Tuesday • November 26 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XLVIII
Manchester, N.H.
This will probably go over well, but not in the intended manner. NH Democrat Jeanne Dietsch recently shared a link to a working list of what is called anti-democracy extremists in the Granite State. I see a lot of errors in the list, not the least of which will be the people who are not on it but would like to be.
There are over 500 names and some other details, and it is a whos-who of limited government, individual rights-type liberty supporters (with a few exceptions). People who think that you – common citizen – know better than, say, Jeanne Dietsch. Those who want the government to be small and local and to leave you and your family alone to do your thing, which, to a Marxist like Dietsch, is extreme. I won’t deny that.
There is a read-only Google Doc version here, or you can look below – sorted by town, the town in which they believe the “extremist” lives. And as with the Extreme 16 (back in the day), I expect a few folks will want to know why they are not on the list. No worries, just send her the details, and I’m sure she’ll add you to her list of anti-democracy radicals.
By the way, Jeanne, I live in Merrimack. And Jeff Chidester MC’d Groktoberfest. I was just a speaker at my own fundraiser.
[update] Granite State Matters (Dietsch’s website) has apparently locked down the list (tee hee), but fear not: we grabbed it and saved it in a spreadsheet you can view here. Note: The original was stored in a publicly accessible read-only Google doc.
Here is our slightly edited PDF version formatted for the blog space. You can get the entire spreadsheet here.
Dietsch List of Extremists in NH
The post Are You On the List of Right Wing Extremists in New Hampshire (I Am! – And I’m in Excellent Company) [Updated] appeared first on Granite Grok.
Forget the American dream – try the Irish dream. It’s not exactly the most exotic place to visit, and you can be promised rain more than the sun. But the atmosphere, historical beauty, and iconic Irish charm will keep you going back for more.
Ireland is where you need to be in 2024. There are some cheap travel deals on and, as always, plenty of things to do.
Ireland’s Must-Visit CitiesIreland is a pin drop in the ocean compared to the US, but its cities pack a punch:
Ireland’s landscapes are usually the reason people visit (and the alcohol).
The Cliffs of Moher will take your breath away. They’re always a stop-off point for international travellers. Not much scenery can compete with it.
For a serene experience, the Ring of Kerry offers miles of quaint villages and stunning vistas. It’s something you won’t be able to find in the US.
If you’re feeling adventurous, the Wild Atlantic Way is a road trip you won’t forget. The stretch along the west coast has rugged coastlines, hidden beaches, and the chance to say you’ve stood at the edge of the world.
But it’s 1600 miles in total, so you’ll have to pick your favourite route on the trip and go for it. Unless you want to do 1600 miles – you could rent a motorhome.
The Warmth of Irish CultureGoogle why people go to Ireland, and the culture is the reason. They have to be some of the most welcoming people on the planet. And they know how to hold a good conversation. There are cosy pubs with lively music in every town, incredible places to eat, and just people smiling everywhere.
In Dublin, experience the literary legacy of James Joyce with a pint at the historic Davy Byrnes. In Dingle, Dick Mack’s pub is a must-visit for its whiskey selection and vibrant atmosphere. And that’s just two examples. Google Irish pubs with the best atmosphere, and you’ll find more. You have to spend most of your time in Ireland in a pub, of course.
Irish music is the country’s soul, and the pubs are where it’s at.
Ireland is more than a destination. It’s an experience that stays with you forever. Whether it’s the lively streets of its cities, the breathtaking beauty of its landscapes, or the unforgettable charm of its people, it’s just incredible. We promise you’ll fall in love with everything about it. And as they say, they’re waiting with a “Céad míle fáilte” (a hundred thousand welcomes)!
The post Ireland: What Makes It The Best European Destination For Americans appeared first on Granite Grok.
Why Elon Musk allowed Walter Isaacson 2 years of unfettered access and to write a biography that Musk did not in any way change is a mystery. It could be that Steve Jobs did the same and Musk felt a need to share his story similarly, but it does not matter.
His personal life, thought process, work strategies, accomplishments, and flaws were laid bare.
Born into an extremely dysfunctional family and brought up in a violent South African environment Musk learned from an early age to work hard and fight to achieve success. Gifted with a genius aptitude in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math {STEM}, he made his way to college in Canada, transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with an engineering degree. Musk existed on a different intellectual plane and his interpersonal skills can be summed up as he did not care what others thought and suffered no fools. Society would ordinarily crush such an obnoxious person, but Musk brought to the table unique skills. Skills that a capitalist society could leverage and make investors rich. The unifying theme throughout Musk’s biography is that Musk is a shining star, a renaissance man with a vision to preserve humanity from destructive forces. But what sets Musk apart is the way he turns his visions into reality. He gets venture capitalists to see the potential profits and they put up the funds needed to get the companies off the ground. Musk then drives worker productivity and delivers on-time product success.We want to thank James Betti for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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The post The World Needs a Star appeared first on Granite Grok.
Contrary to several detractors, our “Live Free; Die Free” act (House Bill 1283) does not “legalize physician-assisted suicide”: it, in effect, simply removes a current law that prevents the dying from buying medicine that they want.
If the dying further chooses, it would be the dying – and no one else – who would self-administer that medicine. It is more accurately thought of as “Right to Buy” – but only for the almost dead, and only if we just can’t stand the pain any longer.
The state currently cruelly prevents us who are suffering horrible deaths from obtaining medicine that could help us die peacefully, in our sleep, quietly, and (my personal preference) amongst friends & family. Instead, the state, righteously wielding its violence of law, forces us to continue to be tortured by our disease, to stretch out our pain, indignity, desperation, and loneliness for days or weeks, even though the end for which we may be long past ready is inevitable.
Oh, its apologists will offer to us (with a whisper and a wink) “other ways” to end our misery – ways that are less successful, less peaceful, more scary, and/or more painful. You see the state graciously countenances us, the desperately dying, to starve ourselves to death, or to refuse water until we dehydrate to death, or (the most commonly suggested alternative) to “accidentally clean” our guns. The state’s benevolence certainly accepts our suffering and our screams. (“But not too loudly, dear! After all, there are other patients on this floor.”) Or it will tolerate drug-comas to quiet our cries (until we wake up, panicked, pressing our call button).
We want to thank Dennis Pratt for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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What would we do without its compassionate over-lording? Surely, we, the dying, are too feeble-minded, too unaware of the disease consuming our bodies! Should we not be thankful to be so selflessly served by such wise and courageous white knights?!
You see, the righteously ruling ultimately don’t see us, the dying, as equal to them. During the last days of our lives, when we are most vulnerable, they steal our bodies from us, patronizing us that they know better than we (who are actually suffering inside those very same disease-wracked bodies). They even have the audacity to argue that this hard-hearted violation of our most basic self-ownership is not evil but an actual kindness to us!
But here’s their error: granite staters are no one’s slaves, not even when we’re dying.
Even we, the dying, have the right of self-ownership. You see, no matter how much busy-bodies busy their bodies, our bodies never magically become theirs. The state has no right to torture us – not for sadistic ritual or political posturing. The decision over my body, especially at my life’s end, is mine, not theirs. (And over your body? At your life’s end? It’s yours, and still not theirs.)
Whether we, the dying, decide to buy the medicine or not (most of us will not), whether we, the dying, decide to ingest our purchased medicine or not (at least 15% of us will not), is not the human rights issue at the center of House Bill 1283.
Its central human rights issue is: “Who decides for this human being’s body right here?” Is it the person trapped inside that anguished body, or is it some outside master? May I – now that I am dying for sure – buy something I desperately need? Or does that pitiless master own my body more than I do, remote-controlling my suffering from his bureaucracy?
In New Hampshire, the freest state in the world, we should be free to not only live free, but also to die free, not on our knees begging a master for relief.
Dennis Pratt lives in Dover with his wife Carol of 43 years, and their two dogs. He is head of “Die Free,” a liberty-based group for recognizing end-of-life sovereignty, and has worked for the last two years with the grass-roots organization NH Options on House Bill 1283. He has written over 1800 essays on libertarian ethics and is the Chair of the Judicial Committee for the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire. Sure, he’s sparring with cancer, but don’t think that makes him a wuss.
The post We The Dying Should Decide, Not The Government appeared first on Granite Grok.
New Hampshire State House
A constitutional amendment proposed this session (CACR 20) would give the people of New Hampshire the power to fight back against the dangerous and reckless spending of the federal government. In the last 100 years the U.S.federal government has only managed to balance its budget once! By comparison New Hampshire not only cut taxes, but even reduced it’s budget during a time in which all the other states were spending recklessly (that is during the recent economic shutdown that was COVID). As an independent country New Hampshire could do better and CAC20 would give the people the right to vote on an amendment that would declare independence if the federal government continues to increase our indebtedness.
No matter how people actually vote on this constitutional amendment our legislators sending it to a vote of the people would be an act that sends an important message to the federal government: Stop stealing our money or we’re out. This bill would enable voters to declare New Hampshire an independent country IF and only if the United States continues to entangle New Hampshire in a debt we will never be able to pay back. The declaration of independence from the United States empire would only occur if both the citizens of New Hampshire voted yes to pass the constitutional amendment AND the federal governments debt hits $40 trillion. It is also essential that the house and senate conduct a roll call so we know which reps favor democracy and freedom and which reps just pay lip service to it.
The committee hearing on this amendment saw more than 50 individuals come out in support of it and only one person testify against it. I’m not even sure that is correctly framed as my recollection is they had a neutral stance on the amendment. As the committee didn’t listen to it’s constituents and placed the amendment on the consent calendar it’s now up to you to tell your reps to pull this bill off of the consent calendar and do a role call vote. This will give us the power to vote out reps who do not support democracy and the freedom of their constituents to vote on this important issue.
In conclusion please tell your rep to pull CACR 20 off of the consent calendar and support it in a roll call vote!
To find out who your state reps are and their contact information you can utilize this handy tool:
https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/
On Thursday, February 1st, the Democrats in the New Hampshire House of Representatives will be attempting to put a right to abortion in the New Hampshire Constitution (CACR23), and we must stop them. We cannot make the destruction of children and women a right in the New Hampshire Constitution.
Predatory abortion clinics intentionally disguise themselves as “healthcare centers,” when in truth they do not offer healthcare, they only sell coercion, lies and trauma. Their counseling consists of an abortion sales pitch where the “clump of cells” inside you must be removed before it turns into a baby because they say you’re not ready to become a Mom.
After the initial sales pitch and pressure, the next steps move quickly, like a whirlwind. You soon find yourself in a procedure room with your legs in stirrups, and then you quickly find out that you were lied to because you feel your child being violently removed from your womb. The people surrounding you at that very moment are all accomplices in the lies that led up to the death of your child. Terror and grief grasp you so hard that you are numb and in shock. They throw you a bag of saltines and a dixie cup of juice and sit you in a waiting room with all the other broken women to wait to make sure you’re not hemorrhaging. After a little while, you are shown the door, and that is the last you hear from them. They are done with you, but your nightmare has just begun.
The abortion clinic didn’t offer me healthcare, help, real counseling, or the truth. They coerced me, took my money, ripped my child from my womb, and then left me broken with a lifetime filled with trauma and grief.
We want to thank Cheryl Dean for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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A few years later, and in a different relationship, I became pregnant again and went to an ob/gyn for care. They did routine genetic testing, which came back positive for Down’s Syndrome. The Dr. assured me the result was accurate and then proceeded to pressure me to terminate the pregnancy because “raising a special needs child would be difficult.” We refused to terminate the pregnancy because we knew our child would be perfect and loved regardless of any challenges that may come with her.
Months later, my daughter was born a healthy and perfect 10 pounds 9 ounces. She did not have Down’s Syndrome or any other challenge. We were blessed. Later, I found out that several friends and relatives also had the same experience I did with a positive result for a genetic abnormality, and they too were pressured to terminate the pregnancy, and they too refused and had children who were born without the predicted abnormality.
I looked into these genetic tests and found that they have false positive results over 80% of the time. These same genetic tests are still being used today and still have over 80% false positive results. Why is this????
Millions of babies have been killed, and millions of Moms have been traumatized due to the lies, coercion, and deceit of the predatory abortion industry, whose tentacles are far-reaching into our healthcare system.
My story is common, but you don’t hear it often because broken women don’t speak up and tell their stories. It took me 30 years and a lot of counseling to be able to tell mine.
I’ll never know my first child or who he would have been, or what he would have done. My second child grew up to be a strong, bright, and independent woman who became one of the youngest women to serve in the New Hampshire State Legislature, and while she was there, she fought against predatory abortion before she even knew she had lost a sibling to abortion.
Please call, email, and text your New Hampshire State Representatives and tell them to say NO to CACR23 on February 1st.
The post No Constitutional Right to Abortion in NH appeared first on Granite Grok.
From the Women’s Defense League: On Friday, February 2nd, in the Legislative Office Building (located behind the state house), in rooms 202-204, there will be multiple gun control hearings held in the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
This is where you can have the chance to testify against or for some of the bills being heard in the committee.
House Bill 1050 – AN ACT relative to establishing a voluntary waiver of the right to purchase a firearm.
OPPOSE – This bill allows a person to surrender their 2nd Amendment rights for whatever reason and be kept on a list so if they attempt to purchase a firearm after voluntarily being put on this list, they will be unable to. If a person attempts to practice their 2nd Amendment right while being on the list, they will be in violation. This bill is so poorly written, it doesn’t explain what that penalty is. The gun control crowd is using ‘suicide’ as an excuse. This bill doesn’t provide help for anyone considering suicide, nor does it actually stop anyone from committing suicide. This could open up a Pandora’s box to their draconian Red Flag law.
House Bill 1336 – AN ACT relative to employees’ firearms in locked vehicles.
OPPOSE – This bill mandates that employers have no say if their employees have firearms locked in their vehicles. While we agree that employees should be able to do this, it is a contract between the employer and the employee. The government shouldn’t be getting involved nor mandating what a private company does.
The next bill is of the utmost importance to OPPOSE. This bill has bi-partisan sponsorship based on an emotional reaction to the unarmed security guard (former police chief) who was murdered in 2023 at the state’s mental health facility.
House Bill 1711 – AN ACT authorizing the state to report mental health data for firearms background check purposes and providing for processes for confiscation of firearms following certain mental health-related court proceedings and for relief from mental health-related firearms disabilities.
OPPOSE – This bill makes it so those who are adjudicated violently mental ill to seek inpatient or out patient mental health care become prohibited persons for purchasing or possessing firearms, but it also requires their firearms be confiscated. Anyone who is adjudicated to receive in patient or out patient mental healthcare (for any reason) already becomes a prohibited person according to the ATF.
This is yet another bill that is discriminating against gun owners and doesn’t actually do anything to solve or help those with mental health issues. If someone is involuntarily committed to a mental health facility, they’ve already lost all their freedoms. If they are released, shouldn’t they only be released if they are mentally WELL? There should be no need to confiscate their firearms. If someone is released, and they are still violently mentally ill, why the hell are they being released?
This is another bill that is trying to solve a mental health issue with gun confiscation.
You can email or call the committee members below:
| First Name | Last Name | Phone | |
| Amanda | Bouldin | Amanda.Bouldin@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 494-8689 |
| Amy | Bradley | Amy.Bradley@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 315-1597 |
| Linda | Harriott-Gathright | linda.harriottgathright@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 880-4537 |
| Jason | Janvrin | Jason.Janvrin@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 944-7449 |
| Dennis | Mannion | Dennis.Mannion@leg.state.nh.us | |
| David | Meuse | David.Meuse@leg.state.nh.us | |
| Nancy | Murphy | Nancy.Murphy@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 424-0254 |
| Alissandra | Murray | Alissandra.Murray@leg.state.nh.us | |
| Jodi | Newell | Jodi.Newell@leg.state.nh.us | |
| Ray | Newman | Ray.Newman@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 880-8973 |
| Kevin | Pratt | Kevin.Pratt@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 895-9502 |
| Mark | Proulx | Mark.Proulx@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 669-7179 |
| Karen | Reid | Karen.Reid@leg.state.nh.us | |
| Jennifer | Rhodes | Jennifer.Rhodes@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 762-8069 |
| Terry | Roy | Terry.Roy@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 239-3369 |
| Loren | Selig | Loren.Selig@leg.state.nh.us | |
| Jonathan | Stone | Jonathan.Stone@leg.state.nh.us | |
| John | Sytek | john.sytek@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 893-8889 |
| Jeffrey | Tenczar | Jeffrey.Tenczar@leg.state.nh.us | |
| Johan | Wheeler | Jonah.Wheeler@leg.state.nh.us | (603) 831-9916 |
You can also sign in to either OPPOSE the legislation and provide written testimony if you so choose by clicking on the following link (an example is below): https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx
The post Multiple GUN CONTROL Hearings on February 2nd! appeared first on Granite Grok.
(white) goldstandard-02-01-24-H.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-02-01-24-H-y.pdf
The post House Gold Standard – February 01, 2024 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
When you think of Oklahoma you think deep Red, very conservative, etc., etc., etc. …. right? Except Senator James Lankford who is supposed to be representing the people of Oklahoma actually is a tool for Mitch McConnell and the GOP-donor-class. McConnell used Lankford as the “face” of the amnesty-bill he collaborated with Biden and Schumer on … which essentially allows 2 MILLION illegals to jump the line and enter the country annually in return for a promise by Biden that he’ll keep illegal immigration at that limit.
The GOP in Oklahoma is having none of this B.S. See resolution below from the Oklahoma GOP condemning Lankford.
Breaking News: The Oklahoma GOP has passed a resolution saying they condemn James Lankford for his work on the bipartisan border security package. The letter stated, “Until Senator Lankford ceases from these actions the Oklahoma Republican Party will cease all support for him.” pic.twitter.com/pEqgevSLoH
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) January 27, 2024
The post The GOP Despises Its Voters … Senator James Lankford Edition appeared first on Granite Grok.
The media are abuzz with billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that he is raising gourmet beef from wagyu cows on his Hawaiian “ranch,” feeding them beer and macadamia nuts. This contrasts sharply with fellow billionaire farming dabbler Bill Gates, who uses conventional chemical technologies and fancies himself the creator of a new synthetic factory meat.
Pundits are attacking Zuckerberg from both sides of the political aisle: The right calls him an elitist dining on fine foods; the left says he’s a climate destroyer. But what if he is, in fact, neither? Perhaps instead of insulting Farmer Mark, we should thank him for highlighting agricultural truths that are common knowledge for most farmers.
Elitist FarmersThis is not to say Zuckerberg is not an elitist. Worth an estimated $130.6 billion, dining on beef fed better than most humans, and owning 1,500 acres on a small Hawaiian island, he displays the pinnacle of exclusivity. But even elitists need to eat, and he should perhaps be credited with undertaking the challenges of farming rather than just using hirelings – he claims he is involving his family in the actual dirty work, which would be the very best possible thing he could do as a father (billionaire or no).
It is a simple enough American liberty to raise one’s own food – anyone can raise a wagyu (if zoning and space permit), though they might be short on macadamia meal and cow-beer. Zuckerberg’s venture is a gift: It exposes the lies being leveled against cows and farmers alike, contrasting the Gates/World Economic Forum messaging about bovines and fake meat with the traditional farming methods that nurture soils with local agriculture. Zuckerberg’s farm is a poke in the eye to the likes of AOC and recently dethroned climate “envoy” John Kerry.
Farmer Bill Versus Farmer MarkBill Gates displays a very different billionaire’s farm. Gates did not buy property to try his hand at eating well; he bought up over two hundred thousand acres of US farmland across 18 states as an investment. Mr. Gates does not advocate organic farming, either. Instead, he embraces the unsustainable GMO technologies and accompanying chemical saturation of soils that causes erosion, water loss, and pollution. He invests billions in synthetic factory meat, which will be “cultured” from destructive monoculture crops like corn and soy, requiring saturation of millions of acres with synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and bee-killing pesticides.
Zuckerberg’s undertaking contrasts sharply with the Gates vision and has attracted the ire of Mark’s would-be liberal supporters, who attack him (and all farmers) for destroying the climate by raising cows. Multiple news outlets reported the words of Mitch Jones, deputy director at Food & Water Watch, who argued, “Raising cattle on water-hungry macadamia nuts and beer showcases the excesses of the wealthy. What we need is genuine agricultural reform, which addresses the inequalities in our food system and the reality of a warming climate.”
PETA representative Shalin Gala posted on social media, “Mark Zuckerberg announces he’s now ‘started raising cattle’ on his Hawaiian estate, feeding them beer, then slaughtering them. Mark, the Dark Ages are calling and want you back.”
Farming DisconnectThe attacks on cows as “climate-damaging” have mainly gone unchallenged except by Irish and Dutch farmers. Whether or not it was his intention, Zuckerberg is now a vitally needed cow apologist. His farming methods are not necessarily climate-destroying. Well-managed water resources for both nuts and cows can be part of a soil-building, climate-healing agriculture.
Hawaii imports some 85-90% of its food. Raising produce locally, whether for himself or others, is how Zuckerberg can support the region’s economy and culture (agriculture) as well as the climate – his beef will not be grown in faraway nations and then shipped to his island. He is not employing synthetic fertilizers or herbicides (unless for the nuts or beer inputs). He is not raising his cows on delicate open ranges or crammed into a concentrated animal feed operation (CAFO).
Instead of praising him, climate warriors across the internet are zeroing in on a number of questionable statistics regarding the dangers of the Meta CEO’s farming methodology. Some cite Vice’s 2014 article that says cows produce 132 gallons of methane gas daily. Others that “cattle farming contributes 3.7 percent to global greenhouse gas emissions,” as Essa News reports in response to Zuckerberg’s farming practices. “Methane is a harmful greenhouse gas, causing about 85 times more warming than carbon dioxide,” the site adds.
This is the Big Cow Lie. The relative impact of methane versus carbon dioxide is an arbitrary measure, but even per the Environmental Protection Agency, methane is only 30 times more potent over 100 years than carbon dioxide, not 85. Notably, the EPA also calculates nitrous oxide is 273 times more potent over a century than carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide is released in significant quantities by the synthetic fertilizers Bill Gates favors and that Mark Zuckerberg is avoiding by pasturing cows.
Praising Zuckerberg?Pastured cows sequester both carbon and methane in the soils upon which they dine and defecate. Their manure rebuilds depleted soils and feeds the microbial soil life upon which plant and animal (and human) health depend. There is no technological replacement for cow manure: only soil- and climate-destroying industrial agricultural processes like those endorsed by Bill Gates and the WEF.
The Facebook founder should be praised for raising and eating his own cows. Sure, he’s an elitist, but the more he raises and learns about gentle bovines, the more he may also raise a voice to truly save the world – with cows, not by culling them from the food chain as rival faux farmer Bill Gates advocates. Growing his own food in Hawaii will educate Mark Zuckerberg and others, defend traditional farmers, and bring the discussion of cows back down to earth.
John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.
The post A Tale of Two Billionaire Farmers appeared first on Granite Grok.
In 2021 a woke school board decided their school logo – a Susquehannock warrior – was offensive and ignorant. They erased it and, with it, the visible history of the people it honored. Since then, the locals replaced those board members with seven new ones (there are nine members on the board).
I’m guessing this wasn’t the only straw on the proverbial camel’s back. Masks, lockdowns, quarantines, vaccines, emote learning – I didn’t look, but if you were a betting man or woman, if they were moved to erase the native history, then the rest was already the new normal.
As noted, the citizens did what not enough citizens do and made a few changes. According to the reporting five of the seven new members were elected last November. When the motion came to return the Susquehannock warrior to its place of honor, those seven voted yes – the other two voted no.
“It took a lot of bravery for people in York County to stand up and fight back against the agenda, like David against Goliath, and the difference they made is incredible,” Billeaudeaux said.
“The SYCSD school board stands as a role model and blueprint for other communities fighting for their Native names and imagery,” the Native American Guardians Association said in a statement after it presented its case last week at the board meeting.
“This movement was about erasing Native American culture and I wasn’t about to stand for it,” said Jennifer Henkel, who has three children in the district and serves on the board.
Not everyone was happy, but then those people are rarely happy, so why ruin everyone else’s fun?
And there’s a lesson to be learned. Keep finding and supporting candidates for school board and defense, and support those you get into office. Then, find some more until you have the majority. At that point, you then remain the superintendent and all the excessive numbers of administrators that they work at your leisure and will do as instructed, or you remove them and replace them.
Or, just remove them. In New England, we have SAUs, and there is no practical reason for them but to waste money and launder cultural Marxism into the curriculum. Anyone who wants to lower local property taxes who doesn’t address excess administrative overhead has another agenda.
They are also more likely to erase all evidence of recent native history if you still have any. I won’t revisit the reasoning here, but you are encouraged to do so in the comments.
The post Flip a School Board – Get Your Native American Warrior Back appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Debt Clock does not have much impact on Americans and appears to not have much effect on politicians. The digits keep spinning, the numbers keep climbing, and there seems to be no number large enough to garner concern.
At the turn of the century, just 24 years ago, the National Debt stood at $5 Trillion, and we wondered what we were doing to our future generations. We were strapping them with a debt they would never be able to repay. After 9/11 and the pandemic, the debt exploded to $34 trillion, and nobody has a plan to stop the spinning wheel or pay down the money owed. It is irresponsible, and the guilt falls on both Parties.
To put this number into perspective, the debt equals $103,000 for every man, woman, and child in our country. Biden wants to forgive Student Loans; maybe he should forgive our share of the National Debt. Biden often claims that he has reduced our debt when, in fact, his administration has added $9 Trillion in three years. Over $900 billion a year in interest, yet nobody seems concerned. Forget irresponsible. It is criminal. America and Americans do not seem phased, but the rest of the world is, and they are taking steps to protect themselves.
The dollar has been the gold standard for international trading for decades. For example, petroleum has been valued in dollars per barrel, but that is changing. The Russians, Arabs, Chinese, India, and even Brazil are joining forces to create an international currency to replace the dollar. This will render the dollar worthless. This action by our allies and adversaries alike indicates a loss in credibility of the American monetary system and a conception that the United States may not be capable of paying its bills. This negativity is virgin territory for America and should concern us all.
BRICS is putting pressure on the U.S. monetary system, but what is more of a concern for anyone paying attention is the lack of urgency on behalf of Washington to change its habits. Every time we get to a debt ceiling decision, the minority Party folds, and a continuing resolution is voted on, which kicks the can down the road for later action, or the Parties reach a compromise and raise the debt ceiling. Nobody and neither Party has the guts to hold their position, let the government shut down, and negotiate a serious bill that will fund the government, not the pork, and hold the debt ceiling where it stands.
Just like we do with our household budget, we have to trim expenses. We need to get realistic about what we have coming in and not outspend it. The pork has to stop, and when your reps brag about funds they are bringing back to the state, you have to ask at what cost. It is not their money they are generously giving us; it is our money, and we need people in office who will be better stewards of our money. Foreign governments know we are not being wise with our tax dollars, so it is time to insist our reps get the message.
The post Think The Debt Clock Is No Big Deal, Think Again appeared first on Granite Grok.
Investigative journalists are dropping like a congressional aide’s pants across the U.S. as main stream media lays-off thousands.
Fake news powerhouse the L.A. Times has nearly emptied its Washington D.C. bureau just months before what many consider the biggest election year in American history. This shocking move has many of the journalists questioning the real reason behind the mass exodus.
“I had no idea this was coming” a shocked Alexandria Ortega-Churchill bemoaned as she placed her remaining office items into her 100% organic hemp Lululemon grocery tote. Despite being an investigative journalist neither she nor her colleagues had caught wind of the company’s declining readership and ad revenue. Explaining they just wrote the stories they were told to write and preferred to get their news from Tik-tok, the group of journalists admittedly didn’t bother to read their own publication, let alone any of the others forecasting news media’s burgeoning climate change.
Never ones to get off message the rumors of systemic racism as the cause began to circulate among those given their parting papers. “I don’t see too many white people leaving the office, do you?” complained Tykesha Barnes whose most famous piece “Being On-Time Is White Supremacy” won a Poo-lister Prize. Poo-lister Prizes are awarded to journalists whose contribution to the field is considered on par with bathroom tissue.
Also stunned by the news was Washington bureau reporter Tayler Lorentz who appeared inconsolable after hearing her fans would no longer be able to read her feminist opinions. Consistently identifying white men as the problem in society and calling them racist may be popular with her Millennial and Gen Z audiences but not with the old white guys signing her paychecks apparently. A besotted and benighted Lorentz barely managed to Tweet / X an image of her weeping hysterically while holding up her resume.
Speaking of resumes the Vermont Daily Chronicle, despite the national trend of losing journalists, has seen record growth over the last year doubling its number of employees and adding a social media department. It remains atop the list of conservative publications in Vermont thanks in part to having zero competitors. Despite running the risk of anti-trust litigation as a monopoly, Chief Editor In-Chief Guy Page remains undaunted.
“Our readership makes up less than 1% of the state where fewer and fewer people are learning to read, so I’m not that worried about it” a resolute Page told Banana’s Media via a now unlocatable email. Page also informed us he has seen a record number of resumes come in from the sea of jobless journalists recently let go.
“The pool is incredibly wide but not very deep” he noted. When asked whether or not he was able to find any good hires he answered simply “no”. Pressing him to explain why he told us about the key questions he asks potential candidates, such as “Is America a democracy or republic?” “Can you identify fake news from the real thing?” and “Would you put real maple syrup on your pancakes if Aunt Jemima was on the bottle?”
“Most of them are so confused they don’t even bother to answer. If I have any doubt I simply hold up a picture of Donald Trump and note their reaction, which is almost always to flail into a raging conniption fit.” So far not one of the over twelve hundred applicants has received a follow up interview with the cagey editor.
Not wanting to sully his outfit’s reputation by adding infamous purveyors of fake news beyond his lone Truly Professional Fake News Reporter (Johnny Bananas), seems like a sound business decision given the recent trend in avoiding such problematic employees. Page wanted to make clear that, although Mr. Bananas is a regular contributor to the Chronicle, he is not a paid employee.
“I can’t imagine anyone would pay that guy – he just makes things up. Take this article for example” Page commented before rushing off to do real journalism by talking to people even less trustworthy than members of the media, namely members of Vermont’s legislative body.
When asked to respond to his editors comments Mr. Bananas declined stating he was too busy working on unionizing his fellow employees.
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Grokster Ian is fond of reminding us that we should call things what they are – “As Confucius said, the first step towards wisdom is to call things by their right name.” That is sage advice, so I’ll use it here. Maine has a bill that allows the state to take children from their parents. Kidnapping.
There’s nothing new about that, you say – which is true. States kidnap children every day, and not always in the best interest of the child, but this legislation’s kidnapping provision has a defined focus. It claims the state is acting in the interest of the child. It empowers them to abscond with other people’s children so it can provide access to transgender medical services.
If the state decides the child is leaning away from their biological sex, HP1114 (An Act to safeguard gender-affirming health care) would clear the way for kidnapping and mutilation not just in Maine but from other states.
The bill would have allowed the state to take emergency temporary custody of children who want but are unable to obtain transgender medical services, including genital surgery, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormone therapy.
Law enforcement would also be prohibited under the bill from arresting or extraditing a person based on a warrant from another state that has laws against transgender medical interventions for children.
Courts would also be barred from considering the abduction of a child from a parent “if the taking or retention was for obtaining gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming or gender-affirming mental health care.”
Children who want? Is the state going to get them the toys they want but don’t have or ice cream for dinner or cake for breakfast (which Bill Cosby Fans -pre-date rape scandals – know has eggs, milk, and wheat in it). Words are missing. Adults who think children want and know better, but they have a provision for that as well. Adults with arrest warrants illegally transporting children into Maine (to access the drugs or mutilation) shall not be arrested.
They want to legalize kidnapping and mutilation. It’s a thing in California, so why not Maine? I can think of several reasons, but this is progressive legislation. Children are a lot like a business. You didn’t build that or couldn’t without the auspices of the government, which, ironically – at least until the FED came along and started printing money – couldn’t build anything without you creating wealth for them to take. But, in their heads, since you belong to them, so do your offspring. You can’t have a proper despotism without brainwashed children, and while we’re at it, let’s poison them, neuter them, remove some body parts, and then offer them state-funded mental health services until they can be convinced to kill themselves (MAiD).
The peasants will have fewer children, and those born won’t be able to reproduce. It’s first-world progressive master-race thinking, and do not kid yourselves. The uni-party ruling class isn’t worried that such a bill would be leveraged against them. This sort of thing is for provincial bumpkins or would have been had the judiciary committee in the Maine Legislature not voted unanimously to kill it.
Before the vote, Maine State Sen. Eric Brakey (watch our radio row interview with him here) was quoted as saying, “There are certain lines that I think need to be respected as far as the authority of the family vs. the authority of the state.”
“I feel like this legislation takes a great leap over that line, potentially empowering the state to even take custody of minors in a way that does not feel appropriate to me,” Brakey said.
Encouraging the trafficking of children from other states for treatments or surgeries, they can’t begin to understand does not feel appropriate either. Still, Democrat legislators are sponsoring bills to do that. The public school indoctrinates them. It then gives them mental health assessments without their consent. Then uses that as a basis for ‘abduction.’
That’s just a theory, but I think it sounds. And I’d applaud the rejection by the legislature, but for this. The bill will be back, and if Mainers don’t turn from the left-leaning course upon which they’ve set the state, the next time, it will pass.
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I have just been made aware of a change to HB 1002 that has been proposed in order to charge taxpayers $25.00 an hour for any 91a request that goes over 10 hours. This would cost citizens a minimum of $250 and perhaps more to file for information that they are otherwise legally entitled to, with virtually no oversight as to how a municipality would determine the possible time frames needed to support such costs.
I would like to respectfully request that this Bill be KILLED.
It is my understanding that many of you from our Londonderry delegation recently met at Town Hall and although the town of Londonderry did not broadcast this, I’m willing to bet 91a was no doubt a topic of conversation.
As you are no doubt aware, 91a has largely been used to circumvent providing information to Citizens unless they file such a request and compel the town to release it. If the burden of 91a requests on our municipality is a concern to you, perhaps the town of Londonderry should set up an online repository where citizens can easily access documents that are requested or of interest to other citizens.
We want to thank Jonathan Esposito for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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I believe I specifically discussed this issue with speaker Packard and Senator Carson at a sit-down dinner at the Coach Stop Restaurant back in September of 2023, in which both of these parties expressed more concern over my accountability efforts jeopardizing their re-election as opposed to any concern over the lack of transparency issue that I have raised and am raising again. It was disheartening to hear that you were not on the side of Citizen transparency back then, and it is disheartening to see that you are not on the side of Citizen transparency now.
Article 1 Section eight of the New Hampshire state constitution clearly enumerates that the operations of government should be transparent accessible and responsive, and this bill places an unconstitutional burden to government fulfilling that constitutional requirement.
This is uniquely and particularly a concern for Londonderry, as a court of law recently declared the town and town manager to be frivolous in regards to their compliance with 91a; this was specifically highlighted by the case from former Town Councilwoman Deb Paul in which she had to sue to get a document released that the Town maliciously withheld while skirting the legal requirements of 91a. It is without a doubt that this cost burden will be weaponized in a manner just barely skirting the law to withhold as much information that they believe is damaging to the town as possible.
In addition to the unique concerns relevant to the town of Londonderry, I have spoken with citizens in Hudson, Hollis, Chester, Raymond, Derry, and other surrounding municipalities who also feel that this bill will have a chilling effect on citizen access to the workings of governments.
There are already many questions among citizens as to why we should continue to re-elect the same representatives and Senators when we are often dissatisfied with their outcomes on our behalf. Not being on the side of Citizen transparency is an issue that we will no doubt have to address in the public sphere as we get closer to the fall election if you do not turn from this course.
Please remember that you are a representative and a servant of the people and not the manipulative special interests in the town of Londonderry and the state of New Hampshire. Please kill this bill.
The post I Would Like to Respectfully Request That This Bill Be Killed appeared first on Granite Grok.
How many times have Democrats labeled Donald Trump a fascist and a tyrant? How often do they compare him to Stalin or Hitler? They’ve been doing it for so long that they don’t even think about it anymore. In fact, they never gave it much thought to begin with; their words were spawned out of pure hate.
Yes, Trump is an arrogant man full of bluster. He can be abrasive, loutish, and often petty. Even his staunchest supporters would probably agree that he’s not a perfect human being.
But a dictator?
Throughout Trump’s presidency, he played by the rules. He issued no unlawful edicts, no unconstitutional mandates, and no unilateral decrees to benefit himself or his party. All of his policies and Executive Orders were legal, constitutional, and intended to benefit the American people. Even his harshest critics, if they were honest, would have to admit that he gave the country four years of peace and prosperity.
Compare that to his successor.
Joe Biden abrogated his duty and violated our Constitution and his oath of office on his very first day on the job. His EO 13993 was followed up with policy changes that essentially erased our border with Mexico. That was done without consulting Congress and in defiance of both existing immigration laws and the will of the people. No U.S. president has ever before engaged in that kind of anti-American despotism. His immigration policy has resulted in more than 10 million unidentified foreign citizens and untold quantities of illegal drugs flowing into our country.
Then in August, 2022, Biden announced a plan to forgive up to $20,000 in college debt for low-to-middle-income borrowers. He tried to use the HEROES Act to justify that decree. That legislation was intended to benefit members of our military. While some undoubtedly saw Biden’s plan as a magnanimous gesture, others understood the reality. It would probably buy Biden a few more votes, and it wouldn’t cost him one red cent. It would cost taxpayers, though – roughly $400 billion.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court rejected his plan, ruling that his Department of Education lacked the authority to cancel those debts under the HEROES Act. Most Americans agreed. According to a CATO Institute poll, nearly two-thirds of Americans, 64 percent, oppose college debt forgiveness if it means higher taxes. Seventy-six percent oppose it if it leads to increased college tuition.
But tyrants aren’t dissuaded by courts or public opinion. Biden forged ahead with his plan through a series of incremental policy decisions, all arbitrary and unilateral. By January 20th of this year, Biden had decreed that more than 3.7 million borrowers were relieved of their student debt. Taxpayers would be responsible for the more than $136.6 billion owed by those borrowers.
And we can’t forget Biden’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He, and scores of petty tyrants across the country, viewed the pandemic differently than most. They saw it as an opportunity. Biden himself used those exact words, proclaiming that it was “an incredible opportunity to fundamentally transform the country.” To him and all those wannabe dictators, it was gold on a gurney, a real opportunity to exercise their authority. They issued mandates and edicts like we’ve never seen in America before – surgical masks were required for everyone, including young children. Arbitrary social distancing was mandated, and workplaces, schools, and churches were closed indefinitely. The right to peacefully assemble was suspended. Biden even decreed that all service members and government employees either accept an unproven vaccine or find a new career. All of it was in response to an illness that only posed a serious threat to elderly patients.
Eventually we learned what many suspected all along. It was all mostly theater. The mandates provided little to no protection against the virus, and were sometimes dangerous. They did reveal, however, just how easily our freedoms can be rescinded.
But when a political party turns its government against the citizens, that is perhaps the greatest threat to freedom and democracy. It’s how tyrants around the world stay in power.
It’s no surprise that those who despise Donald Trump see his two impeachments and 91 indictments as vindication of their hatred and proof of Trump’s malfeasance. But objective, clear-thinking Americans see a problem with the ruthless and relentless attacks on Trump. They recognize political zealotry and injustice when they see it. They see selective prosecution – Democrat prosecutors charging Trump with crimes they scoff at when Democrats commit them. Open-minded people see brazen election interference and ham-handed efforts by Biden and the Democrats to eliminate the greatest threat to his presidency.
While the Left is busy bellyaching and obsessing about the “dictatorship” that another Trump presidency would bring, Biden and his henchmen are systematically eradicating our republic – one freedom at a time.
The post Nigth Cap: Who Is the Real Tyrant? appeared first on Granite Grok.
In our follow-up media reviews of the Tuesday dumping of Nikki Haley by 10 to 12%, depending on who’s count, it’s been confirmed many Democrats didn’t write in Biden as requested but voted on the Repub ticket for Haley as suggested. All in the failed attempt to pull off the upset and stop Trump.
Dem’s were recorded giving interviews after voting confirmed this and said they would switch to Biden over Nikki in a general election. Getting a chuckle here seems the spin is on over at Nikki’s place touting how well above predictions she did. In any other election, that double-digit drubbing would be called a landslide for the winner, but remember, we’re dealing with anti-Trump media these days.
And then you get independants likely splitting 60/40 max, who knows which way? Funny, this is supposed to be a vote for and by Republicans, but our party leaders just can’t seem to grasp this fact. Regular everyday Republicans want and deserve to select whom they want, not what a general public wants, but our “leaders” just will not have it; why? Every election cycle, this merry-go-round goes on and on. What the heck is wrong with these folks? Do they want to lose?
As for the modern left-liberal, it is a melding of fascist and communist (Fascicom), and they despise those of us who refuse to be corrupted by them. Hatred is strong in them, they hate Christians, whites, black conservatives, Jews, well anyone not them and only the them’s who never, ever stray from what ever the current flavored perversion it is.
Why? Because half of all Americans who know Biden is a faker, a straw man President without any real power, it’s those behind the curtains pulling his strings who are the real power, and they have no intention of giving up their stranglehold on it. Shadow organizations with great-sounding names like Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and others are actually exact opposites of their labels and which create the chaos they accuse Trump and those others mentioned above as being.
Look, it was white European Christians who ended all slavery in the western world so how can we be inherent racists, our modern history and culture belie this label. Fascism was rejected when we fought a vicious world war to end it, but now we see Antifa using the exact kind of tactics and violence as Hitler’s “brown shirts” the SA used.
Why does the left do these things? For power and control over our lives for their advantages and comfort.
Deny them their victory, reject their lies, and speak out against them. MAGA Vote Donald J Trump for President.
The post The Failed Attempt to Stop Trump in New Hampshire appeared first on Granite Grok.
We know the Border Crisis is a purposeful, manufactured situation by the Biden Administration, with the only question being why. The quick answer is always votes, which may be the reason for the long game, but that process will take years to bear fruit.
For the illegals to become votes would mean them going through the lengthy legal process to become a citizen or a blanket amnesty be given to the millions of illegal migrants with a pathway to citizenship. The propensity of either of these scenarios is slim, and the Democrats need quicker results. There is one, and it should have been obvious.
Many changes are impacting the demographics of our country and each of the fifty states. The population of Americans has been decreasing for decades as we do not have a birth rate to overcome our death rate. The number of births per woman in 1960 was nearly four and dropped to 1.6 in 2023. The percentage of citizens in America is also falling, and the Democrats have turned to illegal migrants to supplement our decreasing population trend.
The nation’s population is interesting to analyze, but the demographics of each state determine the balance of power in Washington. We have seen the results of change in the last few years as people leave the Blue states of New York and California for the Red states of Florida and Texas. This change resulted in the Blue states losing a Representative and the Red states gaining one each. This will never work for Democrats, so something drastic had to be done, and soon.
One play the Democrats have been working on for years is to give Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood. Since these two areas are predominantly Democrat, the Senate would gain four Democrat Senators, and the House would gain Democrat Representatives based on the population. There is a Representative for every 750,000 residents, with residents being the keyword. Illegals are counted in the census to determine the number of Districts and Representatives. This is where the Southern Border comes into play.
The census count determines the number of Congressional Districts for each state. The National Census is taken every ten years, and the purpose is to get an accurate count of all of the residents of the states, not just the citizens. This distinction is how we loop back to the Border. New York and California will not attract back the people who left for other states. Democrats are not going to convince women in any Blue State to build up the population. So what do Democrats do to run up the count to maintain their power base and possibly grow it? They open up the Southern Border and let 300,000 illegal migrants invade our country every month. They then use NGOs like the Catholic Church to transport these people to predetermined locations and swell the population in the Blue States, thus securing their political power.
There have been 7 million documented crossings and getaways during the Biden Presidency. That is more people than in 34 states and just fewer than in Massachusetts. More importantly, those people represent 10 Congressional districts, which is music to the Democrats. These people never have to become citizens or vote. They have done their job. They have secured the seats of Jerry Nadler, Alexandria Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and more, and that is just what the Democrats wanted. The cost, crime, drugs, and illegal weapons that come with these migrants are what the rest of us get.
The post The Border Is About Population Replacement And Power appeared first on Granite Grok.
Today, the Granite State finds itself at a crossroads with the introduction of House Bill 1283, new legislation that seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS). The bill effectively gives physicians permission to prescribe drugs that result in patient suicide.
We have serious concerns about the bill’s potential impact on New Hampshire’s at-risk population if this bill passes.
Undermines suicide prevention efforts and normalizes suicideNew Hampshire has seen a nearly 50% increase in suicide rates over the past decade. Rather than addressing this with compassion and enhanced prevention efforts, HB 1283 takes us in the wrong direction by normalizing suicide as an acceptable medical option. It sends a message that suicide can be a legitimate treatment choice, contradicting the very core of our efforts to prevent suicide.
Opens the door to expanding assisted suicide to other vulnerable populationsIn other states, nearly every assisted suicide law has been expanded by reducing or eliminating the waiting periods, allowing non-doctors to participate in assisted suicide, allowing assisted suicide approvals by telehealth, expanding the meaning of terminal illness, and removing the state residency requirement.
We want to thank Steven Wade from NHCSP for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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House Bill 1283 raises significant ethical questions about the value we place on the lives of individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses. By endorsing PAS, we risk sending a message that some lives are not worth living. Instead of offering support and compassion through palliative care and other essential services, this bill proposes a dangerous alternative that devalues the inherent worth of those facing health challenges.
In contrast to the well-established principles of the medical profession, House Bill 1283, if passed, would turn physicians into enablers of suicide, undermining the sacred trust within the doctor-patient relationship. It will degrade public trust in healthcare, which has already fallen during the pandemic.
We cannot ignore the recent legislative strides made in New Hampshire to bolster suicide prevention efforts. Instead of offering death through laws like HB 1283, let us continue to work toward building a “help-seeking” culture that offers support and care for those most vulnerable and at risk for suicide.
Steven Wade
NH Coalition for Suicide Prevention
https://zerosuicidesnh.org
The post Assisted Suicide Legislation Takes New Hampshire In The Wrong Direction appeared first on Granite Grok.
The January 4th raid on Amish farmer Amos Miller’s Pennsylvania establishment reflects a growing tension between government regulation of food safety and liberty-minded individualists distrusting industrial food production.
Pennsylvania State Police secured Miller’s farming premises for search by the state’s Department of Agriculture for “illegal raw milk and raw milk products, including eggnog,” following reported cases of E. coli in New York and Michigan, allegedly linked to Miller’s products. This curious dispute has far-reaching implications for Americans’ food rights.
Miller déjà vu?Farmer Miller has been in and out of the food rights limelight since 2015 when the USDA alleged his raw milk products sickened a person in California and caused another person’s death in Florida by listeria (which Miller denies). Miller has negotiated fines and regulatory conformance to appease the Feds for his past transgressions, but the recent cases have brought Pennsylvania authorities to his door, where they seized eggnog and sour cream, chocolate milk, and ice cream.
Miller’s Amish traditions inspire his belief that it is not merely his right but his duty to provide nutrient-dense foods to his multistate customer base as a defense against untrustworthy industrial food products. Miller and his customers seek to operate under federal and state regulatory radar as “Private Member Associations” or entities that privately enter into contractual relations and are not engaged in public commerce. They know the risks of raw milk and farm-processed meats and deliberately seek these and other farm-direct products for their perceived health benefits.
Unfortunately, Mr. Miller has held a somewhat unsteady legal course, switching counsel and representing himself pro se, including invoking vague and unhelpful sovereign citizen claims. Still, his head-butting with government regulators highlights a broader battle forming between food rights activists (such as those who successfully passed a food rights amendment to Maine’s Constitution in 2022) and an ever-expanding federal/state food inspection apparatus.
Food Rights FirebrandsKentucky’s Thomas Massie co-sponsored the PRIME Act, which would expand regulatory liberties for intrastate meat sales and bolster small farms and their direct sales to consumers and restaurants. Massie wasted no time tossing a shot across the political bow in support of Amos Miller, posting this on X:
Looks like Amos Miller’s farm is being raided.
With all of the problems in society today, this is what the government wants to focus on?
A man growing food for informed customers, without participating in the industrial meat/milk complex?
It’s shameful that it’s come to this. https://t.co/pWwjp6cgPh
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 4, 2024
The most significant tension lies in the balance between appropriate government oversight of commerce, especially regarding health and safety, and personal food choice sovereignty. This push and pull has increased over the last century, intensifying as toxic food additives and mass production of less nutritious produce and processed foods cause health-conscious consumers to do without government “protections” that too often protect corporate profits over human health.
As attorney David Berg poignantly predicted in a 2013 article in the Journal of Food Law & Policy:
If liberty is the freedom to make one’s own choices in life, why can we not make those choices with respect to our food?….
Food choice is not a new right; it is a right and a practice as old as civilization….
However, it was not until industrialization and regulation that citizens felt the need to assert such a right, and now courts and legislators will increasingly have to take this right into account.
Berg argues that the right to purchase food directly from a farmer, sans mandatory government inspection, is a fundamental right. The federal government has failed to halt atrazine, glyphosate, neonicotinoids, and other chemicals and subsidizes corn (and thus high-fructose corn syrup) and other questionable foods. More recently, public trust has been compromised by dubious claims about the “safety and effectiveness” of certain medications that proved to be neither. It is not unreasonable that public views about the necessity of government food inspection fluctuate with levels of trust. As public trust in government and food safety continues to deteriorate, farmers like Amos Miller are sought out as food gurus.
Women have been granted the “right” to an abortion, gays the “right” to marry, and transgender-identifying citizens the “right” to “gender-affirming” surgery at public expense. Concurrently, zoning laws increasingly compel citizens to eliminate chickens from their backyards or cease and desist from milking or raising a cow. In this milieu, do people have the “right” to shape their identity around food (as Berg persuasively argues)? May Americans who prefer an Amish sovereign citizen’s barn-processed foodstuffs over the fare of the food conglomerates simply enter freely into a contractual and informed “assumption of risk” of the potential harms from uninspected meals?
Hard-working, hardscrabble farmer rebels like Amos Miller are a preview of the growing movement to push back against government overreach. Americans prefer their independence and personal food sovereignty over compelled servitude to Big Brother in the name of security, whether the Police State protection is proffered against nebulous climate change, dehumanized foreign enemies, a sketchy disease from China, or alleged food-borne illness from raw Amish eggnog.
John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.
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