Sunday • May 19 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XX
Manchester, N.H.
“Tell the world, Johnny, tell them that I, Johnny Depp, a man, I too am a victim of domestic violence. And see how many people side with you.” How many women have had men say that to them?
Not only when it comes to domestic violence, but sexual assault and the rarely discussed sexual coercion. “Go ahead tell them—they will never believe you.”
At the onset of the Me Too movement, we watched as women united. They were standing up and fighting back against sexual assault and sexual coercion. You know, the “if you do this sexual favor for me I can help you get places—if not I will make sure you never work again” kind of coercion.
Light was finally being shed on the casting couch, be it in the movie industry or in your local business office. Women were sharing the stories that they had held onto and were afraid to share. Prior to this moment in time if a woman dared to bring up their domestic abuse, sexual assault, or coercion they were vilified.
They were told that they must have done something to bring it on themselves. They were all temptresses in a world of easily tempted men. Or so we were told.
It was healing and empowering for so many women to share their stories, to finally put that burden, and the shame that accompanied, it down and realize that it wasn’t us—it was them. Generations of guilt were released and we stood at the ready on a mission to support other women that came forward. Then it happened. Hollywood, which started the revolution took it to the very edge and pushed it off the cliff with their chants of “Believe All Women!”
They turned a moment of freedom into an opportunity to shackle all men, proclaim men the oppressors, and stick it to their perceived enemy—the Patriarchy. Once again Hollywood used women to further their cause and we were too naive to see it coming. Unfortunately, Amber Heard, her lies, her team, the Sun, the Post, and all of her co-conspirators reversed any progress and once again made it harder for real victims to be believed.
Amber Heard saw an opportunity to grab ahold of this untamed beast throw a bridle on it and drag Johnny Depp’s bound body behind it. These same elites jumped on the ride with her. Without any proof of wrongdoing on Depp’s part, the ACLU crowned Heard the Ambassador of Womankind or something equally as revolting.
In doing so they have shown the world what so many already knew—the ACLU is not about civil rights or liberty—it is about punishing political adversaries and furthering its hand-picked causes. All of the usual suspects spread the “news” far and wide. In a nanosecond–Depp was done.
Many have speculated as to the popularity of the Depp/Heard trial. I won’t attempt to speak for everyone as I am sure that the fact that he is a star played a role as did simple morbid curiosity. But for me, it was about watching the truth being revealed one witness and one audio recording at a time.
It was as if all the people who had their legitimate “me too” stories hijacked by those looking to gain celebrity and power from their pain finally got some of their power back. It was also a moment of triumph for the many men that have been falsely accused out of some twisted act of revenge for unrequited love or infidelity.
Millions of people sat ringside and cheered as they watched someone with the courage and the means to fight back against the cancel culture and the full power and weight of Hollywood and the ACLU. Maybe some of us saw a little bit of ourselves in Johnny Depp just as we have, from time to time, connected with the vulnerability of some of his most relatable characters. When Johnny won, we won.
It is my hope that the scales of domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual coercion are finally balanced. It is also my hope that society can now understand that there are also male victims who often suffer in silence or are rarely believed.
So yes, “Tell the world, Johnny, tell them that I, Johnny Depp, a man, I too am a victim of domestic violence…And see how many people believe or side with you.” Ironically it was Amber’s own words that made the case for Mr. Depp and, hopefully, undid much of the damage she has done to re-victimize so many survivors.
The post Have the Scales of “Domestic” Violence Finally Been Balanced? appeared first on Granite Grok.
On May 12th, the NH House and Senate concurred on the final language in HB1178. An Act “prohibiting the state from enforcing any federal statute, regulation, or Presidential Executive Order that restricts or regulates the right of the people to keep and bear arms.”
“This bill prohibits the state of New Hampshire, a political subdivision of this state, or any person acting under the color of state, county, or municipal law from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer, or cooperate with any law, act, rule, order, or regulation of the United States Government or Executive Order of the President of the United States that is inconsistent with any law of this state regarding the regulation of firearms, ammunition, magazines or the ammunition feeding devices, firearm components, firearms supplies, or knives.”
You are prohibited from enforcing it if it is not in New Hampshire statute.
The Bill passed three weeks ago and has 9presumably) not been delivered to the governor. If it had, it would have become law without his signature (I believe it is) five days later. That has not happened. Where, for the love of my Natural right to self-defense, is HB1178?
The Bill effectively nullifies federal overreach without preventing cooperation on interstate gun crimes. Signing it would make all the noise from the caterwauling gun-grabbing progressive loons irrelevant.
Sound and fury signify nothing.
Governor Groomer did say (this week) that after the Texas shooting, New Hampshire had no intention of tightening up existing laws on firearms. THat’s something. But where is HB1178, and when can we expect him to sign it?
Is he afraid to, given the recent rash of shootings? Or is he waiting for Biden or Democrats to say or do something material that would give it more weight?
His base is unhappy with his performance of late, and a bit of showmanship standing up for GraniteStater’s natural right to keep and bear arms might give him a lift.
A bill that won’t help us where changes in Federal background checks are concerned. But it will prevent the Feds from being able to enforce new unconstitutional laws or to take away firearms already in the hands of law-abiding citizens for as long as we can keep a Republican majority in the Legislature.
Local Dems will flay those protections on day one if they ever get the majority again, so vigilance at the ballot box continues to be the order of the day, especially if Sununu vetoes this Bill.
I’ve stood firm on the notion he would not veto it – that he would sign it or allow it to become law, but it’s been three weeks. Where in the Granite State is HB1178?
The post With The Feds Promising to Disarm Us, This Would Be a Great Time for Sununu to Sign HB1178 Into Law appeared first on Granite Grok.
Sarah Gibson from NHPR didn’t do her homework so at 2:15 pm today. She put out “misinformation” (you know, that AWFUL thing that the Left hates when it claims we on the Right have said what Free Speech allows people to do).
Ordinarily, I would have emailed her but her “home page” at NHPR has no email listed for her (nor a direct phone number). The only way to have left a message was via the NHPR Office Phone, (603) 228-8910.
Her post was “Policies for transgender students under scrutiny in N.H. schools and courts.” In it, she starts with the anecdote of the Somersworth School District (SAU56) that was seeing a large number of kids changing their gender identity in the school database and the response, the CORRECT response, by Superintendent Lori Lane (as always, some reformatting and emphasis mine):
Earlier this year, some transgender and gender non-conforming students in Somersworth began changing their name and pronouns in the school district database. The district has a policy for these students, aimed at protecting their privacy and preventing discrimination. But Somersworth Superintendent Lori Lane wasn’t sure if the school should loop parents in.
“We ask for parents’ permission for kids to do everything from going on a field trip to playing sports to so many things,” she said. “Why would we think that it would be okay to not have this kind of conversation with families?”
Unlike my Superintendent, Kirk Beitler, immediate past School Board Chair Gretchen Gandini, and present Chair Jeanine Onos, she put the right people first – the Parents. She recognized, correctly, that the kids are Parents’ responsibility FIRST and that the ethos of the school was that they are “in loco parentis” temporarily. They are granted permission to care, in a limited fashion – not total control as the Gilford, Manchester, and Exeter School Districts seem to assume.
And the Board made the proper decision:
Following several months of internal discussions, the Somersworth school board issued an update in May to its policy for transgender and gender non-conforming students. It now requires schools to seek permission from both the student and parent or guardian to make a change in a student’s pronoun or name in the official school database.
It also reads: “The school district shall take care to not initiate or otherwise independently encourage the start of a process of social transition for any students but shall follow supportive procedures as discussed in the policy after such transition has been approved by both the student and the parent(s) or legal guardian(s).”
…You hear this rhetoric: ’The school is hiding something from parents.’ And we don’t want to be known as that,” she said
They chose not to break their trust with their Parents. They decided to NOT create an atmosphere of distrust in which Parents would never have to worry “Is my child’s teacher, guidance counselor, Assistant Principal, Principal, or School Board LYING to me?” I am in that position now – I did as Chair Onos directed us all to do: “for any concerns, problems, or issues, ask your Administrators.”
As you all know, I did – during the School Board Meeting during the first Public Comment Session; I asked the Elementary School Principal Danielle Bolduc “what is the transgender status of my legal son?”. She refused to tell me.
Thus, she lied, by omission and refusal to answer the question, in front of me, the parents and students in the audience behind me, and the School Board in front of me. I then reamed the School Board for having put her into that awful position. I was later confronted by the High School Principal, Anthoy Sperazzo, saying that I had made her a political pawn.
There’s another school board meeting coming up very soon.
Anyways, Somerworth has a Policy JBAB but it differs from the one that was issued by the NH School Board Association starting in 2015 and recently pulled (at least Gibson got that right). It reads, for the specific issues that are being litigated in other Districts:
Information about a student’s transgender status, legal name, or biological sex listed on a person’s birth certificate also may constitute confidential information. School personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others without authorization from the student and parent(s) or legal guardian(s).
…Should the situation arise where the student would like their name and gender identity to change from what is on their official school record, the school will need the permission of both the student and the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) to make a change in the school district’s student information system, other files or other electronic data bases where the student’s legal name and biological sex listed on a person’s birth certificate is the only information identified.
And the Locker Room issue:
Decisions regarding consistent facility use shall be granted with both student and parent permission.
I also note that “preferred pronouns” are NOT part of Somersworth’s JBAB. However, it does have this which could be used by LGBT militants against the Free Speech of students, Staff, or other people who happen to be on school grounds:
Complaints alleging discrimination or harassment based on a person’s actual or perceived transgender status or gender nonconformity are to be handled in the same manner as other discrimination or harassment complaints.
Is NOT using demanded pronouns going to be considered discrimination or harassment? In some Districts, I would not be surprised. However, back to Gibson’s piece where she shows her ideological outlook with the use of the vaunted “scare quotes”:
The allegation that New Hampshire schools are keeping secrets from parents was one of the primary drivers for a so-called “parental rights” bill that died in the State House last week. Seriously “so-called”, Sarah? What is so scary about codifying what Parental Rights are, especially with what is going on both here in NH and nationally where Districts have turned against Parents? Your progressivism showed its nose from the inside of the tent with that. And you did what all Progressives did – take the side of “schools and kids over Parents” by concentrating on the “outing” of some students and not how the Districts are treating Parents.
So, she hates Parents as well? I’ll leave that hanging…
About not doing her homework:
…Lehmann has recently brought lawsuits against the Manchester, Exeter, and Gilford school districts. The lawsuits allege that schools’ transgender policies infringe on parents’ and students’ freedom of speech and religion, and on parents’ rights to direct the upbringing and education of their child. Lehmann declined several requests to be interviewed for this story.
Wrong. While he IS the litigator for the Parents in Manchester and Gilford (the latter being my suit), he’s not involved directly in Exeter. While he purportedly may be giving advice, the lead chair for the Parents against SAU16/Exeter is Ian Huyett of Cornerstone because the freshman there is being discriminated against by the District because of his Catholic faith (which holds that God only created two genders: male and female). And she got this next part wrong, too:
A judge dismissed the Gilford lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of conservative blogger and activist David “Skip” Murphy. The other two are still moving through the courts.
She didn’t state why it was dismissed, did she? I’ll be blunt – the second judge, brought in at the last minute, dismissed it for lack of standing. Doing the complete story, I guess, was beyond her ken. I dryly note that she reported, “Lehmann declined several requests to be interviewed for this story.”
Well, she didn’t bother to try to contact me even though she admits that she knows who I am, and what I do, and couldn’t bring herself to write “GraniteGrok.com.” I guess that writing “conservative” must have been a hard slog (heh!).
And the last part includes Chris Erchull about whom I have already blogged:
Chris Erchull, a staff attorney at the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, said that New Hampshire appears to be a “hotspot for litigation,” as activists and lawmakers seek to roll back legal protections for LGBTQ students.
“It’s going to be really important to convince people and convince courts that affirming and respecting transgender and gender non-conforming students in school is the bare minimum required by law,” he said. “Putting schools in the position of reporting back to parents the gender or sexual identity of their children is not the proper role of school personnel.”
So I can only surmise that the flip side of his outlook is that School Districts SHOULD lie to Parents simply because of his sexual ideological bent?
He hates Parents, too, is the only conclusion I can arrive at when there are minor children involved. After all, he has made them HIS concern – and he’s not, unlike the Somersworth School District, willing to think that perhaps the Parents are the ones in charge.
The post So, Sarah Gibson of NHPR, Are You Going to Return My Call over Your “Misinformation” in Your Post That Included Me? appeared first on Granite Grok.
You’ve heard the phrase, maybe even used it. It is ubiquitous, an idiom. “[It] came out of nowhere.” But everything comes from somewhere. The deer from the woods. The rock from a hillside or the hand that threw it. So does life. It comes from someplace, and it has a beginning. Life doesn’t just come out of nowhere. It begins, like all things, from an identifiable point of origin.
Every argument, theory, reason, excuse, or end-around to blur that is politics or, more specifically, a lie we tell ourselves in the service of selfishness or evil.
And I wasn’t always pro-life because the culture made it easy not to be that. It was framed in terms that anyone could ape. You could say, you know what, I don’t know when life begins. Maybe borrow a line from Obama decades before he said it. It’s above my pay grade. Or, you wouldn’t want to be punished with a baby – more likely.
We are not encouraged to take responsibility for the benefits of pleasure. Sexual gratification, beginning in the 60s, became the opiate of the American masses. Free love. The pill. Then abortion on demand.
A culture advertised as empowering women that favor men who would not object at all to more sex with more women. Do it and walk away. Sex without responsibility. Sex without love, compassion, or intimacy. Without marriage.
Related: Fertilization Is the Leading Biological View on When a Human’s Life Begins
It is a desire as old as human life on earth. Most cultures that succeeded (at least for a while) were built upon the premise that if men did not take responsibility for the byproduct of intercourse (children), they might spend (eternity) in some equivalent of hell.
And death is not above your paygrade.
Everyone will witness it and experience it – mostly around them before being taken from the world. But always alone. Your death is yours, even if it happens in the company of others. Surrounded by friends and family, strangers, or if you use it to take others with you. Death is a shared reality but a singular event from the perspective of he who dies. We all know it’s coming, and it happens to each of us individually, and it helps to have loved ones nearby, but in the end, it can be no one else’s but your own.
Life, on the other hand, you cannot create by yourself. You need help. It takes two to tango (speaking of idioms), and there’s no other way to make human life. Ask a biologist, and they will explain it to you.
Fertilization is where life begins. Sperm from a “father” and an egg from a “mother” combine, and in short order, an entirely new being with its own identifiable DNA is created. With DNA so unique, we can use it to identify criminals who could be incarcerated for the remainder of their unique natural lives. An individual that will live until the process of growth (physical, mental, social, cultural) is interrupted.
There is no point before fertilization that we can call the beginning of life and only death is the end.
Pretending that this is not the human life cycle is a lie in the service of lesser gods and lower purpose. And abortion interrupts the life cycle. It interferes with the natural development of a human being whose existence begins at fertilization.
Abortion is not about health or care.
I used to be pro-choice a long time ago now, and I’ve come to understand the truth. Abortion has ended millions of lives in the name of pleasure without consequence. A price many women pay by themselves after being convinced by men, family members, friends, politicians, or the culture, to end that life.
It is something only they can experience. A bumper sticker slogan played out as public policy that then discards these women with as much ease as it does the life she carried inside her. And these harms have gone on long enough.
The post Everything Comes from Somewhere appeared first on Granite Grok.
So, how are you weathering this assault by Biden’s puppetmasters in implementing The Green New Deal across every facet of our lives WITHOUT that AOC monstrosity ever being passed by the US House or Senate? Are you liking the fact that the Federal Government has raised your energy costs, your food costs, your clothes costs, your entertainment costs, your “everything else” costs simply to reach that Socialist / Eco-Socialist Nirvana that will force us all into “walkable cities”, have only Public Transportation, limited travel, and turn us all into Vegans by THEIR choice and not yours?
And we used to think that WE controlled our own futures in our own Pursuit of Happiness – do we still, thanks to the UN’s Agenda 21/Agenda 2030 and the “Davos Elites” and our new Rulers formerly called Democrats?
Let it rip, my friends – this is YOUR thread!
The post Friday Open Thread – The Left Is Cloward-Piven’Ing Us on Everything All at the Same Time. appeared first on Granite Grok.
It’s early in the 2022 Governor Campaign and not a lot of people have signed up to run for NH Governor. Certainly, it seems that incumbent Chris Sununu will be running for re-election. Two others have signed up to run against him:
However, there may be others out there that are still mulling over their options and if they can win. That means, in part, getting your family’s buy-in, can you self-fund your campaign/fund raise well, and your name recognition. And, given those, can you, your personality, and your stance on issues resonate with potential voters.
So, here’s a different kind of poll:
So here are the rules (short list – I don’t like to micromanage):
We’ll total up the votes at the end and let you know the results. So here is my mostly arbitrary list of those folks I think should be included:
Do you have a question?Thanks!
The post Poll – who might you vote for in the 2022 NH Governor Campaign? appeared first on Granite Grok.
I listened to Joe Biden’s dramatic speech on Thursday night about his wants and desires for gun control laws in America. He went through a litany of items he called solutions and how deplorable Republicans are for not agreeing with him unconditionally.
Of course, he invoked memories of his son, Beau, as he does in virtually every speech. He talked about his visits with Jill, he does not need to call her Doctor, to Uvalde and Arlington, and of course, he whispered many times, which is his effort at effect.
He called for an end to liability protection against gun manufacturers, which is tantamount to suing GM when someone is injured or killed by a Chevy Impala. He talks about the Grandmother who hands him a note to do something and, in the next breath, attacks Republicans. Inflation belongs to Putin, and mass shootings belong to Republicans. This rhetoric is from the President who claimed to be the unifier and the President for all Americans.
Do we take him at his word tonight in his dramatic twenty-minute emotional speech, or wait for Karine and his keepers to clarify and tell us what the President really meant in his speech this evening? He said nothing about hardening schools or using unspent COVID money to reinforce school security.
The President obviously wants to bring back the Assault Weapons Ban, but there is no clear definition of assault weapons. He also alludes to going after bans on specific handguns, but this is a non-starter. Republicans and legal gun owners will never allow these bans to be successful. He talks about strengthening background checks but does not refer to his other son, Hunter, who lied on his background check and has never faced charges for the felony he committed. Maybe he should focus on Hunter and not Beau when he gives these speeches.
Biden continuously claims that nobody needs high-caliber bullets or high-capacity magazines. So why does the Democrat-sponsored bill before Congress exempt bodyguards from any of the restrictions? Because these people who are writing these bills are far more important than you.
Mr. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) said in committee today precisely what the Democrats want to do. “You will not stop us from taking guns out of your hands. If the Filibuster prevents us, we will abolish it. If the Supreme Court stops us, we will expand it.” When asked for clarification about weapons of war, he said any semi-automatic weapon, period. When it was pointed out that means nearly every pistol or rifle in circulation, he ended the conversation.
Sadly, these people are ignorant of guns, bullets, and classifications of firearms, yet they feel qualified to pass legislation to regulate them. These people look and sound foolish, which is a common phenomenon for Democrats.
It is difficult to take Joe Biden seriously. When he is ranting in an obviously dramatic manner, you want to scream at the hypocrisy of these folks from the Left. Big cities are being shot up nightly by gun-toting gangs. Fentanyl is flooding over our open Southern Border. We have intercepted enough to kill the world’s population many times over. He leads the party that called for defunding Police, and now he wants to tell us how to solve the mass shooting dilemma.
Biden gave an extremely divisive speech and insulted the Republicans. Not the model for obtaining harmony and reaching across the aisle. Again, if somebody wanted to destroy or damage America from within, they would do exactly what Joe Biden and the Democrats are doing. They can point the finger at Republicans, but projection will not get it done.
Ray Writes for GraniteGrok.com and the Liberty Loft
The post Inflation Belongs to Putin, and Mass Shootings Belong to Republicans appeared first on Granite Grok.
Jordan Peterson gave the 2022 commencement address at Hillsdale College, and it was brilliant. He called it (or Maybe Hillsdale did) At the crossroads. That was the subject of the talk. That place where you have an essential choice to make and what that looks like or means philosophically, metaphorically, through a lens of faith and practically speaking.
One of the earlier images he paints about making that decision is the religious idea of Sin. According to Peterson, the Greek and Hebrew derivations of the word Sin relate to archery.
“It’s a lovely notion to know that, because to sin, therefore, means to miss the target, which implies that it has something to do with aim or the lack thereof. I love that. I think it’s so apt. … So, to sin is to aim wrong or to miss the mark. And there’s a variety of ways you can miss the mark, right? Don’t aim at all, that’s a good one. Assume there is no such thing as aim. Assume all aims are equal.
Well, you sin, you miss the mark, what can happen.
What indeed?
So, the idea is that we should aim and aim high, and he explains why. It is better for us, our families, and our communities and the support infrastructure we create both internally and externally by doing this better prepares us for life and inevitable tragedy.
There’s a lot of that, and the manner in which he unravels that meeting at the crossroads also confirms – in my mind – why we must combat relativism and the false progressive gods of behemoth government.
Government has its place, but it has no motivation to aim high or to bear the consequences of aiming low, not aiming at all, or assuming there is no such thing as aim, or that all aims are equal. That, and this is still me, a central government could ever make any of those choices for individuals or communities or states without somehow missing the mark more often than not because we’re all different or worse, hitting the wrong one and causing real harm.
I think we see that all around us today.
That’s not Peterson’s lesson. He’s trying to provide some wisdom on the topic of graduating and finding yourself at a waypoint in life. THat there are many of these, more for some than others because of the choices we make.
That we should aim high and why it’s better, and his process is fascinating to watch. He works his way through the ideas, each having its own value but also a necessary piece of the puzzle that forms the finished image.
I think it’s that good. I hope you do as well.
The post Sin and Government appeared first on Granite Grok.
Fairly new Grokster Ray Cardello had a post ‘The Left Only Sees Gun Control.’ “Over the weekend, we saw Biden resort to his old claim that the Second Amendment is not absolute. That is his interpretation and certainly not shared by many.
“He uses the example that you could not buy a canon at the time of writing the Bill of Rights. That is his assumption and not based on fact. For some unknown reason, Biden is going after 9mm handguns while Kamala Harris wants a ban on assault weapons. There is no connection between 9mm handguns and mass shootings and no such category as assault weapons. How can you defend either of these arguments?
How serious can Democrats claim to be on solving mass shootings when they have no interest in discussing options. There is no securing schools, discussion on mental health issues, or consideration of Red Flag issues. Just take away legal guns from law-abiding citizens.”
If you amy time surfing the ‘Net or watching the Left-leaning “news/opinion” shows on MSNBC, CNN, or the like, they’re all clamoring to confiscate ALL guns. You don’t “need” them in our civilized society. We have “evolved” past such things, they say.
They also have trouble separating inanimate objects from those mental cases and retards (there, THAT will set some Wokesters off!) that have no regard for human life other than their own urges, thoughts, and feelings. These shooters are ONLY about one thing – themselves.
And I blame the Left for changing OUR Culture such as our societal norms allow this to happen. I grew up when a lot of high school kids had their hunting rifles in their pickups from either before school or after school hunts – we didn’t HAVE this problem. The Left has destroyed the idea of Respect for others and has replaced it with the notion that others HAVE to respect ME!
The results speak for themselves.
Anyways, new Commenter Marina Vaslovik has a great recounting of times and countries where the Elite of that country decided to disarm that I’ve decided needs to be on the front page:
Are you considering backing gun control laws? Do you think that because you may not own a gun, the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment don’t matter?
CONSIDER:
In 1929 the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, approximately 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915-1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill, and others, who were unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million “educated” people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
That places total victims who lost their lives because of gun control at approximately 56 million in the last century. Since we should learn from the mistakes of history, the next time someone talks in favor of gun control, find out which group of citizens they wish to have exterminated.
And here is the idea that the Left in the US WON’T accept: it can happen here in the US. They refuse to acknowledge that history can and does repeat itself. Since they don’t accept that America is an “Exceptional Country” on its founding merits, they have changed those merits to THEIR merits.
All bets are now off – destroy the foundational ideas laid down by the Sociological and Political Geniuses that YOU aren’t and you will wind up with the chaos you seek.
Problem is, there are a lot of us who are fighting, still, for our founding ideas:
The post Promoted from the Comments – A History of the Results of Gun Control appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Newburyport News, in an editorial titled, “Violent attacks on journalists also assault the truth,” is reporting multiple acts of vandalism at homes linked to a “journalist” who works for New Hampshire Public Radio or their family members.
A reporter’s current and former homes on Lynn Fells Parkway in Melrose and in Hampstead, N.H., were vandalized May 21. In the Melrose attack, a man spray-painted the words “Just the beginning!” in red on the home, threw a brick through a window and ran away. The incident was caught on a Ring home-security camera. Earlier the same day, in Hampstead, a vandal spray-painted an obscenity on a garage door and threw a brick at the house.
The article predictably invokes the Trump era and his negative opinion of the “the media” but notes that his presidency and the pandemic increased “circulation as readers searched for accurate information about a world that was coming apart around them.”
Up to this point, we have accusations of journalism by NHPR reporters and the notion that “the media” provides accurate information. As a long-time observer, I can tell you that what they do is not objective (There’s a reason why we call NPR Nancy Pelosi Radio). NHPR is just the local franchise.
They cherry-pick the truths they tell and pander to the ruling class narratives, so while brick-throwing is “violent” and the graffiti might be intimidating, “assault on the truth” is a stretch.
Getting paid to do it does give it any more legitimacy than the idea that prostitution makes you good in bed.
That’s not to say these blind squirrels don’t find a nut every once in a while. And maybe a nut has triggered someone who is now spraypainting and brick-throwing. To that point, knock it off and have some perspective. This isn’t about George Floyd’s self-administered overdose ‘suicide’ in police custody.
Violence and intimidation are tools of the Left (assuming this isn’t some left-wing stooge) and are reserved for matters that advance national policy. And this isn’t some “blogger.” We’re talking about Lauren Chooljian, who is an actual “reporter” investigating “Granite Recovery Centers,” which has ties to major players in the New Hampshire equivalent to the DC ruling class swamp.
Major political donors, developers, movers, and shakers. People with a lot of dirt on their hands.
So, it would not be beyond them to use a proxy to intimidate Chooljian if she’s set a fire under their feet, so I’m glad to hear she’ll keep at it. But I think we need to understand that, on the whole, NPR and NHPR are as much a whore to the Left’s national agenda as CNN or MSNBC, ABC, NBC, or CBS. And while breaking a story about corruption in NH is admirable – the place is a cesspit of sins – the Newburyport News headline is laughable.
The professional media in America hides more truth than it reveals. So, while this may be an assault on the First Amendment or an attack on Free Speech, let’s not get too carried away with the idea that every effort serves some greater good.
That’s simply not the case.
The post Someone is “Attacking” An NPR “Journalist” in New Hampshire appeared first on Granite Grok.
Today is June 3rd, 6/03/2022, which is a celebration of all things New Hampshire in the Granite State. 603 is the state’s only area code, and it has adopted the day as its very own.
It is not an official holiday. We don’t get the day off. But you can find things to do around the state in honor of the day. You’ll have to research yourself to find things “603 Day” on June 3rd. It’s not universally acknowledged or practiced celebration. But it is still a thing, and you are encouraged to create your own 603 Day tradition.
It’s your day New Hampshire. Make of it what you want.
The post It’s 603 Day, by the Way, a Celebration of New Hampshire appeared first on Granite Grok.
Ads – Commenter Anon yesterday let me know (and I experienced it myself) that the left and bottom pop-up ads were glitching in that it took TWO tries at closing (or “X-ing out”) those ads. I contacted the ad server vendor and it seems that is now fixed.
PLEASE let me know if you are still experiencing it – while most software operates as “fix it here,” it is almost always fixed everywhere else that code is used, there are still some incidences where said code was not “called” but copy/pasted somewhere else so the bug may still be there.
Also, I have heard that they are “skinny-fying” the left side ad to not cover our content (or as much of it) as it does. MY problem is that I don’t see it – my laptop has a 17″ screen and my external screen is 27.” Thus, I am going to have to rely on you folks to see if, over the next few days, there’s any difference. If not, let me know and I’ll go yammer at them again (and let me know what your display type is: 16″ or smaller, tablet, smartphone, other).
As I said here (“Announcement: PayPal Has Decided to Shut Granitegrok off from Its Services“), Life threw us a bit of a curve ball. Well, almost all of the backend stuff has been done such that we’ve moved to a backup Paypal account so we can still get paid by those who purchase either ad space or aggregate our content on their site. And we can pay our bills (I had moved money over to it just in case this happened to us like it has too many other Conservative sites) as well.
There’s just one more issue left – our wonderful readers that have subscribed to GraniteGrok and send us money on a monthly basis. And I am going to say something that I thought I’d never say:
STOP SENDING US MONEY!
At least through your present subscription. Now that I have your attention, IF you wish to continue to support us, please do the following:
End your present subscription – that goes to the now shut down account. You’ve probably been getting a bounceback/unable to pay notification from Paypal. I know – I get them too (it’s like they’re taunting me for shutting us down).
If you would be so kind, as to sign up once again by either hitting the DONATE button (upper right) or clicking here.
The previous setup was clunky but in the years that have intervened, Paypal made it much easier (in some ways) to make that interface cleaner. However, we understand if you decide not to do so – Paypal created a problem for us that doesn’t require you to fix.
In the meantime, also in the last few years and as Paypal went Big Tech and become Conservative Haters (we’re not the only ones to have fallen afoul of “Community Standards”), the Left taunted the Right with “if you don’t like it, go make your own”.
Silly people – we did and now THEY are the ones outraged that we on the Right followed their New Rules. There are Right-Of-Center payment processors, work-alikes to Paypal, that now exist. We’ll be looking into that and once found, set them up as our backup.
Thanks for your understanding in all this!
The post Maintenance In Progress – Ads, Subscribers, Newsletter appeared first on Granite Grok.
I haven’t seen anything like this around these parts. A vaccinated Australian has written an Op-Ed in which they thank the unvaccinated. For what? “[T]heir perseverance and courage bought us the time to see we were wrong.”
The unvaccinated are the heroes of the last two years as they allowed us all to have a control group in the great experiment and highlight the shortcoming of the Covid vaccines. The unvaccinated carry many battle scars and injuries as they are the people we tried to mentally break, yet no one wants to talk about what we did to them and what they forced “The Science“ to unveil. We knew that the waning immunity of the fully vaccinated had the same risk profile as others within society as the minority of the unvaccinated, yet we marked them for special persecution. You see we said they had not “done the right thing for the greater good” by handing their bodies and medical autonomy over to the State.
It’s quite the mea culpa, actually, complete with plenty of finger-pointing at “leaders” who “ admitted the goal was to make life almost unlivable for the unvaccinated, which was multiplied many times by the collective mob, with the fight taken into workplaces, friendships, and family gatherings.”
Remember, this was Australia. We wrote at least a few pieces on what we thought we knew was happening there. None of it was pleasant. Most of what was happening was fascist. So, this letter puts some of that in focus.
We took pleasure in scapegoating the unvaccinated because after months of engineered lockdowns by political leaders blinded by power, having someone to blame and to burn at the stake felt good. We believed we had logic, love, and truth on our side so it was easy to wish death upon the unvaccinated. Those of us who ridiculed and mocked the non-compliant did it because we were embarrassed by their courage and principles and didn’t think the unvaccinated would make it through unbroken and we turned the holdouts into punching bags.
I’m sure there are places in America where these descriptions carry more weight, but we hear echoes of our experience in those words. But one mea culpa does not a cultural shift, make. “The mobs, the mask Nazis, and the vaccine disciples” are still here, yearning to return us to full-blown, pandemic-lockdown protocols because they “worked.”
No, not to prevent the spread, keep people out of hospitals, or save lives. They were incapable of doing those things. By “worked,” I mean the mass social engineering of the people. And I know you knew that too. That’s what this became, and the unvaccinated, those who refused to bow to the mask nazis of the COVID Karens, were or are all that stood between liberty and public health marshall law.
The opinion author notes near his closing, “We should all try and find some inner gratitude for the unvaccinated as we took the bait by hating them because their perseverance and courage bought us the time to see we were wrong.”
Not everyone has seen that, and far too many refuse. We still have much work to do but I promise we intend to do it.
The post “The War on the Unvaccinated was lost and we should all be very thankful for that.” appeared first on Granite Grok.
A long time ago, in a reality far, far away, the CDC, NIH, and others knew that mass masking couldn’t reduce viral spread. They also knew masking had downsides. But the mask became a symbol of compliance and they ignored their own research. They even invented some to justify masks. But that’s falling apart, again.
Ambarish Chandra and Tracy Beth Høeg recreated the CDC Study that claimed to prove school mask mandates lowered covid cases but did it bigger and better.
We failed to establish a relationship between school masking and pediatric cases using the same methods [as the CDC] but a larger, more nationally diverse population over a longer interval. Our study demonstrates that observational studies of interventions with small to moderate effect sizes are prone to bias caused by selection and omitted variables. Randomized studies can more reliably inform public health policy.”
Inconclusive. No measurable benefit.
Related: Counties With Facemask Mandates Had 85% More “COVID Case Death.”
If the researchers don’t end up dead in the bathtub of some DC hotel, this might move the needle, but with the pandemic-policy ideologues? That seems unlikely. Masking is not a public health policy. It is the picture of Hitler in your home or office in 1940s Germany. The Mao Suit. A personal shrine to Lenin (VI not John). A sign that you have blindly accepted the cold embrace of authoritarianism.
We will not resist.
As for the research, this is a preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, so the Maskers have been beating that drum like Animal from the Muppet Show. It’s Hunter Biden’s Laptop circa Summer/Fall 2000. Misinformation or disinformation. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. A statement whose value will depend on politics and nothing else because that is the only master to which they answer and the politics is the science.
Some say it is unfair to criticize public health for messaging flip-flops—whether about cloth masks, herd immunity, natural immunity, or the vaccines’ effects on transmissibility—because they were just “following the science” as it changed. But in many cases, what evolved was politics, not science. The critics of public health messaging do not begrudge scientific progress—indeed, most of them want more research. Rather, people are upset by unjustified dogmatic certainty in one direction, followed by an immediate swoop to utter confidence in the opposite course of action. The pandemic produced a headfirst leap into a series of unprecedented interventions, from masks to lockdowns to school closures. In the first weeks of the pandemic, speed was necessary, and mistakes were inevitable. What was not necessary or inevitable was the suppression of healthy skepticism and discussion.
We see the same thing here. Someone took the CDC’s mask research and duplicated it as a randomized control trial. They didn’t search for a way to justify the preferred political policy; they replicated the process to arrive at an accurate scientific result.
They claim that pediatric masking does not reduce COVID19 cases. I’ll admit that I like that result. It comports with my view and the product of nearly two years of writing and sharing research on the topic from both armchair and credentialed experts. Add to that personal observation, crunching state data, and a basic understanding of the mechanics of masks and human nature.
Cloth masks are useless. Even with training and control, medical masks are ineffective against a virus. N95 or K95 masks require specialized training, or they fail. And they all have physical, mental, and cultural downsides, especially for children.
Just like the so-called COVID19 vaccine. Low potential for good with a high potential for harm. Which, now that I think about it, is an excellent description of the Democrat Party.
The post New Study: Pediatric Masking (School Mask Mandates) Had No Effect on Number of COVID Cases appeared first on Granite Grok.
The shame of the situation is that proponents of a bill to cancel or forgive outstanding student loans do not understand the process. Or worse, they know and are comfortable with someone else paying their debt. Either situation is disappointing and indicative of a generation weaned on entitlements.
The Squad is pushing for total forgiveness and has made it known that anything less by Joe Biden will violate his campaign promise. Those of us on the Right want zero forgiveness, and any plan by Biden will further fuel historical inflation.
There are around 45 million student borrowers in the U.S. holding about $1.6 trillion in outstanding federal student loan debt. They are waiting anxiously to see what level of relief Biden will sign off on. Let’s look at the three options the President is mulling.
In a separate action involving Student Loan Forgiveness, the U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that it would forgive all remaining debt for over half a million borrowers who attended and were defrauded by any campus owned or operated by Corinthian Colleges, the for-profit education chain that closed in 2015.
This is the department’s most significant single student loan discharge ever: An estimated 560,000 borrowers will automatically have their loans totaling an estimated $5.8 billion canceled. They don’t have to apply for a borrower defense discharge; the department says it will discharge the loans without “any additional action on their part.”
Other student loan actions taken by the Biden administration include:
These loans do not simply disappear. The burden shifts to the taxpayer. The students are off the hook at the expense of hardworking Americans. It is an unfair shift or transfer of wealth.
Biden will not do nothing. He has to make an effort to satisfy the Left and Radical Left. The real question is this just a first step to free college education for all Americans? What relief do those who paid back their loans in full receive? What does this forgiveness mean to new students applying for student loans? Nothing beyond immediate relief from existing debt is being discussed. I understand that this act by the Biden administration will add to the inflation number. The burden of the forgiven debt and higher prices for goods and services will hurt the average American. What words of comfort will Biden bestow on them? Stay tuned, and we can all wait for the correction from the White House staff.
Ray Writes for GraniteGrok.com and the Liberty Loft
The post Canceling Loans Means Taxpayers Foot the Bill appeared first on Granite Grok.
It is an expectation by everyone, except Nancy Pelosi, that the Republicans will regain the House and possibly the Senate in November. The latest estimates are for a gain of thirty-five seats for the GOP in the House. Speculation about any swings in the Senate is unclear, and predictions are not forthcoming.
Regaining Congress may not be beneficial for Republicans other than to stop Democrat initiatives. With Biden in the White House, no legislative bills from a Republican House and Senate will ever be signed by the President. The best we can hope for is a stalemate, but it would take Pelosi out of her power position.
Elise Stefanik declared today that if the House flips, investigations into the COVID Origin, the Southern Border Failure, and the Hunter Biden International Money Making Initiative. We need to hear more, not about investigations but legislation. Congress has morphed into a dysfunctional body with an approval rating below the President. People see this branch of government as unable to produce any bills of significance but can spend and waste money at a phenomenal rate. We need to take the pen out of the hand of the President and return to passing laws that have staying power.
Investigations do not bear fruit in Congress. They are partisan events that rarely bring about consequences or accountability unless it is impeachment. Impeachment cannot be on the table for the next Congress. I think the damage Joe Biden has done in his short time is worthy of impeachment proceedings, but the thought of Kamala Harris assuming the Presidency through any means is far worse. Investigations are also very divisive, so let’s put the energy elsewhere unless there is a surety of reason and outcome.
Congress needs to take the lead and tackle some of the biggest challenges faced by our country. Spending is out of control, and we need to stop a growing national debt. Now over $30 trillion, the debt clock needs to unwind. Along with the debt comes inflation. The government cannot control pricing but can impact the printing and flow of money into the system by the government. Far too much “free” money has been sent via stimulus money, creating the highest inflation since Jimmy Carter.
We need legislation to close the Southern Border and address legal immigration. We have been kicking the can down the road for decades. It is time that Washington showed the courage to develop a program that satisfies both sides. We need the Wall completed, and the sovereignty of our country has to be restored.
The flow of illegal drugs into America, specifically Fentanyl, has to be stopped. The Democrats are not seeing 100,000 Fentanyl deaths a year as a problem. The rest of us do, and we know where it comes from and how to stop it. Build the Wall and close the Border.
Gas prices are sucking millions of dollars a day from Americans’ pockets and are especially hurting low to middle-income folks. In 2020, we were energy independent, and now we are back to our old ways of begging our adversaries for oil. We were exporting, and now we are begging. We need to get back to drilling and Fracking, and the prices will come back down.
We have issues brought on by COVID and some from the battle in Ukraine. Most of our problems are self-inflicted by bad decisions and policies. We have watched the White House clean up virtually every statement by Biden. Now it is time for the Republicans to clean up after Biden’s policies. Let’s be prepared with a plan and action when the new Congress is sworn in in January 2023.
Ray Writes for GraniteGrok.com and the Liberty Loft
The post Regaining Congress Cannot be About Investigations appeared first on Granite Grok.