574	removing regulations on the direct sale of raw milk to consumers.	Environment and Agriculture	Wed 3/6	2:00 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill removes certain regulations on direct sale of raw milk to consumers.
Of Interest	HB274	relative to the administrative rulemaking process.	Executive Departments and Administration	Wed 3/6	9:00 AM	SH Room 103	This bill directs agencies to notify legislative policy committees and known stakeholders of proposed rulemaking under RSA 541-A. The bill also directs the agency to pay attorneys fees in cases in which the agency adopted rules after final objection by the joint legislative committee on administrative rules and a finding by the court that the rule is invalid.
Support	HB1233	relative to animal chiropractors.	Executive Departments and Administration	Wed 3/6	9:30 AM	SH Room 103	This bill exempts individuals who have completed a nationally recognized animal chiropractic program, as determined by the executive director of the office of professional licensure and certification, from veterinary licensure requirements.
Of Interest	HB1562	relative to personal watercraft.	Resources, Recreation and Development	Wed 3/6	9:00 AM	SH Room Reps Hall	This bill removes the term “ski craft” from laws on navigation of state waters and defines such craft as personal watercraft.
Oppose	HB1390	relative to regulating wakeboating and wakesports.	Resources, Recreation and Development	Wed 3/6	1:00 PM	SH Room Reps Hall	This bill establishes prohibitions and limitations for the operation of wakeboats and their use in wakesports on public waters of the state.
Support	HB1291	relative to accessory dwelling unit uses allowed by right.	Special Committee on Housing	Fri 3/8	9:00 AM	LOB Room 302-304	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.

The post Bill Hearings for Week of March 04, 2024 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

I wouldn’t expect this to catch on anywhere else soon. A California judge called the federal government for ‘selective prosecution.’ “Charging right-wing rioters but not the far-left agitators they fought against, and who did the exact same thing.”

“No individuals associated with the left, who engaged in anti-far-right speech and violently suppressed the protected speech of Trump supporters, were charged with a federal crime for their part in starting riots at political events. That is textbook viewpoint discrimination,” he wrote. “Most telling in this case is the government’s silence as to why it never pursued a case against a single member of Antifa or related far-left groups with respect to their violent conduct at pro-Trump events.”

“Defendants have established selective prosecution. There is no doubt that the government did not prosecute similarly situated individuals. Antifa and related far-left groups attended the same Trump rallies as Defendants with the expressly stated intent of shutting down, through violence if necessary, protected political speech. At the same Trump rallies that form the basis for Defendants’ prosecution, members of Antifa and related far-left groups engaged in organized violence to stifle protected speech,” he continued.

The judge threw out charges in what might be a first. Right-wing violence, if that’s what it was, has been given the same deference as left-wing violence.

We’re not condoning any violence by anyone. The Second Amendment protects the right to self-defense. If attacked, you know what to do with the understanding that the feds and many a prosecutor will still arrest and charge you for that. So, don’t think that since one judge let two guys off for doing what Antifa does justifies that behavior or that anyone is going to start regularly charging Antifa thugs as the criminals they are.

And a quick note to Antifa and any other direct-action progressives. Remember what Mao did to the Red Guard.

You’ve been warned (again).

The post Judge Calls Out Feds for Arresting “Right-Wing” Agitators While Ignoring Antifa Violence appeared first on Granite Grok.

Late in the fall of 2023, the Supreme Court issued mandates that ordered the City of Nashua to follow the trial court’s order in two Right-to-Know (RTK) Petitions and produce emails stored on backup tape. The email records requested were for two months of specific records within Nashua’s assessing office.

Nashua lacks written policies for handling record requests and is uncooperative in reducing the burden. Until eighteen months ago, emails were provided without attachments, and requesters were only informed of email volume, not including attachments.

The City hired Attorney Russ Hilliard 18 months ago for Right to Know (RTK) legal challenges. At this time, the City decided to review each page, page number, redact as needed, and insert all attachments into records before providing them to requesters. Requesters were not informed of this new process. An email request with 1000 emails could have 20,000 pages of attachments. Citizens may not want staff to review voluminous attachments that are already public records. For instance, Nashua’s assessing office has a data disk with 3400 pages of numbers which is already a public record on their website.

The City began producing the Court ordered email records in December of 2023. The city was being evasive and uncooperative in specifying the number of pages of documents involved. The City began providing all the attachments, primarily public records, without communicating with the requester. Of course, the requester informed the City that she did not want the attachments.

The city informed her that they would continue to review, number, insert, and redact all those records regardless of her request not to receive the attachments. It turns out that this is causing a long delay in the delivery of the records. It appears the city will need about 15 months to deliver the records. However, the city is unwilling to provide a timeframe for completion. The City refuses to provide the attachment page volume even though they have this answer. This City operates with malicious compliance.

The requester reopened both lawsuits, filed a protective order, a contempt order and an RTK lawsuit. The hearing is on April 22, 2024 at Nashua Superior Court.

The City hypocritically advocates for the State to amend the RTK law to charge fees for voluminous requests while working to increase the volume of the documents by adding unwanted attachments thereby increasing fees to be charged to citizens. All this while complaining of burdensome citizens making unreasonable demands. In reality, the burden and inflated costs are created by hostile City leaders to discourage and delay documents. Nashua City leaders work tirelessly to marginalize citizens who do not echo their message.

A Win is never a Win in Nashua.

The post Nashua’s Malicious Email Game appeared first on Granite Grok.

Polling on the problem of too much free speech is a scary enough prospect as the Government that lies to us works to convince Americans that it not only has no obligation to protect their First Amendment rights but that citizens should rally to demand it take them.

According to a new poll from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a First Amendment organization, nearly a third of Americans, including similar numbers of Republicans and Democrats, say that the First Amendment goes “too far” in the rights it guarantees. More than half agreed that their local community should not allow a public speech that espouses a belief they find particularly offensive.

When I saw the headline, I thought one-third could be Democrats, but as the pull quote reveals, an equal number of Republicans make up that number. Would it be brash to suggest they should not be registered as Republicans? Certainly not “conservative, as this would run contrary to the notion of conserving the natural rights our Government allegedly exists to protect.

That’s what Conservative means, by the way. The uniparty has been working on all cylinders to dilute that notion and succeeding. Many think there is such a thing as hate speech. That misinformation and disinformation are things a government (even through proxies) should be allowed to manage.

Half of the respondents said that their community “definitely” or “probably” should not permit a public speech expressing the opinion they found most offensive. A whopping 69 percent said a local college should “definitely” or “probably” not allow a professor who holds such an opinion to teach there. Over a quarter of respondents said that someone who previously said the offensive opinion should be fired from their job.

It is a sad day and not just for speech. Too many people have been lulled into complacency. They have no idea why the Bill of Rights and Constitutions exists. Once you let the Government take something away, it will not give it back, nor will it stop until it has taken it all.

This needs to change, and while Independent media has made significant inroads in recent years, it is clear that more work needs to be done. As we like to remind you, liberty is more precious, rare, even than life, and tyranny never rests, so neither can we.

Here is the survey from FIRE.

The post The First Amendment is a Problem for at Least One Third of Americans appeared first on Granite Grok.

It was only a few years ago that Vermont lawmakers were bragging that thanks to them, Vermont had adopted the lowest acceptable threshold for PCBs (a potential carcinogen found in certain pre-1980s building materials) in schools – a level significantly lower than what the federal EPA deems safe (4000% lower!).

Levels significantly lower than what European governments deem to be safe. Some critics worried it was an impossible standard, but Vermont being Vermont, we had to be the lowest.

In 2021, Vermont lawmakers took things a step further by slipping language into that year’s budget bill mandating that every school in our state built before 1980 be tested for PCBs along with Vermont’s new regulatory guidelines. We were the first state in the nation to demand such a program. Vermont being Vermont, we also had to be first!

Heady stuff, saving the children and all. Makes for wonderful press conferences and a bullet point for your next round of campaign materials.

VPIRG boasted in its 2021 legislative wrap-up at the close of session, “This year, we supported further protections for Vermont’s children by backing new requirements in H.426 requiring schools to be tested for radon and PCBs. This will help to identify toxic threats and keep children safe.” Great!

According to the state website on toxic substances,

PCBs can cause serious health effects. The potential for health effects from PCBs, as with other chemicals, depends on how much, how often, and how long someone is exposed to them.

Numerous studies in both humans and animals have shown that exposure to PCBs can affect the nervous, immune, reproductive and endocrine systems. PCBs are also classified as human carcinogens. This means that exposure to PCBs can cause cancer in humans.

Additionally, the different health effects of PCBs may be interconnected. This means that if one system of the body is affected by PCBs, it may have significant effects on the other systems of the body, which can lead to many serious health problems.

But now, in the midst of a devastating property tax crisis brought about by a combination of a tax-and-spend-like-drunken-sailors ideology wrapped in general legislative incompetence, it looks like that mandatory PCB testing program is going to be put on hold. Not because the tests aren’t turning up PCBs but because they are. And fixing said problem is expensive. And potentially expensive on the property tax.

It’s one thing to stand on a soap box and proclaim your love for the children. It’s another to actually pay a price – political and financial — for doing it. So, faced with the prospect of the latter, our courageous legislators say never mind. What are a few carcinogens here and there? Kids are tough!

The ostensible logic behind a testing pause put forward by Peter Conlon (D-Cornwall), chair of the House Education Committee, is that because the state doesn’t have the money to fix the problems if found, there’s no point in looking for problems in the first place. Like with that Spinal Tap drummer who died in a bizarre gardening accident, the authorities in Montpelier have decided PCBs in our schools are crimes “best left unsolved.”

Thankfully, my own kids have aged out of the hot mess of Vermont government-run public education in all of its aspects has devolved into, but if I were still a parent of school-aged children and there was a possibility of a poisonous substance lingering throughout the building, I’m forced by law to send my little tykes to 180 days a year, I’D WANT TO KNOW!

In a recent interview with VT Digger, Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore estimated the cost of finishing the testing program would is between $30 million and $70 million over the next two years. That’s a lot of money, for sure. But it’s about the same amount allocated for the newly passed universal free meals program. It’s far less than the amount newly allocated to expand government-run pre-k. If PCBs are really the dire problem we were led to believe, wouldn’t it make more sense to prioritize ensuring classrooms are not a health hazard before shoveling more younger children into them? I guess not!

And if the resources aren’t available to fix the problem once detected – a legitimate reality – no parent should be forced to send their kid into that space. Ever. Other options should be made available. Immediately.

And this, I suspect, is why the Democrats in the legislature are now so hell-bent on a testing pause (they tried last year as well with H.486): The VTNEA does not want parents in a legal/moral position to demand other educational options.

If a school has to close because it’s unsafe (or for any other reason) and there are no other public options within the district, the families in that district get school choice. Not every community has an abandoned mall they can convert into a school as Burlington did when PCBs led to the demolition of their high school or the nearly quarter of a billion dollars to build a new one.  The teachers’ union, public school special interests, and their political bedfellows would, it appears, much rather see kids get cancer than allow an opening for expanded school choice to emerge.

Either that or the PCB issue was always just a phony baloney scare tactic used by politicians to virtue signal their “anything for the children” persona and to give their activist allies like VPIRG a lucrative opportunity to fundraise for a cause by spreading unnecessary panic. But, as with the Act 127 ‘equity’ pupil weighting debacle, it’s blown up in their faces.

 

Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics, including three years of service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free-market think tank. He is also a regular contributor to VermontGrok.

 

The post So, It’s Okay to Poison the Children Now? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Members of the Apple cult who were hoping to one day drive their iteration of an Electric Vehicle will be disappointed. After dropping billions into an effort to one day compete with Tesla Motors, The Tech Giant has cut the plug-in cord.

Apple wanted to develop new battery technology that would dramatically cut the cost of electric vehicles and wanted to develop software that would make their cars fully self driving. …

The news comes after Apple said last month that it was pushing back its timetable for debuting its electric car from 2026 to 2028, which comes as the electric vehicle market has fallen off significantly in recent years due to a wide range of consumer concerns.

What no one ever seems to say is Apple, despite its braintrust, easy access to China, and billions of dollars, couldn’t make it work. There was no path to a more affordable battery pack technology. They also didn’t say why, at least not in the reporting I found: inflation and the price hikes created by false demand.

Government policy has driven the development and manufacture of Electric Vehicles for which the general public has no use, even if they could afford one. The recent glut of inventory and an almost institutional retreat by car makers is back in the driver’s seat, with Apple not being alone in wasting billions. Domestic EV makers have reported similar losses from making EVs. Unions have expressed anger at the changing dynamic EVs bring to autoworkers who have lost jobs, pay, and opportunity. It’s gotten so bad that one government, Joe Biden’s, has decided the impending and inescapable planetary doom that precipitated their EV demands can wait until after the next election.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that the Biden administration was preparing to ease its push to force EVs onto American consumers as consumer demand for the vehicles remains low, dealerships have expressed serious concerns, and automakers have had to cut production and revamp production of gas vehicles.

The report said the move was a “concession to automakers and labor unions” from the administration, as it was forcing “limits on tailpipe emissions” to force Americans to switch from gas-powered cars to more expensive electric vehicles

It might be a useful bit of political art to remind voters that we were told we couldn’t wait until we could and that should you fall for this sleight of hand and vote for Democrats despite their crimes against common sense and the economy, they put the screws to you the minute they get back into office.

Their preferred priorities are a dead end that is voting them trillions.

 

The post No iCar In Your Future – Apple Cuts Plug-In Cord After Wasting Billions on Titan EV Project appeared first on Granite Grok.

There are many things a local, state, and federal government can do for its people, from ensuring clean, drinkable water and road maintenance to police and fire protection to border security. But there are some elements of life that the government should avoid, and Portland, Maine, is considering crossing the line on two of them. The city of Portland is considering a Universal Basic Income (UBI) for all residents and an ordinance to increase the minimum wage in the city to $20 per hour. Both are terrible ideas that will harm local businesses and stifle the work ethic of an already stagnant workforce.

The problem with these suggestions begins with the premise. The Portland, Maine City Council’s Housing and Economic Development Committee is modeling its 2024 Plan on the implementations of Portland, Oregon. Portland, Oregon, is one of the most progressive cities in the country, and its policies are so toxic that there is an active movement for the more conservative eastern region of the state to secede from Oregon and join neighboring Idaho. This effort to secede includes portions of Northern California that do not align with the more progressive Southern California.

The Portland, Maine Council points to a pilot program of the Quality Housing Coalition that gave a UBI of $1,000 a month to a group of 20 mothers for one year. The site outlines the program, which started in 2023 but does not detail its results. The program includes training for those receiving the benefit, but not whether this is designed to be a bridge program or a renewable subsidy.

Setting up a UBI program, which was initially the idea of Democrat Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, is rife with potential opportunities for fraud and, as stated earlier, inhibits a person’s need to work. Though $1,000 a month is not a living wage, it might keep someone out of the full-time workforce at a time when workers are needed in every sector of the economy.

The minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage for a family, but that is what Democrats are trying to create. Recently, a California Senate seat candidate suggested a statewide minimum wage of $50, which would be a yearly total of $104,000. The thinking is that this is needed to support a small family in California. Can you imagine the cost of a Happy Meal or a pizza if the person making it was paid $50/hour? Wages should be set by the free market and not by the government. Arbitrarily setting a high minimum rate to give the appearance you are working for the people is destroying small businesses, which actually are helping people.

This trend toward a Socialist government, which involves itself in every aspect of life, has to be shut down. Pro-government must be replaced with pro-people and pro-business. We must get Americans back to work instead of their mailbox to get their paycheck. Since COVID, the new jobs created nationally have been filled predominantly by non-American-born workers. This trend is contradictory to what the government is attempting to control. The immigrants are filling the jobs at lower wages than Americans. At the same time, the government wants to regulate minimum wages. It is a vicious cycle that the government should pull out of.

One more quick example of a government idea gone wrong is the plan by Brunswick to house illegal aliens relocating to Maine. Maine allocated nearly $3.5 million to provide apartments in five new buildings in Brunswick to 60 illegal immigrant families. This amount breaks down to $58,333 per family that is in our country illegally. There are over 200 homeless veterans living in shelters or on the streets of Maine. Most efforts to eradicate veteran homelessness are donation-based. It appears our priorities are very messed up.

The post Bear Pond Conservative Chronicles: Two Bad Decisions By Portland Leaders appeared first on Granite Grok.

Rumor has it that mindless Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech will include a new deflection from his complicity in the shitshow that is the American economy. The guy who swore to end fossil fuels (no matter what…it would do to the economy) appears ready to blame greed for what ails us.

And I must admit, I agree, but not in the intended context of Joe’s handlers.

No one has taken advantage of their position to spend other people’s money like Joe Biden. Since he took office, the Government has pig-piled trillions in new debt onto the backs of children and grandchildren who didn’t have a vote and have yet to earn a dime. Add in the debt service on that profligate spending, and the notion that Joe can come up with a better example of corporate malfeasance than what he and his Government have done seems unlikely.

Taking advantage of your position to misuse trillions of other people’s dollars to pursue your self-interests is about as greedy a thing as I can imagine.

Only the Government can abuse people that way and get away with it. The Bidenistas also think they can get political traction with another trial balloon phrase – shrink-inflation.

On Friday, Politico reported that Team Biden is strongly considering making snack-food shrinkflation — “fewer chips in the bag,” as Joe said — the magnificent centerpiece of Joe Biden’s belated State of The Union speech on March 7th. I realize that idea sounds more like an SNL sketch than a real plan. It’s literally unbelievable that the leader of the free world would target smaller processed food packages as America’s primary problem.

The problem with this approach is not that the bag has fewer chips, but why? Government debt-driven spending sprees incorrectly counted as GDP make this record-setting act of generational theft look good on paper while devaluing every dollar, making everything exponentially more expensive. If the chip makers want to make any money to stay in business in this environment, they either take a few chips out of the bag or start charging a lot more.

Maybe Joe could talk about the academic shrinkflation of public schools. The schools themselves swell with staff and bloating budgets, but there is less education than ever. And it’s not just schools; every aspect of Government takes more, costs more, makes things cost more, costs even more thanks to inflation, and gives less.

Shrinkflation is what you did to the dollar, Joe. You shrank its value. We’re lucky there are chips or a bag to put them in.

And Joe’s Democrat replacement will be able to pretend whatever Joe did was none of their doing, but Joe is still operating on the assumption he is running for re-election. That is not true, though I doubt anyone has told him. His name is on the Democrat primary ballot, but it is little more than a placeholder, much like those signs progressive protesters had with a blank space to write the name of whoever Trump nominated to the Supreme Court. Gorsuch? How do you spell that – Hey, hand me the Sharipe. Until they break the news about Joe 2.0, why not keep using Joe as a trial balloon alongside whatever bit of progressive wordsmithing the DC Dungeoun narrative mills can concoct? Something might stick. After all, they want to keep the election in November close enough so that when they steal it, it doesn’t look as obvious as it did in 2020.

Sure, they got away with that one, and yes – they’d love a full-blown civil war, curfews, and a reason to roll out all those BearCats Obama sold to your local PD when he was President, but it would be easier if they could steal it to protect their political greed.

Greed is precisely the problem, and Joe blaming it on anyone but himself and the Government is more of a Democrat projection.

The post Night Cap: Shrink-Flating Biden’s ‘Greed-Flation’ appeared first on Granite Grok.

This is an assertion of a history of racketeering and Ponzi Schemes relating to the attorneys and non-profits involved in the YDC cases. Attorney General John Formella sought $100 million of public funds to pay for claims against the State for victims of YDC abuse. David Vicinanzo states that he was one of the lead attorneys to seek it.

According to 169- C 3:
VII. “Child placing agency” means the department, Catholic Charities of New Hampshire, Child and Family Services of New Hampshire, or any successor organization.

David Vicinanzo and Nixon Peabody have served as legal counsel to the Diocese of Manchester, which covers Catholic Children’s Services and Catholic Charities.

Gordon MacDonald, New Hampshire’s Supreme Court Chief Justice, was also employed by Nixon Peabody and was also counsel for the Diocese of Manchester.

Together, David Vicinanzo and Gordon MacDonald handled hundreds of cases involving alleged child abuse for the Diocese.
Francis Talbot was a longtime chaplain at the YDC. He was accused of sexual abuse at the Diocese and convicted. He was not charged with sexual abuse at the YDC. I believe that David Vicinanzo and/or Gordon MacDonald or their colleagues at Nixon Peabody would have been involved in his case in 2002.

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Rule 1.7 requires Attorneys to reveal if a conflict of interest exists. I do not believe that David Vicinanzo or Gordon MacDonald have revealed this with regard to the YDC cases and their representation of the Diocese of Manchester, which included Catholic Charities and priests who had been accused of sex abuse, such as Francis Talbot – a Chaplin at YDC.

I believe there should be an investigation into quid pro quo arrangements when it comes to David Vicinanzo, who also claims that he provides “pro bono” legal counsel to the NHCADSV to whom his ex-business partner Gordon MacDonald referred plaintiffs of YDC abuse after he’d dismissed the initial case for “victim negligence.” David Vicinanzo and Nixon Peabody then joined Russ Rilee in the claims against YDC. It would be logical to assume that his client, the NHCADSV, introduced him.

It would be logical to assume that between he and his client, it was arranged for Timothy McLaughlin at Shaheen & Gordon to threaten me with a defamation suit to withdraw statements I had made about the NHCADSV and Amanda Grady Sexton being involved, with other public officials and attorneys, in a “kids for cash” type scheme.  The NHCADSV has stated that they brought on Brian Harlow, a victim of Diocese of Manchester abuse, on the 10th anniversary of the Diocese investigation/Spotlight to increase their business. Brian Harlow came from non-profit SNAP. The Executive Directors of SNAP resigned after a whistleblower highlighted a kick back scheme with attorneys.

David Vicinanzo gave political donations to Ovide Lamontagne, Kelly Ayotte, John Sununu, Chris Sununu, John Stephen inter alia:

From Wikipedia:
As an attorney for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester, Lamontagne negotiated the 2003 settlement of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s investigation into the child sex abuse scandal that spared the diocese from being criminally charged. In all, in the period of 2002–03, the diocese agreed to a $15.5 million settlement involving 176 claims of sex abuse.[5][6]

The May 2003 settlement of 61 abuse claims for $6.5 million handled by Lamontagne as counsel for the Manchester Diocese prevented the diocese from being criminally prosecuted. In December 2002, the diocese had admitted that its failure to protect children from sexual abuse may have been a violation of criminal law, becoming the first diocese in the United States to do so. Under threat of indictment by the New Hampshire Attorney General, Bishop John McCormack signed an agreement acknowledging that the Attorney General office possessed evidence sufficient to win convictions as part of the settlement.[7]

Lamontagne claimed that McCormack and other prominent church members wanted a speedy settlement and, in an example of behaving “pastorally” rather than as a litigant, instructed their attorneys to take a moderate stance and eschew hardline legal tactics. Lamontagne said of the diocese’s legal strategy, “That is not typical in terms of client requests.”[8]

John Stephen introduced the no-bid contract for Maximus Inc. for Medicaid in 2004. Maximus is contracted with Catholic Charities, and Kathleen Kerr, who was legal counsel for the NH DHHS/DCYF for 12 years, joined Maximus Inc. and is on the board. Maximus is contracted with the DCYF and YDC.

The YDC is named after John Sununu, to whom David Vicinanzo also gave generously.

Gordon MacDonald dismissed David Meehan et al.’s claims against the State for child abuse at the YDC for “victim negligence”. He then referred plaintiffs to the NHCADSV, who are David Vicinanzo’s clients. Then joined Russ Rilee and convinced Gordon MacDonald’s successor, John Formella, to get approval for $100 million. Nixon Peabody is seeking 40% of each claim they make. The NHCADSV I believe are also to receive a portion of each settlement as they did in Rapuano & Does v Dartmouth filed by Chuck Douglas and Steven J Kelly Esq who also filed several suits against St Paul’s School while David Vicinanzo represented members of St Paul’s Faculty.

David Vicinanzo praised Judge Richard McNamara’s decision to keep the Grand Jury Criminal Investigation Report private. His client who had petitioned for it – the NHCADSV – got a contract with the school out of it.

David Vicinanzo also represented Phillips Exeter Academy when the DCYF admitted to deleting files of sex abuse at the school. His client, the NHCADSV, got a contract out of it.

When Catholic Medical Center was forced to pay $3.8 million for a kickback scheme revealed by a whistleblower, Chuck Douglas stepped in to represent the whistleblower.  Catholic Medical Center falls under Catholic Charities as well, and former Monsignor Edward Arsenault (who pled guilty to defrauding the Diocese of Manchester, CMC, and a dead priest’s estate) had been responsible for increasing the business for Catholic Charities and CMC. That means that he was responsible for increasing business for Nixon Peabody and Divine Millimet and John Stephen, who’d introduced Maximus and had a consulting company that is down the block from Nixon Peabody. David Vicinanzo had made political contributions to Ovide LaMontagne of Divine Millimet and to John Stephen.

Nixon Peabody has been involved in a couple of National Ponzi Schemes. At least one of them using public funds. The law firm was founded in 1999. David Vicinanzo and Gordon MacDonald joined. The Diocese cases quickly ensued. James F McLaughlin was the police officer. Edward Arsenault was the “compliance” officer, personally arranging 250 settlements according to his bio, and Chuck Douglas was filing many of the claims.

Chuck Douglas was New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice when John Sununu was Governor. Chuck Douglas allegedly ordered a teenage girl back to YDC after the State had paid for her to have an abortion. In Chuck Douglas’ divorce proceedings from Caroline Douglas, she accused him of financial fraud and spoke of the “club” of attorneys and judges. They are the same club today as they were in 1999. And they are protecting James F McLaughlin, attorneys, non-profits, and AGs who have all benefitted from the Diocese cases, the St. Paul’s School cases, and the Phillips Exeter Academy cases.

Not one of these is asking for a Grand Jury Investigation into the YDC. The DOJ funds UNH for research and policy regarding child sex abuse. The centers have been operating in one form or another since 1978. The DOJ has funded the New Hampshire Justice system for the prosecution of youths. The NHCADSV endorsed former juvenile prosecutor Paul Havorsen to become DA for Merrimack County. He had sent children to YDC, where they were abused.  Forty years after the UNH center was formed, the Office of Child Advocate came into existence.

In a few months, it published a report on the extreme abuse of children at YDC. UNH never did this. Is it because the YDC is a sexual and mental abuse research center? Is it because the abuse of children at facilities that fall under Catholic Charities or the DCYF can have their data taken and become studies for UNH, whose chair is Alex Walker, who is also Chair of the Catholic Medical Center and represented the Diocese of Manchester with Ovide LaMontagne?

How can you assure the public that Nixon Peabody’s representation of the YDC cases, St Paul’s School faculty, Phillips Exeter Academy, and the Diocese of Manchester were not Ponzi schemes benefitting attorneys and non-profits in a small club that included Chuck Douglas, the NHCADSV, the AGs office, Edward Arsenault, James F McLaughlin, and DCYF?

Should the public be the first ones to foot the bill for the $100 million in claims of sex abuse or the people in the club above who have profiteered?  These attorneys have dozens of companies, properties, and shell companies. Two of Nixon Peabody’s partners are on the board of directors for Primary Bank, which is the bank for Children’s Advocacy Centers. The bank’s directors are also heavily involved in Catholic charity-related businesses.

Please investigate Ponzi schemes before the public is defrauded. The FRM Ponzi scheme under Kelly Ayotte’s tenure as AG involved the Banking Department and other public offices. The AG’s office has withheld information on the cover-ups of YDC abuse. I understand that victims are unable to access their medical records from the doctors they were sent to see while at YDC. These doctors were affiliated with the Catholic Medical Center/Charities.

There must be a clear and transparent investigation before the public is further defrauded. The money came to New Hampshire for child services. It was used for everything but the protection of children.  AG Gordon MacDonald dismissed Anna Carrigan v New Hampshire. What is going on?

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