The Manchester Free Press

Monday • May 20 • 2024

Vol.XVI • No.XXI

Manchester, N.H.

Food For Thought on Schooling

Granite Grok - Tue, 2024-04-23 18:00 +0000

I just thought of something: how about testing when starting school? Then Some kids may start in 1st grade and some may start in 2nd grade or even third. Then every year they take their “Proficiency Test” as long as they test to the next grade off they go, if not they get held back. If they test ahead of their class again, they could skip a grade again if the parents agree.

And to be honest, the grade levels do not have to be too difficult, just a wide field for each grade as a general test of that average grade level. I believe a lot of children would end up skipping grades, saving funding for everyone.

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

If a student starts getting held back, then the school would work with the parents for tutoring, or if the student has medical or mental issues, then they could be set to “Special Needs,” and each county could have one school set as “Special Needs.”

I see a lot of issues with this for sure, but I believe it could work. With the battle going on with public, charter, Religious, and private schools, this could be a viable option.

Every Change Starts With The First Step, and we need to take the first step before it is too late.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

The Growing Black Support for Donald Trump

Libertarian Leanings - Tue, 2024-04-23 16:21 +0000
"The only way that we're going to be able to beat this invasion is by standing under one flag, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. So we are wearing our MAGA hats loud and proud." — Patricia... Tom Bowler
Categories: Blogs, United States

Does Hate Really Have No Home in Goffstown?

Granite Grok - Tue, 2024-04-23 16:00 +0000

If you’ve driven through any part of Goffstown or Pinardville, you may have seen the “Hate has no home in Goffstown” signs. At first glance, they seem well-intentioned and a wonderful idea. But upon further investigation, they are actually breeding much hate and division within the community.

The signs were originally designed after a neo-Nazi group from outside the community placed literature in a few residents’ driveways. It appeared to be completely random and an act that every member of the Goffstown community condemned.

The extreme leftists in our town, who never let a virtue-signaling opportunity pass them by, designed these signs immediately and sold them to whoever wanted to jump into the narrative that our town now has a hate problem because of this random act.

If hate truly has no home in Goffstown, then why was a complaint made to the zoning board after a fiscally conservative resident spoke up and presented a tax cap at the town’s deliberative session? Immediately following that meeting, an extreme leftist filed a complaint to the zoning board about the conservative resident’s chickens and coop (that have been in place for five years with no issues) and that resident is now having to go through the arduous and tedious process of fighting with the town for a variance.

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

Some of the folks with a “no hate sign” in their yard were the first to announce that any parent or resident who stood up at a School Board meeting against inappropriate sexual materials on a Middle School library whiteboard should be put on a ‘public town wall of shame.’

Recently a parent spoke up at another School Board meeting about the fact that her son was not drinking water all day to avoid using the boys’ bathroom. He was doing this because he felt uncomfortable that a young girl, who now identifies as a boy, was now using the same boys’ school bathroom. Immediately following the meeting a complaint was made to that boy’s parent’s place of employment.

44 people in our town signed a petition for a tax cap warrant article. Once the extreme leftists got a hold of that information, all 44 of those names and their addresses were released on a Facebook group with the intent to get people to harass and shame those specific residents.

Two conservatives recently ran for Library Board of Trustees in our local election. This really bothered and triggered another extreme leftist, who happens to be our Select Board Vice Chair’s wife, and she requested the candidates’ actual library cards from the library. After receiving them from the Library Director, she proceeded to display them (including their patron codes) publicly online in order to intimidate and call them out.

Doesn’t seem very kind, caring or inclusive to me. It sounds more like when you don’t fall in line, you will publicly pay the price.

The most recent incident of the ‘no hate’ movement in Goffstown happened when a local veteran-owned business received a visit from a member of the local LGBTQ+ group. This person entered the business during working hours to demand (in front of customers) that the business owner hang an LGBTQ+ flag and stickers in his shop window during the month of June (Pride month). When the business owner politely declined (not wanting to be political and cause any discomfort to the many different views and beliefs of his wide range of customers), he was then called hostile and berated as being part of the problem in our town. She said that thanks to him, she and her wife are unable to walk the streets of Goffstown safely. Oh, those vicious Goffstown streets. It’s a tough town to grow up in. With our beautiful town square, the resident-only Glen Lake, beautiful rock water features, friendly waves from local shop owners, drivers stopping so you can cross the street, even when you’re not on the crosswalk… it’s a wonder any of us survive here.

Hate has no home in Goffstown unless you disagree with the vocal minority. Then hate is acceptable and even encouraged.

Someone make it make sense.

The post Does Hate Really Have No Home in Goffstown? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain!

Granite Grok - Tue, 2024-04-23 14:00 +0000

As the 2024 election season gets underway in earnest (although it has actually been going on for quite some time already), it is probably useful to look behind the curtain of (a) political “consultants” and (b) political contributions through organized groups.

It seems to have become fairly standard and expected for political candidates in our state to hire a so-called political consultant, supposedly to assist in their campaigns. Some holding themselves out as political consultants are based in our state, while others may be based in Washington as if being based in Washington is some type of badge of honor when clearly it is not.

The usual arrangement with a political consultant typically takes the form of a written contract that is supposed to spell out the duties of the consultant as well as how the consultant is to be paid. The typical payment arrangement is for a monthly payment during the campaign, often with bonuses available if the candidate prevails in the primary and another in the general election.

Further, many consultant arrangements provide for the consultant to handle the candidate’s appearances, advertising, and handouts such as brochures, palm cards, signs, and the like. But there is often an insidious factor involved in which the consultant is able to mark up the charges from outside vendors and/or receive commissions from those vendors, all of which ends up coming out of the campaign coffers.

Does it really make sense to agree to such arrangements when there are vendors, some based in NH, such as Spectrum from Manchester, who can provide all printed materials, mailings, and signs without payment of commissions or markups? Many of those services come with sound political advice without extra charge.

Finally, it is amusing to read campaign news releases announcing that a particular political consultant has been hired for a campaign, especially when examining the history of campaigns in which the consultant has been previously engaged. Some of them have a long and well-known history of being the consultant for campaign after campaign in which the candidate lost, as if to say, in effect, that my history of handling many losing campaigns in the past makes me especially qualified to handle another losing campaign now.

The most successful campaigns seem to be ones in which the candidate is very hands-on without regard, resorting to so-called consultants who seem to exist simply to extract money from campaign coffers without producing wins.

That being said, because of the size of our state and with very limited conservative media outlets, the more successful larger races (i.e. other than for state rep) that are inherently expensive often end up relying on larger campaign contributions from out-of-state donors and groups, and if a so-called consultant can actually produce such contributions in a meaningful way, perhaps they might actually be worth something.

And so now, we turn to campaign contributions.

A famous Dem politician once reportedly said that money is the mother’s milk of politics. Unfortunately, how true!

Although state representative campaigns can be run effectively without huge expenditures, once the political stage moves into larger districts or statewide, whether for the state senate, the exec council, the governor, and our federal senators and reps, the required campaign expenses increase dramatically.

Anyone reading this has probably been solicited for campaign contributions by a variety of sources: some directly by the candidate campaigns and others by groups that seek to “bundle” the contributions and allocate them to who-knows-whom.

If you make a contribution directly to the campaign of a candidate you favor, you will have a pretty good idea of where your money is going. But if you contribute to a group, although the group may claim to be supportive of candidates you support, you lose effective control of where your money ends up.

And to further the problem, many of the groups soliciting contributions incur significant administrative expenses for staff, as well as, in some cases, payment of “commissions” to officials of the group who purportedly bring in contributions. It is not unusual to see at least 10% of a contribution go to payment of such a commission.

But some groups, including some political action committees, are run entirely by volunteers without any paid administrative staff.

So, if you are considering making a political contribution, keep in mind that your contribution will be most effective if you contribute directly to the campaign of your chosen candidate. However, if you choose to contribute to a group, before you make that contribution, inquire as to whether the group pays commissions to anyone and whether it manages to keep its administrative expenses very low.

The post Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

G.E.T. R.E.A.L! T: Transportation Infrastructure (AKA Fix the Roads!)

Granite Grok - Tue, 2024-04-23 12:00 +0000

G.E.T. R.E.A.L. is a solemn promise and a positive path forward for our state by Vermont Republicans focused on improving the quality of life of our people. It is a prescription of policy proposals, and this is the fourth in a series of essays explaining the program.

Editors Note: While focused on Vermont, the G.E.T. R.E.A.L. agenda sets a standard I think could/should be duplicated in New Hampshire and – well, everywhere—a public Republican Party promise/platform itemizing its priorities ‘Contract with America’ Style. 

Given the normal weather patterns in Vermont with all the freezing and thawing and the need for plenty of plowing, maintaining safe and comfortable roads and bridges is always going to be a challenge. Even more so if the trends of warmer, wetter winters and springs continue to bring us multiple mud seasons and more frequent floods. So, we really need to focus all of our transportation fund dollars on fixing and maintaining our transportation infrastructure.

While in years past, legislatures had done a good job of ending policies that robbed the Transportation Fund to pay for other projects, recently, we have seen a return to bad habits in this arena, particularly where taking out taxpayer money to subsidize electric vehicle purchases is concerned. For example, the current version of the Transportation Bill under debate right now contains $12 million in subsidies for EV incentives and in-home charging equipment.

First of all, that’s $12 million that’s not going to pave roads, fill potholes, expand culverts, or renovate bridges – all things we need to be doing more of, not less. In fact, the average age of Vermont’s bridges is 59 years, compared to the national average of 44 years. 75 of our bridges are classified as “structurally deficient,” up from 68 as recently as 2019, and, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, nearly a quarter of a million vehicles pass over just the twenty-five most traveled of those structurally deficient bridges every day. This should be a priority for transportation funds.

However, this sense of urgency is not shared by the supermajority controlling the purse strings in Montpelier today. In 2023, Governor Scott earmarked in his budget $9 million in general fund surplus money that could have been used to draw down triple that amount in federal matching funds for road repair. Democrats chose to spend that money elsewhere.

But even without these critical maintenance needs, it is highly questionable that it is the proper role of government to force some Vermonters to pay for the vehicle choices of other Vermonters, especially when those subsidies tend to flow regressively up the income ladder from lower-earning workers to upper-income car buyers. These “wealthfare” programs need to end.

Additionally, the state using tax dollars to subsidize more Vermonters’ choice to drive electric vehicles has an additional negative impact on fuel tax and, therefore, Transportation Fund revenues. Under the current system, if you’re not buying gas to use the roads, you’re not paying to help maintain them. One solution is to charge EV owners with a “road use surcharge” when they register, which is an idea under consideration. However, the Democrat leadership, under the influence of environmental lobbyists is insisting that money go not to road maintenance but to, you guessed it, more taxpayer-funded EV subsidies.

Think about this for a minute. The supermajority wants to pay people a subsidy to buy an electric vehicle, then hit those same people with a surcharge on that same electric vehicle in order to fund somebody else’s electric vehicle subsidy, which will also be penalized with a surcharge. That’s just ridiculous. More ridiculous is that they’re doing this while not sufficiently funding the maintenance of the roads that all of our vehicles need to drive on!

It’s yet another example of policy being driven by blind ideology and special interest politics at the expense of common sense and providing basic public services. This is exactly the kind of mindset we need to GET REAL about replacing in Montpelier!

Also slipped into this year’s Transportation Bill is a provision to move toward implementing a Clean Transportation Standard. This is the motor fuel companion to the home heating Clean Heat Standard, which is estimated to add 70 cents or more to every gallon of oil, propane, natural gas, and kerosene. Yes, the supermajority wants this same scale of carbon tax applied to gasoline and diesel. An additional dollar tax on a gallon of gas? We say, Get Real!

If this gas and diesel carbon tax ultimately passes (the only way to stop it is to Vote Republican in November) and is a crucial component of the supermajorities Global Warming Solutions Act law passed in 2020, again, the revenue would not be used for road maintenance but rather pet global warming projects. This would decrease fuel tax capacity for transportation infrastructure maintenance, likely requiring tax increases elsewhere to fill the gap.

The government is supposed to provide some basic, universal services, and maintaining the state’s roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure is one of them. Elect Republicans this November, and we’ll GET REAL about fixing our roads and bridges.

Bill Huff is the Orange County GOP Chair – on behalf of all GOP County Chairs

 

G: Global Warming Solutions Act Reform
E: Education Reform 

The post G.E.T. R.E.A.L! T: Transportation Infrastructure (AKA Fix the Roads!) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Congress Is A Disgrace

Granite Grok - Tue, 2024-04-23 10:00 +0000

Here is a sure way to know when you have yet again been screwed by Congress. The corporate-media “covers” the screwing as “bipartisan” and UniParty-Republicans are “courageous” for ignoring the voters who put them there and instead “doing the right thing,” a lovely euphemism for what enriches the elites/globalists/corporatists/etc..

And yet, I am sure, that New Hampshire’s bitter-clingers will nonetheless “vote Republican” “up-and-down-the-ballot” to reelect the same grifters intent on outlawing single-family zoning in order stop the state income tax that isn’t coming from coming.

SIXTY BILLION MORE for that corruptocracy called Ukraine to stop the looming Russian takeover of Europe that all the grifters in DC know is total fiction. And as an added bonus … the TikTok “sale” gives the “intelligence community” yet another means to spy on Americans. Slava Ukraine! Vote Republican! Slava Ukraine!

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

5 Incredible Retirement Gift Ideas for Long Term Employees

Granite Grok - Tue, 2024-04-23 09:00 +0000

After decades of hard work and dedication, long term employees deserve special recognition and gifts upon their retirement. Coming up with retirement gift ideas for loyal, longtime workers can be challenging. Here are five incredible ideas to make your retiring employee feel valued and appreciated.

1. Personalised Photo Album

A personalised photo album stuffed with pictures from company events, work friendships, and special memories made over the years is a thoughtful and meaningful gift. Make it a collaborative effort by asking coworkers to contribute their favourite photos and include handwritten messages to the retiree. This shows how much they’ll be missed by everyone. For an extra special touch, track down pictures of the retiree from when they first started at the company. This trip down memory lane is sure to spark joy and appreciation.

2. Custom Plaque

A personalised plaque serves as a meaningful memento for any long-term employee. Include the years they worked at the company and any major accomplishments. Consider making the plaque in the shape of the retiree’s home country for a unique gift. If they’re retiring from a management role, include a special message from their team about how much their leadership was valued. Local trophy shops can often customise plaques with engraving and special shapes.

3. Relaxing Holiday

What better retirement gift could there be than a relaxing getaway to enjoy their newfound freedom? For retirees in the UK, consider gifting a holiday at a large holiday home Yorkshire with hot tub at Yellow Rush Lodge. Yorkshire is beloved for its dramatic landscapes and the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The lodge features five bedrooms to accommodate the whole family. With walking trails, fishing spots and cosy country pubs nearby, it’s a perfect homebase for exploring the quintessential English countryside. The outdoor hot tub overlooking the sweeping scenery provides the ultimate place to unwind. After so many years of work, a holiday focused on rest and relaxation is sure to delight.

4. Restaurant Vouchers

Treat the retiree to delicious dining experiences with restaurant vouchers. Focus on restaurants they’ve always wanted to try but never had the time or budget for before retirement. Splurging on a Michelin-starred restaurant or high tea at a 5-star hotel shows you want to help make long-held wishes come true. For retirees with a sweet tooth, gift cards for local bakeries, ice cream parlours and chocolate shops are tasty as well. Food is such a huge part of life and retirement is the perfect time to embark on gastronomic adventures. Restaurant vouchers open the door to culinary delight.

5. Luxury Item from Their Wish List

Nothing says “thank you for your many years of service” like gifting a luxury item the retiree has always fantasised about. Maybe they’ve eyed a designer handbag, top-of-the-line golf clubs, or a fancy Montblanc pen. Ask the retiree’s spouse, family or closest work friend about that special luxury item they’ve dreamed of owning. Even better, get their wish list ahead of time. Fulfilling a long-held material desire is a blissful retirement gift. For devoted, hardworking long term employees, these luxuries are the perfect crowning achievement to celebrate their next chapter.

Retirement is a major life transition and frequently comes with complicated emotions. Unique, personalised gifts demonstrate your gratitude and well wishes for the next phase of life. These five incredible retirement gift ideas for loyal, longtime employees help express just how much you appreciate their years of dedication and service. With such thoughtful farewell gifts, you’re sure to see happy tears and create great memories.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Night Cap: Assisted Suicide Will Start Out Well-Meaning, Then Gradually Revert To its Eugenic Roots

Granite Grok - Tue, 2024-04-23 02:00 +0000

There is ample evidence throughout history, much of it recent, that claiming compassion to justify government-sanctioned suicide is a trap. Yes, chronic pain is terrible, but not nearly so much as the power of a State that inevitably sees it as a way to solve problems it created or just “problems.”

I’ve been over this more times than I can count, but HB1283 is on the verge of becoming law in New Hampshire, and just like socialism, we will not “get it right this time.” Vermont, Hawaii, Canada, and The Netherlands are all proof that the system fails to protect people who are not likely to die in six months. Once passed, ideological descendants of the original Progressive Eugenicists who inspired Hitler will, in successive legislative sessions, remove safeguards, lower barriers, and soften restrictions.

The future of HB1283 is laid bare before us. Compassion will shift from those “near death” to those with chronic but tolerable illness, to the autistic, the homeless, the economically advantaged, and inevitably, people who ask. (but never imprisoned murderers; that would be inhumane).

You can agree or disagree on religious grounds, human rights grounds, equity, or whatever motivation moves you – but what you need to fear is State power to manage the general terms of human demise.

If you can come up with an example where it worked out well, I’d be interested in hearing about it, but even more recent adventures in Western Politics succumb to the impulse to use assisted suicide to relieve cultural, social, and economic burdens.

Assisted suicide legislation expands state power and its influence over therpaists and doctors and will inevitably be abused. If you doubt me, look at so-called conversion therapy restrictions in NH or what happened during COVID. We will not do it better. The safest course of action is to assist in the suicide of HB1283.

Besides, we don’t need it. Vermont has Vacation Suicide, as does Oregon. If you need to die that badly, they will be happy to help you.

The NH Senate is voting on it This week. Please reach out and politely ask them to vote no.

Blogified version of an email sent the entire NH State Senate

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Carson, Gannon & Abbas Need to be Primaried. Here’s Why.

Granite Grok - Tue, 2024-04-23 00:00 +0000

Let me start by saying something nice about all three Senate Judiciary Republicans. They’re all nice people and presumably decent people in their personal lives. I’ve had pleasant encounters with them, some leading to pleasant talk, sometimes more than once.

One of them promptly and cheerfully returned my emails, though they were less about NH senate matters and more about an up-ballot endorsed candidate.  The other two are even cat people, but so are Melanie and the Damn Emperor!  I don’t want to start a pattern of referencing my ex, having already made a comment about him in a previous article, but he did make a professional comment as an electrical engineer when we were together.  He said, “You are only as good as your most recent project,” and he also added that the worst thing an engineer can do is design a product that doesn’t work.

I’ll add a little sidenote that Senator Gray is an electrical engineer. What makes that little tidbit relevant is that the whole Senate has yet to vote on the RTK Tax (HB 1002).

Rochester people might consider what my ex said in convincing him to reject HB 1002 in the senate chamber, but let’s get back to the Naughty 3 in the Judiciary.

Short of possessing the gavel, Sharon Carson is the most powerful in the Senate.  She did not get where she is by being stupid and she knows how influential her multifold power is.  One of her power positions is Judiciary Chair.  At 3:27:15 in the video from 4/18’s executive session, she moved OTP on HB 1002 with minimal lip service to Laurie Ortolano’s personal testimony, and the two men just obediently gave her the “yes, ma’am” without any thought.  Extremely disappointing, considering that I’ve been emailing them for the past few months in addition to testifying myself at the hearing on 4/9.  I’ll get to them in a moment, but I’m not the only Sharon critic.  In addition to looking at her union sympathizing record, I suggest talking to JR or anyone else about how much Pfizer money she’s taken or Beth Scaer about her Cornerstone-related complaints.

I’m sure that Beth would be thrilled to death to go into further detail upon request, but let’s move on to the men of the Naughty three, now that I’ve followed with the “Ladies First” mantra.

Moving on to Senator Gannon, though he did sponsor SB 319, don’t let that distract you from his 2022 antics in Judiciary and in the senate chamber.  A favorite constituent archetype is his “immunocompromised business owner,” which I observed him referencing in person, both at a hearing and from the senate gallery on 5/5/22,
which can be watched at 9:59:45 in the video of the HB 1210 debate.  Jeb wanted his beloved CMS money and my senator is the only one of the 5 dissenters still in office today.  He wasn’t taking any crap from Gannon, who you can see resorting to gaslighting at 10:13:40 in the same video right after another dissenter asked the whole body “at what price are you willing to sell your liberty?”

Senator Gannon is an establishment sheeple who did Jeb’s bidding that day and now Sharon’s on 4/18/24, when he voted to obstruct your Right to Know by levying a tax on it and creating a can of worms waiting to be opened.

Saving the younger lawyer for last, Daryl Abbas, who happens to be a Chuck Morse apologist occupying his old senate seat, walked out of the hearing while Laurie Ortolano was at the mic with several minutes left.  One of his constituent apologists surmised that he had to use the restroom, but I rebutted with noting that he folded up his laptop and took it with him.  While men often do have a thing for taking reading material into the bathroom, I reject the supposition.  See for yourself at 1:08:40 in this video and that he does not reappear, even though there were two more speakers (also against HB 1002) after Laurie.

I’ll also note that Sharon let the NH Municipal Association lobbyist and his peers speak first once all the reps had their turn, even though I signed up first on the clipboard and Laurie Ortolano after myself, but that’s on Sharon, not Daryl Abbas.  I ran into him earlier and we talked at length in the dining room.  He KNEW why I was at the state house that day and that Laurie was going to speak.  He KNEW about Laurie’s local RTK plight, and that hearing was his opportunity to ask questions.  If he had a plausible reason for leaving early, which certainly could be a possibility, he could have asked Sharon to call Laurie to the mic first, but he was clearly uninterested and I’m calling him out on it.  Every member of the legislature knows how much power, leeway, and discretion committee chairs have, and don’t let Daryl Abbas, being a freshman, fool you!  He was promoted to the Senate from the House.

Inspired by words from the late Rep Mark Alliegro at the My Pillow Frankspeech Symposium almost three years ago, I am now getting down from the rant soapbox and offering a message of hope.  The Senate is in recess this week, and that gives everyone more time to email their senators instructions to reject HB 1002.  Remember that they work for YOU, not lobbyists or other government officials.  Did you see any ordinary members of the public speaking at the hearing in favor of HB 1002?  I didn’t.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Elections Have Consequences: “Really, at this point in the game, they should all just say it out loud”

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 23:00 +0000

From the Editor: The phrase “elections have consequences” is not new, but Nashua resident Allison Dyer has made it her tagline, ending her Rumble videos with the words after sharing what can only be called evidence supporting the truth of those words.

So, I’ve decided to give her content on our podcast page the title of ‘”Elections Have Consequences.” I hope she likes it because I didn’t ask. But we have an open invitation to share it and we have shared some of her content in the past, but let’s consider this an introduction to sharing it as part of our expanded local podcast-sharing project.

Allison posts about local and national topics (the volume is a bit low on this one, so turn it up!).

Really, at this point in the game, they should all just say it out loud … “We support open borders for everyone, from anywhere, at any time, regardless of background, and we will use the American taxpayer dollars to fund all of it, forever.” #BidensAmerica

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

HB1002 – Are We Punishing Everyone for The Behavior of a Few or Limiting Access to the Wealthy and Well-Connected? (Both!)

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 22:00 +0000

The Republican majority of the New Hampshire Legislature is on the verge of doing what Democrats do. Punish everyone for the alleged bad behavior of a few. Assuming the few are truly being cantankerous in their pursuit of public records. It is reminiscent of most, if not all, Left-Wing gun-grabbing legislation.

Those misbehaving few—assuming they were not driven to some extreme by the culture of government itself (as is increasingly common these days)—are leveraged as an excuse to impose a punishment on everyone. Red Fag Laws, waiting periods, magazine size limitations, location restrictions, special licensing requirements, ad the rest do not prevent gun violence. They create burdens meant to make exercising a right less appealing while the same government does less to protect them in the void it created.

If you have money and means, none of that concerns you. You can afford to jump through the hoops or buy your way around them.

HB1002 is no different. Adding a fee (tax, fine, levy) to access some documents will have several immediate effects. The folks who control access to the documents will inevitably find it increasingly difficult to fill even the most basic request below the fee threshold (probably at the behest of their superiors). People who cannot afford a fee will not ask for public documents. Local government will become less transparent and, over time, more brazen, unanswerable, and corrupt. (Nashua has done this despite the lack of a fee; guess how much worse that gets with one).

It also creates (or at least risks creating) a two-class system of accountability—a government that only ever answers to people who can afford to hold it to account—a class of individuals or groups who often stand to profit from this relationship and might want barriers to access to those details.

None of what I lay out may be what you intend—lord, I hope it is not—but it is that for which you may be remembered every time someone writes about how inaccessible local government has become. How people with means can open a door closed to them by bills like HB1002.

And if you think I am exaggerating, that this would never happen, or is unlikely, you have gotten too comfortable being in part of the government when you are elected to protect your constituents and their rights and interests from it.

Please vote no to HB1002. It is not your job to punish everyone for what may be the abuses of a few.

Blogified version of an email sent to the entire NH State Senate.

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Sorry, Bitter-Clingers … The UniParty Is Real, And In New Hampshire

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 20:00 +0000

Alright. Altogether now: Republicans … GOOD. Democrats … BAD. Republicans … GOOD. Democrats … Bad. Louder. Louder. Republicans … GOOD. Democrats … BAD. Republicans … GOOD. Democrats … Bad.

Sorry to have to tell you this, bitter-clingers … but the UniParty is real and in New Hampshire. Here is an excellent example, which I stumbled upon in writing my recent post The NHGOP Is Enabling And Funding DEI (That Lovely Euphemism For Anti-White Racism) … Why? which discussed how broadly and deeply anti-white racism (DEI) has been implemented in the public schools.

The Nixon Peabody law firm that receives a shout-out for fighting a law prohibiting students from being indoctrinated with CRT (“Critical Race Theory,” i.e., anti-white racism) … that would be the former firm of the present Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, Gordon MacDonald, nominated by “GOP” Governor Chris Sun-King Sununu and confirmed by a “GOP” majority Executive Council. Also, the firm of David Vicinanzo, hired by then-Speaker Bill O’Brien in 2012 to defend the GOP-crafted redistricting map.

And, apparently, the Nixon Peabody law firm is fighting the fight for CRT (anti-white racism) for free! Think about it: The fees paid to Nixon Peabody by then Speaker O’Brien are being used to subsidize the firm’s “fighting the good fight” to keep CRT in New Hampshire classrooms.

Is it Rs vs. Ds, bitter-clingers … or is it really just the elites versus everyone else?

The post Sorry, Bitter-Clingers … The UniParty Is Real, And In New Hampshire appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Oppose HB1283 – The So-Called “End of Life Options” Bill

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 18:00 +0000

As the mother and primary caregiver for two adult sons with significant disability, the legally responsible daughter for my 87-yo mom suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and the widow to my husband, who lost his battle with pulmonary disease back in 2012, I’d like to give my perspective on HB 1283 Assisted Suicide.

This bill passed the House by only three votes last month and will be heard this Wednesday by the Senate HHS Committee. The sponsor’s argument is that everyone should have “death with dignity,” and this bill could only be used if two doctors agreed the individual had less than six months to live. Well, let’s dive into those arguments.

In 2002, my sons Ben and Sam were diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a fatal muscle-wasting genetic defect with no cure. Some would call it a fatal fetal anomaly. The Pediatric Neurologist at Boston Children’s told us to “take them home and love them because they won’t survive their childhood”. Ben and Sam are now 26 and almost 28. I’m sure glad we didn’t take that Boston doctor’s advice! Doctors are only human, and even with no ulterior motive or financial incentive, they are often wrong. Ben has a social work degree and works for a non-profit supporting young adults with cognitive disabilities. Sam is a talented writer, speaker, and artist. They live full, meaningful lives not despite their disability but because of it.

My husband died a difficult death at 53 from pulmonary disease. My daughter was only 12 at the time, and for many years, she struggled with mental health issues and was diagnosed with Bipolar II. As a teen, she experienced suicidal ideation and struggled with cutting and self-injury. Fast forward eight years, and she is now a happy, well-adjusted, independent 25-year-old college grad living on her own.

My Uncle, who was like a father to me, was diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer in his early 80’s. I coordinated his medical care at Dana Farber for over two years. Those car rides to and from Boston are some of my most precious memories. Although he could never urinate normally after that and lived with a urostomy bag, he enjoyed several more good years of life. Life with dignity!

Much of my life has been caring for those with physical or mental health challenges. It has been more a blessing than a burden! I can tell you that State-Sanctioned Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. The right to die often becomes the duty to die. And insurance companies will take advantage of this bill because ending a person’s life is much less expensive than actually providing medical and home health care for them.

Ben and Sam know they are nearing the end of their battle with DMD. They have chosen to sign Do Not Resuscitate and Polst Forms, so no extraordinary measures will be taken when their time comes. But life and death should be in the hands of the One who created us, not in the hands of medical professionals or legislators. God’s Word tells us in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life,”

The post Oppose HB1283 – The So-Called “End of Life Options” Bill appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

MONDAY MEMES

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 16:00 +0000

They’re flying so thick and fast it is amazing. 

Take heart – there will be both a Wednesday and Friday Edition.  Last week’s Friday Edition.

Remember, ridicule and mockery are effective weapons:

  1. Ridicule cannot easily be fought
  2. Ridicule makes the enemy angry, and angry people make mistakes
  3. For those in the “squishy middle” a Thought Splinter (and Part II and Part III and Part IV) can often be hidden inside humor.

Now, let the mockery and mayhem begin.

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

First, we must face an uncomfortable truth: Democrats are no longer loyal to the US (were they ever; I think, at one time, yes but that’s MHO).  They are now open, overt traitors.

But second, while I do hope there will be elections this fall, period, I have little faith we’ll win.  The Left understands – they’re insane, not stupid – that Trump’s base has grown to include many that were former D voters that now grasp how the Left has betrayed the US, and them.  People vote their self-interest, and that damage is becoming very clear to all but the True Believers.

The fraud will be dialed up even more to account for that.

 

 

I take little joy in saying this, but it will start to end when all the enthusiastic Left voters have their own kids raped and/or killed.  Or their wives, or sisters, or mothers.

 

 

 

 

 

How is it that most people don’t notice this?

 

 

People don’t want to believe that their nice, stable world could come crashing down.  They have Stability Privilege.

 

 

 

Juan at a time, eh?

What’s Juan in Arabic?  Iranian?  Chinese?  Any African language?  They’re ALL streaming in.

 

 

 

I hope she’s voluntarily gotten her tubes tied.

 

 

I remember one time one of my kids wanted something, and pointed to FREE SHIPPING as a selling point.  I got them to realize, Socratic-method-style, that it was just baked into the price.

 

 

 

 

What’s a few people… a few thousand… a few million… when you’re making Socialistopia?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Probably a picture of his family seen through a rifle scope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, duh:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

Just look at the dates.  Now, grasp that this was in the making long beforehand.

 

 

 

Decades, if not centuries, in the planning.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Calling evil good, and good evil.

Slip-Sliding Towards Hell with a Good Conscience – Granite Grok

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

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

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

But evil is a completely different creature.

Evil is bad that believes it’s good.

— Karen Marie Moning

 

 

 

 

 

And those three all own each other.

 

 

A post touting cardamom, removed???  WTAF?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bad things happen in wars.  Unfortunate, but true.

 

 

 

 

Stop appropriating my culture!

 

 

I remember a meme, a while ago, purporting to show crows and other birds refusing to eat GMO corn ears.  I believe it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to scrape up some sympathy for them… Nope, can’t find any.

 

 

 

 

And when Spicy Time hits, you’d better be ready to be shooty.

 

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

 

Link section (some mine, some from my Jarhead friend):

 

Top Japanese Professor Issues Global Warning: Pandemic Was a Hoax to ‘Drive Vaccinations’ – Slay News

Forthright and blunt.  He needs to put out a statement, stat, that he’s not depressed or suicidal.

Death by Meningococcal Vaccine: Meet Haleigh Golden, 20-year-old college student killed by the meningococcal vaccine. (substack.com)

RIP.

 

Today’s blacklisted American: Former Trump lawyer, already disbarred in California because he took Trump’s case, now blackballed by his banks – Behind The Black – Robert Zimmerman

For the “crime” of being on Trump’s side – lost his law license, blacklisted, and debanked.

They’re SERIOUS about squashing Trump’s support.  All support.  And more broadly, ANY questioners of The New World Order:

The Feral Irishman: “People have raised concerns about your views…That you’re concerned about what’s going on in Australia.”

Poland Prepares New Hate-Speech Law: 3 Years In Prison For Insulting LGBT People | ZeroHedge

Bayou Renaissance Man: Yet again, US medical consumers are paying for cheap drugs for the rest of the world

Look at the comments too.

I’m as staunch an advocate – in general – for free markets as possible, but something seems very awry here.  I know that some countries basically tell the companies “You can charge X; if you don’t like that, you can’t sell here”.  But as one commenter noted, the biggest cost is the R&D.

Twitter video by feminist

Independence uber alles.  I pity any boyfriend she has who considers her for marriage.

5 things you didn’t know about satanists | CNN

Normalizing evil.  Speaking of:

Australian high school class explicitly explains bestiality as part of LGBTQ lessons | Human Events | humanevents.com

What have I been predicting about “interspecies affection”?

Why Socialists Want to Destroy Western Civilization and Christianity | Prof. DiLorenzo – YouTube

Video, about 12 minutes.

Muslim Brotherhood plan.

First Saturday, then Sunday.  And this Brigitte Gabriel video is also good:

Brigitte Gabriel Reads the Muslim Brotherhood Plan for America (youtube.com)

They openly say what their plan is – total global conquest.  Have the moral courage to take them at their word!

 

 

Club Of Rome Unveils Plan To Cull Billions From The World Population (infowars.com)

Yes.  As Surak has been known to say… They really do want to kill you.  And if it comes to it… let’s make sure she and her bloodline are the ones who go.

NPR chief Katherine Maher funded Stacey Abrams’ election denial (nypost.com)

Now we learn she funded the election-denial schemers who provided a model for Trump’s 2020 shenanigans, perhaps giving him the impression he could try to overturn an election and walk away with his reputation untarnished.

This article is asking questions about the recent changes that insurance companies are making to their policies involving nuclear war, airplane damage to homes, and several other “odd-ball” clauses:

Lame Cherry: There is a Puzzle

Yes, they ARE coming for your children, and if you oppose them, they will take the children away:

Bringing A Dad’s Worst Nightmare To Life – Granite Grok

Related, this is a Bill Maher monologue that slams the “pedo” industry of Hollywood.  It’s the 2nd Bill Maher clip I’ve agreed with in a couple weeks.  Maybe, just MAYBE, the liberals are finally saying ENOUGH, leave the kids alone!:

https://twitter.com/billmaher/status/1781526083210502503

T.L. Davis pointing out that the sham trial of President Trump is really just for the elites to show us peons that we have no power anymore, and we should just accept the New World Order.  America as we knew it is already doomed, but unless states start seceding (and people withdraw their consent of the governed), the America ideals she stood for will be forfeit.

Dysfunctional and Dangerous – by T.L. Davis (substack.com)

Even New York is canceling wind projects, as they cannot get a payback:

https://www.independentsentinel.com/ny-state-cancels-two-thirds-of-its-wind-projects/

The Fed cannot get a handle on inflation, because the only way to do that is to raise the lending rate.  But if they raise rates, banks that are holding boatloads of older treasury bonds will be underwater and eventually collapse.  So inflation is here to stay for a long while (maybe years) until the excess money supply (including the $5 Trillon that was “printed” during Covid) has been absorbed into the economy.  That’s of course unless the whole house of cards fails; which I believe is the end game the elites want (you will own nothing and be happy, remember?).  Get your cash OUT of the banks ASAP and convert as much as you can into tangible assets (land, food, ammo, meds, fuels, gold, silver, a good bicycle, etc.).  Those items will be your wealth when the system crashes.

The Feds Are Going to Let Inflation Rise – It’s Alarming (independentsentinel.com)

This article lays out much of what we already know:  That the FBI (and other TLA’s) are no longer working for We The People.  Instead, they are the jackbooted thugs working for the deep state to keep us in line:

Mike Garcia Tells FBI Director Chris Wray His Agency Has Ideologically Inverted and Now Represents the USA Equivalent of The Soviet Secret Police – The Last Refuge (theconservativetreehouse.com)

Related:

Shorting Evil, by Robert Gore | STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC

Something to think about:  What if Biden manages to get enough votes, fraudulent and other, to be “re-installed” in the white house?  What will you do?  What are you WILLING to do to save our country:

BALLSEYE’S BOOMERS (ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com)

What’s that line from The Untouchables?

“And THEN what are you prepared to do”?

The new FISA bill has passed in the House, despite major opposition from many sides, and is now headed to the Senate, but it’s not the same as the original FISA bill.  Now they have included a clause that makes ALL electronic sources required to turn over their data to the Feds “upon request”.  So they could force your work to spy on you, or the tech that services your IT stuff, or the mechanic that downloads the computer info in your vehicle.  I wonder if this applies to encrypted email services like Protonmail? If it does, then there are NO “safe” email services any more:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/fisa_section_702/

Should Donald Trump keep Secret Service protection in prison? Democrats’ bill says no – Washington Times

Just try to wrap your mind around how much they hate him.  And you.

hhhmmm, Dr. Mike Yeadon is treading on DANGEROUS ground here, ground where lots, many will vilify him & move to cancel him & they tried (some successfully) in the Freedom Movement for he is smarter (substack.com)

Dissenters will be silenced.  More:

Thought Police: Home Visit For UK Man Who Expressed Anger Online About Sydney Bishop Being Stabbed by Islamist – modernity

Glazov Gang: Ashley Biden’s Diary and the Jailing of Aimee Harris | Frontpage Mag

Video.  And other videos too.  All good stuff!

Breast Cancer Surgeons Required to Submit DEI Statement to Work at UC Davis | The Gateway Pundit | by Margaret Flavin

OMG!

US House passes bills to aid Ukraine, bolster Taiwan, threaten TikTok ban – Insider Paper

From what money tree forest is all this coming?  Aside from running the presses, that is.

Before you slam Matt Gaetz for ousting Speaker McCarthy, remember this one vital nugget of truth… – Revolver News

The usual suspects pop up to urge appeasement of the Left.

 

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

 

Pick of the post:

 

 

Too many instances these days of scientists, etc., being found to having been bought.

But that’s one of the hurdles we face – people who are in awestruck admiration of “The Science” who can’t imagine that someone with a PhD could be just as susceptible to being bought as anyone else.

 

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

 

Palate Cleansers:

 

 

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

 

Come back Wednesday for another edition.  Same Meme Time.  Same Meme channel.

Please do consider buying me a coffee.

Buy Me a Coffee

 

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

 

The post MONDAY MEMES appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Turning Children Into Illiterate Community Organizers

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 14:00 +0000

By its own admission, Nellie Mae’s mission is to turn students into Community organizers. So, its goal isn’t academic excellence but turning students into political mules.

Take a look at Manchester’s Equity Plan, which was funded by Nellie Mae.

Screenshot

Is it any wonder families are fleeing Manchester Public Schools in search of a school that is focused on reading, writing and arithmetic?

You can find more info on this here:

Radical Community Organizers are Guiding Some Schools in NH

Several years ago, the Annenberg Foundation launched an effort to improve education in the Chicago public schools. It was called the “Chicago Annenberg Challenge” (CAC). The CAC pumped $100 MILLION into the Chicago public schools, but when it was over, the results were dismal.

When the focus on education becomes more about changing values, attitudes and beliefs in children vs. focusing on literacy and academic excellence, should we be surprised it ended in failure?

According to the Wall Street Journal article “Obama and Ayers Pushed Radicalism on Schools,” Annenberg poured $100 million into the hands of radical education activists and community organizers from 1995 to 1999 as a way of improving Chicago’s public schools. The CAC was the brainchild of Bill Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground in the 1960s. Among other feats, Mr. Ayers and his cohorts bombed the Pentagon.

The article goes on to explain, “The CAC’s agenda flowed from Mr. Ayers’s educational philosophy, which called for infusing students and their parents with a radical political commitment, and which downplayed achievement tests in favor of activism.”

There is a powerful influence in reforming public education that does not include a focus on helping kids to become literate and productive citizens. Instead, the focus of education is to transform your children into radical political activists with values and beliefs that may very well be in conflict with what you want for your children.

The CAC tied schools to working with outside radical community organizations like ACORN. Some may remember that ACORN captured national attention when it was revealed that they were involved in voter fraud.

There are good people who want to see public education improve in this country. Those people have a clear focus on “making kids smarter”.   With a quality education, the sky’s the limit. When public education is focused on everything but literacy, students are often times left with two options: seek outside help from tutoring centers or fall through the cracks.

This is why it’s so shocking that schools in New Hampshire are aligning with Annenberg again. After a track record of failure and radical reforms that do not elevate the quality of education in public schools, one has to wonder why some schools like Pittsfield and Manchester would seek their assistance.

Community Organizers come to schools with money in hand in the form of Grants. Those Grants come from the Nellie Mae Foundation. Nellie Mae has made their focus on community organizing, too. As you can see from their brochure, there is a focus on “Community Organizing.” Nellie Mae even references one of the most radical political organizers, Saul Alinsky, in their report. (page 1)

Granite State Organizing Project is now working with Annenberg and attempting to influence public schools in New Hampshire. However it’s important to note that what is sometimes pushed through these organizations, does nothing to improve the quality of education in the public schools.

In fact, some of what they push has actually been shown to LOWER academic achievement among students. That’s why it’s critical that School Board Members ask the tough questions like, where is the INDEPENDENT data that shows your reform efforts will lead to academic improvement in the district?

One of these organizations’ big pushes is on “student-centered learning.” While this may sound like a good idea, one should look past the slogans and ask for additional information, such as what” student-centered learning” means and how it improves academic achievement among students.

For instance, “Student-Centered Learning” is grounded in Constructivist learning theories.   This means that knowledge is “constructed” from the experiences of the student. There is a fundamental shift from the teacher instructing their students to the teacher becoming a “facilitator” of learning.  This approach to learning has been around a while, so we can look back to see how this pedagogy has failed when forced on teachers in core subjects like mathematics.
The “math wars”  have been raging for years over this approach to teaching mathematics.

Traditionalists will argue that when teaching math, students need to be instructed by a highly qualified teacher. When the teacher knows their subject and can explain the math concepts, students will better understand math.

Constructivists will argue that it’s best for children to discover math or inquire their way through the problems.  This is done with the teacher “facilitating” in the learning process.

This has set up a situation that has led to years of public debate on how best to teach math to children.

As one who has tutored students in mathematics, I fall on the side of the traditionalist. I have seen the damage inflicted on students when they are left to discover mathematics with little instruction.  Even among traditionalists, there is support for teachers to use the best approach as they see fit.

This leads me back to Annenberg, Nellie Mae, and The Granite State Organizers. Instead of allowing teachers to use the methods they feel are best for their students, they want to push a teaching method that we know can negatively impact a student’s ability to learn math. A school will have to agree to use this teaching method in order to qualify for the grant money.

Their track record of improving the quality of education does not exist, and their methods of using grant money to push reforms that do not improve the quality of education should concern everyone.

These Community Organizers have been around for decades. With no real track record for improving public education and their focus grounded in radical political activism, everyone needs to be asking more questions and demanding more answers from administrators who accept their grant money and implement their reforms within the school district.

Money has been thrown at public schools for years, and taxpayers are becoming more frustrated by the lack of results. They want to guide public education in their own communities and not have community organizers or unelected bureaucrats have the kind of influence that fails their children.

Additional sources on the failures of Constructivism when used in Mathematics:
http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/kirschner_Sweller_Clark.pdf
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090326114415.htm

Eighth-Grade Students Learn More Through Direct Instruction


http://www.jefflindsay.com/EducData.shtml

Harvard Study Shows that Lecture-Style Presentations Lead to Higher Student Achievement

Ann Marie Banfield is an Education Researcher who has been volunteering for Cornerstone Action in New Hampshire. She advocates for excellence in public education and parental rights.

The post Turning Children Into Illiterate Community Organizers appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Let Me Count the Ways...

Libertarian Leanings - Mon, 2024-04-22 13:08 +0000
If you've only got 2 minutes to understand how the Biden administration is destroying America, this is the video that you need to watch ????pic.twitter.com/FKjYlK9FUN — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) April 22, 2024 Tom Bowler
Categories: Blogs, United States

If It’s Not ‘Racist’ “Democrats” Would Have to Take Credit for Their Failures And They’d Rather Blame You

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 12:00 +0000

Many imbalances or inequities in our culture result from the same problem. The failure of “the state” to put academic rigor ahead of politics. And who runs “the state”? Bureaucrats, financed by the DC uniparty, which is run by Democrats.

The uniparty agenda is the Democrat party agenda. Regardless of any other affectation (party registration or lack of it), those who claim allegiance to its goals are advancing progressive policy. So, when I say “The Democrats,” I mean those in and out of that political closet—a bulwark that objects to even allowing alternatives to its preferred solutions. A political establishment that has taken America’s major cities and converted them from beacons of productivity and opportunity into hi-rise homeless camps littered with poop, dirty needles, underperforming schools, poverty, and crime.

It is not racism to point out, as Heather MacDonald did in a recent issue of Imprimis, that,

In the post-George Floyd era, black juveniles are shot at 100 times the rate of white juveniles. Blacks between the ages of ten and 24 are killed in drive by shootings at nearly 25 times the rate of whites in that same age cohort. Dozens of blacks are murdered every day, more than all white and Hispanic homicide victims combined, even though blacks are just 13 percent of the population. The country turns its eyes away. Who is killing these black victims? Not the police, not whites, but other blacks.

As for interracial violence, blacks are a greater threat to whites than whites are to blacks. Blacks commit 85 percent of all non-lethal interracial violence between blacks and whites. A black person is 35 times more likely to commit an act of non-lethal violence against a white person than vice versa. Yet the national narrative insists on the opposite idea—and too many dutifully play along.

This situation results from deliberate choices by policymakers running the cities where these disparities are an everyday fact of life. Before the George-Floyd Era, Democrats ran those police departments for decades before deciding it was to their advantage to label them as racist. Democrats set standards and curriculum for city schools (also) for decades. Democrats also established and funded bottomless bureaucracies to protect political power and coddled Unions that kept them in office at the expense of children and families (primarily minorities in their cities) and still do.

In 2019, 66 percent of all black 12th graders did not possess even partial mastery of basic 12th grade math skills, defined as being able to do arithmetic and to read a graph. Only seven percent of black 12th graders were proficient in 12th grade math, defined as being able to calculate using ratios. The number of black 12th graders who were advanced in math was too small to show up statistically in a national sample. The picture was not much better in reading. Fifty percent of black 12th graders did not possess even partial mastery of basic reading, and only four percent were advanced.

It is not just black kids (or any minority in a public school system) that suffer similar outcomes. The proficiency numbers in primarily white New Hampshire are not nearly as tragic but are in decline, and the expense-to-results ratios in education are similar. You spend more and get a worse outcome and you’d be right to suspect that this is the equity they are looking for – make ’em all too dumb to resist.

And it is not just a problem in America. Theodore Dalrymple wrote of a similar cascade of failure in England many years ago. The government-run progressive culture, in the furtherance of goals you are welcome to guess at yourself, results in a rising number of single-parent “homes.” Generation after generation of fatherless kids lived on government subsidies from cradle to grave, unable to escape or improve their lives because of unsupervised upbringing and a public education that left them with declining options to better their situation. A few escape, but crime is easy (especially in disarmed England), so it fills the gap at the expense of the culture and its victims. At the same time, drugs help whoever chooses them to escape the misery of having a failed, disinterested institution as a daddy that will happily lock them up (and feed and house them) if they get caught doing anything too inappropriate to ignore.

For many, prison will be an improvement. Put that on your campaign bumper sticker.

In America, the ‘Democrats’ have decided to stop arresting their “urban offspring,” perhaps out of guilt at what they’ve done but more likely because the chaos that follows is just another thing they can blame on someone else. An angle they can work to accumulate power.

And note that it is not racist when this happens in poor white communities (in and around Applaicha, for example), but both are a byproduct of progressive priorities on both sides of The Pond. To hide these failures, the Left has erected entire systems from DEI to CRT, which erase any pretext that education is about anything other than preparing future generations for a two-class system in which those truly responsible never pay a political price because they have adequately convinced you that what they did in the past and to your future is someone else’s fault.

The problem is the Democrat agenda and those who aid and abet it, but much like the swamp in DC, you can’t replace one or two moving parts for a term or two and expect a different result. You need to flush the system and then support the replacements. And it doesn’t have to be violent, but you can’t help but think they hope it is.

 

The post If It’s Not ‘Racist’ “Democrats” Would Have to Take Credit for Their Failures And They’d Rather Blame You appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Time to Vote for Another Comment of the Week

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 11:08 +0000

We’ve completed another week, and it is time to choose another Comment of the Week. I’ve selected one comment from each of the past seven days (Mon-Sun) and included them below for you to review before you vote.

The winner, as selected by the Grokosphere, will have the option of contacting me (steve@granitegrok.com) to provide an address to which I will ship a ‘Grok goody. We will announce the winner on Wednesday.

I have provided a link to the post where you can find the comment and one to the commenter’s Disqus profile. Feel free to click and review for context if you feel it necessary.

And wow, great conversations everywhere, but especially on Pedophiles and Psychos Employed at U.S. Youth Detention Centers, and this Evidence Suggests That Children Who Get No Vaccines … Have Better Health Outcomes.

Thanks to everyone who reads and comments. There were a large number of excellent remarks and exchanges.

 

When voting, you will select the Disqus Handle of the commenter you’d like to win this week in the poll below. The poll closes Tuesday at 8 pm.

Comments are as originally submitted.

Ian Underwood
Rights, or Permissions?

How about consent — which essentially reduces to the Golden Rule — as a shared value upon which to base both society and government? According to the Declaration of Independence, that’s the ideal upon which the need to form a new country is based.

Here are the things I don’t want anyone else to be able to do to me. Therefore, I agree to be punished if I get caught trying to do them to anyone else.

That captures all of the things that should be crimes (like murder, assault, and theft), without including the things that shouldn’t be (like smoking pot or paying for sex or gambling). And it eliminates using government as a tool for redistributing wealth.

Or how about Bastiat’s description of government as ‘nothing more than organized self-defense’?
These are the opposite of chaos.

What we have nowis chaos — a situation where 51% of the voters can force their preferences on the other 49% at the point of a gun; where 51% of the voters can treat the other 49% as ATMs, and so on; where every election feels like it could spell the end of the world as we know it, because a handful of voters in the middle could turn everything upside-down overnight.

TheOrneryNurse
Obesity: Eating Less is Out – Drugs and Surgery Are In
Watch this. #NoAmnesty

Jack
Maine Follows Vermont Down Another Disarmament Rabbit Hole
I believe the only reason our current regime and all it’s tools don’t want us to form militias is because they want to disarm us even though Article 1 titled: The Militia.. Clauses 15 and 16 give the federal govt. the power to call up and use state militias. Against us if Congress deems fit. And if they succeed they definitely would use militias against us.

Besides, if they eliminate our power to form them they will be able to form their own. Like the “Collectivos” in Maduro’s Venezuela.

Tombstone Gabby New ‘Green’ Building Code to Dominate Housing Construction

First time I’ve heard that expression, had to look it up. Hadn’t heard that he was pushing “15 Minute Cities”.

As for “15 Minute Cities”, each “City” is supposed to provide/have available every service that a resident might want? Have you had a hip replacement lately? How far did you have to travel? Just the thought of training enough doctors to staff local clinics – not going to happen.

Returning to the European feudal village way of life, with a Lord of the Manor and his serfs. Just don’t get caught poaching the King’s deer in the King’s Forest – you will be transported to a north American colony.

(The last ‘official’ group of English convicts was landed in north America in April of 1776, 28 of them.)

NHnative
Vermont Tax Revolt Continues …

The fall of Vermont has been hard to watch because I love that state.

The older I get, the more I love the physical beauty of the state and the old fashioned quiet life that one can live in Vermont.

It’s devastating that the state seems to be on a suicide mission though..

They could use more people like us that desire to live simply in small towns without a lot of people around. BUT then they’ve made it impossible for us to move there..

To move there is to agree to be owned by the psychopaths in control, robbed by the government and driven downward- and a victim of crime in many areas!
So that ain’t gonna work!

Collcat
Pedophiles and Psychos Employed at U.S. Youth Detention Centers

Not challenging you and respect your opinion but analysts think roughly 25,000 victims have come forward across the country just between 2019-2024. Given the fact that most victims don’t come forward till 51, this number is likely going to grow into the hundreds of thousands.

States certainly are in the wrong but I agree with author and Senator Jon Ossoff, the Federal Government holds the largest liability in all of this. They listened to Quack Drs for decades and used these centers to test pseudoscience on kids. Pseudoscience attracts those who abuse children always has.

Victims should certainly file lawsuits against the state, but in NH the state is corrupt so what good is that? This won’t stop without the federal government taking accountability. Follow the money to find those who are to blame. The grants all came from the federal government.

LauraCondon
Evidence Suggests That Children Who Get No Vaccines … Have Better Health Outcomes

I’ve been at this subject for so many years that I have to remind myself that it was a journey for me and is likely a journey for most people. My journey started as a special ed teacher in the Autistic Unit at Spaulding Youth Center in Northfield decades ago when parents told me, “My child was fine, my child was perfect, my child was normal. Then they got the MMR shot and totally regressed, never spoke again, lost developmental skills, developed food allergies and seizures.” Media used to report on vaccine failure and harm back then with Phil Donahue talking about the DPT shot and 60 Minutes reporting on the Swine Flu shot causing paralysis. Then in 1986 when the industry got the federal government to pass the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act that shielded vaccine makers from all harm from vaccines, the floodgates of vaccine development opened up and the aggressive vaccine mandates on children were militantly enforced.

But yes, like you I too once believed that some vaccines surely were good…I mean the smallpox one was good, right? But there were just too many, too soon, too close together. Best to pick and choose and space them out. But I kept reading and investigating as more vaccines were brought to market (meningococcal, and Hep B, and chickenpox and HPV, etc.) and even more “boosters” were added for vaccines that were now failing (polio is now 3 doses, measles is now 2 doses, even chicken pox is now 2 doses, mumps is 2 doses with call for a 3rd dose of this failed shot). I saw the harm. I saw the failure. And I met healthy, thriving children and adults who never had any vaccines. Over a period of years I realized I was wrong about the too many, too soon, and too close together. I learned that none of them were necessary and the vast majority are very dangerous. And smallpox and polio??? Those were the last ones I let go of. Lots of reading got to the truth.

So welcome to this journey. I hope that you will continue to keep an open inquisitive mind and that maybe you too will find that what you once thought was true is not actually the case. And good health to you!

 

Pick one Commenter as This Weeks Winner
  • Ian Underwood
  • The Ornery Nurse
  • Jack
  • Tomestone Gabby
  • NH Native
  • Collcat
  • Laura Condon
Vote

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Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Donald, You Have To Name A VP

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 10:00 +0000

Donald Trump has to name a Vice Presidential running mate today. This decision is imperative for many reasons, and I am unsure why he is procrastinating. I realize Trump likes to be the only person on the stage, but the 2024 election is like no other before.

He has to realize this and the importance of a strong person to join him on the ticket to save this country from a Biden/Harris journey to extinction. Let me outline my reasons for calling for Trump’s decision, and then you can decide if my reasoning is valid.

Unprecedented election in modern times: It has been nearly 70 years since we had the same two candidates run in consecutive elections. Sixty-eight years ago. After Eisenhower beat Stevenson in 1952 and won all but nine states, the incumbent president faced Stevenson again four years later and secured an even larger landslide. Whoever wins this election will only have four more years. Many say a vote for Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. The same is true for Trump. He has to generate some excitement for his running mate now.

Trump is the first president ever to be charged with a crime: Trump is tied up in a New York courtroom by DA Alvin Bragg and will be for up to six weeks. Biden is out on the campaign trail, and Trump is threatened with jail time for violating a gag order. He needs a VP candidate who can hit the trail, get the Republican vision to the voters, and hit hard on Harris.

First of many trials: Trump faces 91 indictments, and Biden’s INJustice Department is going to tie Trump up in courtrooms as long as possible. These are not legitimate trials but a mechanism to impact a Presidential Election. This farce has to be reported and repeated often.

Phenomenal group of potential VPs: The Dems are handicapped with Kamala Harris, who has a lower approval rating than Biden. Trump has a plethora of possible candidates who could give Biden a run for his money. Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, Elise Stefanik, and Tulsi Gabbard are just a few. The fact there are so many good options may explain why Trump is having a tough time narrowing the list to one.

Campaign Funds: Elections should not be a fundraising contest, but that is the reality. Trump beat Hillary with far less money, but that will not happen twice. The choice of VP could be a massive influx of cash to the ticket. Money to fund a ground game will be crucial.

There has to be a VP Debate: Trump may never get Biden on a debate stage, but Tump’s VP candidate can get Kamala Harris into a debate. Any of Trump’s options will clean Harris’ clock. It has to happen. Biden is weak today, and Harris must be exposed as a weakness for the future.

The trial in New York City is backfiring on the Democrats. With every ruling by the Judge, the foundation is laid for the appeal should Trump be found guilty by the “Jury of his peers.” The Democrats are involuntarily boosting Trump’s numbers, and RFK Jr is now on the ballot in the toss-up state of Michigan. Losing Michigan alone could cost Biden the election. The mainstream media is salivating at the thought of Trump being found guilty and jailed. The picture of Trump behind bars might be history’s most potent campaign shot. If Trump makes an excellent strategic choice for VP, it may be all he needs to tip the scales in his direction beyond the possible Democrat manipulation of the election. So let’s get it done, Mr. Trump. Make your pick, and let’s rally around your choice.

The post Donald, You Have To Name A VP appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Night Cap: Nobody Covers ARIZONA … Like WMUR Covers ARIZONA

Granite Grok - Mon, 2024-04-22 02:00 +0000

So a couple of days ago I got trapped in front of a television and had to endure the supposedly local “news” on WMUR. There was a relatively long segment on ARIZONA … more specifically, a court decision in Arizona that restored an old law that bans most abortions and the Arizona legislature addressing that decision. What does this have to do with New Hampshire? If you answered ABSOLUTELY NOTHING … that’s a bingo, and you are absolutely correct.

Later the ABC “nightly news” or whatever they call that 30-minute pro-Biden/anti-Trump propaganda-dump came on … and virtually the identical segment on ARIZONA. Do you see what is going on bitter-clingers? ABORTION is one of the DemocratsCommunists’ major themes for the 2024 election and their propagandists are out there pushing the issue. But just keep pretending that Adam Sexton and the rest of the grifters at WMUR are “journalists” … that they are informing and not manipulating the electorate, that somehow an Arizona law that has absolutely NO applicability or relevance to New Hampshire is more newsworthy in New Hampshire than, for example, the anti-white racism being taught in public schools under the pretext of making public schools more “diverse, equitable and inclusive.”

 

The post Night Cap: Nobody Covers ARIZONA … Like WMUR Covers ARIZONA appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

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