Claims in a special counsel report that the president’s neurological decline has progressed to the point where he is too incompetent to be held accountable for alleged improper handling of sensitive documents drew rather furious responses from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Still, it seems obvious to a great many Americans that their president cannot possibly serve a second term. That the Biden campaign criticizes the integrity of the report further tarnishes his credibility, amplifying the national anxiety about the 2024 presidential election.

An Awkward Offensive

The race to rewrite special counsel Robert K. Hur’s report about Biden’s handling of classified documents reveals an awkward, if not Orwellian, effort. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) labeled the findings “right-wing extremism,” while the president’s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, claimed, “This is a report that went off the rails … A shabby work product.” Biden and his defenders found the report’s criticisms of Donald Trump legitimate while condemning any negative observations about Biden.

The mainstream media has rallied to the president. The New York Times proclaimed that “[t]he report … cleared Mr. Biden of criminal wrongdoing,” and the commander-in-chief made similar assertions at his Feb. 9 press conference:

“I’ve seen the headlines since the report was released about my willful retention of documents. This [undiscernible] assertion is not only misleading, they’re just plain wrong.

“That’s the counsel’s decision to make … And they decided not to move forward. For any extraneous commentary, they don’t know what they’re talking about. That has no place in this report. The bottom line is the matter is now closed.”

This effort to sweep clear prosecutorial conclusions under the Oval Office rug instead kicks up more dust. Hur found that Mr. Biden illegally handled documents; the special counsel’s comments about mental acuity were necessary to determine whether he could establish that such actions were intentional. The two factual issues – mishandling of documents and the mens rea (criminal intent) to knowingly have done so – are both essential elements for prosecution. Democrats’ efforts to separate these facts from the report’s conclusions are even less credible than the administration’s claims that Republicans won’t permit Biden to secure the Mexican border.

Hiding Biden

Tellingly, as the chief executive addressed the nation, he railed against a prosecutor conducting required work:

“I know there is some attention paid to some language in the report about my recollection of events. There is even reference that I don’t remember when my son died. How in the Hell dare he raise that? Frankly, when I was asked the question I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their damn business.”

This indignation invites concerns over the president’s thinking processes – he is an attorney and surely understands that it is standard practice to ask such questions when assessing mental competence to stand trial or prove the intent element of a crime. The president defended himself against the faulty memory allegations by saying he never forgets because he wears every day “the rosary [Beau] got at Our Lady of …, ” unable to recall the name of the church. The Hur report noted other lapses and errors, including an inability to recall the name Roe v. Wade and the years when he was vice president.

Lying Again, or Forgetting Again?

There is little reasonable doubt that the president suffers from persistent memory problems. The special counsel report found “Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023.” Those lapses formed a substantial basis for the decision not to prosecute Biden for mishandling documents. Now Democrats and the White House dismiss the weak memory evidence that rescued him and claim he was somehow “proved innocent.”

In his public statements, Biden snapped back:

“I did not share classified information. I did not share it. [Reporter in background: With your ghostwriter?] … with my ghostrider [sic]. Guarantee you did not. [Reporter: But the counsel said you did.] No, they did not say that. They did not say that.”

Small wonder the White House seeks to bury that statement by omitting it from the transcript. The Hur report found that various documents – including notes and notebooks containing sensitive information – were recklessly kept in bags, boxes, and other unsecured means at several different locations. The prosecutor specifically determined that Biden had provided classified material to his ghostwriter:

“Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen. These materials included (1) marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, and (2) notebooks containing Mr. Biden’s handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods …

“Mr. Biden shared information, including some classified information, from those notebooks with his ghostwriter …

“[W]hile reading his notebook entries aloud during meetings with his ghostwriter, Mr. Biden sometimes skipped over presumptively classified material and warned his ghostwriter the entries might be classified, but at least three times Mr. Biden read from classified entries aloud to his ghostwriter nearly verbatim …

“Mr. Biden’s lapses in attention and vigilance demonstrate why former officials should not keep classified materials unsecured at home and read them aloud to others, but jurors could well conclude that Mr. Biden’s actions were unintentional. We therefore decline to charge Mr. Biden for disclosure of these passages to his ghostwriter.”

Contrary to the president’s and the media’s claims that Biden was “cleared of any wrongdoing,” the report concluded, “The practices of retaining classified material in unsecured locations and reading classified material to one’s ghostwriter present serious risks to national security, given the vulnerability of extraordinarily sensitive information to loss or compromise to America’s adversaries.”

Ignorance Is Bliss?

Either the president is a savvy dissembler who outsmarted the prosecutor by playing stupid, or his current behavior exhibits precisely the neurological/memory problems documented by Hur as (1) a hurdle to establishing intentional (rather than negligent) mismanagement of files, and (2) a problem for a sympathetic jury: “[H]e is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”

The Democrat response reflects how far fact-deniers will go to advance their power – their ends justify their means. But the end for America is the 2024 candidacy of a man with obvious memory struggles. Biden ironically lashed out at Republicans on Feb. 9: “Time and again, Republicans show they’re a party of chaos and disunion. This is not your father’s Republican Party. They shout about a problem but then do nothing to solve the problem.”

Presumably, the president’s deficiency will serve him equally well when he denies memory of his foreign dealings with son Hunter. This is not your father’s Democratic Party.

 

John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.

The post Biden’s Innocence Based on an Inability To Recall How Guilty He Is appeared first on Granite Grok.

I’m sure that the response of New Hampshire’s free-marketeers to this post would be something along the lines of … Google is a private company and as such has an absolute right to bias its search results any way it wishes, … has an absolute right to employ as may ex-CIA as it wants … if you don’t like it, build your own Google, … blah, blah, blah.

The reality, however, is that Google is a monopoly that has the ability to sway elections AND is being run by ex-CIA, AND rigging elections is exactly what Google (and other Big-Tech except for Elon) is doing.

Google’s algorithm (I don’t even know if that is the correct term) is weighted to disproportionately produce “news” from the hard-Left such as the New York Times and CNN. And as I discussed in a recent post:

… you can have voter ID, paper ballots, get rid of “early voting,” etc., etc., etc., and still not have a functional democracy if the government can censor the information available to voters (e.g., Hunter-laptop) and plant false information (e.g., Russia-bounties, the military are “suckers and losers”). America does NOT have a functional democracy because of government censorship.

Here is the data that shows the bias:

Google News' bias has gotten more pronounced since 2022.

63% of articles came from media outlets AllSides rates as Lean Left or Left. Just 6% were from the right.

Thread https://t.co/2U6I6GwRdf pic.twitter.com/ZyE1L6XMsv

— AllSides (@AllSidesNow) February 22, 2024

Even more ominous is that Google (and Facebook) is run by ex-CIA. But just keep pretending “land of the free,” that America is not a Police State, that our elections aren’t rigged, etc., etc., etc.:

1. Google & Meta function as extensions of the US Intelligence Community. With Jacqueline Lopour, Google's Head of Trust & Safety, and Aaron Berman, Meta's Head of Elections Content/Misinformation Policy, both being career CIA officers, it underscores the CIA's substantial… https://t.co/LdxZLGfekv pic.twitter.com/SpDlz5AGBj

— Name Redacted (@NameRedacted247) February 25, 2024

The post How Google Is Run By The CIA And Is Rigging The Election appeared first on Granite Grok.

Hundreds of millions of pounds of beef are imported into the US every year. Consumers believe because an American company is on the label, the beef is from the USA. As US farmland disappears, we slow down on exports with dwindling farms, imports are rising. The main sources of imported beef are from Australia, Brazil, Uruguay, and other countries.

Even if the label says “USA,” it only means some value was added to the meat in the US. Slicing, packaging, and shipping all qualify it to have the label “product of USA.” That means the cow may have been raised and slaughtered in another country under their rules, not our USDA and FDA rules. There is no way to know…

During the last millennial, there’s been a move from local farms to grocery store food produced in mass quantities. This brought about additives, coloring, fillers, and chemical preservatives. You need a chemistry degree to try and figure out the ingredients. Yet, we trusted the USDA and FDA to do right by us. At fIrst many chemicals were used as preservatives. Then “natural spices or flavoring was labeled without details of what exactly they were. We bought the food anyway.

We want to thank Julie P. for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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Remember “mystery meat” at school lunch? Today, supermarket meat is a mystery. You don’t know if the animal was fed growth hormones, antibiotics, and during processing, preservatives, red dye 40 coloring, Pink slime fillers, carbon monoxide, or even if the cow was raised in the USA. You won’t find any information on the label. How do you even know if it’s fresh!? They inject carbon monoxide into the air during packaging, then heat seal it to give and keep that fresh reddish pink look. It is banned in Japan and Canada because it can mask spoiled meat and fish, but not here. Much of our meat from Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Uruguay is a long way from farm to table. The USDA and FDA do not require a point of origin on the label as long as it was trimmed or cut in the USA.

Move over cows; there are other options!

Redefine Meat:  Lab meat.

The USDA approved lab-grown meat and chicken in June 2023. A factory in Holland prints 500 tons of steaks per month through 3D printers.

The Redefine Meat company will supply printed fillets to German restaurants. Around 110 German restaurants are already buying “meat” from Redefine Meat.

“To begin the process of 3D-pressed meat, scientists biopsy a sample of animal stem cells depending on the desired type of meat: beef, pork, poultry, or even fish. These cells are then subjected to a proliferation process and are immersed in a nutrient-dense serum in a climate-controlled bioreactor. Over several weeks, these cells multiply, interact, and differentiate in the fat and muscle cells that make up the bioink.

This is how a robot arm uses a nozzle to spread this filament of baked meat over each other in thin layers. The arm follows the instructions of an uploaded digital file with computer-aided design software (CAD) to replicate the correct shape and structure of the desired meat. The 3D-printed meat material must be viscose but solid enough to achieve a full structural model of accurate vascularization of tissue depending on the type and cut of meat.” Enjoy your meal! This is the direction the globalist, WHO and WEF are moving toward for “the people.” I’ll bet Bill G (his last name rhymes with hates), doesn’t eat 3D meat or has it in his Hawaii farm/bunker. I doubt any globalists do.

Impossible Foods (impossible burger)

Plant-based meat: Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat sell plant-based concoctions. Using soy, oils, minerals or proteins, flavors, fats, and binders to imitate ground beef. An ingredient called “Heme”, a gene made using yeast and genetically engineered, that gives it the flavor of beef, is controversial for vegans and possible health risks. One has to wonder if the efforts and “processing” involved in an “impossible” burger are more about the “feels” than healthy eating!? Their biggest hype is no animal was hurt and saving the planet. Highly processed food, such as Impossible Burger, reports trouble with digestion due to a lack of enzymes to digest certain carbs and soy. The amount of water used and other environmental impacts in processing have become a question that remains unanswered.

I’m not a geneticist, chemist or biologist, just a consumer looking for answers. I encourage everyone to do their own research and ask questions about their food source. I’m not saying any of the following is safe or not. Just saying you may want to know where your food comes from, when, and how. I’ve been buying beef from a neighboring farm for many years. There is a distinct difference between store beef and the beef I buy from them. The hamburger is infinitely better! The cows are grass-fed and a mixture of silage treated very well, live in open pastures and have shelter. Their fecal waste is made into highly sought-after fertilizer. Every part of the cow is used for byproducts. When their time comes, they are ethically euthanized, and a New Hampshire USDA butcher processes the meat.

Save a farm and buy local!

The post Where’s The Beef? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Tulsi Gabbard, a former U.S. representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district and a decorated military veteran, has emerged as a fascinating potential candidate for the vice-presidential spot in Donald Trump’s administration. Her background, unorthodox political stances, and broad appeal marked by a unique blend of military experience, legislative understanding, and a distinctive foreign policy stance offer a compelling narrative for her potential role in the Trump administration.

Tulsi Gabbard’s political career has been marked by a strong focus on legislative achievements that resonate with a broad spectrum of constituents. During her tenure in Congress, Tulsi Gabbard demonstrated a multifaceted approach to governance, focusing on several key areas:

Environmental Advocacy: Gabbard cosponsored the Coral Reef Sustainability Through Innovation Act of 2016, aiming to promote coral reef research and conservation through federal grants. She supported green energy policies, including transitioning to near-zero greenhouse gas emissions and 100% clean renewable energy.

Affordable Housing Initiatives: Addressing Hawaii’s high cost of living, Gabbard focused on affordable housing issues, highlighting her commitment to economic development and social welfare.

Health and Food Policy Advocacy: Gabbard was a leading advocate for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) food, earning recognition from Food Policy Action for her efforts to improve the nation’s food system and fight against the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act.

National Parks Conservation Support: Gabbard was honored with the “Friend of the National Parks” award from the National Parks Conservation Association for her support of the National Park System, underscoring her commitment to preserving the natural and cultural resources of the United States.

Gabbard’s legislative achievements reflect her dedication to serving the needs and interests of her constituents, showcasing her commitment to environmental protection, economic development, and social welfare.

Military Experience and Foreign Policy Stance: Gabbard’s distinguished military career and experience in the United States Army Reserve have shaped her unique foreign policy views, setting her apart from mainstream Democratic or Republican positions. Her service in Iraq and Kuwait has given her a deep understanding of military operations and strategy.

In this regard, her interactions with the Trump administration have also been notable. Gabbard has met with President Trump and has been critical of specific policies while supporting others.

The potential impact of Tulsi Gabbard’s inclusion in the Trump administration must be considered. The speculation around Gabbard’s possible candidacy for the vice-presidential spot in the Trump administration is intriguing. Her ability to appeal to women, military personnel, and Democrats presents a unique opportunity for the Trump campaign to broaden its support base.

Gabbard’s calm and logical approach could balance Trump’s aggressive style, potentially mellowing his rhetoric and making his administration more appealing to a broader range of voters. Her background in Congress and military experience could help reshape the administration’s policy and public engagement approach.

However, Tulsi Gabbard’s relationship with the World Economic Forum has raised serious concerns among conservatives. WEF is a globalist organization established by Klaus Schwab.

Gabbard’s willingness to support authoritarian regimes under certain conditions has both been criticized and contributed to her distinct foreign policy stance.

Gabbard’s foreign policy views are characterized by a critical view of “regime change wars” and an advocacy for a more diplomatic approach to international relations and a focus on environmentalism. She has shown a willingness to support authoritarian regimes in certain contexts, such as her meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which was controversial due to her defense of his authoritarianism and his use of force against civilians. Additionally, she has expressed support for brutal authoritarian repression in places like Egypt in the name of counter-terrorism, placing her outside of the mainstream of American progressives.

“Gabbard was scrutinized for a 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom the United States government blames for deadly attacks against Syrian civilians during the country’s civil war.”

“Gabbard endorsed independent senator Sanders’ run against Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. Gabbard ended her presidential candidacy in March 2020 and immediately endorsed Joe Biden.

Here is a long list of  Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (2013-202) Congressional Report Card. Conclusion

Is Tulsi Gabbard picture-perfect? No, she is not. Can Republican voters trust her should she become a VP nominee? That’s the question that is still lingering. But, hypothetically, let’s assume Trump chooses her as his running mate; what should we expect?

In a hypothetical situation, Tulsi Gabbard’s potential can be seen by some as a game-changer for the Trump administration. Her selection as Trump’s vice president could bring many benefits, including unifying the Republican base, appealing to a broader range of voters, and balancing influence on Trump’s more combative approach to governance.

“Tulsi Gabbard’s odds of becoming the 2024 Republican vice-presidential candidate surged with a leading bookmaker after Donald Trump said she was on his short list during a Fox News town hall on Tuesday.”

Her legislative achievements, military experience, and distinct foreign policy stance make her a compelling candidate for a vice-presidential role. The benefits of her selection, including her broad appeal and potential to influence the administration’s approach, warrant serious consideration.

In short, her candidacy remains speculative, and further developments will provide more insight into the direction of the Trump administration. Gabbard’s unique blend of experiences and perspectives could significantly influence the Trump administration’s policies and approach to governance, setting a new precedent for the role of vice president in American politics.

 

The views and opinions expressed by contributors are those of the author and may not reflect the opinion or position of  Grok Media, GraniteGrok.com, its authors, advertisers, donors, or sponsors.

The post Tulsi Gabbard As Trump’s Running Mate? appeared first on Granite Grok.

No one, including (I suspect) the lone Democrat Rep who sponsored the legislation, New Market Democrat Ellen Read, expects HB1102 to get very far. The Bill would modify the state’s animal cruelty law to effectively ban English and French bulldogs, bull mastiffs, Boston terriers, boxers, pugs, shih tzus, Lhasa apsos, and Pekingese.

By ban, I mean the breeding for sale of Brachycephalic Dogs. These are flat-faced pups with shortened snouts that can lead to a variety of pre-ordained health issues. According to this source,

While not all of these dogs have associated health problems, the shape of the nose and head of a brachycephalic dog can place them at risk for a condition called brachycephalic airway syndrome, says Dr. Cheryl Yuill for Veterinary Centers of America. VCA Hospitals. There are four distinct upper airway abnormalities that can cause this condition, and a brachycephalic dog can have one or more of these abnormalities.

Read’s Bill would prohibit their sale in the state, their breeding being statutorily defined as animal cruelty, changes that include two or more of “an animal that has a birth deformity that causes suffering.”

No matter your thoughts on Bull Dogs, Pugs, or any other related varieties, labradors, for example, tend to be born with hip dysplasia. It may or may not cause suffering, but the odds of it are not low, while treatment can be reasonable and noninvasive. My dog, Cosmo, was diagnosed with hip dysplasia around the age of one. He’s been on joint supplements since (a daily chewable tablet), and, as he approaches his 8th birthday, has never once shown any discomfort, lack of mobility, or disinterest in testing his speed or agility at the dog park (or chasing critters in the yard) since diagnosed. But, technically, were the breeder to have had two such instances in that litter (his was eight pups), I believe they could be said to have violated the statute as modified by HB1102.

It’s absurd. The quality of his life, and ours for having him in it, have been exceptional. And while I’ve never owned a Brachycephalic Dog, I know people who have or do, and they love each other a great deal, experiencing the joys of pet and owner (not to mention the added commerce created by pet ownership in general).

In other words, whether a constituent requested this Bill or it came to Rep. Read in a progressive fever dream, it is a ridiculous proposition. Two of the (would be) banned dogs are in the top ten most popular breeds in the US, with the French Bulldog at number one (the other is the English Bulldog at No. 6). Related: The Climate Cult is “Coming” For the Family Pet – Dogs and Cats Contribute to Global Warming.

The Bill does not ban your getting a breed outside New Hampshire and bringing it home, but that then encourages prospective pet owners to take their business outside the state. The actual message is anti-local dog breeding, which you’d think might make them more accountable to their customers than those outside the state. I assume that HB1102 would also end the ability of rescue services to bring them here for adoption to good, happy homes.

If you are inclined to appear and express your doubts about this as an exercise of state authority, a public hearing is scheduled on 03/05/2024 01:00 pm LOB 301-303, with a Full Committee Work Session scheduled for 03/06/2024 10:00 am LOB 301-303

The post NH Dem’s Dog Ban Bill appeared first on Granite Grok.

Many Presidents have tempered their policy positions while campaigning for or during their second term. Bill Clinton was praised by many for his move toward the middle, allowing him to get much accomplished in his second term. What Joe Biden has been doing the last few weeks is evidence his reelection staff is in panic mode.

They will say or do whatever is necessary to counter the damaging polls coming out of swing states that will determine the winner in 2024.

Michigan is an excellent example to analyze because the President has to win Michigan and is currently behind Trump in one-to-one polling. Joe Biden’s Green Policies and his mandate to phase out internal combustion vehicles are destroying the auto industry in Michigan and thousands of good-paying union jobs. Green Energy has been the number one policy of this Administration, and Biden has been unyielding in his focus until now. The difference today is that the impact of Biden’s premature and poor policy decisions has been devastating enough to break Biden’s support by the Michigan voters. With his policy no longer set in stone, Biden will reassess exhaust emissions that will delay the death of gas-driven automobiles. Biden’s difficulty securing the support of the powerful UAW and the recent announcement that the Teamsters are backing Trump has forced Biden’s hand. This Teamster decision will mark the first time they have supported a Republican in nearly fifty years.

This policy change is good news for the autoworkers in Michigan but leaves automakers questioning their future focus. Do they continue shifting their attention to electric vehicles, or is this a short-term flip solely for votes, and Biden will return to his pro-green push? Nobody except Biden can answer that question, and who would believe his answer? The Radical Left will pay close attention to this issue as any deviation from his green policies will bring stiff resistance.

The other issue generating interest and debate is also a high-wire act for Biden as he does not want to alienate one block of Democrats as he satisfies another. Michigan has a significant Muslim population that has been critical of any sign of Biden’s support for Israel. This Muslim pressure, along with the Radical Left, in other words, The Squad, has been having an impact on Biden’s tempered support of Israel as they defend themselves against Hamas and Hezbollah.

Joe Biden has sent billions of our tax dollars to Ukraine and consistently demands more funds. There are reports of kickbacks from Ukraine into the Biden Family accounts. Biden tells us how important it is to give Ukraine the resources to protect its borders while ours remains completely open. When it comes to Israel, his message is very different. Instead of funds, he sends Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel to urge them to stop their attack on Hamas. He publicly denounces the push into Gaza by Israeli ground troops on their mission to retaliate for the Hamas attack of October 7 and to eliminate the potential repeat of such a breach of their sovereignty. Israel was once our strongest ally in the Middle East. Still, Biden is doing irreversible damage to that relationship if only to appease his connection with the Radical Left and to buy Muslim votes in places like Michigan. It is a transparent and shameless act but one we have come to expect from our Shadow president.

The post Biden’s Policies And Swing State Polls appeared first on Granite Grok.

The man who occasionally (rarely?) sits behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office (photo ops?) can’t seem to find his way onstage. He has difficulty making it to the podium.

He appears to shake hands with people who aren’t on the stage. He frequently speaks to or about people who aren’t there—because they’re dead (e.g., Francois Mitterrand, who died in 1996, Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017, or Rep. Jackie Walorski who died before a conference that she had convened).

He just spoke of asking President Lopez Obrador of Mexico to open the gate between Gaza and Israel. He continues to repeat tall tales about various events that have been fact-checked as false. He slurs words together.

When he is finally done. he can’t find his way off of the stage. Does he seem OK to you?

The latest buzz? The report about the classified documents about Afghanistan and Ukraine found in cardboard boxes in Mr. Biden’s garage and in his office at the Penn Biden Center. As Mr. Biden was the vice-president or a senator at the time, he was not legally allowed to declassify and retain those documents.

Will he be indicted? Per special counsel Robert Hur—no. Why?

Mr. Hur noted that Mr. Biden’s memory was so poor that he couldn’t remember when he was vice president or when his son Beau died, among other things. Mr. Hur stated that Mr. Biden would be a sympathetic elderly defendant and a jury wouldn’t convict. Not that AG Garland would actually issue an indictment against his buddy. C’mon, man

Are you still planning to vote for this person as president of the United States?

The post Night Cap: Biden Couldn’t Find Memory Lane With … appeared first on Granite Grok.

Nationally, Trump is ahead by nearly 60 points. Yesterday, Trafalgar had Trump up by 20+ points in SC. Today, inevitability has again raised its head as the real numbers finally roll in from South Carolina—another sweeping victory with what looks like 60 percent of primary voters choosing President Trump.

One thing I’m noticing as results from the primary continue to come in is Nikki Haley’s relative strength in Columbia and Charleston — two of the most Democratic-leaning areas in South Carolina. We don’t yet know just how many Democrats skipped their party’s contest on Feb. 3 in order to support her tonight. But it seems her campaign message has broken through to some.

Donald Trump has claimed all but three counties in the entire state (Charleston, Richland, and Beaufort), which has inspired the New York Times to update this headline.

Trump Defeats Haley, Delivering a Crushing Blow in Her Home State

 

It’s not a surprise; from what I recall, she has never polled well enough there to come even close. Sadly for the party, losing in her home state by double digits – typically an embarrassing drubbing in any other circumstance – is not a reason to acquiesce. She’s convinced that 60+ percent of Republicans isn’t the message. The other 39% are – keeping in mind that were it the other way around, it would be a different story.

But Haley has gobs of Deep State cash to burn and no reason to stop. She won’t be out by Super Tuesday or after. Her backers won’t want that. Every dollar they spent that forces Trump to spend money improves the odds that his Democrat opponents win in November.

That’s my take from here. The Republican moderates are more interested in losing, and the American people should take note.

As for Nikki Haley, what she should be thinking is about the words of Russ Kahn (Carolina in the Morning)

Dreaming was meant for nighttime
I live in dreams all the day
I know it’s not the right time
But still, I dream away
What could be sweeter than dreaming
Just dreaming and drifting away

They aren’t the most memorable lyrics from the 1922 song, but if you’re on team Haley, plenty could be finer than to be in (South) Carolina the morning after the 2024 primary – no matter how you spin it.

[Update] As the Carolina morning breaks Trump’ “crushing blow” is slightly under 60% (59.8)

And with 44 out of 50 Delegates allotted Trup has 107 to Haley’s 17 (with DeSantis and Ramaswamay Trump’s count is 129).

Michigan has a primary on Tuesday, the  27th. Michigan, Idaho, and Missouri have Caucuses in two days (March 2nd). DC votes on March 3rd, and North Dakota on March 4th. Sixteen primaries happen on Super Tuesday (March 5th). A total of 1077 delegates are up for grabs from now until then.

Not enough to sew up the abomination was Trump to sweep, but you only need 1215 to ring the bell and there are 12 more primaries in March.

The post Night Cap: Nothing Could Be Finer, Than to Beat Haley in ‘Carolina’ … With 60% of the Vote [Update] appeared first on Granite Grok.

My neighbors in Vermont passed a law allowing illegal aliens to vote in local elections, probably because all the cool progressive “kids” are doing it. Not far from the Green Mountains, New York City did something similar. Local Law No. 11, as it was called, would have stuffed ballot boxes with non-citizen votes.

It would, had it not just been struck down.

Appeal Court Justice Paul Wooten struck down the insane law, writing that, “We determine that this local law was enacted in violation of the New York State Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law, and thus, must be declared null and void.”

The goofy, irrational 2022 law, supported by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, also lost at the trial court level. The City appealed that earlier decision, and has now lost again. Back in 2022, the Associated Press estimated Local Law 11 would create over eight hundred thousand new non-citizen voters.

New Hampshire doesn’t have anything like that in the queue, but there is a bill (SB501) that would allow the state to give non-citizen driver’s licenses to anyone “Who has been granted conditional or permanent residence by the United States government.” That sounds like anyone the Biden Admin let in, but even if that’s not true,  a driver’s license is a ticket to same-day voting in the Granite State. State ID is proof of residency. Out-of-state college kids can still use Dorm IDs, so a state-issued license to drive suggests a desire to expand the Democrat’s “Love the One You’re Wit” approach to voting rights. And once you’re on the checklist, you can vote in every election as long as you have a valid driver’s license.

The narrative is that everyone should be able to vote by mail unless they are in New Hampshire on election day, in which case such demands are vote suppression. And we know they want them to vote in our elections, so it’s useless to deny it.

Meanwhile, back in the Big Crapple.

Oh, the Democrats in NYC are going to be madder than hornets. They have been importing these illegals for votes and now they can’t use them. They are stuck with criminals that are of no benefit to them.

A state appeals court ruled that a New York City law that would allow… pic.twitter.com/B1BJvOF14j

— Tired of being politically correct (@USBornNRaised) February 22, 2024

 

New York’s been bitching about the huddled masses teeming on its shores (and taking up hotel rooms that could be filled with paying tourists). After the Trump fine, businesses have fled, investment dollars are looking for a way out, and now this?

A problem that solves itself if, for some reason, they were all going to vote for Trump. Adams and the Bidenistas would have them on every boat and plane they could find, back to anywhere but here.

 

The post Judge Says Law Allowing Non-Citizens to Vote is Unconstitutional appeared first on Granite Grok.

The beleaguered girls’ varsity basketball team from Mid-Vermont Christian School in Quechee, VT, is headed to the New England Association of Christian Schools Championship game.  This is a year after they made international headlines for taking a principled stand against playing a school boasting a biological male athlete, identifying as “trans,” standing nearly 6’3” tall.

The school is currently awaiting a trial hearing for the suit brought on their behalf by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a non-profit legal firm.  The suit names head coach Chris Goodwin and his wife as the chief plaintiffs, especially on behalf of their children, who have been unfairly punished as a result of Vermont athletic policy being levied against them rather than on behalf of their constitutionally protected religious freedom of conscience.  Among the defendants are Vermont Principal’s Association Executive Director Jay Nichols, Interim Secretary of Vermont Agency of Education Heather Bouchey, Chair of the Vermont State Board of Education Jennifer Deck Samuelson, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Hartland School Board, Orange East Supervisory Union Superintendent Randall Gawel, and the Waits River Valley School Board.

The irony escaping many in Vermont is the call for tolerance and inclusion by those in power somehow doesn’t extend to the small private school.  The same oppressor versus oppressed ideology the state of Vermont has imbibed and adopted from its political activists, including those crafting policies and laws, somehow misses the very obvious power of the state oppressing a tiny Christian school with even smaller girls playing against a well-funded private school that recruits from across the country.  However, this philosophical argument is not the crux of the matter, but rather the constitutional protection the school and students have per the first amendment.  This is the case being made by the ADF lawyers, who are no strangers to battling case law against the state of Vermont, which has repeatedly violated the rights of its citizens.

After speaking with ADF’s Media Relations Manager, Jaqueline Robeiro, she sent along the press releases and case filings as presented to the Vermont District Court, as well as other cases ADF has taken in the state.  Among them are parents and the Burlington Diocese case, which was won back in 2022, changing a twenty-year history of religious discrimination by the state. At the root of this case was the state withholding tuition from students of religious schools while offering them to other students who were eligible for the same benefit, the only difference being the religious nature of the student.

As a tax-payer and Christian myself, the stunning arrogance of public officials living off the largesse of tax money we, the earners, provide the state, to then deny us the very money we provide over constitutionally protected religious freedoms is the height of political oppression.  Specifically, the government is an institution built from the money of the people for the will of the people and supports itself with armed enforcement to enact that will.  To use the enforcing power of the state against religious people who simply want equal rights to an education violates true equity and is also tyranny.

Luckily, the ADF has a record of winning these cases, even in Vermont.

Also with a record of winning are the young ladies representing MVCS today (Saturday) in the championship game held at the Central Christian Academy in Southington, CT, at 1pm.  Though embroiled in an international story of controversy, the bantam team known as the Eagles has soared above the fray to win the NEACS Northern division and will face off against the champions of the Southern division from Central Christian.

The Eagles’ continue their David vs. Goliath saga as they bring not only an undersized team with only eight of a possible twelve players, they have no seniors while having to bring up more than one eighth grader to fill out their starting five.  MVCS Assistant Coach Helen Jenks is encouraged by the team’s growth over the season and ability to scrap with bigger and more experienced teams.

On their road to the championship, they have had to come from behind on more than one occasion carried by sometimes sharp-shooting guard, eighth-grader Myranda Goodwin, who hit three three-point goals in the Northern finals to bolster the Eagles to victory.  MVCS inside game is shored up by Lydia Dickey, who stands a solid 6’ and has the physical strength to dominate in the post.  Her 17 points, 15 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 blocks, and 1 assist in the semi-finals led to her being awarded the tournament MVP.

Though many schools may have succumbed to the media pressure and social ostracism so common in today’s cancel culture, the Eagles prove their faith is at least the size of a mustard seed, if not as big as a full-grown tree.  The story of this team reminds one of yet another Bible lesson taught by Joseph to his brothers, whom he admonished, “What you intended for evil, God intended for good.”

With any luck, the defendants who’ve used the power of government in Vermont to violate the rights of these girls will come to the same realization.

but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

The post Mid-Vermont Girls Team Headed to Championship Despite Legal Battles appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you support ending new human life up to the point of birth, then I doubt there’s much hope of convincing you that a heartbeat is something worth protecting.  Democrats (at least most elected ones) fit into that box, and if they don’t, their party crams them in there or harasses them until they quit.

And ironically, they don’t really have a choice.

The “people before the politics” party does not brook dissent on the matter. You follow their lead, or you are the enemy. So, politics before people, not that you didn’t know that or see it coming. That is why they are unhappy about a recent ruling out of Alabama regarding the personhood of frozen embryos. It pute people before politics by giving personhood status to the unborn.

The state’s highest court decided that “extrauterine children” – or unborn children “located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed” – are children, and they are covered under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor law.” It is an obscure example that does not exactly apply to unborn children inside the uterus, but it has opened a door that the conception to live-birth abortion advocates can’t abide; if Alabama got that, it could spread like a virus.

If the unborn are recognized as people, they have rights, and you can’t indiscriminately kill them. If they can’t kill them, all that tax money laundered to Planned Parenthood returns to Democrats as campaign contributions dries up. How, then – given the complete disregard for young women’s privacy and safety (transwomen) – do they keep them voting for team blue? Related: The Baby Killers in the Lump of Cells Collective Just Had a Narrative Aborted

Personhood is a recurring problem for the political Left, where it is more likely to take precedence on the right. Parents before politics, if you like. Part of which is the rights of the unborn recognized in the Alabama decision.

A local constituent of Democrat NH House Rep Tommy Hoyt asked if he would submit legislation in New Hampshire to advance a similar position in the state to protect the unborn.

Hoyt, a proper lockstep Democrat, responded as you’d expect but with a narrative bonus that could have legs all the way to November.

For those unfamiliar, hamburger is ground beef.

You grind beef, after which you can create something that might look like this.

As opposed to this.

Hamburger heart? It’s an interesting assumption, which I assume means that Mr. Hoyt objected to illegal fetal organ harvesting by groups like Planned Parenthood (busted in 2015) because what possible good could that hamburger be to some other ‘baby’? And if the heart is hamburger, what are the other organs collected as viable transplants?

Not hamburger. Liver, that seems easy enough. Kidney, Lung tissues that our baby-making elites might need in the event their newborn children (Wagyu beef) need some sort of biological enrichment.

I didn’t have the time to chase down Hoyt’s reaction, if any, to the practice, but if I had to guess, he defended it without contradiction or any sense of hypocrisy. Choice and all.

I could be wrong.

The post Dem Rep on Unborn Baby’s Heart: It Is No More a Heart Than It is a Hamburger appeared first on Granite Grok.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for inflation in the US. Much like blaming the border crisis on Republicans despite years of Trump wrangling to “Build That Wall,” this effort to project American inflation onto Putin’s shoulders rings hollow.

Examining this false claim exposes greater truths – Biden policies, including sanctions against Russia, gargantuan spending bills, COVID-19 lockdowns, and attacks on fossil fuels … All these have directly fueled US inflation without any help from Vlad.

Habitual Russia-Blaming

In her January 30 iteration of the “Putin did this!” stance regarding inflation, Ms. Jean-Pierre stated:

“Putin’s war …  has caused prices to go up, and so the President took action to make sure gas prices went down, which they have, and we’re coming out of this pandemic, so all of those things have been part of where inflation is, but inflation is moderating….”

This is hardly the first time the Biden White House has cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (or the pandemic) as the cause of US inflation, and certainly there is more than one factor that can influence price hikes. Yet Biden’s sanctions against Russia have spiked prices (and somebody blew up the Nord Stream Pipeline). Sanctions have had no measurable effect on Russia’s economy but have pushed up global inflation.

Stimulus Spending Increased Inflation

However, ignoring the impacts of at least two massive Biden spending initiatives – the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – disregards basic monetary theory as well as statements by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that the surge of money into the economy had boosted inflation. Former Obama National Economic Counsel head Larry Summers strongly warned that such a huge stimulus package as ARPA dangerously threatened to fuel inflation, but he was disregarded.

Economist and monetary policy expert Milton Friedman emphatically urged that “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon:” Nothing is more directly impactful of monetary value than money supply.  Famous examples of reckless currency management that unleashed vicious hyperinflation include Robert Mugabe’s  Zimbabwe, Germany’s Weimar Republic, and post-WWII Hungary. Printing money excessively dilutes the value of any currency.

Biden Blame Game

This possibility persistently eludes President Biden, who has also repeatedly scapegoated “supply chain disruptions” as the inflationary culprit. Yet these disruptions resulted from excessive payments to American consumers under ARPA. Steven Rattner, a former counselor to the Treasury Secretary during the Obama Administration, observed in 2022 that supply delays were caused by “vast amounts of government rescue aid (including three rounds of stimulus checks),” and that “Blaming inflation on supply lines is like complaining about your sweater keeping you too warm after you’ve added several logs to the fireplace.”

National Public Radio conceded that ARPA spending seeded inflation but ironically sought to defend Biden by blaming the citizenry:

Had everyone gotten vaccinated, or had the Delta and Omicron variants not burst onto the scene, the economy and President Biden’s approval ratings might well look a lot better. Economists have been telling us since the beginning of the pandemic that the best way to recover from the pandemic is to end the pandemic. It’s hard to end the pandemic when large chunks of society aren’t cooperating.

On the contrary, many argue that lockdowns caused economic harm and that vaccines did not perform as advertised. These would constitute additional Biden failures, which compounded the inflationary impacts of overspending.

The IRA that followed exploited the monetary crisis caused by overspending to … spend more! Cloaked in the name of reducing inflation, the spending spree for renewable products that were the real goal did nothing to reverse inflation. The purchase of solar panels, EVs, and heat pumps under IRA was regressively provided to those who could afford them while running up the national debt for workers and retirees who couldn’t. Later, the president himself abandoned all pretense that the IRA would reduce inflation, arguing at a New Mexico fundraiser that it “has nothing to do with inflation. It has to do with the $368 billion, the single-largest investment in climate change anywhere in the world, anywhere.”

Joe Biden’s open war against fossil fuels, pipelines, and oil and gas drilling clearly drove gasoline and fuel prices high – before Russia invaded Ukraine. Then the administration claimed the president rescued Americans from gasoline inflation (allegedly caused by price-gouging energy companies, not efforts to eliminate fossil fuels by government edict) when he released supplies from the nation’s emergency reserves.

Stop the Spending!

The federal government has steadily gouged the real value of Americans’ savings, retirement accounts, and fixed-income payments by essentially printing too much money. The interest payments required to service the nation’s $34.2 trillion debt will drag down the economy and reduce the resources available for public services. Every penny of IRA and ARPA spending was borrowed money, adding to that intergenerational tab.

Blaming Putin for US inflation is like trying to blame Republicans for the open southern border with Mexico. Voters can easily see that Biden’s policies have contributed to both problems. But it’s easier to secure the border than it is to reverse inflation: Both Janet Yellen and Jerome Powell recently stated the consumer price increases of the last few years are very unlikely to come down – ever.

 

 

John Klar is an Attorney, farmer, and author. Mostly farmer… And Regular Contributor to GraniteGrok and VermontGrok.

The post Biden Administration Blames Putin For US Inflation appeared first on Granite Grok.

It is a classic tale of progressive woe; years of lousy policy create a problem that those responsible insist needs more funding … for them to fix it. The correct course of action is to fire all of them, take back your money and power, and do something different, but it is a hill they are prepared to die on.

Bad pandemic policy did a world of damage, but nothing is as insidious as telling a child with no concept of sex and gender that they might be in the wrong body. These narratives are ubiquitous in public education, which is using the damage they’ve done to permit schools to operate like mental health clinics. As if you would give an institution that can’t teach kids to read and write carte blanch to treat the mental illness they created.

Public Schools, with few exceptions, exist to break things, your children, then put them back together in the progressive image. It kills some of them, ruins many, and sterilizes some while forever claiming they need more resources. More money, more personnel, more of everything but parental rights or involvement.

It’s a nationwide act of kidnapping where the ransom money is your tax bill, and everyone pays it forever. Here in New Hampshire, they get unelected judges to create rights for which other people must pay. Pro Tip: if it’s a right, it’s free.

Over in Vermont, they’ve got problems, too, not the least of which is deciding the next phase in their multi-generational mission to f*** with the children. It’s expensive and has a lot of moving pieces, and to keep the wheels coming off the bus, the legislature is going to have to piss some people off.

Lucky for Vermonters, those are the lawmakers they’ve been electing.

“Vermont is challenged by the fact that we have a foot in the past and a foot in the future,” said Jeff Francis, executive director of the superintendents’ association. “We’ve really wanted to hang on to small schools as the center of every community and, at the same time, make sure that we have robust opportunity for every child in the state.

Francis said Vermont’s values of “rural, bucolic and local” are at odds with running an efficient, modern educational system.

Montpelier Roxbury Public School District superintendent Libby Bonesteel provided one example. In her district, Roxbury Village School has 13 full-time staff for just 42 students. From an operational standpoint, it would be easy to close the school and bring those students to Montpelier’s Union Elementary without any additional costs, Bonesteel said. But it’s not a decision school board members can make quickly or unilaterally because of how important the school is to members of the Roxbury community.

School boards “need legislators’ help and support and backing when they come to a community with a decision that might be hard,” Bonesteel said.

Roxbury Villiage can probably solve this themselves, beginning with asking why they need a full-time staffer for every three students. It seems like they could do this with less and a little ingenuity because sending them to Montpelier Union Elementary sounds like an intellectual death sentence—one that follows the mental health vein, according to the same experts.

[Superintendent Libby] Bonesteel said most districts in the state, including hers, are now offering alternative programs for students whose behavioral and mental health challenges make it impossible for them to be in a traditional classroom. She said her district doubled its spending on social-emotional and mental health services in the past three years, from $1.5 million to $3 million. It’s yielded positive results, including a reduction in hazing, harassment and bullying investigations, and suspensions. But those results come with a price.

“We need high-quality staff to help these kids with what their needs are,” Bonesteel said.

A more accurate assessment would be, we’ve screwed up your kids, and we’d like to expand our funding, power, and influence, but we need you to pay for it. It’s like a mugging that never ends. A Mafia extortion racket. Protection money. You pay us, and we won’t hurt you. Your kids, on the other hand, are doomed, but if you try to take them back, that might not end well for you either.

But it will. Vermont needs Education Freedom Accounts. It needs to link the money to the student, and the success will likely follow for a fraction of the cost. That’s what Roxbury Villiage likely needs. Find a few parents willing to homeschool, create your own cooperative, schedule learning based on ability, and get other parents involved to help kids get caught up.

They could probably hire tutors or a private operation for a thimble full of what Vermont is currently milking them to screw with their kid’s heads while failing to teach them anything approaching academics.

The Public school model is broken. It has lost its way and fails to provide value. In America, that is an invitation to innovators, and they are out there. So, the problem for voters is not how to fix public schools but how to force them to fix themselves.

Just say no. No more money. No new duties or responsibilities. We’re stripping some from you until you show competency at the core purpose of teaching children to read, write, and do math, and not what to learn but how to learn.

You’ve failed your assessment again. We should no longer reward you for failure.

The post School Funding and Mental Health – Another Example of Government Trying to Grow to Fix A Problem it Created appeared first on Granite Grok.

Beginning in 1789, America’s Constitutional form of limited governing took effect. As our new country became established, its authority was limited, as was its revenue – due to its meager tariff-based revenue – so if there was debt back then, it was minor and of brief duration.

Our travails from then till today’s outlaw authority, which finances a slew of unconstitutional domestic and foreign expenditures, is at such a depth that it must waste hundreds of billions just to satisfy its interest on the debt!

Such indebtedness presents the harsh truth of a government that has long since shed those limiting shackles. A small item, but never-the-less attributable to this monstrous authority, is the inflated salaries of our handsomely paid “public servants.” In theory and reality, the term “public servant” is only applicable to those days of horse and buggy travel since, back then, one’s service involved personal sacrifice for the betterment of America. Not so today!

A normal outgrowth from such corrupt and inefficient governing, is the lesser quality in many of the many elected. Selfless service disappeared when the glitter of gold transformed those former “servants” to that of being career minded while eyeballing a more than affordable lifetime of benefits. This has become so lucrative that contestants for office usually begin under the tutelage of one’s local political “machinery.” After all, the posts being offered are not only prestigious but lucrative, so while many apply, only a few of the eager and manageable are chosen!

Sadly, this devalued quality in the elected merely shadows the public ranks from which they are selected. I do not intend to insult, but it’s plain to see from this governmental reversal from a limited authority to our current “in-the-red” version that all this has happened without a peep from our citizens!

Other players, such as academia and our former “free press,” had to be included so that this ongoing and unheeded governmental transformation could effectively continue. This effort has operated at a gradual pace so as not to spark public attention. From a before and after comparison, what began as “limited” is now a full-throttle pedal to the metal abuse!

Usually, pursuits that are illegal lack any overall merit. This is one reason why they are forbidden by law; they lack any benefit or any betterment for our Country. As such, these criminal actions feed into the immediacy of the group’s demands, which espouses an ideology that is immoral, unGodly, and, of course, anti-American. Basically, this is the current revisionist agenda with its aim to blanket our countryside. Therefore, this wide-ranging undertaking necessitates collaborations with players holding national prominence and influence. This can be validated by the corruptive designs and effective influences from the two willing and complicit examples previously mentioned: academia and the media. Both have been deeply entangled over a very lengthy period of time and have been highly influential with their unfounded opinions at the student and throughout the variety of public information levels.

In the former case, an area in which the government lacks any legal claim to be, fundamental learning has been slowly revamped to the point that it now has invaded the inner sanctuary of the American family while at the same time attempting to challenge mother nature! In the second case, what has evolved, and it’s not just a recent development, can be adequately characterized with its new and very accurate logo of “fake news.”

Today’s Americans are living in what might be a “never-never land,” that is, a momentary existence between freedom and slavery. What else is there to think when all these societal and cultural revisions carry the same anti-American banner? If this fails to convince, explain this state of indebtedness while defiantly championing trillions to foreign countries!

Common sense is the only requirement to see that this latest act of unconstitutional spending is just a shorter and more direct path to a national state of dependency! However, what this move also suggests is that these revisionists might just be getting impatient, given today’s political landscape and its increased questioning by an awakened citizenry. So, as we remember George Washington’s birthday, its appropriateness must not be overlooked. He managed to achieve a “limited government,” so he and his memory may again fuel America’s embrace of renewal, one that would require sanity and sacrifice for limited governing!

The post Complicity Galore appeared first on Granite Grok.

According to people who think this sort of thing matters, the fashion industry produces more emissions than international flights and maritime shipping combined. According to a climate minister down under, the solution is to launder money from clothing makers (consumers) into government programs.

This is the way.

The clothing industry is … the fourth-most polluting industry in the world, generating somewhere between 4 to 8 per cent of global emissions.

The minister is currently considering whether to intervene in the sector to improve its recycling and reuse efforts, which could include minimum design standards or mandating fashion brands contribute to a green fund for every piece of clothing they make or import and put to market.

A few paragraphs later, the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of emissions, so we might save the planet by writing shorter articles about clothing “emissions.” Had they stopped at 4-8%, we would have saved 2-6% off the top without fees, fines, or revolving government green funds (green meaning money).

Under the scheme, members must pay a 4 cent contribution to the Seamless program for every piece of clothing they make or import, though footwear, single-use protective wear and accessories are excluded.

Seamless funding would then go towards clothing collection and sorting, research and recycling projects, education campaigns and other work to help coordinate the industry’s green efforts.

The Fashion Council estimates the scheme will raise about $36 million each year, and up to $60 million if it became mandatory for the sector to contribute.

Let me translate. The government will drive up the cost of clothes to fund political friends and family pretending to save the environment (also known as “donors”). Maybe they should skip all the foreplay and start handing out Mao Suits.

 

The post As Australia Considers Clothing Regulations (To Save The Planet), Who Doesn’t See Where “This” is Leading? appeared first on Granite Grok.

In spite of all MAGA resistance, Joe Biden continues to cancel student debt in spite of the fact that the United States Supreme Court ruled that Joe Biden could not forgive student loans. Biden continues to find the money to bribe students and buy millions of votes. Joe Biden is shameless in securing one of the few remaining blocks of voters he has not lost. He is not canceling student loan debt. He is transferring the burden for these loans to people who do not deserve the responsibility but have no choice in the matter.

Biden may be buying a specific group of voters, but he alienates many others. People who have already paid their loans or students entering college today will not benefit from Biden’s transfer of wealth. People who opted not to go the college route but took up a trade and spent years paying their dues while they worked towards a license will not realize forgiveness in their investment but will instead be asked to settle the debt of others. Strike that. They were not asked. Joe Biden told them to ante up and pay their fair share for college grads unable to pay their way.

On Wednesday, Biden spent time with a Black family who will benefit from his executive order to forgive their student loans. I specify a Black family, for they were not chosen by chance. He was scoring a double win. Look at me forgiving debts that are unconstitutional and doing it for Black families. Make sure you get your mail-in votes early.

Joe Biden is destroying this country, and the student block is his Bull Run. He destroyed the economy with 19% inflation for the first three years of his presidency. He has let 7 million unvetted illegal migrants come across the border he opened and watched as they spread across the country, making every state a border state. He has weakened our stand on the international stage as he botched the Afghanistan retreat, abandoned Israel as they retaliated against an assault by Hamas, and continues to send billions of our tax dollars to Ukraine to fight a winless war but benefits from personal kickbacks of American’s money. He has turned his back on police as his supporters installed DAs who refused to prosecute crimes destroying many of our great cities. He has allowed our homeless numbers, specifically the military, to explode and stood idle as 100,000 die each year from poisoning from Chinese Fentanyl. He has destroyed our energy independence with the stroke of a pen and has secured the support of the UAW as he kills thousands of jobs pushing for conversion to electric vehicles.

This shameless, feeble old man spent the day sucking up to smiling college grads who now enjoy a free ride for their useless education. At the same time, most Americans look at the last three years and ask what happened to the retirement and life we worked to secure, only to see the worst President in our lifetime destroy it all to finish the transformation of America promised by Barack Obama. Biden may have tried to wipe out all student debt, but instead, he destroyed America and the American dream.

 

The post I Tried Wiping Out All Student Debt appeared first on Granite Grok.

Trucker’s protest against anti-trump verdict and fine; Kevin O’Leary speaking about businesses avoiding NYS; wouldn’t that work in favor of amazon and other big companies? How legal/common is it to preclude appeal without paying fine? Navalny’s death; arrest of informant for allegedly lying about Burisma.

The post The Conservatarian Exchange Podcast #194 appeared first on The Liberty Block.

Democrats will run on abortion to win elections by convincing a demographic (women, but primarily young women and, to a degree, young men who want sex without responsibility) that their political opponents’ position on the issue is extreme.

The facts tell a different story.

Two hundred seventeen countries or territories limit abortion to six months or less, with 149 of those prohibiting by-request abortion completely (where life or health are not an issue). To put that in contrast, Democrats in my home state of New Hampshire ran ads claiming the Granite State’s law limiting abortion after six months (with an exception to protect the life of the mother) was out of step and extreme. It is, in fact, the American left’s position that extreme and out of step with most of humanity. 

Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine prohibit on-demand abortion after three months (12 weeks or, in the case of Italy, 90 days). Yes, Lefties, Ukraine. Belgium, Luxembourg, Romania, and Spain prohibit on-demand abortion after 14 weeks (still roughly three months). France prohibits on-demand abortion after 16 weeks, Sweden after 18 weeks, and The Netherlands after six months. Lichtenstein and Poland prohibit all on-demand abortion, as does…” Palestine” and Israel, both in the news quite a bit in recent months.

Life of the Mother

Eleven of the 229 “states or territories for which we have data prohibit abortion to save the mother’s life.

Eighty-two (82) permit it (some with minor exceptions), (90) have no limits, (23) prohibit abortion to save a mother’s life after six months of pregnancy, and (4) allow it up to seven months. In Montenegro, you can abort to save the mother’s life for up to eight months.

Rape

In total, 171 countries or territories prohibit or limit aborting pregnancies resulting from rape. It is prohibited in (84) countries or regions, while only (7) have no limits or restrictions. (87) allow abortion up to six months, with (25) permitting it up to 20 weeks or less – and another (25) ending the practice by 12 weeks.

In the US, it varies by state, with Saudi Arabia only permitting pregnancy caused by rape to be aborted for 40 days after conception.

Democrats

The American political left objects to any position, including among members of its party, other than abortion up to birth, where the newborn is killed before it fully exits the womb. That is their position. It does not brook dissent, making it the most extreme position on planet Earth.

It is extreme, even in America, where a super-majority of voters are more than comfortable with ending the practice of abortion after six months (with life of the mother exceptions), which aligns with or is more liberal than most of the world community.

Six months makes sense to them, and anyone who agrees -including New Hampshire’s law -is literally in the mainstream of thought.

Democrats are the abortion extremists, and they will use projection to distract you from that.

One positive note (and proof this will be a campaign issue again). “Just before the end of 2023, Harris announced that she would be traveling the country in 2024 to tout access to abortion (For the White House).” If Kamaal is pushing it, there’s a very good chance it will fall apart or fail. But we shouldn’t rely on that.

The post Night Cap: You Can’t Get More Extreme On Abortion, Than US Democrats appeared first on Granite Grok.

Attorney General’s are releasing investigations on many Catholic Diocese’s. Michigan and Maryland are the most recent. Seldom do these reports have the names of priests or lawyers misspelled. I see no misspelled names except for in the New Hampshire Attorney General’s investigative report on the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire.

If you look up the “Catholic” Attorney Richard Boire, formerly of Rochester, New Hampshire, you will see an obituary with a comment that stands out, at least to me…

“Many people knew Dickie (what everyone called him) and he was a very big part of the Rochester community. He used to throw an annual party for Granite State Title business he owned and half of Rochester would attend. This was the biggest party you ever went to. Petting zoo for the kids, carnival games, oompah band playing, tents with all kinds of food and horse carriage rides to get up the giant hill he lived on. He loved people, made you laugh had amazing stories and most importantly he always made you feel welcomed. He was a brilliant man and loved kids and always spoiled mine when we came to visit. I will never forget those times and man he was. RIP Dickie, you will be missed!”

We want to thank Niko Roswell for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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For most people, this may seem like a sweet gesture referencing days gone by. For those of us who grew up in Rochester and Dover, New Hampshire, those parties may stir up some darker memories.

Attorney Boire was synonymous with Catholic. If you were a kid in the ’80s or ’90s, attending any Catholic facility in Rochester, New Hampshire, you knew of Richard Boire. I was a Rochester Catholic School student until I mysteriously left ( a different story with lots of lawyers and court cases spanning years, story to come ). I attended St Mary’s Church and sometimes Holy Rosary Church. I knew Richard Boire. He used to rub my shoulders a lot. He was a, you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours kinda guy.

Heck, It was not just Rochester and Dover locals who knew Attorney Richard Boire. Most New Hampshire politicians or political hopefuls knew Attorney Richard Boire. If you were running for office, you wanted his support. Boire was well-connected. Before Attorney James Duggan became a Supreme Court Justice, he defended Richard Boire. What charges was Attorney Richard Boire facing? Drum Roll Please! Aggravated felonious sexual assault upon a resident of the Dover Children’s Home.

New Hampshire loves due process aka destroying records.

As for Dover Children’s Home, lots of records are missing…Check U.N.H’s library archives for yourself. The Sign-Out Sheets are missing.

During these years of missing sign-out sheets over at Dover Children’s Home, county chaplains held “office” throughout New Hampshire, with authority that reached far past giving Final Holy Communion. As the state of N.H. in 1983–1984 considered charges against its own, Attorney Richard Boire, sign-out sheets were still not implemented over at Dover Children’s Home. They were documenting everything and not who took the kids out of the facility on overnights? Doubtful. Are we to assume the evening staff just did nighttime rounds going, “Oh, I wonder where Jane and John Doe are tonight?”

After charges of sexual assault were brought against Attorney Richard Boire, according to U.N.H archives, Dover Children’s Home still didn’t start documenting sign-outs for almost five years. This is so disturbing it’s funny.

If you look at Dover, New Hampshire’s / Strafford County’s elected officials before 1983, you will see that chaplains ( 1 Catholic and 1 Protestant ) are listed in all county reports. The Catholic chaplains acted as New Hampshire’s “elected/appointed” officials. Some of the New Hampshire county chaplains overseeing Catholic city duties for the state of New Hampshire are also found on various lists of Credibly Accused Priests. Say what!? Many of the county chaplains worked hand in hand with police, mayors, cities, etc. They were rubbing elbows with city elites, such as wealthy New Hampshire attorneys, as they were raping children. In particular, Strafford County’s (Dover) 1981 Catholic chaplain- Father Gerard Beaudet, is also a Credibly Accused Priest. Oddly, he was the Strafford County’s (Dover) chaplain in 1981, the same year that Attorney Richard Boire was accused of committing felonious sexual assault upon a resident of Dover Children’s Home. This doesn’t look good… Was Father Gerard Beaudet on Attorney Richard Boire’s guest list for that legendary annual party? I know another priest was…

So, who decided to stop or destroy the sign-out sheets at Dover Children’s Home? The Catholic Church, the state of New Hampshire, or a mix of both? What investigation has the Attorney General of New Hampshire done on this matter?

What happened in the case of Attorney Richard Boire committing felonious sexual assault upon a resident of Dover Childre’s Home? Future Supreme Court Justice -Attorney James Duggan got Attorney Richard Boire off! He walked. The New Hampshire courts decided there was no evidence to support the victim’s claims, partially based on a lack of sign-out sheets on file at Dover Children’s Home. Laughable. Guess what else this victim didn’t have. Loving responsible guardians…

Something tells me that after Attorney James Duggan helped Attorney Richard Boire with this pickle, he got Boire’s support to move up the ranks to Supreme Court Justice. I wish I could have tipped Duggan off in the 1980s. I was busy being young and getting groomed for my turn in the New Hampshire Sexual Abuse Fun House that plagued the state. Shout out to the thousands of survivors coming forward now.

Attorney Richard Boire was well known for this annual party. He always invited the children from Dover Children’s Home and St Charles Orphanage, as alluded to in his obituary. As a society, we now know that a predator loves an unaccompanied minor. Perhaps New Hampshire should use caution as it appoints all Mckinney Vento Liaison. The Government employees who oversaw my forensic interview with the state of New Hampshire get this reference… ( another BIG story to come.)

In the 80s and 90s, Attorney Richard Boire’s house was often a topic of discussion for parents of students attending Rochester Catholic School which later was renamed Saint Elizabeth Seton School. Boire topics ranged from the incident with two boys touching one another’s privates at Boire’s house, St Charles Orphanage no longer letting kids go to the “parties’’ at Boire’s house, the incident of aggravated felonious sexual assault upon a minor resident of Dover Children’s Home by Boire, and well, there was Boire mysteriously driving me and an orphan home that day…

Enough of that! Let’s get to the good stuff!

The Attorney General of New Hampshire’s very flawed investigation of the Catholic Church has many mysteries, from the incarceration of the innocent to the lack of charges brought on the guilty. Perhaps one of the greatest mysteries in the A.G. Report on The Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire can be found in Father Leo Landry’s file. At the bottom of page 42, Father Leo Landry is being questioned by Attorney General investigators about abusing students at St Elizabeth Seton School in Rochester, New Hampshire, when he says:

“No, I, I went to there’s an attorney, a kind of business lawyer in Rochester, by the name of Dick Bois, I think.”

No sooner does he say “Dick Bois” when his attorney interjects:

“STOP, we have to go off of tape.”

What happens next reeks of a scandal. The tape is stopped and when it picks back up Father Leo Landry goes into detail about “Dick Bois’s” assistance in handling the allegations against him.

Let’s get one thing clear: “Dick Bois” is Attorney Richard Boire. Father Leo Landy stuttering, “By the name of Dick Bois, I think,” is a total lie. Every adult involved in the Catholic community of Rochester, New Hampshire, knew this guy’s name. Father Leo Landry had Richard Boire’s kid in his French class… Boire is French, and Father Leo Landry is fluent in the French language. So let’s trust that Father Leo Landry is lying and knows his real name…

I am not surprised that right as Father Leo Landry says the very name “Dick Bois” investigators stopped recording at the request of Father Leo Landry’s Attorney. I mean, everyone has to get the story straight when it comes to Dick. After all, we don’t want anyone thinking the Diocese of Manchester N.H. has speed-dial linked to lawyers with personal, VERY personal experience in covering up the sexual abuse of children.

I politely ask that the Attorney General of New Hampshire, dig a little deeper into:

-The former case/allegations against Attorney Richard Boire.

-Attorney Richard Boire’s involvement with The Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire as a possible “fixer”, who was likely taking referral fees. and

-New Hampshire’s history of “elected/appointed” county Catholic chaplains who were accused of sexual abuse. Do not forget the Catholic county chaplains were submitting receipts to county treasures for reimbursement from city funds (another story to come).

As for the public, Why do you think the Attorney General of New Hampshire published a report with a false name of a prominent New Hampshire Attorney sorting deals to get Catholic priests off on allegations of sexual abuse? Was he the pro because he had firsthand experience getting away with it?

With no explanation or name correction in the A.G. report, as it pertains to “Dick Bois’s” real name is Attorney Richard Boire, I can’t help but wonder, Is this circumstantial evidence that the 2002 New Hampshire A.G. investigation of the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire is flawed? Should New Hampshire reopen an investigation into the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire 22 years later? What other A.G. documents are published with fake names…

Attorney Richard Boire: The New Hampshire expert on how to get away with aggravated felonious sexual assault of an unaccompanied minor. Step 1: call your other lawyer friends for an assist.

It’s a stepping stone to becoming a Superior Court Justice.

This is a scandal. Only the start of what I have uncovered.

What is the point of publishing reports with fake names if the objective of the state and church is to be transparent? Perhaps I am missing the point, maybe the entire report is simply to mislead.

The views and opinions expressed by contributors are those of the author and may not reflect the opinion or position of  Grok Media, GraniteGrok.com, its authors, advertisers, donors, or sponsors.

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Readers might be thinking they’re going to read some light-hearted content that’s void of mentioning Chuck’s 11/19/21 crime against NH, but not so fast!  Here’s the link with a short video.
Now, onto animal matters; this is NOT to be taken as an endorsement of Kelly Ayotte, but let it be known that she made a feline post on January 18 on Facebook when she visited the Manchester Animal Shelter.

I showed the post to my senator, who happens to be a Chuck supporter among many of his peers, and he replied with a bunch of Chuck photos with his dog, Spruce.  Chuck’s Facebook page is full of pictures of Spruce, and I admit that Spruce is a beautiful dog.  I would even pat Spruce myself as long as I was sure that he wouldn’t try to lick my hand.  Chuck also regularly posts pictures of himself patting or hugging dogs in places he visits, most recently at Pawtuckaway Trading Post.

That is what inspired the question, “When is Chuck going to pat some cats?” I think his former constituents and their current senator, Daryl Abbas, should want to know. Not only is Daryl Abbas a Chuck supporter who regularly appears in parades and social media posts, but he’s also a cat person.  Just look at his Senate home page.

But whether or not you, the voter, are a cat person or a dog person, there is another matter that recently came to my attention, and that’s a reincarnation of the vetoed school mask bill, HB 1131, from 2022, and it’s HB 1093, which happens to have a hearing in House Education on Tuesday, March 5.  Mark your calendar, and don’t forget to sign in your support via the portal here.

And Kelly and Chuck BOTH need to be asked if they would sign that bill.  Kelly was stumping at Sky Meadow as a lifelong Nashua person to a Nashua audience just hours after the RTK tax (HB 1002) was sent back to House Judiciary on February 8 by the whole House. After her speech, people raised their hands to ask the usual and important questions, but I seized the opportunity to go off script with a Nashua issue with my question, as I noted in my recent article about the sequestered vodka.

Keep in mind that the Damn Emperor, an ardent masker, will probably veto HB1093, especially as a lame-duck tyrant acting with impunity, and we sadly don’t have that 2/3 veto override majority in either chamber.

Why not, however, make our next governor, whoever it’s going to be, go on record?

The post When Is Chuck Morse Going To Pat Some Cats? (And Other Important Questions) appeared first on Granite Grok.