I think most of you, by now, know what my Rule #1 is (and I only have a few):

We are an adult theme (politics intertwined with culture) but kid-friendly site. Never write or display anything that would cause little Johnny or Janie to go to Mommy and Daddy and ask “What does this mean” as then *I* get the nasty phone call or email.

Well, I am getting nasty emails over this “Ad” for “enhancement” (trying hard to not violate my own Rule here).  Deservedly so.  So, I sent a “not pleasant” email to the Ad Server folks stating exactly that:

From: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To: <sales lady at Lockerdome / Decide>
Cc: <sales guy at Lockerdome / Decide>; “Steve Mac Donald” <steve@granitegrok.com>
Sent: 3/4/2022 3:04:51 PM
Subject: Re[4]: Decide (formerly LockerDome) <> Granite Grok, Q1 Updates

I have only a few rules here at GraniteGrok. Rule #1:

We are an adult theme (politics intertwined with culture) but kid friendly site. Never write or display anything that would cause little Johnny or Janie to go to Mommy and Daddy and ask “What does this mean” as then *I* get the nasty phone call or email.

Well, I’m getting nasty emails over this – one example: (one would be from Commenter Moe F. who took the time to comment on what he was seeing).

<image redacted>

I’ve put up with the ads but do we have to be but up with ads for sex aids? I’ve seen two in the last two days besides this one. One was an birth control device and the second was a female sex aid. These ads are not the new popups on the left hand margin but are ads that come up in the middle of the article. Steve, you’ve made money on this one. I “clicked” on it to find out what the hell it was.

My admonition to the Ad Server folks was the following:

Do NOT allow such kinds of sex toys (et al) be displayed on GraniteGrok again.  Please immediately remove such inventory slated for us.

I await their response – I’ll update this post when I get one. If they indicate that they don’t have the ability to do so, they will be down a site; we will no longer require their services.

Integrity counts for much for GraniteGrok. I’m always telling politicians that “Consistency breeds Trust yielding Votes”.  It also applies to us as well – YOU folks Trust us to be honest and tell you exactly what we think based on the object truths of our Constitutions and Conservative values.  What would you think of us if we blithely ignored our own rules simply to be handed money?

Sorry, Principles come first. We’ll just figure out another way to replace that revenue.  I will not sacrifice Principle for lucre.

I apologize to all you Readers that were put off / offended / dismayed / angered by that type of ad. We have no direct control over what an Ad Server presents. We CAN, however, tell them what will not be tolerated. We CAN, as well, hold them accountable by replacing them as needed.

This is a Big Deal for me – it will stop one way or another.

The post So, about That Certain “Ad” Showing up in Posts… appeared first on Granite Grok.

Please don’t act surprised when I tell you this story isn’t about the Commies at Dartmouth College. But the mindscape is similar. The centralization of health data, compiled for the use of an institution other than your doctor and hospital. One Small Step for erasing privacy One Giant Step for the Collective.

This poster child is the University of Pennsylvania. They want students to hand over their private health records, so someone offered them a bribe. If 95% of a class coughs up the goods, we’ll give that class $25,000.00 for an end-of-year party (they may not even allow).

 

The Ivy League university dangled $25K to celebrate annual class traditions, “[if] 95% or more students from any class year upload[ed] their booster shot and flu vaccine information and complete[ed] their biweekly surveillance tests by Feb. 28,” The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. 

The class traditions are annual events to celebrate the completion of another school year. 

The university’s chief wellness officer said the purpose of the incentive was to encourage “good behaviors and smart choices.”  

 

Here’s a “good behavior” for anyone looking to live in a less intrusive (or even free) society. Defend privacy and individual rights: support two-parent families, local control, hard work. You should also stay away from indoctrination centers, but this is an Ivy League school, so too late for that, or is it.

According to LifeSite News, only 6 in 10 students took the bait across all four years. No one achieved the required 95%. So, how many cougher-uppers are interrogating their classmates to discover who is slowing their roll?

Are any Profs putting pressure on these would-be, could-be future leaders?

Who decided that their vaccine status and the records required to show them was their own business?

We know it’s 40% of the student body, but this is still a significant margin of rejection and a good thing.

 

“We are very hopeful that we will get to release and remove restrictions, which is why we are hopeful that the events we tied the money to will happen,” Ashlee Halbritter, the university’s executive director of public health and wellbeing, told the campus newspaper. 

 

Maybe there are some smart kids in Ivy League schools, after all.

 

 

The post Ivy League School Bribes Students To Fork Over Private Medical Records appeared first on Granite Grok.

New Hampshire seems to have the best economy of all 50 states in the union, judging by income, unemployment, and opportunity. The average income per resident in the live free or die state is 20% higher than the union’s average. The largest limiting factor is economic regulation, most of which comes from the federal government. Without infinite job-killing regulations coming from DC, NH's economy would likely soar to unprecedented heights.

The post The Economy in The Republic of New Hampshire appeared first on The Liberty Block.

This could be part of the definition of “unserious”. As I wrote about Kevin Smith’s entrance into the NH GOP nomination for US Senate race, I noted this back on January 25th about his website. With emphasis applied:

…There’s GOT to be a contact point (other than to give him money) for the campaign, right? To ask him questions?

No email. No phone. And no, I’m not writing a letter to a PO box. I left Twitter (that Leftist company let me know I wasn’t wanted) and Facebook (even more, I wasn’t “one of their types”).

Just that front page. That’s it.  One would think that if he was really serious, that website would have been ready to POP the second he announced he was a candidate. I’m looking at it right now.

Nope.

Very unserious.  Thus the image at the top of the page.

Same image for us, but same website for Kevin Smith – not a thing has changed.  Even though he’s now putting out eblasts, there’s still no contact info on his website.  Now, do I know if the campaign is following GraniteGrok?  I dunno. I would hope but I don’t assume.  Do any of his followers read GrantieGrok?  I’m really kind of betting on it for the following purpose:

KEVIN!  Because people can’t get ahold of you, THEY ARE CONTACTING ME INSTEAD.  They have questions and they want you to talk to their groups. And have no way of doing so.

Bad look and bad Optics.

Like I said – unserious.  Heck, *I* want to ask this (and your opponents): are you willing to undergo a ‘Grok Gauntlet? But I can’t because you’re in hiding by not making it known how to contact you

Newspapers call them “Round Tables” where they ask you questions. Generally dopy ones.  We want to do the same in asking questions.

‘Cept, we ask FAR more questions (2 hours worth) and we ask FAR different questions.  And we ask our readers to send us questions to be used during our series of ‘Grok Gauntlets.  All are important and some get really, REALLY smart – and involved.  We do not go easy.

Yes, I toyed with the idea of livestreaming the sessions but that would give away too much to those still “on deck” waiting their turn.  So, we’ll record them and then when everyone in that race that wants to has had their time in the batter’s box, we’ll post them all – after all, you can’t put too much information into our readers hands.

And after all, being a Republican Primary and it is well known that the more a Conservative / Conservatarian a voter is, the likelihood of them voting skyrockets.

So our readers ARE your potential voters. And they WILL be voting. We can make it easy for you to talk to them. Or you can refuse – you have the Freedom of Choice.  To answer, or not, questions THEY are interested and not the Liberal journalists that want to do “Progressive Gotchas’. We don’t “do gotchas” but I will tell you all one thing – you’d better know your US and NH Constitutions, versed on the Culture Wars and how it affects the Right, be willing to talk nitty gritty Economics, Foreign Affairs, Federalism, The Proper Role of Government, and a whole bunch more – our Conservative interests run far and deep.

And no, Steve Negron, do not spread what my third most popular question is to ask – just help me pull that one off again, please

 

The post Still waiting, Kevin Smith for Congress. Still no contact info on your website? Email me, please. Oh, and “Grok Gauntlets” appeared first on Granite Grok.

Can much of the angst, guilt, and outrage heaped upon us by the left be summed up in this one ironic meme (the image above)?

It is a picture with two edges.

First, the world was savage long before Europeans arrived. Tribes warred for resources, enslaved people, raped, plundered, and killed. Entire cultures rose and fell. People died of cold, heat, hunger, and disease. All for millennia before Europeans even knew how to sail the seas.

None of that changed when the age of exploration landed Europeans in places all over the planet. What did change was technology and the cultural curiosity that drove it? Every modern age was the result of an inquisitiveness that lead to new ideas and ways of doing things that inevitably improved quality of life and longevity.

Might they have made these advances in their absence? We’ll never know- not exactly. And that’s the other edge.

The ancestors of those who embraced these unavoidable changes live longer, healthier, more comfortable lives but if all that does is make you bitter, go live someplace less fortunate.

The world is filled with places with people “who look like you” no matter what you look like, that are more like the world before “the settlers” arrived. No one is stopping you from going to live your “better life” in the company of culturally rich but otherwise impoverished people.

Wear your North Face, Lands End, Vinyard Vines, and don’t forget to bring the iPhone. The sight of that thing might just encourage them to make you their leader, though I’m not sure how you’ll charge it once the battery dies.

No one’s stopping you.

Can we help you pack?

The post Why Are You So Poor and Primitive? appeared first on Granite Grok.

At the hearing, pro-independence citizens filled the room and told the Representatives about the dozens of reasons we should be allowed to vote on independence. Only one citizen spoke against the legislation, and his most substantive argument was that we can’t split up the union because we are all Americans who just need to ‘come together’. 

The post Legislation To Allow Vote on Independence Will Have Vote in House appeared first on The Liberty Block.

Over the past few years, the Democrats have been fighting tooth and nail to restrict our God-given natural rights. They have been pushing to limit our freedom of speech, shut down our economy, force vaccines into our veins, and indoctrinate our kids with Critical Race Theory.

All of these recent assaults on our liberty are indeed outrageous. However, the Democrats’ support for taking our firearms is the number one threat to our freedoms.

In the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primaries, we saw candidates supporting nationwide gun confiscation, as well as illegal executive orders designed to sidestep Congress. We saw Beto O’Rourke proudly proclaim that “Hell Yes!” he was going to confiscate our guns forcibly, and we saw Kamala Harris threaten illegal Executive action if she didn’t get her way on gun control in her first 100 days.

Both remarks got thunderous applause from the audience.

We want to thank Jim Domitrz for this Op-Ed.
Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

Less than two years into his term, Joe Biden has already proved that he supports the boot of the state over individual liberty. His nomination of David Chipman as head of the ATF shows his complete and total support for an authoritarian police state. Chipman is known for working for two anti-Second Amendment groups, Everytown for Gun Safety, Mike Bloomberg’s lobbying group, and Giffords, a group started by Gabby Giffords.

This is a man who has a  disregard for American lives, and President Biden tried to give him command of 5,000 armed agents with a $1.3 billion budget. This should alarm all Americans, not just gun owners and Conservatives.

Looking ahead to November’s elections, New Hampshire Republicans have a great team of candidates ready to replace the authoritarian Democrats. In the race for Congress in NH’s First District, State Rep. Tim Baxter is the best candidate to replace Democrat Rep. Chris Pappas and fight against Biden’s tyranny.

Mr. Baxter already has an impressive resume. In the State House, he has fought valiantly against gun control measures, even voting to nullify Federal overreach on the Second Amendment. Of all of the candidates running in the Republican Primary, Tim Baxter is the only one with a proven legislative record of protecting the Second Amendment. In fact, he is the only candidate with elected experience in the race.

Rep. Tim Baxter has been receiving recognition by a number of National organizations and current members of Congress for his proven record as a champion of the Second Amendment. Rep. Baxter has been endorsed by the National Association for Gun Rights, Congressman Thomas Massie, and Senator Rand Paul.

I urge my freedom-loving friends and neighbors to vote for Tim Baxter in the NH-01 Republican Primary for Congress. He is a proven fighter, and I would be honored to have him fighting for us in Washington.

The post Tim Baxter is the Second Amendment Champion NH Needs in Congress appeared first on Granite Grok.

From a reader who received it from a friend of theirs.  “I watched last night as several “talking heads” and I’m still watching, as they talk about the attack on the nuclear power station could be 10 x the Chernobyl disaster … these “experts” talk about the plant “blowing up” because of the Russian attack.”

Lightly edited.

First, this station can’t “blow up” because the “fuel” used to create steam is enriched uranium, “nuclear”  – there are two types of nuclear reactions, fission, and fusion.  One splits the atom the other allows the atoms to bump into each other creating heat.
Nuclear power plants use the “bumping” atoms, bombs use the “splitting” atoms.

Second , the building that houses the nuclear stuff is not a regular building, it’s a “firmed” structure with more concrete to protect the nuclear material.

I’m not sure about the criteria used in Ukraine but in the US, EU, and  Canada the building is referred ad the “containment structure” and is made from reinforced concrete supposedly strong enough to take a direct “hit” from a missile or bomb.

Third, Chernobyl wasn’t a nuclear explosion. Because of its physical location, the cooling agent used to cool the reactor vessels was graphite, not water … because of a miscalculation the operators tried to “stretch” the capability of the plant design pushing the heat in the cooling section to exceed design capacity.. this caused the graphite to ignite and this caused an explosion .. the cooling structure was adjacent to the reactor building and because this building wasn’t constructed with reinforced concrete, etc the building was compromised from the graphite explosion, causing a radioactive release …

Fourth, the current nuclear power station involved in an attack in southern Ukraine is located on the ocean, so I assume water is the cooling agent, not graphite, so water can’t catch fire and I also know the construction criteria for the containment structure is not like it was when Chernobyl was built ..

It infuriates me when talking heads do this.

I lack the knowledge to support or refute this but it makes sense.

Thoughts?

Is this a non-threat created by idiots in the media or Russians hoping no one will know better, or is there some actual risk on a level that might be of actual concern?

The post On Ukraine’s Nuclear Reactor – Russia Can’t Blow it Up (As In Potential Nuclear Explosion/Extortion Level ‘Blow Up’!) appeared first on Granite Grok.

It is not hyperbole to say that what we are facing with the new alliance between China and Russia is a genuine existential threat to our future and sovereignty.

We cannot continue to focus on the left’s wish list and placate the Squad while failing to fortify our defenses against foreign aggression. That aggression has many facets.

We have continuously cut defense spending as a percentage of GDP since our defense buildup under Reagan Reagan saw the need for peace through strength and increased the defense budget to nearly 7% of GDP. We are now under 4% of GDP, and we see the effects of a weaker stance with the instability of world peace.

Military spending is just one piece of the pie for our overall defense.

Our military might and our willingness and readiness to use it are a deterrent to armed aggression from hostile regimes. We face far more threats than armed aggression today than we did in Reagan’s time. Therefore, we need a more comprehensive defense strategy, which will require investment. Let’s look at some of those other concerns.

1. Cybersecurity. We have been talking about hacks of computer systems by individuals and government agencies for decades. When the Ukraine conflict escalated, there was a concern for Russia harming or shutting down our infrastructure by a cyber attack. We know the threat is present, but little has been done to shore up the security of our broadband system, which controls much of our essential infrastructure, including our financial institutions.
2. Electric Grid and Water Supply. These have been talked about as potential targets since 9-11. From banking to our food supply, electricity and water are essential, and we continue to be naïve by thinking our systems are safe from attack. What will it take, an attack on one or both, before the people we expect to do their job do so?
3.  The Border. Many do not think of an open border as a defense issue. They are being foolish. The advocates for allowing millions of illegal aliens into our country via the Rio Grande was they were escaping oppressive regimes in Central America. Bull. We have documented illegals from over 160 countries worldwide. These are not women and children reported by the government but young adult males from wherever and with who knows what background. The Left wants increased background checks on legal gun sales but not on millions of illegals, many of which are gang members, repeat offenders, and possibly terrorists.
4. Defund Poilce and WOKE Justice systems. This one is pretty simple. Replace the cops lost due to BLM, stop appointing kiss & release DAs and start locking up repeat offenders today. And, oh yeah, stop blaming guns.
5. Drugs, legal and illegal. We sold our health soul to India and China for cheaper OTC medications and RX drugs. Everything from Tylenol to Fentanyl is manufactured in these two countries because of the cheap labor market. We have sold cost for quality and supply. Ironically, Biden boasts his administration will only buy American Made, yet he went to China for the latest round of free COVID test kits for America. No company in America could gear up for the quantity needed quickly. We just found out last week that some COVID kits in use since November of 2021 have a toxic chemical in the kit that may cause problems far worse than COVID. But we got them cheap, so that’s okay. Let’s not forget that the Fentanyl coming across our Mexican border originates from China. They are knowingly killing young Americans with white powder.
6. Finally, Stop CRT and Indoctrination. The battle for getting back to basics in Education may be relatively new, but the wussification of our schools started over 100 years ago. We are already seeing a turn-around as Mama Bear awakened, and she is not WOKE. She is mad, real, and she will be policing school boards from now on. Administrators and teachers who mess with her kids do so at their peril.

I suggest the next time someone complains about your gas-guzzling car or boat, ask about any one of the issues. The next time someone comments about rising tides or your carbon footprint, tell them what a real existential threat looks like. We have to win this messaging war and stop letting a pre-teen from some Nordic country write the policy for us. We can win this battle. We need to learn to fight harder.

 

Ray Cardello writes at GraniteGrok and The Liberty Loft.com

The post Forget Green Deal, We Need to Focus on National Defense appeared first on Granite Grok.

Those right-wing conspiracy nuts at the New York City Department of Health have been tracking Jabbed kids and COVID, and the results won’t make the “Vaccinate Every Kid” Karens happy.

 

The efficacy of Pfizer’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for the youngest population authorized to receive it turns negative by the sixth week after full vaccination takes effect, according to buried findings in a study of more than 1.2 million New York children since the Omicron variant’s emergence.

 

Well, You Don’t Say?

Vaccinating kids, it turns out, subjects them unnecessarily to dangerous side effects for no epidemiological good. Proof of which has been emerging since the summer of vaccination (2021). Antibody-Dependent enhancement was evident just a few months into the Jab everyone protocol – a trend that explained the pandemic of the vaccinated.

Evidence that kept appearing in more research, including this from St. Judes Children’s Hospital.

All the evidence was there. Kids didn’t need it, it wouldn’t help them, and we should not jab them, but the Jabbernaughts persisted. The result was an army of COVD vaccinated kids, some of whom were harmed or died for no public health gain.

Former Harvard Medical School epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff:

“To prevent infection is not an important outcome that we should vaccinate for,” and waning efficacy might not be specific to Omicron, he wrote in an email. One explanation for the negative VE might be that “kids will get infected sooner or later, so the vaccine just postpones it a little.”

The hospitalization figures were “the only interesting” part of the paper, he said: “not statistically significant for the 5-11-year-olds despite a huge sample size” and still low in the older group. The results suggest the younger population should not be vaccinated, while the older group would get “no major benefit.”

 

The result is children who are no better off or more susceptible as kids and, potentially, adults to every flu coming down the pike.

This is tragic, becasue it was apparent they didn’t need it for COVID, but the so-called public health machinery scared parents into doing it anyway.

The post New Study: Vaccinating Kids for COVID (At Best does No Good But) Probably Makes Them More Susceptible Not Less appeared first on Granite Grok.

Joe Pace and I are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, so I was pleasantly surprised to see his Facebook posting on American exceptionalism, which includes the following:

 

America is different.  America isn’t an ethnicity given borders, a tribe with a flag.  It was founded on ideas, not the confluence of geography and genetics.  It was rooted in the concept that people should govern themselves, that democratic republicanism is superior to autocracy.  Not more efficient.  But superior.  And that each of us has an equivalent stake in our shared destiny.

 

Amen.

Joe goes on to say:

 

There are those who will always want to Blame America First because it buys street cred with a certain crowd.  And there are those who will claim America can do no wrong, and that we should not even teach our checkered history accurately.

 

Both are wrong.

Amen again.

I subscribe to the position of the Declaration of Independence that all men are endowed by their creator with unalienable rights.  These rights cannot be taken away by a government.  Governments are necessary and should be limited to those functions that have the consent of the governed.

We want to thank Mike Johnson for this Op-Ed.
Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

The Constitution of the United States defines the government, enumerating what the government can and cannot do.  The government is structured in three independent branches with checks and balances to foster debate and to prevent tyranny; both the tyranny of the tyrant and the tyranny of the majority, i.e., mob rule.

The American Revolution and its Constitution acted as a catalyst for democratic changes throughout the western world (see here).

We fought a catastrophic Civil War in hopes of resolving the outstanding dichotomy of the Constitution – slavery.  Slavery was ended, but the insidious dichotomy remains as racism and the issue is far from resolved.

An ideology called progressivism emerged towards the end of the nineteenth century (see here).  Progressives believe that the Constitution is outmoded and that rights flow, not from a creator, but from society, in essence, the government.  They have skillfully transformed the government over the past century with the establishment of what is known as the Administrative State.

This bureaucracy currently enacts about 90% of all rules and regulations (in effect laws) and tries about 90% of all court cases of the federal government, all without the consent of the governed guaranteed by the Constitution.  See here, here, and here.

It is what it is.  The blame game is not beneficial.  What’s past is past and is only of value as a history lesson.  It is my sense from the histories of self-governing peoples that we are on a trajectory that leads to authoritarian rule.

This is my fear.  If the great powers are all ruled by despots, can a new Dark Ages be far behind?

I’m a simple grass-roots voter with an engineering background.  As a first step, I recommend modifying the Administrative State such that rules and regulations require Constitutional Article I approval and that Administrative Judges be under Constitutional Article III.  We can do this by working together.  As Joe Pace says, “We are an exceptional people with an exceptional task. … Let’s get to work.”

Joe Pace is a writer.  His current book is titled “MOSS” and well worth the read.  Joe is also the chairman of the Kensington, NH, board of selectmen.  He and I met over an issue with the town that we resolved through mutually respectful negotiations.  I consider Joe to be a friend and I hope it is mutual.

 

 

Mike Johnson is a small-government conservative, a live-free-or-die resident of NH, and the author of the e-book John Kerry & PCF-44.  E-mail mnosnhoj@comcast.net

The post Joe Pace and American Exceptionalism appeared first on Granite Grok.

While out here trying to do my bit against the Kremlin’s re-incarnation of September 1, 1939…It’s important to raise concerns about some of the apocalyptic Moscow-fighting ideas that are getting put on the table in the excitement. It’s shocking my fellow Kremlin foes are advocating a U.S. led no-fly zone over Ukraine. This is a move which has perhaps 10 percent chance of ending civilization as we know it, since it would require direct, large-scale combat between the U.S. and Russia…inside Russia!

The real solution is deadly but a lot less deadly: Peaceable civil resistance inside Russia, at the discretion of Russians. Guerilla war and civil resistance inside Ukraine, funded, peopled and supplied from across the globe. The Kremlin can be beaten, but it has to be without direct conflict between the two top nuclear powers. This is a long established and proven concept; it’s already been done once in much tougher circumstances. Ideally it should happen at private rather than taxpayer expense, definitely without foreign military presence; each of us does need to do our bit without waiting for governments. We also need to do our bit to prevent Russian bystanders from suffering and prevent the Resistance from going nuclear. Most people are probably reluctant to say this; maybe I can say it since I was a volunteer inside Bosnia during that one and am hopefully doing my part for Ukrainians and friendly Russians during this one.

Dave Ridley
NHexit.com
“Independence without enmity”

There are plenty of reasons why things can get more expensive, but supply and demand are most common. More demand faces less supply, and prices climb. Government meddling only makes it worse, and meddling is what government does.

When Democrats are running it, Leftists on our spectrum, meddling gets exponentially worse. Left unchecked for decades, and the stupid gets strong, though there’s no need to wait that long to see it.

In a piece at Substack, Bari Weiss explores the West’s green delusions and compares them to Putin’s in Russia. It’s a good read and ought to embarrass many who will lack the sense to realize the jokes on them. Well, not just them. The people who let them do this are really to blame for failing to see the energy forest for the trees before we found ourselves where we are today.

Weiss notes that Putin doubled Nuclear energy and produces more fossil fuels than Russia needs to sell them abroad. And primarily to Europe, which has been preening over its embrace of “soft” energy while becoming more dependent on Russia’s abundant, accessible resources.

As Russia wages war on Ukraine, the western countries appear to object, knowing their dependence undermines that.

 

The result has been the worst global energy crisis since 1973, driving prices for electricity and gasoline higher around the world. It is a crisis, fundamentally, of inadequate supply. But the scarcity is entirely manufactured.

 

Manufactured, indeed.

America had developed enough capacity to be energy independent under Donald Trump, becoming the worlds leading exporter, but before his mumbled oath of office had even whispered off on the winds of change, Joe Biden had pulled the plug.

We’re not just dependent again, but on Russia as well, at higher prices, and none of it is necessary.

While Putin was building up nuclear, the West was creating demand for his excess, which he is happy to sell at increasingly profitable margins because dopes like Coach Biden pulled our best players off the field.

We were in a position to pressure global energy prices downward, the benefits of which can not be overstated. Significant revenues accumulate in US hands, both private and public. This reduces other pressures and boosts every other sector of the economy, not just here, but everywhere energy prices stabilize or go down.

Trillions globally were available for things other than lights, heat, cooling, manufacturing, and transportation. The money we would have had for investment, entertainment, everything, everywhere, including lowering the cost to manufacture, transport, and install your stupid wind and solar panels.

And yes, elitist left-wing energy policy was already acting like a sanction on the free people of the West. Still, now that they’re putting sanctions on Putin (or playing at it), the only ones getting punished are Westerners.

Energy prices will drive inflation higher pricing not just the most vulnerable but the middle-class out of an increasing number of everyday things. That includes now non-existent discretionary income that won’t go to those other sectors of the economy, depressing jobs and wages elsewhere, leading to more needy and dependent folks who must turn to the government.

As is typical for Democrats, Biden’s energy policy harms the people he claims it helps. In response, the government will print more money for handouts forcing inflation and prices even higher.

He’s fashioned the noose and walked you into it. All you need do is wait for them to kick the chair out from under you, and don’t worry, they won’t feel a thing.

So, instead of waiting for that moment or standing with Ukraine, perhaps it’s time to stand with American Energy Independence. We had it and can have it again. There is no green utopia, and certainly not without a long and friendly relationship with fossil fuels. One, we’ll never live to see if Russia and China have their way.

There’s no scarcity of affordable energy, only a scarcity of common sense.

 

 

The post We Suffer Not From a Scarcity of Resources, But of Common Sense appeared first on Granite Grok.

While the Republicans are wishing Minority Democrat House Leader Renny Cushing well in his battle with Stage 4 prostate cancer,  he did what we all expect Democrats to do as he stepped down as the #1 Democrat in the New Hampshire House.

…Cushing, 69, issued a statement through his daughter Marie that announced he was “with great reluctance” taking a “temporary, medical leave of absence.”

 

He proved that an ill Democrat is still an angry Democrat.

 

“All Granite Staters should know one thing — House Democrats will continue our unwavering resolve for you against radical Republican extremism in Concord,” Cushing said.

 

Screw you, too, you authoritarian Socialist – except for folks of your ilk that’s now a Badge of Honor, isn’t it? But see, two can play this game and I have more fun in doing it.

Civility is only supposed to work one way and Cushing just proved once again that Democrats believe they can say anything they want while the rest of us SHUT UP.

Only very rarely will Democrats turn on their own for bad behavior and bad words.  Or issue apologies.  Cushing will only get well-wishers from his side over this heartfelt “goodbye”.

And for us on the Right, just remember: if you aren’t a Socialist, if you DARE to cross their line, violate their Morality, make fun of their Narratives, call them out for destroying traditional American norms, point out what they are doing to our common language, using schools as indoctrination centers, ignoring and dismissing the Constitution as written, and making all types of sexual deviant practices “normal” (and calling straights “Haters)…

…you’re an Extremist!  Welcome to the club.  When they call you that, just laugh at them. Seriously, just start rolling on the floor laughing at them.

Because both you AND they know they just lost the debate and that Dems only have hollow arguments.  When they start with the name-calling for no reason at all, you know what they have:

Nothing.

 

Nothing at all except crazed, emotional outbursts. Everything they stand for is tearing people down that aren’t them.  They live on retribution and theft.

And isn’t that the real definition of being an Extremist?

(H/T: Union Leader)

The post Where NH House Democratic Leader Renny Cushing Does NOT Go Out with Civility … appeared first on Granite Grok.

What do Joe Biden, Chuck Morse, and Kevin Smith all have in common? They all say that they want to secure the border BUT none of them will say exactly what that means.

Which is no small thing because, as you may recall. Kelly Ayotte’s definition of “secure the border” included AMNESTY for illegals:

From Biden’s SOTU:

And if we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure the Border

 

Smith has begun recently adding that he will “finish the wall,” but fails to say any specific action … such as opposing any budget that does not fund the wall, refusing to confirm any Biden appointees until construction is restarted, not supporting Mitch … that he would take in that regard:

 

The post What Joe Biden, Chuck Morse and Kevin Smith Have in Common. appeared first on Granite Grok.

Choices have consequences – and costs. But why should, according to Prof. Thomas Sowell, only Government determine if it is “too much for you”?

Emphasis mine:

However much we may agree with sweeping rhetoric about safety, or even vote for those who use such rhetoric, nevertheless when faced with choices in our own lives we weigh incremental safety against incremental costs. We may consider it worthwhile to avoid one chance in six of getting killed from playing Russian roulette, but not worth it to pay a thousand dollars to avoid one chance in six million of getting killed by some fluke occurrence. Indeed, if the cost of avoiding one chance in six million is merely an inconvenience, some may still refuse to pay for it. In short, even those who talk about safety in categorical terms – “if it saves just one life, it is worth whatever it costs” – actually behave in their own lives as if safety is an incremental decision, based on weighing costs against benefits, not a categorical decision.

-Prof Thomas Sowell ( Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One)

 

Add to that this concrete example: Seatbelts. They’ve been commonly around since the 1960s. They demonstrably help save lives (not all, but certainly far from zero). They’ve gotten smarter, too, being less restraining during everyday riding but snapping into action when a crash has happened.

Yet, many refuse to wear them. They believe the inconvenience or the uncomfortableness of a seat belt outweighs the risk.

From AAA:

 

 

In most circumstances, the risk level is low until you are elderly. I cannot help myself – and this is an area where Government wants to reduce risk to nil and therefore bribes States with “their peoples’ own tax dollars” to make it mandatory for those people to buckle up.

Instead of making that choice for themselves, Government takes that choice away – the “if it only saves one life” boondoggle.

You can’t erase all risks in Life, and trying to do so becomes logarithmic as those last few people are “saved.” And, of course, it will never end because there will be those folks that will insist on not buckling up.

 

 

(H/T: Cafe Hayek)

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Outnumbered and outgunned but the brave people of Ukraine are still fighting for their freedom and their national life. Massive Russian military forces are meeting heavy resistance, and the people of the world are inspired by their courage and patriotism.

Dictator Putin clearly underestimated the resolve of a free people and has resorted to targeting civilian targets while a forty-mile-long armored convoy closes in on the capital city of  Kyiv where Ukrainian President Zelenskyy refused our President Biden’s offer to air evacuate him. Instead, Zelensky responded with the now-famous words.

I don’t need a ride. I need ammo

Too bad we don’t have a president with a fraction of that courage.

Not only has Zelenskyy’s courage and leadership inspired his people but has inspired the world. All of NATO and all of Europe (even Switzerland!) have unified in opposition to Putin and are sending weapons, food, medical supplies and placing crippling sanctions on Russia. The ruble is now worth less than the American penny.

Putin’s plan was to divide and fracture both entities – he has failed badly. Even China is backing away from him.

So, where was the leadership from the “Leader of the free world” before this? Where was the awareness that Putin was a dangerous despot and that Putin had, for years, made it clear he wanted Ukraine under his control? President Trump knew this and kept the lid on Putin’s ambitions. How did our Leftists now running things miss it?

Too busy trying to establish a Marxist Socialist ideology right here in the US, I guess. Calling it Progressivism or Socialism doesn’t change what it is. Socialism, Marxism, Communism it’s all the same ideology of Big Government in control of everything and everyone. Follow the Party line or suffer the consequences; sound familiar Americans?

Look closely, people. This is what the current political Left seeks to establish right here in America: speech control, media control, thought control, and your children will be programmed and indoctrinator in Government schools. How easy it will then be to put their own Putin clone in as “Supreme Leader”?

Not that far-fetched – look at China, Russia, N. Korea, Cuba, Venezuela as they all devolved from a Socialism variant into dictatorships. It’s what always happens, and we are not immune. It could happen here, and it’s the goal of all Marxist Socialists. It doesn’t matter where it begins. When a central government gains too much power and control, it becomes convinced “it” is infallible and has all the answers for all the people. Any resistance becomes a deadly threat to the orthodoxy that must be crushed by any means necessary (see Trudeau and his actions against the Canadian truckers).

Is this what Americans want? Will we continue to accept and tolerate it?

The post Fighting for Its Life appeared first on Granite Grok.

SHOT:  Kansas Teacher Unions hate curriculum transparency for Parents (e.g., prevent Parents from being able to access ALL of the materials we use to teach their kids).

 

 

…“Some teachers unions are now saying the quiet part out loud,” he said. “They don’t want parents to know what their own children are learning in school. This open backlash against transparency demonstrates why families need exit options.”

…

The Sentinel asked why KNEA and ONEA believe giving parents more information about what their children are being taught is objectionable, and to specify any elements of the transparency legislation they oppose or support.

No response to either inquiry has been received.

 

CHASER: Parents are raising a digit back at the Teacher Unions

 

A public opinion poll commissioned by the Sentinel’s owner, Kansas Policy Institute, bears out their extreme frustration.  Parents believe they should have the primary say over how their children are educated, with 88% strongly or somewhat agreeing and only 11% expressing some measure of disagreement.

The majority — 57% — are concerned that their children and grandchildren may be exposed to objectionable subject material, and 75% believe taxpayer-funded accounts should be available to parents if their school district isn’t meeting the academic needs of their children.

 

 

Teachers believe those kids are theirs and have for years. Parents are starting to realize that Academic Rigor has gone out the door and is being replaced by Ideology.

The latter are getting riled up. Just look at the numbers.

The money should follow the child and not the teacher unions. If a child deserves a publicly funded education that’s not just government schools.

Let the latter EARN that money by competing. They say that they are better – let them prove it.

 

(H/T: The Sentinel)

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The internet is a circus with many acts, not all suitable for every audience, but that’s like life. It’s also a great equalizer. Emperor Xi of China is Pooh Bear, and he hates that.

Being the master of totalitarian menace isn’t enough to prevent that from propagating hither and yon, so it does. Xi as Pooh or vice versa is embedded in the global collective conscience. We know it, and seeing Pooh or Xi might make us think about that.

Maybe instead of Taiwan, he should take over Disney?

Canada is strangling speech and rushing forward with other means to silence dissent. And it’s not just Castro’s little boy, Justin, trying to get er done. The Parliament, presumably elected by Canadians, has been pushing this woke junk for years.

Would-be tyrants everywhere invented hate speech as a vehicle for suppressing political discourse they hate—a fight they need to lose lest we become more like China.

And then there’s Vlad Putin. He is killing civilians to annex bits and pieces of Ukraine.

We’ve seen pictures of him shirtless riding bears, but the tone has shifted. Some of his own people oppose his war, so he’s having their concerns suppressed where and when he can, though not as thoroughly as his gone but not forgotten USSR would have done it.

But you can’t stop the signal, Mal. And maybe that explains the globalist and big tech desire to stifle speech, label it, censor it, define it, even require it.

Seig Heil!

Amidst all this crazy, we’re still having some fun.

The featured image was lying around the interwebs, so I’m just going to leave it here. Do with it as you wish, including photoshopping someone else’s face in there.

If you do, please share?

Ridicule is the best.

 

Image credit iFunny.co

The post My Little Putin “Pony” appeared first on Granite Grok.

A lawsuit was filed in Rockingham County Court challenging the Constitutionality of New Hampshire’s Executive branch accepting and spending federal aid without the oversite of the legislature as a whole. The Governor’s motion to dismiss has been denied.

The case will now go to trial.

This is New Hampshire so it remains to be seen whether that is a good thing. But the premise behind the Lawsuit seems sound. Elected leaders accepted and spent tens of millions in Federal grants without the authority to do so.

That acceding to federal requirements (strings) tied to accepting the money that the New Hampshire Legislature has not itself approved unconstitutionally surrenders the sovereignty of the people.

And that they “have no Constitutional authority to subject the people of New Hampshire to laws and taxes which the Representative Body of the People, nor their Representative Body of the Legislature, have given their consent.”

The State legislature, in total, has not sanctioned either the purpose, the distribution, or the means of taxation that will pay for it, and no other body has such authority under the state Constitution.

Related: Lawsuit Filed against NH’s Gov. Chris Sununu, Executive Council, and Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee

And I would take it even further. Accepting money that does not exist taxes people not yet alive who don’t have any say in the matter. Tens of trillions have been promised by the Feds, well in excess of what currently exists to pay for things that may not even be when these future taxpayers earn the income taxed to pay both the interest and the debt itself.

I think I said it best here.

 

If it is disgusting, unethical, or even criminal for a church leader to spend money they ask for and receive voluntarily – on themselves instead of their supposed mission, how it is not exponentially worse than members of Congress (or their donors or supporters) are getting rich (or at least enriched) on the money “taken from people” who won’t be born for generations and can’t even vote to allow it or object in the first place?

 

These concerns are all tied together.

We allow politicians to shackle generations not born with financial burdens over which they have no say. And while Democrats are the biggest offenders, Republicans readily go along.

This Lawsuit touches on that. The legislature is the only body capable of accepting the term of surrender associated with Federal Money while also noting that there are inherent rights that the legislature cannot give away. But by taking and spending federal grants – money that doesn’t even exist – you are giving them away and consigning future residents to an unlawful tax burden.

I’m oversimplifying for the sake of brevity. You can read the complaint and ponder the ramifications of generational tax debt without allowing those so burned a voice, and I hope you do.

The folks pretending federal money is free know it is not, but unless we force them to recognize all the costs and assign a political price to such things, they’ll never stop doing it.

 

 

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