The Manchester Free Press

Sunday • November 24 • 2024

Vol.XVI • No.XLVII

Manchester, N.H.

HCR 4: A “Bait and Switch? and Out-Of-State Lobbyists

Granite Grok - Wed, 2023-03-15 18:00 +0000

On Thursday, March 16, the New Hampshire House of Representatives should be debating and voting on HCR 4-a resolution applying for an Article V Convention for a term limit amendment.

There is no reference in Article V of the U.S. Constitution which limits a convention to a specific amendment or topic.  Legislators who support this amendment have been told by out-of-state lobbyists that an Article V Convention can indeed be limited, but they have no historical precedence to back up their claims since the U. S. has never held an Article V Convention.  Just believe them because they trot out well-paid spokesmen who say so.

One of the out-of-state lobbyists is Mr. Ken Quinn. He works for Term Limits USA but once worked for Convention of States (COS). He spends a good amount of his time denouncing and smearing all Republicans who dare oppose an Article V Convention.   Back in 2016, his organization accused NH State Senator Kevin Avard of bribery-a total lie, but it demonstrates the lengths that some of its leadership are willing to go to get their resolutions passed—Senator Avard Accused of bribery by COS.

It looks like COS has not learned its lesson:

 

Attorney Mike Ferris, a co-founder of COS, advocates for “structural change” of the U.S. Constitution. In the Spring of 2016, Mr. Quinn not only defended “structural change” of the Constitution but claimed that the Constitution was flawed because elected officials could ignore it. In his own words:

 

 

Last month, the New Hampshire House rejected COS’s resolution-HCR 1. Let’s hope they do the same to HCR 4.

Term Limit Amendment:

“Throw the bums out” is the emotional call of some term-limit amendment supporters, but a term-limit amendment will throw all members of Congress out- not just the “bums’” If passed and fully implemented, 12 to 15 years from now, it will give us a permanent lame duck Congress, and likely do nothing to change the ideological make-up of new members of Congress.

Hal Shurtleff, Alton

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

BAZINGA! We’ve Made The Big Leagues! GraniteGrok Has Been Flagged By The Southern Poverty Law Center

Granite Grok - Wed, 2023-03-15 16:30 +0000

Hahahahahahaha! Us – GraniteGrok!  The SPLC, the grifters selling their “legitimacy” built up pursuing the KKK and other hate groups (hardly ever are their groups on the Left included) has flagged the ‘Grok as an “AntiGovernment General Group” (reformatted, emphasis mine).

Steve’s reaction was quite droll:

We’ve actually sort of wondered what took them this long.

So, according to them, WHAT are we?  WHY have we, a little blog in a tiny State, come to their attention?  Either we have much more “juice” than I’ve ever thought possible or, boy, are they ever struggling and grasping at straws. Dare I say “bottom of the barrel” in a frenzied attempt to “find” more groups to scare the other Leftie groups with? Silly people.

Sidenote: And better yet, who “turned us in”?  I’d love to shake their hand!

The Intelligence Project identified 266 antigovernment general groups, which believe the federal government is inherently tyrannical and traffic in conspiracy theories. These include groups which self-identify as militias, but do not have any proven paramilitary activity.

In 2021, the conspiratorial and permanently dubious view of government was pervasive, as evidence [sic] by the movement’s popularity on such issues as COVID-19 regulations, local school curriculum, the “Big Lie” voter fraud, border security and various technological advances such as 5G cell service. Antigovernment imagery, such as the Gadsden flag and the Three Percenter logo, was commonly displayed by adherents across the country. Antigovernment groups were linked up with other hard-right groups in 2021, as they often targeted the same marginalized communities and engaged in actual or threats of political violence.

Is saying “we’d whip their butts in any debate” considered to be “political violence”?  Calling them Socialists a felony (even as some actually DO call themselves socialists)? Adhering to traditional mores and history? Quoting the Constitution (GUILTY AS CHARGED – put me into your stocks!)?

Always hewing to the Left’s mission to change America is their mission. And we know them by their words (and grift – I DID mention that, right? Ideological prostitutes in the sale of their “bodies” to others for ideological cover).  Pure Critical Race Theory in that “AntiGovernment” groups are the Oppressors and “marginalized communities” are always being Oppressed.  Sorry, dudes, Democrats are the Party of Government and historically, the Oppressors of those folks (e.g., Jim Crow laws).

But you already know what the Left thinks about us that refuse to bend a knee.

…Faced with greater scrutiny and deplatforming, antigovernment groups reorganized and were dispersed in communities focused on localized activities – a mainstay tactic of the antigovernment movement. Some local chapters of national organizations disbanded or unaffiliated, including chapters of Oath Keepers, the American Patriots Three Percent, III% United Patriots, the Three Percenters/III%ers, and the State of Jefferson Formation.

Ammon Bundy’s People’s Rights activists held a variety of small-scale demonstrations for individual grievances and organized a series of stunts disobeying COVID-19 public health measures, one resulting in Bundy’s arrest, throughout 2021.

In the Southwest, antigovernment extremists set up camps in the desert engaging in vigilante activities including harassing migrants and humanitarian aid groups and coordinating with border patrol agents.

…The antigovernment movement will look to expand upon the broad popularity of foundational ideas related to guns, government distrust…

Umm, if you read our Founders of our Government, THEY were distrustful of all governments, including the one they were designing. So I’m betting that the SPLC doesn’t like them either (just can’t hoover up money from others over them – I think).

This really is hilarious! Would any of you Normal readers (as opposed to the lunatics on the Left that would give their firstborn to Big Government to keep Big Government big and bigger and some do- it’s called murdering the unborn but I guess that’s why we’re listed by them) agree with them that “distrust” should be banned from our Citizens’ minds?  Or do you think we should have no minds at all and just obey what they tell us to think or say?

Look, we do no violence (as we violently disagree with the Left that Speech is Violence (see what I did there?).  But just like when the Left talks about “misinformation” and “disinformation” being the “worst of all evils”, we are not allowed to think on our own.

After all, the SPLC gets paid millions of bucks to tell others that we are evil. Really, we truly are nice guys when you meet us – just don’t say or do stupid things and we’ll get along just fine (right, Thad Riley? Oh wait…).

But, here we are in their list:

Garden State 2A Grassroots Organization
Mulica Hill, NJ*

Gideon Knox Group, MT Daily Gazette
Sidney, MT

GraniteGrok
Gilford, NH*

Gun Owners of America
Springfield, VA*
Florida
Harrisburg, PA

No, I have no idea what they mean by putting an asterisk next to us.

Frankly, I found their “Background” rather amusing and certainly one-sided – the opening ‘graph:

Antigovernment groups are part of the antidemocratic hard-right movement. They believe the federal government is tyrannical and they traffic in conspiracy theories about an illegitimate government of leftist elites seeking a “New World Order.” Adherents and critics have in the past referred to this movement as the “Patriot” movement…

Heh!  Frankly, many of us aren’t “anti-government” so much as “too much government” as in “not sticking to your lanes and boundaries”.  Do what your Constitution says, do it excellently, and leave us alone to figure out the rest in Civil Society. I also think they missed a few other categories as well:

  • They’re bumblers
  • Retiring in place
  • Not as “expert” as they think they are (and that a lot of people outside of government are MUCH smarter than those inside. After all, the only people who have a monopoly on good ideas are those that actually have good ideas).
  • Rarely know their left from the right hands
  • A sense of self-righteousness that those inside are our “betters” and have the unconsented right to order the rest of around and tell us how to live THEIR “authentic lives”.  After all, who is giving us “shared misery” by making major decisions for us (OK, mandates that we must follow on pain of jail  – is that conspiratorial enough for the SPLC to keep our spot in their list???).

No, not all – there are perfectly good ones that try to do the right things. But there’s also enough of the above to list them.

So, yes, a badge of honor from these overbearing, full of themselves, discriminators and bigots in their own right.

Er, Left.

 

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Most of the “Porn” in the School Is Hetero – Pedo, Rape, Sodomy, Suicide, Self-Mutilation, and Substance Abuse

Granite Grok - Wed, 2023-03-15 15:00 +0000

I have to say you couldn’t pay me enough to sit through the spectacle of the SB meetings, especially last night. Kudos for your resolve.

For the record, out of the 100 books identified as pornography in the Dover school libraries on the attached (xls) list (174, not counting duplicates, in the city paid for by taxes), only a few involve people from the LBGTQ community. There are hundreds of books that are about this topic, but I did not list them unless they met the criteria of adult content according to city and state law.

The books listed are rated from 3-5, which meet or exceed the criteria for obscene sexual adult content and for an audience over 18. Many of the books from 1-2, not listed, have material that is not obscene but has topics about race, the LGBTQ community, and other related topics.

I’m really not sure who or why these folks, the rabid crowd last night, believe that pornography books are related to LBGTQ community!? The few books that have gay or trans people in them, are raped, bullied, assaulted, and murdered!

Why on earth would anyone, gay or straight, want children exposed to such horrors?

The majority of the books on this list involve predominantly hetero-pedophilia, rape, gang rape, sodomy, suicide, self-mutilation, trafficking, drug and alcohol abuse, and more. The argument that children need these books is weak.

That these books help them get through life challenges or offer some shred of literary value is slim to none.

Even if one in ten children is suffering from such horrors, the remaining nine are now indoctrinated into a dark world that can lead to proven social and emotional confusion that leads to obsession or, worse, crime. Besides, if one out of ten is suffering, a book that promotes this behavior rather than supports positive behavior, will be their undoing.

Not one of you can stand on merit, fact, or proof that these books are some kind of therapy.

They are written by adults who are in the business of selling sick propaganda to children, promoted by the ALA, publishers, School Board assn, etc., to make money.

If you notice, authors like Ellen Hopkins have 15 titles in our high school. Her books, like many others on this list, are disturbing at best, yet the money makers slap stickers on the covers disguised as awards. If you argue the outcome of these books has some kind of “value,” it does not make the journey any more palatable.

Rather than argue about pornography and its merits (oxymoron), as it’s already in the libraries, we should work together toward a safe, nurturing environment for children to actually learn skills in becoming productive citizens, not porn stars or worse.

Just for a moment, remember what it was like at 15. You may recall some emotion or experience, but you’re looking at them through many years of added experience. Therefore, it’s not the same raw feeling as when you were young.

Now imagine you are a victim (or not) of pedophilia or family drama and read Boy Toy, a teacher raping a boy student, or Tricks, a book about several children having troubles, turning “tricks” for money with lots of drug and alcohol abuse. Man sodomizing/raping a boy, girls turning to prostitution, etc. Hopkins tries to make a feel-good ending through one teen character after trying to commit suicide by an overdose in the hospital where her family actually cares.

Not much literary value, and just how would this book and the others like it be therapy?

And when has self-help through books ever worked?

You cannot argue that children may find the teen characters’ behavior “cool” or a way to get attention. That’s not therapy; it’s grooming or, worse, enabling. By allowing and keeping these books is causing undo harm to children… abuse.

The laws on adult content are clear. I doubt, as a parent, you buy Tricks any more than you’d buy Hustler for your child to read. You probably don’t try to sneak your child into Moonlight reader for the “life’s experience”. Yet you stand on a thin line about sexually explicit books in our schools? If people want these books, let them buy them. I will not stop until my tax dollars do not support this madness.

Let’s take Tricks and how it does not support the LGBTQ community. By making it ok for a man to sodomize/rape a boy? Does that really support their cause? I would hope not. Don’t they want relationships that nurture, not abuse?

Out of all the books on the list, only a few have LBGTQ characters. The ones that do, victimize and abuse them.

What are these people with rainbows and signs about love really upset about? One would think they would be fighting to remove these books too!

Not one person said anything about removing books due to gay content at all. One has to wonder why the School Board and the LBGTQ are fighting to keep pornography in the schools.

That’s a dark thought, indeed.

Juliep
Ward 5
Dover NH

 

Editor: Lightly edited from an email to:

  • Dover School Board<DoverSchoolBoard@dover.k12.nh.us>
  • City Council – All<CityCouncil-All@dover.nh.gov>Carrier, Robert<r.carrier@dover.nh.gov>
  • Joyal, Michael<m.joyal@dover.nh.gov>
  • Wyatt, Joshua<j.wyatt@dover.nh.gov>
  • William Harbron<w.harbron@dover.k12.nh.us>
  • frank.edelblut@doe.nh.gov

The post Most of the “Porn” in the School Is Hetero – Pedo, Rape, Sodomy, Suicide, Self-Mutilation, and Substance Abuse appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Bank of England Downgrades ESG and Net-Zero Investing in Favor of Financial Stability

Granite Grok - Wed, 2023-03-15 13:30 +0000

The Silicon Valley Bank was woke and went broke. It was obsessed with arbitrary equity and diversity in its people, not so much its portfolio. A message that has not landed on deaf ears.

Reformatted.

 

[The Bank of England’s] obsession with climate change, promoted and pushed through by its former governor, Mark Carney, in tandem with government ministers, has for years distracted it from its main responsibilities. Instead, it has been enforcing ESG disclosure guidelines, carbon-testing balance sheets, and promoting Net Zero policies. …

According to reports, the bank’s climate programmes will be downgraded so that officials can return to work on its main remit, namely the nation’s financial stability.

 

The rise of new no ESG banking, alongside threats of litigation by States Attorneys General over discriminator ESG lending practices, had caused some pause in what appeared to be an accelerating snowball of ESG policy adoptions by lending institutions.

Last week Silicon Valley Bank, about as Woke a bank as you could get that almost no one outside the woke tech sector had heard of, collapsed and, despite promises by the Feds to print all the money needed to insure deposits, exponentially decreasing its value along the way, the aftershocks have folks jittery.

The Biden economy was already on thin ice and, in some places, had broken through and was treading water. They redefined recession last year to shore up lagging confidence, and that lie worked for a while. But the reality was always there.  The dollar is weak, inflation is high, the jab market is not strong, layoffs are numerous, and we still have sectors struggling with supply chain issues from two years ago.

And I’m not saying they care about your savings because they don’t. They do care about theirs and the influence it buys, so while being woke can do six shows a week when the curtain drops, there’s no there there.

The Bank of England is no small concern. This decision could send a message. That there’s no point in saving the physical world – real problem or not – if the banking world suffers an apocalypse to get it done.

 

See Also | Forbes

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

DEI … Diversity-Equity-Inclusion … Is Mao’s Cultural Revolution By Another Name

Granite Grok - Wed, 2023-03-15 12:00 +0000

Every NHGOP State Rep and State Senator should be forced to read and re-read and re-read … as many times as it takes for it to sink in … Lilly Tang Williams’ tweet below that demonstrates how today’s DEI … Diversity-Equity-Inclusion … is simply Mao’s Cultural Revolution by another name. The top legislative priority of the NHGOP should be fighting DEI … that the NHGOP’s “leaders” instead ignore DEI and in some cases … like Sun-King Sununu … actually embrace it shows that they are either ignorant or cowards … or worse.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Fauci’s Got a New ‘Lab-Leak’ Groove …

Granite Grok - Wed, 2023-03-15 10:30 +0000

With all this leaky-lab Coronavirus business about, it was only a matter of time before it happened. Tony ‘Tiny Shoes’ Fauci has broken his wee little veil of silence on the matter and stepped into the lab leak light.

Let me sum it up for you. My sisters, best friends, boyfriend’s cousin…

 

“A lab leak could be that someone was out in the wild maybe looking for different types of viruses in bats, got infected, went into a lab, and was being studied in a lab, and then came out of the lab,” said Fauci, the former director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). “The other possibility is someone takes a virus from the environment that doesn’t actually spread very well in humans, and manipulates it a bit, and accidentally it escapes or accidentally infects someone and then you get an outbreak.”

If you read my piece yesterday you’ll know that Fauci signed onto a paper written by two doctors who had said the lab leak looked likely until a meeting with Fauci. The paper appears to be the byproduct of that meeting. A refutation of their position and a news-media anti-lab-leak cornerstone. The docs ended up with 25 million in NAIAD grants for animal virus studies.

And here’s El Fauci, chatting it up with his co-conspirators at CNN, saying well, you know? It could have been some random thing, and scientists being scientists got curious, or maybe, someone (not me) did exactly what everyone said happened, which we’ve been claiming is misinformation. They fiddled with a nonhuman transmissible animal virus, and someone forgot to check the lab’s air pressure.

Woosh, out the door like a scared cat.

Oopsies.

So, Fauci’s new groove is the one that he’s been working so hard to censor or discredit. At this rate, he’ll be reminding us any day now how those emergency-use mRNA inoculations were dodgy and not safe and effective.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Sorry NHGOP Warmongers … Major GOP Presidential Contenders Oppose The Ukraine Forever War

Granite Grok - Wed, 2023-03-15 01:30 +0000

Tucker Carlson recently posed a series of questions to ALL the GOP Presidential contenders regarding the Ukraine Forever War that is so popular among the Mitch McConnell globalist/corporatist/America-Last/controlled-opposition wing of the GOP. The two major GOP Presidential contenders … Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump … both oppose the Ukraine Forever War. You can see their full answers on twitter, which you can access via the tweet below.

And as for Woke Hampshire’s illustrious Sun-King, Christopher Sununu … he was TOO COWARDLY TO ANSWER.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

James O’Keefe Returns With a BOOM!

Granite Grok - Wed, 2023-03-15 00:00 +0000

James O’Keefe founded Project Veritas, but he does not need them to do what he does best. It remains to be seen if they need him, but I think the answer is probably yes. While we wait to find out, James is back at it with fresh J6 intrigue.

Matt Rosenberg said some delightful things about the so-called Capitol Riot, Insurrection, and Democrat Party talking point in a previous undercover video in which he underplayed the histrionics over J6. Rosenberg didn’t see anything to justify how the media and the Left were covering the story. The response was hyperbolic, and well – Matt, are you willing to go on the record to clarify some of what’s already on the record?

 


Rosenberg says no, and when Jame asks why he says, “you know why?”

Because he’s James O’Keefe, and Matt is not allowed to be honest on the record ‘cuz (and this is my speculation) hyperbolic leftists. Why are you giving O’Keefe a story he’s working on or him and it, credibility?

It must be embarrassing. With billions in revenue and global reach, the machine media spends more time spreading other people’s lies than looking for the truth. A product top-heavy with falsehoods, fabrications, and outright fiction promoted with sincerity.

Every. Damn. Day.

O’Keefe, with a fraction of their budget and even less at the moment, I suspect, is doing actual investigative journalism, and good for him. Every. Damn. Day.

On some level, these reporters, who got into journalism as idealistic upenders of apple carts, have turned the occupation into their side hustle. Their full-time job is as a partisan echo chamber for the political elite. Instead of protecting the people and the first amendment, their job is to manage them at the direction of the people they were supposed to police.

As for O’Keefe, he should have no problem eclipsing his former creation, and we look forward to aiding and abetting in any way we can.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

House Gold Standard – March 16, 2023

N.H. Liberty Alliance - Tue, 2023-03-14 23:00 +0000

(white) goldstandard-03-16-23-H.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-03-16-23-H-y.pdf

The post House Gold Standard – March 16, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

Senate Gold Standard – March 16, 2023

N.H. Liberty Alliance - Tue, 2023-03-14 22:59 +0000

(white) goldstandard-03-16-23-S.pdf
(gold) goldstandard-03-16-23-S-y.pdf

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When Does Biden’s Term Start

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 22:30 +0000

A poor leader is one with no accountability. Joe Biden is the poorest of leaders. Over two years into his Presidency, his first thought when it comes to responsibility, everything is the fault of the Trump Administration.

The problem with Biden’s logic is that if everything that goes wrong is Trump’s fault, then everything that goes right should be to Trump’s credit. How does that work for Joe and his diversity queen of the press, Karine Jean-Pierre?

I had to chuckle when Joe’s former Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, dared to comment on MSNBC that Joe Biden getting up for a 9 AM address to the nation showed how seriously he takes this situation. In her words, Joe is a night, not a morning person. By night, does she means he is in bed by 7 PM? Joe Biden is a part-time President at best. Joe got up before the Markets opened to comfort the fears of America about the threat of a run on banks. He pledged that every depositor would be covered for every dollar. He said the cost would be passed onto the banking industry and not paid by the American people. The banks will pass every dollar they have to cover onto their customers, the American people.

I apologize for the sarcastic tone; I am at my wit’s end with this bunch. They can do nothing right, and their sole purpose is to ridicule Republicans and Trump at every opportunity. It is sad, especially since their followers believe every word he utters. He is doing nothing to put Americans and this country in a better place for the future. Spending unlimited amounts of money is their solution to every problem, and it also compounds virtually every situation we face.

Biden ended his address on Monday with a shot at Trump and then abruptly turned and walked away from the podium. Questions were shouted at his back, but he never flinched. Exit, stage right. In typical Biden fashion, he is praising his reactive plan. There is never a proactive plan. Where was his financial team analyzing the situation and stepping in to avoid a bank failure rather than a plan to clean up the mess?

As I wrote yesterday, Biden appears to be reassessing some of his policy positions. Is it possible that he will finally make some personnel changes and replace some of the inept, diverse individuals who have let the country down? Mayorkas, Buttigieg, Yellen, Granholm, Blinken, and Garland have shown ineptitude for two years. In the corporate world, they would all be gone. Can’t we expect the same? These people work for the American people, and the people are not being served. Thank you for your service. You are fired.

This reboot will be the only way that Biden can resurrect his Presidency. Like a lousy baseball team, you can fire the coach or retool the team. Biden is not going anywhere for two years. He needs to bring in some quality free agents quickly. And like a quality coach, he has to say the buck stops here. Accept the failings of the first two years and tell America that you will do better for us in the last two years you are in office….then retire.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Muppet Greta Deletes Armageddon Tweet From 2018 with 5-Year Shelf Life

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 21:00 +0000

The climate cult has spent hundreds of billions, if not trillions, in other people’s money to accomplish one goal. It is the only thing they are good at doing. Being wrong. If a Cult leader predicts it, we can be confident it will not happen.

The latest victim of this ‘gift’ to humankind is Greta Thunberg. She didn’t leap from the pew and speak in tongues. Nor did her eyes roll back in her head as she rose into the air chanting. More likely, the half-pint prognosticator descended the mountain of money (her estimated worth is around one million dollars) dedicated to what may soon be the second most significant political fraud in human history (I think COVID has bypassed it despite the 40-year head-start) and proclaimed our extinction.

On Twitter.

 

In her defense, she was sharing an article at gritpost.com (didn’t they mean griftpost?). It claimed that humans would go extinct if don’t stop using fossil fuels over the next five years. That was five years ago, and to be fair, it probably didn’t say we’d go extinct in five years but that we would if we didn’t stop using fossil fuels.

But I can’t access the article (or find it), so we’re left with an open-ended armageddon typical for the Cult but hardly scientific.

Crazy people have been announcing the end is near for as long as there has been a potential end to predict.

Most of our planet’s history has been less than hospitable to human life. And though we are clever creatures, there’s no guarantee we will have managed habitats and food sources to ride out Gaia’s inevitable tantrums.

But that’s not today’s problem. The dilemma is that of another climate cult scion deleting so-called settled science shared as doomsday prophesy that happens to keep many of the Climate Cult’s top-shelf advocates well-heeled.

That and the reality that the so-called cures are more likely to end most of us, and this seems to be entirely the point.

 

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

We Should Call it HB 1984 – Grants the NH Legislature Authority ABOVE the State Constitution

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 19:30 +0000

House Bill 89 provides that the general court may grant a posthumous exoneration and annulment in a case where, over time, the manifest injustice of the law or policy for which the person was convicted becomes evident.

We want to thank Mike Sylvia for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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The bill grants a posthumous exoneration and annulment of the convictions of Willard Uphaus and Eunice “Goody” Cole. I know nothing about Uphaus or Cole, and I don’t need to know anything about them to know this is an unconstitutional bill. But before I get to the constitutionality of the bill, a sane person would have one very serious question about the bill.

2 New Section; Posthumous Exoneration and Annulment. Amend RSA 651 by inserting after section 5-b the following new section:

651:5-c Posthumous Exoneration and Annulment. In cases where the judgment of history is that an individual now deceased suffered an unjust criminal prosecution, the general court may, notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 651:5, acknowledge the injustice and posthumously exonerate and annul any arrest and conviction of the individual to correct the historic record. Such legislative action to posthumously remedy manifest historic injustice shall not entitle the heirs or the estate of the person who suffered the injustice to recover damages from the state.

Whose version of history will be used to determine the wrongs of some distant past action?

Sadly, this garbage passed the committee 20-0.

Now to the constitution. It is clear that someone looked at the constitution and found that the power of pardon is exclusively granted to the governor and council in Part II, Article 52.

[Art.] 52. [Pardoning Power.] The power of pardoning offenses, except such as persons may be convicted of before the senate, by impeachment of the house, shall be in the governor, by and with the advice of council: But no charter of pardon, granted by the governor, with advice of the council, before conviction, shall avail the party pleading the same, notwithstanding any general or particular expressions contained therein, descriptive of the offense or offenses intended to be pardoned.

We know the committee saw the problem because they amended the bill to include:

651:5-c Posthumous Exoneration. In cases where the judgment of history is that an individual now
deceased suffered an unjust criminal prosecution, the general court may, notwithstanding the provisions of
part II, article 52 of the New Hampshire constitution and RSA 651:5, acknowledge the injustice and
posthumously exonerate any arrest and conviction of the individual for the sole purpose of correcting the
historic record. Posthumous exoneration under this section shall not be considered a pardon or annulment.
Such legislative action to posthumously remedy manifest historic injustice shall not entitle the heirs or the
estate of the person who suffered the injustice to recover damages from the state, nor shall it be deemed to
create any other legal right or remedy in any person as a result of such posthumous exoneration.

The committee considers (and perhaps the full House should they vote for this) that the constitution to be Not With Standing.

not·with·stand·ing

  (nŏt′wĭth-stăn′dĭng, -wĭth-)

prep.

In spite of: The teams played on, notwithstanding the rain.

adv.

All the same; nevertheless: We proceeded, notwithstanding.

conj.

In spite of the fact that; although.

 

Somehow the legislature would claim to have authority ABOVE the constitution. Sure, they try a little fine lawyering by adding that this shall not be considered a pardon. The dictionary knows better:

 

 

Not one in 20 on the committee had the strength to stand against this Marxist bit of Newspeak. Shameful.

Mike

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Why It’s Important To Have A Flexible Job

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 18:30 +0000

Flexible jobs are becoming easier to find, and many employers now understand that this is what their employees are looking for. Whether it’s remote working, flexible hours, or a hybrid working model, this flexible kind of working is good for everyone.

If you are looking for work and are unsure whether flexible working would benefit you, it can be hard to know where to apply – so many jobs are flexible now. This is why it’s a good idea to understand why it’s important to have a flexible job because until you do, you might be missing out on something that would be ideal for you. Read on to find out more.

A Better Work-Life Balance

Having a good work-life balance means you aren’t spending all your time at work (or thinking about work), and you can enjoy your personal time without being stressed. This isn’t always easy when you have a strict schedule to stick to, as you would if your job wasn’t flexible.

When you can work flexibly, you can choose the hours and the location (in most cases) that work for you, ensuring you get the best of both worlds regarding your work-life balance. A good example of a job that would allow this is being a locum pharmacist; you can choose your work hour and locations and make the most of your time.

Better Mental And Physical Health

Everyone must take care of their mental and physical health, and having a job that offers flexible working conditions makes this much easier. You can always find time to make a healthy lunch, for example. You will have time to go for a daily walk, run, or bike ride or perhaps visit the gym. At the very least, you could spare the time to work out at home by following an online video.

You can also take better care of your mental health. When you’re not rushing around all over the place and can take the time to de-stress and unwind, you’ll feel a lot better. You’ll be able to sleep more if you need to, and that’s one of the most important things you can do when you want to make sure both your physical and mental health are taken care of.

More Productivity

A lot of people find that when they have a more flexible job, they can be more productive. Whether it’s because they feel more comfortable so they can focus more, because there are fewer distractions, or perhaps because they are less stressed, they find they can get their work done in a timely manner.

Not only are they more productive, but the quality of their work doesn’t suffer. As an employer, you’ll appreciate the results of offering your team flexible working options. As an employee, you’ll find that you can be more successful and happier in general.

Live Where You Want To

In the past, many people would have had to find jobs close to where they lived (which would limit their options), or they would have to relocate for a job (which wasn’t always possible or something they wanted to do). Today, thanks to flexible working, you no longer need to worry about this.

If you are working remotely, you can work from anywhere you want, meaning you can live anywhere you want. Even if there are occasionally meetups, traveling once or twice a year is not a burden compared to commuting daily.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Federal Gun Control Enforcement Numbers Dip, But Biden ATF Maintains Status Quo

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 18:00 +0000

Federal gun control enforcement numbers dipped in 2022, but the Biden administration still aggressively pursued enforcement, and kept things close to record levels.

In his first two years, the Biden administration took up right where Trump left off and generally maintained the record enforcement pace, with just a slight dropoff.

The number of cases recommended for prosecution fell by just under 1,000 cases — from 11,224 in 2021 to 10,138 in 2022. This was roughly the same number of cases recommended for prosecution in 2018. (See Footnote 1)

The number of firearms cases initiated by the ATF fell slightly, from 37,003 in 2021 to 34,436 in 2022.

But, as can be seen in the breakdown below, an aggressive level of federal gun control enforcement isn’t something limited to Joe Biden, or even just Democrats. Both parties have utterly failed to abide by the clear restrictions in the Second Amendment.

For example, during a public appearance in 2019, President Donald Trump proudly reminded us about his gun control credentials, bragging that his administration implemented new gun control and conducted more enforcement actions than anyone in history. He still holds that record today.

In fact, ATF enforcement increased in each of the first three years of Trump’s administration, and even with governments shutting down much of the country, enforcement numbers only fell modestly in 2020.

Cases Recommended for Prosecution

The 10,138 cases recommended for prosecution in 2022 were generally on par with the numbers over the last five years (except for the pandemic year dropoff). In other words, the Biden administration has generally maintained the record level of cases recommended for prosecution established by the Trump administration.

  • 2022 – 10,138
  • 2021 – 11,224
  • 2020 –  8,025
  • 2019 – 11,319
  • 2018 – 10,691
  • 2017 – 9,591
  • 2016 – 8,805
  • 2015 – 7,516
  • 2014 – 7,577

Indicted Cases

The ATF got indictments in 6,315 cases last year compared to 7,532 in 2021. The 2022 numbers are on par with Obama’s last year in office, but still nowhere close to the record levels from the Trump administration in 2019.

The ATF notes that “cases and defendants indicted, convicted, and sentenced are not subsets of cases and defendants recommended for prosecution in FY 2022. The snapshot presents actual judicial activity in the fiscal year regardless of the year the matter was recommended for prosecution. For example, “percentage indicted” should not be calculated based upon the presented data, as the case indicted may have been presented in a previous fiscal year.”

  • 2022 – 6,315
  • 2021 – 7,532
  • 2020 –  6,934
  • 2019 – 8,360
  • 2018 – 7,630
  • 2017 – 7,137
  • 2016 – 6,357
  • 2015 – 5,503
  • 2014 – 5,310

In all, the feds indicted 9,287 defendants in 2022.

Convictions

The feds got convictions in 5,338 cases in 2022. This was just below Trump’s second year in office, and significantly lower than his record in 2019. In total, federal prosecutors convicted 7,293 defendants in cases brought by the ATF.

  • 2022 – 5,338
  • 2021 – 5,967
  • 2020 – 5,181
  • 2019 – 6,887
  • 2018 – 5,485
  • 2017 – 6,068
  • 2016 – 5,517
  • 2015 – 4,031
  • 2014 – 4,482

Case Types

The ATF also investigates arson, cases involving explosives, and alcohol and tobacco cases, but these make up a small percentage of the total. Last year, 90.9 percent of all cases were related to firearms. Under Trump, 92 percent of the cases investigated by the ATF involved firearms. It was slightly less under Obama – 90 percent.

ATF enforcement of federal gun laws under Trump in year one increased at roughly the same trajectory as it did during the last three years of Obama’s second term and it continued at roughly the same pace until the pandemic slowed things down. With the pandemic behind us, Biden has maintained the status quo – aggressive enforcement of unconstitutional federal gun laws.

The Lesson?

We can’t trust anybody in Washington D.C. to protect the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms.

In fact, if the government followed the Constitution, the ATF wouldn’t exist. All federal gun control laws are unconstitutional. Under the Constitution, there is nothing for the ATF to enforce.

Even among the strongest supporters of “gun rights,” most hold the view that the Second Amendment allows for “reasonable” federal regulation of firearms. But as originally understood, the Second Amendment includes no such exceptions. Constitutionally speaking, the federal government should not regulate the manufacture or private ownership of firearms.

At all.

There wasn’t an asterisk after “shall not be infringed.” No terms and conditions apply.

The bottom line is we can’t trust Republicans or Democrats in Washington D.C. to uphold the Second Amendment.

How to Stop the ATF

You can’t expect a savior to waltz into the White House and end the ATF, but there is a way to slow the agency’s roll. States can hinder the ATF by refusing to cooperate with their enforcement efforts, and withholding personnel and resources.

The federal government relies heavily on state cooperation to implement and enforce almost all of its laws, regulations and acts – including gun control. By simply withdrawing this necessary cooperation, states and localities can nullify many federal actions in effect. As noted by the National Governors’ Association during the partial government shutdown of 2013, “states are partners with the federal government on most federal programs.”

Based on James Madison’s advice for states and individuals in Federalist #46, a “refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union” represents an extremely effective method to bring down federal gun control measures because most enforcement actions rely on help, support and leadership from state and local governments.

Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano agreed. In a televised discussion on the issue, he noted that a single state taking this step would make federal gun laws “nearly impossible” to enforce.

“Partnerships don’t work too well when half the team quits,” Tenth Amendment Center founder and director Michael Boldin said. “By withdrawing all resources and participation in federal gun control, states and even local governments can help bring these unconstitutional acts to their much-needed end.”

This is exactly what Missouri, Montana and Arizona did.

No matter which party controls the federal apparatus, the federal gun control acts of 1934, 1968 and 1986, along with other various laws violating the Second Amendment, remain on the books. ATF enforcement statistics reveal little to no difference between “gun-grabbing” Democrats and Republican “friends of the Second Amendment.” In fact, over the last three administrations, Trump so far was the worst. It remains to be seen how enforcement numbers play out under the Biden administration, but it looks like he will carry forward Trump’s legacy of aggressive enforcement.

Instead of hoping the next president will do better, it’s time to confront this federal menace head-on with state and local action.

Footnote 1

All enforcement statistics were taken from the following ATF Fact Sheets

  • 2014
  • 2015
  • 2016
  • 2017
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2022

 

Mike Maharrey | The Tenth Amendment Center

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

On Redefining Currency

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 16:30 +0000

Kristi Noem was on Tucker Carlson with a warning. There’s been a lot of chatter about virtual money, digital dollars, the end of cash, and all of that, so states are looking at legislation to update the banking rules.

Bills by banking lobbyists that need to be carefully reviewed, according to South Dakota Governor Kristie Noem.

 

[T]he South Dakota legislature passed a bill redefining currency and creating rules for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) that would block all other digital currencies from being used in the state.  Governor Noem vetoed the bill.

When asked why her legislature would do this, Noem responded the state politicians likely did not read the bill as it was constructed by lobbyists.

 

As Tucker notes below, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is not a currency but software. It allows the government or controlling interest to define every aspect of the availability and use of money. It’s digital, so it’s there or not with the touch of a key.

Given the historical arc of government control, the rise of and the CCPs social credit scores, they can track everything you do, and it’s conceivable that you’ll only be able to spend it where and when they say.

They won’t have to track your commercial carbon footprint. They can control it.

A complete and total loss of privacy. Short of engaging in barter – which I’m sure they’d quickly find ways to regulate or ban outright – the government can see everything you earn, how and where you spent it, and on what.

Anyone who says ‘sure, but what’s the big deal’ is in on it (carriers of the blue water) or a complete idiot, fool, imbecile, blockhead, cretin, dolt simpleton, and dummy, exactly what Democrat Socialism needs to survive and thrive.

Imagine that government knows everything to which you donate and every digital dollar you spend to support their opposition. One mob at your door later, and the message is sent.

As noted in the pull quote, Noem saw it coming and gave it the necessary veto, but as she explains in the clip, 20 other states are looking at doing exactly what she just prevented. Their banks and lobbyists are pushing for it there, no doubt as well. All to build a foundation for a federal invasion of privacy and a totalitarian level of control over personal spending.

I don’t know if your state is one of them, but New Hampshire Republicans, with their thin majority, offered a fledgling effort to run in the opposite direction. House Bill 225 was AN ACT relative to prohibiting the use of currency that could be detrimental to privacy rights. Just what Doctor Freedom offered, but the legislation has floundered over a fear of unexpected consequences (side effects).

The bill was rewritten to address concerns (I don’t have that version), but it is still in limbo. One member of the NH House with some inside knowledge told me that “there was considerable resistance by committee Democrats to the bill, and certain… libertarians/ crypto enthusiasts came out against on the grounds that any regulation on choice (even for a tyrannical currency) is too much.”

Anarchist wing of the Libertarians, who, no doubt, oppose all of it. As for the Democrats, they are either in on it (carriers of the blue water) or complete idiots, fools, imbeciles, blockheads, cretins, dolts, simpletons, and dummies.

Convenience is great, but it should be a choice. I use credit cards understanding that I am risking my privacy when I do, but that’s my choice. I still use cash for things, but I have no issue with anyone choosing the digital lane as long as they can choose not to use it. Privacy is still a right. In New Hampshire, it is a Constitutional right, but with a meaning untested. A mysterious cloud the judiciary has yet to illuminate with some awful opinion doing business as precedent.

HB225 in any form might not be needed, but then why would we need bills to protect our speech from the government? And yet we do.

Here’s Gov Noem on Tucker Carlson Tonight.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Silicon Valley Bank: What Happened…

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 15:00 +0000

Silicon Valley Bank took in deposits from businesses and households. It then loaned out some of the deposits. When a bank loans out deposits, it earns a return (profit), because the bank charges “interest” on the loans. All banks do this. But SVB made a big mistake.

We want to thank Pamela J. Brown, Ph.D. (Economics), for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

It loaned out tens of Billions of Dollars by purchasing long-term U.S. Treasuries.

Yes, U.S. Treasuries are considered very safe for investing because the government has the coercive power to tax to refund the loan (a good thing for banks!).

But SVB bought Treasuries that were 1) long-term and 2) at that time, offered a very low-interest rate.

Recently, our monetary authority, the Fed, decided to RAISE interest rates. That means interest rates for any newly-loaned money, including money the govt. decides to borrow (via U.S. Treasuries) will now take place at a HIGHER rate.

So, SVB is holding investments promising a low-interest return in the future. To “equalize” the value of the low-return Treasuries they hold with today’s higher-return Treasuries, SVB must sell their Treasuries AT A LOWER PRICE if they want some cash.

When SVB customers such as Etsy (an online platform for small-business entrepreneurs) tried to withdraw funds to make monthly payments to their employees and platform users, SVB was forced to sell their Treasuries to return the money. This happened at a loss because of the interest rate difference in old-versus-new Treasuries in circulation.

Etsy just had to freeze all transactions because SVB’s balance sheet isn’t balanced: assets (the US Treasuries held) have not been sufficient to cover liabilities (customer deposits).

Now, SVB is closed.

One could say the Fed “tricked” SVB when it raised interest rates and made its investments of lesser value.

If interest rates had remained stable, the situation would not have arisen.

But SVB’s managers should know enough to avoid over-investing in long-term Treasuries. When price inflation rose to 9%, the Fed decided to raise interest rates to contract the money supply and lower prices. Changing government policies are just one of the risks that affect a bank. Financial institutions must be careful to diversify how they invest deposits.

Not all bank failures are caused by reckless government policies. During the Dust Bowl, loans made to farmers were not repaid in part due to prolonged drought, and deposits were lost. That’s life, and those are called supply shocks. But in this case, we can ‘thank’ continued mismanagement in Washington and the Federal Reserve’s jacking with interest rates to accommodate budget chaos for the chronic volatility we’re seeing.

SVB’s situation may cause more banks to fail.

Millions of people are wondering if their banks are over-invested in lower-value assets such as long-term Treasuries. If people develop concerns about their bank’s financial health, whether real or imagined, they will wonder if sufficient funds are available to depositors.

This may lead depositors to hurry in to retrieve their money, called a “run on the bank.” When millions do so, it’s called a “contagion.”

Any depositor with $250,000 (or less) in most US banks is protected with FDIC insurance. By law, they will see their money returned. The problem is that many had deposited MILLIONS in SVB – far exceeding the $250K insured amount.

“90% of SVB’s deposits [are] in financial limbo…that includes Roku, which said it has nearly $500 million with SVB.”

That was a risk that Roku took. I do not support the government (read: taxpayers) providing a bailout to SVB and its depositors.

Lesson learned: Do not deposit more than $250K in any one bank. If you are lucky enough to have more than $250K in cash someday, spread it around to a variety of banks and credit unions and keep the amounts you deposit below the $250K insured limit.

 

Pamela J. Brown, Ph.D. (Economics)

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Two COVID Lab-Leak Theory Scientists Scored 25 Million in Grants From Fauci After They Flipped

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 13:30 +0000

“Science” has been struggling for credibility ever since Climate Scientism sold its soul for a few shackles. By few, we mean, many billions, and settled science has forever more been a thing.

I know. Piltdown man was (around) a 40-year embarrassment of settled science, but Global Warming is nearing that age and better funded, so science on a global scale has never been in such dire straights.

Science can never be settled.

Science is forever under the microscope, existing as the current thinking or theory until another science tips over Newton’s Apple cart. But science, like history, is written by the victors or, in the case of science, by those pandering to whoever signs the checks. From Foundations to governments, special interest has driven outcomes sold as fact for as long as people have paid others to tell their preferred truth.

The Wuhan lab leak is no different. Tony “Tiny Shoes” Fauci was funding experiments at the Wuhan Institue of Virology (WIV) – likely illegal gain of function – and when the Chinese Flu popped up nearby, he had a lot of incentive to squelch stories that it leaked (or was leaked) from the lab, and did.

 

In early 2020, Dr. Kristian Andersen of the Scripps Institute and Dr. Robert Garry of Tulane University notified former White House COVID adviser and National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Dr. Anthony Fauci that they took seriously suspicions that COVID first escaped from China’s embattled Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

“[O]ne has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered,” Andersen told Fauci on January 31, 2020. COVID’s genome, further, seemed “inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory.”

In March, however, both signed onto a paper entitled “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” (Proximal Origin), which concluded the lab-leak hypothesis was not “plausible.” LifeSiteNews has previously reported that Fauci himself had previously unknown input into the final draft.

 

Not long after the paper went public, NIAID money began finding its way into the projects of  Dr. Kristian Andersen and Dr. Robert Garry.

 

“Since changing their tune and publicly dismissing a potential lab leak following secretive conversations with Anthony Fauci, Garry and Andersen have received tens of millions in new taxpayer funds from the NIAID for wasteful, deadly, and dangerous virus experiments on primates and other animals,”

 

Much like the growing COVID response apology tour, the weight of evidence has dragged the Wuhan lab leak cat out of the Wuhan bag. Multiple reports from inside and outside the Government have given credibility to the theory, and the cuckold media are repeating them.

Progs who accused you of disinformation have considered scrubbing their social media of evidence that they fell for another false narrative. No one is admitting that, which is why the piece in the Examiner is important.

Huge sums changed hands throughout the so-called pandemic. Billions were made on the lives of millions who didn’t need to die. Disinformation and conspiracy theories continue to rack up wins as the truth. Folks who helped hide the facts were not given immunity deals from harm. Maybe they say they were following orders, but the sword of Damocles is hanging over many who should have known better or did.

The matter of incomplete informed consent has to, at some point, come back to bite someone with or without legalized immunity. That provision is based on an honest communication of risk which was provided to no one.

And here we have Fauci holding secret meetings with Lab Leak supporters who, after changing their tune, got 25 million for research from a guy who had a lot to lose if it were true.

And after Fauci retired, the Lab Leak story grew legs and became the more likely explanation. But we’ll never get that money back unless the same Government that helped hie it freezes bank accounts belonging to the benefactors, and it has no incentive to do that.

Nor is there much interest in an insider-turning whistleblower. No one wants to end up hanging from a tree by a power cord with a “self-inflicted” shotgun wound in their chest.

And yes, we appear to have a government just like that.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Biden is Upsetting Both Sides of the Aisle

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 12:00 +0000

Joe Biden has not enjoyed favorable approval ratings, nor has his Vice President, Kamala Harris. The Real Clear Politics average has Joe at 44% and Kamala at 38.2%. Joe Biden has been as low as 37%. His low was immediately following the botched withdrawal in Afghanistan when we lost 13 young military members in a Taliban bomb attack. He picked up some momentum after the Mid-terms when Democrats outperformed expectations. He is poised for another dip.

There are two decisions before Biden, and indications are that one is sure to upset the Right, and the other will alienate him from his own party. Let’s look at both.

COVID Origination

Congress passed a bill with unanimous consent of members of each Chamber. A Congressional pay raise would probably not pass the Senate and House unanimously, but this COVID info bill managed to do the impossible.

The bill, which already passed the Senate, would require Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify any information about links between the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the controversial viral research laboratory in the city where the SARS-CoV-2 virus first emerged. The vote in the House was 419 to 0. 

You would think it would be a formality for a President to ink his signature on a bill that reaches his desk and does not have a single NAY vote attached from Congress. You would be right about a traditional Presidency, but we do not have normalcy at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Chinese President Xi has made it known that he wants this information to stay classified and away from American eyes. So we have an apparent conundrum for Joe Biden. He can align with the wish of Congress and sign the bill, or assuage Xi and refuse to sign or VETO the legislation. His action will define his allegiance, and should he side with Xi, it will add more fodder to the belief that Biden is compromised and beholden to the Chinese.

The Willow Project

The other issue is the Willow Project in Alaska, where ConocoPhillips will be given permission to construct three drilling sites and a connecting pipeline on 16 Million acres of land in Northern Alaska above the Arctic Circle. This project will add thousands of high-paying jobs in Alaska, producing an estimated 180,000 barrels of oil daily. Biden was expected to sign this agreement on Monday. His signature will please the Right that has been urging Biden to ease restrictions and let America regain energy independence. The Left, especially the Green faction, will be apoplectic and fuel the argument that Biden has abandoned them for a more central position.

The Left already feels betrayed by two Biden decisions last week. Biden reversed course on the Washington, D.C. Crime Bill and refused to sign the controversial plan that would make D.C. a more dangerous place for citizens by being softer on crime. The 173 Democrats who voted NAY for the bill feel Biden double-crossed them. Biden has also said he would agree to hold illegal family units trying to enter the United States in Mexico.

These actions indicate a new erratic Biden that has cast confusion over his intentions. The Left cannot bank on his unfettered support, and the Right sees some room for compromise in Biden 2.0. This will make the next two years very exciting and cloud the President’s intention to run in 2024. Buckle up and stay tuned.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

I Am A Former “Trans” Kid. …

Granite Grok - Tue, 2023-03-14 10:30 +0000

As a child, I was insistent, persistent, and consistent that I was a boy. I have no doubt that if the option to take puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones had been available, I would have done everything I could to obtain them, including threatening suicide, especially if I had others encouraging me to threaten suicide as children are today.

Testimony for HB619: prohibiting gender transition procedures for minors – House Health, Human Services, & Elderly Affairs Committee

In the short term, I likely would have felt better.

Testosterone is a controlled substance. Like other controlled substances, it has high risks to health and well-being and has the potential for both addiction and abuse. Testosterone makes almost anyone who takes it initially feel a sense of euphoria. If I had taken it as a child, it would have allowed me to completely dissociate from myself as a girl and create a new persona, someone who could pretend that the horrible trauma that triggered my gender dysphoria didn’t happen to me.

When I first started taking it, it would have boosted my confidence and increased my energy, and most importantly, I would have felt safer.

If I took testosterone, it would have been so much easier to pretend that I was not the little girl who was brutally sexually assaulted. A little girl who became convinced at the moment of the assault that I was not safe being a girl. That the only way I could keep it from happening again was by becoming a boy.

Despite feeling better in the short term, in the long term taking testosterone would have been profoundly damaging, potentially even more damaging than the sexual assault. I can’t imagine the impact of being told by teachers, doctors, and other adults that I was born in the wrong body. That I was inherently flawed.

It would have reinforced all the mistaken beliefs I had that caused me to develop gender dysphoria in the first place:

That being a girl was bad.
That it was my fault that those men hurt me. That my body was a mistake.
That it was too dangerous be a girl.

If I had been medically transitioned, I wouldn’t have gotten the help I needed to work through my self-hatred and shame.

I never would have realized that my transgender identity was a coping mechanism.

I am so thankful that my school psychologist put me on a healing path.

I am grateful to other therapists who helped me understand that my transgender identity was a result of the sexual assault not because I was born in the wrong body.

I shudder to think at what my life would be like if I’d been encouraged to believe that I was a boy.

I would have lived my life hating myself.

Puberty blockers would have retarded my growth and development.

Cross-sex hormones would have caused my otherwise healthy body to become Dysfunctional.

The combination of both puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones would have left me sterile.

Children who says they feel better because of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are likely telling the truth.

In the short term, these interventions allow children to avoid the difficulties they are facing, whether that be grappling with internalized homophobia, struggling with autism, or trying to recover from a significant trauma.

We should not be giving children controlled substances in order to make them feel Better.

It is a horrible disservice encouraging them to dissociate, to run away from their feelings, to run away from themselves, and to take a drug that in the short term will help them to feel better by numbing their feelings but in the long term, permanently damage their bodies and in the long term, prevent them from getting the help that they need to understand the difficult feelings that they’re having in the first place.

It is natural for children to do what they can to shut down difficult feelings, which is why we work hard to stop children from using drugs and alcohol.

We know that encouraging children to run away from their pain and struggles is not the solution, even if it makes them feel better in the short term.

It is our job as adults to give children the message that no matter how intense and difficult their feelings are, they can work through them without dissociating from themselves to become a different person.

Because of loving, caring, and supportive therapists and teachers, I got the care I so desperately needed to process what happened to me.

Transgender activists often discount my story, saying I was never really transgender. They are right. I wasn’t. And that is the point.

Even though I was insistent, consistent, and persistent about being a boy, I wasn’t a boy. Yet gender doctors admit that the only diagnostic criteria used to determine if a child should get puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries is if the child is insistent, consistent, and persistent with gender confusion. It only takes one story like mine to show they are wrong. To show that children develop gender dysphoric feelings not because of being born in the wrong body, but as a coping mechanism.

The belief that a child can somehow be born in the wrong is a mystical view, not a medical view.

I have great respect for doctors. However, they have gotten it wrong in the past. We are still suffering from the consequences of the opioid epidemic, where doctors were told by pharmaceutical companies that treating pain with dangerous and addictive opioids was safe and effective.

How many thousands of people died because doctors were following guidelines for pain management written by those who were profiting from the sale of opioids? How many people have wrestled with serious addictions after well-meaning doctors prescribed medications that they had been told were safe and effective only to find out later that they were misled by pharmaceutical companies willing to put dollars ahead of human lives?

The so-called “treatments” for gender dysphoria that are being championed by activists will go down in history as being far worse than the opioid crisis unless regulations are passed to protect children from these experimental and harmful interventions.

The only treatment proven to help manage and resolve gender dysphoria is therapy combined with allowing children to naturally progress through puberty naturally. Children struggling with confusion about their identity need love and support. I got the gift of time to heal and I am so incredibly grateful.

The children who are struggling with gender dysphoria in New Hampshire deserve the same gift. Please support HB619-FN.

Thank you, Erin Brewer

 

House Health, Human Services, & Elderly Affairs Committee
Testimony for HB619: prohibiting gender transition procedures for minors
Erin Brewer

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

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