The Democrats have created for themselves a problem. The titular head of their party, Joe Biden – tit-head for short – left the door open, and that is beginning to get a cold reception from even the most die-hard rank-and-file lefties. It is one thing to pretend to be for sanctuary, another to have to be one.

Massachusetts, one of the original blue states, dropped its liberty drawers years ago, always safe in the knowledge that few, if any, would look up its skirt to see what was there. Nothing. Not really. We got plenty of posturing and posing. Judge Shelly Joseph let a criminal illegal alien escape through her chambers while ICE waited outside her courtroom doors to take him into custody. A few years later, she escaped any accountability as well. Massachusetts has a right-to-shelter law, that doesn’t apply to homeless vets. One big dog and pony show until Joe Biden OPENED THE BORDER!

Massachusetts declared a State of Emergency last summer, joining a host of progressive virtue-signallers up to their eyeballs in those seeking sanctuary. Baye State Chief Exec Maura Healy is begging legal residents to house illegals.

Governor Healey says close to 5,600 families are currently housed in the state’s emergency shelter system. That number is 80% higher than one year ago. Massachusetts is the only state in the country with a right-to-shelter law that guarantees homeless families access to emergency shelters. She says Massachusetts has been spending around $45 million a month to help assist these families. The situation is so bad, the Healey administration is now asking people to open their homes and businesses to help people in need.

“Most importantly, if you have an extra room or suite in your home, please consider hosting a family. Housing and shelter is our most pressing need and become a sponsor family,” said Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll.

Ironic, isn’t it? Planes and boats filled with third-worlders are landing in Central America. They then work their way to the US border on buses with well-stocked way stations, all funded by progressive billionaires and our government. The invaders are displacing Americans, and now Democrats like Healy are asking Americans to house the illegals.

Why can’t some of the billionaires and millionaires who fund Democrat campaigns and non-profits pay to put them back on boats and planes and take them someplace else? The goal is to overwhelm the system. Every system. To break America.

Healy is asking today, but not long from now, her state will be demanding and then forcing illegals into homes because while all the Dems have to do is close the door, they won’t or can’t. The tide will not ebb until your home, town, state, and nation are overwhelmed.

It’s not just housing. How do we feed this many people? What happens to access to services, health care, and everything? Who pays for any or all of that? We’re 34 trillion in debt; there is no money. Nothing can withstand that pressure, and that is the point.

This will be difficult for the virtue-signalling dems and the rank and file who thought their party was truly compassionate, but these are your choices. Have non-English speaking third-world illegal housed in your homes as the country collapses in on the wight of that, or… vote Republican up and down the ticket in every election, local, state, and federal, for at least the next 12 years.

You might not be able to get an abortion after six months, but that’s already the case in Massachusetts and most of the world. In exchange, you get to keep your house, eat, and live; the tide of illegals stops, and many of them will be sent back home—their home. And that is not an unkindness. They will suffer with you if the invasion is not halted.

And – after Republicans sweep into power – as things calm down – if you still want to share your home with a “migrant family,’ you can always do that. But it will be your choice, not an act of force by a police state that created the problem.

 

 

 

HT | Gateway Pundit

The post Massachusetts ‘Asks’ Residents to House Invading Aliens – How Long ‘Till They Demand it? appeared first on Granite Grok.

With the recent court decisions, we need a bit of analysis on NH education funding and recent (and historic) NH Supreme Court decisions regarding the NH Constitution.

First, why is it said that we must fund public education in New Hampshire at the state level? The answer is that a supreme court ruling interpreted the NH Constitution Article 83, and in particular, the phrase “cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools, to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country…”

This court decision seems to have entirely ignored the word “seminaries,” as the suggestions that “cherish” implies “fund” should then equally apply to seminary as it does “public schools.” I am not aware of any publicly funded seminary. I believe this decision was likely in error – I do not see a mandate for state-level funding of education in this phrase or anywhere within the rest of the New Hampshire Constitution.

However, where I may break with some conservatives and libertarians is that I do, in fact, see the great utility and, likely, necessity of a public education being available to our youth in order to replicate and preserve our heritage and culture. I believe I keep good company with Thomas Jefferson in this regard. Though while I am quite amenable to a basic funding of public education by law, despite seeing no Constitutional mandate to the same, I believe this education must, absolutely and without deviation, follow the guidance of the New Hampshire constitution: this must be a requirement for the expenditure of public funds towards the end of education.

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

Here, it is useful to examine the whole text of Article 83: “Knowledge and learning, generally diffused through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country, being highly conducive to promote this end; it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools, to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and economy, honesty and punctuality, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people: Provided, nevertheless, that no money raised by taxation shall ever be granted or applied for the use of the schools of institutions of any religious sect or denomination. Free and fair competition in the trades and industries is an inherent and essential right of the people and should be protected against all monopolies and conspiracies which tend to hinder or destroy it. The size and functions of all corporations should be so limited and regulated as to prohibit fictitious capitalization and provision should be made for the supervision and government thereof. Therefore, all just power possessed by the state is hereby granted to the general court to enact laws to prevent the operations within the state of all persons and associations, and all trusts and corporations, foreign or domestic, and the officers thereof, who endeavor to raise the price of any article of commerce or to destroy free and fair competition in the trades and industries through combination, conspiracy, monopoly, or any other unfair means; to control and regulate the acts of all such persons, associations, corporations, trusts, and officials doing business within the state; to prevent fictitious capitalization; and to authorize civil and criminal proceedings in respect to all the wrongs herein declared against.”

This article, as part of the supreme law of New Hampshire, must then guide our understanding of what it means to receive a public education, how language such as “adequate” might be defined, and the lens through which we must evaluate our current public education system.

First, to the concept of an “adequate education,” we must first acknowledge that an “adequate education” is not a dollar amount – it can only reasonably be defined as the inculcation of certain values, knowledge, and capacities as are outlined within Article 83, or elsewhere in law as to not be in contradiction to the Constitution. As a part of this definition, we must also acknowledge that not all persons are of the same abilities and that, even with a hypothetical perfectly optimized situation with unlimited funding, not all persons will achieve the same levels of competency and capacity, so any such definitions of “adequate education” must, in fact, be defined in terms of opportunity provided towards this end, with some application of an averaging in assessment to determine efficacy, and further with the understanding that neither perfect optimization nor unlimited funding are attainable, and so a “reasonableness” standard must come into this definition as well.

Now, what, then, per Article 83, is the end of public education? It is the capacity to function as a citizen in civic engagement towards maintaining a “free government,” familiarity with and capacity towards “literature and the sciences,” familiarity with and the ability to interact freely with “public and private institutions,” a general inculcation of interest and familiarity with “agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country…” and the indoctrination of those founding values of “principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and economy, honesty and punctuality, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affections, and generous sentiments…”

To summarize, the end of public education is the creation of citizens capable of the maintenance of our Constitutional Republic towards the preservation of the liberties enumerated within our Bill of Rights, a general, broad education within the sciences (and maths and logic therein implied), literature (reading and writing and the classics), and seeding within this young people the values, traditions, and culture of a traditional American ideal.

Now, let us assess whether our current formulation of public education is, per Article 83, Constitutional. A general and broad survey of New Hampshire students of public schools finds rampant innumeracy and illiteracy across the board. A sampling of curricula provisioned by various public schools demonstrates that primacy within the classroom is given to modern and divisive social theories that are wholly divergent from traditional American values. Further, students are taught a false history of America coupled with the lens of conflict theory, e.g. the oppressor-oppressed dialectic of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) which inculcates a gnostic disposition of victimhood as opposed to one of benevolence and generous sentiments. Instead of the preparation for maintenance of our Republic with thoughtful and light application of government towards the maintenance of Natural and Constitutional rights, students are taught to manipulate “our Democracy” via training towards social activism and Maoist mass lines demanding heavy-handed government coercion against the liberties of their neighbors. Further, the manner in which a monopolistic, cartel-like, and coercive regime has developed around public education, in no small part due to the influence of public-sector unions, is unconscionable.

I can see no way in which our current formulation of public education could possibly be more violative of Article 83, and, therefore, I find it to be a wholly unconstitutional system. This current system is not designed to replicate that society of the American founding but has instead been hijacked, as a virus hijacks a cell, to replicate a corrupted, corrosive, and damnable system of a Marxist bent instead.

If we are to publicly fund a system of public education, which I find reasonable and prudent, it should most certainly not be this current system as it exists. The system must be reformed, or a new one established and the old abolished. This is necessary for all of us. Our current system of public education is an existential threat to the republic, to you, and to everyone you care about.

Rep. Mike Belcher (Carroll 4) sits on the House Education Committee.

The post What Then, Is the Purpose of Public Education? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor, who, at some point after I stopped paying attention, changed her name to Shuhada Sadaqat (in 2018, she converted to Islam), died in July 2023. She was 56 years old. Today, about six months later, give or take, the coroner announced her cause of death.

 

London’s Metropolitan Police had said the singer’s death was not considered suspicious after she was found unresponsive at a home in southeast London on July 26. O’Connor was 56.

The Southwark Coroner’s Court confirmed that O’Connor died of natural causes, which means circumstances when an illness or condition is not linked to external forces. It did not provide details.

 

“Circumstances when an illness or condition is not linked to external forces.” Natural causes. She was fifty-six years old. Quite the blow to life expectancy, that. Unless – he says with a glint in his eye – the COVID vaccine killed her.

Yes, she was vaccinated. Proudly. She brought her son with her, so he likely was as well.

 

The singer, who now goes by the name, Shuhada Sadaqat received her second Coid vaccination and her 17-year-old son Shane accompanied her to the appointment.

Writing on Twitter she said: “2nd Vaccine today My lovely 17 yr old son coming with me : ) Behold Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor #Gentleman.”

 

That was May of 2021. We can only guess if she got on the booster train (I did not look) because dying at the age of 56 from natural causes … is suspicious.

Given how the globalist industrial complex continues to ignore the actual science and facts about its response and its alleged cure, we should assume that vaccine deaths could be called natural deaths.

I’m not saying the vaccine killed her. I’ve no idea. I’m saying that they are playing fast and loose with the idea of what is natural and what an external force is, and much like the mission creep of Medically Assisted Dying, we should expect the list of things not-so-natural to transition in the interest of obfuscating future acts of democide – planned or incidental.

The cause of death may not have been reported as suspicious, but I can’t help thinking that saying it was natural makes it so.

 

The post People are Dying of “Natural Causes” at the Age of 56 …? appeared first on Granite Grok.

To all those who are sending in memes, thank you – have gotten a lot lately!  Keep them coming please, as it helps me gather weaponry to fight the Left.  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 ***

 

 

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

 

 

Remember, to the Left his man is Satan incarnate.  Can you wrap your mind around someone that low that they’d do this?  Hate… raw, seething hate for Trump (and by extension his supporters).  Understand – I hated Barackus with a passion, but were I in that judges position I’d still have the human decency to permit this.  That this judge can’t permit this is a testament to the level of hate the Left has for Trump and us persons to the Right of Stalin.

 

 

 

Not just Muslims, of course.  But that ANYONE could value money more than the lives of children…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China sowing division in its number one rival.

 

 

 

 

As I understand it many such farms – don’t know about this one specifically but I’d suspect they’re included – fully disclose the risks of, for example, raw milk.  Customers have to sign a form that says they’re aware of the risks and want the stuff anyway.  Willing seller who informs, willing buyer in the know – so it begs the question of why such farms are under such attack.

 

 

And this video (link only).

 

 

 

 

 

My understanding of this is a bear having been shot in self-defense becomes a case example of a bear having died from “climate change”.

 

 

 

They don’t want to see, because to see would acknowledge they were bamboozled, and in this specific case, admit the possibility that their “good act” was actually what harmed their child.  They’d have to acknowledge the possibility that those they trusted when those experts said Safe and effective were, at best, merely wrong – but potentially truly dishonest with them.  They’d also have to admit that the very people they looked down on as science deniers, anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists – gaining a sense of superiority from that – were, in fact, the ones who were more informed and more perceptive than their vaunted selves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re the ones paying for this.

 

 

 

 

Correct.  Psychopaths don’t reform or repent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

 

Yes.  Got preps?  Got local friends who think the same?  And given this:

US and UK prepare to launch strikes against Houthis in Yemen | Yemen | The Guardian

You think Iran and others don’t already have sleepers here just waiting?  And all the ones flooding across the border?  Or this:

Sweden is warned to ‘brace for war’: Civil Defence minister tells citizens to ‘get moving’ and prepare for the end of 210 years of peace as country bids to join NATO in face of Russia tensions | Daily Mail Online

Putin ally warns US/NATO of another red line that, if crossed, will lead to nuclear response (substack.com)

Or The Potato discussing the possibility of NATO troops against Russians in Ukraine if Congress doesn’t keep the money spigot open?

Biden: Help Ukraine Now or Send Americans to Fight Russia With NATO Later | National News | U.S. News (usnews.com)

Or China becoming stronger-worded about Taiwan?

Sudan is a massacre site.  All around the world are hot-spots either in action or tending that way.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been to Disney World once or twice – not been terribly impressed, but still.  Now, of course, its reputation is utterly gone.

And this is part of the whole debasement of our culture.  One by one our icons and statues and standards are being corrupted and ruined.

 

 

 

Imagine this was your daughter.

 

 

 

 

The whole point of these meme posts… mockery and ridicule.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And worse – they want to make you seedless.

 

 

Pretty much.

 

 

 

The Left is very good at twisting the language to their purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NO JUDGE would want to be the judge who reversed a state’s election and flipped it.  Too much pressure would come to bear on them.

 

 

 

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

 

Most links and comments from my Jarhead friend; I added a few:

 

Green Inefficiency: Up To One Third Of Power Needed To Charge Up E-Car Battery Gets Lost! (notrickszone.com)

As every engineer worth their salt knows, when energy get transformed, there are losses.  This article states that EV’s lose 10-30% of the energy they are charged with due to battery losses, internal resistance, etc.  And this is on top of all the losses in generating and transmitting the power.  So how these are supposed to “save energy”?:

—

A Culture in Collapse › American Greatness (amgreatness.com)

Another profound piece by Victor Davis Hanson.

—

Lawmaker: FBI Had 200 Undercover Assets at US Capitol on Jan. 6 (dailysignal.com)

Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA), has been investigating the January 6th, 2021 “insurrection” and has found that over 200 federal agents were in the crowd that day, undercover, dressed as Trump and/or MAGA supporters.  And that the orders to do this came from the upper levels of the FBIie.

—

Hot Mic Catches Journalists Joking About Trump Assassination – Geller Report

Recently, several reporters were caught on a hot mic joking about the “JFK solution” for President Trump.  Given that all the lawsuits, slander, and other mud-slinging being done to Trump are having the opposite effect (making him more popular), I have no doubt that the Deep State is seriously considering this option.

—

No, Arctic Sea Ice Isn’t Shrinking – Climate- Science.press

Data.  Actual data.  What was it Richard Feynman said?

“It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is … If it doesn’t agree with experiment (i.e., the data), it’s wrong.”

—

BREAKING From ATTORNEY TOM RENZ: HHS, FDA, CDC and Big Pharma Knew that COVID “Vaccines” Would Shed and Cause Cancer | Joe Hoft

They knew.  And they pushed it into peoples’ arms – children’s arms – anyway.

—

Interactive ‘Smart’ Toys Can Collect Kids’ Personal Data & Location (deeprootsathome.com)

Anything “connected” has this potential.

—

Would you agree to house illegal immigrants in your home? – THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL. (journal14.com)

And soon it will not be a request, but a demand.  OK, her first.

—

New Ivermectin Study Demonstrates 92 Percent Reduction In COVID-19 Mortality Rate – GreatGameIndia

Concluding the links: Ivermectin works – and it worked the whole time; it could treat an active case, and it acted as a prophylactic.  Same for hydroxychloroquine.  (And zinc.)  They let people die for profit and to make Trump look bad… and to scare people into taking the Jab.

 

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

 

Pick of the Post:

 

 

You cannot save in such an environment.  You cannot build assets either.  You are totally dependent on the state.  And if this goes through and becomes permanent, they’ll set your non-expiring limit lower than your expenses, so you cannot save at all.

 

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

 

Palate Cleansers:

 

—

—

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/people-buy-solutions.mp4

 

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

 

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.

Maine is a vast and beautiful state. From its rocky coast to its wooded core sprinkled with lakes and ponds. From its quaint fishing ports to its mountains and ski areas. From its majestic finger region to the remote northern border. Maine is a beautiful and proud state.

The good people of Maine are hard workers who have had difficulty adjusting to the loss of a vital paper industry and an attack on the number two industry in the state, the lobster industry. Maine’s vastness, lack of infrastructure, and high tax structure do not make it attractive to new industries. Outside of the cities of Portland and Augusta, the level of unemployment and poverty is far above average and stifles the quest for the American Dream for far too many Mainers. The Liberal leadership of the Maine Government does not have an urgency to address the plight of these disenfranchised Mainers. Still, it seems to be overly concerned with Abortion Rights, Mandates for conversion to electric vehicles, the growing marijuana industry, protecting the Chinese Cartel, and the suppression of voter rights by omitting the Former President from the 2024 ballot. We love Maine, and my partner and I call it our second home, but it is regrettable watching the destruction of Maine.

Maine also has a history as a magnate for groups of immigrants who have come to America from far reaches of the globe. The Catholic Church, which is one of the most prominent NGOs used by the federal government to distribute immigrants, targeted the Lewiston area as a new home for people who escaped Somalia decades ago when that country was at civil war. That influx of immigrants changed the demographics of Lewiston forever, and most agree the quality of life did not improve from that scenario. The school system, housing, and social benefit programs have been taxed since. The story is repeating itself. As Maine, like all of America, is working to recover from the Pandemic, it is now the destination of thousands of illegal immigrants who have crossed our Southern Border. These people come from over 150 countries, have no sponsors in Maine, have introduced many languages to the state, and are creating a housing dilemma. Hotels and civic auditoriums are used for emergency shelters but are inadequate for long-term use. So towns are getting creative to meet the need.

The town of Brunswick unveiled a new solution yesterday that is a slap on the face for Mainers trying to make ends meet, especially in this era of high inflation. Chloe Teboe, the Newscenter Maine Weekend Host, reported that 60 units of affordable housing had been completed on the property of the former Naval Air Station in Brunswick. These units will be used to transition immigrants from shelters as they integrate into Maine society. Rent will be paid for these units by the Maine Housing Authority for up to two years, but there are provisions for an extension if needed. The plan is for these units to be rented by these immigrants in the future.

As of 2023, there were over 4,200 homeless people in Maine, and nearly seven percent of Portland’s students are homeless. Nearly one third of Portland’s students do not speak English, but illegal immigrants are now getting free housing on Mainer’s dime. It makes you question who will drive the next nail into Maine’s coffin.

 

The post Bear Pond Conservative Chronicles: What Will We Do With Maine When The Democrats Are Done appeared first on Granite Grok.

If You’ve not heard of NewsGuard, Lee Fang, writing at RealClear Wire – which (thank you!) shares its content with independent media like the ‘Grok, had some less than flattering observations about the service.

Instead of merely suggesting rebuttals to untrustworthy information, as many other existing anti-misinformation groups provide, NewsGuard has built a business model out of broad labels that classify entire news sites as safe or untrustworthy, using an individual grading system producing what it calls “nutrition labels.” The ratings – which appear next to a website’s name on the Microsoft Edge browser and other systems that deploy the plug-in – use a scale of zero to 100 based on what NewsGuard calls “nine apolitical criteria,” including “gathers and presents information responsibly” (worth 18 points), “avoids deceptive headlines” (10 points), and “does not repeatedly publish false or egregiously misleading content” (22 points), etc.

Critics note that such ratings are entirely subjective – the New York Times, for example, which repeatedly carried false and partisan information from anonymous sources during the Russiagate hoax, gets a 100% rating.

Read the whole piece for more detail, then feel free to guess what they are about, but yesterday, they were about reaching out to me. (Dun, DUN, DUUUNNNNNNNNN!)

Mr. McDonald,

My name is John Gregory, health editor at NewsGuard. We publish written reviews of news and information websites’ credibility and transparency and seek on-the-record comments from the sites that we rate out of fairness and for the benefit of readers.
In rating GraniteGrok.com, I had questions about specific claims made in articles on the site, including claims about the 2020 elections, Nikki Haley’s presidential eligibility, COVID vaccines, Jan. 6, and Sept. 11, as well as questions about the site’s approach to correcting errors, labeling of advertising, and the use of pseudonyms by some of the site’s writers.

Would you be available for a phone interview to answer our questions? If you prefer, I can also send my questions via email. Thank you for your time.

Best regards, John Gregory
john.gregory@newsguardtech.com
Office: ‪(312) 489-8676
More about NewsGuard criteria here.

I wasn’t interested in spending time on the phone with another organ of the censorship state who had no intention of treating what we do in any fair or unbiased light, but I did make time to write a quick reply.

 

Mr. Gregory, thanks for reaching out, but a phone call won’t be necessary. I believe I can clarify all of this in a quick email.

We are a political opinion site focused on limited government and maximized individual liberty. The writers are all citizens and volunteers. They offer their thoughts freely and for free. We do not tell them what to think, write, or say. This means our contributors – including those who cannot use their names for fear of retribution – have a right to get things wrong.

We provide a minimum of editing and formatting but little else than the platform itself and encourage the community of authors, commenters, lurkers, the odd troll, and even would-be fact-checkers to challenge everything if they can – in comments, written rebuttals, and opposing op-eds for publication.

We welcome civil, open debate, edit or delete inappropriate “adult language,” and ban anyone who infers direct physical threat or harm to any individual or group.

Our goal has always been to encourage free speech in all its messy and glorious wonder from anyone and everyone and – per our FAQ – hold no one else responsible for other people’s words.

I’m sure that’s not precisely something NewsGuard’s rating system will chew easily, but we appreciate the outreach and look forward to writing about whatever comes of it.

I’m sure we’re not their cup of tea and, as such, will be branded as untrustworthy or rated poorly, but that’s who we are and what we are about. We accept opinion pieces, share our thoughts about other people’s thoughts, and expect the audience to weigh in whichever way their wind blows. The sum is impossible to calculate unless you accept that the comments are as much part of the experience as the piece itself.

A work in progress started by whatever the author wrote.

If that labels us as anything but a defender of free speech, we’ll be happy to promote whatever rating we get like we did when the SPLC labeled us as anti-government—an absurd notion, given that we’ve always got some number of contributors and commenters … who are in the damn government.

I’ll keep you posted, or better yet, you keep me posted. This is, after all, a team effort, and we wouldn’t want to do it without you.

 

The post I Was Contacted by NewsGuard Yesterday About Rating This Website … appeared first on Granite Grok.

I have been involved with Right-to-Know litigation in the City of Nashua for four years now, and the experiences have left me with a story to tell. How does a citizen bring an RTK case to court? Realistically, you have to represent yourself and file pro se.

My first attorney-represented case was filed in February 2020. I won half of this case in 2022, but it remains under appeal before the Supreme Court. After the staggering costs of the first case, I began challenging the City as a pro se litigant.

All my work has been done through the Southern New Hampshire District Superior Court under two Judges. My experiences have been shaped by those who came before me and those who travelled through the Court system with their information requests during my time of records sought.

These cases are extraordinarily expensive to bring into Court; The process feeds money to the Attorneys and leaves the requester with all the risk and little reward. We should all be grateful for those who have challenged the system and failed.

I am aware of five Right-to-Know cases from Nashua, Milford, and Conway that have come before the Nashua Court since 2017. Judges look at these cases as burdensome and uninteresting. Understandably, criminal matters take priority. But given our political climate and the public’s general distrust of government, knowing what our government is up to has never been more important.

[1] The first Right-to-Know case I became aware of was Granite Green v City of Nashua. The City painted the Plaintiff as requesting hundreds of pages of records and wasting City time (the same tactic used by the City for my cases); the Judge agreed with the City and ruled against the Plaintiff, issuing an admonishment stating that he had a good mind to force the Plaintiffs to pay the legal bills of the City. I think the Judge got that wrong, and the manipulators of the records for RTK requests were and remain the City of Nashua attorneys.

The case cost hundreds of thousands to take into court. In 2021, these Plaintiffs reached out to me, recognizing that I had the same Judge, and warned me of the Judge’s intolerance for these cases and bias towards the City. I have come to know these folks as honorable Martyrs and Heroes whose loss helped pave the way for my victories.

[2] In Court, my 2020 Assessing records case was off to a rough start. For 15 months, I lost almost every motion. My Attorney and I were both frustrated because these were assessing records that were being requested, initially to understand our unfair property assessment. How could so much of this assessing information not be public? (I won my abatement through the State Appeals process.)

At that time, I was $100,000 into the case, and my Attorney, providing sound advice, recommended I quit. “The Judge doesn’t like you or your case.” I decided that, given information from the Granite Green folks, I was going to bring myself before the Judge as a pro se citizen and let him meet me. I knew I could speak to my case with passion, and I am a reasonable, logical, and credible woman. It worked.

Thankfully, the Judge became more interested and receptive, taking notes and asking questions. I started to win cases and claims. All in, it cost about $225,000 to bring the assessing Right-to-Know Petition through Superior Court. Contrary to the NH Bar Association creed, where “Civility and self-discipline prevent lawsuits from turning into combat and keep organized society from falling apart,” City Corporation Counsel turned my first RTK case into a war. It has continued through all cases.

[3] While my case was slugging through the system, another Nashua senior citizen brought a case before the same Judge. The simple, well-written request for emails was rejected by the city as overly broad and unreasonably described – a game the City was playing heavily to deny records to virtually all Nashua citizen requests. The Judge listened attentively and this hero lady won in the lower court and won the Supreme Court appeal for attorney’s fees. All in all, her case cost about $30K.

[4] In 2022, a Milford Plaintiff, a smart and strong witness, brought numerous challenges to the Court regarding non-public meetings, minutes, and Warrant Articles. The Judge, called from retirement, appeared to take no notes and several times requested, the Plaintiff’s attorney move it along. Four months later, the final ruling was issued, and the Plaintiff lost all claims. The case cost upwards of six figures. This is another Hero Challenger.

All in all, these four represented cases cost the Plaintiffs over $600,000. I won 5 out of 9 claims, and the Nashua Senior won her claim. All other challenges were lost. To do these challenges as a citizen, you have to file pro se and it is a difficult and unwelcoming process. The Judicial/legal system has an opportunity to create better pathways and work more productively with those seeking records. Why don’t they do this?

To those who paved the way, thank you. You are my Heroes.

The post The Martyrs and Heroes of New Hampshire’s Right-to-Know Law appeared first on Granite Grok.

A clip from last night’s (1/6) CNN “debate” … Nikki (not her real name) Haley mouthing the Left’s/NeverTrump’s BIG LIE about the 2020 election. No, Miss Nikki. Biden didn’t win as the term is commonly understood; he cheated.

The Left and that includes NeverTrumpers like Chris Sun-King Sununu, RIGGED the election … the nationwide BLM/Antifa violence that included an actual attempt to take over the White House; the numerous false stories designed to damage Trump and help Biden planted by the Deep State (Russian bounties, Hunter Biden laptop is Russian disinformation, etc.); censorship by Big Tech (Hunter laptop); and mail-in voting and other changes, many illegal or instituted illegally, to voting laws, instituted to supposedly protect us from COVID, that allowed cheating.

There should be no debate about the 2020 election being rigged. The Left, after Biden “won” the election (in the same way that the Soviet Union “won” the men’s basketball gold medal in 1972), actually bragged about rigging it:

“well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information.”

Yet here is Miss Nikki sounding just like a vessel for the “well-funded cabal of powerful people”:

Haley: That election, Trump lost it. Biden won that election. I think what happened on January 6th was a terrible day and I think President Trump will have to answer for it pic.twitter.com/ucu5E7ycpX

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 11, 2024

The differences between a Haley Presidency and the present Biden regime on the big issues, the issues that matter, would be largely cosmetic. Haley would talk tough on the border but would NOT secure it. Haley would continue to fund her donor’s favorite pastime, the War in Ukraine. And Haley’s China policy would be much closer to Biden’s than Trump’s because her big donors make big money off of China.

 

The post Night Cap: There Is No Practical Difference Between Haley And Biden appeared first on Granite Grok.

A lot of parents who educate their own children at their own expense (i.e., without the aid of Education Freedom Accounts) are upset about HB1610, which — as it’s currently written — would require their kids to take the same state assessments as kids in public schools.

Although it allows parents of public school children to exempt their children from the assessments, it does not — as currently written — provide for similar exemptions for home-educated students.

That is, on its face, the bill appears to be a blatant attempt to subject home-educated students to the kind of micro- and mismanagement that prompted their parents to keep them out of schools in the first place.

This interpretation can’t be dismissed out of hand.  I have personally witnessed supporters of public schools (who are not, it is always important to keep in mind, supporters of student academic achievement) formulating plans to collect copies of the birth certificates of all the children born in New Hampshire in order to keep tabs on all the children who aren’t ‘in the system.’

But I think a simpler interpretation is that the authors of the bill (like Hope Damon) are themselves products of the public schools that they are trying to prop up and, therefore, haven’t learned to write clear declarative sentences that require things like commas, subordinate clauses, and agreement among parallel structures.

For example, the title of the bill clearly states that it is about Education Freedom Accounts.  So, the simplest way to clear up any misunderstanding would be to replace the phrase ‘Home educated students’ with the more appropriate phrase ‘Home educated students who are participating in Education Freedom Accounts’.

Similarly, the bill should refer not to private schools but to students in private schools who are using EFAs to attend.  Otherwise, simply allowing any student with an EFA into a private school would require all students at the school to participate in the assessments.

The underlying principle seems straightforward:  If you’re taking money from taxpayers, they have an interest in seeing that they’re getting something for their money.  We might call this the If We Pay, We Get a Say principle.

So if you’re participating in the EFA program, the people whose money you’re spending would like to know that it’s not being wasted.  And they shouldn’t just have to take your word for it.

Conversely, if you’re not participating in the EFA program, well — they don’t pay, so they have no say.

Having said that, if the purpose of the bill is to implement some other principles — for example, the ‘principle’ that we have to ‘keep a closer eye on home-educated students’ — then it is incumbent on the sponsors of the bill to articulate those clearly and completely in a preamble.  Otherwise, the bill is a ‘solution’ to a ‘problem’ that hasn’t even been identified yet.

All of this suggests that the whole statute ought just to say something like:

Any student whose education is being funded by taxes must take the statewide assessments under penalty of losing access to that funding. 

Note that phrasing everything in terms of districts and schools and ‘learning environments’ ensures the creation of loopholes and other unintended consequences.

Note also that phrasing the statute so that it directly implements the Pay/Say principle would say to parents of public school students:  If you don’t want your kids to take the assessments, that’s fine, but they can’t keep attending tax-funded schools for free, so you’ll have to make other arrangements (like paying tuition) for them.

So that’s what the statute should say.  But let’s suppose that it passes as written.  How bad would that be for home-educated students?

First, like many RSAs, especially those dealing with education, the bill specifies no penalty for non-compliance.  If you’re accepting EFA money, the state might be able to cut you off, but it doesn’t appear that there is any punishment for other home educators who simply ignore the statute.

(In fact, the current statute says that ‘A school district shall not penalize any exempted student nor shall the department of education or the state board of education penalize any school district for a lower participation rate.’  So universal participation is clearly not anticipated or even intended.)

Second, the term ‘learning environment’ is so vague as to be meaningless.  If I use EFA funds for jiu-jitsu classes or piano lessons, that clearly takes place in a ‘learning environment.’  If I use EFA funds to buy a computer so my kid can use Kahn Academy, that’s clearly a ‘learning environment.’  Does this mean that the gym, the piano teacher, the Kahn Academy, and even the manufacturer of the computer would be required to administer the statewide assessments? It’s ludicrous on its face.

Third, the requirements are expressed in terms of ‘grades’ and not ages.  If your kid just stays in ‘first grade’ forever — maybe because he has special needs, maybe because you think grades (which are essentially pedagogical implementations of astrological principles) are meaningless — then he never has to take the assessments.

So there’s bad news and good news.  The bad news is that there are a lot of legislators who are so scared that home-educated students might escape their propaganda mills that they are willing to write bills like this.

But the good news is that those legislators are often some pretty dim bulbs, whose inability to accurately translate their desires into prose renders their bills toothless.

Anyway, the best thing to do with this bill would be to just kill it, on the grounds that it creates new problems without solving any old ones.

Okay, that would be second best.  The actual best thing to do would be to amend it so that it replaces the existing statute with one that directly implements the Pay/Say principle and focuses on students rather than on districts, schools, and other ‘learning environments’.

But your last resort, as a home educator, is to simply ignore the bill even if it is enacted as written, and make sure your kid never gets beyond ‘first grade’, even if he’s reading War and Peace in the original Russian.

The post Is This House Bill Evil, or Just Sloppy? appeared first on Granite Grok.

I just read Rep. Mike Moffett’s (R) recent Op-Ed in the New Hampshire Journal regarding New Hampshire’s First in the Nation primary (FITN). I found his article a little disingenuous.

He argued that if the voters made certain choices (Trump), it would disqualify us from being a discerning population, and hence, we would not merit being FITN any longer.

He has already concluded that if Donald Trump wins NH (and he will), our state loses all credibility because we have picked an “unworthy” candidate. He questions Trump’s eligibility based on his age, he unfairly compares him to Joe Biden in terms of mental capacity, and he accuses him of unfounded and untried crimes. Whatever happened to due process?

There is an argument to be made that NH will be reinforcing its long tradition of picking the ultimate winners for their party and that among all of the candidates, Donald J. Trump is the most eligible and most qualified to be President, considering that he held the job for four years previously.

The good representative has been blinded by the slime of a “Swamp” he has chosen to enter. He admits that he has endorsed Nikki Haley and was the first NH representative to do so (I believe the only one at last check). That is fine. She is a good and worthy candidate. So, campaign for her on her own merits. Why tear down the other candidates (Trump) and do the dirty work for the other political party? This will only hurt our party come general election time.

I am frankly tired of these establishment Republicans talking out of both sides of their mouths. On the one hand, they call for party unity and beg us all to refrain from attacking fellow Republicans. Then they turn around and attack the candidate they will be crawling back to on January 24. The denialism that I am witnessing in my party is astonishing. Numbers do not lie unless they come from wishful thinking “Anybody but Trump” factions. The supposed Haley surge in NH is just poll percentages being exchanged between non-Trump candidates; anyone can see that. Trump has a solid 45% republican base in NH and is guaranteed to get that percentage of the vote, if not more.

I do not doubt that Nikki Haley will probably be the number two vote-getter in the NH primary. She will be the only contender to stay in the race for the long run. But, in the end, her only path to being the Republican nominee will be for her to pull a “Ted Cruz.” She will have to argue at the Republican convention that Donald Trump is “unworthy” to be the nominee despite him having won the primary in every state that allowed him on the ballot.

So do not worry, Rep. Moffett. NH FITN’s reputation will not be tainted but solidified as we continue to pick winners and help lesser-known, lesser-qualified candidates make a name for themselves across our Nation.

 

Jose’ Eduardo Cambrils
NH State Representative
Merrimack County – District 4
Canterbury / Loudon
Finance Committee
NH Commission to Study Offshore Wind and Port Development

The post Inevitable Trump Win Won’t “Taint” New Hampshire’s Primary … appeared first on Granite Grok.

I can turn the other cheek without thoughts of retaliation. I have tough skin and can handle your insults without comebacks. But I have lost patience when a man has focused the entirety of his energy on destroying our great country and continues to denigrate Donald Trump and the MAGA movement as being on the same level as the KKK and Nazi Germany.

That is beyond insulting and equates those of us who want to Make America Great Again with two of the most horrific groups of bigoted and racist individuals in history. Joe Biden cannot back these statements with facts but knows they get applause when preaching to his small groups of blind followers. These people are blind because they refuse to acknowledge the reality of the damage heaped on America by Biden. And instead, they are stimulated by the rhetoric and lies that emanate from his lips.

Biden gave the second speech of his re-election campaign in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of one of the most horrific hate crimes of recent years. In a speech filled with hate, anger, and accusations about the MAGA Republicans and their attack on Democracy, Joe Biden tries in vain to paint a picture of America hating Radical Right-Wingers as a genuine danger to our Democracy. This speech was patronizing vitriol, and it is obvious that Biden is hoping lightning can strike twice and South Carolina will be the slingshot to blast him into the White House for a second term. The only thing I could think of during Biden’s speech was how he was going to bow out of this race. Biden is obviously more mentally diminished with every public appearance, and at every event, Jill has to come to Joe’s rescue and guide him offstage. It is sad, and it is cruel. Jill and Joe’s keepers must know how old, feeble, and inadequate he looks every time he opens his mouth. What are they hoping for? That one day, Joe will emerge as a sixty-year-old seasoned statesman. Joe never was one, which makes this charade all the more difficult. At some point, Joe’s keepers and the real people in power must act. Joe Biden will never see a second term. It is one and done for Scranton Joe.

MAGA and Trump were mentioned nearly 50 times by Biden. Some with a whisper and some with fingers pointing and fists shaking emphatically. It was boring and obvious, but what we have come to expect. In contrast, Bidenomics, Immigration, Fentanyl, Energy, Defense, or Education were not mentioned once. How can he? There is nothing positive that Biden can run on from his first term, and the next ten months will be filled with anti-MAGA rhetoric and fear.

The Democrat mayors of sanctuary cities are getting no sympathy from their attacks on Governors Abbott or DeSantis bussing illegals to their cities. They are now turning their angst toward Biden. The Border situation that has divided the Left and Right may now be the issue that fractures the Left.

Biden is losing to Trump in the polls and even worse to Nikki Haley. This trend has to be striking fear in Democrats, and now Barack and Michelle Obama are taking a more active role in the campaign.

The post Being Called A MAGA Republican Upset Me, Now It Angers Me appeared first on Granite Grok.

This is not new, but it is still amusing and enlightening. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in 2017, took a few minutes before a daily White House press briefing to tell a story that explains how our tax system works. For her example, she used reporters and beer.

It is a tale of taxes and entitlement, and there’s beer.

In some browsers, you may need to give permission to view this Facebook video. Direct link.

 

The post “And That, Ladies and Gentleman, Is How Our Tax System Works” appeared first on Granite Grok.

This is an attempt to “break out” memes, links, and my commentary about the situation in Israel / the Middle East so as to not overload the standard meme posts that I do.  My last “normal” meme post.  In these Israel-related posts I don’t just have memes such, but lots of informative links as well as hopefully-insightful commentary.

Note that this is not meant to be a day-by-day update about what’s going on.  Rather, to highlight uncomfortable truths about the actual nature of the conflict, deep-history background, and so on, as well as to show the at-present immutable nature of Islamic Jew hate and why that matters to today’s events.

Note that these posts do not repeat information – so there is a lot of stuff in prior posts.  Please do check them out too if this is a topic of interest to you.  In reverse chronological order:

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Still More Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Even More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Memes and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Memes and Commentary – Granite Grok

With some Israel-related materials here:

Meme Overflow – Granite Grok

 

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

 

Several videos showing the extreme conditions of “Concentration Camp Gaza” before Oct. 7:

 

Luxury mall opens in Gaza

 

 

 

Gaza swimming pool , very nice activities … 2009

 

 

 

Gaza Water Park and luxury restaurants Arab Palestinians enjoy

 

 

 

Roots The Club

 

 

 

Gaza’s proserous economy: Al Jazeera shows a side to Gaza that Western media won’t

 

 

HT Bare Naked Islam

More videos that were on the sidebar showing how much like a concentration camp / open air prison Gaza is (links only):

Shopping mall opens in Gaza (youtube.com)

Ramadan: Gaza’s green markets are alive with colour (youtube.com)

I wonder what my great uncle and his family would say about their “stay” in Auschwitz vs. the abundance above.  Or pools at a luxury resort:

First luxurious resort opens in Gaza Strip (youtube.com)

Gaza City 2022 | Palestine | Cities Around the Globe |Travels with Imam (youtube.com)

A Stroll Through Gaza | Islamic Relief Canada (youtube.com)

Notice the part showing agriculture in Gaza.

Gaza Palestine Walking Tour | Gaza Strip Before The Attack 2023 | فلسطين غزة (youtube.com)

Watch with the sound OFF.  Not the cleanest of places, but there’s clearly abundance of food, clothing, and other things (actually reminds me, broadly, of some parts of Jerusalem).  Not anywhere close to a “concentration camp”.  And one glimpse of Nablus in Judea and Samaria.  Again, the hardship makes my heart break… /sarc

Explore Palestine’s Huge Local Market // Behind The Wall (youtube.com)

And an interesting point:

Gaza War: It Isn’t Over Until It Is Over | United with Israel

Before October 7, Gaza had a lower unemployment rate than the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt. In the first two quarters of 2023, the Gaza economy grew by four percent while that of the West Bank remained almost static.

Thanks to generous donations by UNRWA, the European Union, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, repatriated income by some 100,000 Gazans working abroad, including 25,000 working in Israel, and customs revenue from Israeli governments, Gaza had 36 hospitals and 3,500 hospital beds, figures that are per capita higher than those of Egypt and Jordan.

Thanks to international aid and donations by wealthy Palestinians in Europe and the Americas, Gaza ranked ahead of the Islamic Republic of Iran as percentage of GDP allocated to health and education.

 

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

 

TOP OF THE FOLD

The Morality of IDF Operations in Gaza | United with Israel

By a British Colonel, who has seen war up close.  Related to Israel’s morality:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tank-crew-helps-old-woman.mp4

 

Tank crew helps old woman and family.  Ends by giving them directions.

—

 

 

 

WAR & WHEN WILL IT END?

Should the US Try to Halt Israel’s War Against Hamas? | Opinion – The Messenger

Israel must come out of this war as the victor. That is essential for its survival and that is in America’s security interest — but will presidential and domestic politics take precedence in the United States?

Gaza War: It isn’t Over Until it is Over :: Gatestone Institute

Israel needs to start fighting to win against Hezbollah – JNS.org

—

Israeli PM Netanyahu issues a warning: “Israel might act ALONE against Iran” (barenakedislam.com)

Ultimately, yes, Iran needs to be dealt with.

Three Things the Biden Administration Must Do Now to Stop Iran’s Mullahs :: Gatestone Institute

2024: The Year Iran Will Go Nuclear If Western Powers Do Not Act :: Gatestone Institute

Remember… while Israel is the “Little Satan” – America is the “Great Satan”.  Iran has written about the effectiveness of an EMP against America, and practiced launching rockets to EMP altitude from ships in the Caspian Sea.  Leading to this nightmare scenario:

 

EMP: A Terrorist’s Dream

 

 

Do not forget – in Shia Islam their version of the Messiah can’t come until there is a worldwide conflagration.  Thus, to them, WWIII is a feature, not a bug.  On the plus side, and I have no real way to verify this, this is good news:

WONDERFUL NEWS (if true) FROM IRAN…for a change (barenakedislam.com)

I do know that over the years I’ve seen videos of people in Iran burning the Koran.  One woman’s translated words as she did so, face unseen, said something like “The Arabs brought this to us and we don’t want it”!

—

The “innocent” residents of Gaza are celebrating the barrage of rockets launched this evening (a statistical weapon) towards the concentrations of the civilian population in central Israel. – Launching a statistical (inaccurate) weapon at population concentrations is considered a war crime according to international law.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/gazans-celebrate-new-rocket-attacks.mp4

 

“Peace partners”.

—

Does Gaza Belong to the Jews? (Judean Rose) ~ Elder Of Ziyon – Israel News

Yes, but there are practical difficulties.  And on the Gazans:

Leaders of the PA, Jordan and Egypt agree: We prefer dead Gazans to a single one on our territory ~ Elder Of Ziyon – Israel News

 

 

ISLAM: PRACTICES, HISTORY, AND MENTALITY

Why does Hamas go into battle wearing civilian clothes? (barenakedislam.com)

Because in Islam it’s TOTAL WAR.  They fight without regard to what we, in the modern world, have established as (imperfect) rules for war.  And then demand we obey those rules while they ignore them.

 

 

ATROCITIES

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Four-kidnapped-girls-over-90-days.mp4

 

Agam Berger (19)
Liri Elbag (18)
Daniela Gilboa (19)
Karina Ariev (19)

—

WATCH: Palestinian civilians laughed while they raped and butchered Israelis | World Israel News

Related to that is this interview of an eye witness.  Note what he says…

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/terrorist-admits-there-were-rapes-and-beheadings.mp4

 

—

 

 

 

ON INTERSECTIONALITY / LEFTIST SUPPORT

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: Hamas exploits children for terrorist acts

For all the It’s for the children types.

—

 

 

I count it the same as those “useful idiots” that wear Che shirts.  Not knowing what a monster Che actually was.

—

 

 

—

“CANCEL CULTURE” comes back to bite these far-left celebrities in the ass (barenakedislam.com)

It works both ways.

 

 

PALLYWOOD & MEDIA IN GENERAL

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Russia_and_Assad_just_dropped_white_phosphorus_on_residential_neighborhoods.mp4

 

Assad unleashes white phosphorus on residential areas (Idlib).  Not Jews, so not news.

—

Links only to my Rumble channel on how the media – enemedia – distort how Israel is viewed:

Enemedia taking sides in Israel 1 (rumble.com)

Enemedia taking sides on Israel 2 (rumble.com)

Enemedia taking sides on Israel 3 (rumble.com)

Enemedia cuts interview short after damning point made (rumble.com)

Remember, those who control the information flow control what people think.

 

 

—

Important to remember history:

 

 

And a few other memes:

 

 

 

 

 

—

Jewish Man Blamed for Clash After Palestinian Demonstrator Snatches Prayer Book (VIDEO) – Algemeiner.com

This is from a few years ago… but reading through the details you find out that the woman stole the man’s prayer book, and the picture of him screaming at her was used to show how nasty Jews are.

—

Antisemites have been accusing Israel of “genocide” since the term was coined ~ Elder Of Ziyon – Israel News

The same smears, repeated over and over.  And yet the Arab population grows.  Israel clearly sucks at genociding people.

 

 

TERROR COMING HERE?  TO THE WEST?

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: 2 Mohammeds raped woman in Brooklyn

Here, already.  More:

‘CALIPHORNIA’ Hate crime investigation launched as woman with Israeli flag attacked during pro-Hamas ceasefire rally in El Cerrito (barenakedislam.com)

Jihad Jamboree Coming to Washington DC – Geller Report

THIS IS TERRORISM: Jew-Hating Jihad Rioters Shut Down Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, and Holland Tunnel – Geller Report

—

ISIS Quotes Quran, Calls for Global Attacks on Jews: ‘Kill Them Wherever You Find Them’ – Geller Report

The Qur’an: “And kill them wherever you overtake them and drive them out them from wherever they have driven you out.” (2:191) “And fight them until there is no fitnah and religion is all for Allah.” (8:39)

Note, especially, 2:191.  As I keep saying, this is universally understood to mean that Islam MUST reconquer any lands that were once controlled by Islam.

—

“Not all Jews are bloodthirsty, treacherous criminals, terrorists, and monsters…just MOST OF THEM” (barenakedislam.com)

In Australia.  And in the UK:

WATCH: London Police Under Attack By Jew-Hating Jihad Rioters – Geller Report

 

 

TREADING ON THE POLITICAL

Anti-Israel Girl Who Attacked Teenager in IDF Sweatshirt Graduated From Barack Obama School for Social Justice (legalinsurrection.com)

IMHO that woman was begging for a face full of pepper spray.

Now… just where did she graduate from again?

—

Biden Promised Gaza Aid Wouldn’t Go To Hamas. He Lied. (jihadwatch.org)

Money is fungible.  More:

Your Taxpayer Dollars Are Paying Islamic Terrorists – Geller Report

—

Jews have a home in the conservative movement – JNS.org

Most Jews do not agree with every aspect of religious orthodoxy, but still consider themselves Jews. They do so because being a Jew is a core part of their identity. Similarly, most Jews do not agree with every aspect of conservative orthodoxy, but they can recognize that their core interests and values are best served by the conservative movement.

It is time for Jews to recognize that they are not politically homeless. They are conservatives.

—

Shots:

Group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers celebrates Hamas massacre and rape – UN Watch

UNRWA teachers celebrated massacre of Jews on Telegram group ~ Elder Of Ziyon – Israel News

And a White House chaser:

White House forcefully defends UNRWA amid alleged terrorism ties: ‘They do great work in Gaza’ – Washington Examiner

—

DOUGLAS MURRAY slams ‘shit for brains’ US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for continuing to push Israel to agree to the leftist fantasy of a two-state solution which has failed every time it’s been tried (barenakedislam.com)

Obsessed with a “solution” that cannot work.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

 

IMHO one way to improve Israeli security to vastly liberalize the carrying of weapons in Israel.  Not just that… but time made available for regular training.  My children are still well under 18 but I’ve had them to the range already and need to get them back.  The younger one is in martial arts (not the best school but still, close by the house) and the older one has expressed an interest too.  If I can get both ready and willing, I’d like them to take Krav Maga with me.

 

 

2000-odd years ago, the Romans had it right:

“Si vis pacem para bellum”

– Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus

Situational awareness is also key.  I highly recommend this book:

Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps’ Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life

Just plain observation is also key.  I recommend Kim’s Game:

Using Kim’s Game to increase your observational skills (graywolfsurvival.com)

—

How can Jews keep their faith amid the Israel-Hamas war? – opinion – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

A good question.

—

Do Jews still have a place in American society? – JNS.org

A good question.

 

 

GIVING SUPPORT TO ISRAEL

You can’t go wrong with a donation here:

Connections Israel

And please share this post far and wide.  There’s a lot of info here that many people don’t know.  Post it, email it, share widely.

Also, if you’re willing:

Buy Me a Coffee

 

 

A CONCLUDING THOUGHT FOR THIS POST

I’m on Gab; it’s a cesspool of Jew hate there – I’m there in part to watch what people say… know your enemy.  And, I’m ashamed to admit, they do have some points.  (Liberal) Jewish support for mass, indeed unlimited migration, condemns us… not that we Jews are the only ones doing it, but attention often gets focused on us because we’re so damned loud and proud of it.  Even as Sweden issues civil war alerts, Britain and other European countries are turning Islamic through conquest-by-migration, Hijra, Jews continue to advocate for unlimited migration – unto civilizational death, it seems.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1200-rabbis-1.mp4

 

Welcome the stranger has limits.  And Israel is seen as being incredibly hypocritical – with Israel attempting to have secure borders while Jews advocate for open borders everywhere else.

An Open Letter to Pro-Migration / SJW Jews – Urban Scoop

 

 

In parallel, Jews are often seen – not without justification – as major drivers in the LGBTQP area:

 

 

 

Since when?  Leviticus 18:22 is pretty clear about this whole thing:

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

Also, Jews are seen as advocating for the destruction of whites:

 

 

And mistreating Christians who, globally, are some of our staunchest supporters.  I’ve seen videos of Christian pilgrims being spat on or threatened with death.  And this… this is a custom I’ve never ever heard of – but it’s being used to smear us:

 

 

And there is a certain stench of arrogance about being His chosen people – arrogance that rises to hubris as so many scramble to place themselves above all the other peoples of the world.  Consider one rather “indelicate” example that truly sticks in my craw – a young woman was discovered on OnlyFans to have been… “engaging” with the canine persuasion.  Yuck.  It then turned out that she was Jewish, and defended herself saying that she was one of the Chosen and that nothing any non-Jew said would affect her in any way.

Never mind that her act, in ancient Israel, would have had fatal consequences.

Leviticus 18:23 –

“A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act.

Leviticus 20:15-16 –

15 “If a man has sex with an animal, he must be put to death, and the animal must be killed.

16 “If a woman presents herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it, she and the animal must both be put to death. You must kill both, for they are guilty of a capital offense.

So abhorrent it’s mentioned twice!

If we are to survive as a people, if Israel is to survive as a nation, we must return to the Torah as the root of all good and our pole star for guidance.  For multiple Golden Calves, including a twisting of Tikkun Olam, have caused us to seek other gods as we raise ourselves up in arrogance.

 

 

Pride is a sin.  Humility is a virtue.  Let us abandon the former, and return to the latter.

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Going back to 2017, there was a Senate Bill (SB121) that created a Study Commission, chaired by Senator Jeb Bradley, to look at having NH assume responsibility for portions of the federal Clean Water Act. If it had occurred, this would have removed regulatory authority from EPA Region I and bestowed it to NH DES Staff in Concord.

An unsigned copy of the SB 121 Report (copy attached). From that SB 121 Report, there was another effort, SB450 – that created a Study Commission on the topic. And while that made some headway, nothing ever came to fruition as it had a fiscal impact of $350,000 for funding – and the effort waned.

On 1/8/2024 a new bill was presented to start the conversation on the EPAs role in NH – HB1294

The bill sponsor, Michael Granger of Milton, admits the bill will need study and an amendment, but with all the recent overreach from the EPA, it is necessary for NH to revisit. This bill with put our own NHDES in charge and not the EPA. There are a lot of monies that come from the EPA, but if we look closely enough, it will offset the cost of each town’s expenses on regulations and impacts they require. We need a study commission to investigate this bill.

The EPAs overreach, without cause or proof, to stranglehold NH people, businesses, and natural resources without science to back up their claims, just assumptions. There are not enough words to get into all the details. The internet links involved in this effort, which include dozens more links, are the culmination of years of posturing from NH towns to appease the EPA. The focus here is on farming, but many other professions, people, and natural resources are at risk from the EPA.

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Farming, big and small, has always been the NH way. The lands have flourished with food and livestock to feed us through time, yet the EPA has only been around for 50 years. While farmers are trying to keep NH’s natural resources, the EPA comes along and does the opposite. UNH extension has spent over 100 years developing best management practices for the best yield and the ecosystem for farmers to coexist with the land. After all, why would farmers want to destroy the lands and water they depend on? One of those is buffer zones for wetlands, to filter possible contaminates into runoff. The environmental area of UNH is telling us to take nitrogen from the land, and the extension is telling us to put it back in the soil.

No one wants dirty water or dirty air, no one. So why has the government become so blinded by this special interest project they can’t see the forest through the trees! Since when can large corporations get permits to drain and fill NH wetlands overnight, and the people get the shaft for having large impervious surfaces, pole barns, and driveways?? The EPA has become an arm of big government to do the bidding of lobbyists. So, when it comes to the actual environment, they failed the land and the people of NH. How can someone in DC or even Boston possibly have a clue what lands and water in NH need by sitting at a desk looking at satellite imagery from UNH environmentalists that tell only half-truths about the land? They show no BMPs utilized or even a homeowner using a rain barrel. And why is the EPA spending so much of our money on guns and combat equipment? https://mustreadalaska.com/armed-and-dangerous-epa-spends-millions-on-combat-equipment/

Dover just put to rest, for now, the first in the state “rain tax,” aka stormwater utility. This effort was forced upon taxpayers to appease the Municipal Alliance for Adaptive Management (MAAM) /EPA/CLF contract dated 3/21 with Portsmouth Dover and Rochester.

The city basically tried to enact a restrictive, unjustified burden upon property owners in an effort to help pay for costs associated with the EPA contract and the shortfall in the city budget (-3m) for sewer due to overdevelopment. The impact on small homes was minimal, but to farms, apartments, businesses, and nonprofits, it was in the tens of thousands per year. The “tax” was going to double tax square footage and include impervious surfaces. Even nonprofits were not exempt. In fact, the only exemption was the state highways.

It died because it was done clandestinely. No one believed it; no one seemed to pay attention until the day before the vote when people woke up and showed up, schooled the city council in ways of notice, illegal taxation, unfair practice, and more. The mayor and several city council members agonized and then voted 6-3 to kill the tax.

There was so much wrong with this effort that it would be a nightmare for property owners, renters, businesses, open spaces, and farms. Several of the items on the EPA’s list are for those on septic systems to replace them with nitrogen-free systems, yet the state NHDES has not approved such a system! The link to all seacoast towns and each land impact is on the list of links. The “tax” is dead, but the EPA contract is still active. This is an overreach that the Dover Meeting on Stormwater voted down on 12/13/23. Listen to the public comments and the apologies from the mayor!

The EPA wants the city of Dover to pay $20 million for a new wastewater treatment plant, and they don’t know if it will work to reduce nitrogen in Great Bay!? The effort the city has made to nearly eliminate nitrates at the wastewater treatment plant from discharge into the rivers is about 90%. Yet the EPA is demanding a 20m new plant! They don’t even know if nitrogen is the issue! If the monies from EPA to state agencies are a factor, just think of all the property tax dollars spent on their ridiculous demands! It will only get worse.

The EPA’s latest pet project is “nitrogen.” Like CO2, The EPA is going after nitrogen, which is one of the basic elements of growing food. The EPA claims it is causing problems in Great Bay. In 2006, see chart, there was a 100-year flood on Mother’s Day (See photos). This massive flood caused the wastewater treatment plants along all the rivers in the seacoast to overflow effluent into Great Bay. Since then, NHDES has worked with towns to mitigate the plants so it does not happen again. You can see on the chart from NHDES (below) the spike.

Since testing started in 2000-2016, the nitrogen levels have righted themselves, as what happens in a fast-moving tidal river. According to the EPA, it isn’t enough. There have been zero studies to determine what is causing eel grass in the bay to decline. Not one study had been done to determine if it is, in fact, nitrogen or something else entirely or maybe it’s the natural life cycle of eelgrass. Not only eel grass, but the EPA is telling people in Milton it’s snails. They don’t even know or care.

So, let’s call it nitrogen, and all the EPA and environmentalists will be happy. Wrong. This issue is far more compelling. I’ve asked the powers to be at all the agencies what if the nitrogen tanks go too low to support life in the bay and kill the bay. No one knows or has a failsafe to ensure this doesn’t happen! Checks and balances! The city of Dover and MAAM are going to actually start studying why to try and find answers, but the EPA won’t stop or wait.

 

Great Bay is an amazing resource. There’s also Little Bay. Both are fast-moving tidal saltwater bodies. The 60s and prior saw sewerage dumped into the rivers and bay, thankfully stopped through local pressure. An oil spill in the 70s was when a tanker in Newington leaked its cargo into the bay and was swept into the rivers upstream. The 2006 Mother’s Day flood. The point is, throughout time, the bay has corrected itself, fact. We should not down play importance of responsible stewardship, quite the opposite! We want assurances all these programs will work, why and how to prevent a worse crisis. That is what all of us should demand before we have to start dumping nitrogen back into the bay.

Farmers have maintained a healthy balance with nature. They know how the land works and how to make the land prosper and wildlife flourish efficiently. Rural character, large and small farms were encouraged, and now farms are the newest EPA punching bag! Several farm properties have been tested after a large summer rain storm and zero excess nitrogen. Yet, they would have to pay a penalty for what exactly? Where/what is the EPA doing?

Let’s talk about eelgrass. According to the authorities, eelgrass is declining. Frankly, I do not recall eel grass in most of the bay. Some of the things listed to its decline are humans, changing conditions, runoff of wastewater, etc., so EPA and others go after the wastewater treatment plants, but are not absolutely sure they are the cause!

If effluent is a factor in the health of the bay, then why do boats dump raw sewage in the bay? Why are golf courses and beautiful lawns exempt? Why is waterfront development allowed at all? Why are lawns allowed to add harmful pesticides that live on the bay? So many questions and no one will answer. For hundreds of years, farms are the caretakers of the land, yet some suit in Boston will take this away.

Huge corporations get drain and fill permits on our dwindling wetlands, changing NH with help from the EPA. Large landowners will succumb to the pressures or expenses and sell to large corporations for development. Does anyone believe all their programs will retain the natural resources or keep open space and farms? Our children’s children deserve the natural resources NH has in every town, not just state parks. We’ve done a crap job compared to other states. Getting the NHDES in control without the overhanded EPA is a start. Maybe we can heal what’s left of our lands.

Timelines:
Prior to this, Native Americans farmed these lands
First colonies 1640
NH 1776
UNH, 1866, as agriculture and mechanical arts
Extension, est. 1917 to bring education to the public land grant university
EPA, 1970

We need better studies before jumping into possible irreversible programs. Having our own NHDES in control of NH natural resources is a start. We must be careful before we proceed.

The post We Need to Take Control Of Our Land and Water Back from the EPA appeared first on Granite Grok.

Chris Crispy-Creme-Christie has left the building. He’s done. Finished. Fini. No longer will he run for President. He’s still running (to be Nikki Haley’s AG if you are familiar with my presidential campaign conspiracy theory), and he still has campaign money to burn. And he’ll do almost anything to stop Mr. Trump.

That’s why he dropped out, or so he says.

He polled fifth in Iowa, fifth (ish) nationally, but third in New Hampshire. Polling third in New Hampshire in any contest can take you places, but he has decided to bail.

I think it is safe to say that anyone who would support Chris Christie will likely not migrate to Trump. That leaves Haley and DeSantis (Christie supporters will not sidle over to Vivek).

The Daily Caller reports that,

 

“I’ve always said that if there came a point in time in this race where I couldn’t see a path to accomplishing that goal that I would get out, and it’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for president of the United States,” said Christie. “It’s the right thing for me to do. Because, I want to promise you this — I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again.”

Christie had been facing pressure from Republican Gov. Chris Sununu to drop out of the race so that the non-Trump field could consolidate around former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, whom he endorsed in mid-December.

 

Okay, but I’m stickin’ to my theory. Christie was always a bad cop to Nikki’s good cop. Even when Christie “went after her” on “the campaign trail,” it was to criticize her. It was about the willingness to be Terump’s VP if he claimed the nomination and asked. That’s not exactly a blistering attack. And Christie’s departure – which won’t do much for anyone but Trump in Iowa, leaves 12 polling points on the table, give or take, in New Hampshire.

If the lying liars can be believed, that could put her over Trump in the Granite State if they all chose darling Nikki, but nowhere else. And Gov Chris (NJ) isn’t asking them to vote for DeSantis. I’d rather they did, but Haley has the momentum. She’s got good messaging. You can’t blink without seeing an ad on TV, and the glossy mailers with her name on them are piling up like snow during a New England Nor’easter.

Haley could do well in New Hampshire and South Carolina absent Christie, but the rest of the map is not in her favor. Not yet. And time is running out.

 

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This year started with two days of session to consider all the bills held over from last year. As usual, the consent calendar of 146 non-controversial bills passed on a voice vote, after five were removed. Those bills would be considered individually at the end of the session.

A great many of these bills were debated only briefly or not at all; the committees had generally done a good job of amending and clarifying the bills they wanted to pass.

HB 185, setting “approximately equal parenting time” as the starting point in divorce cases, was debated on whether or not the change was necessary. Apparently, most judges do this now, but a definite minority doesn’t. The bill passed 202-172. HB 475, amended to require family court judges to specify in writing why evidence or testimony is not heard, passed without debate, as did HB 535, requiring an attorney to represent a child who might be committed to a group home or institution.

HB 225, prohibiting currency that would damage privacy rights, such as some digital currencies that report transaction details to the government, or block some legal transactions, passed without comment. HB 227, prohibiting unfair discrimination by financial businesses, had been recommended for interim study. This was debated, and that motion was defeated 182-193. Opposition to interim study was both by nearly all Democrats who wanted to kill the bill and a handful of Republicans who wanted to pass it… but the next motion was to kill the bill, and it passed on a voice vote. HB 645, establishing “decentralized autonomous organizations” as legal entities, was debated between someone who understood the concept (and the bill!) and another member who was opposed to cryptocurrency or anything relating to it. Since the report was that the agencies involved in this recognition (Revenue and State) were in favor of the bill, it passed 340-33, even though most of us have only a superficial understanding of what a “decentralized autonomous organization” actually is!

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HB 113, deleting the physical fitness requirements for police officers, was not tabled, 159-212, then debated. The supporters pointed out that New Hampshire is the only state with a three-year retest requirement, and that retirees (or other older hires) could do accident investigations or prosecution without needing to meet these requirements, and that local police chiefs know what their needs are. Opponents pointed out that being a police officer is a strenuous job. The bill was not passed, 178-195, then killed on a voice vote.

HB 470, expanding the drug testing equipment that can legally be possessed, had a floor amendment to delete the phrase “harm reduction,” as this has been abused to include things like “safe injection centers” that promote drug use. After some debate, the amendment failed, 178-194. The bill was debated again, then passed 212-161. I voted for both the floor amendment and the bill. I can hope that “harm reduction” will not be abused! SB 249, on the release of a defendant pending trial, was completely amended by the committee to establish a system of magistrates who would hold bail hearings within 24 hours even on weekends! This seemed so common sense that the bill was amended on a voice vote, and passed 361-7 without any discussion.

The Education committee had agreed to tablevnearly all of their partisan bills, to focus the debate on only three of them. Since a motion to table cannot be debated, this sped things up significantly. HB 147, on membership of the advisory committee on students with disabilities, and HB 267, expanding criminal records checks for school employees, were quickly tabled.

HB 354, making charter schools eligible to apply for school building aid, was debated and passed, 190-177. HB 437, requiring reading be taught by evidence based methods; HB 439, allowing town tuitioning programs to include religious schools; HB 505, adding a requirement for mental health education; HB 553. requiring school salaries be posted on their website; and HB 577, revising state aid formulas for special education students, were all tabled without comment.

HB 628, requiring education providers for students receiving Education Freedom Accounts to perform background checks on all employees and volunteers, was debated at some length. One significant issue was that parent-directed studies (home schools, micro schools, tutors, parent cooperatives…) are legally unable to get these checks on other private individuals! Private schools work around this ban by hiring third party investigators, but individuals cannot. The committee amendment failed, 181-189, then the ought to pass motion also failed, 174-199. The bill was killed, 195-178.

HB 651, allowing schools to contract with transportation network companies (like Lyft or Uber), was tabled before the debate. SB 151, which adds mental health education to the definition of an adequate education, was debated, did not pass, 183-186, then was killed on a voice vote. Finally, SB 218, creating a grant program for teacher development, was tabled without comment.

HB 115, changing the state primary election to the third Tuesday (the 17th this year) in August, was amended and passed, 281-82, without debate. HB 116, on fees for primary elections, was amended to simply delete the $2 filing fee to sign up for state representative, and passed on a voice vote. Nobody declared a conflict of interest – but of course, the fee can be eliminated by collecting 10 signatures, and I know some very thrifty people who’ve done so! (the Epsom town office never seems to have that many people on hand when I sign up.)

HB 345 and HB 350, both about ranked-choice voting, were both debated (somewhat repetitively) and killed, 207-170 and 248-128. I voted to kill both since I’m not a fan of ranked choice voting: it’s too complicated and much less transparent than our current system. Not to mention that in a crowded primary field – one of the prime applications – I tend to know who’s first and who’s last – but ranking seventh, eighth and ninth? No way. I prefer approval voting, which simply eliminates the penalty for overvoting and allows you to say which of the candidates are acceptable. Top vote getter wins!

HB 447, allocating federal Help America Vote funding to buy new vote-counting machines, passed 311-62, without debate. HB 463, establishing an online voter registration portal, was debated and passed, 195-172. I was opposed since such a portal raises questions of data security.

HB 369, creating a task force to relieve farmers from high energy costs, was amended to create a UNH – Department of Agriculture joint program to give advice and get federal grants, with a $100,000 allocation to set it up. A floor amendment corrected the definition of “farm,” then the bill was debated. It was not passed, 186-187, then tabled, 322-54. I voted against the bill and against tabling it – I’d rather just kill it now!

HB 602, on the process for landfill siting, adopted the committee amendment and a floor amendment (sponsored by the committee) without comment, then was debated at some length. It passed, 226-145; I voted against because I thought the bill gave Environmental Services too much authority via their rulewriting authority.

HB 559, Dan’s bill creating a defined contribution plan for new state employees, was debated on the committee amendment, which showed how much the opponents hadn’t read the amendment: they cited the administrative cost and complexity (of the original bill!) which had been minimized or eliminated by the amendment. The amendment failed, 181-192, largely on party lines plus the Republican firefighters and police in the legislature voting with the Democrats. Then, they moved indefinite postponement, an unusual legislative maneuver that would prohibit bringing back the concept of the bill for the rest of the session. This passed, 201-174, so no defined contribution plans can be considered this year.

The other bill from my committee, HB 644, which exempted a number of beauty treatments (eyebrow threading, hair styling, makeup application) from licensing, was not debated and passed, 196-178.

HB 436, amended by Finance to simply put $50 million from the surplus into the retirement system, was not tabled, 176-198, and passed on a voice vote, with minimal discussion. HB 468, appropriating funds for the department of education to recodify the education statutes, passed without comment. These statutes have portions as old as 1906 and have been amended almost every year since, so the cleanup is necessary.

HB 546, on the school building aid program, was debated at length about whether or not the budgeted amount ($50 million per year) should include debt service to pay off the funds borrowed in 2009 (I believe; it could have been 2007.) The bill was not killed, 186-189. then tabled, 190-187.

HB 601, requiring the Department of Education to share data with Health & Human Services to sign children up for the free or reduced lunch program if they receive Medicaid, was thoroughly debated. Opposition was based on privacy concerns (sharing this sort of person data between agencies without consent); and parents’ authority (many children, particularly high school, don’t like or want these meals, and their parents tend to support them.) Not to mention that the funding for qualifying children was dramatically increased in this session’s budget, and this would result in duplicative spending. The bill was killed, 189-188.

HB 620, creating a Head Start like program for pre-kindergarten children, was debated and killed, 188-185. SB 239, amending the scope of the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Recovery to include “harm reduction services,” had a long debate before going to interim study, 186-185.

SB 263, extending the expanded medicaid indefinitely, was debated and killed, 191-183, and not reconsidered, 183-193. This allows the current seven year sunset to occur, as negotiated in the budget. SB 267, requiring “cumulative impacts analysis” in environmental rules and analyses, was debated and killed, 189-188. The opposition, including me, was concerned that this would be unduly expensive and delay permitting beyond the current leisurely process.

HB 264, permitting one to change the gender on your birth certificate, was debated, not passed, 186-190, not tabled, 185-191, and killed, 191-185. The debate was in maintaining the integrity of vital records versus the convenience of transgender individuals, and most of us were not convinced that it should be easier to change gender shown on a birth certificate than the parents for an adopted child. HB 368, increasing privacy protections for transgender services performed in New Hampshire, was debated briefly, not passed, 186-188, and killed, 190-185.

The last and most sensitive transgender bill, HB 619, was debated on the committee amendment, which simplified the bill to only forbid genital reassignment surgery on minors. There was a lengthy and intense debate, started by a liberal Democrat who stated that while he strongly supported transgender rights, surgery on children was a step too far. The amendment passed 209-167, and after more debate, the bill passed 199-175. Twelve Democrats joined all but two Republicans in support, and rumor had it that the other Democrats harassed them for taking this stand.

HB 283, requiring landlords to refund application fees to denied tenants, passed without comment, as did HB 314, defining what the constitutional right to privacy required for utilities, Internet service providers, cable, insurance, banks, and other services. HB 396, on allowable discrimination by biological sex, had a long debate about the amendment, which limited the areas to bathrooms, sports, and prisons. It passed 194-182, then after further debate, the bill passed 192-184. The opponents carped that “biological sex” was not defined, forgetting that only four bills ago, we’d ensured that it stayed on one’s birth certificate…

HB 652, on non-public sessions under the right-to-know law, was killed by a voice vote after a short debate. SB 355, on the expectations of privacy in business transactions, passed without discussion.

HB 190, changing the duration of unemployment benefits based on the unemployment rate, was killed without debate since it would be a nightmare to implement. HB 232, adopting federal OSHA standards for public sector workers, was debated over the amendment, which would instead require the Department of Labor to develop rules for workplace safety. The amendment failed, 184-186. and the bill was then tabled, 190-182.

HB 301, on recusal standards for legislators, was tabled, 359-13, since exactly defining what level of conflict of interest was appropriate to mandate recusal turned out to be much harder than anticipated. (also, it was lunchtime!)

HB 313, tweaking the default budget in SB2 towns, had a very dull debate before being killed, 188-184.

HB 194, requiring the division of historical resources to compile and maintain a public list of public monuments, was debated and passed 194-179. I was in the minority that thought the bill unnecessary. HB 434, on flying drones in state parks, was killed without comment.

HB 166, eliminating wood heating as a class of renewable energy, was debated and killed, 319-53. I was opposed because even if towns, school districts, and counties benefit from their biomass heaters, the ratepayers who cover these costs aren’t necessarily the ones who benefit from the lower expenses: the Rockingham County complex, for example, benefits from its biomass system, but not all Eversource (I think) ratepayers live in Rockingham County.

HB 381, revising the systems benefit charge, was killed without comment. HB 458, amended to simply revise the membership of the existing study committee on power generation, passed without debate, on a voice vote, as did HB 609, on the site evaluation committee.

HB 631, allowing people to install, at their own expense, smart meter gateway devices was debated on the usefulness of installing such devices when no utility in New Hampshire supports them. It was killed, 192-180, even though nobody mentioned that in Colorado, such devices were used to turn off air conditioners during a heat wave…

HB 229, the “defend the guard” bill, had two clarifying amendments to define which federal conditions would apply, then debated. It would prevent the National Guard from being deployed to foreign wars without a formal declaration of war, by Congress, not the president. It passed, 187-182.

HB 375, on licensing nonresident aliens, and HB 570, adopting minimum requirements for identity when issuing drivers’ licenses (so as to be able to license more aliens) were both tabled, 185-179 and 187-180.

HB 121, re-adopting (since the 1980’s) worldwide combined reporting under the business profits tax, had a long, rather dull debate before being killed, 192-176. What I got from the debate was that this accounting scheme has been rejected by the US Supreme Court at least twice, is too complicated for the IRS to oversee, and any tax revenue increases have probably been minimized by international agreements and business tax cuts HB 450, removing the net operating loss deduction limit under the business profits tax, essentially restoring it to previous levels and not following late changes in the federal tax code, passed without comment, as did HB 494, revising the dedicated funds involving fertilizer fees, and SB 112, updating the charitable gaming laws to eliminate venue rental fees. SB 190, regulating advanced deposit account wagering, was quietly killed.

Most of the bills removed from consent were debated by a sponsor or other activist aggrieved by the committee’s decision to kill the bill.

HB 499, requiring the rules of evidence to apply in family court and evidence favorable to the respondent be admitted, was debated by the sponsor, who had evidence in his case that was not admitted by the judge. After the committee chair pointed out that the bill was self-contradictory, and that the written rejections required by HB 475 would solve some of the problems, the bill was tabled, 200-164, by mutual agreement.

HB 144, restoring firearm rights to ex-felons, was argued by the sponsor, who is an ex-felon. The committee pointed out that New Hampshire had a robust annulment process that restored firearms rights, but that we can’t affect federal laws – and they have no such process. The bill was not tabled, 149-209, then killed, 297-63.

HB 512. exempting firearms manufactured in New Hampshire from federal laws and regulations, was also not tabled, 143-218, debated and killed, 206-69. A nice idea, but the implementation needs more work.

HB 518, from my committee, had the committee amendment adopted, which completely rewrote the bill to make it cleanup of the statutes governing the office of professional licensing and certification. A floor amendment added a clause that had been inadvertently omitted (about reporting continuing education to the medical board) and was approved on a voice vote, as was the bill.

HB 526, regulating the use of temporary traffic control, was recommitted to the committee, 203-145, after a short debate.

Representative Carol McGuire
carol@mcguire4house.com

The post Your NH State House – A Legislative Round-Up appeared first on Granite Grok.

A Putney lawmaker and three other Democrats have introduced a bill that would ban possession of ‘semi-automatic assault weapons.’ Under H582, police and soldiers would be exempt.

The bill defines a ‘semi-automatic assault weapon’ as a semiautomatic rifle that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following features: “a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon” and several other features.

The lead sponsor is Rep. Mike Mrowicki (D-Putney). Other sponsors are Rep. Daisy Berbeco (Winooski), Melanie Carpenter (D-Hyde Park), and Leslie Goldman (Bellows Falls).

Flood control and resilience is clearly on the minds of lawmakers, including many who live in flood-ravaged central Vermont. And, they’re linking flood control with “climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience.”

H586, sponsored by Kari Dolan (D-Waitsfield) and 25 others, would create the Climate Infrastructure and Resilience Fund, including a board and staff. It would be funded by 2.5% of the state’s cash balance plus gifts from private or private sources. The Fund would “establish or authorize additional activities for the financing of climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience projects.”

H582 and H586 are among the 100+ new bills introduced on the first day of the 2024 Legislature.

 

Guy Page | Vermont Daily Chronicle

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It won’t stop you bitter-clingers from believing, despite all the contrary evidence, that it’s Democrats versus Republicans. That Democrats want open borders and Republicans want secure borders. Blah, blah, blah.

But Speaker Johnson just gave Biden, Schumer, and McConnell every penny of spending they demanded and got NOTHING substantive in return on the border.

 

Republicans agreeing to spending levels $69 billion higher than last summer's debt ceiling "deal", with no significant policy wins is nothing but another loss for America. At some point, having the House majority has to matter. Stop funding this spending with an open border!

— Congressman Bob Good (@RepBobGood) January 7, 2024

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The latest meter-pinging corporate outrage has landed. Vermont’s King Arthur Baking Company has announced an initiative to help small business owners of color. “Baking Pitchfest 2024” includes a baking contest and incentives for contest winners.

 

“Half mentorship, half competition, Baking Pitchfest is an accelerator program designed to foster greater inclusivity and creativity in the baking world by providing equitable opportunities for People of Color entrepreneurs,” the website states, adding that winners will receive financial support, mentorship, and exposure.

 

The social media multi-verse has erupted with the usual amount of outrage at the deliberate exclusion of white people.

 

King Arthur Flour in Vermont is having a baking competition. Only non-whites can enter the competition.
I’ve bought King Arthur Flour for years. No longer. You just lost a faithful customer.https://t.co/yFa4TuSUeF

— Ann Marie (@Political_QRM) January 8, 2024

 

I get what would happen if any business excused people of color, and they’d be right to get bent about that, but I am having a hard time getting wound up about what King Arthur has done.

I am not being dismissive of the protest or arguments against it. We cannot ignore the blatant racist overtone, but I’m more offended by the pandering and virtue-signaling to which this speaks. For decades, state and federal governments have offered special loans and incentives to black or minority-owned businesses, even in places where white folk are in the minority. It’s a guilt thing. Not for slavery – none of those folks have ever owned a slave, and none of the people they claim to want to help have been slaves. This is about something else. And that something else seems more important to me.

Modern progressives and those obsessed with reparations (or minority-only baking contests?) have a legitimate reason to feel guilt. Their policies continue to destroy families and lives in those communities. The money they have redirected ends up lining the pockets of connected insiders and despots, much like food aid to Africa. The modern progressive urban plantations are death traps littered with broken families and lives as the left focuses on pandering instead to the illegal alien invaders.

It’s as if the Criminaliens represents better value in the Elite’s pursuit of absolute power, and don’t say we didn’t want you.

A friendly baking contest designed to elevate opportunities for minorities in New England and across America isn’t going to fix that, even if you invited whitey.

King Arthur, by the way, has been around since 1790, so maybe there is some guilt buried deep down, and this is Vermont, which is full of #woke libs, so, for all we know, the King Arther Baking Company owners (it is employee-owned if you’re interested) are #woke posers looking for some corporate street cred, and hey! – this may be their Bud Light moment. If it is, they deserve any commercial collapse that comes their way because you could never have a no-people-of-color baking contest.

I’m just not all that offended by it.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s my so-called white privilege talking.

 

The post King Arthur Flour Promotes Bakers of Color (No Whites) and I’m Having a Hard Time Getting Bent About That appeared first on Granite Grok.

You can pretend all you want. Women don’t have a prostate, and men don’t lactate, so let’s call the whole thing off. Sorry, not so fast. Marxist dogma demands the destruction of everything, including gender roles, and tens of thousands of years of women breastfeeding babies is not so monolithic a thing it can’t be toppled.

The Left’s war on women and all that, don’t you know, because at least one man wants to believe he can chest feed a baby, so we’ve got to toss it all in a bin and inculcate the commoners until they’ve adopted the correct terminology. Breastfeeding shall not be gender specific, which makes no damn sense. Men have a ‘Breast’ they don’t have breasts.

Infidel, how dare you – also amusing because the folks calling us infidels, for all their faults, can tell you what a woman is. She is property, and if you die for Allah, you get 72 of them, their breasts untouched by any other man (and they know what those are, too).

Here in the mind-tripping west, well – read this.

 

“We are concerned about breastfeeding promotion that praises breastfeeding as the ‘natural’ way to feed infants,” wrote Jessica Martucci of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and Anne Barnhill of Johns Hopkins University in the journal Pediatrics. “Promoting breastfeeding as ‘natural’ may be ethically problematic, and, even more troublingly, it may bolster this belief that ‘natural’ approaches are presumptively healthier.” …

“Referencing the ‘natural’ in breastfeeding promotion, then, may inadvertently endorse a controversial set of values about family life and gender roles, which would be ethically inappropriate,” they state.

Funny thing about that. Indigenous populations around the world, many of them consisting of brown people, disagree, and in the end, they would win. The birthing people would immediately default  – in the absence of a manufacturing base or supply chain capable of stocking abandoned store shelves – to the solution nature provided them at birth. You have a baby, and you breastfeed. Ask any mammal, and they’ll show you it doesn’t get more natural. I’d go so far as to claim it is a natural right. One of those things that, absent any other affectation of human existence, would self-manifest. How about obvious?

Baby can’t chew roots or venison. Wait a minute. What are these swollen things on my chest leaking this white stuff?

And just so you understand. These intellectuals A**h*les are free to collect themselves in a community with men who can be women, and breastfeeding is unnatural. If that’s what you’re into, you go -guy-girl ze xe inclusive master of your mentally unstable universe. Mate with like-minded they/thems, abort your babies, and we will watch your cult self-extinguisher (which, as I understand, is good for the planet) in a generation, maybe less.

Just keep your dementia to yourselves.

By the way, there (cough-cough) “researchers were also concerned that such rhetoric “may ultimately challenge public health’s aims in other contexts, particularly childhood vaccination,” so this may be more globalist-pharma – one-world money laundering propaganda. Jessica and Anne may have some pharma-funding skeletons in their chest-feeding closet.

I’m not going to chase that down. Let’s assume it’s valid until they prove otherwise.

 

 

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