Sunday • April 28 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XVII
Manchester, N.H.
Four-times vaxxed Joe Biden is at high risk so when he got COVID again, instead of giving him something that works, State medicine and TV praised the introduction of Paxlovid. How often do we need to say it? The evidence suggests that Paxlovid masks symptoms.
It can’t clear the virus, so you may get it again, but worse. And Biden has it again!
He was old, frail, and failing before he was named president. And they gave him Paxlovid?
As a reminder, Paxlovid is a pricy laundromat drug that pumped billions through the government to Pfizer and the Chinese so “you” could get it for free to treat your symptoms but not the disease.
If you want a poster child for how DC works, Paxlovid is it.
Related: “4x Vaccinated” Fauci Got Covid (Again), Took Paxlovid …And COVID Came Back, Worse!
It is possible that your natural immune system could clear the virus while on Paxlovid, but you are probably better off (and would get the same result) without it, though that decision is up to you.
If you’ve been jabbed and boosted, you may have scrambled your immune system, so a rebound is probably more likely.
Biden is reported to have been jabbed twice and boosted twice. His White House breaks out with COVID regularly. And he’s got it not just again, but again. Paxlovid rebound!
They are reporting that he only tested positive and has been isolated without symptoms as a precaution to protect all the other multi-jabbed denizens at the White House.
“[Biden] was previously seen at several White House events without a mask since testing negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday, including at a roundtable discussing the economy on Thursday.
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News medical analyst and professor of medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center said it’s not a good look for President Biden.
“Not a good look for a president who talks about mandates. He has played too loose with this,” Siegel said.
Rebound is much more common than they are willing to let on, but they know it happens, so what’s the protocol for the hyper-sensitive mandate monkeys? Nothing to see here when it’s Biden, but if it were you?
The post Biden Got COVID They Gave Him Paxlovid, and Now He’s Got COVID Again! appeared first on Granite Grok.
For years, Maine has been called the Pine Tree State. As you drive around this beautiful state today, you will quickly understand why the Pine Tree has been replaced by the marijuana leaf on the state flag. Okay, that did not .really happen, but with the number of pot shops springing up in every city and town, it makes one wonder where we are heading.
As we get off RTE 95 in Auburn and drive the twenty miles to our cabin in Hartford, we pass at least seven shops and two more under construction. They seem to appear on every corner, just as convenience stores did years ago. It makes you wonder if everyone in this state is searching for a bag of Doritos. I jest, but honestly, it makes me question how many people driving with me are impaired by the latest special offered at their favorite shop.
This new industry is a money grab by the state that has been so desperate for funds that they have taxed Girl Scout Cookies and campsites in the past. Maine’s medical marijuana market brings in more money than blueberries, maple syrup, apples, elvers, herring, and oysters combined. Marijuana sales are third behind only the Lobster and Potato industries. Many cities are generating revenue by running lotteries where interested entrepreneurs buy a chance to win one of the limited marijuana retail licenses. The town of Kittery recently raised nearly two million dollars by running such a lottery.
Whether you are looking for “flower,” or the recognizable green buds that can be rolled into a joint or smoked through a pipe; pre-rolled joints; edibles, such as THC gummies or chocolates; tinctures, or THC oil that is dropped under the tongue for effect similar to that of edibles; vaporizer cartridges, containing THC oil; and cannabis concentrates, which look like wax, you local budtender is waiting to serve you. Having never indulged, I have no reason to enter one of these shops, but I know I would be overwhelmed and confused by the offerings.
I realize this is a revenue boom for the state, but I wonder at what cost. I am not naïve to believe that pot was not available before the shops became legal. But is it so in your face now that the user base will grow exponentially? These shops are on main roads, and all have large signage advertising their specials and new offerings. Marijuana is regulated for users over 21, just like alcohol in the state, but is the industry attracting people, especially the younger crowd? Has there been an impact on the number of impaired drivers on Maine’s roads? A lot of questions and not many answers.
I don’t condone the government entering the legal drug trade. But I am an adult and believe in rights and choices. If this is a way to regulate the delivery and quality of marijuana to users and may put illegal dealers out of business, then it may be doing a public service. If it creates a “high” populace and harms productivity and health, I think it is a wrong decision. We may have to circle back in a few years to see how this new industry has impacted the great state of Maine.
The post Maine is No Longer The Pine Tree State appeared first on Granite Grok.
Throwing money at problems that get worse might suggest to some that the problem isn’t money but not Democrats. First, it’s not their money, so why would that matter? Second, the cash enlarges government and state power which is why they spend it. What, you thought they cared?
A small percentage of people on the political Left care; the rest are fools. Government interventions, regardless of size, are almost always doomed to fail. The redistribution of wealth by acts of force diminishes true charitable giving, which is more accountable to the donors. In today’s example, we have the twin problems of Vermont and Homelessness.
The Green Mountain state is neck-deep in progs who have taken control of the levers of power in recent decades and done what Democrats always do. Set about destroying it. It’s still early days, but the signs are all there.
Headline one (WCAX): Vermont spends hundreds of millions to address homelessness
The report says this is the first time the state has calculated the total financial effort, and the report says that number is $455 million.
According to the data, yearly spending on homelessness jumped considerably during the pandemic. For example, in the fiscal year 2020, about $50 million was spent. But in the fiscal year 2021 that had jumped to more than $153 million. And 2022 looked similar, though the auditor’s office notes it’s likely an undercount since the fiscal year wasn’t done yet.
Headling two (Digger): Homelessness continues to rise in Vermont since pandemic’s onset, despite increased spending
Despite drastic increases in spending to curb homelessness since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people living without permanent shelter continues to climb, according to a report issued Thursday by Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer. …
Former Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, announced a five-year plan to end homelessness in 2013 and issued an executive order with a four-year pledge in 2016.
Although the state has seen an infusion of funds into various services aimed at addressing the issue, the efforts are fractured, according to Hoffer’s report.
Homelessness is a complicated public problem, and the pandemic has added to the intensity of it …
Homelessness is a problem but let’s be honest. The pandemic didn’t “add” to the problem. Spending didn’t jump because of the pandemic. Both result from extreme government action that destroyed jobs, businesses, and families.
It is no different than the opioid crisis. It, too, is a direct result of decisions made by Democrats in positions of power. The open border started it, and leaving it open exacerbates it.
But the solutions are the same. Democrats who won’t take responsibility for creating a problem try to solve it with more of someone else’s money instead of reversing course or learning from past mistakes.
And when that fails, the answer is more of the same. More of what makes government bigger, less efficient, and still incapable of doing anything about whatever it is they claimed needed their attention.
And that’s because the priority is always to make government bigger regardless of the cost, fiscal, human, or otherwise.
The post Vermont Spends Hundreds of Millions – The Problem Got Worse appeared first on Granite Grok.
Heh! For years, I said that a large part of what I write about is based on what “they” said. In this case, the Insufferable GAC Twins – extremist Commissioners Doug Lambert and Jade Wood who made it REAL clear that they were bound and determined to resign yesterday at 5 pm (“Extremists Doug Lambert and Jade Wood: Their Clintonian-Style “Wag The Dog” Political Stunt Failed. Spectacularly” – abstracted below).
So today, I am starting a new series: the Insufferable Resignation Watch Day XXX. Their words on what they said they would do – not mine. Their actions in not living up to those words. I’ll just track them and ensure that they promised to resign in front of their family and supporters; they wouldn’t lie to them, would they?
This will either end with a bang (they finally summon the political courage to do what they promise to do and resign) or a whimper (tails between THEIR legs, they’ll clamber into chairs at tomorrow’s special GAC meeting – the only question will be will they meekly do their job or will they continue to grandstand and obfuscate in getting nothing done?).
Either way, this series will continue to remind them to either do what they said they would do (you know, honor their promise to resign) or act like any other crass politician who is full of rhetoric but refuses to take up the responsibility of said promises and do what they want anyways. The former might restore some bit of honor – the second shows that they are just projecting onto others what they themselves have become – just as craven as any Democrat politician that never apologies (unless they think it might keep them out of jail).
SO, DOUG AND JADE – Day Two! Can you send me your signed resignation letters that you promised you would sign YESTERDAY? Or are you both “all hat and no cattle”??? Just empty promises as valuable as Biden’s statement that we are not in recession? You know, Baghdad Bob and Bobbett?
Promises made, promises unkept. And remember YOUR words, not mine.
Oh yeah, I still have to finish processing the video from yesterday. Sorry, too many phone calls this morning and then talking to the candidates at the 603 Alliance training session this afternoon. Hopefully, tomorrow!
From the above link:
During yesterday’s GAC meeting, both Wood and Lambert kept up the attempt to whip the attendees into a mob-like mentality right from the get-go. Both made the case that unless both Peter Ness and Dr. Strang resigned by 5 pm yesterday, the mountain would close because of those GAC Commissioners. Then, Lambert started to nuance it was all about the insurance being pulled if both of them didn’t resign by 5 pm yesterday.
So, the “Wag the Dog” – Clinton bombed an aspirin factory in Libya in an attempt to take attention away from his political problems. Lambert and Wood tried the same thing:
IF THE DELEGATION DOESN’T DO SOMETHING BY 5 PM, WE’LL RESIGN TOO!
First off, they knew that the Delegation can’t operate that fast – Laws don’t allow it. So this “demand”, too, was yet another political stunt. And one that they weren’t willing to follow through on. The Daily Sun has the sorry story:
I’m still not sure that they’ve realized that they are the tail and not the dog. Dogs wag their tails – not the other way around. When you are appointed by the Delegation, you can’t order them around and the Delegation knows it.
…At 5 p.m., they stood outside Gunstock’s ticket office with a half dozen employees and members of the Lambert family. Lambert folded and unfolded an unsigned resignation letter in his hands.
Soaring words, no action.
Tomorrow will be Day 3.
Note: (Upon hearing from the copyright holder to the image that was here, we have removed it from this post and our library.)
The post Insufferable Resignation Watch Day Two… appeared first on Granite Grok.
Remember when the media and public health machinery exclaimed that “research” out of Brazil published in the New England Journal of Medicine proved Ivermectin was ineffective? The together trial did prove something, but not what the experts claimed.
It proved that interested parties could get a study published that said whatever they needed, not that this was new or news, but the media left all that out.
Pfizer, Merck, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Australian Government, Rainwater Charitable Foundation, Fast Grants, Medicines Development for Global Health, Novaquest, Regeneron, Astrazeneca, Daichi Sankyo, Commonwealth Science and Research Organization, and Card Research. …
“Several organizations associated with the trial have a paid client relationship with Pfizer, which has secured Federal government contracts worth $5.3 billion for its antiviral treatment, Paxlovid…”
Let nothing stand in your way, including public health. But not everyone listens to Bill Gates or Merck or Pfizer. Some doctors continue to look for the best outcomes for patients, so Brazil is back. This time, researchers compiled data from over 88,000 individuals.
Regular use of ivermectin as prophylaxis for COVID-19 led up to 92% reduction in COVID-19 mortality rate in a dose-response manner: results of a prospective observational study of a strictly controlled population of 88,012 subjects among 223,128 participants
In the interest of public health, if that were a priority, any study that suggested proof of efficacy would be hailed as a positive step, especially for an FDA-licensed product with decades of documented safe use in people. One that even the WHO’s compiled research data from all studies suggests gets the best results.
Screengrab and highlights care of Steve Kirsch.
Make sure you take a look at the cost column. Treatment with Ivermectin costs 1.00. Molnupiravir is 707.00 dollars, Sotrovimab, 2100.00, and Paxlovid at $529.00 (not free, just because Biden spent a few billion for those at your expense). Fluvoxamine is only $4.00 but ranks as only 37% effective compared to Ivermectin which ranks well at the WHO.
Despite all the data, the WHO doesn’t Ivermectin it, which tells you what most of us already knew. The World Health Organization does exist in the interest of public health. Neither does the NIH, FDA, CDC, or, in most cases, your state or local Departments of Public Health.
As for Brazil, they’ve got a massive study that looked at tens of thousands of individuals and concluded what the WHO wouldn’t admit. Ivermectin may be the best prophylactic, as well as an early treatment for the symptomatic cases of COVID, which almost no one needs to fear (as a reminder).
For those who need to fear Flu or COVID, Ivermectin could have kept them out of the hospital or saved their life, but the “experts” scared you off. That is a lot of blood on their hands, including the media who aid and abet the fear when they should be reporting on studies like these so people can make their own decisions.
That’s not what journalism or public health is about anymore, and if more folks don’t realize that (and soon), they may have to find out the hard way, and haven’t we had enough of that already?
HT | Steve Kirsch
The post Another Ivermectin Study From Brazil: 92% Reduction in Mortality appeared first on Granite Grok.
At least it wasn’t a deranged Bernie Sanders supporter shooting up Representative Steve Scalise. That’s about all you can say for the hideous display of Joe Biden’s efforts for unity and reconciliation. If only Trump were out of office, they told us.
Instead, Trump is gone and the entire Biden Regime has engaged in disgusting rhetoric against the deplorably unvaccinated Neanderthals. We get gaslit on a daily basis about energy prices, the state of the economy, and pretty much anything that the federal government and Deep State have their claws on.
Now, our side gets the bird from these ideologically corrupt and morally bankrupt fools. Just watch:
Democrat Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA) flips off the Republican dug out. Her team got blown out 10-0.pic.twitter.com/CgPOaEsLs4
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) July 29, 2022
For anyone interested in who the clearly-unathletic toad was painstakingly jogging – if you can call it that – around the field, that would be Democrat Rep. Linda Sanchez of California.
The good news is that the GOP aren’t whining crybabies and didn’t need to crawl to a safe space afterward. They just ripped the Dems a new one and cranked up the volume, finishing the game victors in a 10-0 shellacking. Many comments online suggest this is foreshadowing for things to come in November.
No, the anger (if that is the right word) directed at this action is not the action itself per se; rather, it is the continued breaking of social norms, etiquette, and double standards being applied to the left and the right. We are simply tired of it.
Receiving less coverage at the same game was a planned protest over the communist love affair of climate change. The Daily Wire reported a message from Capitol Police urging everyone to either stay home or remain peaceful.
“A message from U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger ahead of tomorrow’s Congressional Baseball Game for Charity,” U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger told Fox News. “We are aware that demonstrators are planning to protest political issues at the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity. Our mission is to protect the Members of Congress during this family event, so we have a robust security plan in place.”
“We urge anyone who is thinking about causing trouble at the charity game to stay home,” Manger continued. “We will not tolerate violence or any unlawful behavior during this family event.”
The classy nature of Democrats isn’t confined to this one moment. Readers might recall that another heavy-set woman gave then-President Donald Trump the middle finger as his motorcade passed through her town. For her efforts, she was fired from her job as a government contractor, but she later won a seat in Loudon County on their Board of Supervisors. It always feels like it’s Loudon County with this stuff.
Anyways, does the GOP take the high road? You bet not. I would love to see Donald Trump be named Speaker of the House after the red wave, and he could introduce himself to her by returning the favor. That would be awesome.
Hailey Sanibel writes for The Blue State Conservative.
The post Democrat Congresswoman Flips Off GOP Dugout During “Friendly” Baseball Game appeared first on Granite Grok.
Summer 2022 Newsletter
Giving voters a voice by empowering elected school district officials to reclaim control over budgets and curriculum.
Announcing SDGA’s New President: Eric Pauer
Eric Pauer, formerly SDGA Vice President was elected President at the SDGA Annual General Meeting on July 9th. Eric brings a strong background in organizational leadership, and we look forward to his direction especially in legislative matters. You can read his impressive CV here.
Updating the Croydon School District Budget Cut
At Croydon’s annual district meeting this year, voters cut the school district’s proposed $1.7 million dollar budget down to $800,000. This lower figure reflects a per student cost of $10,000. The district that fought for and obtained school tuitioning to private schools thanks to our own Jody Underwood, did not, however, hold onto its extraordinary budget cut. Citizens called for a special meeting where they organized a supermajority to pass the $1.7 million budget.
If you wish to puncture the worn and polished, but false old chestnut that schools are starved for resources you will get great assistance from Ian Underwood’s powerful printout.
SDGA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held over Zoom on Saturday, July 9 from 9 to noon. Those in attendance passed a new annual budget, revised our bylaws to eliminate Standing Committees in favor of Ad Hoc Committees, and elected a new board. This is your newly organized SDGA board :
Please thank these committed individuals and consider offering to volunteer a few hours a month to improve public education in NH. Membership participation is the fuel of board effectiveness. We are especially in need of a membership coordinator. Calling the extroverts among us!
*** MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW! ***
SDGA Events
August 28, 2022: Let Your Voice be Heard: How to promote or support a bill in the NH legislature. Conducted by David Saad of Right to Know NH, and Eric Pauer, President SDGANH. 7 pm – 9 pm on Zoom. Free but advance registration is required to obtain a Zoom invitation. Register here: https://sdganh.org/event/webinar-let-your-voice-be-heard-how-to-promote-or-support-a-bill-in-the-nh-legislature/
September, 2022: Meet and Greet NH Legislators. This is your chance to talk to legislators about bills of importance to you.
Details TBA soon. Will be held in Manchester.
October 3, 2022, 7:00-8:30pm. Budgeting Staff – the Elephant in the Room Staffing costs typically make up over 70% of a school district budget yet are rarely questioned by the elected officials. Staffing drives annual increases in payroll, health insurance, and pension contributions which easily dwarf the marginal trimming which the elected members try to apply to the non-staff portion of the budget. Learn strategies to effectively challenge the core staffing model while protecting quality of education. Arthur Green, our presenter, is a past member of the Timberlane Regional School District Budget Committee, a founding member of the SDGA, and a semi-retired consultant in the banking industry. Registration is free, but required in order to receive a Zoom invitation. Register here: https://sdganh.org/event/webinar-budgeting-staff-the-elephant-in-the-room/
Legislative Update:
SDGA’s bill, HB 1393, to enable district voters to cap school district budgets based on enrollment, met defeat in the Senate. In the next session we will try again to get this passed and hope to also reintroduce a bill to require collective bargaining of public entities to be conducted in public.
Did you know that SDGA has outstanding model policies and newly elected school board member training?
Upcoming Board Meeting
***Saturday, August 6***
9 am – 11-30 am via Zoom.
Open to all members. If you wish to attend, email me for a live Zoom link invitation. SDGAofNH@gmail.com
A New Way to Change School Boards for the Better
Here’s a pleasant thought experiment… Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could get a majority of SDGA oriented members elected to one or two school boards? Our model policies could be implemented and parents rights would take the forefront – along with administrative accountability. If we can identify four or five boards that are close to having a right-thinking majority, we could work with the 603 Alliance to recruit and train good candidates to run in those districts. Once elected, of course, the SDGA would then train and support the new member. One well functioning board would be a model for so many others.
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO IDENTIFY PROMISING BOARDS AT THE TIPPING POINT.
Drop me an email with some board names and we will see what can be done. Donna at SDGAofNH@gmail.com
SDGA Committee Updates
Every year SDGA introduces 1 – 3 bills to promote greater transparency in the governance of school districts. SDGA President, Eric Pauer, is heading a Legislative Committee to explore worthwhile bills, draft them and then shepherd them through the legislative process. He would very much like some members to help him draft bills, write testimony and testify in Concord when our bills come into committee. This is not a big commitment but it does require some consistent follow up.
Please join Eric’s committee for a rewarding time making NH better. You can reach Eric at SDGAofNH@gmail.com.
SDGA’s Policy Committee has produced a good number of timely policies intended to replace the NHSBA model policies so many districts adopt with little critical thought. The Policy Committee under Arthur Green’s leadership is seeking people who would like to draft model policies for the committee to vet and to eventually obtain legal vetting. You can reach Arthur at SDGAofNH@gmail.com. The committee meets over Zoom once or twice a month on weeknight starting in September.
Get your school board candidates to sign this pledge and let’s change the culture of our schools! Spread this pledge far and wide!
SDGA Candidates Pledge
I, _________________________, PLEDGE TO THE VOTERS OF ____________________________
THAT I WILL DO MY UTMOST AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL TO
1) Promote education that cultivates in our children a profound respect for our nation’s founding principles and the U.S. and New Hampshire Constitutions;
2) Promote an academic program that teaches that all people are created equal and have equal rights and responsibilities under the law;
3) Prevent school faculty and staff from politicizing education, while respecting the free speech of individuals and the educator code of conduct;
4) Insist on maximal transparency to the public, including, but not limited to, curriculum, budgeting, grants, expenditures, bidding, academic outcomes, school environment, etc.;
5) Respect that parents are the ultimate authority of their children’s values, education, and well-being;
6) Pursue academic excellence through an academic program actively overseen by the elected representatives;
7) Advocate for reading, writing, and arithmetic as foundational to academic advancement;
8) Treat all academic program innovations or changes with healthy skepticism;
9) Represent the residents of the school district by responding to questions, being prudent in budgeting, and holding administration and faculty accountable to those residents;
10) Hold administrators and staff accountable when they fail to uphold these standards.
SDGA Looking for a Membership Coordinator
Are you outgoing and like talking to people over the phone? The SDGA needs someone who will reach out to new and old members to make them feel welcome, encourage them to attend events and training, and urge them to volunteer in the organization. This requires only as many hours as you can give it but no less than 2 hours a month. Please send an email of interest to SDGAofNH@gmail.com. Start time is flexible.
Get Involved in SDGA
Help us with outreach: Please invite us to introduce ourselves to your local school board. Are you involved in groups interested in school-related issues? Invite us to speak!
Join us: Dues are $20 annually, which we’ll ask you for after we process your application. Fill out an application. You can also consider a Lifetime membership for $200. SDGANH is funded exclusively through membership fees, seminar receipts and fund raising activity. (New members who joined in the last quarter of the previous year have their membership carried forward to the end of the next year.)
Renew your membership: Renew your yearly membership here. Thank you for your continuing support!
Make a donation: We run on a shoestring, and every little bit helps. Please donate!
Members are encouraged to join the SDGA Facebook group to see events and announcements and to have discussions about them. The SDGA Facebook page shows our announcements only.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Warm best,
Donna Green
Vice President, School District Governance Association
SDGAofNH@gmail.com
Copyright © 2022 School District Governance Association of New Hampshire, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you are a member of, or interested in, the SDGA.
Our mailing address is:
School District Governance Association of New Hampshire P.O. Box 95
Grantham, New Hampshire 03753
Add us to your address book
The post SDGANH 2022 Summer Newsletter appeared first on Granite Grok.
According to the World Health Organization’s Monkeypox expert, 99% of cases are in men, and 95% of those admit to having sex with other men. Do you know what this tells us? Four percent of men are lying about with whom they are having sex.
Their business, I suppose, but a global health organization that at least some of the population still trusts says that the pox is spreading almost exclusively among gay men, which had to hurt. The WHO’s done in WHOville are globalist progressive purveyors of identity politics. Admitting that the current spread is because of gay men having gay sex must have been incredibly painful.
Will the “community” try to have them canceled?
The WHO’s monkeypox expert, Rosamund Lewis, said men who have sex with men are the group at the highest risk of infection right now. About 99% of cases are among men, and at least 95% of those patients are men who have sex with men, Lewis said.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it is crucial for public health authorities to engage communities of men who have sex with men to reduce transmission of the virus and take care of those infected while protecting human rights by fighting stigma and discrimination.
Related: NYC Public Health Mafia Wants WHO to Rename Monkeypox Because It’s Racist
Maybe not. That discrimination bit looks like a tribute to the LGBT gods.
“For men who have sex with men, this includes for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners, reconsidering considering sex with new partners, and exchanging contact details with any new partners to enable follow up if needed,” Tedros said.
So, in solidarity with radical feminists, gay men could go on a sex strike over the Dobbs decision. For a few months at least. No touching, kissing, or anything else. But AIDS wasn’t exactly the deterrent it should have been, so why would this? And abstinence has never been a strong suit of the Left, so you’ll get no help from them.
I don’t think they can do it, but nice of the WHO to give it a shout-out while we wait for this “to become” a heterosexual problem.
The post 95% of Monkeypox Cases are Gay Men – WHO Says ENOUGH! – Recommends Abstinence. appeared first on Granite Grok.
Local media, such as the Daily Sun, continue to print letters and articles portraying Conservatives and groups like Proud Boys and Free Staters as enemies of Democracy. Maybe so, if we are talking about the “democracy” of BLM/Antifa, Marxist Progressives, and the like.
After all, we have a Republic and NOT a democracy). Yet, not even CNN has been able to identify any violent riots attributed to Conservative groups unless you count Jan 6 during which the only injury of any note was a Trump-supporting unarmed woman shot and killed by a Black Capital Police Officer. Imagine if it had been a black anti-Trump woman killed by a White officer.
Add to that, the hearings by the Left’s Kangaroo Court never found any evidence against Trump; the whole thing is universally regarded by all except Leftists radicals as a phony “show trial” Stalinist-type exercise (aka, “Star Chamber”).
Also, I just can’t recall any Republican supporter shooting up a Congressional softball practice trying to kill Democratic legislators – did I miss that?
Another question: how many right-wingers planned and stalked Supreme Court Justices like Progressive Nicholas John Roske (arrested for just that recently)? Roske had hopes of killing three Justices that HE didn’t approve of (meaning Conservatives). Guy had a semi-auto rifle, a pistol, and a knife outside Justice Kavanaugh’s house and his recovered texts show he did plan the attacks. So yeah, innocent until proven and all that but I’m still highly suspicious, aren’t you?
Someone on the Right with a “voice’ (nationally known) should make a clear and unequivocal statement to the Left that if they resort to or cause others to attempt assassinations, there are those on the Right that not only have the ability but the experience in the art which could make it extremely costly to the Left. (What goes around comes around.)
The post Off they Go appeared first on Granite Grok.
In light of what seems to be a disconnect about what is happening with Gunstock, let’s try for some fact-based clarity.
1. We can all agree that Gunstock is a county-owned asset.
2. We can all agree that Gunstock our beloved, county-owned asset is a benefit to all the communities of Belknap County.
3. One fact, that many might not be aware of, is the mountain CAN NOT be sold by the Delegation or the Commissioners. There is an enabling statute from 1959 that is clear on this point.
4. The 1959 enabling statute formed the GAC (Gunstock Area Commissioners) of which there should be 5 members. The Belknap County Commissioners relegated their duties to the GAC with the enabling statute.
5. Under normal circumstances, each delegation has the duty to appoint two commissioners in an open process in the full purview of the public, one each year.
Now that we’ve established and clarified the basic facts, let’s fast forward to today. It has been an unusual year, with lots of discussions that somehow the Delegation wanted to “sell or privatize” Gunstock. Nothing could be further from the truth. This narrative came about by a group of people called “Friends of Gunstock”, who from the very beginning, wanted to bully the delegation into appointing only those whom the now former commissioners wanted on the commission.
During meeting discussions, one of the former Commissioners was asked (after having served a five-year term) which “cost centers” (departments/events) were profitable. This Commissioner stated he “did not think it was important” [That would have been Russ Dumais -Skip], and in good faith, I personally could not vote for this Commissioner for another five-year term. Don’t you think a Commissioner who had already served 5 years should know which aspects of the mountain are profitable and which are not? Wasn’t this Commissioner appointed to be a steward of our beloved mountain and to make sure it would benefit the county taxpayers?
We want to thank NH State Rep. Barbara Comtois, Belknap County District 7, for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you would like us to consider, please submit it to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
In answer to this, the appointment of Commissioner Wood was made (through the regular process). It was clearly obvious Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch would have none of this. At the first few Gunstock meetings with Commissioner Wood, his tone with her was surprisingly dismissive. As a member of the delegation, I was appalled by his treatment of her, but Commissioner Wood held her own and persevered.
Now we come to the true boondoggle where propaganda began flowing: that the delegation wanted to sell or privatize Gunstock. Remember now, this is absolutely UNTRUE but those who wanted that propaganda out there persisted in spreading this misinformation. Commissioner Gallagher resigned in January 2022, leaving a vacancy. The normal process commenced to fill this vacancy, and three applicants submitted their resumes. The local newspaper was full of articles telling us which person we HAD to put on the commission, supporting only Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch’s choice for this opening.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I do not like to be bullied. I was not elected to cave to bullies but to be thoughtful and introspective in serving my constituents. After interviewing all candidates, the Delegation elected Dr. Strang to fill this vacancy. We erroneously thought it would be for a 5-year term, but it came to light that when a commissioner resigns, we can only fill the position for the remaining term. Therefore, Dr. Strang’s commission will be up in November of this year.
Due to this revelation, it was brought to our attention that Commissioner Rusty McLear had previously been appointed to fill out a previous commissioner’s term, but that term expired about 16 months prior, so another appointment needed to be made. Again, we had 3 candidates and Doug Lambert was elected to fill that vacancy. Commissioner McLear chose not to seek another appointment.
So, here we are. The new Commissioners were asking important questions and it was crystal clear the current management did not like this at all. Despite management’s less than informative responses, the new Commissioners understood they had the ultimate responsibility of overseeing the mountain for Belknap County taxpayers. Frankly, I was amazed that the management was so upset when an Audit Committee was formed. Apparently, this practice of having no oversight has been going on for several years.
No one was looking out for the taxpayers.
In answer to this, the management decided to resign, leaving Gunstock and Belknap County high and dry. Management was clearly not interested in being accountable to the taxpayers. POLITICAL THEATRE aside, their “mass exodus” was nothing short of disrespectful toward Belknap County citizens. It was totally unnecessary, and obviously a pre-planned and well-thought-out POLITICAL strategy.
As a member of the very first Audit Committee at Gunstock, it is my duty to do due diligence and make sure the taxpayers of Belknap County are being represented in the best light. It was NOT the Delegation who dropped the ball here.
Hopefully, this summary is enlightening to all. The residents of Belknap County deserve to know all the facts and not slanted misinformation that paints a picture that is not real or true.
Respectfully submitted,
The post Let’s Talk Gunstock and Accountability appeared first on Granite Grok.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2022
Contact: Josh McElveen
EMail: josh@mcelveenstrategies.com
Strang to Remain on Gunstock Area Commission
Cites need for three Commissioners to End Resort Shutdown
Gilford NH – After several days of internal turmoil that led to the resignation of a pair of Gunstock Area Commissioners, David Strang MD, has decided to remain on the GAC emphasizing that another departure from the Commission would leave it unable to function as a governing body.
“We need a quorum and the stakes are high and time is running out. I understand members of the commission and senior management have differences of opinions on important matters. I believe those can, and will, be addressed.” Said Strang. “Right now, I believe the remaining commission members and critical members of senior management must collectively stand on the common ground that Gunstock must reopen as soon as possible.”
Strang says he supports the immediate return of Gunstock General Manager Tom Day and Facility Operations Director Patrick McGonagle. Both resigned their respective positions last week after differences with Commission members were not resolved.
Strang says their return is critical to resuming normal operations at Gunstock ahead of the SoulFest Music Festival scheduled to begin next week.
“Our employees, their families, and the entire region are counting on us to come together and figure out a way to make this work. I am confident we can do that and my hand is extended for the greater good of our cherished resort. If we fail to bridge this divide, I fear the negative impact will be significant, and we can’t let that happen. We have to get back to work.”
The post Breaking: Strang to Remain on Gunstock Area Commission appeared first on Granite Grok.
(Upon hearing from the copyright holder to the image that was here, we have removed it from this post and our library.
During yesterday’s GAC meeting, both Wood and Lambert kept up the attempt to whip the attendees into a mob-like mentality right from the get-go. Both made the case that unless both Peter Ness and Dr. Strang resigned by 5 pm yesterday, the mountain would close because of those GAC Commissioners. Then, Lambert started to nuance it was all about the insurance being pulled if both of them didn’t resign by 5 pm yesterday.
Sidenote: He’s lying. I have an email coming that states that is exactly wrong. And while Lambert and Wood told the sad story of how much time they’ve put in at the Mountain to keep it running, this email will also state that the GAC should NOT be doing that because it opens up the GAC and the Mountain to legal liability. And that’s what other GAC members have been saying.
Frankly, during the second Public Session, both of them sounded like a pair of Doomsday Climatistias in which WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE IF <pick something> DOESN’T HAPPEN RIGHT NOW!!! It’s very much like they were Fire and Brimstone touring circus tent-based Evangelists warning of eternal damnation if you don’t get rid of your Devil. Or replicated by almost every candidate’s frenzied fundraising email that says the other side is going to win if you don’t give me $100 in 10 minutes. But that kind of rhetoric, when used in the political arena, is a tried and true part of the Saul Alinksy toolkit.
So, the “Wag the Dog” – Clinton bombed an aspirin factory in Libya in an attempt to take attention away from his political problems. Lambert and Wood tried the same thing:
IF THE DELEGATION DOESN’T DO SOMETHING BY 5 PM, WE’LL RESIGN TOO!
First off, they knew that the Delegation can’t operate that fast – Laws don’t allow it. So this “demand”, too, was yet another political stunt. And one that they weren’t willing to follow through on. The Daily Sun has the sorry story:
I’m still not sure that they’ve realized that they are the tail and not the dog. Dogs wag their tails – not the other way around. When you are appointed by the Delegation, you can’t order them around and the Delegation knows it:
During their Friday noontime meeting, Gunstock Area Commissioners Jade Wood and Doug Lambert issued a 5 p.m. deadline for Belknap County leadership, specifically the Belknap County Delegation, to take a stand on the issue of Gunstock.
At 5 p.m., they stood outside Gunstock’s ticket office with a half dozen employees and members of the Lambert family. Lambert folded and unfolded an unsigned resignation letter in his hands.
First fail:
“I had made up my mind to do this tonight,” Lambert said, referring to his letter, if no action or action plan had come from the delegation. “But I owe this one last opportunity to the wonderful staff to make this work.”
Second fail:
In an interview, County Delegation Chair Rep. Mike Sylvia said that Wood and Lambert had written to him saying they would resign at 5 p.m. today if Strang remained on the commission.
Well, I just got off the phone (11 pm, Friday) with Dr. Strang who IS out of town on business. He’s not a quitter. But it’s clear that Wood’s and Lambert’s political courage failed them when they realized (yet another item) that their bluff had been called.
And yes, when you are the tail, you’re not in a strong bluffing position. You see, as I said above, Wood and Lambert are hell-driven by only one thing. Like the pieces that I have brought back from Treehugger, where they are incapable of understanding that other people have priorities than climate (like inflation, food prices, transportation – and not “climate” and CO2 emissions), Wood and Lambert are caught in their own little bubble of their own making. They are unable to accept that other people have other priorities not theirs, or that they aren’t going to be cowed into behaviors that they are demanding. In this, Wood and Lambert are acting just like the Treehuggers (regular readers of GraniteGrok understand this analogy; if you are new, you have a lot of catching up to do).
But never fear – there’s one MORE demand attempt: Third fail?
Lambert said, if nothing had changed, he intended to sign that resignation, effective immediately, on Monday.
Well, standing on one’s Principles is a GREAT thing. Mr. Lambert, the Delegation isn’t going to do anything by Monday morning – or even by 5 pm. YOU KNOW that’s not the legal process for them.
And Strang isn’t going to quit. So, are you, Doug Lambert, going to “fall on your sword” again and disappear back into the mists again?
Or be that political coward that demands someone else quits but you won’t follow through?
And be like Nelson6666, a commenter at that Eco-Socialist site, who demands that billions of people should die to save the earth – but when confronted, never will “lead from the front”?
The post Extremists Doug Lambert and Jade Wood: Their Clintonian-Style “Wag The Dog” Political Stunt Failed. Spectacularly appeared first on Granite Grok.
There are many threats to America on the global front. Russia, Iran, and North Korea are the most talked about, but nobody comes close to the level and number of ways that they are attacking our people and country as China. China is our greatest threat, and we are complicit in much of what they are doing to harm us. Other countries are much more patient than Americans. China started its assault decades ago but has escalated its efforts in the last twenty years. Let’s take a look at the weapons they are turning on us.
China has been coercing American companies to relocate their manufacturing facilities to the Red State because of reduced costs, particularly labor costs. Not only has this been done at the expense of jobs in America, but it has put control over these companies and their products in the hands of China. How could we ever have put our pharmaceuticals in the hands of the Chinese government? That is the tip of a colossal iceberg of products that used to boast Made in the USA only to now say Made in China!
Not only did the COVID Pandemic originate in a Chinese lab, but now we are importing vaccines from the country responsible for killing millions worldwide. To make it worse, the CDC and Dr. Fauci were sending money to help support the research in Wuhan.
China has been buying land in the U.S. for years, but now we uncover their effort to buy lots of land surrounding strategic military installations throughout the country. The most recent attempted acquisition was in Nebraska, adjacent to our drone base. Other than surveillance, why would they be doing this? Governors Ron DeSantis in Florida has gone on record saying China will not be allowed to buy property in his state. We need more Governors with the strength of DeSantis.
This month, China bought millions of barrels of oil from our reserve. The decision to withdraw oil from the reserve was made by Biden to help bring down the cost of gasoline for Americans. Why did he authorize this transfer to China? Oh, that’s right, Biden is in the pocket of China because of the millions the Biden cartel received from China. Nothing to see here!
While we are suffering through the transition to alternative fuels per Joe Biden, China is building coal-burning facilities for energy. There is no concern for carbon emissions or air quality in China. Just put on a mask.
Somebody has to get a grip on this assault. China is not using its military to attack us. They don’t have to. They are effectively harming our economy, health, military, and national security with their seemingly unlimited supply of money. We need to wake up and say no more. We are done supporting this corrupt country, but we have to get our government to stop, also.
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