Friday • April 26 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XVII
Manchester, N.H.
Conflicts within the Republican party with internal divisions and power struggles have hindered their ability to present a united front, weakening them when facing their Democrat counterparts. Thus, this source of distraction has rendered them less effective in providing a compelling alternative to Democrat policies and initiatives.
This discord has led to a misalignment of priorities, a lack of consensus on fundamental issues, and decreased public trust.
However, it is crucial to remember that these divisions are not insurmountable. The Republican party’s motto, “Go along to get along,” while historically influential, is no longer applicable in the current political climate. The party’s leaders and grassroots movements advocate for a more assertive and uncompromising stance on critical issues such as crimes, immigration, border security, economic policy, healthcare, and social issues.
The Republican Party has been traditionally blocked by the establishment components of the party, which has hindered its ability to present a unified front. This has resulted in a lack of coherent alternatives to the Democrat agenda, weakening their opposition.
However, the time for unity is now. The Republican Party must find a way to mend the fractures and present a united front to mount a more formidable challenge against their Democrat opponents. This unity will strengthen their ability to oppose Democrats effectively and also inspire confidence and harmony among their supporters. Progressives have taken America to the edge of a cliff, and it is time for adult Republicans to rise and stop America from fading away. The expectation is that these leaders will put forth reasoned and sustainable policy alternatives that address the nation’s challenges.
The idea is that as the political pendulum swings, there is a need for Republicans, often considered the party of fiscal conservatism and limited government, to step forward and provide an alternative vision that safeguards the nation’s future. Republican voters have shown increasing support for leaders who take a bold and unapologetic approach to policy, influencing the party’s direction.
Republican primary election day is fast approaching. Just to remind you, elections have consequences. The vote you cast will not simply replace one politician with another. At this point, every vote has significant existential implications. Whether we like it or not, we are indeed in a war of survival. Make sure you do the right thing and vote for the best candidate.
To undecided voters: Don’t be fooled by the accusations that the incurably sick Leftists at home and America’s ill-wishers abroad level at this country. America is not perfect. Yet, it is the best hope for humanity struggling to find its humanity. America is worth defending. Vote for the candidate who is not appeasing the Islamists or lobbyists for some extra votes. Vote for the candidate willing to fight for our values and not afraid to call a spade a spade.
Let us end the reign of the ossified old Republican establishment by supporting a new generation of principled conservatives. A conservative wave of Republicans determined to breathe new life into the party and champion the hopes and aspirations of all Americans.
The post Whether We Like It or Not, We Are Indeed in a War of Survival appeared first on Granite Grok.
I can almost see John Kerry, bent in half, whispering into Biden’s ear as he snoozes behind the Resolute Desk. There’s an ice cream stain on the Commander in Chief’s Lapel, he reeks of BenGay, and there’s a bottle of Geritol spilled across his blotter as if he’d tried to overdose.
“I should have been president, you doddering corrupt little muppet.”
John, “Hide your Yacht” Kerry had his shot at making the Ketchup lady the First Lady and blew it. Stolen election, they say, but that’s what Democrats say every time they try to steal one, and someone does a better job. He was also swift-boated, which hints at campaign deceit, something else they are better at than Republicans. The Steele Dossier comes to mind. It didn’t prevent a presidency, but it bogged one down. There are still Democrats who think it is true. They are idiots. Or are they?
These days, Democrats can steal elections in broad daylight on camera, and if you point, jaw agape, saying, “But look!” you are a threat to democracy.
And John Frikkin Kerry is still collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck. These days, he jet-sets to climate confabs and Klan Bakes in exotic locales to rub his blue-blood elbows with the global elite. Imparting wisdom as only he can, like how farming is threatening the planet. We need to feed people, but we need less farming.
I’m not confident the food giant that made the family of the woman John Kerry married rich will pave the path to making ketchup without farms, but it should. You, first, as they say. Put your emissions where your rhetoric is. But then, no. Kerry has made it clear that he must fly on private jets. How else can he save the rest of us from the sins of such privilege?
The same must be true for certain wealth accumulated thanks to condiments.
HT | RCSB
The post John Kerry on How Feeding People is Destroying the Planet appeared first on Granite Grok.
In an age where health and wellness are top priorities for many individuals, dietary supplements have gained immense popularity. Supplements are often seen as a way to fill nutritional gaps and support overall well-being. However, not all supplements are created equal, and it’s crucial to understand the significance of research when selecting the right supplements for your diet.
Ensuring Safety:One of the primary reasons for conducting research on dietary supplements is to ensure their safety. Not all supplements are risk-free; some may interact with medications or have adverse effects on some individuals. Thorough research can identify potential safety concerns, contraindications, and appropriate dosages.
Effectiveness and Efficacy:Research helps determine whether a supplement is effective for its intended purpose. Scientific studies and clinical trials give evidence of whether a supplement can deliver the claimed benefits. Without this research, consumers may invest in products that are ineffective or offer minimal benefits.
Identifying Quality Products:The supplement market is flooded with a vast array of products, and not all of them are of the same quality. Research can help identify reputable brands and high-quality products that meet specific standards for purity, potency, and manufacturing practices. Choosing well-researched products reduces the risk of purchasing subpar supplements.
Understanding the Right Dosage:The correct dosage of a supplement is critical for both safety and efficacy. Research provides insights into the optimal dosage levels for various supplements, helping consumers avoid overuse or underuse, which could be ineffective or potentially harmful.
Tailoring Supplements to Individual Needs:Not everyone requires the same supplements. Personal health needs and dietary deficiencies vary widely, and research can help individuals identify the supplements that best address their specific concerns and goals, such as SimplyThick mix in gel to help consume food. This personalization is vital for optimizing health and wellness.
Avoiding Misleading Claims:The dietary supplement market is rife with products making bold claims about health benefits. Research allows consumers to distinguish between supplements supported by scientific evidence and those that rely on marketing hype. Being discerning about these claims can save money and prevent disappointment.
Preventing Harmful Interactions:Some supplements can negatively interact with prescription medications or other supplements, potentially causing adverse effects. Research helps individuals identify potential interactions and consult with healthcare professionals to manage their supplement regimens safely.
Promoting Informed Decision-Making:Informed decision-making is at the core of responsible supplement use. Research equips individuals with the knowledge to make choices that support with their health goals and values rather than relying on hearsay or uninformed advice.
Avoiding Over-Supplementation:More is not always better when it comes to supplements. An excessive intake of certain vitamins and minerals can lead to adverse health effects. Research guides individuals in maintaining a balanced and safe approach to supplementation.
Supporting Long-Term Health:Research-backed supplement choices are more likely to contribute to long-term health benefits. The goal is to address immediate concerns and support their overall well-being and reduce the risk of chronic health issues in the future.
Conclusion:Dietary supplements can be valuable additions to a well-rounded approach to health and wellness, but their effectiveness and safety are contingent on thorough research and informed decision-making. Individuals seeking to enhance their health through supplementation should prioritize products that have undergone rigorous scientific scrutiny, are of high quality, and align with their unique health needs. With research as a guiding principle, individuals can maximize the benefits of dietary supplements while minimizing potential risks.
The post The Importance of Research When Choosing Supplements for Your Diet appeared first on Granite Grok.
When Hamas terrorists attacked and killed thousands of Jewish citizens, our current President Biden eventually did the right thing and supported Israel while condemning Hamas. That good thing isn’t lasting very long, though, as now he wants to send $2 billion of taxpayer relief money to Gaza.
As if Hamas would use the money to rebuild their hospitals and schools to make the lives of Gazza citizens better and safer.
Hamas would buy more guns, bullets, and bombs to kill more Jews. It’s what they do, it’s what they believe that their mission from Allah is. But Joe nor any of his “advisors” care about that. They only want to make Joe look good at the expense of more Jewish blood. Yea, it’s stupid.
Here is some more stupid. Dozens of Harvard University liberal groups wrote and signed letters blaming Israel for the war because the Jews are retaliating against the terrorists. Harvard is not the only University that teaches that. Meanwhile, it seems that Muslims are playing the Victim Game by copying the Left’s current Rules.
That said, there is now some pretty heavy pushback against the Universities. So much so that large numbers of the identified groups’ members, who joined of their own free will, are having buyer’s remorse. Yup, they didn’t know or were never told and are now trying to get out of the frying pans (very much like Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg).
That heat is most pronounced by about 30 US CEO’s urging Harvard to publish all the names behind those letters so their organizations will not hire them after they graduate. That would pretty much fry those smart, cool terrorist excusers’ bacon! If Harvard really wanted to “do the right thing” they would fire every person teaching and promoting this ante-Semitic crap as well.
So does anyone believe Harvard or any other University will look to actually do what’s right? Not on your life – what we may see is a CYA presentation via the media to pacify critics. Then, when the heat is off, it’ll be back to business as usual.
Bet you a coffee and donut.
The post Stupid Is as Stupid Does appeared first on Granite Grok.
He’s always a font of opinion and ideas, that one. I may not always agree but once again, he does bring up some that most of us would never have thought. That is pure Ian – always arriving at viewpoints that just come out of nowhere but still, after all these years, make my head hurt (this one, just a little).
Some emphasis by me.
If you want to dismantle the public school system, start with means testing. Make parents start paying their fair share of the cost, and watch what happens to spending — and to union contracts.
Instead of “taxes,” think “user fees.” But this brings up the whole argument of the Marxian “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” schtick. Which also means “no kids, no fees paid.” Balance that, however, with what I’ve said against the “but it’s a Public Good for all” argument with the example of my aunt in Mattapoisett, MA, where the school district said, “thank you for your years of financial service to the school; now that you are a Sr. Citizen, we will no longer charge your property taxes henceforward.
She and my uncle never had children.
After that, remove any mention of age from the statutes and rules governing school, and make all placements on the basis of tests for proficiency in literacy and numeracy. Watch what happens when half the students never get out of third grade, because they can no longer be promoted on the basis of age.
Here we go with the cries of “WHY are you stigmatizing the disabled?”, once again. However, as we have seen with my favorite whipping post, the Baltimore School District that spends oodles of money and hardly any students are proficient in ANY academics, stopping “social promotion” will cure a LOT of evils within the system (as no one is ever held accountable for their part in it.
But if you want to get rid of teachers’ unions, you have to cut to the root of the problem, which is giving unions in general any special treatment under the law. Indeed, they shouldn’t be mentioned in the law at all, any more than book clubs or bowling leagues.
And you can start this easily by making unions collect their own dues money “owed” to them by their members instead of the School District “removing it” from the process of deductions from someone’s paycheck.
People should be free to form unions — that’s just freedom of association. But employers should be free to ignore or even avoid them. That’s also freedom of association, and it’s freedom of contract, but it’s based on something more than that.
Article 83 of the state constitution says that people have the inherent and essential right to free and fair competition in the trades and industries; and that it is the state’s responsibility to protect that right from all monopolies and other conspiracies that tend to hinder or destroy it.
I’ll add that if unions should exist, be they in the private sector. In the public sector, when they strike, this is the Government striking against We The People. It is the Government telling us, even as most have good working conditions and pay which was the reason they came into being in the first place, but…
Sidenote: always check to see what the median income is in a District compared to what teachers are demanding.
…that they are better than the people “they serve.”
It’s left as an exercise to the reader to try come up with wording that would more clearly and unambiguously demand that the legislature eliminate special legal status for unions, along with mandatory occupational licensing, which is used by unions as a tool to curb competition.
And there’s the nub of the problem – what is the persuasion path to get to that endpoint?
And, as always, his other comment will provoke a bit as well.
The post Promoted From the Comments – Grokster Ian Has Thoughts on “Want School Systems That Work?” appeared first on Granite Grok.
Led by Republican lawmakers in Tennessee, a working group is weighing what it would cost for the state to sever the government purse strings that bind students to federal imperatives.
The group will address “the regulations and requirements that come along with the federal funding, and if the state could step in and fill that funding gap itself …” Critics of the plan say this would undermine public schools and bolster charter and private ones, which have more independence in creating curricula.
Battles over policies and books that depict or promote same-sex and transgender lifestyles and severing parents from having a say in these important issues are roiling educational districts across the country. The result is a patchwork of differing approaches taken by local school systems. Federal laws increasingly favor liberal attitudes on presenting sexual topics in the classroom, so some states are considering cutting ties to federal education funding in order to maintain state autonomy. Is this the beginning of a reclamation of states’ rights?
Tennessee Leads the ChargeThe stated goal of Tennessee’s working group is to “provide a clearer picture of how much autonomy Tennessee truly has in educating [its students].” One Democrat in the group has announced that she will vote for continued federal funding regardless, citing the importance of such cashflows for special needs students, English-language training, and the poor. State Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D) said: “The harsh consequences of rejecting this $1.8 billion in funding cannot be overstated. Through this committee, I will advocate that Tennessee keep accepting these necessary funds.”
State Sen. John Lundberg (R), chair of the working group, said he urged participants to “[k]eep students in mind as they’re doing these deliberations and doing their fact-finding because that’s what at the end of the day is important.”
Subject to Federal RegulationsMore and more parents from across the political spectrum are asking understandable questions about the impacts of exposing young students to gender questioning and drag queens. They are concerned that core learning skills are suffering, being replaced by federally regulated race and gender subject matters that have little to do with reading, writing, and arithmetic.
As America is fractured by culture wars and aggressive progressive theories, a pullback from decades of growing federal domination may be in the works. For some states, no amount of federal dollars is worth denying parental rights.
Consider how this may impact other controversial situations. Will federal stipends for health insurance or services be refused by red states if abortion is mandated as a condition of receipt? What if grants for land-use projects are tied to rewilding or renewable-energy boondoggles? As federal control of local education tightens, expect other states to initiate similar efforts to seek a clearer picture of their own autonomy.
John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.
The post States Eye Rejecting Federal Education Money Because It Comes With Too Many Strings appeared first on Granite Grok.
So mortgage rates have hit EIGHT PERCENT … thanks in large part to the UniParty spending frenzy on endless-wars and COVID. And there is no end in sight because the UniParty intends to continue deficit spending … which means the budget deficit is effectively being paid for through inflation, i.e. by devaluing the dollar, a hidden, dishonest tax, which is what’s behind the higher interest rates.
And the UniParty is fine with that. They already have their homes and second homes and in some cases third, fourth and fifth homes. They believe in a permanent ruling elite, themselves, and a compliant ruled class, the rest of us. Ownership gives you greater autonomy from government, i.e. form the ruling class, than renting … which is why our UniParty rulers have no problem with denying future generations the dignity and security of home ownership. You will own nothing and be happy.
As mortgage rates hit 8% for the first time in 23 years, affordability continues to fall off a cliff.
The Housing Affordability Index just hit a fresh record low, at ~90.
This means that housing affordability is officially down 50% since 2021.
Since then peak in 2012, housing… pic.twitter.com/8LrplZtztq
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) October 23, 2023
The post You Will Own NOTHING … And Be Happy appeared first on Granite Grok.
Pennsylvania’s Peter Brothers Trucking delivers goods all across America. Owner Brian Wanner says Pennsylvania bureaucrats now are driving him out of his home state.
“We have no say,” complains Wanner in my new video. “We can’t do anything about it.”
“No say” because Pennsylvania’s new rules don’t come from Pennsylvania. They come from California.
“I don’t want to be anything like California!” complains Wanner.
Too bad for him and other Pennsylvania truck owners because Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board decided their state will automatically copy California regulations.
California’s rules will raise the price of a new truck by about one-third. Trucks that once cost $190,000 will now cost about $260,000.
California regulators said this new air pollution regulation is needed because the trucks Wanner drives “contribute greatly to … serious health and welfare problems.” (RELATED: JOHN STOSSEL: If The Government Shut Down, Would You Even Notice?)
That’s ridiculous, says Wanner. “We have come so far in the last 40 years. In 1980, one truck produced as much (pollution) as 60 trucks today.”
“So to reduce pollution, we want people to buy new trucks,” I point out.
“But if you put these costs on us that we cannot afford, we’re going to just run the older trucks!” responds Wanner.
“The regulators don’t think about that?” I ask. “They do not!” Wanner replies. “They do not see the consequences of what they’re doing.”
Now, truckers like Wanner will just buy trucks in neighboring states.
“We can go to Ohio and get cheaper trucks,” he says.
So there won’t be any pollution reduction. The new rule will just hurt Pennsylvanians who sell trucks.
Who are these regulators? Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Air Board is mostly made up of people from unrelated departments, like the Fish and Boat Commission, the Game Commission, and the Historical & Museum Commission. I doubt that many know much about air pollution.
“The whole idea of having a regulatory board like this is, ‘Oh, these people are experts,’” says attorney Caleb Kruckenberg of the Pacific Legal Foundation, “‘They know what they’re talking about. They’re smarter than the lawmakers.’ But if you look at the board, that’s not true. These are just random bureaucrats who work in the government, and they say, ‘I don’t know. Let’s follow California.’”
Kruckenberg is suing Pennsylvania on behalf of truckers like Wanner, arguing that what Pennsylvania does violates the Constitution.
“Nobody in Pennsylvania has ever voted for the standards that now control Pennsylvania.”
I push back. “So what? California seems to have a lot of money. I could see a state saying, ‘Yeah, let their regulators figure out how we reduce pollution, and we’ll save money doing what they do.’”
“If people want something,” Kruckenberg replies, “their legislature is supposed to pass it.”
California’s rules will soon get still more expensive because Gov. Gavin Newsom has decreed that soon, all new vehicles must be electric.
“But electricity comes from fossil fuels!” Kruckenberg points out. In Pennsylvania, some comes from coal, and most comes from natural gas.
So to power all-electric trucks, Pennsylvania will burn more fossil fuels.
Still another problem: electric trucks are heavier.
“That’s harder on the roads,” says Wanner. Also, “electric trucks have a very low mileage radius, so you can’t work all day. It’s nothing that you can take across the United States.”
Pennsylvania’s regulators don’t seem to care. They just want to do what California does.
“Why would we allow our state to give away their lawmaking procedures to California?” asks Wanner. “That’s not the American way. If we want to follow California, we can move there! I don’t want to be anything like California.”
John Stossel | Daily Caller News Service
COPYRIGHT 2023 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.The post Leave It To The ‘Experts’ To Follow California Off A Cliff appeared first on Granite Grok.
Everyone was excited when the liberty movement got everyone on the stick in favor of law enforcement wearing body cameras. Finally, some accountability, transparency, pick the word you like best. But not so fast. There are some serious things attached.
Police wear body cameras, but no one, including private citizens, can share them.
XII. Except as authorized in this section, no person, including without limitation officers and their supervisors, shall edit, alter, erase, delete, duplicate, copy, subject to automated analysis or analytics of any kind, including but not limited to facial recognition technology, share, display, or otherwise distribute in any manner any BWC recordings or portions thereof. This paragraph shall not apply to the sharing of a still image captured by the BWC to help identify individuals or vehicles suspected of being involved in a crime.
Marc Machon, whom many of our readers know about – they send me clips from time to time was the source of this discovery.
Marc Manchon [is] a man who runs a YouTube channel called Press NH Now doing first amendment auditing. What did Manchon do that the Hillsboro police need protection from? He released their Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage on his YouTube channel.
There are more details here, and it’s not pretty for the local PD whose on-camera antics – recorded on the police body-worn-camera (BWC) – cannot legally be shared with the general public. Machon can ask for and receive them, but becasue of how the law is written, that is where the transparency ends. A problem only the NH Legislature can fix.
Hopefully the legislature will update this terrible statute to protect the people from criminal charges for sharing BWC videos and make BWC videos even more transparent and accessible without requiring criminal charges to get the videos in discovery, as right now the statute claims the videos are “for law enforcement purposes only” in part XIII.
There’s not much point to body cameras if sharing what they tell us is limited to LEOs who may not have the best record on disciplining officers or putting citizens’ rights ahead of department PR.
And I get that it was written to prevent abuse of the records. The state defines handling and use limitations with an eye toward protecting the liberty and privacy of individuals (as if I know). Still, you ought to – at the very least – be able to share body camera footage of your encounter if you so choose.
And then put body cameras on public educators and staff, please.
The post Free Keene: Did you Know That It is Illegal in NH to … appeared first on Granite Grok.
Reading the obituaries in the New Hampshire Union Leader I learned that two trans-identified 14-year-old girls died by suicide in New Hampshire almost exactly six months apart. This is tragic and shocking but not completely unexpected because of the awful toll that social and medical transition takes on gender-confused kids.
On the Reddit detrans subreddit you can read post after post by young people reporting how their mental health seriously deteriorated after they transitioned and how it only started recovering after detransitioning.
The stress of transitioning is high because they have to work so hard to pretend they are something they are not. They are constantly on alert for being found out for being the sex they were born as. On top of that, when they start medical transition with puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, those medications wreak havoc with their minds and their bodies.
There are also the constant threats that kids will commit suicide if they aren’t affirmed in their gender identity. Affirmation requires that everyone uses the correct pronouns every time, and no one ever pushes back on these kids’ delusional beliefs. It is completely unrealistic and seriously damaging to their mental health.
Related: Experts: Child Transing Doesn’t Reduce Suicide
This is all on top of the mental health problems that these kids are already dealing with. The gender cult targets kids who have serious mental health issues such as autism, ADHD, and PTSD. Those issues are ignored in favor of transitioning so they don’t get the mental health care they need. It’s a recipe for a mental health disaster.
Thankfully, there is a new book, “Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist’s Guide Out of the Madness” by Miriam Grossman, MD, that goes into detail about what is going so terribly wrong for these kids and what parents can do to best help them. Everyone involved in caring for these kids, medical professionals, teachers, friends, and family members, should read it and do better for these kids.
The post The Gender Cult Drives New Hampshire Kids to Despair appeared first on Granite Grok.
This is an attempt to “break out” memes, links, and my commentary about the situation in Israel / the Middle East so as to not overload the standard meme posts that I do. My last “normal” meme post. And my last Israel-related one. In these Israel-related posts I don’t just have memes such, but lots of informative links as well as hopefully-insightful commentary.
Please note that in each of these posts I try to not re-post information, memes, or graphics (and in general, if I do, I attempt to note the repeat). So if this is a topic of interest to you, I strongly urge you to go through my older posts on this for more that you won’t see below in this specific post. Reverse chronological order.
Israel: Even More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok
Israel: More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok
Israel: Memes and Commentary – Granite Grok
Israel: Memes and Commentary – Granite Grok
With some Israel-related materials here:
Meme Overflow – Granite Grok
And if Israel is important to you, please share this post!!!! Post it, tweet & email it out, share it widely.
WAR & WHEN WILL IT END?
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Iraqi militias may join war on Israel – report | World Israel News
Iranian volunteers too; likely others from around the world. And don’t forget the Taliban’s offer to come help liberate Jerusalem. This whole area could blow up soon… literally. And what to make of this news?
Iran: Heavy explosions were heard at the headquarters of the Iranian Defense Forces in central Tehran – MivzakLive News
I see a few possibilities:
More on Iran:
Israeli minister threatens to wipe Iran’s leaders ‘off the face of the Earth’ — RT World News
WORLD WAR 3 (WW III)?: Pentagon Announces ‘Prepare to Deploy’ Orders, Additional Missile Defenses, and Another Carrier Strike Group for Middle East Amid Recent Escalations by Iran and Its Proxy Forces (substack.com)
Why do I have a pit-of-my-stomach feeling that echoes what I’ve read about WWI? How every country positioned and postured until, at last, the whole thing became inevitable?
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WATCH: Son of Hamas leader – Israel should use gas in Gaza terror tunnels | World Israel News
Video at the link.
Tunnel warfare is nasty and bloody at best. Look at this video below (and again weigh how much time, effort, labor, and material went into the construction of these as opposed to schools, hospitals, etc.).
I agree with the above – use gas. Or, better yet… propane, for one mucking-big fuel air explosion.
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/hamas-tunnel-warren.mp4
Another video on tunnels:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tunnels-2.mp4
Clearing that warren of tunnels out by sending troops in is going to be a bloody and costly slog.
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The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East
Book. Important background and a bold proposal. By the author of the book:
Biden’s Impossible Demand – CarolineGlick.com
Several things here.
And something that I heard on the radio, specifically Howie Carr – a caller who pointed out that Hamas has been planning this for two-odd years, yet somehow made no apparent provisions or plans for feeding and/or caring and/or evacuating the people in their “care”.
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Here’s What Will Happen to Gaza When Hamas Is Destroyed – PJ Media
Until the Gazans decide to settle down and live in peace, this will never truly be settled.
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Israel Creates Special Unit to Hunt Down Every Palestinian Involved In Planning and Carrying Out October 7 Massacre (legalinsurrection.com)
Good. Make sure they’re found with pork in their mouths.
THE ISLAMIC MENTALITY
The meme is funny, but in reading authorities on Islam what I’ve learned is that this is typical Islamist behavior. Poke-poke-poke-poke-poke… and when the response finally comes, scream WE’RE VICTIMS. It was, apparently, a tactic Mohammed himself used. He and his followers would provoke and incite and then get attacked, and use that as a rationale to attack back as he always wanted to.
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The context behind the first scene in this video, link below, is that this father pushed his child towards an IDF patrol, screaming at them to shoot his son. Remember, to die in service of Jihad is the greatest goal. Thus his son would be a martyr, and CAMERA FODDER. Fortunately, the IDF soldiers kept their cool.
man sends child towards idf wanting them to shoot son
(Movie won’t load; click on the link & open file.)
Imagine pushing your child towards people who you believe are hostile, screaming at them to kill your child ( in parallel imagine that kid hearing his dad screaming at people he believes will shoot you that he wants them to shoot you!). But this is typical of their use of children. Consider this Hamas school graduation play:
Chilling footage of kindergartners re-enacting terrorist drills in Gaza
Funny, my kids’ graduations at that age included singing, plays about spring and summer and happiness, fun costumes; things like that. Not showing off their guerilla training and mock-kidnapping & executing prisoners.
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Remember that Jew hate (and more broadly hatred of anyone not Muslim) is ingrained into Hamas. Look at the astonishment on the faces of people in this short challenge, “Hamas or …”.
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Hamas-or.mp4
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Bill Whittle and team – in full disclosure I am a paid subscriber – have this excellent discussion about the terror and its goals. Video at the link.
A Livestreamed Nightmare – Bill Whittle
In my mind related to what Bill et al were saying about terror – in this case, using hostages’ own phones & social media feeds to pipe Hamas’ terror to their unsuspecting friends and families (have to admire that level of creativity) – is this further terror:
“Evidence on Display at Israel’s Forensic Pathology Center Confirms Hamas’ Atrocities” (legalinsurrection.com)
Israeli authorities show international journalists ‘raw, gruesome’ footage of Israeli deaths
Multiple Hamas Terrorists: We Became Like ISIS, Admit To Beheadings, Stomping Heads, Sex With Dead Women, (legalinsurrection.com)
RTWT. Lots of other links at the bottom of this one.
CAMERA Op-Ed: The Long History of Palestinian Terrorists Murdering Babies | CAMERA
It’s Not About Politics or Israel, It’s About Islam and Always Has Been – PJ Media (bolding added):
During that first siege of Vienna in 1529, the invading Muslim horde decided that “children were to be cut out of their mother’s wombs and stuck on pikes.” Are we to believe that was just a protest against colonialism or capitalism? When a Muslim chronicle boasted that, during the genocide against the Sikhs in the 18th century, “the shrieks of the women captives who were being raped deafened the ears of the people,” was this a response to globalism or Zionism? Perhaps was this simply Islam.
In 1929, a Muslim mob attacked the Jewish city of Safed. The attackers burst into an orphanage and “smashed the children’s heads and cut off their hands.” Later that same year, another attack known as the Hebron massacre killed 69 Jews.
Read the whole thing. The part about the rape of a 12 year old girl, and the rapist’s justification for it (bolding added):
In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her, it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.
He bound her hands and gagged her. Then he knelt beside the bed and prostrated himself in prayer before getting on top of her.
When it was over, he knelt to pray again, bookending the rape with acts of religious devotion.
“I kept telling him it hurts, please stop,” said the girl, whose body is so small an adult could circle her waist with two hands. “He told me that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God,” she said in an interview alongside her family in a refugee camp here, to which she escaped after 11 months of captivity.
The article concludes thusly:
Islam in this form cannot be reasoned or co-existed with. Its violence is a religious duty written into its scripture and its laws. Its atrocities, murder, torture, mutilation and rape are all acts of sacred religious devotion. The Islamic kingdom of heaven can only be achieved when the entire world submits to Islam.
This is the mindset of the Jihad. They are constantly at war with everyone. There will be no peace without total surrender. This is not about politics, Israel, the United States or anything else. It’s a thousand plus year crusade to subjugate all of mankind.
We need to stop buying into their lies. We need to stop blaming ourselves and others and we need to understand that, like cancer, there will be no cure until the disease is removed.
I’ve posted this well-referenced link before. Understand the historic nature of Islam:
The Greatest Murder Machine in History – American Thinker
It’s going to come to this, one way or another:
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MORE ON INTERSECTIONALITY / LEFTIST SUPPORT
Remember what I posted about rape of infidel women being absolutely permitted in Islam? So what do the feminists make of this:
No, no, take her back. This is not a prisoner, this one is for rape.
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/take-her-back.mp4
How that feminist support for the “poor peaceful Arabs” going now that the mask is dropped?
PALLYWOOD
More on that “hospital bombing”:
WATCH: CNN lays out evidence Gaza hospital blast was caused by terror rocket, death toll was inflated | World Israel News
‘It Wasn’t An Airstrike’: Critic of Israeli military says IDF not responsible for Gaza hospital explosion | World Israel News
CNN’s Mea Culpa on Al-Ahli Hospital Coverage Isn’t Enough | CAMERA
New York Times Admits It ‘relied Too Heavily’ On Hamas Claims For Gaza Hospital Coverage – I24NEWS
Updated: What happened at the Gaza Hospital and do Palestinian rockets “occasionally” misfire? | CAMERA
Not only do they misfire, and far more often than I would have thought, but remember CAMERA FODDER. Dead kids can be “repurposed” to victims of Israeli weapons. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if dead kids were put on ice for just such a purpose. Dead bodies on-hand to be paraded as the need presents itself. After all, it’s not like anyone there is doing an actual post-mortem autopsy on any of the bodies being paraded.
Related to the known fact that Hamas hides weapons and other things in hospitals. They also do in mosques.
You’ll Never Believe Where Hamas Hid a Military Headquarters (Actually, You Will) – PJ Media
Who remembers the shootings on the top of the Kotel? I do. They hid weapons in the mosques there as well.
2017 Temple Mount shooting – Wikipedia
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The Deadly Palestinian Public Relations Scam That Dupes the Left – PJ Media
To most of us, the terrorists don’t do much to sell themselves as anything but savages. They do a very effective job, however, of pitching a monumental myth to American leftists. Well, leftists around the world, actually, but we’re more concerned with our own loons. Pondering the amount of leftwing idiocy on a global scale can be the catalyst for permanently moving the painkillers from the medicine cabinet to the bar cart.
I’ve posted about this map that lies before.
This, in the context of the PJ Media link above, is a master-work of agitprop and misleading information, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the idea came from the cited agency. Though my understanding is that it came from the KGB who, loving “revolutionary movements”, originated and helped shift the argument from massive Muslim world against tiny Israel…
to strong Israel against hapless Palestinians. And that’s been done rather effectively in the “court of public opinion”. Here’s a video on the lying map as well – warning, some F-bombs:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Lying-map.mp4
Also see:
Newsweek Middle East pushes The Map That Lies, and other Palestinian propaganda ~ Elder Of Ziyon – Israel News
And some important history & commentary:
Legitimacy – Surak substack blog
Reprising a few history images / quotes – though I do have a comment about the first one down below the images.
One of the issues that I see is that even as it’s a recent creation, there now does exist a “Palestinian nation” mentality. It exists, it’s been ingrained into millions, to the core of their beings – many from infancy. It does us no good to scornfully dismiss it as a recent creation. Trying to get millions of people who believe, fervently, that their nation “Palestine” is a real thing to suddenly change is not an idea that will fly IMHO.
So the bigger question is how to address that. And I don’t know. All I’m saying here is that to glibly dismiss their fervent belief will not be effective and will, IMHO, backfire to steel their resolve.
—
The original purpose of this video was to have a defiant Arab screaming ALLAHU ACKBAR but then crying and pleading later on. But that’s not my point here. Notice the dental work and braces. Funny how “concentration camp Gaza” has dentists that can do braces, no?
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Dental-work.mp4
And since when do concentration camp prisoners have smart phones? And clean, unripped clothing? Streets and walls and buildings seemingly in good repair?
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Israeli Arab EDUCATES Pro-Palestine Woke Student
What amuses me is that this woman clearly has zero understanding of the actual situation in Israel aside from it being the “current thing” to criticize.
TERROR COMING HERE?
Bayou Renaissance Man: As predicted
Terror drone attacks in cities are, IMHO, only a matter of time. And every military needs to understand this “democratizes” attack methods. Every civilian needs to grasp this too; that drone buzzing overhead could be for fun… or it could be a recon drone mapping out an attack.
—
LEAKED: Hamas, Hezbollah terrorists could already be in US: DHS report | The Post Millennial | thepostmillennial.com (link in the original):
“Foreign fighters motivated by ideology or mercenary soldiers of fortune may attempt to obfuscate travel to or from the US to or from countries in the Middle East through Mexico,” it added.
In the 2023 fiscal year, US Customs and Border Protection encountered 172 people on the terror watchlist attempting to cross the north and south borders illegally. At ports of entry at both borders, 564 encounters with those on the terror watchlist were recorded.
This is up from 2022 when 98 people were caught crossing illegally, and 380 were encountered at ports of entry.
The consequences of the open border situation. For Jews particularly, “Welcome the stranger” will have dire consequences. Very much related is this video by Brigitte Gabriel and her recounting of how majority-Christian Lebanon was taken over by Muslim Palestinian refugees – something she recounted in her book Because They Hate. Here she is speaking about that experience:
https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Brigitte-gabriel.mp4
A liberal, tolerant, open, multi-cultural / cosmopolitan society welcoming refugees. Where have I heard / seen this… oh, wait, Western Europe and America. Now. With people agitating to bring millions of them over. And millions of fellow co-religionists and sympathizers already here:
Poll: Majority of Muslim Americans Say Hamas Attack On Israel “Justified” (legalinsurrection.com)
When You Realize Nearly Everyone In Your University Wants You Dead (legalinsurrection.com)
What do you think these people will do to America if we end up fighting actively on Israel’s side?
TREADING ON THE POLITICAL
They are learning – Gun Free Zone
If there is one silver lining from watching the Islamic world and Western Progressives publicly celebrate their fanatical Jew hatred, it’s that it opened the eyes of so many Jews.
The hatred has been there for a long time.
Many Jews refused to see it or didn’t believe it.
Now it’s impossible not to see how much they hate us and what the magnitude of the threat it.
I’m glad to see more and more Jews arming up.
Never again means it and the only way to ensure that is with the force of arms.
The biggest mystery – and not only to me – has been why so many Jews are anti-gun. Part of it is explained here, and I think it makes sense:
Why Are American Jews So Anti-Gun? – The Forward
And a follow-up:
A Few More Opened Eyes (jpfo.org)
The first is that, as a survival strategy, regardless of the circumstances, the shtetl mentality is morally repulsive and simply stupid. Anyone prepared to stand by and watch his wife, mother, sister, or daughter raped by thugs — and do nothing — doesn’t have any right to survive. Not only is it a violation of Talmudic law, it is a disgusting act of human sacrifice, out of place in any civilized society.
The Torah and Self-defense (davekopel.org)
Another Jewish pro-gun group:
Homepage | Jews Can Shoot
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Why there are purges after a revolution. – Gun Free Zone
How’s the “My Body My Choice” club going to react to the idea they would be the “f*ck and reproduce” machines that Islam demands under a Hamas regime? Lesbian be stoned to ground chuck for their perversion while their genderfluid counterparts will be tossed from the appropriate tall building or be hanging decorations from available cranes.
Useful idiots. Like the LGBTQ+ crowd.
EXPOSED: Biden let Iran access MUCH MORE than $6 billion before Israel war
MISCELLANEOUS
—
GIVING SUPPORT TO ISRAEL
You can’t go wrong with a donation here:
Connections Israel
I’ve contributed to them for almost 20 years. And please share this post far and wide. There’s a lot of info here that many people don’t know.
A CONCLUDING THOUGHT FOR THIS POST
Much of the battle for Israel is taking place – at least at present – in the “hot” world of bombs, bullets, and combat. And certainly I wish them every success. But the main battle long-term is in hearts and minds. Consider this near-“oral servicing” of Hamas by a leftist Jewish organization:
Israel’s Genocidal War in Gaza: What You Need to Know – The Mac Weekly
(I’m pleased to see so many comments calling them out!)
Never mind how factually inaccurate it is, but these people believe it. Like so many things, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, they believe so many things that aren’t so. At issue is this:
How do you crack minds open when their viewpoint is central to them believing they are higher-order intellects and morally superior? And that to get them to grasp otherwise runs the risk of them having to painfully admit they’ve been bamboozled?
The post Israel: More Memes, Links, and Commentary appeared first on Granite Grok.
Essentially, there are two reasons why people invest in Bitcoin. They invest for either long-term or short-term objectives. Knowing the basics of cashing out Bitcoin is crucial for either to succeed, realize profits, and inspire further investment. In particular, long-term investors can succeed with certain techniques. We will examine the practical methods for long-term investors to have a smooth BTC cashout procedure.
Powerful BTC Cashout Techniques for Long-Term InvestorsFor long-term investors, the following practical procedures guarantee a successful Bitcoin cashout.
Take up the HODL mindsetUnderstanding the HODL mindset is essential since it forms the basis for all other factors that contribute to long-term BTC cashout success. In the long-term investing approach known as “HODL,” cryptocurrency owners eschew selling their holdings even in the face of sharp price declines or market turbulence. HODLers, on the other hand, hold on to their investments because they think their preferred cryptocurrency has long-term potential and worth. An investor with a lengthy time horizon should understand this process very well.
Establish a precise objectiveDifferent people invest in Bitcoin for different reasons, and some keep their investments for a very long time. It is best for you to start with a specific well-defined objective before attempting a BTC cashout. As you define your objectives, be sure to consider certain aspects. These include investment goals, risk tolerance, and special financial circumstances. Investment horizon, financial goals, diversification, target returns, liquidity requirements, tax ramifications, legacy planning, exit strategy, and reevaluation intervals are some of the factors to consider. Take into account external variables as well such as modifications to the legal framework, improvements in technology, and changes in public opinion.
Understanding timingTiming affects BTC cashout for profit realization. For long-term BTC cashout investors, knowing when to cash out is essential. Timing might be especially difficult with Bitcoin’s price volatility, but there are a few ways to reduce the risk. Using DCA (dollar-cost averaging) to lessen the effects of market volatility and establishing predetermined price targets in order to profit when the market hits particular price levels are two examples of these strategies. Using HODLing indicators and event-driven strategies are also included.
Choosing the appropriate BTC cashout techniqueThere are numerous options for BTC cashout techniques. Using Bitcoin stores, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, P2P (peer-to-peer) platforms, and Bitcoin ATMs are a few of these techniques. Selecting the best BTC cashout method for you is an important decision that requires careful consideration. When making a decision, be sure it takes into account a number of aspects such as location, fees, tax consequences, and ease of use in addition to your financial objectives. For long-term investors, there are several benefits to choosing the appropriate BTC cashout method: maximum profits, lowest expenses, less risk, tax savings, ease of use and accessibility, quickness and timing, flexibility, and diversification possibilities.
ConclusionIn this article, four successful BTC cashout strategies for long-term investors have been discussed. As a long-term investor, you may be confident in a smooth Bitcoin cashout process by following these recommendations.
The post A Comprehensive Guide for Long-Term Investors on BTC Cashout Techniques appeared first on Granite Grok.
Lizard Warren lied for decades, selling herself as a diversity hire and then bragging about it. A forced apology many years too late, and all is forgiven, at least by the people that matter to Liz Warren, but she’s still skeeving two-faced fraud.
I bring receipts.
The United States Constitution is clear: Muslim civil rights are American civil rights. There is no exception.
Hate has no place in America. Islamophobia has no place in America. We will not be silent.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 21, 2023
This from a woman who hates the US Constitution and has kept silent as civil rights have been violated with her consent. What a partisan harpy. Too coarse? Not civil enough? Too contentious? Okay, let’s try a little thought experiment.
The United States Constitution is clear: Republican civil rights are American civil rights. There is no exception.
Hate has no place in America. Republicanphobia has no place in America. We will not be silent.
We could use freedomphobia or coservativphobia. In New Hampshire, there’s FreeStaterPhobia. How about something the Left truly fears?
The United States Constitution is clear: Trump Supporter civil rights are American civil rights. There is no exception.
Hate has no place in America. Trump Derangement Syndrome has no place in America. We will not be silent.
Need we continue?
The United States Constitution is clear: Capitol Protester civil rights are American civil rights. There is no exception.
Hate has no place in America. J6-phobia has no place in America. We will not be silent.
We could do this all day, but I think you get the point. Liz doesn’t believe in any of that. But she does believe in the totalitarianism inherent in Islam because Islamism and Progressivism share an ideological proclivity for intolerant top-down control. These are command and control ideologies, complete with blasphemies and mob justice, and while there are adherents of both who are not all in, as with Islam, depending on where you are or who can hear, you aren’t going to admit that.
That this is true is not Islamaphobia, which infers a fear of the faith. I do not fear their faith, but you’d be crazy not to question their own words or the people who interpret them as a mandate to conquer the world by any means – including deceit and murder – to either convert them or kill non-believers.
And what Liz thinks she believes and Islam are not compatible. If it came to a nationwide cage match between the two, the Democrats would find themselves over a barrel, tossed off of rooftops, drowning in cages, and lit on fire along with the Constitution. Or they could declare for Team Muhhamad and give up those civil rights.
You can’t just claim to be indigenous to Mecca.
HT | Independent Sentinel
The post Islamophobia Has No Place in America, But Republicanphobia – Plenty of Room for That! appeared first on Granite Grok.
Yesteryear’s gold fever has a lot in common with today’s environmental fever: each promises a better future. Finding gold, however, gives you the freedom to live the way you want. Moving towards an environmental way of life restricts freedom.
We want to thank Russ Payne for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.
Americans have something more precious than gold and don’t know it: Liberty! Agenda 21/30, initiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment & Development Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, continues to prove the result of ignorance. Lenin’s strategy was perfectly implemented: “ identifying those non-communists he predicted would build communism as ‘useful idiots’.” What you don’t know can hurt you!
This weaponized plan of environmental fever became a tool to implement a worldwide “takeaway” of private property—the first step of tyranny implemented by the Communist Manifesto. Therefore, there is no reason for Americans to trust what the United Nations is up to next September in their two-day “Summit of the Future” to be held in New York City. They don’t want to talk about freedom. Instead, they want to discuss how to fill gaps in global governance, reaffirming existing commitments that involve Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the UN Charter.
Enslaving nations and calling it liberation is the timeless Marxist “principle of reversal.” Only this time, their goal lusts after global control. As J. Edgar Hoover labeled, they are “Masters of Deceit.” The pandemic was just a trial run of total control. The climate crisis will be the tool to get them over the finish line. Our God-given inherent rights will once again be sacrificed with forced protection by Executive Order. Beware of the Green New Deal (GND)! We must stop this unconstitutional war on the American people led by globalist forces of the UN’s WHO, the WEF, and all the bureaucracies of control from our government, the DHHS, CDC, EPA, et al., that want to be our masters. We, the people, must stand up and make sure our local, county, and state officials do not walk in lockstep with the GND.
Why trust federal government collusion with this global cabal intent on controlling and stealing everything you have? Liberty demands we distrust men in seats of power at the national level. We, the people, must have the courage to use our Constitution as a weapon to oppose tyranny. If we do not, we will be guilty of betraying our state motto: “Live Free Or Die.”
The post Masters of Deceit have Turned from Red to Green appeared first on Granite Grok.
There is an excellent clip making the rounds of a woman who testified before Congress on K-12 public schooling. What she said caught the attention of Moms 4 Liberty, who shared it on Instagram, but there is no indication of her name or who she was. I wanted to hear the rest.
Her name is Megan Degenfelder. She is the elected state Superintendent for public instruction for the State of Wyoming.
From Wyoming Chronicle, “She might well be the youngest person ever elected to one of Wyoming’s “big five” elected offices, but State Superintendent Megan Degenfelder says the job is not about the calendar, but the agenda and the drive to accomplish it.“
Then, I found a story at Cowboy State Daily covering her testimony before Congress. They had the entire hearing and testimony, which I’ve shared below.
An excerpt.
“We have many incredible teachers and librarians” generally, Degenfelder added. “But there are books available, paid for by taxpayer dollars, with graphic depictions of sexual acts that are made available to minor children under the age of sexual consent … a complete misuse of taxpayer dollars.”:
Jump to 48:57 for her five minutes of testimony.
…
The post On, “Graphic Depictions of Sexual Acts That Are Made Available to Minor Children…” appeared first on Granite Grok.
Earlier this month, Seven Days ran a remarkable story titled Too Many Vermont Kids Struggle to Read. What Went Wrong — and Can Educators Reverse a Yearslong Slide in Literacy? It’s long. 5000 words, but very much worth the time.
The piece details how, for over two decades, our public schools have been using unscientific, non-evidence-based teaching methods born of ultra-left-wing, touchy-feely ideology, resulting in a generation of insufficiently literate Vermonters.
The consequences of teaching kids the wrong way to read – which is the consequence of our Left-leaning colleges teaching teachers the wrong way to teach – is dramatic and tragic. According to the story, “Today, only about half of Vermont third graders read proficiently. Results are far worse for children of color and those with disabilities or living in poverty. Once ranked second nationally for reading achievement among fourth graders, Vermont has dropped to the middle of the pack,” now tied with Mississippi. As the Seven Days article points out, “Low literacy is linked to a host of negative effects, including poor health, poverty and incarceration. And there are less obvious costs. Being unable to read proficiently causes deep hurt and shame.”
One parent, Julie Brown, fed up with how the public schools were failing her own child, got a master’s degree in language and literacy, and ultimately started a program teaching reading the proper way in Woodstock. Again, according to Seven Days, “The results have been striking. Of the roughly three dozen students who completed the program and were reevaluated, about two-thirds were able to leave special education entirely, and only a handful still showed signs of a reading disability.” Think about that for a minute. How many kids have been diagnosed and stigmatized as “special education” in Vermont – and at what taxpayer expense – not because they had a learning disability, but because the school was actively undermining their ability to learn to read proficiently!
The culprit behind the decline is a curriculum called “balanced literacy” pioneered by Lucy Calkins and her organization, the Reading and Writing Project, which was, until last month, affiliated with ultra-left wing Columbia University’s Teachers’ College. The glaring failure of the program, which was never based on evidence or science, became too much even for Columbia to ignore – it just took forty years. Still, Leftist educators bought into it hook, line, and sinker and stuck with it in our schools for a quarter of a century, much to many a child’s detriment.
So why did we abandon a scientific, evidenced-based method of teaching kids to read that worked and had for decades – “phonics” – for one that isn’t and doesn’t? Or, as Louisa Moats, a nationally known reading expert, described it to Seven Days, how was it that “Vermont and other states fell victim to the ‘philosophical entrenchment of wrongheaded thinking’ [my new favorite phrase to describe our State House] in classrooms and colleges and universities?”
Moats, who, according to the article, describes herself as a liberal Democrat, answered her own question: “She believes the politicization of literacy — with phonics often being thought of as a Republican cause — is one reason that scientific knowledge about reading hasn’t been put into practice widely.”
Huh…. Really….
So, the scientific, evidence-based, “Republican” policy worked but was rejected by Leftist educators (who always, you know, “follow the science”) because it was a Republican idea in favor of a steaming pile of psycho-babble and unicorn farts spawned by so-called experts from so-called elite universities leading to disastrous, tragic results for individuals and society at large. Got it!
I’m grateful to Seven Days for shining a spotlight on this issue, but I think it’s actually just one example in a broad pattern of public policy failures driven by the ‘philosophical entrenchment of wrongheaded thinking’ on behalf of Leftist policy makers wherever they are in government.
Like, for example, the inanely unscientific and non-evidence-based notion that defunding the police, refusing to prosecute crimes such as shoplifting and open-air drug dealing, eliminating cash bail, etcetera would make our communities safer. (Click Here for “WRONG!” Buzzer Sound Effect.) This, as opposed to the evidence-based Republican “broken windows” strategy implemented by Major Giuliani and Commissioner Bratton that worked to dramatically reduce crime and increase safety in New York in the 1990s and 2000s.
Like, for example, the non-evidence-based fantasy that adopting a national open border combined with sanctuary city policies would lead to greater equity, social justice, and economic opportunity for everyone as opposed to a humanitarian crisis overwhelming our social services, contributing to rising crime, homelessness, drug trafficking, and threatening “destroy” our cities, to use NYC Mayor Eric Adams word for what’s actually resulting.
Like, for example, the idea that if we separate people by race, gender, sexual orientation, etc., and encourage everyone to seek identity and meaning only within their tribe by competing for intersectional victim status, it will bring the nation together instead of, as the evidence would indicate, rip us apart.
Like, for example, a foreign policy of appeasing and legitimizing terrorist organizations and the nations that harbor them in the Middle East would lead to peace in the region…. Covid lockdowns…. Renewable energy policies that they religiously believe will save the planet but only result in dead whales, ruined ridgelines, blighted pasture lands, and, when all is said and done, flooded villages and higher costs for people trying to stay warm in winter.
All of these negative policy outcomes are the result of the “philosophical entrenchment of wrongheaded thinking.” Rejections of evidence, obvious realities, and common sense in favor of a weird faith in an unsubstantiated radical ideology.
Happily, it looks like there is now some movement in our schools to return to the evidence-based phonics program, despite its boogeyman Republican association, so kids will be able to learn to read again. Let’s hope this sparks a broader trend of getting back to effective, evidence-based policies on crime, energy, economic growth, healthcare, taxes, environmental conservation…
Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics, including three years of service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free-market think tank. He is also a regular contributor to VermontGrok.
The post Why Can’t Kids Read? appeared first on Granite Grok.
One hundred thousand deaths a year of our young adults and countless more addicted do not get the attention of Democrats. Three years of daily reports of large amounts of Fentanyl tablets confiscated at our former Southern Border and no reaction from the Party of the People – isn’t that what they tell us?
That may have been the label for our parents’ Democrat Party, but that’s not today’s cast. Today’s Democrats are big money, big business, and to hell with the little guy. Inner cities are in decay and unsafe for human habitation. Schools are no longer teaching students but reprogramming them for the new America, the Socialist America. We must not forget the unborn as Democrats don’t. They believe in abortion up to the time of birth and beyond. Then, of course, we have the 7 million illegals who have entered our country and are scattered throughout the lower 48. These people pose countless problems for the lower and middle class.
In addition to policy impact on the middle class, we have the terrorist influx. Border Patrol has apprehended dozens of individuals who appear on the Terrorist Watchlist, but what of those who escaped and are now roaming free somewhere in our country? The group perpetrating destruction, fear, and death in America on 9/11 was small. There are countless more who are currently operating in America. They may be forming gangs that will terrorize and disrupt our major cities. They may be coming together to form cells waiting for direction from their hierarchy overseas. They may be helping to spread the distribution of Fentanyl far from the Border. They may be responsible for many of the 85,000 juvenile illegals our government has lost track of. There are so many opportunities for these people to wreak havoc on every class of Americans, but it is the middle and lower class these terrorists will target for recruits.
These are the things that Americans are experiencing with Joe Biden in office. You can turn on the TV at any time of the day and hear Republicans speaking out about the lousy Biden policies that are making us less safe and prosperous than we were three years ago. With what is happening in the Middle East, we know there will be refugees from GAZA and Lebanon looking for a new home and aid. They will look to America, and the Democrats are already laying out the welcome mat. That may be premature as many of us want a moratorium on any refugees from the Middle East.
These people have been indoctrinated since birth, and their beliefs include death to Israel and America. These people would not come here to assimilate into American life. Their mission will be to come here and help to tear down America with the full support of Democrats. Democrats are not in love with America. They want to tear it down, and the open Border and refugee stream from Ukraine, Lebanon, or even Iran will help the Democrats accelerate their path to our destruction. We have a year to convince people of how dangerous Democrats are, and that is at the same time, Democrat leaders are flooding the mainstream media about the existential threat of MAGA Republicans.
The post Our Open Border Gives Us Terrorists And Fentanyl, Not A Problem For Dems appeared first on Granite Grok.
It’s almost unbelievable how far Will Smith has fallen in the public eye. In the early 2000s, he was among the top leading men in Hollywood. He personified the adage: “Women wanted him, and men wanted to be him.” But it was all a lie. Twenty years later, his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, openly mocks him, and his kids are clearly damaged from growing up in the celebrity machine.
The world watched confusedly as Jada threw her husband to wolves when he slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars in a poor attempt to defend her from Rock’s jokes. It was shocking to see the slap, but nothing compared to witnessing a wife be so publicly disloyal to her husband. A typical reaction to seeing your husband go to battle for you would be to love him and find his support worthy of reciprocation.
I still to this day can’t believe Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars pic.twitter.com/Z8Cqdyh7AV
— David Cu (@davidcu97) October 5, 2023
Jada should have come to his defense, showing him the loyalty he showed her, but she didn’t. She stayed silent for three months. She didn’t make her first public comment about the incident until June 2022, when she used the slap to promote information regarding Alopecia on her show, “Red Table Talk.”
Jada recently revealed that the two had been separated for six years when Will slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars. Although it wasn’t immediately clear why a crass joke set Smith off, it’s hard not to see his overreaction as unbridled desperation from a man wanting to reclaim his masculinity in front of the world. How he was treated in old videos and interviews with Jada illuminated the possible cause. (ROOKE: Trad-ish With Mary Rooke Ep. 2: Parental Rights, Loving Husbands And BLM)
His wife publicly ran around on him, forcing him to tell people they were in an open marriage after she was caught parading her son’s friend, August Alsina, around as her lover. When Alsina told “The Breakfast Club” that Smith gave the couple his “blessing,” Jada was quick to correct him, explaining that Will didn’t have the authority to grant her “permission” to have an affair because she and Will weren’t together at the time.
After the revelations regarding her relationship with Alsina, Jada again insisted she didn’t cheat on her husband, even though they never filed for divorce, because they were separated. “I just need people to know, okay, I did not cheat on Will Smith. No matter how sad he looked at that table,” she said in an interview with her mother. She even had her husband sit down for her show to talk about the affair she famously called an “entanglement.” Smith was quick to correct her that it was a “relationship.”
This would break most men. It’s understandable why Smith felt he needed to prove he was still a man worthy of the arena. Rock’s joke was the straw that broke the camel’s back. We are seeing in real time what happens to a family when a woman marries a man she knows she can control and has little respect for. This is not how a wife behaves when she trusts her husband’s leadership or cares about his reputation. It’s likely because he has never required better from her.
Smith is a man who understands masculinity enough to play heroic men on film and television convincingly, but the lessons don’t seem to be making it in his marriage. Why is he allowing his wife to continue to disrespect him publicly? She lets the world know that his slap couldn’t have been to defend her honor because the two had been separated for years before the incident. This is another opportunity to support her husband and heal their marriage, ruined by her narcissism and his weakness. (ROOKE: The ‘Sexual Revolution’ Set Women Back For Generations)
Instead of guiding her out of her selfishness, her husband indulges it. Smith released a flaccid statement to the New York Times, blaming his “emotional blindness” for her shortcomings, which he sees as “hidden nuances and subtle beauties.” He had an opportunity to be silent and gain a little control back into their relationship, but instead, he gave her another reason to lose respect for him.
Will And Jada Pinkett Smith, 1990s pic.twitter.com/oD6fAWprvF
— perspective (@perspectivevson) October 21, 2020
If your wife is running around on you and forcing you to take part in Marxist-style struggle sessions, it’s probably time to learn where your backbone is. Jada is miserable in her marriage. She seems selfish and loves being the main character in her own drama. Women like this need men who can show them there is more to life than focusing on yourself.
Smith represents the fall of Western masculinity. Our men were once capable of commanding respect. Their humble strength protected their family and grew our nation. As the number of men worthy of the arena dwindles, we will continue to experience the infertile ground that forms under selfish women.
Mary Rooke is a reporter at the Daily Caller.
Mary Rooke | Daily Caller News Service
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