Saturday • April 26 • 2025
Vol.XVII • No.XVII
Manchester, N.H.
Americans love their lawns. Some clean-looking lawns resemble golf courses in the area and may be mowed more frequently than required, a sort of suburban therapy. Cows, cars, and tennis courts are among the targets of climate change agitators.
Are lawns and lawnmowers next? Will shaving that gargantuan swath of grass cause the planet to warm?
NASA’s Spaced-Out View of Lawns NASA reported back in 2005 that there are “conservatively” three times more acreage of lawns in the nation than irrigated corn. The estimate determined that about 49,000 square miles of US land is mowed for aesthetics. A more recent report from Princeton in 2020 estimates that the area is now over 40 million acres (or more than 62,500 square miles).* As for climate impact, NASA’s website reports anthropomorphic lawnmowing activities are not harmful but beneficial:“[Researcher Cristina] Milesi says that a well-watered and fertilized lawn is a carbon sink [a place that absorbs more carbon than it releases]. If people recycle the grass clippings, leaving them to decompose on the lawn, the U.S. lawn area could store up to 16.7 teragrams of carbon each year. That’s equivalent to about 37 billion pounds — the weight of about 147,000 blue whales. The fact that recycling the clippings on the lawn would be so productive is a little surprising, according to Milesi … After all, decomposing grass is a source of carbon, with bacterial activity releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. The growth boost provided by the recycling of nitrogen from the decomposing grass clippings more than makes up for the carbon being released.”
This analysis seems to be a tad skewed. NASA measures the weight of carbon dioxide saved in blue whales, but its bizarre calculus ignores the environmental impact of the industrial inputs required to create lawns and grass clippings: gasoline, lawnmower and leaf blower manufacturing, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and the pollution created by transporting clippings. These are “externalized costs” overlooked by NASA in its one-lens, carbon-centric obsession.
Lawn Facts NASA Skipped Expanding lawn analysis beyond NASA’s narrow carbon-only assessment, the impact of an estimated 800 million gallons of gasoline burned in residential mowers (without pollution-control technologies such as catalytic converters) should be considered: How much energy and carcinogens are released thereby? It is reckoned that at least 17 million gallons of refined gasoline are spilled on the ground each year, filling lawnmower tanks – far more than the 11 million gallons of crude spilled by the Exxon Valdez disaster. Lawns are a sink for gasoline as well as carbon: not very nurturing to microbes. Americans spend billions of dollars on their eye-pleasing lawns, but unseen are the poisons dumped onto grass. Fertilizers cause phosphorous runoff, pollute wells and waterways, and feed algal blooms. Pesticides and herbicides laced with carcinogens kill bees, soil microbes, and other life. Did NASA calculate whether these toxins compromise carbon sinkage? Dead soil does not sequester carbon.Americans buy some 6 million new lawnmowers annually, including popular “zero-turn” mowers that are anything but net zero. Battery-powered and electric mowers have gained in popularity, but their production comes with a cost. Did NASA consider that? About two million leaf blowers are purchased yearly, an estimated 150 million to be used in America. Leaf blowers are extremely inefficient. A four-stroke lawnmower’s emissions running for one hour are equivalent to an average car traveling 500 miles or running 11 car engines for the same duration.
‘Renewables’ PolluteThese same oversights bedevil climate warrior assessments of electric vehicles, solar panels, and industrial agriculture. The astronomical mining and fossil fuel impacts of EVs (including all the fancy gadgets like backup cameras) are simply omitted when only their supposed carbon-sparing benefits are extolled. Most Chinese-manufactured solar panels require coal burning and extensive mining in their creation. If such costs (along with disposal) were accurately and honestly weighed, these technologies would turn out to be far from “net zero.” All spew toxic chemicals into the air, soil, and water. They are not salvific as advertised but accelerate environmental degradation.
Industrial agriculture destroys soils with chemicals and treats cows horrifically. These abuses are used to target not the anthropomorphic activities of CAFOs (Confined Animal Feed Operations or factory farms) but their innocent cud-chewing victims. Rotationally grazed cows feed soils depleted and poisoned by tilling (or lawnmowing), creating the most powerful carbon sink possible while rebuilding eroded lands with manure. No human technology can rival this miraculous soil-nurturing: The resulting explosion of bacteria devours far more methane than cows emit. Healthy, regenerated soils sequester exponentially more carbon dioxide than forests, so “rewilding” is a comparative farce, often reducing net carbon sequestration to sell carbon credit indulgences to corporate schemers while eliminating vital farmlands.
Renewable energy manufacturing is a fraud that creates trillions of dollars in profits for corporations who steer captured government agencies like NASA. Grass blades are God’s renewable energy, using photosynthesis to capture energy and carbon. Grazing cows absorb this energy, stimulate growth (without gasoline spillage), produce manure that nurtures soils, and convert that energy into steaks for dinner. Yet it is cows that are cruelly scapegoated.
No Climate Change IntegrityAmericans may want to do their own environmental calculus rather than be distracted by social justice shenanigans that deliberately obscure the true environmental costs of gadgets and toxic foods peddled as environmentally beneficial. The same culprits who sold Americans on the large, consolidated dairies and industrial farms that destroy the planet are now claiming that only chemical-saturated GMO soils can feed the world (while killing the soil).
Food-producing, soil-building bovines are routinely slandered by the United Nations, World Economic Forum, and PETA, which claim humanity cannot reduce climate change without cutting meat consumption.
India reveres cows – slaughtering a cow is punishable by death in some districts. America worships its lawns (and ritualistic gas-spilling), much as it idolizes anthropomorphic non-renewable technologies above God’s provision of cows on grass. NASA is lost in outer space on climate analysis. Americans should keep their eyes on the ground: Climate change activists who mow their lawns with fossil fuels had best examine the cow-bashing logs in their own eyes.
John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.
The post NASA’s Climate Change Metrics Need Fixing appeared first on Granite Grok.
They’re flying so thick and fast it is amazing.
Take heart – there will be both a Wednesday and Friday Edition. Last week’s Friday Edition. Also please see my latest Israel-related installment, which is a rich post with memes, as well as links, info, and commentary.
Remember, ridicule and mockery are effective weapons:
Now, let the mockery and mayhem begin.
*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***
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And this is by design.
When people truly understand that there are different standards of the law by dint of who you are and with whom you associate, society is doomed.
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PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA
“First Saturday, then Sunday”. First the Jews, then the Christians. If you think that all Islamic terror and wars stop if, somehow, Islam wipes out Israel – you are mistaken.
Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians
Hamas Chief Emphasizes That Israel is Only the First Target (jihadwatch.org)
They’re coming here already:
659 known or suspected terrorists caught at the border in 2023, the most ever (jihadwatch.org)
With Democrats wanting at least a million more.
And like I said in my last Israel-focused post, they’re out in force in New York City; college and university campuses swarm with them and their sympathizers. Antifa is their ally and they have already worked / trained together.
Take this example of Islamic treatment of Christians – no Jews involved:
Today in History: Muslims Worship Allah Atop 2,400 Decapitated Christian Heads (raymondibrahim.com)
You may not like Israel. Or Jews. But if you think that the feeding frenzy will stop there, you’re sadly mistaken.
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Pick of the post:
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Palate Cleansers:
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Come back Wednesday for another edition. Same Meme Time. Same Meme channel.
The post MONDAY MEMES appeared first on Granite Grok.
One of the Political Left’s cultural accomplishments, and they are so very proud of this, is how they’ve managed to cling to their self-proclaimed label as the party of women while tearing women down every chance they get.
An old story making a fresh run at the hypocrisy is Soren Stark-Chessa. Last year, he was 206th in the boys competition. This year, the shmale finished 5th in the girl’s competition. All he had to do was say he was one of them.
The latest case takes place at Maine Coast Waldorf High School. Last year, sophomore Soren Stark-Chessa ranked 172nd among male runners in the 5k division in the state.
Stark-Chessa “transitioned.” Now, he is ranked 4th in the female division.
Outrage exploded when he competed against females at the Maine XC Festival of Champions.
Stark-Chessa placed 5th.
The “girls still lucked out. Stark-Chessa is such a B-team male track athlete that there are a small number of female superstars who can still outrun him.
“The only reason that this boy did not win the meet on Saturday is because Greene has some of the strongest female athletes in the nation. The first two girls who finished the race on Saturday…the first-place winner ranks number 8th in the country and the second-place winner ranks number 15th in the country. If it wasn’t for these top-ranked girls who are faster than most girls in the whole United States, this boy would have won the entire girls’ cross-country meet,” Collins said.
Translation: To the boys in Maine who were better at it than Stark-Chessa in the male division but not good enough to make the top 100, you might be a state champion. You just need to race against girls.
HT | Legal Insurrection
The post Go From a 172nd Ranked Runner to 4th in the State With This One Crazy Trick! appeared first on Granite Grok.
Let’s think about the attacks in Israel for a moment. If we look around, we see that it isn’t just Israel that’s being attacked. Have we forgotten about “no-go zones” in France, Germany, England, and other European cities? Or the surge in Muslim attacks in Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, et al? Or the longstanding hatred and internecine wars in the Middle East that do not involve Israel?
The blame lies directly at the feet of those who have been pushing “multiculturalism” but who do not understand that there is one specific culture that holds as one of its core doctrines the destruction of every culture except its own: Islam.
Islam is not just a religion. It is an ideology. Its core document, the Koran, contains both religious dogma and military strategy. Its leaders actively prevent adherents from learning anything outside Islamic teachings. It has its own laws and behavioral precepts. It encourages expansionism as well as the use of outright and outrageous lies about Islam as a defense mechanism when non-Muslims tell the truth about Islam. In fact, lying to non-Muslims about Islam and the political goals of Muslims is encouraged: it’s called taqiya.
The Koran also exhorts its adherents to kill anyone who isn’t a Muslim. It’s clear several Suras. How about Surah 2:191? When referring to non-Muslims, the Koran demands Muslims to “… kill them wherever you find them … kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.” There are very few other religions who are as clear as this when it comes to relationships – or, in this case, non-relationships – with those of other faiths. (Christianity had its enlightenment centuries ago and no longer demands the death of unbelievers.)
Moreover, the Koran also demands that any Muslim who questions Islam or decides to convert to another religion should be put to death. How often do we see stories in the news about one family member killing another whose offense was apostasy? They call it an “honor killing”. Others call it murder. It’s right there in black and white, 88:22-24: “You are not ˹there˺ to compel them ˹to believe˺, But whoever turns away, persisting in disbelief, then Allah will inflict upon them the major punishment.” And the “major punishment”? Take a guess.
Islam is definitely not a “religion of peace”. To say so is yet another example of Muslims using Taqiya to disrupt society.
Hamas is continuing the war against Israel that has been waged for decades. As far as “land for peace” goes, Hamas has no intention to trade land for peace with Israel. Their charter explicitly demands the end of Israel and the occupation of Israeli lands “from the river to the sea”. Their goal is to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth.
Because that’s what Islam demands: dead Jews. And if not Jews, “unbelievers” – which includes Christians. It’s right there in the Koran.
Muslim immigrants in France have demanded their own areas where local police may not go. They riot, rape, and kill in those areas (there are countless news reports of this). Think about it: this is yet another claim of “land for peace” If you give us this “no-go zone”, we’ll be peaceful. Taqyia again. And the same claims have been made in Muslim-controlled areas in England, Germany, and other European countries.
There have been countless attacks by Muslims against non-Muslims in the past 50 years. There isn’t enough room on this page to describe all of them, or to go over how the map of the world has been changed. These attacks are ongoing, even today.
The attacks upon Israel are only the first phase of a 21st century attempt of Muslims to capture lands and either turn the populations into wholesale believers in Islam… or to execute them. It is time for us to reexamine whether our schools, our government, and our culture has been deeply changed so we become “easy pickings” for the next phase: the reinstatement of what Muslims call “the caliphate”.
“The west” is unprepared to make the sacrifices required to defeat the oncoming surge in violence. Muslims are willing to die as martyrs for their beliefs. The word is istishad: dying for the faith makes you a hero. Islam has an unending number of adherents who believe that they will be rewarded in their attacks on the West. Palestinian families are monetarily rewarded for a family member who dies as a hero in the fight for Islam.
We are already seeing the weakening of western resolve, both in its wavering support for Israel and in its refusal to declare the Hamas attacks as barbaric murders.
How Israel conducts this war and whether the west can stand the necessary bloodshed to stop Islamic hegemony will determine whether we live free lives or whether we come under the boot of Islamic fundamentalism.
The post Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS – there IS a common factor appeared first on Granite Grok.
There are still a few Republicans out there clinging to the idea that booting Kevin McCarthy was a bad idea. We had some mixed thoughts on our pages (pro and con). For myself, I landed firmly on the gotta-go side becasue McCarthy enabled the Democrat agenda instead of doing everything to stop it.
Here’s my objection to his supporters in a nutshell.
While McCarthy was speaker, Joe, and the Democrats didn’t seem to have too much trouble advancing their agenda at a time when Kevin’s job – his only job – was to leverage significant concessions or bring Congress to a screeching halt. I don’t recall hearing any tires chirp.
McCarthy was never going to be able to do more than stall the destructive agenda of the left, but he didn’t. And as is often the case, giving the Dems a bone here and there gained him nothing positive in return. Despite the progressive goodness Speaker McCarthy enabled, when given the opportunity to show some thanks, they voted him off the island. Every damn Democrat voted to kick him out.
Here’s Mark Kaye making exactly that point, and a few others, culminating in the obvious: You can’t work with Demcorats becasue the only thing that matters to them is them.
The post You Can’t Work With Democrats, So Stop Trying appeared first on Granite Grok.
Who is Mike Rogers? Well, he is supposedly a “conservative” Republican representing Alabama. In reality, he represents the globalist-warmonger/military-industrial complex … which he is uniquely positioned to do as “Chair” of the Armed Services Committee.
He wants to make a deal with Communist Hakeem Jeffries to make him Speaker in order to keep the globalist-warmonger war against Russia fully funded because Jim Jordan is opposed to continuing to routinely pump hundreds of millions into the corrupt military-industrial complex.
Rep. Mike Rogers, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, told reporters Thursday after a closed-door House GOP meeting that he wants Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to tell Republicans what concessions they’ll have to make for Democrats to help them elect a speaker. pic.twitter.com/qRPpMSLLpP
— Forbes (@Forbes) October 13, 2023
The post Did Shawn Jasper Change His Name To Mike Rogers? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Writing in Federalist #46, James Madison provided a 4-step strategy to bring down federal programs without waiting for the federal government to limit its own power.
Here’s what he had to say in the letter, The Influence of the State and Federal Governments Compared:
“Should an unwarrantable measure of the federal government be unpopular in particular States, which would seldom fail to be the case, or even a warrantable measure be so, which may sometimes be the case, the means of opposition to it are powerful and at hand. The disquietude of the people; their repugnance and, perhaps refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union, the frowns of the executive magistracy of the State; the embarrassment created by legislative devices, which would often be added on such occasions, would oppose, in any State, very serious impediments; and were the sentiments of several adjoining States happen to be in Union, would present obstructions which the federal government would hardly be willing to encounter.”
In short, Madison said that when the federal government passes an unconstitutional measure there are powerful methods to oppose it – amongst the people and in the states. He also pointed out that those same methods were available even for warrantable, that is constitutional, measures.
They are:
1. Disquietude of the people – Madison expected the people would throw a fit when the feds usurped power or tried to implement unpopular policies. That leads to the next step.
2. Repugnance and Refusal to co-operate with the officers of the Union – Noncompliance. The #1 dictionary of the time defined repugnance as “disobedient; not obsequious” (compliant). If you want to stop the federal government, you have to disobey them. Madison also suggested that people would perhaps directly refuse to cooperate with federal agents. This is an approach we preach here every day at the Tenth Amendment Center. James Madison apparently knew what we know today. The feds rely on cooperation from state and local governments, as well as individuals. When enough people refuse to comply, they simply can’t enforce their so-called laws.
3. The frowns of the executive magistracy of the State – Here Madison envisions governors formally protesting federal actions. This not only raises public awareness; executive leadership will also lead to the next step – legislative action.
4. Legislative devices, which would often be added on such occasions – Madison keeps this open-ended, and in the years soon after, which I’ll cover shortly, we learn how both he and Thomas Jefferson applied this step.
Madison also told us that if several adjoining States would do the same it would be an effective tool to stop federal acts. To repeat, he said that doing this:
“would present obstructions which the federal government would hardly be willing to encounter.”
Judge Andrew Napolitano agreed recently and said that people need to stop enforcing unconstitutional federal laws. He also said that if you could get an entire state doing this, it would make federal laws “nearly impossible” to enforce.
LEGISLATIVE DEVICES
Thomas Jefferson followed up on this in 1798 with the same kind of advice. That year, the Adams administration passed a wildly unconstitutional attack on the freedom of speech with the Alien and Sedition Acts. In response, while sitting as vice-president, Jefferson secretly drafted the Kentucky Resolutions, and here’s a little of what he wrote:
“The several states composing the united states of America are not united on a principle of unlimited submission to their general government.”
“where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy”
“that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits: that without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them”
Madison was consistent in his views on this. In 1798, he also drafted and helped pass something known as the Virginia Resolutions, a state-level “legislative device” in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts. Here’s a key part:
…in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to them.
Like Madison advised in Federalist #46, both he and Thomas Jefferson advised a state-level response to dangerous federal acts.
Jefferson told us that “nullification is the rightful remedy.” And Madison told us that states are “duty-bound to interpose.”
When Daniel Webster called on these same principles in response to military conscription plans during the War of 1812, he said:
“The operation of measures thus unconstitutional and illegal ought to be prevented by a resort to other measures which are both constitutional and legal. It will be the solemn duty of the State governments to protect their own authority over their own militia and to interpose between their citizens and arbitrary power. These are among the objects for which the State governments exist, and their highest obligations bind them to the preservation of their own rights and the liberties of their people”
Here’s the bottom line:
And that resistance needs to be your first response, not your last.
Michael Boldin | The Tenth Amendment Center
The post James Madison: Four Steps to Stop Federal Programs appeared first on Granite Grok.
In case you live under a rock anywhere other than the rubble in Gaza, you likely have heard we are long overdue for a world war with the Jews as the centerpiece, because why not? Though Ukraine and Russia showed serious promise, it just wasn’t generating the kind of “back by popular demand” energy one gets from our favorite contestants: Everybody vs. the Jews!
God knows we need something to spice up our otherwise boring day-to-day lives. Climate change has been tepid at best as an existential crisis and the COVID virus fizzled out like an unattended can of Bud Light. Black Lives Matter isn’t ready to rock until we are all ready to vote, so we need something of a palate cleanser to keep the doldrums from setting in that can also justify these $7 gallons of gas.
However a silly little Sabbath day skirmish just won’t get it done patriots! We need something that can not only keep eyes on the screens but bring this country together against a common enemy who live in a gated community half-way around the world. Those Jihadis on the wrong side of the razor wire messed with the wrong international police force – I tell you what! What would Jewish Jesus do in this situation? Let’s hear it from the holy horse’s mouth:
“You have heard it said ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ but I tell you…mow those dirty SOBs down with drone strikes!” (Matthew 5:38-39, New World Order Version)
The Prince of Pieces of terrorist body’s flying through the air has spoken! So let it be written, so let it be done. Amen.
If you’re not convinced by the Word of God then perhaps one of His emissaries can set you straight. Pastor Greg Locke, never one to mince words, was fresh out of rants once COVID passed and he’s here to remind you God loves Israel and hates Arabs (among others). Setting aside the call to not display one’s righteous deeds in public Mr. Locke was so full of the spirit of death he took to the pulpit to remind us the only answer to religiously motivated terror is religiously motivated genocide. In case you weren’t sure who he was reppin’ the stage was covered in Israeli flags and bellicose hyperbole. Talk about charisma! It’s nice to see he had a change of heart about the government and the media not being trustworthy and trampling our rights and has put his trust back in a government and media ready to trample other people’s rights. That’s called repentance heathens.
Now you might think getting the economy going is reason enough for Joe Biden to bring us into a mostly peaceful world war, by proxy of course. I mean, these missiles aren’t going to shoot themselves and the folks at Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are piling up the inventory, so let’s quit fooling ourselves into thinking we can put food on the table peacefully. Don’t be ridiculous. We don’t need another union strike in the weapons sector right now Habibi. The American people just got the dog woke up in them and we’re itching for a fight. In other words, it’s time to wag the dog bitches!
With an epic battle like this about to rage for the machine we’re going to need a soundtrack, or at least a single to hit the airwaves as, you know, like an anthem? I like Toby Keith and Barbara Streisand for a duet. How do you like “I’ll Be Bombing Hamas for Christmas” as a title?
In Jesus name, of course.
The post Bananas: Time To Genocide… In Jesus Name appeared first on Granite Grok.
As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
-H.L. Mencken, On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe
Must I really need to say any more than that?
(H/T: Matt)
The post Notable Quote – And So We Are There… appeared first on Granite Grok.
This is an attempt to “break out” memes, links, and my commentary about the situation in Israel / the Middle East so as to not overload the standard meme posts that I do. My last “normal” meme post. And my last Israel-related one. I don’t just have memes in the Israel ones, but lots of informative links as well as hopefully-insightful commentary, so if you didn’t see the last one, please do go look after you’re done with this one. Same thing here: lots and lots of links, info, videos, memes, and my added commentary (that I hope adds perspective and value).
Note that while I will attempt discretion in images that I post, not all are “squeaky clean” in terms of the eyes of the innocent. Be warned here.
WHEN WILL IT END?
Silent Cries Amidst Invasion: Israel Must Eliminate Hamas :: Middle East Forum (meforum.org)
The disarmament of Gaza is not an act of oppression – it is a stride towards peace. Each rocket, every weapon that is wrested from the hands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, echoes the distant but undeniable drumbeats of a region where children can dream without the nightmare of war shadowing their innocence.
Israel’s consideration to eliminate Hamas’s leadership and disband its organization is born not from a thirst for retribution, but from strategic and legal necessity. It is rooted in the objective to neutralize an existential threat, to silence the guns that leave children orphaned, and to dismantle the ideological edifice that fuels a relentless campaign of terror.
This is not a decision made lightly, but is necessitated by the evolving nature of the threat. There is a detailed case for a comprehensive military intervention against Hamas, reasons that go beyond the need to respond to the despicable invasion launched this morning from Gaza.
Hamas’s charter unequivocally calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Their acts of aggression are not limited skirmishes or disputes over borders, but pose a fundamental existential threat to Israel and its citizens.
As I said in the last post – when your neighbor’s stated & sworn goal is your utter destruction, there can be no “coexistence”. Nor can there be mercy, because they have demonstrated by deeds they have none for Israel or Jews.
Israel has the right — and the duty — to besiege Gaza (nypost.com) (bolding added):
International pressure demanding Israel provide terrorists with electricity and other goods is absurd and without basis in international law.
As the besieging state, Israel is not required to fund or assist Hamas’ war effort as it attempts to butcher Jews.
Siege law includes a humanitarian aspect: International law requires that Israel facilitate the passage of food and medicine by third parties, but only if such goods can be reliably delivered without diversion to Hamas and without fear the goods will give Hamas an economic and military boost.
Given Hamas’ 16-year exploitation of humanitarian aid and infiltration of human-rights and international organizations in Gaza, diversion is not merely a possibility — it is a certainty.
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So Israel’s bombed Syria’s airport. I had immediately wondered that there could be two possible reasons. Either Israel was doing this to bait Iran into actively joining in as a pretext for going after Iran itself (IMHO a suicidal move if done intentionally), or that there was intelligence that the airport was a landing spot for munitions heading – ultimately – to Israel’s northern territories. The second one:
Israel Strikes Damascus Airport as Iran’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bringing Tons of Weapons to Hezb’Allah is Scheduled to Land – Geller Report
The Airbus A340 carrying the Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister about to land in Damascus also had several commanders of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps on board and several tons of anti-tank missiles for Hezbollah.
Now I don’t know what level of proof Israel had for this. I also don’t know if this constitutes casus belli with Iran. But Iran is clearly in this, up to its neck. And this risks Syria coming in actively.
OOH, we need to vet this information very carefully. This is WWIII territory. OTOH, remember, in Shia Islam their Messiah cannot come until there’s a world war. To them, all this is a feature, not a bug.
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https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/fafo.mp4
Per this comment on another Grok post, Hamas doesn’t follow the Geneva Conventions:
Yet listen to these fools demand Israel cease fire, follow the “rules of war” and not hit civilians in Gaza. Hamas isn’t following the rules of war. (Geneva Convention as amended):
– combatants should be wearing uniforms. Hamas does not.
– combatants must not mix military and civilian areas, especially critical facilities like hospitals. Hamas deliberately locates military operations in civilian buildings. Their HQ is under a hospital. A missile factory is under a building labeled as an elementary school. They have tunnel operations & weapons caches in buildings next to the border wall labeled “UN.” They use mosques for weapons storage. Hamas tells civilians to not evacuate then cries for the cameras when civilians are killed.
You want to stop terror attacks? Use their religion against them:
How American Soldiers Used Pig’s Blood and Corpses to Fight Muslim Terrorism | Frontpage Mag
And B”H I pray I’m never involved in a shooting with terrorists, but… if I am, and I’m the victor, I need to start carrying a jar of bacon bits. Just in case. (Doubtless to have “hate crimes” charges filed against me.)
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Another tidbit is this map that was found on dead Hamas terrorists. This is an important detail – maps are critical. From a Telegram channel:
“Hamas Militants Had Detailed Maps of Israeli Towns, Military Bases and Infiltration Routes.
Documents found on Hamas militants show scale of planning behind deadly attack”
Great reporting by the WSJ.“TEL AVIV—Hamas militants who flooded into southern Israel from Gaza last weekend carried detailed maps of the towns and military bases that they targeted. Some also carried tactical guides identifying weak spots on Israeli army armored vehicles.
The documents, written in Arabic, were recovered from the sites of attacks or bodies of dead Hamas fighters by Israeli civilians, soldiers and emergency personnel and seen by The Wall Street Journal. Authorities are examining the trove, Israeli officials said.
Taken together, the documents indicate that Hamas set out from the start to target not just military installations, but to attack civilian population centers and to take hostages, and they offer evidence of the scale of Hamas’s intelligence-gathering and the degree of planning for the assault.
More than 1,300 Israelis were killed in the attacks, which have deeply shaken the country’s sense of security and prompted Israel to declare war on Hamas.
“They knew exactly what the targets were going to be,’” said Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and head of Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University. “There is nothing close to this level of planning in any steps Hamas had done in the past.””
@RWMaloneMD
What’s the point? That this was well-planned and for a long time. Years.
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Names of the dead.
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Is a multi-nation assault on Israel nigh? Sure looks like it as Iraqi volunteers go to the Jordan border waiting for permission to cross and attack:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/iraqies-on-the-move.mp4
Iran is apparently moving its armor:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Iran-moves-forces.mp4
Now, I see three dread possibilities here if all these forces are permitted through:
One: They attack, and the US comes in to help Israel. Now it’s all of Islam against not just Israel, but the US, and under Article 5, all of NATO. And things get “spicy” real quick. After all, what do you think all those millions of Muslims in America and Europe will do? Jihad will go global.
Two: The US stands by; the forces there are for show and the US stands. All those warships there being just for show and to lull Israel into believing the US had their back. In the absolute “best case” for Israel, Israel is forced to use nuclear weapons and survives because of that. And is now a world pariah nation despite the clear choice between that and total annihilation. Worst case, Israel is wiped out even with nuclear weapons used.
Three: Iran has practiced attacking mockup carriers and doubtless learned from the exercise. What if those carriers are there, not as support for Israel, but to put them in a position where Iranian forces can get to them to sink them? The US Navy is then crippled, and under either Two or Three, the precedent for every aggressor everywhere is clear: the US is not coming to the rescue. Hello, Taiwan? South Korea? Philippines?
HISTORY
Remember that when Israel was formed, the regular armies of FIVE ARAB NATIONS attacked to wipe out the fledgling state. Part of the result of that attack was the capture of half of Jerusalem, the expulsion of the Jews within, and the illegal occupation and actual – albeit also illegal – annexation of what was renamed the “West Bank” by Jordan.
Everyone talks about The Nakba, the expulsion (mostly) voluntary flight of the Arabs from their homes during the initial war of Israel’s formation. We know this was ordered by the invading armies; there are audio recordings of the residents being told via radio to flee their homes so that the Arabs could have a freer hand in “dealing with” the Jews. Though, to be accurate, there were actual expulsions too. Cry me a river after this:
Nobody discusses the 850,000-odd Jews expelled by Arab nations (excellent book!) in the run up to and subsequent to the formation of the nation of Israel. It’s only the misery – and it was misery – for the Arabs fleeing Israel. But why would their fellow Arabs not help? Because the Arabs held their fellows hostage to create an eternal sore point against Israel, while Israel – with difficulty – slowly absorbed a pulse of Jews greater than actually existed in the land at the time. (From 1948 to 1967 the Egyptians in Gaza and the Jordanians in the “West Bank” had almost two decades to build housing and help their fellow Muslims… why didn’t they? Again, psychologically, understand that the Arabs kept their fellows in squalor because all these poor refugees from Israel were warriors in the eternal jihad against the Jewish state.)
We also keep hearing about “The Occupation” as the source of grievance. What “occupation” was there during the formation of the PLO in 1964? What “Israel” was there in the Nebi Musa riots in 1920, or Hebron Massacre in 1929, or the Farhud pogrom in 1941 in Iraq?
I discussed, in the last post, the Islamic command to reconquer any territory that was once Islamic. Every square inch of the land of Israel falls under that category, formerly being part of the Ottoman empire. Thus, irrespective of anything else, it is a Koranic command to retake it. It would not matter if it were held by Jews, or Christians, or Buddhists, or Shinto practitioners, or anyone else. The Koran says retake it, it must be retaken.
The 1967 Six Day War (excellent book) and other history sources show definitively that the Six Day War was a defensive war. What does international law say about defensive wars? My non-scholarly understanding and research indicate that should the defender gain land, that is their land. Furthermore, Israeli settlements and control of Jerusalem the “West Bank”, and even possibly Gaza are not a violation of international law. (Also here, same author.)
Applied to the case of Israel, uti possidetis juris would dictate that Israel inherit the boundaries of the Mandate of Palestine as they existed in May, 1948. The doctrine would thus support Israeli claims to any or all of the currently hotly disputed areas of Jerusalem (including East Jerusalem), the West Bank, and even potentially the Gaza Strip (though not the Golan Heights).
And here is an analysis of the Golan Heights specifically, though the same arguments apply to Judea and Samaria as well, and Gaza too:
The views of the U.N’s International Law Commission and most scholars in finding defensive conquest as lawful under the U.N. Charter should not be surprising given that it simply reflected broad state practice under the Charter. In the years immediately following the adoption of the Charter, many of the victorious Allies took territory of the defeated nations. All these annexations have been recognized, without controversy by the U.S. and international community. To mention only a few of these instances, Holland unilaterally annexed parts of Germany in 1949; Greece and Yugoslavia took parts of Italy; the U.S.S.R and Poland annexed large parts of Germany. The ILC in its deliberations specifically addressed the legal basis for these annexations: because the underlying use of force was lawful (defensive), the acquisition of territory can be permitted.
People argue that Israel was “illegally” carved out of territory held by others. Well, so was Pakistan. Pakistan was formed by carving away a chunk of India. Hindus fled for India, Muslims fled for Pakistan. Millions. So where is the ongoing international outcry over that? Or is it, again, Israel double-standard time?
But wait, there’s more. There have been many other “disputed territories” – even outright illegal occupations – yet there is an obsession about Israel:
Indeed, many other countries maintain obviously illegal occupations, but are not subject to repeated demonization. Turkey has occupied the northern part of Cyprus for 51 years. China has occupied Tibet for 72 years. Yet China and Turkey are not the victims of constant smear campaigns by the international community.
And while this Law Review article is both thick with legalese and IMHO very narrowly threaded through multiple needles, my take away is that territory acquired from a defensive war is different than territory acquired by an offensive war (echoing my statement above). Another article states that settler populations in such territories are not a violation of the Geneva Convention. Further, Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005; its blockade of that territory only began in 2007. I wonder what happened in those three years that drove the creation of a blockade – no small undertaking.
The double standard reeks again. Israel left Gaza to the Gazans and what did the Gazans do? Fire more missiles. Ramp up production (see below about using water pipes for missile material). Dig tunnels. Look and compare how much territory would be covered by missiles in other countries with similar situations:
Now, given what’s happening in Ukraine, imagine if Zelensky started sending thousands of missiles across 70% of Russia. Would Putin listen to cries of “tolerance” and “coexistence”? In that vein:
One more tidbit on double-standards:
THE ISLAMIC MENTALITY
There is a quote by the late Golda Meir:
There will be peace in the Middle East only when the Arabs love their children more than they hate Israel.
Here’s an interview with the mastermind of the Sbarro Pizzeria bombing. Note that she was undeterred by the fact that while her target was religious Jews, she let the operation go ahead seeing that others – not religious Jews – were there too.
Ahlam Tamimi Chose Sbarro’s ‘Religious Jews’ as Murder Target
No remorse at all for the civilians killed. Because in Islam, again, there are no infidel civilians. Repeat that ten times. Or twenty, until it sinks in. And there was another interview segment when she smiled when she found out more children had been killed than she’d thought.
And now read this:
EU Spent $100M On Pipelines That Hamas Turned Into Rockets. (thenationalpulse.com)
So they had actual water pipelines, which were cannibalized into rocket materials. Water, life-giving water, society-building water… but that’s not as important as their Prime Directive: Kill Jews.
As I said in my last topical post, it doesn’t matter if their kids die of hunger or thirst or lack of medical care or exposure. That’s jihad; those dead children are shahids, i.e., martyrs, getting an instant ticket to paradise. Know the enemy. Know what motivates them.
Consider this article from 2013 about 500 tons – tons! – of concrete used for one tunnel from Gaza into Israel. One tunnel. And that was ten years ago.
A Hamas military spokesman in Gaza, Abu Obeida, was defiant over the tunnel discovery, saying on his official Twitter account that “thousands” more tunnels would be dug out.
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Hamas-tunnels.mp4
There are consequences to this diversion:
From the Telegram channel where I got this:
The Israeli army is distributing leaflets in Gaza urging residents to go to shelters The text calls on people to leave their homes “for their own safety” and go to shelters. There are no shelters in Gaza. People took refuge in schools and hospitals. https://t.me/LauraAbolichannel
And WHY are there no shelters in Gaza? Because of that aforementioned concrete diversion. There have been dozens and dozens of tunnels found:
He admitted that the tunnels are used for infiltration of Israel, but said that offensive operations have never caused the death of civilians in Israel, and denied allegations of planned mass attacks on Israeli civilians.
*tweeeeet* Taqiyya alert! Understand something very clearly: to a Muslim engaged in jihad, there is no such thing as an “infidel civilian”. If you are not a Muslim, then definitionally, you are in the house of war. Consider the news that a Hamas terrorist, at the concert – definitionally civilian – was shooting a round into each porta-potty. If this is not intended to kill civilians, what would rise to that level?
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/shooting-portapotties.mp4
But this is not a misinterpretation of Islam. Here’s an example – early on in Mohammed’s career – of how he treated civilians; women and children:
Listen and note well the words of a Hamas official’s son who “woke up” to the reality of his religion (this was an audio but I managed to upload the video):
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Son2.mp4
Audio only:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Hamas-member-who-woke-up-son-on-islam.mp4.mp3
Note well what the guy says: Mohammed slept with raped the wife of the leader of a massacred Jewish tribe the same day he murdered her husband. The. Same. Day. From the very beginning, terror and brutality. Allah is greater than your god. Another specific example from Mohammed’s time:
Allah’s Sword of Terror (raymondibrahim.com)
For example, only recently I came across a video (video was removed hence no link) of a modern-day Egyptian Salafi explaining how Khalid raped Layla, the wife of Malik bin Nuwayra—but only after he severed her husband’s head, lit it on fire, and cooked his dinner on it.
And in a private email conversation with Political Islam‘s founder, Dr. Bill Warner, he confirmed that not only did Khalid rape the man’s wife… he did it in a pool of her husband’s blood. Like his leader, raping a woman the same day her husband is killed. And remember in the previous post that it’s a Koranic command to strike terror into the hearts of infidels? From the same article:
Of course, all this accords with the Koran’s many commands to “strike terror” into the hearts of disbelievers, be they born infidels or apostates (see Koran 3:151, 8:12, 8:60).
From earlier in that piece:
Khalid was recalled and questioned by the caliph—not because he killed and dined on an apostate’s head and “married” his wife, but because some believed that Malik was still Muslim, not an apostate to be treated so, and that Khalid killed him on the accusation of apostasy only as a pretext to take possession of his wife, whose beauty was renowned.
Note well why he was recalled. Not because of his brutality, but the fact that he might have done it to a fellow Muslim; even then, he remained in Mohammed’s service. He led the Islamic forces against the Byzantines in 636, four years after Mohammed’s death.
Flip it. Imagine if one of Jesus’ disciples had cannibalized a man by cooking his head and raping the widow. Do you believe he’d have remained part of Jesus’ following? Of course not. He’d have been driven out. But Khalid was kept in the fold; they weren’t bothered by the actual deeds, but merely that he might have acted against a fellow Muslim and his desire for the man’s wife. Does that non-expulsion not tell you everything you need to know about Mohammed and the “faith” he spawned? And its supremacist view of Muslims versus infidels?
Slaughter and terror are at the heart of Islam. For example, although Hallel Ariel was living on a “settlement”, what crime did this teenage girl commit?
Like the murder of Hadas Fogel and her family (mentioned in last post), her murderer was celebrated… and his family was eligible for $350 a month from the Palestinian fund for martyrs. Both Hallel, and Hadas, and limitless other victims of terror, their “crime” was that they were Jews and were on formerly Islamic land. Land that, repeating, must be retaken. Except what land was this little girl on? Oh, wait, France. Bolding added in the excerpt.
Mohammed Merah did not chase down a French-Jewish seven year old girl, put a gun to her head and pull the trigger because he came from an economically depressed area or any of the other media spin. He was only doing what Muslims had been doing to non-Muslims for over a thousand years. He didn’t do what he did because he was “radicalized”, he did it because he became a fully committed Muslim.
…
Muslims have hated Jews before the telephone, the telegraph, the steam engine, gunpowder, movable type and paper currency. And now surrounded by smartphones, credit cards and jet planes, they still hate them. That simple undeniable fact is denied by every government, and in every university and every center of culture. And every one of those deniers has blood on his hands.
The Toulouse massacre, 2012 (markhumphrys.com) (links and bolding in the original; italics replaced by underlining):
The Islamist way of war:
The jihadist killer at the French school ran after this little Jewish girl, 8 year old Miriam Monsonego, grabbed her, and shot her dead at close range.
He shot dead a 3 year old boy and a 6 year old boy at the gates. “CCTV footage from a camera at the gates reportedly showed that one of the boys was executed as he crawled away on his hands and knees while his father and brother lay dying on the pavement.”
Her crime? Being a Jew. Alive. Alive anywhere. The below permission is nothing new, not new at all.
‘Scholar’ Claims Jihadis Have Permission to Kill Israelis ‘Wherever They May Be’ | The Gateway Pundit | by Guest Contributor
Terror. Unremitting fear. And as I said in an earlier piece, Fear is the Mind Killer, one of the things the human mind craves is stability. Islam’s attacks are targeted specifically to create uncertainty and fear – with the perpetual offer of “Just submit, convert, and all will return to normal.” Genius – diabolical level genius. Just like the genius of granting paradise to those who die fighting the infidel… especially pertinent when you have rich Muslims taking multiple wives, so the poor Muslims either have to take booty and female captives, an incentive for jihad, or die and get their 72 virgins. Infernal-level genius. Satanic level genius.
Take a look here – this is New York, the Long Island Expressway:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Long-Island-expressway.mp4
MORE ON INTERSECTIONALITY / LEFTIST SUPPORT
Asheville trantifa activist praises Palestinians following terror attacks, says ‘enemies’ of LGBTQ people are in the US | The Post Millennial | thepostmillennial.com
In a hypothetical world, I would actually enjoy it if Islam comes to dominate and this… guy?… is held down and beheaded.
Anti-Semitism unites the Left with Islam:
Thoughts on leftwing support for Hamas and radical Islam | Voice (christianpost.com)
The simple answer is that Hamas is antisemitic, and antisemitism is part of the spirit of the age, the mentality of what the New Testament calls “the world.” Darkness is drawn to darkness.
And this is the primary thing that unites the leftwing supporters of Hamas: latent (or flagrant) antisemitism, often disguised as staunch anti-Zionism. This shared hatred (or, at the least, severely critical, totally unbalanced attitude towards Israel) overrides all the other issues.
As I said in the last post: Israel started out intending to be a Socialist state. They “woke up” and went free market. Like a Muslim who quits the faith, leaving the Socialist fold is apostasy demanding execution.
Students are indoctrinated; PoliMath takes Harvard students who celebrated dead Jews now begging for MERCY APART in BRUTAL thread – Twitchy. Now, of course, they’re weeping that they too might be “canceled”.
And need I bring up Jewish support for Hamas?
Among the event’s key sponsors were three anti-Zionist Jewish groups including Not In Our Name, which is based at the City University of New York, and Judaism On Our Own Terms, which was founded more than a decade ago as Open Hillel.
Whether Leftist or LGBT or non-Muslim POC support, it all translates to one fate if Islam wins.
—
Decisions, decisions:
—
Stupid liberal Jews. You really thought they’d stand with you?
These Comments From the BLM Founder Are Making People Wake Up – Twitchy
Just who do you think BLM will stand with if things kick off for real in the US?
PALLYWOOD
Hamas terror attack on Israel brought out the worst in media; Drew Holden has the receipts – Twitchy
Because the uber-intellects of the Left / Enemedia complex (same thing really) can’t imagine being fooled. And so they become useful idiots.
—
Storing corpses in ice cream trucks… wait, what? Ice cream trucks???
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ice-cream-trucks.mp4
But… but… but open air prison! Concentration camp!
TERROR COMING HERE?
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Hamss-goals-1-1.mp4
In their own words, with throat-cutting instructions – and note the date on the first segment – 2020. Three years ago they were giving instructions on how to slit throats. They’ve been slaughtering Jews for decades (links in the original):
In 2002, Hamas committed one of its deadliest massacres during the Jewish holiday of Passover in the Israeli city of Netanya. Thirty civilians were murdered and 140 wounded when a Hamas terrorist, disguised as a woman, detonated a suitcase filled with powerful explosives in the dining room of a hotel where Jews were celebrating the Passover holiday. Most of the victims were senior citizens (70 and over). The oldest victim was 90 and the youngest, 20.
Over the past three decades, Hamas officials never concealed their group’s ambition to destroy Israel through Jihad (holy war). Hardly a day has passed without another Hamas statement concerning the need to “liberate all Palestine” (meaning destroy Israel).
And it begins now. Globally. China. France. They’re marching in force in Sydney, Australia.
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/hamas-march-in-sydney.mp4
Consequences of mass migration. And how do you feel now, Tikkun Olam Fetish Jews?
An Open Letter to Pro-Migration / SJW Jews – Urban Scoop
When your synagogues are aflame and surrounded by all those “welcome the stranger” migrants crying out ALLAHU AKHBAR?
See Aesop. Remember, jihad by migration is a Koranic imperative too.
Bill Warner, PhD: Hijra, Islamic Migration
And on Muslim Demographics:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Muslim-Demographics_360p.mp4
TREADING ON THE POLITICAL
For years now, I’ve had many people asking me a simple question: How is it that Jews keep voting “D”? In particular, after things like this:
Or six billion dollars to #1 terror nation Iran, perhaps? Or worse, How the Biden Administration Helped Iran’s Mullahs Try to Fulfill Their Dream of Annihilating Israel :: Gatestone Institute. Don’t forget about pallets of cash to Iran by Obama. Or Obama’s letting Iran keep a stealth drone to reverse-engineer. And let’s not forget Obama dissing Netanyahu. In times past, wars were started over this level of mistreatment of a head of state.
Do you think that fungible money might get diverted to terror?
Biden Sent Millions of Dollars In Covid Relief Funds to Palestine (townhall.com)
How the Biden Administration Helped Iran’s Mullahs Try to Fulfill Their Dream of Annihilating Israel :: Gatestone Institute
Hamas and Amoral Clarity (townhall.com) (bolding added):
As soon as President Joe Biden took power, he resumed massive subsidies to radical Palestinians, canceled by the prior Trump administration.
He ignored his state Department’s warnings that such fungible money would soon fuel Hamas terrorism.
His administration dropped sanctions against Iran, ensuring that Tehran would enjoy a multi-billion-dollar windfall to be distributed to Israel’s existential enemies — another fact well-known to the Biden administration.
But the allegiance to the Democrats comes from the fact that the vast majority of American Jews are Plopping Jews:
Plopping Jews
The noble idea of repairing the world has been hijacked. And from here, The fraud of American Jews’ “Tikkun Olam” (melaniephillips.com), comes this statement (link in the original, italics replaced by underlining; I’ve bought – but in full disclosure have not had time to read – the book):
The community’s secular religion of tikkun olam, or supposedly Jewish social justice, is a fraud.
As Jonathan Neumann puts it in his excellent book To Heal the World?, American Jews have been led to believe that “the purpose of the Jews in the world is to campaign for higher taxes, sexual permissiveness, reduced military spending, illegal immigration, opposition to fracking, the banishment of religion from the public square and every other liberal cause under the sun — all in the name of God”.
It’s not Jewish, just, or even very social, constituting a mish-mash of Marxism, moral relativism and paganism.
A parallel book: Why Are Jews Liberals?
There will be consequences to this cleaving to the Democrats:
But… but… but Orange Man bad. How’s that likely to work out for Israel, American Jews?
Even as the Democrats see the growing voting Islamic demographic and rush to curry favor:
Talking about demographics? This is NYC:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Isam-in-nyc.mp4
Massive protests in London. Paris. All around the WESTERN WORLD. Again – if the US, and by extension NATO under Article 5, get sucked in, what’s going to happen globally with millions of Islamic migrants in America and Europe?
GIVING SUPPORT TO ISRAEL
You can’t go wrong with a donation here:
Connections Israel
I’ve contributed to them for almost 20 years. And please share this post far and wide. There’s a lot of info here, that many people don’t know.
A CONCLUDING THOUGHT FOR THIS POST
I was talking to my good friend in Israel early this week. He was shocked, as everyone I know there is. “How could we, so strong, have this happen”?
Now, there are many speculations floating around – not without circumstantial evidence, I regretfully add – of a stand-down, or some other withdrawal to enable this as a tool to prop up Netanyahu. If this can be proven, IMHO, Israel needs the death penalty reinstated for this level of treason. IF. PROVEN.
But even without that, it’s clear from new reporting that Hamas had spent two years planning this (see the map, above), including putting Israel to sleep. Also, apparently, there were jamming efforts on Israel’s electronic security. Plus a complete asleep-at-the-switch mentality on drone warfare and its immense impact – a complete underestimation of the enemy. Three articles here (same website, chronological order):
Bayou Renaissance Man: The grim reality of a modern battlefield
Bayou Renaissance Man: Lessons learned from a recent war
Bayou Renaissance Man: Drone warfare in Ukraine, and its lessons for future wars
So in this conversation something very critical came up. I’ve commented on the Great Cycle in my three essays on the biological roots of civilizational collapse:
Civilizational Collapse and Biology (Part 1) – Urban Scoop
Civilizational Collapse and Biology (Part 2) – Urban Scoop
Civilizational Collapse and Biology (Part 3) – Urban Scoop
And, inspired by this scene from the scifi channel movie Dune, I came up with a related progression:
Success breeds confidence
Confidence breeds complacency
Complacency breeds distraction
And when distracted one becomes vulnerable
Critical lessons for Israel… and indeed the entire West. We’ve had it far too good for far too long. And we’ve become complacent. And distracted.
Security chiefs got wind of something amiss in Gaza, thought it was a drill – reports | The Times of Israel
The generals reportedly concluded that the activity in Gaza was probably a drill, and agreed to hold further discussions in the morning. They reportedly chose not to raise an alert or boost forces to the Gaza border area, since the issue was not considered pressing.
Complacency and distraction. Underestimation of the enemy. Letting down your guard because of routine.
Disaster.
The post Israel: Memes and Commentary appeared first on Granite Grok.
We know what Joe Biden is doing to us on the home front. We see it at the grocery store, the gas pumps, and our utility bills. We see it is on our credit card and home finance rates. We see it when we finance a car or check our 401K balance.
What is more difficult to comprehend is the damage Joe is doing on the international stage. The global impact is not so tangible, and you must look behind the curtains. When you do, you will not like what you see and why he has the lowest approval ratings of any modern-day President.
We see the endless money stream flowing to Ukraine like oil through a pipeline. We know much of that money is being skimmed, and some may even find its way into Biden LLC accounts. We know that China and Russia each pull the strings of the Biden puppet. You will never hear Biden call out China on human rights violations with the Uighurs or demand they stop manufacturing raw Fentanyl made into tablets in Mexico, killing our younger population in Small Towne America. But what is happening with Iran is very subtle, but the entire Administration is covering it up.
First, there is the $6 Billion that the Trump Administration had frozen. Biden unfroze the funds to sweeten the five-for-five prisoner swap in September. Biden and his staff swore the funds could only be used for humanitarian purposes, but Iran said it was their money and they would use it any way they wanted. There were reports yesterday that Biden finally refroze the funds. This action will be a sticking point when we begin negotiations to get our hostages back from Hamas.
Next was the sanctions placed on oil sales by Iran. Biden’s team swears they did not relax restrictions, but how do you explain 400,000 barrels produced in 2020 when we had sanctions and 4 million barrels per day now. Iran has used oil to enrich its balance sheet by over $50 billion. This could not have been accomplished with the sanctions in place and enforced. To say otherwise is a lie and insulting to the American people. Biden’s approach to Iran is very reminiscent of his approach to China. Truth and can never be pointed out for fear you offend a foe.
Whether Hamas out of Gaza or Hezbollah out of Lebanon, neither of these groups would have dared pull off this slap at America and the world without Iran’s blessing. The world is convinced that eliminating Hamas and Hezbollah without cutting off the head (Iran) is fruitless. The conflict is less than a week old, and protests against Israel are increasing globally. Criticism by the media about Israeli military tactics fills the airwaves, as are demands to turn on the water and electricity in Gaza. The world has gone soft and will not have the stomach to witness an urban battle necessary for Israel to satisfy its objective. There will be collateral damage, and that is unacceptable to many. It is a shame these same people were not so vocal when word of children beheaded or entire families left to burn alive in fiery buildings set ablaze by Hamas. War is ugly, and this will be no exception, but we must remind the critics that Hamas threw the first stone, and Israel deserves the right to throw the second. And let’s not forget the dead and captured Americans. Where are our actions to balance those actions?
The post What Does Iran Have On Joe appeared first on Granite Grok.
I met a lot of people at the Leadership Summit who were planning to come to Groktoberfest but had not yet purchased tickets. As we near the event date, I’d like to remind you that there’s no discount for waiting, and we’d like to know how much fun we can expect to have with readers, fans, friends, and family.
That’s a polite way of saying, if you can make it to this oversized GrokMeet, please buy your tickets this week. You can use the QR or the embedded form below – both of which are easier to navigate than the event page (Not a dig on the ticketing platform; it’s just a fact).
Support Independent Media – Please Scan the QR Code or Use the embedded form to get your tickets to Groktoberfest!
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And we have a gun raffle (Ruger 10-22).
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Years ago, story after story would appear stemming from the developing “outlook” of what Social Work Graduate Schools were demanding their graduates adopt. They kept throwing out students who were either Conservative, Christian, or both, or just not hewing to the Narrative of how the world was to be seen and dealt with by these newly minted graduates.
Some were within months or even weeks of graduating but were being told, “Sorry that you just wasted two years of your lives, but we aren’t going to let you be one of us.” I was agape that most of these folks’ grades were perfectly fine – just that their beliefs didn’t match up with the professors.
Imagine being told, in effect, to “throw away your Christianity” simply to get a diploma. To have to lie to get that sheet of paper? Isn’t the current mantra of “LeftSpeak” “be your authentic self”? But they didn’t have the right “disposition” to be authentic social workers, according to the Leftard Professors who believed, seemingly across the nation all at once, that only people like them could be trusted to “serve the people.”
These folks were being true to themselves – and were getting rejected. It’s been this way, however, for decades. “Inclusion” seems to have a NewSpeak definition that has the unspoken undertones of “but only if you are one of us – we get to inclusively exclude you if you aren’t.” And do so without penalty or accountability.
So why do I bring up these three specific words? Because something rubbed me the wrong way – seemingly a “new” disposition?
Part of my four-month “hiatus,” at least an extremely good part of two months, was taking thirteen classes offered by UNH that were designed for DCYF to educate both Foster Parents and Residential/Group Home staff members (newbies as well as ongoing). Some were “gut” courses, some were rather rote (even if on materials that I’ve never seen before but seemed to be common sense), and a couple near the end required a lot of time, thinking, and writing—sixty hours of classes.
At the end of every class was a questionnaire that wanted to know what I thought of the class – and I certainly told them what I thought. However, one question was always present and near the end of each of these end-of-class surveys. While I failed to capture the survey pages (non-graded, so I didn’t bother), I should have. The question was (paraphrased) was:
Was this class taught in an inclusive, respectful, and equitable manner?
Huh? Say what? What is that question even trying to ask? Especially if most newly minting Foster Parents are just run-of-the-mill folks just wanting to open their homes to help kids in need and aren’t politically oriented like I am. I’m betting that they are wondering – huh? It’s only because much of my time is immersed in the viewpoints of the Left that I went, each and every time: WHY?
So for each instance the above question was asked, I answered pretty much with this:
Why are “inclusive” and “equitable” even being used here?? Doesn’t “respectful” cover it all? Isn’t that the ONLY word that is necessary in your question?
Now realize that almost every class I took was self-paced. A number were supposed to take two weeks to do, a couple were three, and three were four weeks in length. I would generally do a class in a day with the four-week ones in a day and a half. So, I finished early and then went back to dealing, full time, with the Granddaughter, the school folks trying to work with her, DCYF, and now a host of “other party” folks being brought in to see what is ticking, kinda ticking, off-beat ticking, or not ticking within her. There is a consensus that is starting to build from all that, but that will be grist for a later post.
My point is that I rarely had to interact with an instructor unless I ran into problems (like dead links to external materials, outdated material, and things that didn’t make sense unless one was already an insider). I would have thought, after making it clear that TMEW & I were newbies to all this, that my question about the use of inclusive and equitable would have been taken seriously. After all, that WAS their role as “fixers” for such issues that I brought up. One would have thought perhaps ONE of these 11 instructors (two oversaw two of my classes each) would have taken my question seriously.
Sadly, now. Now, TO BE SURE, unlike the poor social work students at the top of this post, none of my grades were dinged even if I started to let my “authentic self” out in my answers. I had one 89% grade – all the others have been 100% with the exception of my last course (along with TMEW’s) for the title of Emergency Care Foster Parent – it is yet to be graded (due by 10/22).
Sidenote: I make no claim to be the smartest guy in any room – I’ve said for years that I’m just an ordinary schlub from Central New Hampsha; no better and no worse than anyone else. However, the one thing I’ve learned to do during my 40-year career in the computer industry IS to learn. Two STEM degrees and a whole FLOCK of technical certifications as technology changed and the companies I worked for said “Prove to use you’ve learned what we told you to do”. So, I know how to take tests and answer questions – that’s my “superpower” if I have any at all. I’m still just an ordinary guy…
So to that point (not dinged), at least there is still some intellectual honesty in the process. But it concerns me, 10-15 years down the line, that the Left’s outlook is sneaking into this kind of education in a matter-of-fact process: “Hey, this is normal – why are you complaining? WE are the experts, right?”. It is assumed that one is Woke to be able to answer the mandatory question (yes, I tried to leave it blank – they made it a mandatory answer text field).
It’s the institutional capture we’ve been dealing with all these decades: you are expected to accept our language.
All I wish, however, that ONE, just ONE, would have answered my question and leveled with me HOW inclusive and equitable were to be seen.
The post Was This Class Taught in an Inclusive, Respectful, and Equitable Manner? appeared first on Granite Grok.
If White Guilt needed a poster Girl, there are many from whom to choose, but if you don’t feel like looking, Leah Stokes fits the bill. She is the senior author of a paper funded by pro-wind-energy concerns titled “Prevalence and predictors of wind energy opposition in North America.”
Put down any beverage before you read this.
In the United States, opposition was more likely and more intense in areas with a higher proportion of White people, and a lower proportion of Hispanic people; in Canada, the same pattern held for wealthier communities. The names in articles associated with US opposition were overwhelmingly likely to be White. This suggests an environmental justice challenge we term “energy privilege,” wherein the delay and cancellation of clean energy in wealthier, Whiter communities leads to continued pollution in poorer communities, and communities of color.
Leah needs ot have a sit down and chat with Greta ‘How Dare You’ Thunberg. Muppet Greta led a protest opposing a wind project development in indigenous areas earlier this year. Something she called Climate Colonialism. I quickly pointed out how green-energy privilege leveraged as liberal privilege to create energy privilege was already ruining the lives of “indigenous populations” and their local environments.
Nearly everything “green” has CCP fingerprints on it. China owns many of the mines in Africa and South East Asia, where local low-wage or slave-level laborers work in criminally unhealthy conditions with massive environmentally damaging footprints. Not the fake damage used to sell the agenda but real, generational harm with long-term impacts on human health, land, water, and wildlife.
Can we expect Thunberg to visit the Congo, Indonesia, or the Mother Ship in China? What about CCP climate ‘colonialism’ and human rights violations? Will Greta stand before the UN and say, “How Dare You” support an energy transition under these circumstances?
And what about the rest of it? I mean, all of it. Are all the groups milking the colonialism schtick going to shoot their narrative or climate cash cows because the NWO energy transition depends on climate change colonialism and the harmful offshoring of emissions to third-world nations for the benefit of wealthy globalists?
It is a fine thing for Leah to collect data on wind energy development. Still, perhaps she should consider “whose land” they might be burying the unrecyclable bits from decommissioned wind turbines. Or how the planned exponential increase in the cost of electricity makes everything, not just electricity, cost more, and how that harms the poor minority first and most often?
That expanding domestic fossil fuel development in the US lowered the cost of living and improved the quality of life for tens of millions when the economic recovery that followed created jobs and increased wages for women, blacks, Hispanics, and teens to record levels.
Finally, that allowed to proliferate the economic and environmental cost of the rapid deployment of wind or solar is a) emissions offshoring to mines in third-world countries while China builds most of the green tech with dirty coal power, b) detrimental to the economic and national security of the West – putting more vulnerable people at risk, and c) would shift a significant portion of the middle class, including all people, below the poverty line.
So what if, maybe, these white people get all that and are doing themselves and, by extension, poorer communities a favor you are ideologically incapable of seeing?
The post White Guilt Wind appeared first on Granite Grok.
How much longer must we suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune from the political party that hates this country and hates us? You know, those of us who continue to do the difficult work of feeding, fueling, and defending this nation while the Hate America Party calls us racist, sexist, binary Neanderthals and climate deniers.
We want to thank Russ Wiles for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you would like us to consider, please submit it to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
I am talking about the party that hates babies so much that they want abortion untethered to any limits whatsoever. The party that empowers criminals to terrorize us, even as some leftists have been targeted while outside their gated communities. Most GOP members act as though they have no idea that we are in a deadly game of survival with the party that embraces Marxism, the way toddlers cling to their teddy bears.
Dan Bongino is correct about fighting back, as if our life and liberty depend on it because it does. Kurt Schlichter is correct that we must vote out of office anyone who is unwilling to lock up criminals, deport foreigners here illegally, fire government flunkies, cut off funds to commie colleges, and demand that corporations decide if they want us as friends or enemies.
Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. yearned for a color-blind society with a focus on the content of character rather than the color of one’s skin. Yet, the Marxist Hate America Democrat Party now embraces the Southern Poverty Law Center’s recent slogan – “Colorblindness: The New Racism?”
As Dennis Prager notes, “the left generally holds the Constitution in contempt — at the very least, as a slavery-defending document.” The Democrat Party is on board with that notion. Where do you stand?
The post When Will Republicans Stand Up to the Party That Hates America? appeared first on Granite Grok.
When you show up at large events with mostly like-minded people in a state the size of New Hampshire, you will see people you know. If you write for GraniteGrok, some will know your work. The odds that they will not all love it seem likely, which is a good sign. We’re not monolithic bots. Debate is good.
But sometimes, people feel it is better to walk away and avoid debate either becasue they can’t support their position or, let’s be kind, they’d rather not say some unkind words. I’m unsure which this was, but he was not interested in talking to me. While mingling in the midst of several people, I knew this additional individual was introduced with the common, you know Steve MacDonald, don’t you? From GraniteGrok.
That last part appears to have been a problem. After a weak handshake and a look that went from ‘Hello stranger’ to, I know you (but not really), I was told we (GraniteGrok) should stick to calling out Democrats and that I cost Republicans votes. He was not a fan of what I called our very big woodshed with room for anybody.
As he turned and walked away, I asked if he’d write an op-ed making his case and that I’d publish it, but he wasn’t having any of that. I sensed that short of being the NHGOP’s MSNBC, there was no pleasing him. I shrugged, filed it away in what passes for my brain, and returned to the conversation I’d been having.
And here we are.
Does GraniteGrok cost Republicans votes? Not nearly as many as Republicans do, but the two things are related.
While we have painted the odd GOP candidate in a less-than-favorable light, the why is more important than the how. Politicians and activists, as a class, get filtered through the same lens. NH Constitution, US Constitution, Party platform, and the idea that limiting government is the purpose for which we elect representation.
I get that deal-making is required to move the ball down the field and that sometimes you need to put some points on the board, but if no one reminds anyone why, they increasingly score goals for the other team, maybe without even realizing it. Or, we score goals so they can claim some accomplishment in time for the next election, even when that achievement chips away at natural rights and liberties.
The other – more important issue – is that a member of a private club (the GOP) who feels no requirement to uphold the club charter is less likely to heed their oath of office. If the oath has soft edges, so do the laws those members create. They make excuses for inaction or failing to reign in abuses. The club that got them there takes a back seat to a ruling class club, and at the far end of this path stands many a Democrat for whom the law is a thing to manage society. The Constitution enacted to prevent these abuses becomes less a road map and more a barrier.
Elected office becomes more about what political power can do for them, not how they might use their influence to restrain it.
Yes, we target wayward Republicans, and we won’t always get that right. And not every author agrees with every other on every issue or even how to approach it. We agree that creeping tyranny is a problem, and it is not limited to Democrats. That limited government is always better. And that there is plenty of room in the woodshed.
We are not the GOP’s MSNBC. You won’t get flowery praise for half-measures. If you disagree, we’ll happily publish any defense of your position, but you have to defend it and then send it, or that won’t happen. And not just 300 words but 600 or more. All you have to do is take us up on the offer. You’ll get front-page access, just like the rest of us.
Or you can walk away, but we’ll still be here.
The post At Least One Person Was Not Happy to See Me at the NHGOP Leadership Summit appeared first on Granite Grok.
There were so many important voices during the Revolution that founded our great country. Politicians, Lawyers, Doctors, and, of course, Clergymen! In fact, the brightest stars of the Revolution were the voices of ardent clergymen whose hearts set on freedom for all men and whose tongues were swords of truth to set the captives free!
One Pastor who was an outstanding leader and motivator for freedom was the Reverend John Wise, who was the Pastor of a congregational church in Chebacco Parish in the southeastern part of Ipswich, Massachusetts.
Many people know that Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, and of course, Jefferson was brilliant on so many levels. But he drew his revolutionary concepts and ideas from a source not often credited with that Declaration. The ideas came from the pen and the pulpit of the Reverend John Wise. He was the first son of an indentured servant to graduate from the prestigious Harvard University. He was a forceful preacher, a community leader, and a fluent and provocative writer.
He was often at odds with government officials. In 1687, the New England governor, Sir Edmund Andros, at the command of King James II, without consent of the legislative body, levied a tax upon the citizens. Pastor Wise took to action swiftly and sounded the alarm that Tyranny was at hand! Pastor Wise roused the people of his community and others to oppose the tax. Well, guess what? The Governor had him arrested! He brought him before a crown-friendly jury and royalist judges, and he so angered them by his defense that they threatened to sell him as a slave. He was suspended from his ministry and fined. However, he did not stop preaching against tyranny.
A year later, Governor Andros was deposed, and Pastor Wise was vindicated. Wise was very forward-thinking and was able to communicate in print and speech some of the great foundational truths of the Declaration of Independence, a few examples are listed:
As a writer, he penned two important works that the founders read and that fanned the flames of the Revolution. After his death, the reprinting of his books quickly sold out and was reprinted again. His two most famous works are: “The Churches Quarrel Espoused.” and “A Vindication of the Government of New England Churches.”
His stature was tall, and he was considered a very rough man physically. He is depicted as muscular and a formidable wrestler! The story told that he was challenged by Andover’s champion wrestler, Cape. John Chandler. Wise refused at first sighting his age, i.e., being too old and infirm. But the Captain was persistent and prevailed. In a makeshift ring, Captain Chandler grappled with the elderly Pastor. Wise promptly threw him completely over the wall/fence. Captain Chandler got up, shook himself off, and proclaimed that he would be on his way as soon as the preacher threw his horse over after him!
Finally, Cornell University historian Clinton Rossiter, in his great book, “Seedtime of the Republic,” traces six individuals that he considers the most influential thought leaders of the American Revolution. In his estimation, two were political leaders, but four were ministers of the gospel, and of course, Pastor John Wise was named among these great leaders.
Until next week!
Pastor Allen
The post Pulpit Polity – One of Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Inspirations appeared first on Granite Grok.
This is both funny and, well, funny – if you are not one of these people, trapped between the contradictions of the progressive narrative mill and a hard place.
A comedic performance of what it might be like to be an actor who has to pick a side to save his career becasue he has to post something on social media, but there’s so damn much to consider. And here he is considering it.
Watch as he explores all the factors, seeks advice, and …
Actor Not Sure if He’s Supposed to Support Israel or Palestine pic.twitter.com/X3UDB8HWPI
— Ryan Long (@ryanlongcomedy) October 12, 2023
The post “Actor” Needs Help – Not Sure if He’s Supposed to Support Israel or ‘Palestine’ appeared first on Granite Grok.
There was a discussion about an outside agency coming in to “train” students of all grades in “Social and Emotional Learning” at a particular NH-based School District. What concerned folks was its progressive word-salad mission statement (shared below).
And (also of concern) that our Federal and State Government Executive Branches often exceed their statutory authority as written by our elected representatives (and SCOTUS has started a determined effort to rebuff and constrain bureaucracies back into the legal limits set by duly written and passed laws), this is appropriate:
“Acceptance and inclusion” means you must tolerate boys competing in girls’ sports and accept the loss of your parental rights. I voted no on adding SEL to our Definition of Student Success when I was on the School Board. I was the only 1 of 7 to vote No. Divine Right of Bureaucrats is NOT an acceptable substitute for Divine Right of Kings. Free people reject both.
We should reject it all, but we are living in a neo-aristocracy that is often best shown when we bump up against “Left captured” agencies and subdivisions-of-the-State. Many people take Government at face value and accept, pretty much, what it says. This is counter to our Founding when Americans, highly skeptical of government, knew it would develop its own special interests and move away from serving citizens to serving itself.
Doubt me?
WHY, then, has it been so easy for me to publish story after story coming out of the Public (Government) School system where staff members are doing exactly what I just said?
SEL -> Social and Emotional Learning. Time spent on that is NOT time spent on base academics. There can be no objective measures for SEL lessons – and this shows, to me, at least, that they no longer care about standardized testing that allows parents to determine how well their employees are fulfilling their jobs.
And remember, the Left has redefined “Inclusion” to be “we’ll include anyone into our clique as long as you agree with us. Otherwise, our definition of “inclusion” means we can exclude anyone that doesn’t. Like all of their other re-definitions, this tremendously skews any discussion and argument to their premises.
“Acceptance” means “You WILL accept what you are told to believe and told how to behave. Otherwise, there will be repercussions that you won’t like” which will be a cross between the old style of shunning and Mao’s Red Guard’s “struggle session” in which you will learn to love Big Brother. “1984” was meant to be a warning, not a How-To manual.
Here is that Mission Statement:
The Browne Center works with a variety of youth and student populations to promote learning and personal growth in participants.
Our programs consist of a customized sequence of experiential activities that foster individual and team growth. In an environment that is fun, safe, and respectful, our programs also provide opportunities for participants to make positive choices, gain self-confidence, and learn skills that are critical to their development.
With a long history of working with schools, The Browne Center has developed a year-long in-school Social and Emotional Learning curriculum.
Whether a year-long implementation or a “peak day” at The Browne Center challenge course, our programs enhance skills in:
Youth & Student Programs Overview [PDF]
Common outcomes for our youth participants include:
It all sounds “nice”, doesn’t it? As opposed to doing pre-calculus, Physics II, Chemistry, Civics, and American History….
Does any of this speak to our Founding Principles beneath the flowing, smooth verbiage?
The post We Did Not Swap One for Another – We Have Fought for Our Freedom! appeared first on Granite Grok.
Recent data from the Pew Research Center shows that from 1994 to 2022, Americans’ views of opposing political parties became increasingly negative. In 1994, only 21 percent of Republicans and 17 percent of Democrats held “very unfavorable” views of the other party. In 2022, that category rose to 62 percent for Republicans and 54 percent for Democrats. If we include those who hold “unfavorable” views, then over 80 percent of both Republicans and Democrats have negative views of the other party.
One of the many undesirable effects of this polarization is an environment in which anything can become a political lightning rod. Whether it involves Dr. Seuss books, Mr. Potato Head, or the Barbie movie, controversy seems to lurk around every societal corner. Nothing is safe, nothing is sacred, and anything can be weaponized by one political factor against another. The term often used to describe this perpetual conflict is “culture war”—a depressingly apt term. But through all the angry tweets, op-eds, and “cancel” campaigns, few ask about where these culture wars come from and whether we can end them.
While a complex social event is never the product of just one factor, culture wars generally emerge from one group of people using some form of power to pressure another group into changing its beliefs or behavior. The pressured group may fight back and cause the pressuring group to redouble its efforts. This cycle, if it continues, can broaden into a full-blown culture war.
What does this dynamic look like in practice? Imagine a country where a group of ice cream fanatics decide to make every citizen eat more ice cream. They might try to pass legislation that favors eating ice cream, attack and shame ice cream skeptics, and encourage eating ice cream as a social norm. They would probably win converts, but they would also make enemies (especially the lactose intolerant!). Those who do not wish to eat ice cream would react negatively and maybe try to push an anti–ice cream agenda. Soon, an ice cream culture war could break out, each side pressuring the other to conform to its beliefs.
The catalyst of a culture war is the pressure exerted by one group on another to adopt its ways of thinking and acting. But why do groups elect to use force on others to spread their viewpoints? Prima facie, there is no strong incentive to resort to aggressive evangelism. Societies are built through cooperation, even between those who disagree. The baker sells his bread to members of his political party as well as the opposing party. If he sold bread only to customers who adopted his political beliefs, the market would turn on him. The same incentive to cooperate exists for groups motivated by ideology. While it is certainly in their interest to add to their ranks, doing so in an aggressive and forceful manner is likely to work against them.
The state does not obey the same social norms as its citizens; its injunctions are not optional but coercive in nature. More importantly, such coercion (e.g., taxation, legislation, and law enforcement) does not exist in a vacuum but aims to achieve various ends. Interest groups looking to spread their beliefs can redirect state power to their own purposes. This may involve anything from getting a subsidy for an ideologically friendly company to using state-enforced censorship against ideological enemies.
As the power and reach of a state grows, so too do the opportunities to direct that power. In terms of total spending, the federal government of the United States is the largest in history. It is no coincidence that now, when the power of the state is greater than ever, culture wars are raging all around us. These conflicts are occurring not because people are deciding to fight with one another but because they are compelled to. If there were only free and voluntary associations, then alternative beliefs could coexist. There would be no need to promote, for example, one lifestyle over another, because everyone could live how they see fit.
But state power removes all choice and variety. As the state increases its control over domains like public school curricula and corporate subsidies, fewer ideas and directions are given a chance to succeed. Culture wars fester within such narrowing policy confines because values and beliefs are either represented or excluded.
Conflicts instigated through state power always spill into other areas of society. When the political representation or exclusion of one’s beliefs is at stake, a culture war can become an environment in which any means of defense seems fair game. Social institutions, corporations, and popular media can all be weaponized and wielded against one’s enemies. The result is as familiar as it is exhausting: unending conflict and controversy, with every institution, organization, and event in society politicized and nowhere to hide from the unceasing cross fire.
Culture wars are not created solely by the state, but a state with too much power makes them inevitable. High-minded sentiments about “having conversations” and “understanding the beliefs of others” might sound like appealing options for cooling the tensions of a culture war, but they gravely underestimate the scope of the problem. No amount of civil discussion will remove the divisions created by state power. Until that power is destroyed—or, at the very least, greatly diminished—the culture wars will continue.
J.W. Rich is an economics student and writer in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can find his other writings on his blog at thejwrich.medium.com.
JW Rich | Mises Wire
Mises Wire We heartily encourage reprints and shares of Mises Wire articles. If you wish to reproduce an article in your blog, magazine, radio show, newspaper column, classroom material, textbook, discussion group, website, or any other venue, please do so. The original publication source must be included in an appropriate place.The post Government Is the Hidden Hand Directing the Culture Wars appeared first on Granite Grok.
