For those old enough to remember or who may have served during the Vietnam era, the impact that war had on the fabric of our military and our nation was truly devastating. It was compounded by the nation’s apathy and, at times, outright hostility towards those who served.

The result was a disaster in morale and significant indiscipline incidents throughout the force. Readiness and our warfighting ability were placed at risk. We left Vietnam a hollow military and now appear to have come full circle.

The rebuilding of the military after Vietnam and the transition to an All-Volunteer Force took years, led by then-President Reagan and senior officers who vowed never to let what happened in Vietnam happen again. It was very painful, but we came out of it a better, more capable force with extremely high morale. It was this force that fought the first Gulf War, along with Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Unfortunately, our senior leaders have again lost their focus on the most critical aspects of our profession, namely, readiness and warfighting and selecting leaders based on merit, not some Marxist concepts such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). These leaders have forgotten their primary responsibility is to man, train, and equip the armed forces. They have displayed a cavalier attitude and a lack of loyalty in dismissing over 18,000 military members and volunteers, all of whom refused to take an experimental vaccine. Recent medical studies seem to vindicate these service members.

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Leaders now care more about bringing a “woke” culture to our profession with its disastrous impact on recruiting and readiness while giving priority to finding phantom nonexistent “extremists” in the ranks recently debunked by the Wall Street Journal, among others, me included. Their major achievement, however, was giving us unilateral surrender in Afghanistan and the sacrifice of the lives of 2400 brave soldiers while leaving behind $70 Billion in equipment, aircraft, armored vehicles, and thousands of real “assault weapons” to arm our adversaries. To this list, we can add a recruiting shortfall of crisis proportions driven in part by using Drag Queens and cross-dressers to entice young military-age middle-class males to join. No surprise that the American public’s desire to serve is in the toilet. Our values have become nonexistent while our apathy rating is off the chart.

The time for accountability to the American people and those serving has arrived. The damage of the past three years is immense and will take many years to correct, while those responsible will escape any responsibility. They betrayed our trust and the trust of our soldiers and their families; this was unconscionable. Correcting this damage starts with a values-based Commander-In-Chief and senior leaders who lead from the front, not from their office, and who will hold everyone under them accountable regardless of skin color or ideology and promote based on merit, not your DEI score. They need to get their heads out of email, Facebook, and Twitter and get in the damn foxhole with soldiers and fix this problem or be shown the door. At the end of the day, the mission of the Armed Forces is to fight and win our nation’s wars. To do that requires we instill a warrior ethos, not a woke ideology, into the young men and women who volunteer to join and who want to make a difference. After all, it’s only the security and survival of our nation that’s at stake.

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“Jimmy” Kimmel is one of those tough guys … oh, I’m sorry: tough persons … on the Left who can dish it out but not take it. Here’s “Jimmy” acting like a bitch in response to Aaron Rodgers speculating that “Jimmy” will be on the Epstein List.

NOTE: This was written a couple of days before the court began releasing the documents. Needless to say it has been upstaged/overtaken by that.

But read carefully. “Jimmy” NEVER denies he visited the Island.

 

 

This is the funniest “Jimmy” has been in years, and needless to say, it’s unintentional. He thinks he’s so much smarter than us that we will fall for his non-denial. Cry harder, bitch.

 

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Teacher’s Unions are sinister private entities whose only concern is how much money they can make and how best to use that to impact politics at every level of government. Sure, Janus v. AFSCME was a great decision, but the war against public employee unions continues, and Ron DeSantis is leading that fight.

He may not be your guy, and there’s plenty of room to debate campaign failures and whether he’s another Republican Governors Association stooge, but we give credit where due. Florida passed a law in May of 2023 that “requires at least 60% of workers in a bargaining unit to be dues-paying members.”

Janus v. AFSCME affirmed that unions cannot force members to pay dues. DeSantis and Florida Republicans passed a law that requires unions with fewer than 60% dues-paying members to hold an election to recertify the union. The recertification threshold isn’t high, but this new wrinkle could end the union, and it has also created an opportunity for a different sort of “union” to vie for teachers’ attention.

 

Another union, led by Miami teachers who are dissatisfied with UTD, is trying to get on the ballot too. The Miami-Dade Education Coalition (MDEC) needs a 10% showing of interest by mid-January to qualify. The new union’s pitch is that it will fight for teachers’ and students’ interests without the politicking and divided alliances of the UTD.

“We are going to be totally and completely nonpartisan,” says MDEC Vice President Renee Zayas, a district high school teacher and former UTD member. “We will not be endorsing candidates.”

 

Competition. We’re supposed to love that in America. Kudos to these teachers for trying to change the game, but a union is a union, and public employees should not have them. Period. Private sector, I get – and as a matter of disclosure, for those who do not know, I was a Teamster for close to a decade. Long enough to collect a very small pension (tiny) when I reach retirement age. That also means I’ve been inside a union, seen it work, and talked to union homers, stewards, union bosses, and rank-and-file for and against. Our union went on strike, so I’ve seen both sides of that, and I understand the deal.

Teachers should not be in unions. Government employees should not have unions unless you privatize local education or public safety. That might then open the subject to debate and to local government choosing to drop a union shop like a hot potato for one that was not.

I’m Drifting…

The Florida Law could be tighter, but it sets a standard for addressing some of the more common problems with unions. They are political, and plenty of members would prefer they not be. Forcing a vote of confidence, even with a threshold as low as 30%, is a start. And it has opened the business up to competition. DeSantis may not have run an outstanding national campaign, but he’s done some excellent work in Florida that other states could try or build on.

 

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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.  In these Israel-related posts I don’t just have memes such, but lots of informative links as well as hopefully-insightful commentary.

Note that this is not meant to be a day-by-day update about what’s going on.  Rather, to highlight uncomfortable truths about the actual nature of the conflict, deep-history background, and so on, as well as to show the at-present immutable nature of Islamic Jew hate and why that matters to today’s events.

Note that these posts do not repeat information – so there is a lot of stuff in prior posts.  Please do check them out too if this is a topic of interest to you.  In reverse chronological order:

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Still More Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

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

Another new website – or at least, new to me:

Taking Back the Narrative (tbtnisrael.com)

 

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

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An excellent long-form interview / discussion with Brigitte Gabriel.  In the first she asks a critical question: If Israel has this 45-odd-minute presentation of the atrocities captured from Hamas’ own terrorist cameras, why has it not been released?  From what I understand, NOBODY who sees it comes away thinking that the attacks on Gaza are an overreaction on Israel’s part.  I’ve seen snippets here and there and it’s obviously not the most graphic stuff – and even that makes my blood boil.

 

Brigitte Gabriel – Making Sense of the War in Israel

 

 

Somewhat related to some things she says about Gazans:

Freed Gaza Hostage: ‘Everyone Over There is a Terrorist’ – HotAir

Silence On Hamas’ Twisted Use Of Hospital Will Ensure More Die (thefederalist.com)

—

You can’t be a settler or occupier in your own land | Guest Columns | clevelandjewishnews.com

Just see here:

 

 

 

 

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

 

Israel Victory Project (meforum.org)

Another news site I just found – a slew of articles, like this one:

The Psychological Battlefield Is Just as Important as the Military One :: Israel Victory Project (meforum.org)

 

TOP OF THE FOLD

 

 

Israel’s area is a little more with the Golan Heights, but not much.  From north to south it’s 424 km (263 miles) and at its widest it is 114 km (71 miles).  It has NO “strategic depth”.

Note: I live in New Hampshire (duh).  The area of NH is 24, 214 square km.  For reference, Massachusetts is 27,340.  Now, imagine being in NH and being surrounded by people who, to varying degrees, would love to see you wiped out as a political entity, and your people enslaved or killed.  Some of those neighbors, say from Vermont, launch thousands of missiles at you in a year, and have been for years.  How long would YOU put up with it?

‘They’re So Cruel’: How Oct. 7 Destroyed an Israeli Peace Activist’s Faith in the Palestinians (freebeacon.com) (link in the original; italics replaced by underlining; bolding added):

Lahav, a manager at a travel company, long participated in peace demonstrations. In recent years, she volunteered for an Israeli charity called Road to Recovery, driving Palestinian children from the border of the Gaza Strip, less than two miles from her home, to Israeli hospitals for life-saving medical care.

“We thought that Palestinians are good people. All they want is peace and prosperity,” Lahav told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview from a hotel in this Red Sea resort city where she and most of her community were temporarily relocated. “It’s just that Hamas is forcing them to be in this aggressive situation.”

When terrorists first shook the door of her safe room on Oct. 7, Lahav was sure that she and her 22-year-old daughter were about to be killed. But a makeshift lock she had fashioned out of an oar and a vacuum cleaner thwarted three separate break-in attempts. The women lay in the darkened room for about 10 hours listening to sounds of automatic gunfire and grenade explosions. At one point, they heard a group of teenagers robbing their house.

Later, Lahav learned from other Nir Oz survivors that Gazan women and children as young as 10 years old had followed Hamas terrorists into the kibbutz, looting, helping the armed terrorists, and apparently enjoying themselves.

Somewhat related:

The Status of Settlements in International Law (jcpa.org)

Does Israel Occupy the West Bank? (youtube.com)

Video by an internationally-known lawyer extremely knowledgeable on international law.  And related to the situation, a selection of videos (links only):

Are Israeli Settlements the Barrier to Peace? (youtube.com)

A Palestinian Explains Hamas (youtube.com)

Why Isn’t There a Palestinian State? (youtube.com)

Why Are There Still Palestinian Refugees? (youtube.com)

On this last one: ONLY in this situation have the “refugees” been given multi-generational refugee status.

—

Related to the hostages:

Declining Temperatures – Liberty’s Torch (libertystorch.info)

Embedded quote:

“It seems that, back then, Islamic terrorists preferred to ransom infidel captives rather than kill them. They took quite a number of such captives, and for a while they received a great deal of money for them. One group that had made a pile kidnapping and ransoming Westerners decided to try the game on a Soviet agent. But the KGB didn’t respond the way their Western victims’ governments had. Instead it performed a counter-kidnapping of one of the group’s members, and returned him to his confreres in pieces, in a plastic bag. There was a note on the bag, in Russian and Arabic. It said, ‘This is the way we play.’ The kidnapped Soviet agent was back with his comrades within twenty-four hours, alive and whole. No Soviet agent was molested ever again.”

So… find the Hamas leaders, whisk them away, and not only do something similar, but enclose a CD with a video of them getting the Jack Pershing treatment while still alive (see link just below) before sending their remains to Gaza.  MHO, pig p*n!ses sewn into their mouths would be a nice added touch.  Perhaps with the testicles hanging out like they were engaged in f——o with the pig.

How American Soldiers Used Pig’s Blood and Corpses to Fight Muslim Terrorism | Frontpage Mag

 

 

WAR & WHEN WILL IT END?

Israeli army did not fire on own civilians at Nova music festival – Truth or Fake (france24.com)

Remember, in war the first casualty is truth.

—

Israel Is in a Strong Position, Not a Weak Position – American Thinker

An interesting perspective.

—

From a contact on Telegram (grammar and formatting changed):

They’re screaming: “we want the az adeen Al-Qassam battalions” (The millitary wing of the hamas…)

Rammalah is the Palestinian Authority’s capital in the west bank… Which has also postponed the elections in the west bank for the last 20 years out of fear that hamas would win the elections in the west bank too…

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/new-year-in-rammalah.mp4

 

Again and again I ask: how do you live not just with neighbors that openly state they want you dead, but people ostensibly within your borders that say so?

—

Hamas War Crimes: Terrorist in Civvies Hides RPG under Blanket, Terrorist Tells Gazan “I’ll Place a Bomb Between You and Your Wife.” | The Gateway Pundit | by Richard Abelson

Such wonderful people.  Related:

IDF Proof: Hamas, PIJ use young children for Gaza terror activities – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

—

80,000 Israelis Displaced as War with Hezbollah Looms – Iran-Proxy Strikes Israel Over and Over | CBN News

Not good.  Israel is already in a multi-front war.

 

 

ISLAM: PRACTICES, HISTORY, AND MENTALITY

A series of videos about Islam being a “Religion of Peace” (links only):

Is Islam a Religion of Peace? (youtube.com)

The myth of “peaceful Islam” – History: Islam is NOT a religion of peace (youtube.com)

Former CIA officer: Stop calling Islam a ‘religion of peace’ (youtube.com)

And one, specifically, on the alliance between Islam and the Left:

What Radical Islam and the Woke Have In Common (youtube.com)

Don’t forget these two books about that topic:

Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And the American Left (2006-02-17) [Paperback]

United in Hate: The Left’s Romance with Tyranny and Terror

 

 

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

 

So we understand the kind of people Israel is dealing with:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/doctor-on-child-cured-by-jews.mp4

 

Also on my Rumble channel:

An Israeli doctor – look what was found in a terror hideout (rumble.com)

So this doctor is pointing out that one of the documents found in a terror hideout full of weapons was a set of discharge papers for a Gazan boy treated for – and cured of – cancer in an Israeli hospital.  It reminds me of an incident, over a decade ago so I can’t find a link, of a Gazan boy with a heart condition.  As he was being operated on by Jews to save his life, his mother hoped he’d grow up to be a shahid and kill Jews.  Said this in a TV interview literally as her son was in the operating room.

 

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

 

 

ATROCITIES

Israeli Forces Capture Terrorists in UN Schools, Find Weapons in UNRWA Sacks | The Jewish Press – JewishPress.com | Pesach Benson / TPS | 14 Tevet 5784 – Tuesday, December 26, 2023 | JewishPress.com

Storing munitions in schools invalidates any protection they might have under international “Rules of War”…  just look at what the IDF found in one high school:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/khan-yunis-high-school.mp4

 

Does this resemble anything that might be found in your – or your kids’ – high schools?

—

 

 

From Telegram:

The Kedem-Simantov family.

They were all slaughtered by Hamas terrorists on October 7. We will remember and not forget.

—

This is a short clip of a corpse on Oct. 7.  Very graphic.  This is a civilian.  But remember, in Islam there are no civilians who are not Muslim.  Any person – ANY PERSON – in a war with Islam is, by definition, a combatant from the “House of War” and therefore fair game.  I don’t know how to say this more clearly, but they simply do not think like you do.  Click on the link to view, but be warned.

Oct. 7 casualty; bloody and maimed.

On the sexual atrocities Hamas committed on Oct. 7 (substack.com) (italics replaced by underline):

Which is good, because the Times’s descriptions of these crimes nearly beggar belief. They go beyond rape, or gang rape, or even the execution of prisoners. As described by witnesses who survived, and confirmed by video and forensic evidence, Hamas’s attackers turned murder and torture into can-you-top-thissport:

And detailed descriptions of corpses and eye-witness accounts to rape and worse:

‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7 (yahoo.com)

More – sourced from the same original:

What Happened on October 7 | Power Line (powerlineblog.com)

“The Times viewed photographs of one woman’s corpse … with dozens of nails driven into her thighs and groin” (legalinsurrection.com)

Horrific.  But while I deeply respect the tweeter here:

Perhaps the greatest mercy Israel is showing to Gaza is not releasing to the public the full details of what was done by the invaders to their victims. Ostensibly for the sensitivities of the families, but also I think because what populace would be able to restrain themselves?

I disagree, and concur with Brigitte above.  The world needs to see these videos.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/woman-i-want-to-live.mp4

 

Gaza terrorist confesses to raping then murdering Israeli woman | World Israel News

According to the report, the terrorist described in detail to his interrogators how the woman was raped and then murdered. The details even enabled Israeli authorities to identify the female victim.

With three other associated images, click-through but be warned:

Crimes 1

Crimes 2

Crimes 3

Again: the world needs to see that 45 minute video.  All of it.

Related:

Hostages were starved, tortured, sexually assaulted and denied treatment | World Israel News

—

Merry Christmas, Gaza | Power Line (powerlineblog.com)

Embedded quote (bolding added):

In the compound, the IDF found explosive belts specifically modified for children to wear, along with dozens of mortar shells, hundreds of grenades and several intelligence documents, it said Sunday.

—

Mia Schem’s Captivity Was Anything but Kindness – HotAir

Don’t be fooled otherwise.

—

On the “Two State Solution”:

The ‘Two-State Solution’ Echoes Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics

Again – you can’t make peace whose base position is your complete destruction:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/can-there-be-a-two-state-solution.mp4

 

On my Rumble channel too:

A Former Hamas Member on the Two State Solution (rumble.com)

And related:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/more-on-palis-hating-israel.mp4

 

 

ON INTERSECTIONALITY / LEFTIST SUPPORT

Unmasking SJP (jcpa.org)

Two page document.  SJP is nothing more than a Hamas PR / brainwashing front.  Related to college campuses, though this is supposedly about BLM I seem to remember it being about pro-Gaza events (or maybe it was another, similar video):

 

Liberal Jewish Student FINALLY Wakes Up

 

 

—

Douglas Murray, a gay man himself, weighs in on the “Gays for Gaza” “Queers for Palestine” insanity of the Left (barenakedislam.com)

I saw a video of a chain of people being tossed off a rooftop – possibly Gaza but not sure – but regardless, Islamists murdering people in a manner consistent with how gays are treated by them.  And… STILL the LGBTQP+ crowd supports them.  Talk about a total atrophy of the survival instinct; discussed in my three-part series on the biological roots of civilizational collapse:

Civilizational Collapse and Biology (Part 1) – Urban Scoop

Civilizational Collapse and Biology (Part 2) – Urban Scoop

Civilizational Collapse and Biology (Part 3) – Urban Scoop

—

We Have Abdicated Our Responsibility | Frontpage Mag

We deluded ourselves into believing that advocating for Muslim immigration from countries that export terrorism would be no threat to us. But we failed to realize that most of the immigrants coming from these Muslim countries have been taught since they were babies that the Jews are the sons of apes and pigs.

We allowed ourselves to become fragmented. We told ourselves that Tikun Olam is the most important thing above and beyond our own security. We told ourselves that supporting the Democratic Socialists of America and being Bernie Sanders supporters was okay despite their positions on Israel. We told ourselves it wasn’t a big deal that Linda Sarsour was one of the heads of the Women’s March.

—

If Israel is sooooooo apartheid, explain how the Muslim Druze seem to be doing quite well (on my Rumble channel):

Druze in Israel – a man explains (rumble.com)

—

Campus Anti-Zionism Dates Back to 1967 – American Thinker

Some great history, including how the USSR got involved.  And how weak many “Jewish” organizations are on campus.

 

 

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

 

Yoseph Haddad interviewed by Dr Sheree Trotter

 

 

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

 

PALLYWOOD & MEDIA IN GENERAL

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/lights-camera-makeup-pallywood.mp4

 

Look at these people grinning as they’re being dolled-up for the cameras.  Also on my Rumble channel:

Lights… Camera… Make-up… PALLYWOOD! (rumble.com)

—

Gaza – so dangerous that nobody dare do anything.  Except hold an open-air market.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/market-in-central-gaza-dec-18.mp4

 

—

The True Cost of the Israel Apartheid Narrative | Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (jcpa.org)

Video – about 45 minutes.  Including a woman from South Africa who knows, you know, actual apartheid.

—

NBC Asks If IDF Tunnel Display Justifies ‘Massive Palestinian Deaths’ (newsbusters.org)

Liberal Media Spreads Blood Libel About Israel and Organ Harvesting (legalinsurrection.com)

The media are actively taking sides.  This link is long and broad but it shows the role of information in this war:

“You have Jews everywhere,” one former Hamas minister, Fathi Hammad, shouted to a crowd in 2019, “and we must attack every single Jew on the globe by way of slaughter and killing, with God’s will” (barenakedislam.com)

—

No wonder so many people, including most other Arabs, hate the Palestinians (barenakedislam.com)

Video & text.  And who actually stabbed her to death?  (Bolding added).

Police confirmed that Aya Abu Hajjaj, a 24 year old Palestinian woman in her final term of pregnancy who was fatally stabbed last month, was killed by her 14-year-old brother, her 51-year-old father, and a 15-year-old cousin.

Honor killings are nothing new in the Arab world.

Dr. Sanity: HONOR KILLINGS AND SUICIDE BOMBINGS – ISLAM, ARABS, AND SHAME (drsanity.blogspot.com)

One of the things that I recall from Brigitte Gabriel’s book Because They Hate was that Palestinian terrorists would rape a woman (or boy) and then say that the only way for them to protect their family’s honor would be to become a shahid and do a suicide attack… same with kids that are found to be gay.  Threat of disclosure of their rape or their being homosexual to the wide world, shame on your entire family… or here’s your suicide vest.  Other resources / info / links on honor killing:

You searched for honor killing – Political Islam

Worldwide Trends in Honor Killings :: Middle East Quarterly (meforum.org)

You searched for honor killing – Geller Report

 

 

TERROR COMING HERE?  TO THE WEST?

Italy: Pro-Hamas demonstrators disrupt Milan Christmas concert (jihadwatch.org)

Note that the sign is in English, not Italian.  More in Europe:

GERMANY: Three Muslims arrested in alleged terror plot to attack Cologne Cathedral (barenakedislam.com)

What the Hell is wrong with Spain? It took them 700 years to eliminate their Muslim rulers the first time, why are they heading down the same suicidal road again? (barenakedislam.com)

Netherlands: Islamic Schools Ban Muslim Children From Befriending Jews and Christians, Teach Non-Believers Should Be Killed (Video) – RAIR (rairfoundation.com)

—

Indiana: Muslim prays ‘Oh, Allah, bring annihilation upon the aggressor Zionists, the criminal Crusaders’ (jihadwatch.org)

Such nice people.  Let’s invite more in.  Here they are in Berlin:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pro-hamas-new-years-in-Berlin.mp4

 

More on terrorists already on our soil:

German Police Foil Islamic Terrorist Attack on the Iconic Cologne Cathedral on New Year’s Eve, Five Muslims Arrested – Geller Report

NJ Busted Muslim: “Jihad… Coming Soon To a US Location Near You” | Frontpage Mag

Muslims Attack the Police Across France: Riots, Arson Stone Pelting – Geller Report

 

 

Attacking a person with a Canadian flag in Canada:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/enemy-in-the-gates-in-canada.mp4

 

They’re utterly open about what they plan – wait until you’re strong enough:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/british-mosque-preaching-until-you-are-strong-enough.mp4

 

—

 

Brigitte Gabriel’s Warning: The Shocking Truth About What Lies Ahead for America

 

 

 

TREADING ON THE POLITICAL

Biden has ‘frustrating’ call with Netanyahu over Israel’s decision to withhold tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority in latest sign of tension between Washington and Tel Aviv | Daily Mail Online

Biden to Israel: Hey, we know you’re in an existential war, but could you please give your sworn and mortal enemy money?

—

 

 

Not just Hamas:

BIDEN’S INVASION: Iranian Terrorist Apprehended at US Border – Geller Report

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

The Maori of New Zealand show support to Israel with the famous Haka dance

 

 

Related (link only):

Why so many Māoris are standing for Israel (youtube.com)

—

A follow up to my last CLOSING COMMENT on the silence of the world… if it’s not Jews:

World Ignores Muslims Butchering and Slaughtering Christians “For Sport” in Nigeria, 50,000 and Counting – Geller Report

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/nigeria-is-a-warning.mp4

 

Related:

 

 

—

Israel’s Opium Addiction – American Thinker

I agree.  Long-term, Israel needs to be weaned off American largess.  Not just because it creates a dependency that no nation should tolerate, but it creates enormous hostility in America towards Israel.

—

Beating the Anti-Semites – American Thinker

The flip side of this is that no American Jew who supports his community, who values his heritage, can honestly call himself a leftist. This despite the fact that most American Jews (the ultra-orthodox excepted) were raised in liberal-left traditions. It’s a difficult thing to overturn the convictions of a lifetime, but it has to be done. As it stands, American Jews are in the ghastly position of collaborating with those out to destroy them

 

 

GIVING SUPPORT TO ISRAEL

You can’t go wrong with a donation here:

Connections Israel

Here’s a video they just did:

WAR FOR ISRAEL | connectionsisrael

And please share this post far and wide.  There’s a lot of info here that many people don’t know.  Post it, email it, share widely.

Also, if you’re willing:

Buy Me a Coffee

 

 

A CONCLUDING THOUGHT FOR THIS POST

On New Year’s Eve my family and I went to downtown Boston to my wife’s favorite restaurant.  And, of course, the Gaza protests were there in Boston Common.  Between the crowd gathered and chanting “Free free Palestine”! and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”! plus others wandering around or some in coffee shops with signs and patches, I’d estimate at least 100 people.  Likely there were more – which is supported by the link below.  More on the event:

Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian Protesters Take Over Historic Boston Common, Crash New Year’s Eve Celebration | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hoft

In Chicago they are, per one source, cosplaying Gazans:

 

 

It was cold; not as cold as I’ve seen it but cold.  So get this through to your core: these people are committed if they were out there for that long.

These are people that make calls and write letters.  They do op-eds and Letters to the Editor.  They write their elected officials at every level.

Write and call yourself:

Senate

House

Find your local paper and use my – and other – sources to write letters countering their narrative; after all, those who supply the information control what people think.

 

The post Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary appeared first on Granite Grok.

About three years ago, two Conservatives from Maine created a grassroots organization to lobby the State Legislature to pass laws that align with traditional Maine values and assist Conservative Republican candidates in their quest for office.

The Dinner Table was named after the famous Ronald Reagan line, “ALL GREAT CHANGE IN AMERICA BEGINS AT THE DINNER TABLE.” With Reagan’s inspiration, Alex Titcomb & Rep. Laurel Libby created the most significant grassroots political action group ever in the Pine State.

The Dinner Table continues to grow and sees a membership surge every time Augusta comes down with another Left-Wing decision. 2023 was rife with written and passed decisions to assuage the Left or Special Interest groups. One such law was the ultra-liberal reproductive rights (abortion) bill passed last summer that aligns Maine with the least restrictive abortion rights states in the country. The bill effectively allowed voluntary abortion up to the point of birth and was opposed by over 80% of Maine voters. The bill had the support of the largest abortion services provider in the country, Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood claims that abortion is one of the least sought services they offer, but they spent nearly $800,000 wooing State Reps and Senators. Proponents deluged the Capitol chambers with support and against the people’s will. The bill was passed after an all-night session in the House chamber.

The Dinner Table has been active in resisting new laws that promote the spread of the Marijuana Industry. Marijuana has been legal for medicinal and recreational use since 2016 and has become the third-largest industry in Maine. The politicians want to see those tax dollars continue to grow.

Most recently, the Dinner Table was active in fighting the removal of Trump from the state’s election ballot. They were unsuccessful, but that was not due to lack of effort. The cards were stacked against Trump and any supporters, and the Liberal Left got their wish when the Secretary of State released her decision last week. She immediately suspended her decision, knowing it would be directly challenged in the Maine Supreme Court. The Trump Team has filed a challenge to the decision.

Recruiting and supporting candidates is the other focus of the Dinner Table, and the support is both in training and helping with the financial demands of running for state office. The time is right for the Dinner Table as the political pendulum appears to be swinging to the right. However, you still need candidates who can do the job, represent Conservatives, and be attractive to Independents. That is a tall order, but the leadership team of the Dinner Table is confident, and they have built an enthusiastic team of Conservative Patriots who have already shown they are primed and ready to meet the challenge.

Conservatives are motivated but also angry and feel threatened. They think the effort by the Left to push America toward a Socialist form of government, and they take it personally. If there is one lesson the Left needs to heed, it is you do not threaten the Democracy that Conservatives hold dear. They appear to be slow learners.

The post BEAR Pond Conservative Chronicles: In Maine, “The Dinner Table” Links True Conservatives appeared first on Granite Grok.

When these documents were pried (rhetorically) from Jeffy Epstein’s dead hands – or, more accurately, stemming from Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit against short-term New Hampshire property owner Ghislaine Maxwell – the names on that alleged list were not easy to find.

Everyone was looking for names. Where are the names? Who is on “the list.”

Several searches produced nothing. The usual mainstream media suspects had articles about the doc release, the lawsuit, and the judge who declared the documents with the names could be made public, and there were a handful of actual names, but not all. Bill Clinton. Prince Andrew. Donald Trump. Nothing we didn’t know.

They were out there, somewhere, but I’d expected a flood of content upon release, with every one of them including a nice, neat, easy-to-share “list.”

I found one this morning—Newsweek, of all places. Emphasis, mine.

 

The names were unsealed from a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, an alleged trafficking victim, against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend. Maxwell, 61, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was convicted in December 2021 of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse underage girls.

Many of those whose names appear in the documents released Wednesday aren’t accused of wrongdoing or have been mentioned previously in legal proceedings or news accounts. The documents released Wednesday are not an Epstein “client list.”

What they are exactly will be up to the people who read it. Still, you’d be right to wonder why they appear in previously sealed court documents related to the human trafficking trial of a woman linked to a pedophile operation.

Some of these names may be the result of an inconveninet coincidence—some of them. You get to decide, and you can view the released documents for yourself in search of context – and please share your thoughts in the comments. I’m still skimming them, but could not resist getting something out there for people like me looking for some sort of list.

Newsweek ads that,

 

Some portions of the records will remain confidential, including those identifying people who were children when they were sexually abused by Epstein, who took his own life in August 2019 in a federal prison in Manhattan as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Preska gave lawyers for each of the people named the opportunity to review the files before they were unsealed and argue in favor of keeping them out of public view.

Here are the names Newsweek pulled from the linked docs. Again, not a client list but a list of known associates or persons of interest of either Epstein or Maxwell that turned up at trial. We leave the rest up to you, dear reader, with more speculation on this, most certainly to follow. There are 90 lines, but four were redacted – which leaves us with  86 named.

 

1. Ghislaine Maxwell
2. Virginia Lee Roberts Giuffre
3. Kathy Alexander
4. Miles Alexander
5. James Michael Austrich
6. Philip Barden
7. REDACTED
8. Cate Blanchett
9. David Boies
10. Laura Boothe
11. Evelyn Boulet
12. Rebecca Boylan
13. Joshua Bunner
14. Naomi Campbell
15. Carolyn Casey
16. Paul Cassell
17. Sharon Churcher
18. Bill Clinton
19. David Copperfield
20. Alexandra Cousteau
21. Cameron Diaz
22. Leonardo DiCaprio
23. Alan Dershowitz
24. Dr. Mona Devanesan
25. REDACTED
26. Bradley Edwards
27. Amanda Ellison
28. Cimberly Espinosa
29. Jeffrey Epstein
30. Annie Farmer
31. Marie Farmer
32. Alexandra Fekkai
33. Crystal Figueroa
34. Anthony Figueroa
35. Louis Freeh
36. Eric Gany
37. Meg Garvin
38. Sheridan Gibson-Butte
39. Robert Giuffre
40. Al Gore
41. Ross Gow
42. Fred Graff
43. Philip Guderyon
44. REDACTED
45. Shannon Harrison
46. Stephen Hawking
47. Victoria Hazel
48. Brittany Henderson
49. Brett Jaffe
50. Michael Jackson
51. Carol Roberts Kess
52. Dr. Karen Kutikoff
53. Peter Listerman
54. George Lucas
55. Tony Lyons
56. Bob Meister
57. Jamie A. Melanson
58. Lynn Miller
59. Marvin Minsky
60. REDACTED
61. David Mullen
62. Joe Pagano
63. Mary Paluga
64. J. Stanley Pottinger
65. Joseph Recarey
66. Michael Reiter
67. Jason Richards
68. Bill Richardson
69. Sky Roberts
70. Scott Rothstein
71. Forest Sawyer
72. Doug Schoetlle
73. Kevin Spacey
74. Cecilia Stein
75. Mark Tafoya
76. Brent Tindall
77. Kevin Thompson
78. Donald Trump
79. Ed Tuttle
80. Emma Vaghan
81. Kimberly Vaughan-Edwards
82. Cresenda Valdes
83. Anthony Valladares
84. Maritza Vazquez
85. Vicky Ward
86. Jarred Weisfeld
87. Courtney Wild
88. Bruce Willis
89. Daniel Wilson
90. Andrew Albert Christian Edwards, Duke of York

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HT | Newsweek

The post The First 86 Names Linked to Ghislane Maxwell Trial Doc Dump appeared first on Granite Grok.

We learned that today was the first of two days this week that the House will determine the fate of around 66 bills that were retained from last year. We voted on 37 of those bills today.

We also learned that the majority of Democrats attended the House session today wearing face masks as if they pined for the old COVID days in the UNH athletic arena. Rep. Eric Gallager (D-Concord) still wears a bandana on his face, bank-robber style. Maybe it’s all just become some sort of fashion statement…Or maybe just some cult thing?

We learned that first out of the gate was HB185 – a bill having to do with shared parenting coming out of Children and Family Law, passed with 202-172. Apparently, some changes in language will clear up ambiguities for judges when it comes to visitation and parenting rights.

We learned that HB645-FN will allow the establishment of “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” (DAOs) in NH. Similar to legal entities like LLCs and corporations, this allows people to pursue coordinated projects using predefined rules (codified in software) deployed on public blockchain networks. A DAO allows participants to govern themselves directly over a decentralized computer network. This bill will allow a DAO to register with the NH Secretary of States office, and will make NH a leader in this new technology. Some people say it’s really cool and cutting-edge. I say it’s much better understood by the folks in the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee. Chairman John Hunt (R-Rindge) was absolutely thrilled at the passage of this bill 340-33, citing it as one of the most thrilling bills to come out of Commerce in a very long time.

We learned that the House killed HB113 with a vote of 195 No-178 Yes (on OTP motion) and finally a voice vote of ITL. That bill would have eliminated the physical fitness requirements for certified law enforcement officers. So, those requirements will remain in statute. The argument for removing them was that it was an impediment to hiring and that it didn’t need to be in NH statute now anyway because many police agencies and municipalities have their own physical fitness requirements. 195 members of the House felt that we need to keep physical fitness requirements on the books. We can’t have criminals being more healthy, active, and agile than our police officers now, can we?

We learned that 9 out of 12 education bills were tabled. I guess they just weren’t worth talking about, so they were tossed on the table. The three that were debated were: HB354, which passed 190-177 and would allow charter schools to be eligible for state school building aid, HB628-FN which died 195-178 and would have required homeschooling parents (teaching their own kids) to get a background check if they were getting Education Freedom Account money, and SB151-FN which died 186-183 and would have included mental health education in adequate education standards (yet another unfunded mandate in NH curriculum). Now to tackle the 100+ bills coming to their committee in the coming months! Those committee members will be camping out at the State House.

We learned that the House would prefer state primary elections be held on the 3rd Tuesday in August according to the OTP 281 Yes – 82 No vote on HB115. Is anyone even around to vote in August?

We learned that 2 Ranked Choice Voting bills went down in flames. HB345-FN (RCV for state party primary and municipal elections) was killed 207-170 with a roll call vote… and HB350 (RCV for federal and state offices) was killed 248-128, also on a roll call vote. Ranked Choice voting has been an utter mess in Maine and Alaska. Why would we ever want to bring that crazy mess here? If you can’t make up your mind who to vote for then RCV is for you. You rank your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice from the candidates, and then the computer algorithm decides who the winner is… umm yeah, that’s transparent and somehow translates into the “consent of the governed”… BIG NOPE! I’m glad the NH House still has some sense and rejected this, although it would have been interesting to see how it would have come out if we somehow ranked choice voted these bills (wink).

We learned that the House passed HB463-FN with 195 Yes-172 No. This bill allows the Secretary of State to establish an online election information portal to make voter registration easier and available online for updates and corrections. Now let’s see what the Senate does with this and if they have any concerns about election security, voter fraud, file hacking, and a host of other problems, this portal might invite.

We learned that HB369, establishing an energy task force to provide energy relief for farms, was voted down 187-186. That was the first real close vote of the day. It ended up being tabled 322-54. The majority did not want to spend $100,000 to give UNH an FTE/person to run a program to help farmers find federal grant money to help them with energy use improvement on a farm. It was claimed by opponents that there are places they can already get assistance, and also, the program should not just be for farmers… but should include businesses and individuals.

We also learned that HB602-FN, yet another landfill siting bill, passed 226-145. This bill ended up being an entire rewrite of the original legislation that was submitted last year and would allow the Department of Environmental Services to come up with a two-step process or preliminary checklist for a landfill permit application. Proponents claim this will avoid applicants and DES investing time and resources in a site that would ultimately be deemed unsuitable for a landfill. Just wait… there are 17 more landfill-related bills coming in 2024! The House is not done talking trash!

We learned that the establishment of a new state retirement plan group (Group 3 – changing to a defined contribution plan for newly hired employees) proposed in HB559-FN died 192-181 and was then indefinitely postponed with a vote of 201-174. This bill would have created a third tier for all new employees in the state retirement system, allowing them to take their contributions with them should they leave state employment (like most companies do these days). Proponents of this bill know that people don’t stay decades at any one job anymore. Now, this topic can’t be discussed again until 2025.

We learned that HB601-FN-Local was killed 189-188. One vote mattered as this bill which would have required the Department of Education to obtain direct certification with Medicaid such that any student on Medicaid would automatically be signed up for free and reduced meals. There’s a reason why families don’t want to sign up for free and reduced meals, and there are privacy issues of their family information involved too… so why do proponents want to automatically enroll them and make them participate? Umm… probably because they know school districts will get more state money (differential aid) based on how many kids get free and reduced meals. Relieving food insecurity?? Nah… Follow the education dollars involved.

We learned that HB620-FN died 188-185. This bill would have established a division of early learning in the Department of Education. It basically would have revived the failed federal Head Start program in NH. Thank goodness three more people in the NH House understood this to be an unwise educational investment.

We learned that SB239-FN was sent to Interim Study by a vote of 186-185. This bill would have amended the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention, serving as an advisory capacity to the governor and general court, to include drug misuse prevention and harm reduction. Drug misuse prevention and harm reduction could literally mean a lot of things. Rep. Ken Weyler (R- Kingston) said this legislation needs to be studied more, narrowed down, and set some well-defined limits to any proposals. That was the wisest string of words spoken during the day.

Finally, we learned, as Scarlett O’Hara once said, “Tomorrow is another day.” Stay tuned as we finish up what is left on our legislative plate on Jan 4th…. And then it will be a whirlwind of committee hearings until we see you in February!

 

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According to retired Wall Street Journal’s executive Washington editor Gerald Seib, candidate Trump has an advantage being his party’s front-runner since the primary “rules and calendar are designed to help a front-runner sew up the nomination quickly.”

If you can stomach it, Seib is implying that the Republicans don’t play fair and that, otherwise, his challengers could be a threat!

His piece was written prior to when those cheating Republicans removed former Rep. George Santos from the House, which reduced their House majority. Such cheaters! Still, Seib misdirects the public’s understanding, or at least tries to but it’s impossible given Trump’s former Presidency and the public’s relishing for more of it!

Seib employs journalism’s current standard to misdirect rather than option two: to accuse the opposition of your party’s tactics. Whichever the case, their tactics are anticipated since Trump has read their playbook and is quite capable, given his tendency to fight back. But more effective is his supporting cast, which includes the truth he speaks and puts into play.

Trump will be the Republican nominee because of the public’s instinctual draw to what they have been seeking. Many have sensed the void that something was missing. So when Trump started to campaign by citing issues that career politicians would never even mention, they immediately knew that their search was over! This is a fact that the voters remember, in addition to the public’s starvation for the truth, which will ensure Trump’s return to the Oval Office.

This voter loyalty and avid support points to why the truth has been erased from our children’s grade school lessons. Why inform the young when ignoring and inventing a different American beginning poses less difficulty?

Recognizing truth and its vital input is but one of the missing links to proper governing. Over the last century, it’s been a gradual but steady disinterest by the public that has enabled these miscreants to gain and retain elected power. By not knowing, even the more obvious abuses of power fail to stir many from re-considering their voting norms.

Today’s perfect example is shining when the self-proclaimed “poorest Senate member” buys beachfront property in addition to other pricy residences. At some point, it is we, the people, who become partially to blame. Not totally, but with an air of complicity from when they were in grade school, their parents in high school, and their college-educated grandparents were short-changed from the public’s necessary learning scale. Their learning interest lessens when America’s glorious Founding is not taught.

So magnificent was America’s beginning that some might say “glorious” doesn’t quite do it justice, so much so that some may point skyward, and rightly so, given the magnitude of our rag-tag military’s success against the most powerful force of that era. That, in addition to a rare gathering of the most knowledgeable minds holding a united purpose. Again, planting thoughts of insurrection in the young would not jive if these long-ago truths were taught.

When understanding that both Russia and China endlessly teach their youngest with glorious nationalistic tales of past victorious battles, our course is clear! Dust off those factual accounts of our 1776 Founding; delve into the strife and sacrifice, the meagerness of our forces, and despite how ill-equipped, still managed to gain independence from the tyranny of British rule. The fact that ignorance has been the lead object of our curriculum for several generations should present a tenure or starting point for realizing when today’s more bold and boisterous in-your-face demand for the ruination of America’s Blessed freedoms actually began. How many knew that the CPUSA, the Communist Party of the United States, was initiated in 1919?

Trump is the one person who, with his attitude and financial resources, can actually compete and overcome this pervasive revolution. Our enemy knows it and paints his efforts with whatever brush happens to be most damning. They recognize his intent and awesome appeal to re-unite our people by this awesome and truthful appeal! Our enemy fears its power and also accepts the fact that it’s unbeatable when known! Therefore, what our enemy fears is our best weapon; this is only common sense! Besides, it’s the damn truth!

 

The post Absent No More appeared first on Granite Grok.

The federal government has put the nation so far in debt that it has become common practice for the ‘Grok to remind anyone they are encouraging taxation without representation. You are spending the labor of Americans who won’t be born for years and have no voice but will be responsible for the spending and debt service.

When locals brag about it, I find myself offended. When it happens to be a solar farm – and in Derry, well – how could I resist taking a few shots?

 

The project, planned for about 10 acres of unused landfill property off Kendall Pond Road, has been researched and planned for several years.

And now, thanks to a $500,000 Congressional Directed Project grant opportunity, that could bring support for costs. Derry Public Works has been working through the United States Department of Energy in applying for and meeting all criteria to secure the grant funding. And getting that financial support could help the town save money on electricity costs as part of the planned solar project that could be in place by next November, with Burlington, Vermont-based Encore Renewable Energy handling the work.

 

Some will say, whether they believe it or not, that by doing this, they are saving the planet for their grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Those who will bear the cost burden of this exercise. As if this might be a fair exchange. Sadly, none of that is correct. The carbon footprint of the mining and manufacture of their components is significant. The decommissioning of aged-out panels, which will no longer even be in use when Derry’s descendants are old enough to work and begin to pay the debt service, has a high environmental cost. True, we may have figured that out by then, but any electricity savings today’s residents might realize are dwarfed by the debt cost burden created by spending money that doesn’t even exist.

Parity is impossible, even if you think solar farms can save the planet – a proposition even wildly progressive filmmaker Michale Moore does not believe.

The only nice thing I have to say about this is that they chose to put it over an unused landfill, but it would be better for everyone now and in generations to come if locals would stop pretending that grants from the Feds are free money. There is no such thing, and bribing today’s taxpayers with the promise of a few shekels at the expense of future taxpayers needs to stop, but voters everywhere need to understand this and vote in every election.

Every. Damn. One.

The wider the margin in favor of sanity, the harder they are to steal.

One more point, and maybe this is a homework assignment for our readers in Derry. What strings have the Feds attached to this grant that the town likely has not shared?

 

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The story of the sudden collapse of Harvard President Claudine Gay’s career should have nothing to do with DEI. The storyline should be about someone not qualified and prepared for the job being removed before any more damage could be done to the Harvard brand. But Gay herself made this situation about race with her poorly worded resignation.

Claudine Gay was President of Harvard University for a mere six months. The end of her tenure began with a very poor showing in front of Congress last month when three Presidents of Ivy League Colleges were asked to testify about anti-Semitic behavior on their campuses in response to the Israeli-Hamas conflict. The Presidents of Penn, MIT, and Harvard had difficulty condemning the antisemitism protests by their students. The three fell under incredible scrutiny because of their testimony. The University of Pennsylvania President M. Elizabeth Magill resigned last month, and the focus has been on Gay since, with many on both sides asking for her resignation. They got the resignation this week, but it was as ugly as her testimony.

In addition to Gay’s performance in front of Congress and her inability or desire to curb the anti-Israel protests, over 50 instances of plagiarism have been brought to light in many of Gay’s published works and her Doctorate dissertation. If a student at Harvard is found guilty of plagiarism, they are either suspended or removed permanently from the school. This policy does not apply equally to the school’s administrators. Though Gay has been removed as president, she will remain on Harvard’s faculty at a salary of nearly $800,000 yearly. She may be bruised, but still rewarded.

Gay’s comments as she leaves bring the ugly cloud of Racism into the situation, but also may disclose why she was named to the office. Al Sharpton said that Gay dented the glass ceiling, and her removal is happening partly because she is a Black woman. Many might say, especially after her talents have been scrutinized and her propensity to plagiarize is shown to be rampant, that she was only in the office because she is a Black woman. Claudine Gay might be the most prominent individual in academia to exemplify the dangers of DEI in the decision process for those placed in positions of authority. I specified academia because Joe Biden’s administration is the government’s example of your inadequate staff when based on DEI standards rather than meritocracy.

Gay claimed in her exit comments that she was frightened by the personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus she was subjected to. This comment is coming from a woman who did not take steps to protect Jewish students on her campus who feared for their lives because of the anti-Semitic animus their fellow Harvard students subjected to them. Gay says that she resigned from her position, but the truth is she was forced out. She was forced by irate donors and fueled by her performance and record. She may not have been hired on merit, but she certainly was pushed out because she lacked it.

The person Harvard chooses to replace, Claudine Gay, will show the status of DEI. Still, the evidence is mounting that this very dangerous methodology used to rank people harms education, business, and government. DEI must DIE for us to regain a higher level of excellence.

The post Did Claudine Gay Kill DEI? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Climate alarmists have long warned that extreme cold weather events are a consequence of climate change and will worsen. Weather records, however, demonstrate this is not true. It is challenging to trust absolutist claims of anthropogenic climatic warming when those making such claims display such ideological dishonesty.

Extreme cold weather events have been declining in frequency, duration, and extent for decades. Science has also unraveled many of the mysteries of global weather patterns – such as El Nino, which is currently expected to spike temperatures as well as amplify the downward sweep of the polar jet stream.

Chilly Climate Alarms

Unfortunately, claims of climate change are too often couched in the warped lens of presumptive, un-scientific bias. Any aberration in the weather or climate is laid at the feet of the Goddess of “Just End Oil” through a reductionist, climate-binary narrative that demands unquestioning fear lest one be branded an Earth-destroying climate denier.

Water loss is thus attributed to climate change from greenhouse gases, without regard to steadily increasing human irrigation drawdowns from surface waters and underground aquifers at rates faster than these can replenish naturally. Wildfires caused by misguided government management are blamed wholly on climate change from fossil fuels. Flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. – every time a natural event occurs, what was once contractually termed “an Act of God” is now immediately labeled “an Act of Man’s carbon sin.”

El Nino is predicted to be very strong in the coming months, warming many areas. (Climate Crisis!) It is also predicted to amplify swings in the polar jet stream, causing sharp cold snaps. (Climate Crisis!). Cold or hot, El Nino or El Nina, all temperatures and storms precipitate howls of doom and demands for increased power from the Climate Warrior Clan.

Scary Ice Age Scenarios

The World Economic Forum perpetuates the false-flag climatology with scaremongering headlines like “How does climate change affect extreme cold-weather events?” Greenpeace UK incredibly claims:

“…global warming is thought to be behind extreme cold snaps, especially in places that don’t usually experience them. Scientists think it’s possible that warmer Arctic seas could be causing clouds of warmer air in the atmosphere, making the polar vortex more prone to wobbling or waving. That’s why sudden bitterly cold weather is actually further evidence of global warming. And while scientists disagree on how quickly the Gulf Stream could collapse, the only way to avoid the UK plunging into a permanent deep freeze is to stop climate change.”

Carbon Isn’t Causing Extreme Cold

However, science clearly shows that extreme cold weather events have declined. The recent US National Climate Assessment states “Despite some recent damaging cold events, overall cold extremes are becoming less frequent and milder.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Extremes Index shows a clear trend toward less extreme cold.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that “… it is virtually certain that there has been…a decrease in the number of cold days and nights on the global scale since 1950. Both the coldest extremes and hottest extremes display increasing temperatures.”

So according to the climate scripture of the prophets of climate science themselves, extreme cold snaps have declined in frequency, duration, and severity. It is hard to fault so-called “climate deniers” for dulling their ears to the cacophony of ideologues crying global-warming-wolf, when the cult members ignore their own Priests of Climatology.

Climate Propaganda is Extremely Cold

“Rain, sun, sleet, or snow: It’s all your fault, don’tcha know?” Neo-Marxism must deconstruct and shame in order to appropriate more power to fashion a clean energy future in which the globe will be equitably, anthropogenically cooled in a New Weather Utopia. (Never mind the Chinese coal plants manufacturing US solar panels and EV components.)

Exalting the climate scientist magicians of the New Postmodern Age, the world is told by Green New Deal Socialists that “a new field of science has developed to determine how climate change directly impacts extreme weather events: extreme weather attribution.” The old term, in the lexicon of Orwell and Huxley, was “extreme weather propaganda.” All weather is “attributed” to the evil human species, in the climate doom pathology. There is no escape ….

The post Climate Warriors Send Chilling Message appeared first on Granite Grok.

THIRD PLACE: Tucker Carlson. When he was fired by Faux News in April, Tucker Carlson was supposed to go gently into the good night. He didn’t. By defying Faux, Tucker exposed Faux as merely “controlled opposition,” as opposed to a real conservative alternative to Regime-media.

“They” … they being the UniParty … hate Tucker for many of the same reasons they hate Trump. Tucker points out what total all-talk-no-action frauds GOP “leaders” are on the border. He asks questions the UniParty does not want asked, such as how Russia can simultaneously be on the verge of being defeated in Ukraine, but at the same time a threat to conquer all of Europe if the U.S. stops pouring hundreds of billions into the military-industrial complex.

SECOND PLACE: Matt Gaetz. But for Matt Gaetz, Kevin McCarthy would still be Speaker of the House. Gaetz called McCarthy’s bluff. More specifically, McCarthy reneged on the promises he made to become Speaker, betting that nobody would dare go after him and that he was free to continue funding Biden’s agenda … especially the proxy war against Russia, a/k/a the “War in Ukraine” … which is the same agenda as the big-donors and big-lobbyists. McCarthy lost that bet. It remains to be seen how much of an improvement Speaker Johnson will be. But what Gaetz made obvious is that McCarthy and his ilk are UniParty frauds who don’t give a damn about the GOP voters they supposedly represent.

FIRST PLACE: Elon Musk. Without Elon Musk there effectively would be no free speech in the U.S. The constitutional right to free speech is merely words written on paper if the government, acting through the big corporations that control modern communications, can censor information and go unchallenged when they feed the public false information. The suppression of free speech in 2020 was a big part of how the election was rigged. Elon Musk’s “X” alone, in contrast to Facebook, to Google, to pre-Musk Twitter, serves as a venue where Americans can effectively exercise their right to free speech. Without Musk, Tucker would be a footnote and McCarthy would still be Speaker of the House.

The post 2023 Person Of The Year appeared first on Granite Grok.

Starting in 2024, the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) requires residents of Illinois who own a variety of so-called ‘assault rifles’ to register these guns with the state police.

The bad news is that, so far, courts below SCOTUS have either been upholding the law or refusing to hear challenges to it.

The good news is that there has been little or no compliance with this law.  Well under 1% of gun owners have complied, which means that well under 1% of the guns that are probably out there have been registered.

(Because they haven’t been registered, we don’t really know who has which guns. Which is the whole point of disallowing gun registries, right?)

But there’s even better news.  With a couple of exceptions (you can guess which ones), the chief law enforcement officers of the various counties in the state — elected County Sheriffs — have openly stated that they will be completely ignoring the law, as it so clearly conflicts with the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.

Here’s what the Courthouse News Service (CNS) had to say about this:

This mass non-compliance presents a major political challenge for Illinois’ ruling Democrats. It doesn’t mean much that the party spent 2023 fighting for PICA in the courts, if those charged with enforcing the law decide they don’t care what the courts say.

Exactly.

And that’s the first step towards getting things back on track:  For those who enforce the law to decide that the Constitution means what it says, and not what a bunch of pretend potentates say it means, and that they should be guided by the former, not the latter.

Here’s the second step:  For those who are supposed to obey laws like PICA to come to the same conclusion. A lot of gun owners have apparently taken that step.  Let’s hope they’re soon joined by people whose other rights are being trampled.

 

The post Mass Non-Compliance Presents a Major Political Challenge…For Democrats appeared first on Granite Grok.

As promised in Monday Memes, I have an overflow. And hang on baby… Friday’s coming!

Let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

Related:

 

 

At the risk of being crass, you just have to know that every illegal female with even the remote possibility of being fertile is – let me be delicate – attempting to get pregnant.  Because 9 months after that, comes the Golden Ticket.

 

 

I don’t think the protestors have any thought that their protests make people like them or want to look into their cause.  IMHO they’re merely showing their power… and how the police, etc., must bend to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bottom center one really hit me.  I’ve seen multiple memes about the fact that a father used to be able to support a family with his own salary… not rely on the wife having to work too.

 

 

 

But… but… but our intellectual and moral superiors assure us that’s not real Communism.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of puberty blockers, etc.:

 

 

DeWine was a squish when I lived in Ohio.  Hasn’t changed.

 

 

A good leader, who understood his power came from The People, would take the message sent by the Blade Runners as a signal for correction.  The fact that he doesn’t indicates he doesn’t see The People as his boss…

 

 

 

 

 

This is very long, but an excellent essay:

Breaking the Spell: MindSpace, Trance Warfare, and Neuro Linguistic Programming – the Canadian patriot

So far the feedback from those persons to whom I’ve sent it has been very positive.  And quite a few AHA! moments as I read it.

 

 

 

Every time I’ve gone to the hospital I have them PRINT OUT the admissions form; I don’t sign the little electronic pad.  On EACH PAGE I put NO COVID VACCINATION… to be broadened to NO VACCINATIONS AT ALL next time… initial and date, sign the last page, and photograph each page before handing it to them.  Not bulletproof but at least you have that if they do do something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is there anyone with any illusions about how the Native Americans would have treated the White Europeans had the levels of technology been reversed, and it was they who crossed the Atlantic to Europe?

 

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

 

PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

 

In anticipation of a Survival Sunday this weekend.

 

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

 

 

 

 

Remember that unless it’s an ultra-red area, it only takes a relatively small amount to flip it blue.  They plan in terms of decades.

 

 

 

 

 

RIP officer.  But… the media wouldn’t release descriptions while the perps were still at large???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Pick of the Post:

 

 

Not just because of the Jew hatred there… this has been simmering in a cauldron of hate for everything American and eveything Western Civilization for years and years.  But, finally, it’s coming to light.

 

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

 

Palate cleansers:

 

—

—

 

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

 

Come back on Friday for more memes.  Same meme time.  Same meme channel.

 

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

 

The post Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

We like to think of judges as learned arbiters, thoroughly knowledgeable in the finer details of the law and, above all, eminently honest and fair – nonpartisan and unbiased. That’s especially true of Supreme Court justices.

Sometimes, they don’t meet our expectations. Take, for example, those four justices serving on Colorado’s supreme court. Their recent ruling, excluding Donald Trump from Colorado’s 2024 presidential ballot, exposed those so-called arbiters of justice as nothing more than political hacks.

All those years in Ivy League law schools certainly gave them intricate knowledge of our legal system, but like some others in the legal profession, they chose to use that knowledge to justify a forgone conclusion rather than dispense justice. Using ambiguous laws, obscure courtroom decisions, and twisted logic, they succeeded in convincing Trump haters across the country that their decision was based on solid legal grounds. But others understand that had they used simple common sense, they would likely have reached a different decision.

Instead, they first had to accept the absurd Democrat lie that the incident at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was an “insurrection.” They created a labored and contorted legal explanation rationalizing that position.

They should have first checked a dictionary for the most common definition of the word – “an organized attempt by a group of people to defeat their government and take control of their country, usually by violence.”

Then they could have taken a closer look at the 14th Amendment, which was written in the wake of a bloody Civil War that ripped our country apart and killed 620,000 Americans. That’s what the writers of the amendment had in mind when the included the words “insurrection or rebellion.” They were clearly were not thinking of some disorderly protest at the Capitol.

They could have simply watched the January 6th videos taken inside the Capitol – the ones posted by the Committee on House Administration. They would have seen what looked like tour groups meandering through the building. They would have seen no hint of an armed rebellion.

Yes, if they had only been guided by common sense, rather than unbounded hatred of Donald Trump, we wouldn’t be talking about this today.

To eliminate Trump from the ballot, they also had to explain how Trump, himself, “engaged in insurrection,” even though he’s never been convicted of, or even charged with that offense. His speech that day did contain some fiery rhetoric – but it was no different than the rhetoric regularly used by other politicians. More significant was the cautionary remark Trump made to the crowd: “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” Those don’t sound like the words of an insurrectionist.

This isn’t the first time that Democrats have tried to abuse the Constitution and override the will of the American people.

In 2016 they orchestrated the failed Russia collusion hoax. In 2020, they successfully manipulated the presidential election, helped by 50 former intelligence professionals and Trump-haters in the news and social media. Last-minute, illegal changes to election laws in Pennsylvania and other states also helped them saddle the country with their chosen candidate, a thoroughly corrupt stooge – a globalist bent on destroying America’s sovereignty. Sadly, their concerted efforts to defeat Trump also decimated public trust in an election process that was once the envy of the world.

And when obsessed Democrats forged ahead with two frivolous impeachments and a slew of bogus indictments, does anyone believe it was about the will of the people?

Now, as the 2024 election approaches, their tactics have become more desperate and more brazen, but just as despicable. Democrats are appealing to state authorities to remove Trump from their ballots.

Those four obscure Democrat-appointed justices told 1.3 million Coloradan Trump voters that they’ll just have to find another candidate. If that doesn’t defy the democratic concept of free and open elections, how about this? Like a tin-pot dictator, Democrat Secretary of State of Maine, just spat in the eyes of Trump supporters, nearly half the state’s voting population. Short on both legal credentials and common sense, she gleefully jumped aboard the Bump Trump Bandwagon, declaring the former president an insurrectionist, and proclaiming that he would be excluded from Maine’s ballot.

In less than 12 months the American people will elect a president to lead them out of this morass – to stop the invasion on our southern border, restore our once-thriving economy, and regain our respect on the world stage. Donald Trump has accomplished all that in the past, and polls indicate that voters would reelect him today over Joe Biden. A handful of zealots in a few Democrat-controlled states are trying to upend our election process and stop Trump at any cost – even at the expense of our republic.

Most legal experts expect the U.S. Supreme Court to end their insane gambit, but even if that happens, voters will have to remain vigilant. We’ve seen what desperate Democrats are capable of in their frantic quest for power.

The post Another Desperate Gambit by Democrats appeared first on Granite Grok.

Several authors on the ‘Grok have suggested that the inside-the-beltway crowd and their Demp Party masters have no intention of letting Joe Biden be their candidate come November 2024. They may “let him” win the nomination but then perp-walk him into retirement for any number of reasons.

Biden’s departure could happen on the convention’s last night or days after. He is honored but poor health, blah, blah, blah. I’m not sure what the DNC has planned for Jill Biden. She won’t want to go quietly into any goodnight, but that’s never stopped the uniparty before. Kamla will have to go, too, quietly or not. She’s worse than him without any of the obvious excuses.

The ‘Grok has been milking this theory for a while, but who will be the stand-in?

In tonight’s performance of the US Presidential elections, the part of Joe Biden will be played by [blank]. There are at least a few Dems on the bench who would like the coach to put them in, but California Governor Gavin Newsom seems the most likely not that they won’t get California to vote Democrat come election night. He’s young, creepy, wants the job, and isn’t named Clinton.

It’ll be someone younger, dynamic, capable of basic human speech, and a reliable Marxist.

Preident Trump agrees it won’t be Biden. In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Donald Trump said he “can’t believe he’s going to be the nominee.”

 

“He’s a cheater. He’s a scoundrel. He’s a bad guy,” Trump told Breitbart News of Biden. “But in his life, he’s always been able to convince people he’s this really nice guy. I laugh when they say, ‘Trump is the evil one, and he’s the nice one.’ That’s the one thing he’s been able to do. All you have to do is look at his credentials. When you compare him today to 15 or 20 years ago, he’s a different kind of a guy. The guy can’t talk. The guy can’t put two sentences together. So I do think this: I cannot believe he’s going to be the nominee. I hope he is. But I can’t believe he’s going to be the nominee.” …

Asked later in the interview again what he thinks happens among Democrats if they ditch both Biden and Harris from the ticket and who replaces them, Trump again said he is unsure who might emerge but said he thinks it will be a “free-for-all” among Democrats to try to seize the top spot on the ballot.

“That I can’t tell you,” Trump said. “There will be a point at which it’s a free-for-all.”

“I don’t think that Biden will make it to the gate,” Trump added.

There could be a mad dash for that red flag. Power is the defining principle of Democrat politics and the goal of every card-carrying party member. It is a preferred form of government that doesn’t provide much in the way of job security or personal protection. If leadership sees you as a threat to power, your days are numbered.

It is why many of us have also had conversations about if or when that same Bog Government establishment will try to take a shot at Trump, as in assassination. If he’s that big of a threat to their power, what are they waiting for?

I’m sure it’s come up and for more reasons than being rid of a dangerous opponent. It would likely start the civil war for which they’ve been pining—the chance to declare Martial law to impose a wide range of restrictions.

Biden was acceptable because they could control him. Use him as the face of their progressive tyranny. Breaking America is the goal. If it only takes one bullet, they’d be more than happy to take the shot.

 

The post Trump Agrees With Us – Biden Won’t be the Dems ‘Guy’ Come November appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Vermont Legislature returns to Montpelier on January 3rd, and the Democrat Supermajority’s first order of business in the House is a 10 percent state income tax hike. Of course, the bill is titled “S.56 – An act relating to child care and early childhood education” because, you know, “for the children,” but….

Sections 24 -27 lay it out clear that should S.56 become law, income tax rates will increase by bracket from 3.65% to 3.8% (a 9 percent increase) on those earning $42,150 or less, from 6.6% to 7.3% (an 11 percent increase) on those earning between $42,151 and $102,200, from 7.6% to 8.3% (a nine percent increase) on those earning between $102,201 and $213,150, and from 8.75% to 9.6% (a 10 percent increase) on those earning more than that.

According to the Joint Fiscal Office, this would mean an overall income tax increase on Vermonters of $125.4 million in 2025.

Oh, but they’re not done yet! This bill calls for another income tax increase – a “Supplemental Personal Income Tax Increase” — in 2027 by brackets to 3.8%, 7.5%, 8.55%, and 10.05%, which would suck an additional $57.5 million out of working Vermonters’ wallets in 2028 on top of that.

What’s all this for, you ask? The complete hostile takeover of pre-kindergarten childcare – mostly small businesses run by women – by the bloated, corrupt, inefficient, ineffective, but politically powerful public school monopoly.

Yes, the same folks who for multiple decades were failing to teach our kids to read properly are locking special needs students in “blue rooms” when they’re not physically pinning them to the floor, who are responsible for over a dozen years worth of declining test scores, walked out on kids and families during COVID, and who are more interested in cramming woke ideology down students’ throats than teaching them how to balance a checkbook (and here I think we can see why)… want to start the process of miseducating and indoctrinating our kids a few years earlier. And they’re generously willing to perform this service for just a few hundred million dollars a year. Maybe make it half a billion when all is said and done—nice round number.

So, if you thought the new 0.44 percent payroll tax passed just last year that will start sucking $120 million directly out of working Vermonters’ paychecks this July, plus the anticipated 18.5 percent property tax increase would be enough to cover this early childcare nut, it seems you were grossly mistaken. After all, it’s not cheap supplying taxpayer funded childcare subsidies to families earning 575% of the federal poverty level. This means, yes, if this bill becomes law, Vermonters in the lowest income bracket will be paying 9 percent more in income taxes to provide benefits for people earning over $200,000 a year. Quit complaining, poor folks. That’s “your fair share,” according to the lingo.

2024 is an election year, and just so you know, S.56 was sponsored by 17 of the 23 Democrat Senators and passed the Senate last year on a roll call vote of 24-6. Every Democrat voted for it, and one Republican.

Now it’s in the House, and you have a chance to let your Representatives know what you think about all this. Please do!

 

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 Democrats Open 2024 Session with 10% Income Tax Hike appeared first on Granite Grok.

Oh, Love! The eternal rhythm, a symphony echoing through existence’s core! Is love a mere sentiment? Far from it, it’s the relentless beat in the human heart. Love, a master weaver, stitches reality’s fabric with intricate artistry, painting the world with hues of compassion, understanding, and boundless connection.

Love transcends time and breaks mortality’s shackles, granting glimpses into the infinite. It is the flame dancing with joy in newborn eyes, glowing with possibilities. Unbound by birth or death, love lingers like celestial fragrance, outlasting mortal limitations in the vast expanse.

If life’s a theatre, then love and only love take the lead, breathing life into the mundane, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, and guiding creativity’s flame. Love is a guiding star for art, poetry, patriotism, and philosophers’ pursuits, and love fuels unwavering fervor and unravels existence’s profound roots.

Love inspires, provokes emotions, and is an undisputed sovereign, ruling hearts with benevolence and poise. Love is the alchemy that transmutes despair into joy. Love is like the magician wielding its wand with divine precision and turning the commonplace into the extraordinary with regal decision.
Love, the sacred fire, warms the coldest corners, turning dwellings into havens, and is a foundation for homes and the mortar binding families in unbreakable bonds. Lit by love’s flames, hearths bring hope, dispelling shadows and illuminating unity’s path.

Love conducts the symphony as life’s music plays, melodies of shared moments.

What molds existence’s disparate elements into a masterpiece? Love, the sculptor – beyond mere attractive features, a synergy of souls connecting, creating profound beauty. An artisan of aesthetics, love illuminates gestures and smiles, crafting a beauty radiating from within, authentic and combined.

In the grand ballet of existence, love pirouettes with grace and passion. Without it, we’re spectators in a monochrome world devoid of vibrancy. With love, life transforms into a kaleidoscope, with emotions vividly painted, transcending challenges and bringing joy and fulfillment.

In love’s divine embrace, Earth becomes a celestial haven, mere mortals ascend to god-like stature, embraced by a timeless force.

Not a fleeting emotion but an eternal flame echoing through eternity, love is all we need – the alpha and omega guiding us to heaven on Earth.

And yet, even amidst the anguish and heartache, love’s essence remains eternal. It is a force that cannot be extinguished, for it resides in the deepest recesses of our souls. Though my heart may bear the scars of betrayal, I know that love has the power to heal and mend. Through the depths of our pain, we discover our resilience and capacity to rise above the ironies of life and find solace in the light of forgiveness.

Love, with all its complexities and contradictions, remains the guiding force that leads us through the darkest nights towards the promise of a new dawn.

 

The post Night Cap: The Power of Love appeared first on Granite Grok.

The polls show it, and the voters swapping parties prove it. There is a movement away from the Democrats and policies that do not resemble the Party of JFK or even Bill Clinton, for that matter.

2023 will be known as the year the Radicals went too far for even their own Party, and many are jumping off the Radical bandwagon and hoping it did not go so far down the wrong track that there is no getting back.

2023 was a disastrous year for America unless you intended to complete Obama’s mission to transform this once-great country into a Socialist dystopia. If that is your case, you partied last night like it was 1999.

2023 will be remembered as the year of the mandates and restrictions placed on the masses by a President with such a low approval rating that he has no chance of reelection. He went all in and did as much damage as possible, knowing he would only have one shot. But, Boy, did he make that shot hurt.

We have suffered the effects of bad presidents, but we always caught the problem in time so the next commander-in-chief could right the ship. Jimmy Carter was considered by many to be our worst president. He damaged our country at home and abroad, but Ronald Reagan came along and relit the beacon on the hill. There may be no Ronald Reagan-like president strong enough to right the wrongs of Joe Biden.

To list all of the radical, no, extreme actions taken by Biden and the Left would depress even the most optimistic. But we must write them all down to realize how badly we are hurt so we know how, or if, we can fix the mess.

Starting with the evacuation, or surrender, of Afghanistan, we showed we are not the world’s superpower but also that we lack strength and leadership. We turned away from twenty years of effort and walked away, leaving Americans behind as well as enough equipment to arm a small nation. Yet, we have the audacity to believe we can dictate the terms of engagement to Israel, which is defending herself after being attacked. We keep putting billions of dollars into Ukraine like a drunken gambler sitting at a slot machine waiting for cherries but only spinning lemons. We cannot defend our borders but tell others how to protect theirs. We are no longer the America that our needy friends can turn to for help.

At home, we squandered our precious energy independence for the sake of a dysfunctional effort to save the planet. We have imposed a death sentence on the internal combustion engine that built this great land. We think we can replace it with a battery-driven alternative and then rely on our number one nemesis, China, to give us the batteries. We are destroying our open land and seas with solar farms and windmills that are inefficient as they are ugly, and we call it progress. We are foolish and shortsighted and have not devised a plan that will work.

We still have a crime epidemic that is not unique to the big cities. Crime increases are everywhere and will escalate as the illegal aliens continue to pour across the Border and spread throughout the land. Fentanyl is still killing Americans and is just as critical as the human flow across the Rio Grande. The Border is hemorrhaging at 3 million illegals per year, and Biden, Mayorkas, and Harris contend the Border is secure.

Finally, we have inflation. Biden continues to preach the benefits of Bidenomics, but the reality is not positive. Inflation continues to outpace income, and with states putting Minimum Wage Laws into effect today, with some as high as $20.00 per hour, many will be seeing massive layoffs. That is not going to ignite the base.

There is nothing positive to report about Biden’s performance. Well, that is not 100% true. Biden does have only one year left in the Oval Office, which is good news for Americans.

 

The post Night Cap: The Pendulum May Be Swinging But Can We Recover appeared first on Granite Grok.

I’ve read convincing arguments that any number of individuals who are or were ineligible for the office of Vice President or President of the United States may have held the job or run for it. Why should this year’s exercise be any different?

Barry Soetoro may not have been the first birth blanket outrage, but he was not the last. We’ve had one since then. Kamala Harris has been identified as ineligible for the office she occupies.

 

In a 2020 Newsweek article, Eastman argued that Harris would only qualify as a constitutionally eligible natural-born citizen if her parents were “lawful permanent residents at the time of her birth.” However, in the case of Harris, if her parents were “merely temporary visitors,” then she patently did not qualify as a natural-born citizen pursuant to Article II, Section 1.

 

Harris’ ineligibility was no more of a deterrent than an obvious lack of qualification (for her or her boss), but since Barry O, the question of qualification tends to illicit outrage (how dare you!) in proportion to the amount of melanin in your skin, unless you are a Republican. Some have identified Vivek Ramaswamy as ineligible despite his darker tone, and Nikki Haley, whose status as a Republican is suspect to many, is having her citizenship qualifications questioned.

 

In Nikki Haley’s case, it is well documented that neither one of her parents were citizens, natural born or naturalized, at the time of her birth in 1972. It has been previously reported that a South Carolina-based newspaper included a quote from the Office of Nikki Haley, stating that “her parents were not U.S. citizens at the time of her birth in 1972 and did not become citizens until 1978 and 2003.” Thus, although the parents may have been lawful residents at the time of her birth on South Carolina soil, which may or may not confer her with the privileges of citizenship, it is important to note that she does not qualify for the Constitution’s higher requirement of natural-born citizenship.

 

Haley is not my first choice, so I’ll be accused of being a bully or some such thing for bringing it up, but two facts are indisputable. First, the Constitution on this question has been ignored repeatedly, and second, the facts regarding natural born versus Birthright do not lean in Nikki’s favor. I’ll add one more because it may be the only point we can all agree on. Democrats will rediscover a devotion to originalism to undermine or challenge her legitimacy to run if nominated or, if she wins, to hold the office. This, therefore, suggests that we at least listen to the argument so we can intelligently make a case one way or the other.

 

A central concern for the architects of the nascent American republic was that only the most qualified statesmen be eligible for the country’s highest office. In his Commentaries, Joseph Story elaborated that “[i]t is indispensable… that the president should be a natural born citizen of the United States… [T]he general propriety of the exclusion of foreigners, in common cases, will scarcely be doubted by any sound statesman.” Joseph Story, who enjoyed over a thirty-year reign as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, famously elaborated the principles of the republicanism of Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall well into the mid-nineteenth century. His Commentaries specifically distinguished between natural born and naturalized citizens, the latter of whom were ineligible to run for president, despite qualifying for the privileges of citizenship. This view is supported by the best legal commentary of the day, Emmerich de Vattel’s Law of Nature and of Nations, a contemporaneous authority for the Founding Fathers on questions of citizenship. de Vattel’s work states that “[t]he natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens.”

 

I believe the Constitution is clear, but we’ve found ourselves saddled with a general ignorance or indifference that would make that matter. Neither of Haley’s parents was a citizen when she was born. She is eligible to be a citizen, but neither president nor vice president by this interpretation, and I’m sure it came up before she ran or since, and they’ve decided they can get around it.

Okay.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but getting around the Constitution’s limitation on the function and power of the general government is a leading concern among people who are more likely to vote in a Republican primary. Would it be too much to ask what other limitations of the document they are prepared to subvert or ignore?

 

Update: I made a few post-publication edits. ‘Melanin,’ not ‘melatonin,’ and instead of undermining a challenge to her legitimacy, we’ve changed it to undermine or challenge.

The post It’s Nikki Haley’s Turn to Be Ineligible for the Office of President of the United States appeared first on Granite Grok.