Southwest Airlines grew from a start-up carrier back in 1967 to become the number-one airline in 2018. From that famous line in their early commercials, “more champagne?” to their catchphrase today, “your flight has been canceled.”

They’ve come a long way, baby, but they lost their way. Southwest is in trouble.

Southwest suffers from a severe case of complacency. They enjoyed their success and forgot to plan for the future. They are short on pilots and staff, their planes are aging, and their computer system cannot satisfy their current demands. Even their telephone system is down because it is overloaded.

Southwest accounts for over 80% of the canceled flights since Christmas Eve, and you cannot get a Southwest flight for the next five days. Southwest customers are stranded in airports in every state, and many have no idea where their luggage has landed. With the breadth and magnitude of Southwest’s problems, this will not be a quick fix.

We are witnessing a corporate meltdown.

Joe Biden made some comments about the situation before he boarded a flight to St Croix for a holiday vacation. By the way, this is Biden’s 60th long weekend away from Washington in two years. Biden said he would insist on accountability.

Mayor Pete, AKA Pete Buttigieg, made the same claim. I am going to turn this back on Pete. You are the Secretary of Transportation. Why didn’t you see this meltdown coming? We demand accountability from you, Mayor Pete. Our demand is about the same as yours or Joe’s. They are all useless, for nobody is held accountable for anything today! You are not only untouchable for being Gay, but some people are foolish enough to think of Pete Buttigieg as a leading candidate for President in 2024. That is how low our standards have fallen.

Southwest Airlines was given $7 Billion of our tax dollars as part of the COVID PPP Program. That money was to shore up the company and heal the losses from the COVID shutdown. It was also to be used to improve the company infrastructure so it would be ready for the post-pandemic return to normalcy. Southwest used a good portion of the funds to thin its aging workforce through early retirements and lump-sum payouts. The company obviously felt its systems were adequate to handle its business level, which in retrospect, was a catastrophic mistake. Southwest’s internal phone system is so inadequate that pilots and crew are waiting hours to get to schedulers. Flights are canceled because the scheduled team was unaware of the assignment. We have a right to know how our money was spent; if necessary, some of it should be clawed back.

We should have accountability from Southwest and the entire airline industry to get explanations for the problems caused and what is being done to prepare for future demands. But, alongside the airline executives in front of Congress should sit Pete Buttigieg. He has shown his incompetence in handling the supply chain issues, the pending rail strike, and now the airline calamity. His inability to foresee and avoid these problems before they happen is apparent. We are not asking someone to look into a crystal ball and see the future. But we are looking for someone proactive to look at transportation industries and make sure they are taking steps to ensure safe, efficient travel for Americans. That person is not Mayor Pete, but we will never see him held accountable. Accountability is dead.

The post I’m Flying Southwest……Maybe appeared first on Granite Grok.

“OTHER THAN A STRONG RESEMBLANCE TO RACE BANNON, HE BRINGS NOTHING TO THE TABLE: Mike Pence would be a candidate without a constituency.

And let’s be honest, Race Bannon was always cut out to be a #2.”

Simply, a bit better-looking Mitt Romney but with the same charisma deficit as the RINO from Utah. As Guv, he had the chance to stand up and defend his base. When the Left and the Chamber of Commerce Blue MegaCorps turned on him when he signed into law a bill that protected the Religion Liberties of his electorate, he folded like a cheap paper-based suit. Looking for a fierce German Shephard, they got a daschund that rolled over to expose its belly. “Stop saying bad things about me, please. Please?”.

I have no use for him. Even as Trump seems to be self-immolating, I’d vote for him again before I’d vote for the ersatz Race.

(H/T: Instapundit)

The post BlogLine of the Day – Twice the Truths! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Dartmouth continues to shower New Hampshire in glory. They’ve decided that women and minorities are underrepresented in STEM fields, and the solution is one hundred million in scholarships which, at least for now, are not available to white men.

 

The initiative will include “an undergraduate scholarship program,” “curricular innovation,” and “enhanced career and graduate school advising,” all with the goal of “advanc[ing] STEM participation and leadership of underrepresented groups,” according to the university’s news release.

 

Just a few observations.

Who decides who gets into Dartmouth and for which programs since its founding? Dartmouth.

Who decides if someone is eligible for assistance from Dartmouth up to a free ride at Dartmouth? Dartmouth.

Who decides if women or people of color are even interested in STEM fields as opposed to (say) gender studies? Women and people of color and the education industrial complex that claims ownership of them.

Who decides if women or people of color have the educational foundation to advance to a STEM field at a school like Dartmouth – assuming they are interested? The public schools or education infrastructure provide the groundwork, though (I think) we can all agree that most of the applicants will come from private schools.

Who decides who gets into those private schools? The answer has to be white men, but it is increasingly women but none of this matters because Dartmouth spends federal money and cannot nullify Title IX sex discrimination and Title VI race discrimination law.

I’d also add that according to “Mark Perry, a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, … Dartmouth is promoting a “false narrative”… “women are overrepresented in many STEM fields, including biology, health sciences, medical schools, and veterinary medicine.”

By women, does he mean “women” or women with a penis? It’s all very confusing, and therein lies another conundrum. It would be incredibly #woke for Dartmouth to select any number of qualified “women” with penises for a STEM-X scholarship. But what if all the women who applied were born men?

Could Dartmouth get reamed by the SJW, or is this one of those identity politics paradoxes?

 

 

The post Dartmouth College and a Potential Identity Politics Paradox appeared first on Granite Grok.

Back in August of 2018, the “rage” was all the rage. We had HAD it with the way the Deli workers at Market Basket were placing the weight/price stickers on items from the Deli Counter (deli meats, cheeses, seafood, et al.).

The sticker has the weight and price of what you purchased, but it was (too often), adhered over the fold of the bag like this.

 

(Yes, we were having folks over for Christmas, and we all just wanted simple fare – not a regular feature at Chez Skip). The problem was when you got it home and then wanted whatever was inside it, you had to tear the sticker apart first. Note the image above shows it. Below shows that if you are CAREFUL and tear SLOWLY, you get what you want:

That is, the stickie torn but not the bag.  The problem THEN was that when you tore the sticker in half to get it out of the way to open the bag, EVEN IF BEING CAREFUL and SLOW, you ended up with this:

Kevin Smith’s agitation had been building for months. The source was a simple, yet baffling, aspect of everyday life for many in New England:

The price sticker on Market Basket’s deli meat and cheese bags. Often sealed over the zipper, the sticker made the bag “nearly impossible” to open without tearing a hole in its thin plastic, says Smith, who is the town manager of Londonderry, New Hampshire, and a self-described loyal Market Basket customer. His frustration culminated earlier this month when he went home to make a sandwich for lunch and in the process of opening two deli meat bags, destroyed them both because of the sticker’s placement.

“I had finally had enough and did what any person in this day and age does when they’re frustrated with a company practice,” Smith told Boston.com. “I took to social media.”

Dear @MarketBasket, I love you. But PLEASE stop putting the price tag over the zipper part of the deli meat bag. It’s nearly impossible to open it without destroying the zip lock and bag, defeating the purpose of such. Sincerely, a loyal customer. pic.twitter.com/QHuRGSsFf8

— Kevin H. Smith (@NHkevinsmith) August 2, 2018

So, His Excellency reached out on social media as well and Market Basket said they’d change their policy.  Yep, Sununu “fixed” it fer sure – see image #1.  Long term fix.  They’re back at it again.  And I get to proudly say that both Kevin Smith and I now share the same problem. Again:

So, will he go “fix” it again?

Heh!

The post Quick Thought – so NH Gov. Chris Sununu Told Us He Had “Fixed” This Problem appeared first on Granite Grok.

Andrew T. Balcer was convicted of double murder after stabbing his parents and the family dog. At the time of the murder Balcer who is 6′ 1′, 245 pounds, claims they were not supportive of his desire to live as a woman.

 

Andrew Balcer, who goes also by the name Andrea, was one month shy of his eighteenth birthday when he murdered his mother, father, and family dog on Halloween night in 2016. According to reports at the time, Balcer had woken his mother and told her that he was having trouble sleeping. Alice Balcer asked her son if he was having a rough night and embraced him and, while she was attempting to soothe him, he stabbed her in the back nine times, killing her.

Balcer went on to murder his father, Antonio, and their pet chihuahua, Lily. The only member of the family Balcer spared was his older brother, whom he allowed to flee after telling him “it’s not your day.”

 

Reduxx has more details, including how Balcer bragged/laughed on his 911 call to the police about doing the deed.

He was convicted of the double murder, entering the corrections system as male, apparently their mistake. Balcer claimed “his family’s lack of support for his gender transition as a motive” and even announced (at some point) that his parents sexually abused him. The brother he let live and other relatives refuted these claims, which were not considered reliable.

 

“There was no hatred. There was no malice. There was no ill will. There was resignation to be sure but ultimately there was acceptance.

 

As for corrections, Maine seems to have made one. “While Balcer was initially recorded as “male” in the Maine Department of Corrections directory, he is now listed as a “female” inmate,” and “The alteration made to his legal sex suggests he is now being housed with the female inmates…”

 

Images care of Maine Wire.

 

And excellent of the peeps for perps to shoot a second photo of him her for the permanent “school” record. Andrea can also, at taxpayer expense, request a push-up bra to create the illusion of breasts. That doesn’t change the fact that she still has Andrew’s penis.

GraniteGrok has reported on a handful of stories involving men who identify as women housed with female inmates. They have a habit of ending up raped and/or pregnant, but that seems like it’s now part of their “rehabilitation.”

And you’d think there’d be more outrage from the Left. He did, after all, stab the family dog to death.

Nothing?

 

 

HT | The Maine Wire

The post Department of “Corrections” – Maine Man Convicted of Double Murder “Corrected” to Woman appeared first on Granite Grok.

So yesterday, I went down to Concord for two meetings. The first was a luncheon meeting of the SDGA of NH: School District Governance Association. Think of it as a conservative alternative to the NHSBA (NH School Board Association) which trends from “liberal” to “militant Progressive”, especially concerning its Policies. Anyways, it was great to see everyone. And as to be expected with people who like to yak, the meeting went far longer than I thought it was going to last.

I had called Tom Kehr on Monday to touch base and ask if I could stop in and introduce myself to him.  Unfortunately, I had to leave a voicemail for him.

Fortunately, he called back and he’d be happy to do so after my SDGA meeting. So after the long SDGA meeting, I strolled over to his office across from the State House, checked in with the Administrative Services Commissioner’s Assistant, and she brought me right up to his office. Surprisingly, he had been waiting patiently and we ended up having a good productive meeting.

Right now, the operative mission of the Right To Know Ombudsman is to fulfill the philosophy expressed by RSA 91-A and Article 8 – a Government that is Open and Transparent. The emphasis, while knowing that Requesters (those using RSA 91-A to get information from NH governmental entities) have the responsibility to use this tool correctly, is for those entities to do one thing: Follow The Law.  If it isn’t under one of the stated Exceptions, that public body must give the Requestors what is being asked for. After all, Government is to serve the citizens.

However, he has to consider that not all Requesters are “good ones” (like a the story I heard of someone RTKing all the K-12 curriculum that took 3 months to assemble and she never picked it up), and certainly, as I have found out, not all Governmental agencies are not “good” either and believing that their Governmental records are THEIRS and not wanting to give those records to those “outside interlopers making their lives busier than necessary”.  Thus, we both could come up with examples where that relationship was turned upside down. I had to be careful with my stories as they might end up as an instance that I’d have to bring before him to be adjudicated by his new office. He did enjoy how my Berlin School District story turned out (and how – see here).

So he has his work cut out for him – he is starting from scratch other than his experience and RSA 91-A. There is no structure, no process, no history, and no preconceived idea of how the office will work. That’s his job between now and the end of January when the Office is supposed to go live. During that time, he needs to construct everything to be able to intake new cases, hear them, talk with the Requesters and Government representatives, and deciding the merits of both sides.

The one thing that I took away from talking with him was that openness and transparency philosophy that kept coming up. He’s now thinking that perhaps a mix of informal and formal processes will be needed – quick talks versus longer hearings (but still within the 30-day limit specified in HB481 that created the Office). He has to figure out how to catalog the materials, build up a history file, manual vs automated systems, tracking processes, notification process – and everything else that will be needed.

So, given that we Citizens have the ability to influence and suggest, let’s do so, shall we?

If you have ideas, especially if you have done RTKs with both good and bad outcomes for you, leave them in the comments below.  I’ll take groups of them and forward them to Tom Kehr.

We NEED to do this as you KNOW that Governmental agencies are going to be doing the same thing to “protect” their interests – I am fairly sure that the Municipal Association and the NH School Board Association and all of the other lobbying groups dealing with any number of government employees will be weighing in as well.

Let’s make sure our voices, and concerns, are heard.

So GET STARTED!

The post A Discussion with the new Right To Know Ombudsman, Tom Kehr appeared first on Granite Grok.

When UNH created its Bias-freeLanguage Guide, we wrote stories that went national. Then UNH President Mark Huddleston made it disappear and talked about the University’s commitment to free and open speech.

Related: What did UNH Do with that Million Dollars from the Feds to Create Another Bias Awareness Guide?

The guide was gone, but the infrastructure that led to it remains in place to this day and on every campus, leading to repeated visits to this well.

Amherst College made news with theirs. UNH got a few buckets of your money from the Feds to create a new one, and I think the same program probably paid for this one at Stanford. The “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative.”

 

The goal of the Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative is to eliminate* many forms of harmful language, including racist, violent, and biased (e.g., disability bias, ethnic bias, ethnic slurs, gender bias, implicit bias, sexual bias) language in Stanford websites and code.

 

Translation: Mind control through speech control. Resistance is futile. The guide also violates every rule of writing speech or editing; less is more. If one word will do. Being #woke means more words.

Some examples.

 

 

 

A few more…

 

 

 

They are sorted by categories like Ableist, Ageist, Colonialism, Culturally Appropriative, Gender, Imprecise Language, Institutionalized Racism, Person First, Violent, and an “other” for the loose ends like Hip-Hip Hooray, which was “…used by German citizens during the Holocaust as a rallying cry when they would hunt down Jewish citizens living in segregated neighborhoods.”

Being #woke must be exhausting. It’s a wonder they have the time or energy for all of this. Of course, it might be because they are all “neurodivergent.”

 

 

 

stanford language bias free guide

 

The post Having Fun with the “Neurodivergents” That Created Stanford’s Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative appeared first on Granite Grok.

It is worse than appeasement to negotiate a “deal” with the Islamic theocrats in occupied Iran because any deal struck with these mullahs is only another ruse for them to further their plans. The UN resolutions are nothing more than pieces of paper good for burning. They can pass them all they want, the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, proclaims belligerently.

These Islamists go by their 1400-year-old charter of Allah, the Qur’an, the same charter that they hold in one hand while slashing the throat of an innocent infidel and yelling joyously “Allah is the greatest” the whole time.

To the misguided “Supreme Guide,” mullah Ali Khamenei of Iran, a few words are in order.

The civilized Iranians, descendants of Cyrus the Great, find you, mullah Ali Khamenei, and your cabal of Islamists guilty of heinous crimes. A partial list of charges is given below.

Domestically

* You do not represent the Iranian people.

* You are an Islamist terrorist.

*You are a usurper of power.

*You are guilty of transforming a noble nation into a world pariah.
• You are denying and violating a long-suffering people all its human rights.

• You are guilty of beating, imprisoning, torturing and murdering women who braved participating in a peaceful demonstration and pleading for equal family rights, and a compulsory Hijab.

*You systematically beat, rape, imprison, and torture all manner of citizens, from school teachers to students to union workers, for daring to raise their voices against the plight to which you have subjected them.

*You savagely beat and haul to your dungeons of torture and death over tens of thousands of teachers who had gathered in front of the parliament requesting nothing more than their back pay and living wages.

*In late 2009 and 2022, you ordered the Basij forces, revolutionary guards, plain-clothed and government forces to massacre thousands of innocent people in a mass popular uprising.

* You direct systematic genocidal measures against all non-Shi’a religious minorities in Kurdistan and the Baha’is as a prime target, and genocidal actions against political groups; support of international terrorism; demolition of religious sites and cemeteries; for rape, torture, and summary execution of prisoners of conscience; forgery of documents, acts of blackmail and fraud, and much more.

*You arrest some Christians; even your Quran calls “People of the Book,” for observing Christmas.

*You implement barbaric practices of stoning, hanging and amputations for those who are convicted of crimes in your kangaroo courts without due process. You even imprison those few lawyers who rise in the defense of the innocent.

*You plunder, mismanage and dole out Iran’s national wealth with the result that the great majority of the people are living in poverty. Iranian women are forced into prostitution to survive or simply sold as sex slaves in Persian Gulf states.

* Your fascist misrule of nearly three decades has driven millions of Iran’s best children to the four corners of the world. Hundreds of thousands of educated Iranians are compelled to continue the exodus, depriving Iran of sorely needed talents at home.

*You spend a fortune on the nuclear program that you claim is only aimed for peaceful purposes, while turning Iran into little more than a gas station nation, with its precious oil wealth squandered and its facilities on the verge of collapse through neglect.

*You have created a suffocating social atmosphere that has driven masses of people to the use of hard drugs as a way of numbing their pain.

Internationally

* You look far and wide to support any and all terrorists. Your delusional theology mandates the creation of horrific conditions in the world so that your Hidden Imam is compelled to appear and establish his rule.

* You spare no efforts at sabotaging any settlement between the Palestinians and Israelis.

*You arm and train all Palestinian factions such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and any and all that come.

* You direct similar criminal schemes on your eastern flank, in Afghanistan. You consider any democratic system as the enemy of Islamofascism, and rightfully so.

*You work ceaselessly, expand Iran’s stolen funds, and do all you can in support of your Shi’a co-fascists Hezbollah in Lebanon.

* Your hands are dripping with the blood of thousands of Iraqis, victims of your bloodthirsty kin mercenaries aiming to kill a budding democracy in Iraq next door.

* You supplied your mercenaries with armor-piercing projectiles for killing and maiming the coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Your cowardly killing by proxy, using these roadside-planted bombs, has taken the lives of hundreds of Americans.

*You interpreted the highly-subdued reactions of the coalition to your savage actions as indications of weakness. So, you found it in yourself to venture into direct confrontation by capturing lightly armed British sailors and marines in Iraqi waters.

*You are responsible for helping Syrian forces slaughter seekers of freedom.

* You directly orchestrated an attack on the British embassy in Tehran last month and called the action of your “thugs,” “student protests.”

* You plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, Adel al-Jubeir, on US soil.

Time is of the essence; the clock is ticking and the window is closing on the Iranian people. Diplomacy cannot be open-ended.

To misguided advocates of negotiation with the devil (mullahs), beware. The mullahs are on an Allah-mandated mission. They are intoxicated with petrodollars and aim to settle for nothing less than complete domination of the world under the Islamic Ummah. The pressure, led by the vanguard of freedom, university students and notable women are gathering more force. The rule of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) is crumbling. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei must be held accountable and tried in the international court for crimes against humanity.

 

The post Warning to Ali Khamenei appeared first on Granite Grok.

I recently had lunch with a group of people who are concerned about the problems that we’re having with public schools, and who wanted to discuss ways to do something about those problems.

Interestingly, the problem that they seemed most passionate about was the presence of pornographic books in school libraries.

It seems to me that having controversial books in a school library isn’t such a big deal if the kids in the school aren’t able to read the books anyway.  Which, in a typical public school, is true for well over half the kids.

I didn’t get a chance to ask the following question, but I would be curious to hear how Grok readers would answer it:

Given a choice between

(1) a school in which 0.1% of the books in the library are  pornographic, but in which more than 95% of the students are proficient in literacy and numeracy, or

(2) a school in which 0% of the books in the library are pornographic, but in which less than 40% of the students are proficient in literacy and numeracy,

which would you choose?

I wouldn’t hesitate to choose (1).

For me, the take-home message was that if the educational establishment wants to hide the fact (which is demonstrated by more than 50 years of data) that it has no idea how to actually teach kids to read, write, and reason, one of the most effective strategies available to it is to take controversial actions that will enrage — and thus engage, and ultimately distract — parents and citizens who want to ‘fix the schools’.

It’s a special case of the more general idea behind rope-a-dope politics.

That is, the establishment seduces parents and concerned citizens into wearing themselves out fighting over some fringe issues that affect a tiny number of students socially, while ignoring core issues that affect virtually every student academically.

Then, win or lose, the establishment gets to keep doing what it’s been doing — utterly failing to teach kids — while continuing to simultaneously escalate the costs to taxpayers and families, and the benefits to itself.

Once in a while, it may have to sacrifice a few administrative jobs (although far fewer than it’s gained), or amend a transgender policy that no one understood anyway, or remove a few books from a school library.

But so what?  Those are just sacrificial pawns, more of which can be placed on the board at any time.  The system itself — the one in which spending has more than tripled while achievement has flatlined — remains unthreatened.

As a strategy, it’s brilliantly simple, and devastatingly successful.

It’s not unlike the way some military planes, when under attack by heat-seeking missiles, release decoy flares.  The heat of the flares attracts the missiles, leaving the planes and pilots intact and ready to fly another day.

The inclusion, in a school library, of a small number of possibly pornographic books is a decoy flare.

By giving activists a disposable issue to chase after, the plane and pilot — the educational establishment — remain intact and ready to fly another day.

How might things be different if the time, money, energy, and passion that are now being directed at questions like How are these books getting into school libraries? were directed instead at questions like Why aren’t these kids learning to read?

I hope someday we get a chance to find out.

 

The post Using Outrage to Protect Incompetence appeared first on Granite Grok.

As promised in the last Monday Memes, I have an overflow. My meme cup runneth over.  Certain about a Friday Overflow-Overflow.

Now, let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:

 

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

 

Also, for those prepper-minded, my last two Survival Sundays:

Survival Sunday (on Monday) – PREP Edition – Granite Grok

Survival Sunday – Thursday SITREP Edition – Granite Grok

If the best time to start prepping for the inevitable collapse was at least five years ago, then NOW is the second best time.  Even having a couple of months of choke-it-down food, water, and a few other supplies will put you far and away better off than the vast majority of the asleeple sheeple who, when the groceries suddenly run out, will be desperate.

 

 

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

 

  

 

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

 

 

I fear spicy time approaches.  Because clearly VOTING isn’t doing squat – indeed, voting is IMHO completely moot at this point.   They commit outright perjury and nothing happens – elections are still certified.

 

 

Nor do petitions, writing letters to editors or officials – nor protests.

 

(Link to AZQUOTES per their policy)

 

More on elections:

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

What was it economist Milton Friedman said about governments running things?

 

 

Except IMHO he was wrong on one thing: motive.  This level of economic and civilizational destruction cannot be anything but intentional.

 

 

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

 

   

 

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

 

 

No, it’s a population replacement.  Consider an exponential curve.  Since 1965 we’ve been on this path.  This, plus birthright citizenship, have been the means of electing a new population.

How the Left Wins Elections by Transforming Nations – Daniel Greenfield / Sultan Knish articles

I guarantee every female of child-bearing age is “engaged” with someone and there will be a birth explosion among the illegal population.  That, and there will be the regularization / citizenship of these people before 2024.  As if the system wasn’t rigged enough already.  No, TINVOWOOT.

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

Not The Pick, but… indicative of how corrupt the entire medical establishment has become.

 

 

Understand something.  Up until very recently I’ve believed people to mostly be good.  I cannot square that belief with the above – knowing that Run Death Is Near has a fatality rate of roughly 1/4.  Every person who was involved in making this the standard – the only standard allowed – every person prescribing it and every person administering it HAS TO KNOW what the death rate is.  And they do it anyway – even changing the name of what they’re giving to push it into people.

Just for the sake of argument… imagine if a nurse came up to your loved one in the hospital and played Russian Roulette with them.  You’d be livid… if not arrested for assaulting the person trying it.  That – one out of six – is a lower death rate than Run Death Is Near.

 

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

 

Pick of the post:

 

 

I’ve been talking with my kids about taxes.  How, every month, I write a check to the Infernal Reaming Service because I run my own business (about 25% of my gross).  I’ve told them about Social Security & Medicare/Medicaid and the myth of “the employer pays half” when, in fact, that money could go to me – so really I’m paying it all anyway, about 14% on what I could have earned (and you’d be amazed at how many people still think they’re only paying half because they work for someone else).  Property taxes on land I theoretically own – thus making it really owned by the state and I just pay rent.  Gas taxes.  Taxes on electricity, taxes on my heating oil, and on and on and on.

Both kids understand, at least in an arm-waving way, just how much gets taken from our household before we even see it.  My older kid now says “Taxation is theft”!  When both truly get it, my work will be mostly done.

 

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

 

From here:

I want to point out all of the things one might do to turn the tide, but I’m no expert, no Svengali, I’m just some guy with some ideas as how to beat back the beast of oppression and tyranny. I don’t issue orders or demand accountability. I suggest, because I respect everyone’s own sense of right and wrong, moral and immoral and believe, largely, that folks are no less tuned-in and cognizant as myself.

It’s so EFFING simple. Laugh at them, they’re clowns.

Ridicule.

 

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

 

 

Pushing two hours.  Worth it.  I’ve watched this several times.

 

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

 

Palate cleansers:

 

—

—

 

Or in my case, playing the new board game with the kids.  Oof.

 

 

 

 

The post Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

I’ve been badmouthing proposed commuter rail projects for New Hampshire for fifteen years. There’s no benefit. It will never make money, meaning it will cost all of us (equity) to have something few will use. But they keep trying.

Related: Did Dems Rain on Their Own Commuter Rail Parade

Commuter rail is on the progs bucket list, and cost is never an issue for Democrats. There is no amount of your money that they are not willing to spend. Thankfully, three of our five executive councilors were not railroaded by the “free federal money” BS and ended the latest effort at leaping into this bottomless pit.

 

The Republican-controlled council voted 3-2 on Wednesday not to approve an amendment to the nearly $5.5 million contract with an engineering firm, which is conducting a federally funded analysis of the project feasibility.

Council members who opposed the extension argued the project isn’t financially viable, and argued it would result in higher taxes for the state’s inflation-wary residents.

“I think it is time to stop the bleeding in this project,” Councilor David Wheeler, a Milford Republican, said ahead of the vote. “I don’t think this is going anywhere.”

 

NH DOT was seeking an extension so the consultants could get buy-in or details from cities like Manchester and Nashua, which is ridiculous. Both are run by choo-choo Dems. Donchess, in Nashua, frequently trips over himself in his rush to waste money on boondoggles. Manchester’s Joyce Craig is not much different, though I’m not as familiar with her thoughts on commuter rail. It could help her with her growing homeless problem. She could put them on a train and send them to Massachusetts, where the welfare is better. It’d be a kindness, really.

Or how about a commuter flight to Martha’s Vineyard? They are incredibly efficient at relocating people with no home.

It’s not like she’s managed a better idea, though it’s no reason to embrace the rail fail. Commuter rail in New Hampshire would never be more than a budget line item eating resources put to better use – like leaving them in the hands of the people who earned that money in the first place.

Crazy idea, right?

 

 

The post ICYMI – NH Executive Council Puts a Stake in the Heart of Another Blood-Sucking Commuter Rail Project appeared first on Granite Grok.

Our US Constitution seems to be out to lunch, as they say. Some scholars may wish to fiddle with it in order to make it work better.  But I shan’t try that, as I am pretty sure it would be a waste of time.

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That’s because the current Constitution puts most of the job of governing in the hands of politicians, who are not now willing to do the right thing.  During our almost three years of Covid pandemic, I have hardly seen a legislator, president, attorney general, or judge do what the Constitution clearly instructs.

Each of those persons had a responsibility to act, but they were either afraid to act, or they are “working for the wrong boss.” This has brought the nation to an extreme crisis. You might say all government functions have advertised themselves as “not working.” We used to know what lever we could push if we needed something (even as simple as calling the police to get help when a robber is breaking in), but now we doubt that the relevant person will fulfill his/her role.

For the moment, I’m pretending that all the persons outside the government are mentally normal as they were in the 20th century and that all the ones inside the government have gone somewhat nut or become malicious. I don’t actually know that “ordinary citizens” are mentally OK or that officials aren’t, but I am trying to set up a scheme here that asks, “What can be done when a once-ethical government either goes missing or turns mafia?”

So I offer a fresh look at the relationship between people and government by plotting to send a bunch of emigrants to Mars, where they will have a constitution but no government. In short, I am saying that if a particular government is hopeless, folks may have to try to survive by direct “play” with one another.

A Biological Constitution

For the purposes of this article, “Mars” has many of the qualities of planet Earth — trees, water, soil, animals that can be cooked for dinner, and so forth. Humans on Mars will have a life somewhat like the life they were used to on Earth. Their kids will have sibling rivalry.  Some artists will have the urge to sculpt or write poetry. Bar-room brawls will be common. Some men will channel their fight urge into competitive sports. There will be sexual jealousy. All that stuff.

The first fleet to arrive at Mars (don’t ask me how they get there, van Alan’s belt being in the way) will expect to have so-called individual freedom.  But imagine that they have not worked out how they will deal up there.

In 1630, when John Winthrop was en route to America from England with other pilgrims, who did not have a contract, he wrote the following advice.

“Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our posterity is to followe the Counsell of Micah, to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly with our God, for this end, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion, wee must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities. [Greater good! Altruism!]

“Soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us…soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome power goodnes and truthe then formerly wee have been eacquainted with. Therefore lett us choose life, that wee, and our Seede, may live; by obeyeing his voyce, and cleaveing to him, for hee is our life, and our prosperity.”

Wait! I think Winthrop has thereby saved me from composing a Constitution for Mars. He has got the gist from Micah, whose Book 6 is hereby quoted:  “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Imagine if we did our daily work in the midst of a just and merciful society where it was everyone’s duty (enforced, enforced) to treat all others with fairness, kindness, and humility. My oh my.

Enforcement

A friend who has read many of my articles told me the other day that the connecting thread in all my criticisms of our generation is the lack of enforcement of the Constitution against the powerful. This is clearly a big issue. By holding back, by being reticent about punishing wrongdoers if they have fancy titles, we commit the sin of impunity — that is, failure to punish.

Is this strictly a religious-type sin? No. It’s a federal crime! It got onto the books in 1948, thanks to Congress.  (Ah, Congress. Remember Congress?) The wording at 18 USC 4 is:

“Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”

Oughtta be a load of us paying fines or doing three years, eh?  And instead, they concentrate on imprisoning Jan 6 protestors!

Now then, what I hope to expostulate is a way for humans to control their natural tendencies when these conflict with, say, the Golden Rule. The fact is, we do this all the time.  All societies do it, as anthropologists found when they visited still-isolated tribes in the 19th century. With hardly any conscious effort, and certainly before writing was invented, groups of people knew the temptations: theft, violence, adultery, and lying. They labeled them the “don’t’s.”

Emotion

Go back earlier, and we find that, in evolutionary times, many of our dear emotions developed to guard our individual interests. One emotion — anger — pretty much covers the reaction we should have toward persons who do the don’ts.  If they steal from us, hit us, philander with our mate, or deceive us, we should either hit them smack in the kisser or use an acceptable substitute.

Please, please, People, don’t develop the belief that impunity is the new normal.  That’s suicidal for society. Of course, there have been many times in history when naughtiness got out of hand.  I am quoting the biblical Micah, again, from Chapter 7, Verses 2-4 (English standard version, per biblehub.com):

“The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.”

Micah, too, has emotions. He is unhappy with such miserable human performance. If Micah were here right now and was asked to conceive of a Martian constitution, I wonder what he would say. Maybe he would say, as Russian defector Yuri Besemov said (thank you, Yuri), “Start with the 3-year-olds.”  For at least two generations, we have not been bothering to tell children that there are don’ts and what to do about them.  No wonder we’re in chaos!

Punishing Trudeau

I think we may be seeing a reawakening of the normal human emotion of anger when directed against someone who has tricked us and stolen from us. So far, most effort by Americans, including myself, has tended to the (rather foolish) effort to plead with officials to do the right thing. But today, I found a naughty cartoon made by Canadians about their leader.

It pretty much covers what Trudeau did wrong — he boasts about it — and then he gets his just deserts. (His “Justin deserts,” we might say).  Please enjoy it, as I know you will:

I got it from the excellent “anti-vax” website, DrTrozzi.org. It runs for 3 minutes:

 

!function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src="https://rumble.com/embedJS/u4"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+"/?url="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+"&args="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, "script", "Rumble");

Rumble("play", {"video":"v1zmzni","div":"rumble_v1zmzni"});

 

The post Writing an Excellent Constitution for the Planet Mars appeared first on Granite Grok.

More bad news, thanks to foreign pencil pushers. That’s where you have to get good data because our own government hides things from us (for 75 years if we let them). Were looking at Germany again, and there’s a clear death signal tied to COVID booster rates.

Related: After the Rollout of COVID-19 Injections, There Was a 1000% Increase in “Unexpected” Deaths

So, Germany provided data showing a SIGNIFICANT association of booster rates with excess mortality when broken down by region! What is interesting is that we have a same-ethnicity analysis for Germany. Unlike in country-by-country analyses, here we are not comparing Swedes with Bulgarians. We are comparing regions with ethnically the same people who speak the same language and follow the same German federal laws. And yet, much of the variation in mortality among German lands is explained by their booster rate!

 

More!

 

• • • Sachsen has the lowest booster rate (50.6%) and the lowest excess mortality rate (5.9%)
    • Thüringen has the second-lowest booster rate (54.2%) and the second-lowest excess mortality rate (8.1%)
    • Saarland has the second-highest booster rate (69.5%) and the second-highest excess mortality rate (12.9%)
    • Bremen has the third-highest booster rate (67.5%) and the third-highest excess mortality rate (11.9%)

 

Igor Chudov does some more data crunching here if you want to take a look, but the pattern is consistent. There is a direct correlation between the number of boosters and excess mortality.

More data and graphs here (Igor’s source), see also:

 

Boosters are causing excess mortality by making people more susceptible to severe COVID-19 which I deduce from the following observations:

1. 1. 1. Each of the 3 waves of booster administrations is followed by a wave of COVID-19 cases 13 weeks later and a wave of excess mortality 15-16 weeks later.
      2. VAERS reports show a peak in reports about COVID-19 pneumonia in the 14th week after administration of a booster dose.
      3. The Pearson correlation between the average weekly excess mortality rate of 2022 and the proportion of people who have received a booster is 0.63 (strong).
      4. The 2 states with the lowest excess mortality rates are the ones with the lowest booster rates.
      5. Extended booster vaccination has been shown to induce humoral and cellular immune tolerance in mice.

 

 

 

The post German Data Shows Significant Association between COVID Booster Rates and Excess Mortality appeared first on Granite Grok.

Note – I am allowing this breaking of Rule #1 just as I am with because of the pornographic books in our “public” school libraries; we can no longer ignore that battle that has been brought to us.  Our children’s innocence should be protected until they arrive at an age to be able to legitimately process this and not foisted upon them by those that are trying to use them as political and ideological pawns.  -Skip

Today, the sexualization of children and adolescents is a hot topic of discussion. Everything from pornographic books being made readily available in school and public libraries, to similar books being offered electronically through apps like SORA, to drag queen story hours are being thrust upon our youth, to pronoun choices, and more.

It is all part of a much broader agenda where activists work toward undermining traditional notions of sexuality, replacing the biological family with the ideological family, and arousing transgressive sexual desires in children. This is NOT the same thing as wanting society to accept people who choose an LBGTQ lifestyle. I have no problem with an adult making any lifestyle choice they desire. This is a very much more sinister agenda that some fall unwittingly into supporting. You can read a detailed description of what is going on here:

https://www.city-journal.org/the-real-story-behind-drag-queen-story-hour

Here is another example of a spoke in this devious and dark plot. State-wide in New Hampshire, a quick search shows that there are a couple dozen or so adult stores where lingerie, books, DVDs, and adult toys are sold. All of them require patrons to be 18 or older. But that has changed.

I was recently in our local Target department store a while back to get some eye drops. As I locate the correct aisle and browsed I was shocked to see two counter rows of adult toys openly displayed at eye level! Right there with all of the other pharmacy-like products. Right there where anyone, including children, could easily see them. 

The descriptions readily viewable on the packages are quite graphic. Little Massager – a powerful vibrator for vulva play. Vibrating Stroker – a ribbed massager for penis play. Stroker – a double-sided toy for penis play. Stroker Lotion – a self-play cream for penis play. Bloomi – a clitoral and body massager. A whole array of Plus One vibrators – vibrating ring, mini massager, vibrating bullet, fluttering arouser, dual vibrating arc… You get the idea. 

Ok, mom or dad. You are in Target with your child and looking for eye drops. “Mommy, what is vulva play? ”Or “Daddy, what is penis play?” Or who knows what else! How do you answer it? Why has your child been exposed to sexually inappropriate content in a department store like Target? Well, it’s part of that bigger plan. 

 

 

Wake up, people. They are not after you. They are after your children.

 

The post Target – The Latest Addition to New Hampshire’s Adult Toy Store Scene appeared first on Granite Grok.

I’m not sure we’ve ever shared this – my being unable to find it is, sadly, no indication either way. And yes, a better site search engine is still on the t0-do list. So, if we have shared it, apologies: It’s called the Twelve Days of Global Warming.

It’s from 2008, but much like the song it parodies, it may deserve a place in the holiday rotation and a spot in our growing library of content (not all of which is accessible – we know, another thing on the list).

 

Here you go! And notice how little things have changed since the chaos of 2008, from fuel prices to climate scare mongering.

 



 

I actually like this one better, truth be told, but it’s old too.

 

 

The post The Twelve Days of Global Warming appeared first on Granite Grok.

If all you know about Ukraine is what you’ve heard in the past year, this is a MUST WATCH. There is a reason so many Americans do NOT want our government handing billions of dollars over to one of the most corrupt governments in the world, and it’s not because they are pro-Putin or pro-Russia.

Regardless of how you feel about the U.S. Government’s involvement, you deserve to know the truth that the media is no longer telling.

Glenn Greenwald lays out nicely (with verifiable facts) how the media and our government have been spreading absolute propaganda about Ukraine, Russia and U.S. involvement. For years, the media reported on truths about Ukraine, only to suddenly shift gears when the Biden Administration chose to get involved in the ongoing conflict.

The segment starts at 18:00.

The post Greenwald: How the Media and Government are Propagandizing the Ukraine/Russia Conflict appeared first on Granite Grok.

Yeah, this is the guy, I’m told, that was making the claim on the campaign trail that he was going to be the new Vice-Chair of the NH House Commerce Committee.

Keith Ammon is not amused (heh!).

But that’s just an aside. A tipster sent me some information that I just can’t make heads or tails of WHY McGough thought that this was normal for a first second time Rep (lucky Merrimack voters!).  It starts here with his email signature:

Now, the first part of it, the PO Box part is fine. The wild goose chase, however, starts with the second part – where his official Concord office is located. A tipster to my tipster decided to follow that Patriot Building address down the yellow brick road to see where it.  No, it wasn’t to Oz but more like Alice Through the Looking Glass:

 

So not being familiar with NH Voices of Health, I googled it and found mentions here (describes what NHVoH does), here (US HHS describing that NHVoH got an OMH Award for $241,166 in 2015) and here (being a news organization, it was listed as one by Newswise).

Now, that’s all and good but here’s where the problem goes through that proverbial Looking Glass.  Each one of them list NHVoH’s URL: https://www.nhvoicesforhealth.org/.  Well, I went there from all three mentions and ended up here:

Yep, a Kanji represented language – Chinese?  I dunno but hey, diversity?  But what seems to be storage lockers?  A “micro-tel”?  Again, I’m confused by a NH State Rep that would have this easily hidden in plain site (literally, a site). But that’s the website.

I also note that NHVoH Facebook page’s last entry is from 2016.

How about the actual address in the email signature? Yeah, this:

I WILL point out that it at least has the words “New”, “Hampshire”, and “Health” in it, right?  Does that count?

Or is Tim just being playful and trying to be funny?  Has he decided to play a joke on his constituents?

Or is this a joke on everyone?

This is starting to sound like a corollary to the “Where in the world is Dan Eaton” story that was brought to our attention.  Guess I need to check back in on that…?

 

The post So, Tim McGough Has Circled ‘Round Now That He’s a New NH House Rep – A Website in Chinese? Some ‘Splaining to Do in Your Future? appeared first on Granite Grok.

We are bombarded with bad news every day, and it feels like it has worsened since the onset of COVID in 2020. We incessantly hear how bad our economy is, how high our home-heating oil will be, how many illegals have crossed the Border today, how bad the weather will be, and if we will be back in masks after the holidays.

Many have turned away from the daily news, feeling that not knowing is more manageable than dealing. We are in information overload and losing our sensitivity to major issues that need our attention. This is a dangerous place for our minds to occupy. We are getting numb, and we cannot allow that to happen.

Two issues that I feel we are beginning to overlook because we have heard about them so often are drug deaths or poisoning and homelessness. Only certain media outlets cover these stories, which means that large blocks of our population are unaware of the magnitude of these issues. Our government officials ignore them, which keeps the media from covering them. This is precisely why you will not see Biden or Harris make the journey to the Border. To do so would force the press that is avoiding the crisis to bring their cameras to the scene,
and then the curtain is pulled back. Ignorance is far better than accountability for politicians.

We all know the source and route Fentanyl takes to arrive in our country. Drug cartels are getting more creative and daring every day to get this poison into the United States. Seeing the intercepted quantities is proof, but understanding that we are only capturing the tip of the mountain should scare every American. The Southern Border states are not unique to the plague of Fentanyl deaths as once it clears the Border, it spreads quickly to every state, making every state a Border State. With now, over 100,000 deaths of young adults between 18-45, Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for that age group. Fentanyl is not a drug addiction problem but a drug poisoning problem. Treating it like another opioid is the wrong approach. We must cut the head off the Fentanyl snake and eliminate it at the source. Either stop the shipments from China before they hit Mexico or destroy the drug labs and the cartels producing the final product. This crisis is a terrorist attack on our country, and we need the government to have the cajones to solve it.

The homelessness epidemic is another complex issue. It is twofold: for some, it is economic, and for others, it is drug-related or a mental health issue. Either way, the solution that cities like Los Angeles use are wrong. To take the homeless off the street, carte Blanche, and give them free housing in hotels or motels is wrong and will only encourage more people with similar issues to relocate for a free roof over their heads. Boston is dispensing free needles to homeless addicts. These are lazy and costly ways to sweep the matter out of sight and hopefully out of mind. Their thinking is to promote safer drug use rather than solve the problem. The mental health issue is exacerbated by closing clinics and facilities where these people can get help. Now they are a danger to themselves and the neighborhoods they land.

These problems are not going away by ignoring them, but if society is complicit with the methods of government and we numb ourselves to the point where they are accepted as normal, then we have lost. The problems will become generational and another reason we are quickly losing the inner cities. We can stop and deal with them now or earmark them as another reason for the collapse of this great country.

The post We Cannot Get Numb to Drug Deaths & Homelessness appeared first on Granite Grok.

A little over a year ago, at the beginning of the “vaccinated athletes are dropping dead” era, Merck announced a new pill. Sold as a treatment for people at risk of severe COVID illness, Molnupiravir could confuse the crap out of COVID, effectively stopping it dead.

Skip wrote about the announcement here on October 2, 2021. According to the report,

 

How effective was the drug in trials? So effective that an independent panel looked at some preliminary data and told Merck there was no reason to see those trials through to completion. The pill was obviously working. …the new therapeutic involves a breakthrough as well. Instead of attacking viral proteins, molnupiravir scrambles the invader’s genes to stop it from replicating. In other words, it hacks the virus.

 

Allahpundit at Hot Air (occasional deep-state stooge) powdered it with hearts and smiley faces. Skip’s write-up is hopeful, but he’s no fool. He closed the piece with, “If all this turns out to be true.”

Guess what?

Molnupiravir does scramble COVID’s genes but not exactly the way they sold it. The drug deliberately mutates it in the host (you) to create variants and that was the point.

Igor Chudov explains why Merck thought this was such a great idea.

 

Before we consider this study, let me point out that most mutations (in viruses and animals) are deadly and make the organism unable to reproduce. Such was the hope with Molnupiravir: its designers expected that mutations caused by the drug would make the Sars-Cov-2 virus unable to reproduce, thus stopping the infection.

 

The sales pitch was that you could trick COVID into mutating and it would die in the host but not kill the host. So, what about the bad news?

 

…SOME mutated copies remain viable – and create new variants!

 

Let’s skip back up the page a moment to this: “How effective was the drug in trials? So effective that an independent panel looked at some preliminary data and told Merck there was no reason to see those trials through to completion.”

Was that such a good idea?

Chudov’s article includes a recent pre-print of research showing that Molnupiravir can create viable transmissible variants. He also includes warnings. From Science.org, Nov 2021.

 

William Haseltine, a virologist formerly at Harvard University known for his work on HIV and the human genome project, suggests that by inducing viral mutations, molnupiravir could spur the rise of new viral variants more dangerous than today’s. “You are putting a drug into circulation that is a potent mutagen at a time when we are deeply concerned about new variants,” says Haseltine, who outlined his concern Monday in a Forbes blog post. “I can’t imagine doing anything more dangerous.”

 

Also linked by Chudov, from BMJ – Nov 4, 2021.

 

Molnupiravir clearly induces intense mutagenesis in SARS-CoV-2,3 and this accounts for its efficacy. But β-d-N4-hydroxycytidine, the active metabolite of molnupiravir, is not only cytotoxic but also mutagenic in mammalian cells.4 The drug may damage DNA.

 

The FDA Advisory Panel was aware of these risks and others, including birth defects (if used during pregnancy) but still voted to give it authorization.

Your government promptly laundered billions into Merck to buy it for anyone, just as they did with Pfizer and Paxlovid (which doesn’t work either but may be less dangerous than Molnupiravir). A fact that New Hampshire State Epidemiologist Dr. Chan may have known. He suggested that Paxlovid was more effective. Maybe he meant to say less dangerous.

A casual search of New Hampshire’s Fourth Estate finds very little warning. WMUR had nothing. The Union Leader had several pieces, but only this warning one time (subscriber only) emphasis mine.

 

Some of the FDA’s experts have said that could lead to more troublesome variants.

There have also been some safety concerns around the drug because it may affect bone cartilage and growth.

Due to that reason, Merck’s drug is not authorized for use in patients younger than 18, the FDA said. The pill is not recommended for use during pregnancy, the agency added.

The agency advised that men of reproductive potential use a reliable method of birth control during treatment with molnupiravir, and for at least three months after the final dose.

 

 

Note: The FDA EUA Fact Sheet does note that you should not use this if pregnant or if you could become pregnant. I did not see any mention of the risk you’d become a variant factory/super-spreader. That seems important, and its absence is significant, especially since “some experts” said.

 

 

HT | Igor Chudov Substack

The post Another FDA “Win” – Molnupiravir Could Turn Patients into COVID Variant Super-Spreaders appeared first on Granite Grok.

So in the previous posts, I have been explaining the first parts of what NH’s RSA 91-A, the Right To Know Law,  covers – definitions, who or what it can be “pointed” to, and what kind of meetings it covers. However, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and I’m going to switch things up a bit given a tip I received last night. I do have to give the tipster a call a bit later on this morning (it’s only 8:30 am as I write this and I know the tipster is a night owl) and provide more of an update but it’s a great example to interwine with this series.

Thus, this is what I sent to the Franklin School District (SAU 18) this morning to the School Board members (emphasis mine):

—— Original Message ——
From: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To: tdow@gm.sau18.org; dcarrier@gm.sau18.org; dbrown@gm.sau18.org; ecote@gm.sau18.org; lcass@gm.sau18.org; ccormier@gm.sau18.org; cmartin@gm.sau18.org; pdoucette@gm.sau18.org; maube@gm.sau18.org
Sent: 12/27/2022 8:53:40 AM
Subject: RSA 91A Right To Know demand – the SAU 18 Library Card Catalog

Good morning,

Please find attached to this email my Right To Know concerning the District’s card catalog for its libraries. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me

I have reproduced this RSA 91A demand below.

Thank you for your lawful response.

-Skip

Skip Murphy
Founder, co-owner
GraniteGrok.com | Skip@GraniteGrok.com
Dominating the political Bandwidth in New Hampshire

So note what I did:

I sent it, NOT to the Superintendent (a public employee) but to the governing body of the District.  In terms of an RSA 91-A dement, the School Board members are the Public Body referenced in RSA 91-A:1-a Definitions:

VI. ” Public body ” means any of the following:…
(d) Any legislative body, governing body, board, commission, committee, agency, or authority of any county, town, municipal corporation, school district, school administrative unit, chartered public school, or other political subdivision, or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto.

After all, the School Board, when you reference other State Statutes, are in charge of EVERYTHING in a School District. Unfortunately, many having not bothered to read such statutes themselves, they get led into the “lull” that they are only responsible for setting budgets and policies and then they simply hand everything off to the “professionals” – in this case, the Superintendent”. Make no mistake, however, THEY are the responsible ones, like it or not and part of this process that I do is to ensure that they know it over the time that it takes to get them to Follow The Law.

I also emailed it to them. One does not have to formally send in a written hardcopy nor does it have to be notarized.  Emails are perfectly fine and acceptable form of communication. Now, there will be some Districts that demand that you use a “form email” on one of their website pages. I don’t care for it at all but they make it impossible to know what the School Board members’ email addresses are so you’re stuck in that regard (yet another tactic that School Boards use to not have to interact with the hoi polloi, I guess. It also generally means that the “email” will go to an employee first for “screening”.

I’ve had that done in the past and then find out that one or more of the School Board members who, once again, are supposed to be in charge. In that case, is it “School Board Members In Name Only” as “he who controls the communications controls the entity”?

Here is the Right To Know attached to the email. Although I have yet to go over the relevant parts of RSA 91-A, I have bolded the parts of my demand that directly tie back to the language of RSA 91-A as I prefer to not allow much, if any, “wiggle room”.  I’ll talk about THAT bit in subsequent posts. However, it all goes back to what you should have learned in elementary school when writing a story: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

Oh, by the way? They can ask but the Public Body is not entitled to know the “Why” of the demand – and I’m not telling them now. Not yet if I do at all.

Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A:4 (I) ), I am demanding access, within 5 business days, to the below enumerated governmental records. Otherwise, if this cannot be fulfilled within that mandated window per RSA 91-A, please advise when the Responsive Records will be made available.

This request is for the Franklin/SAU 18 School District library “card catalog”. This is for any and all books located in the following:

• District-wide “main” library
• Each school within the District’s “main” library
• If a school has multiple “main” libraries (such as Brockton High, Brockton, MA)
• All classrooms with cataloged books that are tracked by the District.

The information for each Responsive Record shall include:

• Name of the book
• Name of the Author(s)
• Content Summary
• ISBN identification (or other such designated ID)
• Name of the School
• If a School has multiple libraries, a designation of which library is being referenced (in the case of Brockton High, the five libraries: Red, Azure/Blue, Green, Yellow, and the Science libraries)
• Name/designation of the Classroom within a School

Per RSA 91-A:4 IV(c) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, unavailable for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.

As you are aware, in 2016, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a governmental body in possession of records is required to produce them in electronic media using standard common file formats: Green v. SAU #55, 168 N.H. 796, 801 (2016). Unless there is some reason that it is not reasonably practical to produce such, explain why it is not practical to comply.

Please also note, per RSA 91-A:4 III, III-a, and III-b, you are required to maintain the safety and accessibility of such responsive records. This also includes such responsive records (e.g., emails) which may have been deleted from respective Inboxes but are still available on the applicable email server or in your / email host backup system(s).

Please let me know when these records will be sent to me for inspection. You may email the responsive records to me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com. If the volume turns out to be substantial, I have already set up a Dropbox folder to use in uploading those responsive records.

Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Skip Murphy
GraniteGrok.com

So now you have a complete RTK for review and I’ll use it when discussing more of RSA 91-A.

And yes, the “5 business day clock” has already started ticking…

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