Monday • November 25 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XLVIII
Manchester, N.H.
But what about the OTHER paying customer that is having THEIR seat taken up by you? Chopped liver? At 5’11”, my heaviest weight was 257 lbs with a 48″ (or more) waist. My BMI, at 35.8 put me into the Obese category. I am at 182 lbs (at the time of this writing – remember, I’m in a Weight Challenge with GIP’s Tom Murray), and my BMI is now 25.4.
According to the chart, that makes just a smidge over Normal Weight.
(H/T: Legion Athletics)
Once I hit my goal of 178 lbs, I’ll be “Normal” (take THAT how you want!) and close to the weight I was in college 50 years ago. Yes, I will have to admit, my body composition is a lot different now – back then, much more muscle mass. But still, 80 lbs down.
That’s why I have so much trouble with this (reformatted, emphasis mine):
Plus-Sized Influencer Tells Airlines to Give Obese Flyers Free Seats
Jaelyn Chaney, a plus-sized social media influencer, has called for airlines to give obese flyers as many free seats as they need to feel comfortable.
…“Being forced to occupy only one seat can result in pain and vulnerability to poor treatment from fellow passengers, including hateful comments, disapproving looks, and even refusal to sit next to them,” she wrote. “This mistreatment of plus-size passengers is unacceptable, and it highlights the urgent need for better policies that protect the dignity and rights of all passengers, regardless of size.”
“Unfortunately, plus-size passengers often experience discomfort and discrimination when flying. The lack of a uniform customer-of-size airline policy is unacceptable and must be addressed,” she added.
Always about “rights” and never about “responsibility.” Sure thing, honey (that should get me some feedback). Love that “hateful comments” schtick – across all of Society now. No one can be criticized for anything, no matter what it is: it’s “hateful.” Sorry, if you are fat, you’re fat (and yes, I was fat – see above). This kind of thinking is exactly the same as Transgenderism in that all of US are supposed to cater to YOU because, hey, the universe is all about YOU, and the rest of us just orbit about your feelings and self-esteem. And it’s clear from her whining that she really doesn’t worry about the other “paying” customers – they are Oppressors, and she’s the Oppressed.
Victimization writ large.
Er, no. No, it’s not discrimination, and it isn’t racist just because you want to normalize your obesity or by calling it “Fat Acceptance.” No, this is not how Life works in that some individual “declares” the rest of us are evil, and we have to “pay fat reparations” (see, I can make crap up too!) to someone that ignores…
Sidenote: there ARE people with metabolic issues and diseases that are large that are not their fault at all. I know that, for instance, some anti-depression meds et al. can pack on the pounds even as that person is trying HARD not to gain weight. And there are some genetic abnormalities that play a role in weight gain as well. I don’t know if this person is one of them. If so, sorry, but there are other “fat influencers” that are doing the same thing (I’ve got more tabbed somewhere).
…that simple mathematical equation of “Weight = Calorie Intake – Calorie Expended.” Eat more than you burn off, and gain weight. For the same input, exercising more, in general, have you losing weight or inches (again, muscle weight replacing fat weight). Less input, especially for sedentary people (that would be me), means dropping the pounds.
Sorry, the push to “accept and then affirm” anything and everything has gotten out of hand. No, being fat is NOT healthy in the aggregate as it raises the possibilities of severe diseases like hypertension and diabetes tremendously, no matter what “the influencers” want us to believe and then live by.
And to speak to that “refusal to sit next to them” above, I personally know why having flown over 500K air miles in my career. It was not a pleasant long-haul flight with someone LARGE spilling over the armrests forcing me to sit at an odd angle all those hours. And, truth be told, many had body odor (and yes, so did some skinny people, too, but the possibility was higher with huge people). However, according to you, that’s just the “cracked egg” for your omelet, eh?
And just like all the other “marginalized groups” (I can’t believe that I’m using the euphemism for “small groups” for a large post), she has to make herself into a victim (addressing the bolded part below) and pulls out the “Emotion Card”:
Chaney previously chronicled her struggles while flying on Instagram. In one post, for instance, she said that people “can’t stand to see fat people happy” and strongly encouraged plus-sized followers to “be happy and take up space.”
“Go out and chase your dreams! Love your body exactly the way it is. Travel the world. Use life as a runway and strut your stuff no matter where you are. You are worthy of all the good things,” she said.
Perhaps. But like all the other “Social Justice” brands out there, you are not entitled to feel good about yourself by making other people miserable.
The post People and Organizations Should NOT Be Forced To Cater To Fat People appeared first on Granite Grok.
Within the debate over the meaning of the Second Amendment, a lot of attention gets paid to the phrase “well-regulated militia.” Most of the time, the focus is on whether or not this phrase infers a collective right, or explains the need for the individual right to keep and bear arms.
What is often left out completely is whether a “well-regulated” militia is needed today as it was then.
In his 2023 paper The Modern Militia, Robert Leider argues in the affirmative. Rather than an obsolete institution outdated by changes to the federal government or the expansion of the U.S. military, Leider asserts that reemphasizing a nonprofessional citizen militia can help ease tensions between the professional military and civilian world, and also help the federal government as it faces an inevitable fiscal crisis.
“Most now view the standing army as central to our military system and the militia as anachronistic and largely extinct,” he writes. “Further, most believe that contemporary American society has jettisoned the Framers’ fears of standing armies.”
During the time of the American Revolution, all colonies except Pennsylvania required able-bodied men between 18 and 65 to be part of a local militia and show up to muster with functioning firearms.
Following the War for Independence, and during the debates over ratification of the Constitution, the issue of a permanent standing army was a source of enormous friction between Federalists and Antifederalists.
Their fears weren’t just based on what had occurred in other countries. The Continental Congress itself had almost faced a coup d’etat at the end of the war via the Newburgh Conspiracy. Officers of the Continental Army planned to march against Congress and force them to issue their back pay. Only an earnest plea by General George Washington convinced the conspirators to abandon their plans.
However, Leider notes the issue during the constitutional ratifying conventions wasn’t merely a national army, but a “professional” force of full-time soldiers who lacked roots, often came from the “dregs” of society, and who were subject to military rather than civilian law. As Leider writes:
“The militia, in contrast, largely avoided the armed faction problem. As nonprofessional citizen soldiers, militiamen were not culturally separate. Militiamen primarily lived as civilians. They had extensive ties to the community, including owning property, civilian employment, and families. Nor were they a legally distinct caste. Unlike regular soldiers who were subject to military law at all times, militiamen were only subject to the rigors of military law during war or in training. Otherwise, militiamen lived as ordinary civilians, subject only to civilian law and retaining their full civilian common law rights. Moreover, the general militia consisted of the entire able-bodied male population. Because the militia maintained an identity with the broader community, the militia was not its own faction within society.”
As Leider points out, for Antifederalists like Patrick Henry and George Mason, a national standing army would subvert the role local militia plays in maintaining domestic civil order.
“Nonprofessional soldiers reduce civil-military tensions by acting as a bridge between civilians living in a free and individualistic society and professional soldiers, who live under the hierarchal and anti-democratic constraints imposed by military law.”
Despite what some may claim about its irrelevancy, Leider says this distinction between the U.S. military and the state National Guard remains to this day.
“The Framers did not trust the regular military to engage in domestic law enforcement, and neither do we. This is why, on and after January 6, the National Guard provided extra security at the Capitol, not the Marines from Quantico.”
Leider argues that professional and nonprofessional soldiers are differentiated based on various criteria, including:
Put simply, the two entities are separate, unique, and fundamentally different in their respective roles.
“As two different military systems, standing armies and militias have different strengths and weaknesses,” Leider writes. “For example, standing armies are usually more proficient in warfare than citizens called into temporary militia service. But standing armies are also expensive to maintain, and they can threaten the supremacy of civilian government.”
He adds:
“By the time of the Constitutional Convention…The question was how to strengthen the military system without risking oppression or undermining civilian government. Ultimately, efforts to limit the size of the standing army were rejected. The Constitution left the size and economic burden of the army to Congress.”
The major distinction between the standing army and a militia was its “professionalism.” This term didn’t refer to its conduct, but the profession of its members.
Was this their primary occupation, or was it a role they served on the side apart from other duties? A national army was more likely to be the former, while it was even more probable local forces would be nonprofessional, because the states had even less money to maintain an army of full-time soldiers. Leider explains:
“Collective-rights theorists, thus, treat these Framing-era military debates as though they pitted a national army against a state militia. These arguments might see some trees, but they miss the forest. The Anti-Federalists were not primarily objecting that the federal government might weaken state governments by disarming state militaries. Instead, their principal concern was that the Constitution created a military structure that would endanger civil liberty.
“This is why many state constitutions had admonitions against the maintenance of standing armies. These state constitutional provisions, some of which predate even the Articles of Confederation, were warning against the dangers of professional troops, not national troops. Professional armies employed by state governments were understood to be even more dangerous than a national standing army. Many Framers’ ultimate fear was that regular forces would usurp the authority of the popularly elected government, either on their own authority or in the service of an unprincipled executive officer.” [Emphasis added]
Many framers ultimately feared that regular military forces would usurp the authority of the popularly elected government, either on their own authority or in the service of an unprincipled executive officer.
Leider ironically notes that while collective rights and individual rights groups disagree over the meaning of the Second Amendment, they typically share two fundamental views: one is that the National Guard is part of a “standing army,” and that a permanent army should not be feared the way the founders did.
However, Leider disagrees with this assessment.
“Concerns about how standing armies interact with democratic governments are not bygone relics of eighteenth-century political thought. In some form, the civilian-military gap continues to exist today, even though its precise scope may be debatable.”
In fact, Leider sees a transition toward a nonprofessional army as a way for the country to get out of its financial straits. He writes:
“The country is over $30 trillion in debt, with much more in future unfunded liabilities. Eventually, the United States will need to cut federal spending, and undoubtedly, part of those cuts will come from the military budget. As our ability to pay and provide benefits for troops declines, we will have to reduce the size of our forces.
“Because of fiscal pressures, vibrant nonprofessional forces will likely remain a crucial part of the American military establishment for generations to come. These nonprofessional forces are not standing armies, and they should not be legally understood as such. It is time that we reinvigorate the legal study of the militia by recognizing the militia for what it is: military forces comprised of nonprofessional citizen-soldiers, distinguished from a regular army of full-time, professional troops.”
TJ Martinell | The Tenth Amendment Center
The post The Militia vs. The Standing Army: Does the Distinction Matter? appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Okeefe Media Group (OMG) continues to give the swamp palpitations as James refuses to lay down and go away. In their most recent breaking story, Luke Borwegan, the special assistant to Sen. John Fetterman, got caught admitting something that just seems obvious to me.
According to the release,
Special Assistant Luke Borwegan who is not only the primary aid to the Senator, but is also tasked with holding the iPad for his reading abilities and according to Borwegan is the one who has to follow him around at all times.
Luke tells the journalist that Fetterman would “be okay with overturning the second amendment.”
Borwegan’s job is to shadow the Senator everywhere with the magic iPad that somehow gets information into and out of John Fetterman. It is safe to say he knows whatever passes for the Senator’s mind.
Borwegan willingly shares how that works with the OMG undercover asset and how they control messaging about Senator Fetterman. Controlled until the OMG got their inside story, and you have to wonder if Luke is looking for a new job.
Here’s the amusing 8+ minute expose.
The Real John Fetterman Part I
The post Sen. John Fetterman (D – PA) is Probably Okay With Overturning the Second Amendment appeared first on Granite Grok.
Disney, Bud Light, Target and other big corporations pushing WOKE down their customers’ throats are reeling because their customers are abandoning them. But Sun-King Sununu … who claims to be a “free market” guy … is NOT happy.
He went on the VIEW yesterday and got a pat on the head from the cackling hyenas for telling the Right that they need to stop resisting … that they need to surrender. What a TOTAL LOSER … what a corporate shill … the mighty Sun-King is:
I have no idea whether the mighty Sun-King even drinks beer … but if he does I will bet you it is Bud Light … and from a wine-glass with his pinky-extended …while streaming Disney+.
The post Sun-King Sununu’s Goes On The View And Tells The Right … “SURRENDER” appeared first on Granite Grok.
You’ve heard of Boston Strong. It was an inspiration in the weeks after the Boston Bombing but got tired after a few years from overuse. Well, I’m here to introduce you to something you’ll get tired of but can never escape. Vermont Stupid.
Not all Vermonters, or even the state, or its history, which was impressive until the radical Leftists took over. But there is stupid, and it burns. I’ve covered a few examples in the past, like adopting California’s climate standards, but this – and it is related to that – is an impressive display of ignorance, given other stated priorities.
Vermont is committed to not just a 100% Electric Vehicle future but electric heat as well. Electric everything. Have you ever been to Vermont? Despite 40 years of caterwauling about cataclysmic warming – the alleged reason for all this electrification – it gets damn cold there half the year. You’ll need heat: electric heat and lots of it. Plus cars, plus everything already sucking off the grid.
Vermont will need a lot more electricity to go all-electric as planned, but Vermont isn’t building nuclear energy plants or clean coal or adding more natural gas or hydro. Their future is wind and sunshine. Solar and wind farms. In a world where all their neighbors except New Hampshire think the same thing. The whole Northeast is blistering its lips on the same cruddy green global warming crack pipe.
The problem with wind and solar is that after almost as many decades, neither is efficient nor reliable, so you need lots of them everywhere you can find room. I made a joke last week about it when someone in Vermont recognized the 55th anniversary of banning roadside billboards. They clutter up the scenery, you see, except you won’t see because they can’t get near net zero without putting wind and solar farms all over the scenery.
And while that’s a great reason to start using the term Vermont Stupid, this elevates it to new levels. H.126 is a conservation bill whose goal is to conserve 50% of all the land in the state by 2050. Half of Vermont is to be classified as protected wilderness, on which, I surmise, you will be unable to place wind or solar farms. That leaves the other half to carry the wind and solar burden, and I don’t think that will work unless they have a plan to reduce the population, and legalized assisted suicide (which they have) isn’t going to cut it.
On top of that, Vermont Democrats are adding bodies (illegals) while whining about a housing shortage, all of which is added resource stress.
Vermont Stupid!
Vermont is not alone. We have stupid Democrats in New Hampshire scrabbling to ruin what’s left of our advantage because we are surrounded by states run by Dems, and they all think the same stupid way. We need more housing, but oh no, resource stress, and dammit, we must go all-electric. It’s not a good look because you must be stupid – or perhaps a kinder word is ignorant – to continue elevating these assh*les. Talk about assisted suicide!
And for the record, there are concerns about H.126, but this is not one of them.
So how does the state achieve its stated carbon reduction goals if half the land mass is off-limits and locked up as conservation land? As long as tax dollars get laundered into the hands of Climate Cult friends and family, who donate some to Left-Wing causes and candidates, they’ll keep trying. You are, after all, the carbon they are trying to reduce.
HT | WCAX
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I used to watch NASCAR races fairly regularly – and TMEW even more often and with more intensity (She was an avid Jimmy Johnson fan). Nowadays, since the head honchos decided to go Woke, I stopped watching, just like with professional football and basketball.
They used to be escapist treats from the rest of my week – sermonizing is not what I wanted to hear about why I was a rotten person for not hewing to their Leftist agenda. I stopped for a few years but have restarted – but only “dipping in” to watch crashes. Thanks to the “New NASCAR” car construction, hardly anyone gets injured – so “BANG! and walk away” is just fine by me.
The below, however, isn’t NASCAR – and isn’t Indy car racing as well. I consider Formula One racing the European version of Indy Cars but they took a different fork in the road by developing VERY technically oriented racing telemetry and other tech well before NASCAR decided that just BiG V8s were sufficient. While NASCAR pit crews, VERY skilled AND athletic members, are fast, this is absolutely next level where tech has architected both the cars’ wheels AND the tire tools just leave NASCAR crews behind (and yes, it doesn’t hurt that instead of having to “jump the wall,” Formula One crews are the bread waiting for the car to drive up to complete the sandwich.
Note: If the video does not appear in your browser, you can watch it here.
This world record 1.82 second pit stop in Formula One.
by u/sedafarout in nextfuckinglevel
Yes, a world record of 1.82 seconds from stop to go. Heck, I can’t even bend down that fast anymore!
The post Palate Cleanser – World Record 1.82 Second Formula One Pit Stop! (Wow!) appeared first on Granite Grok.
One of the marks of the weakness in Washington is Cuba’s expansion of ties with Russia. Back in the Kennedy administration, we went to the brink of nuclear war with Russia over this relationship.
Well, Cuba is offering to lease land to Russian companies for 30 years, a noteworthy concession for the Cuban government to give to a foreign investor. This came out this week during a meeting between the regimes.
The “head of the Russian delegation of the Cuban-Russian Business Committee” is Boris Titov. He “told a businessmen’s forum in Havana the Cuban regime decisively opened the door to investment,” per reporting by Reuters.
Titov said Cuba will: Exempt Russian companies from certain import tariffs. Allow the Russians to repatriate their profits. And he suggests the regimes are analyzing possibly returning to a direct maritime and port link.
Trade between Cuba and Russia was about $450 million in 2022, triple that of 2021, this is according to Russia’s trade representative in Cuba. 90% of that trade was petroleum products and soybean oil. Cuba is mired in an economic morass and has been unable to resolve its situation.
The Russian Deputy Prime Minister was also in Cuba to strengthen the strategic ties between the countries; this is according to Prensa Latina. Chernyshenko came to meet with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is sucking up to Vladimir Putin.
Miguel Díaz-Canel points out that “the presence of the Kremlin’s economic adviser gives continuity to the high-level visits from Russia. He observes the Kremlin Putin has an enormous sensitivity towards Cuban problems.”
Recently the Russian foreign minister and the president of the State Duma traveled to Cuba. Earlier, the secretary of the Security Council and the CEO of the state oil company Rosneft traveled to Havana.
Díaz-Canel is turning to Russia for support. “Havana is aligned with Moscow in the international arena, including the Russian confrontation with the West.” He visited Russia in December 2022. He has condemned the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant issued for the head of the Kremlin.
HT | Foreign Desk News
The post Cuba is Getting Cozy With Russia Under Biden’s Nose appeared first on Granite Grok.
It is getting increasingly difficult to discuss current events with Liberal friends or relatives. It is frustrating to see how ignorant the Left is to current events, and when you try to engage on the facts, they have no choice but to deflect because they have no grasp of the details.
It is impossible to opine about a situation if you are entirely in the dark. But that does not stop Liberals. An example is the Jim Comer report from the Oversight Committee that produced evidence of $10 Million deposited indirectly into Biden family personal accounts by the Chinese and Romanian governments. Since the mainstream media gave the press conference zero minutes of air time, anyone who relies on their news from MSM is insulated from this story. This scenario often repeats with any negative information about the Bidens or Democrats.
For all of Biden’s term, FOX News has been reporting from the Border showing incontrovertible video evidence of the legions of illegal migrants crossing into our country. No other media company has reported from the Border. Therefore folks on the Left are left to believe the constant lies from Secretary Mayorkas that the Border is secure.
Look at the rhetoric that spews daily from The View. There is hope when you look at the numbers. There are over 300,000 people who have discovered that they can survive each day without the hour of hate, cynicism, and racism that is “The View.” Though the viewership has declined more than any daytime show over the last two years, it is still the number one show, with 2.3 million folks needing our help. These folks are subjected to the swill of anger that is the barometer of just how off-base the Left can be. This round table discussion gives the rest of us a look into the heartless soul of the far Left, and it is not a very good sight.
Just this week, The View turned on Tim Scott immediately after announcing his presidential candidacy. Whoopi Goldberg and Sonny Hoptin, both Black, attacked Scott’s story of success going from Cotton to Congress in his Grandfather’s lifetime. Scott’s story is one of positivity and hope, but both of these ladies squashed it saying Scott’s belief that all could enjoy this success was naive.
Vanity Fair commented on the Ron DeSantis Presidential announcement yesterday. They said that DeSantis chose to make his announcement with Elon Musk on Twitter because David Duke was unavailable. There was no justification for this vile comment. Vanity Fair must have forgotten the close relationship between Joe Biden and the late Senator Robert Byrd, a Grand Wizard in the KKK—a case of convenient memory lapse.
It is very frustrating. It is tantamount to going to a baseball game with someone without a clue about the game. Joe Biden won the Presidency in 2020 by avoiding the facts and hiding from the press. Thanks to the Pandemic, it worked once, but it cannot work a second time. We must keep writing, talking, and educating the sheltered and ignorant. This effort is our only chance of negating the collusion between the Left and MSM.
The post They Cannot Discuss or Defend Reality appeared first on Granite Grok.
After years of conflict and turmoil between the two racially motivated institutions the NAACP and White Supremacists have found common ground. In a stunning turn of events the NAACP recently announced it is awarding the National White Supremacy Movement for Outstanding Efforts In Diversity thanks to several unlikely heroes.
2021 saw the Los Angeles Times acknowledge the gubernatorial campaign run by Larry Elder out of California for its unique spin in the culture. Elder, described by his liberal California neighbors as a “very, very black man” was dubbed by the local newspaper “The Black Face of White Supremacy” which shocked many throughout the Golden State and rest of the country for the sheer oxymoronic nature of the claim. Little did they know that White Supremacy was getting a face-lift.
Bananas Media reached out to long-time black white supremacist Clayton Bigsby for comment.
“People need to understand if white supremacy is going to have a chance it needs to start including black folks.” Bigsby noted that the numbers of actual white supremacists have been dwindling since their hey-days in the early 1900s. “White supremacists have a long standing tradition of creating job opportunities for the community. Colleges are pumping out DEI coordinators like white babies in Utah, so we need to give them something to focus on. If white supremacy is going to survive it needs to be open and inclusive of blacks” Bigsby said to the applause of long-time racist experts Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Bono and David Duke. Bono then led them in a singing of “We Are the World” and Bigsby’s personal favorite, “Ebony and Ivory”.
Also of note were the recent additions to the global White Supremacist movement, the Latinos, who were recognized for the recent contribution thanks to Mauricio Garcia who expressed his love for the white race by shooting eight random people at a mall in Texas, including two Asians, one East Indian, a fellow Latino, a mostly white French-Euro man and two Latino children. Though the motive for the shooting was clearly White Supremacy, spokesmen for N.O.W. (National Organization for Weed) Cheech and Chong thanked Garcia for his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and behalf of the larger Latino community. Muay bueno blancos!
In another victory for White Supremacy 19 year-old Sai Varshith Kandula rented a U-haul in order to drive it to what he considered the most obvious place to find a fellow white supremacist, the White House. Citing disappointment to discover Joe Biden, despite his pasty eastern liberal countenance, was in fact black, Kandula drove the rented truck into the gated community before exiting the vehicle and carefully unfurling a bright red Nazi flag to give credit where credit is due, and several fans and media outlets the perfect photo-op. Fellow Nazi Ben Shapiro praised the young man for his enthusiasm in support of movement as well as U-haul for their history of leadership in the trans movement after which he reminded listeners to buy his book The Authoritarian Moment.
Shapiro’s alma mater Harvard, along with Yale and several Ivy League colleges issued a statement acknowledging the need for White Supremacy to re-consider allowing Asians into the movement out of fear they might succeed at too great a rate thus keeping African American White Supremacists on the margins. Speaking on behalf of the marginalized, nine-time New York Times best-selling author Ibram X Kendi reminded the press with his ubiquitous proverb “the only remedy to past racism is future racism”. Word to your mother.
Finally, the Black Panthers, in an effort to keep pace with their racist counterparts, have announced their new spokesman for the 2023 season will be Anderson Cooper.
(Editor’s note: At the time of print of this article the NAACP still has a travel warning for black people looking to visit Florida.)
The post Bananas: NAACP Honors White Supremacists for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion appeared first on Granite Grok.
Memorial Day Weekend 2023 has arrived, summer is coming, and the 2024 Republican Primary race is getting crowded and primaries closer. Not everyone who might run has announced, but we want to know who you’d vote for if the primary were held today.
ICYMI: Target Share Price “Transitioning” Toward 52-Week Low
The LandscapeYesterday, Emerson had Trump at +62 over DeSantis in Iowa, but Cygnal shows Trump at +7 in the state.
In the last New Hampshire Poll (May 18th), Trump’s average puts him 18 points ahead of Gov. DeSantis and 26.7 points ahead of NH Gov. Chris Sununu.
You’ve got one vote and ten names. If you could vote in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary today, who would you pick to run in the 2024 Presidential election?
Names are listed below based on Real Clear Politics’ most recent NH Poll averages.
Poll runs until Sunday, May 28th at 11:59 pm. The results will be published Monday Morning (Memorial Day).
If the Republican Presidential Primary Were Today for Whom Would You Vote?
The post ‘Grok Memorial Day Weekend Presidential Primary Poll appeared first on Granite Grok.
The hearing before the NH Legislative Ethics Committee is today at 1:30 pm in Room 104 of the Legislative Office Building. This is my brief testimony before the Committee (I only have a scant few minutes to speak).
It is lightly edited here for formatting (blogging is not the same as giving a speech). Note: The first two Reps waived their Confidentiality so that I can reference them by name; the third has not (the Jane/John Doe).
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the NH Legislative Ethics Committee.
Let me start with this abstracted quote from Cdr. Salamander (a retired Naval Officer) lamenting about the sad state of affairs the country is in; I thought it apt (lightly edited) as it summarizes much of what this hearing is about:
Abandonment
If there is a characteristic of the last few years; it is abandonment. Abandonment, either of duties, friends, families, or of principles, was once seen as a disgrace and a blight on one’s honor. Now? I don’t think so.
We abandoned thousands, really tens of thousands, of American citizens, family members, and allies in Afghanistan. Recently we abandoned almost as many in Sudan.
After a news cycle or two, the press loses interest. Our politicians – or at least most of them – move on.
The fault is not so much our government or civil society, but really, it is all of us; our fault.
We allow this abandonment – this disregard for ethics, this amoral failure of responsibility to protect and honor our word – to stand up for unwritten agreements.
Abandonment breaks the bonds of stewardship that binds a society together.
We fail the fundamentals – and then wonder why we cannot execute anything effectively. We shrug at dishonor, and then wonder where the quality of civil society went.
No one in power is challenged. No one is held accountable … unless it fits a certain agenda.
Let me add to that: abandonment of honor, of courage, of loyalty, of honesty, of duty, of promises…and of oaths that are the embodiment of all of those attributes, and more.
Oaths seemingly mean nothing nowadays; they are merely a string of words that are mandatory to say in order to assume the seat that We, the People, have put our elected Representatives—a mere formality never to be referenced again by those saying it. I have watched many ignore those words already.
I’m betting that many who say the words now could easily be convinced that they could be abandoned, cast aside, just as easily as they say that the Constitution is ancient and meant for a time that no longer exists (btw, I happen to heartily disagree with that notion). It does seem that many certainly forget their oaths as soon as it is said. Why?
It would remove what an oath by elected representatives is supposed to culminate in:
Accountability.
The promise and plea to constituents – “hold me responsible to my promise to you, my oath to you, at ALL times”.
That is the summary of why I brought these complaints – this old-fashioned belief that such things should matter but to others, just as quaint as a stroll in a park in Victorian finery.
In all three complaints, who is willing to hold them accountable to their promises to faithfully adhere to the plain black-and-white text of the written Law and demonstrate fealty to the Law not just in action but as a matter of the heart?
Sadly, there has been no mass uprising – apathy and lack of knowledge/awareness reign. However, I hope that once again, here in New Hampshire, one person can be that difference.
Sadly, all three abandoned the oaths and promises to strictly Follow the Law. They willingly broke their oaths to us all. Worse, they broke the Trust that we expect. We should not, cannot, adopt a lesser standard of measure for them simply because “well, it’s politics” – the bigotry of low expectations from those that are supposed to be Servant Leaders.
Yet, that is what they have done.
In each complaint, I have provided both the several violations and examples thereof. While they are summary in form, I can tell you that far more supporting detail is available on GraniteGrok. Videos were often embedded in those posts showing their actions and words as acts of accountability; you can hear their own words and watch their own actions without me being a filter.
There are also additional videos backing up these assertions on the GraniteGrok YouTube Channel. Full recordings of Delegation meetings (with one notable Budget Subcommittee exception) are also on Belknap County’s Video On Demand / Lakes Region Public Access.
Good government is one that is open and transparent and whose procedures can be known and followed by the Public. We in NH deserve nothing less – but that is what occurred. In NH, the latter is proscribed in statute – it is lost when the Law is ignored.
All three Representatives were warned by more experienced ones and others (like me) that they were in the wrong. They willfully disregarded the Laws that proscribe the mandatory actions expected of them. This should not, CAN not, be tolerated.
In reviewing each complaint, I ask that the Committee either remove them from office for such blatant disregard to their oaths in:
…faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties incumbent on me as STATE REPRESENTATIVE according to the best of my abilities, agreeably to the rules and regulations of this constitution and laws of the state of New Hampshire.”
They decided to fail.
Failing to come to such a conclusion of removal, I ask that you advance a censor finding. In the positions of leadership they sought comes the responsibility to study, learn, and inculcate such laws that govern them. They ignored them.
I know that as an SB2 Budget Committee member, once elected, I made sure to study all the Laws governing Budget Committees as well as Municipal budgets, School District, and Water District budget processes.
If I held myself to such a high standard to show good faith to those that voted for me, shouldn’t I then be able to hold my elected Representatives to that same standard with respect to the Delegation (RSA 91-A and RSA 24:9-c,d)?
That is, simply, to “Follow the Law”?
Thank you for your service and time in protecting the reputation and dignity of the NH Legislature.
Is there any question that I can answer at this time?
The post Legislative Ethics Committee: Testimony Against Three NH State Reps: Harry Bean, Travis O’Hara, (and Jane Doe?) appeared first on Granite Grok.
Maine won’t have to change their state motto, but it might need to clarify its nuance. It is “Dirigo,” Latin for I direct, or I lead, and they are leading and directing … religious groups to sue them for violating their First Amendment Rights.
Related: If a $500 Mill Religious Exemption Settlement is a Wake-Up Call to Employers, How About States Like Maine?
Maine: I Lead the assault on the First Amendment! And, as it turns out, to get rebuffed.
Last June (2022), The US Supreme Court, in Carson v. Makin, decided that Maine’s tuitioning program for school-aged kids violated the Free Exercise Clause of the US Constitution.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that while “a state need not subsidize private education” that “once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”
“Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment,” Roberts wrote. “Regardless of how the benefit and restriction are described, the program operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise.”
Roberts said that the program “effectively penalizes the free exercise” of religion by doling out benefits based upon whether a school is religious.
Your government is not obligated to offer tuition assistance that could end up in the hands of a private institution, but if it does, it cannot discriminate based on creed. The Board members of the Hermon School Department in Maine must have missed the memo.
The school rents out space on short-term leases. The lease form “does not include any questions about the organization’s beliefs.” But when the School Committee got their hands on an application from The Pines Church, they began asking questions. “Superintendent Micah Grant and a member of the Hermon school board asked pointed questions about the church’s positions on “issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Chris McLaughlin, a school board member who includes personal pronouns in his signature, wrote that he “wanted to get a better sense of how The Pines Church approaches issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion and around their messaging around some key issues relevant to marginalized communities.”
He asked, “Is The Pines Church receptive of same-sex marriages? Do they consider marriage only to be between 1 man and 1 woman?”
He also requested information on the church’s positions on “access to safe and affordable abortion,” “access to gender-affirming medical care,” “conversion therapy for LGBTQIA+ individuals (youth and adults),” and “inclusive sexual education and access to birth control for youth.”
Does the Hermon school conduct same-sex marriages, abortions, or genre-affirming medical procedures? Did they ask these questions of “Black Bear Basketball, Hermon Recreation, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and various baseball groups” who have or are leasing space at the school?
Superintendent Grant. Doesn’t your inquiry, in its intelligent design, establish a religious test (which is unlawful) to exclude a person or group from a public facility based on their religious beliefs? Nothing diverse or equitable about that, but it fits the mandate. DEI is a loyalty test or oath to a partisan political worldview. Taken on the same terms as any other belief system, its goal is the homogenization of the cultural faith of Humanism. A view to which you are entitled but one that cannot serve as a litmus if it runs afoul of the establishment clause.
I know that’s not exactly true. Secular Humanism undergirds much of the progressive worldview, but it is not recognized as a belief system in the same way as Judaism or Christianity. If it were, there would be a wall of separation problem for the Left. Abandon your proselytizing or admit that the Danbury Baptist letter was private correspondence and not legal precedent.
And even then, you should probably acknowledge your bastardization of the alleged precedent.
Jefferson was clear. The Federal Government had no business interfering with state or local rights about matters of faith, which would be good and bad for the progressives running the Hermon School Department. On the one hand, the Feds could not force the school to rent the space in deference to its humanist beliefs if supported by state law. On the other, the fourteenth amendment enjoins the Bill of Rights to prevent states from violating it at the state and local level, at least as far as the next Judge is willing to interpret them.
Regardless of how you spin it, there’s still a contradiction you can’t escape. What exactly is equitable or inclusive about exclusion on any terms?
HT | The Daily Signal
The post Is Maine Where Religious Tests Go to Die appeared first on Granite Grok.
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!
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In honor of this coming Memorial Day (and wanting it in peoples’ minds beforehand), I want to thank all those who gave that full measure of devotion for this country – in any era.
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From this week, Monday Memes and Meme Overflow. Also don’t forget my Survival Sunday feature.
*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***
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A technique I often use is something I call “FLIP IT”. Imagine if the races were reversed. (Or flipping things as appropriate given the situation.)
And then people look me in the eye and, with all sincerity, tell me there’s no war on white people.
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PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA
Freedom is your birthright. Don’t you ever forget it.
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On a purely objective level, I would suspect that the amounts of blood involved are pretty small. “Suspect”. But as a father, I’d DIE before I’d harm my kids, even if this is small and voluntary. And even if, again objectively, there’s no material harm being done, to use your own posterity as a milk cow to prolong your own life? There’s something in this that’s beyond vile and repulsive.
More broadly, consider something that I think is profound: it’s one thing to spend your money on preservation of your life. Heck, if my wife knew how much I spend on various herbal / etc. supplements she’d freak out (just get me to both of my kids being adults, Hashem; everything after that is a bonus though, ideally, I’d like to see a grandkid or two before I go). But then, there’s nothing icky in taking them. This is different.
And one thing even deeper than the above: it was on Vox Day‘s site, can’t find the specific article, wherein he discussed the idea that it is the FEAR OF DEATH that so drives the Globalists. From AI and the in-parallel idea of becoming deities themselves (e.g., that slug Yuval’s book Homo Deus and the parallel idea that humans are now hackable animals) to the idea of a body-to-machine transfer of the self… and, perhaps in parallel, a drive to create immortality BAMN including using their children’s vitality lest their deeds send their souls “downstairs” that creates an enormous advantage for us. They’re terrified of death. For if it comes to it, to die fighting to protect one’s freedoms, to protect one’s family / posterity, is noble and good. And if I die doing that, even if I don’t want to die soon, it will be a good death.
Funny how two quotes from two disparate sci-fi universes to capture the universal truth of this.
Man of Steel – A Good Death Is Its Own Reward Scene (8/10) | Movieclips
“A good death is its own reward”.
Perhaps Today is a Good Day to Die
“Perhaps today is a good day to die”.
And one, not sci-fi but “mere” fiction – both prayers, the one by Antonio Banderas and the Viking leader, but especially Banderas’:
Prayers Before Battle – “The 13th Warrior”
“I beg only to live the next few minutes well”.
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Know the enemy. Know their tactics. And know – to your core – that they believe themselves to be the good guys. As quoted here:
Most people are good and occasionally do something they know is bad.
Some people are bad and struggle every day to keep it under control.
Others are corrupt to the core and don’t give a damn, as long as they don’t get caught.
But evil is a completely different creature.
Evil is bad that believes it’s good.
— Karen Marie Moning
And another weakness they have:
Our willingness to face objective reality. Because we have the humility to admit we might be wrong. They… don’t. They’d rather deny reality so long as they get their dopamine good-feelz.
(Link to AZQUOTES per their policy.)
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In honor of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, when Hashem gave us the Torah including the Ten Commandments, here’s the Prager University intro into his ten video series on the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments: What You Should Know
And one of my favorite scenes from the movie:
TEN COMMANDMENTS
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Cultural (and genetic) enrichment.
Remember that kaffir women can be taken as “captives of the right hand”.
Search Results for “captive right hand” (jihadwatch.org)
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While your kids are being taught CRT and what pronouns to use, in between slipping condoms on bananas before venturing down the hall to drag queen story hour, here’s what Chinese kids are doing:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/chinese-kids-training.mp4
Now. Who’s going to win when we clash?
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A few years ago there was a pizza place – I want to say in New Jersey – that got into an awful lot of trouble having a promo line of hats and shirts that said this. IIRC it was well before Saint Floyd of Fentanyl and even before Treyvon of the Holy Hoodie.
The beauty of the above is it’s quick, it’s easy, and it is bound to make the Woke mob livid. And livid people make mistakes.
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WAIT FOR IT… Yalie hurls the word “racist” at Senator Cruz, he responds
I love this guy. Seriously, though… the Left could have had a black woman on the Supreme court a couple of decades ago, but she was female, and black… and a Conservative. And I remember Estrada and his situation. There was a cartoon where Schumer and others, as police, were portrayed as stereotypical “good old boy” cops pulling Estrada over. “Nominated while conservative” or something like that.
Blexit still exists. There’s Lexit. The Exodus Movement seems to be comatose, but there’s Jexit (I have one of their T-shirts). And IMHO Brandon Straka’s Walkaway was a very powerful thing and is still going. Some of the videos were rambling, but incredibly powerful. These stories, these testaments, are incredible weapons – we can cite dry facts until we are blue in the face… it is personal stories & experiences that matter, that engage, and that convince.
Unfiltered: ‘The left practices tolerance in the most superficial ways’
In this video he describes something that’s a great ally in our cause: the dissonance and mental confusion that is caused when one is forced to confront the fact you’ve been lied to (in his case, among other things, realizing that the enemedia had deliberately misrepresented Trump’s “mocking a handicapped person” and, in parallel, cropped pictures of Trump rallies to portray the crowds as being devoid of non-whites). For in that confusion lies an opportunity to – in that confusion – undo the emotion-based conclusions, whether about Republicans racist/fascist/evil or other things. Consider the CODA in this post, specifically about the Israel/Palestinian conflict. Remember, though, in general:
You cannot argue rationally with a conclusion arrived at emotionally.
— Unknown
Only when an emotional conclusion is disrupted by other emotions can the mind open up to alternative information.
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I have repeated this until I’m blue in the face. When the “average Roman” finally understood that the Rome they’d been born into, that they grew up believing in, was dead… corrupt to the core… they ceased being willing to fight for it. So – summarized – consider an email from a military friend where he not just questions his service but whether the country to which he swore an oath to fight and even die exists now. Or, more profoundly, whether it even existed at the time of his enlistment birth given what we’re learning about how old the DS influence is.
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Pick of the Post:
A tie.
When TPTB can get you to accept patently-false things (underlining added):
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”
― Theodore Dalrymple
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Palate Cleansers:
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The post Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.
As I’ve noted elsewhere, one of the many problems with the Parents’ Bill of Rights (SB 272) that recently failed to make it out of the General Court is that there are no penalties for failing to comply with it.
This isn’t a surprise. That’s the case for many RSAs, which are actually suggestions rather than laws. One of my recent favorites is RSA 193:H-2, which requires schools to ensure that all students are proficient, as measured by the state assessment.
No school has been within shouting distance of meeting this requirement within living memory. But what consequences have been meted out?
When I talk to school board members, I always recommend that they get into the habit of asking about any RSA or Department of Education rule that someone cites: Or what? What happens if we just ignore this?
The odds are pretty good that the answer is: Nothing.
Anyway, a school district in North Dakota has given us a preview of what happens when you pass a law ‘requiring’ schools to do something — in this case, requiring schools to be truthful with parents regarding gender issues with their children — without including penalties for non-compliance.
Just get your kids out of school already.
The post The Parents’ Bill of Wishes appeared first on Granite Grok.
Execs at Target are tucking their junk as the retailer’s market cap collapses (down 8.9%) and share prices tumble. On May 17th, the stock sold for $160.95. Yesterday it closed at 139.36.
Overnight opportunists have nudged the price up slightly to 140.75, and there’s value to be had in a potential short-term run if you think it’s worth the risk (this is not investment advice), but the long-term outlook for TGT is poor. The short, mid-term, and long performance outlook is a big fat rainbow-colored frowny face.
But it’s only been six trading days since things went sideways over the queer kid’s collection. The Bud Light boycott took over a month to show more than light bruising, but that effort is paying cultural dividends as BUD’s stock continues to take a beating.
AB is buying back beer from distributors and scrambling to keep its supply chain vendors happy as customers continue to walk away from the brand and many of its beers.
Memorial Day Weekend, traditionally a boom for beer, isn’t likely to amount to much for BUD unless you mean the tangy taste of that giant sh!t sandwich they’ve been chewing on for the past eight weeks. A summer in which the promised advertising 180 will likely fall on deaf ears.
This roadside wreck has not stopped retailers and brands from dancing with the drag queen in the pale moonlight. Long-laid plans to promote this fringe culture are moving forward as they roll the dice in the shadow of the Blight fallout. They can’t boycott everyone. Somebody has to have a brand whose customers are still intimidated by the Gaystapo.
Maybe, but it’s running cold if you take the current cultural temperature. And not everyone can buy back what consumers have rejected. BUD can keep its distributors afloat by leveraging a global beverage footprint to buy back beer. What the hell is Target going to do? Tuck the loss into the spreadsheet as the cost of doing business.
Donate queer gear to public schools? That might be the ticket. The progs leading classrooms can line up with their liberal political allies and declare that parents who object to schools giving their kids queer gear are clothes banning Nazis. This makes about as much sense as saying that if parents objected to schools giving kids lingerie to wear, no one else could buy any.
The same rule applies to school library groomer gay porn. No one is banning it. You can go online and buy it right now. You can pick up a copy if a local bookstore has it. Parents who want to expose their kids to that lifestyle can’t be stopped, nor is that the point. But we should note that there are laws against child sexual abuse and kiddie porn, and a few of these “books” might cross that line.
But not in a public school?
But yes, in a public school, and herein lies the Left’s visceral hatred of choice.
Regarding education, if any of the tax money the district would spend on that child – at least on paper – is attached to teaching children and not funding an institution, parents and students can boycott. They can choose something other than Budweiser products, shop in stores other than Target, and get their kids some learning without exposure to erotic text and imagery for which children are neither mentally nor physically prepared.
The Left started the culture war, and most Americans could care less about adult lifestyle choices as long as they are free not to embrace them. But when the Left decided that coming for the kids was a hill to die on, it might just be that. But will it be persistent and consistent? Will The People keep sending the message that adults and children are not the same and you need to keep these hands off the kids?
Bud is learning a hard lesson but will the Target Boycott be another bellwether
The post Target Share Price Transitioning Toward 52-Week Low appeared first on Granite Grok.
Typically, the average American does not know who the Transportation Secretary is. Still, in the last two years, our Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has been front and center far too often. We have had seven significant transportation-related situations during Pete’s watch. He has not handled any well.
One of the problems is that Mayor Pete has developed a bad track record of slow response to each situation. The second problem has been Buttigieg, and the Administration, lying to America about cases and solutions.
Pete Buttigieg is considered the front-runner for Democrat nominee should Biden finally decide to pass on a second run. This fact tells much about the state of the Democrat party. Buttigieg has no experience. He was the Mayor of a small city and, from all reports, not a very successful one earning him the moniker Pot Hole Pete. This title was because Pete could not even handle the craters in the roads of South Bend. The reality is that Pete is attractive to Democrats for one reason- He checks off boxes. He has some military experience, he is a married Gay man, and he is a Mother. Three boxes are enough to catapult someone to the head of the line. Qualifications? Who needs them when you are diverse?
This diversity vs. competence is evident in every corner of Biden’s Administration. From Joe, Kamala, and Karine Jean-Pierre in the West Wing to Granholm, Mayorkas, Blinken, and even Yellen have disappointed America with their performance and policies. When Biden nominated a candidate for the Supreme Court, his focus was on a Black Female, not the best candidate. Gavin Newsom is doing the same thing in California. He is on record that if Senator Feinstein steps down before her term expires, he will replace her with a Black Woman, not the most qualified individual available, but a Black Woman. If any business person were to make that declaration, they would be guilty of discrimination in their hiring practices. They would be breaking the law, but apparently, the law does not apply to Democrats.
We have not solved the supply chain issue and the bottleneck at the ports. Buttigieg’s solution was to move the waiting ships further offshore and out of sight. That is not a solution. That is deception. We have abandoned the people of East Palestine. The cleanup is incomplete, and the plan to avoid long-term health issues is non-existent. We are looking at another holiday of heavy air travel, and nothing has been done to solve the IT/system deficiencies that have crashed our airline schedules numerous times in the last two years. We have a pending Pilot strike against Southwest Airlines, and we have heard of no action by Buttigieg to avoid the work stoppage. This administration, specifically Pete Buttigieg, is never proactive but reactionary and inadequate.
The next 18 months are going to be brutal. The Right will continue to point to facts as we critique this administration and why we need a Republican back in the White House. We will let the other side sling slurs, insults, and innuendos. We have tough skin and will persevere. Buckle up, and let’s move forward to victory for us and the country.
The post Bad Roll, Or Bad Transportation Secretary appeared first on Granite Grok.
NHexit, the group that put New Hampshire independence legislation in front of the full state house, will be taking to the skies the weekend of May 27. But instead of carrying a weapon suite, their one-plane air wing will be towing a pro-independence banner around the state.
We want to thank Dave Ridley for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.
In part, this is a reaction to Federal raids on New Hampshire’s Bitcoin businesses. Besides running TORTURE CHAMBERS abroad, Washington is the reason we can’t have nice things here!
Details here, or you can contact Ian Freeman via ShireSociety.com / FreeTalkLive.com.
The post NH Secessionists to Launch “Air Force” Memorial Day Weekend appeared first on Granite Grok.
As we approach the debt ceiling, the Republican position seeks substantial spending cuts, which the Leftists have been unwilling to accept. An agreement will require bipartisan action. President Biden did not have time in his schedule to address the issue last week.
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.
There is a gap between the two sides. The last Congress, under Democrat control, authorized spending above the debt ceiling without addressing the need to either raise taxes or raise the debt ceiling… Then they went home.
The current House wants spending cuts and policy changes. Leftists are posturing against concessions. They assert non-specific harm to America.
There is pressure to secure the best result for the nation within the Republican ranks. It seems likely accountability will end McCarthy’s Speakership should he fail to deliver. The House wants the Senate to take action on the House Republican debt ceiling bill.
The House bill was passed last month to raise the debt limit until 2024. In exchange, it imposes spending caps and policy changes. Mr. Biden threatened to veto the measure. The Leftist-controlled Senate has not taken up the bill.
Biden is not negotiating with McCarthy. Mr. Biden has known the situation for months and has not responded. The White House is not acting responsibly to demonstrate either an understanding of the seriousness or the situation’s urgency.
As the Leftists languish, the nation waits. The Leftists are trying to negotiate in the press. What we know is they oppose shielding defense and veterans’ accounts from spending limits. They oppose work requirements entitlement programs.
The House has taken action to mitigate the irresponsible financial position they inherited. The Leftists refuse to act, refuse to negotiate; they posture only. One might think default was no big deal.
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There’s something at stake in education that most people are ignoring. Schools are drifting away (sometimes running away) from teaching cursive writing. All sorts of excuses have been given: “It’s old.” “It’s hard to teach.” “We don’t need it any more.”
“Heck, kids rarely write anything anyway: they spend all of their time tapping on their smartphone screens.”
Sorry, but educators (and the unions that support/drive them) are missing the point. Cursive handwriting is the basis for the understanding of… syntax. And if you don’t understand what syntax is or the importance of syntax in any language, how do you “learn to code”?
Think about cursive handwriting for a moment. Each letter is formed as a separate shape, with some shapes similar to other shapes. A lower-case “l” and a lowercase “e” are both loops, with one letter a higher and skinnier loop than the other (I’ll leave you to guess which is which.” For example, a lowercase “o” is connected to a lower case “l” differently than connecting a lower case “o” to a lower case “p.” Different loops, shapes, “exit points” and “entry points” – these all change based on the context in which they are used. Capital letters are formed differently than lower case letters, sometimes bearing almost no relationship to the same letter in lower case, and the “connectives” between upper and lower case letters are often very different than the connectives between lower case letters.
There are clearly defined rules for how cursive handwriting must appear on a page. Those rules must be practiced in order for a full understanding of cursive handwriting. Schools used to test a student’s skills in cursive handwriting several times a year, with students receiving grades on both their ability to form shapes and write clearly.
An occasional homework essay was assigned and had to be completed in clearly readable cursive handwriting.
“So, what’s your point?”
The rules for cursive handwriting are an example of syntax. Those rules clearly describe how cursive is to be written. If the syntax is not executed properly, cursive handwriting cannot be understood by another person. And if the handwriting cannot be understood by someone other than the writer, the syntax was incorrectly executed.
By teaching cursive handwriting, students are learning that there are rules when learning an unfamiliar subject. Sure, they can identify printed alphabet letters. But those are not the same as cursive alphabet letters. By understanding the difference and by learning when each style is appropriate, students learn both syntax and the application of syntax to a purpose.
The English language – whether we call it American or British – also follows rules. Adjectives, nouns, verbs – each has a specific purpose. In American English, we place adjectives before nouns. Other languages place adjectives after nouns. Grammatical construction is also an example of syntax. The sentence “I saw the house walking down the street” is difficult to understand: was the house itself walking? That sentence is an example of improperly executed English grammar syntax.
By requiring assignments to be handed in using cursive handwriting, students learn the importance of properly executing syntax in a larger context. Students may have to rewrite their ideas several times, with the final copy being clean enough to hand in for a grade. Those final copies clearly demonstrate a student’s understanding of both cursive syntax and English syntax.
If we indeed want people to “learn to code” (a sarcastic retort which I find both childish and insulting), then we are asking them to learn a very foreign language: whether Java or Python or C++, any code written in that language must follow the syntax for that language. Symbols now replace words, and the form (layout) of the language must also follow specific rules.
Just like cursive writing: form both follows and determines function.
English is hard enough. How can we expect people to learn and write in a completely foreign language when they may never have learned how to execute the simple syntax of cursive writing?
And if you never learned cursive handwriting… how do you sign your name?
The post Yes, We NEED to Teach Cursive Writing appeared first on Granite Grok.
The time, money, and energy the commercial world spends preparing for Pride Month make no sense unless you agree with Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge. “Corporate elites and far-left governments are the source of the woke mind virus, not the victims of it.”
They are doubling and tripling down on their failures and it’s not going to stop unless they go bankrupt. This is because they are no longer operating as businesses, they are now centers for activism and social engineering.
It feels that way, except for the BUD backtrack after the prancing Dufus collaboration went sideways. But the banks, billionaires, and Big Gov. are all in on the scheme. Another flanking maneuver as Pride month takes on Christmas-like anticipation for some retailers. They plan campaigns months in advance.
As noted at ZeroHedge, just in time for Pride Month, Dove Beauty has embraced the notion that women should strive to be clinically obese. Those heroes should be at increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and COVID-19. The eye of this beholder is attracted to straining an increasingly incapable health care system, damaged blood vessels, failing kidneys, shortened life expectancy, and the threat of amputations (and not women’s breasts or man parts). Toes, feet, legs.
It’s not even good for business. People with fewer parts will use less soap. Jeesh. And talk about medical misinformation. Being overweight is bad for you, so what is Calvin Klein up to? A fat, hairy-chested black man in a woman’s sports bra is kissing a chubby white woman. Whatever floats your fabulous pride boat, but how does this not sink Calvin’s ship? What about this imagery attracts the other 96% of likely customers to the brand? Diabetes?
And ZeroHedge is clearly on to something because The NorthFace partnered with” a real-life homosexual drag queen” named Pattiegonia! Why?
“And we are inviting you here to COME OUT in nature with usssss!” he said.
“ Nature lets you be who you are, so, for the second year in a row @thenorthface is hosting Summer of Pride together with @pattiegonia (they/she) to celebrate you and all the beautiful ways you get outside.” Pattiegonia said on Instagram on Tuesday.
“And because we believe that exploration can take many shapes and forms, we’re making these events so much more than just a hiking tour. We’ll have workshops, panels and activities for all individuals who love to be outside.” the drag queen said.
Cristina Laila adds, “The North Face thought it was a great idea to feature a drag queen to sell clothing to rugged outdoorsman.” I’m not entirely sure that’s a problem. Most people wearing North Face look neither rugged nor outdoorsy (unless you mean the mall). But it is still an odd marketing decision that folks were eager to point out.
Pattiegonia was reportedly unhappy with the online pushback. I guess they/them don’t want you to be you, which is all too common. Be you as long as it’s like me.
The NorthFace may wish to revisit this relationship before it’s too late because, while I get the whole Corporate elite spreading the woke mind virus angle, Target did a mighty quick 180 when execs mulled the cost of a Bud Light-level boycott.
They also yanked “all Pride designs by the Satanic designer Abprallen.”
The designers pieces included pentagrams and satanic imagery emblazoned with messages promoting transgenderism and devil worship. Target is also urgently reviewing the swimsuit line marketed as ‘tuck friendly’ as well as some of the children’s merchandise.
It looks like the mind virus can be coaxed into remission. It needs unending doses of cultural chemo, which is a big ask most of the time. Ordinary people don’t want to be bothered with constantly thinking about the politics of every choice, but that’s how the left lives and wins. If we can’t find the steam to do the same, we will keep losing the culture war and the country.
The post Dove’s ‘Diabetes’ Beauty, Calvin Klein’s Hairy Man Sports Bra Model, and The ‘Outdoorsy’ North Face Drag Queen appeared first on Granite Grok.