A quick shout out to all the “Vaccine Deniers” in the house we call ‘Merica. You should be proud of yourselves. In a nation with over 300 million people, not counting the tens of millions of unvaccinated illegals, DHHS says only 2% have lined up for the latest COVID booster.

This means that the Xbb.1.5. 2.9. Omicron SUV Epsilon Law and Order CSI Hawaii, Morrocco, Bangladesh Halloween 27 booster shots are not popular. Only a fraction of the population is still playing Pfizer-Roulette.

It must be embarrassing.

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data shows that the major vaccine manufacturers, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, have gotten their updated shots out to about 2 percent of the population as of Wednesday,  Reuters reported.

 

And not for lack of trying. Big Pharma continues to ply the airwaves with ads on radio and television cajoling the masses to roll up their sleeves. COVID, RSV, and Flu, to name a few.

And what of those poor Democrats and their rhetorical terror campaigns? Vaccine denier. Anti-vaxxer. Terms of derision driving acts of tyranny that are falling on an increasing number of deaf ears. They’ll need to rethink that.

98% of Americans and some unknown number of non-Americans are vaccine-hesitant. They deny the efficacy of additional injections by refusing or failing to do – what can only be described – as their patriotic duty.

What is a progressive to do?

While we wait, here is Aaron Rodgers – alleged to be a royal asshat of a human being but one with the sense to exercise some intellectual medical autonomy – at least on the subject of “mandatory emergency use COVID vaccines.” He would like to debate Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce (better known to many as Taylor Swift’s next ex-boyfriend) on the subject of these vaccines.

 

Aaron Rodgers is inviting Travis Kelce to have a vaccine debate.

Rodgers proposes that it be him and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. against Kelce and Anthony Fauci.

(via @PatMcAfeeShow)pic.twitter.com/tcqPmptGtB https://t.co/xvH9M5MlpR

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 10, 2023

 

HT | Breitbart

The post The Rise of the Vaccine Hesitant? – 98% of American’s Have Not Received the Latest COVID “Booster” appeared first on Granite Grok.

When Rashida Tlaib was confronted with a request for a comment about Hamas’s atrocities committed on women and children, she avoided the reporter and refused to answer the question.

The Congresswoman from Michigan was asked to comment on the beheading and burning of innocent Jewish children, and she opted not to comment. Is there an option here? Children were beheaded in front of their parents or crowded into a room where burning tires were rolled in to burn them alive. Is there a question as to whether this is right or wrong? Is this a debatable question? Is this a situation you have to think about before commenting? If you answered yes, then that is a shame. There is something wrong with you as a human being.

It was embarrassing as an American to see a member of the House of Representatives cower and duck behind her staff members when the question was repeatedly asked of her. The wording changed, but the question remained the same. “Congresswoman Tlaib, is it wrong for innocent children to be beheaded by the terrorist group Hamas?” No response. Not a word. Then, the elevator door closed, and the Congresswoman slipped out of view. The Congresswoman from Michigan, like her fellow members of the Squad, shares a dislike for America and Israel. It’s sad and makes you question why the Jewish community supports Democrats. It is a habit that must be broken.

Rashida Tlaib later Tweeted:

“I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity. The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance. The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence. We cannot ignore the humanity in each other. As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”

Alexandria Cortez Tweeted:

“Today is devastating for all those seeking a lasting peace and respect for human rights in Israel and Palestine. I condemn Hamas’ attack in the strongest possible terms. No child and family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region. An immediate ceasefire and de-escalation is urgently needed to save lives.”

And, finally, from Cori Bush

“Our ultimate focus must be on a just and lasting peace that ensures safety for everyone in the region,” she said. “Violations of human rights do not justify more violations of human rights, and a military response will only exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

“As part of achieving a just and lasting peace, we must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid.”

These people on the Extreme Left are on the wrong side of this issue. They have chosen the side of evil and deserve the criticism they receive from the Right and the Left. Even the White House, which usually defers to no comment, condemned the Squad’s remarks. Will this be the event to break up the Squad? It at least puts them outside of human existence, and it is a very dark place.

 

The post Can Progressives Not Recognize Evil appeared first on Granite Grok.

Back in Jr. High and High School, I was a WWII military nerd. Anything to do with the militaries involved in the war (pretty much everyone), I read. In fact, I read every book in the Campello library (part of Brockton, MA, where I grew up) and then started in on the main library downtown.

At that time, I could talk, with a fairly good level of detail, about both the European and Pacific fronts. Who knows, with China trying to throw its weight around, still having a little familiarity with the geographies (a little bit – it HAS been 50 years, ya know, right?) might be a tad useful.

Anyways, given that the fascist/communist/dictator Putin decided to start the Russian-Ukrainian war in the vain hope of recreating the false glory of Mother Soviet Union by re-aggregating all of the “runaways,” I’ve been on the Institute of War email distribution list.

Every night, I get an email talking about what has happened, in intelligence/military terms, that day on the battlefront.

This is the ISW’s first drop on the structure and placement of the Russian military. They seemed impressive, and the Soviet forces certainly kept us thinking otherwise, but it turned out (sans their nukes) that they were a second-rate military in a Third World country.

All that said, if you are still following this war to which the US has sent BILLIONS of $$$ (to the point where OUR military is “running short”), you might find it interesting.

 

Note: Page two of the report is blank – you can skip it.

10-12-23 Russian Order of Battle Outline ISW

 

HT |  Institute for the Study of War

The post Since We’re Spending so Much in Ukraine, How about a Little Russian Military 101… appeared first on Granite Grok.

What does a lunatic sound like? Well … listen to Lindsey Graham and you will know exactly what a lunatic sounds like. He wants Biden to wage war on Iran … apparently without a Congressional declaration of war … if, in his view, there is an escalation (which he does NOT define) by Hamas. Graham has such a fetish for war that he is willing to shred what’s left of the Constitution and risk a wider war in the Middle East. LUNACY.

Graham is also a liar. In one breath he’s telling us that Putin is going to take over all of Europe if he is not stopped in the Ukraine and in the next he’s telling us that the Russian Army has effectively been destroyed by his pal Zelensky. His fetish for war is such that he will say anything … ANYTHING … to keep the carnage going in Ukraine, where Russia is systematically and methodically destroying the Ukrainian armed forces.

CNN host: “You are saying, that you would want the United States and Israel to bomb Iran even in the absence of direct evidence of their involvement in this attack?”

Lindsey Graham: “Yeah.” pic.twitter.com/p6LToVn0zP

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 12, 2023

The post Bomb, Bomb, Bomb … Bomb, Bomb Iran … Lindsey Graham Is A Lunatic appeared first on Granite Grok.

I was recently accused of ‘having a lot of good ideas that are impossible to get done’.

I’m glad that at least some people think they’re good ideas.  But I’m sad that those people so often dismiss the ideas as being impossible.

I agree that they’re impossible to get done if we don’t even try. And if we get distracted, putting all our efforts into fighting over things like ‘a parental bill of rights’ — as if parents have a right to make other people pay to educate their children.

As Thoreau said, there are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. We have to reverse that ratio. And that’s a cultural problem, not a political one.

For example, every minute of time, every dollar in contributions that goes into fighting

for a parental bill of rights;

or to get certain books out of school libraries;

or to control who uses what bathrooms, who plays on what sports teams, or who provides a supplemental course in financial literacy;

or to get this board member elected instead of that one;

and so on, is time and money that could be going towards evangelizing the fundamental issues regarding education: That it’s a responsibility, not an entitlement, and that its purpose is to ensure the preservation of a free government, not to provide children with ‘good jobs’ or ‘bright futures.’

If culturally, we reclaim the idea that the government is just a tool for protecting rights and that it gets its power from consent (which means your government can’t have more power than you do), then politically, everything can change, and quickly.

If culturally, we reject those ideas, then politically, nothing significant can change. If that’s really the case, then the ship is going down, and all you can do is build a lifeboat and get the people you love into it.

As long as the conversation is about regulations, or statutes, or elections, or even constitutions, then we’re screwed. The conversation has to be about the heart of the Declaration of Independence,

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

and whether we as a people still believe that.  Or if, indeed, we ever did.

That is, by the way, also the heart of the GOP platform, at least on paper; and has been since the party was formed. For example, here is the platform from 1856:

Resolved: That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the Federal Constitution are essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions.

Here is the platform from 1860:

[Resolved:]  That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution, “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” is essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions.

You get the idea. The same idea runs through every platform from then until now.

The GOP is the party that is supposed to be pruning back government to the point where it is consistent with these ideals (which are themselves inconsistent with almost everything done by modern government — even when under the control of the GOP).

But it’s the party members who have to see this, and push for it, not the party ‘leadership’, which is interested mainly in winning elections, and accumulating power (to pursue its current agenda) rather than dispersing it (so future generations will be free to pursue happiness in their own ways).

And for those who say that something can’t be done, I usually offer two words:  constitutional carry.  That’s the canonical example of Milton Friedman’s observation that what at one time seems politically impossible can come to seem politically inevitable, once people start asking the right questions — if the right ideas are already sitting around, waiting to be picked up.  Which is why it’s crucial to start talking about those ideas, even if you can’t imagine when or how they could possibly be implemented.

My dream is that one day government by consent will be seen the same way.

 

The post Don’t Give Up Before You Even Get Started appeared first on Granite Grok.

Last March during a “Candidates Night” forum in my small New Hampshire town, I was criticized by an incumbent library trustee who was running for reelection.  Although she was seeking to continue in her elected office, she illogically asserted that I had inappropriately “brought politics into the library trustee race and,” as she further declared, “there is no place for politics in any library.”

We want to thank Arlene Quaratiello for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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She was specifically inflamed by a recently published letter-to-the-editor in which I endorsed her opponents and signed off using my state representative title, thus making my letter much too political for her.

In my letter, I wrote that the two candidates I supported “believe in protecting our children from the increasing amount of inappropriate material available both in print and online without sacrificing the intellectual freedom that has always characterized public libraries.”  This statement certainly struck a chord with her because it clearly identified one of the main issues that has polarized the left and the right in the battle over our public libraries.  Fighting this battle is indeed highly political despite attempts to deny this reality. Consequently, the role of library trustee has become increasingly political in our communities. No longer is it akin to being an officer of the town garden club as it may have been in years gone by. Citizens also need to realize that the Board of Library Trustees is not the same thing as the “Friends of the Library,” a group of volunteers that truly should support the library in an apolitical way.

In a perfect society, libraries would be neutral places and the boards overseeing them would be apolitical, but we live in a very imperfect world, and the political battle over our libraries only intensifies with the passage of time.  In fighting this battle, it is important to understand who really wields the power in public libraries.  It is NOT the director; in most states, it is the library trustees.  These trustees have an underappreciated amount of power, usurping by far that of a library director.  The way to remedy the woke hijacking of our libraries is to get more conservative trustees elected so that more boards can attain a conservative majority.  This will immediately and effectively stop the drag queen story hours, the Pride Month displays, and the promotion of woke books in our public libraries.

While laws regarding the governance of public libraries differ somewhat from state to state, all states should be emphasizing the power of the people to run their own public libraries. The New Hampshire laws that I am familiar with exemplify this ideal. According to NH RSA 202-A:6, “The library trustees shall have the entire custody and management of the public library and of all the property of the town relating thereto.”  That sounds like a lot of power, and it is.  On one of the first slides displayed in its “Library Trustee Orientation,” the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association (NHLTA) cites RSA 202-A:6 as it asserts the political influence of library trustees and describes them as “powerful elected officials.”

Pursuant to state law, New Hampshire trustees “adopt bylaws, rules and regulations,” so they, not the director, have the authority to set all policies.  These policies could relate to “collection development” and determine whether Gender Queer or Lawn Boy will be put on the shelf, or they could relate to prohibiting drag queen story time or any number of hot button issues.  Trustees also “hold the purse strings” of the library since they are tasked with preparing an annual budget and authorizing all expenditures of public money.  Perhaps, most essentially, the trustees make all personnel decisions, appointing a director and approving the hiring of all other library employees.

It is noteworthy that the main qualification for the position of library director in New Hampshire is “education of sufficient breadth and depth to give leadership in the use of books and related materials” (202-A:15). Nowhere does it say that the library director or any other library employee must have a master’s degree in library science (MLS), but this has come to be an expected attainment at least for the director. Trustees are therefore free to hire someone who does not possess this certificate of questionable value (more about that in a future article!).  The director, who serves “as the administrative officer of the public library” (202-A:16), can recommend employees to the trustees, but it is the board that has the ultimate say over who gets hired.

Overall, library trustees wield a great deal of political power.  Unfortunately, some voters are not aware of this, so they don’t consider the political affiliation of candidates when casting their ballots for these important elected offices in their town.  They might as well be voting for the president of the Garden Club! The end result of this oversight is trustee boards that promote drag queen story hours, Pride Month displays, and collection development policies that embrace woke ideals. Worse yet, sometimes there is only one candidate running unopposed, so the voters have no choice. That is why it is so important to recruit candidates for these important offices or perhaps even decide to run yourself.

Once trustees are elected, they should not be subjected to the indoctrination provided by state library trustee associations which generally walk in lockstep with the ALA.  Here in my home state, the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association held a conference last spring, the agenda of which speaks for itself.   The keynote speech at the 2023 NHLTA Conference was “The First Amendment: Fighting Censorship through Library Advocacy” (a title that clearly reflects ALA’s current distorted agenda). The speech, not surprisingly, emphasized how content related to LGBTQIA+ issues and Critical Race Theory is inordinately being targeted for “challenges.”

After the keynote address, the attending library trustees could choose from a variety of break-out sessions and workshops.  “Intellectual Freedom & Social Justice: Supporting All of Our Values” focused on the “core values of librarianship,” including additional ALA buzzwords such as diversity, intellectual freedom, and sustainability.  If you felt the need to stay on the “social justice” track, you could also attend “How to Work with your Town Government, Boards, and Community to Promote DEI and Social Justice.”

If you still hadn’t gotten enough social justice at this conference, you could join representatives from a coalition of libraries by attending “Small Libraries Unite for Justice.” This program promoted “Courageous Community Conversations” (C3), described by the sponsoring libraries as “a series of events…created to bring people together in community and conversation about racial and gender justice.” Despite the obvious political nature of these topics, the promoters assert that “C3 is designed outside of political attitudes or bias” and is “geared toward all levels of understanding of race, gender, and trans identities.” Another break-out session that was offered had a similarly sounding title, “Courageous Conversations: Can We Talk About Race?”  For some odd reason, the organizers of this conference for library trustees took advantage of this meeting of library trustees to celebrate woke librarians who they considered “courageous.”

No library conference would be complete without guidance on collection development.  The NHLTA conference did not disappoint with the breakout session “Developing Collections, Preparing for Challenges” being offered with its requisite emphasis on “challenged” (a.k.a. inappropriate) books. One final program, “Conducting Diversity Audits for Small & Midsize Libraries,” sounded very similar to the online Library Journal course that I criticized in my July article, “Protesting Inclusive Collections.”  There were a few other programs offered at the conference that seemed more traditional and less political such as ones on grant writing and running effective meetings, but the majority of breakout sessions had a political spin as detailed above, reflecting the reality that the elected position of library trustee is indeed political.

NHLTA’s ideological influence is not limited to its annual conference.  Its quarterly newsletters reinforce its political agenda.  The Summer 2023 edition promotes activism by asserting, “The past couple of years have been rough ones for libraries – book challenges, attacks on free speech and diversity have made advocating for libraries more important than ever.”  Similarly, the Summer 2022 newsletter reports, “At their June board meeting, NHLTA’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to sign on in support of the American Library Association’s ‘United Against Book Bans’ initiative.”  This article emphasizes the close relationship between NHLTA and ALA, a relationship that is likely similar nationwide with other state-level trustee associations. By the way, there is a national association that is actually a division of the American Library Association and is called United for Libraries Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations. For the sake of length, I will not analyze its agenda here, but as you could see for yourself by visiting its website, it is predictable.

If we want to save our libraries, we need to grab the power back that has been taken by liberal trustees adhering to their woke agenda.  We need to recruit, support, and endorse library trustee candidates who will oppose those who walk in lockstep with the American Library Association.  My hope is that some readers of this article will even consider running for this crucial role themselves. The position of library trustee must be appreciated as the important political office that it has become because trustees have the power to transform our public libraries back into the beloved town institutions promoting true intellectual freedom that they were intended to be.

Previously published on Arlene Quaratiello’s Substack newsletter “No Shushing Now: Exposing Today’s Woke Libraries.”

The post They’ve Got the Power: The Crucial Role Played by Library Trustees appeared first on Granite Grok.

We start with a “blast from the past. My screaming match (several years ago) with former Laconia Daily Sun reporter Mike Kitsch over “financial compassion”  while I was on my Hamlet’s budget committee. A reprise about our “chat” in a very public parking lot of the Mills Falls hotel that sets up the rest of the post.

 

A question for Michael Kitch now that Detroit has gone belly up financially – what’s in your pocket?

I lost all respect, years ago, for Laconia Daily Sun Reporter Michael Kitch when we had a blowout argument that my town was made up of residents and elected officials that were cheapskates.  Certainly, he knew that I truly believed that when I was on the Budget Committee in my hamlet, I tried mightily to act in the vein that “this is not my money” – and spent a lot of time trying to convince others of the same.  If anything, I tried to be more frugal with other peoples’ money, their property tax monies, than I am with my own.  After all, it IS mine – I earned it and I should be able to spend it the way I want to.

Kitch believes otherwise – he could not understand (or stand for) the idea that I (and my town, and other political entities) refused to raise the taxes on our residents simply to send that money to towns and cities that were broke.  Broke not because the single industry in town just up and left (and to which I would have some empathy) but because of years and decades of Progressive / Liberal / Democrat rule – the largest example now being Detroit.  As I have written here before, we had a screaming match over the fact that I refused to send money to the leaders of those towns, who have already proved that they are incapable of wisely spending their taxpayers monies.  WHY would I want to send them more and “enable” their bad habits?  His response was that ‘we are all in this together, that there were people still hurting in those cities, that the intent to help was paramount, and it was irrelevant that the political and appointed leaders would just waste that extra money.

Right…I want to give MY hard earned money to people who will just set a match to it via paying off political favors, paying up the huge public unions, kept the hamster treadmill of corruption spinning at supersonic speeds, and to hold blameless these chuckleheads who should be held severely accountable .  Instead, in this time of “demanding Justice for Tryvon”, where is the outrage against the Detroit “Leadership” (many who have ending up in jail at a rate similar to that of former Massachusetts Speakers of the House)?

But Kitch believes that I, and folks that believe like me,  am the bad guy ’cause I refuse to put my hand in my pocket, pull out the green, and blithely send it away simply because I live in what he believes to be “a rich town”…

Yep, what’s mine and yours is his to have and direct. A Socialist with a byline (and he did use it), berating “rich” towns IN PRINT for not helping poor towns,  fomenting and fanning Class Warfare. So when I ran across THIS from Kurt Schlichter about why he doesn’t care about Blue cities, it struck that nerve with me above (plus, why should I care about Baltimore, or their fantabulous math education results (40 schools with few to no students proficient in math).

What we’re seeing in the Democrat cities is a total breakdown of civilization. That’s not an exaggeration. You don’t have a civilization when normal people can’t walk down the street without having to dodge junkies, piles of human waste, and knife-wielding maniacs. You have chaos. But chaos is OK with the inhabitants of the Democrat big cities. I know that because they keep electing people who allow their cities to be chaotic. I’m supposed to be outraged and upset by this, but my caring bandwidth is limited. I can only care about so much, and what I cannot do is care more about the plight that the blue voters have placed themselves in than the blue voters who elected the Democrats who allow this to happen do.

Blue cities, this is your problem, not mine. I don’t live in one. I live near one, but not inside it…Understand me. I don’t think that people in blue cities should not have safe and clean streets. I think they should. But they don’t think they should. And I know they don’t think they should because they refuse to elect people who will ensure they do. Don’t tell me that these problems are intractable and unsolvable because we watched Rudy Giuliani take New York City back from the Taxi Driver abyss when it was equally scummy and turn it into an urban paradise.

Decline is a choice and is often chosen with votes.

Many voters in Democrat cities have chosen such EVEN AS their candidates have rather poor records in living up to what their campaign promises say their results will be. And I dare say, for the rest of us that DON’T live in such cities, we don’t have their kind of problems. I chose my hamlet over 40 years ago, KNOWING that problems similar to what I saw in Boston existed up here – but they were rare, and the intensity was way down the scale. Sure, during that time, crime rates have gone up, but I blame that on a changing culture.

In fact, that’s the root cause of America’s problems as well, ESPECIALLY in the Democrat strongholds. But the culture has FAR MORE descended into the depth of hell (as Schlichter puts it) there than it has in the Heartlands and in the rural areas. The idea that people should be moral, have a sense of being part of something bigger than themselves, and that they are held accountable by others (and NOT an insignificant belief that also means to God). They hold on to traditional American mores and norms – and traditions despite the best efforts of the Left too, as Van Jones said, “bottom-up, inside out” alongside Obama’s infamous phrase that it was time to “fundamentally transform America.”

So, Democrats went ahead and started it. They continue to do so today. We should be surprised. They TOLD us, in clear language, that was their goal. Kitsch is evidence for it. The dumbing down of America is the delivery mechanism.

And they want me to be “compassionate”? No – Schlichter used the word “shrugging.” If it is one, two, maybe up to 5 elections, and THEN start turning things around using their votes? Perhaps. But this is a decades, if not century-long phenomenon. They CHOSE this – deliberately. Those that could have already fled, but until those who remain take charge of their government CHANGE that government and the results it gives, I have nothing but “compassion fatigue.” In fact, with a lot of the Progressive policies being failures, when you compare their rhetoric to the results, I shrug at those who vote for them.

Not my problem.

Thanks, Obama, for turning the major components of your constituency into drooling idiots to the point that they are so poorly educated that crime, drugs, and hedonism are all that is left for them to do or be.

 

 

Be less…by design.

 

 

 

The post They Put Themselves into This Situation. It is Not My Mistake Nor My Job to Help Them appeared first on Granite Grok.

GraniteGrok has a full-service woodshed. We’ll take anyone out there and give them a verbal thrashing regardless of political party or lack thereof. Democrats often, Republicans, almost as much. Everyone else, as needed. The Principles are more important.

We’ll also share praise – time and interest permitting – and Op-Eds for or against any Republican. So where are they? We are in the heat of a presidential primary and taking flack from all directions, but no one is able to articulate their support for these candidates?

We’ve seen a few, but far too few, and I’d like you to know that it is okay to write in support of your preference (email steve@granitegrok.com). We will publish it on these pages.

Perception vs Reality

I get that we (appear to) have more alleged Trump support on our voluntary staff, but I think this has created a perception that we’re not open to anything or anyone else. Hogwash. Poppycock. Bunk, rubbish, nonsense, baloney, and balderdash. No one has endorsed anyone, nor has the site stepped up to do the same. We may not, but we’d still want to share your thoughts even if we had.

They are welcome, and I have published every Op-Ed we have received in support of presidential contenders, including one promoting RFK Jr., but they have been few and far between.

If you think Trump is a stooge, send us an Op-Ed explaining why.

If Pence, Christie, Burgam, Ramaswamy, Haley, or Hutchins is the girl or guy, send us an op-ed praising their benefits.

I am also inclined to remind everyone that in 2016, we were not in for Trump until after the nomination when the alternative was Hillary – and cautions even then until proven otherwise. And, like the guy or not, he got some good stuff done and did the nation and the world a few favors. That does not mean he was flawless or that the field of contenders he is a part of does not include the next better candidate.

Instead of getting mad and storming off – refusing ever to set your eyes upon our pages again becasue no one is promoting your candidate (yes, that happens) – maybe you should step up and get that ball rolling. We will give you the same access to our readers that our authors enjoy.

If you are not articulate enough, encourage someone like-minded who is because our authors and readers are not monolithic. They enjoy the debate.

So start one.

 

The post As The FITN Republican Primary Approaches, where are the Op-Eds For “Other” Candidates? appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Vermont Department of Public Services conducted a poll and a series of focus groups over the summer regarding state energy policy, specifically support for or opposition to using more renewable energy. They just released the 87-page report on what they found out.

DPS poll/focus groups will be spun the other way, but this is what people said.

Vermonters Weigh In: Public Opinion on Renewable Energy, and the results are interesting. Here’s what the data actually points to, and how it will be spun to say the opposite.

The most striking and unsurprising finding from the polling is that the factors Vermonters find very or somewhat important in an electricity source are, first and foremost, “affordability” (98%) followed closely by “reliability” (97%). Coming in third was “Impacts on natural resources like forests, rivers, and wildlife” (91%). When asked to pick just one factor as the most important, “affordability” blew away the competition at 29%. “Reducing carbon emissions” took on larger importance at 19%, and “reliability” came in a close third at 17%.

Some of the factors that didn’t score so well in the generally important/most important questions: “Whether the source is renewable” 79%/8%, supporting jobs and economic development 91%/4%, and source produced in state 60%/1%.

So, to summarize, the kind of energy policy most Vermonters are looking for is affordable, reliable, and with the least possible amount of impact on our natural environment, such as forests, rivers, and wildlife. We don’t particularly care so much if it’s renewable, reduces carbon emissions, or is produced in state – albeit those attributes might be considered nice.

Needless to say (or maybe it needs to be said), this is the exact opposite of the state energy policy our elected lawmakers are imposing upon us, which is moving more and more into high-cost, less reliable, intermittent non-baseload wind and solar power that requires acres and acres of precious natural ridgeline and pasture lands, displacing natural habitats and, especially in the case of wind, threatening endangered species.

Now, for those who do express favor for renewable energy, it’s easy to virtue signal support for it in theory, but the real question – one happily asked by the pollsters – is how much would you be willing to pay extra for said renewable power? And, according to the poll, Vermonters say not much, and most preferably nothing at all.

Again, this sentiment is so far removed from the multi-billion-dollar price tag of the Global Warming Solutions Act one has to ask why do we keep electing the people we keep electing. But I digress.

Asked, “How much more would you be willing to pay [per month] for electricity if it meant that all of Vermont’s power came from renewable or low-carbon sources?” 31% of Vermonters said “nothing.” 17% refused to answer, which probably means they just didn’t want to sound like a skinflint in front of the pollster. 24% said somewhere between $1 and $25, 16% said somewhere between $26 and $50, and just 12% said they would pay more than $50 per month, which probably indicates they were just showing off for the pollster. If actually presented with an annual renewable energy fee in excess of $600 on their electric bill, I bet a big chunk of that 12% would freak out, and not in a happy way. But I admit I speculate.

In the focus group sessions, where they conducted what looks like a crash course in Vermont energy policies sandwiched between before and after surveys to track changes in opinions based on learned information, there was an interesting revelation on this topic. Although the “after” survey showed a very modest drop in the number of people unwilling to pay anything from 18% to 15%, the overall dollar amount people were willing to pay dropped off sharply. “The median amount among participants who were willing to pay something actually went down compared to these participants’ initial responses, from $30 to $25.” (P.43)

Of note: what I don’t like about the way they asked this question is there is a huge difference between $1 and $25 a month — that’s $12 to $300 a year; very different – but these folks were statistically grouped together. Other surveys that have asked a similar question find that those willing to pay more for a “green” alternative tap out at about $10 a year. So, this overly wide net is certainly skewing the report’s conclusion of what the true median of what people would be willing to pay actually is. I do not think very many people, let alone 24%, would sign up to pay an extra $300 a year for electricity given a choice.

But even skewed up this much, these numbers will not come close to covering the bill for the energy mandates that exist in the Global Warming Solutions Act. So, if we are asking the question, are Vermonters prepared to pick up the tab for the energy policies our elected leaders have signed us up for, the answer would be no. Absolutely not.

Here’s where the spin begins…. The report claims on page 16, “Renewable sources were most popular with Vermont residents. Solar led the way in terms of strong support (62%)….” There are problems with that statement, but it’s the spin you’re most likely to hear.

First problem: the ONLY options the respondents were asked about were renewable, except for nuclear. There were no options listed for the most affordable, reliable options with the smallest geographic footprint: fossil fuels.

A more accurate and truthful way of gaging public opinion would be to show respondents a full range of options, fossil and renewable, along with a true cost per kilowatt, a reliability score (baseload or not), a landscape/wildlife impact score, carbon emissions per kilowatt, and a renewability score, (for fun I’d add a “relies on components made with child/slave labor” from countries with traditionally marginalized populations” category, time and space permitting), and let them pick.

Additionally, the pollsters dishonestly put their thumb on the scale regarding the true cost of renewable electricity. On page 19 they explain (or rather explain away), “As acknowledged in the policy brief and the focus groups, the cost of electricity is a bit of a moving target. Historically, fossil fuels have been the most affordable option, but that is changing as state and federal policies create incentives for renewables and the increasing supply of renewables brings down their price in the market.”

“Incentives,” by which they mean taxpayer and/or ratepayer-funded subsidies, do not lower the actual cost of renewable energy; they just shift part of that cost onto someone else. Usually, someone down the income scale, which also flies in the face of what Vermonters surveyed say they want as part of our energy policy — equity. “Many focus group participants who were concerned about the cost of electricity cited concern for their lower-income neighbors, many of whom are struggling with rising costs for many other goods and services.” (P. 10) If that’s the case, aptly labeled “wealthfare” programs like net metering and subsidies for solar panels are not for you!

And last point I’ll make here, the report says on page 28, “Most participants preferred to place solar panels on existing residential and commercial buildings, or in parking lots or other spaces that were already developed. There was much less interest in solar in natural areas,” and “Similarly, we heard push back on wind, and offshore wind in particular, concerning impacts on wildlife.” This is, again, contrary to the energy policy vision our so-called representatives are putting forward in our names, which is pushing us toward large-scale, industrial wind and solar.

So, when you inevitably hear the spin that a poll of 700 Vermonters concluded that solid majorities want to get our energy from renewable wind and solar sources, do know that that comes with some mighty big “ifs.” If it costs the same or less than fossil-based sources, if it’s reliable baseload power, if it doesn’t have a large impact on natural resources and animal habitats, and if isn’t reliant on regressive taxes or fees to make it “affordable.” This is a roundabout way of saying, no, we don’t actually want an energy policy primarily based on renewable sources, at least not with the current technology.

 

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 Vermonters Really Don’t Support State Energy Policy appeared first on Granite Grok.

To all those who are sending in memes, thank you!  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 first Israel-focused meme & commentary post.  Unfortunately not going to be the last, I’m sure.

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REPORT: Congress Members Make Strategic War Stock Moves Before Israel-Hamas Conflict * 100PercentFedUp.com * by Danielle

 

 

 

Mark this well – a first – a day I agree with Barackus.  “At some point, you’ve made enough money”.

 

 

The day he became a good Commie.

Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him

 

 

 

 

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There is an Arabic expression that I first learned about in Brigitte Gabriel’s book Because They Hate.  A Christian survivor of the Lebanon war, in her opinion alive only because of Israel’s incursion into southern Lebanon to stop attacks from there, she cites this phrase:

FIRST SATURDAY, THEN SUNDAY

As in, “First the Saturday people – Jews; then the Sunday people – Christians”.  Remember, Islam is a supremacist religion whose goal is an Islamic world.  Not by voluntary conversion, but by terror and force, and anyone not not converted is now a dhimmi, a second-class citizen paying jizya – protection money – to Muslims.  Coexistence, like the Left’s supremacist ambitions, is not on their menu.

So yes, I certainly understand the sentiment in this meme.  But understand – if the Muslims win there, they will be in high morale as they come for the Christians next.

Allahu Akbar is Why Muslims Kill – Daniel Greenfield / Sultan Knish articles

 

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Understand – to the Left, anyone to the Right of Stalin is a terrorist and enemy.  Prepare accordingly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we’re at it can we send the Socialists who want it here to, say, Cuba or Venezuela?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

 

 

Millions of unvetted fighting age men, with no women or children, here in the US.  Across Europe too.  Start getting very watchful of your surroundings.  And while this video is about the UK, this is IMHO doubtless a similar situation here in the US.

 

UK CITIZENS – IT’S COMING – 1M MIGRANTS ARE GETTING READY

 

 

And IMHO – law enforcement should start cross-checking seized military-grade weapons (and yes, there are here in America) against DoD inventories of what was sent to Ukraine or left in Afghanistan.  They’ll show up here, sooner or later.  And they’ll likely have allies:

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone smell a false-flag event coming, done with a .50 cal or similar?

 

 

 

 

 

This isn’t just related to Israel, though this is especially bad.  Understand the Left’s mindset – read Evan Sayet’s incredible transcript about Regurgitating the Apple and his quest to understand why liberals think the way they do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Pick of the Post:

 

Picked because I LOLed.

 

 

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Palate Cleansers:

 

—

—

 

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

 

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

 

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

The Party of Unity, Civility, and Equity – the self-proclaimed anti-discrimination advocates – has a messaging conflict. North Carolina Republicans just overrode their Dem Governor’s veto of a bill that required election boards to include members of both political parties.

The Left’s ideological purity test just took a shot to the soft bits, and they are screaming mad.

 

The bill, SB 749, made material changes to the state’s election law by establishing bipartisan election boards, according to The Hill.

The bill would take control of election boards away from the governor’s party and put them under the control of a group split equally between Democrats and Republicans. This, Cooper claims, will create gridlock when deciding early-voting locations and certifying results.

 

I am always amused when a Democrat decries top-down control, claiming it interferes with local governance. Listen as Democrat Ray Cooper whines.

 

“The legislative takeover of state and local elections boards could doom our state’s elections to gridlock and severely limit early voting. It also creates a grave risk that Republican legislators or courts would be empowered to change the results of an election if they don’t like the winner,” he wrote in a Sept. 28 statement.

“That’s a serious threat to our democracy, particularly after the nation just saw a presidential candidate try to strongarm state officials into reversing his losing election results. Courts have already ruled the ideas in this bill unconstitutional, and voters overwhelmingly said no when the legislature tried to change the constitution,” Cooper exclaimed.

 

I’m not clear on all the details in SB 749, and to be honest, I was trying to find more not Israel/Hamas content before we turned into GazaGrok, but if we’re only talking about locals picking local Republicans and Democrats to serve on local election boards to oversee local elections, how exactly is that “taking control”?

How different is it from licensure or state regs for police, fire, or other professional positions? The State does that and more without batting an eye as the Political Left leads the charge.

The obvious answer is this. Democrats cheat, and if Republicans are allowed to observe by force of law, it is more difficult. And that, to the Left, is a  threat to Democracy.

 

 

The post Dems Are Mad as Hell – New State Law Requires Election Boards to Be Half Democrat, Half Republican. appeared first on Granite Grok.

It’s simple.  Supply vs Demand, with the Government artificially manipulating the marketplace because it controls the third leg of the housing marketplace – interest rates.

The Monthly Cost of Buying vs. Renting a House in America

With home prices and mortgage rates both rising, the U.S., has witnessed the biggest numerical gap in cost between owning a home and renting in over 50 years. Americans, however, have seen similar scenarios sine the 1980s.

 

Look at that note for 1981 – I was just starting my career at that time with Honeywell Information Systems/Wang Labs, and I had friends that were buying their first homes at that time. I also had friends who had owned their homes for a few years at that time. The latter were exulting in how much in valuation their homes were gaining and the low-interest rates under which they had bought their homes. The former were gritting their teeth and willing to take that HIGH risk (some had 16, 17% rates) just to get out of their apartments or had moved from other parts of the country and HAD to get a home for their families betting that the bank rates would go down and they could refinance.

Me? We bought a starter home at a decent price after that spike, and we sold that house in MA just after the top of that price spike and bought our current “starter” home here in NH (to which we never “upgraded,” mostly because of our “inertia”) as the market was still rising (I was offered more than $30,000 for it two weeks after we moved in by some random driver who stopped and asked).

We rode out the 2006 bubble as we watched our valuation go up and then sink (just not below what we had paid for it).

While the CRA was later faulted for being the driver behind it (forcing banks to lend to people, often without income verification, who couldn’t afford the monthlies and lost those homes), this time, it is simply the rates. Supply is down because of land use restrictions, to a point, but also increased rates. Both have lessened the supply of available houses, but the latter is more influential, IMHO, than the former.

After all, my home has gone up over $200,000 in two years (a STARTER home!); I would have a good cushion to use towards a larger home IF I wanted. But WHY would I want to double (if not more) my mortgage rate in doing so? Spend more for larger, yes; spending more artificially for not much larger? That would be silly, right? Why give up a 3-percenter for a 7 or 8-percenter. That math don’t hunt for me.

This bubble? Not only are the Fed rates killing the housing markets, but we’ve already seen what they have done to some large banks by rendering their holding worthless (holding notes too low in comparison to the current rates).

 

(H/T: Visual Capitalist)

The post Housing Costs vs Renting appeared first on Granite Grok.

Last month, on September 11, which is as important a day to America as December 7, President Joe Biden released $6 Billion in frozen assets for Iran in exchange for five American hostages held by the evil empire of Iran. Biden bought the freedom of these Americans for $1.2 Billion each and established the market price for hostages in the future.

He bragged about what a great deal he negotiated with Iran. Iran was negotiating with Biden in the front of the tent while training and funding Hamas in the back of the tent. Think about the good laugh the Iranians had that night while dreaming about the seventy virgins. They laughed at the weak and feckless Biden and the weakened America under Biden’s watch. They conned Joe, Blinken, and probably Kerry too out of $6 Billion. The naive Americans believed the money could only be used for humanitarian purposes. Iran considers killing and abducting more Americans precisely what they have done with Hamas.

Joe Biden is soft on Iran and has reversed all of the rigid restraints Donald Trump placed on the desert paradise. Trump had put the shackles on Iran’s nuclear program and oil production. Biden has put over $50 Billion in Iran’s war chest via oil sales alone. They used this money to equip, train, and support Hamas terrorists to invade Israel. On Tuesday, Biden addressed the nation and the world in a midafternoon speech claiming we will support Israel in whatever it has to do to retaliate, but never mentioned Iran in his address. He fears Iran, and they own this poor excuse for a President. The world has always looked to America and our President for direction when a crisis has risen its head. They have gotten nothing from the White House, leading to confusion and fear. That is what we have with Joe Biden. It is sad.

Iran is one of our four significant adversaries or threats in the world. The others being Russia, China, and North Korea. Russia has our attention directed at Europe with the conflict in Ukraine. We have already sent $billions in supplies and aid to assist Ukraine in its battle for sovereignty. China has marked the calendar in 2027 for Taiwan to either rejoin China voluntarily or be taken by force. North Korea has been testing ICBM missiles for years now with the potential to reach our West Coast. Iran has used Hamas to invade Israel, knowing full well that America will be all in to protect Israel. Whether planned or not, these four foes have now stretched the United States in four directions. Our military and economy cannot be effective on all four fronts.

For some reason, this Administration is not prepared to admit Iran’s role in invading Israel. Everyone from Biden to KJP is extremely cautious to avoid mentioning the word Iran. The specific reason is unknown, but our fear is what we have been concerned about since Biden took office: who owns or controls Biden, and how deep are their claws? We have to identify the players in this macabre drama. We are putting naval resources into the Mediterranean, but these are wasted resources until we know where to apply the pressure. Biden has to step up, call out, and point the finger at Iran, and let’s get to work putting this conflict down. We cannot afford to let this escalate to include other countries in the fray. The next 24-36 hours are critical for our President. I fear he is not up to the challenge.

 

The post Iran Played Biden Like A Stradivarius appeared first on Granite Grok.

This may be an ICYMI, but the cultural battlefield being what it is, it seems appropriate to revisit or, in the event this is new to our pages, share it. The clip is short but makes a critical point we’ve visited more than once. The Left’s agenda is once again riddled with hypocrisy.

The so-called cultural latest thing (boys can be girls, etc.) continues to suffer as a result of its own ardent advocates. The people who have been railing endlessly about stereotypes are quick to abandon that hill to die on a different one, even if it means bulldozing the previous mound (or, to be surgically accurate, removing some).

A parallel example to the one below is drag queens. Transvestites, with or without augmentation, parade about like sex objects in garish clothing and clown-like makeup, contrary to every convention women have worked decades to change. But if you refuse to celebrate that, you’re the bigot. While, at the same time, being a bigot if you expect a real woman to dress or behave like your average Drag Queen.

Here’s the clip.

 

 

 

The post Not So Pretty in Pink – Contradictions in the Culture War appeared first on Granite Grok.

Public schools have been indoctrinating our children, and it is our tax dollars that are making this possible. Our own money is being used by those who hate us against us and our children. You know that. You know about the library problem. But did you know this?

American Library Association president, Emily Drabinski, says libraries and public schools need to be ‘sites of socialist organizing.’ Yes, that Emily Durbanski.

Reformatted, emphasis mine.

The American Library Association (ALA) president said Sept. 2 at the Socialism 2023 Conference in Chicago that libraries and public schools need to be sites of socialist organizing. Emily Drabinski [a self-proclaimed Marxist -Skip], who also is an associate professor at Queens College, got in line at the microphone and introduced herself as a librarian during the question-and-answer part of a session called “Freedom to Learn: Black And Asian American Solidarity Against Attacks on Antiracist Education,” according to undercover journalist Karlyn Borysenko.

“I just want to say thank you for bringing up libraries and classroom libraries, but also school libraries of all kinds, public libraries, and high educational libraries that have been under attack in similar ways. I think your point that public education needs to be a site of socialist organizing. I  think libraries really do too … I haven’t seen that working in libraries. But I think there’s real opportunity here to both connect with happening in public education, what’s happening in libraries, but also we need some help in the libraries. We need to be on the agenda of socialist organizing.”

Only a few folks have been going after their city and town Public Libraries even as the Government schools have been highly scrutinized.

Do YOU look to see what your money is paying for, not only for library books, movies, records, et al, but also WHO is coming to speak using your library to forward! that message?

Politicians have been catching on and in some cases stepping in to stop the Left from trying to turn our children into sexbots (with the Progressive philosophies to boot), but there is a huge loophole. Teachers don’t have to proselytize in their classrooms anymore – just bring them to museums and libraries for their Daily Dose of DoublePlusUngoodness from the purple-haired-nose ringed-tattoo festered High Priests and Priestesses all too willing to lay your children down on their altar knowing full well that you haven’t caught on…yet.

Consider this just yet another warning.

 

HT | Instapundit

 

The post First, We Caught Public Schools Indoctrinating Our Children, And Now … appeared first on Granite Grok.

There is much speculation about Iran providing weapons and material support to Hamas. Or is there? Iran’s Mullahs proudly finance the “resistance” against Israel. They send them weapons. Fund their activity. But not this time? Seriously?

That’s the vibe we get from Grand Pubah Ali Khamenei of the Iranian Order of Water Buffaloes. He is beside himself with pride and glee. They deserve to be killed. And if you try to resist, he promises it will get worse for Israel.

How exactly does he know that?

 

The ayatollah dismissed criticism that Hamas slaughtered hundreds of innocent people, claiming their “innocence” was merely a creation of the “Global Arrogance” and its media. He threatened the Israelis with even worse consequences if they retaliate against the terrorists he supports.

“The rulers and decision-makers of the Zionist regime and their supporters should know that these actions will bring a greater disaster upon them, and the Palestinian people, with a firmer determination, will slap their hideous faces harder in response to these crimes,” Khamenei fumed.

 

Greater disaster. Harder face slaps (before or after beheading?). But you are not involved?

 

“Of course, we praise the minds and efforts of the Palestinian youth and the resourceful and intelligent Palestinian designers and are proud of them,” he burbled while denouncing allegations of Iranian involvement as “nonsense.”

 

This is all the work of Palestinian Yutes, most of whom live in fear and poverty, no doubt unable to afford food and clothing but still well-armed and well-fed and very militia in appearance. Did they trade in jihadi merit badges for missiles? Seems unlikely.

Then there’s the decades of chatter coming from Terahn about wiping out Isreal, blah blah blah.

No, I’m sure you were washing your hair or rearranging your turban drawer, a look of shock on your face as the news broke.

Biden will buy it. He already has, with American tax dollars.

 

The post Ayatollah Khamenei: We Didn’t Help Hamas But if Isreal Resists Things Will Get Worse appeared first on Granite Grok.

On Oct 5, 2023, while driving by the Kensington School marquee, I noticed one side of the public-paid-for-sign that said, “Indigenous Peoples Day No School Oct 9.” The other side of the public-paid-for-sign said, “Teacher in Service No School Oct 6.”

I asked myself, what happened to the federal holiday of Columbus Day?

Columbus Day was established in 1892 by President Benjamin Harrison in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Italian explorer’s discovery of the New World (who never set foot in today’s Continental USA) and in the wake of the horrific lynching and mob violence perpetrated on the Italian immigrant community of New Orleans the year before. The Ku Klux Klan also used tactics to denigrate Christopher Columbus and suppress the holiday.

Columbus Day is to acknowledge Columbus’ contributions to the Age of Discovery, as well as the increasingly important contributions of Italian immigrants to the great American experience. It was the catalyst that initiated over 500 years of immigration to the Americas by people from every corner of the Earth – all of whom were seeking a better life for their families.

The Dartmouth Review (examining the historical Columbus) came to this conclusion: It is a mistake to conflate Columbus with the atrocities of colonialism that succeeded his voyages. Columbus Day should neither be a moment of absolute praise nor condemnation but an opportunity to appreciate mutual discoveries between Europeans and Indians, learn from mistakes that were made and celebrate moments of coexistence.

To satisfy my curiosity, I called and spoke with Kensington Superintendent Becky Bruel. We had a very thoughtful conversation. She explained SAU 16 Official School Calendar no longer mentions/ cancels Columbus Day. I informed her that the Indigenous Peoples celebration on the calendar is based on a proclamation, not a federal holiday.

I requested her consideration for the following option: to please put Columbus Day on at least one side of the two-sided sign. To be more inclusive and respectful of the federal holiday and of those celebrating their Italian heritage like me. She informed me that was a fair question and would consider it.

Later, on the 5th, I received a phone call from Mr. Andriski, SAU 16 Asst. Superintendent. He informed me that the change to cancel Columbus Day was done nearly two years ago by all the local school boards via a vote.

Oct 9, – NO sign change – Now the law of Unintended Consequences.

Canceling Columbus opens the door to cancel any selected federal holidays, along with the vast historical learning experiences of our children, simply at the direction of our local school boards and SAU 16. Who and what is next … Independence Day – Martin Luther King?  School Boards spotlighted on full display the hypocrisy of SAU 16’s- diversity, equity, and inclusion theory and mantra, camouflaged as an act of social justice. You would think with the continuing loss/ downgrading of local educational ranking and the increasing tax burden on local citizens, there are other more pressing issues to attack.

Kensington School board members swore an oath to the NH and US Constitution. They have no authority to change it or cancel the recognition of federal holidays. Indigenous People Day was never approved by the State Legislature in an RSA or otherwise. The school gets local tax as well as federal funding. This additionally binds your legal requirements to follow the law and not discriminate! You are accountable to the citizens first – not SAU16. (See NH Title XXV Holidays – section 288:1)

Charles A. Griffin of Portsmouth is a retired attorney who has served on the Portsmouth School Board and City Council. Quote July 2022- seacoast online. Those who have researched Columbus using unbiased historical documents and information do not bring a bias viewpoint to this important debate. Those who have some sort of political bias grounded in Christian bigotry have a different outcome that they would like to force upon schools and communities.

It is with great sadness I am afraid some of the politics of hate are behind the continued attempts to attack and defame Columbus, and Christianity today appears to be alive in Kensington and SAU16.

Kensington school board members: Allison Roy, Joshua Gould, and Stefanie Smith

I am requesting you convene and act on the following as soon as possible.

1. Confirms the Kensington Elementary School curriculum teaches and celebrates Columbus.
2. Kensington School board votes to restore the Columbus Day federal holiday back to the official Kensington public school, as well as the SAU16 calendar.

I requested the Kensington School board (Oct 11, meeting) to advise me of their decision or intention to honor this request ASAP.

Additionally, I request you write The Dept of Edu. Commissioner Frank Edelblut (frank.edelblut@doe.nh.gov) and our local school boards and legislators get involved and hold people accountable. We, the citizens, must also do our civic duty, attend meetings, and run for school board positions.

 

The post Kensington & SAU 16 – The Law of Unintended Consequences appeared first on Granite Grok.

When I lived in California, the gun control lobby was very powerful. And very aggressive. I listened very intently to their arguments as to why I should be denied my Second Amendment rights, but they never really made any sense.

Worse, they had no understanding nor concern regarding the Second Amendment itself. Nor did they know anything about its history. Its purpose. Or the reason real-world people wrote it.

The folks advocating the taking of my guns seemed to be people with no real-world experience. They were mostly the wealthy. The sheltered. People are blind to things like hunger, crime, or the need for self-defense.

And oh my – they saw themselves as Heroes. They felt that if they could get the Government to take away my guns, somehow that elevated them to a morally virtuous plateau because THEY would be making the world a safe place.

TURNS OUT Israel had the same folks running their government. “You don’t need guns in Israel; the Government will protect you,” and the Government of Israel confiscated all weapons from its citizens.

On October 7th, 2023, KFAR AZA was a quiet, peaceful community.

It was a place where moms and dads gave birth to smiling, happy children. It was a place where those kids played on the community playground or soccer on the grass in front of their homes.

It was a place where moms and dads knew their kids were safe when they sent them out to play. It was a place where moms and dads went off to work, knowing their children were going to be there to greet them at the end of the day.

It was a place where neighbors talked to neighbors and shared community problems and solutions.

t was a place where hope and love abounded. On October 8th, 2023, KFAR AZA died.

By eyewitness accounts and captured videotape, some 70 plus animals dressed in black, faces covered, and yelling Allah Akbar went house to house thru KFAR AZA, executing everyone and anyone.

They shot moms in front of dads.

They shot dads in front of moms.

And they BEHEADED 40 INFANTS AS THEY LAY IN THEIR CRIBS TO THE ANGUISH of the moms and dads who had cuddled with their children the nite before.

“Help me!” the young son cried out to his mom as the executioners levied death on both of their lives.

Stop them! Dad!” screamed the young daughter as she took her last breath.

Stop them, how?

Mom had no weapon to stop them.

No gun to save the life of the child she bore in her womb for the nine months God ordained the child to grow inside her life-giving womb.

Stop them? How?

Dad has no gun -no bullets–to give the Allah Akbar animal his due before the dad’s heart stops its last beat.

I am a dad. I don’t know if I had a gun in those circumstances if I could have stopped the executioners. But I do know I would have tried, just as I think every dad in KFAR AZA wanted to try.

I can think of no greater pain than to be one of the dads of KFAR AZA and know that I could not even try to save my family.

To those who are intent on taking my guns- of denying me the Second Amendment- I say, “No, and Hell No.” I guess even more than that, I say KFAR AZA.

Please, God – those poor moms and dads deserve better.

As do the 40 beheaded babies.

May they rest tonight in your loving arms.

 

The post Kfar Aza: Tell Those Who Want My Guns To Explain 40 Beheaded Infants appeared first on Granite Grok.

They have been under attack by the surrounding Arab countries since the 1948 creation of the State of Israel, but Jews have been under attack for centuries as a people. Most notably under the Third Reich with Adolph Hitler’s genocide of them (the Holocaust).

“Never Again” became their rallying cry – and deservedly so. And they brought that mentality with them upon their creation, defeating every attempt to conquer them by their “neighbors.” Each time, sometimes by discipline and sometimes with luck (or, many Christians would avow, “By the Hand of God” as His Chosen people).

It is clear that history repeats itself, but this is no farce. This recent attempt by Hamas, the Islamist terror group that controls Gaza, is where the latest terrorist attacks originate. Their watchword is “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.” That would be the River Jordan westward to the Red Sea, meaning the State of Israel would be wiped out.

Judenrein. And no, I’m afraid I have to disagree that it means a democratically organized and run country that would simply “replace” Israel with no recriminations meted out.

THAT notion was dispelled by the killing, maiming, and kidnapping of civilians, Hamas’s primary goal, instead of fighting a war against a military force.

Victor Davis Hanson, who has gravitas far beyond that which I could ever hope for myself, says it plainly:

Here we are 78 years after the end of the Holocaust and once agains thuggish killers dressed in black are pulling Jewish elderly, women, and children out of their homes and executing them, and then throwing their bodies into the street. But in 1945 we were fighting the SS…

— Victor Davis Hanson (@VDHanson) October 7, 2023

Here we are 78 years after the end of the Holocaust and once agains thuggish killers dressed in black are pulling Jewish elderly, women, and children out of their homes and executing them, and then throwing their bodies into the street. But in 1945 we were fighting the SS murderers, now we are sending millions in subsidies to their modern Hamas killer squad counterparts. We the American people should demand not one more American cent to these Gestapo and SS killers.

See my earlier post about Democrat cities and what they have wrought to set the stage for my feelings on this. But I bet you know from the title of this post.

Voters in Democrat cities have brought ruination upon themselves – educationally, criminally, politically, and financially. Hamas, however, deliberately brought murder, terrorism, and rape to innocent people. Yes, there were other nationalities (thus far, I hear 11 Americans dead). 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 were states-on-states military actions. “Intifada’ actions (1987, 1993, 2000, 2006, and since) have been done primarily by the PLO, Hamas, Fatah, and Hezbollah – both are proxy groups/terrorists funded by Iran in the West Bank and Gaza (and Lebanon).

Frankly, I can’t muster much compassion against those who kill civilians and then dance around and celebrate. These people are WORSE than mere barbarians – they are out to continue The Holocaust, in my eyes. I’ve heard the story of a young naked Israel woman paraded around in Gaza after having horrible atrocities meted out to her. Israel is well within their rights to counter-attack and meet out retribution against one and all involved in this.

Savages, by their actions, deserve no mercy. In the past, Israel has stopped their actions well before wiping out all vestiges of those who are really Evil. Evil is the only word that describes their actions. And their words.

I’ve watched some videos of the IDF retaliations against the “civilian embedded” military centers – good. Every single last one of them should suffer similar fates. Evil cannot be allowed to be sustained and allowed to regroup and revive itself. Evil needs to be eradicated.

And there are those on the American Left who are constantly harping that “Hate Has No Home Here” concerning the Left’s generated racism movements. Yet, they certainly aren’t shouting that at the terrorists that have already taken over 1,200 civilians and the hundreds kidnapped.

Reduce the West Bank to rubble.

 

“When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” -Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel

And in return to their own words, can we maybe, just maybe, think the same about the Democrat Socialists of America who are applauding the Hamas terrorist actions? “The NYC-DSA is revealing itself for what it truly is: an antisemitic stain on the soul of America’s largest city.”

True Jew haters. They decry it of others but give themselves a pass.

 

 

HT | Instapundit

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Lindsey Graham does not always get it right. Graham often angers the Right by making comments that do not align with Conservative thinking. But when Graham gets passionate about Israel and the attempts by certain factions of the world that want to take her down, you can usually take his comments to the bank-they are gold.

The same happened this Monday when Senator Graham went off on the Squad for their Pro-Palestine-Anti-Israel remarks. He also criticized the Biden Administration for its laissez-faire attitude towards Iran.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., held nothing back in a Monday Fox News appearance in which he called members of the congressional “Squad” a “disgrace to the United States Congress” for “siding with terrorists.”

“To the Biden administration, your appeasement policy towards Iran is not working. To the ‘Squad,’ shut the hell up. You’re emboldening the enemy. You’re a disgrace to the United States Congress,” the senator said. “You’re siding with terrorists over a democracy called Israel. You’ve lost your perspective here. I’m confident most Democrats don’t agree with the Squad.” 

This battle between Israel and Hamas will not be pretty. War never is, but this is not a typical conflict. Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah terrorists coming South from Lebanon are barbaric. These non-humans are committing unconscionable acts against the Israeli people. They are beheading babies. They are dragging people from their homes, and in some cases, when the residents may be immobile, they light the houses on fire and burn them to death. They are raping women and young girls before taking them hostage and dragging them through the streets back to Gaza. These are not the acts of trained military personnel. These are the acts of animals, and when animals act out in such a way, you put them down.

I think Graham was too easy on the President and Squad. Biden has been silent for 72 hours with nothing on his schedule. Don’t tell me this man is fit for office. I don’t care what party he is from; he is our President, and it is time for him to be President or get out of the way. We must hear him say that the International community will get out of Israel’s way and let them answer her attackers. We must listen to him condemn Iran for supporting these actions against Israel. No talk of a cease-fire, Mr President. Grab the microphone and tell the world that whatever direction Netanyahu chooses, we will stand by him. 

The Squad is a disgusting group of immature adolescents that deserve condemnation by every one of their constituents. They have embarrassed themselves and Congress, and their faces should never see a camera in the future.

To those ignorant college students protesting in universities like Harvard, grow up and educate yourselves on what is happening in Israel and which country is on the moral side of history.

No, Gaza, Hamas, and Hezbollah all deserve whatever fate Israel sees fit doling out. Thousands of Israeli Reserves have been called to active duty. The retaliation by Israel may seem slow, but when it begins, few will have witnessed the scope of the attack, and when Israel is satisfied that Gaza has been neutralized, let them move into Iran and put them down, too.

 

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