Tuesday • November 26 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XLVIII
Manchester, N.H.
Yes, we had a gap – 3 weeks as Life intruded (especially on Monday mornings when we SHOULD be doing this). No, it didn’t make too much difference in the loss department – we both slowed down (and I got a bit lax, and he went to his daughter’s wedding and had a great weekend gastronomically speaking (and otherwise as well!).
So, we saw each other last week and agreed to get back on the wagon and make up for gained pounds and lost time (as this should have been completed a bit ago). So total, Tom’s lost an impressive 30 pounds while I’ve done 14 (and I’m just there if I stay disciplined – that works at the beginning of the week but not so well in the middle, lately).
And the tale of the tape.
They say the last 4 pounds are the hardest – and I’ve found that out.
What else I have found is that I have to buy new gun belts because I can’t get them any tighter.
The post The Skip & Tom Weight Challenge – Week 17 appeared first on Granite Grok.
Have you seen the WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to some Communist official in China demanding millions of dollars in pay-to-play money? The WhatsApp message that proves that the “Big Guy,” our figurehead, imposter President, was knowingly and directly involved in Hunter selling influence to foreign officials. Details, such as the multi-million dollars the Biden Crime Family received subsequent to the message, in the Federalist. Here is a screen shot:
Here's a screenshot of the text message. pic.twitter.com/Il2GuWsbxO
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) June 22, 2023
And here is Trump, as only Trump can, exposing the Bidens as the criminals they are:
TRUMP: “Just two days ago, a very respected IRS whistleblower revealed that Crooked Joe sat in a room while his son, Hunter, messaged a Chinese Communist Party Official… Within ten days, the Bidens got $5.1 million from China.”pic.twitter.com/kucsnB8NhQ
— ALX (@alx) June 25, 2023
The post I’m Telling Daddy!!! … How Hunter Biden “Made” His Millions appeared first on Granite Grok.
Are Campus snowflakes rioting after years of encouragement from professors and administrators the best form of social justice? They deserve whatever grief they get, yes? But they aren’t the only victims. The L, G, and B folks started something that has come to haunt many.
Ben Bartee summed it up nicely over at PJ Media. He has another example of “T dog bites the LGB hand that feeds it.” A French women’s rights group comprised of lesbian and bisexual women has been fighting for “women’s sex-based rights and the rights of lesbian women” for thirty years. Their reward has been to be shouted down and told they are not welcome at a local pride parade because they do not allow transwomen in their group.
Here’s the summation.
As strong as the impulse to defend the women who defend biological reality is within me and probably within most onlookers, it would be an oversight to not acknowledge the tasty irony that feminists, who pioneered the concepts of “gender” and “sex” as social constructs with no grounding in biology, birthed this transgender monster that has now taken over their political movement.
They opened — through their pseudo-philosophy propagated first through the university system in the West, which then seeped into popular culture and lower levels of education — the gender ideology pandora’s box.
Upon seeing the result of the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer is alleged to have said, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
I don’t think anyone coming out of the closet at street level to begin digging under the foundations of Western Culture suspected it might fall on them. Progressive action doesn’t worry itself with consequences or side effects. Knocking things down is what it does. You have to break all the eggs to make the Marxist omelet, including the ones helping you get it done, but you don’t tell the activists that. You praise and motivate them, even finance them, without regard to casualties.
The end game is greater than the bits players.
Same-sex marriage was never about extending rights. It was about ending marriage and families. A few couples will benefit from loosening standards, but acceptance in and of itself was never the goal. Western culture stands on the shoulders of unbroken families who build communities and even states that resist the sucking sound of central planners.
They have broken families, marriages, men and women, and now they’ve moved on to breaking children, which has alarmed many in the LBG part of the movement and more than one or two parents. State-sponsored grooming in public schools. The normalization of transvestitism as a gateway to gender transition drugs and surgery.
They are not proud of that, but any effort to inject an observation or even the slightest pushback results in a wave of anger and cries of bigotry and discrimination. It should look and sound familiar. As should the years of warnings about what was at stake and who would be made to pay the price.
As weary as I grow of repeating myself, no one on the political left cares about your status, be it minority, religious, sexual, citizenship, age, occupation, race, or gender. You are a tool to be discarded, melted down if necessary, to make the next weapon in the culture war. An actual victim, not of the white, male, colonialist patriarchy, but the lies Marxist whisper to get you to help them put on the boots under which we will all be crushed.
I know, a bit dramatic considering the topic. Or is it? Lesbians are denied their place in a Pride parade. Women are denied their position on a podium at a sporting event. “Women” with penises rape female inmates. Blacks are cordoned off into urban ghettoes with no path to success outside crime. Vets are left homeless. Drug addicts are swamped with influxes of Fentanyl from Mexican gangs. Naturalized citizens are overwhelmed by armies of illegals. Gun-free cities are rampant with violent crime.
A black president undermined decades of improved race relations in a few short years while anti-white racism in a white-majority country is offered as a required curriculum.
It’s all about destruction and anyone who thinks otherwise is doomed to end up under the rubble while the political class watches from somewhere in their private jets, traveling between their white towers.
The post Lost Pride: When The Monster They Created Comes for Them appeared first on Granite Grok.
Notice how they hide their faces when their masks get ripped off. As they should. Because they are the modern-day equivalent of the Cheka, the Stasi, the Gestapo, etc., etc.. Every day America becomes more and more and more a Police State.
Wray, Garland, etc. should have been impeached months ago. The FBI and the entire “intelligence community” needs to be demolished and scattered to the winds.
This is the BEST video on the internet right now.
– Pro-America Patriot rally ongoing
– Feds show up dressed as “Nazis”
– Patriots force Feds out of rally
– Unmask the Feds, who PANIC
– The “Nazis” cry, tremble in fear
– Cops rush to save FedsWATCH:
pic.twitter.com/kWBdRiu9hw
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 25, 2023
The post Nothing To See Here … Just Some FBI Agents Deservedly Getting Their Butts Kicked appeared first on Granite Grok.
Long term readers remember that I used the website TreeHugger as a foil – going into the lair to counter their enslavement to the Eco-Gaia religion as well as being peachy with adopting totalitarian tactics by Government that ensures we all toe that GAIA religion of doing less.
Travel less, live smaller, and what travel there is will be constrained. After all, carbon emissions will kill us all! Just ask that climate muppet Greta Thunberg about her prediction! But alas, as I have said, it is a shallow shadow of itself nowadays with almost all fluffy posts.
Which, like all the other climatista Apocalyptic predictions made since the first Earth Day back in 1970, fell flat on their collective noses. Not a single one has come true. Now, too many people, as the Eco-Socialists’ demands become bigger and more strident (even as their models are STILL way off), are figuring out this grift and making it clear that they are no longer willing to put up with that. And we’re sick of the stupid taunt “Oh, you just hate clean air, wants us all to drink dirty water, and want kids to die” – enough of the emotional blackmailing, you social connivers!
Anyways, back to the post title. While there were a small handful of writers, the two main ones that drew most of the comment frenzies were Sami Grover and Lloyd Alter – and TH canned both of them. And I’ll be honest, while I pretty much disagreed with Lloyd (from which most of my commenting there was based on), he was detailed, had the stats and numbers, and did his homework. He was also honest about his beliefs – he was walking his talk. And he’s opened up his own site, Carbon Upfront!. So now I get to again ride forth and let the Eco-Socialists know that “grams of CO2 emitted” should never be the highest plane on which we should be governed – self-government should be.
Anyways, his post that got me started again was this:
Why we should be designing for intermittency
Australian study shows how electric hot water heaters can shave peak loads and deal with intermittency.
Immediately upon seeing “intermittency”, I knew that Lloyd was starting to get the message that this continued path of inadequate energy generation, because of Eco-Socialism, is going to get much worse – and soon.
Recent research from Australia found that using electric water heaters to store renewable energy could do the work of 2 million home batteries and save billions. The study authors note that about a fifth of Australian residential greenhouse gas emissions come from domestic hot water, which could be made with renewable off-peak energy and stored in a decently insulated tank.
It’s a clever way of dealing with the lack of solar power at night, and is the most common and obvious form of what could be called “design for intermittency.”
One thing to note is that Australia, even being a large coal exporter (especially to China), is ahead of us in shutting down their coal generation facilities and more push than the US (but not Germany) in moving to renewable energy. Problem is, like with Germany, their electricity costs have skyrocketed and has become “intermittent” as the demand for electricity is outstripping its supply. Thank you, Government policies. And the Australian people are starting to get fed up with it.
But Lloyd? He’s simple taking it as “a matter of course” and something that MUST happen if we are to decarbon everything. Remember from earlier posts, these Eco-Socialists have already run out of everybody else’s money and they keep pushing this downward spiral faster – regardless of who it hurts.
Alter even quotes someone that goes back in time in trying to make an equivalence that since our ancestors had to make do with less, we should as well
“Because of their limited technological options for dealing with the variability of renewable energy sources, our ancestors mainly resorted to a strategy that we have largely forgotten about: they adapted their energy demand to the variable energy supply. In other words, they accepted that renewable energy was not always available and acted accordingly. For example, windmills and sailboats were simply not operated when there was no wind.”
Limited technology? What ISN’T said is that at that time, windmills and sailboats were the BEST technology to be had at the time – so it was used. I keep saying that they want us back in the Stone Age but they’d never admit to it. Finally, a bit of a crack in that wall but it’s also a crock – our modern technology can ensure that when we turn on a light switch, keep our food cold, warm our houses in the winter and cool it in the summer. And in that single paragraph above, they want us to take our eyes off what our modernity gives us.
Now, Lloyd does talk about supply and demand a bit but it is clear that he is willing to settle for a lesser life. What’s worse, he’s happy to have Government work through our “smart appliances and thermostats”. It’s already a deed done in California with people making the bet that the electric companies won’t pull that trigger even as the power companies are sending them money. If I was there, I’d be calling that a suckers bet as Governor “Hair Creme” Newsom is pulling down more generation plants even as demand is soaring – not me, for sure.
But Lloyd’s all in and his new book’s title says it all:
Upfront Carbon
How a Life of Just Enough Offers a Way Out of the Climate Crisis
In other words, never strive for better – just apply “Quiet Quitting” to your lifestyle and never expect (or demand) for better. And he expects us all to hew to that philosophy because GAIA and the “pulled out of the air” 1.5 degree C lifestyle for all.
Yeah, I had words:
“design for intermittency.”
Translation: Government is going to force you into a lower standard of living because Greenies have taken control of the levers of Government. With “Electrify EVERYTHING!”, as Lloyd has said for years, he’s basically saying the an “Energy Monoculture” is great even as he’s said, in the past, that “agriculture crop monocultures” are bad. Sorry, the problem is “monocultures” no matter what you’re talking about.
Now add mandatory 15 minute cities (which increasingly lowers your standard of living in other ways), the removal of all but government approved modes of transportation, one can think of this as an encroaching “wall-less prison” of how mandated living will be.
Just like over at Treehugger, I was always bringing up the idea of “what happened to the Western Classical idea of Liberalism” (that would be TRUE philosophical Liberalism and not the political label which has come to mean, in words and deeds, illiberalism). I do that today as well.
If your energy source is controlled by Government, if your movement is controlled by government, if your 15 minute apartment is no larger than a small closet (and I could go on for a while – just ask Lloyd), are you truly free?
Or is that some old-fashioned and trite notion nowadays? After all, the Slippery Slide does exist. Just look at the US and gas stoves and what’s happening since that first Trumka announcement.
Added: Kinda hard to run a biz with intermittent energy: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/18/grid-asks-factories-to-use-less-energy-next-winter-under-blackout-prevention-plan/
So, in a strange way, I’m glad he’s back. And I left comments on a couple others. Sadly, though, this new set of commenters haven’t figured out what I am yet so there are no replies as of yet. I look forward to it to see what these new folks have to say.
The post Be Less, Do Less: TreeHugger Eco-Socialism is ‘Recycled’ into “Carbon Upfront!” appeared first on Granite Grok.
Nitzakhon is on hiatus for a few weeks, so he will not be uploading the typical cache of memes. Sadly, I don’t have the same time or dedication to that craft (yet), but people do send me stuff for him, so here we go!
To borrow from the master,
To all those who are sending in memes, thank you! Keep them coming please, as it helps me gather weaponry to fight the Left. Please do share this post, and if you share an individual meme, consider mentioning you saw it on the Grok!
Until he comes back, send them to steve@granitegrok.com. I’m not sharing as many, but they will be bigger.
*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***
Let’s start with a classic.
Something cool that was sent by a friend. Not a meme, but it could be.
From the Never Forget Category…
Not a meme, but more people need to ‘warm’ up to it.
Another classic.
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/dems-saying-2016-was-stolen.mp4
Nancy Giving Lessons on how to be a Good Democrat
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/Pelosi-Smear-Tactic.mp4The post Monday Memes on Tuesday – Filling in Edition appeared first on Granite Grok.
This week the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rendered its decision in a critical case. The court’s decision was an embarrassment in the United States versus Texas. Here is why.
We want to thank Marc Abear for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.
The Border States argued: The Biden regime’s non-enforcement of existing immigration law harms us. SCOTUS ruled: No, it does not. You cannot sue.
Several states were involved in suing the Biden regime over its policy of nullification of immigration law. The procedure in question relates to the non-enforcement of immigration law. The SCOTUS found the states lacked standing to sue. By deciding based on standing, the court never reaches the question in the case.
So, a five-justice majority of the court held: The states were not harmed in any judicially recognizable way. The decision starts on page 4.
Three justices wrote a concurrence to the majority decision. The minority concurrence found it to be the correct answer for the wrong or at least a different reason. They assert the issue was not lack of injury to the states, which is the crux of the matter. Instead, for them, the problem is a lack of redressability. Their position is: The states were harmed, but the courts lack the power under immigration law to force the government to enforce the law. The concurrence begins on page 18.
Justice Alito alone got it right. He dissented from the opinion. Alito asserts: The states were substantially harmed. Further, the majority ignored legal precedent, which favored the state. The dissent begins on page 43.
Here is a synopsis of the precedents:
During the Bush administration, in Massachusetts v Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), several states sued, saying the administration’s non-enforcement of EPA regulations harmed them. SCOTUS agreed. It allowed the states standing, so the states could sue for nullification of the regulation/law.
During the Trump administration, several states sued in Department of Commerce V. New York, asserting putting a citizenship question on the census might harm them. SCOTUS agreed it allowed the states standing, so the states could sue.
The problem here is SCOTUS is not following its own precedent. Maybe there are reasons why they do not apply. But to not go there, to not clearly explain the differences in the decisions, on substantially the same facts, well, it is more than confusing.
It is obvious, blatant political decision-making. That’s a problem when done by SCOTUS. They are out of their lane without so much as a tip of the hat toward a legal explanation.
If a lawyer behaved in this way in court, it seems likely the lawyer would be sanctioned. Were you an academic and you ignored relevant literature, facts, and opinion in your publishing, you would be discredited.
How is it, SCOTUS can simply ignore precedent, which it does not like? How does SCOTUS defend the charge of political rather than legal decision-making when it does so? This was an important decision. Unfortunately, it was poorly decided.
The post This Recent Supreme Court Decision Is an Embarrassment appeared first on Granite Grok.
A sanctimonious “expert” is attempting to “Doc-splain” to their lessers the need to change their summer collegiate baseball team name because it’s “unhealthy.” I guess this Doc forgot that college “kids” are a rambunctious bunch.
And not too keen on being told what to do (reformatted, emphasis mine):
‘Macon Bacon’ Silences Activist Doctor Who Demanded the Amateur Team Change Their Name
Macon Bacon isn’t going anywhere.
The Georgia-based collegiate summer league baseball team released a statement Thursday, after being sent a letter from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine stating they need to stop the “glorification of bacon.” The team made it very clear: “Bacon Yesterday. Bacon Today. Bacon Tomorrow.
“Bacon Forever.”
That is THE correct answer to these “everyones’ health IS our business!”. Experts are helpful at times – when they stay in their lanes. But I was glad to see that this team crushed them for their unwanted preaching:
The letter, written by the nutrition education program manager Anna Herby, stated, “Macon Bacon’s glorification of bacon, a processed meat that raises the risk of colorectal cancer and other diseases, sends the wrong message to fans.”The letter added the team should “promote plant-based bacon alternatives” and said the team could instead be named “Macon Facon Bacon.”
…“As role models in the community, Macon Bacon should set a good example for fans and stop promoting bacon.”
“Facon” – Har-har… not.
These students are KIDS playing a sport – not role models. Just stuff a big glob of tofu in your mouth if that’s how you feel.
In addition, a wee bit of infantilization of the Macon Bacon’s fan base? As if THEY can’t decide for themselves? So NICE of you to be the Food Speech Police. Never knew that was your purpose – to be “Nanny Doctors”? Sure, tell your patients that if they’re a bit chubby, out of shape, yadda, yadda – but ONLY if you yourselves are practicing what yer preaching (“like docs and nurses walking their talk line with a cigarette between their fingers and paunches overhanging their belts with back boobs”).
Great retort.
“We just wanted to make it known that we’re not interested in changing our name for anybody because we are the Macon Bacon, and we are the team of the community here,” he said. The Macon Bacon are in the West Division of the Coastal Plain League, a wood-bat amateur summer league. To participate in the league as a player, you must have played at least one season of college baseball and still have at least one season of college eligibility left.
These docs are like those that spoke up at a school board meeting DEMANDING (and then threatening) that the school board immediately institute mandatory masks across the district instead of the more nuanced “if there’s a classroom/grade/school outbreak, we’ll do a point solution and enlarge if necessary.” The docs got enraged as they proclaimed their expertise and their self-righteousness of themselves.
I’m glad to report that the School Board didn’t cave – we are supposed to be governed by elected representatives and not a technocratic Elite (although the Biden Bureaucrats are doing exactly that).
I’m just hoping that the Macon Bacon is going to run a series of “Bacon Plates for a Buck” promotions – and send fliers to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Here’s the letter from the Doc to the Team.
Emphasis mine to point out the Woke:
The post Baseball Players Knock “Woke Doc” Outta Da Park! appeared first on Granite Grok.
I’ve lived in town for close to 30 years, and there have been several residents over the years with my name. According to the 11th circuit, that’s close enough for government work. If there’s a warrant for one of my doppelgangers, the Constitution allows them to scoop me up and detain me for 72 hours.
That’s what happened to David Sousa.
“IJ [The Institute for Justice] and several men named David Sosa are asking the Supreme Court to grant another David Sosa’s cert petition after the en banc Eleventh Circuit said the Constitution allows police to detain anyone for three days as long as there’s a warrant out for the arrest of anyone with the same name somewhere in the country.”
He wasn’t the David Sousa they were looking for, but he got detained anyway, and that’s a problem – from the petition.
This case is about the constitutionality of Florida police arresting and detaining David Sosa of Martin County, Florida, on a Texas warrant from 1992 for a man named David Sosa. To be clear, that’s not the David Sosa who chairs the philosophy department at the University of Texas.2 Nor is it the New York based songwriter David Sosa.
It’s also not the David Sosa who’s a cardiologist in Albuquerque,4 the one who works at the USDA, the law student at the University of Miami,6 or the David Sosa who owns a construction company in Winston-Salem. None of the David Sosas who submitted this brief are wanted in Texas, either. Two are from North Carolina and two from Los Angeles. Two of the amici David Sosas have even been confused for each other before! There are a lot of David Sosas in this
country—at least 924, if not more. Only one of them is suspected of selling crack cocaine in Harris County, Texas, back in the 1990s.
Okay, so there are a lot of David Sousa’s, and what about it? Why must the US Supreme Court get involved?
Ten of the 11 judges on the Eleventh Circuit ruled that Petitioner David Sosa has no legal recourse for police wrongfully arresting him twice based on the same blatant mistake of identity. Seven of those judges went much further and ruled that state officials do not even violate the Constitution if they hold an innocent person in jail for three days simply because that person shares a name with someone else in the country who has an outstanding warrant.
You don’t have to be David Sousa, just someone with the same name as someone else for whom the police have a warrant for arrest. The cops can show up, use force to arrest you, take you into custody, and detain you, and according to the 11th Circus, you have no recourse.
The writers in Hollywood will need to be careful not to add any dialogue about wrongful arrest for stories taking place in the jurisdiction of the 11th Circuit Court unless the Supremes managed to straighten the matter out.
I’d like to think a Court the same Hollywood writers would call conservative would see that, but there’s no guarantee.
The post 11th Circuit Says Police Can Detain Anyone for Three Days If They Have the Same Name as The One On Their Warrant appeared first on Granite Grok.
Steve has been doing yeoman’s work on this story (here, here, here, here, here, and here) that so much of the history is now known. Then I got a call from one of the residents asking if I could show up for the morning Drag Queen reading / poke-in-the-eyes show at the Conway Public Library.
A second one was to be held later on in the day at the Pope Library in N. Conway. I had previous appointments/activities, so I demurred. However, it turned out that I was able to give that person a couple of ideas and tactics. While all the clips are outside (still waiting for more video to come in), it does show two things:
Heh! I’ve always held that when I grew up, I didn’t want to grow up. My critics would agree that I never have so WHY did Director David Smolen, given that this was a “Pride” event, discriminate against a TransAgist? Aren’t people now able to define their identities any way they want? That’s what the LGBTQRSTUVWXYZ/Alphabet Mafia wants for what THEY are demanding – but are they unwilling to support other “marginalized people”?
This TransPerson identifies as a 12 year old and wanted to listen to “Reverend Yolanda” reading “cutsie” books. Hater, that Drag Queen, Director David Smolen, and Christopher Bellis (Cranmore Hotel, N. Conway) for not being true to their movement and allowing her entrance to the event! Discrimination!
And just because I can, here’s what I put as the description of the video on our YouTube Channel:
This past Friday, the Conway (NH) Public Library was the host of a Drag Queen childrens’ Hour event. Even reserved a room!
And then the Director David Smolens decided, because it was Pride Month (that includes Trans People, right?) that only those with children were allowed entrance. Something about a library being a “limited forum facility” like a courthouse. Even the gay guy wouldn’t allow a transchild into the library (with his foreboding looking Mr. Muscle?).
And I bet the elected Representatives called “Trustees” (whose Code of Ethics basically hand the key off to Smolens, effectively distancing themselves from any “ownership” of the programs Smolens puts on) aren’t going to get closer than a 50 yard measuring tape on this one.
Why else would they not put their contact info on their Library page?
And just because I can, here’s what I put as the description of the video on our YouTube Channel (Please subscribe!)
Speaking of our YouTube channel (over 4,000 videos!), please subscribe!
The post About that Drag Queen Story Hour at the Conway Public Library Last Friday…Part 2 appeared first on Granite Grok.
(white) goldstandard-06-29-23-J.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-06-29-23-J-y.pdf
The post Joint Recommendations Gold Standard – June 29, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
This week, we met in committees of conference. Since the budget was agreed without one, the atmosphere was much less stressed than previous years. My committee’s bills had generated six committees, and as chair, I served on four of them…
We want to thank Rep. Carol McGuire for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.
HB 358, my bill on the administrative rules process, had a three-part Senate amendment. The first part was clarifying language for the original bill, requested by the Administrative Rules staff; we accepted that change without debate. The second was SB 42, on unemployment overpayments, which had passed the House last week: that was removed from the bill without objection. The last change was an employer mandate to accommodate nursing or pumping mothers; we discussed that at some length. The Senate insisted on including it, and after they conceded on the social work compact (on HB 409), the House members reluctantly agreed to accept this. Since the federal government has some new regulations in this area, and the state requirements don’t go into effect for two years, the rather vague language of this regulation can be improved in the meanwhile.
HB 409, which started as a reciprocity requirement for barbers and cosmetologists, was actually better covered in HB 594, which dealt with accepting out-of-state licenses for all professions. Therefore, it was used to add a hefty bundle of changes to various professional regulations. The most significant were the investigation and discipline sections we had pulled out of HB 655; the subcommittee had kept working on them and shared the results with the Senators. So the conference committee went through these sections, making a few minor tweaks to the language.
We discussed the changes to the Board of Nursing: the Senate added two members, a registered nurse and a licensed nursing assistant, and required one of the nurses be a specialist in nurse education. More board members was not a problem – there are over 30,000 nurses in the state and the board has not had a problem meeting its quorum. Board members had convinced the House members (mostly me and the leading Democrat on the committee) that the education specialist was a conflict of interest, as the Board of Nursing approves education programs and regulates them. That was removed in favor of having an education subcommittee of the Board.
Finally, the Senate had added the social work compact to the bill. I, and the Republicans on the committee, were opposed to including this on the bill. First, the compact has not yet been formed, and we felt being “at the table” (as one of the first seven states to adopt the compact) when the rules were developed was not enough to counterbalance that by joining the compact at this time we were accepting its rules as law in New Hampshire – before we knew what the rules contained! Secondly, my committee has retained the compact as part of a retained bill, and we expect it to go to the House in January. So, we caucused, convincing the Democrat member that there was no real hurry on this section, and after some more discussion, the Senate agreed to remove the compact.
I wasn’t on the conference for HB 461, which we had passed as a penalty for employers who converted police chief or school superintendent to “part-time” so that they could hire retirees. The Senate converted it to a study committee on the issue; as expected, they were unable to reach any reasonable compromise.
HB 532, on licensing music therapists, was also amicable. The Senate changes were innocuous, so we agreed with their position.
SB 147, on the dental board, was quick: the Senate, convinced by the dentists’ association, agreed with the House position. We pointed out that the policy on deep sedation for children was being studied in SB 91, which was retained in the Senate Health & Human Services committee, and any policy changes could be implemented by that bill.
SB 207, on critical incident management and conditional licenses for mental health workers, also had a very cordial conference committee to incorporate some updated language.
All in all, a very cordial and efficient committee of conference season for my committee. Since the budget had been agreed as the Senate version, there was none for Finance. Apparently, the conflicts were over bail reform, which had been attached to a number of HHS bills this time…
Representative Carol McGuire
carol@mcguire4house.com
The post Your State House 06/23/23: Committees of Conferences – the Winddown appeared first on Granite Grok.
Good afternoon everyone,
This is a reminder that the next meeting of the Special Committee on the Family Division of the Circuit Court will be held tomorrow, June 27, 2023, starting at 9:30 am.
Here is a link to the event, if you wish to add it to your calendar:
Unofficial transcripts of these meetings are also attached.
Thanks,
-Dana
The post The Next Meeting of the Special Committee on the Family Division of the Circuit Court Is Tomorrow appeared first on Granite Grok.
The NH Attorney General’s Office is beginning an investigation into a protest in Concord on June 18th at the Teatotaller Coffee shop during a Drag Story Hour.
Free speech is never free if the government can strip it from you.Nazis vs. Groomers
NSC-131, a white supremacist group with chapters throughout New England, conducted the protest. You’re probably wondering. If the government investigates their protest, they must have done something illegal.
Well, you would be wrong. Despite their horrible beliefs, they did nothing illegal.
NSC-131 certainly has some ignorant and disturbing views about race, but they have every right to think that way. They also have every right to be able to say those horrible things because it is an unalienable right to do so.
The First Amendment from “The Bill of Rights.”
This isn’t the first time.“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
This isn’t the NH AG’s first time going after this group for the wrong reasons, either. In January of this year, charges were filed against NSC-131 for a July 2023 incident where the group hanged a sign from the Portsmouth Route 1 overpass.
“So hanging that banner without permission was a trespass,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella. “What was written on the banner makes it pretty clear that that trespass was motivated by race. And so that was a violation of our Civil Rights Act.”
Related: If NH AG Pushes Civil Rights “Case” Against White Nationalists, He’s Going to Lose
Leftist Think Tank PropagandaIn April, an anti-fascist, anti-nazi organization called Task Force Butler tried adding fuel to the fire, egging on the NH Attorney General’s Office by giving them a 300 hundred page report on NSC-131’s activities.
Task Force Butler, founder Kris Goldsmith, had this to say,
“We hope that with 300 pages of evidence of violent hate crimes across four different states, that attorneys general, districts attorneys across various states and counties and cities will work together and treat NSC-131 like what it is — a violent gang — and get creative,” he said. “Use things like racketeering laws to dismantle them, charge them with hate crimes.”
We want to thank John Stark for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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Well, the thing is, they aren’t the mafia, and you can’t just go after a group of people that haven’t committed a crime just because you don’t like them.
They also don’t like Trump supporters. I found this on their site, where they equate the January 6th protestors to Nazis.
The Bill of Rights Wins Again“Task Force Butler is also named after Marine Corps General Smedley Butler. Enshrined in Marine Corps history as one of two Marines to receive the Medal of Honor twice, General Butler’s legacy and impact on American history after leaving the Corps is less known, but arguably more important than anything he did while in uniform. In the early 20th century, then-retired General Butler was approached by a corrupt group of extremely wealthy and influential American businessmen who asked him to help them overthrow the United States government by leading a mob of homeless veterans camped in Washington, D.C. General Butler went along with the plot long enough to gather as much information as possible about who was behind it before turning over all the evidence to Congress. It was, in no uncertain terms, the closest historical parallel to what occurred on Jan. 6, 2021.”
Attorney General Formella learned this the hard way on June 6th, when in a 21-page opinion, Rockingham County Superior Court Judge David Ruoff dismissed the petitions, ruling that the state’s interpretation of the trespass ordinance, as well as the Civil Rights Statute, was overly broad as it applied to the banner. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing their actions were protected on free speech grounds and that they removed the banner as soon as they were notified by law enforcement that they were potentially violating a Portsmouth ordinance.
The Honorable David Ruoff has this to say.
“The conduct alleged in the complaints, while reprehensible by most civilized standards, does not fit any definition of ‘trespass’ other than the one the Court has concluded is unconstitutional.”
The Attorney General did not like that response, and so on June 16th, they appealed the decision, arguing,”
“There is a general right to access public roads, parks, and sidewalks,” the attorney general’s office said. “They are traditional public fora. Yet, there is no unfettered right to affix and display signs on a highway overpass because it is a nonpublic forum and the conduct is prohibited by statute.”
In Conclusion
Do I like Nazis? No, I probably dislike them more than my Grandfather, that fought them in WW2; however, you can’t just prosecute people because you don’t like them. Every man, woman, and, yes, even Nazis have the right to free speech. It is a God-given right and one that is unalienable.
Even sadder is that one of their leaders and defendants in the recent case, Leo Cullinan, passed away before he could change his ways. I hope that God has mercy on his soul. If you wanted to convince men and women that their ideas are wrong or immoral, allow them to be debated on the front stage instead of making them sit in the back of the bus like these Nazis would have liked Rosa Parks to do.
Editors Note: Republished upon request and lightly edited and reformatted. Footnotes removed (live links are adequate on this platform).
The post That Coffee Shop Drag Story Hour Protested By Neo-Nazis: The Government’s Response Is Worse. appeared first on Granite Grok.
We’ve written about the high cost of NH Biomass energy and the redistribution math that costs ratepayers millions. Well, the Governor has a new bill on his desk that would sweeten the deal, but if this is about jobs, it would cost ratepayers less to pay the workers to do nothing.
Drew Cline, writing at Josiah Bartlett, has an update on the Biomess, the redistribution scheme, and the new bill. He makes excellent points, as he usually does, on topics like this and shares how we got here and why it makes no sense. HB142, that new bill, would make that bad deal worse.
To save 30+ jobs at the plant and some 200+ timer jobs that could probably find other destinations for waste wood. It’s got a big price tag, and the Governor, who advertises how tax-friendly he is, should veto HB142 because it is a massive tax on taxpayers and ratepayers all over New Hampshire.
Signing it will add to our already record high electric rates, which is bad for more reasons than I’ll get to here because it occurred to me there was another way to make a case for a veto.
I don’t know what Burgess Biomass employees make or the five-score timber folks, but can we agree it’s probably less than 100,000 per year?
If we gave the Biomass folks each 60K to do nothing(which is the national income average), it would cost 1.8 million. Add the 200 timber workers, and that’s another 12 million. Paying them not to increase our electric rates would save New Hampshire ratepayers over 135 million dollars on top of the reduced cost of electricity from not having to pay higher rates.
We’d continue to save more, even if we had to extend the severance for several years, than if Sununu signed HB142.
Cline calls it a subsidy, which it is, but it’s more than that. It’s an insane subsidy when it makes more sense and saves a small fortune to shutter the business being bailed out and pay the employees to do nothing.
IN-SANE! We shouldn’t even be able to do that math. Why is this even on his desk?
The millions saved by the rest of the businesses and residents can go into savings or productive investments in local businesses that will employ more people in jobs that don’t cost taxpayers or ratepayers more money.
After the plant shuts down, Jeb F-ing Timber-Tool Bradley can encourage someone to retool the Burgess plant to make wood pellets that pellet stove owners would buy. It would create more jobs, keep his Timber cronies happy, and generate revenue for Berlin and the state.
I bet you could raze the Burgess plant and build a new pellet-making facility for less than this subsidy will cost long term.
HB142 is not just a bad idea and bad for New Hampshire; it is “makes no damn sense” bad.
Note: Yes, the math is simplified for this example, but there is no version of this where it makes sense to bail out so few jobs with that sort of money and tack on the expected electric rate increases.
The post It Would Cost NH at Least 135 million Less to Pay Burgess Biomass Workers to do Nothing Than to Renew the Planned Subsidy appeared first on Granite Grok.
October 13, 2021, is NH Governor Sununu’s manufactured “insurrection”. Hundreds of people peaceably assembled to vehemently oppose Sununu’s desire to accept a $27M grant to set up a NH covid tracking database that would be connected to a national database.
The grant also committed the state to “assist the US government in the implementation and enforcement of federal orders related to quarantine and isolation” among other serious obligations that usurped our Constitutional Rights.
Related: IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE? NH Governor SECRETLY Pressured State Reps to IGNORE ARRESTS of Nine Americans UNDER HIS WATCH!
Nine of those peaceably assembled citizens were targeted by Sununu and then arrested during the meeting.
It is difficult for anyone not present at the meeting to believe the blatant abuse of power by the Governor and the State Police. The disturbing arrests were portrayed by the media as an insurrection in a fabricated propaganda campaign led by WMUR. Nothing is further from the truth. Videos by those who attended – as well as the official state recordings – show all attendees quietly and respectfully sitting in their chairs observing the meeting.
When the arrests suddenly began with Mrs. Bastarche and Frank Staples, those in attendance were quiet and respectful – and they remained quiet and respectful – INCLUDING BASTARARCHE AND STAPLES as they were taken out of the room! The videos prove their innocence.
Mrs. Bastarache was ridiculously charged for “uttering Amen.” A word that every person in the room uttered – including the Governor – after he led the meeting in prayer. I was there and can speak with first hand experience.
The defense has issued a subpoena for Sununu to testify. Watch the following video, and you will understand why. This story provides timecodes and identifies Sununu’s disturbing actions throughout the video.
The trial began this morning, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Mrs. Bastarache and the others that were arrested at the October 13, 2021 Executive Councilor’s meeting deserve our support during their fight for our Constitutional Rights to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances – as well as the blatant abuse of power.
This trial may be the beginning of the end of Chris Sununu’s governorship in New Hampshire.
The post Will Sununu’s Manufactured “Insurrection” Terminate His Political Career? appeared first on Granite Grok.
What do you say to the American people when you preach from the highest hills that you will get the rich to pay their fair share and your son is a tax evader? What do you say when you want 87,000 new IRS agents to shake down Americans evading tax payments, and your son settles his tax debt for pennies on the dollar?
What do you say when you use any tragedy to call for more and stricter gun laws and expanded background checks, and your son falsifies his federal gun paperwork and applies for gun ownership while a Crack and alcohol addict? You say nothing. You ignore questions yelled at you by pool reporters. You have your spokespeople go into a blackout and deflection mode. You say you are proud of your son, have him attend a State Dinner on the day his plea deal is announced, and have him sit with the United States Attorney General for drinks and dinner.
This scenario is what equal justice under the law looks like when your last name is Biden. What makes us the angriest is not the sweetheart deals but the arrogance and lies from Joe Biden and his Administration, treating us like the underclass. Joe Biden is royalty, and for the fifty years he has been sucking off the public dole, he and his family deserve all they can cheat and steal. Just shut up, go about your business, and accept what you see as fair and just.
Attorney Merrick Garland addressed the country this week to assure them that everything in the Hunter Biden case is above board and by the book. Unfortunately, just like a Greek Pizza Shop, there are two sets of books. With the AG, we are not getting the book kept on top of the desk. Merrick Garland has no credibility. His handling of parents versus school boards shows he is a small man who requires large doses of power. Garland has been complicit with our corrupt President to weaponize the Justice Department against anyone threatening the movement. He went on the record to say no one should question the integrity of his department. Sir, we should all question the integrity of every aspect of Government. If not, we end up with the likes of the Biden Administration.
There are many aspects of the Justice Department and Intelligence Agencies now. Biden weaponized them against Republicans (MAGA, MAGNA, or however Biden pronounces the term); they are not carrying out justice equally and are definitely corrupt. This analysis may not describe the lower levels of these agencies, but the leadership hierarchy has to be dismantled. We cannot sit back and wait for this to happen organically. The rot is too entrenched, and these leaders have established a power base linked for protection. They also have the mainstream media in their ranks. To prove this, you only need to look at the list of former leaders on the payrolls of CNN and MSNBC. You will find many of the names of the 51 signers of the Russian Collusion memo on that list.
The House will not let this plea deal rest without more digging for the truth. They cannot simply talk about it. We need action, or their credibility will go the route of Adam Schiff. You cannot continue to tease Americans. You, at some point, have to show your cards. Grassley, Comer, and Jordan-let us see what you have now.
The post Hunter’s Sweetheart Deal Was Bad, This Is Outright Corrupt appeared first on Granite Grok.
It is hard to believe how quickly we’ve forgotten the most significant terrorist attack on American soil. So, let me remind our readers once again. On September 11, 2001, nineteen Islamic terrorists, primarily Saudi Arabian citizens, hijacked four commercial aircraft.
In a synchronized attack, the hijackers deliberately flew two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon. The passengers on the fourth plane launched a counterattack, spurring the hijacker pilot to crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania.
Approximately 3,000 died that day, the single most significant loss of life resulting from a terrorist attack on American soil.
After these attacks, I saw many car stickers saying, “Everything I Needed to Know About Islam I Learned on 9/11.” Well, not.
Islam and Sharia continue to creep into every aspect of American culture stealthily. And too few people know it or are talking about it. Why? Because Americans have been conditioned to be tolerant and compassionate, embrace multiculturalism and respect each other’s beliefs, ideals, and values. That would be wonderful in a Utopian world, but the fact is, Islam doesn’t embrace any aspect of Western civilization—much less American culture. We are rapidly and methodically being dismantled as a nation, and our freedom and liberty are more fragile than ever since WWII. And while we fight the enemy abroad with combat troops, intelligence, and drone strikes, we’re doing nothing to combat the same enemy residing on our soil and in broad daylight.
This is no longer an alarm. Our enemies are already here and planning to make America like another European country. Suppose we don’t defeat Islam politically, lawfully, and swiftly. In that case, our children and grandchildren may well be engaged in an endless religious and ideological bloody war, the likes of which have never been seen on American soil.
Islam is a theocratic political violent ideology that hides behind the mask of religion to accomplish its mission of a worldwide caliphate. Americans must understand Islam is a totalitarian “theo-political” belief system and a social doctrine (the two go hand-in-hand) based on the Quran, Sira, and Hadith, what Dr. Bill Warner of the Center for the Study of Political Islam aptly coins the “Trilogy.” It has mandates on every aspect of life, enforced and regulated by the barbaric criminal and civil codes known as Sharia Law. The precise definition of a Muslim becomes crystal clear when you read the trilogy of Islam. Bottom line: you are to be an Allah-fearing, Quran-believing, and Mohammed-following zealot that forces people to submit, convert, and comply with Islam and Sharia or be killed. Those are the facts.
Does every Muslim follow the commands of the Quran? No, thank God. But as they superficially assimilate into communities and increase in numbers, they become more militant and less tolerant of that community’s laws and regulations.
Any religion or ideology whose “holy book” commands its followers to commit crimes that are antithetical to the laws of this country should not only lose its tax-exempt status but lose its 1st Amendment protections and be banned from the United States altogether. In case you are not familiar with some of the condoned atrocities of Islam and Sharia law, let me tell you a few facts.:
Are you aware that women are stoned to death for committing adultery, and according to the interpretation of Islam, gays should be thrown from a high building and then stoned if they are not dead when they hit the ground? Or that the genitals of little girls are mutilated(Female genital mutilation or FGM) in an attempt to control their sexuality, and that children may be murdered in the name of family honor? And last, Islam does not recognize the separation of church and state and doesn’t follow our Constitution or any artificial laws. They have their laws: Sharia or Islamic laws.
In countries where Islamic enclaves and ghettos have emerged, like France, Britain, Sweden, Belgium, and North African countries, local Imams or mullahs enforce Sharia law regardless. Most Americans fail to understand that Sharia law is the foundation of Islamic theocracy and totalitarianism. The establishment of global Sharia law is their final goal. The Quran is unequivocal in its directive to Muslims to establish an international Islamic state (Caliphate) over which the Islamic messiah, or Mahdi, will rule with Sharia as the only law of the land. Make no mistake that is the intent of influential Islamic elements in America.
Organizations such as the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) fully exploit our naiveté and lenient laws to install Sharia law. Moreover, Islam starkly contrasts the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and what the First Amendment was designed to protect—our God-given, unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Sharia law is complex and derived from multiple Islamic sources: the Quran, considered the “unmitigated word of Allah,” is the primary source of Sharia law. The Hadith (sayings and actions of Muhammad) is the second most crucial document in Sharia and Sira (the life of prophet Muhammad). Historic rulings by jurists over the years and so-called reasoning by analogy make up the other two less-influential sources of Sharia. Together they constitute Islam’s theological core and result in a totalitarian way of life for Muslim followers and non-Muslims (kafirs and infidels). Sharia law completely contradicts American values because it enslaves people and encourages acts of violence and barbaric behavior. Sharia demands the death of those who renounce Islam.
In short: Mild Islam may not appear too obtrusive to some since it is like the early stages of pregnancy. Yet, pregnancy it is. And before long, the full-term beast will make its appearance. If we don’t want to deal with the beast, we need to prevent the pregnancy in the first place.The post Willful Blindness appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Hunter Biden guilty plea and its ramifications; will the investigation continue? Why didn’t the republicans continue the J6 committee investigation when they attained power? Should Trump be doing more about the J6 prisoners? Should the other candidates do more to fight against the Trump indictment (even if he lies about them and their positions)? Project 65 keeping lawyers from representing Trump and his supporters; Muslims vs. pride, and more.
The post The Conservatarian Exchange Podcast #159 appeared first on The Liberty Block.
As we approach the July 4th Weekend, the polls that didn’t seem to mean much – or perhaps “shouldn’t be taken seriously” – are beginning to mean a lot more, and that’s a problem for Ron DeSantis. He was doing better when they didn’t appear to mean much.
DeSantis, who has been branded by some supporters as the electable Republican (in anything like a fair general election), either isn’t selling that message, or Republican Primary voters are not buying it.
A.G. Gancarski, writing at Florida Politics, recently published an update on the polling as Ron runs back to New Hampshire looking to make a dent in Donald Trump’s prodigious … polling lead.
The Race to the White House polling average shows Trump ahead of DeSantis 45% to 13% in a crowded field, with Christie at 8%, and 49% to 25% if the race were somehow just two people.
DeSantis has attempted to glow up the Granite State at the expense of Florida and its residents.
“I was born and raised in Florida, and it’s only been recently that we’ve developed a sense of state pride ourselves,” DeSantis said at a party dinner this Spring. “We’re proud to have stood up for freedom in the last few years when it wasn’t easy. We did it our own way and I’m proud of that.”
“But I must admit, we draw inspiration from the people here in New Hampshire,” DeSantis continued. “Because more than any other state, you don’t mince words when it comes to your stand on liberty. You say it very clearly: Live Free or Die.”
Trump is ahead 53-19 in California, 54-9 in West Virginia, and 43-18 in South Carolina. Nationally RCP has an NBC news poll dated June 25th with Trump up 52-22. Trump is up 59-27 in Maine, 41-25 in Wisconsin, 48-28 in Virginia, and 53-21 in Nevada, but it is well within the margin of error at 27-26 in Utah.
To get to Utah (and Super Tuesday), Ron DeSantis has to get through Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada with a lot of dead weight pulling him down. Chris Christie, Pence, Haley, and the rest of the GOP castaways. There are too many not Trump’s and only one Trump, and he has a record to run on with three unique qualities. He promised to do Republican-like things, he did the things he promised, and they worked.
He did not clean out the swamp. It cleaned him out, so there’s reason to believe that will repeat in 2024. Donald Trump also has some COVID response baggage he has yet to unpack effectively, and DeSantis has him dead to rights on that. Gov. DeSantis has done Republican-like things that worked in Florida but with a friendly Republican legislature with similar priorities. DC isn’t like that, and even with a divisive Republican majority, Trump managed to get some things done, though he could have done more if Congress had been on his side instead of either pandering to Democrat lies or hiding behind them.
Is DeSantis either of those, we don’t know, but Democrats are not afraid of their agenda, no matter how crazy. Republicans not only run from theirs, but they also use the left’s narratives to label them and anyone who promotes or defends them as extreme.
Republican primary voters like Trump’s style better.
In 2016, Trump won the GOP primary with 35%, including NH insiders, outsiders, and many new voters. His closest competitor was John Kasich, who captured 16%. Ted Cruz landed third with 11%.
In 2020 President Trump won the New Hampshire primary with 86% of the vote (after winning Iowa with 97%). His closest competitor was … William Weld, with 9%, followed by 2.3% (write-ins), primarily conscientious objectors or never-Trumpers after four years of non-stop badgering, two impeachments, and the rest of it.
DeSantis is currently 2024’s John Kasich in New Hampshire (Weld doesn’t count), but he lacks the outsider cred that four years of Biden have only made more necessary. He was a great Governor for Florida, but even with a new set of negatives, Trump’s appeal to primary voters is hard to beat.
DeSantis’s appeal among GOP primary voters is that he is not Trump. That he will not produce a down-ticket washout (or so they say). That he is the adult on the ticket to Trump’s childish name-calling antics. But that is obviously not enough to get Gov. DeSantis the nomination, and while we’ve got eight months (give or take) before the polling numbers are for delegates, it’s time to ask this question. If you won’t vote for Trump at all in 2024, would you vote for Trump – DeSantis in Nov. 2024, or is Trump so rough that even Gov. Ron can’t win him your vote over the Democrat (presumably Biden).
Note: Votes are restricted by IP Address. And yes, we know who cheated in my last poll.
Do You Refuse to Vote for Trump (in the GOP Primary or the General Election) Becasue He is mean, unelectable, etc.?
Note 2: Nothing about this post implies an endorsement of any candidate by the author or GraniteGrok.com
Added five hours after publicationNote 3: By *Republicans who *won’t vote for Trump, I mean rank-and-file voters who are not Never-Trumpers but are convinced someone else needs to be the nominee because they are fed up with The Donald’s personality.
The post DeSantis Losing in New Hampshire, Polling Updates, and a Question for Republicans* That Won’t* Vote for Trump appeared first on Granite Grok.