The Manchester Free Press

Saturday • April 12 • 2025

Vol.XVII • No.XV

Manchester, N.H.

Syndicate content
News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Updated: 10 min 40 sec ago

Trump’s New Hampshire Coattails

Sun, 2024-01-28 15:00 +0000

One of the many, many, many criticisms of Ron DeSantis’ disaster-of-a-campaign was that his social media “influencers” were obnoxious. This critique was spot on in New Hampshire. The three that I found particularly obnoxious were/are Jason Osborne, Ross Berry, and Melissa Blasek.

Particularly the nonstop regurgitation of the Left’s calumny that Trump voters are cultists, simpletons, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They kept insisting over and over and over and over again that Republicans in New Hampshire are doomed … DOOMED … if Trump is on the ballot in November.

Well, it turns out the terrible threesome is as bad at prognosticating as they are at “influencing.” Trump was on the ballot in January and the NHGOP flipped two seats in Coos County. And this was despite Nikki Haley and her porky sidekick Chris “Sun-King” Sununu begging the “Undeclared” to take a GOP ballot and vote for High-Tax Haley AND the NH-Democrat-machine practically dragging Democrats to the polls to vote for that senile-pedophile, imposter-President Joe Biden.

The NHGOP victories in Coos were due to Trump bringing out voters that ONLY Trump can bring out. Voters that would stay home if some establishment weasel like High-Tax Haley were the nominee. Predictably, “Dearest Leader” Osborne took credit for Trump’s coattails.

The chutzpah of these people knows no limits:

The post Trump’s New Hampshire Coattails appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

79,460 NH Dems Wrote in Joe Biden And This is How He ‘Rewards’ Them

Sun, 2024-01-28 13:00 +0000

Nearly eighty-thousand Granite Staters made time to get up and go out on a cold Tuesday morning – thankfully not bitter cold like Iowa – to scribble the name Joe Biden on a line at the end of a list of more than twenty actual candidates on the New Hampshire ballot. And what did they get for that?

They got this!

That’s their guy—happy, unifying Joe Biden. But not everyone who decided to write in on the Dem ballot wrote Biden. I took a look at all the write-ins reported by the Secretary of State, and keep in mind that this is the Democrat party ballot.

 

 

4,752 wrote in Nikki Haley, 2,071 for Donald Trump, 40 for Christie, 33 for Ron DeSantis, 2 for Vivek, 440 for RFK Jr., and 123 for Bernie. Cease Fire was an Andru Volinsky Gaza thing, and the scatter is illegible or otherwise uncountable marks. Much of that will be the undeclared pulling a blue ballot, but we’ve likely got our share of conscientious objectors.

None of which is as interesting to me as the 79,460 “folks” who voted to keep Biden in the Oval Office. And it’s not like they don’t have better candidates to choose from in their party; they do. They could have filled in the oval on the paper ballot for Dean Phillips (24,373 votes), Vermin Supreme, or Mark Greenstein. There were twenty-one other choices, with at least one or two viable nationally.

Nope. They want elder abuse and Alzheimer’s. So there he is, Dems. That’s your president. I hope you’re proud.

 

The post 79,460 NH Dems Wrote in Joe Biden And This is How He ‘Rewards’ Them appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

NH Republicans: We’ve Seen Enough, Close the Primary!

Sun, 2024-01-28 11:00 +0000

There are 276,262 registered Republicans in NH as of 12/28/23. The total number of Republican primary voters is reported to be 322,284, a 121% turnout. How was this possible? Assuming an 80% registered Republican turnout, I estimate that 109,000 non-Republicans crossed over on election day to tip the scales!

What would have happened if the primary was closed to only registered Republicans? Assuming a high turnout of about 80%, there would have been about 213,000 cast. (FYI, Democrat turnout was 120,851, approximately 46% of the 262,262 registered Democrats). Now, according to CNN’s exit poll (hardly a Trump-supporting organization), Trump received 70% of the votes of registered Republicans, while Haley won only 27% of the Republican vote, far less than her 43% official total. I am providing a link to a news story confirming these numbers.

It should be noted that not all of the undeclared who became Republicans for a day voted for Haley. If you assume that Trump received 70% of the votes from an 80% registered Republican turnout, his vote tally would be about 149,700. Trump’s actual final vote tally was 175,153. This means that Trump got about 25,400 of those crossover votes. The good news is that those votes will be there for Trump in November.

Using the same approach for Haley, 27% of 80% of 267,262, her vote tally would have been 57,700. Trump would have crushed her except for the 81,900 cross-overs that voted for her. The real difference being that next to none of those voters will be there for her in November.

Thanks to a great NH Republican turnout and with the help of patriotic Undeclareds, Trump won the primary and the Uniparty was defeated. The shame is that Trump had to spend more time, effort and money than he should have needed and he received less Republican delegates than he deserved. This primary result also allows the farce of a two-person race to continue keeping Trump from focusing all his energies on defeating the regime hell-bent on destroying America.

I have voiced my displeasure with the open primary system to the Republican Party and have been told they wish to maintain the status-quo in order to appear to be a welcoming party to potential recruits. I reject that reasoning. The Republican party has been around for a long time and our party platform is written for all to see. If a person can’t make the small effort to get on board, keeping an open primary in the hopes of recruiting a few new members isn’t worth the price we, and America, just paid.

NH Republicans, we’ve seen enough, close the damn primary!

The post NH Republicans: We’ve Seen Enough, Close the Primary! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Lily Tang Williams Statement Supporting Texas Governor Greg Abbott

Sun, 2024-01-28 05:00 +0000

President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect US citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country.

NH Republican Congressional Candidate, District 2, Lily Tang Williams, said:

“I stand with Governor Greg Abbott and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy to secure the border. Because the Biden Administration abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has the right to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.”

“The southern border is a complete disaster, and my opponent Ann Kuster is supporting President Biden’s undemocratic subversion of the rule of law, which is condescending to the American people and the US Congress. It is just another example of Anne Kuster towing the Democratic party line instead of focusing on what’s good for New Hampshire and the nation.”

Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to steve@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication – Publication is not an endorsement.

Lily Tang Williams is a Chinese-American who survived Mao’s Cultural Revolution. She came to the U.S. legally in 1988. She has offered her immigration policy on her website, www.lilytangwilliams.com. Moreover, considering that Texas has 28 legal ports of entry, her policy also includes a solution to illegal immigration:

“Border security is essential for our national security. We must enforce current laws, build necessary barriers to stop drug smuggling, human trafficking, and prevent people who want to harm us from entering our country. Without a border, we do not have a country.”

“To streamline the process and encourage people only to come here legally, those who insist on crossing the border illegally should be detained, identified, and sent back. Thus, the practice of crossing our borders illegally, then immediately claiming sanctuary to somehow sanitize coming here illegally, must end; no more catch and release.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Weare, New Hampshire
January 26, 2024
Contact: Richard Zang <Richard.Zang@unh.edu>

The post Lily Tang Williams Statement Supporting Texas Governor Greg Abbott appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Night Cap: State Transformations and the Role of Activism

Sun, 2024-01-28 03:00 +0000

The radical Democrats wish to transform our State fundamentally. They have always dreamt of making the great State of Texas into another California. But we cannot let that happen.

Throughout history, Texas has been defined by a bold, tenacious spirit and brave, unabashed figures. However, recent years have seen a resurgence of Democratic influence, which could transform Texas into another California.

Historically, the state has witnessed significant transitions over the years. It was a Democratic stronghold but gradually aligned with the Republican Party in the mid-twentieth century. Various factors influenced the shift from Democratic to Republican dominance in Texas. The Texas Democratic Party was divided into liberal and conservative factions over race, civil rights, New Deal economic policies, and anti-communism. As many Texans became alienated from a national Democratic Party that was shifting to the left, the long-dormant state Republican Party began to revive in the 1960s.

Today, Texas is considered an essential Republican state. Still, with deliberate changes in demography coupled with frauds perpetuated as and when necessary, this is, at least by the book, going to change Blue. This is not a resurgence of a Democrat influence in Texas as it is made out to be. This is not a transformation, and the change has to be seen as undesirable by the original Texan populace, who fear the potential for increased taxes, labor regulations, and environmental policies that are perceived to stifle economic growth.

It is in our unity and shared understanding of the unfolding events that Texas is likely to retain its distinct identity. The battle between conservative and liberal ideologies in Texas is not just about party politics but reflects deeper societal values and beliefs. It is a contestation over the state’s future direction – whether Texas will hold onto its conservative roots or embrace a liberal path. This is, indeed, a political tug-of-war but not one that should be a testament to the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of democracy.

Undeniably, we are in the most critical fight of our lives. We can only stop this social cataclysm from eradicating our way of life with our activism. The fact of the matter is that we are living in precarious times. Our society stands at a crossroads, and our actions, or lack thereof, will determine our path.

Activism, in this context, is not merely about protesting against unfavorable conditions but about striving to create meaningful change. It involves recognizing and challenging the instruments of governance that perpetuate precarity. It is about refusing to allow ourselves to be divided and exploited to protect some against the threatening others.

The post Night Cap: State Transformations and the Role of Activism appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Bear Pond Conservative Chronicle: Come On Maine, Where Are These People From

Sun, 2024-01-28 01:00 +0000

The situation in Augusta has gone from ridiculous to bizarre. The Liberals who have the power at the moment are grasping their minute in the spotlight and trying to jam as much “garbage legislation” through the system as they can before they get booted out of office.

They are hitting all of the hot-button topics like immigration, guns, trans, and marijuana, but with Democrats, you can always count on them circling back to abortion. Nothing stirs up the Liberal base like abortion. You can disguise it and call it Reproductive Rights, but it is abortion; the killing of an unwanted fetus because it is not convenient to your lifestyle.

The Democrats passed the most Liberal abortion law this past fall, but they are not satisfied that the law will hold up. So, in this legislative session, the Democrats will work to codify abortion by putting the right to abortion in the Maine Constitution. That way, when Maine comes to its senses and boots these Democrats out of office, abortion rights will survive.

Democrat Aaron Frey proposed the amendment to Maine’s state constitution on Monday, claiming it would enshrine the right to abortion and apply to ‘persons who have uteruses.’ ‘The ability to carry a child belongs to that person who has a womb. I understand that there are others who believe they know better than the person who has the womb as to how they should use it,’ Frey said.

Brilliant, Mr. Frey. Don’t narrow the conversation about pregnancy and abortion to women. You move to the front of the WOKE class by making sure you include trans men who have a uterus because God gave it to them when he created them as a woman. It is simply amazing how Democrats have a problem with the term woman. This goes back to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson, who could not answer the question, “What is a woman.”

Social Media exploded with criticism of Frey’s comments. Some of the reactions:

One comment reads: ‘We are women. You are NOT allowed to take that from us!’
Another says: ‘Living here is becoming more and more like Funny Farm every day. Actually, it’s moving toward One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest territory.’
A third added: ‘Why is Maine trying to be a joke?’

Maine is a dichotomy between the liberal-filled cities and legislature and the conservative rural regions. The Liberals have clawed their way to power, but they realize it is tenuous. They can feel the pendulum moving in the other direction, and they may be only one election cycle from the minority.

PACS like The Dinner Table is growing exponentially, and every time there is a bizarre play by the Democrats in Augusta, their membership grows. It is a similar scenario with Trump, who had a very poignant comment a few weeks ago that he was one indictment away from the White House. One thing the Democrats have yet to grasp is the Republicans rally around their own when attacked. The Dems are in attack mode and may pay the price for that play.

The post Bear Pond Conservative Chronicle: Come On Maine, Where Are These People From appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Musical Chairs

Sat, 2024-01-27 23:00 +0000

Remember how fun it was in grade school playing the game of musical chairs? You’d circle around the chairs to music and when the music stopped everyone had to grab a chair.  But, they were one short. Out went the kid who didn’t get the seat. It was a frantic, fun game that honed kids’ listening, social and problem-solving skills.

The Nashua Board of Aldermen engaged in that game in their chamber recently. The Board of Alderman gallery had a press table in the back.  We all remember the time when press was attending governmental meetings and then, once COVID hit, the press was gone. Nashua’s press table, which had two seats, was sadly empty.

As often a lone attendee at Board of Alderman meetings, typically, I’d bring my computer to sit at the unoccupied press table, work, capture my thoughts, and sometimes contribute to public comment. I’m not a popular person with my city government, so they became irritated.

Initially, I was asked not to sit there. When I questioned the Board President on why that would be a problem, she explained it was a press table and I was not press. The idea that nobody was sitting there did not resonate with her. She was having none of that!

Ignoring the silly comment, I came to the next meeting and sat at the unoccupied press table. I received glaring looks of disapproval and frustration from the Board.

At the next meeting, the two chairs were removed, and only the “press” table remained. The game of musical chairs had begun.

As a woman who knows how to fix a problem, I inquired about the chairs and unsurprisingly learned that the Board President requested the chairs be taken away.

As a creative problem-solver, likely honed from my elementary school musical chairs days, I took a chair from the hallway right outside the chamber and carried it into the gallery, quietly placed it at the table and took my seat. Whoa, I had crossed the line! The President and others moved beyond glares and verbalized their disapproval of my boldness.

All of this was giving me a chuckle. How silly! How childish! But musical chairs is a child’s game.

Well, at the next meeting, the Board of Aldermen upped their game. Not only would the chairs remain missing at the ‘press’ table but the chairs at the public table in the hallway were mysteriously missing as well. The President harshly verbalized that if you’re not a member of the press, you cannot sit at the press table. Mind you, it was never labeled a press table. 

In a brief history, Nashua had a senior woman in her 80s who came to meetings for years and sat at that table when the press wasn’t there. She was a terrific participant in her local government. Would the Board President object if the Mayor had wanted to sit at the table?

As a creative problem-solver, at the next meeting, I carried my own chair to the chamber, quietly unfolded it at the back “press” table, took a seat with my computer, and began my listening and working. That earned me a harsh tongue-lashing for my bold and brazen move and “lack of decorum” in the chamber. They hollered, “you’re not ‘the press’. YOU can’t sit at that table”.

Again, as a creative problem-solver, I reached out to Granite Grok to request a press pass as I’ve written articles for the paper. Alas, I would have those essential and critical press credentials necessary to entitle me to a seat at the “press table”. I sent a letter to the Board of Alderman, I was official, I had a press pass. The table’s official use had been restored!

Excited, I appeared at the next meeting with my press badge prominently displayed. But the Board President and Alderman one-upped me. This time, they removed the table! And the space in the back was now an empty hole.

The adrenaline-fun-filled game of musical chairs in Nashua had ended. I lost—a fitting ending illustrating the Board’s welcoming of the public. Corporation Counsel for Nashua announced he might like to put a legal library in that back area. This never came to fruition. Perhaps a few books on 1st Amendment Rights and the Right to Know Law might be helpful in the gallery of the Board of Aldermen chamber.

Pay attention to your local governments. Sometimes, they’re really a hoot.

The post Musical Chairs appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Texas: The Art of the Loophole

Sat, 2024-01-27 21:00 +0000

I’ve been telling stories to my grandkids since they were born.  They’re always the main characters in the stories.

In one story, they captured a ghost, which they were exploiting for money (e.g., by putting it on television shows). They kept the ghost in a Ziplock bag.

The group PETS (People for the Ethical Treatment of Spirits) responded to this by obtaining a court order to ‘release the ghost from the bag.’

Hoping to teach them something about the difference between the letter and the spirit of the law, I had planned to surprise them by saying that they let the ghost out of the bag… inside a larger bag.

But the older one beat me to it.  She literally said:  ‘I know — we open it inside a bigger bag!’

She was four years old at the time.

I was reminded of this recently because — as many of you know — Texas has been putting razor wire in the Rio Grande to stop the influx of illegal immigrants across its border.

And SCOTUS has said that the US Border Patrol can cut the wire.

But what SCOTUS didn’t say was that Texas can’t keep replacing the wire that gets cut!

So, as far as I know, that’s the plan:  let the Border Patrol cut the wire (so the state is not ‘defying the Supreme Court’, as many have claimed), then replace it with new wire.  Repeat as necessary.

So this is the state of things in our country:  We have seventy-year-old judges ‘interpreting’ the law by issuing orders that even four-year-old children could see how to get around.

I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

The post Texas: The Art of the Loophole appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

US vs Them and the 2024 Presidential Primary

Sat, 2024-01-27 19:00 +0000

Jeff Chidester, Mike Rogers, and I had our share of time to fill on radio row – with opinion, commentary, speculation, and observation. Events like the First in the Nation Primary are opportunities to leverage those debates, hopefully with people aspiring to run the country, but do they even know what the nation needs?

A recent Rasmussen poll suggests that what Angelo Codevilla documented in 2014 was no better and perhaps worse today than ten years prior. Codevilla called it the Ruling Class and the Country Class. Pundits referencing the Rasmussen poll are more succinct, but there is no difference between the two. It’s US vs Them.

Among the 1,000 elites surveyed, 73% of the elites were Democrats, and 14% were Republicans. The study also examined adults who attended either Ivy League colleges or “elite private schools, including Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, and the University of Chicago.”

Jeff, Mike, and I discuss this below, but first, a few more snippets.

  • Financial Well-being: Nearly three-quarters of the elites surveyed believe they are better off now financially than they were when Joe Biden entered the White House. Less than 20% of ordinary Americans feel the same way.
  • Individual Freedom: Elites are three times more likely than all Americans to say there is too much individual freedom in the country. Astonishingly, almost half of the elites and almost 6 of 10 ivy leaguers say there is too much freedom.
  • Climate Change: An astonishing 72% of the elites — including 81% of the elites who graduated from the top universities — favor banning gas cars. The majority of elites would ban gas stoves, nonessential air travel, SUVs, and private air conditioning. That means no air travel with the kids to Disney World.
  • Education: Most elites think that teachers unions and school administrators should control the agenda of schools. Most mainstream Americans think that parents should make these decisions.

The people who would rule us have no clue what it is like for those I’ve often referred to as the peasants, and based on this poll, I’d say from the perspective of the elites, I’ve got their interpretation correct. Here are a few minutes of that conversation (recorded Jan 21st – Manchester, New Hampshire).

Please subscribe to our Rumble Channel.

 

!function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src="https://rumble.com/embedJS/u359331"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+"/?url="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+"&args="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, "script", "Rumble");

Rumble("play", {"video":"v46tx60","div":"rumble_v46tx60"});

The post US vs Them and the 2024 Presidential Primary appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Forget Prosperity, We Have Abortion For All

Sat, 2024-01-27 17:00 +0000

Michelle Obama once said, “If They go low, we’ll go high.” So what does the Democrat’s favorite First Lady have to say about the Biden/Harris Administration putting their reelection campaign on a one-horse pony: abortion? Silence. The Obamas are sending mixed signals on the 2024 election.

They are making suggestions to the Bidens and all Democrats on what needs to be done for reelection, while Michelle is signaling that she is ready to take the baton from Joe. They know that Joe is too old to finish the race and are waiting for him to gasp for air. The Democrats are a dysfunctional, confused group with no unifying goal except abortion.

The Democrats have also signaled that they cannot win on the accomplishments of Biden’s first term. Bidenomics is a non-starter as inflation is outpacing wages, and credit is beating the hell out of savings. Education is failing our children, which leaves only one option: make it free. Don’t worry that the students from 10 years ago or those to come will pay for their education. We’ll forgive the loans of those who will vote for us now. On the day of the New Hampshire Primary, which Joe Biden rendered irrelevant, Biden was nowhere to be seen in the Granite State. He has not been to New Hampshire in over two years. The President, who claimed to be the great unifier, said that New Hampshire was too white to give it relevance. On Tuesday, Biden joined his even less popular Vice President Kamala Harris in Virginia, hosting a Reproductive Rights support group. Biden and Harris recognize that the only subject they can connect with the voters today is abortion.

If you cannot talk about safety and security at home with a porous Southern Border, the Middle East is on fire on multiple fronts, and Zelenskyy comes to Washington monthly to refill his piggy bank. That bank is one-of-a-kind with the tagline: 10% of your tax dollars that go to Ukraine is sent to “The Big Guy.” They cannot talk about Bidenomics because everyone knows it is not working. They cannot speak about Fentanyl as we are still losing 100,000 lives per year to drug poisoning. They cannot claim an improved infrastructure as commercial passenger jets are catching fire and losing doors in mid-flight. No, there is nothing about Biden’s policy that this Administration can point to as a success, so they will fall back on a proven winner to get votes: abortion. Until every state offers free abortions to every person with a uterus up until the time of delivery, they will keep using abortion as a campaign slogan and blame the Republicans for putting every woman’s life in jeopardy. It is a horrid purpose and a gross hyperbole, but it works for Democrats.

So this is how the Democrats go high. Let’s not work on the issue of unwanted pregnancies, but let’s disregard the life of the unborn as if it is simply human tissue, kill it, and set the woman free of any responsibility. To Democrats, abortion has nothing to do with reproductive freedom but freedom from responsibility. But if you do not care about human trafficking across the Border, Fentanyl deaths, or millions of homeless Americans, then what is a few thousand dead fetuses?

The post Forget Prosperity, We Have Abortion For All appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Parental Consent to Medical and Mental Health Care in Schools

Sat, 2024-01-27 15:00 +0000

Dear Ms. Stanley,

I came to the State House to testify at the hearing on SB573 which is an act relative to parental consent for medical care. SB573 would add a new RSA by adding a new Chapter, Parental Consent to Medical and Mental Health Care.

Within SB573 there is the following language on consent for mental healthcare:

IV. Soliciting to perform arranging for the performance of, or performing mental health practice, as defined in RSA 330-A-2, VI, on a child.
170-1:1 Parental Consent to medical and Mental Health Care Required.

Unfortunately, I could not stay for the hearing since it ran late. I did go back to listen to your testimony (23:00) and decided to reach out to you based on what you presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Since you are the Executive Director of National Association of Social Workers NH, I was concerned by some of the statements you made regarding school social workers who are servicing students in our public schools.

In your testimony, you mentioned that students in our public schools who are receiving mental health services from social workers have consent from their parents through their IEPs, 504 plans, etc. That was good to hear. But then you said that this Bill would have a chilling effect on the Social Workers in our schools. You went on to explain that a child may come to a social worker wanting to talk to them. That the social worker may want to conduct an assessment on that child or make a referral as part of their job.

Under federal law, Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA, Sec. 4002 General Provisions:

“(a) Parental Consent.–

“(1) In general.–

“(A) Informed written consent.A State, local educational agency, or other entity receiving funds under this title shall obtain prior written, informed consent from the parent of each child who is under 18 years of age to participate in any mental-health assessment or service that is funded under this title and conducted in connection with an elementary school or secondary school under this title.

(ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015, with bi-partisan support from Senator Shaheen and Congresswoman Annie Kuster.

I’m confused by your testimony. Are you saying that social workers in our schools are assessing and providing mental health services without parental consent? And if SB573 were to pass, only then would school social workers have to seek parental consent under the conditions you listed.

If that is the case, it sounds like our school social workers are violating federal law.  I am copying New Hampshire Senators and Commissioner Edelblut on this email to alert them to the possibility that social workers in our public schools are currently violating federal law.

I support SB573 for the very reason that you seem to have admitted during the hearing. The mental health counselors working in our schools are either not aware of this federal statute or they are ignoring it. Maybe if SB573 were signed into law, this would clear up any confusion that currently exists.

SB573 would essentially require parental consent for mental care, which is currently required under federal law. Based on your testimony, I’m now very concerned that school social workers around the state are violating federal law. This tells me that the passage of SB573 is even more important to pass.

If you were not aware of the parental consent provision in ESSA, I hope that you will make sure that school social workers are better informed.

The post Parental Consent to Medical and Mental Health Care in Schools appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Ford Forced to Cut EV Production As America Runs Low On People Who Can Afford Virtue Signal Mobiles

Sat, 2024-01-27 13:00 +0000

Electric Vehicles have an opportunity to replace the Edsel as the historic reference for transportation marketing failure. The Edsel was “overhyped, unattractive (distinguished by a vertical grille said to resemble a horse collar[2]), and low quality.” It was also introduced during a crappy economy.

The EV is an overweight pack of lies whose “popularity” was compelled into being by progressive politicians and bureaucrats, and the Ford Motor Company has lost billions in 2022 equivalent dollars. A problem repeated in recent years as the government incentivized automakers to invest heavily in Electric Vehicles. Forced might be a better word. Between public statements about ending combustion-driven transportation and stricter fuel economy mandates, carmakers were not given much choice.

Car buyers, however, still have one.

Several years into the push to replace gas-powered engines with EVs has met an impenetrable wall named reality. EVs are not any of the things promised. Production has been scaled back as inventory piles up, dealers refuse to take more of it, and billions in losses are written off. Ford has taken a beating, and its latest mea culpa comes in production cuts for its EV truck line.

Ford planned to produce around 3,200 F-150 Lightnings per week in 2024 at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, which assembles all of the electric pickup trucks produced by Ford. Ford announced last month that it was cutting its production of the trucks in half, all the way down to 1,600 per week.

Ford has slashed $12 billion in EV investments as it struggles to sell its all-electric vehicles to consumers who have numerous concerns about transitioning from gas to electric, especially as retail prices for most EVs remain high.

Ford is shuffling employees to gas-powered production lines and hiring workers to build cars people want and can almost afford, as opposed to the impossible-to-afford EVs, which have only gotten more expensive. And the demand for rare earth metals has done little more than jack up costs and transfer wealth to China.

Given the Biden family’s cozy relationship with the CCP, you’d be right to wonder if this wasn’t just another way to make protection-money payments or extortion money, but it’s not just Biden. The left is obsessed with crushing the fossil fuel industry. Biden ran for office on it. The Dems are nearly all-in on the lie—the rich ones, at least. But you can only put so many lawn ornaments in your driveway (it’s not safe to park them in the garage), and the nation is running out of people who can afford impractical virtue-signal mobiles.

Without further interference from the government – and even it can’t backstop these turds with enough of someone else’s money to make them appealing – the industry is destined to collapse under the excessive weight of its own lithium battery limitations.

That won’t be the end of it. The apocalypse cult won’t let it go, but that’s not the biggest issue. Much like wind and solar waste, no one went in having end-of-life solutions for toxic components, and there is a lot of that out there – some of it aging in dealer lots.

No worries. I’m sure the EPA will make some rules to address another mess the government has made, and we’ll get to pay for that too.

 

 

 

The post Ford Forced to Cut EV Production As America Runs Low On People Who Can Afford Virtue Signal Mobiles appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

“And the Winner Is…” (How Librarians Decide What We Should Read)

Sat, 2024-01-27 11:00 +0000

In one of my previous articles, I told the story of how my request for Michael Knowles’ Amazon #1 bestseller Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds was denied by my local public library.

While I used this anecdote as an example of the double standard that libraries use when referring to “banned” books, I am bringing it up again here to highlight the dysfunctional process by which librarians select books.  Speechless is about the weaponization of political correctness and is written by a well-known conservative writer, so it was not surprising that my request was denied. In fact, I had used this request as a test, and my public library acted as I predicted it would.  While the library justified its denial by claiming that there were no positive reviews of this book, I was easily able to find a lot of complimentary feedback online about this title and the fact that it was the number one book on Amazon for a substantial period of time also attested to its worthiness to be added to my library’s collection.

Librarians, however, look for reviews in a small number of “professional” publications like Library JournalKirkus Reviews, and ALA’s own Booklist, and all of these sources, as you would expect, inordinately promote woke material and overlook worthy but conservatively themed items.  Additionally, librarians are motivated to buy material that has won annual book awards, many given by the ALA.  Unfortunately, most awards in general these days, from the Oscars on down, are not based on merit but on how well nominees align with an organization’s political agenda.

When librarians decide which books they will purchase for their collections using taxpayer dollars, you’d think that they would consider which books their users actually want or need to read. Sadly, this is not what happens in most publicly funded libraries.  Instead, these librarians are influenced by woke review sources and annual book awards to buy those books that they, along with the organizations they look to for guidance, think their patrons should read.

We want to thank Arlene Quaratiello for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.

When I recently visited the home page of Kirkus Reviews, a popular source among collection development librarians, the featured story was a glowing review of the newly released film Origins.  This documentary is based on the book Caste: The Origin of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson, a book which Kirkus describes as “a sweeping survey of how ingrained systems of social categorization. . . have led to horrific crimes and injustices throughout history . . . and how such systems have been used to oppress a wide range of people.”  The woke point of view conveyed by this review is echoed throughout the publication and is also reflected by the books that are awarded the annual Kirkus Prize.

The 2023 fiction winner was The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, a novel that portrays the “solidarity” of Jews and Blacks against “the many local White Christians” who “frown upon the easygoing relationship between” these two groups.   The non-fiction prize went to Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino,” which Kirkus described as a “powerful look at what it means to be a member of a community that, though large, remains marginalized.” Finally, the “young readers” award was given to American Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History, in which the historical “contributions of women, people of color, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people are featured prominently.”

Kirkus Reviews also offers a “curation service” featuring “diversity collections,” which was “developed to help librarians find diverse books that meet modern standards of sensitivity and respect.”  Books highlighted here include Metaracism: How Systemic Racism Devastates Black Lives and The Pink Line: Journeys across the World’s Queer Frontiers.  My purpose in pointing out all of these specific books is not to object to their being published and read because that would violate the tenets of free speech; what we must take issue with is the clear promotion and celebration of books that convey racial and sexual themes while practically ignoring any other type of book.

This obvious promotion is also seen in Library Journal, another influential book review source for collection development librarians. Among the books it celebrates in its “Best of 2023” list is Lucky Red, in which author Claudia Cravens “skillfully blends Western tropes…into her queer coming-of-age story” set in “the town’s woman-run brothel.”  Of the ten “best” books recommended in the “Romance” category, two are described as “gay romances,” while the lesbian romance Mrs. Nash’s Ashes features the “delightfully quirky grumpy/sunshine romance” between the titular female character and a woman named Elsie.  Chef’s Choice is “a charming queer romance” featuring two transgender characters, one identifying as a woman and another as a man.   With such a large percentage of recommended books on LJ’s “Best of 2023” list featuring LGBT characters, it is hard to deny the clear over-representation of such books in this particular sample.

The American Library Association has its own review publication called Booklist.  Its October 2023 issue featured the article “Essentials: Here Be Drag Queens,” which provides a “celebration of modern drag” by recommending fourteen titles, including the picture books Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero and If You’re a Drag Queen and You Know It.  For older children, Booklist recommends Martin Mclean: Middle School Queen, which tells the story of a boy who wants to compete in an all-ages drag contestIn Kings, Queens and In-Betweens, recommended for high school students, “17-year-old lesbian Nima, just rejected by her longtime crush and best friend, stumbles into a drag show at a local fair” where “she finds a fascinating and accepting community, as well new confidence and a potential new romance.”

In addition to the reviews provided by Booklist to promote its woke agenda, the ALA also gives out a number of awards that celebrate books that reinforce this agenda and strongly influence purchasing decisions.  One of this organization’s most coveted accolades is the Stonewall Book Award for “LGBTQIA+” literature, which the Rainbow Roundtable sponsors.  In addition to the awards given for adult fiction and non-fiction, prizes have also been given for “young adult” books and even children’s books for over a decade. In fact, in 2021, a board book, We Are Little Feminists Families, was given Stonewall’s Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award. Last year, this award was given to “Love, Violet,” a book that suggests that an innocent friendship between two girls is homosexual, and also to When the Angels Left the Old Country, a “young adult” novel in which, according to Kirkus Reviews, “Queerness and gender fluidity thread through both the human and supernatural characters.”

As I pointed out in my previous article about the misnamed category of “young adult” literature, When the Angels Left the Old Country was also a runner-up for the Printz Award given to a book that the ALA believes “exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.”  The other four books that the ALA considered “excellent” were:

  • All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir, the overall winner, which Kirkus Reviews praised for confronting “head on the complicated realities of life in a world that is not designed for the oppressed to thrive in.”
  • Scout’s Honor, by Lily Anderson, in which “the cast displays an effervescent mix of racial and ethnic identities” (from Kirkus Reviews)
  • Icebreaker, features a gay romance between two hockey players and
  • Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality, a book that “offers nature-based analogs for many types of human sexual orientation and gender identity,” according to a BookPage review.

With the Printz Award winner and its four runners-up all having racial and sexual themes, there is no denying the inordinate attention given to books focused on gender or race, suggesting that these are the only themes worthy of merit in our society.

The American Library Association has not cornered the market on book awards.  The National Book Awards are presented each year by the National Book Foundation.  This year’s fiction winner was Blackouts by Juston Torres, which addresses “the distortions and erasures of queer history” (NPR). Three of the four honorable mention winners are on racial themes, including:

  • Chain Gang All-Stars: “a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system’s unholy alli­ance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration,”
  • Temple Folk: “The ten stories in this collection contribute to the bounty of diverse narratives about Black life,” and
  • This Other Eden: “an enduring testament to the struggle to preserve human dignity in the face of intolerance and injustice.”

As I have already mentioned, my purpose in writing this article has not been to bash individual books.  I have simply tried to provide anecdotal evidence to expose the woke agenda of most book review sources and award programs, an agenda that would likely be supported, if I had the time, by a more objective statistical analysis.  What concerns me is the clear promotion of these books, which dominate every review source and are inordinately given awards, drowning out books on a multitude of other topics.  As a result, the impressionable and predominantly left-leaning staff members of most publicly funded libraries end up purchasing a disproportionate number of these titles, and these books often just sit on the shelves, rarely getting checked out because patrons are simply not interested in reading them, nor should they feel that they should read them.

Meanwhile, review sources and awards are often cited as justification for their purchase in town and school district budget reports.  Those who are hired to run our publicly funded libraries need to realize that the real justification for buying any book in a public or school library is how well it serves the needs of its users, not how well it reflects a woke organization’s questionable agenda, nor what awards it has been given by these organizations or what their glowing reviews have to say.

| Substack

The post “And the Winner Is…” (How Librarians Decide What We Should Read) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Quote of the Day

Sat, 2024-01-27 09:00 +0000

This is from a Substack article by Chris Bray, writing about progressives who are upset that Texas is defending its border.  It has my irony meter pegged at 10:

The people who run formally declared sanctuary states and sanctuary cities are very very upset that state and local officials are refusing to acknowledge the federal government’s supremacy in matters of immigration and border security.

The post Quote of the Day appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Night Cap: Hartford, VT Board Meeting – Hot Views Exchanged Over Drag Story Hour

Sat, 2024-01-27 03:00 +0000

Every other Tuesday evening in Hartford/White River Junction, the town holds its Select Board meeting, with the first few minutes open to public comments.  This week’s meeting saw several members of the town chiding Board Member Lannie Collins for his statement made regarding the controversial event sweeping the nation – Drag Queen Story Hour.

Pride Center Vermont and the Vermont Chapter Drag Queen Story Hour recently attempted to hold the event at the Northern Stage theatre in downtown White River, however it was disrupted due to a bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax.  The threat was issued via email and was said to have come from an encrypted Russian server which leaves the question – who perpetrated the hoax?  (For more on the rise of hate crime hoaxes read this book)

The comment controversy began with board member Ally Tufenkjian referring to a recent drag event as “a positive experience” to which Collins replied ““I take deference to it being labeled a positive experience because some people in our community would not view those events at Northern Stage as a positive experience,” Collins said during Selectboard comments earlier this month. “That is a personal expression and is not shared by all members of the board or all residents within the town. And I don’t think it’s appropriate (for Selectboard members) to make personal statements about whether it is positive or negative.”

Though rarely attended by townsfolk, and rarely viewed online due to their pedantic and bureaucratic nature, this meeting saw a relatively packed house by Hartford standards.  It seems word got out Mr. Collins exercised his right to voice his concern on behalf of those in town who share his apprehension given the event is not only categorical grooming of children but has been riddled with child sex offenders around the country.  Collins detractors either are unaware or simply aren’t concerned the children’s safety may be compromised in the name of diversity and inclusion.

A look at the performers that evening finds Drag Queens *Emoji Nightmare and *Katniss Everqueer. (*WARNING: One look at their social media and it’s obvious they promote highly sexualized behavior.)

Emoji Nightmare is a man from tiny Cambridge, Vermont, whose real name is Justin Marsh.  Marsh grew up in Cambridge on a dairy farm where he lives to this day.  His day job is as a financial advisor, while his evening and hobbyist passion seems to be all things drag.

Katniss’ bio mentions her work with autistic and disabled children, among other interests, but another concerning statement tells us she likes to portray Silence of the Lambs and Lot’s O Huggin’ Bear.  Who is Lot’s O Huggin’ Bear? The Disney Fandom page describes the character as:

“…the main antagonist of the animated film Toy Story 3.  He is a large, magenta-pink strawberry-scented teddy bear who ruled Sunnyside Daycare with the iron fist of a prison warden, despite his advertised sweet nature.”

Furthermore, I don’t think anyone takes issue with older people, be they teens or adults, helping children learn to read.  However, improving literacy is not what Drag Queen Story Hour is about.  They even say as much:

“DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models,” RADAR Productions writes about the program on its website. “In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress-up is real.”

In other words, having a stable identity is “rigid,” and looking to those who defy societal norms as “role models” is to be lauded as good for children.  This is only one aspect of the event adults who object take issue with.

The more concerning issue, especially for those who understand predatory behavior, is the same setting allows grown men to be disguised as women to unwitting children.  Men have long been the predatory class when it comes to sex crimes against children.  The Stop It Now site reports that “males made up almost 88% of perpetrators.”  There is not a more perfect scenario for a predator than to be able to access children in disguise as something innocent, especially if the disguise includes convincing parents they are there to help the child.

This is not to say Justin or Kat are predators, but their chosen method for “queering children” also happens to be ideal for those who would sexually abuse them.  Grooming requires time and a necessary drawing down of one’s guardedness, both the child’s and parents’. This is why predators gravitate toward positions like coaching, daycare, clergy, and school jobs because they need to have the appearance of wanting to help children.

A counterargument I heard is, “But what about priests”?   Or, for that matter, what about coaches and teachers?  Should we prevent them from being around children? No, but they also aren’t posing as something they aren’t nor specifically targeting children in a sexualized manner, while drag queens are – deliberately.  Those other vocations also require background checks – DQSH does not.

Not all drag queens support these story hours, nor do all members of the LGBTQ+ community.  Those outspoken against it agree with their hetero-normative peers it’s inappropriate for children and clearly a method of grooming.  The group Gays Against Groomers grew out of this concern.  There statement:

Gays Against Groomers is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization of gay people and others within the community who oppose the recent trend of indoctrinating, sexualizing and medicalizing children under the guise of “LGBTQIA+”

 

Still, what proof is there that predators would use such an innocent and fun event to target children? Here are just four instances out of many:

· Judge who headed ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ sponsor arrested on child porn charges
  • Houston Public Library admits registered child sex offender read to kids in Drag Queen Storytime
  • Oregon school teacher who mentored 11-year-old drag queen sentenced for child sex crimes
  • One is Houston man William Travis Dees, a.k.a. Lisa Lott, who was incarcerated and listed as a high-risk sex offender in 2004 after he abused multiple children ages 4, 5, 6 and 8.

 

Other concerning factors as it relates to the potential targeting of children with this type of event in Vermont:

  • The US accounts for 800,000 missing child cases each year.
    • Alaska is the state with the highest number of missing people, including both adults and children. The state of Arizona takes second place, followed by Oregon, Washington, and VERMONT.
  • The average age for a minor to enter the sex trade is 12 – 14.
  • Children with disabilities are 2.9 times more likely than children without disabilities to be sexually abused.
  • Children with intellectual and mental health disabilities appear to be the most at risk, with 4.6 times the risk of sexual abuse as their peers without disabilities.
  • In as many as 93 percent of child sexual cases, the child knows the person who commits the abuse.
  • 60% of children who are sexually abused do not disclose

(source: Stop It Now)

Lastly, and perhaps most shocking, the popularity of DQSH extends overseas, especially in the UK, where the incidence of sex crimes against children is now most commonly perpetrated by other children.

 

The post Night Cap: Hartford, VT Board Meeting – Hot Views Exchanged Over Drag Story Hour appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Supreme Court Rules … NO Free Speech In New Hampshire

Sat, 2024-01-27 01:00 +0000

First, I would be remiss if I didn’t note that I became aware of this latest assault on liberty in New Hampshire from the NeverTrump, RINO website NH-Journal, a/k/a NH-NeverTrump-Journal. So what happened is a January 19th decision by the New Hampshire Supreme Court that essentially said you have no right to expressive speech in New Hampshire (here’s the link):

New Hampshire v. Bossi.

In a nutshell, Chris Sun-King Sununu’s Supremos upheld the criminal trespass conviction of a woman who protested a school board’s mask mandate by entering the school board’s PUBLIC meeting without a mask. While Sun-King’s Supremos never address the freedom of speech implications of their ukase, the decision is all about freedom of speech.

There is NO, and there never was any, medical justification for mask mandates. A mask mandate, therefore, requires the attendees of the meeting to engage in expressive political speech that the attendee may disagree with: e.g., obedience to authority, support for the Sununu-Regime, etc., etc., etc.. Not wearing a mask is also political speech …e.g., opposition to COVID-tyranny, disapproval of the Sununu-Regime, etc.

Criminalizing the refusal to wear a mask is criminalizing political speech. Moreover, under the same ignore-freedom-of-speech analysis used by Sun-King Sununu’s Supremos, the school-board could forbid people from wearing MAGA hats to school board meetings or anti-DEI hats or shirts, etc., etc., etc..

But I know … I know … it’s okay that Sununu’s Supremos have ruled that incorrect political speech in New Hampshire can be criminalized because Sun-King Sununu is really, really, really good on the Second Amendment, and he cut business taxes!!!!

The post The New Hampshire Supreme Court Rules … NO Free Speech In New Hampshire appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Did Haley-Homer Chris Sununu Just Help Us Close the NH Republican Primary?

Fri, 2024-01-26 23:00 +0000

It’s one thing to support a candidate, but New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is just embarrassing himself. He’s drunk on the attention and has lost control of himself. Haley seriously underperformed in Iowa and lost by more than ten points in New Hampshire. And now she’s shedding donors.

Rich Democrat funder Reid Hoffman has derailed his money train to Haley, and he’s not alone. With no path to the nomination anywhere in sight, Sununu’s Haley fan club is going to have to do more than yap about how great he thinks she is. There’s no path. It’s Haley or Trump, and Trump’s base won’t vote for her. Neither will a bunch of primary-meddling Democrats who’d never vote for her in general (yes, we heard a few more stories about NH Dems trying to vote for Haley), and even on his worst day, Biden beats a Republican nominee elected by Democrats.

But wait, there’s more.

A Republican fundraiser told CNBC on Wednesday that three clients who each helped Haley raise up to $100,000 for her campaign are now opting out of assisting the former U.N. ambassador.

Others explained that while they plan to speak out publicly in support of Haley, they aren’t convinced they’ll be able to raise much money for her campaign since she’s winless so far in the primary season. -CNBC

Winless and unlikely to win anytime soon. She isn’t on the ballot in the Nevada Caucus, and South Carolina loves Trump. Nationally, Haley is down by as many as 63 points, which means at least 20 points and probably 40, even if Democrats meddle in other states. That’s a “yuge” gap, and on those terms, the calls for her to get out now so the party can focus on November seem justified.

So what value is left, other than to spend a pile of cash against Trump that could be directed at Dem opponents?

There are – I eyeballed it, so this might not be exact – just over twenty mixed or open Republican primaries, of which New Hampshire is one. I’ve heard from insiders and outsiders alike who were not all that keen on the recent effort to close the primary in New Hampshire. The zeal to encourage Democrats to meddle in their election has helped them turn a corner.  They are willing to talk about and support a closed Republican primary.

In a state that is 40% registered independent, it will force fence-sitters to pick a side to have a voice in those contests. Some will continue to argue that closing the primary is not fair, but if that’s true, then no private organization should be allowed to decide who votes on their leadership, priorities, principles, or direction. That’s what the primary is, and a small number of Republicans have gone too far to undermine it in their quest to slow Trump’s train.

That’s politics, and it’s part of the process, but so are the side effects.

Regardless of your thoughts about him or her, Chris Sununu has been a great advocate for Haley. But as he serves his last year as governor and transitions to whatever comes after that, it may have cost him the respect of many in his own political party. I should say more, he’d already lost much from many. And for what?

A candidate that can’t beat an opponent for whom he has said he would vote.

 

The post Did Haley-Homer Chris Sununu Just Help Us Close the NH Republican Primary? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Condensation Trails or Chem Trails, is There a Difference?

Fri, 2024-01-26 21:00 +0000

Car exhausts have chemicals in the fumes, as we all know, as do any fossil fuels being burned, including planes. So even without specific chemicals being injected into the Contrail, it is still technically a Chem Trail.

They are called Condensation Trails or Contrails; this is the same effect of a car warming up in the extreme cold. When Planes fly at altitude from 20,000 to 40,000 feet it is Extremely cold at that altitude. Thus creating condensation in their exhaust fumes.

Also, dispersal at those altitudes could go a long way before coming down. If they were trying to spray chemicals on us, they should be at lower altitudes. And since the prevailing winds up there are east to west, spraying NH at altitude would end up over the ocean.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t trust the government, never got jabbed and never will, will not wear a mask again; I avoided the mask as much as possible during the Govid (Government Virus Disease) B.S., do not believe Oswald acted alone, well he thought he acted alone, but was set up, and still not 100% on the 1st moon landing.

We want to thank Ken Goodall for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.

I need good scientific proof of this Cloud Seeding, Weather Modifications, or the intentional injection of pollutants into the air. And Yes, I know all about HB1700; just wonder exactly how they plan on enforcing it, tracking planes to their home bases, and handing them tickets.

I do not believe the cost analysis of the bill is anywhere near the real cost.

Then, the Karens, complaining about Wood or Pellet smoke next and how the bill is written, the NH DOE will have to investigate. I had heard that the Smokehouse in Ossipee was forced to fix their exhaust so you would not see smoke rising from the little piggy. I did not doubt the story.

I am here and ready to learn, but please, scientific sites only. I have no energy to research all this myself; I have enough conspiracy theories to defend as it is.

The post Condensation Trails or Chem Trails, is There a Difference? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

HB1500: The Dems Latest Act to Chill Free Speech and Expression … Is a New Kind of Stupid (With an Old Twist)

Fri, 2024-01-26 19:00 +0000

A group of New Hampshire Democrats have introduced a bill that is so blatantly unconstitutional that you’d think even they would know better. There is no chance of that. Oppressing speech feels right, especially if your bill allows you to accuse people of a crime without evidence of one.

They even added a special section prohibiting protected speech 90 days before an election (ala McCain Feingold).

HB1500 is an act relative to prohibiting the unlawful distribution of misleading synthetic media – where synthetic media is defined as “any form of media including text, image, video, or sound, fully or partially created or modified through the use of artificial intelligence algorithms.”

Without venturing down the “your side does this more than anyone rabbit hole,” what exactly were they thinking? You can’t require the consent of the object of your ridicule (for example), especially politicians, as we near an election. But that’s not the most dangerous feature of this smoldering crap wagon of words.

The proposed legislation fails to explain how the target or an advocate can tell if the text, image, video, or sound is (for lack of a better word) analog or AI. So, when looking at a bunch of text, a meme, or a parody video – all protected speech under the First Amendment – how does one discern if it was crafted by human hands or artificial intelligence?

Let me give you an example. Which one of these images was “fully or partially created or modified through the use of artificial intelligence algorithms.”

     

 

The answer is neither and, therefore, both because the bill has no mechanism for preventing snowflakes (or paid activists) from using the law HB1500 would create to engage in malicious acts of lawfare.

HB1500 is also an entrapment law. Anyone sharing a screengrab second-or-third-hand of something whose source document turns out to violate the law has no way of knowing in advance they might be breaking it, which again, demonstrates the idiocy of what it pretends to do – protect constituents these legislators consider too stupid to make decisions about online content for themselves.

That’s not the actual goal. HB1500 exists to suppress political speech with an emphasis on quelching dissent in the weeks leading up to an election when we need it most! But if we were to pretend otherwise, what right does NH have to tell citizens they need to acquire and use technology to ensure that any expression they engage in is not derived in violation of HB1500?

The correct, undiplomatic response to legislators ignoring any or all of these problems involves the phrase “you and the horse you rode in on.”

I don’t use AI, but as written, the easily offended could accuse me of violating this bill were it to become law without any evidence or concern for the need – which is an all-star attribute of laws under Democrat Socialism. Dragging innocent citizens into the so-called legal system on a lark, if you like, which – in my opinion – is the point. This bill suppresses the rights of innocent citizens while fattening the pockets of lawyers (not to mention cluttering up court schedules) for charges that cannot be corroborated and are – literally – protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the NH Constitution.

[Art.] 22. [Free Speech; Liberty of the Press.] Free speech and Liberty of the press are essential to the security of Freedom in a State: They ought, therefore, to be inviolably preserved.

I missed the public hearing and had not heard about the bill until after the fact, but one thing is clear. Democrats, especially the bill’s sponsors, are at war with the Constitution and free expression, and this is just another flanking maneuver and a poorly written one, at that.

If you agree, please get in touch with the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety with some politely worded thoughts.

The post HB1500: The Dems Latest Act to Chill Free Speech and Expression … Is a New Kind of Stupid (With an Old Twist) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow

Fri, 2024-01-26 17:00 +0000

To all those who are sending in memes, thank you!  The inflow has accelerated – a good thing!  Please do share this post, and if you share an individual meme, consider mentioning you saw it on the Grok!

Speaking of, from this week, Monday Edition and Wednesday Edition.  Also check out my latest Israel-focused meme & commentary post if this is a subject of interest to you.

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

I go to sporting events for my kids and with my kids.  I am astonished at how many people do not stand or place their hand on their hearts when the Star Spangled Banner is played.  And I am very proud of my immigrant wife who dutifully not only places her hand on her heart, standing at attention, but makes sure our kids do too.

 

 

 

 

 

Reminds me of a guy at synagogue who said that he’d had three shots, still had caught Covid, but said exactly that: “Thank goodness I was vaccinated or it would have been worse”.  FFS.

 

 

 

 

Drip by drip the news is coming out.

 

 

Not to mention, from what I understand, booking every escort in or around Davos.

 

 

 

Late stage: They’ve been planning a One World government for at least a century.  Under their enlightened “philosopher king” rule.

 

 

 

 

I can’t say, in my book, that Trump is “squeaky clean”… but it speaks volumes that to get him they had to invent stuff.

 

 

 

Because it sounds so good in theory.

 

 

 

NOT incompetence.  Malice.

 

 

 

 

 

And yet everyone in America points to Canada as a “shining light” of government health care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karma.

 

 

Heroes and heroines.  Related:

Prosecution for Americans Who Forged COVID Vaccine Cards — But ‘Pandemic Amnesty’ for the Powerful? • Children’s Health Defense (childrenshealthdefense.org)

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, they keep adding to the vaccine schedule.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

 

This is, or should be, huge.  At this point, any location that doesn’t hand-count – with witnesses – the paper ballots is suspect.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Gee, maybe people don’t want to see trannies or fat people in bikinis???

 

 

 

Keep pushing it, Leftists.  We’re getting close to reaching for the switch.  Alas.

 

 

Those who continue to push it should understand that – while this is an extreme example – there are a lot people on “our side” that can do this kind of shot from 500+ yards.

LONG WAY THERE: 4549 YARD RIFLE SHOT (ON VIDEO) – The Classic Woodsman (ericnestor.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know a sad number of “Conservatives” who think like this.  Look, the only person with whom I agree is myself, and sometimes not even then!   But really – don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her, Barackus, Pedo Pete, and a bunch  of others.  And not just from that side of the aisle.  Heck, raffle off chances to pull the lever and you’ll raise gobs of money.   Hell, throw in Daddy and whelp Soros, plus Barbara Spectre for good measure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Damn, that’ll leave a mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The UN is UNuseful and UNneeded.  Whether for Israel or anything else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To modify a quote from General Sherman:

“Migration is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.”

‘Betrayal to our citizens’: Alderman warns Chicago is ‘not equipped’ to handle flood of illegal immigrants | Law Enforcement Today | lawenforcementtoday.com

 

 

 

 

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

 

Link section; some from me, some from my Jarhead friend:

 

Bayou Renaissance Man: The COVID-19 scam is now plain to see – but the authorities worldwide continue to exploit it

And yet our government is still urging us to get booster shots, and those who refuse to contaminate themselves with a COVID-19 vaccine are still facing discrimination in many cities and states.

My Shul still recommends it to everyone.  I see job postings that I’m interested in but then, when I investigate, the company has “Must show proof of Covid Jab”…

Bayou Renaissance Man: Milei lays it on the line at Davos – and the elite sneer

Smackdown.  But they don’t care.  Remember, they’re relentless – this is their FAITH.

The West Should Stop Being Ashamed of Its Success And Stop Committing Cultural Suicide – Flopping Aces

Amen.  Western Civilization is the greatest, most exceptional civilization.  Or… was:

Heat Becomes Unaffordable In Germany… Seniors Struggle, Staying Warm At Public Heating Places… (notrickszone.com)

Germany and others used to be first-world countries.

The Draft Comes Back – Vox Popoli (voxday.net)

I wonder if all those Swedes who were gung ho about Sweden joining NATO realize that their forced military service is a direct consequence of their foolish decision to join the military wing of Clown World. I also wonder how they’re going to square the logical circle about forcing young men to fight in defense of individual freedom and democracy.

Regardless, it appears the young men of the West are going to face a choice. Fight the clowns ruling your country or fight the combined military forces of China and Russia. Based on recent events in Ukraine, the former would appear to be a much better bet.

Bayou Renaissance Man: The illegal alien migration corridor exposed

This is scary stuff.  Look at the scale of the operation!  Related:

BORDER SHOWDOWN: Texas Defies Feds — ‘We Will Continue to Deploy Razor Wire’ (breitbart.com)

G-d bless Texas!  I was listening this morning to talk radio – so when are the states that are supporting Texas sending troops to help out?

States standing with Texas as of January 25, 2024 (substack.com)

Military expert says Texas has constitutional right to defend itself (wnd.com)

The Crisis In The Red Sea Threatens To Disrupt Global Supply Chains Even More Than The Pandemic Did ⋆ Conservative Firing Line

War is not just military.  For Islam (and any group that practices total war) war is economic, and resources, and moral…

The Transgender Suicide Scam – American Thinker

I have read this multiple times – versions of “Would you rather have a live trans-boy or a dead girl (or vice versa).  And IMHO this is a clever bit of psychological twisting, done intentionally to get parents to go along.

The Fix Is In – Trump Goes To Prison | Armstrong Economics

This article has some fairly compelling data showing that the Deep State already has plans to put President Trump in prison, no matter what “We The People” have to say.  Jail, or other plans:

Not Cool – Alex Soros Tweets: “Bullet Hole, 47” – The Last Refuge (theconservativetreehouse.com)

Alex Soros (the son of George Soros) just tweeted out a very interesting tweet, implying that he was paying to have #47 “bullet-holed”.  Interestingly, the bills shown in the photo are OLD, in fact one of the commenters (Dad’s Son, posting on January 22, 2024 @ 2:45) noted that from the signatures on the bills, these are all from 1963.  Gee what important event happened in Dallas in November 1963?  I seriously hope the Secret Service takes a good hard look at this, and at Alex Soros

Minds To Think – by T.L. Davis – T.L.’s Posts and Podcasts (substack.com)

TL Davis with another “I can’t say he’s wrong” post.  Somewhat related:

WHO Blames ‘Fake News and Conspiracy Theories’ As Sovereign Nations Reject Pandemic Treaty – The People’s Voice (thepeoplesvoice.tv)

More evidence that smart phones are destroying minds – Behind The Black – Robert Zimmerman

Smartphones are causing children to have behavioral, as well as cognitive issues.  And from Bill Whittle (video, link only):

PJTV: Five Alarm Fire (youtube.com)

Harvard Sinks Even Further, Med School Forced to Retract Multiple Papers After Data Falsification Probe (thefederalistpapers.org)

The more I observe, the more I am 100% convinced that the fraud in our society has run long, and penetrated deep.  In every field.

 

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

 

Pick of the Post:

 

 

No.  Globalists and Islam are our twin threats.  Not the above.

 

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

 

Palate Cleansers:

 

 

And related:

 

 

I feel this.  Actually, here, it’s worse.  We’ll be OUT of something, and then someone will complain we’re out of it, and I get blamed because I’m not a telepath.

 

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

 

And don’t forget… come back Monday for another edition.  Same Meme Time.  Same Meme channel.

Please do consider buying me a coffee.

Buy Me a Coffee

 

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

 

The post Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

The Manchester Free Press aims to bring together in one place everything that you need to know about what’s happening in the Free State of New Hampshire.

As of August 2021, we are currently in the process of removing dead links and feeds, and updating the site with newer ones.

Articles

Media

Blogs

Our friends & allies

New Hampshire

United States