I wish I had more sympathy for liberals shocked by the apologias and celebrations of barbarity their progressive brethren have issued in response to Hamas’ slaughter of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.

But liberals share great responsibility for the antisemitic eruptions on many college campuses and the streets of major cities by allowing left-wing ideologues to hijack their politics and their children – for turning conservatives into Cassandras by refusing to heed our warnings about the ongoing assault on truth and justice.

These same wounded souls offered no resistance as the Democratic Party tripled down on identity politics in recent years, assigning Americans to specific groups and then pitting them against one another. They stood by as the left falsely trashed America as a hotbed of hatred, white supremacy, and Christian nationalism. Now, Jews are also somehow the bad guys.

Liberals continue to subscribe to fearmongering publications such as the Washington Post, the Atlantic, and the New York Times, which routinely compare Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler and warn that he plans to rule as a dictator if he wins in 2024.

They have supported Democratic prosecutors who have weaponized the criminal justice system by filing 91 felony charges against the former president, most of which are flimsy, some of them absurd.

They cheered the Department of Justice’s years-long fishing expedition based on Hillary Clinton’s slander that Trump stole the 2016 victory by colluding with Vladimir Putin. Once that hoax was exposed, they were happy to see Trump become the third president in history to be impeached merely for asking Ukraine’s president to look into the Biden family’s shady dealings in that country.

They supported numerous other efforts to remove Trump from office, including two impeachments, on bogus claims of corruption – Saudis are staying in his hotels! – while willfully ignoring Joe Biden’s own longstanding involvement in his family’s lucrative influence-peddling schemes with corrupt and hostile nations.

They defined Trump’s hyperbole as an existential threat to democracy while dismissing President Biden’s incessant falsehoods, starting with the claim that may have secured his election: “I never talk with my son or my brother or anyone else in the distant family about their business interests, period.”

They have shrugged their shoulders at evidence that the government has been working with Twitter (now X), Facebook, and other big tech players to censor speech it doesn’t like. Many have joined the effort to demonize Elon Musk for the sin of supporting free speech on X.

The same folks shocked at the rise of antisemitic rhetoric and behavior stood by when conservative speakers were bullied on campus and cancel culture became a favorite tool of the left to punish dissent. They supported divisive efforts to spin smears into facts by refusing to push back on phony claims about book-banning or prohibiting the use of the word gay, by demonizing parents concerned about what their children are taught, and by attributing all disparities between blacks and whites to racism.

Now, they are shocked by the venomous responses to Israel’s actions.

It is easy to understand why liberals made this deal with the devil. As they became consumed by their fear of Trump and the tens of millions of Americans who support him, the left’s no-holds-barred tactics seemed to offer liberals a more effective way to crush their enemy than their traditional commitment to open dialogue and tolerance, democracy, and the rule of law.

Liberals were willing to suspend their values in the vain belief that they could control the forces they empowered. Like their naïve predecessors in Revolutionary Russia and 1930s Germany, American liberals are only beginning to realize their tragic mistake. In just the last few years, the left has largely captured the most powerful forces of American politics and culture once dominated by liberals, including academia, corporate media, and the government’s permanent bureaucracy. They now control the narrative and the tools to punish those who challenge their dogma. Resistance can seem like an effort to push back the tide. It’s one reason liberals just keep their heads down and their mouths shut.

By revealing the inhumanity at the core of leftist ideology – which always and everywhere sees people as eggs that must be broken to make their pipe dream omelets – Oct. 7 has shown liberals in clear and horrifying terms the price of their dangerous alliance.

I fear that this recognition has come too late for them and for America.

 

J Peder Zane | RealClear Wire

 

The post How Liberals Let Antisemitism Happen Here appeared first on Granite Grok.

“They keep on dragging me back in…” Last week, I reported here (“Night Cap: DCYF Court Case Got “Judge Canceled””) that “the Judge” canceled DCYF:

Yes, I am still in “semi-retirement” and not writing much, having to take care of TMEW, the Grandson, and the Granddaughter’s needs in a variety of very time-consuming ways. However, I am quite happy to report that one of “Life’s familial responsibilities” has just come to a good end:

Case DISMISSED – So Ordered

And my thought then was, “That was that.” But as we have seen more and more, when the Government gets snotty and has the Power to make you miserable, EVEN WHEN YOU’VE BEEN PROVEN RIGHT (or, in this case, innocent) and has a “hair across,” it will strive to multiply that miserableness.

DCYF is going to take a THIRD bite at the apple.

I got the call from my son stating that after DCYF’s case against him for abuse was thrown, and the “lesser” charge of Neglect was dismissed, DCYF is going to “join him” into the Daughter-in-law’s case that was already decided, shoving him into that case AFTER the Judge’s decision to apply the same penalties because “He is still considered a household member.”

Translation: “The judicial system found you innocent twice, but WE will have our revenge.” Rules? Who needs any stinkin’ rules?  The message, IMHO, is, “We expect parents to simply bend over and lay down, and if you don’t…” HOW MANY OTHER TIMES HAS DCYF USED THIS TACTIC??

Why not – how many Parents have the resources to fight them knowing that, worst case, their kids will be adopted out and they’ll never see them again?  How many Parents are willing to risk that outcome?  And as far as the child is concerned, DCYF is always talking about the wrongness of induced Trauma…how’s that gonna work in that worst case?

The DCYF case manager sent along their “Social Study” form, declaring that he now has to fill it out.

Again…Double Jeopardy?  Or Triple…

As one would guess, I was a bit miffed at the reaction of the Government being kicked to the curb and then deciding to kick the reason why they got kicked (er, the Eldest).  So, do you think I remained stoic, silently standing on the sidelines, gazing off and contemplating now-snow-capped Mt. Washington, believing, “well, that’s the system we have brought upon ourselves?”

I know, trick question (smirk!). Here’s what I returned after I saw the actual email thread:

—— Original Message ——
From “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To <redacted as I know the case manager was TOLD to do this – the responsible people are further up the food chain>
Cc The Eldest
Date 12/8/2023 8:43:02 AM
Subject Re: Fwd: Social Study for <the Eldest>

Oh, so now we’re going to do the “tell the prisoner to put the noose on by himself and then pull the lever bit“?

My next RTK series will just about write itself.

-Skip

And so I got to work – first salvo:

—— Original Message ——
From “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To “Cooney-Bilodeau, Stacey” <stacey.a.cooneybilodeau@dhhs.nh.gov>; “Donovan, Maygan” <Maygan.C.Donovan@dhhs.nh.gov>
Cc “Daniel Murphy” <necrone1985@gmail.com>
Date 12/8/2023 10:01:15 AM
Subject Re[2]: Fwd: Social Study for Dan

DCYF attempted to prosecute Dan on Abuse charges.  That was dropped
DCYF then attempted to join Dan to Sarah’s case – that was thrown out
DCYF failed to prove its latest case, that of Neglect, due to the insufficiency of the evidence.
DCYF wants to replay #2?
NH Constitution, Part 1 Article 16:

[Art.] 16. [Former Jeopardy; Jury Trial in Capital Cases.] No subject shall be liable to be tried, after an acquittal, for the same crime or offense…

Read that again, just to be clear.

Please also find attached my next RSA 91:A demand aimed at DCYF. It should be rather easy to fulfill.

I was going to strictly focus on SAU7 for a while as I started off with some easy ones for Jennifer Noyes (SpecEd Director) yesterday.  Now my gaze will turn back towards the Division ahead of schedule instead.

To be continued…

-Skip

Heh!

Sidenote: Jennifer Noyes is the Special Ed director of the Colebrook School District. I’ll be blunt – I believe, like in other rumors of Districts dropping dimes on “too-interested-and-uppity” parents to DCYF, that’s what’s happened here.  I’ll be writing about those Right To Knows later.

Here’s the Right To Know I sent to DCYF in its entirety:

December 8, 2023

Right to Know Request per RSA-91A: Double Jeopardy

To repeat the responsibilities of NH Government workers and Citizens:

[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive…The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government…

and a further proviso to protect the Rights and Liberties of innocents from an overbearing and overreaching Government that seeks retribution against a single citizen:

[Art.] 16. [Former Jeopardy…] No subject shall be liable to be tried, after an acquittal, for the same crime or offense…

Demand:

Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A), I am demanding access, within 5 business days, to the following Governmental Records for the Division of:

• The name and title of the Division of Children, Youth and Family Services (“DCYF”) employee(s) either making or assisting in this second decision to join the Eldest to the Daughter-in-law’s Neglect case after:
  • Judge <redacted> DISMISSED the FIRST “Join” petition by DCYF
  • Judge <redacted> ordered that the Neglect case brought by DCYF against Daniel was to be DISMISSED.
• Provide any and all communications related to this decision regardless of the mode of communications (e.g., email, voice mails, notes, phone texts but not to exclude other modes)
• Names of the communicants
• Titles of the communicants
• Date(s) of the communications

Note: If any such communications would fall into realm of RSA 91-A 5, XII exemptions (“Records protected under the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine ), redact such privileged text but still provide (re: my precedent setting Right To Know that ended up with DHHS Deputy Legal Counsel John B. Martin):

And to hammer the point home in this Dillon’s Rule State in which subdivisions of the State MUST be explicitly delegated the Power to do ANYTHING by an Act of the State Legislature:

• State any RSA(s) that allows DCYF to override the Article 16’s Constitutional authority to bring a second action against Daniel after the failure of DCYF’s first “Join” petition.
• State any DCYF regulation that overrides any such RSA(s) or Article 16’s “safe harbor” protections against employing a mere subdivision of the State attempted preemption “double jeopardy” protections.

To that latter point – I want to see if DCYF has decided to give itself such Powers just School Boards, vis Policies on Transgenders, give themselves the ability to subvert the First Amendment and Article 22 (both dealing with Free Speech) to ignore the Right to be Free from Double Jeopardy.

If this cannot be fulfilled within that 5 business day mandated window per RSA 91-A:2, II, please advise when the Responsive Record(s) will be made available.

Per RSA 91-A:4 IV(c) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption (see RSA 91-A:5 – the ONLY enumerated exemptions allowed by RSA 91-A) used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.

Additional: It is not up to the Requester to be made to look up the subjects or materials that are the focus of this Right To Know (e.g., from the Respondent: “here’s the URL so do the search yourself”). It is the responsibility of the Respondent to fully supply all demanded materials.

As you are aware, in 2016, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a governmental body in possession of Responsive Records is required to produce them in electronic media using standard common file formats: Green v. SAU #55, 168 N.H. 796, 801 (2016). Unless there is some reason that it is not reasonably practical to produce such, explain why it is not practical to comply.

Please also note, per RSA 91-A:4 III, III-a, and III-b, you are required to maintain the safety and accessibility of such Responsive Records. This also includes such responsive records (e.g., emails, query files, policies) which may have been deleted from respective local hardcopy or software systems but are still available on the applicable servers or in application or archival system(s) either in-house or hosted.

Please let me know when these records are available for inspection or you may email the records to me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com. If the volume is turns out to be substantial, I’ll be happy to supply a shared DropBox folder sufficient to hold all of the Responsive Records.

Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Skip Murphy
GraniteGrok.com

As I am writing this on Tuesday, the five business day limit has not yet been reached, nor upon this being published.

To be continued…

The post DCYF Double Jeopardy: We’ll Just Ignore That The Judge Canceled Our Case… appeared first on Granite Grok.

A number of bills filed in the New Hampshire legislature for the 2024 session would chip away at the strict regulation on alcohol sales. The state government’s ‘Liquor Commission’ generally regulates all sales of alcohol, and the government itself operates 82 liquor stores throughout the state. Legislators have proposed a few bills that would make it easier for small businesses to serve their customers without running afoul of the law.

The post Bills Would (Somewhat) Liberate Alcohol Sales appeared first on The Liberty Block.

We have readers in Norway, but none appear to be the “experts” making public transportation decisions in Oslo. The City spent €100 million on 183 Electric Buses that work great in the summer but not so much in the winter.

As we’ve reported on more than one occasion, electric vehicles lose reliability and range and might fail to work in the cold, and if the rumors can be believed, it gets cold in Norway for ‘several’ months out of the year. A fact the “experts” in Norway have just realized makes their new fleet of EV buses moderately to less than useless.

 

Oslo wants to make local public transport completely emission-free. This is why 183 new electric articulated buses were delivered in April 2023. The 100 million euro contract for this was signed last year. The buses are to run on Oslo’s busiest routes.

The new buses from Solaris were highly praised in advance and everything went well during the summer. But now, with the onset of winter, the weaknesses of the electric vehicles are becoming apparent: although a range of 250 kilometers is actually advertised, the buses sometimes simply break down.

 

If Mussolini were alive today, he would not have been able to make the EV buses run on time.

For the record, Norway was a recent source of research indicating that “the effect of man-made CO2 emissions does not appear to be sufficiently strong to cause systematic changes in the pattern of the temperature fluctuations.”

The experts in Oslo didn’t read that either if I had to guess, but there are at least a few sources online that have reported issues and risks related to EVs and winter weather. It should not have been difficult for someone with two brain cells to rub together to work it out. Cold weather, extreme cold, in particular, has a long known impact on current. Not new. Not recent. It’s old news. A problem that the imaginary benefits to the planet of adding thousands of pounds of battery weight to any vehicle cannot overcome. Pray all you want. The climate Cult gods cannot solve the problem.

You need politicians who are not climate activists – if you can find them. Just don’t take the bus when you go looking.

 

The post ‘Experts’ in Norway Bought 183 EV Buses … That Don’t Work Very Well When It’s Cold appeared first on Granite Grok.

As Americans wrangle over open southern borders swamped with “undocumented” visitors, another border incursion has quietly involved feral pigs. The problem of this destructive invasive species has long been witnessed in the American South, but the feral swine pressure is mounting at the northern border as Canadian “super-pigs” threaten US public health and agriculture.

In the daily barrage of bizarre realities for Americans, cross-bred wild boars disrespecting borders like fentanyl-dealing gangs is yet another surreal headline. But the threat is profound and growing exponentially. Feral pigs are an ecological train wreck – and the most prolific invasive species in North America.

The Scourge of the Razorback

I have raised and bred dozens of pigs in wintry Vermont. Pigs are incredibly intelligent: They defecate in one corner, can tell if an electric fence is charged, and are cleverer than most dogs. They are also thick-skinned and rugged, breeding two times annually with large litters that routinely exceed 10 or 12 piglets.

In wild hogs, these survival attributes have been crossed with heightened durability and aggressiveness. Feral “super-pigs” have smaller litters than domesticated swine, but can train their young to avoid hunters, forage where they have no natural predators, and travel in groups for security. Their long, sloping snout, shoulder structure, and tusks attract the Americanized moniker “Razorback.” They can reach five feet in length, grow to 400 pounds, and run 30 miles per hour.

Exterminating Pig Vermin

Some states classify feral pigs as vermin. In order to simply maintain the current numbers of feral US swine, 65% of them must be slain each year. Existing super-pig populations destroy an estimated $2.5 billion in crops annually. Efforts to hunt them include paid helicopter shooting, trapping, and baiting with poison – but still they expand in numbers and territory. The threat on the northern border creates a pincer attack on American agriculture.

Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de Leon are believed to have released pigs into the New World. With no natural predators and plentiful food, the animals have thrived. Powerful snouts furrow the ground for roots, grubs, and acorns, but recently planted corn seed is a culinary delight, as are birds (including grouse, turkeys, and woodcock) and their nests, reptiles, and small mammals such as whitetail deer fawns. Feral pigs have even attacked and killed humans.

The greatest threat from these animals, however, is not from digging in the dirt but from the potential to spread disease. Feral pigs can carry trichinosis and brucellosis, pseudorabies, leptospirosis, sarcocystis, and African swine fever (extinct in America since 1978). These can impact human as well as animal (and household pet) health. Feral swine can potentially transmit as many as 30 pathogens and 37 parasites. If these diseases infect US or Canadian swine operations, the impacts would be economically and ecologically devastating.

Invasive Pigs Spread

Feral pigs have steadily expanded their North American turf for decades, increasing by one estimate from 550 US counties in 1982 to 1,496 in 2023. Citizens in states where the pigs have not established themselves may perceive they are unaffected, but if feral pigs taint pork supplies in (for instance) North Carolina, Missouri, or Iowa, the price and availability of bacon and hams would be quickly jeopardized. Water supplies are also being tainted for animals and humans alike.

Efforts to staunch the swineherd hoof-hold in North America have included hunting for meat, assisted by dogs. Ironically, progressive animal rights initiatives in many states oppose hunting, trapping, and the use of dogs. As bears, coyotes, and other populations consequently expand, so too could feral pigs lacking these countermeasures.

Feral super-pigs have heightened senses of smell. They are aggressive, smart, and fast, requiring “scent dogs” (including coonhounds) to track them down and then “catch dogs” (such as American pit bull terriers and American bulldogs) to release and effectively hold down or corner a pig until the hunters can arrive to finish the job. This will pit animal rights idealists against the practical challenges presented by this super-survival species of Sus scrofa.

Winter-Rugged Swine

Canada’s super-swine are particularly resilient, adapted to bitterly cold temperatures and housing themselves in snow caves dubbed “pigloos.” Border states Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana have implemented aggressive policies to keep these snouted miscreants in the Great White North, but there will be no border wall. Vermont has experienced periodic incursions by these crafty critters – they swim across the Connecticut River from neighboring New Hampshire! (They disrespect a state border as easily as national.)

Some farmers have resorted to excavating deep, steep-walled trenches around fields and crops to deter the crafty swine invaders. (This system might also thwart humans at the southern border.) But trenching creates dangers for humans who may fall prey in the pigs’ stead. Effective responses may entail unpleasant trade-offs: Feral pigs have demonstrated a willingness to attack humans as well as pets, so some risks (such as Kaput Feral Hog Lure, laced with rodenticide warfarin) may eventually be necessary.

Watchfulness at the Border

For now, America eyes its northern border for a Canadian super-pig invasion while watching its southern boundaries being overrun with opioids and starving masses. Unfortunately, there are only so many resources to go around for both.

 

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

The post Super Pigs at the Border! appeared first on Granite Grok.

I just read (in Reason) that about half of Florida students are participating in some kind of school choice program. So I thought: Wow, things must be looking up in Florida, right? Academic achievement must be soaring because of all that freebie market competition.

I thought I’d go check out the NAEP site. For those of you who don’t know, the National Assessment of Educational Progress is the longitudinal test created by the education establishment to let us know how they’re doing at the job of educating kids.

(So far, what it’s told us is that since 1970, we’ve more than tripled spending — adjusted for inflation — while seeing no measurable increases in student achievement.  That’s how they’re doing.)

It turns out that in Florida, the situation after school choice is pretty much the same as the situation before school choice:  less than half of students are proficient in math and reading.  (The actual percentage has been virtually unchanged for the last 15 years.)

The thing is, this is exactly what we should have expected to see in Florida.  And it’s what we should expect to see in New Hampshire, as we start pouring money into Education Freedom Accounts.

So 15 years from now, when EFAs are being funded at $20,000 per student, and we still have fewer than half our kids reaching proficiency in reading and math, no one should be surprised.

The post School Choice: Florida Leads the Way appeared first on Granite Grok.

He owns 300 acres in the Berkshires, where he set up a commune. His “people” are engaged in protests and vandalism against Jews. He was behind the incident at Elbit Systems in Merrimack (my hometown). Heir to a fortune, he now lives in New Hampshire’s upper valley. He even has a NH Moose plate that reads ‘CCCP.’

His name is Fergie Chambers, and he and his money are on a mission. “[T] to tear down the mechanisms—capitalism, imperialism, liberalism, the rule of law, America.” And?

 

“Make Zionists afraid,” Fergie wrote in a post on his Instagram on November 15. In another he wrote: “We need to start making people who support Israel actually afraid to go out in public. We need to make all of white America afraid that everything they have stolen is going to be burned to the ground. That’s what makes them listen.”

 

Yes, Ferige is rich and white. The product of generations of support for Democrats while accumulating what most Marxists would consider obscene amounts of wealth. It’s OK. Fergie is good if you hate him for being rich. He’s more concerned with using his resources to advance the revolution.

 

Fergie Chambers, an avowed communist since the age of 13, wants everyone to hold it against him forever that he is heir to an enormous fortune. And he’s willing to go to enormous lengths to tear down the mechanisms—capitalism, imperialism, liberalism, the rule of law, America—that delivered it into his lap.

That struggle has taken him from the charming cobblestone streets of his Brooklyn childhood to the mountains of upstate New York to the lake country region of Georgia to the Donbas region of Ukraine and now, back to the woods of the American Northeast, where locals say that his radical political organizing has taken a menacing turn, especially when it comes to the Jewish state on which he’s uniquely fixated.

Where does all the money come from?

 

Until very recently, by dint of his birth, Fergie owned a percentage of Cox Enterprises, a planet-spanning megacorporation, and the third largest private cable provider in the U.S. Over 50,000 people work there. The fact the Coxes still own the company outright makes them the eighth richest family in America, with a net worth around $34 billion.

It’s like if the Murdochs had double the money. But instead of Australia, they’re from America, and instead of conservative, they’re all—except for Fergie and a lone Republican aunt that no one talks to—establishment Democrats.

 

A devoted communist who cashed out of his corporate Family to get involved in direct action.

 

In addition to Fergie and Anne, Stella Schnabel, 39—daughter of the painter Julian, sister of the art dealer Vito—Fergie’s on-off partner, lives here, along with the pair’s two-year-old son, Viktor Gonzo Cox Schnabel Chambers. They’re all still getting their bearings in New Hampshire. They only moved here from Alford this past January for its lax gun laws and low tax burden, after Fergie decided to cash out.

“I don’t want to pay taxes to Uncle Sam,” Fergie tells me. “Objectively, somebody like me should pay almost all of their money in taxes, but if I can legally evade giving that to the U.S. war machine, I will.”

The Free Press article is long and interesting. Fergie Chambers is, if nothing, honest about his motivations and goals, his family, and the long history of Democrat politics that led him ideologically and fiscally to where he is today.

 

James Middleton Cox, the original patriarch, was the Democratic nominee for president in 1920—FDR was his running mate—and two-time governor of Ohio. Fergie’s grandmother, Anne, the only Cox Fergie seems to have anything nice to say about—“She was a bad mother and an absent WASP, but she was not cold as a grandmother”—was the ambassador to Belgium under President Carter. She had a cardboard cutout of Obama in her living room, and she took her private plane to canvass for him in 2008.  …

<Fergie’s father, the eldest boy, is a progressive for his time and a black sheep in his own right. He was a dance major at Bard, and believes deeply, I am told, in the power of chiropractic medicine. He is also a vegetarian and a biodynamic farmer (his farm, Honey Dog, is 15 minutes down the road from Fergie’s Massachusetts outpost) and he is obsessed with bees. He’s married to Nabila Khashoggi, daughter of Adnan, the infamous arms dealer and once the richest man in the world. They have one son: Ulysses Layth Adnan Cox Khashoggi Chambers.

When asked …if he supported Hamas, Fergie answered in the affirmative: “Yes,” and added, “Hamas is an indigenous anti-colonial resistance group.”

 

And Fergie likes to mentor local college kids. Kids who also support names like Bernie Sanders and Liz Warren. What could go wrong? Oh, wait. We know. The whole campus protests domestic terrorism schtick.

More at The Free Press.

The post At Least One Millionaire Marxist Organizing Anti-Semitic Acts Lives in New Hampshire appeared first on Granite Grok.

[Concord, NH. December 14, 2023] The 603 Alliance, a leading conservative grassroots organization in New Hampshire, announces that it is endorsing Mary Jane Beauregard for the position of RNC Committeewoman and Bill O’Brien for the position of RNC Committeeman. The election will take place on January 13th, 2024, at the Annual Meeting of the Republican State Committee.

Bill O’Brien has led the fight for fiscal restraint, lower taxes, less-intrusive government, and a return to common sense. As the NH Speaker of the House, he led Republican efforts to rein in a bloated state budget, defend the 2nd Amendment, and restore a vibrant New Hampshire economy. Since then, he has consistently held to the values espoused in the Republican party platform and is currently representing our state as a member of the RNC. Bill has built a strong network of relationships with other leaders throughout the country. Those relationships will serve him well when he is elected to continue in that role.

Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to steve@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication – Publication is not an endorsement.

Mary Jane Beauregard has worked tirelessly for Republicans in our state as the Finance Chair of the NHGOP. During her tenure in that position, she has proven herself to be an effective fundraiser and has consistently demonstrated her ability to work with others toward a common goal. The 603 Alliance Board believes that Mary Jane has the wisdom, experience, and commitment be a strong voice for New Hampshire, advocating for the preservation of our First in the Nation status.

“Bill has been a champion for limited government for many years, and we have no doubt that he will continue to represent New Hampshire effectively,” said Diane Bitter, Board member and co-founder of the 603 Alliance. “We are impressed with Mary Jane’s experience and commitment as well, and look forward to seeing her expand her efforts to the national stage.”

###

ABOUT THE 603 ALLIANCE: The 603 Alliance is a grassroots organization whose mission is to restore Constitutional principles at all levels of our government by championing the principles of free people and free markets, uniting like-minded citizens in support of candidates who will further these principles.

The post 603 Alliance Endorses Beauregard & O’Brien for RNC appeared first on Granite Grok.

Santa Claus has come under fire thanks to a small band of elves who were recently hired per the North Pole’s new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy.

For years, the Pole has operated seamlessly thanks to the tremendous work ethic of Santa’s elves. Long respected for their tireless twenty-four-hour shifts, commitment to near-perfect assembly standards, and creating a cheerful workplace atmosphere with low wages based around the elves’ simple diet of candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup, Santa’s workshop has fallen to turmoil of late.

This past year has seen a stunning influx of migrant elves who have been flooding across the border in record numbers. At first, the new source of labor was a welcome site, given the high output standards and rising need for toys and gifts worldwide. However, many of the new laborers brought with them new ways of thinking that proved a disruption, with some threatening to start the Pole’s first-ever workers’ strike if their demands were not met.

Claiming unfair labor practices, a non-living wage, sexual harassment and even a few cases of elvish racism a small cadre of unusually noisy and disgruntled elves have formed a committee looking to make systemic changes to the world’s jolliest manufacturing plant. The Global Resistance International Network and Community Headquarters (G.R.I.N.C.H.) recently announced they intend to bring lawsuits against Santa and several of his head elves.

“Santa is the emblem of the Northern Arctic patriarchy, and it’s time he paid reparations,” stated the group’s leader Malcolm Jamaal Jellybelly.  Standing behind Mr. Jellybelly as he made this announcement were the other plaintiffs in the matter, all wearing masks and some holding signs saying such things as “White Christmas Is Racist!” and “Don’t Say Jolly!”

A stunned Santa and Mrs. Claus gazed down from their second-story window in utter dismay. Banana’s Media was able to catch up with the famous toy merchant who had this to say.

“I just don’t understand it.  I’ve been making and delivering toys to all the good girls and boys for over a thousand years.  My elves have always been the happiest creatures on earth.  Mrs. Claus and I believe in giving opportunities to everyone, but we never imagined elves could be this grumpy and thankless!”  A sock-knitting Mrs. Claus could be seen shaking her head in silent agreement as the portly cheer-giver continued. “I’ve never once discriminated against my elves or my reindeer.”

Santa went on to explain he was more than happy to have the new help but noticed they didn’t all seem like genuine elves committed to the Christmas Spirit.  Many of the elves claimed to be seeking asylum from the atrocities that had taken place at the South Pole, where they say global warming caused the polar cap to melt and, with it, washed away their jobs. Bananas Research team fact-checked this claim and found it to be “totally false” with the eastern peninsula ice sheet growing significantly in the 21st century.

“Those little people…l-l-l-lied?” a broken-hearted Santa asked. After we showed him the facts, Santa began to pace around the Jovial Office, muttering.  He could be overheard saying, “If they lied about that, what else did they lie about?”

Among the many reports we came across was talk of “nice privilege.”  The nice privilege, we learned, is enjoyed by children who are deemed nice by Santa, who sees what all children are doing awake or asleep.  Despite the implicit creepiness of this claim, Santa has long been considered a fair arbiter of nice versus naughty behavior in children.  Since the arrival of the new elves, an uproar among the younger elves has emerged, claiming Santa is implicitly biased toward niceness.

“Of course I am!” bellowed a dumbfounded Santa, who reminded everyone if he went by the naughty list, only crack-heads, criminals, and politicians would get gifts.

Another wild claim we were confronted with was Santa’s apparent racism and insensitivity toward people of color.  A YouTube video had been circulating in which Santa appears to be in blackface while singing, “I’m dreaming of a whiiite Christ-maaas!”  Santa maintains it was not on purpose and the result of sliding down millions of chimneys in one night, leaving his face covered in soot.  As a result, for the first time in Christmas history, Santa will be facing charges of breaking and entering brought by a D.A. from the Southern District of New York.

“Why Christmas gotta be white?!” asked a bitter little brown-skinned elf named Darjarius Crinklejeans.

“Look around, Darjarius – do you notice anything?” retorted one elf who has been outspoken against the changing elf-culture.  “Snow is white, you ninny muggins.  White is about the snow.  Have you ever seen black snow?  It’s not a song about race – it’s about the joy of Christmas and winter wonderlands – for the love of Peter Pan, quit making everything about race, Darjarius!”

Also adding to the Christmas chaos is the sudden desire of younger elves wanting to identify as reindeer or even humans.  One suspicious elf parent blames the new children’s books they’ve been printing.  “Have you seen what’s in some of these?  They’re putting them in children’s schools! How can any human being NOT be on the naughty list at this point?”

Another matter of controversy involved the reindeer.  Several of the team were still in shock after Dancer and Prancer both came out as gay, and Vixen said he wants to be a drag queen.  Despite catching many of the other reindeer by surprise, Donner and Blitzen both claimed to have known for years.  “Prancer?  Seriously?  You didn’t see that coming?” They also say they’d seen Vixen sneaking out of Mrs. Claus’ closet on more than one occasion wearing her clothes with a hoof full of children’s books.

Rudolph, once famous for saving Christmas with his shiny red nose, has taken a nose-dive since the Pole has gone sideways. He recently checked into a rehab facility after turning to alcohol and other substances as a way of coping with the many changes in his once innocent frozen playground.

Also upset by the changes are elves who came to Santa’s workshop legally a while back.  A spokesman for the group explained, “We had to wait ten years before Santa recognized us as Citizen Elves of the North Pole,” explained a frustrated Juan Gringobells.  “We had to learn all the words to Here Comes Santa Claus and Winter Wonderland and recite the names of the reindeer from memory, including the fruity ones.  I wish we could go back to when Santa would just pick us up for the day from Gnome Depot.”

Strangely silent since the changes began is Santa’s only neighbor at the pole, Karl Grinch, who extended his record yet again this year for most time spent on the naughty list.

 

 

The post Bananas: Shake Up At the North Pole appeared first on Granite Grok.

Setting off on an adventure from the dynamic urban jungles of the United States to the lively core of Oaxaca, Mexico, is akin to entering a world brimming with cultural richness, historical depth, and stunning natural beauty.

This narrative aims to guide you through an extraordinary shift from the well-known terrains of America to the enchanting and multifaceted cultural mosaic of Oaxaca. In this city, ancient traditions blend seamlessly with modern life.

Preparing for the Journey

Before embarking on this cultural expedition, it’s essential to have all travel documents in order. If you are starting your trip from LA, checking your passport validity before your trip might be a good idea. If your passport is about to expire, passport renewal in LA is a convenient option, ensuring a smooth and worry-free entry into Mexico. This simple step paves the way for an immersive experience in Oaxaca’s colorful milieu.

From Urban Sprawl to Natural Splendor

Leaving behind the urban sprawl of major US cities, travelers find themselves amidst the stunning natural beauty that heralds the approach to Oaxaca. The journey, often embarked upon by air, reveals a drastic shift in scenery—from the structured urbanity of American cities to the sprawling, untamed landscapes of Mexico. The aerial view of Oaxaca is a prelude to the region’s natural wonders, from mist-shrouded mountains to lush valleys, setting the stage for an adventure in a land where nature and civilization have coexisted for thousands of years.

Cultural Contrast and Continuity

Crossing into Mexico, the disparity in daily routines and cultural norms becomes strikingly clear. The transition from the high-speed, productivity-centered way of life typical in the US gives way to a more laid-back, community-oriented approach deeply ingrained in Mexican culture. This transition isn’t just a change in geography but a journey back to where ancient customs and modern conveniences coexist. The colorful streets of Oaxacan towns, lined with colonial architecture and bustling markets, offer a vivid tableau of Mexico’s rich history and cultural heritage.

Oaxaca’s Culinary Delights

Oaxaca is a paradise for food enthusiasts. The region’s cuisine is as diverse as its landscape, offering a fusion of indigenous and Spanish flavors. From the iconic mole, a complex sauce made with an array of ingredients including chocolate and various chilies, to the simple yet delicious tlayudas, a large tortilla smothered in beans and cheese, every dish tells a story of Oaxaca’s rich culinary traditions. Dining in Oaxaca isn’t just about eating; it explores history and culture through the palate.

Artisanal Mastery and Markets

The artisanal crafts of Oaxaca are a testament to the region’s creative spirit. Markets are abuzz with vibrant textiles, intricately designed pottery, and handcrafted jewelry, each piece reflecting the soul of its maker. The Zapotec and Mixtec influences are evident in the designs, with patterns and techniques passed down through generations. Exploring these markets offers a unique insight into the local way of life and an opportunity to support the artisan community.

Festivals: A Celebration of Life and Death

Oaxaca is famous for its vibrant festivals, notably the Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos. This festival serves as a rich expression of how Mexicans perceive death, not as a finality but as an integral part of life’s ongoing journey. The streets come alive with parades, music, and dance as locals honor their departed loved ones. Witnessing this festival is an unforgettable experience, highlighting the depth and richness of Mexican culture.

The journey from the US to Oaxaca is more than just a physical transition; it’s a voyage through time and culture. Transitioning from the energetic buzz of American metropolises to the timeless cadence of life in Oaxaca, this journey unveils a distinct lens through which the variety and opulence of human society can be appreciated. With its striking sceneries, deep-rooted history, and dynamic cultural fabric, Oaxaca transcends being merely a place to visit. It is a gateway to an alternate realm where history and modernity are interlaced, creating a mosaic of memorable moments and experiences.

The post Unveiling Mexico’s Cultural Tapestry: A Journey from the US to Oaxaca appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you were wondering how serious Florida was about protecting girls’ and women’s sports, this might be your answer. Monarch High School has been put on Administrative probation and fined 16,500.00 for allowing a boy to play on a girl’s volleyball team.

And so we are clear (as Vodak comrade) when we say girl or boy (woman or man) we mean born that way. (The queer spectrum is the social construct.)

Florida’s bylaw 8.62 states that “biological males may not participate on a female team in any sport,” the letter reminds Monarch High School. Policy 16.11.6 states that the “use of an ineligible student when self-reported, may subject the school to a monetary penalty of a minimum of $100 per contest and/or other sanctions.”

F.S. 1006.205(3)(c) states that “athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls may not be open to students of the male sex.”

That male student played in over 30 games, according to the letter, and the athletic association has not “received any corrective actions from Monarch High School.”

 

My one gripe is that the boy played 30 games across two seasons. That strikes me as a lot of “F-ing Around” before Monarch High School was “found out.” If the goal of the rules in statute is to protect opportunities for girls and ensure some level of safety, then this needs serious work.

This, however, makes me smile.

 

The letter additionally states that Monarch High School owes a monetary penalty of $16,500 ($500 per contest, in accordance with Policy 16.11.6), and Monarch High School representatives will be required to attend one of the association’s Compliance Seminars in both 2024 and 2025. The high school will also be required to host association staff for an “eligibility and Compliance Workshop” no later than June 30, 2024.

 

The Left loves to force people into re-education seminars, so – nice touch, but I bet there’s a significant compliance problem up and down the state, and they don’t know it. Progressives have a love-hate relationship with the concept of order. The advent of Marxist rule is all about order, but to get there, you have to break everything without regard to the cost to the people you lie about protecting. Take girls and women, for example. Breaking them is the cost of doing Democrat Socialist business.

Florida could audit a dozen schools in notably progressive political ghettoes, and I bet they’d find most or all ignoring the no boys-in-girls sports rules. Widen the net, and the fines might fund something useful like lawyers for detransitioners, or something. And it would fill up those compliance workshops.

Maybe DeSantis should offer a finders fee to anyone who reports a violation.

It’s a thought.

The post High School Plays FAFO with Florida’s Protections for Biological Girls’ Sports Teams … Gets Fined $16K+ appeared first on Granite Grok.

For the last several months, many of us have been waiting on pins and needles for a judge to tell us what the state constitution says about education, which is remarkable because it’s not like that constitution is written using particularly difficult language.

How many of us would have trouble understanding a sentence like this?

Free and fair competition in the trades and industries is an inherent and essential right of the people and should be protected against all monopolies and conspiracies which tend to hinder or destroy it. 

Do we need a judge to tell us that a public school monopoly in the industry of education is something from which the people are to be protected?

Would we have trouble understanding this sentence?

[I]t shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools

Do we need a judge to tell us that, whatever ‘cherish’ may mean, it can’t sensibly mean one thing for seminaries (which can’t be funded, operated, or regulated by the state) and something completely different for public schools?

We don’t.  Or we shouldn’t.  But people seem to have lost all confidence in their ability to read simple declarative sentences, and determine what they mean.

How does something like this happen?

Here’s one clue.  We currently have a public school system in which less than half of students can read or do math proficiently.  (And in case you’re thinking this is a recent development, it’s been true since at least the 1970s, when we started collecting NAEP data.) Which means that the system operates largely by having the students sit passively while their teachers ‘explain’ what is in their textbooks.

In other words, the teachers read the books — or at least, the teachers’ guides to the books — and relay that information to the students.  The students have no idea whether that information is being relayed accurately, and no idea that they could check that for themselves by reading the books.  So they have very little choice but to just accept what they’re told.

That’s a hell of a lot of power to put in the hands of teachers — who are, we should never for a moment forget, employees of the state.

Isn’t that how we treat our constitution, and our courts?  The judges work from the opinions of other judges, instead of from teachers’ guides.  But otherwise, it’s pretty much the same.

That’s a hell of a lot of power to put in the hands of judges — who are, we should never for a moment forget, employees of the state.

In 1927, General John McAuley Palmer said that professional armies

threaten government by the people, not because they consciously seek to pervert liberty, but because they relieve the people themselves of the duty of self-defense. A people accustomed to let a special class defend them must sooner or later become unfit for liberty.

I believe the same thing is true of ‘professional readers’, including judges and teachers.  By relieving us of the duty of understanding things for ourselves — and by abusing the power that they gain by doing this — they have made us unfit for liberty.

What can we do about that?  A good first step would be to elect legislators who would be willing to say to the courts:

You are not the boss of us.  We can read the constitution as well as you can.  And we’re no longer going to let you get away with pissing on our legs and telling us that it’s raining.

And a good second step would be to become people who are willing to say the same thing to those legislators.

The post Unfit For Liberty (Part 3, Courts) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Why transgenderism? Simple – a political process to trash heteronormativity and eliminate the difference between men and women, and undermine traditional values to forward socialism and a new way of being.

Listen to Christopher Rufo, the leading authority on Transgenderism, as he quickly recaps how transgenderism BLEW UP into our culture.

And more importantly, WHY! (Note: I just ran across this, even though it’s been out for a few months.)

 

The transgender movement has conquered America life. In a new short film, I explain how the movement gained power and connect the dots between its key intellectuals, billionaire benefactor, and large-scale medical experiments in a Detroit ghetto.

This is the transgender empire: pic.twitter.com/UaQSGD5RL8

— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) July 12, 2023

Also, there is this speech from Mr. Rufo that was captured by Hillsdale College’s Imprimis  (Sept. 23, Volume 52, Number 9). Emphasis mine:

The following is adapted from a talk delivered on September 12, 2023, at the Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship on Hillsdale’s Washington, D.C., campus, as part of the AWC Family Foundation Lecture Series.

*****

The transgender movement is pressing its agenda everywhere. Most publicly, activist teachers are using classrooms to propagandize on its behalf and activist health professionals are promoting the mutilation of children under the euphemistic banner of “gender-affirming care.” The sudden and pervasive rise of this movement provokes two questions: where did it come from, and how has it proved so successful? The story goes deeper than most Americans know.

In the late 1980s, a group of academics, including Judith Butler, Gayle Rubin, Sandy Stone, and Susan Stryker, established the disciplines of “queer theory” and “transgender studies.” These academics believed gender to be a “social construct” used to oppress racial and sexual minorities, and they denounced the traditional categories of man and woman as a false binary that was conceived to support the system of “heteronormativity”—i.e., the white, male, heterosexual power structure. This system, they argued, had to be ruthlessly deconstructed. And the best way to achieve this, they argued further, was to promote transgenderism. If men can become women, and women men, they believed, the natural structure of Creation could be toppled.

Nothing in the human life and discourse is outside of notion of “Power” – unless you are a Normal person who just wants to live their life unaffected by others. To these totalitarians, however, Power is their ultimate goal in bringing about their Utopian Dystopia – and are willing to sacrifice billions of eggs to make their omelette.

Susan Stryker, a male-to-female transgender professor currently at the University of Arizona, revealed the general thrust and tone of transgender ideology in his Kessler Award Lecture at the City University of New York in 2008, describing his work as “a secular sermon that unabashedly advocates embracing a disruptive and refigurative genderqueer or transgender power as a spiritual resource for social and environmental transformation.” In Stryker’s best-known essay, “My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage,” he contends that the “transsexual body” is a “technological construction” that represents a war against Western society. “I am a transsexual, and therefore I am a monster,” Stryker writes. And this monster, he continues, is destined to channel its “rage and revenge” against the “naturalized heterosexual order”; against “‘traditional family values’”; and against the “hegemonic oppression” of nature itself.

It is clear from this and from other transgender scholarship that the transgender movement is inherently political. Its reconstruction of personal identity is meant to advance a collective political reconstruction or transformation. Some trans activists even view their movement as the future of Marxism. In a collection of essays titled Transgender Marxism, activist writer Rosa Lee argues that trans people can serve as the new vanguard of the proletariat, promising to abolish heteronormativity in the same way that orthodox Marxism promised to abolish capitalism.

“In a different era,” Lee writes,

Marxists spoke of the construction of a “new socialist man” as a crucial task in the broader process of socialist construction. Today, in a time of both rising fascism and an emergent socialist movement, our challenge is transsexualising our Marxism. We should think [of] the project of transition to communism in our time—communisation—as including the transition to new communist selves, new ways of being and relating to one another.

This is the great project of the transgender movement: to abolish the distinctions of man and woman, to transcend the limitations established by God and nature, and to connect the personal struggle of trans individuals to the political struggle to transform society in a radical way.

From the Fringes to the Center

The trans movement was hatched, then, on the fringes of American academia. But how did it move so quickly to the center of American public life? Like many other things, it began with a flood of cash, as some of the wealthiest people in the country began devoting enormous sums of money to promote transgenderism.

One of these people is Jennifer Pritzker, who was born James Pritzker in 1950. After serving several years in the U.S. Army, Pritzker went into business, having inherited a sizable part of the Hyatt hotel fortune. In 2013, he announced a male-to-female gender transition and was celebrated in the press as the “first trans billionaire.” Almost immediately, he began donating untold millions to universities, schools, hospitals, and activist organizations to promote queer theory and trans medical experiments.

This money was allied with political power, as Pritzker’s cousin, Illinois Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker, signed legislation in 2019, his first year in office, to inject gender theory into the state education curriculum and to direct state Medicaid funds toward transgender surgeries. Speaking before an audience of trans activists, he proclaimed:

[O]ur state government is firmly on your side, on the side of every gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer person in the state of Illinois. . . . Those of you in this room know better than anyone that marriage equality was never the endgame. . . . We’re gonna make sure that all transgender Illinoisans are ensured their basic human rights and that healthcare services are provided to them so that they can thrive.

Here’s an example of how this combination of well-funded activism and political influence works in practice: Pritzker-funded activists at Lurie Children’s Hospital (the largest children’s hospital in Chicago) provide local schools with training, materials, and personnel who promote gender transitions for children, using the hospital’s reputation to give their ideology a scientific veneer. And the more one investigates, the worse it gets. Children are exposed, for instance, not only to trans ideology, but to concepts such as “kink” (unusual tastes in sexual behavior), “BDSM” (bondage, domination, submission, and masochism), binders to flatten breasts, and prosthetic penises.

Lurie Children’s Hospital, through its outreach presentations in Chicago public schools, encourages teachers and school administrators to support “gender diversity” in their districts, automatically “affirm” students who announce sexual transitions, and “communicate a non-binary understanding of gender” to children in the classroom. The objective, as one version of the presentation suggests, is to disrupt the “entrenched [gender] norms in western society” and facilitate the transition to a more “gender creative” world. School districts are encouraged to designate “Gender Support Coordinators” to help facilitate children’s sexual and gender transitions, which, under the recommended “confidentiality” policy, can be kept secret from parents and families.

In effect, this results in a sophisticated school-to-gender-clinic pipeline. Teachers, counselors, doctors, and activists on social media and elsewhere—many of whom are employed or subsidized by members of the Pritzker family—push children in the direction of what Chicago-area “detransitioner” Helena Kerschner, recalling her own experience, calls “the trans identity rabbit hole.” And despite frequent claims to the contrary, this is not a temporary or reversible process. Of the children who begin puberty blockers, the medical literature suggests that approximately 95 percent move on to cross-sex hormones, and that 50 percent of the females who begin cross-sex hormone treatments move on to “trans-affirming” surgeries.

The Synthesis of All Oppressions

Another place my investigation of the trans movement has taken me is Highland Park, Michigan, a city of roughly 9,000 residents located about six miles north of downtown Detroit. Highland Park has been plagued by poverty, violence, and crime for decades. Many of its homes and businesses have been abandoned or demolished. It is teetering on the edge of insolvency, yet it is home to one institution that is overflowing with funds: the Ruth Ellis Center, metro Detroit’s central laboratory for the synthesis of transgender science and politics.

The Ruth Ellis Center’s marketing pitch is an amalgam of all the usual euphemisms: “trauma-informed care,”…

Sidenote: in taking over 55 hours of DCYF sponsored training to attain a number of Foster Parent certification levels, I found that almost every class had that as a central tenet – that ALL children are suffering from one kind of trauma or another. BTW, few ever mention that DCYF and other governmental child protection service organizations create a goodly amount of this by ripping away a child from their families.

…“restorative justice,” “harm reduction,” “racial equity,” and “gender-affirming care.” In the name of these things, the Ellis Center and its partners conduct large-scale medical experiments on a population of predominantly poor black youths.

Dr. Maureen Connolly, a pediatrician at Henry Ford Health, leads the Ellis Center’s medical partnership, providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical referrals to scores of Detroit kids. Here’s how she describes the child sex-change process:

Transitioning is an umbrella term to describe the process that someone goes through to bring their external self more closely into alignment with their gender identity. For some people that might mean changing their gender expression and the clothes that they wear or how they wear their hair. It might mean using a new name and different pronouns. And that’s wonderful. For others, it can involve taking medication to make their body more closely aligned with how they identify in terms of gender—typically, that’s masculinizing or feminizing medications or hormone therapy. People can also choose to pursue gender-affirming surgeries, which are surgical interventions to bring their body more closely in alignment with their gender identity.

Keep in mind, again, that in the context of her role at the Ellis Center, Connolly is not talking here about the affluent, educated, male-to-female trans individuals who serve as the public face of the trans movement. She is mostly talking about kids from the Detroit ghetto who suffer from high rates of family breakdown, substance abuse, mental illness, and self-destructive behavior. As such, one might suppose that they are especially vulnerable to the claim that gender transition will solve all their problems.

“My name is Righteous, first and foremost,” says an Ellis Center patient who now identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns:

I think I might have been about eight years old when I remembered or that I recall having any thought of being transgender or gender non-conforming. . . . It felt like I was an outsider to this whole world of America. On top of not being, you know, a European-American, I was black. . . . Most of my dysphoria comes from people misgendering me. With gender-affirming care, I could get the hormones I needed for free.

Righteous is thus a perfect example of the new synthesis of transgender science and politics. She works as an activist not only for the trans movement, but also for a broader intersectional coalition (i.e., a coalition of oppressed and marginalized groups), including, for instance, the movement to abolish the police. She represents the identity of the oppressed by both nature and nurture and marshals this unique “positionality” to advance the full suite of left-wing social policies.

Frankenstein Redux

In 1818, Mary Shelley wrote the famous novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The premise of the book is that modern science, stripped from the constraints of ethics and nature, will end up creating monsters. “Trans-affirming” doctors are the post-modern version of the book’s protagonist, Doctor Frankenstein.

According to survey data, up to 80 percent of trans individuals suffer from serious psychopathologies and one-quarter of black trans youth attempt suicide each year. “Gender-affirming care” largely fails to solve these problems, yet the doctors use these failures to justify even more extreme interventions up to the final one: genital reconstruction.

Dr. Blair Peters is a plastic surgeon (he uses he/they pronouns) who performs trans genital surgeries at the publicly-funded Oregon Health & Science University and whose specialty is creating artificial sex organs. “I think what we’re becoming very known for at OHSU is genital surgery,” he says. “A prime example of that is a procedure called phalloplasty, which is the creation of a penis. And we now have a robotic vaginoplasty program [that] has been a kind of game changer for patient care.”

As I have previously detailed in City Journal, the process for robot-assisted vaginoplasty is gruesome:

According to a handbook published by OHSU, surgeons first cut off the head of the penis and remove the testicles. Then they turn the penile-scrotal skin inside out and, together with abdomen cavity tissue, fashion it into a crude, artificial vagina. “The robotic arms are put through small incisions around your belly button and the side of your belly,” the handbook reads. “They are used to create the space for your vaginal canal between your bladder and your rectum.”

This procedure is plagued with complications. OHSU warns of wound separation, tissue necrosis, graft failure, urine spraying, hematoma, blood clots, vaginal stenosis, rectal injury, fistula, and fecal accidents. Patients must stay in the hospital for a minimum of five days following the procedure, receiving treatment for surgical wounds and having fluid drained through plastic tubes. Once they are home, patients must continue transgender hormone treatments and manually dilate their surgically created “neo-vagina” in perpetuity; otherwise, the tissue will heal, and the cavity will close.

The castration business is booming. According to Peters, the gender clinic at OHSU has “the highest volume on the West Coast”—and with the help of the robot, his team can perform multiple vaginoplasties per day. The phalloplasty program has a 12-to-18-month waiting list for consultations and an additional three-to-six-month waiting list for surgical appointments.

A less common but more symbolically apt surgery performed by Peters and his colleagues is known as “nullification,” in which a smooth, continuous skin covering from the abdomen to the groin is created following a castration or vaginectomy. In other words, the genitalia are replaced by nothing. Nullification surgery is the perfect symbol for the ideology behind the trans movement: the pursuit of the Latin nullum, meaning “nothing”; or the related nihil, the root of the English word “nihilism.” Trans ideology is animated by a profound nihilism that denies human nature and enables barbarism in the name of progress.

***

The future of transgender medicine is in flux. Major American institutions have rallied to its support, with the major medical associations going so far as to call on the federal government to investigate and prosecute its critics. At the same time, some cracks are showing. Detransitioners, a group comprised of mostly young women who have accepted their biological sex after transitioning to various degrees, are going public about the dangers of gender medicine in deeply affecting personal terms. Organizations such as Do No Harm have filed lawsuits and launched advocacy campaigns to curb transgender procedures on minors. And increasing numbers of doctors, who had previously been cowed into silence, are beginning to speak out. State legislators have also taken notice. Earlier this year, I worked with whistleblowers at Texas Children’s Hospital to expose child sex-change procedures that were being conducted in secret. The exposé attracted the attention of Texas lawmakers, who immediately passed the final version of a bill to ban such procedures.

Jennifer Pritzker, Maureen Connolly, Blair Peters, and their ilk occupy the heights of power and prestige, but like Doctor Frankenstein they will not be able to escape the consequences of what they have created. They are condemning legions of children to a lifetime of sorrows and medical necessities, all based on dubious postmodern theories that do not meet the standard of Hippocrates’ injunction in his work Of the Epidemics: “First, do no harm.” Although individuals can be nullified, nature cannot. No matter how advanced trans pharmaceuticals and surgeries become, the biological reality of man and woman cannot be abolished; the natural limitations of God’s Creation cannot be transcended. The attempt to do so will elicit the same heartbreak and alienation captured in the final scene of Mary Shelley’s novel: the hulking monster, shunned by society and betrayed by his father, filled with despair and drifting off into the ice floes—a symbol of the consequence of Promethean hubris.

A doctor at a major children’s hospital had this to say about what puberty blockers do to a child’s mind, body, and soul:

This medication is called a “gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist” and it comes in the form of monthly injections or an implant. And because it simulates the activity of this hormone, it shuts down the activity of the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is this almond-sized structure in your brain, it’s one of the most primal structures we have, and it controls all the other hormonal structures in your body—your sexual development, your emotions, your fight-or-flight response, everything. . . . And I always think that if someone were to ask me, Where is it that you would look for the divine spark in each individual? I would say that it would be somewhere “beneath the inner chamber,” which is the Greek derivation of the term hypothalamus. To shut down that system is to shut down what makes us human.

This is why we must fight to put the transgender empire out of business forever.

The post From Whence did Transgenderism Spring? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Historically, American businesses used to have a hierarchy where young men and women aspired to climb the ranks to achieve a shot at the corner office. The corner office was always a symbol of power and success, and the nameplate usually read Chief Executive Officer or Chief Operating Officer. It was at the top of the pyramid until now.

The new ruler of maybe every aspect of American life, from Corporate America to Education, is DEI. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is the new poison destroying America’s heart and soul. No longer is America the Land of Opportunity for all. It is now slanted to those who satisfy the DEI parameters. There is no longer a place for straight white men or women at the top of any corporate structure.

Ironically, DEI is setting back Civil Rights and the Women’s Movement, and Blacks and Females never saw what hit them. When Joe Biden succumbed to the pressures of DEI and proclaimed his Vice President and Supreme Court Nominee would be Black Women, and then named Harris and Brown. These two women have shown they were not qualified for their respective positions and have sullied the prospects of future Black Candidates.

The appearance before Congress last week by Harvard President Claudine Gay was an embarrassment and pointed out her lack of preparedness for the position. Gay made many question her qualifications for the job, and many have made it very simplistic: she is Black and female. Rumors have surfaced that she plagiarized her Doctorate thesis, putting Harvard in an extremely precarious position. Over 700 Harvard faculty have signed a petition supporting Gay, but the calls for her resignation persist. After the U Penn President stepped down, the public pushed for the same from Harvard and MIT. 

Harvard has opted to stand behind their embattled president and say that her plagiarism has already been addressed, which means her actions are recognized and will go unpunished. Plagiarism used to be a significant offense in academics and writing, but under the new rules, you can use someone else’s words as your own and be President of Harvard or the United States. The fact that Harvard cannot move against President Gay is further proof of the power of DEI. Once you bend a knee to the movement, you can never flex your muscles again. This is a vast rabbit hole to slip into.

Hiring parameters currently used by Harvard to comply with their DEI Department are disgusting.

1. White, Asian, and Indian Men are given little consideration and considered overachievers and over-recognized
2. White women are not given the same consideration as their Black counterparts.
3. Black and Brown men and women are given high priority, as are transgender.

The old-school thinking of equal treatment for all, regardless of sex, race, or color, is obviously dead. It used to be that the discrimination of any person based on any parameter other than achievements was a civil rights violation. That thinking no longer has any merit, and having President Biden or Gavin Newsom specify their choices for political positions would be narrowed to Black females, shows how far the words of Martin Luther King Jr have been left behind us. We are no longer an individual but a label to pigeonhole us into a box.

 

The post CEOs and COOs Used To Rule, But Now Bend To The DEI appeared first on Granite Grok.

Ben Franklin is supposed to have said:

Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

A variant that I like better is:

Those who would trade liberty for safety will end up with neither.

As I watch self-described ‘libertarians’ scramble to move away from one coercion-based program (the current public school system) and towards another (school choice), because it will ‘provide better outcomes’, I can’t help thinking that Franklin’s maxim is just a particular case of a more general one:

Those who would trade general principles for specific outcomes will end up with neither. 

 

The post Franklin Revisited appeared first on Granite Grok.

The 640 professors who signed the letter in support of Claudine Gay are all professors at a University whose motto is “Veritas” — the Truth. “Veritas” is used in the mottos of a number of other educational institutions as well.

Who is Claudine Gay? This article below is eye-opening. If the allegations in it are true, then how far away from the truth were Harvard’s board willing to veer in order to appease political pressures from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights & affiliates pushing “DEI” — “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion”?

The truth is that Harvard would not consider anyone for Claudine Gay’s position who did not tick the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” boxes. A white male, a Jewish white male, would never have been under consideration for the position.

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

We could argue that making the decision not to consider anyone who didn’t fit the DEI criteria helped open up the pool to a wider arena of candidates. But Claudine Gay has a history of alleged plagiarism and fabricated data as well.

Plagiarism gets students disciplined at Harvard and elsewhere, but cheating when it comes to candidates for the Presidency of these educational organizations is excused.

Stanford University (Claudine Gay’s career includes a period at Stanford) hired Marc Tessier-Lavigne as President after he had used falsified images for a scientific research paper. Allegedly, the board knew this when they hired him. It was only when a first-year student journalist wrote about it in the Stanford Daily several years after he was hired and the article received national media attention that Stanford did anything. Marc Tessier-Lavigne stepped down.

“Veritas” should require the truth to be the guide on all campus decisions, including whether or not to fire or hire someone. It also must be the guide for those in charge of federal funds directed towards these campuses for research grants or other initiatives.

When the quest for truth in academia is replaced, we have to wonder why other forces become more important than the truth, especially when academic endorsements are relied upon to guide national think tanks and directives.

If those other forces continue to be more important than the truth, where are Harvard and other educational institutions headed? “Veritas” is minimized on the site of Harvard’s mission statement, which doesn’t mention the word “truth” anywhere on the page:

Do our nation’s educational institutions want to produce critical thinkers and leaders or lemmings? Lemmings are useful for political movements but they are useless when it comes to stating and arguing a case from a knowledgeable position. Claudine Gay was trained for her testimony in front of Congress by a law firm. Her answers cannot, therefore, be called “authentic” or even true to what she does or does not believe.

C. Bradley Thompson stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the Harvard Board is stuck between a rock and a hard place because to fire Claudine Gay would be to succumb to the “mob,” and not to fire her would be showing support of someone who has been accused of plagiarism and somebody who expressed herself to Congress in a way which contradicted sentiment in her own written statements to the Harvard community before she was hired. To quote from his post:

“650+ Harvard professors have signed a letter to the Harvard Corporation in support of President Claudine Gay.

@Harvard is now in crisis. The Harvard Board is now stuck between a rock & a hard place: if they fire Gay (also now accused of plagiarism) the faculty will be in revolt; if they keep her, the university will be saddled with a national disgrace. The faculty letter is also proof that the firing of Gay will have no effect on the moral-intellectual culture

@Harvard is gone. It cannot be saved. Harvard has a $50 billion endowment. It should never again receive a penny of taxpayer money. #defundHarvard”

C. Bradley Thompson labels himself: “Living without lies. Author: America’s Revolutionary Mind; The Redneck Intellectual.”

Alan Dershowitz has commented on Claudine Gay’s Double Standard of Freedom of Speech.

That double standard of Freedom of Speech has been in place since April 4th, 2011, when the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights introduced the “Dear Colleague” Title IX letter, which set out to change America forever. It deliberately set out to get rid of due process on campus and enabled a generation of activists who would profile by gender, race, and religion — thus upending not just Title IX, which forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, but also Title VI, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race & religion.

The question for Harvard and other academic institutions is: Does the truth matter? But it’s also a question for the Department of Education and Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women who were behind the “Dear Colleague” letter so vehemently harmful to free speech on campus.

If truth, “veritas” doesn’t matter, then what is Harvard, and what purpose does it serve?

 

 

The post Night Cap: Harvard’s Problem With the Truth appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you want to open your hearts and homes to kids that life has given a bad hand, you WILL be required to accept what the Biden administration and Democrats establishment’s State Religion: Transgenderism.

Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In!

If you don’t, you’re just the same oppressors of children as the Parents from whom they were ripped.  After all, “Childism” (the bastard son of Critical Race Theory) DEMANDS that all Parents areoOppressors unless you discard your own personal religious beliefs and whole-hearted embrace this new Transgender State Religion whose High Priest is now Joe Biden (as it IS his Dept. of Health and Human Services monastery that has decreed thusly to be part of its Sacred Texts).

I brought this up there: Shot Across The Bow – Will NH DCYF Take a Knee To The Biden Administration? – that linked here: Lack of ‘Affirmation’ Is Child Abuse: New Biden Rule Applies Transgender Standard to Foster Care:

Transgender orthodoxy may soon become a litmus test for parenthood, according to the logic of a new policy working its way through the Department of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden.

A new rule in HHS’ Administration for Children and Families would apply the idea that any lack of “affirmation” constitutes a form of child abuse to foster care placements. Once that idea takes root in foster care, child protective services agencies might start applying it more broadly.

I sent an email to DCYF and to NH DHHS Deputy Chief Legal Counsel John Martin back on 11/30/23. I’ve heard but crickets from him on this (I figured that if ANYONE would know, he would, being a Legal matter of great concern), but the other DCYF workers said that they hadn’t heard of this before and that they would start, informally, asking around. Thus far, they can’t find anyone that knows anything about this.

However, I was not the only one seeing this and not the only one negatively reacting to it. The Washington Examiner reported that 19 States Attorney Generals have decided that “This will not pass!”

Pushing back against the Biden administration’s radical identity politics, 19 state attorneys general and numerous conservative and religious organizations last week stood up for religious liberty and for long-standing, effective child adoption services. Good. The Biden proposal at issue is pernicious.

As succinctly put by Advancing American Freedom , a think tank founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, the proposal “would violate the religious freedom of foster care families and ultimately make the shortage of families working within the foster care system worse.” …

The regulation would put children in charge: No matter the child’s biology or anatomy, his or her “self-identified sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression” would rule the day. Adoption and foster care organizations that do not agree to be “trained” — that is, refuse to be indoctrinated — to comply with the “name and pronouns that align with [children’s] gender identity,” no matter how fleeting or ill-considered, will be banned from providing services to homeless children labeled “LGBTQI+.” If readers cross-refer supporting documents cited for the proposed, it is clear that the required “support” presumes a bias in favor of chemical and surgical transitioning procedures.

One of the DCYF wonks told me that almost every Foster Parent family in the North Country would immediately quit. I said that we’d be among them. And yes, TMEW and I were first Foster Parents to the Grandson and THEN formally adopted him. If this new Rule were in place then (not even a Law, just a RULE made up by unassailable, unelected, and smug ideologically driven bureaucrats, who by the dint of receiving a Government paycheck, are making themselves our Overlords any time they wish),  we would have never have had the chance to have Fostered him much less Adopt him.

More:

As the attorneys general also write , the religious-liberty implications of the proposed rule are profound: “This proposed rule seeks to accomplish indirectly what the Supreme Court found unconstitutional just two years ago: remove faith-based providers from the foster care system if they will not conform their religious beliefs on sexual orientation and gender identity.” And: “The proposed rule is unconstitutional because it discriminates against individuals and organizations of faith who want to serve children in the foster care system. The proposed rule also unconstitutionally forces [so-called gender-affirming] speech on foster providers.”

Since the article didn’t mention which ones, I asked Google’s Bard. I dryly note that since Gov. Sununu made “gender identity” a new protected class, New Hampshire is not one of them:

1. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall
2. Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor
3. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich
4. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
5. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr
6. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita
7. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt
8. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron
9. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry
10. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch
11. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey
12. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen
13. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers
14. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost
15. Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor
16. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson
17. South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg
18. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
19. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes

So folks, yet another question to be asked of Kelly Ayotte, running for Governor AND a former NH AG: what would she do (WWKD?)!

Free Speech, anyone? These Trans-Authoritarians view it as an obstacle to be broken and shattered instead of a pre-existing Right from God and Nature’s God; something that should be held to be beyond them. However, as they are now considering themselves to be the moral descendants of the Divine Right of Kings, they merely “sniff” at such a legal and Constitutional rebuke to their actions.

Now, an earlier RTK put into Counselor Martin demanded the complete DCYF Organization Chart:

The complete organizational (hierarchical) structure of DCYF to include:

• Name of a given staff member
• Title of that staff member
• Name and title to whom they report (as applicable)
• Name and title of those staff members that report to that given staff member (as applicable).

He did respond, and I have looked at the information. However, I haven’t had, yet, the opportunity to use it.  Given the “crickets,” I guess I will be sending this out to a number of DCYF employees to stir up the nest.

The post State AGs Fight Back Against Feds Requiring Foster Parents To Be “Transgender Affirming” appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Left continues to do a number on minorities. After decades of insisting on segregation with fire and nooses, they pretended to oppose it (for votes, which worked), only to convince minorities to segregate themselves later. And they have. This dorm, this ghetto, this holiday party!

 

The Democratic mayor of Boston has sparked outrage after inviting city councilors to a holiday party intended only for ‘electeds of color.’

Michelle Wu’s invitation for the December 13 ‘Electeds of Color Holiday Party’ appeared to have been sent out to all councilors in error by her aide, Denise DosSantos.

DosSantos followed up the email 15 minutes later apologizing for the invite, clarifying that it was only meant for the city’s six councilors of color. The seven white council members were not welcome.

 

Personally, if you don’t want me at your party, I couldn’t care less about the reason. It might be because I’m Conservative, Christian, Heterosexual, Happily Married, a Parent, Outspoken, Scottish, Not Tall Enough, Wrong Eye Color, Caucasian, or that I just capitalize a bunch of words that didn’t need it. I might write a blog post about it and make fun of your posturing. The virtue signal. The tone-deafness. The party of unity and non-divisiveness BS.

That you tried to hide it and screwed that up so badly.

Anyway, the Wuville thing got caught in my mind, so I felt compelled to butcher some Dr. Seuess.

 

Every Wu Down in Wuville, They Postured a lot…
Pretend to be one thing when really they’re NOT!
They claim they’re not racists; to be one is treason.
But racists they are, no matter the season.
It could be their heads weren’t screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that they’re just so uptight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been their black hearts are two sizes too small.
Whatever the reason, and who has a clue,
The Wu’s hated white people more than the Jews.

 

Too much?

I admit it could use some work, but you get the idea. A little satire, a political parody. Quip, jest, jape. And it’s global news from which they find a way back, but not everyone will take it as well as I would, especially in a city that has been pasted, from time to time, as being racist.

 

‘I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding a Holiday Party for tomorrow,’ DosSantos, a black woman, wrote. ‘I did send that to everyone by accident, and I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.’

There was no apology for actually planning to host a racially segregated party. Wu was slammed by outgoing City Councilor Frank Baker, who told the Boston Herald that it was ‘unfortunate and divisive.’

 

And it looks like it is.

 

The post Busted in Boston – All The Racist Wu’s Down in Wu-ville! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Overwhelming every system is necessary to topple the economy. Democrat Socialism is impossible without it. You have to break everything, but NYC Mayor Eric Adams seems to have thought that this did not include breaking him.

It is a mistake that all the useful idiots and water carriers make – that they will not be casualties in the necessary ruin.

 

Adams has projected that the migrant crisis will cost the city $12 billion by 2025 if the flow of new migrants remains the same. New York City has seen more than 150,000 migrants enter its homeless housing system since the spring of 2022, with 66,000 still in its care.

Federal assistance in the crisis has been minimal, with New York City only receiving $150 million so far. However, the White House has requested Congress approve another $1.4 billion in aid for sanctuary cities. …

“We did not walk out from D.C. with any level of optimism that anything is going to drastically change,” Adams said. “It is clear that for the time being, this crisis is going to be carried by the cities. We are at an untenable situation right now.”

 

Funny thing about that. You did this to yourself. New York Democrats made their city a sanctuary for illegal border jumpers. It required the city to find them housing and care for them. It donated to and elected Democrats to higher office who openly supported a borderless nation. Donors, supporters, and fellow elected officials that pilloried anyone who dared object for any reason, be it national security or the humanitarian crisis it would (and did) create.

You don’t deserve help. New Yorkers should carry this crisis alone, as should citizens in Boston, Chicago, and anywhere else. Democrats have ruled for decades, pandering to people about their largess (with other people’s money) and how that somehow made them compassionate. You asked for it. You pay for it.

And hey – they are still spending other people’s money, just closer to home. You’ll need to raise even higher taxes on the people they need to get re-elected. The folks bearing more than just the fiscal burden of the Democrat’s deliberate third-world invasion of America.

The poisoned fruit they themselves sowed.

I guess the question now is, will they do something different or keep electing Democrats? Have they figured out that the Left’s change they can believe in is for the worst, and it is time to pick someone else to run the city, the state, and the country?

 

 

The post DC Hands Eric Adams Another Socialism S***! Sandwich to Feed to New Yorkers appeared first on Granite Grok.

At this point, any honest and serious discussion about the 2020 election is about HOW rigged it was, not whether it was rigged. And now we have evidence that the scale of mail-in voting fraud was massive … 20 PERCENT of mail-in votes were fraudulent.

So, if you were wondering how Biden did better in New Hampshire than Hillary, now you know. The Biden regime likely owes its “winning” New Hampshire to NeverTrumper Chris Sun-King Sununu and his loyal wingman Gordon MacDonald, who came up with the scheme to allow no-excuse mail-in voting.

Footnote: MacDonald’s reward for helping to rig the election? He was made Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

 

WHOA: Heartland/Rasmussen Poll: One-in-Five Mail-In Voters Admit to Committing at Least One Kind of Voter Fraud During 2020 Election
–17% of mail-in voters admit that in 2020 they voted in a state where they are “no longer a permanent resident”
–21% of mail-in voters admitted…

— Peter Schweizer (@peterschweizer) December 12, 2023

The post And Yet MORE Evidence That The 2020 Election Was Thoroughly RIGGED appeared first on Granite Grok.