From: Belknap County (NH) Republican Committee
Date: June 6, 2022

For more information: Rep. Paul Terry / 401-648-1607

The Belknap County Republican Committee’s (BCRC) Executive Committee voted unanimously to condemn the New Hampshire House’s rejection of HB 1431, the Parent’s Bill of Rights, on May 26. The bill was defeated 171-176, following the New Hampshire Senate’s 14-10 approval a short while earlier the same day.

“This common-sense bill sought to restore and secure historic natural and constitutional rights of parents. Parents should know and provide consent to the ways in which their children are being educated by people who they are paying,” said Chair and State Representative Norm Silber (R-Gilford).

Vice Chair and State Representative Paul Terry (R-Alton) added:

“Parents deserve transparency and accountability. Instead, we learned that all too often parents are being kept in the dark about what schools are teaching their children. Worse, school officials are either denying information or erecting numerous roadblocks for parents to attempt to overcome.”

The Parents Bill of Rights was filed by Representative Terry and was co-sponsored by several Belknap Representatives, including Representatives Hough (Laconia), Johnson (Laconia) and Silber. Supported by numerous pro-family and pro-parents’ groups, it had survived a tortuous process during which it was vehemently opposed by House Child and Family Law Committee Chairperson, Kimberly Rice (R-Hudson) and Committee Vice Chairperson, Debra DeSimone (R-Atkinson), but received timely backing from House Majority Leader Jason Osborn (R–Auburn) and Senator Bob Giuda (R-Warren).

All Senate Republicans voted to advance the bill. Fourteen House Republicans joined all House Democrats to defeat the bill, just one step away from sending it to Governor Sununu. All Belknap County Representatives voted Yes, except Representatives Mike Bordes (R-Laconia) who voted No, and Travis O’Hara, who was neither present nor excused.

Chair and Rep. Silber joined with Vice Chair and Rep. Terry in blasting the fourteen House Republicans who voted to kill the bill, as well as House Republicans who “took a walk” and did not vote:

“These Republicans handed victory to a coalition made up of Democrats, school-aligned and allied groups. It did not help, too, that Governor Sununu shockingly threatened he would veto the bill if the House dared to passed it.”

Silber and Terry said:

“Like all people, we believe schools should be places for our children to learn and grow, but we do not believe schools should be “safe spaces” for adults to practice secrecy, deception and grooming. Parents should not be branded as enemies for seeking to know what and how their children are being taught, and how they are being treated while under school supervision. We are neither anti-schools, nor anti-teachers. What we are is pro-honesty and pro-integrity, both of which are shockingly absent in so many places and for so many of our parents and kids.”

Assuming Republicans are reelected to House and Senate majorities in November, a Parent’s Bill of Rights is sure to be reintroduced. Rep. Terry said:

“Perhaps next year we will have more Republicans who will actually support the pro-family and pro-parent planks in the Republican State Party Platform. This term we were failed and betrayed by a few who were supposed to be our own.”

The post Press Release – Belknap County (NH) Republican Committee on the Failure of HB1431, a Parental Bill of Rights appeared first on Granite Grok.

The pandemic situation, remote learning, and the excessive use of technology have shown that keeping students focused and motivated is essential. Educators and psychologists have faced the problem of emotional belonging as the participation of students in the learning process has decreased.

The key is to use various strategies to motivate the learners and keep them engaged by letting them control their studies and choose how and what they learn.

 

Top 5 Strategies for Motivating Students

 

1. Use of Social Campaigns.

Introduce work in the local community or consider basic volunteering tasks. Adding a social element to your course will be a significant change that will help students see the purpose of what they learn. For example, Law students may assist the students who want to start their businesses. Nursing students may create substance abuse awareness posters and campaigns. It will help to see things from a different perspective.

2. Surveys and Student Participation.

These are mainly used at the end of the semester, which is why most college learners tend to ignore them. Think about taking a different strategy by adding surveys before each lesson to learn more about what students struggle with or what they would like to explore. If you find it too challenging to form your questions or work with the feedback, consider Trusted Essay Reviews and get some help as you save time and learn to avoid plagiarism. You can also think about using surveys before Zoom video conferences as an alternative!

3. Team Projects.

The use of team projects should not be ignored. Just do it differently! Ask students about their skills and make a questionnaire where you determine who does what. It will help avoid confusion and let students show their best skills. If you are ready to make things a little more challenging, ask your students to help each other and count it into the final grade, as cooperation is one of those skills that will help the learners do their own tasks.

4. Social Media Strategies.

Another great option is turning to Facebook and Instagram for blogging and analysis purposes. If you are majoring in Fashion Studies or Marketing, it’s best to keep students motivated by allowing them to practice more. It will also help polish the necessary study habits and achieve more clarity regarding the current trends. You can create private groups, hold online debates, and allow students to use the technology they know well. This way, it won’t feel like just another boring lesson!

5. Guest Lectures.

Although it’s not always possible to deal with the physical presence of famous lecturers and entrepreneurs, you can hold special online sessions and invite people worldwide. The presence of guest lecturers will help take your studies to another level. Discuss this aspect with your students and think about who or what could help to keep things inspiring.

 

The Benefits of Interactive Materials

The chances are high that you have heard about STEM videos and various interactive web boards where people post explanatory materials and let people from all over the world participate. This educational strategy is not new, yet educators rarely implement it. It’s partially because of the limiting course materials they follow and the lack of personal motivation to go beyond them. A combination of textbooks, lectures, and multimedia content will help boost students’ focus and motivate them to learn differently because of the visual aspect. Such a method helps build a much better emotional attachment to what’s being learned. It’s especially relevant for subjects like Geography, History, or Engineering, where concept visualization is essential.

 

BIO

Joanne Elliot is an educator who loves to seek innovations with the help of technology, a healthy lifestyle, and the lifehacks that help make learning easier. As she offers academic assistance to universities and helps to develop learning materials, Joanne enjoys writing about her discoveries. Follow Joanne to find motivating ideas and learn.

The post Top 5 Strategies for Motivating Students appeared first on Granite Grok.

Hampton, NH — Karoline Leavitt issued the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s address to the nation last night:

“It has been just days since a mentally-deranged, evil young man murdered 19 precious children and 2 innocent teachers in Texas. Like every American, I have spent this time praying for the victims and their families, wondering how such evil can possibly exist in our world and in our country.

Last night, President Biden shamefully capitalized on our shared heartbreak to push an unconstitutional and useless ‘gun control’ agenda upon us. Biden advocated for a ban on semi-automatic weapons and “high-capacity” magazines as if any one criminal would abide by such a ban; advocated for more federal bureaucracy that would only make it more difficult for law-abiding Americans to purchase firearms; and proposed repealing liability for gun manufacturers, punishing private companies for bad people misusing their products.

President Biden and the Democrats’ agenda is an assault on the rights of good, law-abiding Americans to protect themselves, their families, and their communities; and it is the beginning of a slippery slope that would eventually lead to government tyranny over we, the people – as history has sadly proven in many countries around the world.

Further, I believe our leaders on both sides of the aisle are missing the point. America does not have a gun problem. We have a culture problem. Nearly every mass shooting that occurs is perpetuated by young, mentally-ill individuals who lack a sense of belonging, purpose, and community. The question we must ask ourselves is not ‘why are there so many guns in so many hands?’… rather, it must be, ‘why are there so many young Americans suffering from depression and derangement?’

As a Generation Z American, I sadly witness the moral depravity and growing anxiety amongst our youth every single day. Now more than ever, we must reinvigorate faith and an honest education in our public school system, and encourage young Americans to be involved in school, sports, and church. We must fight back aggressively on the Left’s war against masculinity and put an end to the perverted ideas about gender that are plaguing the minds of young children.

Legislatively, Congress must pass National Constitutional Carry and repeal the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990 that has never and will never stop ONE criminal from shooting up a school, but prevents law-abiding parents and teachers from defending themselves. Rather than send billions of dollars to protect foreigners overseas, Congress should provide more funding to states to enact school safety measures at every public school in America, including single point of secure entry, armed security guards, and firearm safety for public school teachers.”

As a Generation Z Candidate for Congress, I am committed to being a conservative voice that America’s youth desperately needs during this perilous time, and when I am elected, I will always be a stalwart defender of our precious, uniquely American, Second Amendment!”

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2022
CONTACT: info@karolineforcongress.com

 

Reminder: Content about candidates or by candidates is not an endorsement by GraniteGrok.com or its authors.

The post Karoline Leavitt Statement On Joe Biden’s Gun Control Address appeared first on Granite Grok.

In case you were still wondering whether Matt Mowers is a DC-Swamp-creature that would robotically support Kevin McCarthy’s America-Last agenda … wonder no more:

 

The post An(other) Excellent Reason NOT to Support Matt Mowers appeared first on Granite Grok.

Remember when NH Democrats said a tax on wages was not an income tax? They got some Freshman stooge to say it out loud, but same difference. A tax on income is an income tax. Democrats in Dover are playing the same game but with rain.

Dover claims a burning need to use EPA regulations to justify a massive revenue grab. Great Bay. Stormwater runoff. Nitrogen mitigation. The city will need millions more dollars to address this “concern,” and hey, it’s not a rain tax.

 

“People are going to say this is just another tax, or think we’re taxing rainwater. We’re not,” Shanahan said. “We need to work on stormwater and flood resiliency, and the utility is a significant part of that. We can’t put this off. The committee’s report shows we’ve put off upwards of $5.5 million in deferred projects, because we needed to stay within the tax cap and focus on other priorities.”

 

The city is going to take money from people to address the problem, and the problem is that water falls out of the sky onto hard surfaces and runs off to wherever. Their solution is a new government utility funded by tax dollars to address the problem. But it’s not a rain tax.

 

“We [are] obligated to do this, but we also have structured it so that the average homeowner, will pay less in a utility fee than they would pay in property taxes for the amounts that the city is going to have to spend to manage stormwater and improve flood resilience,” Shanahan said.

 

The tax on the rain that’s not a rain tax costs Dover residents 3.5 million annually for starters (that will only go up). To get there from here, they need an additional 2.5 million. And they will do that by creating a new “utility” to manage the rain with monies that are not a rain tax.

 

“A stormwater utility is structured to be more equitable than the tax,” Shanahan said. “Areas that include large businesses with large parking lots are going to be a little bit more responsible than your average homeowner.”

 

Translation: The cost of doing business in Dover will go up, and guess who will end up paying for that? Everyone else. When the local government increases the cost of doing business, those increases get passed down to consumers (I’m confident Dover has a newspeak word for that too).

But no matter what you call it, adding another cost will put more pressure on businesses. Fewer employees, cut benefits, fewer hours, lower wages (or less frequent raises), or a reduction in products or services. It may even be an extinction event for some job creators.

And this is how ‘Democrats’ lower property taxes. It’s not a property tax its a utility fee. They take more but call it something else or have some other entity take it for them. You know, the same way a tax on your wages (income) is not an income tax.

The City Council will be discussing this again at Wednesday’s Town Council Meeting (6/8/2022).

 

Ordinance Committee and Utilities Commission to begin planning stormwater utility

The City Council’s Ordinance Committee will meet jointly with the Dover Utilities Commission in a workshop session on Monday, June 13, to discuss the creation of a stormwater utility.

On Feb. 23, 2022, the City Council approved a resolution that states its intent to develop and implement a stormwater utility by fiscal year 2024 to invest in and maintain the city’s public stormwater infrastructure. The creation of a utility was the recommendation of the ad-hoc Committee to Study Stormwater and Flood Resilience, which the Council also voted to accept on Feb. 23.

To create the framework for a stormwater utility, the City Council tasked city staff to work with the Ordinance Committee and the Dover Utilities Commission. At this kickoff joint workshop, the commission and committee members will review the ad-hoc committee’s recommendations, review pending grant funding applications and the staff work’s plan.

In August 2020, the Council established the ad-hoc committee to investigate, study, identify and make recommendations to the City Council about funding opportunities for existing needs and future stormwater and flood resilience management planning. Stormwater runoff travels across rooftops, roads, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces that can collect and carry pollution that ends up in local water bodies such as Willand Pond and the Great Bay Estuary and groundwater aquifers used for drinking water.

The joint public workshop will be held in City Hall’s Council Conference Room at 6 p.m. Click here for the complete agenda and background materials.

The post Dover Says “It’s Not a Rain Tax” But Your “Taxes” Will go up Because of the Rain appeared first on Granite Grok.

Derek Hunter over at Townhall sums up COMPLETELY my outlook and feelings with that title. I can’t tell you how sick and tired I’m hearing about CELEBRATE THIS! and CELEBRATE THAT! and CELEBRATE THIS OTHER THING! or CELEBRATE ALL THESE INDIVIDUAL PEOPLES! (emphasis mine): 

I’ve never been one to celebrate anyone or anything based on measures I deem stupid. The dumber the irrelevant characteristic, however, the more “celebration-worthy” it is declared by the progressive left. This ethnicity month and that skin color month, then you have a different month for various types of music created by people who happen to have a preferred ethnicity or politically useful skin color. The Democrat Party spends so much time insisting on our differences that even people who used to enjoy this garbage are having enough of it.

“Insisting on our differences” – hammer, meet nail on head.  This month and that month and this week and that week; there aren’t enough days in a decade to celebrate each and every single separatist group possible.

And am I the only one that has had it with the “FIRST <insert ethnicity” to be [doing | elected | made it | accomplished]” for practically anything?  No, nobody is erasing you if your sexuality, skin color, background, or nationality isn’t put up on the movie theater marquee (is that even a thing anymore) with searchlights playing pinball in the clouds to illuminate yet another selfish callout.

Yes, selfish.  Look, if you are doing a good job, congrats – here’s your handshake and a smile in your direction (and NO snark meant).  If you are GREAT, kudos to you for being great – regardless of what or who you are but for what you’ve done.

Don’t recognize me as the first white Swedish/Irish person that has the leading Conservative blog in NH – I succeeded not because of my heritage, not because of my skin color, not because of the schools I went to but because I worked hard, was persistent, never let up, conquered a bunch of problems, AND that Steve and I have attracted a bunch of great writers associated with the ‘Grok.

So, I’m done with the First Black Hispanic Japanese left-handed bisexual anarchist participation plaudits handed out like dime-store candy just because of what shows up when you look in a mirror (and you can substitute anything else before “participation plaudits” that turns your cookies on – I could care less who or what I leave out. If you’re insulted, that’s your problem and not mine so deal with it in your own special way). If you bring it up to me, I’m going to give you “The Look” that I learned from my Mom and from TMEW – be warned that you ought to stop speaking EXACTLY AT THAT MOMENT.

We are a nation that was built on mongrels and misfits that either couldn’t take it anymore back in “the old country” and left or were kicked out by some means. As has been oft said, we ARE the Melting Pot of the world whether you like it or not.

Sidenote: and if you are incensed that I just manifested a microaggression against who the heck cares anyway, shut up, turn around and go play in some dark corner because I can guarantee you that I’ll graduate that “micro” to a “microaggression in 2 seconds.  And that’s about all the warning you will get – you’re not entitled or deserving of anymore (and be thankful I give you that much).

The nation was built on Judeo-Christian morality and our Founding Fathers gave us the philosophy that is summed up by “E Pluribus Unum” – out of many, one.

However, as Hunter points out, all these identity celebrations are doing nothing but destroying that motto – it’s like the Left is actively Balkanizing America so as to separate us all.  And that’s the rub.

Celebrate not the group(s) that’s behind someone that succeeds – celebrate the individual that actually succeeded (and proving fake micro-American Elizabeth Warren wrong by pointing out “I DID build that!”). A person (and a team, at times) deserves the praise and celebration and not those that had anything to do with it.

And I’ll hold onto this idea until Congress legislates and the President signs a Declaration that every month is Curmudgeon Month – because I know that I have earned that every single day for a few years now. And I can easily now say that I’m old enough to be called such.

 

 

The post I’m with him: “Screw ‘Pride’ and Every Other Month” appeared first on Granite Grok.

Joe’s war on fossil fuels continues. The Department of the Interior and an activist judge are working on a scheme that could invalidate up to two thousand domestic oil and gas leases.

 

This is perhaps the most egregious case of “sue and settle” in the history of Enviromarxist lawfare against the US economy. Enviromarxist terrorist organizations sue regulatory agencies, who, when under Democrat control, quickly settle the lawsuits acceding to Envriomarxist demands that often bear no resemblance to the statutory authorities of the regulatory agencies.

The Obama Administration laundered vast sums to favored activist groups using this technique, and now the Biden administration is using it to advance the war on fossil fuels. To further reduce supply while playing class war politics with oil and gas companies whom they are “begging” to increase production.

 

$9.45/gal!! Thanks to Matthew for this pic of the Chevron in Mendocino, CA- the most expensive station in the country and the highest price we’ve recorded. It’s over $3/gal higher than the California average and is a definite outlier. #gasprices pic.twitter.com/7AUuxDLCGI

— Patrick De Haan (@GasBuddyGuy) June 1, 2022

 

The begging is window dressing, just like the speeches about lowering prices or blaming Putin. If you open those curtains and peek at what’s behind the glass, you’ll see environmental extremist activism advancing destructive green new deal priorities without legislative action.

We can’t punish Biden (yet), but we can take it out on the rest of his party. Politicians only understand political pain, so get to work. Find the best Republicans and get them through their primaries, then into elected office.

And then put their feet to the fire and keep them there.

 

 

HT | WUWT

 

The post How Biden Helps Struggling Americans: Let’s Cancel 2000 Existing Oil and Gas Leases appeared first on Granite Grok.

I don’t know about you, but my friends and I are really starting to feel the squeeze.  One friend is canceling her participation in a summer camping trip because the tank of gas required to get to and from the campground is too costly.

Another friend who lives on a fixed income and drives Uber to make money so she can go on an extended, warm weather, winter vacation each year just sold her home to go live in a tiny home costing half as much as the home she just sold. As far as I can tell, the tiny home costs 3X what it did a few years ago when it was new.

She tells me that the half-gallon size soy milk that she buys for her morning cereal costs $6.99 now. She says her grandsons are in their 20s now, and they are miserable because they don’t date anymore, and they can’t do the things they used to love doing. She no longer gets Uber requests because people don’t come up to the mountains for recreation because the trip is too costly.

People at Cost-Co’s gas station fill multiple gas cans in the bed of their trucks. Do they expect shortages, or are they just investing in gasoline now to beat the price hikes in the coming weeks? Their behavior is, of course, what creates shortages.

And people are stocking up on foods that are not perishable. Thank goodness Costco still sells its baked chicken for $4.99!

I just subscribed to an organic farm producer for vegetables each week in case you can’t find them in the store this summer. I asked the farmer if his price was locked in for the season, and he said yes. I guess he does not need fertilizer or a tractor to run his farming operation.

We hear Steve Forbes defining normal inflation as different from this Bidenflation. I wonder if it will respond to the Fed raising interest rates as the normal inflation did in the past.  Higher interest rates will probably double the debt service we currently pay.  The last time I checked, it was several hundred billion.

What services and programs will be cut as a result? Social Security?  Medicare? We hear Mr. Dimon warning of a hurricane coming our way, economically speaking. We hear Elon Musk may lay off 10% of Tesla workers in anticipation of the disaster that is coming in a corporate belt-tightening move.

But, never fear.  A friend who could afford to buy a Tesla has had it for two months now.  He says he has saved $2000 on gasoline.  He says it costs about $20 to charge the car up at the local, quick charging station.

I heard a fire captain say on the radio that he might have to limit the vehicles sent to fight fires because the fuel cost is too high for the department’s budget. I hear that California will have rolling blackouts for 1.5 million homes due to the shortage of electricity.  Of course, our nuclear power plant was shut down in the face of all this. I am one of the lucky ones.  I have a pool to cool off in.

Who knows what calamity will befall us next.  Nobody. We are in uncharted territory thanks to Biden and his team of economically illiterate morons.

 

 

 

Jennifer Mitchell Towner writes at The Blue State Conservative

The post Americans Are Feeling The Squeeze Of “Bidenflation” appeared first on Granite Grok.

Since most business endeavors today are not limited by location and implement online branches for international marketing and logistics, the use of translation services becomes essential.

From translating legal documents and presentations for the investors to the technical processing of the manuals and the business offers, offering your information in more than one language will help avoid accidental mistakes. Turning to professionals will also adjust the tone of your marketing message and address the needs of your international customers.

 

5 Ways a Translation Service Can Help Grow Your Business

 

1. Expanding Your Target Audience.

The primary aim of getting your business documents and presentations translated is to attract a wider audience. When you translate your business documents and use more than one language for advertising your services or the products, your target audience will grow. It’s essential to use the best translation websites that provide human translation, especially if you are dealing with medical services or the areas where a cultural factor is involved. Focus on your customer’s needs first and see what linguistic assistance might be necessary (localization, creative writing, etc.).

2. International Cooperation.

A translation service will let you establish global cooperation with international agencies and campaigns that can help your business gain more recognition. You can build new contacts and learn more from the companies that offer similar services. It’s also possible to translate blog posts, video conferences, or even localize mobile apps. It will help your business grow and expand.

3. Better Online Sales.

Speaking of digital marketing, translating your proposals and information about the company into more than one language will boost your online sales and recognition. It will affect your SEO rankings as well. Think about adding Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or other popular social networks to your arsenal of marketing tools by turning to Asian or South American markets.

4. Discovering New Investors.

Another aspect is dealing with foreign investors by offering business proposals where you talk about your advantages. When you want to stand out from the competition, you realize why legal translation is so important for a successful deal. Every sentence must be verified twice, and your business’s benefits must be portrayed clearly. Take your time to work on your original writing before starting with a translation!

5. Outsourcing & Remote Specialists.

If your business considers the use of outsourcing and dealing with remote experts in another country, a translation service can help you achieve more clarity. You can also translate various offers posted by freelancers and ensure that every important aspect of your business is understood correctly. It’s also possible to create job proposals in another language by explaining your requirements to the foreign specialists.

Get Your Translation Documents Ready!

The most important aspect of a successful translation process for your business is getting the documents prepared before some important deadlines or expanding your business abroad. Hold a meeting with the stakeholders, discuss your objectives, and always secure your business data before approaching a translation service. This way, you can narrow things down and provide the linguists with a good structure. Remember to check the dates, addresses, and phone numbers manually before submitting the documents and once you receive the final translation. It might take time to review, yet you will be rewarded with accuracy and clarity!

 

BIO

Joanne Elliot is an educator with a linguistic background and a business consultant who happily offers her skills and experience to businesses and universities worldwide. She loves writing about technology, education, and the business methods of becoming successful. Follow Joanne to take your business ideas to another level.

The post 5 Ways a Translation Service Can Help Grow your Business appeared first on Granite Grok.

Governor Groomer, Chris Sununu, isn’t just aggravating the grassroots with his vetoes. Inside the State Republican Party apparatus, they’ve taken up our call for change.

Not a new governor, though a different Republican might prove useful. For all his flaws, Sununu is likely headed for another two-year term, and the party accepts it – wants it. What they no longer accept is the absence of a check on that governor.

Over the weekend, it became clear that the State Republican Party was not as pleased with Mr. Sununu’s actions as we’d like to believe. His stranglehold on them appears to have lessened, and they want reassurances.

Republican Super-Majorities in the Legislature. Both the New Hampshire House and Senate. Veto-proof majorities.

Without saying as much, that will require Granite Staters to send not just Democrats packing but more than a few of the Dems pocket Republicans. The RINOs who manage to vote the wrong way on crucial platform issues.

The party promises vast sums of money this cycle to support messaging and candidates and to blanket the markets with ads about failed Democrat policies and priorities.

Time will tell, but we’re fans of the super-majority. The last time we had one was when Democrat john Lynch was governor. They cut the state budget and advanced a raft of priorities, a few of which failed because of ‘republicans’ in the state Senate, so keep those offices in mind.

Sununu has demonstrated some influence with that body, and we’ll need ‘Republicans’ who put principles before whatever informs or drives Chris Sununu.

 

 

The post NHGOP Insider: We Need Republican Majorities That Can Override Sununu’s Vetoes appeared first on Granite Grok.

They’re flying so thick and fast it is amazing.  And take heart – there will be a Meme Overflow and I will back-edit to include the link.

Remember, ridicule and mockery are effective weapons:

1. Ridicule cannot easily be fought
2. Ridicule makes the enemy angry, and angry people make mistakes
3. For those in the “squishy middle” a Thought Splinter(and Part IIand Part III) can often be hidden inside humor.  And I’m still working on Thought Splinters IV and getting close to done.  Not like I have nothing else to do.  Also, part 2 of my series on the links between civilizational collapse and biology is up:  Civilizational Collapse and Biology (Part 2).  Here’s the first part: Civilizational Collapse and Biology (Part 1), to get posted (out of my hands).  And just so you know, my prior piece there is Lessons from Candle Smoke.  Don’t worry GG, I cross-post back here in my essays there!

Now, let the mockery and mayhem begin.

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

 

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

 

First, a hat trick of my cartoons.  (Note, I can’t draw my way out of a wet paper bag; I come up with the ideas and have a professional do them.)

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Castro was even greater a monster than you know.  This is an excellent book:

Fidel: Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant

 

 

 

 

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

 

My choice for the best of the lot:

 

 

Memes, Survival Sunday, and my essays are what I, as a somebody, are doing.  And in the background, working to prepare my family and myself for hard times coming.  I’m also starting to meet people locally – late, but better than never – who have a simliar mindset.

 

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

 

Palate cleanser:

 

 

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

 

Another recipe from My Tree in Israel.  Yes, I have several trees adopted – I actually have adopted two trees with my business website on the label and use them as promotional gifts in addition to the 2-3 trees I have for personal use.  (I also have a tree, going into the third year, that I adopted in honor of Bill Whittle.)  And yes, it’s the best olive oil I’ve ever had.  Full disclosure, though, one of the co-owners is a friend of mine.  I don’t get compensated for promoting them, it’s just a thing to help a friend’s business and promote the agricultural industry in my spiritual home.

 

 

The post MONDAY MEMES appeared first on Granite Grok.

Students these days have come to rely on the Internet for a number of reasons. It’s fast, easily available, and contains a lot of resources. Many students use the web, but how much do we know about its effect on students? In this article, we go over some established impacts of using the Internet on students.

4 Effects of Using the Internet on Students

The internet is 39 years old, so it’s a relatively new technology. However, as further research is being done on its effects, we’re learning more each day. Below are 3 of the known effects using the Internet has on students:

1. Insomnia

The medical definition of Insomnia states that it’s “a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep.” When students stare at their screens for too long, the blue light that’s emitted from their devices can end up causing insomnia, among other health issues. This is why some students choose to Google “write essay for me” so they can find a good writer to handle their assignment. With professional help, students can significantly cut back on their time spent in front of the computer and thus maintain their health. If you intend to browse, you might want to time yourself to avoid looking at the screen for too long, especially before you go to bed.

2. Stifled creativity

There are so many resources that can be found on the web that it can make it hard to want to create anything from scratch by yourself. While a lot of it is there for your good, being overdependent on the Internet can reduce one’s creative ability. For instance, if you were looking to build a chair, there are videos online that will teach you how to do it, but the consequence is that you might only learn to follow their instructions rather than discover the process on your own via trial and error. Unless you practice a lot, using the Internet might likely reduce your creative ability.

3. Reduced web safety

Students, unlike most individuals, spend a lot of their time online. This sadly brings them into more contact with thieves and hackers. A student looking to download software for their computer might end up downloading a virus that steals their personal data — this is why internet safety for college students should be taught at every education level. Whether it’s research for a project or a job application, students can fall prey to traps, and what’s even worse is that the hackers know this.

4. Loneliness

Online communication does not diminish a person’s need for live interaction with other people. Research shows that young people that spend an excessive amount of time online are prone to feeling more lonely and isolated.

 

Conclusion

The Internet is a great tool that won’t be going away anytime soon. How we use it is something we all should consider for our own safety and that of others. Students and their guardians should also consider taking steps to secure their use of the internet. As blockers, antivirus software, and computer timers are just some ways to achieve this.

Author’s Bio

Joanne Elliot is a cybersecurity expert and freelance writer. She has helped improve the web security of businesses to prevent hacker attacks. As the Internet is a major part of what she does, she understands its benefits and dangers and uses her articles to shed light on the subject in hopes of helping as many students as possible.

 

The post Impact of Using the Internet on Students appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Left’s war on poverty was never about lifting people up. It was about pushing more people down. And look, it’s working. Between “pandemic,” energy, economic, and even international policy, more people are struggling than ever. But the New York Times says it’s not enough.

So, more Americans need to feel the effects of Biden’s punishing policies before there can be meaningful change?

 

“Inflation has the potential to drive welcome change for the planet if Americans think differently about the way they eat. While hunger and food insecurity are a very real problem in the United States and globally, middle- and upper-class Americans still have more choices at the grocery store than perhaps any food shoppers in history. Climate change has motivated some to eat less resource-intensive meat and more vegetables, grains and legumes, but this movement has not reached the scale necessary to bring needed change — yet.”

 

The Left’s goal of making you eat less animal protein – which is essential, necessary, and delicious – still needs work.

And did you note the little Pravda dance in the second sentence? The folks who’ve not been pushed into poverty and dependence have “more choices at the grocery store than perhaps any food shoppers in history.”

Shortages? What shortages? People who can still make ends meet are staring down the barrel of a cornucopia. Abbondanza!

That line also has a touch of class-war recoil to it. Sorry about your bad luck, but plenty of people can afford food, and wow, don’t they have a lot from which to choose. Life is plentiful, and without saying it, you should envy them, but what they leave out is not for much longer if things go as planned.

They will join you, and if a few (million) need to go hungry, homeless, starve, or die to achieve their goals, it’s a price they are willing to make you pay. The Left’s urban template gone wide. The deliberate spread of the Progressive crime, poverty, and dependence plantation virus. Donkey Pox!

And it’s a multi-pronged attack. Look at the price of gasoline. There’s no electric car in the future for anyone living in the real world who isn’t at or above the upper-middle class. That’s most of us. But the goal is to price combustion transportation out of existence. Higher energy prices drive all prices up, so affording a vehicle gets more difficult every year (every month?), as does driving one.

That, too, is deliberate. On March 31st, Joe Biden announced his administration’s plan for lowering gas prices. Here’s the result.

 

 

 

 

Build Back Better?

The national average dipped a few cents for about two weeks after the announcement. From $4.22 to $4.06 per gallon, then right back up. We’re now at $4.87 on average nationally, and that number is a lot higher in many places, and that’s the goal—economic misery.

The Times is just saying that out loud, couched in the context of one issue. Meat.

But meat is not more resource-intensive than the alternative in modern American society, certainly not more than making plant-based fake meat. There is also the matter of plant-based anything. Fertilizer prices have skyrocketed, and you can’t replace those meat calories without more fertilizer. The result is more food shortages. Fewer choices. Even higher prices.

Given the arc of policy possibilities from Democrats, it seems unlikely that replacing those calories is even on the table. They are, after all, the party of social engineering and eugenics. They openly scorn the masses and support depopulation. Any policy that means fewer of us is good for the environment. What they leave out is that by the environment, they don’t mean climate or the planet. It’s about who lives to people the new world.

Less of us, more of them, which is a good lesson if you can learn it. The next time you get to vote, elect more people like you and fewer of them. Do it at every level of government and not just once. It’s easy to break things. Fixing them takes a lot longer. Vote the Dems out and keep them out.

 

 

HT | RCS

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We can do better, and we have to do better. We continue to put people into positions of authority or elect people to public office that are not qualified to perform their jobs. The Peter Principle is a concept in the business world where people are moved up the ranks and promoted to their highest level of incompetence.

We have all worked for people who are the product of this process. We have all had supervisors or colleagues who we questioned how they ever got to their station. The Peter Principle was the vehicle they rode. These misplaced people are cancer to an organization. They fester contempt and morale issues.

We see the Pater Principle rear its ugly head today in government at all levels and in critical areas like law enforcement, including the justice department. This leads to a common excuse for mishandling urgent situations as lacking leadership. Sadly, we only have to look at the recent mass shooting of twenty-one innocent souls.

There is still much to learn about the reaction to the shooter, but the initial consensus is that lives may have been lost unnecessarily that day because of a lack of leadership of the law enforcement teams. We are too good for this to happen.

We see examples of inadequate leadership at every level of government. Mayor Lightfoot of Chicago, Governors Cuomo of New York and Whitmer of Michigan, District Attorney Gascon of Los Angeles, and Washington DC is ripe with people holding high office with little or no qualifications.

We only need to look at the two top officers in our government, and their lack of leadership caused this country in just fifteen months. Joe Biden, in fifty years, and Kamala Harris have never been considered successful Senators in their careers. His party selected Joe Biden because it was believed he was the Anti-Trump.

Kamala Harris was chosen because she is a black woman, and that is what Joe Biden promised he would bring to the ticket. Neither is competent or possesses the leadership qualities needed in our Executive Branch. We look to the country’s state and the results of every decision they have made as proof of its deficiencies.

I mentioned what might have been the last team of true leaders in my Sunday Spotlight. When Reagan, Queen Elizabeth, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II teamed to break the Soviet Union, bring down the Berlin Wall, and hold off the spread of Socialism at the time, we may have witnessed the fruits of influential, qualified leaders. Those leaders may be among us, and we need to bring them forward.

Instead, we have candidates who people or groups choose with the financial might to overcome any competition. For years have seen big money, not high competence, win elections. Special interest people like George Soros may be satisfied but at the country’s expense. We deserve better. We deserve the best of the best to lead our country through increasingly complex challenges. We have incompetent individuals who, rather than lead, embark on their re-election the day they are sworn in.

We allowed this system to gain strength, but we have the strength to change the system. This is not a partisan issue as it has taken roots on both sides of the aisle. Indications are we looking at a correction election this November. As an optimist, I hope that is true. As a pragmatic person, I’ll delay my opinion until the day after Election Day.

This damaged system is hurting voters. Let’s hope to turn that hurt into a quest for people who can lead us back to stability and prosperity. This grand experiment called the United States cannot survive many more cycles of the same.

 

 

Ray Writes for GraniteGrok.com and the Liberty Loft

 

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If I’m not mistaken, standing with Ukraine has the distinction of inspiring the “I stand with the current thing” meme. And that’s more fitting than ever. It’s pride month, and why the hell would that matter? If you stand with Ukraine, you’re an anti-gay bigot.

Same-sex marriage is constitutionally banned in Ukraine.

 

• Article 51 of the Constitution specifically defines marriage as a voluntary union between a man and a woman. No legal recognition exists for same-sex marriage, nor is there any sort of more limited recognition for same-sex couples.
• In June 2018, the Justice Ministry confirmed that currently “there is no legal grounds” for same-sex marriage and civil partnerships in Ukraine.
•  Only couples married in a registered different-sex marriage are allowed to adopt children from Ukraine.
• In another Angus Reid Global Monitor survey, this one in June 2007, on a long list of possible social reforms in the country, legalization of same-sex marriage only received 4.7% of the vote,
• A May 2013 poll by GfK Ukraine found that … 79.4% were opposed to any form of recognition (for same-sex marriage).
• A Pew Research Center poll published in May 2017 suggested that 9% of Ukrainians were in favor of same-sex marriage, while 85% opposed it.

 

Feel free to find your “liberal friends” online and share this “news” with them. And please, let us know how that goes.

The post If You “Stand with Ukraine” You’re an Anti-Gay Bigot! (Gay Marriage is Banned by their Constitution) appeared first on Granite Grok.

I am constantly surfing the ‘Net. FAR too much for me to put up and, I must admit, I spend too much time surfing. Yes, it is part of this hobby/obsession that I’d be on top of a LOT of things but it does take time. But it does payoff and I think this time, given we are now seeing the intensification of the political campaigns, it did. From a story at MSN (who was reporting what Fox News had first) (reformatted, emphasis mine): Green Beret PAC and an announcement concerning Don Bolduc.

Former Republican congressional candidate and Green Beret veteran Jason Bacon launched Green Beret PAC Monday, aiming to bolster several U.S. Army Special Forces veterans and other conservative veterans running for Congress in the 2022 midterm elections, aiming to avoid another “travesty” like the Afghanistan withdrawal.

“It is no coincidence that we are launching on Memorial Day, less than a year after we witnessed the Biden administration’s failed leadership contribute to the loss of American lives in Afghanistan. Bacon said in a news release. It is imperative that we elect real leaders to Congress with the knowledge and experience to prevent this kind of travesty.”

“Green Berets have spent years implementing U.S. Foreign Policy on the ground. They are warrior-diplomats, who have learned foreign languages, understand foreign cultures, and have lived among local populations. They have a breadth of experience that surpasses that of a typical Congressional candidate.”

Most of us are aware of the Green Berets. Fewer, however, are aware of what and how they do it. It’s a difficult selection process (as it is for any of the Special Ops folks like Rangers, SEALs, Marine Recon, and Air Force Rescue), and unlike what John Kerry once said…

if you make the most of it… You study hard. You do your homework and you make an effort to be smart… ah… you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.

…(as I had in the title of post that has that, Kerry IS loathsome for having said that for if he really could get over himself, these folks, like most SpecOps folks I’ve met, are really, REALLY knowledge folks that are practical, get the mission job, and take care of the details BECAUSE they have studied everything IN detail ahead of time. I’d take any one of them over Lurch any day. But, once again, I digress.  Back to the MSN post:

“We are proud to support these outstanding candidates for Congress,” he concluded.

The PAC is endorsing Christian Castelli in North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, Pat Harrigan in North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District, Derrick Anderson in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, Jay Collins in Florida’s 15th Congressional District, Tyler Allcorn in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, Joe Kent in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, Don Buldoc in New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race, Mike Waltz in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, and Eli Crane in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.

Whether or not you ever served in the military, you should take note of that endorsement.  Just being a Green Beret is a high achievement for anyone as very few get through the selection and training periods and then are assigned.  When the best are, once again, selecting someone to be best for office, I’m paying attention. So should you.

Their mission statement is simple and to the point: Green Beret PAC serves to elect U.S. Army Green Berets and other veterans to Congress in 2022 and beyond

IT’S GOING TO TAKE GREEN BERETS TO TAKE THE HILL
Green Beret PAC is committed to supporting U.S. House and Senate candidates from the Special Forces community and their colleagues from other branches of Special Operations.

IT’S GOING TO TAKE GREEN BERETS TO TAKE THE HILL
Morality. Decency. Integrity.

 

Their write up of “The General”:

Don Bolduc

Green Beret

General Don Bolduc was born and raised in Laconia. He grew up working on the historic Bolduc farm in Gilford. His father, Armand Bolduc, was a Laconia City Councilor for 34 years and a widely respected statesman.

When Don was 18 years old, he was hired as a Police Officer in the town of Laconia. At the time, he was the youngest police officer in New Hampshire’s history. He graduated from the academy just a few days after his 18th birthday.

General Bolduc  enlisted in the United States Army and after achieving the rank of Sergeant, he attended Salem State University and joined the ROTC program. He graduated as Distinguished Military Graduate and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army. This began what would be a heroic 33+ career in the Army Special Forces community.

During his time with the US Army, he commanded many of our nation’s most famous units during the Global War on Terror. He led one of the first groups in Afghanistan, riding in on horseback. He also led the 3rd Special Forces group in Operation Medusa, one of the most significant operations in the Afghanistan war. His unit was credited with the success of the operation, uprooting the Taliban’s tight grip in the Kandahar Province.

Bolduc also commanded the Combined Joint Special Operations component responsible for the Afghanistan Village Stability Operations, bringing training and development to key rural areas.

General Bolduc served on the Joint Staff in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Aide to the Secretary of the Army, routinely briefing high level government officials including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President of the United States.

His final post of his military career was as Special Forces Africa Commander. He oversaw more than 2000 operations, including the one focused on apprehending Joseph Kony and ending the dictatorial regime of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

By the end of his career, he received two awards for valor, five Bronze Star medals, and two Purple Hearts. He was also one of the few survivors of both a helicopter crash and a 2,000-pound bomb that inadvertently targeted on his position by friendly fire. He has been awarded the Defense Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device and numerous awards from our allies.

After returning home to New Hampshire, General Bolduc has been a tireless advocate to combat the stigma around and treatment of post-traumatic stress (PTS). He was one of the few senior military officers and the only active duty general officer on record at the time to discuss his own struggles with PTS.

General Bolduc lives in Stratham New Hampshire with his wife Sharon of 33 years. He has 3 sons and 3 grandchildren. He also has 2 dogs, Victor and Bara. Victor is a certified medical service dog, trained through the Guardian Angels foundation. Bara is a former US Army Explosives dog, with 3 tours in Afghanistan of her own.

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Some in the media are starting to openly admit that repealing or altering the Second Amendment is a necessary first step towards allowing the government to exert more control over who can keep and bear what arms in which venues.

But note that there are currently two Second Amendments.

The First Second Amendment is from the written Constitution, which is at this point merely a historical document, having no legal significance:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The Second Second Amendment is from the oral Constitution, which is the one accepted by pretty much everyone:

That part of the right to keep and bear arms that is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty shall not be infringed unless there is a compelling government interest in doing so.

In simpler language, the Second Second Amendment says that it’s up to the Supreme Court to tell you what you can own, what hoops you have to jump through to buy or sell it, whether you have to register it, how you have to store it, where you can carry it, and so on.

For example, the Court might decide that banning suppressors is an infringement, but taxing them isn’t.  It might decide that forbidding you from keeping a loaded gun in your home is an infringement, but forbidding you from taking that gun outside of your home is not.  It might decide that prohibiting the possession of three 10-round magazines is an infringement, but prohibiting the possession of two 15-round magazines is not.  And so on.

Governments at all levels — federal, state, and local — just have to guess what the Supreme Court is thinking.  And the only way to find out is to play an elaborate game of Battleship, by passing laws that might cross one of its imaginary lines, and seeing how the Court responds.

Anyway, now that the need for some kind of alteration is being acknowledged, I’m going to try to get the ball rolling by proposing wording for a Third Second Amendment, which addresses the stated concerns of both sides of the issue.  On the left, that’s reducing gun-related crime.  On the right, that’s maintaining the core purpose of the original amendment:  self-defense, not just from criminals, but from our own government.

So here’s the proposed wording of the Third Second Amendment:

I. Any person of voting age who has not been convicted of a violent felony, or adjudicated by a panel of at least three judges in open court to be dangerous to members of the public, has a right to own any weapons that may suitable for self-defense against criminals or against his own government, and a right to carry them wherever he goes.

II. The exercise of these rights shall not be subject to bans or other limits, licenses or permits, taxes or fees, registration or other tracking requirements, background checks, storage or inspection requirements, or any other infringements, even if there would be a compelling government interest in enacting them, and even if those infringements are currently in force.

So there you go.  I think this contains something for everyone!  Highlights:

• The whole militia issue — which has been one of the biggest red herrings in all of politics — is eliminated.
• This clarifies that the right to keep and bear arms belongs to individual persons, and not only to ‘the people’ considered as a group.
• The scope of ‘the people’ has been reduced to exclude children, and other people that ‘should not’ be able to own guns, without excluding people who have, for example, been convicted of non-violent felonies, or people who have merely been accused of being dangerous.   (Note that this would eliminate Red Flag laws, while still leaving open the possibility of Purple Flag laws.)
• The scope of ‘arms’ has been clarified, to cut off the line of argument that ‘weapons of war’ should be subject to control by the very entity against whom those weapons might have to be used, in a war.
• The idea that things like bans or taxes or registration requirements are somehow not ‘infringements’ is discarded, along with the idea that a ‘compelling government interest’ somehow takes precedence over a ‘right’ — which is, at its core, the ability to tell the government to pound sand.
• It effectively repeals pretty much every existing gun control law, including the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, and the Gun Control Act of 1968.
• Since the wording of the Third Second Amendment has little overlap with the wording of the First or Second Second Amendments, any rulings that the Court has made so far (for example, grandfathering ‘long-standing restrictions’ by state and local governments) would be irrelevant.  This would be a complete do-over.

I’m sure there will be disagreements, but as I said, I’m just trying to get the ball rolling here.

The post The Third Second Amendment appeared first on Granite Grok.

I’ll be recording yet another “out of sequence” Skip’s Sauntering Snippets this afternoon.  Silly me – thinking I could have some at the ready for when I had writer’s block. I’m finding out the hard way that events are too many and going along too fast.  Part of it will be about that those citizens without “arms” are mere serfs that can be lead like sheep – and culled for slaughter just like sheep.

We are being herded in another way than in the Second Amendment domain – energy.  When the Biden Administration upped the mileage requirements from the present 26 miles/gallon to 49 MPG in FOUR YEARS, you know we are being ruled (reformatted, emphasis mine):

Biden tightens fuel standards for new cars and trucks: 49 mpg by model-year 2026

The Biden administration announced on Friday new fuel economy standards requiring new vehicles to go farther on less fuel to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions . The “Corporate Average Fuel Economy” standards require manufacturers to achieve an average of 49 miles per gallon economy for passenger cars and light trucks beginning in model-year 2026. They also require average fuel efficiency to increase 8% annually for model-years 2024 and 2025 for the same vehicle types and 10% annually for model-year 2026.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s announcement framed the standards in light of high fuel prices and Biden’s climate change agenda, saying they will “strengthen U.S. energy independence and help reduce reliance on fossil fuels.” It also stressed that the standards would save drivers money, estimating that those purchasing model-year 2026 vehicles will enjoy 33% more miles per gallon relative to 2021 vehicles…”Today is a big step and just one part of an all-of-the-above strategy by the Biden-Harris administration to accelerate our path to clearer energy and electric vehicles,” Buttigieg said.

That last bit is the reason why our gas prices are so high. You’ve seen how the Biden Administration has been canceling new oil field leases and making other regulations more onerous and expensive to do the exploring, the trial drilling, and the actual pumping of crude oil.  They’ve also caused a number of refineries to close in further tightening the supply of gas and diesel – deliberately creating the conditions to put the rest of us into misery every time we turned our engines over.

It is impossible for ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) to make that technological leap from 26 MPG today to 49 in just four years.  They know all of this – they aren’t giving us, supposedly a free people, the freedom to choose for ourselves to either have ICE or EV (Electric Vehicle).  In four years, it will be IMPOSSIBLE for we, in the middle class, to be able to use our “not obsolete” vehicles anymore. These DEMOCRAT Elites have crowed that all we have to do to save thousands of dollars is to buy an EV.

NO, it’s NOT. I’ve already paid off my vehicle well before the loan period. I own it free and clear. Are they going to share in my financial pain for the policies that they have created?

Reminder: how many of you believe that our electrical grid can even handle the huge increase of demand as this happens?  That’s another deliberate crisis that’s been in the works – no gas for your car, no electricity for your EV or freezer, and no gas for your generator.   It’s also the reason why Biden is depleting our strategic oil reserves that were meant to be used in an EMERGENCY – to get rid of it all.

Biden is simply trying to show Obama “You couldn’t get it done – hold ma beer!” with these moves.

But the Law of Unintended Consequences is ready to POUNCE – not on those that are keeping us from making our own decisions; they will not be affected. WE will, however. And enough of us are starting to let them know, a la Mike Tyson’s “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”, we are starting to punch back and the Biden Admin is starting to realize it. From Instapundit:

• Shot: Biden praises high gas prices as part of ‘incredible transition’ of the US economy away from fossil fuels.

—The New York Post, Monday.

• Chaser: White House Eyes Restarting Idle Refineries.

I’m betting that Democrats, who are facing a tornado in front of them with the coming mid-term elections, are starting to scream at the White House “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???”. They understand that in America, WE the Citizens get the final say.  For a number of years, Democrats will be pasted over this.

Sidenote: Hey Maggie “The Red Hassan” – stop lying about your “efforts” about trying to lower gas prices “against my own Party”.  We know you’ve been going along with this for years. You ARE part of the problem – and should be dealt with appropriately this November.

So the Biden Admin is now running scared.  The rest of that Instapundit post:

The Biden administration is reaching out to the oil industry to inquire about restarting shuttered refineries, as the White House scrambles to address record-high gasoline prices that are setting off political alarm bells ahead of the midterm elections. Members of the National Economic Council and other officials have inquired within the industry about factors that led some refining operations to be curtailed and if plans are underway to restart capacity, a person familiar with the matter said. The person, who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record, added no direct ask to restart operations was made.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

I’m betting that if the mid-terms weren’t so close, the above actions wouldn’t be happen. Biden and the Obama retreads WANT this to happen and are probably upset that We The People get a say on how they can Govern and that we won’t be Ruled.

If Democrats are willing to Rule instead of Govern, to take away our choices in seeking our own Pursuit of Happiness, they need to be wiped out in November.

Not only that, we need to start electing people that will not only CAMPAIGN to made the Federal Government smaller but actually cut the funds to make it happen. Right now, nothing is getting done in Congress – and from my point of view, that’s a GOOD thing – and Congress is acting just like our Founders wanted in that if there isn’t large agreements, stuff shouldn’t get done.

But with such an expansive Federal Government, unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats can do anything they want without any immediate consequences.

And make no mistake, this IS the transformation of America that Obama promised – our freedom of travel, to get to work, to get our food, to heat our homes, to keep our lights on because we’ve decided not to go their version of “Green” are being taken away.

For as much as I rail against Republicans, we need a supermajority of them to put laws into place, by vetoing anything that Biden wants, to stop the bureaucrats from acting as the New Royalty.

The post We, Who the Biden Administration Are Trying to Shift from Being Citizens to Being Ruled, Are Starting to Make Our Ire Known appeared first on Granite Grok.

What if I told you there was a silver bullet to kill Wokeism? You’d say I was crazy, right? There couldn’t possibly be such a thing. It’s far too complicated, nebulous, and ingrained. But, nevertheless, that I what I’m telling you – and I’m telling you that I’ve forged it already.

The idea is simple enough. Wokeism is actually a religion. It is a denomination of Marxist origins and shares this religiosity with Communism. This is a well-founded assertion, I assure you. However, while the idea is simple enough, the actual text of the bill is anything but. For this, I apologize, but I do promise that it is no more complicated than it must be to accomplish the purpose.

What is the purpose?

The purpose is to designate, officially through legislation, Marxism (and Wokeism) to be religion, and therefore violative of first amendment prohibitions on the government on “Establishment of Religion.” You see, not only is Wokeism a religion, but since it’s also now the operating principle of our government it is a State-Church.

That’s a big Constitutional no-no.

By designating it as such the floodgates will open to lawsuits seeking to challenge all aspects of Wokeism – Diversity, Equity, Gender Theory, and so on – and, in theory, see them forcibly expelled from government, schools, and workplaces in total.

World-renowned expert on Marxian Critical Theories, and coauthor of nationwide anti-CRT bills, and Trump’s Executive Order to the same effect, called this Resolution “… epic and accurate.”

I make the following text of the draft resolution available for use to all and ask that you take it to your legislators nationwide and demand a vote. I would ask that, should any attribution be made, it be made to myself, though none is necessary.

I also hope to have the opportunity to introduce it myself here in NH, and I am running for the NH House of Representatives for Carroll County district 4: Wakefield, Brookfield, Freedom, Eaton, and Effingham.

You can find information on my campaign here, www.MikeBelcher4NH.com
You can find the latest draft of this resolution here.

A Resolution to Declare Marxism Religion

Whereas,
“Religion” may be defined as a faith system or worldview with accompanying metaphysical claims about ultimate truths, presuppositions about the fundamental nature of existence, reality, the human experience, human consciousness, and ethical claims as to the nature of good and evil, and

Whereas,
the “Dialectic” may be defined as two apparently contradictory or oppositional notions from which a synthethis theoretically emerges leading to a higher order understanding of the thing moving society towards a more perfected state, and

Whereas,
Marxism may be defined as any of the varied ideologies within the broader genus of Dialectical Hermeticism, including but not limited to Communism (dialectical material determinism), Wokeism (dialectical postmodern structural determinism), neo-Marxism (dialectical social constructivism), Intersectionality (bridging neo-Marxism with Wokeism), Fascism (dialectical [ethno]nationalism), and

Whereas,
Marxism presents fundamental metaphysical claims about the nature of reality and the human experience as being some or all of the following: that of the oppressor-oppressed dialectic, social, critical and/or material constructivism limiting human agency, radical subjectivism and unfalsifiability, collectivism, structural determinism, alchemically inspired “magic spells” of speaking language into being, pathologized hierarchies of tyranny, struggle sessions of purifying the faithful, the “ruthless criticism of all that exists,” and the comparing of reality and the human condition against a utopian ideal, Historicism as a spirit deterministically driving History to a prophesied outcome, an immanent eschaton of a utopian nature known as “Liberation,” or stage six (6) of History (Communism), a deity in the Absolute Spirit of Hegel’s Phenomenology, Marx’s “Social Man,” or generally the deification of man through perfection of the state or society, the “aufheben,” sublation, or negation while upleveling of “contradiction” through dialectical synthesis, ethics attributing wrongs, malice and punishments to those other than individuals who committed wrongs along collectivist lines, and

Whereas,
Modern Marxism actively and forcibly seeks “Equity” in the dismantling or inverting of all theorized dialectical oppressor-oppressed hierarchies, “Diversity” of intersectional group avatars voicing only the “authentic” structurally determined statements of faith and politics, “Inclusion” in society and government of only those persons voicing “authentic” structurally determined ideology and politics in agreement with Marxist theory, “Justice” in achieving the immanentization of the eschaton wherein government spontaneously dissolves as unnecessary in a utopian society, and forcible flattening of all hierarchies through inflicting reparatory injury to theoretical “oppressor” groups (i.e. Kulaks), and

Whereas,
America, as per founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights was founded on metaphysical presuppositions about the fundamental nature reality and the human experience as that of free will, individual natural rights, inherent dignity, and personal liberty, a shared objective reality, free markets, competence-based and natural hierarchies, a doctrine that none shall be made to stand trial or face punishment for the crimes of another, an aversion to manmade utopian pursuits, and a dedication to the non-establishment of any State-Church, therefore
It is resolved that,

Marxism represents a religion, and complete faith system, with doctrine, dogma, spirits, magic, ritual, and an eschatology, that this doctrine is in direct opposition and mutually exclusive to American founding ideology, as per the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, that while citizens personally holding these views may be protected by first amendment freedom of religion rights, this religious doctrine runs totally and disastrously afoul of the establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and represents an established State-Church insofar as the aforementioned religious practices, doctrines, dogma, statements of faith, rituals, and eschatology have been implemented in or by government and is violative of individuals freedoms of religion, conscience, association and speech insofar as this has been mandated by any entity in America

 

 

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They know no boundaries or limitations on what they believe they can do to our young ones.  We’ve taught our kids to respect, sometimes revere, their teachers – and these sexual militants know it and are taking advantage of it.  Once caught, they don’t take the blame for what they’ve done, they explode with anger and fury that WE say “no more”. It’s what I’ve been saying (heck, LOTS of Parents have been) – as always, reformatted and emphasis mine:

IT’S NOT YOUR JOB TO TEACH SEXUALITY IN SCHOOL. STOP IT!!

But they won’t – School Boards are providing them cover (unless they get caught and, sometimes, not even then). They know they spend more time with our kids than we do and they know exactly what they are doing and how to do it:

‘We don’t say a penis belongs to a man’: Kindergarten teacher reportedly says he exposes kids to the terms transgender and gender-queer

The Washington Post reported that a kindergarten teacher in Massachusetts said that he exposes children to the terms transgender and gender-queer, though he does not provide complete definitions since that would be too much for kids in kindergarten. The outlet reported that the educator wished to remain anonymous since his district had not cleared him to talk publicly.

Too much, he says?  Sorry, ANY discussion of this at the kindergarten level is WAY too much. How DARE you decide, on your own, to violate the innocence of our children. It’s clear that you don’t care and believe anything is game, but it’s still not your role – that’s OURS.  And when we Parents hear about this, you wonder why we are so riled up?

This is OUR domain – not yours.  And you wonder why Parents are, more and more, turning to homeschooling and charter schools in which we have more say and control over what they are exposed to because WE know better than YOU??

The teacher discusses anatomy but does not categorize parts as being specifically male or female, according to the Post. “We don’t say a penis belongs to a man,” the teacher remarked — it goes with a human, he noted. The kindergarten educator teaches that if a physician declares a baby to be a boy when he is born, that child is not necessarily a boy. “Someone who was born a boy may not feel they are a boy.”

And that is sexuality evangelizing.  Should a Normal teacher be talking about such things in K-3? Certainly not!  Heck, I don’t want them doing such detailed anatomy at that level either. Sure – I remember back in 6th grade when all the boys were sent out to play kickball and all the girls were kept inside for….something. But that was for straight biology – not how to use those lady bits.

The Post also reported that biology teacher Sam Long of Denver South High School, who is transgender, said that “LGBTQ identities are a naturally occurring facet of human variation, and that is why we need to learn about them in the context of biology and human anatomy.”

And we wonder why the incidence of the younger generation is turning trans or gay?

Like too many other things, schools have strayed from their lanes that we remember (some of us remembering from a longer distance than others).  Being part of that latter group, I’ve now been yanked hard back into the current reality with the Grandson.

Times and change and I’m not liking it at all.  These kids will be fully set to play doctor and nurse with any moral boundaries knocked down by these kinds of teachers but they can’t read, do math, or handle a debate logically.

(H/T: The Blaze)

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