Frank Staples was falsely arrested along with other Americans at the October 13, 2021 Executive Council meeting led by Governor Sununu. Please come to his trial THIS FRIDAY (3/31/23) to show your support (details below).

You can read about the disturbing abuse of power in this article, and the three other articles that are embedded within it.

Related: IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE? NH Governor SECRETLY Pressured State Reps to IGNORE ARRESTS of Nine Americans UNDER HIS WATCH!

Also disturbing is the fact that Mr. Staples’ trial is the first one for those arrested – and the prosecutors appear to be stacking the deck to rig the outcome against all nine Americans. They are using technicalities to disqualify as many credible eye-witnesses as possible.

I was at the October 13, 2021 Executive Councilor’s meeting, and testified on behalf of Mr. Staples on Friday, March 17 regarding the nine Americans arrested for no apparent reason. Prior to permitting me to testify, I was asked three questions by the prosecution. If I remember correctly, they were something like this:

1. Did I have any conversations with the defendant regarding what to say?
2. Was I told by the defendant what questions he was going to ask?
3. Did I watch any of the previous testimony of the trial?

I answered no for each question, but apparently there were quite a few scheduled witnesses who observed testimony of other witnesses – either in person or via video of previous trial footage – and therefore the judge disqualified those individual witnesses from testifying on behalf of Mr. Staples.

I am betting that those same disqualified witnesses will be disqualified from testifying at the trials of the remaining people who were unjustly arrested – thereby making their conviction an almost certainty for crimes they did not commit.

Why would the prosecutors, who work in the NH Department of Justice, which is run by NH Attorney General John Formella, who was appointed by Governor Sununu want to prevent those who were falsely arrested at Governor Sununu’s meeting from having a fair trial?

Why was I not warned by the judge or the prosecutors ahead of the trial that all witnesses must sequester themselves from other testimony? Why was the judge and prosecutors going to allow all of Mr. Staples’ witnesses to observe the trial from within the courtroom without issuing the sequestration warning prior to the first witness being called – knowing the dire consequences for Mr. Staples’ and every subsequent defendant when their trial is held?

Is justice being sought – or is the deck being stacked in order to cover up false arrests of people who have been critical of Governor Sununu?

The arrests and subsequent legal maneuvering mirrors the type of abuse regarding what is taking place at the federal level on multiple occasions recently. Does January 6th ring a bell?

Please come to the courthouse in Concord to make a peaceful statement. If you have the time but choose to not attend – and instead sit idly by regarding the unjustified arrests of innocent people, then you are complicit in normalizing this abuse of power.

Freedom is not free. That is not just a saying. It is a fact.

Get involved. Show up! And when the trial is about to begin, remove yourself from the courtroom if you plan to testify at this trial or one of the subsequent trials for the remaining Americans.

Date: 03/31/23
Time: 10 AM
Location: Courthouse, 32 Clinton Street, Concord, NH

 

The post NH Department of Injustice? (NH’s January 6th) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Are you looking to take your project management career to the next level? Have you heard of P pmp certification 35 pdu  but don’t know where to start? Look no further! PMP exam prep training is the key to unlocking new opportunities and advancing your skills. In this blog post, we’ll break down what exactly PMP exam prep training entails, who should consider it, and how it can benefit you in the long run. So grab a cup of coffee and get ready to dive into the world of project management certification!

What is the PMP exam?

The PMP exam is a four-hour, computer-based test that consists of 200 multiple-choice questions. The PMP exam is administered by Pearson VUE.

The PMP exam is based on the PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). The PMP exam tests your knowledge and understanding of the PMBOK. The questions on the PMP exam are not difficult if you have studied the PMBOK and have experience with project management.

If you are new to project management, or if you do not have much experience with the PMBOK, you should consider taking a PMP exam prep course. A good prep course will help you understand the concepts tested on the PMP exam and will give you practice with the type of questions that will be on the exam.

What is PMP exam prep training?

PMP exam prep training is a type of training that helps prepare individuals for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam. This type of training typically covers topics such as project management fundamentals, PMP exam content, and test-taking strategies. PMP exam prep courses can be taken in person or online, and they are often offered by colleges, universities, and private companies.

Who needs PMP exam prep training?

Assuming you are referring to the Project Management Professional (PMP) Exam, prep training is not required but recommended. The PMP Exam is an industry-recognized certification for project managers offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). To qualify to take the exam, you must have either a four-year degree and at least 3 years of project management experience with 4,500 hours leading and directing projects, or a secondary degree with at least 5 years of project management experience with 7,500 hours leading and directing projects. If you do not have the required experience, you can become a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®.

While there is no formal prerequisite for PMP exam prep training courses, it is highly recommended that candidates take some form of preparation course to increase their chances of passing the exam. Prep courses provide an overview of the exam content and format, as well as test-taking strategies. Many courses also include practice exams to help candidates get familiar with the types of questions they will see on the actual exam.

What are the benefits of PMP exam prep training?

PMP exam prep training can provide numerous benefits to those who are looking to take the PMP exam. Perhaps most importantly, PMP exam prep can help you better understand the concepts and material covered on the exam. In addition, PMP exam prep can also help you develop a study plan and identify resources that can be used to prepare for the exam. Finally, many individuals find that taking a PMP exam prep course helps them feel more confident and prepared on test day.

How to find the right PMP exam prep training course

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right PMP exam prep training course. The first is whether you want an online or in-person course. There are pros and cons to both types of courses, so it’s important to decide which one will work better for you.

If you choose an online course, you’ll have the flexibility to study on your own schedule. However, you won’t have the benefit of in-person interaction with a instructor.

In-person courses can be more expensive, but they offer the advantage of being able to ask questions and get immediate feedback. They can also be more convenient if you live close to the training location.

Once you’ve decided on the type of course you want, it’s important to find one that’s reputable and has a good reputation. You can read reviews online or ask people you know for recommendations. Once you’ve found a few courses that look promising, take the time to compare them and see which one is the best fit for you.

Conclusion

The PMP exam prep training is a great way for professionals to prepare for the Project Management Professional certification. It offers the flexibility of studying anytime, anywhere, and can be tailored to your specific needs. With its comprehensive coverage of project management topics and practice exams, it can set you up for success in obtaining your certification. Taking advantage of a PMP exam prep course is an important step for those looking to take their career to the next level. For more information visit  https://www.exam-pmi.com/

The post What Is PMP Exam Prep Training? appeared first on Granite Grok.

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on March 10 was the second largest bank failure in US history. Just two days following SVB’s collapse, Signature Bank joined the record books as the third largest bank failure in US history. First Republic Bank also seemed on the edge of collapse until Bank of America, Citigroup, and other big banks agreed to jointly fund a bailout for it.

Major Swiss bank Credit Suisse was also teetering on the brink when it received a 54 billion dollars line of credit from the Swiss UBS Group last week. Now, UBS is in the process of buying Credit Suisse. Politicians, regulators, and financial “experts” all rushed to assure us these problems were all caused by factors unique to the individual banks and were not a sign of a systemic weakness in the banking system.

The bank failures and near failures caused nervous banks to borrow a combined 164.8 billion dollars in one week from the Federal Reserve’s discount window and the Bank Term Funding Program, a new program created by the Fed to make loans to troubled banks. The Fed created this program even though supposedly there is no systemic problem in the banking industry.

While SVB didn’t receive a bailout, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guaranteed the full amount of all deposits even though Congress set a standard FDIC guarantee on deposits of up to 250,000 dollars. By covering all SVB deposits, the FDIC has created an expectation among depositors at major financial institutions (as well as the institutions themselves) that the government will cover 100 percent of deposits. This will cause both depositors and banks to make investment decisions they typically would not make, thus guaranteeing larger bank failures followed by more bailouts for wealthy depositors.

Some have blamed the current bank failures, along with other signs that the economy is on the verge of a major downturn, on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases. It is true the Fed bears responsibility. However, the rate increases are not the problem. The problem is the “easy money” and low or zero interest rate policies the Fed pushed since the 2008 market meltdown, which was caused by the bursting of the Fed-created housing bubble. Federal Reserve manipulation of the money supply distorts interest rates, which are the price of money. This distorts the signals sent to market actors regarding the true value of investing in particular industries. The result is malinvestments in those industries creating a bubble. The bubble will inevitably burst.

The economic downturn that follows the bursting of a bubble is necessary to cleanse the economy of the malinvestments. The correction will not last long and the economy will emerge stronger if Congress, the Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve refrain from “stimulating” the economy with federal spending and artificially low interest rates. Government interference, however, can create yet another bubble, setting the stage for another crash.

The new wave of bank failures is an indication that the US economy is either in or on the verge of another serious Fed-caused recession. With nations seeking to end the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, the end of America’s disastrous experiment with fiat money, and with it the welfare-warfare state, could be on the horizon. The collapse can be accompanied by civil unrest and greater restrictions on liberty. However, the spreading authoritarianism can also spur a growth in the movement for individual liberty, a free market, and limited government that could make the dark night of authoritarianism a prelude to a new dawn of liberty.

 

 

Copyright © 2023 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.

The post Are Bank Failures a Sign of More Trouble Ahead? appeared first on Granite Grok.

(The Center Square) – The Granite State has the best return on investment when it comes to taxes, a survey says. WalletHub, a personal finance website owned by Evolution Finance, released an analysis saying 73% of people polled do not believe the government is spending their tax dollars in an effective manner.

The poll focused on education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution across 29 key metrics.

In the survey, New Hampshire ranked first in the country for taxpayer return on investment; third in total taxes paid per capita; and fourth in overall government services.

Dr. Stephen J. Lusch, associate professor of accounting at Texas Christian University, said it was difficult to determine if high tax burdens lead to better government services. His comments, provided by the survey company, reflected a national view rather than focusing on New Hampshire.

“We can say that higher tax burdens likely lead to more government services,” Lusch said in the report. “Whether more government services equate to ‘better’ government services is a value judgment for each individual taxpayer.”

Lusch said if higher tax revenues permit a town to hire more teachers in an effort to decrease class sizes, then the taxpayers with children in school would likely view it as “better government services.”

New Hampshire scored 68.17 in the survey, with its No. 4 rank in overall government services ranking. The state earned a score of 15 for education; seven in health; one in safety; five in the economy; and 37 for infrastructure and pollution.

Lusch said that one trend he spotted in using tax revenue more efficiently was the rise of evidence-based budgeting in state and local governments.

“Under evidence-based budgeting, budget requests are accompanied by research to support the request,” Lusch said in the report. “That is, a budget manager cannot simply request a 10% increase in her budget for the year. Instead, the proposed increase would need to be accompanied by research to support the budget increase.”

He said one caveat is that research could be cherry-picked in a manner that would support any budget increase.

WalletHub, according to the report, calculated the return on investment by comparing the quality of government services received by residents and the total state and local taxes paid.

 

 

The Center Square | Brent Addleman – Mar 21, 2023

The post Survey: New Hampshire Has Best Return on Taxes in the Nation appeared first on Granite Grok.

Taxation by Regulation by unaccountable, unelected, and unassailable bureaucrats.

America leads on innovation, and Europe on regulation, or so the conventional wisdom goes. But recently, the US seems to have taken the lead in the latter. . .

Regulators seem to know and are now comfortable to be the Administrative State that will rule us – the Progressive end point since the late 1880s.

The post Data Point – The Hidden Federal Tax On Us: Regulatory Orgy appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you’re not yet familiar with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Wickard v. Filburn in 1942, you should check it out because the Court may get a chance to revisit its logic in that case.

To recap:  Filburn, a farmer in Ohio, raised crops to feed to animals that he was going to eat.  The Department of Agriculture claimed the power to limit how much of various crops he could plant, and claimed that he had exceeded those limits.  The Supreme Court ruled that, even though none of the crops and none of the meat left the farm — let alone the state! — the fact that he didn’t have to purchase those things meant that his activity had an effect on interstate commerce, and therefore it was within the government’s power to restrict his activities.

So by not engaging in interstate commerce, he was actually engaging in interstate commerce.

It’s truly one of the wackiest rulings the Court has ever handed down, which is saying something.

But compare this to the reasoning now being put forth by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is trying to indict Donald Trump for… well, does it really matter?

Setting aside problems with jurisdiction, and statutes of limitations, and separation of powers, and a number of other issues that have been raised, Bragg’s argument seems to boil down to this:  Trump misused campaign funds because he did not pay Stormy Daniels using campaign funds.

As the t-shirts and bumper stickers say, 1984 was supposed to be fiction, not an instruction manual.

The post Orwell v. Trump appeared first on Granite Grok.

Emphasis mine:

“Seeing this censorship industry go from, well, we’re just fighting ISIS to well, we’re just fighting Russian disinformation bots to well, now we need to fight domestic misinformation, which is just saying we need to fight against people who are saying things we disagree with online, that’s all that means. And I — I mean, it’s not a slippery slope. It’s an immediate leap into a terrifying mechanism that I — we only see in totalitarian societies of attempting to gain control over what the social media platforms are allow — are allowing. And so yeah, for me, it’s just — it starts at DHS, but we basically see almost every government agency involved in this.”

-Michael Shellenberger, Journalist (US House Hearing on the Twitter Files, March 9, 2023)

What we have seen over the last few decades is 1) People keep assuring me that the idea of The Slippery Slope just doesn’t exist and then 2) someone or some group decides “oh, we want that” and then “oh, this other thing” and of course “NATIONAL SECURITY!!!”.

Just look how fast we went from “Gas stoves are polluters” to “you can’t save yourselves, we need to regulate them” to “we’ve NEVER wanted to take your stoves away” (yep, the REAL “gaslighting slippery slope”) to SecEnergy Granholm admitting that they ARE looking to take enough gas stoves off the market so that there isn’t the possibility for a normal person to have the choice to buy one.

And now they’re after our refrigerators, air conditioners, and dish washers (again!).

We DO distrust government because they just are unable to leave us alone!

From Tolerance to Acceptance to Affirmation to Civil Unions to Gay Marriage;

Gender Dysphoria to toleration to forced affirmation to sexual organ multilation affirmation through coerced speech and lying to Parents. Oh yeah, now mandatory homosexuality (e.g, transwomen w/out surgery stating they are lesbian and then demanding that other lesbians have sex with them).

Go ahead, let’s see YOUR Slippery Slope examples!

(H/T: HotAir)

The post Notable Quote – It HAS Been The Slippery Slope We’ve Said It Would Become! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Have you noticed that no matter what the weather does, we find ourselves inundated with reports of extreme weather, and it’s all your fault? So how long before “extremely” pleasant, mild, or average weather will be deemed a sign of the climate apocalypse?

The headlines will read, “A complete lack of anything unusual is a clear sign of unusual things.”

The cataclysmic prophecy of the mundane. The everyday. That which has and always happens and has nothing to do with you or your lifestyle choices. These are peddled as signs from the Climate Gods by prophets whose predictions remain unrealized.

Some of these doomsday claims have become so common you could confuse them with perennial public interest stories. They talk about holidays, the changing seasons, annual parades, races, town meetings, elections, or … drought. Every year we hear about drought. And it’s almost April, so drought season is upon us—news about drought, odd-even water-use regulation, and the occasional hyperbolic headline.

If you wander up to our search bar and type in ‘Drought,’ you will find about 150 articles on the ‘Grok, most of them making fun of or debunking the perennial drought festival. It starts right after the town meeting and mud season. And that’s not to say we don’t have drought; we do. There are years when we get less than average precipitation, but much like calling everything racist, the impact of the begins to dry up from overuse.

In New Hampshire, for example, statewide, we have had above-average precipitation for sixteen of the past twenty years and eight of the past ten.

 

 

And that’s using dirty-dog, climate-cult-loving NOAAs data, and there is not much support for the perennial drought theory. But unusually normal or typical weather doesn’t get as many eyeballs, so there is no reason to expect that’s how it will get reported as we roll deeper into 2023.

My prediction; drought headlines for  2023 across the region!

The Immediate Future?

NOAA, which is about as bad at predicting as you can get, suggests that New England will experience 30-50% above average seasonal temps for spring while precipitation appears a toss-up (that means normal, which means they will sell it as drought).

The Farmers Almanac, just as reliable as NOAA, suggests that April will be slightly cooler and drier, with a warmer, drier May and higher terms as we move into a wetter June and July.

Over at Weatherbell Analytics, we hear about what could be a significant El Nino summer, while closer to the coming weeks, April is forecasted as cold and wet.

We’ve covered every base, so someone will be right about something, but as forecasting goes, there is little agreement.

Based on my back-of-the-envelope look, New Hampshire receives more precipitation in weaker El Nino years. That’s speculative at best (as in I eyeballed it), but one thing is sure. If we are not up to our ankles in water (which will be “because” of global warming), drought season is coming no matter what happens … because water use, like energy use, is not about the planet or the climate. It is about control.

 

 

The post 2023 Prediction: Drought Headlines Across the Region Regardless of the Weather appeared first on Granite Grok.

As promised in the last Monday Memes, I have an overflow. My meme cup runneth over.  Not 100% sure about a Friday Overflow-Overflow – hopefully, but not guaranteed.

Also, for those prepper-minded, my last two Survival Sundays:

Survival Sunday – Sunday PREP Edition – Granite Grok

Survival Sunday – Thursday SITREP Edition – Granite Grok

Now, let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:

 

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

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

 

Work is still heavy but things are coming to a head.  MAY… be.

 

It’s coming in May!

 

 

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

 

PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

Watch this video and understand… the Left uses crises, in this case the legitimate concern over TikTok, to advance their power.  Watch, and then write your congresscritter Senators.  Have to stop this bill SB 686 – and be careful for their doubtless-coming accusations of your being on China’s side.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sb-686-vpns.mp4

 

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

 

 

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And related:

 

 

More than a few people I know have speculated that the reason high levels of power are so riddled with pedos is because they’re so easily blackmailable.

 

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

 

Pick of the post:

 

 

Not because it’s particularly funny… now, watch this snipped scene:

 

A Man for All Seasons – The Devil Speech

 

 

To “get” The Devil Trump, the Left is willing to cut down every law and standard and precedent in America.  They will not like the winds that will blow when we – the side with the guns – understand, to our core, that it’s do or die to stop them.  And that we’re out of other boxes…

 

 

Understand that I wish it weren’t so.  I want there to be a good option.  But we’re about at the smoke jumble…

Lessons from Candle Smoke – Urban Scoop

 

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

 

Palate cleansers:

 

—

—

The post Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

With permission from an email conversation – emphasis mine:

The reason some Republican folks get lumped in with the Citizens for Belknap types, and they know this, is because they align with people like Mike Bordes who out and out supported C4B, endorsed their leftist views, played along with them, and accepted their support. They further get linked, because even though Bordes has voted with the Democrat agenda 20% so far this session, I have not seen a single article calling this out. I get to choose between an outlet that spends its time trashing individuals over comments and another that completely and heinously ignores the wrongdoings of those who publicly reject the national Republican platform and that of the NHGOP. These incumbents don’t need to support it, they have Democrats who will vote for them. We lost so many good Republican votes and exchanged them for more of the “grab life by the pigtails” types.

For some outlets, it’s more important to keep connections even if the result is ripping 9-month-old babies from the womb by violent means. Even if that means the schools will teach children under ten how to give fellatio, it’s more important that they stay buddy-buddy because without the staff being connected to newsmakers, there’s nothing for them. Long for the days of the Tea Party where conservative values, conservative votes, and low taxes were the paramount of importance, not protecting your time out on the slopes.

Perhaps, that’s the answer. Hostage taking. Create a new group like the Tea Party, invite local republicans to decide which of the two more vehemently and consistently herald the NHGOP platform. Split the Republican votes and allow Dems to rule the day for the next decade until one side or another are victorious. It’s for sure that we can’t live alongside and abide most Democrat agendas, it’s uncertain whether Republicans who currently aid and protect wolves in sheep’s clothing will swallow their pride and choose to actually support Republican agendas again. It’s almost comical to hear about how “by God, we can’t have a DEM get that seat” when they’re also supporting Republicans that have a worse voting record than some actual Democrats on the same delegation.

That first line is the key and I’ll admit, put to truth far better than I have thus far. One can be a “CfB-er” without being a card-carrying member. Remember, it IS Politics and a lot of stuff gets done under the table and in Dark Corners.

“NO! I’m not part of Citizens for Belknap so stop it” I’m told by some. It’s clear with the above being stated by someone else that I’m not the only one that recognizes that officially being part of CfB, aligned with them politically (but “plausible deniable non-membership”), or just rejoice that their “common goals” were and are still being realized.

However, it does point out a major failure  – the lack of coherence in political actions. It’s why many have left the Party as folks like Bordes, David Nagel and Doug Trottier are trashing the Brand. As I have pointed out before, if voters can’t depend on Republicans ACTING like Republicans, why not vote for Democrats?

Or worse, why vote at all?

The Party’s job is to get Republicans into elected seats. They aren’t paying attention to the harm that is being done to its brand but unwilling to change it tactics/discipline to remedy that image (but it seems like we do far more of it – should we nicely ask to be paid as their “Ideals Lobbyist/PR guys?  Heh!) to be able to show that there ARE differences between the two Parties.

The post EMail Doodlings – A Comment about Mike Bordes and the Republican Schism Caused by the Democrat PAC Citizens For Belknap. appeared first on Granite Grok.

In the most beautiful country in the world with freedoms like no other, that a law titled “A Parents’ Bill of Rights” is even necessary is unfathomable. But here we are, living in the twilight zone.

We want to thank Ruth Clough for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.

Meet eleven-year-old KC. KC is autistic. She had a booster shot a week ago. She got a headache. She went to the school nurse. KC was asked if she had her recent immunization against Covid. KC said no because she didn’t really understand the question. The nurse gave her another shot. KC’s heart was racing later that evening. She went to the hospital. KC suffered a heart attack from double immunization.

Meet sixteen-year-old Suzie, who got caught with fentanyl. The school counselor feared that the punishment of Suzie’s father would be too severe, so they withheld this critical information from her parents. Suzie died a week later in the girl’s locker room from an overdose.

Meet ten-year-old Nicholas, who looked just like dad. Nicholas’s parents got divorced. Mom is a bitter, angry divorcee. Nicholas came home from school after a lesson on genderism. He told mom, “I think I wanna be a girl?” Mom booked flights a week later and took Nicholas to the state of CA, (which is now a sanctuary state for transgender youth who go for medical treatment.) Nicholas came home from CA with mom 4 weeks later after having genital amputation. Nicholas’s new name is now Nicole.

Meet Freddie. Freddie was an average 14-year-old, a great athlete with good grades, a good son. Last quarter, Freddie fantasized about all of the stimulating things discovered in sex ed class and from books in the school library. He didn’t want his parents to know, but he planned a meeting with a beautiful 16-year-old he met online to fulfill some of his erotic fantasies. Freddie was never seen again.

(An interesting testimony from John Paul Rice, producer of Hunger Games – states that according to the United Nations, 40,000,000, yes million, people are trafficked worldwide every year, a $150 billion dollar industry – TikTok)

If this Parents Bill does not get passed, you may become the parent of KC, Freddie, Suzie, or Nicky (who may or may not be fictional characters).

These are likely the most dangerous times in all of human history for parents. Don’t take a chance on your child’s protection… their life.

As a parent, wouldn’t you want to know that your child is struggling with sexuality, drug problems, or getting immunized? Wouldn’t you trust these issues better with your PCP, professional counsel, or religious counsel – instead of a school counselor or nurse that you’ve likely never met?

Our good leaders at the state house have introduced a Senate Bill, SB272-FN. This Bill seeks to protect the family and their familial traditions. An example of a few of these parental rights include:

• The right to know if your child has committed a crime
• The right to know if your child has asserted a different gender identity than that of which when they were enrolled.
• The right to access medical records maintained by school personnel
• The right to be informed of any medical procedure, or treatment to be performed
• The right to inspect instructional material used as part of the educational curriculum
• The right to exempt immunizations
• The right to opt out of health or sex education that may be objectionable (to the family’s values or religious beliefs)

We have CA transients, like Wolfeboro’s failed representative candidate, Bobbi Boudman, who call parent activists “book banners.” She lied. We want age-appropriate books available in our school libraries. Should an eight-year-old be learning about gender issues? Of course not. They should be learning how to read, write, do math, and play on the swing set with their friends.

At this time, our U.S. Reps, Kuster and Pappas, voted against your parental rights in D.C. Kuster states, “We believe all parents have an important role to play in our education system – not just those who make the most noise.”

No, Rep Kuster. We do not want parents who have a 180 view of what we have – deciding what our children should learn.  We want traditional education.

“If the older generation can not get accustomed to us, we shall take their children away from them and rear them as needful to the Fatherland.” Adolf Hitler, June 1933.

NH is regarded as the number one state in all of these United States and in all categories. Let’s keep it this way by protecting our children. Please contact your local representative and your state senator and demand that your parental rights are guaranteed by voting in favor of this Bill.

If we don’t act now, we may never get another chance. And your child is counting on you to protect them in a country whereby progressive leaders have stepped into the twilight zone, likely never to return to a common-sense world ever again.

 

The post That a Law titled “A Parents’ Bill of Rights” is Even Necessary … appeared first on Granite Grok.

After many months of apparently keeping a fairly low profile, Laconia City Councilor Henry Lipman has recently fielded a letter to the editor in the Laconia Daily Sun (also known as Pravda by The Lake) commending and endorsing the incompetent and inept management by Belknap Delegation Chair State Rep Harry Bean of the Belknap County budgetary process that is likely to result in an increase in county taxes in excess of 30%.

The major purpose and job of the Belknap County Delegation, consisting of all 18 elected state representatives from the county, is to review annually the county budget proposed by the county commissioners, take testimony from department heads, make adjustments to the budget, and ultimately to adopt a budget that typically is quite different from that initially proposed by the county commissioners.  If the Delegation does not adopt a budget by April 1 of each year, the county commissioners’ budget becomes operative.

So, Chair Bean has appointed one or more committees or subcommittees to review and work on the budget, without holding proper meetings under the open meetings law, RSA 91-A that he has flouted despite being advised of what is required by applicable law by several more experienced members of the Delegation.

And if anyone has pointed out to Bean the proper way to proceed, rather than following sound advice, Bean gets angry at those who had the temerity to suggest what would be proper.

We now turn to Henry Lipman: who is he and why did he feel motivated to come to the defense of Bean’s indefensible conduct?

Lipman is an elected City Councilor in the City of Laconia, the Belknap County location of what was formerly called the Lakes Region General Hospital (“LRGH”).  And Lipman was employed by and served as an officer of the LRGH for many years, with his most recent post being that of Chief Financial Officer.  The LRGH had operated for about 125 years.

Of course, as many people know, during Lipman’s tenure as CFO of LRGH, its financial condition deteriorated virtually without control, ultimately resulting in its bankruptcy filing and its subsequent acquisition by Concord Hospital only a few years ago.  But by that time, Lipman had departed from LRGH to parts at least initially unknown.

There are many so-called “old sayings,” many or most of which evolved over the years after having been based in fact.  A few of those old sayings come to mind in considering this situation.

One old saying involves the concept of the “Peter Principle,” which generally states that a person serving in an organization often rises up within the organization until they have exceeded their competency.  Does this not sound like Lipman?

Another old saying is sometimes applied to a person whose position was inherited rather than earned.  It goes something like this:  they think that because they were born on third base that they had hit a triple.

Thus, Harry Bean has often referred to himself as being a “hillbilly,” but most people thought he was simply being self-deprecating about himself.  Although he is well-liked in the area and owns many government-subsidized rental units in the Lakes Region, he was also astute enough to have lost a huge bundle of money by “investing” in what came to be known as the FRM Scandal.

Anyone with a reasonable degree of intelligence and knowledge about the New Hampshire open meeting laws who has attended or watched the budget proceedings of the Delegation under the Bean “leadership” should be appalled, and they might think that this is also evidence of the Peter Principle in action.

The final old saying is brought to mind when considering whatever happened to Henry Lipman.

After his ignominious tenure at LRGH, Lipman ascended to a position as the Medicaid Director of the State of New Hampshire.  In other words, he is now “from the government and he is here to help us.”

So, the final old saying which might be applicable to Lipman and his support for Bean is that birds of a feather stick together.

And these birds simply have no shame about their conduct of the public’s business.

The post Absence of Shame: Belknap State Rep Harry Bean & Laconia City Councilor Henry Lipman appeared first on Granite Grok.

My apologies for the string of climate content, but sometimes you get into a groove, and it’s just a sweet deal to stay there and ride it for a while—anyone who elects to write a lot on a wide range of topics and often will understand. So, naturally, I have to share this.

It’s also a short clip, just under six minutes, most of it Peterson triggering the left by comparing what they say to what they do. Pronounce the planet doomed, for example, and then commit environmental devastation to vast swaths of the third world (and the people of color who live there) to save it.

 

Excerpt: “Even by the standards laid down by the environmentalists themselves, the policies that were put in place that were pro-environmental are failing,”

 

 



 

 

The post The Apocolyptic Climate Cult as Veiwed by … Jordan Peterson appeared first on Granite Grok.

The tragic shooting on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee, is another scar on America’s soul and an example of our inability to keep our children safe. Six innocent lives ended before their time by a deranged female.

This female woke up on Monday knowing she would die that day but that she would take victims with her. The number of victims could have been much higher if not for the quick response of tactical teams that took out the shooter. We can debate why these senseless shootings occur, but it is all theory and speculation. Fortification and securing our schools to make them the safest places possible for our children is where the focus should be.

Joe Biden addressed the shooting in comments to the American people. He used the same words for other shootings in the last two years. Biden quickly gave condolences to the victims’ families and then went political. He blamed the guns, not the shooter, for the senseless killing of six. The President blamed Republicans in Congress for another shooting that could have been avoided if they had passed his Assault Weapon Ban. He referred to the two AR-style pistols used by the shooter as assault weapons that his bill would ban. He is wrong on so many facets of this attack.

Karine Jean-Pierre was utterly out of line when she admonished Congress for the shooting. “How many more innocent lives must we lose before the Republicans will act to pass the President’s bill” were the words she used to comment on the shooting. This outburst is not an uncommon reaction by KJP. This woman, who has shown her inability to perform the duties of Press Secretary, is supposed to deliver the official positions of the White House. She is not a member of the President’s policy-making team and overstepped her role to speak in such a way to members of Congress. She often uses the term”we” as if she and the President are the same. She also misrepresented the facts of the shooting claiming six eight-year-old children were killed. A member of the press corps quickly corrected her.

The President and his secretary made the same mistakes. They both blamed the guns for the tragedy. Neither referenced the shooter with meticulous plans for breaching the Nashville Covenant School and published a manifesto on social media. She had contacted a friend to divulge her plans. Her friend contacted the Police, but her call was too late. Biden and Karine both referred to the pistols as assault weapons. They never say what an assault weapon is, but the term conjures images of fear, which is their intent. These guns are not automatic weapons with rapid-fire mechanisms. They are single pull-single shot guns, just like a 9mm, 45, or any pistol would be. The two were going for effect, not facts, which is a disservice to Americans and disrespectful of the victims to use them as pawns.

It is common for politicians to go political when they should be giving solutions. Biden and his team have shown that they have no viable remedy regardless of the challenge. And finally, a question for Karine. How many more innocent people will succumb to Fentanyl poisoning or be victims of horrendous crimes committed by illegals before Biden closes the Border? She will not answer that question, so we will answer for her. They do not know the number, but we have not gotten there yet. They are not only uninformed and hypocritical, but their actions and decisions are destroying our country at light speed.

The post Karine Assaults Congress and Republicans appeared first on Granite Grok.

Vermont’s legislature is working out the final details of Gov. Scott’s proposed 8.4 Billion dollar budget. Eight billion. That’s over 12,957.00 dollars for every man, woman, and child in the state. Guess how much New Hampshire’s is?

The final Budget for the Granite State will be around $13.9 billion or $9,743.00 per resident. Except it’s not. Vermont writes a budget every year, while New Hampshire’s budget is for two years. The spending equivalent per resident per year for Vermont based on the estimated 2024 budget is $12,957.00. For New Hampshire, it is $4,871.00. Vermont’s government spends 62% more per resident every year.

For what?

Some other Numbers

The Granite State has twice the population, more than twice the labor force, and a GDP of 82.94 (2022) billion compared to Vermont’s 31.4 billion (2022). New Hampshire has lower and fewer taxes.

WalletHub ranked Vermont as having the fourth highest tax burden by state. New Hampshire was 48th. The Tax Foundation estimates Vermont’s effective tax rate at 12.5% (47th) and New Hampshire’s at 9.6% (16th).

There are other variables, and everyone has work to do, and yes, there are a lot of federal funds used in both state budgets, but those are costs that, if the Feds went belly up tomorrow, the state would have to shoulder (more taxes) or cut.

Overall, New Hampshire is consistently safer, has a higher standard of living, lower welfare and poverty rates, and has better health outcomes.

Democrat rule has placed Vermont in hospice while we wait for it to die like every other Democrat-run hell-hole in America. But despite the advantages, New Hampshire is only ever one election away from joining it.

 

Closing note to the Free State Project. Where are those tens of thousands of Liberty-minded folks we were promised? If they don’t get here soon, it could be too late because the cauldron of poison bubbling in Vermont has been spilling accorded the Connecticut River for years. If we don’t dilute that influence, we may all be looking for another state in which we have some hope to live free before we die.

 

One more point;  Vermont’s 8.4 Billion 2024 budget, as proposed by its “republican” governor and has been labeled “lean,” but Phil Scott’s 2019 budget proposal was 6.1 Billion, nearly 40% less.

 

The post NH v. VT – A Tale of Two Political Cultures One Red and One Blue appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Democrats are placing all their bets on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris winning re-election in 2024. Their approval ratings continue to plummet, and both will easily be below 35% by the end of this year. These are not precisely the numbers to run a re-election campaign on. To most people, this blind faith in the current administration is tantamount to buying a ticket on the Titanic as it nears the iceberg.

Though Joe Biden continues to claim the economy is strong, 65% of Americans do not agree. Biden’s lousy fiscal policies actually impact these people. This storyline seems like Deja Vu, as this has been the case for most of his Presidency. But now we have the stock market dwindling as the Fed continues to raise rates to ward off a recession, which seems more inevitable every day. We have had two bank failures that make depositors everywhere uneasy about the safety of their savings. Biden says the banking industry is under control, but reality again proves Biden wrong. If Biden and Yellen decide arbitrarily which banks they will bail out, the industry and people will turn against him. Selective relief will please no one.

Kamala has been asked to wear many hats, but none fit, and she has failed every assignment. In most cases, it wasn’t attacking tasks poorly, but not at all. She has proven inept in every aspect of the job and is clearly a poor politician and leader. Nobody, including most Democrats, can ever see her as a Commander in Chief. She has no future in Washington, but she will not walk away. That is the problem the Democrats need to solve. It will not be easy, as Kamala will not admit failure.

Biden seems adamant about being on the ticket, though he hesitates to declare. He may be waiting for better timing when his numbers turn around or waiting for the outcome for Hunter. When the Hunter investigations go south, and Joe’s many lies are uncovered, he may have no choice but to step aside. No President since LBJ has been satisfied with one term, but the decision may not be Joe’ to make.

The Democrats will be hesitant to vote for a feeble Biden in 2024 if Kamala is the successor should Biden have to step down. Nobody wants to see Kamala with her hand on the Bible. The thought of Kamala assuming the throne puts a bad taste on every pallet. As long as Kamala is in the co-pilot’s seat, Joe will never come close to his record vote total of 2020.

I admitted last week that I see Trump as the only solution to the state Biden has driven our country. He has the Republicans, and a Biden/Harris ticket may be all the Independents need to pull the Trump lever. For the recovery to be effective, we need one more piece of the puzzle to fall into place. That piece would be for Mitch McConnell to retire. The House is under control, and our majority will grow in 2024. McConnell to step aside will let us get true Conservative leadership in the Senate. Somebody like Rick Scott would be a viable successor.

The post Kamala is the Key to a Republican Presidential Win appeared first on Granite Grok.

I’ve rented a lecture room in Concord Heights from 1-3 pm on Palm Sunday. That’s this Sunday, April 2, 2023. All are invited for the purpose of shooting the breeze. It won’t be broadcast or recorded.

We want to Mary W. Maxwell for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.

As you see, I’ve given the meeting an odd name, “Help Write a New Versailles Treaty,” the original one having been done in Paris in 1919 to end “The Great War,” a.k.a. WWI.

The plan is not to change what happened in 1919 — a little late for that. Rather, we’ll pretend that World War III is ensuing today and try to figure out what we hope to gain from a peace treaty. That will also entail trying to anticipate what “the others” hope to gain.

Actually, it will require that we talk about why there is a World War III happening at all. Whatever your background, it will be nice to hear your thoughts. Or you may want to just sit there and enjoy the angst.

The venue is Concord Community Center, 14 Canterbury Rd, off Loudon Rd, next to Walgreens. Free parking. If you wish to rsvp, that would help, but you can just show up. MaxwellMaryLLB@gmail.com

(The portrait above, of the signing of the Paris Treaty, is by Irish painter William Orpen.)

The post Help Write a New Versailles Treaty appeared first on Granite Grok.

You may have seen Karen Testerman publicly circulating false claims about HB 396 and the recent actions of her husband, Rep. Dave Testerman. It’s important that you know the truth.

As you may know, in February of this year, churches around New Hampshire spent days and nights engaged in tireless advocacy securing the votes needed to pass HB 396, State Recognition of Biological Sex.

Thanks to their extraordinary efforts, a miraculous victory was nearly secured. Every Republican on the normally moderate-leaning House Judiciary Committee voted to protect women and girls and send this critical bill to the floor.

Every Republican, that is, but one. Seeing that the bill could likely pass on the House floor, GOP representative Dave Testerman and a group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Marjorie Smith, stood together to cynically destroy the bill by working to send it to a so-called “study committee.”

Rep. Testerman’s vote was a surprise stab-in-the-back to women and girls. To be clear, Dave Testerman did not vote against the bill for any good faith reason. In fact, he seemed to think it was funny to wreck the efforts of churches and families who had fought for the bill.

Karen Testerman has publicly claimed the bill “did not accomplish anything” and “therefore needed more work.” These claims are as transparent as they are false.

For one thing, the claim that this bill somehow “did not go far enough” is an excuse that the Testermans invented several days after the vote. As everyone who was close to this process knows, Rep. Testerman initially struggled or refused to give any explanation at all for his vote.

In fact, Dave Testerman voted for the same bill when it was debated just last year: at the time, it was called HB 1180. These fake excuses evidently did not apply at that time. Dave and Karen Testerman are only using them now to conceal Rep. Testerman’s true motives.

There is one key reason that school districts around New Hampshire are faced with a crisis of extreme gender ideology: progressive advocacy groups, including Governor Sununu’s Department of Justice, have spread the false idea that New Hampshire law prohibits any separation on the basis of biological sex. Rep. Jim Kofalt’s HB 396 would have stopped these misrepresentations, clarifying that public entities are not forbidden from using biological sex to separate athletics, private spaces, and prison facilities.

Milford School District is one example of a district which ignores biological sex because board members have accepted these claims. In a committee hearing, Rep. Dave Testerman looked a young mother from Milford in the eye as his committee heard her desperate plea: a biological male is not only using her daughter’s locker room, but deliberately insulting her daughter’s privacy and dignity. This woman bravely asked Testerman and other representatives for their urgent help.

Rep. Testerman knew that HB 396 would have directly addressed this immediate problem. Testerman had also never raised any concerns about the bill—not last year, when he personally voted for the same bill, nor in the weeks leading up to the HB 396 vote.

Yet Testerman not only callously ignored this mother’s pleas, but purposefully acted to harm her daughter and other students like her. By single-handedly destroying a bill that he knew could pass, Rep. Testerman sacrificed the dignity and privacy of girls like this Milford student—whose story we have heard repeated in multiple New Hampshire school districts—for his own insidious political motives.

What about the “work” that Karen Testerman claims the bill needed? In the minutes immediately before Rep. Testerman’s vote, Democrats flaunted the fact that their motion would stop the House from ever taking up the bill, with Rep. Marjorie Smith joking that they might agree on a new amendment for the House to consider “in 10 years.” Rep. Testerman and the Democrats have no intention of doing any “work” on this bill—and everyone knows it.

Karen Testerman has also claimed that Cornerstone never fought to stop HB 608, the bill adding “gender identity” to state nondiscrimination law, in 2019. In reality, Cornerstone was a leading opponent of that bill, as a simple Google search would show any honest person. This egregious claim is merely a distraction. The truth is Rep. Dave Testerman has now done more than any single politician to perpetrate the very abuses ushered in by this bill.

Equally absurdly, Karen Testerman’s remarks have made much of the fact that Cornerstone has not been involved with the hodge-podge of bills that Rep. Testerman introduced this year. What she does not mention is that, this year, Dave Testerman has not even shown up for the committee hearings on at least five bills for which he was the sole sponsor.

Karen Testerman would have you believe that, even though Rep. Testerman does not take his own longshot bills seriously, Cornerstone—a group that often stands by itself against a dozen full-time left-wing organizations—must be involved in every one of the hundreds of conservative bills that legislators introduce each term.

The reality is that there is a good explanation for all of Rep. Testerman’s behavior. While our network of families and churches engages in the real work of advocacy, Rep. Testerman poses as a hardliner by introducing frivolous bills he knows will never pass. Underneath the rhetoric, however, he has proven that his motives are crooked. When the chips are down and real consequences are on the line, Testerman will collude with Democrats to enforce gender ideology on girls’ locker rooms.

We encourage Rep. Testerman’s constituents to make sure he is aware that he no longer represents their views and interests.

 

The post Responding to Karen Testerman’s False Claims appeared first on Granite Grok.

As of March 8 of this year, which is the latest date currently reported by the U.S. Treasury, the total federal debt was $31.459 trillion. In his budget—which proposes increasing the debt to $50.712 trillion over the next ten years—Biden emphasizes his commitment to fiscal responsibility.

(H/T: CNSNews)

The post Data Point – National Debt and Biden’s Budget Proposal appeared first on Granite Grok.

Camp Constitution will host a 12-week U.S. Constitution study course beginning Monday, April 3—7:00 PM 129 Main St Alton.
The study course is titled Constitution 101 The Meaning and History of the Constitution, produced by Hillsdale College.

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The United States Constitution was designed to secure the natural rights proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. Signed by Constitutional Convention delegates on September 17, 1787—Constitution Day—it was ratified by the American people and remains the most enduring and successful constitution in history.

In this twelve-lecture course, attendees will examine the political theory of the American Founding and subsequent challenges to that theory throughout American history. Topics covered in this course include: the natural rights theory of the Founding, the meaning of the Declaration and the Constitution, the crisis of the Civil War, the Progressive rejection of the Founding, and the nature and form of modern liberalism.
Join more than one million Americans who have taken “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution.”

The course will be free. Donations accepted. All attendees will receive a free pocket of the U.S. Constitution. RSVPs are appreciated. Class 1 “The Theory of the Declaration and the Constitution.”

The post Camp Constitution Will Host a 12-Week U.S. Constitution Study Course … appeared first on Granite Grok.