Over the summer, Target made a show of pulling back its controversial Transgender collection. They claimed it was to protect worker and customer safety. That was a cover story to hide a marketing stumble, but Target still has safety concerns, forcing it to close nine stores.

Related: LGBT = Let’s Go Blowup Target: Stores Get Bomb Threats for Pulling Queer Gear

The crime culture in big cities catalyzed by Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and Progressive District Attorneys – in other words, Democrats – has made doing business impossible.

 

Target is closing three stores each in San Francisco and in Portland, Ore., two stores in Seattle, and one New York City store in Harlem, according to a statement on the company’s website.

The company said it “cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance.” Target can only be successful “if the working and shopping environment is safe for all,” the company said. …

Target “continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime,” Cornell said, according to the Star Tribune.

Walgreens has closed stores, as have Amazon and Wal-Mart, for the same reasons. Add this to a long list of retail downsizing and the closing of local markets and stores, and urban communities are finding it challenging to shop for anything. Chicago has proposed city-owned grocery stores to replace the ones run out of business or out of town by Democrat politics.

For all their talk about equity and access, the Democrat party has consistently embraced politics and policy that harms minorities. I have to wonder if they’ve noticed who is to blame. And it’s not just white Democrats. Black Democrats leaped to the front of the Black Lives Matter crime and riot wave during the Summer of Love (2020). They couldn’t wait to defund local police, which polling showed was not what the urban community wanted.

They did it anyway.

With a vocal lack of support for law enforcement and systemic progressive support for organized retail crime through refusals to prosecute it, Black Lives have suffered exponentially. Add to that the influx of illegal immigrants vying for the declining number of jobs due to retail departures, and nothing good has come from any of it.

The Democrat’s urban plantation has seen a precipitous decline in jobs, opportunity, and access to essential goods and services. On the flip side, property and violent crime have risen. All while inflation sucks the life ot of the few dollars they have left.

It explains all the chatter about reparations.

They’ve so badly compromised their supposed base that the only way they can imagine to keep them is to bribe them. It is money they should take, if they ever get it, with them (now that they can afford to move out of the city) to someplace safer before it gets stolen from them.

 

The post The Left’s Culture of Crime Continues to “Target” Retailers appeared first on Granite Grok.

Musician Taylor Swift and NFL tight end Travis Kelce are reportedly dating. It means nothing in real life except that it shows that no matter how much money and success you have, your feminist, girl-boss ways cannot stop you from falling for a masculine man when you are lonely.

This is true no matter who you are, but Swift showed you can be one of the greatest popstars ever to take the stage, make billions off tours and merchandise, and still say yes when the cute football player asks you out because masculinity has an unbelievable draw for women. We need men to have it because it protects our emotional nature, keeping us balanced.

Here comes Kelce, a star football player coming off a Super Bowl championship. He is physically strong and likely ticks all of Swift’s progressive boxes. He took a knee with Colin Kaepernick in 2017, stood with Bud Light after it capitulated to the LGBT agenda, and bent over for Pfizer’s latest push for COVID vaccines.

Travis Kelce took a knee today during the National Anthem #imwithkap #takeaknee pic.twitter.com/9gQopcK1Yy

— Know Your Rights Camp (@yourrightscamp) September 25, 2017

Professional athletes like Kelce are our modern-day Roman gladiators. The games are distractions from real life for its spectators, and an opportunity for men to have comradery and competition as a hobby once a week. Unfortunately, Kelce is a top-of-the-line pawn in this game. Either he only pretends to support these far-left causes because of the sponsorship money, or he is actively working against traditional life. But at the end of the day, masculinity and progressive values don’t align, so something will have to give.

Whether or not these progressive ideologies affect these two very wealthy people is undetermined, but it will undoubtedly make it harder for their fans. When an actual masculine man finds a wife, he gets to work fortifying their life against potential threats, like men who would don a dress and hang out in the women’s bathroom. Kelce isn’t doing that.

In fact, he is doing the exact opposite of protecting women from predatory men. After Bud Light’s disastrous partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, Kelce was one of the first football players to publicly support the brand and welcome it back to the Kansas City Chief’s stadium. To Swift, this is probably a good sign that he isn’t a “dreaded” conservative. But it’s a stark contrast to four-time NFL Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski coming out against men playing in women’s sports.

Taylor Swift on Donald Trump. Is she right? pic.twitter.com/FHpOQBKySe

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 25, 2023

To someone like Swift, this is the perfect partnership. She has a physically fit boyfriend who will not challenge her to think about something more than herself. But her fans must sit in the painful reality of the progressive policies she and her new boyfriend are lobbying for. (ROOKE: Deion Sanders Epitomizes The Revival America Needs Right Now In Young Men)

When their female fans walk into the bathroom, a full security team isn’t checking before, during, and after for potential threats. Usually, a woman’s husband does this for her, but Swift’s fans are looking for men like Kelce. They believe the lie that progressive men will protect you, but they won’t. So it’s up to the women’s empowerment team to handle the disgruntled, mentally-ill man modeling his Hello Kitty underwear in the female bathroom’s only full-length mirror.

As these women look to their husbands for support when their teenage daughter comes to them begging to get her breasts chopped off, they are nowhere. Like Kelce, these men choose to be the good-time guys. They enjoy the path of least resistance. They aren’t real leaders, so their false masculinity fails to protect against dangers.

While Swift and Kelce have teams of people looking out for risks, their fans are left in the real world fending for themselves.

Mary Rooke is a reporter at the Daily Caller.

Mary Rooke | Daily Caller News Service

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The post Masculinity and Progressive Values Don’t Align, so Something Will Have To Give appeared first on Granite Grok.

The political left had a literal meltdown over The New Hampshire State Board of Education supporting Prager University’s Financial Literacy course for the Learn Everywhere program. The word was out, all Democrats across the state of New Hampshire needs to show up for the State Board of Ed meeting and oppose this program.

I attended the State Board of Ed meeting and began my testimony saying that I believe that a quality education for children includes a good teacher teaching the content to students. I’ve known the value of a highly educated instructor who can teach students quality academic content. However, there are times when that is not available to children. Or maybe a child has been bullied in school and needs an alternative. Then there needs to be a next-best choice for families.

The Prager U videos that will be available to students offered 15 – 5 minute videos on subjects that should be learned by students in a financial literacy class. They covered topics like simple and compound interest and taxes. The content was good, and there was no political bias expressed in these videos.

So why did Democrats turn out to oppose Prager U’s videos if parents need that alternative? Prager U has an obvious right wing bias as a political organization. It makes sense that one would want to know if that bias was included in their materials. Those who watched the videos could see there was no political bias. Had there been a political bias, I would have opposed them. It’s bad enough families have to fight the left-wing bias they see all the time in their schools, we don’t need to copy that in any materials. We need good quality academic content for students. The videos provided that.

Let’s compare this battle to the battle waging across New Hampshire by parents who have requested the removal of explicit pornographic content available to their children in their public schools. Where have all of these Democrats been? Why have they been absent in that battle?

Pornography in the hands of a child can be harmful. According to stopitnow.org, giving children pornography is considered child sexual abuse. You would think that anyone willing to fight these videos would surely fight against pornography for children. Sadly these same people have been absent from protecting children from child sexual abuse.

We have examples of left-wing propaganda given to children in Bedford’s Personal finance class. Students were required to read a book of Marxist propaganda several years ago. Parents objected to that book, but those on the left supported it.

It sounds like if the political bias is left-wing, these people are good with it. If they believe it’s right-wing, they will show up and fight it. Even if the content if bias free.

So what’s more important to fight? Pornography for children or financial literacy? When it comes to Democrats in New Hampshire, sadly it’s financial literacy.

The post Democrats Battle Against Prager U’s Financial Literacy But Not Pornography for NH’s Students appeared first on Granite Grok.

A 12-year-old Colorado boy became a victim of “woke” education when he was taken out of class and told he could not return unless he removed a Gadsden flag or “Don’t Tread on Me” patch from his backpack. The school backed down after a video went viral in which a school official told the boy and his mother that the problem with the patch is that the Gadsden flag’s origin is related to slavery and the slave trade. The school was criticized by individuals from across the political spectrum for seeming ignorance of the role the Gadsden flag played in the American Revolution. Among the critics was Colorado Governor Jared Polis, one of the few remaining Democrats willing to defend free speech from the woke mob.

This incident reminded me of a 2009 Department of Homeland Security “fusion center” report warning that individuals with Gadsden flag bumper stickers, or bumper stickers supporting my presidential campaign or the Libertarian or Constitution parties, were potentially dangerous extremists. After I and many other Americans objected, the offending report was withdrawn. But, the fact that it was issued in the first place, just like the fact the Colorado student was ever removed from class for his Gadsden flag patch, shows how the authoritarians view the “Don’t Tread on Me” symbol.

The reason the woke authoritarians hate the Gadsden flag has nothing to do with racism or extremism. It is because the flag represents a rejection of authoritarianism and an embrace of liberty. Benjamin Franklin originally used the rattlesnake to symbolize the rebellious American colonies. He chose the snake because the rattlesnake “never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders.” In other words, rattlesnakes follow the nonaggression principle that forbids the use of offensive force against another’s person or property but allows the use of force to defend against any violations of one’s rights — including those committed by government officials.

In contrast, authoritarianism is rooted in the notion that politicians, bureaucrats, and their favored special interests have the right to tread on everyone.

The smearing of the Gadsden flag as racist is just the latest example of how the woke left is using its power in American education and cultural institutions to discredit the symbols and ideals of limited government and free markets. The woke left views schools as a place to indoctrinate children into Cultural Marxism rather than a place where children can gain a good education.

The rise of woke education is leading many parents to consider homeschooling. Parents looking to provide their children a quality home-based education that promotes real learning that does not push a political agenda but does instruct in the history and philosophy of liberty should look into my homeschooling curriculum. My curriculum provides students with a well-rounded education that includes rigorous programs in history, mathematics, and the physical and natural sciences. The curriculum also provides instruction in personal finance. Students can develop superior communication skills via intensive writing and public speaking courses. Another feature of my curriculum is that it provides students with the opportunity to create and run their own businesses.

The government and history sections of the curriculum emphasize free-market economics, libertarian political theory, and the history of liberty. I encourage all parents looking at alternatives to government schools — alternatives that provide children with a well-rounded education that introduces them to the history and ideas of liberty without sacrificing education for indoctrination — to go to RonPaulCurriculum.com for more information about my homeschooling program.

 

Ron Paul | Ron Paul Institute

Copyright © 2023 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.

 

 

 

 

The post Don’t Tread on Homeschoolers appeared first on Granite Grok.

France is very different from here. But in some ways, we should expect things to be the same. Take crime, for example. A new report focused on crimes that occur on public transportation delivered some alarming and unpleasant truths.

 

Last year, 69 percent of violent robberies and other violent crimes, including sexual assaults, on public transport in the greater Paris region of Île-de-France were perpetrated by foreign nationals, according to the annual figures of the SSMSI, the statistics bureau of the French Ministry of Interior.

However, looking closer at the data, it is revealed that Africans alone are responsible for 52 percent of such crimes while only representing 3.2 percent of the population of France.

Even for all of France, the data clearly shows that African nationals account for 42 percent of the above-mentioned types of crimes, way above their statistical weight within the French population.

Regarding crimes specific to public transport, the situation has actually not changed substantially over the years. The last time Remix News reported on such data in 2020, 69 percent of sexual assaults were committed by foreigners at that time as well.

 

America has also deliberately been flooded with people who don’t speak our language, are unfamiliar with the customs, or have no interest in embracing our culture, just like France, with this difference. Americans still have a right to self-defense. The odds of getting shot by your victim or a bystander are greater, and while the local Progs are working to disarm us, each new effort results in a spike in gun sales.

Illegals do commit crimes here, and they will account for more of them simply by sheer mass and numbers. That will not cease even if the border were abruptly closed. Crime is the resort of the deranged but also the desperate when no other means of improvement presents itself, or you find yourself stuck in a welfare trap set by people (Democrats) pretending to be your advocates.

Advocates who keep criminals out of prison to destabilize society until they have the power to impose their own imperious brand of order.

It’s Not Just France

France isn’t the only poster child in Europe for why this sort of approach to borders and immigration is a bad idea (if peace and liberty are valued). Sweden and Norway have been plagued by rape and violent crime for years thanks to loose immigration policy. Germany, as well.

It is an old problem getting “old” fast, but what to do? If “migrants,” legal or otherwise, are responsible for nearly 70% of crimes on public transportation in France, does the left’s absolutism when it comes to firearms apply? Is the solution to over-regulate or ban migrants or public transit?

Neither. Such a thing as that would interfere with the reason for open borders or loose immigration policy in America or France. To dilute your people and culture with someone else’s, regardless of the side effects. A mess with a growing human cost you blame on locals (natives?) resisting the appropriation of their land, jobs, and the destruction of their culture.

That’s typically something Democrats pretend to abhor, but since the goal is to replace free people with one easily subjugated, they are happy to look the other way no matter who pays the cost or how.

 

HT | PJ Media

The post Is the Solution to Ban ‘Migrants’ or Public Transit? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Whether due to a worker shortage, the Dobbs decision, and/or answered prayer, the Planned Parenthood clinic on Washington Street no longer performs abortions, according to its website and anecdotal reports from pro-life activists.

Related: Planned Parenthood Northern New England Is Imploding

The Barre PP clinic website this spring said it offered chemical abortions but now says it provides only ‘abortion referrals’ among its abortion-related subjects. Vermont’s largest abortion provider continues to perform abortions at four clinics statewide, the closest about 40 miles from Barre. Unlike Barre, these clinics explicitly market that they perform abortions.

The clinic is also open only three days a week – despite promising more hours when it closed a clinic in Newport last year “because of limited resources and the national crisis for reproductive health access…we’re reallocating our resources, a spokesperson said. Planned Parenthood isn’t talking about the reduction of hours or services on social media, and it doesn’t respond to VDC inquiries. Three possibilities have been mentioned:

1. Worker shortage. Planned Parenthood describes itself as a ‘health care provider,’ a description heartily disputed by abortion critics and upheld by clinic supporters who point to other, non-abortion-related services. All employers, and especially health care providers, are shorthanded, due in part to the graying of the Vermont workforce and the lack of young workers. It’s possible that PP is suffering the same problem.

2. Reduced demand for services due to the Dobbs decision. This seems less likely, as Vermont has aggressively positioned itself as an ‘abortion sanctuary’ from states that have passed post-Dobbs abortion restrictions. A Society of Family Planning study showed that Vermont abortions pre-and-post Dobbs are up only slightly, averaging about 110 per month on each “side” of the June Dobbs decision.

3. Answered prayer. For many years, Tom Kelly of Barre has led a large band of peaceful, non-trespassing prayer and fasting vigil participants in the 40 Days for Life campaign, which has spread to Rutland and Burlington.

Kelly readily concedes the possibility of #3 is a matter of faith. “We must have faith,” he told VDC recently. “He hears and answers our prayers. PP stands for abortion. PP is the face of abortion. They promote and refer women to abortion.”

The 40 Days campaigns will continue regardless of whether the Barre clinic starts performing abortions again, he said.

“Our 40 Days for Life campaign of prayer and fasting continues whether or not they offer abortion since they promote abortion. PP stands for abortion,” Kelly said.

The kickoff for the fall 40 Days for Life campaign will be held in the cafeteria of the St. Monica’s School in Barre at 1 pm this Sunday, September 24. Eloquent pro-lifer Martin Green of Morrisville will be the keynote speaker. See advertisement on VDC for more information.

 

Guy Page | Vermont Daily Chronicle

The post Barre Planned Parenthood No Longer Performs Abortions appeared first on Granite Grok.

The CDC’s COVID treatment protocol was simple. Refuse treatment until they have severe flu, use drugs that don’t work, ventilate them, lock their families out, and let us know when they die. We’ll send you a check. That’s not a conspiracy theory.

It is a well-documented fact, though – early on – daring to suggest what was obvious was blasphemous. Many said it anyway. Not enough; they kept at it for quite some time. We know this, but when the COVID bugbear (the politics, not the virus) raises its head, it helps to be reminded.

Today’s clip came with very little detail, but I was able to chase it down. The nurse’s name is (I found it hard to hear in the first video) Nicole Sirotec. The “hearing” is a round table in DC with Senator Ron Johnson where medical experts discuss the pandemic response. Nicole is a founder of American Frontline Nurses and has an extensive video archive, including a viral clip of a nurse crying about how her patients are being murdered.

The 2-minute + clip is powerful, but I went looking and found just over 8 minutes of testimony from Nicole, which I’ve included below.

 

 

Here is the entire 8-plus minutes unedited – published in January 2022 in which we learn that if doctors or hospitals reported a condition as a vaccine injury, they didn’t get reimbursed. Negligence and malfeasance are putting it lightly.

 

…

The post They Didn’t Die of COVID They Died of Negligence and Medical Malfeasance appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Learning Initiative gives you a good idea about the players in New Hampshire that push national education initiatives, whether they work or not. Think about all of the fads that have come through our public schools only to be shown that they did nothing to improve academic outcomes.

I can list many: Outcome-Based Education (now sold as Competency-Based Education in NH), School-to-Work (more workforce training), Fuzzy Math (Complete destruction of math ed), Whole Language, Common Core/Next Generation Science Standards (another failure), etc.  There are more, but you get the idea.

Many of these initiatives come from education reformers on the national stage. Failure does not matter; they repackage their old failed initiatives, give them a new name, and then sell them again. Who are the people taking these failed education policies and selling them in New Hampshire? Look no further than the Learning Initiative.

The Learning Initiative used a bogus study from the Barr Foundation/ U.S. Department of Education to further its education agenda. The Barr Foundation is a big supporter of Competency-Based Education, and we know the U.S. Department of Education has been pushing this failed fad for decades. The U.S. Department of Education started with Outcome Based education, then School-to-Work, and now Competency-Based Education (CBE) which in New Hampshire. CBE pushes more training versus literacy and education on our public schools. While it’s apparent we have an illiteracy problem plaguing our public schools, they want more attention on workforce training instead of ensuring graduates are literate in the core subjects.

They change the names of these fads, so you don’t realize it’s a rehashed failed fad from the past.  Notice how they didn’t present an independent or peer-reviewed study on CBE and any impact it’s had on academic outcomes?

The national organizations that continue to push these failed fads on our public schools, like Barr, are listed here with Nellie Mae and the Bush Foundation. Nellie Mae happily tells you that their main goal is to turn kids into community organizers.  Graduating literate students is not the primary goal of any of these organizations.

Some of the people working for the Learning Initiative are making money off of these failed fads, so they will certainly want to keep them afloat. Let’s take the ones selling Competency-Based Ed in NH.
Jonathan G. Vander Els is listed for promoting CBE. He sells a book on CBE along with Brian Stack, who is also part of the Learning Initiative. The Competency-Based Ed model has no track record of success in New Hampshire and has shifted more attention in the classroom away from academics.

Brian Stack is the former Principal of Sanborn High School. I wrote about the scathing reviews he received from students who graduated from Sanborn a few years ago: Is Sanborn Regional School District Lying to Parents?  

It was the Sanborn students who exposed the problems they faced after graduation, even though Brian Stack tried to sell Sanborn as a district that successfully prepares students for college and careers. Sanborn social media administrators were deleting comments from former students who were exposing the fraud.

Scroll through all of these people working for the Learning Initiative. Can you imagine how much money they are spending on their quest to usher in more national fads?  Notice that Portrait of a Graduate is listed too. Read more about that national fad used to ignore poor proficiency scores and push more fads like CRT here.

Student-Centered Learning is another fad that seeks to remove the teacher and replace them with technology/screens. Bill Gates has already told us that teachers can easily be replaced by AI. How does that work for parents if they have to discuss an issue with their children?

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has called for human teachers to be replaced with artificial intelligence-powered machines in schools across America, arguing that AI bots would make “great” educators.

If Competency-Based Education worked so well, we’d have independent/peer-reviewed studies in New Hampshire presenting that evidence. Instead, after over a decade, our public schools continue to struggle.

The Learning Initiative wants to double down and hopes that you ignore the dismal proficiency scores coming out of our public schools and push more of these federal fads into our classrooms. And the worst part of all of this is the New Hampshire Department of Education is included with other progressive organizations in all of this.

You might ask, why would the NEA/teachers union support an initiative that replaces teachers in the classroom? They’ve been bought and paid for. You can see it in this document on page 10 from Education Reimagined. Go to page 10 and look at how adults in the classroom (teachers) are replaced with facilitators. Then go to the last page to see who signed the document: Randi Weingarten, President American Federation of Teachers, and Lily Eskelsen, President National Education Association. Scroll through all of the names to see who is part of this national agenda. It’s a lot harder to see what your kids are learning if there are no textbooks involved.

This isn’t about improving public education. This is about redesigning public ed into what President Obama promised during his tenure. While many of these failed fads are rehashed and have been pushed by progressive reformers in the past, Obama gave them a big push during his Common Core initiative. That’s when he said during a State of the Union Address that he was going to redesign public education. What most did not know is that redesign was a dumbed-down workforce training model…aka…Competency-Based Education Model.

 

 

It helps to know who is selling out your children to this dumbed-down training model that profits the Ed Tech industry. Many in New Hampshire are listed as part of the Learning Initiative.

 

 

 

The post Snake Oil Coming from New Hampshire’s Learning Initiative appeared first on Granite Grok.

Imagine saying that the son of Robert F. Kennedy, the nephew of John F. Kennedy, is NOT a Democrat if you said that even ten years ago, you would have been thought to be insane OR so far-left as to be off the political radar screen.

But today’s Democrat Party bears NO resemblance to the Democrat Party of RFK and JFK. Let me repeat that today’s Democrat Party bears NO resemblance to the Democrat Party of RFK and JFK.

Instead, today’s Democrat Party looks and acts much more like the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and of China at the time that JFK and RFK were the leaders of the Democrat Party. More specifically, today’s Democrat Party supports a Police State that has as its ultimate purpose keeping Democrats in permanent power. “Democracy,” to these Communists “Democrats,” is an outcome, not a process. If they win, that’s democracy. If they lose, that’s not democracy.

In other words, today’s Democrats have turned the meaning of democracy upside down. Rigged elections, putting your political opponents in jail, etc., etc., etc., are okay as long as elections are rigged in their favor, their political opponents are the ones put in jail, etc., etc., etc.. Same with free speech, which to these “Democrats” means censoring speech that does not follow their narrative. Etc., etc., etc., etc.

The tweet that inspired this post:

 

 

The post I Think She Means RFK, Jr. … Is Not A Communist appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Rutherford Institute is pushing back against efforts by government officials to use warrantless aerial drone surveillance to snoop on citizens at home and spy on their private property.

In filing a joint amicus brief with Cato Institute in Long Lake Township v. Maxon, Institute attorneys are calling on the Michigan Supreme Court to hold government officials accountable for violating the Fourth Amendment by not obtaining a search warrant before using a drone to take aerial photographs of private property, which was not observable from the ground, in order to gather evidence of a civil zoning violation.

“Americans are being swept up into a massive digital data dragnet that does not distinguish between those who are innocent of wrongdoing, suspects, or criminals. Aerial drone surveillance has become a de facto snitch for the police state,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People. “By subjecting Americans to surveillance without their knowledge or compliance, the government has erected the ultimate suspect society. In such an environment, there is no such thing as ‘innocent until proven guilty.’”

In 2008, Long Lake Township brought a zoning action against Todd Maxon, alleging that he was using his five-acre property where he lives as an illegal salvage or junkyard due to having automobiles which he worked on fixing up as a hobby. The case settled that year in Maxon’s favor with a dismissal and the Township agreeing to reimburse a portion of his attorneys’ fees. However, the government did not stop in its pursuit to penalize Maxon and his wife. In 2010, 2016, 2017, and 2018—without obtaining any search warrant—Township officials used a drone to take aerial photographs of the Maxons’ property, which was not visible from the ground because it is blocked by buildings and trees. The Township then filed another zoning action in 2018, alleging that the Maxons had increased the scope of the junk cars and material on their property. The Maxons argued that the aerial surveillance and photographs by the drones of their property was an unlawful search in violation of the Fourth Amendment and should, therefore, be excluded from evidence because people do not reasonably expect drones with high-powered cameras to surveil their private property at relatively low altitudes. The trial court denied the Maxons’ motion to suppress the images.

Noting the maneuverability, speed, and stealth of drones, which could fly directly up to an open bathroom window, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that persons do have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their property against drone surveillance and that government officials must, therefore obtain a warrant for such surveillance. However, although the Court of Appeals held that government officials had violated the Fourth Amendment, the court further held that the exclusionary rule does not apply in civil cases to suppress unconstitutionally obtained evidence. The Maxons appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court. In weighing in before the Court on behalf of the Maxons’ right to be free from warrantless aerial drone surveillance, The Rutherford Institute and Cato Institute warned that failure to apply the exclusionary rule will create a roadmap for the government to circumvent Fourth Amendment protections by simply classifying its fines as “civil” to punish people for violating its laws and ordinances.

Clark M. Neily, III and Laura A. Bondank of the Cato Institute helped advance the arguments in the Long Lake Township v. Maxon amicus brief.

 

The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated and educates the public on a wide spectrum of issues affecting their freedoms.

The post No, the Government Should Not Be Allowed to Use Warrantless Drone Surveillance to Snoop on Citizens at Home or Spy on Private Property appeared first on Granite Grok.

Maria Bartiromo had Matt Gaetz on her show in order to spank him for being willing to “shut down the government” in order to keep his promises to the voters. It was Maria, however, who got spanked. For example, she kept claiming that Kevin McCarthy had racked up all these “wins” and that Gaetz was undermining the GOP’s success. But when challenged to enumerate the “wins,” all she could come up with as examples were the hearings where the GOP talks tough at Garland, Mayorkas, Wray, etc.. Gaetz demolished her by pointing out that it is pointless to expose the weaponization of government and then turn around and fully fund that same weaponized government.

Some fireworks between Maria & @MattGaetz this morning: pic.twitter.com/RqXHDEvOhA

— ALX (@alx) September 24, 2023

The post Watch Matt Gaetz Destroy Maria Bartiromo appeared first on Granite Grok.

The UNH poll came out last week. Trump has a solid lead, DeSantis has collapsed, Vivek claimed second, and Chris Christie is the guy Republicans are least likely to vote for under any circumstance. This week, St. Anselm’s published their most recent poll.

Trump still sits on top (45%), Nikki Haley takes the second spot (15%), followed by Ron DeSantis (11%) and Chris Christie at 10%. Ramaswamy is 5th, Scott 6th, Traitor Pence 7th, then, as they used to say in the opening to Gilligan’s Island, “and the rest.”

As with the UNH poll, everyone but Trump is drifting within the margin of error, so you have to look elsewhere for nuggets to take the temperature of the sampled electorate. For our purposes today, as the headline suggests, our focus is on how many New Hampshire voters would not vote for Chris Christie under any circumstance.

The UNH Poll included a graph depicting whom voters, regardless of circumstance, refused to vote.

 

 

60% of those polled will not vote for Christie, double that of the “combative” and troublesome Trump. Is that why Camp Christie is running new ads comparing him to Reagan?

Yesterday, the St Aselm’s Poll produced a similar result to UNH. Chris Christie is the least popular Republican running.

 

Former Governor Chris Christie has succeeded in branding himself as the harshest critic of Trump, but at a cost.  Although he has picked up the support of 29% of respondents who have an unfavorable impression of Trump, he has virtually no support from respondents who view Trump favorably.  His 46-point net negative favorability (25%-71%) will likely put a hard ceiling on his potential growth.

 

 

To be fair to Chris-Chris, we were fans when he first got elected governor of New Jersey and went toe-to-toe with the Unions. He made great arguments in defense of taxpayers and education. It was also nice to see a Republican who didn’t back down a trait he abandoned when his president could have used some support. Instead of backing the man and helping debunk the left’s BS – which he has the skills to do – Chris-Chris chose the other side.

How do you support that guy, knowing he can’t be relied upon to defend anyone that’s not him? That is the problem many voters have with Pence. He could have stood tall, but instead, he folded like a big tent. And UNH and St. Anselm’s polls show Mike Pence failing to escape whatever disdain is held for him, no doubt the result of Trump voters who would rather wash Nancy Pelosi’s crooked feet than vote for Pence.

Okay, that’s a stretch, but you get what I assume you can’t unsee. New Jersey’s answer to Mr. Stay Puft is unpopular despite or becasue of the ads he’s been running all summer and the devotion of Trump supporters to Trump, no matter what – which leads me to one more point.

The devotion of Pro-Trumpers and Never-Trumpers. We encourage everyone, regardless of who they support, to make their case in as civil a manner as they are able. Cults of personality aside, and that works both ways. The Trump or bust folks should try not to appear like zealots, but those who insist a Trump nomination will destroy GOP chances down-ticket need to take a breath. I’m not saying you are right or wrong. I don’t know the answer. The dynamics of Presidential years and Party efforts are different than off years.

My point is that while you are bemoaning the progressive political elite and how they think they know better or refuse to listen to the majority, that’s not bad advice for your party. Whether you like Trump or not, he’s polling as high as 60% among Republican primary voters. In New Hampshire, except for pre-collapse DeSantis in March, Trump has held a double-digit lead.

If you’d like that to change, you need to embrace the Sununu strategy and convince the laggards sucking the rest of the air out of the room to drop out. The problem there, of course, is that to do this, you’d have to do what you’ve been trying to get Trump supporters to do – abandon their candidate. And so far, he’s the only one with a base prepared to support him come hell or high water.

We thought Ron DeSantis could be that guy, but with four months to go, give or take a week here and there, he is headed in the wrong direction. Whatever the plan is, it needs to start soon, or you’ll never get close to Trump in time to prevent his nomination. If that doesn’t appeal, might your time and energy be more productive trying to clean up the election integrity issues?

At this point, it hardly matters who the Republican nominee is if the swing state election processes are in the same shape as they’ve been since 2020.

If Christie is such a fighter for the people, try something that might make you more popular with every Republican voter. Try roaming the swing states, building legal support to clean up elections, prosecutor, or at least finding lawyers who will actually work to prevent fraud instead of sitting on their hands watching it happen.

That fraud hurts Republicans up and down the ticket, and it harms Americans.

 

The post Chris Christie and What the UNH and St Anselm’s Presidential Polls Have in Common appeared first on Granite Grok.

As a parental rights advocate in New Hampshire, I talk to parents frequently about the challenges their children face in our public schools. I offer them advice on how to navigate some of those challenges, like opting out of objectionable materials assigned to their children.

Parents should be replacing poor-quality assignments with quality academic content. If the school administrators are going to dumb down your child’s public education, sometimes it’s better to opt out of these assignments and replace them with something better. Parents are doing that right now in New Hampshire by sending school administrators a request to opt out of what they find objectionable. Parents are then purchasing workbooks and literature that elevate their child’s learning.

Many parents have replaced the dumbed-down Common Core math with traditional math. SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) time is being spent in the library, where they are working with math and grammar workbooks used by home-schooling parents. Many children are still behind in these subjects due to the COVID shutdowns, so parents know the time wasted on SEL and other subjects could be better-used learning math facts and grammar skills. They are replacing trashy books with classical literature that expands their vocabulary and instills characteristics like courage and honesty.

For some of our children who are challenged in other ways, it’s even more important that parents monitor what they are doing in school. When parents discovered that pornographic content was found on their child’s library App (SORA) that was provided by their school and downloaded on their Chromebooks, they became concerned. But what we are finding now is that children with Autism have also had access to this graphic content.

Some parents are now reporting that their children are using inappropriate language at home and at school. Some of what they have learned appears to be coming from their time in school. When children have problems filtering what they say or have outbursts that come from some of the disabilities they have, it makes it even more challenging for parents.

Many of these parents are careful not to expose their children to adult content at home. They know that stopping bad behavior can be extremely difficult, especially when they send their children to school. If an autistic child is exposed to sexual or pornographic content, this can exacerbate problems at home and in the school.

All parents need to notify the school district that their children should not be exposed to any graphic or pornographic books or materials in school. But this is even more important for parents whose children struggle with their ability to control their behavior.

Public school administrators and teachers are not helping any children by providing this kind of content to children. In fact, stopitnow.org describes giving children pornographic content as sexual abuse of a child. No one in the public schools seems to have the guts to put an end to this abuse. Until we have honorable people in charge of our schools, it’s best to notify the school Superintendent, Principal, teachers, and school board members that your child is not to access any of this content while they are attending school. It can be used as a way to force your child out of public school by punishing a child who has limited means to control their behavior.

 

The post Sexualizing Students In Our Schools Hurts SPED Children the Most appeared first on Granite Grok.

Bill Gates extolls the potential benefits of genetically modified mosquitos in a recent blog. The clever technology may indeed prove beneficial, but Bill Gates has his fingers (and money) stuck in so many technological marvels that risks of error surely mount. How far will he fly toward the sun before all humanity is scorched by his melting wings?

Genetically modifying mosquitos to become weapons against their kind has been underway for years, with proven success. The creepy mosquito modifications are employed in male mosquitos only, who are then released into wild populations to mate. Impregnated females are infertile or yield female larvae that fail to reach maturity, reducing malaria. The mutated strain eventually dies out – the females cannot reproduce.

In the billionaire’s latest blog, the merits of a new manmade mosquito are touted. Gates hails the “genetic Technology” of Oxitec to engineer a new mutated mosquito, gushing: “To end malaria, we need many new tools and innovations to reduce the burden of this disease and move the world closer to eradication.” Such high aspirations are laudable, but the rush to “new tools and innovations” is where Mr. Gates flies too close for Icarian comfort to the sun. His “new tools” in the name of health include controversial mRNA vaccines, food preservatives (APEEL), chalk to block the sun, and synthetic meat (He owns some patents and lots of farmland to grow soy).

The Gates Foundation awarded Oxitec $5.8 million in grants beginning in 2018, essentially subcontracting the Frankensteinian task of genetically manufacturing new strains of designer mosquitos – one of which was nick-named “Friendly.” But there is reason to fear genetic tampering, even if the Frankensquitos are effective. Indeed, their success might imbue Gates and other stargazers with a hazardous overconfidence in future ventures.

Does Bill Gates Fly Too Close to the Sun? Throughout history, man has sought miraculous cures and alms in many forms, from morphing lead into gold to creating a perpetual motion machine. Human eyes are easily dazzled by techno-promises, and the theme of hubris that mythology and religious texts have echoed through the ages is unheeded by the world’s Gateses. If ever there were a modern Icarus, it would be Bill Gates the computer geek.

It might be that one of these unnatural mosquitos carries an undetected additional trait, mutates, or breeds in some unanticipated way. Genetic mutations of plants (one recent genetic freakshow splices porcine DNA with soy), fetal tissue tampering (for designer human organs, or of bovine fetal tissue to grow fake meats), hormones and chemicals, blending frog DNA with who-knows-what … these and other modern real-life forays into the realm of science fiction threaten to one day usher in a horror show instead.

Thalidomide was touted as safe for pregnant women; Agent Orange was sprayed on troops; radon was used to measure foot size; oxycontin was hailed as non-addictive. The list of human errors in technology is long and growing, yet the techno-mystics glowingly exalt their futurist visions, undaunted. Nations are battling natural invasive plants and pests in a globalized world. What mutant plant, insect, or human will the new gods of bioengineering procure? Will they employ gain-of-function technology and fabricate a deadly virus and pandemic?

Bill Gates would never dream of such a thing …  As to mosquitos, he appears to acknowledge the risks of this technology in his August 14 blog, providing a less-than-reassuring comfort:

 

“Genetic technology like Oxitec’s understandably raises many questions. Is it safe? What are the lasting environmental impacts? Here’s what’s important to know: After evaluating the potential risk of genetically modified mosquitoes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2016 and the EPA in 2022 have confirmed that the Oxitec mosquitoes do not pose a threat to humans or the environment.”

 

If only Mr. Gates secured the USDA’s and CDC’s confirmation as well, and perhaps Dr. Fauci’s – then Americans could know for certain to be terrified. By definition, all of humanity’s past technological follies have received the imprimatur of so-called experts. Mr. Gates assures us that re-tooled mosquitos are (like mRNA vaccines) safe and effective.

In 1867, a French immigrant in Massachusetts named Etienne Leopold Trouvelot managed to import gypsy moth caterpillars to his home for cross-breeding with silkworms. Trouvelet sought a breed of silkworm caterpillar that birds wouldn’t eat. The trouble is they escaped. By 1889 the gypsy moth had become a scourge in Medford, Massachusetts. These caterpillars are afoot still, expanding across the continent at about 12.6 miles per year. Much slower than modern GMOs (genetically modified organisms), but still inexorable, irreversible, and destructive.

In seeking the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, mankind has habitually crafted machinations with destructive impacts often unforeseen. Mapping human DNA, creating new plants and animals, and growing food from fetal tissues is The Island of Dr. Moreau meets Soilent Green freaky, yet this is the stuff of pomp and boast for Bill Gates and other techno-mystics.

An eerie comment stands out in the billionaire’s mosquito-plugging blog:

“Thank you Bill Gates and the entire team for making such effort to brighten not only Africa, but the entire world.

“Your work will never be forgotten. Let all the generations to come seal your names in their hearts, for you are the true heroes of our time.

“Keep up the good fight, and may God forgive you if by any chance you crushed which was not meant to be crushed in an effort to make the world a better place.”

Generations to come may not seal the Gates name in their hearts as a “true hero of our time” if in time a single misstep in his various visionary ventures unleashes a Trouvelotian legacy of some new creation, whether plant, insect, or virus. Those science fiction fantasy horrors knock at humanity’s door, aided and abetted by AI – itself a brave new world of possible irrevocable errancies. Imagine the upcoming gene engineering of humans for designer kiddies, spliced with 2001: A Space Odyssey’s “Hal.”

The world must not be overly skeptical of the possibilities of new technologies. Even so, Bill Gates’ techno-idolatry embraces a foolish, grandiose optimism. The technology employed to alter mosquitos is called Genetically Altered Drives, a step beyond other modification techniques, and it may not always be so “friendly.” Given the highly dubious track record Gates has on vaccines, GMOs, and synthetic meats, the world must pray that his philanthropic efforts do not “by any chance crush that which was not meant to be crushed.”

John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.

The post Bill Gates Eyes ‘Friendly’ Mosquitos appeared first on Granite Grok.

My meme cup runneth over.  And yes there will be a Friday edition.  Here’s last Friday’s edition.

Thank you for your tolerance at there being no post on Monday.

Let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a science there must not just be predictions, but predictions that are falsifiable.  I.e., if the prediction is for drought, then if there’s rain and wetter weather that doesn’t morph into “see, we told you”.  Instead, the prediction was falsified, therefore the theory that generated the prediction is shown to be – at least – weakened if not outright voided.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Pick of the post:

 

 

Not precisely my favorite guy by any stretch, but in this he was spot-on correct.  People don’t see because if they saw they’d have to acknowledge that the world they thought existed… isn’t.

 

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

 

Palate cleansers:

 

—

—

 

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

 

 

 

The post MONDAY MEMES on a Wednesday appeared first on Granite Grok.

One of the many problems with Democrats is that they are blinkered idiots trapped by their own vocabulary and destined to trip over it at every opportunity. Take this latest outrage. A white woman was crowned Miss Zimbabwe.

 

The crowning of Brooke Bruk-Jackson, a 21-year-old white woman, as Miss Universe Zimbabwe on Sept. 16 has ignited disturbing criticism, with some expressing outrage against the model’s race. ..

According to the Atlanta Black Star, one Twitter user remarked, “All those beautiful melanted women and you telling me the European woman won a contest for black people!!??” A second unhinged user responded, “Extremely tragic and disappointing! I agree with you.” 

The racist mob hijacked the comments section of her Instagram account, forcing her to disable them.

 

These people are idiots. The word minority does not mean black or brown-skinned but the Race-obsessed Western Progressive can’t see that forest for the trees. All they know is white hate, often self-hate, and their own liberal-fragility. Brooke Bruk-Jackson is a minority in Zimbabwe. A nation with a population of over 16.6 million, 99.6% of which are black African.

If Zimbabwe had the Western left equivalent of American Progressives, her crown would be viewed as an earth-shattering victory for minority and minority rights, repeating the words of the winner herself as if they were an anthem.

 

“The colour of our skin should not define a person or who each person chooses to associate with. Together, we are aligned, a beautiful kind made by god,” she remarked on Instagram on Thursday.

 

She’s thinking as if she were Zimbabwe’s Martin Luther King Jr., not that this will gain her any traction in Europe or across the pond. To them, Brooke has not only denied “All those beautiful melanated women” a crown but defiled the sacred tenets of anti-racist dogma. There is no such thing as reverse racism.

Right.

All that sort of thinking does is reveal their white hate, muddying up the debate about what minority and minority rights mean, but that’s no issue for the Left, either. Language is just another “institution” to destroy. But if it matters, the target of their outrage should probably be the progressive judges who picked her based on all the categories in the contest.

And Brooke should stop trying to console or appease them and instead make fun of them. After all, if she were a white guy denying “melanated women” of victory, the skeeving bastards would probably be beside themselves with joy.

 

 

The post No Pleasing Them: The Left is Pissed After a “Minority” Wins Miss Universe Zimbabwe appeared first on Granite Grok.

The legislature passed the Clean Heat Standard (S.5) into law in the Spring of this year (over the governor’s veto) with a provision that Vermonters can start banking the so-called “Clean Heat Credits” – earned by installing heat pumps, insulating buildings, etc. – retroactive to January 1, 2023.

The program itself doesn’t go into full effect until 2025. So, the geniuses in Montpelier created a situation in which folks, in order to get their early credits, are supposed to somehow file paperwork that doesn’t exist with a bureaucratic entity that is not yet in place following rules that have not been written. What could go wrong?

And, yes, this is perhaps the dumbest thing ever.

The level of dumb was highlighted in a recent letter the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) sent out in reply to a request by the Vermont Fuel Dealers asking for instructions on how to apply for/claim their early action carbon credits. The PUC is the entity charged under S.5/Act 18 with writing the rules by which the Clean Heat Standard program is supposed to work. Their letter reads in part:

On August 4, 2023, the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association (“VFDA”) and the Heating and Cooling Contractors of Vermont (“HCCV”) filed comments requesting clarity on what documentation and other record keeping will be required to substantiate early action credits pursuant to 30 V.S.A. § 8124(c). VFDA and HCCV maintain that such clarity is essential to equitable implementation of Act 18 [aka S.5] and will help to incentivize early participation in activities that are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Section 8124(c) of Title 30 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated provides that beginning January 1, 2023, “clean heat measures that are installed and provide emission reductions are creditable,” and that “[u]pon the establishment of the clean heat credit system, entities may register credits for actions taken starting in 2023.” The Commission seeks feedback on the topic of early action credits, including what documentation and recordkeeping should be maintained to allow for verification of clean heat measures seeking early action credits, and any other information or suggestions participants may have on the topic of early action credits. Any comments on this topic should be filed by October 5, 2023, with reply comments due by October 19, 2023. SO ORDERED. 09/18/2023

In other words, we have no clue. SO ORDERED!

A couple of points to highlight here. The bill passed in April after significant testimony in both the House and Senate in which the PUC played a large role. They knew way ahead of time that this was something they were going to have to deal with. They had plenty of opportunity to object to the impossible nature of the requirement, and/or to ask the legislators for clarification about how they expected this aspect of the law they were passing might to function in the real world. They didn’t.

..

The PUC’s S.5/Act 18 funding ($825,000 of it) and authority came online on June 30/July 1. The Fuel Dealers and Cooling Contractors reached out in early August with their request for rule clarification and it took a month and a half (until September 18) for the PUC to even respond! And then with this lame, “We have no clue, you tell us what to do” farce. They plan on waiting until October 19th for suggestions to come in, at which point one assumes they will maybe start the process of figuring out how to bank early action credits – going on a year after people were supposed to be able to bank them.

None of this speaks well of the competency with which this program will be managed. And it is going to be exceedingly complicated.

The law (S.5/Act 18) states, ““Clean heat credit” means a tradeable, nontangible commodity that represents the amount of greenhouse gas reduction attributable to a clean heat measure [emphasis added].”

So, it’s not enough to document that one, for example, installs a heat pump. Someone from the PUC is also going to have to verify in addition to installation actually taking place, what system the heat pump is replacing, because depending upon whether or not it is a natural gas, propane, oil, or wood system the greenhouse gas reduction calculation – which is what the credit value is legally based on — will be different. Someone will also have to verify the intended use of the heat pump. If it’s primarily being used in the summer for air conditioning, for example, it’s likely adding to greenhouse gas output, not reducing it. Is the space it’s being installed into well insulated or not so much? We need to know this too.

Beyond these scientific factors, the law has “equity” components built into it as well, stating, “The Clean Heat Standard shall be designed and implemented to enhance social equity by prioritizing customers with low income, moderate income,” and, “each obligated party shall retire at least 16 percent from customers with low income and an additional 16 percent from customers with low or moderate income.” So, someone from the PUC is going to not only verify all the factors that impact the greenhouse gas reduction (or lack there of) regarding each clean heat measure, they will also have to verify the income status of the person/family/business installing the measure.

And lastly, how is the PUC going to verify who is claiming ownership of the credit? The installer? The Homeowner?

You can’t mess around with this because a “clean heat credit” is a financial instrument with a monetary value, and leaving their creation open to opportunities for fraud by making false claims will open someone(s) up to some serious legal jeopardy. The way the law is written makes every single clean heat measure is unique, and to meet the greenhouse gas reduction mandates under the Global Warming Solutions Act there must be literally hundreds of thousands of such measures falling under at least a dozen different categories of activities. This is a virtually impossible task.

So, if I were with the Fuel Dealers/Heating & Cooling Contractors, I would reply to the PUC with a reminder of what the law states a clean heat credit must be based on, and a list of every single factor they can think of that might impact on greenhouse gas emissions a clean heat measure can affect. Remind them that it’s the PUC’s job to figure out how to document and verify all this, not the dealers/contractors. And sign off with a hearty, “Good luck with it!” And, “PS, if you have any questions about how this is supposed to work, kindly direct them to the jackasses in the legislature who wrote the law the this way. Surely, they thought this all through before voting YES.” Right?

Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics, including three years of service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free-market think tank. He is also a regular contributor to VermontGrok.

The post The Entity Charged With Implementing a Carbon Credit System Has No Idea How To Do It appeared first on Granite Grok.

Today’s clip is about where we were, where we are, what we are up against, and why we need to persevere as a nation under attack from without and within. It is a testament to the value and purpose of liberty—the why of the American Revolution and the American experiment.

Ben Domenech made these remarks on Fox News over two years ago. I saved the clip becasue it struck me as moving. One of those somethings we need to revisit every 6-12 months to remind us that the battles are worth fighting, the war worth winning. I have a list of them.

 

• Angelo Codevilla’s “America’s Ruling Class and the Perils of Revolution“
• Theorode Dalrymple’s “Don’t Legalize Drugs.”
• Albert Jay Knock’s “Our Enemy the State” (published 1935)
• Ken White’s “Free Speech Tropes” (a free-speech lawyer on flawed free speech arguments).
• Emmantize the Eschaton

 

There are others, but let’s focus on this. The culture war, the border war, the war against free speech, religion, culture, and the rule of law. We are fighting rampant generational theft by unaccountable elites (to name but one timely issue given the shutdown theater), but America is worth fighting for, and Ben Domenech did a damn good job – in my opinion – framing why.

 

 

 

The post What Free People Do appeared first on Granite Grok.

Tucker Carlson talks about abortion in a way most anti-abortion politicians are afraid/unable to. Instead, these anti-abortion politicians come across as defensive and even apologetic about being anti-abortion. It’s even worse in New Hampshire .

NHGOP “leaders,” desperate to hold on to power, think the way to do so is to appeal to the “swing voters,” i.e., the “sick voters.” Prime example: Sun-King Chris Sununu, who is okay with aborting seven, eight, and even nine-month-old unborn babies.

 

Abortion has gone from being tolerated to celebrated. What kind of sick people would tell you that killing your baby is a pathway to joy? pic.twitter.com/ohaYtnITPr

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 25, 2023

That said, I believe that incrementalism is the key. Move too far (in the minds of a majority of a particular State’s voters), too fast (in the minds of a majority of a particular State’s voters) … and you may very well end up with unrestricted abortion. Case in point: Ohio. But incrementalism does not mean NOT calling people like Chris Sununu, who support unrestricted abortion, what they are: SICK.

 

The post NHGOP “Leaders” … We Must Pander To The Sick People appeared first on Granite Grok.

The great H.L. Mencken reportedly said, “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” While it’s hard to believe he didn’t have the Biden family finances in mind, it still serves as an apt warning for another round of handwringing over the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Just last week, Americans were hit with a one-two punch from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as both agencies urged another round of booster shots “for all Americans ages six months and older.”

The same FDA (which has no business dispensing medical advice, only safety data) that took fifty years to figure out the decongestant phenylephrine doesn’t really work. But it can cause high blood pressure. Regardless, for Pfizer and Moderna, the new jabs for a never-ending stream of annual COVID-19 variants are called profit centers.

Yet, this time not everyone is going along. The public seems willing to buck the compliance conformity and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has thankfully decided to buck the CDC, citing a lack of “sufficient clinical evidence” for the latest shots in people under the age of 65. (RELATED: FORMER REP. JASON LEWIS: If The Special Counsel Can Indict Trump For His ‘Lies,’ Then Why Not The Partisan Press?)

And for good reason. The CDC itself has been forced to recommend that all doctors consider myocarditis in otherwise healthy patients who report chest pains and had prior mRNA COVID vaccinations. Meantime, Dr. Anthony Fauci is busy walking back history after smearing a host of epidemiological colleagues who were right all along about ‘herd immunity.’

“If you get vaccinated,” whispered Joe Biden, “you won’t get COVID.” An obvious lie that should have been put to rest when the octogenarian kept testing positive for the virus. Even Dr. Deborah Birx noted that “fifty percent of the people who died from the Omicron surge were all older, vaccinated.”

A stark reversal from coronavirus task force member Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who had declared that “with the Omicron variant, kids are either going to get the vaccine or they’re likely to get a serious condition.”

You can see why the Biden administration is panicking. After all, it fully understands the hysteria over COVID, fueled by media malfeasance, got ‘ol Joe in the White House in the first place. I saw it in real-time and tried to warn folks in 2020 while running for the U.S. Senate.

Now comes a three-judge panel at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Big Tech censors can’t follow the dictates of government ones without abridging First Amendment protections. Especially since the defendants not only “continued to take down content the officials flagged, and provided requested data to the White House, but they also changed their moderation policies expressly in accordance with the officials’ wishes” in order to show that “stronger demotions, in particular, should deliver real impact.“

 

 

The stinging rebuke highlighting what everyone knew to be true hasn’t dissuaded the Biden administration from using government coercion, however. It immediately demanded the high court block the appellate court decision.¹³ Then the White House Pretorian Guard sent out a media memo “urging news outlets to ramp up scrutiny of the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden.”

Well, why not?

Literally, just about every news outlet imaginable carried water for the ‘new normal.’ They still are, ask Woody Harrelson. When the lefty actor brought up his sarcastic criticism of Big Pharma on Saturday Night Live, ‘progressive’ mouthpieces from Rolling Stone to the Daily Beast to Huffpost labeled their former comrade an ‘anti-vaxx conspiracist.’

Yes, the same ‘journalists’ who denied SARS-CoV-2 could have originated with a Wuhan gain-of-function “laboratory-associated incident.”¹⁶ Hell, you weren’t even supposed to call it a ‘Chinavirus,’ though geography was how we used to name them. The media mocked conventional off-label treatments, over-counted COVID-related deaths and promoted vaccines whose manufacturers were advertising on their programs.

The whole damn thing was one big Psy Op.

Nowhere was the incestuous relationship between government and the press more pronounced than in Minnesota. When a power-drunk Governor Tim Walz announced statewide mask mandates, the observable data was already accumulating on how ineffective, actually useless, the practice would turn out to be.¹⁸ Nevertheless, Walz’s economic development commissioner, Steve Grove, sent off sample letters to business leaders suggesting they submit the pro-mandate agitprop to newspapers, such as the Star Tribune.

“Your support for wearing masks,” wrote the former Google executive, “is critical toward ensuring adoption.” Steve Grove, in case you’re wondering, is now the CEO and publisher of the pro-Walz Star Tribune.

Hey, if we can’t sue the vaccine makers or Big Tech, maybe we should all bring a Section 1983 lawsuit charging the media for abridging our civil liberties by ‘defrauding the United States’ in their role as ‘state actors’ under the color of law.

Lockdowns and masking were more than drastic public health measures. As Justice Neil Gorsuch put it, “Since March of 2020, we may have experienced the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.” And the costs have been catastrophic.

A study at Johns Hopkins was one of over 400 that found “no evidence that lockdowns, school closures, border closures, and limiting gatherings have had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality.”

They did have an effect, however, on overdose deaths, suicide rates and the “prevalence of persistent sadness among teenage girls in the U.S.,” which, according to the CDC, ironically enough, “hit an all-time high.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services now suggests routine screenings for ‘anxiety.’ (RELATED: MATTHYS: The CDC’s ‘Reset’ Shows Just How Dangerous Government Narratives Can Be)

Academically, the post-pandemic NAEP Report Cards confirm that the quarantining of elementary and secondary students was a calamitous disaster. Colleges and universities pulled a bait and switch that would have made Charles Ponzi envious. Administrators lured students back with full tuition rates and then, once they got to campus, shut down classrooms.

Now they’re flirting with it again?

But the damage far exceeded a student’s GPA. It was an inexcusable exercise in dystopia, and I shared my own frustration in “Party Animal, The Truth About President Trump, Power Politics & the Partisan Press“:

Imagine taking someone mired in loneliness and telling them to isolate in their rooms, left to the poison of social media algorithms so often used to traumatize young adults.

The lockdown lobby deliberately abandoned an entire generation for political gain. Who does this? How many formative years in high school and college were now forever gone? How many futures destroyed, how many dreams dashed? What these public health bureaucrats, politicians and media did to kids wasn’t a public policy mistake—it was a scandal.

God may forgive the ‘grown-ups’ who did this, but the rest of us won’t.

The latest push reveals the defining characteristic of the new fascist left. That is, they are not going to stop until someone makes them. It’s gaslighting on a level heretofore not seen in America. How else would you explain the farce of ESPN awarding tennis great and U.S. Open champ Novak Djokovic—who refused the jab and was subsequently banned from competing by shameless authoritarians around the globe—‘The Moderna Shot of the Day.’

But nothing’s absurd unless brave people say it’s so.

 

Former Congressman Jason Lewis is the author of “Party Animal, The Truth About President Trump, Power Politics and the Partisan Press.” He also writes at jasonlewis.substack.com.

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack page, which can be viewed here.

 

Jason Lewis | Daily Caller News Service

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The post Don’t Let COVID Hysteria Fool Us Again appeared first on Granite Grok.