The Manchester Free Press

Monday • February 10 • 2025

Vol.XVII • No.VII

Manchester, N.H.

Data Point – Credit Card Usage Soaring.

Granite Grok - Sat, 2023-02-11 19:00 +0000

Emphasis mine:

The first three quarters of 2022 have seen a rapid increase in credit card balances, after they contracted sharply during the early part of the COVID pandemic. The chart below depicts the year-over-year percent change in credit card balances—the 15 percent increase seen in the third quarter of 2022 towers over the last eighteen years of data.

 

 

For some added context:

(H/T: NY Federal Reserve via UnusualWhales)

The post Data Point – Credit Card Usage Soaring. appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

Joe, Are You Afraid of FOXNews

Granite Grok - Sat, 2023-02-11 17:30 +0000

Super Bowl Weekend has become a national celebration. It doesn’t matter who the teams are who will compete on the field. It is what happens in the host city, in local pubs, or watching the day-long event on your big-screen TV.

One of the events that many look forward to is the long-standing tradition of the President sitting down with the network of the Game for an exclusive interview. In this year’s case, the President would sit with one of FOXNews’ best interviewers, Shannon Bream. That would be if the President wanted to continue the tradition, but as of today, he may sit this one out. After all, the Game is played on a Sunday, and we know that Joe Biden does not work weekends.

It appears that Joe’s staff will not allow him to participate in an interview where he may have to answer follow-up questions. He would rather sit with George Stephanopoulos or Judy Woodruff, where he can rest assured that nothing he says will go unchallenged.

Joe Biden continues to claim he is the most transparent Administration in history. That does not wash with the actions of this team. Biden has only had 33 press interactions in his first two years. This is a paltry number compared to the more than 200 by Obama and even the 125 by Donald Trump. Biden also has a press office that has proven to be unprepared, unable to give a truthful answer, or maybe worse, refuse to answer. There is little concern for the truth from the Biden Administration, and even Left-leaning bedrocks like the Washington Post or New York Times are souring on the credibility of information emanating from the White House.

Joe Biden sat with NBC and CBS for Super Bowl interviews in the first two years of his term, but sitting with FOX poses a more formidable challenge for the President. Joe’s handlers do not want to take the chance of their man coming off as weak, ineffective, or rambling. The Super Bowl Sunday interview would have a far greater viewership than the State of the Union speech this week. A questionable 72% of Americans graded the State of the Union as favorable. I question that number because that high a percentage would have to include Republicans, and the Right saw nothing favorable in Biden’s address.

Biden still has time to commit to the interview with FOXNews, but if he continues to pass and break the tradition, I would like to see Kevin McCarthy step in to fill the time. This would allow the Speaker of the House to refute claims made by Biden in the SOTU, detail what has been done in 2023, and spell out a platform for a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. This interview would punish Biden for not having the courage or confidence to face the “Evil” Shannon Bream.

It is your call, Mr. President. You can step up and face the tough questions or punt and let Kevin McCarthy shine in the spotlight. My bet says you don’t show up.

The post Joe, Are You Afraid of FOXNews appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

A Perfect Example of NH Democrats Balefully Showing That Federal Power Outweighs Lawful NH Political Decisions

Granite Grok - Sat, 2023-02-11 16:00 +0000

Well, the Federal Ambassador to NH, Jeanne Shaheen, made a promise to override the lawful decision of the NH Executive Council over its refusal to fund Planned Parenthood.

And she enlisted her fellow coven members (Chris Pappas, Annie Kuster, and Maggie Hassan) to get the Feds to overrule what should have been a local decision. Period

Thus, demonstrating a long-term dogma by Democrats that ALL Power should be pushed as high and as centralized as possible.  NEVER should there be any local control if the Federal Govt, from thousands of miles away, can “spank” those locals at a Democrat’s whim if they sit in Congress: (reformatted, emphasis mine):

The Biden administration is stepping in to offer federal grants directly to sex-education programs in Manchester and the Claremont area after the state’s Republican-led Executive Council rejected them. New Hampshire’s congressional delegation had pursued the direct grants after the council turned down repeated attempts to approve accepting the funds on behalf of the state. In 2021, the all-Democratic delegation went the same route when it convinced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to contract directly with Planned Parenthood of Northern England and other family planning providers that operated abortion clinics.

Now doing it twice shows a pattern of disdain for what NH wants to do for itself. The idea of Federalism, that the Federal Government is tasked to do what it is supposed to do by Constitutional requirements and LEAVE THE STATES TO THEIR OWN ISSUES, is just part of the Democrat’s targeting of Constitutional norms.

And Shaheen has the temerity to call what the NH Executive Council decided a ‘crisis”??

Access to these resources never should have required a federal agency stepping up to resolve a crisis created by GOP executive councilors, but I’m relieved the Department of Health and Human Services heeded my call for assistance. These dollars are urgently needed to help allow providers in New Hampshire to continue offering evidence-based education in their communities, which experience higher-than-average teen pregnancy rates.

Talk about harboring a grievance against Republicans in a local State matter! No, this was not a crisis – merely a political difference. And Hassen is right with her on this:

“I am proud to stand with our trusted medical providers in supporting evidence-based programs that prioritize the needs of our youth,”

Proud to be yet another Democrat in working to make States irrelevant – that only DC matters.  All four of them have decided that the States (back then, the Colonies) created the Federal Government and not the other way around. However, the Democrats are out to prove that the line of “Americans happen to have a Govt instead of a Govt having subjects” can be applied in other ways as well.

And why is that?  The State of New Hampshire is performing heresy with regard to Progressive dogma:

For the past decade, the state embraced the so-called Personal Responsibility Education Program, which addresses many issues, including abstinence from sex, sexually transmitted diseases, gender identity, relationships and decision-making skills.

(H/T: Union Leader)

The post A Perfect Example of NH Democrats Balefully Showing That Federal Power Outweighs Lawful NH Political Decisions appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

A Decade Later, U.S. State Department Still Funding Coronavirus Research in China

Libertarian Leanings - Sat, 2023-02-11 15:34 +0000
NEW: Rand Paul breaks down how the U.S. government still funds Chinese coronavirus research. "The main group that's been getting this money is EcoHealth Alliance. Over $100 million. A lot of it through the State Department."@RandPaul pic.twitter.com/L2pMKB8IOq — kanekoa.substack.com (@KanekoaTheGreat)... Tom Bowler
Categories: Blogs, United States

Dems Go From Demanding You Use CLF Bulbs to Banning Them

Granite Grok - Sat, 2023-02-11 14:30 +0000

The Obama years saw many things go sideways, including a top-down demand that Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) replace incandescent, the latter to be banned by law. Ten years later, and Dems are banning CFLs.

They are outlawing the sale for reasons we objected to them being forced on us ten years earlier.

 

As of Feb. 17, Vermont will become the first state to ban the sale of compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs.

Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation moved to restrict the sale of “screw-based mercury-containing compact fluorescent lamps” in Feb. 17, 2022, but gave retailers and distributors one year to move any remaining inventory.

 

Their reasoning? Mercury in the bulbs makes them hazardous, and LEDs are comparable in price and use less electricity. But not long ago, the same folks told us we had to buy CFLs as they plotted the doom of incandescent bulbs.

 

While the total ban on incandescents was averted, the old reliable ‘heat-ball’ is still nearing extinction in the US.  When we rang in this new year, January 1st, 2013 began, the ban on the 75 Watt incandescent bulb.

It may no longer be produced or sold once supplies run out.  Its smaller cousins will not be far behind in successive years, leaving us to light our way with candles unless, of course, we’d rather use the state-sponsored (see also mandated) bulb of choice–The Compact Fluorescent or CFL.

CFLs suck. Let me count the ways.

 

And we did. Count the ways. And there were plenty of them (you can read here), but they were the new hot blonde (I prefer brunettes). Everyone was talking about them, promoting them, mandating them—no more Edison bulbs.

And yes, most of the CLFs were made in China, so maybe Barry Obama and his Barry Bros were greasing some Chinese pockets with the scheme. Lord knows he had staff who adored the Mao (mao-mao-mao) thing.

But it wasn’t all bad in hindsight. As nasty as it was, we could argue that the CLF inspired necessary innovation. LED bulbs arrived alongside the CFL fantasy. They were far more expensive than the too-expensive CFL, but they did all of the things attributed to the CFL without the immediate downsides. The mercury. The rush of bureaucrats to issue rules or advice about addressing the dangers of breaking a CFL in your home or office.

In some locales calling local hazmat experts to clean it up was not a joke.

How many people does it take to clean up a broken Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb? That depends on where you lived. In other words, many people were unnecessarily exposed to mercury, and the lower your income, the more mercury you likely added to your environment. Hey, we think we cleaned up the lead, so here’s some mercury.

A lighting choice the progs wanted very badly to make the only one, a tendency we see again with lithium batteries and the green energy movement.

I want to think the current nonsense will lead us to the next better technology, and maybe it will, but at what cost? The world has wasted trillions on garbage technology. Millionaires and billionaires have been born out of the transfer of wealth by governments into these concerns and back to politicians and activist groups. All on the backs of taxpayers and second and third-world citizens effectively trapped as slave labor.

CFLs were lousy, but we can’t directly connect that “moment” in history to a rise in human rights violations. And while they do share a degree of environmental hazard, using a CFL didn’t offshore emissions to foreign countries.

Vermont’s CFL sales ban takes effect this month. California is next, which is different; Vermont usually followed California. And we’d expect other states to pile on, and I support that. They’re nasty. We don’t need them. And we didn’t want them in the first place.

Like socialism, which, sadly, Vermont will not ban, and that’s a real shame. It’s far more dangerous to the people and the environment than compact fluorescent light bulbs.

 

 

The post Dems Go From Demanding You Use CLF Bulbs to Banning Them appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

50% of Americans Say “Worse Off” Since Last Year

Libertarian Leanings - Sat, 2023-02-11 14:00 +0000
Mike Gleason, Money Metals Weekly Market Wrap As official narratives about a strong economy convince some traders to turn bullish on the U.S. dollar, gold and silver markets are struggling to find solid near-term support levels. Gold prices traded essentially... Tom Bowler
Categories: Blogs, United States

UBF, Because It Will Make Progs Crap Their Twisted Hoplophobic Panties.

Granite Grok - Sat, 2023-02-11 13:00 +0000

I can’t think of a better reason to get this firearm accessory than that owning it would trigger the average Birkenstocked latte-drinking liberal stooge. What is it? It’s the Pluse Fire UBF (Under-Barrel Flame Thrower).

If we’re being honest with each other, and we are, there’s very little else in the way of practical application for adding this flamethrower to an AR-15. It adds too much weight to the firearm. It’s bulky. It makes it difficult to maneuver or bring to bear. But, the Pulse Fire is designed to be a handheld device.

You could walk around and burn whatever suited your fancy, and speaking of; you might fancy any number of reasons (excuses) to justify spending over $600.00 to spit burning fuel at things. Weeds, wasp nests, or ice removal are some of the suggestions in the video below.

Crowd control? Pepper spray is nasty, but the threat of being set on fire will make people rethink how badly they’d like to break some windows or introduce your face to blunt-force trauma.

And yes, it you mount it and use it on a rifle, that’ll look badass, garner cheers and perhaps envy from your shootin’ buddies, though I’m not sure how many gun ranges are going to let you run it or wives (at home) if you are so blessed.

We do not recommend you buy this “for her” for Valentine’s Day unless it is for her and you know how much she will love and use it – with the understanding that you have to have a lot of confidence in a relationship and perhaps some familiarity with their relationship history to give them a flamethrower.

Or hey, maybe you want one because the very idea of it will make Liberals crap their twisted hoplophobic panties. It’s all about perceived value, yes?

There’s value in that.

Here are two of the vendor’s promotional videos.

Please check state and local laws before getting too excited about this or any personal-use flamethrowers. Handy thing fire, just ask any peaceful protesters, but we don’t encourage illegal behavior, so that’s on you.

 

 

 

Note: GraniteGrok does not benefit in any way if you purchase one of these. 

The post UBF, Because It Will Make Progs Crap Their Twisted Hoplophobic Panties. appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

This Week's Favorites

Libertarian Leanings - Sat, 2023-02-11 12:17 +0000
From PowerLine: Tom Bowler
Categories: Blogs, United States

Progressives Go From “You Shouldn’t Do That” to “We’ll Make Gov’t Make You Do That” in 3 Heartbeats

Granite Grok - Sat, 2023-02-11 11:30 +0000

From my friend John Hawkins (Culturcidal), a post named “Is This Liberal Right That It’s Wrong to Own Pets?“. The relevant part from his post (emphasis mine):

 

…The piece is obviously building up to what I like to think of as a “standard authoritarian liberal approach” to the whole issue that you see over and over again. It’s an approach that goes something like this, “I am a good and compassionate person and to prove that, I am proclaiming that I have no interest in owning or using (fill in the blank here with cars/SUVS/Bitcoin/gas stoves/pets/meat/the police/cross country airplane flights/oil, natural gas and coal/incandescent light bulbs/etc., etc.), so, therefore, it’s bad for society and should be banned because it takes up unnecessary resources, which therefore means it’s bad for the environment.

Simplified, it looks something like this. “We don’t need this” (which, by the way, often turns out to be pure hypocrisy) becomes “No good people need this,” which eventually turns into, “We need the government to make this illegal.”

 

Bazinga! Go read the whole thing – there are a couple of parts where I chuckled because he was so honest about his “self-interest.”

Now, I think pets are really great, and I have two dogs currently and love’em to death, so I totally disagree with the Guardian post he quotes. However, what John says in the abstract really is important, is very useful for Conservatarian purposes in strategy and tactics, and lays out what I was fighting over at Treehugger for years and years.

That last sentence is EXACTLY the mindset that has taken over. It used to be a stepping-stone process over time in times past.

No longer. As our political polarization has increased, that “stepping stone time” has shortened. Most stock cars off the lot have a “0 to 60” time as a way to judge how fast a car could accelerate (faster being better). Muscle cars (e.g., Camaro, ‘Cuda, Mustang) were always faster than the family sedan or minivan). Nowadays, an electric Tesla can turn in 2-3 seconds times at an upper-middle-class price range that normally would have taken a rich man’s bankroll to buy a gas-powered supercar (starting around $300,000) to come close to that speed.

So, too, has the normal Progressive going from “You shouldn’t” to “Government mandate.”  All because of their perceived Moral Superiority over you stemming from that first step of:

Well, I don’t have one, don’t need one, or ever would do so in the future

That’s the initial surge off the line. Nowadays, that’s the “slow” part of their thinking/reasoning/ ideological bent. The rest (I’m good, so you’re not – lose your liberty) happens at faster and faster speeds, almost to the point of being reflexive.

And then what happens is that their ears shut down, and the blinkers go up.  They won’t listen, can’t be convinced to debate, and they will work hard to take x, y.z away from you because you ARE a bad person.

This brings me to my last point: Progressives are selfish. And they have no or to little sense of freedom or liberty that can or should be ascribed to anyone but themselves.

They want what they want when they want it and are not about to let anyone opposite of them deny what they want.  If something is good enough for them, it will be good enough for anyone else (regardless of circumstances).  The converse also holds true:

If I don’t want it, I’ll see to it that YOU won’t have it either.

Go ahead – as Crowder says: Change my mind.

Or John Hawkins’ mind as well.

The post Progressives Go From “You Shouldn’t Do That” to “We’ll Make Gov’t Make You Do That” in 3 Heartbeats appeared first on Granite Grok.

Categories: Blogs, New Hampshire

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