Saturday • December 28 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.LII
Manchester, N.H.
I was recently asked to participate in a one-question poll by the GOP House Leadership Team, which is actually the Kevin McCarthy Campaign Committee. The question asked to identify my number one issue from the following list:
WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER 1 ISSUE?
It seems to be a simple question, and I should have answered quickly, but I had to stop and put this list into priority. It was not an easy question.
Each of these alone is a significant problem for America. When you see them as a group, you realize the extent of the damage the Biden Administration has inflicted in two short years. We may find it challenging to stay afloat for the final two years of Biden’s term. We don’t want to give him a chance to “finish the job.” To finish the job is not a redirection or transformation but the destruction of America. To say “Rome is Burning” to describe Joe Biden’s America is not hyperbole.
After ranking this list, I narrowed my answer to Border Security. I am concerned about the others, but these other issues may be inconsequential if we do not secure the Border. Let’s look at how serious the Border Crisis is and how it impacts all the other problems.
First, for a country to exist, it must have sovereignty and clearly defined Borders. Biden and the Left do not need Borders, so they are comfortable with an unsecured Southern Border. Europe tried the experiment of no borders and uncontrolled travel between countries. It did not take long to realize this was a colossal mistake and harmful to the individual countries. Some European countries, such as Greece, Finland, and Hungary, have built walls to fortify their Borders.
We do not have control of our Border, which has led to a proliferation of gangs in nearly all of the 49 contiguous states. We know that people on the international terror watch list have entered America. We also know that people from over 160 countries have illegally crossed into America. This fact dispels the claim by the Biden Administration that the people coming to our country are seeking asylum because of hardships in Central America.
We know the amount of Fentanyl coming from Mexico is growing, and the means of distribution are more creative and aimed at a younger population. Fentanyl poisonings and deaths are increasing each year and exceed 100,000 a year. It is confirmed that Mexican Fentanyl originates in China. It is estimated that ten million illegal aliens will cross from Mexico during Biden’s term, bringing the illegal population in America to 10% of our total.
The breakdown of our Border will impact our economy by flooding the country with millions of untrained workers driving down wages. The increase in crime, drugs, and gangs stretching across the country will negatively affect our quality of life. Millions of non-English speaking children blended into our classrooms will further impact our already challenged education system.
The Republican-controlled House is working very hard to determine the impact of a corrupted election process and to get to the bottom of the facts of how the Biden Crime Family, Intelligence Agencies, Justice Department, and media conspired to influence the 2020 and 2022 elections,
We have many serious issues to face, but until we restore and fortify our geographic Border, we have no country to protect.
The post Biden Has Done So Much Harm, Which Is The Worst appeared first on Granite Grok.
Eric Adams is the mayor of New York City. He is pretty typical of big city mayors. He is a leftist. He is black, his city is struggling, and he does a lot of what American politicians these days do a lot of; blame other people for their problems.
We want to thank Marc Abear for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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You might think we would want to elect people who are problem solvers to political office. But you would be wrong. We tend to elect the loudest, most rhetorically adroit blame-throwers we can find. It’s what we do.
Mayor Adams this week sent out a press release accusing the Governor of Texas of “…deciding to play politics with people’s lives….” The Mayor said, “… this behavior [is] morally bankrupt and devoid of any concern for the well-being of asylum seekers….”
Mayor Adams went on asserting the governor is “… targeting five cities run by Black mayors….” Adams makes the accusations “… Abbott bussed migrants to New York against their will… had security guards hold them hostage on busses when they tried to get off in other cities… shipped them off while sick and COVID positive… tagged individuals with barcodes…” Here’s the link: https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/305-23/mayor-adams-on-governor-abbott-s-decision-resume-busing-asylum-seekers-five
So, here are the questions: Is Gregg Abbott a racist bastard dumping his state’s problems on a poor big city in another state? Is Eric Adams a racist bastard deflecting responsibility away from the poor results of leftist policy decisions? What are the facts? Why should you care?
Let’s start with the facts. El Paso, Texas, is a city in Texas. It has been bussing illegals to various places around America. The Mayor is Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, a Hispanic man. El Paso has bussed 10,713 illegal migrants to New York City (NYC). The State of Texas has bussed 5,200 illegals to NYC. https://nypost.com/2022/10/06/mayor-of-el-paso-oscar-leeser-sends-twice-as-many-migrants-to-nyc-as-texas-gov-greg-abbott/ It seems Mayor Adams is “presenting the facts poorly”… at the very least he’s skewing the presentation.
It turns out the illegals are being asked where they want to go when they get to America. The illegals are choosing the cities of Chicago, Denver, and NYC. Last week the New York Post (NYP) did a story on VOLAG handling of illegals. What are VOLAGS? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VOLAG They are any of the nine U.S. private agencies and one state agency that have cooperative agreements with the State Department to provide reception and placement services for refugees arriving in the United States. Did you know the State Department was paying for the illegal immigrants flooding our southern border? https://www.judicialwatch.org/state-dept-redacts-big-chunks-22-8-mil-contract-resettle-muslim-refugees/
Well, if you ask the NGOs dealing with the illegals, like Catholic Charities or Lutheran Family Services, they will tell you, as Karina Hernandez of Catholic Family Services in Houston told the NYP. https://nypost.com/2023/04/28/nyc-chicago-final-dream-destinations-for-migrants-bussed-out-of-west-texas/ It is the illegals who are choosing Chicago and NYC as their tops choices of final destination because they have family there, they know people there. The takeaway? Mayor Adams does not know what he is talking about, or he is speaking a truth not supported by the facts.
The larger point here is: Yes, a white governor is sending illegals to black-run cities. But at least in large part, the reason so many illegals are arriving in these black-run cities is the illegals are saying they want to go there. And… black Democrat mayors in southern and western states are sending their illegal migrant problems to other black mayors across the country… Facts can be inconvenient.
In December of 2022, the City of Denver, according to Mayor Michael Hancock, got an unexpected influx of illegals. The Denver Post and the Colorado Sun reported the illegal migrants themselves who had used social media to coordinate a group trip to Denver. They believed the sudden arrival of so many of them all at once would guarantee more free services: housing, food, education, and jobs. Let that sink in. Where did that notion come from? Do you believe it was organic? https://www.denverpost.com/2022/12/15/denver-state-of-emergency-migrants-immigrants-mayor-hancock/ ; https://coloradosun.com/2022/12/18/denver-migrant-immigration-opinion-littwin/
The influx of illegals left the city in financial straits. The City could not fit all those free services into the budget. There were suddenly too many people all expecting lots of services, and delivery systems and resources were not in place.
Mayor Hancock decided to get rid of his problem. The Denver Post reported the Mayor spent $492,000 on one-way bus tickets to other cities across America. Care to guess which cities this black male mayor sent his illegal migrant problems to? Top destination; Chicago, black mayor. Second top destination; NYC, black mayor. Third top destination; Atlanta, black Mayor. Are you seeing a pattern developing here?
There does not seem to be a lot of support for Mayor Adams’ charge of racism against the Governor of Texas. What do we think of people who make unfounded allegations of racism?
What we seem to be mixing up here is a witch’s brew. We are inviting the rest of the world to send us their homeless, tempest-tossed, tired, poor, huddled masses and the wretched refuse of their teeming shores. And they are doing it. These Democrats are spreading it across America.
What we have is the nullification of our immigration law by our federal government. This is flooding the southwest with illegals. The southwestern cities are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the influx.
They are incapable, with the resources available, of dealing with the number of services needed by this uncontrolled arrival of people. The arrival cities are sharing their misery by paying for these illegal aliens to travel elsewhere. This is a federally mandated diaspora.
The illegals want to go where they have family, and contacts, or where they believe they can get services. It is a human response. The ignorant part, on the destination end, is the sanctuary assumption. The political elite has decided for their subjects that they will accept poverty, crime, and destruction of their future. That is what sanctuary is; a signed blank check for social chaos and poverty.
Couch it as you will with idyllic language. But real people require real food, real education, real water, garbage service, and policing. Those things must be paid for or people will go without. That’s what is coming. We are going to face a reckoning for the promises made but lack the ability to fulfill.
Mayor Adams is using the accusation of racism to distract from the truth. Many of America’s cities are run by Democrat mayors of all colors. They embraced sanctuary city policies. It sounded great as an expression of their city’s values.
There are over 100 sanctuary cities and 11 states in the U.S. Sanctuary jurisdictions are magnets for illegals. https://cis.org/Full-Screen-Map-Sanctuary-Cities ; https://www.fairus.org/issue/sanctuary-policies/do-you-live-1-11-sanctuary-states Think about it… Those sanctuary locations offer things like free housing, food, transportation, education, medical care, and a refusal to cooperate with officials seeking to enforce the law applicable to deportation of illegals.
If you are an illegal alien and you just got to the VOLAG on the border. Say you don’t know anybody here. Where are you going to want to go? Will the promise of getting something for nothing attract your attention? How about protection from deportation? Think the VOLAGs tell you about sanctuary cities?
Did the VOLAGs maybe do some coaching before you decided to come? Do those VOLAGs get paid for what they do? Do they operate outside the U.S as well as within? Remember, they are operating under “cooperative agreements” with the State Department. Look it up. It’s another whole bag of snakes.
Free stuff, it isn’t free. NYC has to come up with $4.2 billion to fund those sanctuary policies. That’s going to crimp the budget. It will probably raise the tax rates. The results of Leftist policies will destroy all who adopt them. It is true each time, every time we listen to the Siren’s song. Just think about it.
New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle are turning into violent, crime-ridden dumps. The Mayor is wrong about the racism charge but right in understanding their cities are in trouble. Knowing you are in trouble isn’t the same thing as doing the right things to fix it… is it?
The post Let’s Play Who’s The Racist Bastard appeared first on Granite Grok.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee, has made most of her accumulating wealth from book deals with Random House or its subsidiaries. A sum of 3.6 million dollars over eleven years if the reporting is accurate. So, why didn’t she recuse herself in Aaron Greenspan v. Random House?
In the case, Greenspan – an author who was classmates with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg while at Harvard – alleged that his proposed book about the founding of Facebook was rejected by Random House, only for the company to then grant a book deal to another author who copied his idea and then turned it into the successful movie “The Social Network” in 2010.
During that case, then-Justice Stephen Breyer, a fellow left-wing justice, did ultimately recuse himself due to receiving payments from the publisher in the past. Sotomayor, however, did not recuse herself despite doing the same thing.
That was ten years ago, so? Old news. Partisan garbage?
According to the Daily Wire, Sotomayor was paid $3.1 million by Penguin Random House over the course of two years; in 2010, she was paid $1.2 million by Knopf Doubleday Group, part of Random House’s conglomerate, and then received two separate advance payments in 2012, which amounted to $1.9 million when combined. These payments have made Penguin Random House her single largest source of income.
Getting 3.1 million dollars from the accused and then voting in their favor looks terrible regardless of the specifics of the case. And while I am sure she’s had more than one opportunity to explain it away, in the wake of the progressive war being waged against Justice Clarence Thomas, it looks worse.
In another case in October of 2019, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case of children’s author Jennie Nicassio, who sued Random House after the publisher allegedly began selling a book that was nearly identical to one of her own. In declining to hear the case, the Court ultimately affirmed the ruling of a circuit court which had ruled in Random House’s favor. Sotomayor once again did not recuse herself in the vote to decline Nicassio’s case, even though Breyer once again did recuse himself.
Justice Breyer’s recusal shines an unpleasant light on the Wise Latina. Stephen Breyer is no more or less a progressive jurist than Sotomayor, yet he had the integrity to step away from two cases where he had the appearance of potential bias. Sotomayor could not be bothered.
Water under some bridge, I suspect, but it is rhetorical ammo for opponents looking for something to toss back at the wailing banshees who will not leave Clarence Thomas alone.
HT | American Greatness
The post If You Want a Dirty Justice, The Wise Latina Failed to Recuse Herself and Then Ruled in Her Publisher’s Favor appeared first on Granite Grok.
Nordstrom announced on Wednesday that they would close their two stores in San Francisco after 35 years of serving the fashion needs and wants of the Bay Area. There have been twenty significant retailers that have closed up shop in San Francisco since
2020. Shoplifting, robbery, and the safety of their employees are too important to remain in the City by the Bay. How many companies locking their doors as they close does it take before the Mayor, Governor, and President all admit that the plan to make America a Woke, lawless country is a failure?
San Francisco is a city that has survived earthquakes, the assassination of its Mayor, the COVID Epidemic, Former Mayor Newsom, and Representative Nancy Pelosi is being brought to its knees by a DA who won’t enforce the law and a population that is out of control. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the country and has been a tourist destination for worldwide travelers. San Francisco is still one of the most expensive places to buy real estate, but how long can it stay firm against this assault?
Gavin Newsom visited his former home city last week and did not make a good impression on anyone. He was caught on tape being asked by someone on the street what he would do to save Frisco. Newsom was arrogant when he snidely responded, “I thought you would tell me what to do.” He came across as pompous and holier than thou.
Nordstrom is not the first to leave Frisco; there will undoubtedly be more to close. Retailers that have already exited the Bay Area since 2020 are Whole Foods, Crate & Barrel, Marshalls, GAP, Office Depot, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Banana Republic. All of these companies ceased operating in San Francisco for the same reasons. They could no longer be profitable with the rampant crime and could no longer protect their employees.
We saw the video of Target last week in San Francisco, where every piece of inventory was locked up behind glass. You need a sales clerk to unlock a cabinet to give you a tube of toothpaste. Only those on the Far Left can call this progress.
Crime, deserted neighborhoods, and tent cities of homeless people pepper the sidewalks of former active downtown shopping areas. It is not just San Francisco. We have already seen Baltimore, Detroit, and Chicago become shadows of their former greatness. Los Angeles, Denver, and New York are following suit. All of these cities are under
Democrat control. How can any rational person claim the Left’s policies work for America?
San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the country, with some of the highest real estate values. The local and state governments have abandoned the taxpayer citizens to maintain a WOKE and sanctuary city. These continued crime, drug, and homelessness issues will erode the value of people’s homes and make them unsaleable.
Correcting the parameters forcing businesses out of the city and state is impossible. The government is either complicit with the direction of the town, or they are powerless to make corrections. The future seems obvious. Gang rule will replace Democrat rule, and these cities will die away. Blindly trusting Democrats will prove to be suicide for all of these cities that are spiraling out of existence.
The post How Many Retailers Closing Will It Take To Admit Failure appeared first on Granite Grok.
You might ask yourself, why would a parent want to put their kids near drag queens? The better question is, why do drag queens want to be near kids? And if it is all so ordinary and okay, why did they drop the word “queen” from Drag Queen Story hour?
Content Warning
That’s right. It is now called Drag Story Hour! What happened to ‘Be You?’ If you are a “drag queen,” why drop the “queen” from events where “drag queens” in full makeup, hair, and costume read books to children at public libraries?
Not proud?
We hear all this prattling on about Pride, and then you stuff the “queen” in a closet somewhere. It’s an odd move because these drag queens … aren’t hiding much nor appear to have much need of a closet.
These are deliberately published pictures on public platforms, and wouldn’t you know, these are also the promoted guests at a Drag Story Hour Event coming up in Berlin, New Hampshire.
If you are an adult and this is your thing, from either direction, I don’t care. I’ve made that clear so often that even an incensed lying liberal stooge should have stumbled across it. But I do have an objection to exposing children to this lifestyle choice. And the flyer for this event is quite clear. “Adults must be accompanied by a child.” You can’t just show up without a minor.
This ‘presentation’ is for children.
The flier also insists that “The Library is NOT sponsoring event.’ That’s how they wrote it—not sponsoring event. It is missing a word, just like Queen from Drag Story Hour. A coincidence? Perhaps, like how the library is not supporting an event that involves reading to children inside the library.
Is the library upset that they exiled the queen from Drag Queen Story Hour?
No, they don’t want any calls or emails from taxpayers who might wonder why a public library is NOT sponsoring an event” held on the premises. Have they given up control of the property? Are the Queens not allowed to touch the books? Do they have to bring their own?
Related: Vermont Man Who Created the Most Misogynistic, Sexist, Anti-Women Cartoon Imaginable Invited to Read to Children at NH Public Library
We’re not supposed to ask, but “Drag Story Hour” could just as easily be sponsored by The National Hot Rod Association and feature Matt Hagen or Alexis Dejoira. Drag Racing. Story Hour. No Queens, unless you mean Alexis, who is a biologically heterosexual female and could be considered a queen of drag racing.
Alexis Dejoira
Nope. The other Drag queens are coming to the Berlin public library, one of whom is Emoji Nightmare/Justin Marsh (see also Cumpstrella Cumpstrella).
Marsh, an upstanding citizen of the People’s Republic of Vermont, is due in court on May 8th (9 am) on charges of alleged domestic assault, unlawful restraint, and interfering with emergency services.
Oct. 18 at 6:58 a.m., after responding to a dispute in Hyde Park village, police arrested Justin Marsh, 33, of Hyde Park, for domestic assault, unlawful restraint and interfering with emergency services.
Just a little public disobedience, or maybe someone asked why they took “queen” out of Drag Queen Story Hour, and Justin just had to be Justin. Perhaps you can ask the sponsors (not the library). See if they can explain any of it.
The post They Took the “Queen” Out of “Drag Queen Story Hour” (Are They Hiding “Her” in a Closet?) appeared first on Granite Grok.
To all those who are sending in memes, thank you! Keep them coming please, as it helps me gather weaponry to fight the Left. Please do share this post, and if you share an individual meme, consider mentioning you saw it on the Grok!
Speaking of, from this week, Monday Memes and Meme Overflow. Also don’t forget both complementary parts of my Survival Sunday feature: PREP edition and SITREP edition.
*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***
In light of that, see this:
Ireland Set to Pass “Hate Speech” Laws – Will Make Possessing “Hateful” Content on Your Devices a Jailable Offense – Elon Musk Weighs In | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hoft
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PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA
When you see a GMO product and decide to no longer buy it, make sure you let the company know they’re losing a customer… and WHY. Snail mail is best, IMHO. In parallel, if / when you find an acceptable substitute, tell that new company why you’re now a customer. Include that if they go the GMO route, you’re willing to leave them too.
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Science, the Transgender Phenomenon, and the Young | Abigail Shrier
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Just a meme dump.
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Oh SH*T, the small bank collapse is real and it’s here | Redacted with Clayton Morris
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I have seen multiple independent videos doing this comparison. So here’s the thing. I’m not a biologist. Seriously. I can see the difference. So why are there not more doctors, etc., not looking, when it’s not difficult to do? It’s because they don’t want to know.
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Pick of the Post:
A two year old can barely speak. And you’re willing to start transitioning a kid at that age?
Wood chipper therapy. Stat.
>>>>>=====<<<<<
Palate Cleansers:
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—
The post Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner is the latest pro-crime Soros-backed prosecutor to be driven from office “after visiting judge John Torbitzky ordered seven out of 10 claims filed against her by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to move forward.”
According to Bailey, Gardner’s other failures to take prosecutorial action resulted in some 12,000 criminal cases being dismissed, “endlessly frustrating courts and victims desperate for justice.”
Police are “drowning in drugs” seized in cases that have languished, Bailey wrote, and alleged that Gardner’s office had allowed arrest-warrant applications to go “unprocessed for more than eight months.”
Bailey also accused Gardner of agreeing to “extraordinary bond reductions” and failure to seek bond revocations for suspects charged with violent crimes.
Gardner has company. Virginia State Attorney Buta Biberaj got tossed from a case by a judge after it was revealed that she lied to the court about a suspect’s extensive criminal history. And DA Chesa Boudin was recalled by San Francisco voters last June. Other recalls have been attempted as crime continues to rise in Democrat-run cities that advance Bouin-style progressive justice.
San Francisco was a trainwreck before, but it has suffered under Boudin. Rampant shoplifting because the DA won’t prosecute what he called petty crimes. Actual hate crimes against real Asians.
And the progs are paying attention. According to the Post, other DAs who got elected (with Soros Money) have enacted similar policies with similar results. Rising crime and no accountability. Add several years of anti-police ‘defund’ rhetoric from Democrat councils and mayors, and someone will have to take the heat.
The Democrat’s notion of justice is criminal. Someone should put that on a bumper sticker or sew it on a pillow. Or how about “The Democrat Party – Hurting the People We Promised to Help.”
One thing Gardner may have gotten right. When the Missouri AG started the process, she called it a witch hunt. Hey, she called herself that; it wasn’t me.
“Gardner is among many progressive prosecutors who received backing from billionaire financier George Soros, according to The Missouri Times.”
The post Another Soros Backed Prosecutor Resigns appeared first on Granite Grok.
An Executive Council (EC) seems to be a strictly NH “thing.” It is part of the Executive Branch and approves all contracts that are brought forward to them. The EC also has the duty to approve any nominations for senior posts within the Executive put forward by the Governor as well as those for judgeships.
This past Wednesday they held a hearing on the nomination of Anne Edwards to the NH Superior Court. Edwards has served in the NH Attorney General’s office for quite some time.
Thus, it is their job to be part of the checks and balances that help to create one of the weakest Governor’s offices in the US – our NH Founders knew correctly what was needful to keep Power from being aggregated into one office and person.
I was not able to attend, but Chau Kelley was there with her cameras and has graciously let GraniteGrok put up the testimonies that she captured – MANY THANKS, ma’am! When I finish listening and publishing them all, I’ll have my own thoughts on this nomination but not now.
In addition to these videos, you can click here to see the existing posts that have been written about her on GraniteGrok as well.
There are 19 separate videos – too many to put into a single post. I started with Anne Edwards’ testimony and then proceeded with some of the videos that Chau sent to me in chronological order. Thus there will be a Part 2 (or more):
Anne Edwards:
Tom Murray:
Russan Chester:
Ken Eyring:
Diane Fisher:
Daniel Richards (listen closely concerning about the NH Constitution, absentee ballots, affidavits, Town Moderators, and Town Clerks):
NH Secretary of State David Scanlon:
Part 2 will follow shortly.
The post NH Executive Council Hearing: Anne Edwards Nomination for Superior Court Judge Part 1 appeared first on Granite Grok.
If you were looking for a line item example of wasted taxpayer dollars, we’ve got a winner. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the US Department of the Interior, offers employees paid time off for counseling to address the climate cult equivalent of PTSD.
US Fish and Wildlife Service employees are struggling to cope with feelings of trauma and loss over the world’s changing climates and imperiled environments. Their work repeatedly confronts them with ecological changes, but even a sense of “anticipated loss” perhaps decades from now requires compassionate help. Or so the FWS and American Psychological Association tell us.
The FWS is thus offering paid leave to employees who attend “eco-anxiety” and “climate grief” training. When the House Natural Resources Committee called the sessions a colossal waste of money, the agency downplayed their cost and scope. But naturally the “woke” programs don’t end there.
FWS Director Martha Williams is also pushing diversity-equity-inclusion-LBGTQ programs as the agency’s “number one priority” (or perhaps number two, after climate change). Employees can take as much paid time off as needed for DEI and “gay pride” programs and eco-anguish counseling.
Let’s break this down in real terms. The government created a fake problem that costs taxpayers hundreds of billions before the shadow taxes and other economic damage it perpetuates. They sold government workers on the legitimacy of their fake crisis. And they are now spending more money on them to address the trauma their fearmongering created.
It all sounds so familiar.
The war on drugs, the war on crime, the war on poverty, the war on healthcare. The border situation. The opioid epidemic. What Eversource did to NH’s electricity rates.
At the end of the day, everyone else in this pitiful chain of events – pick one, they are all the same – gets paid, and we get screwed.
It sure would be nice if there were a way to fix it without having to *shoot up the place. Wait, there was, but they did the same thing to elections.
*And no, I am not saying it is time for a shooting war. It’s turn of phrase. The second amendment is for defense, not attack.
The post Paid Leave Offered to Government Employees to Attend “Eco-Anxiety” and “Climate Grief” Training appeared first on Granite Grok.
We learned that Senate and House Democrats are fixated on supplying menstrual products in every public bathroom at public expense—this time, they want it provided in state and county correctional facilities at taxpayer expense with SB209. A similar bill, HB421, has already passed in the House, which is now awaiting its fate in the Senate.
Yet again, this bill, SB209, came before the legislature demanding free menstrual products – “for those who biologically menstruate.” Thank goodness it isn’t for those who do not biologically menstruate, although who wouldn’t want to grab a few free tampons to use to clean your firearms? SB209 was tabled with a vote of 357-9.
We learned that kids who need to be placed in another school based on an education hardship (like being a victim of bullying) will be more easily accomplished by the language fixes in SB77. This bill passed on a slim 187-183 vote. Every House Democrat, and Rep. Dan Wolf (R-Newbury), voted to leave the statute as is and make it more difficult to place kids having issues into educational settings that would be better for their learning experience. Passing this bill was truly “for the children.”
We learned SB152 passed 250-123. This bill will require the Department of Education to develop a career pathway in marine trades at regional tech centers. Those who voted against this bill did not like the fact that with this bill, a new commission will be created with spending authority and that there is no legislative oversight of the program. Additionally, it creates programs for a not-yet-existent offshore wind industry which is considered a totally speculative move and is not a fiscally responsible use of taxpayer dollars. As we pay to train more kids in the offshore wind industry, seemingly to encourage the installation of wind turbines off our coast, one can only wonder about the damage that will happen to our fishing and lobstering industries. The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
We learned that all but 6 House members voted to affirm support of New Hampshire’s First In The Nation Primary status. SCR1 is a concurrent resolution that upholds our position on FITN and states that we support our Secretary of State to follow legal action to hold the primary before all other states. The vote was 356-6 in the House after being voted 18-0 in the Election Law Committee. Those who voted against the resolution were Sherry Dutzy (D-Nashua), Molly Howard (D-Hancock), Lucius Parshall (D-Marlborough), David Preece (D-Manchester), Amanda Toll (D-Keene), and John Hunt (R-Rindge).
We learned that SB14 passed with a voice vote after a Table motion was defeated 321-46. This bill puts into statute the definition of a “game camera” and makes it clear that landowners have the right to know if anyone is placing a game camera (aka surveillance) on their property. The majority believes that whether or not your property is in current use, your property rights should be protected. No one should be able to put a game camera on your property without permission. Landowners have the right to know if game cameras are on their property, where they are located, and who placed them there. Landowners can also post signage on their property saying that “game cameras are allowed.”
We learned that SB52 passed 187-184. This bill creates a study committee to determine how to publicly fund an electrical infrastructure to support Electric Vehicle charging stations throughout NH. The argument against this bill was that we did not need this sort of study of public funding when “horseless carriage technology” emerged and gas stations were needed for those traveling by car. We let the free market sort that out on its own. The people pushing this bill are panicked that no one will come to NH, and our tourism will take a nosedive if we don’t hurry up and spend public funding to build EV charging stations all over the state, especially in the White Mountains and ski areas. They are very worried that people will go to Maine or Vermont instead. Rep. Thomas Cormen (D-Lebanon) said, “If we don’t build it, they won’t come.” Rep. Michael Vose (R-Epping) urged people to vote ITL on this bill because we should let EV charging stations evolve the same way gasoline stations did, and we should rely on the free market to make that happen. Besides, why are we duplicating efforts when there are already other entities studying this issue at no charge? (pun intended)
We learned that SB69 was Tabled (190-181) after the Ought To Pass failed on a tie vote of 186-186. This bill would have allowed non-profits to participate in net energy metering, raising the megawatt limit from 1 to 5 megawatts. This means nonprofit entities could lower their electric costs while raising yours. Rep. Mike Harrington (R-Strafford) said, “There is no beneficial effect for allowing organizations like Dartmouth College to save money on their electric rates – they save, and the ratepayers pay.” Ratepayers pay more because this net metered energy is purchased by the energy company at retail rates… not wholesale rates.
We learned that a similar net metering bill, SB79, passed the House by a 194-179 vote. This bill would expand net metering under the Limited Electrical Energy Producers Act to qualifying industrial and commercial businesses producing from 1 to 5 megawatts. This means, again, that the amount of excess energy created over what the business uses is credited at the retail rate and not the wholesale rate. Other ratepayers, like single moms and senior citizens, end up paying more for their energy because the electric supplier is purchasing energy through net metering at those higher retail prices. It should be known that currently, businesses can build a 5-megawatt solar array, but they are limited to net meter only 1 megawatt of it. Opponents of the bill see this as an increase of subsidies to businesses at all other ratepayers’ expense. It was suggested that the Governor is against these net metering bills and is likely to zap them with a veto.
We learned that SB167 – the green hydrogen energy and infrastructure bill – died with a vote to ITL 187-186. The truth is we have no current or planned green hydrogen energy hub, or manufacturing in NH that would facilitate its production or use, so why incentivize the construction and implementation of facilities? This bill seems very premature, but would establish tax credits, and an advisory committee. Rep. Tony Caplan (D-Henniker) said that H is the H in H2O and H is the H in Methane’s CH4… well, I say H is also the H in Hindenburg. How soon they forget.
We learned that the charitable gaming bill, SB51, to create a commission to study charitable gaming and historical horse racing passed on a voice vote, but that SB104 regulating online gambling and directing proceeds to a community college scholarship fund was indefinitely postponed with a voice vote. Gambling made out 50-50 today.
We learned that SB15 was pulled off consent with the intention of adding an amendment to it to repeal the prohibition on the possession, and sale of blackjacks, slung shots and metallic knuckles. The amendment was the same as HB31, which was passed by the House and killed by the Senate. Rep. Spillane (R-Deerfield) sought to revive this bill and tack it onto SB15. The amendment motion died 196-177. SB15 is a bill relative to the use of tree stands and observation blinds (for hunters) and clarifies rules for hunters to place tree stands and blinds on property they use for hunting. Many felt the amendment was just not germane to the underlying bill, or they did not want to jeopardize the underlying bill being passed with this amendment tacked onto it.
We learned that there will be more Senate bills coming our way as our House committees work to have hearings and exec sessions to get them ready for the House votes. Stay tuned.
The post So Kids, What Did We Learn From This Week’s House Session (05/04/23)? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), last weekend defined a secure border on an NBC interview show this way, “… It is maximizing the resources we have available to us, to deliver the most effective results…”
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At the risk of taking the DHS Secretary out of context, his answer is pure, 100% unadulterated, male bovine excrement (BS).
The Secretary’s answer is a perfect District of Columbia non-answer answer. It is the kind of nonsense word salad so often served up by Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the administration. How is it the Secretary of DHS cannot come up with a definition of a secure border?
What’s wrong with defining a secure border as: Nobody comes in, and nobody goes out without being invited, noted, and approved. How about we enforce the law, do so equally and fairly and we stop the de facto nullification of our immigration law… by our own government.
In ten days, on May 11 th, we will stop using Title 42 the World War II-era public health order prohibiting entry into the United States if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes it could introduce communicable diseases into the country. CDC officials invoked Title 42 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March of 2020.
Title 42 allows U.S. Border Patrol agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to immediately expel migrants from the U.S. without giving them a chance to request asylum. In most cases, agents can remove migrants within two hours.
Migrants sent back under Title 42 do not have an immigration enforcement removal on their record and are rarely processed. Instead, they are turned around and repatriated to their country of origin. Under Title 42 order more than 2 million people have been denied entry.
If you add the ending of Title 42 to the gangbanger exodus from crackdowns in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras the situation at our southern border begins to come into focus. There are two dangers: The gross number of people ready to surge across our border and the fact that many if not most are young male gang members fleeing their own government’s law enforcement.
In the hours and days after May 11, the time of expiration of Title 42, we could see over 100,000 people flood across the southern border. Some of our southern border towns have already declared a state of emergency to deal with the influx of people.
Our southern border is not secure. The proof is the mayors of the cities on the border feel they have to declare a state of emergency to handle the situation. Someone here is not telling you the truth. Maybe it’s time to get off the couch and decide who it is.
Judging by the shootings by an illegal alien in Cleveland, Texas over the weekend, your life may depend on it. Why can’t the leadership of the DHS just level with us about what it is doing with malice and forethought?
The post How Is It the Secretary of DHS Cannot Come Up With a Definition of a Secure Border? appeared first on Granite Grok.
A Transgender student has been removed from Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, after showing more than the content of his character in the girl’s locker room.
Sorry, you could say he exposed his character as well. He exposed himself, spit on girls in the locker room, and then was involved in a fight with a girl afterward.
A Transgender student at a High School in Riverside, California has assaulted a girl after exposing his genitals and spitting at girls in the girls locker room.
According to a student witness, the transgender boy entered the girls locker room and after being confronted for… pic.twitter.com/KEU3mOq7QP
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 28, 2023
That Real girl has got some stones for not having any, you know, stones. She’s all up in his/her grill for the bad behavior, and her opponent is twice her size. She’s not taking any of whatever else it is they’ve got going on there. The report does say they have a history of aggression towards each other, and this is not their first throwdown.
I’m thinking this is a common problem, and the administration was afraid to take any of it too seriously, but 5.5 million views on Twitter changes things. Or does it? Deliberately exposing your junk where “there are present other persons to be offended or annoyed thereby” violates California Penal Code § 314 PC.
A conviction can mean up to six months in jail and up to 1000.00 dollars in fines. A second offense could result in a trip to a State Prison. You are also required to register as a Tier One sex offender for the next ten years.
There is no trans-exception in the law that I can find. This suggests that deliberate exposure in the presence of people offended or annoyed is illegal.
314. Every person who willfully and lewdly, either:
1. Exposes his person, or the private parts thereof, in any public place, or in any place where there are present other persons to be offended or annoyed thereby; or,
2. Procures, counsels, or assists any person so to expose himself or take part in any model artist exhibition, or to make any other exhibition of himself to public view, or the view of any number of persons, such as is offensive to decency, or is adapted to excite to vicious or lewd thoughts or acts, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
I predict no charges will be filed based on 314 PC. It runs counter to the liberal notion that private parts do not indicate a person’s sex or gender, and claiming they felt otherwise at the time is a far greater offense to a Liberal.
They seem hellbent on making pedophilia legal; how difficult could it be to change this law to allow indecent exposure without consequence?
The post Is it Time for California To Make Indecent Exposure Legal? appeared first on Granite Grok.
There’s still a problem here that isn’t going to clear itself out anytime soon. “The New York Times practically wet itself the other day noting that during COVID, the United States “built a European-style welfare state,” and isn’t it a tragedy that we gave it all up.”
In the early, panicked days of the pandemic, the United States government did something that was previously unimaginable. It transformed itself, within weeks, into something akin to a European-style welfare state. . . Since then, most of it has been disbanded.
Since then, we’ve also had the highest inflation in 40 years, and an exploding national debt that is someone is going to have to pay for eventually. Here’s what the transfer payment expansion of that spending binge looks like:
Yes, it’s fuzzy, but the important bits, the size of the amounts taken from others/borrowed out of thin air is becoming astronomical.
The problem is three-fold:
We know who is going to – Generation Millenials and Z and the next few…if it is even mathematically possible to do so (which I doubt). There’s also the political bankruptcy as this is evidencing the Left’s willingness to Cloward & Piven the entire nation just so that, like Cloward & Piven who came up with the “overload the government idea in the first place, they can provide a socialist control “solution” to the problem they are creating.
Doubt me? Have you been listening to the Democrats that have all but lit themselves on fire that NO one should ever be asked to work for the money that Government sends them via the dole (in all of its hundreds of varying fashions)? Further, IF someone is on the dole (and I do wish we could change the language AND the stigma of healthy worker-able adults to not being on the dole), the Democrats want to keep them there for Power. Why else are they so happy to keep these folks in near poverty (that is until the rest of us get wise to the fact that with all the inbound transfers, some are living middle-class lifestyles without lifting a finger)?
But the most expensive thing is the growing entitlement outlook of “Government will always take care of me” instead of being responsible and believing that I am responsible for myself (an adult attitude).
From Cafe Hayek comes this quote from Prof. Thomas Sowell in support of what I say, and many of you know already, about Democrats and those in Government (but I repeat myself):
One of the most dangerous trends of our times is that increasing numbers of people have a vested interest in the helplessness of other people.
Some people get a rush knowing that others depend on them. Others understand that if they are too successful at what they have been tasked to do, their own self-interest kicks in when the realization comes to the fore with:
Er, what will happen to me if my co-workers and I have worked ourselves out of our jobs?
Or instead of saying “self-interest” as I am wont to do, should I borrow the language of the Democrats and call these people selfish instead?
(H/T: Powerline)
The post The Size of the US Welfare State Has Exploded! appeared first on Granite Grok.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is real (TDS). Post-Trump Derangement Syndrome is real (PTDS). The Democrat’s projection of crimes by prominent left-wing actors on Trump is real, and Joe Biden has the distinction of having checked nearly all those boxes in two years while Trump didn’t check any in four.
When nominated and then elected, the Left’s wind machine promised us that Donald Trump was a deviant sex abuser whose economy would blow up. He would start WWIII, the Stock Market would crash, and (oh, by the way) was compromised by foreign influence. They made up a dossier to try and discredit him, and the FBI spent hundreds of millions investigating it (knowing it was fake) before allowing that it was a Clinton Campaign fabrication.
On the Left hand, Joe Biden had piles of evidence that he was using public office to enrich himself and his family. Joe was credibly accused of doing what they claimed Trump did—inappropriate showers with his young daughter. Joe Biden blew up the economy and the stock market, has led us to the brink of WWIII with Russia to hide his corruption in Ukraine, and was compromised by foreign influence.
There’s allegedly a document to prove another bribery for policy pay-to-play scandal, and the FBI has been sitting on it for years.
“The information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national. The American people need to know if President Biden sold out the United States of America to make money for himself. Senator Grassley and I will seek the truth to ensure accountability for the American people,” Comer said.
There are a few different silos of thought regarding the statements by Grassley and Comer and this latest revelation alleging Biden’s corruption.
Republicans have the document and know what is in it and are only asking the FBI and DOJ to expose the “political bias infecting high-level investigative decisions at the FBI, including investigations related to the Biden family’s foreign business arrangements and bank records.” If they refuse to cough up an unclassified document, they can release the copy they have.
Another vein suggests the leak is deliberate and sourced to one of the many Team Obama acolytes in Biden’s White House Orbit, released because it is time for Biden to stumble out of the 2024 Presidential Race that the DOJ and FBI can weather another scandal and be rid of Biden.
Biden Crime Family corruption is not new or even news to our readers. Many accept that he has been pilfering from taxpayers for decades, and his stint as VP was just an amplifier for access in exchange for payoffs. Joe will never pay a price for his many sins against America.
Few Democrats are held accountable, so who gains by making this document leak public? Republicans get two political wins for the price of one. The DOJ and FBI are dirty. Biden is dirtier. Biden can resign or at least not run again. Team Obama gets what they are alleged to want, as do Republicans. They shuffle a few deck chairs on the FBI Titanic, and it’s back to business as usual.
No real change, no prosecutions against any Biden, the money stays laundered, and he sunsets for real with generational wealth. That’s what I’d expect. But is Biden that much of a liability that Team Obama would leak this now?
Whether Biden has ever had control of his faculties or not, the wealth of dirt “they” have (Obama Inc) is all the leverage they need to continue the current domestic influence operation. Biden may be a bumbling, nearly-incoherent idiot, but he’s their idiot. Between naps and ice cream, they can get whatever they want when they want it, and if or when it doesn’t work, Biden gets blamed. There is no guarantee that any other Democrat, groomed and anointed, will do exactly everything the current crop of handlers requires.
They don’t want Kamala; she couldn’t win a primary if her life depended on it and no one can steal that many votes. Democrats don’t like her, Republicans don’t like her, Staffers in DC don’t like her, and I doubt the Secret Service likes her. She’s got as many marbles as any Democrat but has negative sum executive skills and no charisma, and if you offramp Joe your Kamala Harris problem goes with him, but you lose puppet Joe.
Given how shallow the Dems presidential bench is in appeal and capability, I’m having a hard time believing that this is a planned reckoning from the Left. Even if they are convinced Trump will take the Republican nomination and his negatives will allow them to get any stiff with a (D) elected, the control issue looms large in my mind.
Stealing four more years for Joe means they get to keep control. Anyone else presents some risk that they will not follow orders unless they’ve got leverage on everyone else. But here we are. Obama’s minions control DOJ. If they leaked it, then someone has decided that Biden’s accumulating negatives cannot be contained by the narrative mills beneath the Beltway. It is time to manage not so much Joe’s exit (no reelection run), but the media coverage. The media and the DOJ can be made to appear to have had a road-to-Damascus moment.
We’ve seen the light, and you can trust us again, look what we just did.
Don’t buy what they are selling. It’s no different from their TDS or PTDS. The only institution with more infected than the than government is the corporate media.
The post So, About that “Biden Implicated in Alleged Foreign Influence Operation” Business … appeared first on Granite Grok.
This is the third in a series of posts on the ConVal education-funding trial. For your ease of reference, the first was THE CONVAL EDUCATION FUNDING LAWSUIT … ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHNNY-WOKE TELLS THE COURT: THE STATE IS ONLY A LITTLE BIT PREGNANT and the second, HEY PATHETIC NHGOP … CONVAL IS AN ACTUAL ATTACK ON OUR DEMOCRACY … AND YOU ARE AWOL. This installment shows the NHGOP how to fight back … how to beat the corrupt, imperialist New Hampshire judiciary at its own game. And it will be completely ignored by the powers-that-be in the NHGOP … because the NHGOP is merely controlled opposition.
It is pretty simply, actually, dear NHGOP. ConVal and the other plaintiff-educrats wants the court to rule that State funding of public education needs to be approximately doubled in order for the State to meet its constitutional obligation. So … dear NHGOP … tell the people what the practical consequences would be … in letters to the editor, talk-radio, twitter, facebook, etc. etc. etc. … HOW MANY STATE POLICE WOULD HAVE TO BE FIRED, how many snowplow drivers, how many DHHS caseworkers, etc. etc. etc. in order to find the funding.
Do it every day. A full court press. Make Judge Ruoff famous … but not for the reason he wants to be famous. Expose what he is doing … attempting a takeover of our democracy.
Of course the NHGOP won’t. Because they are controlled opposition. They’ll denounce the decision in the strongest possible terms, blah, blah, blah … then sit down with their Democrat friends and raise the taxes needed to pay the bill presented by Judge Ruoff … and then they’ll go fundraise and campaign on how we need to vote NHGOP to keep taxes low.
The post The ConVal Education Funding Trial … What The NHGOP Should Do, But Won’t, Because The NHGOP Is Controlled Opposition appeared first on Granite Grok.
Yeah, my plan is to save this kind of information for Monday’s but Conservative Treehouse just mentioned this CBS/YouGov poll and it had two surprising data elements to it.
It seems that political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy has impressed enough people that by Chris Sununu’s 5% polling measurement threshold hold, he’ll make it onto the debate stage:
(click to embiggen)
As always, Sununu’s own words about setting THE threshold in making it to the debate stage:
Hangover: An “Evergreen” statement by Sununu himself on low-rated wannabes:
Mr. Sununu also warned minor candidates not to carve up the field.
“I think there’s a lot of hope and opportunity for good candidates to get in, drive the message where it needs to be,” he said. “But the discipline is getting out, too. The discipline and saying, ‘Look, you’re only polling at 5%, you got to get out.’ We don’t want a crowded field here.”
While Ramaswamy is not Top Tier yet (that would be Trump and DeSantis), he has now launched himself into Tier 2 territory with Pence and Haley. No small feat in my eyes this fast and for being an unknown. Given his schedule and outworking everyone else in the field to get there, he’s also willing to take on the Progressives on their own platforms. (And helped to knock out Don Lemon, The Self-Righteous Pontificator, in the process). But is almost pitch-perfect with what he is campaigning on.
If you look at the actual poll, “Fights for people like me” is a top item at 94%, and the majority of “likely GOP Primary Voters” are just shy of being the majority in this poll at 49% (with 24% only Trump and 27% NOT considering Trump).
I have to admit, I’m watching Ramaswamy closely (as if you couldn’t tell). No, I’ve not picked a candidate yet as I haven’t heard them all yet; I am that prototypical NH voter that has to look them in the eyes a few times.
So that’s the first data element. The second one?
Chris Sununu wasn’t polled. At all. Zippo, Nada, Nein, Nothing. Not even a mention. Zero % (or a DNF – Did Not Finish if you prefer). Not helpful in reaching 5%.
The post Chris Sununu Presidential Poll Watch – Bonus Edition appeared first on Granite Grok.
In the Midwest, they have tornado sirens to warn of imminent danger and destruction. Those sirens are not fear tactics. They are there to save lives. People across the state are trying to do the very same thing in regard to preventing marijuana legalization (HB 639).
We want to thank Celeste Clark for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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Marijuana is a drug, a plain and simple fact. THC is the active part of the marijuana plant that gets people high. Today’s marijuana products can have THC levels as high as 99%. Higher levels of THC can lead to addiction and mental health psychosis. Regular use of marijuana products can lead to a list of medical conditions.
HB 639 to legalize marijuana in the state is bad for our children, aging population, pets, and communities.
Marijuana legalization is a bipartisan issue. It does not matter if you are a Republican or Democrat. Drug use does not pick a party. Addiction does not care about who you vote for.
Thank you to our representatives and senators who do their homework, listen, and understand that marijuana is available for people with qualifying medical conditions and they know that it is decriminalized here, meaning that no one is being arrested for a personal amount of marijuana.
Marijuana is here already. You can smell it in buildings, town halls, the grocery store, the library, and, as scary as it is to think about, in cars driving by.
Legalizing marijuana will only increase access to and use of this drug in its many forms. Most people have no idea that marijuana forms now include dabs, edibles, waxes, shatter, oils, and products appealing to children. In 2022, 19 children under the age of five experienced marijuana poisoning from these products. This is a fact.
Do you think the marijuana industry cares about our children, our pets, or even our senior citizens? These are the populations that will be most affected by allowing full legalization of marijuana in our state.
Do not be fooled by the promises of money. The money will look good at first, but then, after a year or two, the money goes away, the rules get weakened, and chaos ensues.
What will persist are the issues that are everyone’s problem. Drugged driving crashes increase, car insurance rates rise, children and pet poisonings go up, health care costs rise, more young people use marijuana, substance misuse treatment, and mental health care centers’ wait times lengthen, and emergency room waiting times increase for everyone. That is a long list of expenses that will not go away!
Do you think New Hampshire’s already overworked and understaffed healthcare system can afford this?
We hope that most people do not want our high school students to have more access to marijuana. But that is the very result a House member said he was hoping for to a Raymond Coalition For Youth student who is 16.
The student wrote to members of the House asking them to vote no on HB 639. She explained how readily available marijuana already is in high schools across the state and the challenge it presents in the learning environment. The lawmaker’s response was shocking: “Marijuana is a very safe drug with essentially no overdoses in adults. You noted how easy it is to acquire in school. I think that is beneficial as it leads to less alcohol consumption.”
It is hard to fathom that an adult, never mind someone in a leadership position, would say something like this to a high school student. Alcohol and marijuana are equally dangerous. This comment speaks to the need for better education about this dangerous drug to not only children but adults too.
Most citizens do not want marijuana legalized, but newspapers and news stations in this state rarely cover substance misuse prevention information and awareness events. They come out when people are dying, overdosing, or are a public nuisance. Substance misuse prevention is not commonly a front page or top of the newscast story, but prevention is definitely the reason we do not have more of them.
New Hampshire is known to many as a vacation destination for families of all ages. Residents and visitors alike enjoy our mountains, lakes, rivers, streams, and beaches. Yes, we are surrounded by states that have legalized this drug. Let all of this information be a siren to keep New Hampshire an island.
If people want weed so bad, they can go to those other states. Let us keep NH for all of the people who put the health, well-being and safety of our children first. This is much more inviting and attractive to families and those who enjoy the great outdoors and fresh air.
Celeste Clark is the Executive Director for Raymond Coalition For Youth – The Raymond Coalition For Youth empowers the community to promote positive youth development and reduce youth substance use and suicide risk.
The post No Fear Tactics or Lies, Just the Scary Truth appeared first on Granite Grok.
Often called “The Nation’s Report Card” it measures various subjects like Arts, Civics, Economics, Geography, Mathematics, Reading, Science, US History, and Writing. Given that we are political bloggers here at GraniteGrok, when this came in from the NH Department of Education, I took a look because the title of the email had this:
NAEP releases 2022 U.S. History and Civics results, revealing low confidence in civics knowledge
I’m not surprised at all as I see signs of it all over the place and across all age spectrums. We CANNOT be a functional Republic without our citizens having concrete knowledgebases about the how and why of our Founding, the how and why of what our political system works, and the how and whys of what their civic duty should be. Unfortunately, as we write often, ideology has supplanted (nay, overtaken) information.
Let’s face it – much of the Trevor Project’s “Transgender and Non-Conforming Policy” adopted by school districts is because Superintendents and School Board Members have no idea of what basic civics are or even a bare notion that the Constitution was written to PROTECT citizens from the Government form it outlines. We wouldn’t be having the battles in schools over Wokeness if they did.
Sidenote: I have just started my Round Two with my school district – details to follow.
Students aren’t much better – emphasis mine, reformatted:
CONCORD, NH (May 3 , 2023) — Today, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often known as the Nation’s Report Card, released the results of the eighth-grade 2022 NAEP U.S. History and Civics assessment.
Nationwide, average scores declined in U.S. history and civics for eighth-graders compared to 2018, with civics scores declining for the first time since the assessment began in 1998. The newest results continue a decades-long stagnation in civics and decline in U.S. history scores. Understanding U.S. history and civics is critical to participating in a constitutional republic and living up to our nation’s ideals. The nation has seen long-term static and declining performance in math, English, and now U.S. history and civics.
New Hampshire Department of Education Commissioner, Frank Edelblut:
“Schools certainly have a core role to play in instruction around citizenship knowledge and skills, but the long-term trends – as well as the recent decline – raise this as a concern well beyond the doors of the school,” said “We must ask fundamental questions about how we are educating our youth, and use the data to propel change and growth. While we are disappointed with the results, simply asking schools to do more of the same – the things that brought us here – cannot be a strategy for improvement. The results make it clear that, as a society, we are not serving our students well.”
- In 2022, 22% of students nationally performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level in civics; 31% are below NAEP Basic.
- In 2022, 13% of students nationally performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level in U.S. history; 40% of students are below NAEP Basic.
- In 2022, the magnitude of score declines since 2018 was greater for lower-performing students than the decline for higher-performing students nationwide.
- The newest data reflects nationwide results.
The nationwide results are available here.
When I first started to rail about the Trevor Project’s Trans policy, my exclamation to the Gilford School Board was this:
THIS IS BASIC CIVICS people! You REALLY are going to subvert peoples’ Right to Free Speech and lie to Parents? In this Dillon’s Rule State, where do you, a mere subdivision of the State, gain the Power to grant a new Right to a minor child to subvert the Free Speech of others – what NH Law does that? And what RSA (NH Law) gives you the Power to lie to Parents about the transgender status of their child?
Bupkis. And in fact, most school boards here in NH that have adopted it still don’t list, as they do for other policies where the Legislature has granted them specific Powers to “do stuff”, the RSAs at the bottom of that Policy (note: they can’t – they don’t exist. Yet another failure of Civics by School Board Adult members. ADULTS!).
It comes down to the Government Education system that has most of our children in the schools not doing the job we pay them to do. Again:
And this level of underachievement has been happening for DECADES and when that happens, it isn’t the kids. Look, every teacher probably remembers “that class” that only had two brain cells, each of which was competing to be third. It happens. But when the lack of achievement happens year after year after year, you have to start looking at the adults and the curriculum.
And like Grokster Ian holds, we are back to arguing what the cost of an “adequate education” is on a monetary basis and NOT what a student’s achievement level should be at the end of their government school career. Money isn’t education but it should be secondary – but NH keeps putting that cart before the horse.
And I will posit that this is a managed purposeful decline. There is no other reasonable explanation for it. If our children are not being taught properly, the literal future of our children is at stake. Already, we see Wokeness being taught because of every DIE thought available, every microaggression, and every single one of the now thousands of “preferred pronouns” that we are to know and use knowledgeably before we even have been introduced to someone. We are to acknowledge every class instance of victimhood of yesterday, today, and going forward.
But go ahead, ask your School Board members, your Superintendents, your teachers even basic civics. I’m betting they will fare no better than the average man-in-the-street interview:
I could go on and on. Those are simple to the point of trivial but I’m betting less than 10% (easily) don’t know those answers.
So, for grins and giggles, here is what NAEP believes are levels for Basic, Proficient, and Advanced in CIVICS in Grade 8 (which assumes Grade 4):
Basic:
Regarding the content for civic life, politics, and government, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can describe the structure and function of government;
Regarding the content for U.S. and world affairs, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the roles of U.S. citizens, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the constitution and American government, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for foundations of the American political system, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can
Proficient:
Regarding the content for civic life, politics, and government, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for U.S. and world affairs, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the roles of U.S. citizens, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the constitution and American government, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for foundations of the American political system, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Advanced:
Regarding the content for civic life, politics, and government, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can evaluate sources to draw conclusions about early American political history
Regarding the content for U.S. and world affairs, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the roles of U.S. citizens, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the constitution and American government, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for foundations of the American political system, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can
And the same for US History:
Basic:
Students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level in U.S. History likely can
Regarding the content for change and continuity in American democracy, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for gathering and interactions of peoples, cultures, and ideas, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for economic and technological changes, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the changing role of America in the world, students performing at the NAEP Basic achievement level likely can
Proficient:
Students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level in U.S. History likely can
Regarding the content for change and continuity in American democracy, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for gathering and interactions of peoples, cultures, and ideas, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for economic and technological changes, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the changing role of America in the world, students performing at the NAEP Proficient achievement level likely can
Advanced:
Students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level in U.S. History likely can
Regarding the content for change and continuity in American democracy, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for gathering and interactions of peoples, cultures, and ideas, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for economic and technological changes, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can
Regarding the content for the changing role of America in the world, students performing at the NAEP Advanced achievement level likely can
So, how would your kiddos do?
The post NAEP 2022 US History and Civics Are In: “Revealing Low Confidence in Civics Knowledge” appeared first on Granite Grok.
I’m just going to leave this here:
New Hampshire General Court Legislative Ethics Committee Complaint Form
I, the undersigned, do allege that, in my personal knowledge, the following individual(s):
______________________________________, who hold(s) the position of __________________________,
did commit a violation of law, or of a guideline, rule or regulation of the General Court. In support of my
complaint, I offer the following statement of facts. I understand that the filing of this complaint is confidential
and that the initial review and preliminary investigation of this complaint shall be conducted in nonpublic
session unless otherwise requested by the individual(s) complained against. I further understand that
unauthorized disclosure of confidential matters or materials contrary to RSA 14-B:4, is punishable in
accordance with RSA 14-B:4-a.STATEMENT (May include reference to the provision(s) allegedly violated):
…and let y’all dwell on that…and to whom (thrice).
The post Quick Thought: Heh! Heh! And……..Heh! appeared first on Granite Grok.
Democrat-run plantations with names like California or San Francisco have this notion that they have influence outside their political boundaries. They can’t help but try to project power to get their way in places where no one would ever elect them to public office.
The Left Coast is legion for banning business with or state travel to other states, but San Francisco, the poop-map city by the Bay, out-did even California. States that enacted any law they considered to be anti-LGBT*** were put on a no-fly list. No one in city government would be traveling there, doing business with them, none of it.
Thirty States earned a scarlet letter from San Francisco’s culture-war Pharisees but rather than cause those banned states harm, it made things more difficult and more expensive for San Francisco. While that’s hardly a game-ender for progressives, someone eventually realized it also hadn’t encouraged a single state to change any of the laws that offended San Francisco City Councilors.
No one gave a damn, including San Francisco, so the City Council voted last week to drop the ban.
The rollback comes after a report by the city administrator’s office found that no states ever appeared to change their own laws in response to the city’s boycott. A budget and legislative analyst’s report also found the city had done business with the states on the boycott list. A one-year period between mid-2021 and mid-2022 saw waivers for contracts and purchase orders totaling $791 million. Meanwhile, the budget and legislative analyst also found that the city had spent nearly $475,000 in staffing expenses to carry out the boycott.
The law “has created additional administrative burden for City staff and vendors and unintended consequences for San Francisco citizens, such as limiting enrichment and developmental opportunities,” according to the city administrator’s report. “Few, if any, other jurisdictions implement travel or contracting bans as expansive as the City’s.”
The law “has created additional administrative burden for City staff and vendors and unintended consequences for citizens, such as limiting enrichment and developmental opportunities.”
I guess my first question is, was anyone surprised by that?
Can anyone provide an example of a progressive rule, law, mandate, or intervention that is not an administrative burden with unintended consequences? I’m going to go with no because (and maybe I’ve been misled all these years) that’s the entire point. Administrative meddling is the foundation of progressive politics. Bureaucrats interpreting rules witht
The post San Francisco Drops Ban After They Discover No One Cares appeared first on Granite Grok.