This past Friday, 5/26, was my hearing(s) at the NH Legislative Ethics Committee. I had brought NH State Reps Harry Bean and Travis O’Hara to the Committee as they willfully and knowingly broke NH RSA 91-A (NH’s Right To Know law) and NH RSA 24:9-c & D (which governs how County Delegations (all of the NH State Reps from a given county) how to act. Both laws make it mandatory that all meetings of such public bodies MUST be publicly noticed (ad in the local paper, noticed on their website, et al) with specific “days ahead of the meeting” announcements. Each of those laws has different specifications and in Harry Bean’s case, he tried to mash them both together in order to get a specific political outcome.  This was ethical?

While I had sent in my complaint earlier (“Just the facts, ma’am” – who gets THAT reference??) that listed the fact of my complaint, I decided to go philosophical with what I wanted to say – that written testimony is here. Here is how it went along with some of the questions that the Committee asked:



And it’s quite clear that Harry Bean is not liking this at all (10:48). Questions from the Committee start at 13:44

• I do dryly note that former Speaker of the House, Donna Sytek, Vice Chair, held up a book (14:31) and asked me if my complaint about the Reps should have gone to the Right To Know Ombudsman.  Well, given that the meetings were well over, what would the RTK Ombudsman do?  No Power to do a redo as a budget was voted on. Even if a redo was ordered, State statute rules that if a Delegation doesn’t perform its duties, the County Delegation’s proposed budget is automatically adopted.
• I also found out that the lawyer that Belknap County hired, Paul Fitzgerald (who is also Harry Bean’s personal attorney – no conflict of interest there, eh?), had responded to my complaint. This, I found out AFTER I returned home and TMEW handed me this envelope.  I’ve glanced at it but haven’t studied it yet – I’ll have my opinions even though, as Bean exclaimed several times (“I’m not a lawyer – but either is he!” as if that clears him of knowing a necessary law being Chair of the Delegation)., I told the Committee what I am – a retired software engineer, a political blogger, and a former elected budget committee member that upon being elected, did my due diligence and studied the applicable law.  So why didn’t they?
• There was a legitimate question from the Chair as to who was the Chair of the Budget subcommittee (27:35) – “Who Chaired the subcommittee?”. I didn’t take the bait.

Never said I was a lawyer – just that I read NH Law on a frequent basis as being a political blogger and prior elected official, I had/have to know it. Sadly, all of the Reps made it clear that they didn’t – yeah, that “ignorance of the Law” bit. If we violated a law of theirs, how well would it go with us if we tried that same tactic?

But those videos will come later.

 

The post Legislative Ethics Committee: Oral Testimony Against Three NH State Reps: Harry Bean, Travis O’Hara, (and John Doe?) appeared first on Granite Grok.

A few years back, there was a debate in the Granite State about police body cameras. We thought, sure, but how about putting them on Teachers? A few years later, look at what a great idea that would have been.

More than ever, parents are concerned about what happens in classrooms. Body cams on teachers should still be a thing. They are public employees. But so far, not joy. Unions, schools, and even the Department of Education appear concerned about surveillance when it comes to classrooms.

 

In a newly released report titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning,” the DOE warned that such surveillance could make teachers’ jobs “nearly impossible” and emphasized that AI should never be a replacement for human teachers.

While acknowledging the potential benefits of AI in enhancing teaching efficiency and tailoring lesson plans to individual students, the report also highlights the risks of increased surveillance of teachers associated with AI implementation.

 

What exactly are public employees doing with public dollars in public buildings with the children of “The Public” paying for it that makes knowing what happens so dangerous?

 

Drawing a parallel with voice assistants in households, the report cautions that while AI systems can assist with tasks, they may also inadvertently access private information. The same dilemma, it argues, could arise in classrooms, posing challenges for teachers.

“When we enable a voice assistant in the kitchen, it might help us with simple household tasks like setting a cooking timer,” the report said. “And yet the same voice assistant might hear things that we intended to be private. This kind of dilemma will occur in classrooms and for teachers.”

 

Public employees using public equipment do not have privacy rights during the work they are paid to do. The dilemma is why that is of a more significant concern than the right of parents to have transparency. That brings me back to body cams which I admit would be a bit cumbersome, so how about cameras in public classrooms instead?

And if not, why not, and what are you afraid of?

 

The post Biden Department Of Education Concerned A.I. Might Allow Parents to Snoop on Teachers appeared first on Granite Grok.

Education is a battleground in the public realm.  This is true for a very good reason.  Education is worth fighting for because it is the way we pass on our way of life.  It is how we prepare the next generation to assume the burdens of responsibility and leadership.

We want to thank Marc Abear for this Op-Ed. Please submit Yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

What is success in education?  Do we really have free will?  Is life but a quest for power after power?  Can we escape the conventions of our time? Is there a God … and if there is, what does He require of us?  Does education depend on our moral formation?  What is the effect of education on life?

Does good education translate into better public discourse?  If it does, how do we explain the battle America is engaged in today?  What is education?  Do we need to be instructed by others to take a full part in human life?  Is there something in human nature that urges some to instruct?  Are the instructors tolerated or necessary?  Are there parts of the soul of the individual in need of guidance?

Then there are the questions of the best means to use to provide instruction.  What is the goal of education?  Is it the accumulation of mountains of facts?  Is it the organization of facts?  Maybe it is an analysis of organized facts?  But what good is there in any of that sans communication?

How do we put education into perspective?  Is that something best left to education experts?

I think not.

Education is nothing more or less than a social tool.  It is the common acceptance of the premise:  Aiding the young in acquiring skills is beneficial to us all.  Is the industrial model viable?  How about optimal?

Like all tools, education can be used for good or for evil.  Education, for all the faux expertise it shrouds itself with; it is nothing more and nothing less than what we make it.  It is more dependent on curiosity than dollars.   It is aided more by interest than by organizational theory.  Education today is a battleground…

Ask yourself: why?

The post Why? appeared first on Granite Grok.

How to describe the debt deal negotiated by Kevin McCarthy and his team? Lipstick on a pig, perhaps. Whatever you want to call it … it represents another betrayal of GOP voters:

Fake conservatives agree to fake spending cuts. Deal will increase mandatory spending ~5%, increase military spending ~3%, and maintain current non-military discretionary spending at post-COVID levels. No real cuts to see here.

Conservatives have been sold out once again!

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 28, 2023

THREAD: There are members of the GOP claiming Democrats got nothing from the “deal.” Oh really? 1) An uncapped debt ceiling with an expiration date – worth approximately $4 trillion…? 2) basically no cuts – a freeze at bloated 2023 spending level? #DebtCeiling (1/3)

— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) May 28, 2023

Punting at your opponent’s one-yard line isn’t a winning strategy.

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 28, 2023

Eliminating $1.8 billion for Biden’s new army of IRS agents is great until you realize that Democrats appropriated $80 billion for them.

As I’ve said since the draft agreement came out, this is NOT a win for the American people!

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 28, 2023

Kevin says we can fight again NEXT year to rescind another year of the IRS $80 billion … but he simultaneously prevented that “fight” by agreeing to suspend the debt ceiling for TWO years.

So there will be 85,260 more IRS agents rather than 87,000 to eat you alive. Big win. https://t.co/CHRRIxFI4j

— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) May 28, 2023

.@SpeakerMcCarthy defends offering a higher debt ceiling in exchange for increased govt spending: "We let government grow, but at a slower rate" pic.twitter.com/ZErpivTNhY

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 28, 2023

WATCH: @RonDeSantis slams the “massive amount of spending” in the debt ceiling “deal.”

“Prior to this deal our country was careening towards bankruptcy. And after this deal, our country will still be careening towards bankruptcy.” pic.twitter.com/331Q0AcRab

— DeSantis War Room (@DeSantisWarRoom) May 29, 2023

The post The Debt Deal … GOP “Leaders” YET AGAIN Betray GOP Voters appeared first on Granite Grok.

I looked at this headline and laughed my fool head off at both suppositions. “8 Hours of Loneliness Can Be as Draining For Some People as Going Without Food.” No, neither of these apply to me and haven’t for quite some time.

After all, I’m really an introvert that has to push hard (sometimes too hard) to be social. With the weight loss, I don’t get as hungry as I used to as I’ve “shrunk my stomach,” and getting older has “helped,” too, slowing down my metabolism (dagnabit) so I require fewer calories (which stick around if I do the “more calories in than out” bit).

Anyway, that headline – Emphasis mine, reformatted:

8 Hours of Loneliness Can Be as Draining For Some People as Going Without Food

Being the social animals that we are, humans need company almost as much as they need water, air, and nourishment. Past studies have shown enduring isolation puts us at risk of physical harm in more ways than one. A new study by researchers from the University of Vienna in Austria and the University of Cambridge in the UK has now found eight hours of loneliness can sap energy and increase fatigue as much as going eight hours without food in certain people.

The team’s lab test and field experiment showed people who live alone or who particularly enjoy social interactions are the most likely to be affected by a lack of company. What’s more, it seems as though the reduction in energy is the result of changes in the body’s homeostatic response: a sort of balancing act, where the lack of social connection triggers a biological reaction. The first authors of the study, psychologists Ana Stijovic and Paul Forbes from the University of Vienna in Austria:

“In the lab study, we found striking similarities between social isolation and food deprivation. Both states induced lowered energy and heightened fatigue, which is surprising given that food deprivation literally makes us lose energy, while social isolation would not.”

For the lab study, 30 female volunteers were examined on three separate days of eight hours each: one day without social contact, one day without food, and one day without either social contact or food. The participants gave feedback on their stress, mood, and fatigue, while heart rate and salivary cortisol levels (standard stress indicators) were also measured.

ONLY female volunteers? Well, sure – women (and not womyn, womynx, or faux women) ARE more social, on average, than men. Frankly, men want to “get things done” (drives TMEW nuts all the time, looking at my task list), while (stereotypically) women are more apt to interact. This is not rocket science-type stuff.

The field experiment involved 87 participants living in Austria, Italy, or Germany, and covered periods of COVID-19 lockdown measures between April and May 2020. Those involved had spent at least eight hours in isolation, and were asked to answer questions via a smartphone app similar to those asked in the lab test: on stress, on mood, and on fatigue.

While the field experiment didn’t involve food, its results – lower levels of energy after isolation – match up with the lab work, suggesting that the comparison between going without social interaction and going without sustenance is a valid one. The real-world test was also where those living alone and the more sociable were shown to be most affected. Their reported energy levels dropped on days where they interacted with no-one compared to days with some brief social interactions – an effect not seen in less sociable participants.

“The fact that we see this effect even after a short period of social isolation suggests that low energy could be a ‘social homeostatic’ adaptive response, which on the long run can become maladaptive,” says psychologist Giorgia Silani, from the University of Vienna. So as the time in isolation extends, the damage is likely to get worse: previous studies have compared loneliness to public health problems such as obesity, suggesting that there’s a significant risk of premature death due to being isolated socially.

<snip>

We also know that spending time alone can be beneficial for certain people in terms of their well-being. Future research across larger and more diverse groups of participants will be able to examine these associations further.

Yes, there is a reason why solitary confinement will drive you crazy to the point of a psychotic state of being; humans ARE social animals. We do require human contact. There’s a reason why some babies end up with diagnoses of Failure to Thrive and Failure to Attach – both of which were given to the Grandson, given the circumstances of his birth.

I also admit that there ARE longer-term issues when a social guillotine comes hurtling down (certainly more than for 8 hours). There’s a reason that “shunning” has a similar effect on those that have been deemed unworthy either by breaking a serious social norm (or “Mean Girls” Syndrome).

However, I “identify” (smirk) as one of that second group of “certain people”: I CRAVE peace and quiet and have for years. If TMEW and the Grandson go to his Dad’s for a week (summer vacation is coming up), I know that my pace of life will slow, and I see that time as one for rejuvenation. Why?

Most of my career was ALWAYS interrupt-driven to the point that I lost all control over my time. It was always running from one crisis to another and mostly multiples at the same time. Nice to be needed, and there was satisfaction that I had skills that were in high demand, but the constant run from one urgent task to another took its toll – I just wanted to be left alone.

And sometimes, with GraniteGrok and family stuff, that hasn’t changed as much as I might have wanted. But this is on me rather than my bosses and clients.

So no, loneliness is not one of my issues. But that ice cream brownie with lots of hot fudge (no whipped cream, nuts, or cherry on top, thank you -I’m a purist)?

Yeah, that’s still a problem.

 

(H/T: Science Alert)

The post For Those Who Would Prefer a Bit of Peace and Quiet appeared first on Granite Grok.

This post is simply a link to a Breitbart article about growing calls to boycott Kohl’s on account of Kohl’s targeting children with woke. And … yes I know that is the Target logo, not Kohl’s

The post Growing Calls To Boycott Kohl’s Too appeared first on Granite Grok.

When SARS-CoV2 hit the streets, there was a pandemic of alleged research purporting all manner of insight into the virus, side effects, treatments, demographic impacts, everything. Surprise! Not all of it was terribly scientific.

 

Grødeland said that part of the reason this happened during the pandemic was that relatively more people suddenly started conducting research on a topic they really knew relatively little about.

Even prestigious journals such as the Lancet were publishing those articles.

One of Lancet’s studies even caused both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the national government to stop the comprehensive testing of hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness against COVID-19.

The extensive Lancet study, allegedly based on research fraud, said that the drug increased the risk of heart arrhythmia and mortality for COVID-19 patients.

 

There were likely retractions across all “lack-of-disciplines” and subject matter, but the Lancet paper is of particular interest because we covered it. It was a political hit piece designed to give the media fear factor to disqualify Hydroxychloroquine. A Drug NIH researchers had long recognized as “ “… a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread.” Like Ivermectin, if it were not discredited, even in contraction to decades of research proving safety and effectiveness, there could be no Emergency Use Authorization of the untested Pfizer/Moderna mRNA injections.

The Lancet published the hit piece as scientific research (probably under pressure), the media wrecking ball delivered the damage, and the politicians did the rest (restrictions, bans, threatening doctors and pharmacists). The paper’s claims collapsed quickly when made public. Ten days after publication, The Lancet pulled the paper, and two weeks later, the company that wrote the “research” vanished, but the damage was done.

Not all the retracted research will be the result of that sort of background or history – brief as it was – but what struck me as amusing was the notion that most of these papers lacked rigor, failed to obtain consent from subjects, or were reported in the media as fact when in fact, they failed to meet even basic requirements for publication.

 

“When you look at the articles that have been retracted, the vast majority were published in the less interesting journals. It is they who are mainly affected by withdrawals,” Grødeland said.

But there were a number of environments that do not normally carry out research, which suddenly started producing research after receiving funding from local hospitals.

“It may have caused things to get a little out of hand in some places,” she said.

 

 

And now we know why – or can speculate. The hospital funding was likely COVID blood money leveraged to keep the approved narratives afloat.

The feds had turned everything from testing, diagnosis, and treatment into an ATM if you did as they asked. Hundreds of billions of dollars were handed out, some of which undoubtedly found their way into what amounted to marketing disguised as science. That “science” fed the media propaganda mills keeping fear high along with the resistance to other lines of thinking.

COVID Karens, the pandemic’s political foot soldiers. Masked thugs who fed social media with shares of flawed or incomplete papers while dismissing or shouting down anyone who dared to consider other options, treatments, or outcomes. They even ratted out businesses and neighbors who violated unnecessary and harmful political interventions.

You know the rest. And here we are.

Here’s the list. I you have time, feel free to search it for things from either side of the COVID debate. I’ll be sifting it in the coming days and weeks as well. SOome of them are very strange but more than a few are attributing things to COVID of which COVID does not appear to be the cause – at least not based on the evidence used to justify the paper.

 

The post 300+ COVID-19 Papers Retracted – Many Funded By Hospitals Cashing in on COVID appeared first on Granite Grok.

(white) goldstandard-06-01-23-S.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-06-01-23-S-y.pdf

The post Senate Gold Standard – June 01, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

Another week and another loser week for Sununu with respect to his place in the “podium crowd” – still at the bottom part of the pack:

Well, he did do a bit better than he did last week: 1% this week vs 0.7% last week (moving from Also Ran to Tier 3, barely).

Roughly for the others (rounded):

• Trump – down 3
• DeSantis – up 3 (and just formally announced)
• Pence – down 3
• Haley – up a tenth
• Ramaswamy – down 1
• Scott – down 2 tenths
• Youngkin – he announced he’s not running
• Sununu – see above
• Christie – down 2 tenths
• Elder – down 8 tenths
• Hutchinson – down 7 tenths (I guess others are asking “WHY???”)

I know I was going to go to bi-weeklies but since Steve posted the interim results from our (unscientific) poll, it was worth a few words.  Remember, our targeted audience is the thousands of activists on the Conservative/Libertarian Right, so our results skew differently than the above national results. And I was a bit surprised at how much:

Ramaswamy – 41.59%
DeSantis – 24.14%
Trump -17.60%
Sununu – 16.29%
Haley – 0.12%
Scott – 0.07%
Hutchinson – 0.07%
Noem – 0.07%
Pence – 0.03%
Christie – 0.02%

I’m not surprised at the top four – I AM surprised at Vivek’s lead at the time of his post!  However, NH is THE Retail Politics State, and make no mistake, he’s putting in the effort, the time, and the money (those direct mailers ain’t cheap!).  I do say that in meeting him twice, and watching reports of him in the blogosphere as I go surfing about, it’s clear that he has the pulse of the Base right now and is forming a strong bond with us.

I was also a bit surprised that DeSantis leads Trump by 4. And being a scion of the NH dynastic family, being an Executive Councilor and long-term (for NH) Guv, that has to be disappointing – being beaten three ways to Sunday by outsiders INCLUDING an “Unknown”.

In part, I think this is because:

• We, the Conservative Base, know Sununu, who he really is, and know that he looks at us with disgust (Ed’s post that he expects us to SURRENDER! to the Democrats in the Culture war). He can’t fool us and he’s written us (who always vote in the Primary) off.
• He’s also “phoning it” at home while Vivek is working rings around him (Roadrunner vs Wile Coyote)

It’s also clear that the campaign doesn’t see us as “necessary” so we have no internal pipeline to tap into. However, rumors are that IF it happens, Sununu’s announcement is imminent. We’ll see.

It’s still not a good look for him to be fourth in his own Stae.

The post Chris Sununu Presidential Poll Watch – Week of 5/29/23 appeared first on Granite Grok.

As the Western World drives mindlessly into the fantasy of a false green energy future, shortages are a common topic of discussion—blackouts in the frigid winter, brownouts in the heat of summer. You’d be right to ask.

What “leader” pushes a plan that puts demand before supply?

Finland, not known for its politically conservative nature (quite the opposite), was struggling with that problem. After Russia invaded Ukraine, available energy became a priority. You can’t run anything these days without it, and we’ll only need more.

But it is a problem Finland has solved, at least for now, with Nuclear.

 

Electricity prices in Finland plummeted into negative territory this week after the launch of a new nuclear power plant last month.

The development comes months after officials in the Nordic nation were raising the alarm over widespread energy shortages, a reality induced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Energy producers are now discussing mechanisms to reduce production as power becomes so abundant that prices venture into negative territory.

“Production is high, consumption is low, and now we are in a situation where it is not easy to adjust production,” Fingrid CEO Jukka Ruusunen said in an interview with Yle News. “Last winter, the only thing people could talk about was where to get more electricity. Now we are thinking hard about how to limit production. We have gone from one extreme to another.”

 

I’m not sure why Finland can’t sell the excess to someone who needs it, but I’m not familiar enough with their grid arrangements or EU policy. But, they built a nuclear plan which seems out-of-character.

European thinking on Nuclear energy is bipolar at best. They are all dancing to the broken tune of the ridiculously flawed Paris Climate Accords and other EU green deals. The Daily Wire reminds us that Germany ended its relationship with Nucelar (so it could burn coal to keep warm) while Finland and Poland are adding capacity.

When Finland’s new nuke plant went online, “average …spot prices declined from $264 in December to $65 in April, according to a report from the National News.”

 

 

 

 

It is two months since this graph was published, and they have so much supply the price has dropped below zero. Power Plants have to make enough to operate, so the plan is to decrease production, but with an energy-hungry Europe at hand, why not sell it on the spot market to needy nations who have kneecapped their infrastructure?

I live in New Hampshire. We are at the mercy of the New England Grid as all the states around us announce green power plans, EV mandates, and race to replace fossil fuels with wind and solar. We can’t get new pipelines built to carry fracked Gas from Pennsylvania because States like New York and Massachusetts say none shall pass.

Federal Law prohibits domestic port-to-domestic port transport of domestic energy, so when we find ourselves chilled in January or February, we have to look off the continent in Africa or Asia for natural gas – while Joe Biden promises mountains of US NG to the EU as a favor for supporting his a proxy war with Russia.

The whole business is FUBAR, even in Finland.

 

“Operators in Finland and the surrounding areas are now monitoring the situation. If hydropower can’t be regulated, then it will probably be nuclear power next. Production that is not profitable at these prices is usually removed from the market,” Ruusunen continued. “Now there is enough electricity, and it is almost emission-free. So you can feel good about using electricity.”

 

Feel good? Did you miss the memo? That’s not the plan. You’re doing it wrong. The idea is to starve people of modernity as punishment for whatever the progressive narrative mills can imagine will scare you enough to go along. Not them, just you. But for a few heartbeats, Finland has a good problem that has exposed another problem. What to do with the idea of abundant, affordable electricity in a world committed to hating both?

 

 

The post How Finland Ended Up with Too Much Electricity appeared first on Granite Grok.

Abridged update:

 

 

The post The Skip & Tom Weight Challenge – Week 12 appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Hubbers have not done enough homework to be granted the blank check they request they want for this upcoming Thursday’s vote. The regular Mountonborough Townfolk are concerned about the price of tickets to “their” game.

We want to thank Bud Heinrich for this Op-Ed. Please Submit yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

The project is truly underpriced, and they will need to make another pass at our pockets to cover the shortfall.

Construction costs were estimated at $ 3.30 per square foot, a number from a questionable source. Watching other current large projects in New England, $ 5.00 PSF seems to be the prevalent cost.

This adds $ 6 million to the cost, but the real choker is INTEREST PAYMENTS ….. If the Hubbers raised private funding of $2 million to have some skin in the game, then a $ 20 million bond would be needed. It may be possible to offer a 30 yr bond at a 3 1/2% interest rate.

This adds $12,331,000 to the project cost, and puts taxpayers on the hook for $32 MILLION DOLLARS.

What else has been glossed over? The wetlands issue, and the money needed to tame that. The location should be re-examined as kids would be best served by being able to walk to the building from school. We have 80 acres in that school complex. Also note that the plan is missing provisions for seniors exercise equipment.

Still missing: annual operating cost, estimated to be $800,000 per year.

The town taxpayers also face a steep increase on our state aid to education tax. Any realistic increase in that will cost the town millions annually. It is really time to rethink and refine this issue, and NOT pay out a blank check downpayment.

Editor’s Note: The “Hub” is the latest iteration from the Elites at a Taj Mahal of a “community center. They’ve been at it since GraniteGrok’s origination.

The post Dishonesty Reigns Supreme From The “Hub” Boosters Trying To Hide Their Boondoggle appeared first on Granite Grok.

The following is a speech that one of The Liberty Block’s team members would like to see Governor DeSantis deliver in response to Trump repeatedly referring to him as ‘Ron DeSanctimonious’...I’m sanctimonious about locking up criminals and removing Soros-backed prosecutors who refuse to protect the innocent. And I’m sanctimonious about anyone who unleashed those criminals and rogue prosecutors on the American people....

The post Is Ron DeSantis Sanctimonious? appeared first on The Liberty Block.

I was recently reading that the State of New Mexico has a bill going through its legislature to make chemical castration a condition of early release for pedophiles. The convicted pedo would have a choice of taking the injections or serving his entire sentence; the option is theirs.

  Not that I know much, if anything, about this treatment’s effectiveness or all of the bill’s details, but it sounds like a reasonable first step.

Reading more about this turns out that this is nothing new as ten other states (Alabama, Calif., Fla., Iowa, Georgia,  Louis., Montana, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin) all have this idea set in law.

Why not here in New Hampshire? It’s not like there aren’t enough perverts roaming around who could benefit from a dose or accountability. If any reader(s) would suggest this as part of a conviction sentence for repeat offenders, I couldn’t work up any strong argument against it.

Guess I just don’t have any compassion for these folks.

The post Why not NH? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial “beginning” of summer and the day we honor our war dead. It is deeply meaningful, especially in the lead-up to choosing a commander-in-chief, so we thought it an excellent time to run our first 2024 pre-primary presidential poll.

The “turnout” was decent, with over 20,000 votes cast for one of the ten names on our list of Republican Primary hopefuls.

As I noted in a previous update, Chris Sununu took an early lead – dominating the first few hours and the first few thousand votes, but it would not last. Vivek Ramaswamy surpassed him by Saturday morning and never looked back. Trump held on to second place for a while but was eventually eclipsed by Ron DeSantis.

No one else broke one percent.

We want to thank everyone who participated during the holiday weekend. There will be future polls to compare to this one as the political season heats up with the summer. Until then, here are the final results from our Memorial Day Weekend Presidential primary poll*.

 

 

*This is not a scientific poll.

 

 

The post ‘Grok GOP Presidential Primary Poll Results … appeared first on Granite Grok.

In the face of an impending impeachment vote, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton symbolizes unwavering conservatism and a relentless fighter for our values. The allegations and articles of impeachment brought against him by a politically motivated committee led by a handful of Republicans cannot overshadow his exceptional track record and dedication to upholding conservative principles.

Upholding Conservative Principles

Attorney General Ken Paxton has built a legacy based on his unwavering commitment to conservative principles. He has fearlessly taken on the grave issue of voter fraud, defending Texas against the federal government overreach and the foundation of our Republic. The Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Database, which documents 730 cases of voter fraud in Texas since 1979, attests to the importance of Paxton’s tireless efforts in safeguarding the electoral process. By prosecuting these cases, he ensures that every lawful vote counts and that our democratic values remain intact.

Children’s rights

Paxton’s office stance on categorizing sex-change operations and puberty blockers as “child abuse” under Texas law demonstrates his unwavering commitment to protecting our children. By advocating for responsible decision-making and safeguarding their innocence, he upholds the rights prioritizing parental rights and the well-being of our most vulnerable. As Texans, we must support Paxton in his efforts to defend our children and ensure their future is filled with hope, happiness, and the chance to grow into the individuals they were meant to be.

Unyielding Opposition to Federal Overreach

Attorney General Paxton’s well-publicized feuds with the federal government, both under the Obama and Biden administrations, epitomize his unwavering commitment to keeping Texans safe.  He is one of the most dynamic of the states’ attorneys general in opposing the unconstitutional overreach of the Biden administration. Paxton has boldly challenged policies that overstep the bounds of federal authority. His involvement in legal battles to scrutinize the 2020 presidential election results reflects his unwavering dedication to upholding the principles of democracy and ensuring that every legal vote is counted.

A person of his outstanding principles is urgently needed to continue the fight against Washington’s open border policy and unconstitutional vaccine mandates.

Unmasking the Motivations:

However, it is disheartening to witness a few unhinged Republicans spearheading this impeachment effort against Paxton. It raises questions about their true motivation and threatens to undermine the credibility of the Texas House. Are they blinded by personal vendettas or politically motivated? It is crucial to remember that the consequences of this deceitful impeachment attempt reach far beyond Paxton’s tenure. They taint the reputation of the Republican Party and cast doubt on its commitment to traditional values.

A Call to Action

In the face of these phony allegations, witch hunts, and innuendoes, let us not falter in supporting Attorney General Ken Paxton. Voters must rise to the occasion in defense of Ken Paxton. We, the Texans, elected him not once, not twice, but three times amidst these challenging times.

A Few Questions to Ask of Ourselves:

Is it not crucial to ensure that our pursuit of justice remains untainted by partisan interests? Will this sham of impeachment lose the credibility and unity of the Texas House and the Republican Party? Should we value the representation of these important perspectives outside our party? Can we afford to lose a strong advocate who has fearlessly fought against unconstitutional policies that threaten our liberties?

It is now imperative that we, true conservatives, pause and deeply reflect upon these probing questions. We must rise above the clamor of partisan politics and engage in thoughtful introspection. Let us explore the significance of these inquiries and seek the truth beneath the surface. Doing so can reaffirm our commitment to justice, integrity, and the law.

Conclusion:

The impeachment attempt against him, led by fellow Republicans, is a testament to the misguided actions of some within our party. We must rally behind Paxton, highlighting his exemplary record. As the impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton loom, a glaring truth emerges: this is another politically motivated fraud reminiscent of the baseless impeachment attempts against former President Trump. It is no coincidence that Paxton, hailed as one of the most conservative Attorney Generals Texas has ever seen, finds himself in the crosshairs of fellow Republicans who are determined to silence his unwavering support for President Trump. Tomorrow, they plan to orchestrate this impeachment charade. We ask the lawmakers to say no to this sham impeachment.

The post Unwavering Support for Attorney General Ken Paxton appeared first on Granite Grok.

Must read article at RealClearPolitics: A Lot Has To Change Quickly For Republicans To Have A Chance in 2024. Not what you want to hear, but you need to … AND TO “CHANGE QUICKLY” … if you don’t want 2024 to be a repeat of 2022 and 2020. Some highlights:

IGNORE THE POLLS because they grossly overstate GOP strength. Here is why:

Republican operatives …  just assume that everyone knows their view of the news: that President Joe Biden is “cognitively challenged”; the economy is in decline; the border is flooded daily by undocumented immigrants; that crime is destroying the nation’s once great and revered cities; that the U.S. appears weak and unprepared for future aggressions by major foes. … But the average voter doesn’t [because of media and big-tech bias and censorship].

Polls asking voters about issues provide conservatives with the appearance that their issues are important to voters as well as the foibles of Democrats. But most issue-oriented polling questionnaires assume that their respondents are aware and have an opinion on the matter. And respondents rarely want to confess that they haven’t a clue. Put that same respondent in an unaided survey where they must articulate the issues of the day and one will find that those opinions on most issues dissolve into a mishmash of general concepts and less definitive answers.

So, while the NHGOP blithely assumes most parents have been closely following the parental rights issue, the reality is that most only know what WMUR, NHPR, etc. have told them, which is heavily biased in favor of the Communists … oh! Sorry! Meant “Democrats.”

ELECTIONS SINCE 2020 HAVE BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE BALLOT-HARVESTING OR BALLOT-CHASING CONTESTS. The problem is that the GOP will NOT accept this reality:

The failure of the GOP to flood nursing homes, bingo halls, and mortuaries (OK, that one is a joke, of a sort) in search of voters willing to cast early ballots remains, as of today, unaddressed, And it really is an “existential threat” to the Republican leaders. They must come to understand that in our post-COVID era, the rules for who votes when and where, and under the aegis of “voter outreach,” has changed forever. Democrats know how to spend buckets of money to advance what could best be termed “selective democracy.” They know just how to bump against the line of what is allowed and what is not, should anyone with any authority and objectivity care.

While we do not have early voting in New Hampshire, there is no intelligent GOTV by the NHGOP. Sending a glossy mailer of Sun-King Sununu standing next to candidate-X is the equivalent of throwing money out the window, expect it’s worse than that … the money goes to some grifter operative.

There is a lot more to the article than I have highlighted. Definitely worth the few minutes it takes to read it.

 

 

 

The post Why Biden Is A Shoo-In For Reelection appeared first on Granite Grok.

They’re flying so thick and fast it is amazing.  Take heart – there will be a Meme Overflow and almost certainly a Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow.  Last week’s Overflow-Overflow.

 

 

Remember, ridicule and mockery are effective weapons:

1. Ridicule cannot easily be fought
2. Ridicule makes the enemy angry, and angry people make mistakes
3. For those in the “squishy middle” a Thought Splinter (and Part II and Part III and Part IV) can often be hidden inside humor.

Speaking of humor, two videos skewering the Covid narrative with comedy.

 

Why Weren’t We Allowed To Question The Covid Vaccines?

 

 

 

CNN Admits LYING About Joe Rogan & Ivermectin!

 

 

Now, let the mockery and mayhem begin.

 

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

 

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The question is not about stopping talking about it.  It’s how to fix it, when the system itself has a vested interest in it not being fixed.

 

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If they’re starting payouts, MHO is that they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.  They’re trying to set a precedent that they’ll pay you something to avoid actual lawsuits that would lead to discovery going through everything they knew, and when.  Do not doubt me when I say that receiving any payout from something like this has an iron-clad You can’t sue statement.  For example:

A Pfizer Document the FDA Tried to Hide Shows LNPs from COVID-19 Vaccine Travel Everywhere in the Body (substack.com)

As I read this, the data that the LNPs biodistribute was known in a document dated November 9, 2020.  This is before ANY EUA was issued.  Yet they openly claimed:

“Most of the mRNA vaccine stayed in the injection site muscle—where you get the shot.”

This constitutes fraud.  Blatant fraud.  Fraud vitiates everything.  All liability protections?  Poof.  So they need to get people to accept breadcrumbs and table scraps ASAP to forestall the lawsuits.  Remember where, among other places, the LNPs go: the OVARIES.

Could your ovaries… be deadvaries?

 

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Memorial Day Tribute – “Thank You”

 

 

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And thus the logical conclusion will be “Why buy a car at all”? Which I suspect is the point.

 

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What Is Intersectionality?

 

 

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Virtue Bullying

 

 

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Pick of the post:

 

 

My kids are well aware that even though we have a piece of paper called a DEED that says we own our property… in reality, due to property taxes, we only rent it from the state government.

 

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Monday Musical Memory:

 

Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon (Official Music Video)

 

 

Saw him in concert once.  High energy show!  No bats though.

 

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Palate Cleansers:

 

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—

 

The post MONDAY MEMES appeared first on Granite Grok.

The minimum wage costs jobs, especially entry-level positions that help teach the young and unskilled about working for a living, having pocket money, an income, basic personal budgets, spending, and even paying taxes.

Reformatted, emphasis mine:

Instapundit Teaser:

The push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in both Minneapolis and St. Paul has successfully boosted the average worker’s hourly pay in both cities, but it has also led to sharp drops in the numbers of available jobs and hours worked, new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has found. Many economists have reached similar conclusions about minimum wage increases in the past. Still, the size of the impacts the researchers measured — by comparing Minneapolis and St. Paul to data culled from other Minnesota cities from 2017 through 2021 — were eye-popping, especially in low-wage industries.

Ayup, just consider it Government picking winners and losers. And, of COURSE, “low-wage industries” were hit – those ARE the entry-level jobs that require little in the way of knowledge or training. They are low-wage because the economic output (e.g., the resulting product or service) is low-cost, needing only the lowest-skilled workers. I’m not an economist, but I can do the math – if a job costs an employer more than the economic output of that job, that job isn’t going to stick around very long.

MinnPost Abstract:

• The minimum wage increase led to 28% fewer retail jobs than researchers would’ve expected from a similar city during the same five-year period.
• Minneapolis also saw a 20% drop in hours worked and a 13% dip in aggregate worker earnings.
• Across St. Paul’s restaurant industry, the city’s 2018 minimum wage hike was responsible for drying up nearly one-third of available jobs.
• In “limited-service” (fast food) restaurants, both hours and earnings fell by more than half after the increase took effect.
• Across all industries, both cities saw hourly wages increase by an average of less than 1% and a roughly 2% drop in the number of jobs.
• The wage hikes accounted for the loss of an estimated 5,000 jobs in Minneapolis and another 3,800 jobs that dried up in St. Paul, Nath said in an interview.

A couple of lines caught my eye:

“Somebody who loses their job because of a minimum wage increase is going to find another job,” said UC Berkeley economist Michael Reich. “Probably not right away, they’re going to work fewer weeks per year — but they’re not going to be permanently unemployed.”

Well, that’s some condescending solace for the guy or gal that gets a pink slip – a lower standard of living. You’ll be working but poorer for it. And, of course, the economic ideological illiteracy is strong in this one:

“We need to always make sure the workers … are being paid wages that ensure their families can thrive,” said the AFL-CIO’s Burnham, “which is why we continue to be champions for raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation across the state.”

Excepting for the moment a severe recession or depression when any job is a boat in a roiling sea (been there, done that), minimum wages were NEVER supposed to “support a family”, especially with just one wage earner. Remember, it’s a floor, not a ceiling. Upskill yourself – sure, hard work to make it work, but help is there.

I am against minimum wage demands by Government. Look around, still, and see all the employers looking for workers. I doubt, as I drive around seeing help-wanted signs at the burger joints (for instance), anyone is offering minimum wage wages. The Free Market, built on supply and demand, has shot wages for even burger flippers past the old SEIU “Fight for $15” – the lowest I see is $16 and up (generally more up than $16).

The government, via the Pandemic’s policy of “getting paid to stay home,” ignited that “minimum wage by other means,” and it is still going strong for those who want the jobs. But there is a limit.

 

(H/T: MinnPost via Instapundit)

The post Proving Once Again That a Minimum Wage Costs Jobs appeared first on Granite Grok.

We honor the brave men and women that gave their lives to protect our freedom. May we always be vigilant and worthy of their sacrifice?

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

Please watch this video: A 100-Year-Old WWII Vet Issues Shocking WARNING To America:

 

 

Is he right? Should he worry?  I believe in America, and I refuse to believe its people are less resilient than those that came before them.  However, we must all commit ourselves to live up to the promise of the American ideal.   Never give up!  The best way to honor our fallen heroes is to carry the torch of freedom from one generation to the next.  Our heroes DID NOT die in vain.

35 Years in America

On May 11, 35 years ago, I left Communist China and arrived in Austin, TX. After a 23-hour trip with two stops, and after having gone through years of tyranny, poverty, oppression, and indoctrination, I was very excited and happy I finally made it to America, “The Land of Free, The Home of Brave.”

I did not have much when I arrived. I was skinny and weighed only 98 pounds. I had few possessions and only $100 in my pocket that I borrowed from friends and over $1200 in debt to my US sponsor for air ticket and graduate school fees. I could not speak English fluently, but I was determined to work hard to achieve my American Dream.

Today, I am living the American dream: I have a loving husband (whom I met on the first day), three great kids, and three home businesses, and I live in the Granite State and travel around the world.

I am so blessed in this country, and I am forever grateful.  I think America still holds the same promise for people who come here for freedom!

Here is a picture of me arriving at Austin’s airport on Twitter:

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