Saturday • November 23 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XLVII
Manchester, N.H.
A few weeks ago, we put out a call for volunteers to help us track the Executive Council. The Executive Council meets every other week to approve expenditures and receipts, approve appointments, and oversee the administration of the state.
Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to editor@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication.
For more details about the functions of the Executive Council, see our “New Hampshire Government Crash Course” video.
For the meeting upcoming on January 18th, here are the following expenditures they will approve related to Covid.
That is a grand total of $9,130,266 spent on nonsensical Covid measures in only one of two monthly Executive Council meetings in January.
Action Item:
Email your Executive Council member today and tell them to stop the outrageous spending spree.
Joseph.D.Kenney@nh.gov
Cinde.Warmington@nh.gov
Janet.L.Stevens@nh.gov
Ted.Gatsas@nh.gov
David.K.Wheeler@nh.gov
Not sure who your Executive Council member is? Check here.
Towards Liberty,
Melissa Blasek is the Executive Director of RebuildNH
The post Executive Council, Bi-monthly, Covid Spending Spree Report appeared first on Granite Grok.
Nothing about Joe Biden is genuine. His life is a fantasy concocted over cocktails and peddled by whomever he can get to repeat it. And I’m not just speaking to his MLK day remarks, in which he invented a steaming pile of nonsense.
The story about how he met his second wife, Jill, is – according to the guy who was married to her before Joe – a complete fabrication.
The post Quick Shot: More Lyin’ Joe Biden appeared first on Granite Grok.
Mr. Cronin,
Jim Berlo and Jim Johnson, in response to the highly critical story you published for the Seacoast News on December 5, 2022, “Brentwood Newsletter under fire again after publishing Inflammatory’ opinion”, are submitting the following Letter below for a reference point to the content of our missive compared with commentary intent of your December 5, 2022, “Brentwood Newsletter under fire again after publishing Inflammatory’ opinion”:
Had Enough?
The September 13th, 2022, New Hampshire primary sent a powerful message to D.C. elitists McConnell and McCarthy! Their last-minute infusion of millions of dollars to defeat General Don Bolduc and Karoline Leavitt was a monumental failure. New Hampshire’s choice of candidates prevailed.
Brentwood currently has two excellent State Representatives: Melissa Litchfield and Josh Yokela. Their stewardship has been exemplary in moral and fiscal common-sense principles.
In contrast, the democratic State Rep challenger supports teachers educating grades K-3 in the fine art of radical “sexual orientation and gender identity”. This is sick! The grooming of 4–10-year-old children on “sexual orientation and gender identity” is supported by the current federal AND state Democratic Parties. The https://www.citizenscount.org/ website has a plethora of information.
We want to thank Jim Johnson, Jim Berlo for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you would like us to consider, please submit it to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
Under this Democrat dreamland, inflation is out of control. The economy is being destroyed from within. Our retirements are sinking faster than an Oldsmobile Delmont. The country is under siege with crime, drugs, and constant government program expansion is the answer? Energy independence has been obliterated and is about to explode.
The challenges we face are self-inflicted, and we must not continually repeat the same mistakes. The election November 8th, 2022, is crucial to the future of Brentwood, the State of New Hampshire, America, and most importantly the future of our children and grandchildren for decades to come. Get out and vote!
Please vote LITCHFIELD and YOKELA for state Representatives. LEAVITT for CONGRESS, and DON BOLDUC for SENATE.
Jim Berlo and Jim Johnson
Now we continue:
Selectman Russ Kelly opines on behalf of the Selectmen, “This is inflammatory language. It doesn’t matter that it’s someone’s opinion…” “It’s an attack on educators and it’s an attack on LGBTQ people,” he said, referring to the recent shooting at the gay Club Q in Colorado Springs that killed five and injured 17 others…”.
Russ Kelly’s attack on us is far more insidious, dangerous, and divisive than anything we have written. The suggestion that our words contributed to the killing of five and injured 17 others…” is intended to trigger animosity towards us, with deliberate misrepresentation of a false narrative they created that never existed.
Patrick further writes:
“It was written by Jim Berlo and Jim Johnson in support of Brentwood’s two Republican state Reps. Melissa Litchfield and Josh Yokela and against a Democratic challenger in which they write “supports teachers in educating grades K-3 in the fine art of radical ‘sexual orientation and gender identity.'” They go on to write, “This is sick.”
The words we use in our sentences are deliberate and concise which leaves us wondering if you even read our letter? We were simply comparing the exemplary stewardship of the incumbents in moral and fiscal common-sense principles, compared to the challenger’s support of salacious coaching on sexuality in K-3.
Please refer to our letter above to view what was written. Truth matters.
Here is the Citizen’s Count question and Eric [Turer]’s response:
“Should New Hampshire ban discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3? *** NO – I trust our educators to balance the needs of young students in addressing as they always have in instances when any questions of sexuality arise from children trying to understand the often complex world of adults around them. Bans like this serve no purpose other than to leave these children with no resources and likely greater fears and questions as they sense the inability of trusted adults to engage with them. ***
Eric Turer uses psychobabble to qualify his lack of trust in parents to care for their own children. He is dismissing the parent(s) in favor of school employees introducing sexuality to elementary school children. For the record we do not support the normalization of “sexual orientation” or , “gender identity” in any public educational curriculum K-12.”
The Selectmen have anointed themselves sole arbiters of free speech in Brentwood!
“This is inflammatory language. It doesn’t matter that it’s someone’s opinion.” Russ Kelly 12/05/2022.
Russ and his Selectmen cohorts could not be more wrong. Opinions do matter. Questions and answers posted on a reputable website like Citizens Count is an affirmation of one’s views, in this case Eric Turer’s. He trusts teachers over parents. Facts Matter!
Remember when Brentwood Selectman Jon Morgan‘s rush to blame the Atlanta shooting on Trump supporters bombed? We have seen the hysteria and smear tactics against the Brentwood Newsletter in the past. “Racism from a white man’s perspective” was written by a Vietnam Veteran and was impeccably researched and well written, yet it was declared racist by the bigoted left. Eric and Liz McConnell’s panic over Liz’s voting record printed in the Brentwood Newsletter in 2019.
Sidenote: her voting record was first published by GraniteGrok and the Brentwood Newsletter had my permission to re-post it. -Skip
It was a record she could not defend. Brentwood Citizens saw through that. Now our Selectman have another orchestrated assault on the Brentwood Newsletter.
If our use of satire offends, “…the fine art of radical sexual orientation and gender identity”, get over it. And yes, “This is sick!”. There is nothing virtuous in the sexual exploitation of children, or just as important as the perverted attempts to eliminate parental authority over our children in the public school system, and the Brentwood Selectmen reinforce this mindset!
This should be of paramount concern to every resident in Brentwood! The persecution of Brentwood Newsletter (BNL) volunteers over the past couple years has been relentless. Yet, they have remarkably continued to provide a top-quality product on behalf of the citizens of Brentwood and despite affirmation for continued funding of the BNL at Town meeting, the board of Selectmen have pulled funding from the Newsletter. Citizens can rectify this injustice at the March 2023.
The PARENTS of children in K-3 rights are under assault. Ending Freedom of Speech is the true target of the Selectmen and always has been since 2019:
“it doesn’t matter that it’s someone’s opinion…”.
The Brentwood Newsletter has been around for 47 years, snuffed out by the Marxist/Socialist Brentwood Selectmen on 12/2022. What a legacy!
Jim Berlo & Jim Johnson
Patrick Cronin
Brentwood Newsletter under fire again after publishing ‘inflammatory’ opinion
Patrick Cronin
Portsmouth Herald
Published 5:07 a.m. ET Dec. 5, 2022BRENTWOOD — The town-funded Brentwood Newsletter is again sparking outrage for its opinion content after a letter in the latest edition claimed the state Democratic Party supports “the grooming of 4- to 10-year-old children on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The letter titled “Had enough?” appeared in the November issue of the volunteer-run newsletter ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
It was written by Jim Berlo and Jim Johnson in support of Brentwood’s two Republican state Reps. Melissa Litchfield and Josh Yokela and against a Democratic challenger in which they write “supports teachers educating grades K-3 in the fine art of radical ‘sexual orientation and gender identity.'” They go on to write, “This is sick.”
The free monthly town newsletter is under fire by community members again for a recent letter on the opinion page. Courtesy
Several members of the Brentwood Selectboard expressed concern with the content of the letter during a Nov. 29 discussion with the Brentwood Newsletter staff regarding the publication’s proposed budget for the next year. The board talked about pulling the $17,574 the town provides to the nonprofit organization unless there is a signed memorandum of understanding between the town and the Newsletter that stipulates what kind of content is included in the newsletter.
“This is not freedom of speech…,” said Selectboard member Russ Kelly, who would like to see the opinion section removed from the Newsletter. “This is inflammatory language. It doesn’t matter that it’s someone’s opinion. They can express that opinion anywhere. They can stand up here (at the meeting) and do all they want without town money assisting them in getting that opinion out. That’s what we are talking about.”
Kelly said the letter was a “double attack.”
“It’s an attack on educators and it’s an attack on LGBTQ people,” he said, referring to the recent shooting at the gay Club Q in Colorado Springs that killed five and injured 17 others. “And it’s unacceptable in a product that is supported with dollars from the town.”
The conversation resurrects a prior town debate on freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and whether it applies to an independent publication where funding is provided by the town. The funding strictly goes to the printing, postage, and distribution of the Newsletter to Brentwood residents. The publication has operated separately from the town by non-paid volunteers since it was created in 1977 by Linda Rousseau.
This isn’t the first time the Brentwood Newsletter has come under fire
Last year, several residents blasted the publication for publishing an editorial by Richard Gagnon titled “Racism: From a White Man’s Perspective.” The article criticized Black Lives Matter and questioned whether systemic racism exists. The opinion piece was called racist by some community members.
The opinion piece also brought up prior concerns with the Newsletter.
In 2019, the town’s Democratic Committee accused the publication of political bias after it printed voting records with slanted descriptions of the bills that were lifted from GraniteGrok, a right-wing conservative website.In response to the criticism, the Selectboard decided to pull the publication’s funding and go to Town Meeting voters to see whether they wanted to continue supporting it.
The majority of voters (105-61) voted in March to fund the Newsletter for the remainder of the year without a signed memorandum of understanding with the town, which the Selectboard had hoped to have in place. They also supported a second warrant article to have the funding put back in the budget next year. That article, however, was advisory and doesn’t bind the board.
‘Divisive, damning, problematic’ opinions should not be in a town newsletter
Kelly said while he voted to support funding then, he told the board he can’t do it now.
“I am firm in my belief there should be no opinion section in the Newsletter,” he said at the meeting, calling what he read “divisive, damning, problematic.”
“I understand the Newsletter doesn’t want the town to tell it how to operate,” he said. “We got the message clear last time … But I cannot be a yes vote going forward unless something changes fundamentally with the Newsletter.”
Selectboard Chair Andrew Artimovich told his fellow board members the Brentwood Newsletter gives him nightmares.
“The town is so divided about the Newsletter. Half the people want it the way it is, and half the people want a different version. It’s divided, just like the elections in November,” he said alluding to the split between Democrats and Republicans in town.
Brentwood, once a Republican stronghold, has become more purple in recent years. Republican incumbent Melissa Litchfield was defeated by Democrat Eric Turer by a vote of 1,231 to 1,208 after a recount of the Nov. 8 election.
“My personal opinion is the Newsletter is a newsletter,” Artimovich said. “It gives news about the town … What’s the Fire Department doing? What’s the Police Department doing? What’s the Boy Scouts doing?
Jim Hajjar, representing the Brentwood Newsletter, however, said even that information could also be considered “opinion.”
“We have (contributions) from the Selectboard in which some cases what is written up is an opinion,” Hajjar said. “Where do you draw the line?”
Another view: Diverse opinions further democracy
Hajjar told the Selectboard he believes criticism regarding the Newsletter comes from people “who don’t like seeing alternative opinions.” With or without the Newsletter, he said there will still be a division in the town.
“There is division, yes, but the only way we are going to solve this is by communicating and talking,” he said. “And I think if people are allowed to share their views, that’s how we are going to get together and work through some of these difficult problems.”
Hajjar told the Selectboard that everyone is welcome in town to submit a letter. All submissions appear on a page marked opinion which states, “that the views shared in this publication should not be construed to be the official opinion of the BNL, nor reflect the official policy or position of the Town of Brentwood.” It goes on to state, “unless otherwise noted, the words you read are solely the opinions of the writer(s) and are not intended to malign anyone or anything.”
“If someone says you’re not fact-checking or that’s not true or this and that, I think of a quote from Obi-Wan Kenobi because as a Jedi, he’s the best,” Hajjar said. “He told ‘Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. The truth is often what we make of it; you heard what you wanted to hear, believed what you wanted to believe.’”
He said if people disagree with a letter, they can respond by writing one of their own.
“Opinion vs. fact is a complicated thing,” he said. “We don’t have a Harry Potter ministry of truth that is going to go with a wand and say, ‘That’s true. That’s false.’ It doesn’t exist.”
He said the “wrong approach” would be to eliminate opinions altogether. Without opinions, he said, the Newsletter loses a lot of its power.
“We as a group are working hard,” Hajjar said. “We want to become more (about) bringing people together and not separating people off where they are just talking amongst themselves and sharing the same thoughts.”
What happens next?
The Selectboard voted unanimously to put the money for a newsletter in the town budget, but it doesn’t necessarily have to go to the Brentwood Newsletter.
Selectboard member Jennifer Jones’ motion stated if an agreement cannot be reached with the Brentwood Newsletter then the funding can be redirected to another vendor to provide a town newsletter.
Selectboard member Robert Mantegari was the sole member to speak in support of keeping the opinion section in the Brentwood Newsletter. “Having opinion pieces, whether it’s in the Exeter News-Letter, Portsmouth Herald or the Brentwood Newsletter, I think is important (for people) to get their voice out and express their own thought process and ideas,” he said at the meeting.
The board is scheduled to meet with the Newsletter staff Tuesday in nonpublic to come to terms with a memorandum of understanding.
The post WHO is the “Inflammatory” One, Mr. Cronin of the Seacoast Online? “Had Enough?” appeared first on Granite Grok.
Chiefs of Police are more often in political positions than the business of public safety, and this story comes from Los Angeles. Pandering to specific squeaky wheels is expected. Required.
[LAPD Chief Michel] Moore explained that a flag displayed in one station’s lobby spurred a complaint and he added, “It’s unfortunate that extremist groups have hijacked the use of the ‘Thin Blue Line flag’ to symbolize their undemocratic, racist, and bigoted views.”
Moore claims the American flag “should be proudly displayed in our lobbies whenever possible,” but when is that? The same groups consider it to be racist or supremacist. There’s no way to win this culture war if you give ground on everything from statues to flags to hats. At some point, you have conceded speech and thought because a few folks claim to be offended. And they know that.
Why don’t you?
Perhaps a training exercise is in order. We take Chief Moore’s letter and make a few amendments.
“Yesterday, we received a community complaint of the presence of a BLM Flag” with “the view that it symbolized support for violent extremist views, such as those represented by BLM, ANTIFA, and others.”
“I directed to have the item taken down from the public lobby. …
Moore explained that a flag displayed in one station’s lobby spurred a complaint and he added, “It’s unfortunate that extremist groups have hijacked the use of the ‘BLM Flag’ to symbolize their undemocratic, racist, and bigoted views.”
BLM’s 2020 summer of love resulted in tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars in damage. Minority businesses, jobs, livelihoods, and lives were lost across the country; mainly in Democrat-Run urban areas where rioters looted, burned, attacked, and occupied public buildings and even declared autonomous zones where rape and murder were not uncommon.
The #woke left response was to cut public safety budgets, a signal to many police veterans that it was time to get out of Dodge. The result has been exponential spikes in property and violent crime in minority areas of large cities. In other words, they created a vacuum with violence that continues to harm the people for whom they marched.
The only resource available is the police because only criminals have guns in most urban crime islands. And the game is fixed against them. Officers who, knowing the score, suit up and try to make a difference. Their reward is to have the symbol of that sacrifice banned, at least in Los Angeles.
The Police Union isn’t having any of it.
“It is difficult to express the level of utter disgust and disappointment with Chief Moore’s politically pandering directive to remove Thin Blue Line flags and memorials for fallen officers from all public areas within our police stations. This direction came as a result of complaints from anti-police, criminal apologists, and activists who hold too much sway over our city leaders and, unfortunately, our Chief,” the Board of directors for the Los Angeles Police Protective League wrote in a statement.
The union said they “vehemently” opposed “this disrespectful and defeatist kowtowing by our department leadership to groups that praise the killing of police officers and outright call for violence against those of us in uniform. We have directly expressed our outrage to the Chief.”
And if they ban the BLM flag?
HT | Gateway Pundit
The post LAPD Bans The Thin Blue Line Flag ‘cuz Reasons, So, What If ..? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Taxpayer Bill of Rights in Colorado was supposed to keep taxpayers safe from ravenous politicians. And the shysters even went along with it – while campaigning.
AFTER the campaign, the true colors came out – emphasis mine, reformatted
Last year, Colorado Democrats championed TABOR refunds as they campaigned for reelection. Yet not a week into the 2023 legislative session, they announced plans to try and halt those refunds indefinitely.
Bait and switch – after it was too late to switch your vote. The Democrats LIED to their voters – and I’m betting it wasn’t the first time.
A forthcoming bill by Rep. Cathy Kipp (D) and Sen. Rachel Zenzinger (D), if passed by the legislature and approved by voters, would allow the state to retain future tax refund dollars mandated under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) in Colorado’s Constitution. Kipp says the money would go to fund public schools.
Yeah, it’s “always for the teachers unions children”, isn’t it. Waggle that carrot in front of parents and then start in with the nasty of “what, you hate our children? You want them to remain stupid?” even as they are thinking “boy, these parents ARE stupid to be believing us!”. And once siphoned off out of your pockets and “into the schools”, who knows what the next riverlets will be going to what pet projects.
Proponents of this idea have failed in the past to gather the 120,000 signatures required to put the question on the November ballot. The legislature can circumvent this requirement by passing the measure as a bill first. Every time voters speak on key issues related to TABOR, they send the same unambiguous message: “Leave TABOR alone and let us keep our money!”
Democratic legislators either didn’t get the message, or they just don’t care what voters think.
And just like always, Democrats CAN’T be honest with what they want to do TO you before the election. You only find out afterwards. Oh sure, they may let you have a bit of a peek but the complete unveiling is never what you expected from the signs, ads, and speeches.
Yet, not enough people “get” this part. And sometimes, Republicans do the same thing.
Isn’t that right, NH State Reps Sweeney,Alexander, and Berry? Did YOU THREE tell your constituents what you three were going to do?
(H/T: Instapundit)
The post It’s ALWAYS About Democrats Keeping YOUR Money – Law Doesn’t Matter. Bait and Switch, Baby! appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Left’s Net-Zero mission translates to a net-zero lifestyle. A plan that adds millions of electric mouths to feed but contains no viable way to meet increased demand. Some legislators in Wyoming have found it lacking and are pushing back.
Related: Math is Hard, But Net Zero Emissions Math is Harder – It Can’t Be Done by 2050
The State of Wyoming is considering phasing out the sales of electric vehicles by 2035 to “ensure the stability” of its oil and gas industry. Senators Jim Anderson, Brian Boner, Ed Cooper, Dan Dockstader, Representatives Donald Burkhart, Jr, and Bill Henderson sponsored the bill SJ0004.
In the bill, the group of politicians claimed that oil and gas production has been one of the state’s proud and valued industries, creating “countless jobs” and contributing “revenues to the state of Wyoming throughout the state’s history.”
Net Zero EVs by 2035. I like the sound of that.
I’m not entirely on board with this, however. Aside from the lies, hypocrisy, offshoring of emissions, and almost everything else (I’d never buy one), my problem with EVs is that they are elitist boutique talismans of a broken, woke Green culture. No average person can afford one without someone else helping to pay for it (taxpayers), and the reality is that they represent everything wrong with the Climate movement.
The Climate lies encapsulated into a pricey little package that eliminates the gas tax revenue stream while adding significantly more wear and tear on roads and bridges. EVs weigh much more than conventional vehicles of the same size, and no one is talking about that.
Stuff that up your list of under-funded red-listed bridges, you leftist pukes.
But if these one-percenter catastrophes had to compete honestly with gas combustion engines, I’d be OK with them. Yes, as an idea, they would have crashed and burned a decade earlier. Elon would not have had the money to buy Twitter and, by extension, expose the rampant abuse of power and censorship in the US government. Things would be different, but on the EV front, a bit more honest.
Team Green is trying to convince us that they have returned victorious from the Hero’s Journey, transcended the veil, and won god’s favor in the form of electric vehicles.
It’s total rubbish. And if a few State Senators in Wyoming want to have fun at their expense, have at it. Turnabout is fair play, as they say, and this is undoubtedly that.
The post Wyoming’s Idea of Net-Zero: Phase Out All New EV Auto Sales by 2035 appeared first on Granite Grok.
When it comes to addiction, so often the help people provide ends up becoming enabling. It’s difficult to ride this line. When you want to help someone you love, you have to be careful not to put them in a position to continue using drugs and alcohol. This is especially difficult when the person is a veteran.
If you know what they’ve been through, you are probably sympathetic to their drug and alcohol use. Whatever the situation, it’s vital to help this person in the right way. Helping doesn’t mean that you should continue to do so when they won’t stop abusing substances. However, if the veteran in your life expresses the desire to heal and recover, below are some ways that you can properly help them.
Offer Assistance with VA BureaucracyOne of the biggest obstacles to veterans getting the assistance they need is navigating the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy to gain access to their benefits. It’s a dynamic, complicated system that requires a clear mind and patience. If you help the veteran in your life get through the VA bureaucracy, you could provide a way to get funding for proper treatment and access to veteran-specific facilities.
Another way to provide help in this regard is to take them to the offices and make sure they get the information and direction that the person needs. When it comes to veterans who need help for substance abuse, they might not be able to navigate the system—eliminating the possibility of subsidies and other resources. When the person wants to stop using drugs and alcohol, helping them through the VA is a positive and effective step towards healing and recovery.
Research Addiction Recovery CentersWhen a person in your life needs addiction treatment and wants the help, you can aid by researching addiction recovery centers. Look for substance abuse programs for veterans, but keep in mind other details. For example, does the person need inpatient or outpatient treatment? Inpatient treatment requires patients to stay in the facility for about a month.
Outpatient is a similar treatment that allows patients to leave and stay at home, but it typically requires them to come to the facility daily for a check-up, counseling, and a 12-step meeting. There is also dual diagnosis treatment, which doesn’t just look at the addiction but takes into account underlying mental health issues.
For a lot of people struggling with substance abuse, and veterans in particular, there is a lot of self-medicating involved in their addiction. Many people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol are struggling with another mental health issue like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or bipolar disorder. Depending on what the person needs and what kind of treatment will be most effective for them, you can help the veteran in your life by researching the right addiction rehab for their situation.
Drive Them to MeetingsIf the veteran in your life doesn’t drive or have a car, another way you can help their recovery is by driving them to 12-step meetings. The 12-step group meeting is a huge part of addiction recovery. Some people in recovery go to a meeting every day. When someone doesn’t have the ability to drive, going to meetings is a lot more difficult.
It is very helpful to drive the veteran in your life to their sobriety meetings. This is only if they are serious about their recovery, of course. Make a deal that you will take them to their meetings if they stay sober. You can even offer to take them out to eat afterwards. It’s just vital to ensure that the person is serious about their sobriety.
A lot of people make the mistake of housing someone addicted to drugs or alcohol that doesn’t want to stop. When the person is committed to recovery, you can help them quite a bit. Relapse is a part of the illness, but if the veteran in your life is dedicated to getting better, you will have the opportunity to offer them real help.
Whether you are helping them navigate the VA, researching treatment centers, taking them to meetings, providing access to shelter, or helping them find a job, it’s all good if the person is dedicated to recovery, healing, and sobriety. If they aren’t, there is not much you can do to help.
The post How to Properly Help a Veteran Struggling with Addiction appeared first on Granite Grok.
Joe Biden and his administration are transforming our country, setting new standards, and redefining essential parameters. We have seen how it is more important to have diversity in our leaders and staff than competence.
We have the elderly, people of color, gays, transgender people, and even cross-dressers from the President to Directors in our Nuclear Energy Agency instead of the greatest minds available. This change in priority brought complete dysfunction to our Executive Branch and a country floundering when we should be thriving as we come out of the Pandemic.
We have a population struggling to balance budgets with skyrocketing costs and supply chain issues while the government finds creative new ways to define inflation and recession. The President gaslights America telling how successful his economic policies are as he taints the data to support his lies. Very few in government or the media call him out on his charade and sleight of hand.
We witnessed one of the greatest embarrassments of our military in the desertion of Afghanistan, leaving billions of dollars worth of equipment, untold numbers of Americans, and thousands of civilian aids to the will of the Taliban. We airlifted thousands of unvetted people from Afghanistan and dispersed them throughout our country while we abandoned thousands of Afghans that risked their lives to support our military. As we watch Afghans clinging to American transport jets taxiing down the runway, our President is lauding the most extraordinary human evacuation in history. President Biden tells us not to believe our eyes but to listen to the story he is weaving.
We watch the insurrection and assault at the Southern Border, with millions of unvetted people entering and dispersing throughout America and an administration that refers to the crisis as an immigration problem. The problem, in their eyes, is not the millions invading our country but the lack of speed in processing them. Our sovereignty has been destroyed.
We now manipulate the news to impact elections. We create fictitious stories like the Russian Dosier and use them to destroy a Presidency and then suppress the truth of the Biden Laptop so that it will not kill a candidacy. We use the FBI to raid a former President’s home in search of classified documents but sit back as a sitting President has his lawyers search his property for similar documents with no FBI agents to be seen. The media, which is supposed to protect the people from such hypocrisy, is complicit in its silence.
We have an incompetent Press Secretary who is only at the podium because of her gender, color, and sexual orientation and repeats incessantly how transparent this administration is and then refuses to answer questions citing “the process.” Hiding behind the process, referring all questions to the DOJ, and holding the release of information until it is politically expedient is not transparent. But it is in today’s America thanks to Joe Biden and Democrats.
The health and future of this country should concern every American. We are losing our identity, and the many problems we see are dismissed by redefining them. Our cities are mismanaged into ruin, and it will inevitably spread to the suburbs. Our government proves to be more corrupt daily, and our education system is failing our future generations. Money is becoming meaningless, and we used to think that government spending and wasting billions was a concern, and now we talk in the trillions. As we saw in the 2022 midterms, the saddest thing might be that we keep sending the same people to Washington and expecting better results. We are conspiring in our demise. Let’s wake up and demand better.
The post Transparency is Now Redefined appeared first on Granite Grok.
NO intelligent person in Nashua, which did NOT benefit from the advertised tax relief for New Hampshire towns, should be supporting His Excellency, Chris Sununu.
It has also been my past observation that he and the Hizzonner (Mayor Donchess) do not feel warm and fuzzy about each other.
At least Senator Jeb Bradley eventually replied to my open email to him inquiring about his comment to Adam Sexton.
This is an excerpt from an NH Journal article about Donna Soucy, the Queen Bee of the senate enemy camp. Let’s talk about her right-hand woman, Rosenwald, you know, the one with the Harvard degree and no constituents in the suburbs.
WHY isn’t her two-thirds of the city of Nashua asking WHY the city didn’t make the 82% cut?
Why isn’t her ilk (16 sworn-in Democrat reps that are HER constituents plus nine more locals) asking WHERE the money went???
What say you, Mr. & Mrs. Newman?
What say you, Mr. Mayor & Aldermen?
BTW, 2023 is an election year here in the city. Vote wisely.
The post Why Didn’t Nashua Make the Cut? appeared first on Granite Grok.
You’ve got to hand it to the Democrats. Once they set their minds on something, they won’t let it go.
When Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, they were mortified. They despised Trump because he was an outsider. Because he defeated their odds-on favorite to win the election.
And because he openly mocked his political opponents. They hated him because he vowed to put America first. In fact, his presidency did give us a robust economy, low inflation, energy independence, and a secure border.
But Democrats were unimpressed with Trump’s successes. They decided he had to go and he must never be allowed in politics again.
So first, they fabricated the Russian collusion story, accusing Trump of conspiring with the Russians to win his election. Trump was exonerated after a lengthy and costly investigation by a special council. We later learned that Hillary Clinton, the Democrat candidate, actually approved the plan to spread the false story.
After Trump’s vindication, Democrats were undeterred.
Their next opportunity came on July 25, 2019, based on a telephone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. A U.S. Army officer, assigned to the National Security Council, had access to the call, and decided some of Trump’s remarks were “improper.” He filed a complaint with the lead counsel for the NSC.
Most of that telephone conversation was innocuous, but in his closing remarks, Trump added, “There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.” He was talking about the Burisma scandal.
Democrats had no interest in the documented fact that Biden, as vice president, did force the Ukrainian government to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma and Hunter Biden’s business dealings. But they did latch on to Trump’s remarks, arguing that they could be construed as a “high crime.” Since Democrats controlled the House of Representatives, they had no trouble launching impeachment proceedings – which, of course, failed in the Senate.
Then came the January 6, 2021 incident at the U.S. Capitol, spawned by voting irregularities in the 2020 election. Democrats immediately called the skirmish an attempt to take over our government and blamed Trump for inciting an “insurrection.” That became the basis for his unprecedented second impeachment, which also failed.
But Democrats were now more determined than ever to end Trump’s political future, so they assembled a one-sided panel, the January 6th Committee, which held endless televised hearings, clearly intended to sway public opinion.
Still, Donald Trump remained a viable political candidate and now a declared presidential candidate for 2024.
On August 8, 2022, The Attorney General and Biden’s Department of Justice pulled out all stops. They did something that had never before been contemplated in America, something that is only done in third-world countries. They decided to throw the full force of the government against a former president. They used the FBI to execute a brazen, armed raid at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago residence, which was secured by armed Secret Service agents. Ostensibly, they wanted to recover classified documents, which Trump argued had been declassified.
Putting aside the heavy-handed tactics of the DOJ and FBI, the mind-blowing hypocrisy was obvious. It was just a few years prior, during Trump’s first presidential campaign, that the FBI Director casually dismissed an egregious breach of national security by Hillary Clinton, Trump’s political rival. He acknowledged that, as Secretary of State, Clinton’s reckless use of an unapproved private server violated the law and likely exposed national security information to our global adversaries. Then he went on to say that the case was just not prosecutable.
But none of that mattered in the wake of the Mar-A-Lago raid. Democrats who were not openly exuberant were at last content. They talked about Trump’s breach of national security and the need for accountability. They reminded us ad nauseam that “No one is above the law.” Joe Biden was more subdued, but just as critical. He confided his thoughts during a 60 Minutes interview, “How could that possibly happen?” He wondered, “How anyone could be that irresponsible?”
But those pontificating Democrats are now learning there’s truth in the adage, “What goes around comes around.”
With the revelation that improperly stored classified documents were found in Biden’s garage and other places under his control, supporters scrambled to explain it away. But having already appointed a special counsel to investigate the case against Trump, and with the DOJ credibility already stretched to the limit, the Attorney General was forced to appoint another special counsel.
Given the clear political bias of this AG, Americans know that Biden has nothing to worry about by this appointment. But there’s another issue that should concern him.
Now that Democrats lowered the threshold for impeaching a U.S. President, Biden could soon face his own impeachment proceedings. The new criteria established by Democrats requires nothing more than a House of Representatives controlled by the opposition party, and any improper action by the president.
If Joe Biden does become the fourth president to be impeached, don’t call it retribution by Republicans. Impeachment is completely justified by Biden’s malfeasance – his defiance of immigration laws, his refusal to protect America’s border, and the disastrous impact it’s having on our country. Add to that the unmistakable signs of influence peddling – the vast sums of money the Biden family received from countries like Ukraine, Russia, and China. Followed by such inexplicable foreign policy as the sale of our strategic oil reserves to China, reasonable people are beginning to demand answers.
Maybe it’s Karma, but Biden and the Democrats are the biggest contributors to his precarious situation.
The post Dems Learn That What Goes around Comes Around appeared first on Granite Grok.
Talk is cheap, especially in super-white super Democrat-controlled Vermont, where only 6.4% of the population is, by all progressive accounts, not systemically racist.
So they’ve got that going for them and all the other “amenities” that follow years of progressive rule. New gun restrictions are on the table; crime is rising, welfare, taxes, can’t hire enough cops, drugs, human trafficking, a porous border, and they also have a climate council.
The twenty-three-member committee coordinates Vermont’s Marxist great leap backward. A return to 19th-century solutions and lifestyles. But they’ve screwed that up too.
Joining [Judy] Dow [a Vermonter of Abenaki descent] was Ana Mejia, an organizing director at Rights & Democracy, who repeatedly accused the Council of treating BIPOC members as “tokens,” and asked why out of 23 official council members (at least three of the 23 seats are currently vacant), there were zero representing the BIPOC community.
As we all know, the BIPOC community is forever on the wrong end of whatever it is; transportation, climate, COVID, and representation, and white folks are to blame. And I’m not making the case that they are right or wrong, especially in pasty white Democrat-controlled Vermont. Using the Climate Scaremongering Committee as an example, demographically, there should be .64 BIPOC members out of every ten, so with 23 seats, that’s 1.47 people who are indigenous or of color (I’ll leave the indigenous lie alone for this debate).
According to the reporting,
The Global Warming Solutions Act calls for the Senate Committee on Committees to appoint seven members to the Council, the Speaker of the House to appoint eight, and the Governor’s Administration to supply eight.
None of the Senate appointees come from BIPOC communities. From the administration, only Dr. Harry Chen, interim commissioner, Department for Children and Families, comes from a BIPOC community. Regarding the speaker of the House’s appointments, of the four seats filled, none are from BIPOC communities, and the other four have been left somewhat inexplicably vacant since Nov. 1.
Democrats control the legislature, despite having 15 seats to fill, and have so far only picked systemic racists* for the new year. The governor, who is marginally Republican, chose at least one person of color.
Republicans 12.5% BIPOC appointees, Democrats 0%.
But wait, it gets better.
[Of] those eight House appointees, only three chose to step down at the end of their terms on Oct. 31. Five asked to be reappointed. The speaker reappointed four of them. The fifth, Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, a professor of climatology in the Department of Geography at the University of Vermont, who is Black and was the only BIPOC House appointee, was not reappointed despite her request, for reasons that have not been made clear.
So the committee had a demographic excess of people of color—two as opposed to 1.5, but the Democrat-controlled House has failed to re-appoint a black woman (whatever that is), and no one seems to know why?
It’s got to be racism.
We know this because were it a Republican-controlled House, it would be…racism! White Supremacy. Oppression! But Republicans are consistently not racist or – to appease the easily-triggered-race-pimps – less racist than Democrats who can’t shut up about it, while everything the left does invariably harms people of color.
Is it a coincidence that their ideological ancestors opposed integration and equal rights for black Americans and were the defenders of slavery?
The same people and party that increasingly trap people of color on crime-riddled urban plantations with underperforming government schools and no jobs.
I don’t think it is a coincidence, but you’re entitled to your denial, especially if you are a white Democrat in Vermont.
HT | True North Reports
The post Are Vermont Democrats Racist? appeared first on Granite Grok.
The CLUCKER COMMISSION-consisting of whatever of my coop was present, plus two bluebirds that forgot to fly south for winter-held and emergency session three days ago. I have no idea why.
I think they forgot that each year they award the completely useless, “doesn’t even have bragging rights” award for the person who is the worst member of the Republican party. The commission has absolutely no standards they rely upon to make their decision (my God, man, they are chickens). If you have a problem with their decision, email them at…whoa! they got no email. Well then, if you have a complaint, suck it up and realize they don’t care.
Having set the stage then-…drum roll, please…this year the award for worst republican goes to …. Governor Sununu.
Here are the various reasons the CLUCKERS selected our multi-term Executive for this award:
1. HE WINS.
No doubt the worst offense any Republican can impose on this party is to win elections.
I kid you not-Sununu is the worst of the worst in this regard.
He wins and wins and wins. No doubt this is because of a further violation-he actually is supported by a big majority of voters, having received the highest favorability rating of any republican in the last 6 years.
Keep in mind-the Republican leadership (huh-yea, they do have a leadership they claim) has made a concerted effort to develop a losing strategy. They have been quite successful snatching defeat out of the mouth of victory at every stage of the game.
Take their election strategy (developed with the help of every democrat in New Hampshire): they actively work to gut any chance a Republican candidate can muster in the primary.
They developed an extraordinary rule-the party cannot get involved in the primary. The party must sit on its thumbs until after the primary.
The Democrats-knowing this-eagerly and gleefully step into the Republican primary and do two things:
1. They get one of the Rinos to run against the other candidates. He/she has no chance of winning and does not even campaign. But, my running, the effect is that the GOP invokes this rule and does nothing.
2. The Democrats, not being inhibited by any such disabling rule, jump into the GOP primary, pick the worst candidate running and then do whatever it takes to get that person elected. Money. t.v ads. radio. By the time the primary is over, the Republicans have their choice narrowed to the worst candidates… all selected by the Democrats. After the last elections, the Democrats celebrated the fact they funded Bolduc, Barnes and the young lady running against Papas.
The leadership of the New Hampshire GOP knows all about this Democrat strategy but willingly sits on the sidelines and does nothing. They even refuse to raise money, prepare for the general or do anything remotely attributed to a winning attitude. They also have willingly chosen to keep this totally dysfunctional system in effect for as long as anyone can think.
The Clucker commission looked high and low for anyone in GOP leadership who even remotely thought the system was a problem or needed correction–AND FOUND NONE. (One of the least vocal members of the commission finally spoke: why NOT JUST CHANGE THE RULE? Or change the primary(AS IN EITHER 1. MOVE THE DATE BACK TO BE HELD ON THE SAME DATE AS THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY, SO THE TIME BETWEEN THE PRIMARY AND ELECTION GIVES THE GOP LEADERSHIP A CHANCE TO ACTUALLY MOUNT A CAMPAIGN FOR THE CANDIDATECHANGE OR 2. UNDER NEW HAMPSHIRE LAW, HAVE THE ALTERNATE FORM OF A PRIMARY WHERE THE GOP CAN CONTROL WHO RUNS AND WHO VOTES. IT’S IN THE ELECTION STATUT0. MAYBE READ IT)
Or tell the leadership to do something–anything–to get the Democrats out of the GOP.
NOTHING. NO RESPONSE.
In a party whose structure is set up to lose, you can imagine why Sununu is hands down the worst Republican out there. Everything he does goes against the grain of what the GOP does. But there is more.
2. HE DOES REPUBLICAN THINGS WHILE IN OFFICE!
The DEMOCRATS control the REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES FOR A REASON. They want to enact the Democrats’ progressive programs. By turning over to the Democrats the right to pick the GOP candidates, obviously, it must be the GOP agenda to enact the Democrat programs. Well, there Sununu goes again-screwing with the UNIPARTY (oops, i mean GOP) plan!
Here is what this “horrible” man did:
1. He balanced the budget without a tax increase.
2. He reduced and eliminated all kinds of taxes.
3. He vetoed several bills from the Democrats that would have imposed an income tax.
4. He maintained the gun rights against Democrats’ efforts to curtail.
5. He signed the 20-week abortion bill and vetoed the Democrats’ efforts to make New Hampshire an abortion-on-demand” right up to time of birth” state.
Obviously, this again would be enough to make him a winner of this award. but there is more:
3. HE HAS WITHSTOOD THE ASSAULT BY THE UNIPARTY(DAM- SORRY, I MEAN GOP) AND MAINTAINED HIS POPULARITY DESPITE BEING CALLED-GOD FORBID-A DEMOCRAT.
What an incredible strategy the Democrats have-they want to attack Sununu on the grounds that he is really nothing more than one of them. It possibly could work on a lesser candidate, but this “looser” SUNUNU (actually, by winning this award, he is technically a winner, but he is only a “winner” here because, in the eyes of the GOP, he is a looser under their terms of engagement) HAS FIGURED OUT A WAY TO SIDESTEP THE ATTACKS.
Many in the GOP leadership are stumped by this one. They have vilified him every step of the way–calling him names like “SUN KING”(he is not even French, you dummy) and making personal attacks on him for even the slightest dent in his shiny armor.
One member of the Clucker Commission suggested a possible answer:
Maybe Sununu’s supporters know what a real DEMOCRAT LOOKS LIKE. Wow! Maybe that is the answer. I came from California–you know, the place ruled by Newsome and Pelosi. Consider what the “REAL” New Hampshire(modeled on California) Democrats want to do that Sununu stopped:
1. California has a 72% tax rate. Yup! you read that right:
First, Federal tax.
Second, California has its own income tax-13% per cent.
Third, they have a sales tax of anywhere from 8% to 10 %.
Fourth, they have property taxes that are higher than anything we pay in New Hampshire.
Fifth, they tax the manure out of everything -water, electricity, gasoline, cow farts.
2.They never balance their budget.
The California Constitution requires a balanced budget.
So? The legislature spends whatever they want and then passes a new tax to cover it. For example, they passed a 1% income tax increase (over and above the 13%) and labeled it a “mental health” surcharge.
3.California/Democrats never saw a gun restriction law that they did not like.
Up until the recent Supreme Court decision protecting 2A rights, California essentially restricted guns out of existence. You could have a gun in your house only-cannot take it outside-but only if you put the ammo in one safe, the gun in another and put a trigger lock on it before putting it in the safe.
If a bad guy broke into your house, and you shoot him in self-defense, you are still charged with murder unless you can prove that you had no chance of escape.
But that is not the worst of it-the DEMOCRATS and UNIPARTY members of the California legislature focused on bullets. No lead allowed (environmentally bad!!!); only steel. Also, each bullet needs to have a serial number. Noone makes them but despite that a Judge upheld the law arguing that even though no one makes serial number bullets, the law will encourage someone to make them.
4. Abortion is on demand up to and after the baby is born. If it is born alive, ok to terminate. They even proposed that a child could be “Aborted” up to 30 days after birth.
Sooooo! Maybe the SUNUNU supporters think the claim he is actually Democrat FAILS BECAUSE THEY KNOW what a real Democrat is like.
Maybe they know what the Democrats in New Hampshire will do if they actually get elected to SUNUNU’S JOB.
Maybe they realize that without the Governor acting like a Republican and stopping the Democrat agenda, we would all be fighting over a bunch of California laws.
IN CONCLUSION: there you have it. SUNUNU hands down is the worst Republican in New Hampshire.
One advisory: my chickens live in Hollis. THEY WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THEY WERE PROBABLY HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY WHAT THEY SAW FROM HOLLIS GOP LEADERSHIP IN THE LAST ELECTION.
The town GOP leadership CLEARLY FOLLOWED THE STANDARD REPUBLICAN STRATEGY AND EFFECTIVELY MADE SURE THAT SOME REALLY TALENTED CANDIDATES LOST.
AND SOME DEMOCRATS WHO CLEARLY WANT TO IMPOSE DEMOCRATS’ INCOME TAX, ABORTION LAWS, AND GUN RESTRICTIONS GOT ELECTED.
WITH THE HOLLIS REPRESENTATIVES CLEARLY GOING OVER TO THE DEMOCRAT AGENDA, THINK OF THE HORRORS OF HAVING SUNUNU AS GOVERNOR.
WHO KNOWS WHAT DEMOCRAT/COMMUNIST/UNIPARTY LAW HE MIGHT VETO.
The post Clucker Commission Unanimous-Sununu Worst Republican appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Biden Administration recently approved a new firearms rule announced and signed by Attorney General Merrick Garland called ATF final rule 2021R-08F, “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces,'” amending ATF’s long-standing regulations to clarify when a rifle is designed, made, and intended to be fired from the shoulder. More specifically, the new rule is yet another in the anti-gunners gun control “by 1,000 cuts” strategy.
e that anyone who owns a large format pistol equipped with a stabilizing pistol brace must register it with the ATF as a short-barreled rifle (SBR), or the short barrel removed and a 16-inch or longer rifle barrel attached to the firearm, or permanently remove and dispose of, or alter, the “stabilizing brace” such that it cannot be reattached, or the firearm is turned in to your local ATF office, or the firearm is destroyed.
Keep in mind that these firearms were legally purchased and owned by millions of people under ATF rulings that allowed it. And suppose one chooses not to register his/her firearm with the ATF. In that case, they will be unwillingly converted to a felon if they keep it or receive no financial compensation for the firearm being disposed of or destroyed. Sure, you can modify the firearm you originally purchased to comply with the new rule, but that defeats the entire reason you bought it.
A stabilizing pistol brace is an attachment often used on large-format pistols, attaching to the rear of the firearm, and designed to attach to the forearm of the pistol user to secure the firing hand. It was initially conceived as an aid for disabled shooters and quickly became widely used since its stabilizing ability greatly enhanced accuracy. Most of the braces do not have a sufficient surface area to effectively act as a rifle stock and, as a result, are not used as such. But yes, you can lift the pistol up and shoulder the brace while firing. This is where the rub comes in.
Here is a link that shows numerous pistols with braces that have been legal up until this new ruling that will now be illegal. In all of them, you can see the brace is designed with the intent of being attached to the forearm. If you have one or more of these, you have a difficult decision to make.
The ATF had previously determined that a stabilizing pistol brace did NOT convert a pistol to an NFA-controlled SBR (National Firearms Act of 1934). As a result, MILLIONS of law-abiding citizens purchased them. Now, all of a sudden, the goalpost has been moved, and they are now defined as an NFA-controlled item. If the owner wants to keep what they lawfully purchased as it currently exists, it must be registered with the ATF/FBI.
Registration is the first step to confiscation, as has been demonstrated numerous times throughout history. We should be worried.
This rule is effective from the date it is published in the Federal Register, which is expected to occur within days. Once in effect, any weapons with “stabilizing braces” or similar attachments that constitute rifles under the NFA must meet one of the criteria specified above no later than 120 days after publication in the Federal Register. As a carrot and to encourage registration, the ATF will waive the standard $200 tax stamp required by the NFA IF you register within the 120-day window. It is $200 for each NFA item, so if you own two or three braced pistols, it will cost you $400 or $600 to register them outside the 120-day window, but it is FREE if within the window. FREE STUFF!! Where have you heard that before?
Multiple groups and legislators are already filing documents and lawsuits in opposition to the new rule. These efforts may or may not overturn it. But in any event, they will likely take more than 120 days to resolve. And that leaves lawful owners of these firearms with a dilemma. Do you start registering your now illegal firearm with the ATF through an ATF Form 1 as an SBR, or do you wait to see if the rule is overturned? If you register it and the rule is overturned, you just needlessly admitted that you own the firearm and are now in an FBI database. If you don’t and it is not overturned, you risk fines of up to $250,000 and/or ten years in prison.
Here is a link to the new rule, which is 293 pages long.
And here is a tangential consequence of this new ruling. Many people carry a braced pistol in their vehicle for self-defense or other lawful reasons. Once registered, that firearm becomes an SBR. It is illegal in NH to have a loaded rifle in a motor vehicle. That means you can no longer carry your previously legally loaded pistol in your vehicle.
“They” are slowly winning this 2A battle. We can’t let that happen. Get active, people! Write letters, participate in public testimony, and donate to pro-2A organizations! Complacency is acceptance.
The post How to Make Felons Out of Millions of Law-Abiding Citizens with the Stroke of a Pen appeared first on Granite Grok.
They’re flying so thick and fast it is amazing. Take heart – there will be a Meme Overflow and absolutely a Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow. Last week’s Overflow-Overflow.
Remember, ridicule and mockery are effective weapons:
Now, let the mockery and mayhem begin.
*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***
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But first, a random sampling of three of my cartoons. Please note these are my concepts but I pay a professional to do them.
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Debuted in this post.
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https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/reagan-9-terrifying-words.mp4
True then, true now… true always.
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My kids, thanks to what my wife calls “brainwashing” and I call “passing along my values” now scream out TAXATION IS THEFT!
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I remember the first time I heard Rush. I’d been told he was one step away from Satan Incarnate. Yet I found myself listening – having channel-surfed to him on my car radio – and agreeing with this disembodied voice. It was only at a commercial break, when he identified himself as Rush Limbaugh, that I knew with whom I was agreeing. I was floored.
I went out and bought his books The Way Things Ought to Be and See I Told You So.
That’s when I realized I was moving away from being a Libertarian and towards being the hard-core Conservative I am now.
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I want to ask you… can you imagine Barackus doing this? Billy-boy Clinton? Her Heinous the Crone of Chappaqua? I can see Pedo Pete doing this, but only to cop a feel. This smacks me as absolutely genuine emotion.
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Best Bob Hope movie line
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Pick of the post:
And so The Narrative crumbling starts to accelerate.
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Universal hand signal for help
Now… the uber-exaggerated black eyes don’t help the video IMHO. But otherwise very good.
I’ve also taught my kids that we have a phrase in case they’re kidnapped but having to pretend that all is OK (e.g., the kidnappers want to buy time to move the kids farther away before we suspect something). Something that sounds innocuous but that they can slip into a conversation so that I – or my wife – know something’s very wrong.
And I can’t attest to the effectiveness as I haven’t tried it, this does look useful and is similar to other videos in this vein that I’ve seen:
100 Deadly Skills | How to Escape Duct Tape
He also wrote these two books. I have and have read the first; need to get the second one.
Escape The Wolf: A Security Handbook for Traveling Professionals
Escape the Wolf: A SEAL Operative’s Guide to Situational Awareness, Threat Identification, and Getting Off The X
I also strongly recommend:
Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps’ Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life
A SEAL Team SIX Member Reveals How To Escape A Kidnapping
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Palate Cleansers:
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The post MONDAY MEMES appeared first on Granite Grok.
Parents are discovering that their children are being indoctrinated with a racist and hate-filled message at school. It was so bad that one parent decided to address this with her Superintendent.
New Hampshire currently has a law in place that does not allow school officials to discriminate against your children or the teachers who work in the school district. That is now being challenged in the legislature as Democrats try to dismantle this anti-discrimination law. If Democrats get their way, this is what your child could face in the classroom.
There is still time to let the New Hampshire House Education Committee know that you do not support their efforts to discriminate against our children by sending them an email:
rick.ladd@leg.state.nh.us
glenn.cordelli@leg.state.nh.us
rep.alicia.lekas@gmail.com
lynchford@comcast.net
Mike.Belcher@leg.state.nh.us
Margaret.Drye@leg.state.nh.us
Valerie.McDonnell@leg.state.nh.us
Kristin.Noble@leg.state.nh.us
Katy.Peternel@leg.state.nh.us
Arlene.Quaratiello@leg.state.nh.us
Mel.Myler@leg.state.nh.us
patricia.cornell@leg.state.nh.us
RepTanner@gmail.com
dluneauNH@gmail.com
Art.Ellison@leg.state.nh.us
stevewoodcock.rep@gmail.com
Muriel.Hall@leg.state.nh.us
Peggy.Balboni@leg.state.nh.us
Corinne.Cascadden@leg.state.nh.us
Hope.Damon@leg.state.nh.us
Letter to Superintendent Copeland
June 18, 2020
Dear Supt. Copeland,
I am the parent of two children enrolled at Gladwyne Elementary School. On Tuesday, June 9th, I was puzzled to receive a “Cultural Proficiency Lessons Family Letter” from Principal Ellers that expressed the conclusion of “educators” (I assume the LSMD Administration) that children enrolled in the school system need additional explicit lessons on equity and race. Aren’t students already engaged in numerous educational programs to foster empathy, understanding, and compassion towards everybody? Yet somehow, as a result of the social unrest in recent weeks, the school felt compelled to address the issues yet again, but with something called “cultural proficiency”, a completely unmeasurable and frankly, ridiculous exercise to achieve some unclear result!
What particularly outrages me is that the “Cultural Proficiency Committee” (which sounds like something out of Maoist China) imposed a lesson plan to indoctrinate the children into the “woke” culture, using reprehensible resources designed to inoculate Caucasian children with feelings of guilt for the color of their skin and the “sins” of their forefathers. The material selected for this indoctrination pumps their brains with LIES that puts unbearable emotional burdens on them for years to come. Why must our kids feel like villains and hate themselves for something they had no control over – the color/pigmentation of their skin?!? Whatever the school’s intentions are, this “proficiency” program threatens to unleash hate upon white children. My nine-year-old very perceptively commented: “They are doing to us what they told us not to do to others.” In other words, this cultural proficiency lesson completely flips the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King (judge people by the content of their character and NOT by the color of their skin) on its head! Why has the school so dramatically deviated from the philosophy of this great American which you taught the children earlier in the school year? Dr. King is probably rolling over in his grave now!!!
At the same time the messages the school is conveying instills a sense of victimhood and lack of responsibility into black children. Your cultural proficiency program assures them that they are not responsible for their actions or lack of achievement (in cases where they do) since after all, everything that has gone wrong in their lives (in cases where it did) is the fault of the so called “white privilege.” Your approach promotes and instills anger and hate in their hearts and minds rather than responsibility, ambition and hope because they are EQUAL to any other kid!
What does “cultural proficiency” exactly mean? Is it like “math proficiency” or “English proficiency”? Does it have a set of skills and knowledge and the kids will be tested and given a score? How would you benchmark cultural proficiency? Will the test be standardized and administered to kids of all skin colors/pigmentations or only to the “white” kids? What about the kids who are mixed race? Maybe these kids will undergo skin pigmentation test prior to taking the test to determine their level of dark pigmentation and the “eligibility” to take the test. Does it address black bigotry towards whites? Nothing in the “proficiency” materials addressed this very real problem. White students who attend predominantly black inner-city high schools fear for their lives daily, but no one marches in the streets declaring “White Lives Matter”, much less loot and vandalize their communities to bring attention to this issue. Why does LMSD give its students the perception that bigotry is only a “white” problem? In fact, did you know that anti-Semitism has been on the rise in the U.S.? According to a 2018 FBI data, Jews were 2.7 X more likely than blacks, and 2.2 X more likely than Muslims to be victims of hate crimes (“…the hate crime victimization rate per 100,00 population of each group were 14.8 for Jews, 6.6 for Muslims and 5.5 for blacks”). But there is no “Jewish History Month,” no riots of any kind (violent or otherwise) by Jews” and you haven’t implemented any lesson or program to address it.
To put things in perspective I’ll tell you a bit about myself. After thousands of years of slavery, expulsion, persecution, pogroms culminating in the Holocaust our people returned home and built our country in 1948. Along with thousands of Jews, my parents fled persecution in Iraq (where the Jews lived for thousands of years) in the early 50’s and settled in Israel. For several long decades there was a widespread discrimination (much like towards the blacks in this country) by the European Jews who controlled the country towards the Jews who came from Muslim countries. I grew up very poor in one of the toughest slums in Israel. Consequently, I choose to study social work and graduated with a bachelor, masters and doctorate in this field from top universities specializing in child welfare.
I can say unequivocally that the United States of America is not a “racist” country and doesn’t have “institutional” or “systemic racism.” In the United States of America, as in every society, there are bigots. They come in all skin colors, faiths and uniforms, including blue ones!!! But this is a country that no longer keeps one race down to benefit another. People of color have been successful in all avenues of society, as Supreme Court justices, legislators, mayors, captains of industry, best-selling authors and school superintendents. If you believe we are a nation of white privilege, then you believe that African Americans achieve their success because of their skin color, rather than their eminent qualifications. Then that makes you the bigot!
The problems in the black community are not rooted in any kind of “racism” but rather in the collapse of the nuclear family and the high percentage of black children who are born to single mothers (almost 70%), most of whom are teenagers and are raised in single family households. Further, many blacks don’t receive a good education because they are denied school choice (ironically, by Democrats who oppose school choice and continue to prop up failing schools). It’s no surprise that in Philadelphia, 44% of public school teachers put their kids in private schools!
Unfortunately, the problems facing many black people and communities have been used by cynical politicians, activists and race baiters (like Al Sharpton) who have been playing identity politics – using the “race card” to advance their power and agenda rather than addressing real needs of the community they profess to represent. Their solution was the establishment of the “welfare state” which according to the black economist Prof. Walter Williams “has done to blacks American what slavery couldn’t have done and the harshest racism couldn’t have done namely to destroy the black family.”
The Cultural Proficiency Committee sanctioned by LMSD approaches these real social problems with dishonesty, hypocrisy and falsehood, which on the one hand perpetuates the despair of black communities and on the other hand causes major damage to our society as a whole. LMSD’s Cultural Proficiency is nothing more than virtue signaling. It does nothing to promote understanding, acceptance, compassion and empathy, but only fans the flames of hatred and make the real bigots feel good about themselves.
Here is just a handful sources for factual information of the issue which will provide the children (and you!) valuable education rather than indoctrination:
FACTS by Walter E. Williams, distinguished prof. of economics at George Mason University (originally from Philadelphia):
https://www.the-dispatch.com/opinion/20190816/walter-e-williams-how-important-is-todays-racial-discrimination
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzNYCPZXvlw
FACTS by Carol Swain, Prof of political science & Law at Vanderbilt University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_a7dQXilCo&fbclid=IwAR30eFcznJwuOQPpbPoJXmzp_rZwqMzJRELe9axtbr1eR7YJuz7uczoD6E0
The Plight of the Black People and the myth of Systemic Racism: https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQEbUMX1uug?enablejsapi=1&feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&vq=hd720&&&
FACTS: Larry Elder on systemic racism in America
https://www.facebook.com/RealBrigitteGabriel/videos/719032492204373/UzpfSTEwMDAwMTM0ODUwMDI2OTozMTE1NDYxMTE4NTA4ODA4/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlGE9dg7fyM&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1bhaeTlmxyZK0PDp1ybQGu1dqURvyghdQg0I_0gb_G45lFeIfA7rdvCYo
FACTS: Ben Shapiro debunking viral systemic racism explained video: http://easternontarionetwork.com/index.php/2020/06/10/ben-shapiro-debunks-viral-systemic-racism-explained-video/
Sincerely,
Dr. Elana Fishbein
The post Stop the New Hampshire Democrats Agenda to Discriminate Against Your Children! appeared first on Granite Grok.
There are, of course, business organizations that do benefit from the power to restrict entry and competition. This power, however, is not a function of product differentiation, or of advertising, or of the “technostructure,” or of market concentration, but is a function of explicit favors and privileges obtained from government. The sole source of the monopoly power, and of the problem, is the state. Yet it is the very state that most of the critics of business (and supporters of antitrust) would expand and enlarge to suit their particular vision of the good society. Knowingly or unknowingly, the critics of big business would enhance the very institution, and the very relationships that are at the root of the social problems they claim to abhor.
-Dominick Armentano (Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure)
Too many Socialists love the idea of having Big <insert Industry here> be their bogeyman all the type. Certainly, the Eco-Socialists over at Treehugger are ALWAYS hitting on Capitalism as the Evil of the evilest.
When I bring it up, however, that the source of Crony Capitalism is all those Dark Corners that exist all over Government, they fall strangely silent. They have this outlook, unfortunately, that those in Government are all just non-partisan technocrats that would NEVER engage in such behaviors. They can only be viewed as being altruistic with no selfish motives of their own (I know, laughable).
They cannot be convinced that to reduce Crony Capitalism, it is first required to make Government smaller. As small as possible, to be truthful, from my standpoint.
Alas, none have ever read De Tocqueville and how astonished he was to find out how much ordinary Americans did for themselves and their friends instead of immediately turning to Government under the rubric of “SomeBODY (er, not me!) has to DO something about this!”).
Frankly, the answer should almost NOT be getting Government to DO something. Rather, it is getting someone to get Government to get out of the way.
The post Notable Quote – Crony Capitalism: Both Loved and Berated appeared first on Granite Grok.
On Saturday, NewsWars dropped a story about an interview with Alan Dana with US Freedom Flyers, whose mission is “to promote informed consent and defend individual medical freedom through preserving citizen’s rights to work and travel without governmental obstruction.”
Related: Did a Record Number of Vaccinated Airline Pilots Drop Dead in 2021?
The group has been “getting calls now from wealthy businessmen and companies to fly their executives around on business jets with unvaccinated crew.”
“They get the luxury of being able to choose, because there are still a large amount of crew available in the United States who are not vaccinated because the companies they work for didn’t mandate it.”
“These wealthy businessmen are requiring unvaccinated crew on their business trips,” Dana added. “Passengers on an airline who bought a ticket don’t have that luxury.”
If you were looking for another safety signal in the noise, that one seems rather loud. I’m also wondering if the Jet-setting, WEF (ish) jab-them-all crowd is flying air-mRNA in their Jet Streams or are their pilots’ pure bloods’?
Highly vaccinated and boosted, Japan is suffering from a surge in deaths.
Japanese over-65s have done their best to reduce Japan’s 612-million-dose stockpile of mRNA jabs, with third, fourth and fifth jab rates of 91%, 82.5%, and 56%, respectively. But unfortunately, Japan has started 2023 by reporting its highest ever daily Covid death tolls. During the booster era starting in early 2022, each wave has been noticeably higher than the last.
And what do the experts have to say? “The cause of the rise in Covid deaths is hard to explain.” And, “There’s a lot we don’t know, and we don’t have evidence.”
Among these heavily dosed and deceased, “The direct cause of death is often heart failure or kidney disease, and he said that “thorough analysis is needed.”
You’d best get right on that, then.
New York State Health Care Workers Score a Yuge Win in Court! (Emphasis Mine.)
In a groundbreaking decision filed today, NY State (NYS) Supreme Court Judge Gerard Neri held that the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers is now “null, void, and of no effect.” The court held that the NYS Dept. of Health lacked the authority to impose such a mandate as this power is reserved to the state legislature. Furthermore, the court found that the mandate was “arbitrary and capricious” as COVID-19 vaccines do not stop transmission, vitiating any rational basis for a mandate.
One More: The Last Refuge got a massive response to a request for comments on why readers did not get the vaccine. You can surf the thousands of them here, but I wanted to share part of just one.
[I]nstead of adding my own story to the thread, which would only echo hundreds of others, I’ve been reading through the entries, looking for a pattern. Allowing that the Treehouse community isn’t a random sample, older and more politically conservative than average, I looked to see if thousands of testimonies might reveal something about the resistant personality.
I would divide the respondents into two groups. The first group didn’t want the vaccine because it was linked to abortion or because they were opposed to all vaccines. Even if the vaccine had been safe and effective, they would never have taken it. People in the second group had been generally open to vaccination. Yet in this case, they did not go along. What made them back away in this one instance and resist in the face of strong social pressure?
The theme that runs through the responses is that the resistant sensed something was wrong early on, a gut feeling, a ‘spidy-sense.’ The resistant would thus seem to be ‘N” types, high in intuition. Unlike people who accepted the advice of authority figures, instinct caused them to look into the matter more deeply, to compare various medical opinions, evidence of all types. This indicates that intellectual curiosity and resistance to authority, i.e. high creativity, is a second commonality.
The third hurdle was that the non-jabbed resisted emotional blackmail, the threat that they would disappoint a spouse, be banned from seeing grandchildren, or lose friends. The resistant are thus thinkers rather than feelers. A fourth commonality was courage; some people were willing to risk security, to lose a high paying job, to forfeit a career, to postpone college; others caved at that point. The resistant are more likely to be risk-takers, which again correlates with high creativity.
I’m not sure I’d agree with all of it, but not being an anti-vaxxer, I’d agree that resistance to emotional blackmail hit the nail on the head.
The post Demand Spike for Unvaxxed Pilots From Private Jet Owners (And other COVID Vaxx News) appeared first on Granite Grok.
A new driveway can be a big expense if you opt for something labour-intensive like block paving. But even if you only have a concrete driveway, it makes sense to take care of it.
After all, a well-maintained driveway can add kerb appeal when the time comes to sell and be less likely to develop cracks and holes that send Great Aunt Agnes straight to A&E.
Maintenance needs will vary according to the type of driveway you have, but some must-do tasks are essential. Read on for a useful guide to keeping your driveway in tip-top condition.
Block Paved DrivewaysA block paved driveway will look amazing when it is first laid, but in time, without due care and attention, block paving is prone to weeds. If left unchecked, weeds and grass growing will damage the mortar and lift the blocks, which leads to further damage.
Always remove weeds and grass before they take root. Pull up by hand or use a weed-killer preparation. Keep your driveway swept so soil, leave debris, and dirt doesn’t collect in between the blocks, as this will create the perfect growing environment for hardy weeds.
Be careful if you use a pressure washer to clean your drive. Hot water and a stiff brush are better, but even that may damage or loosen blocks.
If there are stains, avoid using chemical stain removal solutions, as they could damage and discolour the stone. Speak to a driveways Birmingham expert for advice before you tackle any problems with your block paved driveway or are considering replacing it.
Concrete DrivewaysConcrete is a popular material for driveways as it is often cheaper. When done as a professional installation, concrete can look attractive, but proper maintenance is key. It is also crucial to seal a concrete driveway, to prevent damage and excessive wear and tear. Even if you haven’t previously sealed your concrete driveway, it isn’t too late. Clean the surface first and then apply the sealant. It should be reapplied every few years, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Don’t use de-icer solutions on a concrete driveway, as they damage the surface. Salt will also cause damage. Instead, buy a bag of cheap cat litter and sprinkle this around. Sand is just as effective.
Always treat stains before they have a chance to soak in. Soak up greasy liquids using sand, cat litter, or sawdust. Pressure washing will remove most stains if done quickly enough.
If you spot any damage in the concrete, patch the area before it gets worse.
Gravel DrivewaysGravel is a cheap and cheerful driveway material, but weeds can be a problem. Rake over the gravel regularly and remove weeds. This will also prevent the gravel from becoming too uneven. Apply a weed-killing solution to make it harder for problem weeds like dandelions to take hold.
Look after your driveway and it will continue to do a great job, but if yours is looking well past its best, consider upgrading to a new driveway.
The post Essential Driveway Maintenance Tips appeared first on Granite Grok.
My “regular” formats are in 400+ million to 2 trillion years (rightmost column). And I rotate them.
Your’s?
(H/T Reddit)
The post Data Point – How Secure IS Your Password(s)? appeared first on Granite Grok.
With property prices higher than ever, it often makes more sense to renovate a home rather than upgrade to a new one. If your home is a good fit for you, but you’d like a bit of extra room or the layout doesn’t work as well as you’d like, a renovation project could save you money while still giving you the home of your dreams.
Decide What You Want from the ProjectOnly fools rush into home renovation projects. While it is easy to get excited about paint swatches, interior design, and home furnishings, it’s also easy to lose sight of what you are trying to achieve with the project.
Sit down with the family and discuss what you are hoping to gain by renovating some or all of the property. Do you need more living space? An extra bedroom? Or is the current décor hopelessly outdated and in need of a style refresh?
Make mood boards and spend time on sites like Houzz to see what inspires you and what turns you off. Speak to a Luxury Interior Designer in London if you think professional help is needed. An interior designer could come up with ideas you would never have considered or provide solutions to tricky layout problems.
Have a Budget and Stick to ItAny fan of Grand Designs will know common it is for people to blow their budget while renovating a property. It takes time and effort to manage all the many expenses and a lot of willpower to avoid being seduced by pretty designer furniture and stylish appliances.
Have a budget and stick to it. Don’t be tempted to spend more than you can afford. Build a contingency fund into the budget to allow for unexpected expenses, as something will inevitably come to light you haven’t planned for.
Make sure at least one person in your house is good with numbers and willing to manage the budget. Alternatively, hire a project manager to do it for you.
Be Prepared for the DisruptionRenovation projects are messy and cause a lot of disruption. Even when you think it will only take a few weeks, invariably, something goes wrong, materials are delayed, the weather is terrible, or a contractor lets you down. If you expect the worst, you don’t be disappointed!
Ideally, have somewhere else you can stay while the renovation project is taking place. Put everything out of the way in a garage or rooms unaffected by the work. Check with the contractors to make sure they are doing everything possible to minimise the mess, such as fixing plastic sheets over doorways and only using one entry point.
If you do have to live in the property while work is being carried out, be prepared to set up a temporary kitchen or ask a friend to look after your pets. It won’t be easy but there is light at the end of the tunnel!
Quality home renovations can add value and make a home more liveable. It’s a great idea to consider a renovation project if your existing home already ticks most boxes.
The post 3 Tips for Renovating Your Home This Year appeared first on Granite Grok.