Shot speed: 747 mph. From not seeing the bullet at all, to seeing it traverse the egg, to seeing the rifling applied to the round, can see the shock wavse (leading and trailing), to seeing the impact without the exit immediately.  The faster the frame speed, the more details you can see.

Up to 1,000,000 frames per second. From a 9mm round and a bunch of raw eggs.

Looks like that Phantom TMX 7510 they’re using in this vid is worth over $100,000. I always find it dumb when places are cagey about pricing. I know it’s probably part of their sales funnel, but I can only imagine how many tire kickers they get.. who are thinking the camera is probably a few thousand dollars max (because they didn’t even do an ounce of research). The whole “if you have to ask how much, then you can’t afford it” thing is so cringe and tiresome.

And that cost doesn’t cover the cost of the lenses, I’m sure.

(H/T: Every Day No Days Off)

The post Palate Cleanser: shooting an egg at 50 Frames/sec, then 10,000, then 50,000; 100,000 fps; then… appeared first on Granite Grok.

At Wednesday’s school board meeting in Croydon, a former school board member and current math teacher — the latter detail turns out to be important — stood up to say that he is ‘happy to help pay to educate other people’s children.’

Now, this guy pays at most a few thousand dollars each year in school taxes.  At the same time, the town pays at least fifty thousand dollars each year towards schooling his three kids.

Put a few thousand in, take fifty thousand out.  In what sense is he helping to pay for anything?

To put that a different way, ask yourself:  If you put $3 in the poor box, then reach in and take out $50, in what sense are you helping the poor?

Of course, maybe he means he’ll be happy to keep paying even after he’s paid back what he’s taken from the town.  When would that start?

Well, $50 thousand a year times thirteen years (K-12) is $650 thousand.  If he’s paying $2500 a year in school taxes, he should be able to get around to actually helping in about 250 years.

As Richard Mitchell might say, the really interesting question here is whether this guy understands what he’s saying, or doesn’t understand it. In either case, you can at least be happy that he’s probably not teaching math to your children.

The post Possibly Dumbest Thing I’ve Heard Someone Say, Ever appeared first on Granite Grok.

Capitalism – while this economic system has lifted up more people out of poverty than any other, it has also created almost unimaginable wealth for some. Inequality is part and parcel of it – some perform better than others, some can recognize opportunity faster than others, and others can serve their fellow man far better than others.

While this map shows that billionaires can exist everywhere in the world, the US by far is the most hospitable country for the creation of such wealth.

The key is Economic Freedom – that Government gets out of the way to allow its citizen to “pursue their happiness” with minimal (ok, more than a little bit but still better conditions than most countries).

The problem is, more and more, is that more and more begrudge their success and chalk it up (as to why THEY haven’t achieved the same) theft and cronyism.

(H/T: Pleated Jeans)

The post Data Point: “World Map of Billionaires” appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Daily ‘Grok is our daily eblast that goes out around 7pm (Eastern).  It lists the last 24 hours of posts that Groksters and Op-Ed writers have put up on the front page.  We do this for those that might not have a lot of time to come to GraniteGrok.com and peruse the site; a quick listing of our posts in daily digest form works for them. Then, if desired, they can click on whatever they want and read it in depth.

We have been using MailChimp for the last couple of years. It was free at first but like a lot of “freemium” subscriptions, the more users, the higher the cost. While we are thrilled about having more subscribers to it, our cost has gone up. That said, we’ve paid it willingly as it shows that people do like what we do here at the ‘Grok.  But there is a downside to using MailChimp.

They are Big Tech (and even more so after being bought by Intuit, the humungous software accounting and tax folks).  And Big Tech, as we all know, don’t like Conservatives.  And some Conservative sites have been dumped by MailChimp. So, before they could dump us…

…we just dumped them. While it will save us a few bucks (the monthly fee isn’t outrageous but is annoying), this is the main reason for the switch. We’ve added a new Plugin to our system that effectively does the same thing – just a bit different in look and feel.  We like some, not so much other bits, but both Steve and I are happy to be relying less on Big Tech that could cancel us at a whim.

We’ve moved all of our current subscribers over but like with all changes, “stuff happens”. We’ve tested it internally and all went well so tonite will be the big test.

IF you don’t get it, and you think you should have, email me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com and we’ll get it fixed. If you aren’t on our list, fill in your email address in the above Daily ‘Grok box and get you going.

Note: we do not sell or rent any of your information to anyone.  See here, with emphasis on LAZY:

Your data is your data. We sell NOTHING to no one. Heck, we don’t have time to look at it ourselves.

If you send us an email – we may still use all or part of it if it amuses us (see above, Email).

What you write on a DISQUS comment is between you and DISQUS for ‘privacy’ – just like emails, we may respond to that DISQUS content you wrote and even post about it but beyond that, we don’t care about the other data associated with it.

If you voluntarily sign up for the Daily ‘Grok (we use MailChimp a WP Plugin),  you give us permission to use it and you’ll get our daily eblast and, in the future, perhaps other emails as well – your data is then between you and the MailChimp WP Plugin.

We have also turned on advertising. If you click on those ads, again, your data is between you and them, not us. Ditto anything else we may have on the site for our benefit.

Again, we won’t give, rent, or sell that info or any other data of yours that passes to or through us to anyone else. Period.  Get the picture? Don’t like it then don’t click it. See? Easy-peasy!  Even a Progressive should be able to grok it.

Mostly because we’re too lazy to bother and we don’t care.  We only care that you come to visit and perhaps leave comments. We’d rather be writing about things that amuse us.

And that is the truth – while we look at overall numbers (“Yay – it’s still above zero!”), we’re not interested in your info. Period.

You can trust us (as Howie Carr, NE’s talkmaster always says) – we’re not like the others.

Heh!

The post Announcement: The ‘Daily Grok is going to look a bit different going forward! appeared first on Granite Grok.

This past Tuesday, WMUR ran a piece about how hard it is to get Daycare for the little ones.  I can commiserate as TMEW and I own and ran such a center back in the early ‘naughts. I wanted our own business, TMEW had the degrees, and that meant we could supply our own afterschool care for the Eldest and the Youngest. We took over an all-but-failed center and built it up to be one of the best known in the area. Yes, our waiting list grew in size with our growing reputation.

Now, with COVID, things got a lot worse with respect to open slots and employees; there still is trouble in that industry.  However, I’d NEVER try to restart a center nowadays. Not that I didn’t like handling all of the back of house stuff not directly to serving the kids – that’s what TMEW did and it was her forte. The kids (we were licensed for just under 50) all loved her as once she came into the building, they’d all flock to see her (while their teachers went “yep, she did it again”.  She just had that magical touch.

But I digress.  What caught my ear was someone who is in our situation in raising a grandchild. Her name was given as Nora and both she and her grandchild are much younger than we are which is probably why the piece quotes her saying:

Just ask Nora from Northfield who has Guardianship of her seven month old grandson:

They had waiting lists that were a year plus, one of them was two years. That’s shocking to me.

When we took the Grandson home from the hospital after DCYF pleaded with us to be the “family caregivers” when he was released from the Neonatal ICE.  We never had any intention of placing him in a center – WE took on that responsibility. We also had the ability to do so as TMEW was not in the workforce – he became her fulltime job. I am assuming that Nora did not have that same situation and so it IS hard for her and many others.

The difference, like in so many industries, is staffing. They ay have the physical space but not the workforce to cover those slots. Discovery Child Enrichment Center in Portsmouth has the capacity to take in 150 children but because of staffing issues and meeting the adult to children ratio, it can only accept 75.

Crompton was right – there are State mandated staff to child ratios: from 4 to 1 for infants and then wider ratios as the kids get older. But even back then, it was a problem and a BIG problem for smaller centers like ours as when a teacher is not available, it is hard to shift resources/kids around. It CONTINUES to be a Big Bad thing if you are caught being “out of ratio” by the State. It was one thing if a teacher suddenly called in sick five minutes before opening and none of your back-up subs were available – it is another thing to run so deliberately over some length of time but the State didn’t care – you get a violation. Too many, you’re out of business. But in talking about regulations hampering slots, this and the square footage needed per child are impediments opening up new slots.

Now, as they often seem to do, after the initial showing, WMUR edits down what they first show a package and this was no different. Read what was missing in the clip at the link above – I had DVR’d their 5/10 News 9 at 5 as this next part really caught my ear – and flipped my attitude towards “Nora in Northfield”:

…That was shocking to me. You know, childcare really feels like a.., you know, an essential service that needs to be present in communities for people to go about their normal day to day, go to work, and make sure that their families are supported.

I can take that several different ways. The least offensive is that somebody can get to work and feed their family; that I understand.

Sorry, I’m old school – it used to be families that took care of the kids.  We’re seeing this, like many other aspects of life, not all that distant in the past, moving from “we shall provide for ourselves” to being “YOU should provide for ME and my needs”.

No, Nora, if your idea of a woman is only that she can do as she pleases and that her finest example of being is in the workplace, I will disagree.  I know it is hard if you are a single Mom (and we always such clients a priority over others who just wanted socialization for their children). When you start saying “an essential service”, I hear “Government should do this for me”.

Just like the Democrats and the Teacher Unions keep yammering that Government should be caring for your kids, childcare through pre-K, through K-12, take care of their medical needs, feed them year round, clothing….I think you know where I’m going with this: Whose children are they really? Even if from a de facto standard?

The post Is WMUR willing to lower the cost of your Daycare and make it more available? I didn’t think so… appeared first on Granite Grok.

First, an announcement, and then I’ll turn this thread over to those that rightly own it – YOU ALL!  Tomorrow night at the Area 23 Craft Beers and Ciders pub.  We’ve been there twice before and the owner, Kevin, is always happy to see us all. The time is 6 pm-8 pm.

Location:

Area 23 Craft Beer and Ciders
254 North State Street Unit H
Concord, NH 03301
6 to 8 pm
Phone at Area 23 is 603-552-0137

Now, as I said here, there’s a bit of a twist:

We have normally charged a cover fee, mostly $5/head depending on the location (sometimes a bit more). But with Bidenflation, everything has gone up in price so we must as well to continue to provide the “light fare” that we’ve always provided. We need to up that cover fee to $10/head/event.  But we’re throwing in a new wrinkle!

We DO appreciate that quite a few of you have become monthly supporters/subscribers to help us pay the bills (especially the new server) and we want to say “thank you!” and reward your generosity. So, if you are donating $5 or more per month, the cover fee is waived. Not just for this one but for any GrokMeetups in the future (that’s the plan).

So if you are already donating to help keep the lights on, we want to say thank you in return – just come, be with like-minded folks, yak about what you want, and have a good time.

And now, we return to our regularly scheduled Friday Open Thread – have at it!

The post Friday Open Thread – Remember: GrokMeetup in Concord tomorrow night! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Unfortunately, we live today in a fractured society where people on the fringe feel a need to take things into their own hands. We see too many instances of violence, but we usually see the results of a violent act rather than preventing them.

The leak and leaker at the United States Supreme Court have exposed the Justices as vulnerable and forced us to reassess their safety. This leak involved one of the most volatile and emotional subjects ever considered by the Court. Abortion and Abortion Rights stir passions and rile people to take to the streets. Unfortunately, these protestors do not take the time to read the opinion before breaking the law with their protests.

Protesting is not breaking the law in certain instances. If you want to march on the Court steps, no problem. You want to march on the sidewalk in front of a Justices’ home, and you risk arrest. That is how the law is designed. The problem is that we are not enforcing the law, especially if those being acted upon are Conservatives.

There is already a Federal Law preventing protesting at or near a Justice’s home (18 US Code §1507).

Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

Nothing in this section shall interfere with or prevent the exercise by any court of the United States of its power to punish for contempt.

Enforcing it would be a step in the right direction for these Conservative Justices trapped in their homes by pro-abortion protestors.

Two problems are stirring these people to take to the streets. One is they have not read or understood the potential opinion. Overturning Roe V. Wade will not outlaw or ban abortion. It will return the decision to each state where it belonged in the first place. The second is the rhetoric of the Democrat politicians feeding the emotions of the protestors with mistruths and hypothetical possibilities for the future. It is sad, but this is all orchestrated to save the midterm disaster the Democrats know is coming.

Let’s also look at some comments an MSNBC guest made this week about the leaker.

MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin found it hysterical when a guest declared she wanted to “make sweet love” to whoever leaked a draft decision indicating the Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade and “joyfully abort” a future pregnancy.

“I would like to find out who the leaker is. So I can make sweet love to that person because that person is a hero,” guest Laurie Kilmartin said, prompting laughter from the MSNBC host.

“A lot of people are saying the leaker could be a conservative. If the leaker is a Republican, and if I get pregnant during our love making, I will joyfully abort our fetus,” Kilmartin added.

At that point, Mohyeldin continued to laugh and buried his head in his hands.

Kilmartin is a comedian who has performed standup for years and writes for TBS’ “CONAN.”

This diatribe by Miss Kilmartin was not said on The Comedy Network but on a supposed news network, and it was tacky and irresponsible. That is what we have come to expect from MSNBC and CNN.

The Supreme Court Justices deserve protection, especially in this hyper-charged and polarized country. It will take just one person to take protesting too far, and a Justice or member of their family might pay the price.

This government needs to be proactive before we lament and mourn a loss. The first step is to get these protestors out of the Justices’ neighborhoods and then fund the protection they need.

The post 18 US Code §1507 appeared first on Granite Grok.

Based on Ann Marie Banfield’s post on the Hampton Falls School Board’s rejection of the NHSBA Policy JBAB due to lawsuits, I called the NH School Board Association yesterday morning and talked with Susan. She told me that the person to talk to was Will Philips, the NHSBA’s Staff Attorney and Director of Policy Services but he was on another phone line at the time.  You know, the guy that (I believe) is supposed to make sure that all of the policies that they push out to the local school boards are in compliance with both NH State and Federal Law. Given that there are now three lawsuits (e.g., Gilford, Exeter, and Manchester) going on in NH concerning Policy JBAB (e.g., canceling the Free Speech of others when referring to transgender students and demanding that their staff lie to Parents about the transgender status of their child), I’m really curious about:

• Has the NHSBA actually pulled Policy JBAB from its portfolio?
• Are they (CAN they) do a recall of that policy from Districts that have put it into place?
• How did the NHSBA justify its wording – what are the supporting NH RSAs/State Statutes?
• And what is the NHSBA going to do about those Districts, implicitly accepting that they wouldn’t get sued over an NHSBA generated Policy? Who is legally responsible?

And, given that I’ve seen this same verbiage in school board policies all over the nation – WHO was the primary author of this?  WHO generated the original version – and then deployed it all over including to New Hampshire?  Why didn’t the NHSBA vet this?  Did not a light bulb go off and say “In this Dillon’s Rule State, what is the authorizing Statute” (and the same thing in each District)?

I didn’t hear back from Counselor Philips, so I called back around 3:30 pm yesterday after I hadn’t heard back. Susan answered the phone again and said he had left for the day.

So I’ll be calling again today. And then again, if required.

And I just did so (9:28 am); Susan, once again, answered the phone and relayed that he was out of the office again – all day.  Perhaps it is time to go up a level.

The post So I called the New Hampshire School Board Association about the Hampton Falls Super saying that JBAB was being pulled by the NHSBA… appeared first on Granite Grok.

NH Journal:  Kuster: Abortion Is Good Economics

Kuster also argued that abortions are good for the economy.

“This has an economic impact, a dramatic economic impact. Forced pregnancy — government-mandated pregnancy — means that people will not be able to pursue their education. They won’t be able to pursue their career path. Pregnancy is expensive! Raising children is expensive.”

“Most abortions are families who may already have children and can’t afford more children,” Kuster added.

New Hampshire law allows unrestricted abortions for the first six months of pregnancy but bans late-term abortions except in extremely narrow circumstances. Polls show most voters support New Hampshire’s approach.

Asked about her plans to address the 40-year high inflation numbers that continue to hit consumers, Kuster turned the interview back to abortion.

“These two issues are related. This is coming at a time when families can’t afford to have another baby, or they’re struggling to pay the cost to take care of their own families.”

Some Democrats find the economic analysis of abortion disturbing.

“Instead of voting on this radical legislation that goes beyond Roe v. Wade, we need to be supporting pregnant women so they have the resources to deliver to full-term and raise their children,” said Jess Meeth, communications director for Democrats For Life America (DFLA). “Women deserve real choice, real support, and real resources to carry and raise children.”

Read the rest here.

Last night the House voted to send $40 billion to Ukraine, on top of the tens of billions already sent … at a time when mothers in the United States are facing shortages of baby formula.

The vast majority of “Republicans” voted in favor of this latest manifestation of endless-war. Here are the America-First Republicans who voted NO:

Full List Of The 57 Republicans That Voted Against The Democrats America Last $40 Billion Foreign Aid Package For Ukraine pic.twitter.com/tkvybRqpqQ

— The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) May 11, 2022

The Republican Party is a DISGRACE. Replacing America-Last Democrats with America-Last Republicans is the equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. ____ your “Red Wave” … we need an America-First wave.

The post Not Even Sixty America-First-Republican-Representatives in Congress appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Dartmouth, that college rag selling itself as a form of journalism, has accidentally done us all a public service. It has announced the candidacy of another out-of-state college student running for elected office in New Hampshire.

Emphasis mine.

Former College Democrats president Miles Brown ’23 announced his campaign for New Hampshire state representative on Instagram and Twitter on Thursday. Brown, a government major from West Hartford, Conn., will campaign over the summer leading up to the state Democratic primaries on Sept. 13 and plans to focus on student voting rights and mental health.

Student voting rights? Riddle me this, Miles, name one student who cannot vote by mail to the precinct assigned to the address on their driver’s license or other official State Issued ID?

The answer is none. They can all vote that way. The student voting rights issue in NH is a lie, a lot like your residenccy (if I’m not mistaken). Miles Brown is the thing and he is a pasty white West Hartford kid. And he is from West Hartford.

These screengrabs might be scrubbed before the end of the day

Nowhere in The Dartmouth’s glowing report do they mention that Miles is not eligible to legitimately run for elected office unless New Hampshire is where he lives. West Hartford, CT – Still not in The Granite State.

Shacking up over the summer to campaign doesn’t define residence not that it would matter in Belknap 12. The only way Mr. Brown loses that race is if four “someones” bluer than he runs making it a Democrat primary.

Democrats in and around Dartmouth who are sticklers about where you are from when it matters (money, power, influence) not so much when it comes to NH election law and plucky sprouts dipping their big blue toe in the political waters to pad their resume.

So, ignoring the residency laws and allowing out-of-state students to elect (as in vote for) out-of-state Dartmouth Democrats to public office are almost too common.

Garrett Muscatel was the last Dartmouth student to hold a seat in Belknap 12. Garrett was from Thousand Oaks, California, and it was all going swell until COVID, and he had to return “home.” Sadly, the Campus residence at Dartmouth when he filed to run was not where he landed. He had to go home…to California.

After we made a stink and it became national news he resigned and the school coughed up Riley Gordon (he lost in a five-way primary to four other Democrats). And now we’ve got Miles Brown.

Miles is not from New Hampshire, but he’ll run from his dorm address and bunk up locally “over the summer” (at least a few weekends), even though I’d bet money his driver’s license says Connecticut on it and New Hampshire is not the place he calls home. Not for real.

If Dartmouth had to close the Campus and send students home, Miles would have to leave the state. And maybe they should put that on the paperwork when you sign up to run for the NH House.

‘When forced to quarantine “at home,” where is that?

If it’s not in New Hampshire, you have the right to vote there, not here, and you should not be occupying seats in our people’s House.

The post Another “Out of State” Dartmouth “Kid” is Running for the NH House appeared first on Granite Grok.

We learned that Rep. Mike Yakubovich (R-Hooksett) is not only a talented legislator, but is a talented musician as well, and he played the Star Spangled Banner for us today as we opened our session.

We learned that as part of his tour of New England, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and past President Lech Walesa of Poland came to address the General Court today as an honorary guest. He spoke through an interpreter and presented some interesting thoughts. His main theme was talking about his hope that the United States would become a strong leader in world politics again. While he criticized capitalism, he lauded free markets and a free market economy, which was sort of a mixed message to me. His speech also touched on moving the world forward towards a “New Order”, which is not exactly a concept that I am thrilled about either. That being said, he did decry totalitarian and oppressive countries such as China and Russia..and he did talk about the importance of religion, … so there’s that. It was interesting to hear from this historic Polish icon, especially as I was aware of the struggles he and his country endured under Soviet control and their fight for independence and freedom. It was an interesting morning during this joint session of the House and Senate.

We learned that this House session was all about concurring (mostly) and non-concurring with House bills that came back with amendments from the Senate. We also agreed with the Senate to establish committee of conferences for about 14 Senate bills that the House amended. Both bodies will be busy with committees of conference in the next week or two. Let the horse trading begin!

We learned that HB1178 came back with an amendment from the Senate. This bill prohibits the State from enforcing any federal statute, regulation, or Presidential executive order that restricts or regulates the right of people to keep and bear arms. The Senate amendment clarified some language having to do with reporting domestic violence to NICS. One NH gun group came out against this amendment, but the truth is we do this reporting anyway, so nothing was added to the statutes as a result of this amendment. The concur vote passed 163-143 with a roll call vote. Rep. John Burt (R-Goffstown) supported the amendment, so you know it’s good gun legislation. Now, it is off to the Governor’s desk.

We learned that HB1022 passed a concur motion with a roll call vote of 157-148. This bill permits pharmacists to dispense the drug Ivermectin by means of a standing order and it established a commission to study Ivermectin to treat Covid-19. Rep. Jerry Knirk (D-Freedom) apparently supports the unlicensed practice of medicine! He said, not only once, but twice, to the House that, “We should not legislate the practice of medicine”. Has he become a Medical Anarchist or something?? Who knew?? We’ll have to remind him of this next time he proposes legislation for more medical regulations!

We learned that sometimes the bills coming back from the Senate for concurrence have some very important changes… like in HB1495, the bill prohibiting the state from requiring businesses to require vaccine or documentation related to vaccination or immunity status. What was their important change? In HB1495 the Senate added a comma and the word “a” into the bill’s language. A similar change happened to HB1160, the bill relative to obedience to signals at railroad crossings. In that bill they placed an “or she” after a “he” and made a “he shall not” into a “he or she shall not” in the language. Aren’t you glad these egregious linguistics are now gender inclusive in this bill? I know I will sleep better at night as a result. Both bills passed on a voice vote.

We learned that all in all around 76 bills were voted “Concur” and will be off to the Governor’s desk. One important bill, HB1097, will protect NH remote workers from having their income taxed by out of state companies that employ them. If signed by the governor we will have placed into our statutes important language which could help our citizens if future lawsuits are brought to federal court on this matter. The concur motion passed on a voice vote.

We learned that five bills were voted by the House”Non-Concur” and died today because the Senate changes were too onerous to have allowed them to pass. Those bills were: HB254 (relative to placement of minors in secure settings), HB144 (relative to absentee ballot request forms), HB1203 (relative to voter registration and verification of voter identity), HB1195 (regarding public comment periods at school board and board of education meetings), and HB1474 (relative to annual vehicle inspections). I will guarantee that HB1474 will return next year… again.

We learned that this month we should honor all NH veterans for Military Appreciation Month. House Speaker Sherm Packard presented a Joint Resolution that proclaimed the General Court of New Hampshire’s support to honor our veterans and to end veteran homelessness. NH Major General David Mikolaities, Adjutant General and the men and women who have served were guests today in the House gallery. Rep. Terry Roy (R-Deerfield) and Rep. Steven Shurtleff (D-Penacook) both gave wonderful unanimous consent speeches, at the end of session today, regarding the sacrifices our military men and women make and our obligation to end veteran homelessness. God bless our men and women in uniform and let’s pause to remember those who sacrificed their life for our country as we head into Memorial Day at the end of this month.

Finally, we learned that bills will be landing on the governor’s desk shortly. We have one more House Session to go to finish up all of our work for the year… Then it is off to campaign season!Let’s elect more Republicans to the House and Senate, and continue the great work our majority accomplished in lowering taxes, advocating for medical freedom and election integrity, and a host of other great policy changes.

The post So Kids, What Did We Learn From Thursday’s House Session (05/12/22)? appeared first on Granite Grok.

I put this into the same category as “if they are threatening to kill themselves via a hunger strike, gimme a lawn chair, popcorn, and a great prime rib steak.”

If you and your self-important weirdo’s fanboys & fangirls wanna chain yourselves together across a highway for some stupid reason that Normals don’t care about but you’re stopping them from getting to work, doing errands (or worse, an ambulance rushing to take a dying person to a hospital), I have a similar solution.

Cut one of these morons loose from the crash barrier on one side of the highway, walk them (and the rest of these “we’re all in this together” nincompoops) to the other side, and then weld that just-freed lost soul to the barrier there (which side, asphalt or grass/dirt) is your call – I don’t much care). Then just pack up and everyone walks away from them.

They continue to be the Stupid Show Spectacle and Normals get to go about their normal day. WINNER!

Adapt the tactic as needed – like with those that decide THEIR issue is more important than you in just getting that simple pleasure of a cuppa joe (reformatted, emphasis mine):

A Hollywood star is sticking it to Starbucks. Actor James Cromwell — featured in films such as L.A. Confidential, Babe, and The Green Mile — recently came upon a sweet way to cream the coffee company. As it turns out, the chain charges extra for plant-based milk. This heated PETA member James, so he percolated a plan. In order to stop Starbucks from choosing their preferred charging scheme, the 82-year-old glued himself to a New York City cafe’s counter — that’ll teach ’em.

From there — because, given the glue, he couldn’t do it from anywhere else — he read a prepared statement. As reported by Harrisburg’s ABC27, he even managed to raze the restaurant as racist:

[H]e denounced Starbucks’ vegan-milk upcharge, calling it harmful to the environment and discriminatory toward those who suffer from lactose-intolerance, which affects people of color at a greater percentage, according to the National Institutes of Health.

While “situated among a group of PETA-affiliated protestors near the Starbucks register,” he posed the following:

“When will you stop raking in huge profits while customers, animals and the environment suffer? When will you stop penalizing people for their ethnicities, their morals?”
Racism solved? Fake milk made free? Are a staggering number of nonwhites ordering at Starbucks, demanding non-mammalian milk, and then leaving without their drink because they couldn’t afford it? Or, worse, are they still buying it with regular milk and then suffering the KKK-caused squirts?  Questions continue to drip.

I dryly note that Cromwell calls Capitalism “a cancer” even as it has enriched his life beyond the reach of even Kings just a couple of centuries ago.

…Police officers eventually responded to the scene, telling protestors that the Starbucks district manager wanted them vacated from the property. Cromwell and John Di Leonardo, another activist who superglued himself to the counter, later unattached themselves about a half-hour after the protest began.

I woulda superglued his other hand to the counter top and then one side or the other of his nether region to the side of it. You know, an updated version of the stocks:

(H/T: RedState)

The post They Shoulda Just Left James Cromwell There, Self-Super-Glued to the Starbucks Counter appeared first on Granite Grok.

Look, I know that some of the regulars — and heaven help me, one or two times a year, me, myself — will fall into doomer mode at times.

Standing on the ramparts is tiring work, and not only are the slings and arrows painful, what hurts the most is the HOWLING incoherence of the opposition. For a certain type of odd, who seems to congregate here, to be honest, we prefer to be called bad names than to be screamed random slogans at. Because we don’t so much mind being hated, but we’d like it to MAKE SENSE.

Sometimes we all fall into doom.

But you have to realize, if you’ve read military history that when the enemy’s main tactic is yelling at you to shut up and give up, they’re losing.

They’re losing big.

To an extent the leftist/collectivist project always was losing. You can’t fight reality. She’s a stone cold b*tch.

But they controlled the mass media, and therefore their shouts made many people give up. Most people, really, including a lot of the “opposition” who became the loyal opposition in the hope of being killed last.

Well, Thank G-d Almighty that time is past.

-Sarah Hoyt (According To Hoyt via Instapundit)

Indeed: Be Brave. Do Something.  Get up, get your posterior off the couch and your feet into motion.  The battle is raging and reinforcements are needed. No longer let the single digit warriors on your side carry it both to the enemy and you on their backs. DO SOMETHING – and if you have no idea what you could do, ask. Happy to help with answers.

In the meantime, realize that the time for that old bear joke (“I don’t have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you”) no longer applies because it’s one bear after YOU, another after your SPOUSE, and a pack coming after your kids.

Whaddyagonnado?

The post Notable Quote – If They Are Yelling at You, Know That They Are Losing! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Washington Times:  DIA: Intel suggests COVID virus was lab-engineered

Army Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, revealed in prepared Senate testimony this week that some U.S. intelligence agencies — not identified by name — believe the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic may have been genetically modified in a laboratory and not transmitted naturally from an animal host in China, where it was first identified.

Limited and fragmentary information on the virus origin led to multiple theories on the virus origin among the 17 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, he said. Despite the uncertainty, all agencies claim the virus known as SARS-CoV-2 was not developed as a biological weapon.

News flash:  It was a biological weapon aimed at people of all countries to support and sell the concept of vaccination passports.

Read the rest here.

A few years ago, one of the firefighters in Manchester, presented a program for the schools that they believed would curb drug use among the Manchester students.

Drug abuse is impacting cities and communities at an alarming rate, so it makes sense that communities want to address this problem head on. But what happens if the programs you use in schools, has the opposite effect on the children you are trying to reach? What if, what they present to the children, makes them even more curious about the risky behavior?

During the firefighter’s presentation, he mentioned how they told the kids that the internet can teach you how to make fentanyl. That’s all I needed to hear. I knew that someone didn’t do their homework. If they are telling kids where to go to learn how to make a dangerous drug, some kids will actually do that.  You have to wonder about the people who put these programs together. They may mean well, but the consequences can be deadly. Some kids will ignore the dangers and instead, take that information, and find a way to make the deadly drug, and use it.

I’ve been warning about how society has put schools in charge of a child’s mental health. The CDC also has plans to turn our schools into mental and medical facilities. What can go wrong? A lot, and I explained here.

In this interview in People Magazine with a reality tv star, Crystal Kung Minkoff opens up about how a program on bulimia in school caused her to become a bulimic:

On the latest episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Crystal Kung Minkoff decided to share a part of her life that she doesn’t typically talk about — her longtime battle with bulimia.
The new housewife, 35, shared with her castmates that she’s “a recovering bulimic.”
“And I say recovering because I don’t know what it’s like to be any other thing,” she said.
Kung Minkoff explained to the other women — Lisa Rinna, Dorit Kemsley, Sutton Stracke, Kathy Hilton and Kyle Richards — that she started struggling with disordered eating at age 11, and added in a confessional interview that she learned about bulimia after watching a video about eating disorders in school.
As you can see, her introduction to an eating disorder at school has had a life-long devastating impact on her life.

Some of these problems were highlighted the other night a Londonderry’s school board meeting. It starts out with a school administrator explaining the process of how books are approved when they are placed in the school library. But we’ve heard about this process before. The bottom line is, even if you have librarians working in the school choosing these books, the buck stops with the leaders. The Superintendents and Principals do share some of the responsibility when it is determined that something has run afoul. Any attempt to point their finger in a different direction, shows poor leadership. Take responsibility and fix the problem, stop making excuses.  (Watch 51:28)

Londonderry is the same district that currently utilizes what they refer to as the “committee of truth.” This is where the district office and administration can refute claims made by parents, but offer no opportunity to have a back and forth discussion. The police and parent-facing cameras are also being utilized at the school board meetings, which has been described as an intimidation tactic.

One parent pushed back during the school board meeting, (1:16:00) and addressed the importance of sharing concerns at these public meetings. She has young children, and has to decide where to send her children to school.

Other parents are saying that they are being told not to bring their concerns to the public meetings, and instead have them handled quietly. Is this a way to build trust in the community? Hardly. Someone needs to eat some humble pie, and realize that what they are doing, isn’t working well.

Londonderry is experiencing big problems, and that tends to start from a lack of poor leadership. Is anyone trying to bridge this gap? Who has extended an olive branch to these parents who have genuine concerns about what is going on in this school district?

But the worst part of all of this is when parents began reporting about a book that was given to a child who is experiencing serious mental health issues. (1:00:05) This child, who is 12 years old and in 7th grade, was given the book called SUICIDE / Opposing Viewpoints, to read.  As his mother explains, in tears, she has had to completely rearrange her home based on the depression, anxiety, cutting and suicidal thoughts her son has been having over the last few years. She had to remove medication, sharp objects and anything that he could possibly use to harm himself.(1:18:00) The school administrators and teachers have been made aware of this situation, so how is it possible that a book on suicide was made available to him? Who is watching out for these children?

This courageous parent even said she will not be returning this book to the school because she didn’t want any other child to have access to it. Could this book cause potential harm to all children in Londonderry? I don’t think anyone believes that, but you can see that this book caused a big threat to this one child. This parent taught administrators earning 6-figure salaries how to do their job. She refused to make something dangerous available to the rest of children in Londonderry.

Each parent still has the ability to purchase this book or visit a local public library if they want their children to read it. But in a public school, parents do not always have the ability to monitor what their children are choosing to read, or what is assigned to them by the teacher.

Parents are challenging books that are available to their children in their public schools. Whether it be sexualizing children and grooming children for predators, teaching them how to make dangerous drugs, or any other social ill, the one-size-fits-all approach to fixing these problems can prove to be dangerous and deadly.

These are mistakes that parents cannot afford. They are too dangerous for our children.

This is a balancing act. You want to make as many books available for children to read, but even the entertainment industry has ratings for children. A book on suicide for a 12 year old child?  After the news is reporting about the increase in mental health problems among children post-pandemic? Who thought this was a good idea? Does that sound like someone who should be in charge of children?

Parents still have access to the local libraries and the internet if they feel the material is appropriate for their child. This isn’t about denying your child information, this is about what to offer all of the children in a public school. In this case, school officials are lucky this story doesn’t have a tragic ending to it.

Londonderry is in big trouble. This serious incident just exposes more issues that are happening in this school district, and the lack of leadership needed to make improvements. The leadership in the school and on the school board, has tried to beat back parents instead of extending a much needed olive branch. These are good parents who want the best for their children, they are not neglectful or abusive parents.

A good leader will work to build a bridge so that parents who hold a different viewpoint or worldview are not excluded from this school system. An appreciation for diversity means you also accept and work with all of your families.

It was good to see the other families rally around this parent during the school board meeting and afterwards. Let this be a lesson to those involved in the school–you avoided a situation that could have ended in tragedy, learn from it.

The post Londonderry Child Put in Harms Way at School appeared first on Granite Grok.

Sun-King Sununu’s Supreme Court has announced that it will resolve the impasse created by the Sun-King by redrawing New Hampshire’s Congressional districts:

This court has both the authority and the obligation to ensure that the upcoming election proceeds under a legally valid congressional district plan. We conclude that changes in New Hampshire’s population, as reflected in the 2020 census and undisputed by the parties, have rendered the existing congressional districting statute, RSA 662:1, unconstitutional in violation of Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution. Accordingly, we will take the necessary steps to formulate a district plan that complies with all applicable laws in order to protect the fundamental rights of New Hampshire voters. We reiterate that the legislature is not precluded from enacting a legally valid congressional district plan at any time prior to the close of this case.

And it sounds like the map to be drawn by Sun-King’s Supremos is going to look very much like the Democrats’ desired map, which makes CD-1 less Republican while leaving CD-2 a safe Democrat seat:

… we will use as our benchmark the existing congressional districts because the district plan enacted in 2012 is “the last validly enacted plan,” “the clearest expression of the legislature’s intent,” and “the best evidence of State redistricting policy.” Below I, 148 N.H. at 13 (quotation omitted). Further, we will adhere to the “least change” principles that, to the greatest extent practicable, each district should contain roughly the same constituents as the last validly enacted plan, and that it is preferable that the core of the districts be maintained, while contiguous populations are added or subtracted as necessary to correct the population deviations. See id.

The post Sun-King Sununu’s Hand-Picked Supreme Court Delivers — Court to Draw Democrat-Favorable Map for CD-1 appeared first on Granite Grok.

Today, I had an eye-opener, reality check, slap in the face, call it what you want, can you guess what it was?

It’s the cost of heating oil. Heating oil is now up to $6.50 per gallon. If you were to get a delivery of 200 gallons that fill-up will cost $1,300. A year ago, I paid $400. Folks, that is more than triple in price.

If this continues to increase then I’ll have to start making drastic changes. I’ll carpool for groceries, buy less food or buy food that can be used for several dishes. Reduce traveling to see my kids or grandkids and stop taking them out for a meal/ice cream. I’ll have to spend less on gifts this year. I’ll cut out the luxury items like coffee with friends every week or even having coffee every day. I’ll let the chickens free range to save on feed and hope a predator doesn’t get them.

We want to thank John Sellers for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you would like us to consider, please submit it to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

What changes can you make now so you can buy heating oil for next winter because winter will come again faster than we want it to? And it’s not just oil, but oil drives everything from  groceries, clothing, transportation, farming, electricity, plastics, and more.

Is this caused by President Joe Biden? Well, he is our leader and he now has to own it. Russia is not the cause; we only get three percent of oil from them. Biden and our leaders are destroying our country and failing us, especially the Democrats since they have the power to make changes – and are refusing to do so.

My idea is for all of us to repent and ask Jesus/God to save us and the USA and if we all can’t do that, then vote Republican and hope they can fix this mess.

Got a better idea?

The post Heating Oil Costs Are Rippling across My Life and Family appeared first on Granite Grok.

I am approaching my 500th post. The negativity we have experienced in the last fifteen months has been overwhelming. I have started writing a positive story every Sunday about someone deserving. I want to write something positive about Biden, his administration, or Democrats, but I cannot. They continue to lie, defy the letter of the law, and take steps to tear down this great country.

Let’s take a look at a few examples:

• This week, Janet Yellen appeared before the Senate and found a way to conflate Inflation and Abortion. She was answering Tim Scott’s (R-SC) questions, which was not a good place for her to pull this thought out of the playbook. Yellen talked about the disproportionate impact of inflation on low-income Americans, which is agreed upon by all. She should have stopped there, but no. She went on to say how vital access to abortion is to fight the inflation impact on the poor. Young women are more able to participate in the workforce without the burden of raising an unwanted child. In her words, abortion leads to freedom from poverty for young, especially Black, women. Scott told her how offended he was, raised in poverty by a single mother. He was glad his mother did not use abortion as a ticket out of poverty.

• Jen Psaki, speaking for herself and the President, and many Progressive members of Congress, including Senator Warren and Congresswomen Talaib and Omar, expressed support for pro-abortion protestors marching on Justices’ homes and church services. Even when the federal law forbidding public protest and acts of intimidation at the homes of Supreme Court Justices were read to them, they reiterated their support. They are publicly encouraging these protestors to break the law because it works to reinforce their position and extends the news cycle. Just as these people supported the “peaceful” protests and encampments while protestors destroyed major cities after the death of George Floyd, they were now showing how irresponsible this team of misfits is. How can we expect protestors to obey the law when the President and his party encourage them to defy them?

• The President addressed the nation yesterday, and many hoped he would have some answers or a plan to attack the runaway inflation impacting everyone. We were disappointed. The President seemed ill-prepared to speak and stumbled many times. He kept alluding to his plan but gave no details. Biden blamed the Pandemic, Putin, and suppliers for the highest inflation in forty years. He would take no blame and claimed his “plan” was helping to keep inflation in check.

He ramped up the rhetoric on Republicans by changing his catchphrase from MAGA Republicans to Ultra MAGAs. New polling data must have shown the new phrase worked better. Unfortunately, the term was challenging, and he stuttered each time he said it. He pointed to Senator Rick Scott of Florida, saying he was from Wisconsin, and misrepresented Scott’s 11-point plan claiming it was the position of all Republicans. That is just not true. The President’s speech was filled with blame, lies, and no answers. Americans deserve better from their leader. We are not getting better.

These three examples all happened in one day. These are not exceptions but indicative of the performance of President Joe Biden and his team. The abortion protests will probably fester until the actual opinion, and if the decision follows the draft, the protests will amplify. These protests will pull attention away from the other administration deficiencies, but it will be difficult not to notice the impact on our shrinking IRAs and cash in our wallets. This administration is in a death spiral that will crash on the first Tuesday in November. The Ultra MAGA Crowd better have some solid plans ready to rescue this country being pulled by Biden to the abyss. When Republicans control Congress, Americans will be razor-focused on quick solutions.

This article was first published on The Liberty Loft thelibertyloft.com

The post I Want to Give Liberals a Break. I Cannot appeared first on Granite Grok.

Oh, you poor soul. You still believe the media cares about stories and not narratives. It was decided by fox around Jan 6 that there would be no mention of a stolen election. Fox itself led the way with stealing the election by calling AZ early. Fox is not your friend. https://t.co/mDtiHzZX3g

— unseen1 (@unseen1_unseen) May 12, 2022