Dear Ms. Fenton;

Please review the following emails I sent to the Superintendent in SAU50 regarding the Social and Emotional Learning taking place in the district. There is a difference of opinion on what constitutes assessing and servicing the mental health of children through SEL.

From my research, especially when the Every Student Succeeds Act was passed, this kind of mental health service (SEL) in the classroom would require parental or guardian consent.

According to ESSA:

Much of the information supporting SEL in schools references how SEL treats the mental health of children. However, the Superintendent in SAU50 does not believe they need consent as required by federal law. Parental rights groups have relied on this law and this specific language as a way for parents and guardians to monitor mental health services for their children.

I am not here to judge the many SEL programs currently in use in our public schools, only that our school administrators are not following federal law and obtaining parental consent. It shouldn’t take a parent having to sue their school district in order to exercise their right to consent on these mental health services.

I include the emails sent to Superintendent Zadvarec that confirm this type of mental health service is provided in SAU50 and that there has been no effort to obtain parental consent.

If I am incorrect on this law and how it applies to SEL services, then we will have to look at state-level legislation to make sure parents are able to exercise their right to consent. Fortunately, ethical guidelines and codes of conduct among mental health providers are pro-parent involvement–which is good. But as you can see from the federal law, parents do not want their children participating in any of these mental health services without their informed consent.

I am asking you to conduct an investigation on whether SAU50 is violating federal law, and therefore did the educator also violate the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct?

Sincerely,

Ann Marie Banfield
======================================================================================

SENT Oct. 12, 2022:

Dear Superintendent Zedrevec and Principal Hallee:

Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA, 91-1), I am requesting public access, within 5 business days, to the governmental records:

1) A copy of the consent form sent to parents by Maggie Olsen, School counselor, or any other representative from the Greenland School District, to treat children with the Kimochis program.
2) A copy of the credentials of all counselors or school personnel who will be providing therapy for students using the Kimochis program.
3) A copy of all questions on any screenings or assessments used to accompany the Kimochis program.

Per RSA 91-A:4IV(C) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.

Please let me know when these records are available for inspection or you may email the records to me at Banfieldannmarie@gmail.com.
Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.

For more information on this: https://granitegrok.com/blog/2022/10/greenland-counselor-misleading-parents-on-sel-psychological-profiling

Sincerely,

Ann Marie Banfield

======================================================================================

RECEIVED Oct. 12, 2022   Hi Ann Marie, Thanks for reaching out. I embedded answers to your questions below. I also looked at the attached blog and would point out that there are some assumptions there that are not true. There is no individual or group mental health therapy going  on, and no assessments or screenings are being given. In fact there is no student data being collected at all in relation to the classroom lessons. Thanks, Steve

1) A copy of the consent form sent to parents by Maggie Olsen, School counselor, or any other representative from the Greenland School District, to treat children with the Kimochis program. A letter was sent to parents indicating what universal programming the counselor would be doing with the children.  Discussions at the universal level are whole class teaching.  As such, she is not “treating” children.

2) A copy of the credentials of all counselors or school personnel who will be providing therapy for students using the Kimochis program. The counselor is not offering therapy for students with the Kimochis program. That said, the counselor is a certified school counselor (endorsement 0040).

3) A copy of all questions on any screenings or assessments used to accompany the Kimochis program.

The counselor is not doing any screenings or assessments accompanying the Kimochis program.  There is not any student identifiable information being collected.

 

 

Stephen Zadravec

Superintendent of Schools SAU 50 48 Post Rd Greenland, NH 03840 603-422-9572 ======================================================================================

SENT OCT. 13, 2022:

Superintendent Zadvarec,
I should tell you that I made sure early on, with the national push for mental health treatment in the schools, to confirm that these kinds of programs would be categorized as treating the mental health of children. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires parental consent when you provide mental health services.

SEL funding is coming through the SAMHSA grant, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. All SEL programs must be approved by CASEL.

I spoke with parent advocate attorneys during the writing of ESSA. ESSA included the provision to require consent by parents on the mental health service or assessment of children enrolled in a public school. Kimochis would be considered group therapy among children.

From the University of Maryland School of Medicine: https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/media/SOM/Microsites/NCSMH/Documents/Resources/Every-Student-Succeeds-Act.pdf
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and School Mental Health: Implications for Schools, Districts, and States
Resources: School Mental Health and ESSA:
Excerpt:
Website

Relevant Information: Title IV Part A (SSAEC): flexible block grant. Districts must use at least 20% of these funds on efforts to improve “student mental and behavioral health, school climate, or school safety.” Includes a list of example activities, including ‘comprehensive school mental and behavioral health delivery systems’.

From the National Library of Medicine:
Social and emotional learning: a framework for promoting mental health and reducing risk behavior in children and youth
Abstract

Many programs have been developed to help schools enhance students’ health and reduce the prevalence of drug use, violence, and high-risk sexual behaviors. How should educators choose among these? This article describes selection criteria based on theory, research, and best educational practice that identify key social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and program features. The SEL competencies for students include 17 skills and attitudes organized into four groups: awareness of self and others; positive attitudes and values; responsible decision making; and social interaction skills. The 11 program features critical to the success of school-based SEL programs emphasize curriculum design, coordination with larger systems, educator preparation and support, and program evaluation. Developed by the Collaborative to Advance Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the SEL framework can be used to guide selection of research-based prevention programs that address health, substance abuse, violence prevention, sexuality, character, and social skills.

The National Association on Mental Health cited SEL as a support for children who are coping with “mental health conditions.”

Kimochis also promotes their program to the mental health professionals working in the school, and then includes testimonials by therapists.
For Mental Health Professionals
Kimochis® short cuts the talking that is the cornerstone of many therapies.
They allow kids and adults to rapidly and safely explore and translate emotions into root causes that can be dealt with immediately.

Listed on the Child Therapy List / The Best Way to Get Help for Your Child: Kimochis

Kimochis: Getting Started in a Mental Health Setting

I make no judgments on the Kimochis program itself. This program may very well be one that supports the mental health of children in the district, but that is not the point. The point is, this should be done with informed consent by parents.

If the SEL program in the future includes a screening or assessment of children, that too would require the school counselor to obtain informed consent.

What happens if a child, while sharing their “feelings,” since that is the goal of Kimochis, decides to revisit trauma? What is the school counselor trained to do under these conditions? School Counselors do not have the education or clinical training that I would want for my children if they were in that position.

Here is a frightening example of good intentions gone bad. Children who’ve suffered the loss of a loved one can experience trauma, but as you will see in the video, psychotherapeutic techniques (10:00) can have a negative impact on children too. In this example, you can see how it even became dangerous. While Kimochis may be the tool that draws out a child’s feelings and emotions, how is that then managed? All of this should be explained to parents so they know exactly what this kind of therapy looks like in the classroom, and how it will impact their children. That is exactly why informed consent was added to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA.)

I will forward all of this to Diana Fenton at the New Hampshire Department of Education so that she can begin an investigation.

Since I have received professional advice from those who do have the credentials and education in mental health, confirming this program does treat the mental health of children, I would highly advise that you seek legal advice. This may boil down to litigation at some point. I would certainly advise parents to seek legal advice if they have not consented to any SEL program used on their children without their consent.

You are not the first school administrator to deny that this kind of SEL treatment is not mental health treatment, but I have a Phd Child Psychologist telling me the opposite. If you were administering cancer treatment to all children in a class but denied it was a cancer treatment, biy I had a cancer specialist telling me it is a cancer treatment, I’m going to have to believe the cancer specialist.

This is how parents lose trust in the people working with their children. Similar to when the bus driver was assigned to another bus route after parents brought forth information about how he was acting inappropriately towards their son. It is critical that the leadership in this district focus on building back that trust.

One way to build trust is to understand that parents will certainly see the connection to the school counselor using an SEL program that has been reported as mental health treatment for their children. There is plenty of evidence to confirm this. It would be a positive step forward in building back that trust by explaining all of this to parents, and asking for their permission.

Thank you again for your prompt response.

The post Complaint Filed in SAU50 Over SEL Social and Emotional Learning–Failure to Obtain Parental Consent appeared first on Granite Grok.

Long-time (former) CEO Bob Iger is back at the helm of Disney, and one of his first acts as the returning King of the house that Walt built, is to suggest they dial back the political rhetoric.

Related: Struggling Disney Dumps CEO, But Will it Wake Up or Stay #Woke?

 

“Do I like the company being embroiled in controversy? Of course not. It can be distracting and it can have a negative impact on the company. And to the extent that I can work to quiet things down, I’m going to do that,” Iger said, in an all-but-obvious reference to Disney’s involvement on the left wing of the American culture war.

 

Disney has recently been at war with its customer base, choosing to rub the #woke culture into the faces of parents who might not find it appropriate for young kids. That’s not to say they object to adults making those choices. And they may not even object to the idea of turning children’s entertainment into propaganda. But being obnoxious and deliberate about integrating the Left’s addiction to sex culture is a bridge too fat for many.

Iger may not be telling us that Disney will step away from that sort of thing. His immediate concern is the overt political action by Disney or its representatives. Financially speaking, the war with Florida could cost them billions if that fence isn’t mended. As CEO, Iger’s first job is to fix that.

Related: Paying a Price: Can Disney or Democrats Get Back in that “Closet”?

As for the rest of it, there’s no way to know. #Woke sex-propaganda Disney may still be in business; Bob says he will work to quiet things down. That is not a commitment to back off the increased effort to normalize sexual lifestyle choices, but given the nation’s response to Disney products that made the leap, we’ll see less of that.

Righting the balance sheet likely demands it.

 

 

HT | Gateway Pundit

The post Disney About Face on Political Activism May Not Mean a Thing appeared first on Granite Grok.

On January 31 of this year, my husband, Stephen Scaer, and I stood outside Nashua High School North holding signs while people were walking in for the Nashua Board of Education meeting.

Members of the Nashua Teachers’ Union and their supporters held signs in support of a new teachers’ contract. Former state senator and current candidate for NH Secretary of State, Melanie Levesque, was there in support of the teachers.

I was carrying a large sign that said “No Puberty Blockers” and my husband’s sign was an oversized image of the cover of the book “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters” by Abigail Shrier. We were peaceful and respectful and I was taking pictures of the elected officials there in support of the teachers including Sen. Lou Allesandro and Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, without any issue.

When I walked over to the group of teachers to take pictures of them, I was assaulted by a teacher who pushed me off the sidewalk by walking backward into me and she would have knocked me over if another teacher hadn’t intervened. I went back to the group of elected officials, which included former state senator Melanie Levesque, expecting they would be better behaved, but I was mistaken.

Related: I Was Roughed Up at a Teachers’ Rally

When I picked up my phone to take Melanie’s picture, Melanie suddenly charged at me with her Nashua Teachers’ Union sign in front of her as if to hit me with it and she stopped just short of doing so. I was not saying anything or making any gestures and I was a respectful distance away when I took the picture. There was no reason for her to do what she did except to physically intimidate me to get me and my sign off the sidewalk.

Is this the kind of hotheaded behavior that New Hampshire needs from a Secretary of State?

On Organization Day, December 7, New Hampshire legislators should vote for David Scanlan, who has proven himself to be a well-qualified, even-tempered Secretary of State.

Learn more about the harms of puberty blockers at sidewalksteve.org.

 

The post Melanie Levesque, Candidate for NH Secretary of State, Is a Hothead appeared first on Granite Grok.

For those out there trying to keep up with the Kardashians, new research suggests it could be more difficult if you are one of the  269 million Americans who got one or more of the mRNA Jabs and lived to tell the tale.

 

 The mean (SD) interval between [Botulinum toxin type A] BTA injections before completing COVID-19 vaccination was estimated at 118.64 (22.73) days (range, 90–200 days), whereas the same interval after getting vaccinated was 95.95 (12.24) days (range, 75–120 days). The average interval between BTA injections was significantly shorter after getting vaccinated as compared to the interval prior to the beginning of the vaccination campaign (p < 0.001).

 

Injecting the neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum to tighten up a facial feature needs to happen with more frequency post Jab than Pre-Jab.

The Study authors note that additional research is required (which means someone needs to fund it). Maybe Kris, Kourtney, Kim, or Khloé, can toss them a few bucks to dig a little deeper. It could be an entire story arc for their reality Television empire.

They could call it Keeping up with the “Klostridium” botulinum or something.

 

The post Stop the Presses! – mRNA Vaccines May Make Botox Less Effective! appeared first on Granite Grok.

No one should be surprised by this headline. We’ve all likely experienced this. The progs in Big Tech “take issue” with your content. And getting tagged, flagged, gagged, tossed “in jail,” or de-platformed by a “private company” is one thing, but what if it was at the direction of the Feds?

With no criminal basis for action, just partisan political antics.

Can you imagine? The government is deliberately colluding with search and social media companies to censor material online based on its desires. Of course, you do. It’s not new. It is not limited to one side or another. It has just never been this easy.

Two recent stories frame this cabal.

First, the Twitter files show that Biden Democrats and the DNC coordinated political speech suppression in violation of the 1st amendment. Second, testimony under oath that the FBI gave Big Tech-specific instructions to target, block, and censor content.

From The Epoch Times, referencing the work of Matt Taibbi:

 

Twitter’s censorship system was well established by 2020, an election year, and while both sides of U.S. politics had access, the political bias of the majority of the platform’s employees meant Democrats had more avenues to “complain” about tweets, according to Taibbi.

“For instance, in 2020, requests from both the Trump White House and the Biden campaign were received and honored,” Taibbi wrote.

“However,” he added. “This system wasn’t balanced. It was based on contacts. Because Twitter was and is overwhelmingly staffed by people of one political orientation, there were more channels, more ways to complain, open to the left (well, Democrats) than the right.”

 

The result was everything we complained about that was dismissed as conspiracy. But Twitter’s many progressive “channels” were shadow-banning or suppressing content based on the desires of mostly left-Wing actors, including your government.

 

During a deposition this week the FBI admitted to giving instructions to tech companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft to block URLs without a basis in legality.  Essentially the ideology of the FBI and DHS determines the targets of the content removal, blockage and/or censoring.

 

In the interests of ideological security, a Federal force with police powers directed information technology providers to constrict access points or information they deemed a threat to their political agenda.

In other words, the Feds colluded with Big Tech under the umbrella of Section 230 Communications Decency Act or, in the interest of national security (claiming foreign disinformation campaigns), asks Big Tech (weekly) to silence individuals or groups without any criminal justification.

 

“Since filing our lawsuit, we’ve uncovered troves of discovery that show a massive ‘censorship enterprise,’” Attorney General Eric Schmitt told Fox News Digital. “Now, we’re deposing top government officials, and we’re one of the first to get a look under the hood — the information we’ve uncovered through those depositions has been shocking to say the least. It’s clear from Tuesday’s deposition that the FBI has an extremely close role in working to censor freedom of speech.”

 

This is the same FBI that took the made-up Democrat Candidate Dossier and turned it into a four-year act of hate speech against a sitting US president, complete with illegal warrants, searches, indictments, Lawfare, and other harassment.

As I said in the opening. No one should be surprised by the headline. What would be surprising is if anyone does anything or someone goes to jail.

It seems unlikely, so why bother talking about it? The political party calling you a book-banning Nazi for believing that children should not have access to every sort of “book” that exists has been deliberately using government force to ban “speech” with which they disagree or have determined to be inappropriate.

Maybe ask them about that illegal censorship if the subject of book banning comes up.

 

The post Democrats in the Government “Admit” to Censoring You Online appeared first on Granite Grok.

“Be the Barry Goldwater who hounded Nixon out of office – make Dr. Strang Douglas Lambert resign his GAC Commissionership!

Yes, I fixed it for Lambert. Karma, if you believe in such, always seems to circle ’round.  And in this case, his own words. This was the mantra he (and Jade Wood, Commissioner and NH GOP Area 5 Vice-Chair; I guess she takes her verbal cues from Baby Huey) used on both Peter Ness and Dr. David Strang earlier this year. That was the line that Lambert used on Dr. Strang in trying to whip up “his” crowd once again to accomplish his political goal – simply to remove anyone that stood in his way to being the Chair of the Gunstock Area Commission.  Go ahead, change my mind – it will be hard to do based on the results and his bullying behavior at the meetings. Remember, over at the GraniteGrok YouTube channel, I have video receipts.

Lambert abused that line as history tells us that Nixon when President, indeed, oversaw a really bad political event.  To date, however, he is YET to provide any proof at all of ANY misbehavior on their part. Even the PretiFlaherty Law firm report found no malfeasance – not even a hint about Ness or Strang. Neither of them did anything wrong except to ask hard and uncomfortable questions as WAS THEIR JOB. Lambert and Wood decided to censor them instead.  Shows that Establishment Republicans are oft not to be trusted, eh?  Elections are coming up, Jade…

But I digress.  The last post (“NH GOP Delegate / Gunstock Area Commissioner Douglas Lambert Arrested and Charged with Simple Assault – Paperwork Part 1“)  went over the arresting records for Douglas Lambert. Next are some of the court records that have been filed so far. This post has the Stalking Petition that was filed against Douglas Lambert

(Hover over the page and the Navigation bar will appear)

Stalking Petition 2022-11-07 Golter v Lambert Laconia District Court

The first three pages are court-supplied forms. However, there is an additional two handwritten pages also attached to this providing a LOT of additional information concerning this incident of simple assault.

 

Yes, Douglas, you need to resign. AND you need to apologize to her for your boorish behavior. The same, after almost an entire year to Ness and Strang. It’s one thing to treat another man badly but treating a woman even worse just shows that you’re lower than a bully. While you remain innocent until proven guilty in a legal sense, IMHO, you are guilty. The BCRC General Members believed that your abysmal behavior deserved to have your membership revoked. Not only by your actions but also your demeanor while doing it – showing the intent that you believed you were imperviable to anyone.

• So it isn’t just me – I only put a Big Flashlight on your actions and your words
• So it isn’t just the Belknap County Republican Committee Executive Committee – if they didn’t believe that something was there, this process would have stopped right there
• So it isn’t just the Gilford Police personnel (I don’t know who watched the video or read the victim’s statement) – if they didn’t believe that something was there, this process would have stopped right there

And now it has reached the Judiciary.

The next post will see what the Court thought of this document.

 

The post NH GOP Delegate / Gunstock Area Commissioner Douglas Lambert Arrested and Charged with Simple Assault – Paperwork Part 2 appeared first on Granite Grok.

Zelensky hero of the American Left … for example, he was named by Maggie Hassan during the WMUR “debate” as the person she admires … and hero of the GOP warmonger wing … whom we are supporting with hundreds of billions because he supposedly represents “democracy” and is fighting authoritarianism … has shut down the free press, opposition parties and now he has cancelled the Orthodox Catholic Church:

 

Zelensky announces a decree banning religious organizations and churches in Ukraine with “ties to Russia.”

His government has also been raiding Ukrainian Orthodox churches and arresting priests.
pic.twitter.com/djTMYRp0ak

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 2, 2022

Zelensky is a totally corrupt kleptocrat … Ukraine is not a democracy … and our support of Zelensky is just one giant grift for the military-industrial complex.

The post Did You Know That Democracy Means Cancelling Christianity? appeared first on Granite Grok.

New Hampshire’s elections have not produced the will of its residents in a very long time. And that’s not a partisan statement. It is simply too easy for people who do not live here to vote in NH. And every now and then, the blind squirrel, stopped clock of justice, finds time to catch a nut.

Related: College Students in NH Admit They Have More Voting Rights Than True Granite Staters

How’s that for a mixed metaphor?

Having been at this for a while now, my sense is that these arrests – while legitimate acts against actual fraud (like nabbing the odd double voter) – are primarily for show. New Hampshire has a long history of ignoring voter fraud, regardless of which party controls the executive branch. It is as if there’s an unspoken agreement, and part of that is perp-walking someone every few years to make it look like this uniparty arrangement is on the job.

The latest stooge is alleged to have voted in Massachusetts and New Hampshire (off and on) as far back as 1996, both in-person and using vote-by-mail or absentee ballots.

 

Richard Rosen, 83, of Washington Street in Belmont, MA, and Route 175 in Holderness, NH, was arrested on a single felony count of wrongful voting, accused by investigators of voting in both states during the November 2016 general election.

Rosen came to the attention of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office by way of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, a database that tracks possible multiple voter registrations in several states. New Hampshire joined the program in 2017.

 

Patch has all the lengthy investigative details, including Rosen’s accusation that someone else was voting in his name. It’s a great story. All the ways you can steal votes from Granite Staters make an appearance (except for out-of-state-student voting), so it’s a great story. And odds are Rosen will lose his right to vote in NH and get fined. That’s typically the extent of these things. But it’s not the biggest problem.

Related: NH Created a ‘Right’ for “Out-Of-State Students” It Can’t Give to Actual Residents

Election fraud is as old as elections, but New Hampshire perpetuates a two-class society of voters discriminating against actual residents. Under the guise of student voting rights, college kids are given more rights than actual Granite Staters. They can choose what state to vote in (their home state or ours). And as long as they only vote in one – typically ours because these are kids from Democrat states looking to impact the NH elections – we’ll never know who New Hampshire wants to represent them.

Richard Rosen is 83 years old. He’ll get off easy. They’ll probably strip his right to vote here, as I noted above, and how many elections is that? Not as many as he already voted illegally. And we’ll be expected to see this as a serious effort to address the issue of voter fraud.

 

 

The post Election Fraud: NH Arrests a Serial Double-Voter From Massachusetts appeared first on Granite Grok.

The fashion label Balenciaga has come under intense scrutiny by the public recently because of a disturbing ad campaign with Adidas. In the campaign ads, you can see toddlers holding the company’s teddy bear handbags.

The teddy bears are dressed in bondage gear, fishnet shirts, and studded leather harnesses and collars.

The ad campaign was shot by photographer Chris Maggio as part of their Balenciaga Objects collection. 

Included in the photos was a designer bag positioned on top of a pile of papers. These papers were taken from the 2008 Supreme Court ruling United States v. Williams. The case involved laws banning the “pandering” or promoting of child pornography. The case examined whether laws banning the “pandering”—promoting—of child pornography abridge First Amendment freedom of speech rights.

Does the PROTECT Act abridge First Amendment freedom of speech by outlawing the pandering of material that is believed to be, or claimed to be, illegal child pornography?

Tucker Carlson claimed this was “an endorsement of child pornography.

“A child with a teddy bear in a bondage outfit, and a Supreme Court decision striking down a kiddie porn law displayed on the table. What is that?” he said. “Are we jumping to conclusions? Don’t think so. It is what it appears to be.”

The case involved a sex offender Michael Williams, who admitted to a Secret Service agent that he had sexually explicit pictures of his underage daughter. He was charged with the crimes of possession and “pandering.”  He did end up pleading guilty but challenged the constitutionality of “pandering,”

While these details may be important to consider, many people around the country were rightfully disgusted and outraged by what they saw in this ad campaign.

What does all of this have to do with your local public schools? A lot.

Parents across the country are outraged by the pornography that their children can now access through their local public school. The Sora app is a school library app that provides access to books that include images that are pornographic, and obscene. This is leaving many people to ask, what is going on? Why are children now being groomed and sexualized in our public schools, and in campaign ads?

Note from Skip: There are a number of groups around NH that are discovering there is porn in our school.  Via our political action committee, GrokPAC, we exposed a number of NH House Representatives that voted against Parental Rights in keeping their kids safe from such materials. We also excerpted a bit of the pornographic verbiage/artwork in them.  You can see that here.

YES, WE ARE VIOLATING MY RULE #1. 

Adult Themes but Kid Friendly – Do not write or display anything that would cause little Johnny or Janie to run to Mommy and Daddy and ask “what does this mean” because then *I* get the angry emails and phone calls (and yes, I have received them).

And we are going to have to so because the Left (those whose goal is to totally sexualize our youngsters even as young as kindergartners to believe that their sexual nature is their most important attribute) are using their warped and degenerate notion that their “gender identity” should be foremost. They have declared war on those of us who still hew to traditional American values by descending to the use of Porn where our youngsters are: Public School Libraries and classrooms.

And WE are the bigots? We are the degenerates who “won’t get with the program and ?broaden our minds” (and losing OUR moral compasses)? Heck, you can’t even read these “books” at School Board meetings for being admonished by the Chair shouting back “Shut up, there are children present!”.  Or on the radio, on TV, or even pass out copies of the “naughty bits” from said public school libraries to kids as they enter or leave schools while standing on the public sidewalks without getting arrested.

I’m in contact now with several other groups that are now doing the same thing as GrokPAC and so is Ann Marie.  So my decision is this:

Because the LEFT is fighting us by, I’m not going to disarm the ‘Grok by not getting down in the porn mud with them.

We will, however, give notice when we do so.  They are setting their New Rules, so will we.

Like now…because they do NOT want Big Flashlights shown upon them.

Many schools throughout New Hampshire offer the Sora App to children attending their local public school. In SAU34, parents called upon the Superintendent to stop teaching kids to have sex with adults. While many parents may not always approve of books assigned to their children, there is no reason to provide them with obscene or pornographic content. Unfortunately, public school administrators think they get a pass on this.

This kind of sexualization of children needs to stop. We entrust our children to our local public schools, and right now, parents are struggling to trust these people.

What is it going to take for this assault on children to stop? School administrators and the librarians are allowing obscene and pornographic books to be available to children. This is a form of child abuse.

Is it considered child sexual abuse if someone shows a child pornographic pictures but doesn’t actually touch the child?

Question:
Dear Stop It Now!,
Is it considered child sexual abuse if someone shows a child pornographic pictures, but doesn’t actually touch the child? Doesn’t a child need to be physically molested in order for it to be considered child sex abuse?*

Response:
Please share your feedback
Dear Concerned Adult,
Showing pornographic pictures to a child is considered sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse can include non-touching behaviors.

This is why so many parents are angry.

Parents in New Hampshire are starting to look at the books available to their children in school. Here are a few of the pictures included in some of the books available on the Sora App:

 

To see if your district subscribes to Sora, click here. If your district shows up, you must then request to access the list of books available in your district. Then take all of this to your local school board to make them aware, and contact your local county attorney to see if they will do something.

Note 2 from Skip:  If you wish to help us, send us an email to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.  We are going to continue using Right To Knows and get the information as to how these porno books got there.  We’ll supply you with really well written Right To Knows.

And yes, a number of Conservative lawyers are assisting us.  So if your School Board doesn’t want to fork over their card catalog…we are ready to help you protect your kids. It is your Constitutional RIGHT as Parents to be the preeminent person in charge of how your kids are to be raised.

We’re merely here to help.  Let us know where we can start looking – and we can use your help!

NOTICE FOR PARENTS: These are the books that parents are tagging as explicit and offered on the Sora App:
1) This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
2) Flamer by Mike Curato 
3) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Chbosky, Stephen

The post Balenciaga, Pornography, and Your Child’s School appeared first on Granite Grok.

Plenty has been said about the EUA Vaccine* document disclosures the CDC, FDA, and Pfizer were forced to make against their will. But not enough. The Vaccine extremists are still shouting about “misinformation.” To their credit, there was a lot of that, but it was mostly on their side.

Related: Pfizer Docs Show They Knew Their Experimental COVID-19 “Vaccine” was Neither Safe Nor Effective

The latest revelation to be ignored by the “Jab ’em or Bust” coalition comes from Aaron Siri. “[A]fter multiple legal demands, appeals, and two federal lawsuits, the CDC finally capitulated and agreed to a court-ordered schedule compelling it to produce the data.”

The Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) took the firehose of information and broke it all down. But the data comes with a story.

 

V-safe’s data shows that 7.7% of its approximate 10 million users reported having to receive medical care after receipt of a Covid-19 vaccine, and over 70% of those users sought outpatient/urgent clinical care, emergency room care, and/or were hospitalized.

 

V-Safe is the app for people who got The Jab. Its purpose was side-effect surveillance, and 10 million Vaxx recipients used it. Aaron explains how the application works here. V-Safe only allowed the user to select from a pre-determined list of known side effects. There were text fields, but those are cumbersome mechanisms, and none of that data has been released. ICAN is still fighting to get it. So we’ve got a CDC surveillance app and 10 million Jabbed app users, so what’s the problem?

 

First, let’s remind ourselves what was known about potential adverse events before any Covid-19 vaccine was administered to the general public:

• A July 2020 New England Journal of Medicine study titled “An mRNA Vaccine against SARS-Cov-2 – Preliminary Report” highlighted 35 adverse events that were related to the mRNA vaccination, including eye disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, and nervous system disorders.
• An October 16, 2020 JAMA article titled “Postapproval Vaccine Safety Surveillance for COVID-19 Vaccines in the US” stated that “AESIs [Adverse Events of Special Interest] are likely to include allergic, inflammatory, and immune-mediated reactions, such as anaphylaxis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, transverse myelitis, myocarditis/pericarditis, vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.”
• In a CDC presentation dated October 30, 2020, titled “CDC post-authorization/post-licensure safety monitoring of COVID-19 vaccines,” a preliminary “list of VSD pre-specified outcomes for RCA [rapid cycle analysis]” and “list of VAERS AEs[ adverse events] of special interest” both included acute myocardial infarction, anaphylaxis, convulsions/seizures, encephalitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, immune thrombocytopenia, MIS-C, myocarditis/pericarditis, and transverse myelitis, among others.

Again, the fact that mRNA can cause these serious conditions was raised before the first Covid-19 vaccine was authorized for use by the general public in December 2020 – in fact, months before.

 

None of these conditions are listed as checkbox options for app users to select during their reporting, which issued a prompt for updates “…every day for a week after a shot. Users are then prompted to submit a “check-in” every week for six weeks. And then at six months and one year after the shot.”

These human test subjects were asked about things like chills, fever, headache, joint pain, body aches, vomiting, abdominal pain, or rash, but not chest pain, seizures, eye or nervous system disorders…  and that’s a big deal.

A wide array of known, much more severe known side effects was deliberately excluded from the CDC surveillance tool. More from Aaron.

 

The CDC could have taken advantage of this incredible opportunity – wherein v-safe was already capturing health data from over 10 million users – and easily included these conditions as check-the-box options for v-safe users.  Then it would be easy to calculate a rate for which v-safe users had myocarditis.  Had a stroke.  Had seizures.  Etc.  Instead, the CDC purposely chose to limit reporting of any such adverse events to the free text fields knowing full well that, among other issues, users often do not fill out free-text fields, that any entries received would not be easily standardized, and that the CDC could otherwise more easily hide those entries from the public (as the CDC is currently doing by refusing to make the free-text field data public).

 

The Public Health industrial complex promoted the injections as safe and effective. It created a devotional structure of zealots under which any health professional who dared to ask questions about what they were seeing from patients (compared to the approved revered text) might be excommunicated. And this was then peddled as science and anyone who challenged it was labeled a denier.

And it’s all tip of the iceberg stuff. According to the CDC’s V-Safe data, 7.7% of the 10 million vaccinated* app users needed medical care, and 25% experienced side effects that caused them to miss school or work. But that’s just a sliver of the total number of vaccinated.

Two hundred sixty-nine million Americans were injected with at least one dose.

The CDC, FDA, Pfizer, and Moderna had evidence of severe risks before the Emergency Use Authorization was approved. They knew and didn’t say.

Given a chance to verify or update the known pre-authorization side effects, the CDC decided against it.

It raises serious questions regarding the supposed (legal) immunity protections for EUAs and advocates of the COVID-19 vaccines*  with fully informed consent. People lined up or were strong-armed into getting Jabbed without complete and accurate information before, during, or after the injection. Schools, employers, and venues wanted proof of vaccination*. Parents let the system inject it into their kids.

Any harm resulting from their disinformation campaign should open them to legal action, though I doubt we’ll see that. But the next time someone accuses you of vaccine information, give them a dose of this medicine.

 

 

The post The Next Time Someone Accuses You of Vaccine Misinformation, Give Them a Dose of This Medicine appeared first on Granite Grok.

FBI Goon Smashes Cameras During Crypto Six Raid

Christmas came early! Just days before the start of the Crypto Six trial, federal prosecutors have revealed they will be dropping the supermajority of counts in their ridiculous case against me. Gone are all twelve of the “wire fraud” charges, three “money laundering” charges, “conspiracy to commit bank fraud & wire fraud”, and most importantly the charge with the ten-year mandatory minimum sentence, the “kingpin” charge of “continuing financial crimes enterprise”. All gone!

If you’ve been paying attention to the case for the last twenty months, you may recall the big deal the prosecutors made to try to keep me in jail until trial, claiming I am a “sophisticated cyber criminal” and a “danger to the community”. Prior to the charges being dropped, my bail conditions had loosed to where I am no longer wearing a tracking anklet. Now that those charges are gone, when we recently asked to remove the government spyware from my computer and phone, the prosecutors had no objection. Apparently, I’m no longer the scary things they told the judge and press that I was.

The remaining charges that are slated for trial are:

1. Conspiracy to Operate Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business
2. Operation of Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business
3. Money Laundering
4. Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering
5. Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax (four counts for 2016-2019)

While this is assuredly good news, as it reduces the maximum time I could spend in prison from 420+ years to 70 years, it’s really sad news for my three friends who took plea deals on the “wire fraud” charges. Had they known the charge they pled to would eventually be dropped, they surely wouldn’t have taken the raw “deal”. Now they are saddled with felony convictions for the rest of their lives for something that sounds really bad. The reality is, the accusations were simply that they’d lied to a bank, and that it was not even to try to scam the bank out of money, but only to do things like keep an account open. However no one who checks their record is going to ask them for details. They’ll just see “wire fraud” and think they are dealing with a fraudster, when in fact no one was defrauded. None of the banks lost anything and no restitution was ordered during sentencing for any of the three. None of them committed fraud, but they took the plea likely out of fear – the reason most people take a plea – because the feds know how to scare people.

Don’t Take the Plea Deal Flyer

They stack a ton of charges against you, then threaten to stack even more if you don’t tap out. A few years of probation and a felony starts looking really good compared to thirty years in prison, so it’s understandable why people will take a plea, even though they didn’t actually commit the crime of which they are accused. The prosecutors love it as they rack up conviction after conviction, ruining innocent peoples’ lives and bolstering the prosecutors’ careers. Plus, they never have to bother preparing for and going to trial. It’s super easy for them and it almost always works.

For a long time, I have been an advocate of “Don’t Take the Plea Deal“. ESPECIALLY if you didn’t actually do anything wrong. It is certainly risky and scary to go up against the federal behemoth. They have unlimited resources to throw at destroying you. However, if you take the first plea, you will never even get to see what kind of case they have against you. It might be a really crappy case and they may have made critical errors. There’s also a good chance of a better plea offer coming later on, but if you take the first plea, you’ll never find out. Of course, you have to do what you feel is right for you, and I never blame anyone for taking a plea if they feel that is best.

However, long term, people taking plea deals just empowers the state. If more people stood up and demanded their right to a trial, even on things as simple as a speeding or parking ticket, the “justice” system would not be able to handle the case load and they would likely just drop charges all together.

While I am happy to see the bulk of the charges in my case go away, I’m sad for my friends who were intimidated into wrongful convictions for vicitmless “crimes” on charges that would likely have been dropped anyway. The Crypto Six trial begins with jury selection on Tuesday, Dec 6th at Federal Court Church in Concord, NH.  For more background on the case, visit TheCryptoSix.com.

I have found that NH’s RSA 91-A, NH’s Right to Know Law (similar to the Federal FOIA – Freedom of Information Act) to be a citizen’s best tool for carrying out our responsibilities in keeping our Government both in check and accountable. Our State Constitution makes this clear:

[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them.  Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive.  To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted.  The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government.

While I am not a lawyer, I use it often and often I get questions from others about its use as I’ve learned how to wield it against the stubborn and obstinate (like here, here, here, and here as a pretty good example). So this morning, I got this email and attached was the new RTK policy from Hudson:

—— Original Message ——
From: <redacted>
To: “skip@granitegrok.com” <skip@granitegrok.com>
Sent: 12/3/2022 9:07:35 AM
Subject: Hudson’s RTK Policy

Please see attached, I did a RTK to get the members of the Hudson BOS emails. .

Of COURSE I was going to help!  Here’s their new policy. Not bad – rough start and I never like being forced into using someone’s form process. RSA 91-A is supposed to be for CITIZENS’ benefits and not the Government’s. Sure, there can always be a give and take, a bit of politiness – but only to a point (like not being led down a rathole).

(Hover over the page and the Navigation bar will appear)

Hudson RTK Policy DRAFT Updated Oct 17 2022

Here’s my response – relatively quick fisking:

—— Original Message ——
From: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To: “Terry Stewart” <yrrets@aol.com>
Sent: 12/3/2022 10:34:43 AM
Subject: Re: Hudson’s RTK Policy

Hi Terry,

They’ll lose in court right from the get to with this:

Information for Right To Know requests are only required to be provided to legal New Hampshire residents Nothing in the law requires the Town to provide information to an out-of-state individual.

If someone asks the nitwit that wrote this to legally define what a citizen is, deer-in-headlights. If they do, they’ll also solve the voting problem of domicile and residence.  If I still lived in MA but came to Hudson and said I was going to vote, the Dems have made sure that I was now a citizen.  Also, 91-A doesn’t say WHICH citizen.  As in “Citizen from WHERE?” is undefined.

And the preamble speaks to PEOPLE: discussions and records of all public bodies, and their accountability to the people

There are other exemptions including but not limited to, draft notes, attorney-client privilege communication, public safety information, school records of minors, and similar information. For further details on the allowable exemptions please see RSA 91-A5.

Even if they go into non-public, there are things that can be RTK’d IF those in that non-public don’t follow the Law entirely.

And these are the ONLY allowable items not subject to RTK

91-A:5 Exemptions. –
The following governmental records are exempted from the provisions of this chapter:
I. Records of grand and petit juries.
I-a. The master jury list as defined in RSA 500-A:1, IV.
II. Records of parole and pardon boards.
III. Personal school records of pupils, including the name of the parent or legal guardian and any specific reasons disclosed to school officials for the objection to the assessment under RSA 193-C:6.
IV. Records pertaining to internal personnel practices; confidential, commercial, or financial information; test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a licensing examination, examination for employment, or academic examinations; and personnel, medical, welfare, library user, videotape sale or rental, and other files whose disclosure would constitute invasion of privacy. Without otherwise compromising the confidentiality of the files, nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit a public body or agency from releasing information relative to health or safety from investigative files on a limited basis to persons whose health or safety may be affected.
V. Teacher certification records in the department of education, provided that the department shall make available teacher certification status information.
VI. Records pertaining to matters relating to the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions, including training to carry out such functions, developed by local or state safety officials that are directly intended to thwart a deliberate act that is intended to result in widespread or severe damage to property or widespread injury or loss of life.
VII. Unique pupil identification information collected in accordance with RSA 193-E:5.
VIII. Any notes or other materials made for personal use that do not have an official purpose, including but not limited to, notes and materials made prior to, during, or after a governmental proceeding.
IX. Preliminary drafts, notes, and memoranda and other documents not in their final form and not disclosed, circulated, or available to a quorum or a majority of the members of a public body.
X. Video and audio recordings made by a law enforcement officer using a body-worn camera pursuant to RSA 105-D except where such recordings depict any of the following:
(a) Any restraint or use of force by a law enforcement officer; provided, however, that this exemption shall not include those portions of recordings which constitute an invasion of privacy of any person or which are otherwise exempt from disclosure.
(b) The discharge of a firearm, provided that this exemption shall not include those portions of recordings which constitute an invasion of privacy of any person or which are otherwise exempt from disclosure.
(c) An encounter that results in an arrest for a felony-level offense, provided, however, that this exemption shall not apply to recordings or portions thereof that constitute an invasion of privacy or which are otherwise exempt from disclosure.
XI. Records pertaining to information technology systems, including cyber security plans, vulnerability testing and assessments materials, detailed network diagrams, or other materials, the release of which would make public security details that would aid an attempted security breach or circumvention of law as to the items assessed.
XII. Records protected under the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine.
XIII. Records of the youth development center claims administration and the YDC settlement fund pursuant to RSA 21-M:11-a, with the exception of settlement agreements, which shall remain subject to RSA 91-A:4, VI, and, after a claim has been finally resolved, such other records the release of which would not constitute a violation of other provisions of law or an unwarranted invasion of a claimant’s privacy.

This is wrong:

Requestors should first make a reasonable effort to find the information they seek on the Town website HudsonNH.Gov. By using the Search feature, most past meeting minutes, meeting packets and meeting recordings can be found. Additionally, information on town events, activities, projects and similar may also be found on the town website. When requested, information is not directly accessible on the town website, the requestor should follow process below to request the information.

There is NOTHING in RSA 91-A that “requires” a Requester to go search on their own. The law says the Requester demands, the public body forks it over.  Except for this:

VII. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a public body or agency to compile, cross-reference, or assemble information into a form in which it is not already kept or reported by that body or agency

>> All requests for information should be submitted to the Town Administrator’s Office

Demand that they tell you if should is meant to be viewed in the mandatory version of the word or voluntary. I NEVER submit my RTKs to a TA or a District Superintendent.  ALWAYS to your elected Representatives as THEY are the ones responsible for that particular subdivision of the State.

And the RSA makes no leeway to make it “easier or efficient” on the part of the Responder.

The completion of an application is not legally required to request public information, but it is highly recommended that the requesting party complete a request form – Hudson NH Right to Know (RTK) Request Form for town employees to accurately provide timely information to requestors. Reference the addendum to this policy for more details on the application process.

Sorry, that isn’t happening with me – I have my template that has all of the legalities built in and I’m not going to deviate from that practice

To confirm the accuracy of the request and to start the timeline as outlined in RSA91-A, it is highly recommended to have the requesting party sign and date the application before submitting it for the processing of the request.

They can ask but people can email RTKs in as well.  As long as “highly recommended” doesn’t become mandatory, they can ask for whatever they want. Besides, emails get time stamped and that’s good enough.

Right To Know information can be provided in the following forms based on the most effective delivery method as it relates to the amount of information being requested.

• Printed on paper
• Emailed back to requestor: limited if requested files are too large to send
• Loaded onto a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Hard Drive
• Post marked through USPS (which can incur cost to the requestor)

Reference section 2.4 to see associated costs with each option when applicable

Using Dropbox or Google Drive is also something I use.

 

Right To Know information can be provided in the following forms based on the most effective delivery method as it relates to the amount of information being requested.

Printed on paper

I just had a school district that printed out about 1500 double sided pages, highly redacted, of RTK’d emails. They smiled when they presented me with the stack thinking that I’d either have to pay them an enormous amount of “copy fees” or spend hours/days reviewing the information.

They first complained and then frowned when I brought in my high speed portable document scanner (a double sided page scanned in less than a second) an converted it to a searchable PDF.  Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

As to the rest of it, they can pound sand from a legal standpoint.

Hope this helps and I’m going to use this as a post (scrubbing your info but using yrrts for the H/T: bit)

-Skip

I have no problem with a town (or other) wanting to use a form – but let them use it. Policy/ordinance cannot trump State Statute.  They can always ask for what they want but they are entitled to demand only that which RSA 91-A allows.

Every town is different and so are the people in each town. Some towns just fork over what is requested and some want to stifle any attempts to get at information that taxpayers have already paid for (I’m thinking of Nashua and you, Mayor Donchuss).

Please also know that there is an entire group of people who have made RTK’s their main interests: Right to Know NH.

(H/T: Yrrets)

The post Hudson NH’s New Right To Know Policy – A Quick Fisking appeared first on Granite Grok.

The lobster industry is one of the most important to Maine and New England. The lobster is a necessary component of the region’s economy.

• Employs 5,600+ independent lobstermen
• Harvests 100+ million pounds of lobster
• Contributes $1+ billion to the Maine economy

The lobster industry has been under attack for years by government restrictions and environmental pressure making it increasingly difficult for families that have been harvesting lobsters for generations to continue.

Maine’s lobstermen and women are under attack by the Biden Administration after recent rule changes restricting seasonal lobster fishing in 950 square miles of federal waters off Maine’s coast. This action is an inflexible and poorly considered attempt to protect the North Atlantic right whale population.

The 950 square miles, from Mt. Desert Island to Casco Bay, that will be off-limits for fishermen between the months of October and January, will have a major impact for off-shore lobster fishing and will displace countless fishermen, and overcrowd areas outside the restricted zone.

The facts about the right whale population do not warrant these restrictions. It has been over twenty years since the last recorded incident of a right whale caught up in any lobstering equipment. There are no recorded instances of whale death due to the lobster industry. We are destroying an important regional industry with no justifiable reason. Thanks to Joe Biden and his lack of spine when dealing with environmental groups, families of Maine Lobstermen are seeking other means of supporting their families.

The Whole Foods grocery chain has suspended offering any form of Maine Lobster to their customers. This action directly responds to the same environmental pressure to which Joe Biden bends his knee. Whole Foods is just one company, and its boycott will not have a considerable impact on the financials of the Maine industry, but the PR impact will be significant. If the WOKE had a brain, it would be dangerous.

There cannot be a situation involving Joe Biden without a dose of hypocrisy. While the Biden Administration is putting the squeeze on Maine’s Lobster industry, he is serving lobster at a State Dinner for the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife this week. Biden has again shown how tone-deaf he is to the plight of some Americans. Aside from the direct slap to Maine Lobstermen, this lavish State Dinner comes just one week after American families experienced the most expensive Thanksgiving dinner due to Biden inflation. This choice of entree for the State Dinner was deplorable.

Joe Biden ran for President, claiming he would unify us after four years of the divisive Donald Trump. He has driven the wedge in deeper, deflated our retirement accounts and dreams, destroyed high-paying jobs in the petroleum industry, and driven a knife into regional industries like the Maine lobster industry. 

Biden claims that his economy and job creation are at never before seen levels. It is all bogus, like the plagiarized speeches that he gave that drove him out of two previous Presidential runs. It is impossible to fathom how Democrats think Biden’s policies are good for Americans. We on the Right know how dangerous he is, and unlike Democrats, we pray there is no Chapter 2 for Joe Biden.

 

The post Hey Joe, Get Your Claws Off of Our Lobsters appeared first on Granite Grok.

New Hampshire has sleepwalked into a population crisis. The state’s demographic balance has been poisoned by decades of anti-child and anti-family policies—often explicitly designed to drive young families out of Granite State communities. As a result, New Hampshire has become catastrophically old.

In New Hampshire politics, discussing the state’s demographic doom is sometimes seen as an attack on the elderly. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, it is the elderly who will be hurt the most as our state slips off the precipice of demographic collapse—and it is for their sake, most of all, that we must confront this problem.

Let’s start with the facts about our population woes. New Hampshire is one of only three states in the country where 100% of all counties now experience more deaths than births—and this implosion is accelerating. As documented in an alarming new book by demographer Peter Francese and coauthor Lorraine Merrill, New Hampshire is now older, and aging faster, than any state in America except Maine.

Of all 50 states, New Hampshire has the single highest rate of students who leave the State when they begin college—and most flee the state permanently. Thanks to this exodus of young adult Granite Staters, New Hampshire has also seen the largest 10-year decrease in children of any state in the US. As Stratham Selectman Joe Lovejoy told Francese, “We’ve been headed in the direction of making ourselves extinct.”

Other ultra-elderly states have realized that having an entire state composed of old people may not be a good idea. Vermont has started paying young professionals $10,000 to move to Vermont as part of a “remote worker grant program,” desperate to lower its median age of 42.8—the third-highest in the country. New Hampshire’s median age is 43.

New Hampshire has done little to compete with slightly younger Vermont. According to a study by Stay Work Play, one in three 20-40 year-olds still in New Hampshire say they are likely to leave the state—and only 19% feel committed to remaining. Key problems cited by young Granite Staters include a lack of affordable housing and a social and cultural vacuum: a problem Stay Work Play calls “the loneliness factor” of New Hampshire.

Sadly, this demographic collapse is no accident. It is the bitter fruit of decades of purposefully anti-family, anti-child policies like age-restricted housing and a lopsided tax system. In his other research, Peter Francese has presented overwhelming evidence that these policies are part of an effort to make New Hampshire communities as inhospitable as possible to young families. This effort is of great concern to us at Cornerstone, where we have long promised to fight for a New Hampshire “where families thrive.”

In a revealing 2008 documentary, then-Deerfield Selectman Andy Robertson recalled many residents telling the town government to keep children out of Deerfield because “We’ve already raised our children: we did that in Massachusetts.” More recently, Pelham planning director Jeff Gowan has explained that Pelham first began to favor age-restricted housing because advocates argued that doing so would keep children out of the town. There are numerous similar stories throughout New Hampshire. Today, says Francese, the result is that “the only truly affordable housing in the state is if you’re 55 or older and have no children.”

We want to thank Ian Huyett 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.

Anti-family policies have been driven by a belief that treating children like an infestation of vermin will lower tax bills. Robertson described how Deerfield retirees, often from Massachusetts or Connecticut, would “‘keep repeating their mantra’ that any development might bring children and raise tax bills.”

In fact, excluding young families neither boosts local revenue nor effectively reduces school taxes. In the case of Pelham, for example, Francese explains that costs incurred by residents of age-restricted housing—such as costs to medical services—actually exceeded the property taxes on age-restricted housing units, which had been diminished by elderly tax abatements. Meanwhile, while school enrollments declined, school taxes did not. Seeing its mistake, in 2019 Pelham became the first town in New Hampshire to adopt a warrant article prohibiting any new age-restricted housing.

But the greatest irony of anti-family policies is that, if they are not reversed, they will ultimately hurt those they were ostensibly meant to help: the elderly. That’s because a state with a low and diminishing number of people under retirement age will—sooner than many of us expect—become a state without a functioning workforce.

Of course, this trend also hurts young workers by depriving them of the beauty and liberty that New Hampshire has to offer. Yet, for the most part, it is not these workers who will die needlessly in hospitals that are short on perioperative staff. It is not young families who will be trapped in burning homes because local fire departments lack volunteers. And it is not small children who will die of untreated heart attacks and strokes as ambulances drive from forty-five minutes away.

This is no exaggeration or speculation. Consider that, in less than 10 years, most people in Carroll County, New Hampshire will be over the age of 65. Currently, only a single county in all of America has an over-65 majority: Sumter County, west of Orlando, Florida. And it does not paint an attractive picture of New Hampshire’s near future.

Although Sumter County is at first glance economically well off—with ambulances provided by a for-profit company—residents who call 911 face staggering delays caused by crippling understaffing. An elderly person who experiences cardiac arrest can expect to wait up to an hour and 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Alarmed by the aging of Carroll County, the Mt. Washington Valley Housing Coalition has asked: “With the lack of available housing, who is going to move here and fill those jobs?” The answer is simple: without purposeful changes, New Hampshire’s jobs will not be filled.

Job openings, by themselves, will not cause a young workforce to sprout out of the ground or drop from trees. Nor will New Hampshire’s demographic crunch resolve itself. This is not some economic cycle which the free market, by itself, will naturally fix. It is a misconceived but deliberate manipulation of our human ecology by state and local governments.

The elderly, like all Granite Staters, benefit in many ways from living in a mixed-generation community. But if New Hampshire does not change course in a consciously pro-family direction, it is the elderly who will ultimately suffer the most.

Ian Huyett is the General Counsel and Director of Policy at Cornerstone, a Christian advocacy group in New Hampshire.

The post New Hampshire Is Catastrophically Old—and That Will Hurt the Elderly the Most appeared first on Granite Grok.

At least as far as the NH Democrat Party is concerned.  Steve and I had talked a bit about this on the phone early last evening; his post covers most of our conversation high points (and more) before the Democrat National Committee Rules Committee voted to adopt the 1) South Carolina, 2) + 3) NH and Nevada, and…who cares which State is next.

And now that Committee, according to a later WMUR report, has actually voted to confirm that with that decision going to full DNC probably tomorrow. I’m betting that Mo Elleithee, the Rules Committee Chair, is CERTAINLY going to get a lot of questions from Fox News as he is a regular contributor on a number of their shows.  But he’s quoted as saying this:

“We are making a decision I think people can get behind, and we’ve also empowered the chairman to enforce this decision in a way that gives it more teeth than I think it ever has before, which I think will be important in the event there are any issues“

Ah yes, a GREAT Show – and it is a long time from being over.  As the title above says, the DNC has become FITN Deniers as in denying the NH Dem Party the First In The Nation Primary.  And that set of “choppers” will be used on both the NH Dem Party and the candidates themselves. No, they didn’t say the quiet part out loud but Steve runs down a few scenarios with the most important one being here:

The gobs of money that once poured into the hands of Dem Chair Buckley, his ‘Crats,’ and the assorted “non-partisan” partisan Lefty groups will dry up a bit and maybe a lot. Without a legitimate primary, they stand to lose money, primary delegates, prestige, connections, and influence.

Hit hardest will be Ray Buckley even if he’s been a high muckity-muck DNC title holder for decades. Much of it, IMHO, is that he has brought in MILLIONS of buck almost every year with his connections (and, in at least part, being part of one of the sexuality identity groups that the Democrats so highly praise (even if he is old and white). Alack and alas, his vaunted pull has been downgraded to a weak tug. And with that, AND the loss of the FITN, why should the cut-throat DNC politics pay him or NH much mind?  Why should they, being the Chair of what has become a shrunken State Party.  Et to, Brutus?  Blindsided by the Democrat version of Survivor where you just got outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted. Cast out and told to cast off.

I’m betting that Buckles is now thinking of retirement (or as least, being downgraded to a “wise man” who is occassionally asked for advice but with no real power. After all, in the Dem scheme of things, if your money spigot is shut off, so are you. I’m also betting that as he’s lying prostrate on the floor with a knife, with “DNC” on the handled, in his back.

His long years of service was justly rewarded.

So the question is, with all that, he up to making yet another big decision?

What’s he going to do about the Primary?

It’s no longer the FITN for the Dems (and the new NH GOP Chair, assuming status quo for the GOP, will be smiling broadly as s/he will get all the limelight that Buckley believes is his).  The State now pays the freight for both parties Primary elections. Will Buckley just go with what SecState Scanlon has already said – our Law keeping our Primary 7 days before any other such election anywhere else?

Sidenote: Is THIS action by the DNC now going to muddle the NH Secretary of State election next week?  Democrat Melanie Levesque is challenging SecState Scanlon, who has only been in that office 10 months, under of silly motto of “WE NEED NEW LEADERSHIP!!!”.  Or will SHE jump out to challenge Buckley, at his time of weakness and blame, for the NHDP Chair? I can’t speak to how divided the NHDP is but certainly the NH Legislature is barely a Republican majority – and the Legislature is the entity that elects the SecState and not by general election.

That certainly would strip the NHDP of pretty much EVERYTHING…except there is a loophole that Buckley could use…

Each Party can set up its own Primary election on any date it wants if I am remembering this right. This would allow Buckley an escape hatch in scheduling the NHDP Primary when the DNC tells him it should be held. This loophole, however, is fraught with its own issues.

The Problem is that the NHDP would have to pay for it themselves if they held on the same day as Nevada (which, as Steve points out, is “delegate problematic”. It would allow them to “play by the rules” and keep their delegates in play and allow the Dem candidates to show up. It won’t be cheap, though. Such a dilemma: stay a cheap #1 (which really turns out to be a zero) or an expensive #2.

What will he do?  If he retires, we’ll never be able to use this again:

except to remind him that the DNC now forced him to wear it. Always. And for us to remind Democrats that it was during Ray Buckley’s watch that the NHDP lost the FITN Primary.

 

The post Democrat National Committee – FITN Deniers! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Women’s soccer doesn’t attract as many viewers, so they’ve been making less money than men. But thanks to a new deal, the men will need to split their total winnings at the World Cup with a women’s team that never left home.

 

The U.S. Women’s National Team — which was not on the field this week as the United States defeated Iran but hopefully watched from the comfort of their homes — will get half the winnings earned by men’s team players — after U.S. Soccer takes its 10 percent — and half of any other prize money the USMNT wins through the end of the World Cup if they continue to win. All because of “equity” and a new collective bargaining agreement that requires World Cup winnings to be pooled and divided evenly between the men’s and women’s teams.

 

It’s not like they are dependent on them for their lifestyle. The US Women’s Soccer team is a cadre of millionaires before endorsement or ad deals (the team got 22 million after brokering the arrangement that also nets them men’s cup cash).

They will also get half of the 13 million the men’s team has earned thus far in Qatar (more if the men keep winning). A sum larger than the Women’s team’s total world cup earnings over two years of taking the “Women’s” title.

 

For comparison, the women’s team — that did not contribute to the 2022 World Cup winnings — will now take home a minimum amount that, before U.S. Soccer takes its cut, is greater than the cash they brought home after placing first in two successive Women’s World Cup competitions.

 

Nowhere in the reporting do I see any indication that the Women’s World Cup winnings must be shared with the men’s team. So, this is a poorly negotiated divorce agreement with a bunch of women to whom you were never married. All because Women’s soccer can’t seem to attract the eyeballs to warrant an equal pay agreement without taking money from men.

Here’s a thought. Men who could not make it to the Men’s team should try out as women. Within a few years, Women’s soccer will be little more than men claiming to be women’s soccer. It will be a #woke, social justice victory for cultural-Marxist progressives, and you’ll never need to worry about mixed-gender bathrooms or locker room “issues.” Before too long, all the women will have a penis and a share of the “men’s” team winnings too.

 

 

HT | Townhall

The post US Men’s and Women’s New Soccer Winnings “Payout Scheme” Look More Like a Divorce Settlement appeared first on Granite Grok.

Ian Freeman Gets His Freedom Back: Running GNU/Linux On His Laptop Again

Ian Freeman of the Crypto6 is once again free to utilize his choice of operating systems: GNU/Linux. Back in ~ May of 2021 the feds took away Ian’s freedom of choice in what software he could utilize despite never having been convicted of any crimes. A tactic they regularly utilize against their victims. The purported reason for the arrest this time around was over the bastardly crime of selling crypto. However, after a decade of being targeted by the feds and the feds targeting other free staters and leading liberty activists in New Hampshire it’s a bit hard to believe that it was anything other than a politically motivated attack on freedom in the free state. This is at least the 2nd raid of Free Talk Live’s studio in the past 5 years, and the third incident involving federal agents and Ian / 73-75 Leverett St since ~2012.

However this isn’t what this story is about. It’s about the federal government’s attack on all things freedom and that includes the use of free software. What is disturbing about this is that the state is utilizing bail restrictions to prevent people from utilizing free software and has been doing it since at least the 1990s. Unlike other cases I have not heard of anyone else being successful in getting this type of restriction lifted and that’s quite disturbing. It took Ian more than a year and a pricey lawyer to get a ruling to lift this unreasonable and burdensome restriction on his right to utilize the software of his choice.

The good news of course is that with the help of his lawyer he was able to get the judge to lift this bail restriction. The bad news is that it comes just a week before his trial is set to begin. Yes- that’s right. It took ~19 months not including the two months that Ian spent in a cage to get a ruling to restore his right to utilize free software. And that’s ~2 months under which he was illegally held based on a magistrates misunderstanding of the law.

You might think this story ends with an operating system, but it’s not so. Not only did this restriction exist, but he’s also been prohibited from utilizing other free software. There is also an explicit prohibition on his use of Telegram. Now there is an argument for the restriction on his use of Telegram. At least in theory the argument would go that Telegram was a tool utilized in the course of conducting some sort of criminal enterprise. The problem with this logic is of course that a phone was also utilized in the course of conducting whatever sort of criminal enterprise that the prosecution has imagined up. Yet- there is no restriction for the use of a telephone.

There are many other unreasonable restrictions and violations of justice that defendants not convicted of any crimes face when being pursued by authorities who more often than not have no real basis for the restrictions on an accused freedoms. Ian they claimed was a flight risk- yet had no basis other than unsubstantiated claims of wealth, of which the judge eventually ruled was not a basis for holding someone. In fact even mob bosses can’t be held without bail! Yet- nothing stopped the prosecutor from slandering Ian’s good name and calling him a “kingpin”. No penalty will emerge from such actions because prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement are generally immune.

What can we do to change this? Well, not much. Without moving for independence New Hampshire residents will always be under the thumb of federal agents looking to attack freedom in the state. Fortunately there has been a growing independence movement in the state. If you’ve not heard of it check out https://www.nhexit.us for more information on the independence movement.

Not yet in New Hampshire? Well, if you believe in joining with other like minded persons to achieve liberty in our lifetime you should join the migration of liberty-minded folk moving to New Hampshire. After a decade of work free staters have achieved almost ~100 liberty friendly reps. While it may be another 8-10 years at our current rate of increasing representation to achieve more significant victories your move could help increase the pace. Not to mention we do have some small victories !

In 2017 for instance free staters worked with state representatives to pass a bill protecting New Hampshire businesses dealing with cryptocurrencies from state regulators. The bill passed and the governor even signed it into into law. There have been many other small victories like this one, but as has been demonstrated by the arrest of the Crypto6~ more needs to be done to achieve real freedom in our lifetime. If you’re a liberty-minded person join us in New Hampshire and we can achieve real freedom together.

Joe Biden … America’s figurehead/imposter President …has weighed in on the Democrat Presidential primary. He wants South Carolina to go first. And the political-grifters in New Hampshire … the consultants, insiders, masterminds, blah, blah, blah … are melting down over the thought of losing all the money and attention FITN brings:

 

The delicious irony is that all these grifters … and the vast majority of New Hampshire’s grifter-class …  wanted, and helped, Joe Biden get “elected” President. CRY. HARDER. GRIFTERS.

 

The post Cry Harder Grifters appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you missed it, the Democrat National Committee is about to move its First in the Nation Presidential Primary out of New Hampshire and into South Carolina. New Hampshire’s primary would follow a week later on the same day as Nevada’s. But that’s not what’s going to happen.

Republicans have no plans to abandon New Hampshire as their first in the Nation primary, and the Granite State will be holding it. State law requires NH to hold that primary a week before any other scheduled presidential primary, so if the DNC says SC on January 30th, 2024, New Hampshire’s will be on January 23rd.

Short of a law change, and that’s not happening, the Democrats in New Hampshire (and Iowa) are F==ked!

 

The committee, in a voice vote, approved the move on Friday with only the members from Iowa and New Hampshire opposing the change. The new calendar will be put to a vote of the full DNC in February 2023.

 

South Carolina has significantly more Delegates to win (54), with Nevada (36) also eclipsing New Hampshire (24). And it’s not just Delegates up for grabs. The Candidates themselves will come under significant scrutiny concerning where they campaign. South Carolin is a Diversity and Equity “hire.”

If any of them try to spend more time here than warranted (because both primaries will be the week before, whether the DNC or NH Dems like it or not), they’ll get the stink eye from the DNC and every minority group you can name that wants some attention (and don’t they all?).

It gets worse.

With more delegates in Nevada and no threat of them being sanctioned by the DNC, it makes more sense to campaign in Nevada.

It gets worse.

New Hampshire Democrats who typically crowd around contenders and promote the primary could subject themselves to the same stink eye.

It gets worse.

The gobs of money that once poured into the hands of Dem Chair Buckley, his ‘Crats,’ and the assorted “non-partisan” partisan Lefty groups will dry up a bit and maybe a lot. Without a legitimate primary, they stand to lose money, primary delegates, prestige, connections, and influence.

And what can the media do? They’ll be here for the GOP, but will it be bad form to recognize the Dems who show up for a racist primary among mostly white people?

No idea, but it will be fun to watch.

And Republicans will not have any of these issues while benefitting from being able to hoist the Dems on their own Diversity petard.

One negative note. If there’s no point in Dems voting for a candidate in their primary, they’ll register as independents to mess with the Republican primary. And we do not have the votes to change our state to a closed primary, not that they would if they could. With most voters registered as undeclared, there’s not much incentive to piss everyone off -including all the Libertarians.

And what if we had a closed primary and more than a few of them decide to pick a side, and we manage to help push a more liberty-minded Republican into first place?

I’d still expect a cluster, but most of it will be on the left, and that makes me smile.

 

 

 

The post The DNC Just Screwed the NH Dems and It’s Glorious appeared first on Granite Grok.

Elections just had – will things change?  Can or will the Republicans do the right things according to the feedback of their base?  Or just go along to get along?

And with the news that the top two spots in the NH GOP are empty for January’s NH GOP Annual meeting, how will the Party go? Hey, email me, candidates – after all, after quite some absence, I’m back as an NH GOP Delegate – persuade me to vote for you (or not). Or should I become your opposition?  Whaddya think, readers?

And how many of you, loyal readers, took the plunge, ran for NH GOP Delegate, and get to help drive the Party?  Or won your Primary and be able to join this Party’s party?

However, as always, this thread is here for you so yak about whatever you want or need!

The post Friday Open Thread – The More Things Change….But Do They? appeared first on Granite Grok.