Thursday • April 3 • 2025
Vol.XVII • No.XIV
Manchester, N.H.
In years past, I used to do a lot of “Jettiness” posts: bikes with jet engines, couches with jet engines, roller skaters with jet engines, trikes with jet engines, and of course, who could forget the Portapotty with a jet engine in it?
Well, it’s been a long time since I last put up a Jettiness post, but I finally found something that I’d not seen before – a jet-powered vacuum cleaner!
Colin Furze is a British plumber turned YouTuber of “strange inventions.” I’ve seen his stuff before (I think I posted a couple), but who would think of taking Britain’s favorite home vacuum cleaner, removing its electrical motor and guts, and shoving a turbojet into it?
Sure, it’s more for show than effectiveness (I’ll stick with that other British vacuum cleaner – Dyson), but it’s clear he does have FUN in doing all this.
Watching his desktop laser cutter and 3-D printer was kind of amusing as well.
Sidenote: I do watch a British reality show called “Inside the Factory” (Gregg Wallace, Cherry Healey, and Ruth Goodman), where the point is to go through the entire process of producing some widget (a hard good or food). It’s a bit campy but better than most American network shows, IMHO. One of the factories was the Henry vacuum cleaner factory, and they followed the “Henry” vacuum through the creation process.
No, a jet engine is not an option. You can see it on the Smithsonian Channel. And yes, I have it DVR’d.
The post “Jettiness” – Check Out This Jet Powered Vacuum Cleaner! appeared first on Granite Grok.
In Iranian politics, few groups have sparked as much controversy and animosity as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and its leader, Maryam Rajavi. With claims of terrorism, human rights abuses, and allegations of collaboration with foreign powers, the MEK and the Rajavis have become a subject of intense scrutiny and contention both within Iran and on the international stage. MEK also began a multiyear, multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign to remove itself from the terrorist list, including possible financial rewards to American political figures like Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Howard Dean, MG Paul E. Vallely, John Bolton, and others.
The MEK: An Overview of Controversial Figures
The MEK, founded in the 1960s as a militant leftist organization, played a significant role in the Iranian Revolution. However, its ideology and tactics evolved, leading to its designation as a terrorist group by several countries, including the United States, until 2012. The MEK’s association with violence and its history of attacking both Iranian and Western targets have contributed to widespread condemnation.
The Rajavi Couple: Leaders and Controversial Figures
After the deceased of Masoud Rajavi, the founder of the MEK, his wife, Maryam Rajavi, they presumed a leadership position within the organization. Their hold over the MEK and its political arm, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has been criticized and controversial. Critics argue that the Rajavis maintain tight control over the group, stifling dissent and suppressing internal power struggles.
Many former high-ranking US officials – who represent the entire political spectrum – have been paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak in support of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) or MEK. Ironically, these heavy-weight politicians never talk about MEK’s violent and anti-American history, but they refer to them as ‘freedom fighters’ with “values just like us,” as democrats-in-waiting ready to serve as a vanguard of regime change in Iran. Why?
But the MEK, led by Maryam Rajavi, has collected some influential American friends. They played an important role in lobbying the Obama administration to take the MEK off its list of terrorist organizations last year. Now, they are focused on the Camp Liberty massacre. It’s not an issue that can be wished away; it is one that enemies of the nuclear negotiations can exploit.
Allegations of Human Rights Abuses and Terrorist Activities
One of the most contentious aspects of the MEK and the Rajavis’ legacy is the alleged involvement in human rights abuses and acts of terrorism. Former members and critics have accused the MEK of employing cult-like tactics, including forced marriages, isolation, and torture. Additionally, claims of the group’s involvement in assassinations and bombings have persisted, further tarnishing its reputation.
Controversial International Connections and Collaborations
The MEK has garnered attention for its alleged collaborations with foreign entities, particularly the United States. While the U.S. officially removed the MEK from its list of designated terrorist organizations, critics argue that America’s association with it raises concerns about double standards in counterterrorism efforts. Claims of U.S. support for the MEK as a potential replacement for the Iranian government after Khamenei’s tenure add fuel to the fire, heightening tensions within Iran.
Public Perception in Iran
The MEK is almost universally denounced by Iranians worldwide and is still regarded as a terrorist group. After aiding the Islamic Revolution in 1979, bloody street battles occurred against Iran’s eventual leadership. As a result, the MEK waged war against Iranians. The group took refuge in Ashraf, Iraq, where they aided Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War. Saddam Hussein employed this special brigade in his deadly operations against Kurds and in repressing the Iraqi Shia.
The MEK and the Rajavis’ controversial legacy continues to divide opinions and generate intense debate. Accusations of terrorism, human rights abuses, and collaboration with foreign powers have contributed to their negative image, particularly within Iran. After Khamenei’s departure, the alleged aspirations of installing the MEK added further complexity to an already contentious situation. As the MEK’s influence and international connections persist, the controversy surrounding the group will likely endure, shaping Iran’s domestic politics and relations with the international community.
Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) is known for its cultish Foreign Terrorist Organizations represent a critical threat to Iran’s indigenous democratic movement. Unlike Iran’s democratic opposition, which advances through nonviolence the principles of democracy and human rights, the MEK is an undemocratic organization that pursues its agenda through violence.
The Western world must realize that this group has almost zero popularity in Iran and stop wasting their money to propagate a cultish group that will never have a chance to be involved in Iranian politics.
The post The MEK: Controversies and Allegations Surrounding Iranian Opposition Group appeared first on Granite Grok.
Maybe you heard? Sound of Freedom is blowing the doors off the box office as Demcorats and progressive water carriers yell “Qanon conspiracy” to anyone who will listen – while the Feds are charging a local NH Democrat and his former girlfriend with child sexploitation.
Related: Sex Offense Attorney Arrested While Viewing Child Porn in His Bedroom
The Laughton arrest is not news, not now, not at any point in the past decade or more. Laughton, who currently identifies as a woman, has an extensive criminal history as well as an admitted preference for biological females as young as whatever. It’s kind of ironic, really, and should be the default go-to response to any lefty or nutjob who badmouths a movie about rescuing an immigrant child from human traffickers.
Sound of Freedom is a Qanon conspiracy.
Stacie Laughton.
None of that child trafficking stuff is true; that doesn’t happen.
Stacie Laughton.
Related: Democrats Need to Make Up Their Minds About Child Trafficking
Just keep at it until they block you, which will happen quickly because Laughton wasn’t just arrested for naughty behavior.
Stacie Laughton, 39, has been federally charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and aiding and abetting by the US Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts. Lindsay Groves, Laughton’s former girlfriend, was the alleged teacher at the center who helped Laughton, a former NH lawmaker, gather the images and has been charged with child exploitation.
Groves allegedly used bathroom breaks for the children, such as diaper changes, to take pictures of the children in the bathroom and would send the photos to Laughton.
There were over 2,500 text messages between Laughton and Groves on the phones obtained by the prosecution. These included at least four sexually explicit pictures of children between three and five years of age.
According to the Boston Herald, in one alleged text from Groves, she said to Laughton, “I want to do this with you with one of my kids.” The text was in conjunction with a picture focused on the genitals of a prepubescent boy.
Laughton allegedly responded, “I also need to be honest I mean yes that picture was hot of that little boy but you probably have gotten the picture by now that I prefer little girls (sic), but he is cute.”
One count seems to be a few thousand counts shy to me, given the volume of traffic between them.
The teacher and alleged ex-girlfriend of transwoman Stacie Laughton [Laughton also has an ex-wife (also biological female)] was taking pictures of kids with their pants down in the bathroom and texting them to him her.
You could easily make the case that Laughton changed his gender to gain access to women and girls which we now know includes very young girls, and yes, Laughton still has his her penis. There is a text floating around in which he she wishes he she could violate a young girl with it.
Related: Women’s March Bemoans Shutdown of Prostitution and Child Sex-Trafficking Site
But hey, none of that stuff is true. No one does that. It’s all a conspiracy fomented by bigots, and that movie about human trafficking is BS, except that, as I noted here, the Demcorats and their blessed government spend a lot of money on investigating the human and sex trafficking of children.
Are you gonna tell me that’s actually CIA black ops money? And what about the 85,000 immigrant kids the Biden administration misplaced?
HT | AoSHQ
The post While Dems Whine About ‘Sound of Freedom’ Feds Charge Stacie Laughton and “her” Friend with the Sexual Exploitation of Children appeared first on Granite Grok.
Beijing has told our leadership: Nope, we don’t want to. But thanks for asking. Our Climate Envoy, John Kerry, arrived in China last Sunday. The purpose of his trip is to ask China to redouble its efforts on climate change emissions.
We want to thank Marc Abear for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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China’s economy produces more carbon dioxide in a year than all of the industrialized economies of the world combined. The problem is getting worse, not better, in China despite their utterances to the contrary. China is opening two new coal-fired electric generation plants per week.
Western countries are shutting our coal plants down. That is what Mr. Kerry is going to be negotiating for three days. Don’t expect any change or concessions. China is all about what’s best for China.
China’s response to Mr. Kerry is China installs more solar and wind capacity than all other countries in the world. Last week, however, the South China Morning Post reported President Xi’s comment, that“… While solar and wind are important. It is more important that the country has reliable energy. China will get that from oil and coal…” China believes it has become too reliant on energy harvested from solar and wind. The use of those sources is too unpredictable, too unreliable, and has led to power shortages.
Last week the Chinese outlet The Global Times said, Beijing wants the oil and coal, but it might be willing to make a deal, but they will need a sweetener to motivate them to change their plans. Experts are pessimistic about Mr. Kerry’s mission yielding results unless the U.S. shows sincerity in improving ties with China.
China is telling America and the West they will play ball. But… they are only going to do so if they get reductions in tariffs, more favorable trade terms, and removal of the U.S. military from the South China Sea.
Okay, so riddle me this. If China thought climate change was a man-made, real, immediate, urgent threat, that’s what Biden tells us it is, what European leaders tell their citizens. If China believed the climate narrative, wouldn’t they work to stop or reverse it?
Think about it. Isn’t that what they did with the one-child policy when they thought overpopulation was a real threat? The Chinese act is based on self-preservation. Nobody would have to tell them to act. Bargaining would be unnecessary.
But the Chinese don’t want to act on the climate narrative. Instead, they are building coal plants at a record rate. They have been doing so for a long time and plan to continue.
What if the Chinese are looking around and seeing the rest of the world harming their own economies because of climate change? What if China is amused by what’s going on? What if everyone else weakens their own economies, trying to operate more cleanly? Troubling, no?
What if the Chinese focus on growing their economy so they can dominate the future? What if their strategy is to become the dominant economic force so they can build dominant military strength? What if the Chinese have a stranglehold on solar panels and chips and AI in the future? What if we all learn Mandarin?
Or maybe we could wake up and fly right. We can be energy independent. We can make our own weapons. We can feed ourselves. Commonsense doesn’t cost a nickel, and it can keep us free and self-governing. Just saying… What if?
The post America Is Asking China to Tackle their Climate Change Emissions. appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Vermont Press is “flooded” with stories about the heavy rain and damage to livelihoods and lives as a result. Residents are sharing stories pun by the media with the typical bias, ignorance, and incomplete research we’ve come to expect, especially on weather events.
Eric Worrall, at Watts Up With That, shares a tale of woe and hardship from The Atlantic, with all the necessary hyperbole (if you’re interested), and then brings receipts to demonstrate the media’s deceit.
Megan spins a great narrative but ignores the reality that Vermont, like other landlocked mountainous regions of the world, is prone to severe flooding.
The following is from Worst Flood Events in Vermont’s History.
I’m guessing Vermont is full of houses which probably should never have been built due to flood risk. FEMA bought out 90 homes in Vermont in the wake of the 2011 floods and demolished them, but this is likely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to poorly sited housing developments. Perhaps the apparent break between severe flood events from 1938 – 1973 lulled politicians and planning officials into a false sense of security.
In other words, as usual, someone is distorting the events and history to advance a current political priority. But if you do even a little bit of research, the approved narrative doesn’t hold water.
HT | WUWT
The post “The Once in a Century Floods Which Happen Every 10-20 Years.” appeared first on Granite Grok.
Yesterday, as I write this on Friday for publishing on Saturday) was a complete sinkhole. Got absolutely nothing done in any aspect. Yes, there were reasons, and all of them led to one thing – I was in no mood to write. Hey, it happens.
And given how Life is throwing challenges at us, I’m just surprised that it isn’t happening more often while other stuff keeps dropping on the floor. So, I surfed a bit (and only had time for a little bit of that), and this popped up:
New Jersey Governor Seeks to End All Gas-Powered Vehicle Sales by 2035
No surprise there – most Democrat governors are all in with the “keep it in the ground” and hating on the fossil fuels that have made modern life possible. It’s just one more example of elected officials starting to RULE rather than doing the Representative GOVERNING that our Constitutional system set up. We fought a Revolutionary War to cast off a Ruler (King George) and to be able to self-govern and no longer be subjects and serfs.
The first paragraph under the title was what set me off (emphasis mine):
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy proposed rules this week requiring car manufacturers to increase the sales of electric vehicles and would mandate a total ban of all gas-powered vehicles over the next 12 years.
Rules? Really, rules? Er, what about doing your job and creating legislation? After all, you’re supposed to be the unitary leg of our three branches of government in NJ, right? Your Legislature creates bills, you sign them into Law, and the Judiciary is supposed to play umpire, right? Rules aren’t Law except…well, this first:
In a news release on Monday, the Democrat governor announced the Advanced Clean Cars II proposal was submitted to the state’s Office of Administrative Law that would mandate more sales of zero-emission vehicles. The proposal has to be approved by that office before it can take effect.
“By filing the ACCII proposal, we build upon our nation-leading record of bold climate action while delivering on our promise to utilize every tool at our disposal,” Mr. Murphy said in the release. “Our commitment to bringing the ACCII proposal to fruition is a commitment to every New Jersey family and the air they breathe, air that will be cleaner and healthier tomorrow thanks to the steps we’re taking to reduce emissions today,” he added.
Ta-Da! Welcome to the Administrative State – the goal of Progressives since the early 1880s! We rubes are just too dumb to know what is best for us – we’z needs Expoits to tell us what to do. You know, like we wuz chil’ren.
He just announced himself to be the elected King of New Jersey. Who needs a silly Legislature when I now have my own fiefdom of bureaus, commissions, boards, and “Offices” that can do what he commands out of the eye of the public and not have to go through that long-drawn-out affair of lots of hot air, draft after draft, hornswoggling and trading tit-for-tat by people elected to do that kind of thing. And further, he doesn’t have to worry about it failing. And the big lament (and attitude):
I want what I want and I want it NOW! How DARE you say no!
Never happens this way. No stubborn Democrats to get in his way and those obstructive Republicans that would stop this by saying “No, PEOPLE should decide for THEMSELVES and not Government!” can go pound sand.
And by this, it ends up that the people of New Jersey are cut out of the loop. They have lost “self-governorship” both of their Government and of themselves. Welcome to the Soviet Union, Communist China, and the Stasi East Germans.
But boy, he only wants “the best” for you all. Isn’t that just nice and dandy?
And of course, the DUFUS Republicans start yammering about the wrong thing:
Mr. Murphy’s proposal has drawn flack from state Republican officials, including Senate Minority Leader Steven Oroho, who described the proposal as unrealistic. A number of New Jersey households rely on cheaper, used gas-powered vehicles to get around, and the proposed rules would drastically increase prices.
“It seems the governor was serious when he said he wants to turn New Jersey into the California of the East Coast,” Mr. Oroho said in a recent statement. “Somebody should tell him that’s not a good thing when people and businesses are fleeing California in droves as the Golden State declines under liberal policy failures.”
Did you see what just happened there? What the proper response SHOULD have been – and is completely missing?
Oroho, with his answer, essentially assented that he and the other legislators are irrelevant. They are no longer part of the process. With “described the proposal as unrealistic”, he showed he disagreed with the premise (govt WILL take away your preferred mode of travel) but is in complete agreement that the Administrative State should be in control.
And Oroho wasn’t the only one:
On Monday, other Republican lawmakers said that the rule would make living in the state far less affordable, adding that stopping gas-powered vehicle production “only caters to the rich” who can afford EVs. “When you have people that are living on fixed incomes, they simply cannot afford to replace their affordable gas-powered vehicle with a more expensive electric car,” said state Sen. Robert Singer, a Republican.
They ought to just quit now as they’ve already given up their Power.
In fact, the NH Republicans are similar – by going along with the Democrats in creating and preserving the Executive Branch making its own “regulations as Law” (re: JLCAR), our same stage has been set.
In both cases and CERTAINLY at the Federal level, the Executive Branch has been larded up for two reasons:
They half-ass the jobs of writing bills, tossing it over the wall, and let the Executive Branch write the actual Law that rules us all. Here in NH, they ought to be writing each bill to outline the small details that they believe they are “above” doing. Or have gotten used to bureaucrats doing it for them.
And no, don’t tell me that you have to process 1,000 bills every season so Doing The Job Right can’t be done because of lack of time.
Make the time. Review your processes and streamline out the stupid bills. Concentrate on the important bills.
Like the first one is to required to DO Your Jobs Right.
(H/T: Epoch Times)
The post Democrats DO Love Them Their Administrative State. Shouldn’t This Be A Legislative Action in NJ? Not According to the Guv! appeared first on Granite Grok.
I’d like to make fun of Governor Nuisance for this, but I can’t. I can only disagree. He wants to use the process of amending the Constitution. That’s the right way to do it. But that’s the only right thing about his proposed 28th Amendment.
The 28th Amendment will permanently enshrine four broadly supported gun safety principles into the U.S. Constitution:
Additionally, the 28th Amendment will affirm Congress, states, and local governments can enact additional common-sense gun safety regulations that save lives.
Newsom never offers the actual language, just a handful of ideas common to left-Wing gun grabbers that have never made anyone safer.
We also have to assume that the definitions of terms like “truly dangerous,” “reasonable,” or “assault weapon,” “common,” or “sense.” After all, when it comes to public safety, I think a reasonable person with common sense should consider Gavin Newsom to be truly dangerous to public safety.
Newsom is also calling for an Article V convention.
Passage of the 28th Amendment will require a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, also known as an Article V Convention or amendatory convention. Working in partnership with members of the California State Senate and Assembly, California will be the first state in the nation to call for such a convention with a joint resolution being introduced by California State Senator Aisha Wahab and Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer. The Governor will work with grassroots supporters, elected and civic leaders, and broad and diverse coalitions across the nation to fight for the passage of similar resolutions in other state legislatures to ensure the convening of a constitutional convention limited to this subject. 33 other states, in addition to California, would need to take action to convene such a convention.
Is Newsom doing this to hijack the effort already underway to convene just such a convention to advance gun-grabbing progressive priorities? Or is he hoping to undermine the effort by the Liberty Amendment folks hoping an Article V convention can be convened to restrain abuses by the federal government?
The risk of his proposed Article 28 will have to enter any discussion by state legislatures courted for an Article V convention could undermine the effort to achieve the states needed.
There was a heated debate on our pages this past session over the good or bad (real or perceived) of such an endeavor. It is actually quite good with both sides, including lobbyists, lawyers, and others, adding their thoughts. The same debate occurred in grassroots groups, GOP committees, and the debate is good. It should not be mistaken for division but often is, by one side or the other, in an effort to get their way. The question was whether New Hampshire should add its name to the list of states needed to hold such a convention.
The New Hampshire Legislature rejected the 2023 proposed measures to enter into such an agreement. HCR 1 failed to pass the NH House 156-192. HCR4 died in the same chamber 224-145. Not exactly close, but how does Newsom’s proposed gun-grabbing amendment play when the Article V folks rally for another shot?
Does it rally Democrats to support it? Enough to push it through? Do Republicans use that and try to pass it despite this new risk, or do more of them shift or balk? Is that what Newsom wants, or does he truly think he can scratch his gun-grabbin’ itch with a constitutional amendment?
The post Gavin Newsom’s Proposed Gun-Grabbin’ 28th Amendment appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Florida State Board of Education recently approved new guidelines for teaching black history in public schools. There were eruptions from critics who pointed to one of the guidelines included in the 215-page document you can find here.
Literacy in any academic subject, in this case, history, is always a benefit to public school students. However, when politicized critics enter the picture, this can start a political battle. That’s what seems to have happened here.
If you read the document, there is quite a bit of academic content that students will have to learn. This kind of historical information benefits children. You can read the document, and decide for yourself if this ONE guideline is worthy of criticism.
According to Reuters, critics gave the new guidelines a poor grade and reported this:
July 20 (Reuters) – Florida’s board of education has approved new guidelines for teachers on how Black American history should be taught despite sharp criticism from some educators and civil rights groups.
Among the new guidelines for educators are “benchmark clarifications,” including one for middle school students that states “instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
The board of education approved the new teaching guidelines for kindergarten through high school on Wednesday. Florida’s Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said during the board meeting in Orlando that the guidelines go into the “tougher subjects” of slavery and racist violence, as appropriate by age.
“Nothing was removed, including what we continue to say was the good, the bad and the ugly,” Diaz said at the board meeting.
William Allen and Frances Presley Rice, both members of the working group that developed the new guidelines, said in a statement Thursday that the new language regarding slaves learning specialized skills was meant to show they were not merely victims.
“Florida students deserve to learn how slaves took advantage of whatever circumstances they were in to benefit themselves and the community of African descendants,” according to the statement from Allen, a political scientist, and Presley Rice, an author who co-founded a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness about the roles African Americans have played in the nation’s history.
Critics are charging that the guideline explains how the slaves also learned specialized skills while they were enslaved. If anyone has been following the political battle on Critical Race Theory, this may sound familiar. Critics of CRT have argued that CRT paints all blacks as “victims.” You can see that in this interview with Condoleeza Rice when she appeared on The View:
Rice criticizes how the discussion on race has meant that black people have to feel disempowered, ie..believe that they are victims. She goes on to say that she would like black kids to be completely empowered to know that they are beautiful in their blackness. She criticizes the radicalized CRT message that she believes hurts black children.
Critics of the Florida guidelines seem to be concerned that explaining how slaves acquired some skills while enslaved somehow diminishes the impact of slavery on those who were enslaved.
Who is right, and who is wrong?
Let’s take a look at who developed the guidelines. Are they white supremacists ? What kind of people would mention the skills slaves acquired while they were enslaved? Does that try to diminish the evils of slavery? Or does it show the resilience the slaves had during that time in American history?
You need to at least scan through the document to see what students will be learning. In the past, critics have charged that history has been whitewashed. Information has been left out so that students weren’t learning authentic facts and information on slavery in America. Scan through the topics to get a good idea about what and how slavery will be taught to the students in the Florida public schools. You decide if they will be learning a great deal of information, or not.
In addition, look at who is defending these guidelines. Who wrote them? Do they have some kind of white privileged background? Are they part of some white supremacist group? NO!
WILLIAM ALLEN
William Allen was part of the working group, and defends the guidelines. Who is William Allen, and what kind of background does he have that qualifies him for working on these guidelines?
William Allen is described in Wikipedia as:
William Barclay Allen (born 1944) is an American political scientist. He has been Professor of Political Philosophy and dean of James Madison College at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. He was a member of the National Council on the Humanities from 1984 to 1987 and chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1988 to 1989.
Allen’s fields are political philosophy, American government, and jurisprudence. He is considered an authority in matters of a liberal arts education.
You can watch an interview about the State of Black America with William Allen here:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?521141-3/william-b-allen-the-state-black-america
Francis Presley Rice
Francis Presley Rice is a Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. who serves on the board of trustees of Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Florida. Rice served in the Army for 20 years, and then retired as a lawyer with the Judge Advocate General. She also worked for the McDonnell Douglas Corp. as a government contract adviser on the law of space exploration. As a U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with 20 years of active service, she received several distinguished medals.
Rice was raised in poverty, overcame bigotry, and took advantage of opportunities in America to become one of America’s top 100 Black Business and Professional Women.
One can certainly argue that their viewpoint may differ from those who see black Americans as victims, but are they worthy of this kind of criticism?
I would suggest looking past the inflammatory headlines. Read the guidelines. Look at the people who developed them, and then decide for yourself.
The post About Those Controversial Teaching Guidelines on Black History in Florida appeared first on Granite Grok.
Dear NHGOP Candidate: A simple question: Do you want to win, or do you want to make an ideological statement? If the former, then you need to go to your local Koch-organization and tell them, “thanks, but no thanks.” The voters who are going to vote for you because of “cut business taxes,” slash regulations,” “limited government,” blah, blah, blah, are already going to do so because of the “R” you are running as. As for the rest of the voters … that is, the majority of voters … they not only don’t care about that sh*t, they associate with “extremism.” So, the last thing you want is to be associated with Koch-world or to put out your own similar campaign literature.
Instead … BE LIKE JUNE. No, not the month. The candidate. June Trisciani is running for Mayor of Manchester. June Trisciani is a COMMUNIST. But you would never know it from her campaign literature. Indeed, you would … if the only thing you knew about June is what you read on her literature … believe that she is a very reasonable, measured, middle-of-the-road, centrist, moderate … okay you get the idea.
Check it out:
June has a plan! She’s going to streamline the permitting process! She’s a friend of business! She’s all about safe streets, and will implement “new technology that … proactively addresses our challenges! Hip, hip hurray! Hip, hip, hurray! And she’s going to fight for “increased investment” in our schools!
June, as I believe I mentioned above, is a COMMUNIST. But you would never know it from reading her campaign literature would you? She doesn’t give a damn about a “pathway to home ownership;” will grow government, not the economy; believes in Illinois/California style public safety and thinks schools exist to indoctrinate children with CRT and DEI. But you would never know it from reading her campaign literature would you?
June and her ilk do it the right way. They run as reasonable, pragmatists and then … once elected … govern like the rabid Communists they are. Republicans run like ideologues and then govern like p*ssies.
My advice to GOP candidates. Just substitute your picture for June’s and adapt it for the office you are seeking. And then once you get elected … if you want to thank me … do so by NOT governing like a p*ssy.
The post The NHGOP Needs To Learn To Lie Like June appeared first on Granite Grok.
Assuming you are not a regular reader of the Laconia Daily Sun, which I typically call” Pravda on the Lake,” attached is a letter to the editor in which the writer attacks, among others, Larry Arnn, Hillsdale College President, the new charter school being established in the Lakes Region, our beloved Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut, our Majority Leader in the NH House Jason Osbourne, and our NH House Rep Glenn Cordelli.
Of course, when you are taking flak, it is a sign that you are over the target.
I assume that the letter writer, like most who write to the paper, is a Lefty-wingnut lackey for the public school and school union establishment. My response is this:
To The Daily Sun,
The recent letter from Janice Michaud [reproduced below – Editor] attacking the new public charter school in the Lakes Region, North Star Academy, and some of its supporters, fails to provide the rest of the story.
North Star Academy is a public charter school — emphasis on “public” — being established under applicable state law. It is another public school — one that gives parents in the area a choice in how their children are to be educated.
We have a few public charter schools in New Hampshire. Most have been successful, but a few have actually closed, whether because of insufficient enrollment, insufficient finances, or otherwise. That is what happens in the free market: competition.
Public charter schools are only one of several education options open to parents who may not want their children indoctrinated in our ordinary public schools, many of which are simply mediocre. If our ordinary public schools are doing such a great job, they will survive by competing and without compelling parents to utilize them as their only option.
The amount of taxpayer funding allocated to public charter schools is actually tiny compared with the per-pupil cost for our ordinary public schools throughout the state that is borne by our local property taxpayers.
Putting unused or under-utilized public buildings to use by public charter schools makes sense to everyone involved, especially the taxpayers.
Hillsdale College is a bastion of freedom. It is among less than a handful of colleges in our country that accept no federal funding or any federally sponsored student loans. It is supported exclusively by private sources. And its president, Larry Arnn, is a distinguished, articulate professor and Churchill scholar.
Only time will tell whether the North Star Academy will be successful, but clearly it will be of benefit to parents in our area and their children.
The LtE that I mentioned:
Janice Michaud: Hillsdale College president claims anyone can educate children
To The Daily Sun,
The North Star Academy proposed for Ossipee is an attempt to destroy public education in New Hampshire. That was confirmed a year ago by remarks made by Dr. Larry Arnn, president of Michigan’s Hillsdale College, which developed the North Star Academy curriculum.
Arnn didn’t know someone was secretly making a video when he told the governor of Tennessee that “education destroys generations of people” and “teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.” (Source: https://tinyurl.com/5n8r6jf9).
One would assume he would include our own Plymouth State and University of New Hampshire, among other schools in New Hampshire.
His solution: “We are going to try to demonstrate that you don’t have to be an expert to educate a child because basically anybody can do it.”
If anyone can do it, why are Frank Edelblut, Gov. Chris Sununu’s appointed commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education; Jason Osborne, GOP majority speaker of the state House; and Rep.Glenn Cordelli (R-Tuftonboro) giving away our former Carroll County Courthouse plus $1 million in taxpayer dollars to jumpstart North Star Academy in Ossipee? In the state of New Hampshire, where its education is ranked sixth in the nation, this plan would be a travesty to public schools across our state. (Source: U.S. News and World Report.)
Since North Star Academy is not a done deal, let’s give them the boot like school districts across Tennessee did after hearing Arnn’s disgusting remarks aimed at denigrating our smart, dedicated and hardworking public school teachers.
Janice Michaud
Tuftonboro
The post Attack on Chartered Public Schools & Hillsdale College appeared first on Granite Grok.
Senator Chuck Grassley has released the 1023 of a trusted FBI source that confirms that Burisma paid millions in secret bribes to Hunter and Joe Biden. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy should initiate an impeachment IMMEDIATELY. In case you make the horrible mistake of relying on NH-NeverTrump Journal, WMUR and/or some other enemy-media for your “news”, some real news:
I’ve released the 1023 I’ve been working on getting from the FBI for a yr. Now u can read it for yourself thx to patriotic whistleblowers pic.twitter.com/ooGYR7fU02
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 20, 2023
Burisma's top executive told a confidential source for the FBI that he funneled money to the Biden family in ways that would take investigators "10 years" to unravel the money laundering scheme used to provide "illicit payments to Joe Biden."
Joe Biden's name is all over this… pic.twitter.com/pOQ8yI8KWr
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) July 20, 2023
2015: Burisma pays a $10,000,000 bribe to VP Joe Biden and Hunter Biden to have prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired
2018: Biden brags publicly about getting Shokin fired.
2019: Trump gets impeached over a phone call with Zelenskyy asking him what happened to the prosecutor. pic.twitter.com/3LCMffERk0
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 20, 2023
This makes Watergate look like child's play:
– Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsk paid the Biden's $5,000,000 to get Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired according to an FBI source.
– Zlochevsk hired Hunter Biden despite thinking he was dumber than a dog.
– Burisma admitted the… pic.twitter.com/BqJMD2LLvE— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 20, 2023
BREAKING: Senator Chuck Grassley released the FD-1023 form, alleging that Mykola Zlochevsky, Burisma's founder, paid a $5,000,000 bribe each to Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden to have Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired.
Hunter was reportedly hired by Zlochevsky… pic.twitter.com/TVHVISXtPe
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) July 20, 2023
The FBI (aka Friends of Biden Inc.) LOVED LEAKING that Phony “Steele Dossier” but COVERED UP this SMOKING GUN DOCUMENT. (It says JOE BIDEN took Bribes from Burisma to have that Prosecutor Fired) and there are TAPES!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/TwMrCMj25X
— Greg Kelly (@gregkellyusa) July 20, 2023
Today's New York Post headline.
"Ukrainian big said Hunter is dumber than my dog but was coerced to bribe the Biden for Joe's help." pic.twitter.com/biHKYugcw6
— Catturd (@catturd2) July 21, 2023
The post So Now What’s The Excuse For Not Impeaching Biden? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Like con men everywhere, leftists/Marxists/Democrat leaders (“Democrats”) often use commonly understood benign-sounding words to deceive people. Examples:
(Note: “Diversity” doesn’t make a nation strong; diversity is a divider. Strength comes from shared values; that is why our motto is “E Pluribus Unum.”)
“Equity” generally means fairness and impartiality. “Democrats” use “equity” to claim that people must compensate other people that they didn’t harm and perhaps were never harmed; e.g., requiring people who weren’t slave-owners to reward people who were never slaves. (Our courts exist to punish criminals and resolve real claims for injury.)
When “Democrats” speak, look beyond their words to their true meaning.
The post Democrat Words Don’t Mean What You Think … appeared first on Granite Grok.
On July 27th, find out the truth of the world government power grab that too many Americans have accepted as being almost”American as Apple Pie.”
Behind the banner of “environmentalism” called Agenda 30 looms an enemy that represents a threat to the survival of our American Republic, so powerfully financed, they can steal our liberty without a shot being fired.
We want to thank Charles Bradley for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.
It’s a war on the: farmer, local government, state government, and the U.S. Constitution. And is all part of a plan to control the world called “The New World Order.”
If you are concerned about knowing the true agenda of Agenda 30 and The New World Order Insiders behind it , please plan to attend Dave Giordano’s exposure of Agenda 30 and the threat of the New World Order to our American Republic. The program starts at 6:30 PM on July 27th and will be held at the Marion Garrish Community Center at 39 W. Broadway, Derry, NH.
For more information, please call John Birch Field Coordinator Matthew Rhodes at 207-391-0970 or email mrhodes@jbs.org .
The post Choose Freedom – Stop Agenda 2030 appeared first on Granite Grok.
I had the opportunity to interview a remarkable young woman this week. I asked for this interview because I was intrigued to have heard her story from a mutual friend. This individual is wise beyond her years, a deep thinker, and incredibly rooted in her strong faith. She had a tremendous story to relay to me, but it was just a preface as her story is still being written. After our session, I am confident this woman has great days ahead. I am not going to divulge her name as it is not necessary. I will refer to her as Miss L. Her story stands for itself, and I am impressed with her confidence and eloquence in her storytelling.
I want to focus on her days in High School and College, but one instance early in her life prepared her for what was to come. She was six years old and, along with her siblings, was raised in a very religious and spiritual family. She remembered the day vividly. It was a typical Sunday, and the family had spent the morning at services. She was alone in her bedroom when she felt the Spirit of God enter and consume her young body. Though just a child, she was ready to embrace the spirit and give her life to Jesus Christ. The experience gave her an inner peace and strength she would need to call on soon. She was only six but knew precisely what was transpiring.
Her first challenge was at the Casco Bay High School in Portland, Maine. Casco Bay is an alternative school in the Portland public school system with a minimal class size of about one hundred per grade. Admittance is via a lottery system or legacy if an older sibling had previously attended the school. That was the case with Miss L. Casco was known to focus on the community and prepare students to be solid contributors. Miss L was unprepared for the school’s focus on DEI, CRT, BLM, Religion, and evolution. The school had an understanding faculty, and though a very diverse group of students, these classmates applied the peer pressure that made the high school experience challenging for Miss L. The peer pressure took the form of exclusivity and contentious pointed arguments directed at Miss L during class debates. Topics that were especially uncomfortable involved Christianity, Abortion, Transgender Issues, LGBTQ, and crimes against Indigenous Tribes. Part of the weekly curriculum were sessions called Courageous Conversations, where students were urged to discuss their feelings on topics such as White Privilege, Sexual Consent, Women’s Reproductive Health Issues, and BLM. There was certainly more focus on the student’s role in the community than on education basics. Miss L was fortunate to fast-track and finish her high school term in three years. She was only 16 when she graduated but was ready to move on. The peer pressure had taken its toll on the foundation of Miss L’s beliefs, and she exited high school questioning her core.
She chose to attend the University of Southern Maine in Portland, which allowed her to commute and live at home, saving significant money. This time in her life was extremely challenging. She had suffered what she called “church and home hurt.” She felt that two of the pillars that supported her had crumbled. And she continued to question her religious and political beliefs. She found herself changing her fundamental views on core issues like the viability of fetal life, same-sex marriage, and transgender rights. She even began to rethink the origin and greatness of America. The negativity of Social Media also played a part in the evolution of Miss L’s thinking and life. The pressures of high school, college, and Social Media had brought Miss L to a fork in the road of her life.
She could have been satisfied with her new thinking, but some positive changes happened simultaneously. Miss L again took the fast lane and graduated from USM in three years at the young age of 19. She was now living on her own and was fortunate to find a church that reinforced the beliefs of her younger years. Her inner strength took hold, and Miss L was able to get herself back to a comfortable place of inner peace. She was no longer compromising herself because of intense peer pressure.
Other than Miss L’s pace through these phases of her life, this story could have been about thousands of students yearly. This is the impact of the indoctrination of our children by the education system. Most students do not have the benefits of her maturity, solid core beliefs, and, most importantly, her strong bond with Christ. These components of Miss L’s makeup allowed her to pull her life together. This is a story of individual strength and intense spiritual belief overcoming the trauma of peer and social pressure. It is the story of survival and victory. This story shows the importance of a strong foundation built early in one’s life and the importance of spirituality in overcoming the tremendous pressures put on our youth by the very institutions that are charged with educating them and preparing them to be productive citizens.
I thank Miss L for letting me into her world and hearing her story, and I look forward to seeing what she does with her life. I wish her the best of luck, but with God in her corner, she may not need luck.
The post The Journey Back To Her Foundation appeared first on Granite Grok.
Does Governor Ron DeSantis need to chat with Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis? The former, a right-side all-star, has struggled to gain traction on the national stage, and the latest hint of disconnect comes from a Poll that has him tied with Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ruh-Roh?
I don’t think so, not yet. The sample size is not huge (800 likely GOP primary voters), and no other poll has any result comparable to it. A July 20 Reuters Ipsos poll has Vivek at 9% (DeSantis at 19) while Quinnipiac has Desantis at 25 and Ramaswamy at 2. Ramaswamy lands fourth behind Pence in almost every other sample, with DeSantis second and Trump way ahead.
And not to take anything away from Vivek. He was a nobody on the political stage who put in the work and is saying all the right things, and he has managed to attract enough attention to find himself polling alongside people with a lot more name recognition. The goal is (obviously) to get on the debate stage and impress an audience that still may not know who he is or what he thinks needs doing.
Of course, nearly everyone could be on the stage of the first debate. You only need to poll at 1% in three national polls to qualify, and to date, only Burgum, Hutchinson, and Elder consistently poll at zero. Maybe they can hand their Trump-bashing notes to Christie, Scott, Pence, and Haley.
And no one should dismiss the Kaplan poll out of hand, certainly not the DeSantis campaign. But until it gets mirrored in the more significant polls, we should not expect much to change, even though something should. DeSantis is the not-Trump candidate preferred by most Republicans, but until he’s something more than that, he’s not going to make a serious dent in The Donald’s significant lead.
The post Ramaswamy Ties DeSantis in Recent National Poll appeared first on Granite Grok.
Lost amid all the political and economic news this month was an important bit of data that’s particularly noteworthy as the 2024 governor’s race gets underway. (Yes, already.)
The state’s fiscal year ended in June. When it did, the state posted a General and Education Trust Fund surplus of $538.9 million.
When revenues exceed budgeted expenses by more than half a billion dollars, that’s notable. Large budget surpluses have become so commonplace, though, that they barely prompt a blurb anymore.
And this is after multiple rounds of business tax cuts that critics said would devastate the state budget and leave New Hampshire with too little revenue to fund basic services.
The surge in business tax revenues is one of New Hampshire’s most important economic (and political) stories of the last decade.
It hasn’t stopped. Business tax revenues for the 2022 fiscal year were $323.2 million (or 33.7%) above plan and $68 million (5.6%) above the prior fiscal year.
Looking back to 2012, it’s remarkable how state General and Education Fund revenues have grown. Total revenues for both funds were $3.23 billion in the 2022 fiscal year. In 2012, they were $2.16 billion.
Inflation (using the national Consumer Price Index) can account for $663 million of that $1.068 billion revenue increase. The rest, about $404 million, is new money.
The other big economic news this month was the achievement of a new record-low unemployment rate of 1.8%. New Hampshire’s economy is churning out jobs and revenue. This isn’t all because of the business tax cuts that have occurred since 2015, but they’ve helped. And the phase-out of the Interest & Dividends Tax by 2025 will help more.
While New Hampshire is enjoying these successes, other states are showing why punishing successful residents with high tax rates is a bad idea.
In Massachusetts, the new 9% income tax rate for millionaires helped to push Celtics star Grant Williams to seek a trade to low-tax Texas.
In April, a new 4% surtax on homes worth more than $5 million took effect in Los Angeles. Movie stars including Mark Wahlberg and Brad Pitt rushed to sell homes before the tax took effect, and since April 1, the supply of homes worth more than $5 million has plunged as owners pulled their listings, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
California legislators in June had to cover a $32 billion budget shortfall caused by rising spending and falling revenues. Massachusetts is dealing with declining revenues, and current spending proposals for the new fiscal year exceed revenues by about $500 million.
Keeping taxes and spending low is paying off for New Hampshire’s economy and the state budget. Having the latest state data confirm that fact yet again, as poster-child progressive states spend beyond their means and send rich residents fleeing, is a good starting point for the governor’s race.
Drew Cline | Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy
The post NH Budget Posts $538.9 Million Surplus appeared first on Granite Grok.
Seventeen paragraphs into a story about COVID-19, the New York Times admits something you’ve all known for years. Deaths from COVID-19 reported during the pandemic were overcounted. No kidding? Really?
The official number is probably an exaggeration because it includes some people who had virus when they died even though it was not the underlying cause of death. Other C.D.C. data suggests that almost one-third of official recent Covid deaths have fallen into this category. A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases came to similar conclusions.
Remember that time at COVID Lockdown Camp when you said something crazy like, how do we know they didn’t just die with COVID? Or how they claimed that the public health apparachiks weren’t just saying it was COVID-19 to collect from the bottomless trough of taxpayer money? Diagnosis, admission, treatment, ventilation, and even death resulted in payouts of COVID cash. The idea that this might incentivize false reporting was so crazy it was labeled a conspiracy theory.
The fact that the payout was outlined as policy and reward meant nothing, nor was how it might skew results toward the favored narrative of the political class.
Whatever the motivation, the Paper of Record has finally admitted that the official position of everyone in the media and the Corruptible Public Health Industrial Complex they enabled was wrong. You were right. But there’s still work to do. The NYT is claiming the overcount was a mere 30% – which is still a lot of grandmas – but back in January 2023, WashPo published an op-ed by the infamous Left-Winger (and former Planned Parenthood President) Leana Wen claiming the COVID death numbers were off 90%.
The Times must think they need more time before leaping that far, but they may catch up to the truth eventually. In, say, 50-75 years when all the tyrants are dead. Until then, we took the time to document the doubters and skeptics who resisted the government’s approved talking points.
There are a few more like that in our archive (maybe hundreds more). “Covid” produces about 3300 hits on our site. Articles and research shared that got us flagged, banned, throttled, put in Facebook jail, blocked on Twitter, and we just kept at it.
We applaud the Times for their pathetic 17th-paragraph admission, even if they’ve only met us a third of the way, but as with every such movement by the Covidistas toward truth, we have to ask. Why now?
The post Now That It Seems Safe the New York Times Admits COVID Deaths WERE Overcounted … appeared first on Granite Grok.
We are a large country, and those who live on the coasts wrongly assume that we represent all Americans in values and wants. Most of America is insulated from the problems of the big cities and the population-dense regions of the East and West. I envy these lucky folks who live in the forgotten fly-over areas of America.
These folks are still living in the America we work hard to remember. They are true Americans, and I pray they keep their way of life for many decades.
Jason Aldean is a popular Country music artist that has found himself in a battle this week between small-town middle America and the pompous, self-important influencers on the coasts. The irony is how slow these brilliant protestors were to find a cause to protest. Aldean produced a song in May called “Try That In A Small Town.” It is a story about the social unrest and destructive behavior in many large cities in the Summer of 2020, The Summer of Love.
Jason Aldean knows firsthand about violence and mass shootings. At his concert in 2017 in Las Vegas, a deranged individual began raining bullets on the crowd at Aldean’s outdoor concert from a nearby hotel. There were 59 innocent people killed in one of the worst mass shootings in American history. He speaks from experience and with authority when he chose to publish this controversial single.
The “Try That In A Small Town” video is a collage of actual news footage sampling the violence of 2020. Viewers also noted that scenes in the video were shot at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where a Black man named Henry Choate, 18, was lynched in 1927. The site is also where the infamous Columbia Race Riot occurred in 1946. Nowhere in the song does Aldean call for violence of any type, and it certainly does not hint that shooters or people who participate in violent protests should be lynched.
Aldean says this song shows this behavior would not be tolerated in small-town America. In small towns, people still have values, morals and stand up for each other. Violent protests would be shut down quicker than they started. Aldean released his “Try That In A Small Town” song in May but dropped a video Friday to promote the single while building anticipation for an upcoming album release. The music had been on the air since May with no adverse publicity. The video was a different story, and Twitter was on fire with criticism and support for Aldean.
Country Music Television is no longer airing Jason Aldean’s music video “Try That In A Small Town,” which sparked criticism after its release Friday. The TV network pulled the video from rotation. A CMT spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY in an email Wednesday. Ironically, the negative publicity and banning of the song have only made it more popular and drove demand for downloads. CMT showed how influential cancel culture is and how little they know about their viewers. The people up in arms about this video are not Country Music fans, and those of us who are, are disappointed in the cowardice of CMT.
Amazingly, these same protestors are mute about the people abused and dying crossing our Southern Border. They say nothing about Fentanyl deaths and sex/child trafficking. Yet a video has them riled. These people are irrational and inconsistent; it is a shame they are given credibility by yielding to their demands. Let them make those demands in a small town and see who listens.
The post You Can’t Handle The Truth appeared first on Granite Grok.
Nitzakhon is back in charge of our three-ring meme circus come Monday, so this may be our last dance with this particular form of ridicule for a while. I will continue to engage in regular scheduled blog-induced ridicule, as always.
We’ve got a decent mix of politics and general humor for your outrage or amusement. We won’t judge. Be you.
As always, please scroll responsibly.
This, I know to be true…
I love this picture – never seen her happy before…
No clue if this is true…
The post Friday Meme Overflow (Nitzakhon is Back on Monday Edition!) appeared first on Granite Grok.
So this is in response to this post: Joe Manchin Might Be Our Unlikely Hero. The post describes Manchin as “a moderate Democrat in a government that is more polarized than ever.” The Biden-Regime is packing the federal judiciary with hard-core Communists. Manchin did not cast a vote against any of these Communists until May of this year. If that is “moderate” I would hate to see “extreme.” These judges will … in the increasingly unlikely event the GOP prevails in 2024 … block every single attempt by the GOP to roll back the Biden-Regime’s policies.
As for “polarized” government … WHAT?!?! The UniParty is all in on giving a blank check to Zelensky, and by extension Blackrock and the military industrial complex. The UniParty continues to generously fund the totally corrupt FBI and “intelligence community.” If that’s “polarization” I would hate to see “consensus.”
The post also claims that “Manchin was correct when discussing both parties going too far to their respective fringe.” I would love to know who is a “fringe” Republican and what makes said Republican “fringe.” A Republican to the right of Mitch McConnell? That would make most GOP voters “fringe” because good old, “moderate” Mitch is the most unpopular (18.8% popular per RCP) major political figure in the country.
By “fringe” Manchin is necessarily referring to the majority of West Virginia voters who, based on the polls, see through and are tired of his “I’m a moderate” charade. The truth is that these voters constitute the “middle” and their rejection of Manchin means that it is Manchin who is fringe.
The post Joe Manchin Is Neither A “Moderate” Nor A “Hero” appeared first on Granite Grok.
