Saturday • May 4 • 2024
Vol.XVI • No.XVIII
Manchester, N.H.
The frontline of the culture war was always in the public schools, but it took bullying racists and Groomers to get parents outraged enough to act. Hundreds of School Board seats have been flipped, with thousands more in their sites as parents try to take back their schools, like this one in South Carolina,
In its first meeting after the Nov. 8 election, the board fired superintendent Jackson and school counsel Tiffany Richardson. Then it hired Anthony Dixon as superintendent and retained Brandon Gaskins as counsel. And before the day was over, the board banned teaching critical race theory and created a board to review library books for pornographic content.
#Woke board members and parents walking out with the retired Superintendent and Attorney is a show of solidarity for what amounts to failing the kids and the taxpayers.
Public Schools have one job. Give kids some basic skills like reading, writing, and mathematics. They’ve been in decline for decades, from watering down history (Social Studies) to deciding basic math and reading skills are racist and unnecessary to graduate.
If academics don’t matter, a public school’s only function is turning out meat puppet Marxists with mental health issues—people they can control or make into life-long dependents of the state with suicidal tendencies.
I get that folks don’t want to rock the boat. We’ve seen what the left can become when you wander on to any piece of political property they’ve claimed as their own. To say they send the dogs after you would be an understatement. Then there’s the other half of it. After you get “good people” elected, you must keep showing up to support them because everyone else will be tearing them down. Those good people get worn out, and when it’s time for the next election, they’ve had enough.
It will take years to fix these schools, root out the Groomers, bullies, and Racists, and set the education culture back on a path focused on academics. It will take even longer to keep it there.
The new board members on this County School Board are already taking heat after just one meeting. If the parents, grandparents, and taxpayers stop showing up at meetings, the odds are good they’ll be gone after one term.
You have to back them up in the meeting room, the classroom, the street corners, the local paper, on news sites in comments, on social media, and on blogs.
The Democrats will not wait for an unforced error. And they never sleep.
Neither can we.
HT | ZeroHedge
The post School Board Fires #Woke Superintendent and Legal Counsel, Bans CRT, Orders Review of Library Catalog appeared first on Granite Grok.
In A response to my GraniteGrok article about Elle Gallo’s boast that she removed my billboard message in Derry, New Hampshire, promoting Abigail Shrier’s book “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” (and my subsequent decision to promote the book from the Derry sidewalk), “Call me J” wrote:
Related: Derry Dem Saves Citizens from Dangerous Book
I believe what upset Stephan [sic] so much, is that the group of Derry residents decided that each time he protested on the sidewalk we would donate to charities that support caring for Trans people in his name.
Last spring Derry Town Councilor Neil Wetherbee informed me about this plan in two passive-aggressive thank you cards (see below) with a return address of Derry Town Hall and stamped “This card made possible by the LGBTQ+ Community, Families and Allies of Derry, NH fighting bigotry with kindness.”
Wetherbee wrote:
But as knowledge is truly the path to enlightenment, I wanted to share with you what your actions have precipitated in our incredible community! A growing number of people have committed to donating to either our locally based Planned Parenthood or Planned Parenthood of Northern New England for every day you or your wife is in Derry! This is SO wonderful.
On its surface, this seems like a solid plan. First, since I’m trying to stop boys and girls – children I “have so much fear and hate of,” according to Weatherbee – from being permanently harmed with opposite-sex hormones, donating money for Planned Parenthood to harm more confused children would make me complicit in permanently damaging them.
Second, child transing activists are right about how troubled I am about the medical industry giving opposite sex hormones to children. For example, if a girl takes testosterone, not only will it cause facial and body hair, balding and a permanently lowered voice she might regret when she matures, these chemicals will also trigger early menopause resulting in sterility, vaginal atrophy, and atrophy of their reproductive and urinary systems, and put these young women at a higher risk for pulmonary embolisms, strokes, and heart attacks.
And Planned Parenthood is efficient in harming youth. The corporation boasts that young people can get hormones on their first visit.
Related: More Stories about Neil Wetherbee
What if they’re minors? No problem. If a 16-year-old girl schedules an appointment to get testosterone at a New Hampshire clinic she’ll get the following response:
There are some rules about what age a person can be to book an appointment for hormone therapy. If you are between the ages of 16 and 18, you might need to have some special paperwork to be able to get this type of care. We can talk you through this!”
But the medical industry doesn’t need donations from Wetherbee and his friends to destroy children’s health thanks to billionaire donors, Medicaid funds, and a lucrative business model. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England is in the black by $17.5 million and has $1.6 million in cash, and transing kids is so profitable that the number of pediatric gender clinics has risen from zero to over 100 in the last sixteen years.
As a physician at Vanderbilt Health Center in Tennessee observed:
A female-to-male chest reconstruction could bring in $40,000. A patient just on routine hormone treatment who we’re seeing only a few times a year can bring in several thousand dollars without requiring a lot of visits and labs. It actually makes money for the hospital.
Someday, New Hampshire policymakers will conduct a systematic review of the research, listen to the tens of thousands of detransitioners who describe lives of pain and regret, and follow England, Sweden, France, and Finland in banning or strictly restricting puberty blockers, opposite sex hormones, and surgery.
I’m working to hasten that day by standing on the sidewalk trying to reach those who aren’t so enlightened that they celebrate slicing off the breasts of 15-year-old girls and destroying children’s bones, sexual function, and fertility with puberty blockers.
Follow me at twitter.com/sidewalk_steve.
The post Sorry, Neil Wetherbee and Co., You Won’t Drive Me from Derry appeared first on Granite Grok.
And story after story as to what teachers and school board honchos are doing to our kids keep rolling in. And it just never stops as the Left is intent on accomplishing its goals. And that means eliminating parents out of their way. Funny, isn’t it – we pay their salaries and stipends and they turn our children away from us. And it is clear that age is no problem for them:
An early childhood educator in California reportedly admitted to using an “age-appropriate” “gender unicorn” to teach toddlers about sexual orientation and gender identity. Danita McCray works as a child development teacher at an elementary school in Sacramento, California, according to Fox News Digital. During a presentation at the 2021 California Teachers Association (CTA) conference, which is linked to the National Teachers Association union, McCray gave an informational presentation on how to implement sexual orientation and gender identity curriculum into young children’s education.
McCray reportedly said that the workshop was to “provide you with positive strategies to support transgender and gender non-conforming children.” When a teacher asked McCray when children were too young for these lessons, McCray touted “I’ve done research” and “have got my doctorate degree. Children are not too young at five years old. Children understand gender as early as three years old,” McCray added. McCray’s classroom library reportedly includes books like “I am Jazz” to discuss transgenderism to young children and has “no boy bathroom, no girl bathroom” in order to “set the tone” that “everything is open” to the students.
Ph.D – She certainly is lending credence to the phrase “Piling Higher and Deeper”. Sorry, I don’t believe that a 3 year old understands the Woke definition of “gender” between the biology of their physical sex. And of course, the main question that she won’t answer is “And are your employers, Parents, ok with this?”. And the second question is “Whose kids are they anyways?”.
And how DARE you subscribe that the words gender and sex are interchangeable that they both mean the same thing instead where Wokeness says they aren’t? Your backwards stance will not be allowed to be held:
A student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been barred from attending a religious studies class required for graduation after pointing out that there are only two genders. “Later this week I will be defending myself and my FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS in front of the Academic Integrity Board (AIB) of the Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania (IUP) against allegations of Classroom Conduct violations,” Lake Ingle stated in a Facebook post, which was deleted after Ingle retained legal representation. “The decision made by the AIB that day will determine whether I will be able to continue participating in my full course load, as well as graduate this May as scheduled,” Ingle continued, adding, “This is not transgender, woman’s rights, or wage issue. This is about free speech and the constant misuse of intellectual power in universities.”
Charges were brought up and if you go to the link, I think you’ll agree with me that it feels like the Chicom’s Red Guard “Name and Shame”/Re-education of wrongthink” Star Chamber show trial. This isn’t about learning, this is indoctrination. Even if this is for a Religious Studies degrees, it seems that the Professors and Administration have forgotten about a major part of a major religion – that duality of Grace and Forgiveness. In this case, the college has turned into the Spanish Inquisition and is hellbent on obtaining a confession.
Back to public schools – and no, they aren’t underfunded.
Don’t believe me? Calculate at the teacher payrate per actual in-classt teaching hour and not just the annual salary. The cost of education (based on almost 10 years watching my District’s budget soar) is totally disconnected from expenditure and student achievement.
And transgender surgeries are big business with lots of profit – don’t talk to me about “altruism:
A new study of nationwide hospital databases found that at least 1,130 adolescents between 2016 and 2019 received “gender-affirming” chest surgeries in the U.S. The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, saw a 389% increase in adolescents (ages 12-17) obtaining chest surgeries from 2016 to 2019. An overwhelming majority (1,114) of the adolescents seeking this surgery were female (98.6%), and just 16 were male (1.4%).
…JAMA included only procedures performed in hospitals, not by plastic surgeons in private settings,” said Sapir. “Because these procedures yield around $10,000 per patient, many mastectomies take place outside of hospitals in surgery centers owned by plastic surgeons themselves.”
…The median total charges for chest reconstruction were $29,886 ($21,285–$45,147), a number that was adjusted for inflation, the authors note. Most of the chest surgeries (61.1%) were covered by private health insurance, 16.5% used public health insurance including Medicaid, 15.8% paid out of pocket, and 6.7% indicated “other.”
As always, follow the money.
And back to the indoctrination – those mandatory classes that college students have to take. Twist that a bit: college students are being forced to pay for their own “mind-forcing”.
Requiring students to talk about ‘identities’ and ‘stereotypes’ not a big hit at Syracuse. Syracuse University students are not interested in a mandatory diversity course, with some criticizing it as too focused on finger pointing and singling out individuals. “While Syracuse University structures its First-Year Seminar 101 course around students sharing their experiences with their cultures and identities, students taking the course said nobody wants to speak,” The Daily Orange reported. “In some classes, students said they don’t know each other’s names.”
One student raised concerns that the focus on privilege and identity alienates students. First-year finance major Julia Moreno said many of the ways the course attempts to engage experience-based discussion end up having a negative effect. Questions revolving around exploring identities can make students feel singled out, she said.
Except for those “wanting to belong to something”, I can only believe that the weak-minded/spirited would go along with it. If I was there, you can bet that I’d be rebelling against having to pay for something that doesn’t improve me. Paying to suck my soul out of me? No thanks.
So, a quick backtrack that started this whole series – Critical Race Theory (CRT) whose main manifestation is “Whites are always Oppressors and everyone else is Oppressed by them”. It’s still around and there are “for hire” evangelists are still trying to infest K-12 curriculum – just not quite as blatantly.
There may be nothing more cringe-inducing than reading what a group of education professors, especially those specializing in “equity,” have advised educators regarding parental communication and critical race theory (CRT). That’s just what Education Week featured last week, apparently because parents and parents’ rights groups have been successful in challenging the loathsome concept. While making use of the talking point that CRT is “typically in a college-level course,” a new Kappan report does concede that “elements” of CRT can appear in K-12 lessons as they help students “unpack and rethink the social construct of race that divides so much of U.S. society.”
The report offers a trio of ideas for “effective responses” to (parental) inquiries about CRT-related matters:
- Open by describing a shared value.
- Use active voice to name an antagonist (e.g., the people who are trying to divide) and call out divide-and-conquer tactics.
- End with a strong, positive call to action that affirms common values. Instead of being race-neutral or colorblind […] talk about making education better for students of different racial and ethnic groups.
Reminds me of a modified Delphi technique combined with good old Leftist “Othering”…which means THEY are targeting YOU as being obstacles in the way in getting to YOUR kids. The educational version of how Trump is being made unelectable. The difference is to make you TOXIC for any conversation you may wish to engage in.
So, should Conservatives now view the American Library Association as we do the NEA and AFT?
These books likely are in every school library in the country. In Virginia where I live, the school board, school administrators, and school librarians have pointed to the American Library Association to defend their book selection policies. Many think that the ALA is a neutral organization that uses clear standards of literary merit to select the books that receive awards and that they recommend to readers. But a deeper dive will show that this is not true.
The ALA claims 54,000 members. This year less than 10% of the membership elected a “Marxist lesbian” as its president. The vote was 5410 for her and well over 4622 for her opposition. It is clear that a radical minority has co-opted the ALA much as other institutions have been co-opted. Is it any wonder then that an ALA president who advocates the “queering” of school libraries would support, with her radical allies, the adoption of library materials that advocate for materials that could not be shown in a movie theater to anyone under 18.
A woke fourth-grade teacher at William Penn Elementary in Utah, placed on paid leave after bragging that she built her classroom for “non-white students,” will get to keep her job. The teacher issued an apology for her video, in which she proudly stated, “If you look around and interact with some of the materials I have, you’ll notice that there’s, like, no white kids represented.” “For the first time in my life, I’m going to be teaching at a majority white school, and I’m kind of interested to see how students and parents react to my classroom — because it’s built for non-white students,” the teacher said in a video posted to social media.
…The teacher, who has not been identified, said that she made sure “no white kids” are “represented” in her classroom materials. “If you look around and interact with some of the materials I have, you’ll notice that there’s, like, no white kids represented,” she said. “Same with my coloring pages, I have big stack of coloring pages that students can use, and not a single one with a person on it depicts a white person.”
The school district, however, noted that it reprimanded the teacher for her behavior. “We have disciplined the employee as appropriate and consistent with the findings of the investigation,” Granite School District representatives said. The principal of William Penn Elementary School also reportedly called the teacher’s comments “very disconcerting,” adding, “It is inappropriate for any employee to make students feel unwelcome in any way, shape, or form.”
And when there are no real consequences, you will get more of it. And following teaching fads means kids don’t learn. Perhaps that tide is changing.
Phonics, Failure, and the Public Schools
But increasingly parents and teachers are pushing back against “whole language” and “balanced literacy” theories. They cite decades of research on how children actually learn to read and write. In 1997 Congress instructed the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development to work with the Department of Education to establish a National Reading Panel that would evaluate existing research and evidence to find the best ways of teaching children to read. The panel reviewed more than 100,000 reading studies. In 2000 it reported its conclusion: That the best approach to reading instruction is one that incorporates:
- Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness
- Systematic phonics instruction
- Methods to improve fluency
- Ways to enhance comprehension
And yet more than a quarter of American school districts use this one particular curriculum that doesn’t reflect those conclusions. Other districts use other curricula built on similar principles. A 2019 investigation by American Public Media revealed “American education’s own little secret about reading: Elementary schools across the country are teaching children to be poor readers — and educators may not even know it.”
And another little secret is that most teachers come from the lower third of SAT scores. I doubt that any of them have training to evaluate how whether a new curriculum is better, the same, or worse than the present one. My last year on the BudComm, I ran into this with then Gilford Curriculum Director Steve Tucker who then failed upward to be the Laconia Superintendent – go here for the whole thing.
TMEW has said that she doesn’t want to homeschool the Grandson. Yet, almost every day during the summer, during vacations, and after school, back to the dining room table the two of them go to do writing, spelling, and math. Later on in the evening, it’s book reading time. Already, this first grader is reading books meant for second grade and sometimes, third (the latter with some prompting). Back to basics, she does. In addition, because he is also Spec Ed enrolled, she works with his specialists with homework sent home. Phonics, phonics, phonics. Syllable disection. Sounding it out. Yes, drilling on sight words. Letter combination sounds. Look ahead processing. Practice, practice, practice. Now he’s reading in the truck as we travel. Fluidly.
Basics matter. Basics count. Fads need to be thrown away.
While she’s foremost right now, my time is coming for science and more advanced math. And of course, civics and history. That said, we’re slowly turning everything into a learning time and lesson. It works.
She’s homeschool whether she wants to acknowledge or not. We’re invested.
The post Teaching Toddlers Transgenderism and More! – Stack of Stuff #28 appeared first on Granite Grok.
Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) has become national news over the past year or so. This unusual and, to many, inappropriate exposure of children to adult men dressed as hypersexualized women, burst into the limelight with all of the glitter and pomp one might expect from drag queens.
Related: Vermont Man Who Created the Most Misogynistic, Sexist, Anti Women Cartoon Imaginable Invited to Read to Children at NH Public Library
Proponents of the unorthodox method of engaging story time with children argue the need is rooted in allowing this otherwise marginalized group of people (i.e. drag queens) to expose themselves (no pun intended) to children in the otherwise innocuous setting of a public library. Listen closely and you hear apologists speak not about the literacy of children but about rescuing adult drag performers from their status as societal pariahs. Or is it both?
Critics of the idea say it’s not as organic and innocent as many would have you believe. Some eleven hundred of these have happened in the past couple of years. Does this sound like a fad or trend, like the ice bucket challenge? Or does it indicate by its very pedagogical nature that it’s a type of indoctrination of the youth?
Seeking answers as to the motivation behind supporting this highly controversial movement I emailed Kilton Public Library Director Sean Fleming to ask if he was aware of these criticisms. Sean is an excellent director who understands his role in guiding his public library. The facility is always immaculate, the staff is always friendly and Sean captains this ship with the mission in mind – to create an educational space that is inclusive and open to the entire community, including the marginalized.
After a friendly greeting, where he let me know he remembered me from past visits, he graciously answered my questions as I launched into them. When asked “what was the motivation for this event” he explained they have a program team whose job is to find events that will encourage the community to attend or otherwise meet educational needs. Not given to micromanaging Sean states he usually doesn’t plan them but trusts his staff to make these decisions.
When I mentioned these DQSHs are quite controversial around the country his rejoinder was simply “they are to some but also not to many others”.
Perhaps the most vocal and educated critic of DQSH is Dr. James Lindsay who did a four-part series on his New Discourses podcast titled “Groomer Schools”. In it, he reads, cites, and critiques the historical and academic documents written by such famous theorists as Gyorgy Lucaks, Herbert Marcuse, Paulo Friere, Judith Butler, Hannah Dyer, and Gayle Rubin. What do these theorists have in common? Is it playing dress-up for other adults with the hopes of teaching kids to read? Hardly – they are all avowed Marxists.
Sean attended both the trustee meeting that approved the event and the event itself. His take? The stories were innocuous. There were only two performers who, rather than dressed sexually explicitly, appeared more “frumpy”. They also offered a craft where they made “crowns” opining they pointed to some type of royalty rather than Marxism. I pointed out they are Drag “Queens” hence the crowns (which Lindsay mentions are tiaras crafted at other DQSHs). This is literally an “A-HA” moment. I get the sense he’s relatively new to drag performances. Though this one sounded designed for children rather than a usual drag show for adults, here is one that isn’t.
I mention these facts to Sean and he seems to dismiss them as impossible. “Communism”, he mentions, “has failed. Just look at China that had to adopt capitalism”. I agree. Communism is 0-49 in its attempts to surpass Capitalism as a means to economic success and prosperity. However, living in Vermont, it’s anything but dead. It simply is hiding behind new faces, like progressivism, woke-ism, and these oppressor/oppressed narratives we see everywhere. Communism is Marxism, and Marxism is alive and well.
Sean is willing to listen, however, he’s far from convinced.
To those who have studied Lucaks, he was made Commissar of Education and Culture and famously attempted to sexualize children in Hungary in the 1920s only to get thrown out of the country by angry parents who caught on to his deliberately perverted scheme.
Marcuse left the Marxist Frankfurt School in Germany and came to the United States where he theorized the need to appeal to “the ghetto population and queers” in his Essay on Liberation. This call to revolution sparked the 1967 Watts riots in L.A. and is credited as the impetus for the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Candace Owens captures the hidden reality of Black Lives Matter as a financial funnel for queer and trans-non-profits, among other things, in her documentary “The Greatest Lie Ever Sold”.
Friere is the third most cited author in all of academia, even more than Einstien. He is famous among Marxists as the author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which he wrote in his native Brazil. There he instituted his Marxist pedagogical methods in schools which many Brazilians claim effectively ruined their education system. It’s anyone’s guess if that is intentional or by accident.
Butler, Dyer, and Rubin are all women who have thrown their philosophical swords into the fight for queer normalization, which sounds oxymoronic. However Marxist theory relies on contradictions and the need to accelerate them to achieve Utopia. Sound mystical? Lindsay explains it’s more Gnostic than mystical. He is certain Marxism properly understood is actually a religion.
If it is a religion then drag queens might best be understood as the Pentecostals of the order. Full of spirit and willingness to push the boundaries these members of Marxist royalty, per the directives of Butler, Dyer, and Rubin, give a playful angle to the movement. Where Black Lives Matter and Antifa are militant (see Antifa offering protection at this DQSH) the Queens utilize their flamboyancy to disarm an unsuspecting public with the intent of “leaving a trail of glitter in the carpet that will never come out”. Though DQSH isn’t explicit in its goal of indoctrinating children into queer futurity, the writings of Butler, Dyer, and Rubin are. Herein lies the rub.
Part of the library’s policy is to avoid unfair discrimination. He mentions the Boy Scouts have a class action suit with sixty thousand plaintiffs and the library hosted them on numerous occasions without complaints, implying it would be unfair to treat DQSH any differently. His observation? “There are going to be predators in every circle of life.” I know all too well this is a fair statement, however, I remind him the definition of a drag queen is a “man dressed as a hypersexualized woman”, which is quite different from a scout leader.
Another comparison he makes is magicians who offer child-appropriate shows at the library while performing adult-level shows in adult venues. This seems reasonable, but again the comparison is not apples to apples per se, however, I’m not going to belabor the point.
Taking the conversation in the direction of local concerned parents and other tax-paying members of the community who either disagree on a moral level or feel threatened by such an event Sean explains he’s already seen their emails. Again, he sounds bothered that parents haven’t caught up to the times.
I voice my shared concern as a parent and grandparent and explain my background working as a program specialist in a house of highly functioning developmentally disabled pedophiles and that at least a few of these DQSHs have had child sex offenders reading to children. Sean bristles, as most would, at the notion drag queens are typically pedophiles, and wants evidence. I promised to send it to him in an email.
When I ask if they vet the performers he tells me they “don’t do background checks”. This is my first serious red flag beyond the otherwise incongruent nature of small children being exposed to adults literally described as hypersexual, whatever the philosophy. As an expert in this area, I know pedophiles go where the children are – period. The question remains, are he and the library prepared to deal with the consequences of failing to require background checks?
With eleven hundred of these gaining in popular support, the predators will come flocking. Of this, we can be certain. With lax background checks and blanket approval from unsuspecting adults, this is a recipe for disaster.
“We had a packed house. Some seventy to eighty people were in attendance and many of them were smiling on their way in.”
This sounds nice – who wouldn’t want to see more smiling faces these days? Who isn’t for getting kids who just got their education pummeled by COVID lockdowns back to enjoy reading and creativity? I and most parents I know are completely behind such positive changes.
However, this is exactly the milieu predators cultivate. They lead teen groups, boy scouts troops, teach in schools, and daycares, become clergy, ascend in politics, throw pizza parties, and any other venue to create trust and distractions as they slowly target your children. Predators are like lions in the jungle. They camouflage and move slowly. One might even say they dress up to disguise themselves.
At the very least I would expect the library and anyone else who intends to support these events to get familiar with the local sex offender registry. Even keep a folder with their pictures so, God forbid, they decide to attend drag queen story hour in or out of a costume.
Running out of time Sean asks me to consider the shooting that just took place in Colorado Springs. Unfamiliar, he explains it was a targeted attack on a gay nightclub. Implying this intolerance is a result of reactionary people who are intolerant of the LGBTQ lifestyle Sean bemoans the tragedy. So do I. In no way is violence ever the answer to lifestyle choice differences.
We find out later the shooter is a “non-binary” member of the LGBTQ community. Again, Sean’s assumptions turn out to be incorrect.
The real problem is whether or not we are placing children unnecessarily in unsafe environments. Are we dropping our guard and are we doing it because of a deceptive ploy by Marxists, who’ve done this already many, many times, and allowing our desire to enrich children’s education and civic desire to make our neighbors, queer though they may be, feel equally welcome to the public square? This is what Lindsay answers in detail in his latest book The Marxification of Education.
Marxists are not interested in a child’s education unless it’s to indoctrinate them. In order to do that they need to destabilize them. They don’t hide this, in fact, they describe it in detail. One of the best ways to destabilize them is their sense of identity. So if this new wave of DQSHs is a Marxist form of praxis parents should be made aware.
Finally, since it’s nearing Christmas, I ask if the same space is available for a living nativity. Sean explains the same rules apply for anyone wanting to use the space. Go to the site, read the rules and guidelines and fill out a request. They truly do not discriminate.
For parents and patriots alike Sean has made it a safe place to compete in the arena of ideas. Maybe it’s time for folks to steal a page from the Marxist and use the public spaces to train your children up in the way they should go so they don’t depart from it if they’re departing from it is your greatest concern.
For those wanting to see DQSH in action, Sean assures me they will likely have more given the popularity of the first. Like many churches in the Upper Valley
All are welcome to attend. However, if your mission is to disrupt, act hatefully, or otherwise spoil the fun of the patrons you will be asked to leave. You may disagree but they expect you to do so respectfully.
I do disagree but I trust the respect is mutual. Hopefully between now and then Sean and his staff will consider these points of safety and take the necessary precautions for the sake of the children.
(If you are wanting to book an event at the Kilton Public Library here is the link)
The post Drag Queen Story Hour Comes to Kilton Library in Lebanon, NH appeared first on Granite Grok.
It just never stops, does it? As a Conservatarian, I know that I get bombarded almost 360 with Woke messages of all types: Social Justice, unbounded Sexuality, Drugs, Progressivism, Education, Voting, the denigration of traditional American values…the list would consume several blogs (not just blog posts). It seems like at every turn, we must be absorbed into their worldview. And the Woke work hard to incorporate that worldview into legislation so as to leave no gap between them and the new “acceptable” behavior and thought.
We who hate this untoward Collectivization see it all the time and everywhere but I guess that is insufficient for the Eco-Socialists over at Treehugger (reformatted, emphasis mine):
TV and Film Scripts Need to Stop Ignoring the Climate Crisis
Only 2.8% of the scripts included any climate-related terms.Screenwriters and storytellers are in a strange conundrum when it comes to the climate crisis. On the one hand, we, the viewing public, often look to art to explore the big topics of our time. On the other hand, we also often turn to TV, film, and fiction to escape from our daily realities, and many of us a leery about being preached to on a topic that stresses us out already.
So, now that we are finally hearing at least slightly more often about the climate crisis in the news media, is there a way for screenwriters to effectively explore this topic without feeling like they are sacrificing their story to an agenda or breaking the carefully constructed reality that their characters inhabit?
This is a challenge that climate and storytelling nonprofit Good Energy has been working on for quite some time. Having created a climate playbook for screenwriters (in which I have a short chapter about hypocrisy), the group now released a report that suggests many screenwriters are shying away from tackling this topic at all. Produced in collaboration with USC Norman Lear Center’s Media Impact Project, this new report consists of a first-of-its-kind analysis of 37,453 TV and movie scripts produced between 2016 and 2020.
Here’s just some of what that analysis found:
- Only 2.8% of the scripts analyzed included any climate-related terms, such as “global warming,” “sea-level rise,” “solar panels,” etc.1
- Even fewer (just 0.6%) explicitly mentioned the term “climate change.”
- Only 10% of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, wildfires, or other climate-related disasters that were shown on screen were linked by writers in any way to climate change.
They just can’t leave us alone. They know that their message is being rejected. They also know, from the example of how the Media started and has “normalized” gay behavior where there was nothing before, following the same playbook can be “profitable” for their cause. even as enough of the 50 year litany of prophetic doomsday predictions that have fallen flat. However, it wasn’t just the author of the post that was kvetching, a couple of the commenters, too, said they were trying to influence TV and Movie writers.
I left a comment along with a bit of a challenge reference just to see who’d catch it. WHY force more shows to do the Wokeness shuffle?
Why, running out of evangelists?
Look, I go to TV for escapism – not to be lectured at. But that’s the Left for you – they are just bound to NEVER leave you alone. It’s almost like hectoring is their version of “oral indulgences” that must be paid to at least get to purgatory.
At least they have a purgatory. I have NO idea of what their heaven would look like but they all act as if they are already in hell looking for that one drop of cold water…(let’s see who gets that reference first).
As I keep saying over and over again, I watch very little network TV on my own (if I sit on the living room couch, TMEW “shares” the wide-screen with me but she generally has the lion’s share). It’s generally more documentary or reality type fare – as I write this, I have “How It’s Made” on the Science channel on for background noise (or distraction – your choice). I’ve had enough with the preaching of Progressive ideas and have worked to not have to listen/watch.
Anyways, Libertarian VB caught the missionary part (H/T: Nitzkahon):
Why, running out of evangelists?
Well, Al Gore didn’t work out for them, and their kid darling Greta wimped out on them over COP27 in Egypt—even an Asperger’s home-schooled kid understands that elites aren’t going to do anything meaningful other than bluster about some more, and proclaim “THIS time for sure we’re cereal!”
(See how many get that reference, Grok! )
And then Randy caught the reference of mine:
I think they would insist that Abraham instead dump the cold water into the bay in case the Delta Smelt were thirsty.
Heh!
And we have a WINNAH!
So, loyal readers, how many of you know where that Abraham reference originates from? Bonus points for chapter and verse!
I do dryly note that none of the usual progressive commenters even made a try at it…
(H/T: Treehugger)
The post DISQUS Doodlings – As if we aren’t already bombarded by the MSM about Climate Change. Thanks, Treehugger! appeared first on Granite Grok.
It’s been a while but that’s how long we were in the “PayPal Freezer” in which a lot of donations from you folks were frozen by PayPal. Back in May, we were notified that PayPal, like a lot of similar Conservative sites, that they had withdrawn their services from us (“PayPal Has Decided to Shut GraniteGrok off from Its Services“). We could not pay for services (like our hosting charges, software, and media subscriptions, and “blogging equipment”) nor could we accept any additional monies (donations, ads, and the like). We did happen to have a “backup” PayPal account and we quickly moved operations to that account. Everything, except a most valuable thing – the funds in the frozen account were also frozen. The balance was what the balance was and it was going to just sit there. Period.
Normally, a PayPal account holder can transfer funds from PayPal down to a bank account or up from a bank account. If we had had the chance to transfer the amount down to our bank account, we would have said “fine, we’ll send the money down and we’d be done”. Not a chance – that money was stuck in place just as if it would have been in the middle of Glacier National Park (that didn’t disappear like in 2020 like the Government said it would in “supporting Global Warming”). And much of that money was donated for this purpose – we didn’t spend it on other stuff.
So, with all that as a runup, I am happy to say that PayPal unfroze the account earlier this week and they “ever so graciously” said that we could have access to our money again.
Sidenote: I could log in, and check a couple of things, but other than that, we could do nothing but see our money that couldn’t be touched. Mostly just wanted to check that they, like Socialists and many in Government think, thought that our money was THEIR money and had decided to just take it. After all, they kept it for six months, just gathering the interest on money that wasn’t theirs.
Or as they said:
As a reminder, access to your account will remain limited. While access to your account is limited, you may:
- place logos into your auction listings or on your website
- update your account information
- withdraw funds from your account
You may not:
- send or request money
- receive payments
- add funds to your account
- close your account
Now, I don’t “get” that we can’t close the account (I’m going to try anyways) but that we could withdraw the funds. What’s the difference?
But given that restrictions, we’ve moved all that money down to our local bank and into an account that we’ve had for years for GraniteGrok. Seeing that I’ve done business with them for over 40 years, I doubt that they are about to cancel us. We’ve also moved just about all of our funds from our backup PayPal account toa similar purposed account as well (e.g., fool us once, shame on us, fool us twice, shame on you – and we’re not going to let you).
If we have to pay someone using Paypal, we’ll upload it. If money comes in, we’ll download it. Thus, our exposure to the machinations of PayPal and its Wokeness is now about as minimal as we can get other than dropping it. We realize that this caused no small amount of consternation on a variety of fronts for us and you folks as well
However, just like in the social media space where Big Tech was hammering Conservatives, we’re looking at conservative options in the “FinTech” space. (we’ve looked deeply at two new processors; neither quite made the grade. However, if we do find one, we’ll be adding it to GraniteGrok as an option for you.
Given how badly PayPal has been behaving, it won’t take long. After all, back in September/October of this year, PayPal decided to change their AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) that went FAR beyond the financial realm – like all of the Woke Big Tech, they believed that they had the muscle, given that size and status in the market place, to tell their customers how we were supposed to behave. You know, like the Republican Party is “gifting” us squishy candidates that we know will be awful on the idea that “where else are the voters going to go?” in derision.
PayPal Updates User Policy to Include Possible $2,500 Fine For Speech It Doesn’t Like
PayPal’s clause about taking users’ funds for a violation of its rules has long been established. But, as published on September 26th and to be effective on November 3rd, 2022, PayPal will add restrictions to its acceptable use policy that go beyond illegal activities and fraud and into the realm of policing speech. The updated policy prohibits users from using PayPal for activities that:
“Involve the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials that, in PayPal’s sole discretion, (a) are harmful, obscene, harassing, or objectionable … (e) depict, promote, or incite hatred or discrimination of protected groups or of individuals or groups based on protected characteristics (e.g. race, religion, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.) … (g) are fraudulent, promote misinformation … or (i) are otherwise unfit for publication.”
…“Violation of this Acceptable Use Policy constitutes a violation of the PayPal User Agreement and may subject you to damages, including liquidated damages of $2,500.00 U.S. dollars per violation, which may be debited directly from your PayPal account(s),” the new policy reads.
…What’s especially horrid about how PayPal operates beyond being able to yank $2,500 from your account because you posted something they disagree with is that there typically is no advance warning and no appeals process.
And as we know well, the Left here just in NH HATE GraniteGrok and have done what they can do to disparage us, write legislation against us, and went to our hosting company to get us de-platformed (right Jan Schmidt??). Demonetization just from Paypal wouldn’t cause us to go under but it would hurt. Given that our “speech” would fit right in with what PayPal would no longer allow, the Democrats/Progressives would JUMP at the chance to make life harder for us.
And as we found out, there’s no appeal process just like if you get put into either Facebook or Twitter “jail”. You learned that you violated “our community values” but could never find out which one and no way to make amends.
Heck, a single day’s worth of posts could have wiped us out – just that easy (right Elle Gallo?). Thus, our actions once we got “unfrozen”. But there’s more:
That sounds like a good reason to think twice about using PayPal. I’ve just withdrawn the $1000+ I have in my PayPal account, and I’m starting the process of disentangling myself from the service to the extent possible
Our amounts were substantially more than that and we are doing the same process. This is almost like Quiznos, the now defunct sub/sandwich chain, that forced its customers (franchisors) to purchase everything from them – they all quit. How to scare your customers away. And like Quiznos, PayPal got mauled:
PayPal’s stock dropped more than 6 percentage points on Monday after reports emerged that the firm may attempt to fine people $2,500 for spreading “misinformation” via the platform. Over the weekend, the company told The Epoch Times that “PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy,” adding, “An [acceptable use policy] notice recently went out in error that included incorrect information,” the statement said.
That bolded part? Yeah, nobody believed them. Sorry, no legal document gets changed by “an intern” and instantly emailed and put up on their website. Not even a junior lawyer, either. That “we’re just taking your money to be ours because we hate your unwoke speech” had to go through multiple layers of editing and approval. And trying to pawn it off as a little mistake didn’t take at all. And like I said, all it takes is someone on the Left to call another group a “hate group”
“A private company now gets to decide to take your money if you say something they disagree with. Insanity,” former PayPal President David Marcus wrote on Twitter.
Elon Musk, the head of Telsa who co-founded PayPal decades ago, said that he “agreed” with Marcus’s Twitter post.
Over the weekend, users on Twitter called for a boycott of PayPal and users indicated that they stopped using the payment company’s services. After PayPal’s mea culpa, critics of the firm did not appear convinced that the policy was issued in error.
…Several weeks ago, PayPal banned a group named “Gays Against Groomers” that some LGBT activists claimed to be a “hate group.”
And then PayPal tried to slither around its self-generated PR fiasco:
That’s terrific, or would be if it weren’t for the fact that PayPal’s current Acceptable Use Policy still threatens $2,500 fines per infraction for promoting “hate” and “intolerance” — language the Left regularly uses to characterize (and demonize) speech that is critical of its insane policies.
…Click on that “Restricted Activities and Holds” section, and you’ll find a long list of “you must nots,” including the expected prohibitions of fraud, selling counterfeit goods, and the like. But included on the list of things you must not do is “Provide false, inaccurate or misleading information.” False, inaccurate, or misleading in the eyes of whom? Why, of PayPal’s Leftist hall monitors, of course, and no one else, including the person PayPal accuses: “If we believe that you’ve engaged in any of these activities, we may take a number of actions to protect PayPal, its customers and others at any time in our sole discretion.” No one else’s. You’ll have no appeal, no recourse, no opportunity to present your side of the story.
Leftists routinely accuse patriots of promoting hate: Wanting a secure southern border is promoting hate. Not wanting to see our schools become platforms for genuinely hateful and false race grievance propaganda is promoting hate. Disagreeing with the Leftist dogma that Islam is a religion of peace is promoting hate. Not believing that Jan. 6 was an insurrection or that Donald Trump is a traitorous Russian puppet is promoting hate.
And for us on the Right? I think Sarah Hoyt said it well:
It’s all too tragic. PayPal was set up initially as a means of obtaining financial independence from government-controlled banks. It even hoped to become an independent form of money. All these years later, it has been captured by interests that have the very opposite ambition. In truth, many people out there cheer the prospect.
And there are options out there (here, here)
The post UPDATE: Our Paypal Situation/Status appeared first on Granite Grok.
Beyond Meat has issues. It does not have a smaller carbon footprint than beef. It’s also not beef which might be why fast-food burger joints have backed away from long-term relationships. And then there’s this alleged insider leak suggesting mold and listeria are loose in its Pennsylvania processing plant.
Related: New Research – You Don’t Have to Eat Less Red Meat (Usual Suspects Lose Their Minds)
Beyond Meat’s Pennsylvania processing plant could be riddled with bacteria – leaked documents claim Listeria and mold had been found in the facility 11 times in less than a year.
Listeria, a foodborne bacteria, was detected in the plant during the second half of last year and the first half of 2022, according to Bloomberg, which viewed the documents.
Beyond Meat has also been Beyond Profit, reporting significant losses earlier this year while downgrading revenue estimates. That doesn’t mean their plant is a filthy mess, and people who buy their raw product are in danger of food poisoning. Bad taste and narrative-driven delirium, perhaps, but that’s a different illness—one for which major franchises have found a cure.
Beyond Meat seemed poised to dominate the faux-meat market after announcing in early 2021 a three-year partnership with McDonald’s, as well as agreements with major fast food players like KFC, Dunkin’ Donuts and Subway, among others.
But none of the test runs have resulted in long-term success, with many of Beyond Meat’s partners either not expanding their plant-based options to more restaurants or eliminating the menu items.
No one has, to our knowledge, implicated the product in food-borne illness or sickness (other than perhaps the apparent mental illness required to embrace it). Neither the FDA (which has never inspected according to this report) nor the PA Department of Health has sighted the facility for violations though I’m not sure that means anything.
Having run restaurants for many years, I have experience with health Inspectors in several states. The product of such events can cross a wide range of personalities, observations, and outcomes. In other words, we may never know the truth about the whistleblower claims reported by Bloomberg unless there is a disinterested third-party investigation.
Politics plays a part in almost everything the government is charged with doing. I’d be shocked if, somewhere in the Pennsylvania hierarchy of political favors, someone wasn’t thinking about how good Beyond Meat could be for the State.
And how bad it would be if the place were a sh!t hole.
Just sayin’.
The post Is Beyond Meat Plant in PA Also “Beyond” Food Safety – Bloomberg News Alleges Mold and Listeria appeared first on Granite Grok.
I like Ben Shapiro because 1) he’s generally the smartest guy in the room, 2) he makes fools of those that believe that THEY are the smartet people in the room by believing they can trip Shapiro up.
This short snippet is not about any of the current hot button issues of the day that you’d find on a typical college campus. Instead, the questioner is asking what I thought was a smart question – after all the “important” stuff, what ELSE should I know about seeking a spouse?
With his usual aplomb, Shapiro doesn’t miss a beat and starts to roll through a few.
WHY I put this up, however, is that little bit that Shapiro spoke about traditional marriage – and the values that go with that. How many on the Right and those of Faith who ostensibly hold those values are not afraid to speak publicly about and on them? Most would shy away, not willing to go against the Left’s new pop culture (which, btw, they have formulated in getting rid of traditional family altogether in their “death by a 1,000 slices” approach in changing that culture). Not Shapiro.
I have no idea what he was talking about before this this but he quickly changed gears, revved the engine, and mashed the pedal to the floorboard. How many of you would do the same – fearing the reaction?
And yes, I was quite surprised by the audience’s reaction to it. However, there is a large, if oft obscured, telltale sign why. Did you catch it?
If you are one that is uneasy in talking plainly about such culture values, take heart – DO speak what you believe as this is your culture too, even as the Left wants you to believe that it isn’t and that you are either a bigot, extremist, or an old fuddy-duddy that will soon die off anyways. No matter which, their aim is to have you believe that your opinion doesn’t count. What should your response be Short and sweet:
UP YOURS!
(H/T: The College Fix)
The post Conservative Ben Shapiro Hands Out Marriage Advice about “The Little Things” to Be Aware Of When Choose a Mate appeared first on Granite Grok.
You do the best you can with what you’ve got until you can do better. But will they? I’m referring to the new slimmest of slim Republican majorities in the US House of Representatives. It’s all there is, but we’ve been here before with better numbers and been disappointed.
Investigating the Biden’s will be made to look like revenge-porn for all the hell Dems rained on Trump. Democrats will have better messaging (owning the media helps). And then there are the much anticipated “obstructionist narratives” the Left will wield.
None of that comes up in this interview, but Jim Banks (R – IN) has some thoughts about Biden’s war on hard-working American’s and his priorities for their money.
It is worth listening to and maybe even allowing ourselves a fanciful moment of joy at the intentions. But just a moment. It will take a lot of work to make any effort to block the Democrat’s priorities a reality.
The post Republican Majority: Defund 87K IRS Agents, No Money For Outrageous Climate Schemes appeared first on Granite Grok.
Holidays are essential days to spend somewhere productively, but most people fail to spend that time productively. Don’t worry, if you are a travelling lover, this article is for you.
Today we will discuss the prominent city of Canada which is admired by its visitors and tell their friends about the features of CalgaryChinese which surely delight the people and they ask questions online, in this article, you will get to know some important features and reasons that why you should visit Calgary at once to explore something new. Let’s get straight into this.
Reasons why you should visit Calgary: Best cycling spot:As you have got holidays to spend somewhere worthwhile so if you are a cycling lover, then Calgary offers you a great opportunity of huge cycling paths you can easily enjoy and refresh your mood while keeping yourself healthy. Calgary has the largest walkways throughout the city that allows you to enjoy cycling to your will. The fans of cycling will be able to admire the city’s beauty because no one will ask you any questions about where you are going. If you are passionate about cycling, you can reduce your travelling expenses for the days you will spend there. There are a bunch of walkways and stunning gardens all around the city. Share this idea with your friends or family to support you in making the plan for Calgary.
Mountains or remarkable hills:Calgary is an ideal spot to visit if you are a nature lover and enthusiast of hiking on mountains or even watching them from a distance. These mountains are a great location for climbing to enjoy nature and purity to the next level. Resultantly, hiking and mountain lover should not miss this location and the chance to visit this holiday.
Enchanting parks and gardens:There are a lot of glorious parks and gardens around the city although everywhere you will find a mini garden or park to exercise or do some picnic. There are also a few picnic points over there where you could go with your family member and friends and if you have kids that will be an awesome family moment for you. You gather the food and mats along with you and go to the park to spend quality time with the family being close to nature which let you feel lighter.
Feasible accommodation:Calgary is primarily a home for some unbelievable extravagance dwelling choices to carry on with an existence of extravagance. There are a few stages where you might save a room at any of such lodgings ahead of time, so you can pick the one you wish to live at permanently or temporarily which totally depends on you. Such accommodations additionally offer their clients a few incredible deals. Subsequent to getting offers from such sites, you could set aside money and book a room at the top extravagant lodgings. Numerous people commit the mistake of not reserving a room prior to arrival, which brings them some inconvenience such as getting lodgings over far distances. It is important to reserve the room for a definite period before you arrive which will help you in making the trip possibly more enjoyable.
Delicious cuisine:If you are a food lover, this place is for you as everyone should adequately eat the delicious dishes everywhere within the country or outside the country. The primary thing is food, and people consist of groups who go to different restaurants in Calgary to experience their cuisine. Check out Calgarychinese for more information regarding restaurants. Some vacation locations have magnificent food that individuals miss significantly, yet Calgary isn’t one of them. Wherever you stroll around here, you’ll track down a wonderful, sweeping menu with delightful food. This makes it the best objective for culinary fans. Assuming you’re among the various individuals who simply go to new regions to eat new food sources, you should likewise investigate Calgary. In this way, everybody ought to go to Calgary since they can eat extraordinary feasts there.
Climate difference:Calgary is a delightful city to call home because of its superb environment. The greater part of the time is radiant and agreeable, which makes it ideal for going on agricultural journeys. Although you see winters there, they don’t last long as the summer and are not quite as extreme as those in different parts of Canada. Furthermore, you’ll have the option to totally partake in each of the four seasons since you will not need to face the extreme climate. Calgary is an exceptionally perfect city for travelling. There are many green spaces to find, as well as the air is unadulterated. In this manner, if you’re searching for a spot that has everything, Calgary is the point in fact perfect for you.
Education system:Calgary’s extraordinary school system is one of its distinctive highlights. A few prestigious schools and foundations, although the most renowned and best schools in Canada are based in Calgary. If you’re searching for a spot to bring up your children, Calgary will clearly be a phenomenal choice to think of it. Because of the city’s flourishing economy, qualified individuals have different open positions there. Calgary is a city that is continuously developing and creating more opportunities for its citizens and travellers.
Healthcare system:Calgary has absolutely the best clinical facilities in the country. You’ll always get treated by safe and qualified hands. Various medical centres and emergency clinics are accessible, and most are arranged directly in the city’s core. In this manner, you’ll not be excessively to cover the far distance from different locations whether you need to see a medical expert or want to take your kid to the specialist. You can easily do that. Furthermore, one of Calgary’s most cheap commodities is medical care. You can find centres which acknowledge only the sum you can spend on an instalment plan. What’s more, for individuals who need monetary help for medical services and therapies, there are various govt-based options to opt for instantly.
The post Why Should We Visit Calgary at Once? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Jahar Tsarnaev, the so-called Boston Bomber — trust me, he didn’t do it — had his death sentence commuted to life. In March 2022, however, the US Supreme Court reinstated it. I have written a song to the tune of Charlie on the MTA, and am looking for a band to record it.
Later in this article, I show the insights that were had by Joachim Hagopian, while the courtroom was awaiting Jahar’s sentencing in 2015. The bombing occurred in 2013, nearly a decade ago.
JAHAR ON THE MTA
Music by Henry Work, 1865; Lyrics by Mary Maxwell, 2022.
(Sung to tune of “Charlie on the MTA,” as in this version by Isto:
O will he ever return, will he ever return?
What ACTUALLY occurred is unlearned.
It took masterful collusion,
To arrive at “execution,”
A SENTENCE that he DID NOT earn. [Poor Ja-HAR]
Will the prisoner return? Will he ever return?
Some SAY that his chances are slim.
All it TAKES is one “OK,”
It could happen any day,
For his MURder to ‘LEGALLY’ begin. [Poor America!]
Will TAMERLAN return? No, HE’LL never return.
His TWENTY-SIX YEARS are through. [Poor Tam!]
Could he BE a boxing star?
The family figured he’d go far,
And for TODashev, the same is true. [Poor Ib-ra-gim!]
[Guitar interlude]
Will he ever return? Will Maret’s nephew return?
His FATE is all-but-sealed,
Unless heaps of good PEOPLE
Stop acting like SHEEPLE,
And demand that the truth be revealed! [Poor Tsar-na-evs!]
Will happy times return? Of COURSE they’ll return,
(As Sean COLLIER’S case gets solved one day!) [Poor Sean!]
May you live to shake the hand,
of the Chechen who was damned,
And see him RIDE the M-T-A.
Jahar on the M-T-A.
Jahar smiling, on the M-T-A.
[Note: I need to find a band that is willing to record this song professionally. If you wish to sing it or play it, please contact me at MaxwellMaryLLB@gmail.com]
Hagopian’s InsightsI have only recently read an article that was printed on 12 April 2015, after the conviction, but before the sentencing, of Jahar Tsarnaev in US district court in Boston. It’s by Joachim Hagopian, who wrote it for Globalresearch.ca. He is a former Army officer and West Point graduate, now living in Bali.
The article is long, so I’ve reduced it. I was surprised to see how a disinterested observer was able to notice so many faults of the government’s presentation, virtually on the spot. Note: the headings for these sections were inserted by me, but otherwise I haven’t tampered with Hagopian’s prose in any way:
Dun Meng and Professor James FoxMuch of the testimony and so called evidence was based on the FBI and local law enforcement’s dishonest versions of events that were based near exclusively on the government’s one star witness’s faulty, changeable, non-credible accounting of events. The identity of this sole witness that even through the trial was never revealed, testified in court by his fake name “Danny.”
Later it was learned that Danny’s real name was Dun Meng. A Chinese national finishing his masters at Northeastern University in engineering, during his alleged carjacking, Meng claimed that the deceased brother Tamerlan confessed that he and his younger brother were responsible for both the Marathon bombings as well as the murder of the MIT campus policeman.
Throughout his trial testimony, the key witness maintained constant eye contact with what seemed almost like his handler, Northeastern University criminology professor James Fox. Fox clearly acted as Meng’s coach and gatekeeper.
Professor Fox was merely playing his part. And that part also included state propagandist. Samplings from articles he wrote for the Boston Globe, starting with his response to the difficulty of finding a cemetery that would accept Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body. Fox wrote:
“I appreciate why many folks want nothing to do with the corpse of a man who apparently hated America and our way of life… If and when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were scheduled to die, his name and image would be plastered all over the news, further increasing his undeserved celebrity…”
When the strength of the state’s evidence to convict and execute a man relies solely on one incognito witness whose tightly controlled testimony repeatedly kept changing depending on whom he talked to, how can a guilty verdict be considered legitimate or fair? [Meng] he kept changing his story on numerous occasions.
Was Jahar Tsarnaev Really Bleeding When in the Boat?
Dzhokhar was supposedly laying there nearly bleeding to death from the alleged gunshot exchange with police a few hours earlier. Yet on video footage the young man is seen emerging unassisted from the boat appearing bloodless and uninjured only to be admitted to the emergency hospital room in critical condition suffering from a deeply sliced neck wound that prevented him from speaking for weeks.
How did that happen while in police custody? And that came after a swarm of police shot a slew of bullet holes into the boat while Tsarnaev supposedly lay there gravely injured…. That barrage of gunfire into that boat by FBI and/or local police was also intended to kill the only suspect.
Backpacks and Judy Clarke’s “Admission” of Jahar’s Guilt
A number of paid mercenaries from Craft International, a paramilitary private security contractor out of Texas were also spotted in photos wearing those same black colored government-issued-like backpacks. The question of whether any of them laid their backpack and its contents on the ground never quite came up in the trial.
In Boston the unmistakable heavy presence of the military and special ops personnel assembled en-masse instantly on the scene after the marathon explosions is yet another giveaway indicating that the feds had something if not everything to do with this tragedy.
Photos of the shredded backpacks allegedly containing the bombs never matched the backpacks of the Tsarnaev brothers. But the fact that they did match a number of Kraft International private security contractors photographed at the scene meant nothing.
Tsarnaev has now been found guilty of all 30 counts after the jury’s 11-hour deliberation earlier this week. Despite his pleading not guilty to the 30 counts (17 carrying the death penalty), he was charged within a week after the April 15th bombing.
His lead defense attorney Judy Clark several days ago conceded to the jury that her client was guilty in her closing argument.
Tamerlan Died in Custody, Witnesses Were RemovedA series of photos of a naked and handcuffed Tamerlan were taken as the police placed him into custody and inside a patrol car. Both CNN and the Boston Globe reported that Tamerlan was alive in police custody. Yet the feds’ official line was that after the brothers robbed a 7-Eleven, Tamerlan was killed in the Watertown shootout with the police while Dzhokhar backed the car over him as he made his temporary getaway.
It can only be one or the other. The photos don’t lie. Cops do. For nearly two years all the potential defense witnesses were constantly harassed, deported, jailed, and even killed, thus, virtually silencing any chance of a fair defense for Dzhokhar.
Clearly it was a training exercise alright, Bostonians was used as a guinea-pig litmus test for assessing how a large US urban population of over a million people would react to a first practice, simulation dry-run of martial law in America, conveniently prepping us for what’s to come.
The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act upheld by the US Supreme Court a year ago now permits the US military to invade our homes without warrant, arrest us without charges, and imprison us indefinitely without trial, legal representation or due process.
The FBI’s InvolvementWhoWhatWhy has asserted that older brother Tamerlan was most likely an FBI informant. Through court motions last year Dzhokhar’s defense team submitted evidence that the FBI had approached the older Tsarnaev brother in an effort to recruit him to spy on his fellow Boston Chechen and Muslim community.
The US intel community has a verifiably long history both here and around the globe of seeking out troubled youth and young people like the Tsarnaevs as informants in its worldwide clandestine operations.
The FBI and CIA’s common misuse of paying informants to entrap others globally into joining plots of terrorism was well documented in researcher-author Trevor Aaronson’s book The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism.
Between 9/11 and 2011 he confirmed that 508 defendants were recruited by informants paid up to $100,000 in multiple sting operations. In fact, in all but only three high profile cases were the FBI and their informants not involved. …
Bomb-making “Evidence”Of all the receipts for typical everyday items purchased, the only receipts found in Tamerlan’s pockets were receipts for his self-incriminating bomb-making materials.
That’s almost like finding the unblemished passport belonging to the lead 9/11 box-cutter a couple blocks from the towers’ ashes the day after, or the Hebdo gunman’s wallet with ID left carelessly on purpose in the cab so those terrorists could instantly be identified. …
The traces of bomb materials in Tamerlan’s apartment underwent the same flip floppy logic as a transparent prosecution ploy used to convict the younger brother. Three times the feds changed their tune on traces of the bomb material being found in the apartment and whether the brothers had outside help or not.
These discrepancies consistently went unchallenged by the defense during the trial as if pre-scripted to let the shady government off the hook in its back and forth rendition of “truth.”
More bogus, planted propaganda against the brothers shortly after they were identified as the prime suspects was the FBI claim linking them to the triple murder case in Waltham, Massachusetts that took place on September 11th, 2011. Only during the trial did it come out that there existed absolutely no evidence that Tamerlan was involved. …
Tamerlan’s Trip to Russia in 2012The Tsarnaev brothers were supposedly on a no fly list acting as more evidence supporting prior contact with intelligence agencies, yet Tamerlan was permitted to fly to known terrorist hotbed Chechnya and neighboring Dagestan from January 21, 2012 to July 17, 2012.
His family members insist he spent his entire time with family, among them a distant cousin who heads a non-violent organization critical of Western policies toward Islam. Yet his visit was used by prosecution as so called evidence that the older brother was “radicalized” there and came home an inspired terrorist seeking revenge on America.
A New York Times article dated April 20, 2013 suggests that Tamerlan was first approached by the FBI in January 2011 after a return trip from Russia. Russian intelligence services that monitored phone calls in Chechnya warned the FBI in March 2011 that Tamerlan was becoming a potential threat.
Yet the FBI allowed him to travel yet again to Russia despite being on a no fly list and less than nine months after his return from that final trip abroad, the Boston Marathon bombings occurred. This damning piece of government evidence makes the feds minimally guilty of criminal gross negligence if not actually a criminal accomplice.
Killing TodashevYet another despicable chapter to this tragic saga is the FBI’s murder of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s friend in Florida. Within weeks after the Boston bombings, an unarmed Ibragim Todashev was shot by an FBI agent previously reprimanded for excessive force as an Oakland police officer. Initially the FBI lied about the circumstances, falsely claiming Todashev wielded a knife. …
The Justice Department (overseeing the FBI) and a Florida prosecutor cleared the murdering FBI agent of any wrongdoing.
The official government’s response that in effect supports such egregious acts of violence toward innocent civilians strongly indicates that the victim knew too much and the crime syndicate’s answer for people aware of the feds’ evildoing is to systematically assassinate those who might incriminate the federal government. Neutralizing perceived threats is standard operating procedure….
— end of excerpts from Joachim Hagopian’s article
Note: It surprised me to see how Hagopian, in 2015, picked out almost the same items that I used when writing the MTA song for Jahar a couple of weeks ago. Granted, my song does not mention Dun Meng and his carjacking. I did originally write a stanza about that, but it made my song have six verses. When I realized that Isto’s singing of the “Charlie on the MTA” song had only five verses, I chopped Danny out, so we could use Isto’s music for a karaoke, so to speak. Please try it out! Here is the YouTube video by Isto:
The post A Song for Jahar Tsarnaev, and Hagopian’s Early Comments on the 2015 Trial appeared first on Granite Grok.
There are several “schools of thought” on the vaccine as bioweapon theory. One suggests that the elites never got the real thing – they got a placebo. Another says that unless you got the fresh stuff adequately stored and delivered, the risk decreases exponentially, and maybe they got that.
The latter also plays well with the idea that some folks have a severe reaction and even die, while others have varying degrees of distress over time and still more experience few or no side effects.
We can’t expect that everyone handled the drug correctly, but we know that there has been a significant rise in sudden death alongside the exponential increase in lives lost resulting from denying people observational care or ongoing treatment of severe ailments.
All tolled it is a historical genocide that continues to claim some of the beautiful people. The useful idiots, if you like. Those who may think they’re part of the master race the elites want left to run the earth properly but are not.
Virologist Dr. Almyra Oveta Fuller appears to have been marked for the latter. She just died suddenly.
Watch: Prominent Virologist Dr. A. Oveta Fuller, who advocated for emergency use authorization of three Covid vaccines, has died suddenly from a brief unknown illness. pic.twitter.com/ovq1ltNCcS
— The Canadian Independent (@canindependent) November 21, 2022
She was instrumental in the approval, and now she has died suddenly. And it might not be The Jab that did her in, but then it may. With so many people dying, it’s starting to get that “let God sort them out” feel.
Oh, and an American Airlines pilot died suddenly while the plane was in the air last week. The Captain landed the plane. The deceased was Captain in training, Patrick Ford, and very likely vaccinated for COVID-19, which, ironically and tragically, he can no longer get.
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There is a term that Democrats have used profusely during the Midterms to describe most Republican candidates, especially those supported by Donald Trump. This label was an unfair character assassination.
Some Republicans still question the outcome of the 2020 Election. With all the irregularities uncovered and proven in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia, examining the results is not beyond reason. We may be election cynics, but denier is a gross stretch.
The hypocritical nature of these claims is that Hillary Clinton has written a book and made a career of speaking engagements since 2016. Nobody has a problem with Clinton claiming the Election was stolen by President Donald Trump. She has been playing the victim for six years. Stacey Abrams has refused to concede the Election won by Governor Kemp in Georgia. These two women define denier, but nobody calls them out for their actions. Somebody saying there is no way that Joe Biden got 80+ million votes is a Right-Wing Radical Extremist not deserving of holding office. There is no consistency, but the plan worked, and the voters bought the message.
There is no logical reason that the midterms turned out as they did. With the state of the country and the dismal performance of Joe Biden, the Republicans should have produced better results. They should have won a clear-cut majority in the House and possibly turned the Senate. The messaging and not the performance generates results, and the Democrats are superior in their messaging. It also helps to have the media and money on your side.
In politics, like life, the fish stinks from the head down. The messaging for the Democrats started with Joe Biden. The use of the term Mega MAGA obviously was not a Biden original. But that is to be expected of the Plagiarist in Chief. Whenever Biden found a microphone this fall, he worked the moniker into his remarks. He demeaned half the country by calling all Republicans election deniers and linking them to January 6. It got old quickly, but the repetition certainly impacted the electorate.
We all remember Biden’s famous “Dark Red” speech flanked by two Marines in their dress blues. It was insulting to the Right but worked magic with the Left. The address was a new low for the President, but the results were exactly what he intended. The media and every Democrat candidate jumped on the Mega MAGA bandwagon. Election deniers and negativity became the Party’s keynotes, and it successfully minimized the Midterm changes to Congress. The Democrats held the Senate and barely lost the House. What was to be Red Tsunami became a Red Trickle.
Elections have been ugly for many cycles, but the 2022 Midterms set the bar very low for the future. Money flowed from state to state depending on the most recent polling numbers. Democrat money was spent on their candidates and the Republican candidate the Dems thought would be the weakest opponent. It is a new “legal” form of election tampering. It all worked, which is sad for the future, especially if these tactics become the new norm.
Elections and politics have always been a bloodsport, and it creates a high level of anxiety to follow them closely, but it is necessary that we get our side of the story out. The messaging of the Right will have to be a grassroots effort. The media will never cooperate with the Republicans. They will turn on Biden, but that is self-preservation and necessary to make room for Gavin Newsome, the new hope and golden boy. But they will always carry the water for the Left. We need to formulate our messaging and delivery; the urgency could not be more significant.
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If taxation is theft (it is), then what’s this? “[A] forthcoming new law that would permit the government to take away one’s property or goods prior to being charged with a crime.”
Civil and criminal asset forfeiture is not new. In both cases, your property is charged with a crime separate from your own. I you are found innocent, your property may still be guilty. It’s i theft by the state for its own enrichment. The new Ruling Democrats in (The) British (are coming!) Columbia has proposed a law allowing the Government to take your stuff without charging you with a crime.
The details are sketchy because formal legislation has not yet been presented, but the shadows of the penumbras that justify the theft are as follows.
“By seizing this property from high-level, predatory criminal organizations and individuals, the province can take away this incentive and send a clear message to organized crime,” the government added.
What if the Government is a high-level criminal organization? Given that it also controls elections (and the courts), how are citizens expected to send a clear message to that organized crime?
The answer to that slippery slope is nothing short of a gang war where the Government is an armed gang, and the citizens (This is Canada) are not so much. And while it’s nice to see Civil Liberties Organizations suggest there is nothing civil about the proposal, where exactly do they expect to find redress?
“The BCCLA (British Columbia Civil Liberties Association) believes that UWOs are an unnecessary expansion of government power,” the organization said in a statement, adding that such measures are “an unacceptable infringement of Canadians’ rights to the presumption of innocence, due process and privacy.”
The Canadian courts may be worse than those in the US, and Canadians have significantly fewer rights, and those are quickly taken away if the COVID response is any indication.
I wish them the best of luck, and I’d like to thank British Columbia’s New Democratic Party for the warning. Gavin Newsom will be looking to impose something like this in California, and as California goes, so does Vermont, New York, Illinois…you get the picture. Or have we done that already?
The post Canadian Province: We Can Stop Crime By Being The Criminals appeared first on Granite Grok.
It is three minutes to midnight on complete, irreversible change to what it means to be human and free. The time has once again come to ask yourselves if you really want to be free, or if you just like how the word ‘freedom’ rolls off the tongue with the self-righteousness and emotional dissipation of a four-lettered word.
The time has come to prepare for municipal elections, and for these elections to hold their needed weight, we, the people, need to reorganize.
First, get input from the people in your community; determine local agendas locally. Bottom to top, in to out, local to general.
Second, “leaders” need to be questioned by the people, not only the foxes guarding the hen house.
Third, those we choose to represent us, our leaders, must be available mentally and emotionally, as well as physically.
Fourth, there needs to be an allowance for theoretical thinking outside the box, because hammering a screw isn’t working.
Fifth, localities should employ different approaches that work in their communities rather than finding the new cookie-cutter pattern.
Sixth, local communities should be educating local citizens on the institutions and avenues that exist and how to use them properly. For example, how to petition a warrant article.
Seventh, there needs to be local concerned citizen leadership groups that are outside the party structures and outside government office who can make themselves available to educate and empower fellow citizens regardless of their partisan interests.
These seven points will again encourage local citizens to know their local political power and feel less inclined to believe that transnational corporations, alien ideologies, and distant government agencies know what is best for them. We will return to our founding ideology of individual rights, local sovereignty, and continued unity and independence through municipal elections.
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Thank you all for your support and your votes! I won my election to Merrimack District 27, so you are officially my constituents (well, I won’t get sworn in until December 7, but no harm in a little anticipation.) My running mate, JR Hoell, also won in district 27; my husband Dan won in Epsom.
The winners in Dunbarton/Hooksett are Stephen Boyd, John Leavitt, Yury Polozov, and Tom Walsh; Alan Turcotte won in Allenstown. Keith Murphy won Senate District 16, which includes Hooksett; Howard Pearl won district 17, which includes Allenstown and Epsom; Ruth Ward won district 8, which includes Dunbarton.
I’ve been working on the recounts, which is always an interesting process. Most of the differences between election night and the recount are due to human error; if it was a hand count, you get transposed digits and some math errors. Misplacing a batch of ballots (either by hand or machine) is always possible: that’s probably what happened in the Manchester ward 6 recount (a stack of 25 ballots marked for both Republicans seems not to have been counted last week.). Machine versus hand count differences is largely caused by voters not following directions: by attempting to cross out a vote or making weird marks. One district I was recounting had an independent on the ballot, who got a lot of support from both sides – but many of them first voted for their party’s candidates, then tried to fix their ballot to vote for the independent. The machines couldn’t pick that up, but it was pretty easy for humans.
The House is currently at 201 Republicans, 198 Democrats, and one tie. One election from each side is being appealed to the Ballot Law Commission, and the tie will be decided by the House on December 7. We can accept one candidate or the other, toss a coin, or call a special election – probably plus other options I don’t know about! Regardless of the outcome of these three cases, it’s clear the next session is going to be critically dependent on attendance. Extreme legislation, from either side, is unlikely to pass.
This year, I’ve submitted ten bill requests and will cosponsor more, as I’m asked. Most of these were requests by agencies I deal with on my various committees.
Mostly minutia, I’m afraid, but as long as we have laws about these things, I believe they should be accurate, up to date, and not interfere with efficient operations. I’d like to repeal some but don’t think it’s feasible this year.
Organization Day, December 7, the House will meet to elect the Speaker, the House Clerk, the Secretary of State, and the Treasurer. This time, we will also judge the qualifications of the member whose election is tied. After that meeting, everything is backstage, working on committee assignments and finalizing the bills. I’m going to take a trip since with Dan most likely on Finance, we’ll be busy until the end of June.
Representative Carol McGuire
carol@mcguire4house.com
The post NH State Rep Carol McGuire – Your State House 09/23/22: Elections, Recounts, and Bills appeared first on Granite Grok.
In trying to find a couple of Thanksgiving posts from the past that I wanted to post up, I stumbled upon this and thought that I’d share it again. After all, who knew that I and TMEW would have to be re-living my own admonitions below in raising the Grandson (a “GrandFamily”)? An abstract from 2014: Thanksgiving – a re-acquainting and a reality check
…But while I say goodbye on one hand, I am still having the opportunity of my life in becoming re-acquainted with the Youngest. My time with him as a “full-of-himself” teenager and early-twenties was no fun at all and there were a lot of times I wondered what the heck I was raising. These last two weeks, however, have revealed a more laid-back son, more willing to smile and showing the signs of our relationship moving from Dad-the-Father to Dad-the-Advisor. Now out of the Army, he has a bewildering number of options as he deals with some after effects of his hitch and service. Before it used to be “leave me alone – *I* can figure it out!”; now it is more often than not ‘Hey Dad, what do you think about…”. It was also fun as he kept TMEW and I in stitches with some stories from his service during our Thanksgiving dinner. Dunno why they came out today, but mirthful doesn’t even come close.
It’s unreal how smart I got in 4 years. It’s also humbling that some things that I wanted to pass on (“You will always be a parent.”) actually seem to have taken root. For that, I am thankful to God for giving me the patience in dealing with is “idiosyncrasies”. The reality check, THE reality check, for those that still have young or middling kids at home…
…is this one:it is scary to now realize how closely my kids watched me as they grew up – what I said, what I did, how I acted, and how I treated others. They now tell me “Dad, you always said to…” and “Dad, remember when you did this for…” why I ask them “Why did you do it that way?”. And sometimes, they don’t even say a thing – but I can see the lessons that have been passed on from my Mom through me to them. Teachings. They matter.
Traditions. They matter, no matter what folks say is the “new normal”. And the family is the best way to pass down what works. No, not everyone has the best family situations (for me, my parents split when I was young and my Dad passed away before I hit Jr. High) but all in all, it works. And that, again, is the reality check for me this Thanksgiving. Life matters, family matters – and the way you live your life in front of your family (especially when you think they aren’t paying attention) matters even more.
Life teaches lessons if you only would pay attention.
This is Thanksgiving. And make no mistake, I watch the Grandson watching us just the Eldest and Youngest did all that time ago.
And for that, I am thankful.
The post Thanksgiving – a Quick Rememberence that Family Matters and Advice to Young Parents appeared first on Granite Grok.
Bumped from 11/27/2014 Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to Him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased Him in his abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of His common providence, but also smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense and establishment of our unalienable rights and liberties … :
It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the 18th day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise; that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor; and that together with their sincere acknowledgments and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please Him graciously to afford His blessings on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the public council of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings, independence and peace; that it may please Him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
(H/T: The Blaze)
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Minus the beer, however. But I’d be ready…and waiting…eyes twinkling in anticipation.
Anyone willing to lay odds on how it would turn out?
Heh!
(HT: Matt)
The post Humor – Yes, If I Had a Nephew That Old, I’d Be That Conservative Uncle appeared first on Granite Grok.
Wait for it….wait for it…it’s all about the flavor!
A little laugh for you Tweatons ahead of the holiday. #EverybodyLovesRaymond #Thanksgiving #DebraBarone pic.twitter.com/3PUcSaz0H3
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) November 23, 2022
There! We all need a bit of a laugh on Thanksgiving Day!
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