As Americans deal with air quality issues from Canadian forest fires, the US media blames big oil and modernity’s sins. The actual cause is a bit less complex. Canadian authorities say arsonists deliberately started these fires.

Related: CO2 Increases “Linked to” Rising Education Costs and More Gun Crimes in Democrat Cities but not Forest Fires.

I’d like to take eco-terrorists for 500, please.

 

In the past months, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have arrested several arsonists who have been charged with lighting fires across several provinces including Nova Scotia, Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta. The motive behind lighting the fires is unclear.  

One Albertan, John Cook, has been arrested and charged with 10 counts of arson after setting a string of wildfires in and around Cold Lake, a hamlet near Edmonton. 

 

We’ve got fires started in at least five provinces by several individuals and a history of direct action by enviro-wackos on global wood and grasslands.

 

• Massive California “Wildfire” (Allegedly) Started by a Former Forestry Student Not Global Warming
• World Wildlife Federation Paid $70,000 to Activists Who Set Fire to Amazon Forest.
• Largest Wildfire in New Mexico’s History … Was Started On Purpose, by the US Government
• Australian Police: Arson is to Blame for Much of the Devastation Caused this Bushfire Season
• Australia’s Brush Fires – Arson is Playing a Huge Role

 

I’m guessing here, but I bet a deep dive into the motive for the alleged arsons will land somewhere near or on top of so-called environmentalist groups dissatisfied with the speed at which the Canadian government is crippling its people and their economy.

That’s speculation, not fact, but whatever the reasoning of affiliation; these are not wildfires. They are criminal acts of arson.

Maybe you could call it mostly peaceful environmental protesting.

I remember when these losers used to protest outside offices or block ships, but these days they block highways, deflate tires, glue themselves to things, try to derail trains, or start “wild” fires.

They’re not wildfires if someone sets them deliberately. That’s not to say there isn’t a fair share of the real thing or that it doesn’t affect the air quality, but it’s not man-made, and taking away your cars and gas stoves won’t change it.

 

HT | LifeSite News & ZeroHedge

The post They Are Not “Wildfires” (in Canada) If Eco-Terrorists Set Them appeared first on Granite Grok.

CONCORD, N.H.—House Freedom Caucus and House Progressive Caucus members are deeply concerned about the Senate Finance version of the 2024-25 Budget.

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

The 2024-25 budget as adopted by the Senate Finance Committee reinstate dangerous provisions that the caucuses worked to remove from the House version via floor amendments.

“Shocked. The only word I can use is shocked,” said Rep. Hoell (R-Dunbarton) regarding the underhandedness of the NH Senate. “Nearly two-thirds of the House voted to strike these provisions via floor amendment when the House considered the budget in April. For Senate to add them back after that is an insult to the process.”

Despite overwhelming bipartisan votes in the House to remove them, the Senate has reinstated provisions establishing a Northern Border Alliance Program that is both wasteful and likely to be used to harass law-abiding individuals based on dubious criteria; removing all legislative limits on the size the Auxiliary State Police; and expanding arbitrary police authority near the border.

“We have seen time and time again, when police are given sweeping powers and little objective criteria, it is often minorities that suffer,” said Rep. Newell (D-Keene) regarding the new police authority in the northern part of the state. “Individual liberties, due process, and respect for people of all backgrounds must always be respected.”

###

About the Freedom Caucus

The New Hampshire House Freedom Caucus is a grassroots organization consisting of legislators and private citizens, who believe in personal liberty and the traditional conservative “Yankee” values that made New Hampshire a great place to live.

The post House Freedom Caucus and House Progressive Caucus Oppose Dangerous Expansion of Police Power appeared first on Granite Grok.

Remember when the LGBT lobby said they only wanted civil unions, then demanded marriage anyway? Our entire experience with the movement, dominated by Left-Wing politics and tactics, echoes that one example.

Related: Gay Activist Couple Accused of Sodomizing Their Adopted Sons and Distributing “Homemade” Child Pornography of the Sexual Abuse.

And it all turned on the idea that you can’t help who you love.

That’s a lie.

You damn well can help who you love, including romantic love and the misguided sexual relativistic fraud that confuses sex with love. You can choose not to love or have sex with anyone. That person is married, they are a couple, or this person is too young.

That’s not to say you might not be attracted to any of those people. You find them engaging, a kindred spirit, fun to be with, similar interests or hobbies, or any of a thousand different parameters, including sexual attraction. It is this natural preference filter that guides us through everything we do, from where we like to sit on a bus or in a restaurant to where we park our cars, who we choose as friends, what we find ugly or attractive, our favorite songs, movies, colors, and why we begin or end relationships, and with whom we are intimate emotionally or physically.

Related: Drag Queen Story Hour Tweet: “Love Knows no Age” Pulled Down – ‘cuz Pedophilia

The correct word to describe this innate human experience is prejudice, but as the word’s negative connotation has taken precedence, that definition has fallen out of favor. Prejudice these days relates to any human feeling or action with which the political left disagrees—another act of fraud like ‘you can’t help who you love.’ Especially when love in the rising dominance of the progressive worldview means sex. A misguided interpretation doomed to end in misery.

That’s not to say there isn’t anything extraordinary about sex, casual sex, or great sex (consensual sex of any sort). Intimate relations with someone you love must not be confused with loving sex or sex with someone with whom you like having sex. Congrats on whatever that is, but be advised; if the love didn’t come first, the odds are good the relationship gets rocky or ends if the sex ends.

I’m not telling you to save yourself until you are in love, but when love comes first, everything else has a better foundation upon which to stand.

And love is one of the significant casualties of the culture war, and the left is almost entirely to blame.

Related: Women’s Health Care Alert: California Women’s Prison Inmates are Being Raped by “Transwomen”

They used the word love to normalize the sexual habits of consenting adults and look where that’s gotten us. The same movement that said they wanted civil unions and not marriage is actively normalizing the government-approved grooming of children while advancing legalized Pedophilia under the title of minor-attracted adults.

They say you can’t help who you love, including children, unless that child’s Navy Seal dad or martial arts instructor mom is standing nearby. And what if it just happens to be a concealed carry state? You can probably help it then, the same way people who can’t help stealing other people’s stuff can more than resist the urge when there’s a police officer next to them.

Don’t confuse lust with love. Lust is a thing, a normal human thing, but it is selfish, whereas love is “the reciprocal selfless quest to give to, rather than take from, their spouse – even if, in fact, both are needy. And both will benefit.”

The progressive worldview centers on a lust for power that cannot exist without taking while it pretends to give. It gives you the right to take from others. It gives you the right to take children from parents and innocence from children. And sometimes, it dares to call it love, but that’s a lie.

 

The post Progressive “Love” Is a Lie appeared first on Granite Grok.

MAID in Canada is an acronym for Medical Assistance in Dying. It states that a person is not guilty of a criminal offense if they provide or assist in providing MAID according to the conditions and safeguards in the law. The Canadian Government created the MAID program in 2016.

Related: Follow the Bouncing Ball: Canada Wrecks Health Care, Legalizes Assisted Suicide, Organ Donations Rise …

That is a lot of verbiages to describe a program that saves money by offering people, especially veterans, an option for expensive long-term care-Death. The Canadian Government created the MAID Practice Standards Task Group to create a Model Practice Standard for medical assistance in dying to support a safe and consistent approach to MAID across the country.

There are many examples of how humane euthanasia can be to older adults suffering from painful diseases without hope of reversing the malady. We may know of people in our families suffering without hope of the pain passing. They have suffered enough and want the pain to end and to end their lives peacefully. That is entirely different than taking someone in their mid-life who suffered a life-altering injury in battle, needs support, and to save money is offered medically assisted suicide as an option. 

A paraplegic former Canadian military member is ripping her Government, which offered to euthanize her after she complained about delays in having a wheelchair lift installed in her home.

Retired Army Corporal Christine Gauthier, who competed for Canada at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, testified in Parliament that a Veterans Affairs Canada caseworker offered the opportunity for a medically assisted death – and even to provide the equipment, according to the CBC.

“I have a letter saying that if you’re so desperate, madam, we can offer you MAID, medical assistance in dying,” said Gauthier, who injured her back during a 1989 training accident.

As many as five veterans may have been offered euthanasia equipment by a veterans affairs official, said Veterans Minister Lawrence MacAulay in testimony before the committee last week. Those cases have been referred to the police. MacAulay said all of the instances involved one employee, who has been suspended.

Related: Progressive Trial Balloon: Ethicists Suggest Making it Legal to Euthanize the Poor

After 40,000 Canadians have chosen death under the MAID Program since its inception, Canadians are waking up to the horrors of this government option for healthcare. That new thinking is not stopping the Trudeau-led Government that is actually expanding the program’s reach. Trudeau and his party felt the program was too restrictive. Until now, only physical maladies have qualified people to choose death, but now people living with mental illness can choose euthanasia. How does one determine if someone suffering from mental illness has the state of mind necessary to opt for death?

Add mental illness to the list of MAID qualifiers; Homeless, Poor, Disabled, Newborn Infants, and Mature Children. A state-approved doctor signed off on a depressed teen who wanted to die because he did not have a girlfriend. The parent’s consent is not required for “Mature Children” to choose suicide under the MAID Program. The moral questions here are unlimited. But whether it is abortion up to or beyond the point of birth or allowing Government assisted suicide, the Liberals are showing that sound morals are not required for leadership. Maybe the Liberals have finally gone too far, which is why millennials are moving to the Right. That is good political news for the Right, but it is even better for society. Maybe we can save this world from self-extinction.

The post MAiD in Canada Death Sentence For Veterans And Children appeared first on Granite Grok.

We’ve said a thing or two about Electric Vehicles not being the green dream the Climate Cult promised. It is a problem they can’t escape, even if they overcome their impracticality in wide-open America, which seems unlikely. But they have their advocates, including actor Rowan Atkinson, but even he’s got concerns.

 

As you may know, the government has proposed a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. The problem with the initiative is that it seems to be based on conclusions drawn from only one part of a car’s operating life: what comes out of the exhaust pipe. Electric cars, of course, have zero exhaust emissions, which is a welcome development, particularly in respect of the air quality in city centres. But if you zoom out a bit and look at a bigger picture that includes the car’s manufacture, the situation is very different. In advance of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, Volvo released figures claiming that greenhouse gas emissions during production of an electric car are 70% higher than when manufacturing a petrol one. How so? The problem lies with the lithium-ion batteries fitted currently to nearly all electric vehicles: they’re absurdly heavy, many rare earth metals and huge amounts of energy are required to make them, and they only last about 10 years. It seems a perverse choice of hardware with which to lead the automobile’s fight against the climate crisis.

 

Does it sound different coming from a famous actor? Maybe not, because who are these people but folks who pretend for a living? Why would I care? I’m inclined to agree, but the Mr. Bean actor has some credentials.

 

Electric motoring is, in theory, a subject about which I should know something. My first university degree was in electrical and electronic engineering, with a subsequent master’s in control systems. Combine this, perhaps surprising, academic pathway with a lifelong passion for the motorcar, and you can see why I was drawn into an early adoption of electric vehicles.

 

He’s also a longtime “employee” in an industry bristling with left-wing advocates who will use their reach to promote Marxist ideas most of them don’t even understand. That may put the rank-and-file pronoun pondering progressive in good company if by good you mean the end of modernity, prosperity, and comfort for the peasants, but most folks should be suspicious, even when they come out on what appears to be your side of an issue.

Atkinson’s remarks come to us from a lengthy piece in The Guardian, and he’s got more to say.

 

Unsurprisingly, a lot of effort is going into finding something better. New, so-called solid-state batteries are being developed that should charge more quickly and could be about a third of the weight of the current ones – but they are years away from being on sale, by which time, of course, we will have made millions of overweight electric cars with rapidly obsolescing batteries.

 

Atkinson ponders advances in hydrogen technology as a replacement, but as Eric Worrall notes at WUWT, it is a dangerous commodity with handling problems that might prevent it from reaching escape velocity. Rowan adds that it might be the only escape from fossil fuels for heavy trucks and equipment, and if they can make that work, there might be motivation to downscale for passenger vehicles.

That is a fair point, and he makes several other reasonable suggestions. In other words, he’s not bashing EVs; he’s walking through the problems and options because Lithium batteries appear more an interim step toward what might work. All of which leads to his almost hitting the mark.

 

As an environmentalist once said to me, if you really need a car, buy an old one and use it as little as possible.

 

Loving the motorcar is the problem; in the United States, it is a multi-generational-cultural problem. The automobile is as much a symbol of freedom and mobility as the American Bald Eagle. And while coast-hugging elites can’t see it from their urban plantations, most of the country is wide-open and unsettled, and most of us can’t cross it in a Jetstream, and it seems like they don’t want us crossing it at all.

The point of it all is to make mobility a luxury so that we are forced to gather in their 15-minute ghettoes where they can keep an eye on us. Rowan Atkinson is closer than many but still too far away. The environment that’s the problem isn’t the biosphere. It is any theater in which notions of an unalienable right to liberty remain.

Mobility, the inherent right to travel, must die so future generations won’t feel so inclined to be free. Once you accept that truth, the rest is arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

 

HT | WUWT

The post Rowan Atkinson: Loves EVs But Admits They’re Not That Green appeared first on Granite Grok.

According to Sun-King Sununu, Trump is a LOSER. Indeed, His Majesty has called him a three-time LOSER … 2018, 2020 and 2022. Yet His Majesty is simultaneously telling us that the lack of a Trump endorsement … you know that same three-time LOSER Trump … is the reason Chuck Morse lost, more like got his Establishment ass kicked, by Don Bolduc.

This is so Sun-King Sununu … a narcissist who believes he is the proverbial “smartest man in the room” … who believes he can baffle everyone with his babble. NO, Your Majesty … you are a BABBLING FOOL; you are your own Court Jester.

The post Sun-King Sununu Is His Own Royal Jester appeared first on Granite Grok.

On June 2, 1787, Benjamin Franklin delivered a speech at the Philadelphia Convention opposing a provision in the proposed Constitution to pay the president a salary. The speech reveals some important aspects of human nature that we should keep in mind today.

Franklin submitted a change to the proposed Constitution stipulating that instead of paying a salary, the president’s “necessary expenses shall be defrayed,” but the chief executive “shall receive no salary, stipend, fee, or reward whatsoever for their services.”

According to Madison’s Notes on the Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Franklin made the motion for the change and asked to read a prepared statement because “being very sensible of the effect of age on his memory, he had been unwilling to trust to that for the observations which seemed to support his motion.”  James Wilson offered to read the letter and Madison included the text in his notes in its entirety.

Franklin was concerned about paying the president a salary because of human nature. He wrote that the combination of two passions –  power and the opportunity for financial gain – would create factions, divide the nation and even incite wars.

“There are two passions which have a powerful influence on the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice; the love of power, and the love of money. Separately, each of these has great force in prompting men to action; but when united in view of the same object, they have in many minds the most violent effects. Place before the eyes of such men a post of honor, that shall be at the same time a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it.”

In Franklin’s mind, it was all about incentives and the type of people such a system would attract.

“It will not be the wise and moderate, the lovers of peace and good order, the men fittest for the trust. It will be the bold and the violent, the men of strong passions and indefatigable activity in their selfish pursuits. These will thrust themselves into your government, and be your rulers.”

Franklin went on to warn that if the door was opened with even a modest salary, people in power would constantly strive for more, writing that “reasons will never be wanting for proposed augmentations. And there will always be a party for giving more to the rulers, that the rulers may be able in return to give more to them.”

Franklin said the government would eventually become a mechanism to enrich those who hold power at the expense of the general population. When that happens, large numbers of people will grow to resent supporting this mechanism. Franklin warned about what would happen – warfare between the governing and the governed.

“Hence, as all history informs us, there has been in every state and kingdom a constant kind of warfare between the governing and governed, the one striving to obtain more for its support, and the other to pay less. And this has alone occasioned great convulsions, actual civil wars, ending either in dethroning of the princes or enslaving of the people.”

Because government has the power, it usually wins this war with “the revenues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are never satisfied but always in want of more.”

“The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes, the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partisans, and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance, and enable him to plunder at pleasure.”

Franklin worried that the combination of power and money would eventually lead the U.S. back to monarchy.

“But this catastrophe I think may be long delayed, if in our proposed system we do not sow the seeds of contention, faction, and tumult, by making our posts of honor places of profit.”

Franklin’s motion did not carry the day. Under the Constitution, as ratified, “The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.”

Currently, the presidential salary is set at $400,000 per year. While this is modest when compared to CEO salaries in the corporate world, it is still a substantial sum of money. Furthermore, people in government positions — including the presidency — seem to find ways to enrich themselves while in power far beyond their government checks. There is no doubt the presidency offers both a post of honor and at the same time a place of profit.

As a result, many of the things Franklin warned about have come to pass, particularly his prediction that the bold and the violent, the men of strong passions and indefatigable activity in their selfish pursuits would thrust themselves into government.

We’ve also seen the development of factions and constant warfare between the governing and governed.

The lesson is that we can’t wish away human nature. We can’t trust people with power. As George Mason astutely said, “Those who have power in their hands will not give it up while they can retain it. On the contrary, we know they will always, when they can, rather increase it.”

When you combine this impulse with a system that rewards greed, you are asking for trouble.

 

 

Mike Maharrey | The Tenth Amendment Center

The post Benjamin Franklin Speech Exposes the Inherent Danger of Power and Money appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you don’t like Twitter and like Tucker Carlson, we’re here to help. The first episode of Tucker on Twitter was released the other day, and we’ve curated it here for you, on Twitter or off.

Carlson opens with the recent destruction of a Damn in the Ukraine/Russia proxy war, the various players, on his way to discussing the real problem that the story represents

The non-Twitter version is available here.

Ep. 1 pic.twitter.com/O7CdPjF830

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 6, 2023

 

The post Tucker on Twitter Ep 1 appeared first on Granite Grok.

As promised in the last Monday Memes, I have an overflow. My meme cup runneth over.  Fairly certain about a Friday Overflow-Overflow.

Also, for those prepper-minded, my last Survival Sunday (albeit a week old):

Survival Sunday – Unified – Granite Grok

Now, let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:

 

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

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

I am a day late – scheduling.  But lest we forget the enormity of D-Day…  (HT Peter Grant):

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Obesity, Diabetes, Cancer and You | Dr. Peter Attia | EP 360

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

I cannot compromise with cancer.  I cannot find common ground with gangrene.  The Left must be crushed, utterly, or we perish.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

   

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

So who remembers our “good and dear friend” Klaus Anal Schwab discussing ze frightening scenario of a cyber attack on the power grid?

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/cyber-attacks-next.mp4

 

And remember what I wrote about in the last Monday Memes – what I see as a clear and deliberate push to trigger WWIII.  They could do it themselves, then blame Russia and use that as an Article 5 invocation for all of NATO to turn on Russia.  And don’t forget the dam getting blown up.  Qui bono?  Ukraine.  But it will – I fear – be presented as a “Responsibility to Protect” thing.

What is R2P? – Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (globalr2p.org)

The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing has emerged as an important global principle since the adoption of the UN World Summit Outcome Document in 2005.

Remember, NATO is having war games – huge ones – this month.  What a coincidence that such a thing happens.  Again, QUI BONO?

 

 

As I understand it, this also cuts Crimea off from its main water supply.  Somehow, after all the effort to gain control of Crimea, I do not see Russia deliberately doing this.  But Ukraine?  Ukraine benefits.  And NATO benefits from having casus belli to initiate a “Responsibility to Protect” action against Russia.  And thus the Globalists get their Jab-effect masking war + depopulation.  Don’t think collectivists are that murderous?  Just look at how many civilians the Communists have murdered already.

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

CPR: Yes or No?

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

None in the US.  It is only wealthy societies that can afford the expenses of being clean.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Pick of the post:

 

 

What’s the US exporting?  Perversion and corruption.  No wonder so many around the world increasingly hate us.  No wonder religious countries – especially Islamic countries – increasingly see us as evil.  Related to that:

State Dept Pushes LGBTQ ‘Pride’ Everywhere Except Muslim World – Daniel Greenfield / Sultan Knish articles

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

And from where did this transplanted uterus come, pray tell?  Oh, from a WOMAN!

World’s first baby is born from a transplanted uterus implanted by a robot | Daily Mail Online

Gag.  Retch.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Palate cleansers:

 

—

—

 

The post Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

Well, as Steve informed us, Chris Sununu benched himself with this:

To win, Republicans need our message to appeal to new voters, and we can do this without sacrificing classic conservative principles of individual liberty, low taxes and local control. But we must abandon the issues that are solely made for social media headlines, such as banning books or issuing curriculum fiats to local school districts hundreds of miles away from state capitals. Republicans should re-embrace local control and let parents within their own communities decide what’s right.

And Steve rejoined with a most excellent translation:

Governor Groomer is doubling down on porn in schools, systemic racism against white kids, and using the Left’s narratives. Good boy, Chris. Hey, can you be a character witness in Democrat Chairman Buckley’s defamation trial?

Which can be summarized as:

Chris Sununu is officially now a NeverTrumper

Which the only results those morons accomplished in 2020 was to help elect Biden. So once again, Sununu’s late to the party. And now has proclaimed that he’s fully against between a third and a half of the Republican base.  Yeah, that would have been a winning hand given that he his best band of national polling results was betwee 0.5%- 1%. And in today’s RealClearPolitics aggregate polling, he’s still only at 1% – far less than the 5% he so thought he’d rise to handily to get to the debate stage.

Even with his ferocious frenzy of appearances on the illiberal talking head spots (really, “The View”?  Remember, the Left isn’t going to vote in the Republican primaries).  And I would have to wonder that in my snap unscientific poll (plaudits to Steve for his technical “clean up”) how he would have faired against Chuck Morse (5.24%), Kelly Ayotte (64.92%), or Frank Edelblut (29.84%)?

So now the only question is “what’s the over/under that he’d run for a fifth term (co-asked with “will that kill the Republican legislative majorities”?)? Or is it a talking head or consulting gig?

Anyways, this series has run its course and I’m glad it’s done. But gladder that we’d have Republican in the Oval Office aligned with Democrats socially – and shoving their Culture War spawned Overton Window so far to the Left that it’s outside Pluto’s orbit.

UPDATE: forgot that I had a “Notable Quote” to go along with this aborted effort (perfect word choice for a pro-abortion Republican); emphasis mine:

It should be a rule that if you want to announce whether you’re running for president, no less than five people have to know who you are and what you do for a living. Reporters in Washington don’t count.

Hey, that “five” fits right in Sununu’s “five” but five people is a whole lot less than “poll percentage”; brutal.  And the beginning of the next sentence is even more brutal:

A man named Chris Sununu declared in a Washington Post op-ed this week that he will, in fact, not be seeking the Republican presidential nomination, and I honestly doubt that even three people reading this could identify Sununu in a lineup of pudgy white men. I’d heard of him before but had no idea what he looked like and wasn’t even sure if he was still an elected official. As it turns out, he’s the sitting governor of New Hampshire.

But more importantly, if you’re going to announce a campaign or explain why you’re not running, the reasons for it shouldn’t be maddeningly stupid. That Sununu chose the Post to lay out his thought process was already a clue that this wasn’t something Republican voters needed to be concerned with. But his explanation was equal parts delusional and pathetic in declaring how noble he believes he is by not running because he will instead be more effective on the sidelines lecturing the base about what should and shouldn’t be important to them.

Because as we all know, the Washington Post (aka, “WaPo”) is SUCH a bastion of conservatism and Republicanism (/sarc). And for him to yammer about “individual liberty” after what  he did during COVID to ELIMINATE individual liberties is shameful and nothing less than whitewashing himself.  Ask anyone who IS (rather than just calling themselves such) Conservative knows better what cape Sununu is trying on at the “campaign store”.

“To win, Republicans need our message to appeal to new voters, and we can do this without sacrificing classic conservative principles of individual liberty, low taxes and local control,” wrote Sununu. “But we must abandon the issues that are solely made for social media headlines, such as banning books or issuing curriculum fiats to local school districts hundreds of miles away from state capitals.”

Do I REALLY need to remind you that it was Sununu that unlocked that Culture War door (SB263) that let the Left stroll through the door and gaslight us all that pornography is a necessary component for “learning” academic subjects (snort!).

Yes, Sununu is one of those Republicans who still believes winning national elections can be done with slogans about tax cuts and “free markets.” In other words, he is the kind of Republican who believes he’s elected to do nothing.

The post Chris Sununu Presidential Poll Watch – The Finale appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Republican Party is on a mission,  as in every election cycle, to equate civility with unity. Let’s not say negative things about those other GOP candidates lest we spark a civil war and create division. They want us to talk about our shared vision as if we had one.

Is it paying lip service to the idea that Republicans will defend natural rights? To set forth a platform of ideas so that candidates we elect can make excuses for ignoring or undermining them? Or is it a national party committed to winning and then doing nothing with victory? I know what it is = bashing Donald Trump.

That’s something under which Republicans could unite. And I’m fine with that, but it should apply all the way around with a few thin and flimsy guardrails (no defamation, fraud, or incitement), and let’s see who crosses the finish line.

It’s messy, but everyone is invited to play along—even the John McCains at the party. You remember him. In 2016, helped add credibility to the Steele Dossier, which turned out to be defamation, fraud, and incitement. Entire movements on the Republican side rose up to resist the guy based on Democrat party lies.

That wasn’t the first time or the last. So, bring your tired, poor, huddled opinions, yearning to breathe free. The wretched tweets from your social media shore. Bring your own torch (light) while you’re at it, and shine it brightly on everything and everyone.

Being right or wrong is not nearly as important as the exercise of plumbing the truth, and civility may not make it to the end of the road, but that’s okay because we need to stop training our side to be passive. It’s not working. Democrats are not civil, not to each other or anyone else. Their fanatic street mobs are mentally unstable radicals whose only moral compass is a party that kills babies, cheats women, and mutilates children. And they hate free speech.

Passivity doesn’t advance liberty, and neither do the Republicans who can’t stop talking about keeping your powder dry in primaries. And if you are not sure what that looks like, watch how the establishment treats Trump and then do unto others.

No violence or intimidation; those are left Wing tactics—free Speech on full power, especially when they tell you in their own quaint little way to shut the hell up.

 

 

The post Free Speech vs. Calls to Pander to Republican Primary “Civility” appeared first on Granite Grok.

In business, as in so many other elements of modern life, fads and trends come and go quickly, and it takes a truly innovational concept to “stick” and become a success.

Outsourcing is one of those outstandingly effective and efficient (yet still relatively new) processes which can drastically improve the core functionality of a company. With that being said, continue reading to learn the four key benefits of outsourcing for manufacturing companies.

1. Substantially Reduced Business Costs

First and foremost, every business manager understands the supreme importance of ensuring that there is enough money in the pot to be able to continue trading for another year, and for those companies focused on longevity, reducing costs is always of optimum importance.

Outsourcing will allow you to do just that, with the provision of highly trained employees who are specifically knowledgeable about one area of your company and who do not need to be trained at the expense of your business—unlike your current members of staff.

2. Unprecedented Access to the Latest Industry Technologies

One of the primary advantages of choosing to outsource one or more core business processes is the fact that your company will be afforded access to the latest software packages and technologies that the industry has to offer.

Even small and seemingly irrelevant components of your most-used and valuable equipment, such as the sanitary clamps for your system, can be upgraded and updated, meaning outsourcing cleaning and maintenance processes can drastically improve the performance of a machine.

3. More Time to Focus on Other Areas of the Company

Another huge benefit of choosing to outsource a particular area of the company is the extra time it will provide you to turn your attention to other (just as important or even more so) needs of the business.

Social media management, for example, is one of the most popular sectors chosen by companies across the entire spectrum of industries to outsource to a renowned third-party company, mainly as not only does this take the commitment out of your own hands, but also as it always tends to raise customer satisfaction levels.

It would also be worth pointing out that outsourcing social media management will also mean you can reap the rewards of having an accessible social media profile for customers and clients that is essentially immune to differences in time zones.

4. A Greater Level of Flexibility

When a company chooses to complete all tasks and projects in-house, with their existing employees, not only is it likely that not one person is fully trained and experienced in one area, but this also means more money is needed to pay staff.

Outsourcing a particular project or repetitive task, however, results in you only needing to hire these relevant and niche employees for the duration of the time needed for project completion.

In downtimes, or during times of the year when your company profits are generally lower than the rest of the time, this will enable you to reduce your costs, which could make a huge difference to the financial position of the business.

The post 4 Benefits of Outsourcing for Manufacturing Companies Across All Industries appeared first on Granite Grok.

NH Governor Chris Sununu to be subpoenaed to testify at the hearing of Teresa (Grinnell) Bastarache regarding his involvement in the illegal arrest of (Grinnell) Bastarache and eight other NH citizens

PDF Press Release 6-6-2023

 

 

The post NH Governor Chris Sununu Subpoenaed for Ordering Illegal Arrests appeared first on Granite Grok.

It’s been five years since Canada Free Press admitted that solar panel waste is a toxic environmental nightmare, and no one had a plan. We still don’t have a plan. NH tried to get a clue in 2022, but the State Senate killed it, and now a new piece reminds us the problem can only get worse.

 

The challenge of recycling these discarded panels is even more daunting. Traditional recycling methods, while able to recover most of the aluminum and glass, struggle to extract and reclaim the more precious materials, like silver and copper. According to Mr. Nicolas Defrenne, over 60% of the value of solar panels is contained in just 3% of their weight. However, these materials are intertwined with other components, making them economically challenging to separate.

 

Never fear. The solution is here. Much the way politicians made electricity unnecessarily expensive so that renewables could try and compete, rare earth metals have become so expensive that there may be a way to make money trying to recover that 3% and recycle it back into production. The friends and family members of well-connected elites are standing by to invest just as they did in government-subsidized solar.

It will cost a lot of money, but no worries, all those costs will be passed down to consumers and ratepayers directly – in costs and charges, and indirectly – through taxes, inflation, and the higher cost of everything everywhere that result from higher energy prices.

The green in green energy continues to be cash money changing hands from yours to theirs, and the only environment they care about is the one that keeps that scheme alive.

 

 

HT | WUWT

The post BBC Admits Solar Panel Waste Is a Huge Environmental Problem (Or Did They Mean Opportunity?) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Most of us have seen clay motion animation cartoons when we (Boomers) were young.  At that time, I never knew how they were made, which was part of the magic!

The Grandson is BIG into LEGO models (from his allowance, he just bought two yesterday and TMEW spent the evening putting them together last night. With that in mind, when I stumbled across this last night (at the time of this writing), I’m going to watch him watch this today.

LEGO Stop-Motion! – Kevin Parry
by u/Western_Giraffe9517 in oddlysatisfying

It will be interesting to see if he wants to try.

(H/T: Reddit via Linkiest)

The post Palate Cleanser: Watch Kevin Parry Build a LEGO Model Video (Stop Motion) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Liberty mom Shalon Spaulding was charged with “Child Endangerment” for the dastardly “crime” of leaving her two-year-old in her car with the AC on and the child strapped into the carseat. A busybody who happens to work for the Merrimack County Attorney, one Donna Barnett, was the one who called in the police. Shalon’s husband, Jay Noone, was given permission to be her “attorney-in-fact” and was able to get the police officer to admit that the child was not endangered. However, the robed man ended up finding her guilty days later.

The good news is, in New Hampshire, on a “Class A Misdemeanor” a guilty finding from a bench trial can be appealed “de novo”, and they start all over again in “Superior Court” with a full jury. Stay tuned to Free Keene for the latest on this ridiculous attack on parental freedoms, and enjoy this full video of Shalon’s arraignment and trial:

I have never been a fan of Jamie Raskin. I have always thought that Raskin is second only to Adam Schiff as the most obnoxious and out-of-touch member of Congress. He is a person who loves the camera, even with his current bout with cancer and a different fashionable head cover daily.

But this Sunday, Raskin was on the CNN opinion show, “State of the Union,” and displayed his warped thinking.

In our current polarized environment, it is not only typical but expected that politicians have to be diametrically opposed to their counterparts on the other side of the aisle. Does that mean they must throw common sense and reality out the window? Apparently so, according to Raskin’s comments.

The first topic was the potential contempt charges by Congress against FBI Director Christopher Wray. Raskin is the Ranking Member of the powerful House Oversight Committee. Representative Jim Comer has been working to get a whistleblower report from the FBI for weeks. The document is not classified, and the whistleblower has been determined to have high credibility. The document, an FD-1023 form, is reported to detail a potential bribe of then Vice President Joe Biden by a foreign government for his support of specific legislation.

If true, the offense could lead to impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden. Though the FBI falls under the scrutiny of the Oversight Committee, Wray has denied the form to the committee despite a subpoena demanding Wray turn over the document. Wray has finally capitulated that Comer and Raskin could view the document in a Capitol s&if on Monday but could not take possession of the document. This action by Wray does not satisfy the subpoena, but not according to Raskin.

Raskin was adamant that the Republicans were overreacting in proceeding with contempt charges against Wray. He claims that Wray has cooperated completely and done everything asked of him. There is only one truth to a situation. Wray in no way cooperated, and his actions point to the FBI Director protecting the sitting President. This is a black-and-white situation, but Raskin sees it through magical glasses. He could not be more wrong in his assessment and comments.

The second topic involves Biden’s decision not to be active on the campaign trail and refusal to debate any Democrat challengers for his job. Most see Biden’s actions as designed to protect him from his current mental acuity. Biden’s handlers do not want to have Biden in public or in any situation where he may suffer from his usual gaffes. Raskin does not see it that way.

Raskin claims that Biden’s current state of mind should not impact his electability. Raskin feels people should vote for Biden solely on his years of service and accomplishments. Raskin sees no value in discussing Biden’s view of the future or having his views challenged by either Democrat or Republican challengers. Raskin could not be more wrong. Elections are certainly about accomplishments but also the future. If Joe Biden is declining so quickly that many do not see him as fit to be President today, the thought of Joe Biden as President five or six years from now is disconcerting. Raskin saying he is comfortable with Biden and not concerned about his accelerated aging process should direct attention to Raskin’s suitability to serve.

Raskin should be embarrassed by his performance on CNN, but these leaders on the Left are immune to critique and constantly circling the wagons around this President. They best hope these circles don’t become firing squads when the facts about the Bidens start falling.

The post Jamie Raskin Is Proof Of DC Insanity appeared first on Granite Grok.

A dam being blown up in Ukraine—will we ever now who did it? RFK Jr—is he a viable threat to Biden? Will he pull in any republicans? NYC Mayor Adams considering putting immigrants into private homes—how close is that to the third amendment or takings clause? should DeSantis respond to Trump’s every slight or utterance? Should he wait for debates to respond to almost anything? Pride flag vs confederate flag—can both be seen by others as threatening? the cover of glamour magazine in Britain with a pregnant “man”.

The post The Conservatarian Exchange Podcast #157 appeared first on The Liberty Block.

There is such a disconnect between the Establishment-GOP and reality. The Establishment-GOP … in the words of Mitch McConnell … believe, or at least want Americans to believe, that that the most important thing going on is the Blackrock/Chase/insert-name-of-globalist-institution War in Ukraine. It’s NOT. Not even top-50. DeSantis had it right when he said that it was a border dispute that does not affect vital American interests … until his donors who see dollar bills every time another Ukrainian or Russian dies needlessly demanded that he retract the truth.

To his credit, DeSantis understands … or at least I think he understands … that WOKE, not Putin, is an actual existential threat to America. “Family-friendly,” as defined by the WOKE-dictionary, means promoting dildos to children.

At Boston's family-friendly "Trans Resistance March" over the weekend, a Boston Medical Center @The_BMC table gave out snacks and dildos. #Trans

Video by @RebsBrannon: pic.twitter.com/QN1TfDpjn9

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 5, 2023

The post Don’t Worry … Those Dildos Are Family-Friendly appeared first on Granite Grok.

Constitutions don’t enforce themselves. That’s why James Madison called them “parchment barriers.” While there are plenty of examples of this at the federal level, it’s worth looking at a situation at the state level that perhaps demonstrates this even more so.

Despite the clear intent of the state constitution, the Washington Supreme Court recently upheld an illegal capital gains income tax by simply changing the definition of a few words and declaring the tax to be legal.

To understand how absurd the situation is, you need to know a little about Washington’s history.

Under the Washington State Constitution, property can only be taxed at a uniform rate. That means the state property tax must be the same rate regardless of where you live. Back in the early 1900s, there was an effort to tax other types of intangible property, such as income. The problem was that as written, the state constitution required intangible property to be taxed at the same rate as tangible property like real estate. Having a 6 percent tax on property and income from stocks and bonds wasn’t what proponents had in mind.

So, in the 1930s the fourteenth amendment to the Washington State Constitution was approved by voters allowing for different property tax rates for separate classes of property. It also included a definition of property as “all things tangible and intangible, subject to ownership.” The pro-amendment section of the voter pamphlet at the time made it clear that its purpose was to allow the taxation of income at a different rate than other tangible property.

In the 1933 Washington Supreme Court decision in Culliton v. Chase overturning a progressive income tax, the high court wrote that “it would certainly defy the ingenuity of the most profound lexicographer to formulate a more comprehensive definition of ‘property’ than that found in the Washington state constitution. Income is either property under our fourteenth amendment or no one owns it. If that is true, anyone can use our incomes who has the power to seize or obtain them by foul means.”

In the decades that followed, the Washington Supreme Court repeatedly held that a progressive income tax was illegal in Washington state due to these two constitutional provisions. At the same time, voters consistently rejected proposals for a progressive income tax at the ballot box.

After a progressive income tax failed at the ballot box yet again in 2010 via Initiative 1098, a movement grew attempting to enact it through the courts instead of a constitutional amendment. Proponents hoped a politically-friendly court would rule on ideological grounds rather than jurisprudence. In 2017, the city of Seattle approved a local income tax that was challenged in court, and though it was overturned by a court of appeals, the Washington Supreme Court refused to take up the case.

Then in 2021, the state legislature enacted a capital gains income tax above a certain income threshold – except there was a catch. They didn’t call it an “income tax.” Instead, they described the tax on the income derived from the sales of capital gains as an “excise tax.”

As former government reform director at the Washington Policy Center Jason Mercier extensively documented, there’s no such thing as a capital gains excise tax. By definition, an excise tax is paid regardless of whether a profit is made from the sale. Washington state’s capital gains “excise tax” only applies when the sale nets profit.

No state imposes an excise tax on capital gains, and the Internal Revenue Service itself insists a capital gains tax is an income tax.

You’d think the new tax wouldn’t stand a chance, and if it actually made it to the state’s highest court, the judges wouldn’t uphold it.

But that’s exactly what happened.

In its opinion, the Washington Supreme Court simply reiterated that it was an excise tax because, well, they said it is and the state tax system is racist so they need this tax. If you think that’s an exaggeration, read the majority opinion yourselves. It is perhaps one of the worst legal arguments you’ll ever encounter.

While there is an ongoing lawsuit to overturn the tax for violating the U.S. Constitution, it’s irrelevant to the point here. What should have been an ironclad constitutional restriction on a certain type of tax was demolished, not through amending the constitution to allow for a progressive income tax, but through judicial fiat and word magic. The judges literally declared that words that mean one thing now mean something else in order to circumvent the meaning of a written constitution.

What makes it even more inexcusable is that, unlike the U.S. court system, Washington Supreme Court judges are elected and can be removed. So can the legislators who proposed and voted for an illegal tax. But when left to themselves, none of these branches of government maintained the rule of law.

All of it could have been avoided if voters had been more vigilant to protect and defend the state constitution because, just like the U.S. Constitution, it does not and will never enforce itself.

Washington residents likely face learning this lesson the hard way via a potential income tax on all levels of income. Americans elsewhere would do well to learn by their example.

 

TJ Martinell | The Tenth Amendment Center

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