Saturday • July 27 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XXX
Manchester, N.H.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been “monitoring” nesting pairs of sea birds, particularly the Piping Plover, for years. That must mean that Global Warming is affecting these cute little birds. And they were right.
Climate change in Maine has been very good to the Piping Plover. But wait, perhaps you are to blame (for what is unclear)?
“Their habitat, sandy areas near water, has been heavily developed and heavily used by beachgoers over the years, which has been a component of their population decline. Additionally, intense hurricanes are repeatedly impacting their wintering areas.
I took a quick look, and there is no trend in hurricanes. The last 60 years have seen very few storms reach landfall in the US, but the past two decades had had just as many landfall hurricanes as in the 1850s when there was no man-made abundance of CO2 (the basis for all the modern fearmongering).
There have also been fewer intense storms, so I’m not clear how “intense” hurricanes are “repeatedly” impacting wintering areas. Those areas are North Caroling south into Florida. If that were indeed the case, then the last three decades should have improved the wintering conditions for the plovers.
In other words, they said “Global Warming” would impact Piping Plovers, and it has. Despite annual exhortations about the hottest months or years, the little critters have bounced back and thrived.
Sadly, the Warmists don’t get credit for a correct prediction because they meant things would get worse.
They didn’t.
Wrong again.
HT | Q106.5 FM
The post They Said Global Warming Would Impact Piping Plovers … And They Were Right! appeared first on Granite Grok.
The home buying process can be exciting as you browse potential houses and find the perfect fit for your family. Before you settle on a house, however, you need to consider carefully how much house you can afford. How much home you can afford largely depends on your income, your debts, and your current financial situation. Keep reading to learn more about the factors that affect how much home you can afford.
IncomeWhen you ask, “How much home can I afford?” the first thing you should consider is your income. Income is one of the most important factors when determining how much home you can afford. In general, the more money you make, the more house you can afford. Mortgage lenders will look at your income and debt-to-income ratio to get an idea of how much you can afford to borrow. They will also look at your employment history and your job stability. Generally, lenders will cap your mortgage at 28 to 36 percent of your monthly income. This includes all housing costs like your mortgage payments, property taxes, and homeowners insurance.
Down PaymentYour down payment also affects how much home you can afford. A larger down payment will reduce the size of your mortgage and result in lower monthly payments. It’s also important to remember that closing costs, or the fees charged by the lender for processing the loan, can add thousands of dollars to your purchase price. So if you’re looking to buy a home in the near future, start saving up!
DebtDebt is a major factor when considering how much home you can afford. The more debt you have, the less home you can afford. This is because your monthly payments for debts take away from what you can pay for a mortgage. Debts like car payments, credit card payments, personal loans, and student loans will impact how much home you can afford. Lenders will usually look at the total amount of debt payments you’ll be making for the next 10 months.
The amount to owe versus how much money you make is known as your debt-to-income ratio (DTI). Your DTI is a percentage of your monthly debt payments to your monthly gross income. Your DTI will impact how much mortgage you can get. Generally, lenders like to see a DTI of 36 percent or less. If your DTI is higher than 36 percent, you may still be able to get a mortgage, but you may have to pay a higher interest rate, and your mortgage may be for a shorter term. Reducing your debt is the best way to get a bigger mortgage with better rates.
Credit ScoreYour credit score is a number that lenders use to measure how risky it would be to loan you money. The higher your score, the less risky you are to lenders, and the more likely you will get a lower interest rate on a loan.
Your credit score is based on several factors detailed in your credit report. Factors include your history of paying bills on time, the amount of debt you have compared to your income, and the age of your credit accounts. Some other things that can affect your score include whether you’ve been late on rent or utility payments or have filed for bankruptcy.
The higher your credit score, the better your chances are of getting a mortgage. While your score isn’t a direct indicator of how much house you can afford, lenders typically want borrowers with scores above 720 to borrow 80 percent of their home’s value. Those with scores in the 600s may only be able to borrow 50 percent. Keep in mind that these are general guidelines and that each lender has its own criteria.
Overall, there are many factors that affect how much home you can afford. The most important factor is your income. Your mortgage lender will look at your gross monthly income to determine how much house you can afford to buy. They will also look at your monthly debts, including car payments, student loans, and credit card debts. The strength of your overall financial situation will determine how much house you can afford.
The post Factors That Affect How Much Home You Can Afford appeared first on Granite Grok.
If Western-Style Democracy is swirling the bowl, Australia is the largest turd about to go ’round the bend, if you take my meaning. They’ve abandoned all pretense, and even Bank Australia is getting in on the tyranny. It has announced that it will no longer offer loans for new gas-powered cars or trucks.
“Ultimately, our announcement today is the beginning of a conversation with our customers and a signal to the wider market that if you’re considering buying a new car, you should think seriously about an electric vehicle – both for its impact on the climate and for its lifetime cost savings.”
Okay, let’s think about electric vehicles. Wait, let’s think about how they are thinking about them instead.
First, everyone knows they were expensive before Joe Biden crashed the world economy. A boutique item for the well-to-do. Well over 90% of EV sales are by what EV proponents (Democrats) would call The Rich.
Post-Bidenflation, EVs are more expensive, which, when coupled with the dollar’s declining value, puts them further out of reach of everyone but the rich, who will also be the only ones pocketing the Democrats 7K taxpayer incentive “gimme” to buy them.
Bank Australia, ironically, understands that.
“While we will cease car loans for new fossil fuel cars from 2025, we are deeply aware that we need to support people not yet able to afford an electric vehicle while the market grows,” Courville said.
We get it, they say, but we’re still going to end loans for new cars you could once afford. If you’d like a loan for an electric vehicle, you may need to mortgage your home (if you have one) to make the monthly payments.
The result of which is what? People with enough money to buy a car outright will still be able to choose between gasoline or electric vehicles. Bank Australia just priced everyone but a select few from access to new automobiles.
The bank did say they would continue to offer loans on used gas-powered vehicles, but if Australia is anything like the US, there are not many of those around. Demand and inflation have driven up the cost of buying and owning any vehicle.
Sinister? Deliberate?
I’d expect this to spread around the globe in line with the Left’s “we don’t want you to have personal mobility” agenda. And it does belong to them. AOC’s Green New Deal (which the Dems love) is about limiting transportation to the elite.
So, how about horses? Will the bank loan you money to buy a horse because that otherwise leaves us with bicycles or our feet – there is no reliable, regular public transportation to the less urban areas of either country.
And how is that not discrimination? The body positivity victim class, a subset of middle to low-income individuals who are calorically handicapped, will be hit hardest.
Or are they expecting the impending cricket diet to address that problem? I can’t imagine anyone getting obese eating bugs, assuming that doesn’t kill them – which I hear is also very slimming. You’d not then need transportation after a trip to the mortuary and an oven to hide any evidence that eating bugs or your COVID vaccine unwound your mortal coil.
The post Bank Australia Decides That Only Rich People Should Be Able to Drive New Vehicles appeared first on Granite Grok.
If you think that the raid, oh, excuse me, warrant execution at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence (by multiple heavily armed agents of the state, some wearing tactical gear) is acceptable or even wonderful, you might want to pause and think again.
The search was ostensibly for documents, not narcotics that could be flushed away or a bomb that could be detonated. Paper, including, per several reports, a cocktail napkin.
Were the agents expecting armed resistance? Perhaps the documents were going to be thrown in a fire pit?
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that no one is above the law. Agreed.
One of our founding principles is that the law should be applied to everyone equally, regardless of their position. Also agreed.
Now, for a moment, imagine that the political leanings were reversed: that a Republican administration sent the same agents into the home of a Democratic politician who wasn’t there.
Does that still seem acceptable?
Well then, where was the raid on Barack Obama’s home after missing records were noted back in 2018? Or the raid on Eric Holder’s home after the “fast and furious” gun probe of the late 2000s? Or the raid on Hillary Clinton’s home after Director James Comey’s 30-minute exposition on the alleged illegal acts relating to her server? Or the raid on the Clinton home after the reports of many missing items after they vacated the White House? Jeffrey Epstein’s customer list? And currently, where is the raid and indictment of Hunter Biden after admitting to crimes and with video evidence of others?
No one is above the law, you say? Who will hold the FBI accountable for the Steele dossier/collusion hoax, their lying to the FISA court, the efforts of agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page to undermine the Trump presidency, or the suppression of Hunter’s laptop?
The post The FBI Raid at Mar-A-Lago Was One-Sided, Undemocratic appeared first on Granite Grok.
“Scientists Find Toxic Components in COVID Vaccines” is the sort of headline that gets you kicked off Twitter, but it’s true. Some German scientists have found “toxic components—mostly metallic—in all the COVID vaccine samples they analyzed.”
What else could I call it, the Inflation Reduction Act? More research the Machine will have to deny? Oh, look, the COVID vaccines change your blood (it does).
The Working Group for COVID Vaccine Analysis says that some of the toxic elements found inside the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna vaccine vials were not listed in the ingredient lists from the manufacturers. …
These substances, furthermore, “are visible under the dark-field microscope as distinctive and complex structures of different sizes, can only partially be explained as a result of crystallization or decomposition processes, [and] cannot be explained as contamination from the manufacturing process,” the researchers found.
The Working Group is an “internationally networked working group, with a core team of more than 60 doctors, physicians, pharmacists, scientists, mathematicians, alternative health practitioners, lawyers and journalists.”
Related: Will a Small Magnet Stick to Your Experimental Vaccine Injection Spot?
So, some concerned scientists (not to be confused with the Union of Concerned Scientists) have examined the ingredient list for these vaccines, and then the vaccines themselves, and are finding things in them that the manufacturers never disclosed. The result: the conspiracy theorists were right. There are junk “metals” in these vaccines.
Do you know what else about which they were right?
Using a small sample of live blood analyses from both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, we have determined that artificial intelligence (AI) can distinguish with 100% reliability between the blood of the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. This indicates that the COVID-19 vaccines can effect long-term changes in the composition of the blood of the person vaccinated without that person being aware of these changes.
The vaccinated have distinctly different blood from the unvaccinated. That’s huge, but wait, there’s more (reformatted)!
We have found crystalline formations in the blood of all the vaccinated people whose blood we examined. We are continuing to analyse these formations. In every case that we have examined, we have observed a rouleaux formation of the erythrocytes (the red blood cells) and we frequently observe an unusually rapid disintegration of the different types of cells in the vaccinated blood that we examine.
We are exploring the hypothesis that arteriosclerosis could be just one of many long-term effects that those vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccines will have to face. If this hypothesis is confirmed, the consequences would be wide-reaching in terms of both health and socio-economics.
Autoimmune diseases weakened immune systems, inflammatory conditions, arteriosclerosis etc. are insidious diseases that can lead to organ damage, high blood pressure, heart attacks, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and shorten life expectancy. The unclear disease pattern conceals the possibility that COVID-19 vaccinations may play a causal role in the disease.
Weakened immune systems. Inflammatory conditions. Heart attacks.
Related: What’s in Your COVID Vaccine? FDA Asks judge If They Can Hide the Details for Another 55 Years
It is obvious what must happen next. The published research is tagged as preliminary, giving the Public Health Industrial Complex time to pillory, smear, ruin, misdirect, or destroy everyone involved.
But with 60 people involved, that might not be as easy as they think.
You can read the research report here (local copy, given that these things have a way of disappearing).
HT | Epoch Times
Note: I am Now on Truth Social @TheRealNHSteve
The post Scientists Find Toxic Components (Metallic Elements) in COVID Vaccines and the Blood of Vaccine Recipients appeared first on Granite Grok.
Merrimack district 7 (New London, Newbury) has a 3 for 2 primary. Two newcomers, Claire Ketteler and John Bowman are on the ballot against a RINO. At least one of them, ideally both of them, will be on November’s ballot. Voters will finally have a chance to vote for a real Republican.
Dan Wolf has been the worst RINO of the last six years, arguably the worst of the last decade. He certainly would make the top five worst RINOs.
In his first term, he voted 103 times for Democrats against Republicans. That earned him 5th place among RINOs. Brenda Willis was the top RINO.
We want to thank Spec Bowers for this Op-Ed. Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
Since then, he has been far and away the worst RINO. In 2019-20 he voted 107 times against Republicans. Second place was Betty Gay, with a “mere” 88 bad votes. In 2021-22, Wolf set an all-time record of 198 bad votes. Second place went to James Allard with 123 votes.
Let’s hope Wolf is never given a chance to break his own record.
Here are some highlights (lowlights?) of Wolf’s career.
Bad votes by Wolf, Dan (R, Newbury)
Parental Control
voted AGAINST establishing the parental bill of rights ( 2022 HB1431, 2022 HB1431 )
voted AGAINST parental choice regarding face masks ( 2022 HB1131 )
voted AGAINST parental choice regarding intrusive surveys ( 2022 HB1639 )
voted FOR evading parental choice regarding vaccinations ( 2022 HB1126 )
voted FOR restricting parental choice ( 2021 HB251 )
voted FOR subjecting students to invasive surveys without the knowledge of parents ( 2019 SB196 )
Education
voted AGAINST education choice ( 2017 HB647, 2018 HB1686, 2021 HB609, 2021 CACR3, 2021 HB278, 2021 HB282, 2021 HB388, 2022 HB1132, 2022 HB1298 )
voted AGAINST letting parents sue if their child’s school neglects to protect students from bullying ( 2021 HB140 )
voted AGAINST repealing the mandate that schools provide menstrual products ( 2021 HB458 )
voted AGAINST requiring students to pass a civics test ( 2021 HB319 )
voted FOR repealing the education freedom account program. ( 2022 HB1683 )
voted FOR restricting education choice ( 2022 HB1516, 2022 HB1120 )
Cost of Living
voted AGAINST prohibiting a sales tax ( 2021 CACR2 )
voted AGAINST prohibiting an income tax ( 2021 CACR1 )
voted AGAINST reducing costs of energy ( 2021 HB373 )
voted AGAINST reducing electric rates ( 2019 HB477 )
voted AGAINST reducing the cost of electricity ( 2021 HB614 )
voted AGAINST requiring a super-majority vote to override a property tax cap ( 2021 SB52 )
voted FOR an income tax ( 2018 HB628 )
voted FOR higher individual taxes ( 2017 HB644 )
voted FOR higher property taxes for most owners ( 2021 SB102 )
voted FOR increasing residential electric bills ( 2020 SB122 )
voted FOR increasing the cost of electricity ( 2019 HB715 )
voted FOR reducing the cost of electricity ( 2020 SB124 )
voted FOR requiring state taxpayers to make up for poor investments by the Retirement Board ( 2022 HB1417 )
Constitutional Rights
voted AGAINST prohibiting the suspension of civil liberties even during an emergency ( 2021 HB440 )
voted AGAINST property rights ( 2021 HB402, 2022 HB414 )
voted AGAINST protecting religious liberty during a state of emergen y ( 2021 HB542 )
voted AGAINST religious liberty ( 2021 HB542 )
voted AGAINST repealing a never-used and unconstitutional infringement on free speech ( 2017 HB589, 2019 HB124, 2022 HB1625, 2022 HB1625 )
voted AGAINST right to keep and bear arms ( 2021 SB141, 2021 SB141, 2021 SB154, 2021 CACR8, 2021 HB307 )
voted AGAINST rights of conscience ( 2021 HB63 )
voted AGAINST rights of conscience regarding vaccination mandates ( 2022 HB1604, 2022 HB1379, 2022 HB1490 )
voted AGAINST the right of self defense ( 2018 HB1313 )
voted FOR confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens without any due process ( 2019 HB696 )
voted FOR protecting criminals by disarming law-abiding citizens on school property ( 2019 HB564 )
voted FOR restricting property rights ( 2021 HB177, 2021 HB177 )
Right to Life
voted AGAINST collecting abortion statistics ( 2018 HB471, 2019 HB158 )
voted AGAINST prohibiting abortions after 24 weeks ( 2021 HB625, 2021 HB625 )
voted AGAINST punishing fetal homicide ( 2017 SB66 )
voted AGAINST right to life for any baby born alive ( 2021 HB233 )
voted FOR weakening the right to life ( 2022 HB1609 )
Election Integrity
voted AGAINST allowing the Secretary of State’s office to investigate undeliverable voter verification letters ( 2017 HB552 )
voted AGAINST election integrity ( 2022 CACR19 )
voted AGAINST ensuring that absentee ballots are not sent to unregistered persons ( 2022 HB1153 )
voted AGAINST requesting absentee voters to verify their identity ( 2021 HB292 )
voted AGAINST strengthening the requirements for documenting the domicile of a person registering to vote ( 2017 SB3 )
Other
voted AGAINST allowing schools to display the national and state mottos ( 2021 HB69 )
voted AGAINST exempting kids’ lemonade stands from licensing requirements ( 2021 HB183 )
voted AGAINST prohibiting sex change surgery for minors ( 2018 HB1532 )
voted FOR allowing towns to ban plastic bags ( 2020 HB102 )
voted FOR banning plastic straws ( 2020 HB1472 )
On all of these votes, more than 80% – in most cases 90% – of Republicans voted the other way.
The post RINO Report: Dan Wolf appeared first on Granite Grok.
My family has always believed the Granite State would stand strong for multiple generations to come. I was proud to be raised from deep roots in God’s Country. So, it has been tough to come back to New Hampshire, only to see how decades of political neglect in the North Country has chipped away at our Yankee foundation.
Granite may be rock hard, but to last and shine, it needs regular cleaning. When it is cracked and broken, it needs a skilled touch to repair it. This election, it is time to clean up and fix our politics in Concord. We need to get back to leadership, not lies. We need to increase common sense, not corruption. We need representatives who stand for moral living, and not money grabbing. The North Country “good ole boys club” has long benefited wealthier families in the region and that has cost the citizens in Colebrook, Columbia, and Stewartstown. Enough is enough.
As a 9th generation blueblood Yankee, I am an investor, a job creator, a donor, a servant, a volunteer, a friend, a dog whisperer, and a neighbor. Your stories of how our North Country people have been hurt, intimidated, or silenced by power-hungry politicians, motivated me to run for State Representative. Conversations with local business owners, elected officials, community influencers, and volunteers made it clear to me that the “good ole boys” have a strong grip in this part of the Granite State. Their political staying power comes from using the system to extract money from the people – you know, through taxes, fees, duties, and the like – and giving benefits only to those who help to keep them in power.
We want to thank Gary Whitehill 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.
No wonder life for North Country residents and families is tough. Concord intentionally forgets anything above the Notch. Meanwhile, local property tax rates are through the roof (and going higher) all the while inflation eats away at our wages, industries, and tourism prospects. Even worse, basics seem to be forgotten locally: roads, sidewalks, roads, sidewalks! Out on the campaign trail, the #1 complaint I’ve heard from 1000+ residents is that NOBODY LISTENS to them – they feel they are ignored at both local and state levels.
When did our politicians forget that their job is to serve the people? We have a state capitol that doesn’t care about us, local politicians who don’t listen to us and we live in a state surrounded by blue on all its flanks. This is why I am running for State Representative in Coos County District 3, to represent Colebrook, Columbia, and Stewartstown as a public servant, and I am determined to get better results. How? Let’s start by using common sense, bulldozing through the lies, and fighting for the people. No more waiting for the outcomes our communities need.
I have spent the past twenty years breaking down barriers and building better platforms so that people, businesses, and communities can thrive. My personal motto is “Stop at nothing. Achieve everything.” My whole life I have competed with people who had more education, more money, and more resources. My blue-collar upbringing and real-world life lessons taught me what it takes to succeed as a leader, especially when times are hard and the odds are stacked mightily against you.
One thing you can trust is that my Granite-strong family roots have made me resilient, dogged, and determined. My pledge to you is to bring that same persistent energy to fight for your interests in Concord – with grit, discipline, and decency. Because what every North Country resident deserves is a healthy, vibrant economy that brings with it safety, security, and an ability to take care of your family. If our North Country community wants to climb beyond the hardship mountain, we must push for a giant shift in politics, where our public leaders are accountable, transparent, and less self-serving.
I promise to be driven and relentless when it comes to preserving everything that makes the North Country good, and to building better, more resilient options that will bolster the economy so that we can revitalize our community.
My action plan is to focus on how we achieve livable wages, good help in our local businesses, a growing customer base, affordable taxes, adequate funding to enforce the law, support for local farms, and new opportunities for children and young families. First, I am targeting decisive results for you in three community-centered goals:
I am running for State Representative because I care about fixing the cracks. I care about our residents, our families, our community, our small businesses, and our way of life. I will fight for you, for your family, and for the legacy of our great region. You deserve true leadership and a strong, new voice in Concord that will do whatever it takes and is not afraid of “good ole boy” retribution or repercussions.
Do you want decision-making driven by common sense?
Are you tired of lies and political pandering?
Are you sick of feeling like you, your family and the North Country are being left behind?
Make your vote count for better this September 13th. If you feel it is time to get better results, vote for the person who is going to be driven and relentless for you.
Vote Gary!
The post The North Country Is Broken: How We Fix It Right Now appeared first on Granite Grok.
Apparently, Joe Biden got tired of kicking the can down the road. He has been extending the moratorium on student loans, but today he took the next step.
He is again placating the upper class by redistributing wealth from everyday hard-working Americans to pay for a portion of the student loan balance for all who currently have an outstanding balance.
Biden took to the podium this afternoon and gave another of his rambling, walk-down-memory-lane orations to make the audience think he is one of them, good old Joe from Scranton. They are old, boring, phony, and out of touch, just like his decisions. Today’s announcement is very transparent. Biden had lost the 18-35-year-old voting block. Once one of his strengths, this group tired of his performance, and his approval ratings with them had tanked. He is hoping to buy them back, and what better way than with our dime?
He plans to suspend payments one final time until December 31. He is canceling up to $10,000 for anyone making less than $125,000 and $20,000 if a Pell Grant. Canceling is a misnomer, like the Inflation Reduction Act. For they don’t really get canceled, the burden for the loan shifts to the taxpayer. This is another way that Biden is hurting all Americans. Biden’s plan is not only unfair for many reasons but may also prove to be unconstitutional.
In addition to his long-winded speech about his Dad, he also used some key phrases that ensure you know he is lying. Whenever a speaker says, “let me be clear,” they are not being honest. Whenever a speaker says that something is a Game-changer, someone is getting screwed. He used both terms many times today, which is not a good sign for the Big Guy.
One thing I need to note about the timing of this announcement. Joe Biden has been on vacation for weeks in a combo of time-off and COVID. During that time, he flew to Washington to sign the Inflation Reduction Act and returned to make today’s announcement on student loan forgiveness. And he was in Delaware the day of the Mar-A-Lago raid. All of these have overshadowed the anniversary of the Afghanistan Surrender and the death of 13 brave Americans at the hands of the Taliban. Convenience or just lucky timing, but unmistakable.
The bill announced today is unfair for many reasons. One, it only pertains to those with a student loan balance. Take out a loan tomorrow, and you are on your own. If you paid off your loan, good for you, but you get nothing from this bill. And, if you never had a student loan or never went to college, you now have student loan debt. Thank you very much.
This bill may never pay anyone a dime as it will surely be challenged in court. Any resolution will come after the midterms, and it will already have the desired effect, securing the 18-35 votes. Only Congress has the authority to spend money, but that won’t stop Joe. He and his family are used to selling their name or buying votes. The shame is that he never uses his money but ours.
The post Biden Goes to College to Buy Votes appeared first on Granite Grok.
Full confession, I am completely radical by Leftist standards. I freely admit I am a Christian, I believe in God, Jesus, and Christian values. And there’s more! I confess that I love America or what America was as I was growing up.
I believe our Constitution was and is the most important document written in the past five or six hundred years of history. It’s a document that guarantees the principles of human rights unknown ever before to my knowledge. Yes, I’m so radical that I believe in law and order and equal justice under the laws, including civil rights. Oh yeah, I’m radical; I believe our border laws should be enforced (oh, the horror)! I believe criminals of any race, religion, or sex should be held responsible for their actions.
Now the really bad part: I believe there are only two sexes, male and female. Worse I believe no male can get pregnant or give birth. I know, I know, this is total wokeness heresy, but I can not find one example in all medical science history to support any other conclusion. Oh yes, it gets worse! In all that medical history, not one example could I find of a human morphing from one gender to the other.
Could there be something I’m missing in my research? Nope, nothing in the Merrick manual or Lippencourt’s. I just can’t find where those on the Left get their authoritative standards. But if you ask them, they tell you, “everyone knows” or “I know all I need to know”; they must have some special source the rest of us don’t have.
Well, I think I know where they get it. It’s in the kindergarten sandbox playing “make believe.” It’s their favorite game where they can insult the grown-ups, tell lies, and laugh about it. Pretty sure that’s it, so if you are as guilty as I am, and as radical too, next time one of them calls you a name, tell them to go back to the sandbox and play with the rest of the children.
We grown-ups have more important things to do.
The post I’m Radical, Oh So Radical appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Government Integrity Project (GIP) hosted a debate of U.S. Congressional Candidates at Grace Ministries International in Brentwood, NH on August 13, 2022 (video is below). NH State Rep. Tim Baxter, Gail Huff-Brown, Karoline Leavitt, and Russell Prescott all participated in the informative and energetic event that lasted about 90 minutes.
Perhaps Candidate Matt Mowers refused to participate because he was afraid he would have to explain why he voted twice in 2016 in the Presidential Primary and then have to defend why he embraces “Election Integrity” as one of his campaign issues. Mowers also supports Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House. McCarthy would have the authority to shut down “America First” on day one. But that’s another story…
Related: CD-1 Candidate Tim Baxter: Why the Vote for Speaker of the House is “Almost the Only Vote That Matters”
The debate provided insights as to where each candidate stood on a wide range of questions before ~160 enthusiastic attendees who showed up and made their voices heard. All questions were answered openly and honestly, except for one… by one candidate: “If elected, who would you support for Speaker of the House?”
Only Karoline Leavitt refused to answer the simple question. Instead, she provided a non-answer.
One of her opponents, Tim Baxter called her out – and claimed that Leavitt endorsed Kevin McCarthy both in writing and on video. That exchange was repeated multiple times, and each time, Leavitt shook her head “no” and then responded with another non-answer. It was disappointing to see that from Leavitt, because she has been pushing for transparency and change in our federal government. Baxter subsequently made this Twitter post to back up his claims.
Related: Are Some “America First” Candidates Who Support Kevin McCarthy Deep State Enablers?
If you want to learn where each candidate stands on the important issues, the event was professionally produced, live streamed and recorded for on-demand viewing (see below).
Real America’s Voice Investigative Reporter Heather Mullins moderated the debate. Every question is listed below, along with the time reference where it was asked in the video.
Topic: Opening Statements
Time: 59:18
Topic: Agriculture & Food Supply
Author: Family Farmer
Time: 1:04:55
Question: There is a very real threat to our food supply here in America. We see our food supply in jeopardy with this agenda for the green new deal. Big Government continue to push regulations on farmers and ranchers that are forcing some to sell off their land. That farm land is subsequently being bought by the likes of Bill Gates, China, and other big corporations. How will you ensure family agriculture stays strong in the United States and protect American farmers and ranchers from Corporate and foreign takeover?
Topic: 2nd Amendment (Universal Background Checks)
Author: Rick Olson, President of Londonderry Fish and Game Club
Time: 1:10:30
Question: We hear politicians tell us that “Universal background checks” are needed and people support them. Do you think we need universal background checks? And define what a universal background check is.
Topic: Foreign Policy – Afghanistan Withdrawal
Author: Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller
Time: 1:15:02
Question: Would you support withholding budget funds to the DoD until the military leadership responsible for the Afghanistan withdrawal are held accountable?
Topic: Covid Pandemic, Big Pharma, Big Tech and Big Media Censorship
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 1:22:26
Question: Big Pharma, big tech, and big media jointly censored doctors that tried to speak up about effective covid treatments, and vaccine adverse reactions, putting profits over people, and depriving many Americans of informed consent. How will you fight the censorship induced genocide in Washington on behalf of the American people?
Topic: Dr. Anthony Fauci / Covid-19
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 1:28:40
Question: What punishment do you think Dr. Fauci should face for funding Gain of Function Research in Wuhan China, an unethical practice here in the United States?
Topic: Education – DOJ defining Parents as Domestic Terrorists –
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 1:33:23
Question: What role, if any, should the federal Government play in education? And how do you plan to fight a DOJ that labels parents showing up to school board meetings as domestic terrorists?
https://youtu.be/HLLcwJ3C8TY?t=5600
Topic: Supreme Court Decision West Virginia v EPA (federal regulations / agencies)
Author: Dan Richard, Founder, Committee of Safety
Time: 1:38:10
Question: The Supreme Court this summer issued multiple landmark cases, including what might be the most dramatic of all, the EPA case. This case has gone under-reported as its opinion in West Virginia v. EPA, will have far reaching effect on all Federal agencies.
Administrative and environmental lawyers have said this ruling is likely to open the door for more aggressive challenges to federal regulations at any agency.
In light of this opinion, how will you work to get and keep federal agencies under control – and which agencies, if any, do you feel need your immediate attention?
Topic: Taxes
Author: Greg Moore, State Director, Americans for Prosperity – NH
Time: 1:44:20
Question: Congress just passed legislation that increased taxes on employers by hundreds of billions of dollars in the middle of a recession. As a member of Congress, what area would you focus on for tax relief, and how can we correct the issue of inflation?
Topic: Election Integrity
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 1:50:04
Question: In light of all the election integrity investigations that have exposed issues such as ballot trafficking at drop boxes, dirty voter rolls, nursing home fraud, and even security issues with the voting machines, do you believe we can conclusively determine who won the 2020 Presidential election? And what role do you feel, if any, the federal government should play in the election process?
Topic: How will you remain steadfast to NH voters?
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 1:56:32
Question: How can NH voters be sure that if you are elected and sent down to Washington that you will not fall in line with the corruption, that you are not going to accept bribes and that you will remain steadfast loyal to them as voters?
Topic: January 6, 2021
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 2:01:20
Question: As reported and documented by Just the News, Trumps Pentagon first raised the possibility of sending National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol four days before the Jan 6 riots, setting in motion a series of rejections by Capitol Police and Democrats, that left Congress vulnerable to threats of violence were rising.
Would you support an investigation into Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and other Democrat leadership that turned down President Trumps request for national guard troops days before the breaching of the Capitol only to turn around and accuse him of inciting the very violence he sought to prevent?
Topic: National Securing
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 2:06:30
Question: How will you deal with the Border Crisis?
Topic: Attorney General Merrick Garland
Author: Audience
Time: 2:12:17
Question: Will you vote to impeach Merrick Garland?
Topic: Rapid Fire Questions
Time: 2:15:30
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 2:15:38
Question: Would you support abolishing the Federal Bureau of Investigations?
Author: Audience
Time: 2:18:50
Question: Would you approve money for a Covid tracking database?
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 2:19:30
Question: If elected, who would you support for Speaker of the House?
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 2:21:29
Question: Have you seen 2,000 Mules?
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 2:22:32
Question: Would you support repealing Section 230 protections for big tech companies?
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 2:22:46
Question: Would you be in favor of eliminating the filibuster if elected?
Author: GIP
Time: 2:22:59
Question: If elected, when you come back to NH will you allow the GIP to host a town hall event?
Author: GIP
Time: 2:24:10
Question: What is a woman?
Author: Heather Mullins
Time: 2:25:41
Question: Did you support the overturning of Roe v Wade?
Author: Audience
Time: 2:27:22
Question: Would you be in favor of a federal sales tax and would you cut social security and/or medicare?
Time: 2:29:30 – Closing Statements
The post WATCH: Where Does YOUR CD-1 Congressional Candidate Stand on the Important Issues? appeared first on Granite Grok.
So some radio show recently hosted a debate for the GOP CD-1 candidates. Of course, the NHGOP-Establishment moderator tried to get the candidates to sign on to the NHGOP-Establishment’s narrative that 2020 was a resounding rejection of Trump and the GOP needs to get back to its Bush-Cheney-McCain-Romney roots. Karoline Leavitt was having none of it,
… which made Mike Graham’s head explode:
You have to be some kind of Trump-deranged … which obviously Mike Graham is … to still be claiming the 2020 election was not rigged. It obviously and undeniably was.
Zuckerbucks, the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop, Pfizer delaying the roll-out of its COVID vaccine to prevent Trump from getting the credit, and the list goes on and on.
NH-NeverTrumpJournal represents the loser-mentality-wing of the GOP. He and his ilk loathe and despise actual GOP voters and prefer having the GOP in a minority that they control rather than allowing GOP voters to elect the candidates that they want.
The post NH-NeverTrumpJournal Still Shilling For Biden appeared first on Granite Grok.
In typical Washington style, so much pork spending was buried deep in the hundreds of pages of the Inflation Reduction Act. Let’s get one thing on the table before we dig in. This bill has nothing to do with inflation or reduction. This bill is about “vote buying,” and the Left is upset because there is insufficient spending.
They want more pork and feel deceived by Biden’s promises. Let’s take a look at what Democrats call Inflation Reduction.
Joe, everything is not going to be okay. You have lied to the American people in the name of securing votes and stemming a red wave in November. You have shown that you will say and do anything to stay in power. You have made a mockery of the system and this great Republic. It should not work.
Back in the Obama years, this country lost millions on loans to Green Energy companies. While visiting Solyndra in May of 2010, President Barack Obama claimed Solyndra was “leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.” By 2010, 1,100 people were out of work, and the U.S. taxpayers were on the hook for $535 Million for a loan defaulted on by Solyndra. We are repeating the same wrong decision.
A solar energy company, First Solar, owned by a Biden megadonor, received a $500 million government loan to build a manufacturing facility in India, the Biden administration announced this week, raising questions about whether the company’s political clout played any role in the financing decision. The Inflation Reduction Act gives Joe Biden $60 Billion to pick and choose winners in the green energy sector for him to reward with grants and loans.
Let’s call it what it is. This bill is a pot of gold for Biden and Democrats to dip in and scoop up millions to spend as they see fit. The Dems hope that a fancy name that means nothing and throwing money out like candy at a local parade will hoodwink their base and secure Dem control so they can go back to the planning board for more creative ways to spend our money. And as far as bringing down inflation, not their problem. Just consider it a universal tax your corrupt Democrat Federal Reps and Senators brought to you. Elections have consequences, and pulling the Blue Lever will cost you dearly every time.
The post All in the Name of Inflation Reduction appeared first on Granite Grok.
School districts across the country are understaffed or dealing with staffing issues, but Washington, DC, appears to have found a possible solution. Punish black kids.
No Jab, no Ed.
In the nation’s capital, almost half of the city’s black students ages 12 and over won’t be going back to school this fall. As a result, their already precarious educational situation is primed to suffer even more.
Yet notable civil rights organizations are silent as 40% of the District of Columbia’s black students who are 12 or older are barred from returning to school in person due to the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
So, while the greater DC areas schools are all short-staffed, this is not about staffing. The jabbed have jumped blacks on the identity politics totem pole.
That public education to which they claimed you were entitled has new conditions. The education that is supposed to help make anything possible has been preempted. If you refuse to modify your child’s DNA with a worthless pharmaceutical product, you retain your right to pay for the education but lose your access.
It’s just more of that progressive urban plantation politics.
In many parts of the country, this ex-communication would be neither a punishment nor an incentive to get their experimental jab juice. All across America, parents and guardians have sought alternatives, from charter schools to homeschooling. A school pushing them out is the best reason to go someplace else.
Where kids will get more academics and less progressive indoctrination, maybe even learn something.
But this is Washington, DC. A Democrat-run urban utopia where many in a majority black population could never afford a private or alternative school. DC elites have made it almost impossible to pursue learning outside the government’s education industrial complex. It leaves them with the DC area public schools or no school, and your kid has to be in school unless they are not fully vaccinated against something for which they are not a vector (until after vaccination).
Democrats, right?
The Daily Signal contacted BLM, the NAACP, Rainbow PUSH, and even Ibram X. Kendi for comment. If a mind is a terrible thing to waste, what’s all this then?
No one responded.
I doubt they were surprised by the lack of interest, but someone needs to care. This policy will further degrade already lagging skills thanks to that same school system.
Again, black students were the lowest-scoring ethnic group in fourth-grade reading, with the average score for whites 258, Hispanics 213, and blacks 204. …
The Washington Post reported that only 28% of black students in kindergarten through second grade across the District were hitting literacy benchmarks in fall 2021, compared with 70% of white students.
The depressed numbers for the District’s black students predate the pandemic. A test given in fall 2019 showed that 44% of black students in D.C. public schools were hitting expected literacy benchmarks, the Post reported.
As our own Ian Underwood pointed out a few weeks back, government-run “public education” is the experiment, and it has failed. And now, 40% of DC’s minority kids will fall further behind simply because they haven’t received a pharmaceutical treatment they don’t even need.
None of that is going to change until the people make changes.
Until now, political “change” in almost every Democrat-run city is like swapping out the poop in a dirty diaper. The Federal government is like that too. To address the underlying problem would undermine the system.
Nothing is more important than the machine that keeps the political elite fat and happy or the fat that greases the machine.
The result is a cultural stench that (in the case of public schools) is poisoning generations of kids who have who are being denied an even passable education, doomed to the cycle of dependency the Progressive elites promise to break but only reinforce at every opportunity.
So, it is a staffing issue, after all. The people in charge (that’s you) need not just to demand new management but new caretakers, and, while you’re at it, someone needs to change that damn diaper.
The post DC Schools Punish Black Kids and the Race Baiters Have Nothing to Say About It. appeared first on Granite Grok.
Tim Baxter for Congress leads the fourth and final round of LibertyBallot.com recommendations for the 2022 New Hampshire Republican Primary. Additionally, incumbent State Representatives Erica Layon, David Love, Julius Soti, Josh Yokela, and Melissa Blasek are all endorsed by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance and deserve to be sent back to Concord for another term.
Tim Baxter for Congressional District 1
Liberty Ballot recommended Tim Baxter for the New Hampshire House in 2020, and he did not let the people of New Hampshire down! Baxter had an excellent voting record in Concord and led on multiple conservative issues, from opposing the lockdowns to supporting Congressional term limits. Baxter is a member of NH’s House Freedom Caucus and, if elected to Congress, would join the Congressional Freedom Caucus. Baxter has been endorsed by dozens of liberty and conservative state legislators, Senator Rand Paul, Congressman Thomas Massie, the National Association for Gun Rights, and the Republican Liberty Caucus. Get involved with Baxter’s campaign at https://www.baxterforcongress.com/
Erica Layon and David Love for State Representative Rockingham County District 13
Erica Layon worked to remove discrimination in education by sponsoring and passing HB 1663. David Love and Layon are fighting for the students, families, small businesses, and taxpayers of Derry. Learn more about and help Layon at http://ericaforderry.com/
Josh Yokela for State Representative Rockingham County District 32
Josh Yokela has been a leader in pointing out excessive regulation and working to reform the law. Yokela is endorsed by Americans for Prosperity – New Hampshire. Yokela is running to represent Brentwood and Fremont. Learn more about Yokela at https://www.joshyokelafornh.com/
Julius Soti for State Representative Rockingham County District 35
Julius Soti stands for medical freedom and conservative values. Being born in Eastern Europe, Soti has first-hand knowledge of oppressive governments, and fights every day to make sure that New Hampshire remains relatively free. Soti is running to represent Londonderry and Windham.
Melissa Blasek for State Representative Hillsborough County District 12
Melissa Blasek is a leader of the Rebuild New Hampshire movement. Blasek is running to defend life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Blasek is running to represent Merrimack. Learn more about Blasek at https://melissa4merrimack.com/
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Reminder: Content about candidates or by candidates is not an endorsement by GraniteGrok.com or its authors.
The post LibertyBallot.com – Announcing Fourth Round of Election 2022 Recommendations appeared first on Granite Grok.
Direct funding for personnel and equipment, along with money to address minor inconveniences like snow removal, has ingratiated FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security with local public safety personnel and local elected officials.
For decades, the federal government has nurtured an unhealthy relationship with local emergency management agencies. In return, local governments happily offer their time toiling away at grant paperwork, eagerly adopting federal programs and helping pass-through funds for the occasional condom and tattoo spree.
The results of this relationship are mostly bureaucratic and innocuous. However, in light of the increasingly authoritarian efforts connected to crises (think COVID, gun violence as a “public health” issue, and disinformation), it is important to discuss the potential downsides of heaping federal funds upon local crisis decision-makers.
The federal government has authored a system of emergency management that turns grassroots preparedness and local authority on its ear. Federal intervention at the local level now spans all hazards, from flooding to the war on terror and, most recently, COVID.
As many are now aware, permitting the federal government to devise and implement emergency response strategies is expensive, ineffective, and dangerous. It has the effect of bolstering and growing federal influence on decisions that should be made in homes or local communities.
Delaware is a leading example of this phenomenon, with homeland security and emergency management agencies being supported with more than $100 million in federal grants just as they take on a critical role in the fight to disarm Delawareans. Is it any wonder state agencies are leaping at the chance to enforce anti-gun laws?
What could be wrong with a little DHS or CDC money trickling into local governments?
The answer is straightforward.
Through the grantmaking process, local governments lose all autonomy in the management of emergencies. The federal government now funds an approach to emergency management that positions agents of the state locally who maintain some degree of reliance on the federal government. By paying local salaries for people that are in decision-making and enforcement roles, the federal government has increased the likelihood local personnel will serve its purposes. This undoubtedly played a role in COVID policy enforcement, but because the public is generally unaware that the local decision-makers are often federally funded, it doesn’t nearly get the press it deserves.
A question I used to consider in my research was does the federal government have command and control of local response agencies. But emergency management leaders across the county have already disclosed that they are dependent upon FEMA and DHS, for example, and that their decision-making process is not dialed into local needs, but into federal wants.
The question we must now ask instead is — how will the federal government mobilize those resources that they have funded, trained, and equipped?
The answer to this question lies squarely in the federal government’s ability to garner influence in local public safety organizations, specifically with local emergency managers.
The federal government is wise in how it seeks to influence. It appears they have taken a three-pronged approach:
While we could likely analyze the federal influence on any public safety leader (Police Chief, Public Health Officer) based on grant dollars and compliance metrics, emergency managers are of interest given their role during multi-agency disaster response.
The emergency manager position is charged with coordination and planning before large-scale emergencies and tasked with advising local officials during incidents, including on the matter of resource deployment. While serving in a coordination and policy-making role, the EM is surrounded by personnel and equipment at the local and state levels that are also funded by the federal government. To understand the depth and breadth to which federal dollars have crept in and usurped local control over emergency response, we can look to their admissions:
Many, if not most, local emergency manager salaries are funded by DHS/FEMA grants. At a minimum, we know that half of EMs acknowledged in the 2015 study linked above that they were reliant upon this funding, specifically for personnel, to respond locally. Certainly, a larger percentage uses these grant streams even if they do not consider themselves fully reliant.
To stave off reductions of any sort, EMs have worked diligently to build a very strong lobbying arm to ensure that funding never dwindles. Both the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) and the National Association of Emergency Managers (NEMA) promote a centralized system of emergency management and make it their primary lobbying effort to continue to ask for more federal funding. In fact, the IAEM is quite frank about its accomplishments, noting that it recently secured a huge increase in one particular EM grant stream driving the federal support up from $355 million to $605 million.
There are ways other than funding that the federal government has practiced to influence local emergency management. Primarily, they are urging along an evolution in the types of people in the EM position. It is reasonable to assume that they seek to position agents that are more amenable to centralization as this is naturally the position of an expanding government.
As an example, for 22 years FEMA has led a nationwide effort to curate higher education programs dedicated to emergency management to “professionalize” the field and to ensure that practitioners could engage with academics. In response, colleges have formed hundreds of highly specific emergency management degree and certification programs, many of which are inclusive of standardized FEMA training courses. Through a focus on education and professionalizing, or by other means, today’s emergency managers are younger, more educated, and increasingly more likely to be female. Each of these is an attribute associated with the desire for a larger, more centralized government. [1] [2]
The federal government understands that there is less disdain for local governments than for state and federal. About 75% of citizens report having trust in their local governments. Citizens want to believe that their local agencies, closer to the community and more likely to be run by neighbors, act independently and with the best interest of their constituents in mind.
This is doubly true for public safety agencies, often beloved in their communities and looked to as trustworthy and competent. Therefore, from a federal perspective, influencing trusted local personnel is key to gaining authority and further centralized control. It has been a quiet and effective strategy to plant federally-funded agents of the state in our local crisis decision-making agencies.
NOTES
[1] Age and Gender: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/09/14/americans-views-of-government-low-trust-but-some-positive-performance-ratings/
[2] Education Level: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/05/17/americans-see-broad-responsibilities-for-government-little-change-since-2019/
The post How the Feds Have Nationalized Emergency Management appeared first on Granite Grok.
As a thought experiment, is it possible for progressives to consider the notion of peak money? That point at which we can no longer tap the labor of future generations to pay for their stupid ideas today.
The obvious answer is no. There is no “enough.” Democrats cannot imagine a sum of money so large that not even they could spend it. Waste, fraud, and abuse are a feature, not a bug—the monetary equivalent of digging holes to fill them in.
Example.
“Veterinary Public Health has received funding from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in animals in Los Angeles County,” a statement on LA Public Health read.
Remember, the survival rate among humans is nearly 100%, but in the interest of public health, we need to test animals just in case.
No positive results have been found in any of the 177 animals that have been tested so far, which include a wide variety of common household pets such as dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, and guinea pigs.
LA public health also tested wild animals including 107 bats, 12 raccoons, 7 squirrels, 1 mule deer, 12 coyotes, 3 skunks, 6 opossums, 1 rat, and 6 sea lions.
It’s the (animal) COVID Twelve Days of Christmas…”Six sea lions!”
Do they get a passport showing they are covid-free? Not that we know of, but after posting about the effort on Twitter, the peeps ragged on them so severely that the LA County Department of Health had to shut off comments.
I guess there are a few folks left in the world who think this is ridiculous. And it makes you wonder. Are the public health experts for LA County genuinely concerned about animal reservoirs for a flu that almost 100% of people survive, or are they just addicted to the attention and the fresh bushels of cash from the money tree?
We have to spend it or someone else will.
And will they realize that at the rate we are going, they’ll probably need to cut the tree down and burn it to stay warm, but of course, there is no tree.
The post LA County Taps the Money Tree to Test Animals for COVID ‘cuz Reasons appeared first on Granite Grok.
H.L. Mencken said that ‘every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods’.
As you process news of the (First) Great Student Loan Giveaway over the next few days, keep that in mind. Along with this:
18 U.S. Code § 597 – Expenditures to influence voting
Whoever makes or offers to make an expenditure to any person, either to vote or withhold his vote, or to vote for or against any candidate [. . .] shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
The post $10,000 Is the Going Rate for a Vote appeared first on Granite Grok.
On August 24th, 2006, people doing business as astronomers decided to define what a planet is and is not. Diminutive Pluto failed to meet their “you must have this much gravity to ride around this sun as a planet” requirement and was degraded.
Pluto was reduced to the title of a dwarf planet, which sounds insensitive to me, but I looked, and it is not. Midget planet would have been over the edge, but dwarf or even little planet is acceptable.
So, what if Pluto – speaking through an advocate – announced that it had transitioned to ‘Planet,’ dropping the dwarf? Would there be peaceful protests in favor of its new status? Would the science department and Penn State have to call it a planet or face disciplinary action?
Pluto would be able to use the Big Planets “room” again and all that. Full and equal rights that it might never have lost. As it turns out, the tiny planet consensus consisted of only 5% of astronomers, and some portion of the other 95% were less than thrilled.
“There’s a lot of leading planetary astronomers who are very upset about it,” said Skylar Grayson, an astrophysics Ph.D. student at Arizona State University.
The reclassification of Pluto also had a wide cultural impact as well. So much so that the American Dialect Society choose “plutoed” as 2006’s Word of the Year — meaning “to give someone or something a less important position than they had before.”
Regardless of what puny earthlings decide to call a consensus or Pluto, we’ve only known about the rock for 93 earth years. The planet itself, dwarf or otherwise, still has 155 years to go before it has completed one orbit since it was “discovered.”
Given how fickle human beings can be, it could still be a good “year” for Pluto, after all.
The post Sixteen Years Ago, On August 24th, 2006 – Pluto Lost Its Status as a Planet appeared first on Granite Grok.
There are cleaner ways to burn fossil fuels and capable carbon capture research that has produced scalable solutions to CO2 “pollution” if you think that’s a problem. Researchers in Michigan created a composite resin for Wind Turbine Blades that can be “recycled” into gummy bears.
To combat the waste, researchers designed a new form of resin. Digesting the resin in an alkaline solution produced potassium lactate, which can be purified and made into sweets and sports drinks.
“We recovered food-grade potassium lactate and used it to make gummy bear candies, which I ate,” said John Dorgan, one of the authors of the paper.
The alkaline digestion also released poly (methyl methacrylate), or PMMA, a common acrylic material used in windows and car taillights.
In fairness, one thing that makes Wind Power so dirty (aside from the steel, concrete, manufacturing, delivery, and installation (all of which require coal, oil, or gasoline to make them happen) is the turbine blades. When they are done giving the locals headaches and decimating the bird and bat populations, they must be buried. There are not reusable in any form. So, looking for ways to solve that problem is worthwhile if there is no escape from this madness.
But gummy bears?
He added: “The beauty of our resin system is that at the end of its use cycle, we can dissolve it, and that releases it from whatever matrix it’s in so that it can be used over and over again in an infinite loop. That’s the goal of the circular economy.”
No one asks or mentions what the “carbon footprint” is beginning and end of life for this amazing discovery. I bet we are looking at significant processing on both ends, which requires extensive facilities, a lot of chemistry, and reliable energy.
I hope they are not expecting the wind and solar farm-covered fruitless plains to provide the electricity needed to transition these things into existence and back into whatever they claim they can do afterward. That’s never going to happen because the people at the top don’t care if they are recyclable.
Maybe no one told them that?
The post Innovation Alert: Wind Turbine Blades You Can “Recycle” Into Gummy Bears? appeared first on Granite Grok.