Monday • November 25 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XLVIII
Manchester, N.H.
The tragic shooting on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee, is another scar on America’s soul and an example of our inability to keep our children safe. Six innocent lives ended before their time by a deranged female.
This female woke up on Monday knowing she would die that day but that she would take victims with her. The number of victims could have been much higher if not for the quick response of tactical teams that took out the shooter. We can debate why these senseless shootings occur, but it is all theory and speculation. Fortification and securing our schools to make them the safest places possible for our children is where the focus should be.
Joe Biden addressed the shooting in comments to the American people. He used the same words for other shootings in the last two years. Biden quickly gave condolences to the victims’ families and then went political. He blamed the guns, not the shooter, for the senseless killing of six. The President blamed Republicans in Congress for another shooting that could have been avoided if they had passed his Assault Weapon Ban. He referred to the two AR-style pistols used by the shooter as assault weapons that his bill would ban. He is wrong on so many facets of this attack.
Karine Jean-Pierre was utterly out of line when she admonished Congress for the shooting. “How many more innocent lives must we lose before the Republicans will act to pass the President’s bill” were the words she used to comment on the shooting. This outburst is not an uncommon reaction by KJP. This woman, who has shown her inability to perform the duties of Press Secretary, is supposed to deliver the official positions of the White House. She is not a member of the President’s policy-making team and overstepped her role to speak in such a way to members of Congress. She often uses the term”we” as if she and the President are the same. She also misrepresented the facts of the shooting claiming six eight-year-old children were killed. A member of the press corps quickly corrected her.
The President and his secretary made the same mistakes. They both blamed the guns for the tragedy. Neither referenced the shooter with meticulous plans for breaching the Nashville Covenant School and published a manifesto on social media. She had contacted a friend to divulge her plans. Her friend contacted the Police, but her call was too late. Biden and Karine both referred to the pistols as assault weapons. They never say what an assault weapon is, but the term conjures images of fear, which is their intent. These guns are not automatic weapons with rapid-fire mechanisms. They are single pull-single shot guns, just like a 9mm, 45, or any pistol would be. The two were going for effect, not facts, which is a disservice to Americans and disrespectful of the victims to use them as pawns.
It is common for politicians to go political when they should be giving solutions. Biden and his team have shown that they have no viable remedy regardless of the challenge. And finally, a question for Karine. How many more innocent people will succumb to Fentanyl poisoning or be victims of horrendous crimes committed by illegals before Biden closes the Border? She will not answer that question, so we will answer for her. They do not know the number, but we have not gotten there yet. They are not only uninformed and hypocritical, but their actions and decisions are destroying our country at light speed.
The post Karine Assaults Congress and Republicans appeared first on Granite Grok.
Vermont’s legislature is working out the final details of Gov. Scott’s proposed 8.4 Billion dollar budget. Eight billion. That’s over 12,957.00 dollars for every man, woman, and child in the state. Guess how much New Hampshire’s is?
The final Budget for the Granite State will be around $13.9 billion or $9,743.00 per resident. Except it’s not. Vermont writes a budget every year, while New Hampshire’s budget is for two years. The spending equivalent per resident per year for Vermont based on the estimated 2024 budget is $12,957.00. For New Hampshire, it is $4,871.00. Vermont’s government spends 62% more per resident every year.
For what?
Some other NumbersThe Granite State has twice the population, more than twice the labor force, and a GDP of 82.94 (2022) billion compared to Vermont’s 31.4 billion (2022). New Hampshire has lower and fewer taxes.
WalletHub ranked Vermont as having the fourth highest tax burden by state. New Hampshire was 48th. The Tax Foundation estimates Vermont’s effective tax rate at 12.5% (47th) and New Hampshire’s at 9.6% (16th).
There are other variables, and everyone has work to do, and yes, there are a lot of federal funds used in both state budgets, but those are costs that, if the Feds went belly up tomorrow, the state would have to shoulder (more taxes) or cut.
Overall, New Hampshire is consistently safer, has a higher standard of living, lower welfare and poverty rates, and has better health outcomes.
Democrat rule has placed Vermont in hospice while we wait for it to die like every other Democrat-run hell-hole in America. But despite the advantages, New Hampshire is only ever one election away from joining it.
Closing note to the Free State Project. Where are those tens of thousands of Liberty-minded folks we were promised? If they don’t get here soon, it could be too late because the cauldron of poison bubbling in Vermont has been spilling accorded the Connecticut River for years. If we don’t dilute that influence, we may all be looking for another state in which we have some hope to live free before we die.
One more point; Vermont’s 8.4 Billion 2024 budget, as proposed by its “republican” governor and has been labeled “lean,” but Phil Scott’s 2019 budget proposal was 6.1 Billion, nearly 40% less.
The post NH v. VT – A Tale of Two Political Cultures One Red and One Blue appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Democrats are placing all their bets on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris winning re-election in 2024. Their approval ratings continue to plummet, and both will easily be below 35% by the end of this year. These are not precisely the numbers to run a re-election campaign on. To most people, this blind faith in the current administration is tantamount to buying a ticket on the Titanic as it nears the iceberg.
Though Joe Biden continues to claim the economy is strong, 65% of Americans do not agree. Biden’s lousy fiscal policies actually impact these people. This storyline seems like Deja Vu, as this has been the case for most of his Presidency. But now we have the stock market dwindling as the Fed continues to raise rates to ward off a recession, which seems more inevitable every day. We have had two bank failures that make depositors everywhere uneasy about the safety of their savings. Biden says the banking industry is under control, but reality again proves Biden wrong. If Biden and Yellen decide arbitrarily which banks they will bail out, the industry and people will turn against him. Selective relief will please no one.
Kamala has been asked to wear many hats, but none fit, and she has failed every assignment. In most cases, it wasn’t attacking tasks poorly, but not at all. She has proven inept in every aspect of the job and is clearly a poor politician and leader. Nobody, including most Democrats, can ever see her as a Commander in Chief. She has no future in Washington, but she will not walk away. That is the problem the Democrats need to solve. It will not be easy, as Kamala will not admit failure.
Biden seems adamant about being on the ticket, though he hesitates to declare. He may be waiting for better timing when his numbers turn around or waiting for the outcome for Hunter. When the Hunter investigations go south, and Joe’s many lies are uncovered, he may have no choice but to step aside. No President since LBJ has been satisfied with one term, but the decision may not be Joe’ to make.
The Democrats will be hesitant to vote for a feeble Biden in 2024 if Kamala is the successor should Biden have to step down. Nobody wants to see Kamala with her hand on the Bible. The thought of Kamala assuming the throne puts a bad taste on every pallet. As long as Kamala is in the co-pilot’s seat, Joe will never come close to his record vote total of 2020.
I admitted last week that I see Trump as the only solution to the state Biden has driven our country. He has the Republicans, and a Biden/Harris ticket may be all the Independents need to pull the Trump lever. For the recovery to be effective, we need one more piece of the puzzle to fall into place. That piece would be for Mitch McConnell to retire. The House is under control, and our majority will grow in 2024. McConnell to step aside will let us get true Conservative leadership in the Senate. Somebody like Rick Scott would be a viable successor.
The post Kamala is the Key to a Republican Presidential Win appeared first on Granite Grok.
I’ve rented a lecture room in Concord Heights from 1-3 pm on Palm Sunday. That’s this Sunday, April 2, 2023. All are invited for the purpose of shooting the breeze. It won’t be broadcast or recorded.
We want to Mary W. Maxwell for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.
As you see, I’ve given the meeting an odd name, “Help Write a New Versailles Treaty,” the original one having been done in Paris in 1919 to end “The Great War,” a.k.a. WWI.
The plan is not to change what happened in 1919 — a little late for that. Rather, we’ll pretend that World War III is ensuing today and try to figure out what we hope to gain from a peace treaty. That will also entail trying to anticipate what “the others” hope to gain.
Actually, it will require that we talk about why there is a World War III happening at all. Whatever your background, it will be nice to hear your thoughts. Or you may want to just sit there and enjoy the angst.
The venue is Concord Community Center, 14 Canterbury Rd, off Loudon Rd, next to Walgreens. Free parking. If you wish to rsvp, that would help, but you can just show up. MaxwellMaryLLB@gmail.com
(The portrait above, of the signing of the Paris Treaty, is by Irish painter William Orpen.)
The post Help Write a New Versailles Treaty appeared first on Granite Grok.
You may have seen Karen Testerman publicly circulating false claims about HB 396 and the recent actions of her husband, Rep. Dave Testerman. It’s important that you know the truth.
As you may know, in February of this year, churches around New Hampshire spent days and nights engaged in tireless advocacy securing the votes needed to pass HB 396, State Recognition of Biological Sex.
Thanks to their extraordinary efforts, a miraculous victory was nearly secured. Every Republican on the normally moderate-leaning House Judiciary Committee voted to protect women and girls and send this critical bill to the floor.
Every Republican, that is, but one. Seeing that the bill could likely pass on the House floor, GOP representative Dave Testerman and a group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Marjorie Smith, stood together to cynically destroy the bill by working to send it to a so-called “study committee.”
Rep. Testerman’s vote was a surprise stab-in-the-back to women and girls. To be clear, Dave Testerman did not vote against the bill for any good faith reason. In fact, he seemed to think it was funny to wreck the efforts of churches and families who had fought for the bill.
Karen Testerman has publicly claimed the bill “did not accomplish anything” and “therefore needed more work.” These claims are as transparent as they are false.
For one thing, the claim that this bill somehow “did not go far enough” is an excuse that the Testermans invented several days after the vote. As everyone who was close to this process knows, Rep. Testerman initially struggled or refused to give any explanation at all for his vote.
In fact, Dave Testerman voted for the same bill when it was debated just last year: at the time, it was called HB 1180. These fake excuses evidently did not apply at that time. Dave and Karen Testerman are only using them now to conceal Rep. Testerman’s true motives.
There is one key reason that school districts around New Hampshire are faced with a crisis of extreme gender ideology: progressive advocacy groups, including Governor Sununu’s Department of Justice, have spread the false idea that New Hampshire law prohibits any separation on the basis of biological sex. Rep. Jim Kofalt’s HB 396 would have stopped these misrepresentations, clarifying that public entities are not forbidden from using biological sex to separate athletics, private spaces, and prison facilities.
Milford School District is one example of a district which ignores biological sex because board members have accepted these claims. In a committee hearing, Rep. Dave Testerman looked a young mother from Milford in the eye as his committee heard her desperate plea: a biological male is not only using her daughter’s locker room, but deliberately insulting her daughter’s privacy and dignity. This woman bravely asked Testerman and other representatives for their urgent help.
Rep. Testerman knew that HB 396 would have directly addressed this immediate problem. Testerman had also never raised any concerns about the bill—not last year, when he personally voted for the same bill, nor in the weeks leading up to the HB 396 vote.
Yet Testerman not only callously ignored this mother’s pleas, but purposefully acted to harm her daughter and other students like her. By single-handedly destroying a bill that he knew could pass, Rep. Testerman sacrificed the dignity and privacy of girls like this Milford student—whose story we have heard repeated in multiple New Hampshire school districts—for his own insidious political motives.
What about the “work” that Karen Testerman claims the bill needed? In the minutes immediately before Rep. Testerman’s vote, Democrats flaunted the fact that their motion would stop the House from ever taking up the bill, with Rep. Marjorie Smith joking that they might agree on a new amendment for the House to consider “in 10 years.” Rep. Testerman and the Democrats have no intention of doing any “work” on this bill—and everyone knows it.
Karen Testerman has also claimed that Cornerstone never fought to stop HB 608, the bill adding “gender identity” to state nondiscrimination law, in 2019. In reality, Cornerstone was a leading opponent of that bill, as a simple Google search would show any honest person. This egregious claim is merely a distraction. The truth is Rep. Dave Testerman has now done more than any single politician to perpetrate the very abuses ushered in by this bill.
Equally absurdly, Karen Testerman’s remarks have made much of the fact that Cornerstone has not been involved with the hodge-podge of bills that Rep. Testerman introduced this year. What she does not mention is that, this year, Dave Testerman has not even shown up for the committee hearings on at least five bills for which he was the sole sponsor.
Karen Testerman would have you believe that, even though Rep. Testerman does not take his own longshot bills seriously, Cornerstone—a group that often stands by itself against a dozen full-time left-wing organizations—must be involved in every one of the hundreds of conservative bills that legislators introduce each term.
The reality is that there is a good explanation for all of Rep. Testerman’s behavior. While our network of families and churches engages in the real work of advocacy, Rep. Testerman poses as a hardliner by introducing frivolous bills he knows will never pass. Underneath the rhetoric, however, he has proven that his motives are crooked. When the chips are down and real consequences are on the line, Testerman will collude with Democrats to enforce gender ideology on girls’ locker rooms.
We encourage Rep. Testerman’s constituents to make sure he is aware that he no longer represents their views and interests.
The post Responding to Karen Testerman’s False Claims appeared first on Granite Grok.
As of March 8 of this year, which is the latest date currently reported by the U.S. Treasury, the total federal debt was $31.459 trillion. In his budget—which proposes increasing the debt to $50.712 trillion over the next ten years—Biden emphasizes his commitment to fiscal responsibility.
(H/T: CNSNews)
The post Data Point – National Debt and Biden’s Budget Proposal appeared first on Granite Grok.
Camp Constitution will host a 12-week U.S. Constitution study course beginning Monday, April 3—7:00 PM 129 Main St Alton.
The study course is titled Constitution 101 The Meaning and History of the Constitution, produced by Hillsdale College.
Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to editor@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication.
The United States Constitution was designed to secure the natural rights proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. Signed by Constitutional Convention delegates on September 17, 1787—Constitution Day—it was ratified by the American people and remains the most enduring and successful constitution in history.
In this twelve-lecture course, attendees will examine the political theory of the American Founding and subsequent challenges to that theory throughout American history. Topics covered in this course include: the natural rights theory of the Founding, the meaning of the Declaration and the Constitution, the crisis of the Civil War, the Progressive rejection of the Founding, and the nature and form of modern liberalism.
Join more than one million Americans who have taken “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution.”
The course will be free. Donations accepted. All attendees will receive a free pocket of the U.S. Constitution. RSVPs are appreciated. Class 1 “The Theory of the Declaration and the Constitution.”
The post Camp Constitution Will Host a 12-Week U.S. Constitution Study Course … appeared first on Granite Grok.
Do unaccountable government agents own your children? The evidence demonstrates that politicians and other government agents do believe that they own you and your children and that they are willing to use any amount of force necessary to assert that claim.
The post Do Unaccountable Government Agents Own Your Children? appeared first on The Liberty Block.
NHPR’s Todd Bookman recently wrote an article claiming that LGBTQ people are in danger of being attacked by “hate groups,” and that some have begun arming themselves, and training, in response to this alleged threat. Here is the headline:
From the article:
Every member of the group has a different story about how they arrived here, feeling the need to carry a weapon for self-defense.
“I went from concealed carry every once in a while when I was feeling it to every single day,” explains Sharon, a Navy veteran and competitive shooter who transitioned last year. “Because reading the news, having a few experiences, realizing that I’ve gone from: old cis-male, white, upper middle class, really no real fears about anything, to: there are people that just looking at me will want to hurt me.”
Sharon, along with others, cite both the fear of being targeted while simply existing in public, as well as a more organized and ominous threat. A neo-Nazi group now active in New England has targeted spaces where trans people gather.
“There’s been an uptick in hate crimes, there’s been an uptick in groups that have been protesting drag story times and drag shows, and it felt like I needed to learn how to protect myself,” says Jamie, who is carrying a new pistol she received as a gift for Christmas.
This is jaw-dropping. Protesting drag shows … in plain English, protesting the sexualization of children … is portrayed uncritically by Bookman as the equivalent of a hate crime towards transgender people and the people who protest drag shows are portrayed as representing an existential threat to transgender people. Wow! Is it that big a step to seeing the religious school in Nashville as an equivalent threat to the “haters” who protest drag shows, Mr. Bookman?
And where are the data and facts regarding that “Neo-Nazi group” operating in New Hampshire that Bookman claims is “targeting spaces.” And what the hell is “targeting spaces” supposed to mean? New Hampshire has some form of trans/cis apartheid where there are “spaces” reserved for transgender people?
And how about the uncritical portrayal of Sharon, who apparently can just by looking at someone tell whether that person is a threat? Such as people working at or attending religious schools, Mr. Bookman?
Here’s Bookman promoting his propaganda:
And hat-tip to Tucker Carlson for exposing Bookman’s hate-speech and the potential ramifications:
Almost prophetically, just last week, Tucker Carlson covered NPR's fawning coverage of armed Trans groups like "Rainbow Reload":
"We’re as for guns as you could possibly be, but this seems like an incitement" pic.twitter.com/0DIx7PUrkG
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 27, 2023
The post What Responsibility Does NHPR Bear For The Nashville School Shooting? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Once again, we can see that the shiny and bright conservative armor that the Union Leader wore in decades past has turned rusty and tarnished. Never would I have expected to read a UL written Op-Ed actively advocating against the separation of responsibilities and Powers between the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch,
A quick recap:
Rudimentary civics but heck, do journalists ever learn this rudimentary and foundational knowledge? Should we not demand that their editors be even semi-learned in this area? The Op-Ed concerned HB557 which would have removed the rulemaking authority from the Executive Branch and would have brought it back to the Legislative (in this case, for vaccines). Reformatted, emphasis mine:
It was close but the New Hampshire House did the right thing last week in rejecting a proposal to make it the medical authority on vaccines. While we do think our legislators often have their fingers on the pulse of the people they represent, the expertise on specific matters of health resides with the professionals.
Rule-making as it applies to vaccines currently comes under the purview of New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services. It should remain there.
Health officials are certainly not infallible. But In the case of public health emergencies, decisions of the life-and-death variety should not be subject to the whims or vagaries of 424 mostly non-doctors.
The UL niftily makes it seem as if NHHHS has had this Power since NH was formed instead of just 50 years ago. And sorry, unless a doctor is also a Legislator they should not have any more Power in creating Law than you or I. CERTAINLY, doctors should be advising Legislators in the process but it should never be left up to them to make Law outside of the Legislature. That’s unconstitutional.
Again, the Legislature [should] lead and the Executive [should] follow. So where does “Rulemaking”, the ability of the Executive Branch to “make Law” (as the rules/regulations don the force of Law mentioned in either Constitution?
Sidenote: the NHAPA has a mechanism called JLCAR which has a small select number of Legislators to “bless” or deny any rules proposed by the Executive Branch agencies. That’s still not legislating.
It doesn’t.
Instead, both the US & NH Legislatures just threw their Powers to the Executive Branch: the US Administrative Act of 1946:
…The 1946 law that gave Federal agencies the power to essentially make their own law and ability to set their own fines [and Administrative courts] was absolutely wrongheaded and philosophically inimical to the separation of powers laid out in the Constitution – and I think was the Congress’s starting moment of plunging into the abyss of being post-Constitutional. If you GIVE your power away, trust me, those that pick it up will use it.
…And you can blame it on the Republicans who hold the majorities:
- Have they held anyone in contempt AND DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT to apply penalties?
- Have they withdrawn funding for offending agencies to make them feel the pain?
- Have they held brought charges AND FOLLOWED THEM UP?
Pretty much, no. Flapping their gums only is no way to govern.
and the NH Administrative Procedures Act (enacted in 1973). Ask yourself – which process makes more Law/Rules that affect our lives? Yes, the Executive Branch. Not those that we elect to actually make Law.
And that’s exactly how the UL wants it, I guess. It’s clear that the UL is now in the mode where the Administrative State is now its preferred governance model instead of the representative Republic model that our Founders designed.
Ayup.
Also this that I had left at Treehugger a while ago on the same issue:
Two thing at play and mostly due to the fact that we almost have two societies when it comes to the Proper Role of Government.
One, from the late 1800s decided that our US Constitution was outdated given the new idea that Societies could be “engineered” by the Smart People as if they were mere replaceable cogs and need their Guiding Hand to be successful (See Bill’s unsupported supposition above that the US, with 330M people, NEEDS that heavy hand). It is these folks that have inserted themselves into the bowels of Govt and have almost 180’d our Founders vision from being being one where Govt was supposed to protect Individual Liberties to one where Govt makes most of the important decisions (in contradiction to that vision)
The rest, myself include until a few years ago, placed our emphasis in family, friends, and careers thinking that Govt would just continue to work as we had learned in school.
And we have learned that this premise has been wrong for far too long. That’s how we “lost control” – most forgot the admonition that our government was only for a moral and involved people.
I’m afraid that too many became too complacent so we are where we are.
But I am labeled as an extremist for going against that now openly Socialist Narrative while I only hold onto the values embedded in the US (and New Hampshire) Constitutions – and fight for those values to be restored. Which requires a return to a limited Govt that stays within its “lanes”.
And to which Bill (and other THers) scoff at.
The post Union Leader Doesn’t See The Big Picture – It’s Not About Vaccines, It’s About the Constitutional Separation Powers appeared first on Granite Grok.
The shooting of three innocent children and three innocent faculty members at the Covenant Christian School in Nashville, TN, yesterday quickly became the top story in the news. Of course, a tragedy like this is newsworthy if for no other reason than to mourn with those who are mourning and give Americans a chance to grieve and support them in their time of loss.
The facts surrounding the case, as we’ve been told, are as follows:
I have no doubt this event will be used energetically by those wishing to remove guns from society and with the least amount of genuine sympathy to those genuinely affected by it. Rather than ask why are these shootings taking place, why are the shooters nearly identical in nature and age, and why are they targeting children and gun-free zones, the opportunists and mock-heroes will come out denouncing guns with the loudest possible means – why? Because all they need is fear to move people into making irrational decisions.
Tragedies like these are used to create such a cloud of panic and fear, kind of like that felt on 9/11, that those in government will swiftly move to “solve the problem”, which they will tell you is guns. Not mentally ill or evil people using guns for evil purposes, but guns themselves. As if the gun made itself, loaded itself, took itself to the school/mall/street and began discharging itself on innocent people. If you are afraid you won’t even bother to notice the absurdity of the claim. You will simply fear for your or your loved one’s safety. The idea of safety is the tool they use to manipulate you. To feel safe you will agree to comply with their solution – let’s get rid of guns or greatly restrict them.
Of course this sounds cynical to those who are so overcome with emotional and empathy for those suffering they will likely rage against my point. However it’s important to understand how your brain works in moments like this.
The lower center of the brain is the “fight, flight or freeze” part that activates when we are confronted with unsafe and fearful situations. It’s the part that pulls a hand of a burning stove top reflexively. It’s made for that reason – to react quickly to danger. Those who manufacture psychological operations (psy-ops) know this. They know that if they can trigger a fear response people are more easily manipulated.
The part of the brain’s operating system they intend to avoid is the pre-frontal cortex which is responsible for executive function. This part of the brain analyzes a situation. It’s the part that officers and firefighters use as they rush in to fearful situations to save lives. They can do so because they’ve been trained to override the fight, flight or flee reaction, keep their calm in the face of danger and make rational, life saving decisions.
Let’s think rationally about this situation.
This is the latest in a long list of patterns that needs explaining. Schools are targeted by younger individuals, with over a 90% incidence of mental illness. The people, often with little to no income and no history of training, all suddenly brandish expensive weapons, have detailed militarized plans, wear tactical gear and have a blood thirsty desire to kill children who have done them no harm.
Many of them were known by the F.B.I. who did not act.
Furthermore, forensic psychologists are on the record stating what NOT to do following an event like this to avoid future events.
Already this morning I have seen every one of these rules violated. Already the school’s private video of the shooter blowing the glass doors open and shooting in offices as if we’re watching a video game or horror film are circulating online – everywhere. This will create two psychological environments that help no one:
Watch the media do this and you will know they do not care about you or your children at all.
Watch the politicians piggy back the narrative and you can only conclude the same.
These are the same people who forced now known deadly vaccines, useless masks, crippling lockdowns and are pushing CRT, SEL, drag queens and anti-American curricula on these children. When active shooters went into Ukraine they sent $100 billion of your taxpayer money in weapons to help defend them. When active shooters attack your children they want to take your weapons and ability to defend yourself away.
They are deliberately trying to demoralize and mentally cripple you and your children. They are now using a tiny Christian School for their agenda, right after a tiny Christian School in Vermont stood up to them.
Don’t be fooled friends. These people are evil.
If you haven’t already, it’s time to stand up and fight like heaven is on your side, because it is.
The post Tennessee Shooting: Fear Is the Goal appeared first on Granite Grok.
And aren’t you just THRILLED with how well your new dishwasher works (sarcasm – I hate mine)? Thanks, Govt, for “looking out for me”! All by our faceless, unaccountable, unelected, and now, REALLY unassailable bureaucrats all in thrall to Global Warming.
It’s for their own good (justifying their jobs while we just want to be left alone). Is this what Govt is supposed to do?
Our Govt IS looking to hijack our gas ranges as they are pushing regulations so much that only 4% of what the market now offers will be available for purchase, you know who the only people will be that will be able to afford them). And God help us all if the Feds start taking after Vermont, whose S.5 bill is going to put the price of gas out of reach for most of us.
I wanted to play catch up on what we’ve already posted on this – which turned out to only be the first salvo:
So I’ve decided to fill in some more info to show that our Government really doesn’t care what you think – they have the Power and they are making us know that we don’t. So they are going to be “re-imagining” our appliances without a single “by your leave” – or Legislation. Biden’s Eco-minion regulators have figured out that they can do this all on their own. But it does go back a ways in time. A few posts from Treehugger (they were on this “delete gas” hobbyhorse for a long time) that was already starting to kvetch about “take gas away! Take it away! You don’t need that!” even when I pointed out that during electrical grid failures, I could still cook a hot meal for my family on my gas stove (I was branded a heretic). And the first one, from 2018, mentions the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) that Steve’s post has.
Background/History:
Electrify EVERYTHING! was their mantra – before our grid got so shaky (conspiracy – take away gas and “all of a sudden”, electricity becomes problematic? ).
And non-Treehugger link:
And it turns out that it wasn’t the CPSC that that was going to do the Dirty Deed – try the Department of Energy
The key to the finding is the quality of the data they used — and critics say the researchers failed to factor in the findings of the most comprehensive global study on the topic conducted to date.
That would be a report published in 2013 by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, or ISAAC, which utilizes data from more than 512,000 children in 47 different countries. The ISAAC study ultimately concluded there was “no evidence of an association between the use of gas as a cooking fuel and either asthma symptoms or asthma diagnosis.”…“There’s so many factors involved — you can’t just claim that 12% of asthma cases [are] related to a gas stove. You just can’t do that,” he said in an interview. “And maybe in some scenarios, it is [the cause]. And maybe in other scenarios, it’s not.”
The proposed rule-making would set new efficiency standards for both electric and gas cooking tops, preventing them from exceeding set levels of energy use per year. (For gas stoves, this would be set at 1,204 British thermal units, or BTU, per year.)…The metrics used would not attempt to limit stove usage when they are installed and in use.
The British thermal unit (BTU or Btu) is a measure of heat, which is measured in units of energy. It is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.
Sure, no limits. However, like current dishwashers and clothes washers, to “save” water and energy, they take twice as long. Am I being cynical to think that the largest burner that will be allowed going forward will the the same size as my current “simmer” burner?
And then the “We’re going to ban gas stoves by regulating them out of existence” begins.
Did anyone bother to inquire about how asthma—an allergy-response disease—is caused by natural gas cookstoves when there are no allergens in natural gas, or question the conflict of interest by the climate activist group Rocky Mountain Institute as a co-author of the paper? No—of course not. That would be inconvenient.
Me:
One of the “tells” of Progressives/Socialists – they TRULY believe that the rest of us should NEVER be allowed to make our own decisions. They SERIOUSLY believe that we are NOT adults and that we should NEVER be allowed that most unprogressive attribute of all….
Freedom. To choose for ourselves.
And then the walk-back begins (2023 onward):
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is not planning to ban gas stoves, its chairman said Wednesday, seeking to tamp rising political furor caused by another commissioner’s comments earlier this week. “I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so,” Chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric said in a statement.
Oh yes there is a ban!
Yes, the Biden administration is coming for your gas stove. The legacy media and the Left attempted to brush off the initial gas stove controversy and outcry from the Right as nothing more than an unsubstantiated, irrational conspiracy theory. The White House even insisted that President Joe Biden does not support a ban on gas stoves after one of his federal consumer safety officials suggested that such a ban was on the table.
But, as we are seeing in so many other instances, Republicans were right all along. President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy is, in fact, pushing an extreme regulation that would effectively eliminate nearly all gas stoves.
The Department of Energy is conducting this gas stove grab through a rule that would impose extreme energy performance standards on residential cooktops. The department’s proposed rule sets requirements for gas cooktops at the maximum technologically feasible or “max-tech” level. Based on the Department of Energy’s own analysis, gas cooktops at the max-tech level represent just 4% of current market share and exclude all conventional free-stand ranges.
Any rule that causes 96% of the products available today to be eliminated from the market is an extreme regulation. In fact, it is essentially an outright ban on gas stoves…Comically, Biden’s Department of Energy is justifying this proposed requirement based on estimated savings to the consumer for gas cooktops of $21.89 over the next 14.5 years, which equates to a savings of just $1.50 per year. People are not willing to trade such substantially decreased functionality and features for minuscule savings
Such claims, however, have nothing to do with science and everything to do with radical climate activism.
…“I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so,” Hoehn-Saric said in a statement.
A memo published by Fox News in February, however, shows federal regulators were far more serious about efforts to ban the gas appliance.
“The need for gas stove regulation has reached a boiling point,” Trumka wrote in an October memo. “CPSC has the responsibility to ban consumer products that emit hazardous substances, particularly, when those emissions harm children, under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.”
(Memo here).
“There is sufficient information available for CPSC to issue an NPR in FY 2023 proposing to ban gas stoves in homes,” he added. “The additional work needed to complete an NPR is primarily economic; the available health and scientific evidence on illnesses caused by the relevant gasses at the concentrations present in homes with gas stoves already exists.”
Emissions from the food cooked, however, are 11 times higher than the gas on the stove. Studies purporting to show dangerous emission levels from gas stoves examine aerial pollutants in enclosed spaces without ventilation.
Stoves are the anvils – now for the hammer (increased gas prices that will further constrain usage)
Oh, and that estimated savings to the consumer for gas cooktops of $21.89 over the next 14.5 years? Yeah, manipulated. Does “Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide” ring a bell? It should. It got put into use during the Obama reign – it’s only purpose was to take a nebulous term and turn it into the environmental version of a Barrett .50 rifle? Or is the Ma Deuce (.50 cal machinegun) a better metaphore?
Everything that is done by Government for economic reasons is based on that number – and it is arbitrary. It is whatever the current administration wants to peg it at. Obama had it at $53 to justify programs and making your lives miserable. Trump reduced it to a dollar. Biden has set it back to $53. In this case, for that measly “SAVINGS!” of $21.89 over 14.5 years ($1.51/year), it will end up being FAR more expensive just in the upfront costs of buying a new range or additional gas.
Here is the most important document that the Biden Admin is using to kill off gas ranges. That financial mumbo-manipulation is on page 3.
DOE estimates the value of climate benefits from a reduction in greenhouse gases (“GHG”) using four different estimates of the social cost of CO2 (“SC-CO2 ”), the social cost of methane (“SC-CH4 ”), and the social cost of nitrous oxide (“SC-N2 O”). Together these represent the social cost of GHG (“SC-GHG”).[8] DOE used interim SC-GHG values developed by an Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (“IWG”).[9] The derivation of these values is discussed in section IV.L of this document. For presentational purposes, the climate benefits associated with the average SC-GHG at a 3-percent discount rate are estimated to be $1.17 billion. DOE does not have a single central SC-GHG point estimate and it emphasizes the importance and value of considering the benefits calculated using all four SC-GHG estimates.
Oh, the A/C – just starting but you can see what they are planning here.
The new energy efficiency standards, which will apply to room air conditioners and portable air cleaners, will enter into effect next year. The Energy Department contended that the new rules will assist with “tackling the climate crisis,” as well as save consumers $25 billion over the next three decades. Room air conditioners are more commonly called window air conditioners.
Has ANYONE ever experienced a lowered cost from anything that the govt has promised to “help” us with?
It’s like they’ve planned this all out in advance…indeed they have:
THE GREEN SCAM: Dark money group pushing gas stove crackdown has significant financial stake in green energy.
Alex Laskey, Saul Griffith and Ari Matusiak – who together founded Rewiring America in 2020 – have all pursued various wind, solar, electrification and energy efficiency ventures, some of which have netted them millions of dollars in buyouts or received significant federal funding. The three co-founders have simultaneously advocated for policies benefiting those ventures through the nonprofit.
“It’s a shocking amount of money that they’re hauling in with this scheme of theirs,” Tom Pyle, the president of the Institute for Energy Research, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “I call it Big Green Inc. It is literally a business for these guys and they cloak themselves in the mantra of trying to save the planet. But, really, this is just very sophisticated self-dealing.”
“Congress needs to be an aggressive watchdog precisely because of organizations like Rewiring America.”
As Glenn Reynolds says:
MAKING ORDINARY PEOPLE’S LIVES WORSE IS THE GOAL, THE ENVIRONMENT IS JUST THE EXCUSE
It’s all about The Control.
The post Federal Govt LIED to Us – They Are Taking Away Our Gas Stoves – And Going After Our Fridges, A/Cs, and Clothes Washers/Dryers appeared first on Granite Grok.
Founded in 1912, World Athletics – previously the International Amateur Athletic Federation – was formed to standardize equipment, competitions, and recordkeeping. And beginning this Friday, any biological male who has been through puberty before “transitioning” is banned from women’s sports.
In regard to transgender athletes, the Council has agreed to exclude male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female World Rankings competition from 31 March 2023.
World Athletics conducted a consultation period with various stakeholders in the first two months of this year, including Member Federations, the Global Athletics Coaches Academy and Athletes’ Commission, the IOC as well as representative transgender and human rights groups.
It became apparent that there was little support within the sport for the option that was first presented to stakeholders, which required transgender athletes to maintain their testosterone levels below 2.5nmol/L for 24 months to be eligible to compete internationally in the female category.
In terms of DSD regulations, World Athletics has more than ten years of research and evidence of the physical advantages that these athletes bring to the female category.
Experts in sports medicine and sports science (and track and field) agree that passing through puberty as a male gives young men inherent benefits regardless of what happens after. Years of research, they say.
Unfair advantages.
This is great news and a step in the right direction, but it needs to trickle down. The K-12 schools and colleges obsessed with letting boys compete as girls continue to have a degrading effect on opportunities for young women. Being sporty as a hobby is a distraction but taking it seriously is an investment in time and resources. It is a path many may forego, knowing that achievements will be more difficult or impossible if they must compete against otherwise unexceptional boys and young men who have traversed puberty before discovering “success” in women’s sports, thanks to the transgender agenda.
Losing an event or a game could cost a scholarship opportunity or a chance at competing nationally or internationally. So yeah, the same progressive culture that is obsessed with prattling on about glass ceilings has introduced one made of even tougher stuff.
World Athletics should be applauded for its bravery, but until that ‘science’ finds its way back down the food chain, thousands, if not millions, of girls are going to grow up knowing they can’t win, so why bother?
HT | Daily Wire
The post World Governing Body for Track and Field Bans Transwomen from Competing Against Real™ Women appeared first on Granite Grok.
It’s a good day in New Hampshire for Dunkin Donuts! Chris Christie … whose appearance suggests that he starts every day with three dozen donuts … is back in town. And New Jersey Fats is here to educate us about the Forever-War in Ukraine. You thought it was a proxy war against Russia … but New Jersey Fats is here to tell you that you were so wrong. We are actually in a proxy war with China!
So just ignore all the facts indicating that Joe Biden and his family are de facto agents of China … and Mitch McConnell’s China-grift. The Fat Man is here to tell you that Biden and McConnell are actually at war with China!
They think we are so stupid. Have another donut … Fat Man.
The post The Latest Lie From The GOP Forever-War Warmongers appeared first on Granite Grok.
Depending on the fear-mongering, the difference in predicted catastrophic warming you’d get if we saw a rise of 1° C or 1.5° C for any reason would be between 1.8° and 2.7° Fahrenheit. Do you realize that most people wouldn’t be able to feel the difference?
And the planet could care less.
Our planet has seen a lot worse during human habitation without you and your reliable, affordable fossil fuel energy. But we are told the earth would spin into a death spiral if the temperatures rose that wee bit. It’s BS, but not BS you have to wait for because you’ve been living the proof—no Tipping point.
Did you know the ‘Earth’ has warmed 4° C since 1750 and nothing? But back in 2005, climate mullahs warned us that as much as a degree (1° C) rise in global temperatures would be a tipping point.
And in a manner of speaking, it was. We passed that tipping point, so they moved the world’s end to 1.5° C. The media skipped that big story or how, by the IPCC’s demented fearmongering estimates, we’re almost at the next world-ending benchmark (1.5° C). Can you feel it? The climate tipping point.
The newest IPCC report laments the fact that Earth will soon pass the 1.5°C level of temperature rise, seen in the projection in Figure 1. The current extrapolation is to reach 1.5°C by April 2035.
It’s already too late. We’ve seen both the 1.0 C and the 1.5 C tipping points (2017), and nothing happened.
The fact that the IPCC says we are at 1.2 already invalidates the 1.0 lie, and the peak to 1.5 on the graph resulted in no tipping of any sort unless you count the end of the recent warming with the end of a Solar Maximum. There’s no warming from 2016/2017 to 2023 on the IPCC’s graph ‘cuz the glop isn’t getting warmer (oddly, since the end of a solar maximum).
We’ve reported on it a few times.
Reality is an inconvenient truth, so it goes unreported.
Global surface temps have been flat with a bit of a downward slope since that peak, and locally (NH Coastline), we’ve had no measurable sea level rise in the past decade.
If word of that got out, you’d see a tipping point, but not the one they are after
So, spread the word.
The post We Passed 1°C of Warming and the World Didn’t End, And Guess What? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Spec’s RINO Report is here and it listed the top 10 RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) using a formula that picks out Republicans (ahem!) State Reps that vote counter to the majority of Republicans on a given bill. It’s not emotional, it’s just about the numbers. Bordes had a reaction to my posting and I thought this was “precious” of him: he wants to be the top RINO:
“I’m just upset I got the bronze and not the gold.”
Really? Taken at his plain words, he wants to be worse than Dan Wolf concerning the NH GOP Platform? I wonder what his constituents think about Bordes’ response given they thought they were voting for a good Republican.
Otherwise, it seems like he’s not happy about being outed about his vote, especially on major items like abortion and Parental Rights.
Accountability
The post So Belknap County’s “Republican” Mike Bordes Is Either Upset That His Poor Voting Record Has Been Outed – Or He Doesn’t Care a Whit appeared first on Granite Grok.
Drug relapse prevention is an important aspect of recovery for individuals who have struggled with substance abuse. Relapse refers to the return to drug use after a period of abstinence, and it is a common challenge for people in recovery.
There are a number of factors that can contribute to drug relapse, including stress, trigger situations, and social pressure. It is important for individuals in recovery to be aware of these potential triggers and have strategies in place to cope with them.
Strategies for preventing drug addiction relapseOne key strategy for preventing relapse is to develop a strong support network. This can include therapy, support groups, and participation in recovery programs. Building a network of supportive friends and family members can also be helpful, as they can provide emotional and practical support during difficult times.
Another important strategy is to learn coping skills to deal with stress and negative emotions. This can include activities such as exercise, meditation, and deep breathing, as well as seeking support from others when needed.
It is also important for individuals in recovery to have a plan in place for how to handle high-risk situations, such as being around people who are using drugs or being in a place where drugs are easily accessible. This might involve finding alternative activities to do in these situations or finding a way to remove oneself from the situation altogether.
Drug relapse prevention planA drug relapse prevention plan is a comprehensive approach to preventing a return to drug use after a period of abstinence. It is an important aspect of recovery for individuals who have struggled with substance abuse and can help to reduce the risk of relapse.
A drug relapse prevention plan typically includes a number of different strategies and activities, such as:
1- Identifying triggers: Triggers are things that can increase the risk of relapse, such as certain people, places, or situations. Identifying one’s own triggers can help individuals in recovery to be more aware of high-risk situations and to develop strategies for coping with them.
2- Developing coping skills: Coping skills are strategies that can help individuals in recovery to manage stress, negative emotions, and other challenges that may arise during recovery. These can include activities such as exercise, meditation, and deep breathing, as well as seeking support from others.
3- Building a support network: A strong support network is an important component of a drug relapse prevention plan. This can include therapy, support groups, and participation in recovery programs, as well as supportive friends and family members who can provide emotional and practical support.
4- Having a plan for high-risk situations: It is important for individuals in recovery to have a plan in place for how to handle high-risk situations, such as being around people who are using drugs or being in a place where drugs are easily accessible. This might involve finding alternative activities to do in these situations or finding a way to remove oneself from the situation altogether.
5- Ongoing therapy and support: Continuing to work with a mental health professional and participating in recovery programs can help individuals in recovery to address the underlying issues that may have contributed to their substance abuse and to maintain their long-term recovery.
By following a drug relapse prevention plan, individuals in recovery can significantly reduce their risk of relapse and increase their chances of long-term recovery. It is important to remember that relapse prevention is an ongoing process and that it requires effort and commitment.
Who can help me build a relapse prevention plan?At Genesis House, a licensed treatment facility, we recognize the importance of relapse prevention and have developed a comprehensive program to support our clients in this effort.
Overall, our goal at Genesis House is to provide our clients with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to overcome their addiction and achieve long-term recovery. Through our comprehensive relapse prevention program, we strive to help our clients develop the resilience and self-management skills they need to maintain their sobriety and live a fulfilling, sober.
The post How to Prevent Drug Addiction Relapse appeared first on Granite Grok.
Got to love this crazy mixed-up world we live in now. Democrats in New Hampshire unanimously voted against the NH House Parental Bill of Rights legislation. But even the Library gets a “Bill of Rights.”
Weare parents plan to address their school board on March 28th at 6 pm during a school board meeting about the pornography available to their children in the school library. Parents across New Hampshire have tried to get the obscene books removed from the school library but have come into resistance from those in charge of the schools.
Since giving children access to pornography is considered sexual abuse of a child, you have to wonder what these people are thinking. Have we completely abandoned protecting children for political purposes? Are your politics more important than trying to protect the innocence of a child?
Why does the library get a Bill of Rights but not Parents? Especially since the library distributes pornography to children?
Scroll down to page 3:
The post Parents Bill of Rights? NO Library Bill of Rights? YES…and the Library Distributes Porn to Children appeared first on Granite Grok.
(white) goldstandard-03-30-23-S.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-03-30-23-S-y.pdf
The post Senate Gold Standard – March 30, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.
S B272 “Establishing a Parents’ Bill of Rights in Education” is the Senate version. The New Hampshire House Education Committee will have a hearing on SB272, which passed in the State Senate but will need the State House to advance.
Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to editor@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication.
It is sad that we need a Bill of Right for Parents, but Democrats and Leftists have forced us into passing laws to protect our kids in school. Please come to testify on Thursday 3/30/23 at 1PM in the NH Legislative Office Building (LOB) -33 N State St, Concord (right behind the State House) in room 205-207or email your support by using this link: The New Hampshire House of Representatives (state.nh.us)
My Interview of Katerina From The Former Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic
“I Thought Communism Was Done but It Is Back” – Katerina
Katerina was born in Prague in the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic. She studied at the Prague College of Economics. Like thousands of others, Katerina took part in the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and saw the fall of the communist regime. Katerina was twenty-five at the time. For her, it was an unforgettable and exhilarating experience.
I interviewed Katerina about her life in Czechoslovakia under Communist rule, and her concerns for today’s America as she observes the specter of communism looming on the horizon.
Immigrants Speak Week 11: Katerina from Czech: I Thought Communism Was Done but It Is Back – YouTube
My ThoughtsDEI training reminds me of Struggle Sessions of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
This is a clip from my first appearance on @timcast in 2021. “We see the writing on the wall.”
DEI Training Reminds me of “Struggle Session” – YouTube
Save Our Children!
Lily
The post Support Parents’ Bill Of Rights in New Hampshire appeared first on Granite Grok.