Someone called me last nite a wee bit more than upset saying (paraphrased) “What, the ONE media outlet in NH that truly is all about Republican ideals and philosophy, GraniteGrok, was not allowed at the NH GOP Annual Meeting? How stupid was that?”.

Well, we appreciate the sentiment – and we have been Consistently on message about Conservatarianism since we started. While there is a love/hate relationship over the years (“we thank them when they do right and we spank them when they do wrong”) when they deliberately don’t follow their own Platform, this is the first time that GraniteGrok has never been allowed to cover an event. We’ve covered all (but one) of the Trump ones here in NH.

So when someone sent this to me, the first question I had was (sarcastically):

 

“So what has OAN done for the NH GOP lately?”

Or any of them.

Now, I’m quite sure that the folks at OAN are good folks and I’m “picking” on them just because I can read the mic flag on their camera. However, the question still stands – and they flew in, covered the Trump speech, and left.  How did they help the NH GOP either in amplifying the Republican message (which we do more in a week than the NH GOP does in a year; maybe in three days (snort!)) or correcting them when they fall off a Platform Plank?

And Maya had a hand in picking all of those cameras over GraniteGrok’s.

Whose cameras, IF she had asked, were going to be focused on doing “man in the street” interviews (like our “MicroInterviews”) the majority of the time. And one small camera focused on the stage (that’s all it takes nowadays).

So OAN is gone – and we remain. And blogging – and we’re not going away.

Object Lesson.

 

The post Quick Thought – Maya Harvey’s Press Gallery at the NH GOP Annual Meeting – a Quick Question appeared first on Granite Grok.

• These are the most liberty-critical hearings for the week
• Click on the bill number to read the bill.
• Click on the committee name to email the committee your thoughts.

Of the 97 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 11 and opposition of 14 with 3 being of interest.
Of the 71 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 2 and opposition of 2 with 1 being of interest.

Position	Bill	Title	Committee	Day	Time	Room	State Analysis
Oppose	CACR4	relating to compensation for legislators. Providing that legislators’ biennial salary compensation shall be increased.	Legislative Administration	Mon 1/30	10:30 AM	LOB Room 301-303	This constitutional amendment concurrent resolution increases the biennial compensation for legislators and increases additional compensation for attendance at special sessions, emergency sessions, and veto sessions.
Of Interest	HB301	relative to recusal by members of the general court for conflicts of interest.	Legislative Administration	Mon 1/30	1:00 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill defines conflicts of interests relative to legislative ethics and delineates when members of the general court should recuse themselves due to such conflicts of interests.
Oppose	HB208	establishing greenhouse gas emission reduction goals for the state and establishing a climate action plan.	Science, Technology and Energy	Mon 1/30	11:00 AM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill establishes greenhouse gas emission reduction goals for the state and authorizes the department of environmental services to inventory greenhouse gas emissions on an annual basis and to develop and report on a 5-year action plan.
Oppose	SB201	relative to resale of event tickets.	Commerce	Tue 1/31	9:45 AM	SH Room 100	This bill provides a civil penalty for the unauthorized resale of event tickets.
Support	HB130	repealing the drug affordability board.	Commerce and Consumer Affairs	Tue 1/31	2:30 PM	LOB Room 305-307	This bill repeals the New Hampshire drug affordability board and the fund related to the administration of the board.
Oppose	HB249	establishing regulatory standards for the pet insurance industry.	Commerce and Consumer Affairs	Tue 1/31	3:00 PM	LOB Room 305-307	This bill establishes regulatory standards for the sale of pet insurance. The bill is a request of the insurance department.
Oppose	SB141	relative to administration of the education freedom accounts program.	Education	Tue 1/31	9:15 AM	LOB Room 101	This bill provides for applications to the education freedom account program for a child currently attending a New Hampshire public school, including a chartered public school, for a minimum of one year, or who is entering kindergarten or first grade. This bill requires annual determination of eligibility for awarding of education freedom account funds. The bill also requires an annual report on the number of students participating in the program in each school district.
Oppose	SB151	relative to mental health education.	Education	Tue 1/31	9:30 AM	LOB Room 101	This bill expands the adequate education standards to include mental health education and provides rulemaking authority to the department of education to accommodate this change.
Oppose	HB324	relative to campaign contributions and expenditures and making an appropriation therefor.	Election Law	Tue 1/31	10:00 AM	LOB Room 306-308	This bill establishes a fund to provide campaign financing for eligible candidates for governor and executive councilor and makes an appropriation to the fund.
Of Interest	HB482	requiring the use of ballots with embedded security, traceability, and relative to the chain of custody for ballots cast in elections.	Election Law	Tue 1/31	10:15 AM	LOB Room 306-308	This bill: I. Requires the secretary of state to select a supplier to print and deliver ballots for elections. II. Makes certain security requirements of ballots. III. Specifies the chain of custody for ballots during and after an election. IV. Requires photocopied proof of identity and residency when submitting an absentee ballot.
Oppose	HB259	relative to a study about making working at polling places on election day a civic responsibility and legal obligation for citizens.	Election Law	Tue 1/31	1:30 PM	LOB Room 306-308	This establishes a committee to study whether to make working at polling places on election day a civic responsibility and legal obligation for citizens
Oppose	SB133	relative to changing the date of the state primary election and creates runoff election for federal primary election.	Election Law and Municipal Affairs	Tue 1/31	9:45 AM	LOB Room 103	This bill changes the date of the state primary election to May and creates a runoff election for the federal primary election.
Support	HB119	relative to homestead food operation licensure.	Environment and Agriculture	Tue 1/31	1:30 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill increases the maximum annual gross sales of food a homestead food operation may sell and retain an exemption from food licensing provisions.
Support	HB122	relative to microenterprise home kitchen operations.	Environment and Agriculture	Tue 1/31	2:00 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill defines homestead food operations and provides food service licensing exemptions for them.
Support	HB493	eliminating the state meat inspection program.	Environment and Agriculture	Tue 1/31	2:30 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill eliminates the state meat inspection program. This bill is a request of the department of agriculture, markets, and food.
Support	HB348	relative to the sale of raw milk and products made with raw milk.	Environment and Agriculture	Tue 1/31	3:00 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill increases the amount of raw milk a producer processor can sell or process without a license and removes the requirement that such ice cream and frozen yogurt produced using raw milk be sold in 6 ounce containers.
Oppose	SB114	relative to payment by the state of a portion of retirement system contributions of political subdivision employers.	Finance	Tue 1/31	1:55 PM	SH Room 103	This bill restores the state’s contribution to the retirement liabilities of certain teachers, firefighters, and police officers within the state retirement system.
Support	HB646	eliminating the vehicle inspection mandate for non-commercial vehicles.	Transportation	Tue 1/31	10:30 AM	LOB Room 201-203	This bill exempts vehicles that do not require a commercial driver license to operate from annual equipment inspection to determine whether such vehicles are fit to be driven.
Oppose	SB256	establishing a safety program for off-highway recreational vehicles.	Transportation	Tue 1/31	1:45 PM	LOB Room 101	This bill establishes a safety program for off highway recreational vehicles.
Support	HB288	relative to taxation of sole proprietorship businesses.	Ways and Means	Tue 1/31	11:00 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill exempts sole proprietorships and single member LLCs from business enterprise and business profits taxes.
Support	HB486	relative to vehicle registrations and reciprocal toll collection enforcement agreements.	Ways and Means	Tue 1/31	1:15 PM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill removes the authority of the commissioner of the department of transportation to suspend the motor vehicle registration of owners in violation of reciprocal toll collection enforcement agreements.
Oppose	HB225	relative to prohibiting the use of currency that could be detrimental to privacy rights.	Commerce and Consumer Affairs	Wed 2/1	1:45 PM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill prohibits the use of any currency as legal tender that could be detrimental to privacy rights.
Of Interest	HB46	relative to the appointment of magistrates and repealing the statutes governing bail commissioners.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Wed 2/1	10:00 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill authorizes the superior court and circuit court to appoint magistrates and repeals the powers, duties, and authority of bail commissioners.
Oppose	HB400	relative to certain assault offenses, bail eligibility for commission of certain assault offenses, and making a false report to a law enforcement officer.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Wed 2/1	11:00 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill establishes a separate criminal penalty and bail conditions for assaults involving a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emergency medical services worker. The bill also establishes a criminal penalty for making a false report to a law enforcement officer.
Oppose	HB549	relative to definitions of domestic violence.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Wed 2/1	12:30 PM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill expands the definition of abuse to includes acts of financial abuse and domestic violence.
Support	SB206	prohibiting corporal punishment in child day care agencies.	Executive Departments and Administration	Wed 2/1	10:15 AM	SH Room 103	This bill expands the definition of endangerment to include corporal punishment as defined by the department of health and human services.
Support	HB274	relative to the administrative rulemaking process.	Executive Departments and Administration	Wed 2/1	1:00 PM	LOB Room 306-308	This bill makes various changes to the administrative procedures act, including requiring the agency to verify that the rule complies with the underlying statutory authority and legislative intent; expanding the scope of fiscal impact statements; requiring that proposed rules be submitted to the appropriate legislative policy committee for approval; permitting JLCAR to deny adoption of a rule following final objection, and repealing certain exemptions from rulemaking authority.
Oppose	HB566	relative to establishing a fund for child care workers and early childhood educators at state licensed child care centers.	Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs	Wed 2/1	10:30 AM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill establishes a child care workforce fund to provide grants to eligible child care employers for child care workforce recruitment and retention bonuses and benefits.
Support	SB254	relative to community-based sentencing alternatives for primary caregivers.	Judiciary	Wed 2/1	2:00 PM	SH Room 100	This bill adds “dependent child,” “elder,” “person with a disability,” and “primary caretaker of a dependent child” to sentencing definitions. This bill requires sentencing courts make determinations for individually assessed sentences without imprisonment based on community rehabilitation and parent-child or dependent unity and support factors for primary caretakers of dependents.
Oppose	HB489	establishing a county tourism development fund administered by the department of business and economic affairs and making an appropriation therefor.	Municipal and County Government	Wed 2/1	10:00 AM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill establishes a county tourism development fund administered by the department of business and economic affairs and makes an appropriation therefor. The bill also establishes a county tourism grant program funded from tax on meals and rooms income.
Oppose	HB226	enabling municipalities to regulate the distribution and disposal of certain solid waste within landfills.	Municipal and County Government	Wed 2/1	11:30 AM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill allows towns and municipalities to regulate the distribution and disposal of certain solid waste within landfills.
Oppose	HB273	requiring composting and waste recycling to be made available to residents of public housing.	Municipal and County Government	Wed 2/1	2:20 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill requires public housing residents to have access to on-site composting and recycling receptacles.
Support	HB592	relative to buffers around wetlands.	Resources, Recreation and Development	Wed 2/1	2:30 PM	LOB Room 305-307	This bill exempts temporary impacts and small impervious surface impacts projects from local over lay districts and permits for construction, excavation, or filling near wetlands.
Of Interest	SB191	relative to road toll registration surcharges for electric vehicles.	Ways and Means	Wed 2/1	9:45 AM	SH Room 100	This bill establishes a registration surcharge for electric vehicles and requires the division of motor vehicles and department of transportation to report annually on the surcharge revenue and use of funds.
Oppose	SB261	relative to the interest and dividends tax rate and threshold.	Ways and Means	Wed 2/1	10:15 AM	SH Room 100	This bill: I. Removes the repeal of the interest and dividends tax rate that was to take place on January 1, 2027. II. Removes the interest and dividends tax rate reductions that were to occur after December 31, 2024. III. Increases the taxable minimum of gross income from interest and dividends.
Oppose	SB262	allowing municipalities to collect an occupancy fee from operators of local room rentals.	Ways and Means	Wed 2/1	10:45 AM	SH Room 100	This bill enables a municipality to collect an occupancy fee from room rentals for the purpose of establishing a municipal capital fund, revolving fund, or tourism support fund.
Oppose	SB168	relative to participation in a low-moderate income residential customers community solar project.	Energy and Natural Resources	Thu 2/2	1:45 PM	SH Room 103	This bill allows for participation of certain large electrical generators in low-moderate income community solar projects and expands the eligibility of residents to benefit from community solar additions.
Oppose	SB149	relative to nurse agencies.	Executive Departments and Administration	Thu 2/2	9:30 AM	SH Room 103	This bill establishes a licensing and application process for nurse agencies.
Support	HB110	prohibiting the use of state funds for new passenger rail projects.	Public Works and Highways	Fri 2/3	11:45 AM	LOB Room 201-203	This bill prohibits the department of transportation from utilizing state funds for the planning, construction, operation, or management of new passenger rail projects.
Oppose	HB511	relative to requiring the department of transportation to do road maintenance and repairs according to its complete streets program	Public Works and Highways	Fri 2/3	1:45 PM	LOB Room 201-203	This bill requires towns, cities, state departments and state institutions who request maintenance and repair assistance for their roads from the department of transportation to coordinate with the complete streets advisory committee to plan and follow the complete streets program standards of the National Association of City Traffic Officials.
Oppose	HB633	relative to electric distribution company market share, prohibiting certain electric rate increases, and requiring enforcement against Eversource.	Science, Technology and Energy	Fri 2/3	1:00 PM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill requires that electric distribution companies shall not raise electric rates by an amount that exceeds the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index. The bill also prohibits electric distribution companies from having market share greater than 50 percent and requires the attorney general to bring an action against Eversource.

The post Bill Hearings for Week of January 30, 2023 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

So yesterday the RNC reelected as its Chairman Ronna ROMNEY McDaniel. Under Ronna, who has been at the helm since 2017, the GOP has LOST every election cycle. She is a LOSER. And it is not like the members of the RNC did not have an alternative.

They did … Harmeet Dhillon, who campaigned on changing the focus of the RNC from being a grifting operation for the consultants, operatives and insiders into WINNING.

Obviously, the members of the RNC do not think winning is important … or at least not as important as padding the pockets of the same grifter consultants/operatives/insiders who have lost every election cycle since Ronna took over.

By the way, this was sort of a proxy war between DeSantis and Trump. DeSantis endorsed Dhillon, while Trump worked feverishly behind the scenes to reelect Ronna. So another takeaway is that Trump remains a horrible judge of people and would repeat the egregious staffing mistakes that hamstrung his term as President.

The post The RNC Are LOSERS Who Are Content To Keep On LOSING appeared first on Granite Grok.

There are times that I post something and I get feedback. Other times, they just come in.  Given some of the issues encountered during yesterday’s NH GOP Annual Meeting, this came in unbidden.  I’ve re-written parts of it to protect the sender to “jumble up” the writing style a bit. If Chris Ager wishes to know, I can send him the redacted names to talk with.

Hey Skip!

While there may be been some issues today, there are lower-level problems that the new NH GOP Administration ought to be aware of if they really are mindful as to what is going closer to the grassroots – especially with NH GOP Delegates. Most would nominate either themselves to be State Committee members or their friends (who would then return the favor). And those Delegates are the ones that then vote, in their committees, for those that would become official NH GOP State Committee members like those that voted for Chris Ager to be the new NH GOP chair and other officials.

Here’s a BIG problem. As it seems during the State wide elections, there was yet another “election integrity issue” in Windham. The Windham GOP chairman unilaterally selected the slate of state committee members. It also happened in Londonderry. <Redacted> and <redacted> would both be good people to talk to about this in Londonderry.

In Londonderry, the Old Guard did what Windham did: put forward a unilateral slate for State Committee Members (as opposed to “open nominations”). This was challenged by the elected Londonderry NH GOP Delegates. Nevertheless, Jason Grotzky ran rough shot over the elected “grassroot” NH GOP Delegates in Londonderry and approved the GOP establishment slate. <Redacted> also knows all about this, too, as a third reliable source.

There were quite a few unhappy folks that criticized the process of how this was run. There are also rumors that a lot of the Area Vice Chairs had colluded with Sununu‘s people (gosh, I just have NO idea who they would have been – snicker) to put forward their own Sununu loyalist slates thus usurping the will/vote of the Delegates. This most likely was due to the fact that they knew many of those delegates were grassroots aligned.

So yet another battle between those who believe in Principles and the “Republican’s Republican for the Republican Party”, aka, the GOPe.

So the new leadership now has more problems to deal with.

The post And with NH GOP Big Meetings, Flaws Emerge from the Smaller Ones appeared first on Granite Grok.

My indoctrination, starting three years ago, to the New Hampshire Judicial System has been fraught with frustration and stress.

As some of you know, I filed numerous Right-to-Know lawsuits against the City of Nashua and received some favorable rulings. It has been a long, slogging challenging process. I also have a criminal case before the 9th District Case regarding arrest in City Hall for trespassing.

I pleaded my trespass charge to a violation and, in June, Judge Curren signed off, within days of submission, on a conditional discharge. I was eligible to annul, so on July 7, 2022, the paperwork was submitted to put this behind me.

On July 22, 2022, I went to City Hall to collect some paperwork located in the legal office. The City email portal had been down for several days and the letter could not be accessed. Given the deep animus and hostility Attorney Bolton exhibits towards me, I called the office from the hallway to request the correspondence.

By chance, Attorney Bolton opened the door, saw me standing in the hallway and started shouting – ”leave, you’re trespassing, I’ll have you arrested.” I was stunned and frightened. The police arrived at City Hall and Attorney Bolton requested I be arrested immediately.

The Police conducted an investigation and on August 1, 2022, cleared me of any wrongdoing. The report noted that Attorney Bolton was unreasonable and angry.

Laurie Ortolano – Police Incident Report 7_22_22 Bolton trespassing 22-43246-OF

When the report was issued, the police attached the conditional discharge notice. Mayor Donchess and Attorney Bolton sprang into action and hired Attorney Brian Cullen to intervene. On September 12, 2022, the City filed a frivolous pleading requesting a hearing and intervention to stop the annulment.

Laurie Ortolano – Nashua City Motion to Intervene 20220912

Under the law, the City of Nashua had no standing to intervene, but given their deep pockets lined with taxpayer dollars, they were successful in ambushing my ability to resolve the matter in a timely manner. Judge Curren now had another filing to act upon.

Judge Curren has failed to complete the order. Apparently, this is a newly assigned Judge with little experience. My annulment was filed over 210 days ago and the City’s Motion to Intervene was filed 137 days ago. Well past the 60 day order deadline noted on the Court index for the case. My attorney started following up in November.

In December, the Court clerks informed us that the Judge denied the City’s Motion to Intervene and the order would be out in days. It never came. Upon visiting the Court again, the Clerk explained that the Judge forgot to sign off on the annulment so back to his desk it went. The Clerk was hopeful this would be completed in a week and noted she had never seen a case handled like this. The order never arrived.

I am now learning from other Defendants and parties that orders are taking 7 or more months with no explanation provided and no communication for the delays. This Judge appears to be wrongly holding people in incarceration and negatively affecting citizen’s lives. The personal attacks and the abuse from the City has been punishing and personal in my case and Judge Curren has joined in contributing to this situation.

The Courts have a responsibility to place competent Judges who know how to write and perform their duties in a timely manner. Judge Curren cannot produce orders in a timely manner.

Where is the professional courtesy in this Judge to communicate when an order is expected? Does this Judge have a clerk assigned to him and if he has one, perhaps he needs two? How many months am I to patiently wait before complaining? And who do I complain to?

Today, I am filing a formal complaint against the Judge with the Judicial Conduct Committee. His actions constitute misconduct. Competency matters. The system should be monitoring performance but who is the system? Someone, find us competent, professional Judges.

The post Judicial Misconduct – Judge John Curren appeared first on Granite Grok.

On January 25, during her confirmation hearing in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Charnelle Bjelkengren was asked by Senator John Kennedy if she knew what Article V of the U.S. Constitution does. She said that it didn’t come to mind.

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

He then asked her about Article 2. She had no idea.

Joe Biden nominated Ms. Bjelkengren for United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. She received her law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law. She served as an assistant attorney general for the Washington State Attorney General’s office. Since 2019 she has served as a judge on the Spokane County Superior Court. It is not surprising to discover that a law school graduate has little to no idea of the U.S. Constitution, especially one nominated by the likes of Joe Biden.

We at Camp Constitution believe that if Ms. Bjjelkengren attended our week-long family camp. she would have been able to tell Senator Kennedy that Article V of the U.S. Constitution concerns the two methods of amending the U.S. Constitution and that Article 2 concerns the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government. We have a civic, moral, and patriotic duty to extend an invitation to Judge Bjelkenger to attend our week-long family camp that runs from Sunday, July 16 to Friday, July 21 and held at the Singing Hills Christian Camp in Plainfield, NH.

Our line-up of instructors includes Pastor David Whitney of the Institute on the Constitution, Mrs. Catherine White of the Constitution Decoded, and Mr. Norman Tregenza, a former New Hampshire state rep. and crew member on The U.S.S. Constitution. We hope.

The post Camp Constitution Offers Judge Free Tuition to Avoid Further Embarrassment When Questioned About the Constitution appeared first on Granite Grok.

We pointed to China as our greatest geopolitical threat, and rightfully so, but a more severe threat to our lives is slowly creeping into every nook of our country.

Related:vOpen Borders + Soft on Crime = Cartels Across America

The drug cartels of Mexico, the sophisticated gangs that control the Mexican government, strike fear in its residents and are reaping in billions at what used to be our Southern Border are coming to America. They are spreading out across our land for many reasons. None of them are suitable for the American people.

Just like we are concerned about ISIS or the Taliban cells that came to light after 9/11, these Cartel cells are poison to wherever they sink their roots. In addition to expanding their drug network and spreading millions of doses of illegal Chinese Fentanyl, they are responsible for increased violent crime. The hidden threat is the damage they are doing to our children by recruiting them or influencing them to join gangs as an alternative life. If we allow this to grow, we are complicit with destroying an entire generation. Our children are already indoctrinated to hate America by our education system, and these Cartels are offering young adults an option. The sights we see on the nightly news highlight the violence, destruction, and killings far too common in our big cities. The suburbs should not be lulled into comfort as they are vulnerable, too.

We should be listening to credible people like the Former Director of the CIA and Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on this topic. Pompeo is concerned and warning us that a 9/11-level attack is possible by the Cartels that have training sites throughout Mexico. These groups need to be considered terrorist cells, and we must force the Mexican government to allow us to find these Cartels and neutralize them. With the lack of control and security at our Southern Border, it would take little effort for these Cartels to enter America, unite, and wreak their planned chaos.

We need to be proactive and not wait for an attack to respond. The Administration’s lack of concern for the flow of millions of unvetted illegals across the Rio Grande should not give us reason to believe Biden will act. The evidence could not be more transparent, and not acting is a dereliction of Biden’s primary responsibility to protect Americans as President. Congress and our intelligence agencies need to build a case and force Biden to get Mexico to aid us in eliminating this imminent threat to America.

Joe Biden spoke on Thursday about the economic numbers released for December. He praised his Administration for rebuilding our economy from the ruins (lie). Biden touted how big cities and the suburbs are now safer (lie) and how income rises faster than inflation (lie). This speech was pure gaslighting, and he gets away with it because he refuses to take and answer questions. Whatever gains we may see as we continue to put the Pandemic behind us will be negated by Biden’s lack of concern for the Border, Fentanyl deaths, and the increased presence of Cartels on American soil. I say that the Cartels could be our greatest threat. Others say George Soros and his funding of UnAmerican programs. It just may be President Joe Biden

The post The Cartels Could be our Greatest Threat appeared first on Granite Grok.

The new NHGOP Chair is Chris Ager. He immediately announced new committees for outreach:

• Election Analysis
• First Responder outreach
• First In the Nation Host Committee
• Fundraising
• Media Relations
• Town Organizations
• Young Republican Outreach
• Digital
• Messaging (War Room, Tiger Teams)
• Small Business Outreach
• Gun Owners and Gun shops
• Pro-Life
• Immigrant Outreach

If interested, contact Chris.

 

Waiting on the rest of the elections, which will happen now that Trump has left the building. This also means that a number of State Committee members that SHOULD be voting won’t be as they left as well.

[Updated – office winners]

Vice-Chair: Ryan Terrell

Secretary: Jane Lane
Assistant Secretary: Thad Riley

Treasurer:  Alan Glassman over Dawn Johnson
Assistant Treasurer: Jim MacEachern over Janice Mathews

Area 1 Vice-Chair: Mark Alliegro  over Robert A Peraino

Area 2 Vice-Chair: Tanya Donnelly over Kelley Potenza

Area 3 Vice-Chair: Christopher Buda over Liz Gabert

Area 4 Vice-Chair: Conrad Schoeffter

Area 5 Vice-Chair: JR Hoell took this position from incumbent Jade Wood

The Exec. Board vote by next Friday on the replacement for NH GOP RNC Committeeman for Chris Ager. Contact Chris if you are interested.

Note: there were several Republicans running for NH GOP State officer posts. Dawn Johnson – Treasurer, Kelley Potenza – Area Vice Chair) were not State Committee members and were told to come back after Trump’s speech.

Because they were not State Committee members, both were denied the opportunity to speak to the assembled State Committee Members – and they lost.

 

Karen’s Resolution passed – by law amendment.

Gerhard’s  Vax Resolution passed.

 

The post Breaking News: NH GOP Elections (UPDATED with Results) appeared first on Granite Grok.

I always believed that to save a life was a good thing. The grey area in this belief is of course the lives of children in the womb, the pre-born. The big question: Should the government regulate one’s personal choice to end the life of their baby or not?

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

The left chants “My body my choice,” of course a different story from these folks when it comes to government-mandated vaccines. Reminder: mandated vaccinations contradict the notion of my body, my choice. Be that as it may, the right says ok, we’ll agree, to a point, and allow “choice” in the earliest stages of life.

But why prohibit late-term (greater than six months) abortion at all?

New Hampshire legislators evidently understand that current medical technology frequently sees babies surviving to live full productive lives at 6 months of maturity or greater. The rules of logic find no alternative other than to say: if a human baby can survive outside the womb at 6 months, then abortion after 6 months is a procedure that ends a life. PERIOD.

As recently as January 2023, we saw US House Democrats (all but two) voting to deny life support to fellow human beings. NH Dems Kuster and Pappas were among the radical Democrats voting to deny life support to a baby born alive after a botched abortion. Botched meaning the doctor or abortionist did not properly deliver the Coup de grâce (death blow) to the baby, and it now lies gasping for life on the birthing table. To me, by any definition, we now have a life on that birthing table.

Yes, whoever said, “The truth will out,” was a wise person indeed.

The truth is out, and it reveals the evil living among us.

So sad.

Dave Rivers

Thornton NH.

The post The Truth is Out! appeared first on Granite Grok.

Concord Monitor: “The New Hampshire Municipal Association helped Cahill draft the bill at the request of its members.”  This would have been HB1611:

AN ACT allowing a public body or agency to charge a fee for costs of retrieving public records under the right-to-know law.

And “Cahill” is Newmarket Democrat Michael Cahill (Rockingham District 10) who introduced the bill. I’m late on finally reporting on this (emphasis mine):

A Newmarket lawmaker has withdrawn a bill that would have added as much as a $15 hourly charge to search for, redact, and provide public records requested under the state’s right-to-know law. Currently the law allows public offices to charge only for copying records.

Several groups, from the ACLU of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Press Association to the libertarian conservative group Americans for Prosperity, opposed the bill, saying it could cost the public hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get public records.

Democratic Rep. Michael Cahill said the opposition from such a broad group of organizations concerned enough lawmakers that he withdrew the bill. He previously withdrew another bill that would have limited right-to-know requests to New Hampshire residents.

Again, all I had to hear was the NHMA and knew exactly what this was all about. Anyone that has read GraniteGrok for any amount of time knows that I write a lot of Right-To-Know requests and that I have specific purposes for doing so.  Also, Laurie Ortolano has done marvelous work in Nashua in discovering malfeasance in the City’s Assessment office and in having to continue to issue RTKs along the way simply because the City refuses, at times, to follow the Law.  Just like I am finding out with School Districts in demanding their book card catalog of books in their District school libraries (to mention one project).

Frankly, I’d have to stop. Full stop. Being retired, I don’t have the cash flow to go after towns and schools where I believe there is malfeasance or failing that, a need to bring a Big Flashlight to let people know what things are afoot in their town or district.

And that’s what its purpose was – to keep people like us out of the Dark Corners that do need flashlights.

And remember, the NH Municipal Association is funded with your property tax dollars as your town or city pay their “dues”. We’re always told “oh, we get free advice and training and this and that”…but never talk about their lobbying efforts in Concord. Often times, it runs COUNTER to what people want (like my budget process correction bill that was to make sure that when budget committee members zeroed out an spending account, and the voters approved it, that snaky Selectmen or Town Administrators could spend that money anyways due to the loophole that the NH Dept of Revenue created with its forms) at which the NHMA lobbied against it under the rubric it would make things too hard for them.  They turn your town into a Special Interest against you, the voter/taxpayer.  But I digress.

Of COURSE the NHMA help craft their bill – they were protecting their “bread and butter” customers.  Against hundreds of people like Laurie and I that are only seeking the truth of what is going on (i.e., “if there’s smoke…”).

Yes, there can be abuses of RSA 91-A:

• Governor Wentworth School District has posted the nearly 25 right-to-know requests it’s received since 2021. In several cases, the person who filed the request did not pick up the documents. That includes one person who asked for all course materials used by one fifth grade teacher, “including curricula, reading lists, and copies of all posters, pictures, or other items that are present on the walls, desks, and bookshelves, or otherwise present in (the) classroom.”
• Natch Greyes, government affairs counsel for New Hampshire Municipal Association, cited a case in Claremont where the city spent four months fulfilling a request for six months of emails between the city manager and eight of the nine city councilors. Collecting the nearly 8,000 emails and attachments and hiring a law firm to redact them cost the town nearly $30,000, Greyes said.
• It sought “all email threads from 2015 to present – across the @dover.k12.nh.us email domain.” Even after the person who submitted the request narrowed the scope, it generated 18,000 pages of documents, all of which had to be carefully reviewed to protect student and employee confidentiality, Greyes said. The city had spent a year on it when the person withdrew the request.

Yes, a bit much (kindly said) but sometimes you need a lot of info to figure out the “lines to follow” and in tracing who is doing what with whom and when”. I’ve done email requests – and yes, you can find things out. But that person asking for all the curriculum and then not picking it up is out of bounds.

But you can’t punish everyone for the antics of a few.  What should have happened is that the reciever of the RTK could have asked “can you do this in smaller, more targeted chunks to make this go a bit faster?”. Or something similar. I’m always happy to consider it because I DO know that these can be time-consuming.

But necessary. But it also works the other way. I’ve been asking for the public school card catalogs from several districts. The information can be generated by one push of a button in their computerized library management systems.  When school districts hire lawyers to stymie that request (that would take 5 minutes to go to that “button” and generated the spreadsheet and then another 5-10 minutes to email it to me, it shows that “the other side” can be doing the same thing.

Shouldn’t that mean, if that bill had passed, that I could retro-bill them for the time I had to spend in getting the information from them?

If such a bill did both, to even things out, I could be good with it. After all, from the difficulties I’ve been having with some RTKs (that I know were simple to respond to), it would be to my benefit for having an even and level playing field.

It should work both ways.

Anyways, congrats to those that put a spotlight on Cahill’s bill.  And I will say thank you, Rep. Cahill, for realizing that this was a jerk move and in pulling it.

Just don’t try to do it again.

 

(H/T:  Concord Monitor, NH Bulletin)

The post Of COURSE the NH Municipal Association Was Working Behind The Scenes on an Anti-Right-To-Know Bill appeared first on Granite Grok.

Just so we are clear as Vodka (Comrade!), body positive is a term used to describe people once medically classified as obese. As in, I’m positive your body will be a burden once were complete the transition to socialized medicine.

We’re close, but a few “institutions” recognize the health consequences of being more body positive than less. Carrying more freight than the average American has a history of health issues like diabetes and heart disease, making you more susceptible to the killer COIVD. And now, if this health expert has her way, it’s not your fault.

 

Dr. Fatima Stanford, who sits on Biden’s 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, appeared on corporate media to share her lived experiences as a fat propagandist.

Here are the highlights of Stanford’s remarkably detached-from-reality obesity religion masquerading as science:

• “[Obesity] is a brain disease.”
• “Throw [willpower] out the window.”
• “The number one cause of obesity is genetics. That means if you were born to parents that have obesity, you have a 50-85% likelihood of having the disease yourself even with optimal diet, exercise, sleep management, stress management, so when people see families that have obesity, the assumption is, ‘Ugh. What are they feeding those kids? They’re doing something wrong.’”
• “Doctors do not understand obesity.”

 

I think doctors understand obesity. It is the divisive identity politics tribalism with which they might need some instruction. Maybe we can help.

America is not interested in embracing the traditional Marxist class war to divide the nation in a way that allows socials slugs and leeches to drive the country into the ditch of full-blown communism. To overcome that difficulty, the Democrat Socialists divided us in other ways. Race, sex (gender), age, and sexual preference. All they claim to defend in the non-discrimination bills they support, to which we can add BMI.

If it can be used to divide as the culture fractures, they stuff the gaps with left-leaning bureaucrats, unelected diversity, and regional planning commissions (etc.), all of whom widen the gaps.

I’m sorry, is the word ‘widen’ fat-phobic?

You get the idea.

As for Doctors, they understand that while there are genetic conditions that can lead to weight gain, the most common issue is lifestyle choices. Eating more than a body needs and refusing to admit that’s a problem or that it can be controlled. Leftists have created friction, rolled that onto the totem pole, and pitched themselves as advocates.

But, if elected, they will complete their promised takeover of the food supply chain, and if you’ve been listening, fake meat and bugs are on that menu.

I’m not positive, but it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to sustain a Rubenesque physique on that diet, assuming you survive their pro-choice vaccine policies. Or this blatant effort to enrich their buddies by getting you all on mood stabilizers or other mental health pharmaceuticals. And it might work. Everyone wants to believe that things they can’t seem to change or that are difficult to surmount are not their fault. But let’s be clear. They are pandering for votes that they will use later to punish you. Just like they have or will every other “tribe” they claim to support.

I mean, seriously, look what Democrats and their health experts are doing to women.

 

 

The post Expert Says “Body Positive” People Are Like That Because They Have a Mental Disorder appeared first on Granite Grok.

So here is Volodymer George Washington Zelensky being candid about a big part of why the United States is fighting a proxy war against Russia … PROFITS. Profits for Wall Street and the Big Banks; profits for the Military-Industrial complex.

Russia is NOT a threat to the United States or to Europe. Russia has less than half the population of the United States; its economy is less than 10 percent the size of ours … indeed, virtually every single one of the big spending packages passed by Biden, Mitch and Nancy on its own is more than the entire annual output of the Russian economy; and the Russian military is largely obsolescent.

Addressing a Chambers of Commerce meeting in Boca Raton today, Zelensky thanks BlackRock, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and others for their support of Ukraine. Adds that sending Ukraine heavier weapons, like Abrams tanks, represents a "big business" opportunity for US corporations pic.twitter.com/N1h8OVECLt

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 24, 2023

 

The post Fighting For BlackRock’s Profits … Oops, I Mean Democracy appeared first on Granite Grok.

This is a story out of North Carolina, but you might as well assume the same types of idiots might try it where you live. Odds are good you’ve got idiots living among you wherever you are, and by that, I mean eco-terrorists.

The Daily Wire reported on it a few days ago.

 

North Carolina authorities are informing the general public of a concerning development involving razor blades on the handles of gas pumps.  …

“If you’re pumping gas, check. Look before you grab. Protect yourself however you need to,” Rothrock noted. “It’s going to take some hours of reviewing video to see if we can come up with a suspect.”

“There is no explanation as to why someone would do this,” he said.

 

There is a very likely explanation, actually. It could be some individuals or individuals who want to punish people that use fossil fuels. Maybe? Yes? Someone younger, probably under 30, with a history of being indoctrinated by the public schools and machine media.

They are probably vaccinated and boosted and love Rachel Maddow. An incel watches Colbert and Maher (except when Bill gets preachy about free speech) and thinks it’s actual news, who spends way too much time on Snap Chat or Instagram (Discord?) subscribed to a manifold of identity politics whiners, a few of whom have militant green tendencies but have never worked a real job in their life.

Speculation.

They might be pissed off about the Sloppy Joe Biden ‘I did that‘ stickers, and this is their idea of unity. And that, too, is a biased assumption based on years of experience observing leftwing stooges. Marxist brick throwers love to start fires (with fossil fuels ironically) and often have green-activist roots. The sort you trip over when fleeing the scene of an act of social justice.

As for the style of the blade, that’s not clear from this report, but the standard universal safety razor blade seems unlikely. Most pump handles are not that wide. but if you took the blades out of a disposable razor, they are long and thin and easier to hide, if subtly is the goal – at least until the bleeding starts.

Also, speculation. They might have been out in the open waiting for some unsuspecting hybrid driver to fill up – green treason! And while no one has reported a gas-pump handle-related razor blade injury (plenty of economic harms have occurred), that does not mean there were none.

I’m waiting for the copycat “look what we found” breaking video vignettes from video platform influencers to start bleeding into the IoT. So, a quick note to any hoaxers who, like the average hate-crime victim, have perpetrated it upon themselves or just made it up out of thinning air for attention, your discovery will initiate an actual police investigation.

If you get caught faking this, you’ll get fined at the very least and may find yourself in jail.

But you will get attention, and it might not be what you were expecting.

 

 

 

The post Who Would Put Razor Blades on Gas Pump Handles, I Wonder … appeared first on Granite Grok.

Somebody just called asking if we, too, were not going to be at the NH GOP Annual Meeting where Trump is speaking, which had me asking, “what, you were denied as well?”.

And the response was, “yeah, Maya (Harvey) said that if you didn’t receive anything, you weren’t invited.” And like us, this person has been a Sununu critic and an NH GOP (certain selected people within) critic as well. However, this person has been credentialed, like GraniteGrok, for every Trump event that has been applied for.

Why not this one?  And no, it is starting to look like “no space” is just a dodge.

Which had me go, “Hmm.”  Now, that person has some contacts that are being worked, so we’re going to be looking for “presence” and “absence” of some things IF a said person can get answers to his questions to others (yes, I am deliberately being obtuse on this but roll with me on this”).

The person also blithely said, “so why is Maya Harvey, who works for the NH Senate, the point person for media for an NH GOP event?” – my head virtually whipped around as I had been assuming she was back at the NH GOP. I had that person, who also received a similar “you aren’t attending” email from Maya so I asked what the domain was on the email address in his email:

“Maya Harvey” <maya@nhrsc.com> Note: not an NHGOP.org email address.  So I went back to my email thread with her on getting credentialing for Groksters for the event.  Here’s the relevant data points, bolded:

—— Original Message ——
From: “Maya Harvey” <maya@nhrsc.com>
To: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
Sent: 1/24/2023 9:39:33 AM
Subject: Re: NH GOP Meeting –

—
Maya Camilla Harvey
Press Secretary
New Hampshire Republican Party
C: 603 303 3333
O: 603 225 9341
@MayaCamilla

SO HOW IS SHE WORKING FOR BOTH ENTITIES??? How can she be working for the NH Senate, getting paid by the NH State Government, and for NH State Senate President Jeb Bradley? But I do note that she’s not listed on the NH GOP About page: So is this a tempest in a tea cup or something else?  DOES she work for the NH GOP (and her email says she is) or doesn’t she?  And what was the influence as it is starting to be that folks that have critisized Sununu or the NH GOP were excluded from today’s meeting. The question is WHO, if not Maya, has been making that decision (making Maya just a scapegoat)?

The post Quick Thought: Why is NH Senate Staffer Maya Harvey Controlling the NH GOP Media Invites for Today? appeared first on Granite Grok.

As soon as I had put up Maya Harvey’s press release that Trump was going to be speaking at the NH GOP Annual Meeting where new officers are chosen by the new NH GOP State Committee Members, I put in a request for 5 Groksters to be credentialed.  That post was here: “Breaking News – NH GOP Keynote Speaker: President Donald Trump“.  I figured “Five? Maybe 2 or 3 would get accepted”?  But commenter Allen, in the end, was right:

“since the NH republican state committee is acting as a press gatekeeper, I assume GraniteGrok ain’t getting in…”

And at the end of the day yesterday, that became true. So, you think that politics MIGHT be playing a role in this?  Sure.

On Tue, Jan 24, 2023 at 9:36 AM Skip <Skip@granitegrok.com> wrote:

Good morning!

>> Credentialed Media is welcome to attend. For all press inquiries and to confirm attendance, please email Maya Harvey.

I certainly would like to become credentialed for the event.  Other GraniteGrok writers have also contacted me in being able to cover the event as well.  May I request 4 credentials at once or should they contact you directly?

Thanks!

-Skip

And thus, I waited as she said that the folks’ names I had sent had been put on a “to be approved” list. Late yesterday, I inquired to our status as I had heard nothing from the NH GOP but had from a couple other folks as to when I SHOULD have been notified:

—— Original Message ——
From: “Maya Harvey” <maya@nhrsc.com>
To: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
Sent: 1/27/2023 6:19:11 PM
Subject: Re: Re[3]: NH GOP Meeting –

Hey Skip!
So all approved media got an email from the Trump team this morning. If you didn’t get one that means they didn’t select you unfortunately. I know they had a ton of national press make requests and were super limited on space.

I’m gonna put you on the waiting list in case someone cancels and I can sneak you in. It’ll probably just be one or two slots if that happens though because a reporter and camera would cancel together.

Maya

—— Original Message ——
From: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To: “Maya Harvey” <maya@nhrsc.com>
Sent: 1/27/2023 6:22:06 PM
Subject: Re[5]: NH GOP Meeting –

OK, understood, even if the Trump folks have credentialed us in the past.

<snip>

-Skip

Indeed. Including all of his speaking events here in NH. And one Grokster who was asked by Trump himself to run against Sununu for Governor. And no, I am being completely truthful on that.

And I just got this: “the NH GOP doesn’t support the grassroots. Hopefully the new leadership will be more “inclusive””.

I’ve covered four Trump events and still have the “credentials” to prove it. I’ve also had other Groksters credentialed for those events as well. The only difference between now and then?  Yep, Allen was right.

It’s rather clear that politics is afoot. It’s clear that we have not approved of NH Gov Chris Sununu – and it’s clear he doesn’t like us. And it’s clear that with Elliot Gault back as the Exec Director of the NH GOP, Sununu has firm control of the NH GOP.

Sidenote: depending on how the voting goes today, that is. I believe that Chris Ager will win the Chair. A little time later, Gault will return to Sununu’s direct employment.

But I think Maya may have other reasons as well:

• We endorsed Chuck Morse’s opponent for Senate, Don Bolduc – she was on his staff.
• We also caught her doing a “sign stunt”
• We’ve gone after Sununu a lot.
• She’s also blaming me for this:

—— Original Message ——
From: “Maya Harvey” <maya@nhrsc.com>
To: “Skip” <skip@granitegrok.com>
Sent: 1/25/2023 10:16:17 AM
Subject: Fwd: I want a post on your site

Did you send my email somewhere? This is the third spam email I’ve received in 24 hours addressed to the Granite Gronk.

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Hassan Imran <hassanimran.seo09@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 24, 2023 at 10:01 PM
Subject: I want a post on your site
To: <maya@nhrsc.com>

           Hi dear sirHow are you?

I want a post on your site  https://granitegrok.com/
How are you?

Please give me your best price!
Normal  price,

Maya

—— Original Message ——

From: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To: “Maya Harvey” <maya@nhrsc.com>
Sent: 1/25/2023 11:47:53 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: I want a post on your site

Nope – just to you.  I get those spam emails all the time so I have no wish to have these pushed upon others.

And it’s GraniteGrok

-Skip

Granite Gronk?  Yeah, I get that a lot from the Left (along with GraniteCrock and other variations) so that attempted slight didn’t surprise or bother me.

No, it wasn’t me that did the equivalent of “deliver 10 pizzas to this address prank” but eventually these folks, that want to pay to put sponsored posts up, send those kinds of emails to anyone they can associate with a website.  Only thing I can think of is that “Hassan” is using a webcrawler and hoovered up her email address on GraniteGrok.

Anyways…

And with the ramp up to today’s meeting, I had a number of other folks that called me about the meeting at which time after telling them that the ‘Grok wouldn’t be there today, they started to bring up other possible reasons. After all, the “political community” here in NH is rather small and “stuff” gets around – and remembered. It’s a fascinating picture when one starts to connect the dots but I was unaware of quite a few of the possible reasons – ALL tied up in petty/personal politics and all related to the NH GOP.  I’ll put all that up when the folks, who said they would, email the details they verbally told me (anonymously as well).

It will also be interesting to see, among “the ton of national press”, which NH media entities got the invite to attend.

I guess we’re just the PIA to the NH GOP. Ok boys and girls of Granite Gronk GraniteGrok, if that’s how they want to roll, we can amp it up. After all, the oppo research folks against Sununu’s Presidency run have most likely already discovered us.

And bring your footballs and cleats since Maya has us playing a different game.

Heh!

 

The post Quick Thought – Ding! Ding! Ding! Commenter Allen Was Right! GraniteGrok Authors Were Not Credentialed For the NH GOP Annual Meeting and Trump’s Speech. appeared first on Granite Grok.

During testimony in the NH House Judiciary Committee held on January 26th, New Hampshire Representative Timothy Horrigan (D – Strafford) made the statement ‘men have vaginas’ as if this were a true statement.

Horrigan sits on the Judiciary Committee, where they were listening to testimony in regard to House Bill 396 – AN ACT relative to state recognition of biological sex.

If you begin watching after the 9:00 minute mark in the video below, you’ll hear his remarks for yourself:

 

 

What HB 396 does is reverse the ‘trans bill’ that was passed in a previous legislature (thanks to the help of some Republicans) and signed into law by Governor Sununu. The previous bill, that is current law, allows trans women (men) to be treated as if they are actual women. This means men can be in women’s private spaces, sports, rape centers, and domestic abuse shelters. You get the picture.

The trans bill ERASED WOMEN and forced all Granite Staters, via the long arm of the law, to treat trans women as if they are women. They are not, nor will they ever be. Despite Timothy Horrigan’s proclamation, men do not have vaginas (although it’s questionable whether or not some men have manginas). Women are not an umbrella category that includes subcategories. Women have a biological makeup dictated by science that cannot be altered.

To claim a man can be a woman is to denigrate and devalue womanhood and motherhood.

You have the right to believe anything you want of yourself, but you do not have the right to force others to believe the same. Nor do you have the right to infringe upon women’s rights. Rights women fought decades to achieve.

Contrary to what some believe, being a woman doesn’t mean wearing makeup, dresses, high heels, jewelry, curling your hair, or wearing wigs. Science matters. Women matter. And no, men do not have vaginas.

 

The post NH House Rep Timothy Horrigan – ‘Men Have Vaginas’ appeared first on Granite Grok.

So, what’s in the water?  The failure of academic rigor in the early grades?  Social dismissal of “merit” or “achievement” as a social good?  Work ethic dropping?  Peer pressure not to stand out (you know – EQUITY!!! in which everyone has to be exactly the same?)?

(click to embiggen)

This is a striking series—the IQ of college graduates appears to be steadily dropping. Pay special attention to the two right clusters, which show that the IQ of undergraduate degree earners is barely higher than high school graduates in the 1960s. High school IQ appears to have held steady starting in the 1980s, after two decades of ruining K-12 standards, while steady and continuing college decline may be the result of enrolling too many marginal students who are ill-prepared or ill-suited to college.

This should be troublesome especially as we know that “grade inflation” (e.g., accomplishing less but being rewarded for more) is an issue as well.  Is it the IQ that’s the issue or is it that “passing/graduating” has become so much easier resulting, effectively, in “phony degrees”? We STEM students used to joke about degrees in underwater basketweaving and we knew which degree programs at BU were rather lax (shall we say) in the rigor department. I’ve oft told here of the story of trying to teach an Education major (in what we considered to be a “gut” course – Economics (micro) 101) how the formulat Y=Mx + B in setting the slope of line. After an hour and a half, I gave up and she dropped the class for being “too hard”.

Now, how hard can it be in being a gender studies Ph.D. candidate now that ChatGPT is around?  Why NOT have a new way on an old cheat?  I’m betting that I could probably pull that feat off fair easily.  Sorta like “script kiddies” doing malware, sorta. The hardest part would be in learning the absolute term gibberish that “academic line of study” has wrapped itself in to make sure that ChatGPT’s output would pass the “slide rule order of magnitude” test.

Which, I bet no one in gender studies would know what a slide rule is (maybe not even a handheld calculator).

BTW, the “cheat” I’m thinking of was to hold an engineering job in America but outsource all the work to other countries. You pay them, keep the remainder – and do pretty much nothing the rest of the day.

(H/T: Powerline)

The post Data Point – IQs of Graduates Is Dropping appeared first on Granite Grok.

Many brides feel that one of the most critical parts of their big day is the dress they wear. In fact, many have dreamed of their wedding dress since they were little girls, and you may imagine yourself feeling a specific way when you find the one for you.

However, there is a more practical side to these dreams, and that is how much the dress costs. While your wedding dress will likely be the most expensive garment you own, there are plenty of ways to save on it.

Create a Budget Ahead of Time

Create a budget so you know how much you are looking to spend. This allows you to eliminate dresses outside your price range before you even spend time trying them on. Divide the total amount you expect to spend by the number of months before you need to purchase the dress to figure out how much you need to set aside each month. There are some ways of saving more money so you can have a bigger budget. One option is to refinance your student loan debt. You can compare different providers to find the best one for you.

Look for Styles That Are Easy to Modify

While a button-up back may be classic, a corset back may be more practical because you would not need as many modifications to obtain a perfect fit. Corset backs have been coming back into style, and they can fit and flatter any body type. When you put the dress on, you can adjust the tightness of the lacing in each hole to obtain a custom fit of the bodice. Consider a dress that laces up in the back and flows over the hips, so you don’t need to worry about the fit anywhere. Corset backs are also helpful if your weight tends to fluctuate. The dress will still fit you, even if your body changes. Brides who may be expecting can also choose corset backs.

Don’t Limit Your Search to Bridal Shops

Bridal shops charge a premium for their gowns, so consider looking in other places, especially if you want to stay on top of your finances or you don’t want something as traditional. You might be able to find an ideal gown at a department or boutique shop. A simple white gown will give you a laid-back look, and it will not cost nearly as much as a traditional dress. You may be able to find an inexpensive white dress and have it professionally altered to give you a perfect fit.

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Used

This option won’t be for every bride, but if you don’t mind a dress that has already been worn (and cleaned), you could save several hundred dollars. Wedding dresses are usually only worn for one day, so the dress would likely not have experienced heavy wear. There are plenty of online sites where you can find used dresses. You can also try vintage or thrift shops in the area. It might take longer to find something you love, but what you do end up with will be uniquely yours.

The post Can You Save Money on Your Wedding Dress? appeared first on Granite Grok.

TreeHugger, either the writers nor the commenters, ever want to discuss what should be a fundamental question within Society: WHAT is the role of Government? So when someone there decides to squeak out an opinion on this, I jump all over it. In a post (“The Comeback of Small Cars and Trucks Is Good for Everyone“) that I thought was a tad too early for publication (although the price of gas  is starting to jump upwards which does influence consumer decisions), commenter Annie Cass decided to throw shade at me after I made a comment on a post’s quote:

The North American approach is to ignore aerodynamics and put in bigger batteries. But Cobée said that won’t work long term: “People will start limiting weight and battery sizes, either through tax, through incentives, through regulation, through naming and shaming.”

Hardly true – the curtain was pulled back as soon as I saw “either through tax…regulation”. People don’t tax and people don’t regulate – that’s the domain of Government only. And like always, I couldn’t resist:

“People Government will start limiting weight and battery sizes, either through tax, through incentives, through regulation, through naming and shaming.”

There, I fixed it for you. Mostly because you have no faith that people will make “your” right choices.

It’s true – Progressives/Socialists wants Government to make all kinds of decisions in every area of your life. Doubt me?  Name one area in which Government has not intruded – I dare you!

And signal Annie Cass to enter:

Grok, in a democracy, government IS people. You’re in the US, so I understand that you’ve not experienced this, but in democratic countries the job of government is to work towards what the majority need.

She’s absolutely right that I haven’t.  It’s also clear that she has no idea what is SHOULD be here in the US (heck, with our education system, we that do seem to be dwindling few)

Here in the US, the Proper Role of Government is supposed to be protecting peoples’ Liberties.

Once again, a huge difference – Needs vs Liberties. What Government should do FOR you versus Government that should stay out of your way and leave you alone.  THAT is a concept that is very foreign to those in other countries. Sadly, with the growth of the Welfare State, too many citizens have “learned” that their lives can be totally provisioned by Mommy Government: food, healthcare, transportation, housing, clothing, and more.

But Annie was absolutely right in one aspect:

Well, you are correct – the US is NOT a democracy.

While it does use democratic processes, it is a Constitutional Republic – far different in structure, form, and function than a majoritarian democracy (e.g., mobocracy, which our Founding Fathers rejected as history taught them that democracy were too apt to fall into tyranny).

I was hoping to get an immediate response – thus far, nada. I’ll update this post if there is one.

The post Quick Thought: So What Is Government Good For? Treehugger Commenter Would Make a Good Progressive appeared first on Granite Grok.

Hearing the term health freedom brings about a lot of different thoughts. After all, we live in a free country, so shouldn’t freedom cover everything? As we know, the push for socialized medicine and even the way that many insurance companies operate in paying for medical care reveals that in some ways, we only have limited choices when it comes to our health instead of true freedom.

Some people want information about alternative treatments for cancer for example, but many of these treatment options are tied up in regulatory red tape. It’s not all bad news however, because more and more people are advocating for health freedom to ensure that we still have access to a variety of medical professionals, medications, and even treatment options. Here are some thoughts on medical freedom.

Health Freedom is Freedom

Health freedom is the right of all people to have access to safe, effective, life-sustaining treatments including natural and non-traditional options. People have the right to choose dietary supplements if they want and even holistic, non-drug health care. Some argue that people should have the right to choose alternative medical treatments for cancer, even for children. In fact, some people go get treatments in other countries just to have access to these options. Having the freedom to pursue the best options for the individual puts the power in the hands of the people, and that’s a good thing.

Health Freedom is About Choice and Access

The push for access to alternative natural medicine has been largely positive, but there is still a long way to go. Health freedom is about choice and access. Some areas want to ban certain vitamins or want to restrict their sale. While there has been little regulation in the supplement industry historically, banning it altogether isn’t the best option either.

Some people want to try microdoses of mushrooms to treat their anxiety, but it’s hard to find. Where are mushrooms legal? Who can dispense them in the right amounts? So much of this information is hard to find. Advocating for health freedom is simply having the choice and access to these alternatives in the same ways that someone could get Prozac or other mainstream medications.

Health freedom includes both patients and providers being given the option to learn more about all the options, natural and otherwise, so they can make an informed choice. Care providers should understand even natural modalities to treat someone with an autoimmune disease, for instance, instead of starting them on strong immune blockers.

People don’t want to be forced into one disease management plan. Instead, they want to know all of the options, associated risks, and benefits that each one offers. This gives real choice. When you advocate for health freedom, this is what you are cheering on and doing. You are empowering medical professionals and patients with information and choices.

Help People Make Empowering Decisions for Their Own Lives

The best way to protect health freedom is to help more people be healthier. The healthcare system is all about disease management. Getting people to better health takes a more proactive approach, and it can take more time to get the results you want. It’s the difference between someone making lifestyle changes that lower their blood pressure versus getting medication to do it for them. While a lifestyle change takes more self-awareness, and self-control, and is more disruptive to your life, it also yields better long-term results. The focus is on removing the habits that cause the disease instead of just putting a Band-Aid on it and hoping the Band-Aid won’t ever fall off. But the beauty of true health freedom is that you can choose the pill if you want, and that’s okay.

Health Freedom Impacts Everyone

The truth is that health freedom impacts everyone. It can impact people financially as well as physically. Having options for alternative antimicrobials instead of antibiotics that you’re allergic to is one example of the power of health freedom. Having the option to use IV vitamins that cost a fraction of the amount of others IV drug infusions for autoimmune disease is another example. We can all work together to advocate for health freedom to ensure that we continue to have access to all the options to get what’s best for us.

 

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