P.T. Barum claimed to have the greatest show on earth, he was the Greatest Showman as depicted in the movie that was so titled. He was the master of hoaxes and snake oil salesmanship. This is something that Donald Trump has lived his entire life emulating.

While Donald Trump comes on like P.T. Barnum with all-flash, pomp, and circumstances, when you look behind the curtain, you find this man is a lot of show, but it is like a wizard in The Wizard of Oz.

I am not criticizing all the things that he did and tried to do but there were so many things that he promised that were just smoke and mirrors to satisfy the people. These people never looked back at what was never done or even attempted.

He promised to cut spending and promised to make everything more efficient, only to turn around and sign the largest spending bill in the history of the country. If you heard, “Build the wall and Mexico will pay for it,” once you heard it 10,000 times, but very little was done. When they passed the largest Democrat-approved spending bill (7.8 Trillion Dollars), which was signed by Trump, not a dollar was appropriated for the wall.

How many times did you hear “Lock her up” referring to Hillary Clinton, only to see him praising her and Bill after the 2016 election?

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He promised to fix the immigration system, and while he did stem the tide of people coming into the country, his promise to deport illegal immigrants turned into a State of the Union address to provide amnesty to nearly 2 million. At the end of his presidency, he actually deported fewer people than Obama in his 1st term.

Although he denies it now, he shut down the largest economy in the world and believed the lies of the pharmaceutical industry or a huge supporter of theirs, Dr Fauci, when it came to COVID. He continued on when states and governors defied him and opened, and he even begged those states to follow his orders to stay in lockdown.

He promised he would hire nothing but the smartest and the brightest people for all the positions in government, but many of his hires turned out to be fired or left. I guess they were not the best and brightest, or they had the audacity to question him. He, however, did not replace anyone in the FBI and the NSA or any of the other three letter divisions, keeping the holdovers from Obama, who did nothing but investigate him and his family.

When his admirers look at him now, it is like they are still looking at the Fiery Wizard with all the flash, pomp, and circumstances. They just refuse to pull back that curtain and see it is nothing more than an old man pulling the levers of The Greatest Show on Earth.

The post The Greatest Showman appeared first on Granite Grok.

I don’t think we have ever seen a candidate for national office who took this much abuse from the mainstream media. It was 96% negative press for Trump. Almost no mention of his tax cuts, his reduction in crippling federal regulations, which brought back manufacturing that Obama had sent to China.

Trump’s Abraham Accord to settle long term grievances in the Middle East. NATO was compelled to live up to the 1949 treaty to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense. Trump made the US energy independent, which grew our economy to its highest level in decades. Unemployment at record lows. Internationally, Trump would meet all our adversaries face-to-face. He knew he was operating from a position of strength, and he was not afraid to tell them potential damages that would befall them should they threaten our country. He dealt with Mexico and Canada and changed the Clinton-era trade deal that was not in the US’s best interest. He also got Mexico to stem some of the cross border illegal crossings.

Now, we see the total corruption that the Democrats have imposed on our federal government. Obama-Biden set the FBI and the DOJ into placing false charges on Trump before he even took office. Trump had to deal with career civil service types who supposedly took an oath to our constitution, but were deliberately making trouble for our elected President. Decades of Democrat control of our federal jobs have poisoned these people to a path of total self-serving and dedication to growing government no matter the cost.

Democrats are totally dedicated to the maxims of Vladimir Lenin. “The same lie told often enough becomes the truth.’ and “Always accuse your opponent of committing your own crimes.”  Democrats are out to destroy our country and our way of life to please the Dictators of the World and the World Economic Forum. Some of our own billionaires are part of this. They all want a Global Economy where they and their chosen elites use the rest of us as obedient serfs.

Only Donald Trump is tough enough and smart enough to stop their campaign. No one person has ever executed as many deals in his favor. He has the long-term view like no one else, and is always several steps ahead of the other party.

There are signs that the majority of our population are wising up to the phony “WOKE” baloney and the economy destroying “Human caused Global Warming Hoax.” Honest scientists are showing the evidence of Solar variations that have been going on for thousands of years. Our consumption of fossil fuels will have less effect on these cycles than a couple of volcanoes. The huge fortunes arrayed against our freedoms will be hard to defeat. I would ask for no greater leader to take on this fight than Donald Trump. He has taken on all the corrupt abusers of our laws and court systems. We need Trump!

The post We Need the Tough Guy appeared first on Granite Grok.

There is a disturbing trend at the Public Meetings of the Town Council, in which elected officials have repeatedly opted to take time after the closure of public comment to make inaccurate statements about citizens or events in town. This is a repeated pattern of behavior in which Council members are allowed to make statements, free from public rebuttal or examination, in an attempt to control the narrative surrounding town issues.

At the most recent public meeting of the Town Council on Friday, Jan. 12, the Council Chairman made vague, non-specific complaints regarding what he felt were “inaccuracies” in a “local publication.” Notably, Chairman John Farrell appeared to use this time to deride former Town Councilor Debra Paul, as well, as opposed to limiting his remarks to the content of the paper. This does not seem to be in line with the Council’s suggested rules of order and Chairman Farrell’s own previous statements, in which it was stated that attacks on individuals were not encouraged. Most notably, Farrell did not seem eager to apologize for wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars fighting Mrs. Paul over the release of documents related to Town Manager Mike Malaguti’s frivolous actions against Mrs. Paul. Despite Chairman Farrell’s claims that certain articles were one-sided, the majority of the story he referenced was comprised of court documents, highlighting a nearly nine-month wait through the courts, where, in the end, a judge ruled that the town needed to hand over the document and also pay all attorney fees associated with it.

Farrell also made an incorrect assertion that, in his opinion, the only reason Deb Paul chose to pursue a remedy through the courts was so she could print the sexual harassment letter in the newspaper. Thankfully, the judge did not agree, clearly placing the onus for frivolous behavior on the Town Manager.

Contrary to Farrell’s assertion, the letter was NOT published in this paper, though there were links published on the website to the letter for readers to verify its content. The story that was written at the time focused on the judge’s decision.

The Chairman also made references to an investigation that the town conducted into these matters but falsely claimed that Mrs. Paul was privy to the fact that an investigation was ongoing at the time; she was not.

Chairman Farrell refused to elaborate further.

In our opinion, Farrell has used his gavel repeatedly as a shield to hide behind while he pontificates on his version of the truth.

If the town felt that articles in the paper were inaccurate, they could have taken the opportunity we provide to request a correction to be run. It is noteworthy that this paper has not received any requests regarding the story being referenced.

It is clear that as long as Mr. Farrell is sitting in the Chairman’s seat, he will continue to try and “control the narrative” without allowing folks in opposition a chance to respond.

For us, as long as we continue to publish the Londonderry Times, we will continue to give folks a voice in the “letters to the editor” section.

The editorial is in response to comments made by Chairman Farrell at the 1/12/2024 Council meeting.

It’s important to note that Councilor Farrell Chose NOT to address the other comments made during public comment. Those comments are below.

The post For the Record, Defense of Public Comment appeared first on Granite Grok.

A meme recently raised eyebrows by comparing the cost of groceries purchased for twenty dollars in 1990’s Home Alone movie by child actor Macaulay Culkin with what that basket of goods would cost today. US food inflation has spiked in recent years, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and substantial federal spending. Despite this, government and media reports claim inflation is cooling sharply and food prices are coming down. Consumers may be forgiven for being skeptical.

Biden’s approval ratings are subterranean, driven in large part by a struggling economy pummeled by record spending. Suddenly, Americans are told that these inflationary pressures are reversing due to Biden’s stellar economic policies. It is to be hoped that inflation is indeed cooling, but Americans’ grocery bills have yet to reflect that optimism.

The government/media alliance that fabricated a Russia-Trump connection and covered up Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020, might find it has credibility problems telling the public the economy is fine and that there is nothing to see behind that Federal Reserve curtain. Current Biden-exalting economic headlines sound less like news than they do reassuring soundbites courtesy of Karine Jean-Pierre. Reuters reported the rosiest of predictions, claiming recent numbers suggest the economy is “regaining speed after appearing to falter at the start of the fourth quarter.”

“This was yet another data set showcasing the durability of the economic expansion, thanks to a resilient labor market. The economy has defied dire predictions of recession from economists and some business executives going back to late 2022.

“The government reported on Thursday that core PCE inflation increased at a 2.0% annualized rate in the third quarter. That, combined with November’s mild gain, put the six-month core PCE inflation rate at 1.9%.”

Such wishful thinking may prove short-lived. A frantic effort to bring down fuel and food prices as the 2024 election approaches may woo disillusioned Democrats, but these economic hijinks cannot endure. Indeed, the PCE price index relied upon by Reuters and others excludes fuel and food prices precisely because they are volatile. This has yielded a sort of inflation-gauging shell game, in which the government skews the data to procure sanguine predictions that do not jibe with consumers’ grocery store and gas pump realities. This is the difference between “headline inflation,” which includes these volatile, fundamental household expenditures for food and fuels, and “core inflation,” used artfully (as in the above quote) to pooh-pooh claims that consumers are hurting at the check-out counter.

When partisan forces corrupt the reliability of data, Americans must keep their eyes peeled. There are legitimate uses of core inflation figures, but to ignore food and fuel costs while telling Americans inflation is in the rearview mirror is disingenuous. Core inflation strips out volatile food and energy prices because they can be impacted by international geopolitics (think grain and energy from Russia and Ukraine) and environmental factors (such as drought, or unseasonable deep freezes).

The Biden Administration has made geopolitical nation-building and climate change the two centerpieces of its foreign and domestic policies. Both efforts have driven up food and energy prices and will continue to do so. Closing pipelines and new oil exploration increases the cost of fossil fuels used to plow, sow, treat, and harvest hundreds of millions of acres of crops, as well as the costs of equipment, synthetic fertilizers, and transportation. Plastics for packaging and wages for grocery clerks have sharply increased in cost as well.

These increased overheads are directly connected to Biden’s energy and food policies (targeting cows and promoting synthetic meats also drive up meat prices). Yet these are precisely the costs excluded from the gushing claims that inflation has been conquered, and interest rates will soon start coming down. American consumers lack the luxury of recategorizing their monthly budgets between “core” and “headline” expenditures – they are always going to pay the headline.

That headline is not looking so optimistic. War in Russia continues, along with the food and energy pressures that conflict has inflicted on the world. The Biden administration has not diminished its assault on oil and natural gas resources, either, reducing supplies and driving up prices. The USDA notes: “In 2022, food prices increased by 9.9 percent. Food-at-home prices increased by 11.4 percent, while food-away-from-home prices increased by 7.7 percent.” Despite claims of lower “core” inflation, the USDA predicts food prices will not decline in 2024:

“USDA economists said in the forecast that food prices are expected to continue to decelerate but not decline in 2024. In 2024, all food prices are predicted to increase 2.9% in 2024, with a prediction interval of -0.9% to 6.8%.”

These food numbers, too, should be ingested with a large serving of salt. The “basket of goods” employed to calculate such predictions is subject to abuse. Just as Macaulay Culkin’s fictitious purchase in 1990 of Tide detergent, a gallon of milk, and a package of toy soldiers may not accurately mirror what most Americans drop into their carts, the USDA’s measures may bypass volatile products that are favorites at the dinner table. Eggs have skyrocketed; live beef prices have dropped slightly but are expected to rise substantially in 2024, as is chicken. Sugar, coffee, and soybeans are expected to drop in 2024 – but what of seafood, poultry, pork, and cheese?

Food prices are difficult to accurately predict due to many variables impacting costs and supplies. American consumers would do well to stock up despite rose-colored predictions about core inflation. Joe Biden’s agenda-driven policies – especially geopolitics, and “rescuing” the climate by tamping down oil in favor of coal-fired solar panel manufacturing – will continue to disproportionately impact headline inflation. Core inflation is the number trumpeted by propagandists to sway voters; Headline inflation is the number that meets the consumer at the pay counter.

There are no signs that food inflation – or the Biden policies that continue to pressure food prices upwards – will broadly decline any time soon.

The post Night Cap: Food Inflation for 2024 – Understanding the Government’s Shell Game appeared first on Granite Grok.

Today’s (1/20) Real Clear Politics Average has Biden’s job approval at 40 percent. Stated differently and arguably more accurately, 40 percent of Americans hate America. The Biden Regime is, in reality, Obama’s third term, and the people really running the Biden Regime are hell-bent on completing Obama’s goal of “transforming” America into a socialist-based-on-woke, apartheid dystopia.

We are watching the Great Replacement before our very eyes and yet many of those who disapprove of Biden claim the open Southern border is merely “incompetence.” DEI is replacing meritocracy everywhere and yet many of those who disapprove of Biden intone “diversity is our strength” to rationalize discrimination based on race, sex, etc.. The Biden-Regime is filling the federal bench with the most radical left-wing activists imaginable, and yet many of those who disapprove of Biden content themselves with ‘Senator Kennedy really skewered that Biden nominee in the committee hearing.’

Forty percent of Americans hate America, and far too many of the other 60 percent are oblivious to or in denial about how the Biden-Regime is successfully “transforming” America into a socialist-based-on-woke, apartheid dystopia.

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We announced it live on the air during day one of Radio Row, but if you missed it, Gov. Ron Desantis, just days before the NH Primary, has dropped out .. and Endorsed Donald Trump.

I’ll have more to say when I have more time, but my first thought was wow. My second was I know a few not-very-Trump-freindly DeSantis supporters who will be less than pleased. They can’t be taking this news well.

Here are Gov. DeSantis’ remarks and why he is supporting Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

– Winston Churchill pic.twitter.com/ECoR8YeiMm

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 21, 2024

The post ICYMI – DeSantis Drops Out – Endorses Donald Trump appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Emmy Award-winning television show Survivor will be headed to the Green Mountain state to film their latest installment, “Survivor: Burlington,” this month. Airing its forty-second series since it debuted in 2000. The producers were looking for a location that could provide a unique set of challenges not yet faced by previous contestants.

Survivor has been known to fly its team to remote tropical locales, typically islands, where contestants need to work as a team in order to win the competition.  This will be the first time they compete in an urban setting in winter.

As they scoured the world looking for the best urban challenge, they were shocked to find Burlington, VT, had a D- rating for crime, putting it in the top 10% least safe cities in the United States.

“We were tired of always shooting in the tropics.  You can only get so tan and eat so many fish tacos before you feel like you’re going to lose it” remarked the show’s co-founder and host Jeff Probst.

“We knew we wanted somewhere cold to mix it up, and it came down to Chicago or Burlington.  We were shocked and pleasantly surprised Burlington had the worse crime rate.” said the Emmy award-winning host.

Pleasantly surprised?

“I drive a Tesla, and I love to ski,” remarked co-producer Mark Burnett, who also declared his love of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

The series usually has two or three tribes, but will be adding a fourth this year.  Contestants were chosen at the Texas border, where their airfare and rooms were already paid for, saving the production team tens of thousands of dollars.

The emphasis on true tribal allegiance has been set by choosing undocumented migrants to represent their respective nations: Venezuela, China, Syria, and California.

The tribes will be released into one of the following hi-crime locations: City Hill Park, Ethan Allen Park, Battery Park, or Church Street. The contestants will begin the game wearing a pair of Darn Tough socks, a backpack, and a ski cap, yet otherwise completely naked so as not to arouse suspicion from locals.

Per the game’s format, the tribes will be given a series of tasks in order to win immunity, while the losing tribes will have to face secondary challenges to remain in the game.  Bananas Media was able to get a glimpse of the list of competitions and immunity challenges, some of which include:

Team challenges:

• BURLINGTON ROULETTE – contestants walk Church street blindfolded trying not to step on a needle; opt-out challenge is to take a COVID vaccine and not develop myocarditis, an auto-immune disorder or die suddenly before the end of the season*
• STATUTORY DRAPE – the first team to knock down a designated statue or completely drape it wins (teams will need to find or make their own drape)
• PRONOUN ASSASSINS – the first tribe to mis-gender ten local residents will gain immunity
• CAMPING IS IN-TENTS – contestants will have to steal a tent no greater value than $999 from a local outdoor store then erect it at a designated location, the first team to achieve full erection wins
• JUMPING JACKS & JILLS –  teams will be tasked with jump-charging an EV in sub-zero temperatures with the winning team able to both keep the vehicle running until sun-up and not get car jacked

Immunity challenges:

• BEETLEMANIA – first to drink a milkshake made of pureed dung beetles using a paper straw wins immunity
• SOLAR FLARE – first contestant to make a fire using only a solar panel wins immunity

Hidden immunity idol:

• SWING THE VOTE: Contestants will hang from a drone on a swing as they look for the hidden idol. The first to find it will be given a Dominion Voting machine to ensure they win the vote every time

Also seeing a return will be the Survivor feature Exile Island challenge.  Each week, at least one castaway will be sent to Isle La Motte (pop. 488), where they will be given a pair of ice skates, a gallon of maple syrup, and a Jeremiah Johnson Hawken muzzle-loaded rifle with one live round pre-loaded to survive the week or attempt to skate back over Lake Champlain to the mainland.

Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger was surprised to hear of his city being chosen for this unique event. When not engaged in acts of white supremacy, Mayor Weinberger spends much of his focus on getting the city to net-zero carbon emissions.  After hearing his Queen City ruled over Chicago for crime rate, Mayor Weinberger beamed with delight, noting the hard work and dedication necessary to achieve such a milestone.

“Defunding the police really helped.  We also set a standard of excellence for tolerance, which means tolerating things other cities won’t, like crack-heads, vagrants, men in women’s bathrooms, sex workers, and asylum seekers from known terrorist hot spots.  We may be a small city, but we’ve got a big city crime rate AND zero-carbon emissions. Can Chicago say that?  I doubt it.”

When asked if he’d be willing to fill-in if the show needs a replacement, Weinberger rejected the offer since he will be in Florida during the show’s shooting, where he will be training for his upcoming men’s over 35 baseball league.

*The Centers for Disease Control assert that COVID-19 vaccines are both safe and effective. 

The post Bananas: CBS Newest “Survivor: Burlington” appeared first on Granite Grok.

As reported here on Bear Pond Conservative Chronicles and other sources like The Maine Wire, the Chinese Cartel has set its sights on rural Maine and is now operating hundreds of illegal pot farms.

This assault on Maine began a few years ago when folks with Chinese links from New York and New Jersey started to buy properties in Maine and convert them to pot farms. The harvested product was exported up and down the eastern seaboard from Canada to Florida. These properties were bought with cash and modified with high-power electrical and climate control systems. The windows and doors were covered to hide the new purpose of the buildings, and neighbors were traumatized by the latest “industry” permeating their communities. The state seemed stymied to take action, and calls for help by Maine’s Senators and Congressmen remain unanswered by the Department of Homeland Security and Joe Biden’s Justice Department. Even though the Maine Congressional Delegation is predominantly Democrat (except for Susan Collins), the Biden Administration has ignored the pleas for help.

Local and state enforcement has stepped up, and though there have only been eight farms raided, it is a start with a lot of work still to be done. Plants have been confiscated, and the local operators have been arrested and charged. These people are just the foot soldiers in a much larger operation. This Chinese Cartel has money and power, and with over 200 locations statewide, many more sites need to be shut down before they feel the heat.

The biggest question I see in this story is why Maine. Maine is not alone, as this scenario repeats in rural Midwest and West Coast states. Oklahoma, New Mexico, and California have also been targeted. This multi-billion dollar operation is linked to the Chinese and is another example of China infiltrating our country for nefarious purposes. Whether it is buying agricultural land, land around sensitive military facilities and businesses, or setting up illegal pot operations, the members of this Chinese Cartel are not good neighbors or a positive influence in communities. Their actions are allowed because the Biden Administration is powerless due to their indebtedness to the Chinese government.

Like the other states dealing with this situation, Maine is large and predominantly rural, and it is difficult for strapped law enforcement to cover with their depleted staff. These illegal pot growers have space, privacy, intimidation of your neighbors, and a low chance of being caught and paying for your actions. Though marijuana laws are lax in Maine, unlicensed growers and exporters are not.

Recently, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department led a raid on a property in Cornville, Maine, that led to the discovery of an illegal marijuana growing facility operated by two Asian males and an Asian female who spoke little or no English. Authorities reported it takes about a month to gather information and build a case strong enough to get the approval for a raid. The road is long to eradicate the Chinese Pot problem in Maine, but it must be done. Law enforcement deserves our support, as well as any information about locations you may suspect are being used as growing locations. Step up and say something. Let’s not let up until every one of these sites is closed.

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