The Manchester Free Press

Monday • December 30 • 2024

Vol.XVII • No.I

Manchester, N.H.

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Dominating the Political Bandwidth in New Hampshire
Updated: 10 min 28 sec ago

Sun-King Sununu’s Goes On The View And Tells The Right … “SURRENDER”

Sat, 2023-05-27 13:30 +0000

Disney, Bud Light, Target and other big corporations pushing WOKE down their customers’ throats are reeling because their customers are abandoning them. But Sun-King Sununu … who claims to be a “free market” guy … is NOT happy.

He went on the VIEW yesterday and got a pat on the head from the cackling hyenas for telling the Right that they need to stop resisting … that they need to surrender. What a TOTAL LOSER … what a corporate shill … the mighty Sun-King is:

I have no idea whether the mighty Sun-King even drinks beer … but if he does I will bet you it is Bud Light … and from a wine-glass with his pinky-extended …while streaming Disney+.

The post Sun-King Sununu’s Goes On The View And Tells The Right … “SURRENDER” appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Vermont Stupid!

Sat, 2023-05-27 12:00 +0000

You’ve heard of Boston Strong. It was an inspiration in the weeks after the Boston Bombing but got tired after a few years from overuse. Well, I’m here to introduce you to something you’ll get tired of but can never escape. Vermont Stupid.

Not all Vermonters, or even the state, or its history, which was impressive until the radical Leftists took over. But there is stupid, and it burns. I’ve covered a few examples in the past, like adopting California’s climate standards, but this – and it is related to that – is an impressive display of ignorance, given other stated priorities.

Vermont is committed to not just a 100% Electric Vehicle future but electric heat as well. Electric everything. Have you ever been to Vermont? Despite 40 years of caterwauling about cataclysmic warming – the alleged reason for all this electrification – it gets damn cold there half the year. You’ll need heat: electric heat and lots of it. Plus cars, plus everything already sucking off the grid.

Vermont will need a lot more electricity to go all-electric as planned, but Vermont isn’t building nuclear energy plants or clean coal or adding more natural gas or hydro. Their future is wind and sunshine. Solar and wind farms. In a world where all their neighbors except New Hampshire think the same thing. The whole Northeast is blistering its lips on the same cruddy green global warming crack pipe.

The problem with wind and solar is that after almost as many decades, neither is efficient nor reliable, so you need lots of them everywhere you can find room. I made a joke last week about it when someone in Vermont recognized the 55th anniversary of banning roadside billboards. They clutter up the scenery, you see, except you won’t see because they can’t get near net zero without putting wind and solar farms all over the scenery.

And while that’s a great reason to start using the term Vermont Stupid, this elevates it to new levels. H.126 is a conservation bill whose goal is to conserve 50% of all the land in the state by 2050. Half of Vermont is to be classified as protected wilderness, on which, I surmise, you will be unable to place wind or solar farms. That leaves the other half to carry the wind and solar burden, and I don’t think that will work unless they have a plan to reduce the population, and legalized assisted suicide (which they have) isn’t going to cut it.

On top of that, Vermont Democrats are adding bodies (illegals) while whining about a housing shortage, all of which is added resource stress.

Vermont Stupid!

Vermont is not alone. We have stupid Democrats in New Hampshire scrabbling to ruin what’s left of our advantage because we are surrounded by states run by Dems, and they all think the same stupid way. We need more housing, but oh no, resource stress, and dammit, we must go all-electric. It’s not a good look because you must be stupid – or perhaps a kinder word is ignorant – to continue elevating these assh*les. Talk about assisted suicide!

And for the record, there are concerns about H.126, but this is not one of them.

So how does the state achieve its stated carbon reduction goals if half the land mass is off-limits and locked up as conservation land? As long as tax dollars get laundered into the hands of Climate Cult friends and family, who donate some to Left-Wing causes and candidates, they’ll keep trying. You are, after all, the carbon they are trying to reduce.

 

 

HT | WCAX

The post Vermont Stupid! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Palate Cleanser – World Record 1.82 Second Formula One Pit Stop! (Wow!)

Sat, 2023-05-27 10:30 +0000

I used to watch NASCAR races fairly regularly – and TMEW even more often and with more intensity (She was an avid Jimmy Johnson fan).  Nowadays, since the head honchos decided to go Woke, I stopped watching, just like with professional football and basketball.

They used to be escapist treats from the rest of my week – sermonizing is not what I wanted to hear about why I was a rotten person for not hewing to their Leftist agenda. I stopped for a few years but have restarted – but only “dipping in” to watch crashes. Thanks to the “New NASCAR” car construction, hardly anyone gets injured – so “BANG! and walk away” is just fine by me.

The below, however, isn’t NASCAR – and isn’t Indy car racing as well. I consider Formula One racing the European version of Indy Cars but they took a different fork in the road by developing VERY technically oriented racing telemetry and other tech well before NASCAR decided that just BiG V8s were sufficient. While NASCAR pit crews, VERY skilled AND athletic members, are fast, this is absolutely next level where tech has architected both the cars’ wheels AND the tire tools just leave NASCAR crews behind (and yes, it doesn’t hurt that instead of having to “jump the wall,” Formula One crews are the bread waiting for the car to drive up to complete the sandwich.

Note: If the video does not appear in your browser, you can watch it here.

 

This world record 1.82 second pit stop in Formula One.
by u/sedafarout in nextfuckinglevel

Yes, a world record of 1.82 seconds from stop to go. Heck, I can’t even bend down that fast anymore!

The post Palate Cleanser – World Record 1.82 Second Formula One Pit Stop! (Wow!) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Cuba is Getting Cozy With Russia Under Biden’s Nose

Sat, 2023-05-27 01:30 +0000

One of the marks of the weakness in Washington is Cuba’s expansion of ties with Russia. Back in the Kennedy administration, we went to the brink of nuclear war with Russia over this relationship.

Well, Cuba is offering to lease land to Russian companies for 30 years, a noteworthy concession for the Cuban government to give to a foreign investor. This came out this week during a meeting between the regimes.

The “head of the Russian delegation of the Cuban-Russian Business Committee” is Boris Titov. He “told a businessmen’s forum in Havana the Cuban regime decisively opened the door to investment,” per reporting by Reuters.

Titov said Cuba will: Exempt Russian companies from certain import tariffs. Allow the Russians to repatriate their profits. And he suggests the regimes are analyzing possibly returning to a direct maritime and port link.

Trade between Cuba and Russia was about $450 million in 2022, triple that of 2021, this is according to Russia’s trade representative in Cuba.  90% of that trade was petroleum products and soybean oil. Cuba is mired in an economic morass and has been unable to resolve its situation.

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister was also in Cuba to strengthen the strategic ties between the countries; this is according to Prensa Latina. Chernyshenko came to meet with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is sucking up to Vladimir Putin.

Miguel Díaz-Canel points out that “the presence of the Kremlin’s economic adviser gives continuity to the high-level visits from Russia. He observes the Kremlin Putin has an enormous sensitivity towards Cuban problems.”

Recently the Russian foreign minister and the president of the State Duma traveled to Cuba. Earlier, the secretary of the Security Council and the CEO of the state oil company Rosneft traveled to Havana.

Díaz-Canel is turning to Russia for support. “Havana is aligned with Moscow in the international arena, including the Russian confrontation with the West.” He visited Russia in December 2022. He has condemned the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant issued for the head of the Kremlin.

 

HT | Foreign Desk News

The post Cuba is Getting Cozy With Russia Under Biden’s Nose appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

They Cannot Discuss or Defend Reality

Sat, 2023-05-27 00:00 +0000

It is getting increasingly difficult to discuss current events with Liberal friends or relatives. It is frustrating to see how ignorant the Left is to current events, and when you try to engage on the facts, they have no choice but to deflect because they have no grasp of the details.

It is impossible to opine about a situation if you are entirely in the dark. But that does not stop Liberals. An example is the Jim Comer report from the Oversight Committee that produced evidence of $10 Million deposited indirectly into Biden family personal accounts by the Chinese and Romanian governments. Since the mainstream media gave the press conference zero minutes of air time, anyone who relies on their news from MSM is insulated from this story. This scenario often repeats with any negative information about the Bidens or Democrats.

For all of Biden’s term, FOX News has been reporting from the Border showing incontrovertible video evidence of the legions of illegal migrants crossing into our country. No other media company has reported from the Border. Therefore folks on the Left are left to believe the constant lies from Secretary Mayorkas that the Border is secure.

Look at the rhetoric that spews daily from The View. There is hope when you look at the numbers. There are over 300,000 people who have discovered that they can survive each day without the hour of hate, cynicism, and racism that is “The View.” Though the viewership has declined more than any daytime show over the last two years, it is still the number one show, with 2.3 million folks needing our help. These folks are subjected to the swill of anger that is the barometer of just how off-base the Left can be. This round table discussion gives the rest of us a look into the heartless soul of the far Left, and it is not a very good sight.

Just this week, The View turned on Tim Scott immediately after announcing his presidential candidacy. Whoopi Goldberg and Sonny Hoptin, both Black, attacked Scott’s story of success going from Cotton to Congress in his Grandfather’s lifetime. Scott’s story is one of positivity and hope, but both of these ladies squashed it saying Scott’s belief that all could enjoy this success was naive.

Vanity Fair commented on the Ron DeSantis Presidential announcement yesterday. They said that DeSantis chose to make his announcement with Elon Musk on Twitter because David Duke was unavailable. There was no justification for this vile comment. Vanity Fair must have forgotten the close relationship between Joe Biden and the late Senator Robert Byrd, a Grand Wizard in the KKK—a case of convenient memory lapse.

It is very frustrating. It is tantamount to going to a baseball game with someone without a clue about the game. Joe Biden won the Presidency in 2020 by avoiding the facts and hiding from the press. Thanks to the Pandemic, it worked once, but it cannot work a second time. We must keep writing, talking, and educating the sheltered and ignorant. This effort is our only chance of negating the collusion between the Left and MSM.

The post They Cannot Discuss or Defend Reality appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Bananas: NAACP Honors White Supremacists for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Fri, 2023-05-26 22:30 +0000

After years of conflict and turmoil between the two racially motivated institutions the NAACP and White Supremacists have found common ground.  In a stunning turn of events the NAACP recently announced it is awarding the National White Supremacy Movement for Outstanding Efforts In Diversity thanks to several unlikely heroes.

2021 saw the Los Angeles Times acknowledge the gubernatorial campaign run by Larry Elder out of California for its unique spin in the culture.  Elder, described by his liberal California neighbors as a “very, very black man” was dubbed by the local newspaper “The Black Face of White Supremacy” which shocked many throughout the Golden State and rest of the country for the sheer oxymoronic nature of the claim.  Little did they know that White Supremacy was getting a face-lift.

Bananas Media reached out to long-time black white supremacist Clayton Bigsby for comment.

“People need to understand if white supremacy is going to have a chance it needs to start including black folks.” Bigsby noted that the numbers of actual white supremacists have been dwindling since their hey-days in the early 1900s.  “White supremacists have a long standing tradition of creating job opportunities for the community.  Colleges are pumping out DEI coordinators like white babies in Utah, so we need to give them something to focus on.  If white supremacy is going to survive it needs to be open and inclusive of blacks” Bigsby said to the applause of long-time racist experts Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Bono and David Duke.  Bono then led them in a singing of “We Are the World” and Bigsby’s personal favorite, “Ebony and Ivory”.

Also of note were the recent additions to the global White Supremacist movement, the Latinos, who were recognized for the recent contribution thanks to Mauricio Garcia who expressed his love for the white race by shooting eight random people at a mall in Texas, including two Asians, one East Indian, a fellow Latino, a mostly white French-Euro man and two Latino children.  Though the motive for the shooting was clearly White Supremacy, spokesmen for N.O.W. (National Organization for Weed) Cheech and Chong thanked Garcia for his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and behalf of the larger Latino community.  Muay bueno blancos!

In another victory for White Supremacy 19 year-old Sai Varshith Kandula rented a U-haul in order to drive it to what he considered the most obvious place to find a fellow white supremacist, the White House.  Citing disappointment to discover Joe Biden, despite his pasty eastern liberal countenance, was in fact black, Kandula drove the rented truck into the gated community before exiting the vehicle and carefully unfurling a bright red Nazi flag to give credit where credit is due, and several fans and media outlets the perfect photo-op.  Fellow Nazi Ben Shapiro praised the young man for his enthusiasm in support of movement as well as U-haul for their history of leadership in the trans movement after which he reminded listeners to buy his book The Authoritarian Moment.

Shapiro’s alma mater Harvard, along with Yale and several Ivy League colleges issued a statement acknowledging the need for White Supremacy to re-consider allowing Asians into the movement out of fear they might succeed at too great a rate thus keeping African American White Supremacists on the margins.  Speaking on behalf of the marginalized, nine-time New York Times best-selling author Ibram X Kendi reminded the press with his ubiquitous proverb “the only remedy to past racism is future racism”.  Word to your mother.

Finally, the Black Panthers, in an effort to keep pace with their racist counterparts, have announced their new spokesman for the 2023 season will be Anderson Cooper.

(Editor’s note: At the time of print of this article the NAACP still has a travel warning for black people looking to visit Florida.)

 

The post Bananas: NAACP Honors White Supremacists for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

‘Grok Memorial Day Weekend Presidential Primary Poll

Fri, 2023-05-26 21:00 +0000

Memorial Day Weekend 2023 has arrived, summer is coming, and the 2024 Republican Primary race is getting crowded and primaries closer. Not everyone who might run has announced, but we want to know who you’d vote for if the primary were held today.

ICYMI: Target Share Price “Transitioning” Toward 52-Week Low

The Landscape

Yesterday, Emerson had Trump at +62 over DeSantis in Iowa, but Cygnal shows Trump at +7 in the state.

In the last New Hampshire Poll (May 18th), Trump’s average puts him 18 points ahead of Gov. DeSantis and 26.7 points ahead of NH Gov. Chris Sununu.

You’ve got one vote and ten names. If you could vote in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary today, who would you pick to run in the 2024 Presidential election?

Names are listed below based on Real Clear Politics’ most recent NH Poll averages.

Poll runs until Sunday, May 28th at 11:59 pm. The results will be published Monday Morning (Memorial Day).

 

If the Republican Presidential Primary Were Today for Whom Would You Vote?
  • Donald Trump
  • Ron DeSantis
  • Chris Sununu
  • Vivek Ramaswamy
  • Nikki Haley
  • Mike Pence
  • Tim Scott
  • Chris Christie
  • Kristi Noem
  • Asa Hutchinson
Vote

 

The post ‘Grok Memorial Day Weekend Presidential Primary Poll appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Legislative Ethics Committee: Testimony Against Three NH State Reps: Harry Bean, Travis O’Hara, (and Jane Doe?)

Fri, 2023-05-26 19:30 +0000

The hearing before the NH Legislative Ethics Committee is today at 1:30 pm in Room 104 of the Legislative Office Building.  This is my brief testimony before the Committee (I only have a scant few minutes to speak).

It is lightly edited here for formatting (blogging is not the same as giving a speech). Note: The first two Reps waived their Confidentiality so that I can reference them by name; the third has not (the Jane/John Doe).

 

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the NH Legislative Ethics Committee.

Let me start with this abstracted quote from Cdr. Salamander (a retired Naval Officer) lamenting about the sad state of affairs the country is in; I thought it apt (lightly edited) as it summarizes much of what this hearing is about:

Abandonment

If there is a characteristic of the last few years; it is abandonment. Abandonment, either of duties, friends, families, or of principles, was once seen as a disgrace and a blight on one’s honor. Now? I don’t think so.

We abandoned thousands, really tens of thousands, of American citizens, family members, and allies in Afghanistan. Recently we abandoned almost as many in Sudan.

After a news cycle or two, the press loses interest. Our politicians – or at least most of them – move on.

The fault is not so much our government or civil society, but really, it is all of us; our fault.

We allow this abandonment – this disregard for ethics, this amoral failure of responsibility to protect and honor our word – to stand up for unwritten agreements.

Abandonment breaks the bonds of stewardship that binds a society together.

We fail the fundamentals – and then wonder why we cannot execute anything effectively. We shrug at dishonor, and then wonder where the quality of civil society went.

No one in power is challenged. No one is held accountable … unless it fits a certain agenda.

Let me add to that: abandonment of honor, of courage, of loyalty, of honesty, of duty, of promises…and of oaths that are the embodiment of all of those attributes, and more.

Oaths seemingly mean nothing nowadays; they are merely a string of words that are mandatory to say in order to assume the seat that We, the People, have put our elected Representatives—a mere formality never to be referenced again by those saying it. I have watched many ignore those words already.

I’m betting that many who say the words now could easily be convinced that they could be abandoned, cast aside, just as easily as they say that the Constitution is ancient and meant for a time that no longer exists (btw, I happen to heartily disagree with that notion). It does seem that many certainly forget their oaths as soon as it is said. Why?

It would remove what an oath by elected representatives is supposed to culminate in:

Accountability.

The promise and plea to constituents – “hold me responsible to my promise to you, my oath to you, at ALL times”.

That is the summary of why I brought these complaints – this old-fashioned belief that such things should matter but to others, just as quaint as a stroll in a park in Victorian finery.

In all three complaints, who is willing to hold them accountable to their promises to faithfully adhere to the plain black-and-white text of the written Law and demonstrate fealty to the Law not just in action but as a matter of the heart?

Sadly, there has been no mass uprising – apathy and lack of knowledge/awareness reign. However, I hope that once again, here in New Hampshire, one person can be that difference.

Sadly, all three abandoned the oaths and promises to strictly Follow the Law. They willingly broke their oaths to us all. Worse, they broke the Trust that we expect. We should not, cannot, adopt a lesser standard of measure for them simply because “well, it’s politics” – the bigotry of low expectations from those that are supposed to be Servant Leaders.

Yet, that is what they have done.

In each complaint, I have provided both the several violations and examples thereof. While they are summary in form, I can tell you that far more supporting detail is available on GraniteGrok. Videos were often embedded in those posts showing their actions and words as acts of accountability; you can hear their own words and watch their own actions without me being a filter.

There are also additional videos backing up these assertions on the GraniteGrok YouTube Channel. Full recordings of Delegation meetings (with one notable Budget Subcommittee exception) are also on Belknap County’s Video On Demand / Lakes Region Public Access.

Good government is one that is open and transparent and whose procedures can be known and followed by the Public. We in NH deserve nothing less – but that is what occurred. In NH, the latter is proscribed in statute – it is lost when the Law is ignored.

All three Representatives were warned by more experienced ones and others (like me) that they were in the wrong. They willfully disregarded the Laws that proscribe the mandatory actions expected of them. This should not, CAN not, be tolerated.

In reviewing each complaint, I ask that the Committee either remove them from office for such blatant disregard to their oaths in:

…faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties incumbent on me as STATE REPRESENTATIVE according to the best of my abilities, agreeably to the rules and regulations of this constitution and laws of the state of New Hampshire.”

They decided to fail.

Failing to come to such a conclusion of removal, I ask that you advance a censor finding. In the positions of leadership they sought comes the responsibility to study, learn, and inculcate such laws that govern them. They ignored them.

I know that as an SB2 Budget Committee member, once elected, I made sure to study all the Laws governing Budget Committees as well as Municipal budgets, School District, and Water District budget processes.

If I held myself to such a high standard to show good faith to those that voted for me, shouldn’t I then be able to hold my elected Representatives to that same standard with respect to the Delegation (RSA 91-A and RSA 24:9-c,d)?

That is, simply, to “Follow the Law”?

Thank you for your service and time in protecting the reputation and dignity of the NH Legislature.

Is there any question that I can answer at this time?

 

The post Legislative Ethics Committee: Testimony Against Three NH State Reps: Harry Bean, Travis O’Hara, (and Jane Doe?) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Is Maine Where Religious Tests Go to Die

Fri, 2023-05-26 18:00 +0000

Maine won’t have to change their state motto, but it might need to clarify its nuance. It is “Dirigo,” Latin for I direct, or I lead, and they are leading and directing … religious groups to sue them for violating their First Amendment Rights.

Related: If a $500 Mill Religious Exemption Settlement is a Wake-Up Call to Employers, How About States Like Maine?

Maine: I Lead the assault on the First Amendment! And, as it turns out, to get rebuffed.

Last June (2022), The US Supreme Court, in Carson v. Makin, decided that Maine’s tuitioning program for school-aged kids violated the Free Exercise Clause of the US Constitution.

 

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that while “a state need not subsidize private education” that “once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”

“Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment,” Roberts wrote. “Regardless of how the benefit and restriction are described, the program operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise.”

Roberts said that the program “effectively penalizes the free exercise” of religion by doling out benefits based upon whether a school is religious.

 

Your government is not obligated to offer tuition assistance that could end up in the hands of a private institution, but if it does, it cannot discriminate based on creed. The Board members of the Hermon School Department in Maine must have missed the memo.

The school rents out space on short-term leases. The lease form “does not include any questions about the organization’s beliefs.” But when the School Committee got their hands on an application from The Pines Church, they began asking questions. “Superintendent Micah Grant and a member of the Hermon school board asked pointed questions about the church’s positions on “issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

 

Chris McLaughlin, a school board member who includes personal pronouns in his signature, wrote that he “wanted to get a better sense of how The Pines Church approaches issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion and around their messaging around some key issues relevant to marginalized communities.”

He asked, “Is The Pines Church receptive of same-sex marriages? Do they consider marriage only to be between 1 man and 1 woman?”

He also requested information on the church’s positions on “access to safe and affordable abortion,” “access to gender-affirming medical care,” “conversion therapy for LGBTQIA+ individuals (youth and adults),” and “inclusive sexual education and access to birth control for youth.”

 

Does the Hermon school conduct same-sex marriages, abortions, or genre-affirming medical procedures? Did they ask these questions of “Black Bear Basketball, Hermon Recreation, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and various baseball groups” who have or are leasing space at the school?

Superintendent Grant. Doesn’t your inquiry, in its intelligent design, establish a religious test (which is unlawful) to exclude a person or group from a public facility based on their religious beliefs? Nothing diverse or equitable about that, but it fits the mandate. DEI is a loyalty test or oath to a partisan political worldview. Taken on the same terms as any other belief system, its goal is the homogenization of the cultural faith of Humanism. A view to which you are entitled but one that cannot serve as a litmus if it runs afoul of the establishment clause.

I know that’s not exactly true. Secular Humanism undergirds much of the progressive worldview, but it is not recognized as a belief system in the same way as Judaism or Christianity. If it were, there would be a wall of separation problem for the Left. Abandon your proselytizing or admit that the Danbury Baptist letter was private correspondence and not legal precedent.

And even then, you should probably acknowledge your bastardization of the alleged precedent.

Jefferson was clear. The Federal Government had no business interfering with state or local rights about matters of faith, which would be good and bad for the progressives running the Hermon School Department. On the one hand, the Feds could not force the school to rent the space in deference to its humanist beliefs if supported by state law. On the other, the fourteenth amendment enjoins the Bill of Rights to prevent states from violating it at the state and local level, at least as far as the next Judge is willing to interpret them.

Regardless of how you spin it, there’s still a contradiction you can’t escape. What exactly is equitable or inclusive about exclusion on any terms?

 

 

HT | The Daily Signal

The post Is Maine Where Religious Tests Go to Die appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow

Fri, 2023-05-26 16:30 +0000

To all those who are sending in memes, thank you!  Keep them coming please, as it helps me gather weaponry to fight the Left.  Please do share this post, and if you share an individual meme, consider mentioning you saw it on the Grok!

 

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In honor of this coming Memorial Day (and wanting it in peoples’ minds beforehand), I want to thank all those who gave that full measure of devotion for this country – in any era.

 

 

 

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From this week, Monday Memes and Meme Overflow.  Also don’t forget my Survival Sunday feature.

 

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

 

 

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A technique I often use is something I call “FLIP IT”.  Imagine if the races were reversed.  (Or flipping things as appropriate given the situation.)

And then people look me in the eye and, with all sincerity, tell me there’s no war on white people.

 

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PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

 

Freedom is your birthright.  Don’t you ever forget it.

 

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On a purely objective level, I would suspect that the amounts of blood involved are pretty small.  “Suspect”.  But as a father, I’d DIE before I’d harm my kids, even if this is small and voluntary.  And even if, again objectively, there’s no material harm being done, to use your own posterity as a milk cow to prolong your own life?  There’s something in this that’s beyond vile and repulsive.

More broadly, consider something that I think is profound: it’s one thing to spend your money on preservation of your life.  Heck, if my wife knew how much I spend on various herbal / etc. supplements she’d freak out (just get me to both of my kids being adults, Hashem; everything after that is a bonus though, ideally, I’d like to see a grandkid or two before I go).  But then, there’s nothing icky in taking them.  This is different.

And one thing even deeper than the above: it was on Vox Day‘s site, can’t find the specific article, wherein he discussed the idea that it is the FEAR OF DEATH that so drives the Globalists.  From AI and the in-parallel idea of becoming deities themselves (e.g., that slug Yuval’s book Homo Deus and the parallel idea that humans are now hackable animals) to the idea of a body-to-machine transfer of the self… and, perhaps in parallel, a drive to create immortality BAMN including using their children’s vitality lest their deeds send their souls “downstairs” that creates an enormous advantage for us.  They’re terrified of death.  For if it comes to it, to die fighting to protect one’s freedoms, to protect one’s family / posterity, is noble and good.  And if I die doing that, even if I don’t want to die soon, it will be a good death.

Funny how two quotes from two disparate sci-fi universes to capture the universal truth of this.

 

Man of Steel – A Good Death Is Its Own Reward Scene (8/10) | Movieclips

 

 

“A good death is its own reward”.

 

Perhaps Today is a Good Day to Die

 

 

“Perhaps today is a good day to die”.

 

And one, not sci-fi but “mere” fiction – both prayers, the one by Antonio Banderas and the Viking leader, but especially Banderas’:

 

Prayers Before Battle – “The 13th Warrior”

 

 

“I beg only to live the next few minutes well”.

 

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Know the enemy.  Know their tactics.  And know – to your core – that they believe themselves to be the good guys.  As quoted here:

Most people are good and occasionally do something they know is bad.

Some people are bad and struggle every day to keep it under control.

Others are corrupt to the core and don’t give a damn, as long as they don’t get caught.

But evil is a completely different creature.

Evil is bad that believes it’s good.

— Karen Marie Moning

And another weakness they have:

 

 

Our willingness to face objective reality.  Because we have the humility to admit we might be wrong.  They… don’t.  They’d rather deny reality so long as they get their dopamine good-feelz.

 

(Link to AZQUOTES per their policy.)

 

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In honor of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, when Hashem gave us the Torah including the Ten Commandments, here’s the Prager University intro into his ten video series on the Ten Commandments.

 

The Ten Commandments: What You Should Know

 

 

And one of my favorite scenes from the movie:

 

TEN COMMANDMENTS

 

 

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Cultural (and genetic) enrichment.

 

 

Remember that kaffir women can be taken as “captives of the right hand”.

Search Results for “captive right hand” (jihadwatch.org)

 

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While your kids are being taught CRT and what pronouns to use, in between slipping condoms on bananas before venturing down the hall to drag queen story hour, here’s what Chinese kids are doing:

 

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/chinese-kids-training.mp4

 

 

Now.  Who’s going to win when we clash?

 

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

 

 

A few years ago there was a pizza place – I want to say in New Jersey – that got into an awful lot of trouble having a promo line of hats and shirts that said this.  IIRC it was well before Saint Floyd of Fentanyl and even before Treyvon of the Holy Hoodie.

The beauty of the above is it’s quick, it’s easy, and it is bound to make the Woke mob livid.  And livid people make mistakes.

 

 

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

 

WAIT FOR IT… Yalie hurls the word “racist” at Senator Cruz, he responds

 

 

I love this guy.  Seriously, though… the Left could have had a black woman on the Supreme court a couple of decades ago, but she was female, and black… and a Conservative.  And I remember Estrada and his situation.  There was a cartoon where Schumer and others, as police, were portrayed as stereotypical “good old boy” cops pulling Estrada over.  “Nominated while conservative” or something like that.

 

 

Blexit still exists.  There’s Lexit.  The Exodus Movement seems to be comatose, but there’s Jexit (I have one of their T-shirts).  And IMHO Brandon Straka’s Walkaway was a very powerful thing and is still going.  Some of the videos were rambling, but incredibly powerful.  These stories, these testaments, are incredible weapons – we can cite dry facts until we are blue in the face… it is personal stories & experiences that matter, that engage, and that convince.

 

Unfiltered: ‘The left practices tolerance in the most superficial ways’

 

 

In this video he describes something that’s a great ally in our cause: the dissonance and mental confusion that is caused when one is forced to confront the fact you’ve been lied to (in his case, among other things, realizing that the enemedia had deliberately misrepresented Trump’s “mocking a handicapped person” and, in parallel, cropped pictures of Trump rallies to portray the crowds as being devoid of non-whites).  For in that confusion lies an opportunity to – in that confusion – undo the emotion-based conclusions, whether about Republicans racist/fascist/evil or other things.  Consider the CODA in this post, specifically about the Israel/Palestinian conflict.  Remember, though, in general:

You cannot argue rationally with a conclusion arrived at emotionally.

— Unknown

Only when an emotional conclusion is disrupted by other emotions can the mind open up to alternative information.

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

I have repeated this until I’m blue in the face.  When the “average Roman” finally understood that the Rome they’d been born into, that they grew up believing in, was dead… corrupt to the core… they ceased being willing to fight for it.  So – summarized – consider an email from a military friend where he not just questions his service but whether the country to which he swore an oath to fight and even die exists now.  Or, more profoundly, whether it even existed at the time of his enlistment birth given what we’re learning about how old the DS influence is.

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

Pick of the Post:

 

A tie.

 

 

 

 

When TPTB can get you to accept patently-false things (underlining added):

“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”

― Theodore Dalrymple

 

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

 

Palate Cleansers:

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

The Parents’ Bill of Wishes

Fri, 2023-05-26 15:00 +0000

As I’ve noted elsewhere, one of the many problems with the Parents’ Bill of Rights (SB 272) that recently failed to make it out of the General Court is that there are no penalties for failing to comply with it.

This isn’t a surprise.  That’s the case for many RSAs, which are actually suggestions rather than laws.  One of my recent favorites is RSA 193:H-2, which requires schools to ensure that all students are proficient, as measured by the state assessment.

No school has been within shouting distance of meeting this requirement within living memory.  But what consequences have been meted out?

When I talk to school board members, I always recommend that they get into the habit of asking about any RSA or Department of Education rule that someone cites: Or what?  What happens if we just ignore this?

The odds are pretty good that the answer is:  Nothing.

Anyway, a school district in North Dakota has given us a preview of what happens when you pass a law ‘requiring’ schools to do something — in this case, requiring schools to be truthful with parents regarding gender issues with their children — without including penalties for non-compliance.

Just get your kids out of school already.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Target Share Price Transitioning Toward 52-Week Low

Fri, 2023-05-26 13:30 +0000

Execs at Target are tucking their junk as the retailer’s market cap collapses (down 8.9%) and share prices tumble. On May 17th, the stock sold for $160.95. Yesterday it closed at 139.36.

Overnight opportunists have nudged the price up slightly to 140.75, and there’s value to be had in a potential short-term run if you think it’s worth the risk (this is not investment advice), but the long-term outlook for TGT is poor. The short, mid-term, and long performance outlook is a big fat rainbow-colored frowny face.

But it’s only been six trading days since things went sideways over the queer kid’s collection. The Bud Light boycott took over a month to show more than light bruising, but that effort is paying cultural dividends as BUD’s stock continues to take a beating.

 

AB is buying back beer from distributors and scrambling to keep its supply chain vendors happy as customers continue to walk away from the brand and many of its beers.

Memorial Day Weekend, traditionally a boom for beer, isn’t likely to amount to much for BUD unless you mean the tangy taste of that giant sh!t sandwich they’ve been chewing on for the past eight weeks. A summer in which the promised advertising 180 will likely fall on deaf ears.

This roadside wreck has not stopped retailers and brands from dancing with the drag queen in the pale moonlight. Long-laid plans to promote this fringe culture are moving forward as they roll the dice in the shadow of the Blight fallout. They can’t boycott everyone. Somebody has to have a brand whose customers are still intimidated by the Gaystapo.

Maybe, but it’s running cold if you take the current cultural temperature. And not everyone can buy back what consumers have rejected. BUD can keep its distributors afloat by leveraging a global beverage footprint to buy back beer. What the hell is Target going to do? Tuck the loss into the spreadsheet as the cost of doing business.

Donate queer gear to public schools? That might be the ticket. The progs leading classrooms can line up with their liberal political allies and declare that parents who object to schools giving their kids queer gear are clothes banning Nazis. This makes about as much sense as saying that if parents objected to schools giving kids lingerie to wear, no one else could buy any.

The same rule applies to school library groomer gay porn. No one is banning it. You can go online and buy it right now. You can pick up a copy if a local bookstore has it. Parents who want to expose their kids to that lifestyle can’t be stopped, nor is that the point. But we should note that there are laws against child sexual abuse and kiddie porn, and a few of these “books” might cross that line.

But not in a public school?

But yes, in a public school, and herein lies the Left’s visceral hatred of choice.

Regarding education, if any of the tax money the district would spend on that child – at least on paper – is attached to teaching children and not funding an institution, parents and students can boycott. They can choose something other than Budweiser products, shop in stores other than Target, and get their kids some learning without exposure to erotic text and imagery for which children are neither mentally nor physically prepared.

The Left started the culture war, and most Americans could care less about adult lifestyle choices as long as they are free not to embrace them. But when the Left decided that coming for the kids was a hill to die on, it might just be that. But will it be persistent and consistent? Will The People keep sending the message that adults and children are not the same and you need to keep these hands off the kids?

Bud is learning a hard lesson but will the Target Boycott be another bellwether

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Bad Roll, Or Bad Transportation Secretary

Fri, 2023-05-26 12:00 +0000

Typically, the average American does not know who the Transportation Secretary is. Still, in the last two years, our Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has been front and center far too often. We have had seven significant transportation-related situations during Pete’s watch. He has not handled any well.

One of the problems is that Mayor Pete has developed a bad track record of slow response to each situation. The second problem has been Buttigieg, and the Administration, lying to America about cases and solutions.

Pete Buttigieg is considered the front-runner for Democrat nominee should Biden finally decide to pass on a second run. This fact tells much about the state of the Democrat party. Buttigieg has no experience. He was the Mayor of a small city and, from all reports, not a very successful one earning him the moniker Pot Hole Pete. This title was because Pete could not even handle the craters in the roads of South Bend. The reality is that Pete is attractive to Democrats for one reason- He checks off boxes. He has some military experience, he is a married Gay man, and he is a Mother. Three boxes are enough to catapult someone to the head of the line. Qualifications? Who needs them when you are diverse?

This diversity vs. competence is evident in every corner of Biden’s Administration. From Joe, Kamala, and Karine Jean-Pierre in the West Wing to Granholm, Mayorkas, Blinken, and even Yellen have disappointed America with their performance and policies. When Biden nominated a candidate for the Supreme Court, his focus was on a Black Female, not the best candidate. Gavin Newsom is doing the same thing in California. He is on record that if Senator Feinstein steps down before her term expires, he will replace her with a Black Woman, not the most qualified individual available, but a Black Woman. If any business person were to make that declaration, they would be guilty of discrimination in their hiring practices. They would be breaking the law, but apparently, the law does not apply to Democrats.

We have not solved the supply chain issue and the bottleneck at the ports. Buttigieg’s solution was to move the waiting ships further offshore and out of sight. That is not a solution. That is deception. We have abandoned the people of East Palestine. The cleanup is incomplete, and the plan to avoid long-term health issues is non-existent. We are looking at another holiday of heavy air travel, and nothing has been done to solve the IT/system deficiencies that have crashed our airline schedules numerous times in the last two years. We have a pending Pilot strike against Southwest Airlines, and we have heard of no action by Buttigieg to avoid the work stoppage. This administration, specifically Pete Buttigieg, is never proactive but reactionary and inadequate.

The next 18 months are going to be brutal. The Right will continue to point to facts as we critique this administration and why we need a Republican back in the White House. We will let the other side sling slurs, insults, and innuendos. We have tough skin and will persevere. Buckle up, and let’s move forward to victory for us and the country.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

NH Secessionists to Launch “Air Force” Memorial Day Weekend

Fri, 2023-05-26 10:30 +0000

NHexit, the group that put New Hampshire independence legislation in front of the full state house, will be taking to the skies the weekend of May 27.  But instead of carrying a weapon suite, their one-plane air wing will be towing a pro-independence banner around the state.

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

In part, this is a reaction to Federal raids on New Hampshire’s Bitcoin businesses.  Besides running TORTURE CHAMBERS abroad, Washington is the reason we can’t have nice things here!

Details here, or you can contact Ian Freeman via ShireSociety.com / FreeTalkLive.com.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Biden Fiddles as Washington Burns

Fri, 2023-05-26 10:30 +0000

As we approach the debt ceiling, the Republican position seeks substantial spending cuts, which the Leftists have been unwilling to accept. An agreement will require bipartisan action. President Biden did not have time in his schedule to address the issue last week.

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

There is a gap between the two sides. The last Congress, under Democrat control, authorized spending above the debt ceiling without addressing the need to either raise taxes or raise the debt ceiling… Then they went home.

The current House wants spending cuts and policy changes. Leftists are posturing against concessions. They assert non-specific harm to America.

There is pressure to secure the best result for the nation within the Republican ranks. It seems likely accountability will end McCarthy’s Speakership should he fail to deliver. The House wants the Senate to take action on the House Republican debt ceiling bill.

The House bill was passed last month to raise the debt limit until 2024. In exchange, it imposes spending caps and policy changes. Mr. Biden threatened to veto the measure. The Leftist-controlled Senate has not taken up the bill.

Biden is not negotiating with McCarthy. Mr. Biden has known the situation for months and has not responded. The White House is not acting responsibly to demonstrate either an understanding of the seriousness or the situation’s urgency.

As the Leftists languish, the nation waits. The Leftists are trying to negotiate in the press. What we know is they oppose shielding defense and veterans’ accounts from spending limits. They oppose work requirements entitlement programs.

The House has taken action to mitigate the irresponsible financial position they inherited. The Leftists refuse to act, refuse to negotiate; they posture only. One might think default was no big deal.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Yes, We NEED to Teach Cursive Writing

Fri, 2023-05-26 01:30 +0000

There’s something at stake in education that most people are ignoring.  Schools are drifting away (sometimes running away) from teaching cursive writing.  All sorts of excuses have been given: “It’s old.” “It’s hard to teach.” “We don’t need it any more.”

“Heck, kids rarely write anything anyway: they spend all of their time tapping on their smartphone screens.”

Sorry, but educators (and the unions that support/drive them) are missing the point.  Cursive handwriting is the basis for the understanding of… syntax.  And if you don’t understand what syntax is or the importance of syntax in any language, how do you “learn to code”?

Think about cursive handwriting for a moment.  Each letter is formed as a separate shape, with some shapes similar to other shapes.  A lower-case “l” and a lowercase “e” are both loops, with one letter a higher and skinnier loop than the other (I’ll leave you to guess which is which.” For example, a lowercase “o” is connected to a lower case “l” differently than connecting a lower case “o” to a lower case “p.” Different loops, shapes, “exit points” and “entry points” – these all change based on the context in which they are used.  Capital letters are formed differently than lower case letters, sometimes bearing almost no relationship to the same letter in lower case, and the “connectives” between upper and lower case letters are often very different than the connectives between lower case letters.

There are clearly defined rules for how cursive handwriting must appear on a page.  Those rules must be practiced in order for a full understanding of cursive handwriting.  Schools used to test a student’s skills in cursive handwriting several times a year, with students receiving grades on both their ability to form shapes and write clearly.

An occasional homework essay was assigned and had to be completed in clearly readable cursive handwriting.

“So, what’s your point?”

The rules for cursive handwriting are an example of syntax.  Those rules clearly describe how cursive is to be written.  If the syntax is not executed properly, cursive handwriting cannot be understood by another person.  And if the handwriting cannot be understood by someone other than the writer, the syntax was incorrectly executed.

By teaching cursive handwriting, students are learning that there are rules when learning an unfamiliar subject.  Sure, they can identify printed alphabet letters.  But those are not the same as cursive alphabet letters.  By understanding the difference and by learning when each style is appropriate, students learn both syntax and the application of syntax to a  purpose.

The English language – whether we call it American or British – also follows rules.  Adjectives, nouns, verbs – each has a specific purpose.  In American English, we place adjectives before nouns.  Other languages place adjectives after nouns.  Grammatical construction is also an example of syntax.  The sentence “I saw the house walking down the street” is difficult to understand: was the house itself walking?  That sentence is an example of improperly executed English grammar syntax.

By requiring assignments to be handed in using cursive handwriting, students learn the importance of properly executing syntax in a larger context.  Students may have to rewrite their ideas several times, with the final copy being clean enough to hand in for a grade.  Those final copies clearly demonstrate a student’s understanding of both cursive syntax and English syntax.

If we indeed want people to “learn to code” (a sarcastic retort which I find both childish and insulting), then we are asking them to learn a very foreign language: whether Java or Python or C++, any code written in that language must follow the syntax for that language.  Symbols now replace words, and the form (layout) of the language must also follow specific rules.

Just like cursive writing: form both follows and determines function.

English is hard enough.  How can we expect people to learn and write in a completely foreign language when they may never have learned how to execute the simple syntax of cursive writing?

And if you never learned cursive handwriting… how do you sign your name?

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Dove’s ‘Diabetes’ Beauty, Calvin Klein’s Hairy Man Sports Bra Model, and The ‘Outdoorsy’ North Face Drag Queen

Fri, 2023-05-26 00:00 +0000

The time, money, and energy the commercial world spends preparing for Pride Month make no sense unless you agree with Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge. “Corporate elites and far-left governments are the source of the woke mind virus, not the victims of it.”

 

They are doubling and tripling down on their failures and it’s not going to stop unless they go bankrupt.  This is because they are no longer operating as businesses, they are now centers for activism and social engineering.

 

It feels that way, except for the BUD backtrack after the prancing Dufus collaboration went sideways. But the banks, billionaires, and Big Gov. are all in on the scheme. Another flanking maneuver as Pride month takes on Christmas-like anticipation for some retailers. They plan campaigns months in advance.

As noted at ZeroHedge, just in time for Pride Month, Dove Beauty has embraced the notion that women should strive to be clinically obese. Those heroes should be at increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and COVID-19. The eye of this beholder is attracted to straining an increasingly incapable health care system, damaged blood vessels, failing kidneys, shortened life expectancy, and the threat of amputations (and not women’s breasts or man parts). Toes, feet, legs.

It’s not even good for business. People with fewer parts will use less soap. Jeesh. And talk about medical misinformation. Being overweight is bad for you, so what is Calvin Klein up to? A fat, hairy-chested black man in a woman’s sports bra is kissing a chubby white woman. Whatever floats your fabulous pride boat, but how does this not sink Calvin’s ship? What about this imagery attracts the other 96% of likely customers to the brand? Diabetes?

And ZeroHedge is clearly on to something because The NorthFace partnered with” a real-life homosexual drag queen” named Pattiegonia! Why?

 

“And we are inviting you here to COME OUT in nature with usssss!” he said.

“ Nature lets you be who you are, so, for the second year in a row @thenorthface is hosting Summer of Pride together with @pattiegonia (they/she) to celebrate you and all the beautiful ways you get outside.” Pattiegonia said on Instagram on Tuesday.

“And because we believe that exploration can take many shapes and forms, we’re making these events so much more than just a hiking tour. We’ll have workshops, panels and activities for all individuals who love to be outside.” the drag queen said.

Cristina Laila adds, “The North Face thought it was a great idea to feature a drag queen to sell clothing to rugged outdoorsman.”  I’m not entirely sure that’s a problem. Most people wearing North Face look neither rugged nor outdoorsy (unless you mean the mall). But it is still an odd marketing decision that folks were eager to point out.

Pattiegonia was reportedly unhappy with the online pushback. I guess they/them don’t want you to be you, which is all too common. Be you as long as it’s like me.

The NorthFace may wish to revisit this relationship before it’s too late because, while I get the whole Corporate elite spreading the woke mind virus angle, Target did a mighty quick 180 when execs mulled the cost of a Bud Light-level boycott.

They also yanked “all Pride designs by the Satanic designer Abprallen.”

The designers pieces included pentagrams and satanic imagery emblazoned with messages promoting transgenderism and devil worship. Target is also urgently reviewing the swimsuit line marketed as ‘tuck friendly’ as well as some of the children’s merchandise.

It looks like the mind virus can be coaxed into remission. It needs unending doses of cultural chemo, which is a big ask most of the time. Ordinary people don’t want to be bothered with constantly thinking about the politics of every choice, but that’s how the left lives and wins. If we can’t find the steam to do the same, we will keep losing the culture war and the country.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Required Reading – The Fast and Easy Way to “Level Up” Your Understanding …

Thu, 2023-05-25 22:30 +0000

For the sake of honesty and full disclosure, I should first point out my lack of qualifications to fancy myself a book critic, but when I have something to say that’s worth shouting from the rooftops, why hold back?

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

As a lazy student, I had a pattern of slapping together book reports the night before they were due and hoping for a grade that didn’t bring down my GPA.

Obsession with school spending is in my blood. Being called a chip off the old block long before even knowing what that meant, I should point out that my father, an accountant and former local school committee member, has been complaining about the teachers’ union and their anti-Proposition 2 1/2 messaging since I started asking questions as a kid. So, of course, I always want to read Grokster Ian Underwood’s contributions.

We all know about Croydon. If you don’t, you can get up to speed by finding Ian’s articles on GraniteGrok.com at the link or in the home page search engine. I’ll just put out a quick refresher to the readers that Croydon voted to cut its school budget significantly, and it made widespread news and water cooler talk. Knowing school is the biggest black hole in any local budget, I was thrilled to death for the Croydonites. And when Melanie Levesque made derogatory tweets about it, I knew that Croydon had earned its badge of honor. Or as Rep Kelley Potenza would say, “That mean’s you’re right over the target” when you get attacked for doing something good. Ian’s wife is a school board member and does double duty as a sales associate for his book collection, which can be viewed at Bare Minimum Books, all one word, dot com.

When The School Funding Shell Game was introduced by Granite Grok a while ago, I was instantly interested and reached out via the “contact us” feature of the website. Months of email tag followed, and I had almost forgotten to follow up. Not eager to make a pilgrimage to Croydon or pay for postage, I found out that the nearest brick-and-mortar opportunity to purchase the book was last Saturday, which coincidentally was Melanie’s birthday! I should have treated her to a copy.

I had another event to attend in Manchester later that afternoon, but I made my first visit to the Free State clubhouse in Manchester’s Little Canada and met Jody, Ian’s wife, as she was holding down the fort at a Free State business fair. Ian’s other books were also available, and I took advantage of the special price when three are purchased.

I took home the education trilogy of The School Funding Shell Game, Rethinking Fairness in Education, and The Libertarian Case for Public Schools and just finished reading them. As a slow reader, hence my lack of zeal for writing book reports as a student, I have to say that this kind of reading is fast, entertaining, and right to the point. All three of them are short and easy on the eyes. Each talking point starts off with an anecdote, meme, joke, or cartoon on a single page. Then the page facing it has the argument to consider. Some of the author’s favorites are about a wife who cuts off part of a roast because her mother always did, a police officer helping a guy look for his lost car keys under a light post in a ball field and an umbrella parable. They deal with the issues of flawed thinking and roles and expectations of schools by generationally misguided members of their communities. Solutions and prognostications are offered in the closing talking points.

With Con Val currently doing a “Claremont 2.0” attempt and city elections being this year, it’s a perfect time to read these masterpieces. In fact, I told one of my local peeps that it should be required reading for ANY city candidate.

And in closing, I am happy to have the skill of keeping a paperback in mint condition while reading it, so it’s still gift-worthy. Father’s Day is less than a month from now.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Pride Month is Still a Week Away But Monkey Pox Season Started Three Weeks Ago

Thu, 2023-05-25 21:00 +0000

The Gran Canarian Pride festival was a few weeks ago. It marks the beginning of Monkey Pox Season. It was ground zero for the 2022 Mpox pandemic, followed by several consecutive days of Pride celebrations in Belgium the week after. From there, it traveled the world.

Related: Maybe in Future Years, Pride Month Can Also Be Monkeypox Awareness Month.

Monkeypox 2022 came, saw, and kicked some ass. And yes, all of those puns are deliberate.

 

  • By mid to late May 2022, the news, like the Monkey Pox, was spreading so quickly it ruined Pride Month.
  • Efforts to hide that infections were exclusively among gay men (99%) and children (!) failed.
  • Joe Biden eventually declared a national health emergency, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
  • By July, the WHO announced that it was time for gay men to consider autoerotica for a few months to slow the spread.
  • The CDC followed suit in early August with similar guidance. And the whole thing disappeared into the mists of progressives’ time.

 

And that is all poxy water under the Pride bridge (of course, it’s a rainbow, you bigot!). The 2023 Monkey Pox season is in full swing and not a word about it in the press that I have seen. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. And maybe that’s good news. It’s not fatal, but it’s still a pox, and while I’ve not heard much about it, why would I, as I don’t travel in circles with behaviors that might court an infection? But if last year’s epidemic were spread by attending church (Prayer Pox), it would have been the lead. The top story in every cable news hour for weeks leading up to May 2023. They’d be banning services for the good of the community. Alter boys would be interviewed. Priests tested. What do you mean you’ve not read all three parts of the Humanist Manifesto? Where’s your picture of Sir Julian Huxley?

But this isn’t that.

Still, I did expect some cautionary news about safe sex or getting vaccinated or something. Anything but abstinence, which is that ten-letter word the hyper-sexual-left abhors. Did you say … Gasp! – Abstinence?

This is why the WHO and the CDC had to wait through four months of infections before suggesting last year. Abstinence. Asking a gay man to keep it in his pants is a sensitive subject, like reminding liberals that Trump never colluded with Russia, that the FBI is a domestic terrorist operation, or that John Fetterman is a walking mushroom. But ask they did.

Something worked.

The World Health Organization still has a page on the Pox but nothing new to add since the 2022 invasion of sacred Pride Ground.

The CDC – and look at me giving credit when due – has a May 10th update on Monkeypox (Mpox).

 

A cluster of mpox cases have been reported in the Chicago area, which means the virus is still spreading, and we need to continue to be alert. More than 50% of cases in the cluster have been in people who have been previously vaccinated. Getting vaccinated is still very important. No vaccine is 100% effective, and infections after vaccination are possible, but they may be milder and less likely to result in hospitalization.

 

Not everyone kept it in their pants, including the CDC. Their first, most repetitive suggestion is to get vaccinated if you are at risk, even though they admit that half the Chicago outbreak cases were vaccinated. But it is still essential – getting vaccinated. Hardworking Public Health Industrial Complex servants only get kickbacks if y’all line up for the recommended treatment. Did we mention that you should get vaccinated?

No mention of how that same vaccine killed this proud Hollywood makeup artist. Just one guy, right? Probably more than one, but who’s counting?

I did check to see whom the CDC thought might be at risk (and in need of the vaccine). There’s a lot of fluff on the page to hide the fact that they could have just written sexually active gay men or anyone who has had sex with one (regardless of age or gender). And this is the CDC, so if it were a Jeopardy question, the answer would be “Everyone.”

The CDC never mentions children as at risk, which seems odd given last year’s demographics. I guess sexualizing kids in public schools is one thing, and gay men passing monkeypox to children is another. But the former is not grooming, and you will write it repeatedly on whatever passes for a chalkboard these days until that sinks in.

And don’t forget – June is Monkeypox Pride Month.

 

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Are Schools Flagging DCYF to Intimidate Parents who Get “Too Involved” In Their Child’s Education?

Thu, 2023-05-25 19:30 +0000

It’s ALWAYS a great time when the Division of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) covers itself with glory and gets media attention as a result. Then they dig the hole deeper. What do I mean? DCYF (last week and again today) threatened to take some Parents to court. 

Over what? And this isn’t an isolated incident.

School Districts may be sending bogus “tips” to DCYF against parents who have, shall we say, become TOO involved in their child’s education and letting their Elected Representatives (aka, School Board members) know how wrongheaded they are. You know, the kinds of Parents that the Federal Department of Justice called “Domestic Terrorists” at the behest of the (now disgraced and broke) National School Board Association?

Let’s say that the phrase “We’ll teach them who is in charge and who is the Boss” keeps ringing in my head. After all, there can be no dissent from the otherwise “lovely” school districts’ Narratives, eh (see here if you don’t believe me)? That schools shouldn’t be held accountable for what they are doing (like screwing and grinding up academic rigor like wheat in a mill) but demanding that students and staff must always know and practice the latest politically-made-up pronouns are, who is oppressing the oppressed, and learn all the micro-aggressions, right?

That Free Speech nonsense by the old white men who had slaves? DESTROY THEIR STATUES and begone with their history! Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself here – that’s another story but sorta connected…sorta. Back on track: And Heaven (I can still say that, right?) help you evil parents if your child holds that there are only two genders because you bring them to a Christian church and that you are demanding to know what the school is doing to your child?

Enter DCYF

The Berlin, NH, DCFY office is going after a two-veteran family (prior Marine and Navy) that has been holding their SAU accountable. DCYF is claiming that they lock their daughter in a bedroom – when there’s no door at all?

There are various and sundry other stories that have been wafting into my emails and texts from other Districts (I am looking at you, Londonderry). There seems to be a “thing” brewing up into which I will be looking to hear more (e.g., got tips? Skip@GraniteGrok.com) about the Edu-Industrial Complex allegedly defending itself using another arm of Government.

One parent shared this response to DCYF.

 

Let me give you a military phrase from the US Navy: “A shot across their bow.” Some, when seeing such a shot in a movie or on TV attribute it to a bad shot or seamanship – they missed. Most, however, know it as a “warning shot” as in “You should listen to us and do what we are telling you to do or else”. What most don’t understand is that this first shot is not merely a warning but is also a ranging shot in which the atmospheric and sea conditions are evaluated from that shot…such that the second shot, if need be, won’t miss.

Consider this your “shot across the bow”. The next one won’t miss.

-<redacted>

That shot is more than just the promised media attention I mentioned in the opening. We have friends on the various NH House Committees: Children and Family Law; Education; Executive Departments & Admin; Health; Human Services and Elderly Affairs, Judiciary; and the Special Committee on the Family Division of the Circuit Court as this problem may well cross several “silo boundaries.”

Lest I forget, let’s add those that are bound and determined AND angry over Executive Branch overreach.

DCYF hasn’t been covering itself in glory these last few years (I just used that for the second time, but stay with me), especially when kids are being killed while wards of the State. Those horrible events aren’t prevented, but Heaven help you if your son or daughter appears at school with a bruise on their wrist.

It seems to be endemic with almost every Government agency – to the max with their delegated Powers from Legislatures and then a few steps more (like W. VA vs. EPA) to create an environment to justify their existence. Lord knows that there is enough for DCYF such that it doesn’t have to unilaterally expand its mission beyond that which the Legislature gave them.

Sometimes a bruise is just a bruise – kids get them all the time. But Childism seems to be encroaching into this area on the part of some First Responders.

  • Childism Is Another Tenet of Progressivism

Progressives, in their never-ending crusade to force everyone to adhere to their religion, have added another commandment to their list of evils: Childism. They describe it as “anti-child attitudes” which lead to oppression of children. What fresh hell is this? you may be wondering. Not so fresh actually: two psychiatrists, Chester Pierce and Gail Allen, proposed the theory back as 1975. They described it as “the automatic assumption of superiority of any adult over any child.” One can assume that this would include parents as well.

…But in 2012, psychoanalyst Elisabeth Young-Bruehl resurrected the theory in her book, Childism: Confronting Prejudice Against Children. The book’s description reads, in part:

In this groundbreaking volume on the human rights of children, acclaimed analyst, political theorist, and biographer Elisabeth Young-Bruehl argues that prejudice exists against children as a group and that it is comparable to racism, sexism, and homophobia ….

…Rather this emerges from a generation which has acquired these two beliefs: 1) that children are not gifts from God, but are expendable prior to birth; and 2) the ultimate achievement in life comes not from raising responsible children, but from attaining fame on social media.

…The scientific theory of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget has long instructed those who study child development that there are four stages of cognitive development. Piaget also found that a child can’t begin to understand abstract concepts until the adolescent years. Later, 2009 research from the American Psychological Association asserted that emotional maturity lags behind cognition in those same adolescents. Yet anti-Childists insist that immature children must have authority to control their lives. And adults who would deny them that? They’re exercising bigotry similar to racism.

Note, above, my underlining “children as a group.” That is right out of Critical Race Theory. No one is an individual; one is only known by their inclusion into a group.

And this article does a throw back to my first snippet:

The speaker also told students that “parents aren’t safe, and that it’s OK to lie to them about where they are in order to attend this meeting.” The mother added:

She doubled down that parents aren’t safe [and] that heterosexuality and monogamy are not normal.

The school district acknowledged that such a club does exist, but would not address the mother’s allegations. Yet anti-Childists would insist that such undermining of parents is perfectly appropriateBecause a 12-year-old has equal rights to their parents, who are guilty of bigotry should they deny the child what they want.

And once again, to quote John Wick: “I keep getting pulled back in.”  Well, there’s another one, too. “You wanted me back… I’m back!” as I seem to be getting further enmeshed in another ludicrous situation.

And that would lead me to Dartmouth-Hitchcock today (at the time of writing) – but in another post.

 

The post Are Schools Flagging DCYF to Intimidate Parents who Get “Too Involved” In Their Child’s Education? appeared first on Granite Grok.

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