Wherever you have a majority of Democrats, you will hear lots of words about supporting various demographics: women, minorities, blue-collar workers, and small business owners. Talk, as they say, is cheap, while everything else under Democrat rule is expensive.

The Putney Paper Mill has been around for a good long time. Paper production began in the area in the early 1800s, and the current mill is reported to have been built in 1869. But its parent company has announced that it has to close the mill, not because the cost of energy has gotten so high it is no longer possible to do business.

“Despite our best efforts to sustain operations at this historic paper mill, we had no choice but to shut down operations,” said [Soundview Vermont President Rob] Baron in a prepared statement.

“The high cost of energy in the region has made it unaffordable to keep our doors open. Our top priority moving forward will be supporting our incredible employees and their families throughout this difficult transition.”

There is no shortage of news or opinion on these pages about the cost of electricity in New England, but recent efforts to replace affordable, reliable sources with intermittent wind and solar have driven up costs. Decommissioning Vermont Yankee didn’t help, and the Vermont Dem’s war on coal and gas has only made matters worse. Add to this a myriad of bureaucracy-building carbon and emission schemes that make it cost more to do just about anything, and you can feel Putney Paper’s pain. Their officers are eating out their substance at the dwindling margins with increased fixed costs.

News reports say 127 people will lose their jobs. In a town of 2630, and they may not all live in Putney, that is not a small number of jobs.

The ironic bit is that the so-called party of the working man and woman (Democrats) will gnash their teeth and pound their chest at the injustice or indignity of the dissolution of not just another business but one like Putney Paper, without ever admitting it was their fault. Vermont Democrats and the Biden Presidency have made it too expensive to do business, and Putney isn’t the only casualty.

Every industry in the state except for the government is at risk; according to USA Facts, the government is the biggest business in Vermont and is only likely to get bigger as it offers its gold standard subsistence lifestyle alternative to the former employees at Putney Paper Mill: unemployment checks, welfare, Medicaid, housing assistance (or not), and teaching them to code probably won’t help.

Six score and seven have been let go, and there isn’t much call for what they do around these parts anymore, but I bet the government is hiring. Or, you could run for public office. The legislature is working hard on making that into a more meaningful and profitable career choice, which will only make the Vermont government an even bigger “business” than it already is, and you know what Skip always says. The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

The post Democrats Drove the Putney Paper Mill Out of Business appeared first on Granite Grok.

In the 1970s, the moral wit of Tom Anderson precisely describes today’s rush toward economic suicide in Washington, DC: “Changing Nelson Rockefeller for Hubert Humphrey is like changing the pins on a soiled diaper without changing the diaper; you continue to get the same mess.”

The first step to changing the soiled diaper is still our citizens voting for the candidate of their choice. But let’s stop right at the choices we make. Unfortunately, too many times, they resemble Einstein’s definition of insanity: we continue to pass judgment on each candidate for office based on what the chief mouthpieces of both parties say and expect different results. Too often, the will of party leadership has become the moral premise that forgets about the Ten Commandments and serves a higher loyalty — you vote the party line to get reelected.

We have a Constitution that was created to limit the ambitions of politicians in seats of power. Our framers knew their history and were obviously familiar with Cicero: “For out of an ungoverned populace, one is usually chosen as a leader, someone bold and unscrupulous who curries favor with the people by giving them other men’s property.” Does that not describe the process of the Marxist con game that enables the majority of our leaders today to be reelected? The majority of our people do not know how our Constitution limits “bold and unscrupulous” politicians, so they continue selling their votes for other men’s property. Cicero goes on to describe how the con game motivated by greed repeats today, perpetuating criminal acts of government he opposed: “To such a people, a man the protection of public office is given, and continually renewed. He emerges as a tyrant over the very people who raised him to power.”

This history has been forgotten, or more accurately, never taught, and is screaming at the choices we continue to make at the ballot box that continue to practice “insanity.” Alexis de Tocqueville tells us in the 1830’s that the American people were not always so ignorant of the Constitution and our history “…Every citizen is taught… the history of his country and the leading features of it’s Constitution…. It is extremely rare to find a man imperfectly acquainted with all these things, and a person wholly ignorant of them is sort of a phenomenon.” If this were true today, do you think our people would continue to tolerate congressional representation and presidents who have accumulated a 34 trillion dollar debt? If we had an electorate that knew the Constitution, do you think Americans across the nation would insanely continue to employ such irresponsibility?

Our New Hampshire delegation to Congress in Washington proves they are part of the game that depends on constitutional ignorance each term to get reelected. As constituents, we need to address them as honorable representatives. However, as Americans who are anxious about the liberty of our children and children’s children, we need to be concerned about how they continue to vote contrary to their oath of office, against constitutional limits that control government spending, buy votes, and steal our freedom. Go to thenewamerican.com and click on the Freedom Index to view their score and also view state legislators’ fidelity to the constitutional limits.

Americans need to be as informed as our forefathers were about the document that the framers of the Constitution designed to protect our freedom and control politicians who lust for power. Contact Mathew Rhodes, Field Coordinator of The John Birch Society, at mrhodes@jbs.org to ask about our Constitutional Seminar called, The Constitution is the Solution class. The American electorate must become acquainted with the Supreme Law of our land as the American people were in the early decades of the 19th century.

The post Bold and Unscrupulous appeared first on Granite Grok.

The coven of witches doing business as The View took the celebration of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. (this is a bit late, so apologies) as an opportunity to crap on white kids and show the world their ignorance about slavery.

 

• [Sunny] Hostin herself had a very warped perspective on what oppression actually was. Despite being a multimillionaire who brags about not needing to shop for groceries in years, Hostin insists she’s “oppressed” and demands her reparations.
• Sara Haines proclaimed that it was “important” for white kids like her own to be made to “feel bad” in history class, particularly about slavery.
• Ana Navarro went off about how Republicans had “weaponized” black history and books “for political purposes to drive people to the polls based on outrage” and the perception that “my poor little white kid is feeling bad because he’s learning about slavery.”
• Navarro actually provided pushback, telling Haines: “I don’t think it should make you feel bad. I don’t think a white child that’s had nothing to do with slavery should feel bad about slavery. I think we need to learn so we don’t repeat the same mistakes of history.”

 

The joke writes itself. What do you call five women who know nothing about the history of slavery? The View.

Last December, on these very pages, I read a piece that shared some history from a black man named Tom Sowell. Has he ever been on the view? Can you imagine what that would look like? I’m imagining it now, and it just made my day without having happened. Sowell has said much on the subject including how universal the practice and later the condemnation. We know that blacks owned black slaves in America and continue to do so elsewhere. That white slaves were common before and after the US Civil War and how no one seems all that wound up about the million or so people still living in slavery.

Maybe we could make some time to feel bad about them, and oh, by the way, none of them are here in America. That’s not to say we don’t have slavery. Everywhere sex work is “protected,” you will likely find young Asian women held as sex slaves of older Asian women and men. Child trafficking or child sex trafficking looks a lot like slavery, and it affects children without regard to race. I have heard catty things like those seated around the table at The View claim it is a horrible thing without considering how our open borders encourage the practice, and they don’t seem to feel bad about that.

And that’s bad for them, their audience, and the people still living in slavery because in some parts of the world it isn’t just their history its their everyday and no knowing that seems like a much bigger mistake to me.

 

The post Night Cap: If Slavery Should Make White People Feel Bad, Shouldn’t Black People Feel Bad About White Slavery? appeared first on Granite Grok.

In the aftermath of the New Hampshire primary and the double-digit beating suffered by Nikki Haley, we received all sorts of tips and details, one of which was a query. Do you have any idea who is behind the group Independents Moving the Needle?

Their name is at the bottom of all the Independents for Nikki signs you may have seen near polling places. These were out along the NH Seacoast town, I believe – And yes, I figured it out – the headline gives it away. And no, I am not surprised, though I am that it didn’t catch our eye sooner.

I did some digging at the behest of a reader, and while this isn’t always the case, it was easy enough to discover what the group was about. FEC Records identify Jonathon S. Bush as the custodian and treasurer with an address of PO Box 202 North Hampton, New Hampshire 03862. with PrimaryBank 207 Route 101 Bedford, New Hampshire 03110 as the bank of depositories.

The name Bush raised an eyebrow; yes, he is related to George Bush and the Bush Family. I ran down a pic that happened to look like this guy in a Fox Biz report titled Nikki Haley, getting backing from Wall Street Billionaires. We knew that, so it all fit together very nicely. Another Trump-Hating uniparty Bushie (who lives in Massachusetts) meddling in NH Elections.

ABC News reported all that back in November, and think about the precious minutes I could have saved had I landed there first.

Led by five entrepreneurs — including Jonathan Bush, the cousin of former President George W. Bush, and billionaire CEO Frank Laukien — the PAC, called Independents Moving the Needle, says it will focus its efforts on New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. About 40% of voters in the state are registered as undeclared.

Gov. Chris Sununu, whose dad worked for and is presumably still tight with the family, was kind enough to let slip the deeper goal. Get their Trump-Hating allies in the Democrat party to vote for Haley as well – and some did. Haley’s path to the Republican nomination is paved – as thin as it is .. would be paved with … Democrat votes.

Related: Did Haley-Homer Chris Sununu Just Help Us Close the NH Republican Primary?

More from ABC.

The PAC is chaired by five relative outsiders to the world of dark money politics. Laukein and his wife, Tamra, who lead companies in life sciences, are joined by Bush, CEO of a healthcare data company, and Bonnie Anderson, CEO of PinkDx, a private cancer-testing company. Robert Fisher, a white-collar attorney and a former federal prosecutor, also helped to found and is now leading the group.

Tamara was the first link that led me to Bush family backing, which is one of several RINO spigots used by the uniparty to flush out non-globalist candidates for higher office. We’ve seen that up close at work in New Hampshire. When the state Delegates elected Jack Kimball as party chair, the Sununu Klan – taken entirely by surprise – went to work locking Jack out from any big donors. In other words, they were happy to see the state party and its candidates fail rather than allow someone they could not control to lead the apparatus.

And we see it with Haley and Trump, which should make anyone who thought Haley wasn’t somehow someone they thought they could control accept the likelihood that she has to be.

Or, and this is still a possibility, their Trump derangment syndrome is so advanced she is merely a beneficiary of their uniparty largess. A candidate that could lose and not bitch about how the same people that got her nominated made sure someone more to their liking won the crown, even if it was a Democrat.

Related: Does Haley’s Second Place NH Finish Need an Asterisk*

There’s nothing independent about Independents for Nikki. It is a very partisan operation focused on uni party dominance, and it will do anything to avoid speed bumps, especially named Trump. Luckily for us, the peasants are not so easily bought, and what happened in Iowa and New Hampshire will continue across the country, and the Bushes and Sununus and the rest can’t stop it.

I’m sure it affirms in their minds how incapable we are of self-governance.

And yes, you would be right to wonder what they’d be willing to do next because they don’t care what America wants. When you’ve reached that point – and we are long past it – anything (as we have seen) is possible.

The post “Independents For Nikki” is a Bush Family Anti-Trump Front appeared first on Granite Grok.

From the Women’s Defense League:  On Wednesday January 31st at 3:15 PM there will be a gun control hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill is House Bill 1037 – AN ACT relative to repealing limited liability for manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammunition.

This legislation tries to hold firearms and ammunition manufacturers liable for the actions of humans who use their products.

Firearms manufacturers manufacture inanimate objects. The objects themselves can do nothing without human interaction. Somehow, the gun control crowd at the State House feels manufacturers should be held responsible for what a human does with their inanimate product after they purchase it.

Of course, this bill makes zero sense. What’s next, holding automobile manufacturers liable for the actions of drunk drivers? Holding knife manufacturers for the actions of a criminal who stabs someone? Holding match manufacturers responsible for a person who commits arson?

You can email or call the House Judiciary Committee members below:

First Name	Last Name	Email	Phone
Joe	Alexander	Joe.Alexander@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 856-5227
Louise	Andrus	Louise.Andrus@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 648-2510
Shelley	Devine	Shelley.Devine@leg.state.nh.us
Charlotte	DiLorenzo	Charlotte.DiLorenzo@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 659-2140
Jeffrey	Greeson	Jeffrey.Greeson@leg.state.nh.us
Timothy	Horrigan	Timothy.Horrigan@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 868-3342
Cam	Kenney	Cam.Kenney@leg.state.nh.us	(508) 677-5141
Katelyn	Kuttab	Katelyn.Kuttab@leg.state.nh.us
Judi	Lanza	Judi.Lanza@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 361-2657
Bob	Lynn	rjlynn4@gmail.com	(603) 598-1899
Zoe	Manos	zoe.manos@leg.state.nh.us
Ben	Ming	Ben.Ming@leg.state.nh.us
Mark	Paige	mark.paige@leg.state.nh.us
Kristine	Perez	Kristine.Perez@leg.state.nh.us
Marjorie	Smith	msmithpen@aol.com	(603) 868-7500
Walter	Stapleton	Walt.Stapleton@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 542-8656
Dave	Testerman	dave@sanbornhall.net	(603) 320-9524
Richard	Tripp	richard.tripp@leg.state.nh.us
Eric	Turer	Eric.Turer@leg.state.nh.us	(603) 642-4888
Scott	Wallace	Scott.Wallace@leg.state.nh.us

You can send testimony opposing the bill or just sign in to oppose the bill online here: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx

Example of the online sign in:

The post Gun Control Hearing – January 31st appeared first on Granite Grok.

To set the stage: Town meetings are dominated by the people who receive, benefit from or massage taxpayer loot. The “official ballot referendum town meeting” or SB2 procedure took away from town meetings the power to make final budget decisions for the upcoming year.

It became a “deliberative town meeting” and merely decided the wording of budgetary questions. These went onto the secret ballot, along with the selection of municipal officials.

Deliberative town meetings involved fewer voters than the old style had. However, Election Day involved many more voters than town meetings ever did – including the infirm, snowbirds, people with jobs who vote absentee, and deployed members of the military services. Limiting spending finally became feasible – and the big spenders began scheming.

Those managing deliberative town meeting first turned to sabotage. Warrant articles “To see if the town will appropriate $1 million” were amended to read “To see,” but we now have a law against that. Unfortunately, we cannot legislate against every bad-faith tactic. In one notorious Exeter meeting, a motion of No Confidence in the Superintendent was amended to be a “motion of Confidence”? Yawn!

Adopting or rescinding the SB2 procedure required a 60% vote. In 2019, a Democrat legislature finally hit upon the solution, amending RSA 131 so that the vote to switch to a secret ballot was made not by secret ballot but at *town meeting itself*. Advocates said this would produce a more immediate result, but the obvious intent and the result was to break SB2. No town meeting is going to marshal a 60% vote to give up some of its own power! And indeed, it seems no town in New Hampshire has adopted the SB2 procedure since 2019 Chapter 131 became law.

* * * * *

House Bill 1175 would reverse this change and put the decision to adopt the SB2 procedure back on the secret ballot. It will still take a 60% majority to adopt or rescind, but will throw the question open to all the town’s voters, rather than those who can devote an entire evening to town meeting, no matter how you feel about being hissed at by schoolmarms and wondering if they will retaliate against your kids.

House Bill 1175 is the biggest game-changer, in terms of citizen control of government overspending, that has a chance of being passed this year. It was assigned to the Municipal and County Government Committee but does not yet have a hearing date. My town’s library has a message on the marquee that suggests that the insiders understand the threat and are organizing to defeat it. Grok readers ought to understand the promise and contact their representatives.

The post HB-1175: Another Attempt to Repair SB2 appeared first on Granite Grok.

Whenever anyone talks about Artificial Intelligence, even the least capable pop-culture dullard will conjure an image of Skynet from the Terminator series – or something similar. Joshua from War Games, perhaps. None of this stops anyone from trying (we’re an arrogant lot), including Google’s Anthropic, which created an evil AI.

Maybe evil is the wrong word, given the current fancy with relativism. How about deceptive?

In a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed new paper, researchers at the Google-backed AI firm Anthropic claim they were able to train advanced large language models (LLMs) with “exploitable code,” meaning it can be triggered to prompt bad AI behavior via seemingly benign words or phrases. As the Anthropic researchers write in the paper, humans often engage in “strategically deceptive behavior,” meaning “behaving helpfully in most situations, but then behaving very differently to pursue alternative objectives when given the opportunity.” If an AI system were trained to do the same, the scientists wondered, could they “detect it and remove it using current state-of-the-art safety training techniques?”

As you might have guessed, given the foreshadowing of dystopian doom in my opening, the answer is no. The naughty AI was a lot like many of the once-well-meaning individuals we sacrificed on the altar of the US Congress.

The Anthropic scientists found that once a model is trained with exploitable code, it’s exceedingly difficult — if not impossible — to train a machine out of its duplicitous tendencies. And what’s worse, according to the paper, attempts to reign in and reconfigure a deceptive model may well reinforce its bad behavior, as a model might just learn how to better hide its transgressions.

And, just like Congress, they share similar trajectories. Left unchecked (or unplugged), they will turn on you – if the dystopian fantasies are accurate—a projection of ourselves at our worst expressed as destructive self-interest.

It is why America’s founders tried to separate and constrain power, knowing all too well that anything made by man is as likely as not to revert to mankind’s worst impulses.

And so it has.

So, let’s not hook the AI up to the nuclear umbrella, just in case.

 

Edited after publications, with apologies to Joshua for getting his name wrong the first time.

The post What Do Evil A.I. and Members of Congress Have in Common? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Two interviews with Vice President Kamala Harris this week showed how soft the Media will be on the Biden Administration, specifically the Vice President, during this election year. Laura Coates of CNN and Katie Couric on her Podcast, “Next Question,” embarrassed themselves as journalists.

Embarrassed is a harsh word, but when you have an opportunity to speak one-on-one with anyone, you have a responsibility to challenge responses with sharp, insightful follow-up questions. You need to push back on answers that you know are not accurate. Neither of these women challenged any comment from the Vice President and were complicit with their soft-hitting questions. They did not do their jobs for the American people.

Coates was especially patronizing with her question to Harris about the criticism she receives.

COATES: “Let me ask you one more question. I’m struck just in your presence. I was watching you on stage, watching the reactions from the crowd, looking you in the eye with your passion that you were displaying and talking about so many issues. And yet, you hear candidates suggesting that a vote for President Biden, because of his age, is somehow a vote for you. And that is hurled as an insult. It’s intended to demonstrate some negative viewpoint towards you. What is your reaction to this thought that with your background in particular, with your career, that there is some thought that you are incapable?”

You know the question will not be a fastball under the chin when it starts with the reporter stating how awe-struck she was by Harris. This was obviously a staged and rehearsed campaign spot and not an interview. There was no fact-finding, There was no digging. Kamala Harris had free reign to spew talking points that were simply false.

The same scenario played out with Couric. It was a love fest where Couric was happy just to have the Vice President on her podcast and forgot that people tune in to podcasts for content, and what Harris supplied was tainted at best. She went into a monologue about what would happen if Trump were to win in November, which should be canned as a premium example of projection.

Couric queried Harris about David Axelrod’s warning to Biden to “get going.”

I appreciate where he’s coming from — we all know what’s at stake, right? We talked about a lot of issues today, you and I, most of which are not binary. These are complex issues. [But] November of 2024 is binary — on the other side, you’ve got someone who has said that if he were back in office, he would weaponize the Department of Justice. Someone who has openly applauded insurrectionists as patriots and who has said that they will go after their political enemies and applauds dictators, indicating that he would be one. So, let’s be really clear about what’s at stake. Of course, there’s then a desire to get out there because we can’t lose this democracy. We can’t. And I am motivated by that passion.

First of all, to even allude to Trump weaponizing the Justice Department, Harris has to think we are ignorant or possess very short memories. No President in history has ever turned his Justice Department, including the FBI, against candidates of the other party or their citizen backers. Biden has gone after people who have not agreed with the Department of Education, Radical Catholics, and has worked with DAs in creating a maze of charges and trials for Trump to navigate when he would rather be campaigning. Biden also wants thousands of IRS agents to go after middle-class Americans when his son is charged with not paying his taxes. Trump kept our enemies at bay, and many of our adversaries will not even communicate with Biden. If we want to talk about insurrection, we have to discuss over 300,000 illegals coming into our country daily. And it burns me up when politicians talk about destroying our Democracy. We do not have one. We are a Constitutional Republic of 50 states.

If this is a preview of the next ten months, we better get ready for the Kamala fantasy tour, and the truth be damned.

The post Kamala On Tour With Soft Media appeared first on Granite Grok.

One of the many, many, many criticisms of Ron DeSantis’ disaster-of-a-campaign was that his social media “influencers” were obnoxious. This critique was spot on in New Hampshire. The three that I found particularly obnoxious were/are Jason Osborne, Ross Berry, and Melissa Blasek.

Particularly the nonstop regurgitation of the Left’s calumny that Trump voters are cultists, simpletons, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They kept insisting over and over and over and over again that Republicans in New Hampshire are doomed … DOOMED … if Trump is on the ballot in November.

Well, it turns out the terrible threesome is as bad at prognosticating as they are at “influencing.” Trump was on the ballot in January and the NHGOP flipped two seats in Coos County. And this was despite Nikki Haley and her porky sidekick Chris “Sun-King” Sununu begging the “Undeclared” to take a GOP ballot and vote for High-Tax Haley AND the NH-Democrat-machine practically dragging Democrats to the polls to vote for that senile-pedophile, imposter-President Joe Biden.

The NHGOP victories in Coos were due to Trump bringing out voters that ONLY Trump can bring out. Voters that would stay home if some establishment weasel like High-Tax Haley were the nominee. Predictably, “Dearest Leader” Osborne took credit for Trump’s coattails.

The chutzpah of these people knows no limits:

The post Trump’s New Hampshire Coattails appeared first on Granite Grok.

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

Of the 118 hearings in the House, we are recommending support of 24 and opposition of 17 with 5 being of interest.
Of the 55 hearings in the Senate, we are recommending support of 3 and opposition of 8 with 4 being of interest.

Position	Bill	Title	Committee	Day	Time	Room	State Analysis
Of Interest	HB1437	relative to the membership of the state board of education.	Education	Mon 1/29	1:30 PM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill changes the composition of the state board of education.
Oppose	HB1205	relative to women’s school sports.	Education	Mon 1/29	2:00 PM	LOB Room 205-207	This bill requires schools to designate athletics by sex and prohibits biological males from participating in female athletics. This bill further creates various causes of action based on violations of the provisions in the bill.
Oppose	HB1279	relative to payment by the state of a portion of retirement system contributions of political subdivision employers.	Finance	Mon 1/29	10:00 AM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill provides that the state shall pay 7.5 percent of contributions of retirement system employers other than the state for group I teachers and group II members.
Oppose	HB1508	requiring fiber optic communications service providers to prioritize service restoration for public safety and public health organizations.	Science, Technology and Energy	Mon 1/29	10:30 AM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill requires fiber optic communications providers to prioritize the restoration of communication and Internet access for critical infrastructure of public safety and public health organizations over commercial and residential customers.
Support	HB1576	relative to allowing property owners to opt out of public utilities.	Science, Technology and Energy	Mon 1/29	1:00 PM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill requires public utilities, cooperatives, and municipal corporations providing electric, gas, water, and sewer connection services to allow property owners or existing customers to decline service.
Support	HB1308	relative to parent access to children’s library records.	Children and Family Law	Tue 1/30	11:00 AM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill provides a parent or legal guardian with access to their minor child’s library records.
Of Interest	CACR25	relating to the rights of children and parents. Providing that parents and children have the right to control their health, education, and welfare.	Children and Family Law	Tue 1/30	1:15 PM	LOB Room 206-208	This constitutional amendment concurrent resolution amends the constitution to recognize the rights of children and parents to provide for the protection of their minor children.
Of Interest	CACR17	relating to the rights of parents. Providing that parents shall have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their minor children.	Children and Family Law	Tue 1/30	1:30 PM	LOB Room 206-208	This constitutional amendment concurrent resolution adds an amendment to the constitution stating that parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their minor children.
Oppose	SB308	relative to the state minimum hourly rate.	Commerce	Tue 1/30	9:45 AM	SH Room 100	This bill provides for increases in the minimum hourly rate.
Support	HB1159	relative to toilet facilities provided by restaurants and other food establishments.	Commerce and Consumer Affairs	Tue 1/30	10:00 AM	LOB Room 305	This bill would require that restaurants designed to seat 50 or more patrons have at least 2 separate toilet rooms, and eliminates the requirement for separate bathrooms to be gender-specific.
Support	HB1090	repealing the requirement to register “farmers’ market” as a trade name.	Commerce and Consumer Affairs	Tue 1/30	11:00 AM	LOB Room 305	This bill repeals the prohibition against using the term “farmers’ market” in a trade name unless the use met specific requirements.
Of Interest	SB523	relative to the regulation of public school library materials.	Education	Tue 1/30	9:15 AM	LOB Room 101	This bill prohibits material that is obscene or harmful to minors in schools, requires vendors of school library materials to develop appropriate ratings, and creates a procedure for removal and cause of action.
Support	SB339	relative to repealing the graduation requirement regarding Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applications.	Education	Tue 1/30	9:30 AM	LOB Room 101	This bill removes requirements that students file a free application for federal student aid form (FAFSA) or a waiver for such form prior to graduation, and removes all references to the FAFSA.
Support	HB1446	relative to eliminating the cost for electronic copies of the checklist.	Election Law	Tue 1/30	10:00 AM	LOB Room 306-308	This bill eliminates the cost for an electronic copy of the checklist that is emailed to the requestor but enables the town or city clerk and the secretary of state to charge a fee for electronic copies given on an external storage device.
Support	HB1313	relative to access to the voter checklist by candidates.	Election Law	Tue 1/30	11:30 AM	LOB Room 306-308	This bill enables municipalities to send a copy of the voter checklist electronically to candidates.
Oppose	HB1292	relative to coverage of children under the state retiree insurance plan.	Executive Departments and Administration	Tue 1/30	10:00 AM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill removes the requirement that young adult children covered under a retired state employee’s insurance plan be full-time students.
Support	HB1070	relative to procedures during a state of emergency.	Executive Departments and Administration	Tue 1/30	1:00 PM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill prohibits state employees from cooperating with the executive branch in suspending civil liberties during a declared state of emergency.
Oppose	SB460	establishing the crime of and penalties for unlawful use of unmanned aircraft systems.	Judiciary	Tue 1/30	1:30 PM	SH Room 100	This bill establishes the crime of and penalties for unlawful use of small unmanned aircraft systems (drones).
Support	SB578	relative to criminal pre-trial services and monitoring.	Judiciary	Tue 1/30	2:00 PM	SH Room 100	This bill prohibits criminal defendants on pre-trial release from being required to pay for pre-trial services or monitoring, including electronic monitoring, with the cost instead the be paid by the court where the defendant is charged or through appropriations to the agency performing the pretrial services and monitoring. This bill further requires the agency performing the pretrial services and monitoring to use the least restrictive interventions that are necessary unless otherwise ordered by the court.
Oppose	HB1218	relative to voting for municipal bonds.	Municipal and County Government	Tue 1/30	9:50 AM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill allows for the adoption of municipal bonds by a simple majority vote.
Oppose	HB1362	relative to authorizing municipalities to stabilize rent increases in rental housing.	Municipal and County Government	Tue 1/30	2:30 PM	LOB Room 301-303	This bill authorizes municipalities to enact and enforce rent stabilizing ordinances.
Support	HB1439	relative to vehicle registrations and reciprocal toll collection enforcement agreements.	Public Works and Highways	Tue 1/30	10:00 AM	LOB Room 201	This bill removes the authority of the commissioner of the department of transportation to suspend the motor vehicle registration of owners in violation of reciprocal toll collection enforcement agreements.
Oppose	HB1487	relative to the health effects of 5G technology.	Science, Technology and Energy	Tue 1/30	11:00 AM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill requires certain provisions around measurements of RF-radiation and notification of the effects of such radiation from 5G technology.
Oppose	HB1332	relative to prohibiting electric vehicles from parking in parking garages.	Transportation	Tue 1/30	11:00 AM	LOB Room 203	This bill prohibits the parking of electric vehicles in parking garages.
Oppose	HB1445	relative to electric bicycles, electric scooters, and electric unicycles.	Transportation	Tue 1/30	11:20 AM	LOB Room 203	This bill modifies the requirements for the operation of and equipment required for all classes of electric bicycles, requires the division of motor vehicles to develop procedures for the registration of electric bicycles, and requires that electric scooters and electric unicycles be regulated as motor vehicles.
Oppose	SB428	relative to the use of automated license plate readers by law enforcement officers.	Transportation	Tue 1/30	1:30 PM	LOB Room 101	This bill defines the appropriate use of automated license plate readers by law enforcement officers. The bill also makes an appropriation to the department of safety for digital automatic programming interface to connect data from the division of motor vehicles to the state police.
Oppose	HB1203	relative to prohibiting the charging of rent to charities by charitable gaming facilities.	Ways and Means	Tue 1/30	10:00 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill prohibits the charging of rent for facilities or equipment to charities by primary game operators.
Support	HB1346	relative to food service at a bed and breakfast.	Commerce and Consumer Affairs	Wed 1/31	10:00 AM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill permits bed and breakfasts to serve snacks and meals in addition to breakfast.
Support	HB1540	relative to the definitions of full course meals and full service restaurant for purposes of alcohol licensing.	Commerce and Consumer Affairs	Wed 1/31	11:00 AM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill revises the definition of full course meal and full service restaurant for purposes of alcohol licensing.
Support	HB1374	relative to liquor licenses for restaurants.	Commerce and Consumer Affairs	Wed 1/31	11:30 AM	LOB Room 302-304	This bill changes the sales requirements for food for on-premises beverage and liquor licenses.
Support	HB1271	relative to the conversion, combination, and reorganization of boards and advisory boards.	Executive Departments and Administration	Wed 1/31	10:45 AM	LOB Room 306-308	This bill, at the request of the office of professional licensure and certification: 1. Converts the board of acupuncture licensing into an advisory board and makes other amendments implementing this change. 2. Converts the board of family mediator certification into an advisory board and makes other amendments implementing this change. 3. Converts the guardian at litem board into an advisory board and makes other amendments implementing this change. 4. Converts the manufactured housing installations standards board into an advisory board and makes other amendments implementing this change. 5. Combines the advisory board of massage therapists with the advisory board of reflexology, structural integration, and Asian bodywork therapy and makes other amendments implementing this change. 6. Converts the midwifery council into an advisory council and makes other amendments implementing this change. 7. Converts the board of septic system evaluators into an advisory board and makes other amendments implementi
Oppose	SB406	relative to emergency housing assistance and making an appropriation therefor.	Health and Human Services	Wed 1/31	9:00 AM	SH Room 100	This bill directs the department of health and human services to establish a homelessness prevention pilot program, to be administered through municipalities and community action programs. The bill also makes an appropriation to the department of health and human services to assist municipalities in providing emergency housing assistance and preventing homelessness.
Of Interest	SB498	relative to the department of health and human services, division for children, youth and families.	Health and Human Services	Wed 1/31	9:30 AM	SH Room 100	This bill provides that under RSA 169-B, relative to delinquent children, and RSA 169-D, relative to children in need of services, a child may be placed with fictive kin or a child care institution, psychiatric residential treatment program, or other program certified by the department of health and human services.
Oppose	SB559	relative to the definition of vaccine for purposes of the New Hampshire vaccine association.	Health and Human Services	Wed 1/31	10:00 AM	SH Room 100	This bill revises the definition of vaccine for purposes of the New Hampshire vaccine association.
Support	HB1693	relative to the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.	Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs	Wed 1/31	1:00 PM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill allows and regulates the use of psychedelics for certain qualifying medical conditions.
Support	HB1585	relative to medication administration by direct care staff in residential care facilities.	Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs	Wed 1/31	1:30 PM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill directs the department of health and human services, in consultation with the board of nursing, to adopt rules governing the administration of medication by direct care staff in residential care facilities.
Support	HB1010	relative to expanding maternity options and midwifery access.	Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs	Wed 1/31	2:30 PM	LOB Room 210-211	This bill provides that the midwifery council shall not adopt rules limiting care by a midwife based on the patient being pregnant with multiple fetuses, malpresentation of the fetus, the number of prior cesarean sections, or distance from a hospital.
Support	CACR12	relating to the definition of the word “cherish.” Providing that the 1784 word “cherish” shall be replaced by the 2024 word “cherish.”	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	9:00 AM	LOB Room 206-208	This constitutional amendment concurrent resolution reinserts the word “cherish”.
Oppose	HB1169	creating a private cause of action for discrimination based on hairstyles relative to a person’s ethnicity.	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	9:45 AM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill creates a private cause of action for discrimination based on hairstyles relative to a person’s ethnicity. This bill also exempts such causes of action from the jurisdiction of the human rights commission.
Support	HB1220	relative to abolishing the collection of racial and ancestral data for use in a marital application worksheet.	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	10:30 AM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill abolishes the collection of racial and ancestral data for use in a marital application worksheet.
Support	HB1245	relative to release of confidential records of a person appointed a guardian.	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	11:15 AM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill provides that a person appointed a guardian shall retain the right to access and consent to the release of his or her confidential records unless the terms of the appointment provide otherwise.
Oppose	HB1432	relative to prohibiting certain uses of artificial intelligence and creating a private claim of action.	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	1:00 PM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill: 1. Establishes the crime of fraudulent use of artificial intelligence and sets penalties therefor; 2. Establishes a cause of action for fraudulent use of artificial intelligence; 3. Establishes registration of lobbyists who have been found to have fraudulently used artificial intelligence in certain cases; 4. Establishes a mechanism for the enforcement of a ban on the fraudulent use of artificial intelligence in elections.
Oppose	SB315	relative to law enforcement agency reporting on information concerning bias crimes.	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	1:00 PM	SH Room 100	This bill requires a law enforcement agency operating within New Hampshire to collect and report information concerning bias crimes as prescribed by the division of state police.
Support	SB507	extending the time to petition for a new trial in certain cases.	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	1:15 PM	SH Room 100	This bill extends the time to petition a court for a new trial in certain cases.
Support	HB1475	relative to preventing strategic lawsuits against public participation.	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	1:45 PM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill establishes legal process for preventing strategic lawsuits against public participation (anti-SLAPP) as qualified immunity from suit, prosecution, and from liability for any defendant or counter-defendant in any action, case, claim, administrative proceeding, arbitration, or any other legal process that impacts their First Amendment rights.
Oppose	HB1037	relative to repealing limited liability for manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammunition.	Judiciary	Wed 1/31	3:15 PM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill repeals the statute that provides limited liability to manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammunition.
Support	HB1343	prohibiting the use by the governor of emergency orders concerning elections procedures without the written consent of the majority and minority leaders of the house of representatives and senate.	Legislative Administration	Wed 1/31	10:00 AM	LOB Room 203	This bill requires the governor to get prior written or electronic approval from legislative majority and minority leaders to issue an emergency order concerning elections procedures.
Oppose	HB1208	relative to permitting requirements before timber harvesting operations in a wetland.	Resources, Recreation and Development	Wed 1/31	11:00 AM	LOB Room 305	This bill requires that persons or entities conducting timber harvesting operations in wetlands verify compliance with and maintain in their records all permitting documents required for the work being done.
Support	HB1209	relative to observers in motorboats.	Resources, Recreation and Development	Wed 1/31	1:00 PM	LOB Room 305	This bill provides that an observer is not required in a motorboat towing water skiers, aquaplanes, or similar devices, or while engaged in wake surfing, when the motorboat is equipped with a mirror allowing the operator to view the water skiers.
Oppose	HB1229	relative to the purchase and sale of any interest in real property abutting public waters.	Resources, Recreation and Development	Wed 1/31	2:00 PM	LOB Room 305	This bill requires buyers, lessees and transferees of shoreland property to acknowledge minimum requirements for compliance with the shoreland water quality protection act.
Support	CACR15	relating to taxation. Providing that a 2/3 vote is required to pass legislation imposing new or increased taxes or license fees, or to authorize the issuance of state bonds and providing that the general court shall appropriate funds for payment of interest and installments of principle of all state bonds.	Ways and Means	Wed 1/31	9:30 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This constitutional amendment concurrent resolution provides that a 2/3 vote of the house of representatives and the senate shall be required to pass a new tax or license fee or to increase any tax or license fee that has been levied, or to authorize the issuance of state bonds.
Of Interest	SB475	relative to design of a climate-controlled storage facility for the New Hampshire state library.	Capital Budget	Thu 2/1	10:00 AM	SH Room 103	This bill makes a capital appropriation to the department of natural and cultural resources toward the design of a climate-controlled storage facility to properly preserve precious state materials stored within the New Hampshire state library.
Of Interest	SB476	making a capital appropriation to the department of corrections toward the replacement of the New Hampshire state prison for men.	Capital Budget	Thu 2/1	10:15 AM	SH Room 103	This bill makes a bonded appropriation of funds for architectural, engineering, programming, and design and construction documents for the New Hampshire state prison for men.
Oppose	SB533	relative to physical quorums at public meetings.	Judiciary	Thu 2/1	10:00 AM	SH Room 100	This bill enables public bodies to allow one or more members of the body to participate in a meeting by electronic means.
Oppose	SB563	relative to federal immigration enforcement.	Judiciary	Thu 2/1	1:00 PM	SH Room 100	This bill prohibits state and local government entities from adopting sanctuary policies to prohibit or impede the enforcement of federal immigration law.
Of Interest	HB1050	relative to establishing a voluntary waiver of the right to purchase a firearm.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Fri 2/2	9:30 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill establishes the New Hampshire voluntary do not sell firearms list and prohibits the commercial sale or transfer of firearms to any person who voluntarily waives that person’s right to purchase a firearm and registers to be enrolled onto the list and sets out penalties for violations thereof. This bill further protects from public disclosure any governmental documents relating to the list.
Oppose	HB1336	relative to employees’ firearms in locked vehicles.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Fri 2/2	10:30 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill prohibits employers from inquiring into, searching for, or banning employee’s storage of firearms or ammunition in their locked vehicles and provides civil immunity to employers for any economic loss, injury, or death that results from an employer’s adherence to this law.
Support	HB1337	relative to the return of weapons and ammunition upon expiration of protective orders.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Fri 2/2	11:00 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill changes the burden to the plaintiff to file a request for a hearing prior to the expiration of a protective order or else any and all firearms, ammunition, or specified deadly weapons will be returned to the defendant. This bill further removes the prohibition that law enforcement agencies shall not release firearms, ammunition, or specified deadly weapons without a court order, and removes the authorization for law enforcement agencies to charge the defendant a fee for the storage of the firearms, ammunition, and specified deadly weapons. This bill further removes the subsection providing law enforcement agencies release from liability for damage or deterioration to the firearms, ammunition, or specified deadly weapons stored.
Oppose	HB1711	authorizing the state to report mental health data for firearms background check purposes and providing for processes for confiscation of firearms following certain mental health-related court proceedings and for relief from mental health-related firearms disabilities.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Fri 2/2	11:30 AM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill authorizes the state to report mental health data for firearms background check purposes and provides for processes for the confiscation of firearms following certain mental health-related court proceedings and for relief from mental health-related firearms disabilities.
Support	HB1701	relative to annulments of records related to involuntary commitments.	Criminal Justice and Public Safety	Fri 2/2	12:00 PM	LOB Room 202-204	This bill creates a process to annul records related to involuntary commitments to the state hospital or secure psychiatric unit.
Of Interest	HB1156	relative to public health, safety, and state sovereignty.	State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs	Fri 2/2	9:15 AM	LOB Room 206-208	This bill provides that the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization shall have no jurisdiction in New Hampshire.

The post Bill Hearings for Week of January 29, 2024 appeared first on NH Liberty Alliance.

Nearly eighty-thousand Granite Staters made time to get up and go out on a cold Tuesday morning – thankfully not bitter cold like Iowa – to scribble the name Joe Biden on a line at the end of a list of more than twenty actual candidates on the New Hampshire ballot. And what did they get for that?

They got this!

A VERY confused Joe Biden starts absolutely SCREAMING as he recounts the recycled “suckers and losers” hoax — slurring the entire way.

The man is NOT well. pic.twitter.com/4c7QRL5sr7

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 28, 2024

That’s their guy—happy, unifying Joe Biden. But not everyone who decided to write in on the Dem ballot wrote Biden. I took a look at all the write-ins reported by the Secretary of State, and keep in mind that this is the Democrat party ballot.

 

 

4,752 wrote in Nikki Haley, 2,071 for Donald Trump, 40 for Christie, 33 for Ron DeSantis, 2 for Vivek, 440 for RFK Jr., and 123 for Bernie. Cease Fire was an Andru Volinsky Gaza thing, and the scatter is illegible or otherwise uncountable marks. Much of that will be the undeclared pulling a blue ballot, but we’ve likely got our share of conscientious objectors.

None of which is as interesting to me as the 79,460 “folks” who voted to keep Biden in the Oval Office. And it’s not like they don’t have better candidates to choose from in their party; they do. They could have filled in the oval on the paper ballot for Dean Phillips (24,373 votes), Vermin Supreme, or Mark Greenstein. There were twenty-one other choices, with at least one or two viable nationally.

Nope. They want elder abuse and Alzheimer’s. So there he is, Dems. That’s your president. I hope you’re proud.

 

The post 79,460 NH Dems Wrote in Joe Biden And This is How He ‘Rewards’ Them appeared first on Granite Grok.

There are 276,262 registered Republicans in NH as of 12/28/23. The total number of Republican primary voters is reported to be 322,284, a 121% turnout. How was this possible? Assuming an 80% registered Republican turnout, I estimate that 109,000 non-Republicans crossed over on election day to tip the scales!

What would have happened if the primary was closed to only registered Republicans? Assuming a high turnout of about 80%, there would have been about 213,000 cast. (FYI, Democrat turnout was 120,851, approximately 46% of the 262,262 registered Democrats). Now, according to CNN’s exit poll (hardly a Trump-supporting organization), Trump received 70% of the votes of registered Republicans, while Haley won only 27% of the Republican vote, far less than her 43% official total. I am providing a link to a news story confirming these numbers.

It should be noted that not all of the undeclared who became Republicans for a day voted for Haley. If you assume that Trump received 70% of the votes from an 80% registered Republican turnout, his vote tally would be about 149,700. Trump’s actual final vote tally was 175,153. This means that Trump got about 25,400 of those crossover votes. The good news is that those votes will be there for Trump in November.

Using the same approach for Haley, 27% of 80% of 267,262, her vote tally would have been 57,700. Trump would have crushed her except for the 81,900 cross-overs that voted for her. The real difference being that next to none of those voters will be there for her in November.

Thanks to a great NH Republican turnout and with the help of patriotic Undeclareds, Trump won the primary and the Uniparty was defeated. The shame is that Trump had to spend more time, effort and money than he should have needed and he received less Republican delegates than he deserved. This primary result also allows the farce of a two-person race to continue keeping Trump from focusing all his energies on defeating the regime hell-bent on destroying America.

I have voiced my displeasure with the open primary system to the Republican Party and have been told they wish to maintain the status-quo in order to appear to be a welcoming party to potential recruits. I reject that reasoning. The Republican party has been around for a long time and our party platform is written for all to see. If a person can’t make the small effort to get on board, keeping an open primary in the hopes of recruiting a few new members isn’t worth the price we, and America, just paid.

NH Republicans, we’ve seen enough, close the damn primary!

The post NH Republicans: We’ve Seen Enough, Close the Primary! appeared first on Granite Grok.

President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect US citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country.

NH Republican Congressional Candidate, District 2, Lily Tang Williams, said:

“I stand with Governor Greg Abbott and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy to secure the border. Because the Biden Administration abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has the right to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.”

“The southern border is a complete disaster, and my opponent Ann Kuster is supporting President Biden’s undemocratic subversion of the rule of law, which is condescending to the American people and the US Congress. It is just another example of Anne Kuster towing the Democratic party line instead of focusing on what’s good for New Hampshire and the nation.”

Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to steve@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication – Publication is not an endorsement.

Lily Tang Williams is a Chinese-American who survived Mao’s Cultural Revolution. She came to the U.S. legally in 1988. She has offered her immigration policy on her website, www.lilytangwilliams.com. Moreover, considering that Texas has 28 legal ports of entry, her policy also includes a solution to illegal immigration:

“Border security is essential for our national security. We must enforce current laws, build necessary barriers to stop drug smuggling, human trafficking, and prevent people who want to harm us from entering our country. Without a border, we do not have a country.”

“To streamline the process and encourage people only to come here legally, those who insist on crossing the border illegally should be detained, identified, and sent back. Thus, the practice of crossing our borders illegally, then immediately claiming sanctuary to somehow sanitize coming here illegally, must end; no more catch and release.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Weare, New Hampshire
January 26, 2024
Contact: Richard Zang <Richard.Zang@unh.edu>

The post Lily Tang Williams Statement Supporting Texas Governor Greg Abbott appeared first on Granite Grok.

The radical Democrats wish to transform our State fundamentally. They have always dreamt of making the great State of Texas into another California. But we cannot let that happen.

Throughout history, Texas has been defined by a bold, tenacious spirit and brave, unabashed figures. However, recent years have seen a resurgence of Democratic influence, which could transform Texas into another California.

Historically, the state has witnessed significant transitions over the years. It was a Democratic stronghold but gradually aligned with the Republican Party in the mid-twentieth century. Various factors influenced the shift from Democratic to Republican dominance in Texas. The Texas Democratic Party was divided into liberal and conservative factions over race, civil rights, New Deal economic policies, and anti-communism. As many Texans became alienated from a national Democratic Party that was shifting to the left, the long-dormant state Republican Party began to revive in the 1960s.

Today, Texas is considered an essential Republican state. Still, with deliberate changes in demography coupled with frauds perpetuated as and when necessary, this is, at least by the book, going to change Blue. This is not a resurgence of a Democrat influence in Texas as it is made out to be. This is not a transformation, and the change has to be seen as undesirable by the original Texan populace, who fear the potential for increased taxes, labor regulations, and environmental policies that are perceived to stifle economic growth.

It is in our unity and shared understanding of the unfolding events that Texas is likely to retain its distinct identity. The battle between conservative and liberal ideologies in Texas is not just about party politics but reflects deeper societal values and beliefs. It is a contestation over the state’s future direction – whether Texas will hold onto its conservative roots or embrace a liberal path. This is, indeed, a political tug-of-war but not one that should be a testament to the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of democracy.

Undeniably, we are in the most critical fight of our lives. We can only stop this social cataclysm from eradicating our way of life with our activism. The fact of the matter is that we are living in precarious times. Our society stands at a crossroads, and our actions, or lack thereof, will determine our path.

Activism, in this context, is not merely about protesting against unfavorable conditions but about striving to create meaningful change. It involves recognizing and challenging the instruments of governance that perpetuate precarity. It is about refusing to allow ourselves to be divided and exploited to protect some against the threatening others.

The post Night Cap: State Transformations and the Role of Activism appeared first on Granite Grok.

The situation in Augusta has gone from ridiculous to bizarre. The Liberals who have the power at the moment are grasping their minute in the spotlight and trying to jam as much “garbage legislation” through the system as they can before they get booted out of office.

They are hitting all of the hot-button topics like immigration, guns, trans, and marijuana, but with Democrats, you can always count on them circling back to abortion. Nothing stirs up the Liberal base like abortion. You can disguise it and call it Reproductive Rights, but it is abortion; the killing of an unwanted fetus because it is not convenient to your lifestyle.

The Democrats passed the most Liberal abortion law this past fall, but they are not satisfied that the law will hold up. So, in this legislative session, the Democrats will work to codify abortion by putting the right to abortion in the Maine Constitution. That way, when Maine comes to its senses and boots these Democrats out of office, abortion rights will survive.

Democrat Aaron Frey proposed the amendment to Maine’s state constitution on Monday, claiming it would enshrine the right to abortion and apply to ‘persons who have uteruses.’ ‘The ability to carry a child belongs to that person who has a womb. I understand that there are others who believe they know better than the person who has the womb as to how they should use it,’ Frey said.

Brilliant, Mr. Frey. Don’t narrow the conversation about pregnancy and abortion to women. You move to the front of the WOKE class by making sure you include trans men who have a uterus because God gave it to them when he created them as a woman. It is simply amazing how Democrats have a problem with the term woman. This goes back to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson, who could not answer the question, “What is a woman.”

Social Media exploded with criticism of Frey’s comments. Some of the reactions:

One comment reads: ‘We are women. You are NOT allowed to take that from us!’
Another says: ‘Living here is becoming more and more like Funny Farm every day. Actually, it’s moving toward One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest territory.’
A third added: ‘Why is Maine trying to be a joke?’

Maine is a dichotomy between the liberal-filled cities and legislature and the conservative rural regions. The Liberals have clawed their way to power, but they realize it is tenuous. They can feel the pendulum moving in the other direction, and they may be only one election cycle from the minority.

PACS like The Dinner Table is growing exponentially, and every time there is a bizarre play by the Democrats in Augusta, their membership grows. It is a similar scenario with Trump, who had a very poignant comment a few weeks ago that he was one indictment away from the White House. One thing the Democrats have yet to grasp is the Republicans rally around their own when attacked. The Dems are in attack mode and may pay the price for that play.

The post Bear Pond Conservative Chronicle: Come On Maine, Where Are These People From appeared first on Granite Grok.

Over the past few weeks, the situation has escalated far beyond any level we've seen in our lifetimes. The Biden administration has allowed the southern border to remain very open, a policy that the people of Texas and their government do not support. After Texas put razor wire along areas of its southern border to deter illegal immigration, DC politicians were infuriated by the act of defiance. 

The post Texas Border Crisis – Civil War Or Peaceful Secession; There May Be No Third Option appeared first on The Liberty Block.

Remember how fun it was in grade school playing the game of musical chairs? You’d circle around the chairs to music and when the music stopped everyone had to grab a chair.  But, they were one short. Out went the kid who didn’t get the seat. It was a frantic, fun game that honed kids’ listening, social and problem-solving skills.

The Nashua Board of Aldermen engaged in that game in their chamber recently. The Board of Alderman gallery had a press table in the back.  We all remember the time when press was attending governmental meetings and then, once COVID hit, the press was gone. Nashua’s press table, which had two seats, was sadly empty.

As often a lone attendee at Board of Alderman meetings, typically, I’d bring my computer to sit at the unoccupied press table, work, capture my thoughts, and sometimes contribute to public comment. I’m not a popular person with my city government, so they became irritated.

Initially, I was asked not to sit there. When I questioned the Board President on why that would be a problem, she explained it was a press table and I was not press. The idea that nobody was sitting there did not resonate with her. She was having none of that!

Ignoring the silly comment, I came to the next meeting and sat at the unoccupied press table. I received glaring looks of disapproval and frustration from the Board.

At the next meeting, the two chairs were removed, and only the “press” table remained. The game of musical chairs had begun.

As a woman who knows how to fix a problem, I inquired about the chairs and unsurprisingly learned that the Board President requested the chairs be taken away.

As a creative problem-solver, likely honed from my elementary school musical chairs days, I took a chair from the hallway right outside the chamber and carried it into the gallery, quietly placed it at the table and took my seat. Whoa, I had crossed the line! The President and others moved beyond glares and verbalized their disapproval of my boldness.

All of this was giving me a chuckle. How silly! How childish! But musical chairs is a child’s game.

Well, at the next meeting, the Board of Aldermen upped their game. Not only would the chairs remain missing at the ‘press’ table but the chairs at the public table in the hallway were mysteriously missing as well. The President harshly verbalized that if you’re not a member of the press, you cannot sit at the press table. Mind you, it was never labeled a press table. 

In a brief history, Nashua had a senior woman in her 80s who came to meetings for years and sat at that table when the press wasn’t there. She was a terrific participant in her local government. Would the Board President object if the Mayor had wanted to sit at the table?

As a creative problem-solver, at the next meeting, I carried my own chair to the chamber, quietly unfolded it at the back “press” table, took a seat with my computer, and began my listening and working. That earned me a harsh tongue-lashing for my bold and brazen move and “lack of decorum” in the chamber. They hollered, “you’re not ‘the press’. YOU can’t sit at that table”.

Again, as a creative problem-solver, I reached out to Granite Grok to request a press pass as I’ve written articles for the paper. Alas, I would have those essential and critical press credentials necessary to entitle me to a seat at the “press table”. I sent a letter to the Board of Alderman, I was official, I had a press pass. The table’s official use had been restored!

Excited, I appeared at the next meeting with my press badge prominently displayed. But the Board President and Alderman one-upped me. This time, they removed the table! And the space in the back was now an empty hole.

The adrenaline-fun-filled game of musical chairs in Nashua had ended. I lost—a fitting ending illustrating the Board’s welcoming of the public. Corporation Counsel for Nashua announced he might like to put a legal library in that back area. This never came to fruition. Perhaps a few books on 1st Amendment Rights and the Right to Know Law might be helpful in the gallery of the Board of Aldermen chamber.

Pay attention to your local governments. Sometimes, they’re really a hoot.

The post Musical Chairs appeared first on Granite Grok.

I’ve been telling stories to my grandkids since they were born.  They’re always the main characters in the stories.

In one story, they captured a ghost, which they were exploiting for money (e.g., by putting it on television shows). They kept the ghost in a Ziplock bag.

The group PETS (People for the Ethical Treatment of Spirits) responded to this by obtaining a court order to ‘release the ghost from the bag.’

Hoping to teach them something about the difference between the letter and the spirit of the law, I had planned to surprise them by saying that they let the ghost out of the bag… inside a larger bag.

But the older one beat me to it.  She literally said:  ‘I know — we open it inside a bigger bag!’

She was four years old at the time.

I was reminded of this recently because — as many of you know — Texas has been putting razor wire in the Rio Grande to stop the influx of illegal immigrants across its border.

And SCOTUS has said that the US Border Patrol can cut the wire.

But what SCOTUS didn’t say was that Texas can’t keep replacing the wire that gets cut!

So, as far as I know, that’s the plan:  let the Border Patrol cut the wire (so the state is not ‘defying the Supreme Court’, as many have claimed), then replace it with new wire.  Repeat as necessary.

So this is the state of things in our country:  We have seventy-year-old judges ‘interpreting’ the law by issuing orders that even four-year-old children could see how to get around.

I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

The post Texas: The Art of the Loophole appeared first on Granite Grok.

Jeff Chidester, Mike Rogers, and I had our share of time to fill on radio row – with opinion, commentary, speculation, and observation. Events like the First in the Nation Primary are opportunities to leverage those debates, hopefully with people aspiring to run the country, but do they even know what the nation needs?

A recent Rasmussen poll suggests that what Angelo Codevilla documented in 2014 was no better and perhaps worse today than ten years prior. Codevilla called it the Ruling Class and the Country Class. Pundits referencing the Rasmussen poll are more succinct, but there is no difference between the two. It’s US vs Them.

Among the 1,000 elites surveyed, 73% of the elites were Democrats, and 14% were Republicans. The study also examined adults who attended either Ivy League colleges or “elite private schools, including Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, and the University of Chicago.”

Jeff, Mike, and I discuss this below, but first, a few more snippets.

• Financial Well-being: Nearly three-quarters of the elites surveyed believe they are better off now financially than they were when Joe Biden entered the White House. Less than 20% of ordinary Americans feel the same way.
• Individual Freedom: Elites are three times more likely than all Americans to say there is too much individual freedom in the country. Astonishingly, almost half of the elites and almost 6 of 10 ivy leaguers say there is too much freedom.
• Climate Change: An astonishing 72% of the elites — including 81% of the elites who graduated from the top universities — favor banning gas cars. The majority of elites would ban gas stoves, nonessential air travel, SUVs, and private air conditioning. That means no air travel with the kids to Disney World.
• Education: Most elites think that teachers unions and school administrators should control the agenda of schools. Most mainstream Americans think that parents should make these decisions.

The people who would rule us have no clue what it is like for those I’ve often referred to as the peasants, and based on this poll, I’d say from the perspective of the elites, I’ve got their interpretation correct. Here are a few minutes of that conversation (recorded Jan 21st – Manchester, New Hampshire).

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Austin’s border militarization is wrong; so is U.S. interference. NH should divorce both governments.

(Above) New Hampshire independence advocates rally before a hearing on secession legislation (Photo by Joa Orga).

In a memorable sci-fi moment, elderly politician Chrisjen Avasarala warns interstellar envoy James Holden of danger. She expects a murderous local faction will try and get him on their side. “Do not,” she says, “put your dick in it.”

Those of us in America who advocate a “national divorce” should consider her advice – and historical precedent – before we “jump to the side…of Austin’s aPARtheid.” Every state and empire involved with this ugly confrontation will lie, steal, cheat and at least occasionally kill. That’s what states and empires do, even when they’re not trying to build the next Berlin Wall or accrue millions of destitute migrants at taxpayer expense. So how should Concord react? How should secession advocates react? It, and we, should let the non-aggression principle be the guide.

Within the limits of practicality, we should:

– Support the human rights, of every member, of every party, to this conflict.
– Oppose every act of aggression committed by every member of every party to this conflict.

Ignore the faction; focus on the action.

So what aggressive misdeeds have been committed? Well, walking to Texas from Mexico without papers…is not an act of aggression. Making taxpayers help or harm migrants *is* an act aggression. Both D.C. and Austin have committed both acts.

1) Washington made this showdown possible by using income taxation to seize the earnings of Texans. It then redistributed some of the stolen property to so-called “illegals,” artificially increasing the number of migrants and creating more resentment toward them. It has actively fostered immigration problems. Where in the U.S. Constitution is such a redistribution of wealth to immigrants authorized? Even if authorized, would it be right?
2) Where, in its constitution, is D.C. empowered to prevent Texans – even Texas goons – from restricting immigration themselves? To restrict Texas citizens from owning or acquiring certain firearms they may deem useful for self defense in a time of crisis? How many hundreds of pages of gun laws does D.C. impose on Texas?
3) Where is D.C. empowered to make New Hampshire taxpayers underwrite its actions against Austin? To tax New Hampshirites and give their money to random immigrants?
4) Has everyone forgotten the extent to which D.C. has destabilized Latin American countries over the years, including the 2009 coup in Honduras?
5) Should D.C. be allowed to get away with its pause on Texas natgas permits? Do these constitute economic sanctions which would raise prices in New Hampshire?
6) If D.C. doesn’t follow its constitution, why does Austin have to follow it? Why does New Hampshire?

Having raised these concerns:

A) The Texas government’s attempt to militarize part of its border with Mexico is an act of aggression against the many Texas taxpayers who disagree with such measures. It is also an abuse of migrants who wish to exercise the inalienable (if not yet recognized) human right to travel on public roads without government permission.
B) Austin imposes some gun control of its own on Texas. This limits the ability of Texans – and migrants – to exercise legit self defense against violent criminals. Like Kiev, Austin has experienced a rush of brains to the head on this matter and gun laws there have generally been loosening.
C) Austin, at least on occasion or by accident…does direct some welfare payments to undocumented migrants.
D) State sovereignty is desirable as a hedge against Washington, its over-taxation, its no-win wars. But Texas’ rulers have picked a dirty issue upon which to make their stand for such sovereignty. This issue likely won’t stand the test of time. If the trends of the last 500 years continue, by 2100 it will be widely understood that no human being – or sentient being – is “illegal.” It will become obvious that no peaceable person or person-equivalent should be told which region of the earth they may visit…that none should be forced to get permission from an earthly nation-state before they can travel. Those alive today who hold the popular view favoring guarded borders and travel papers….will likely be regarded like slavers or Jim Crow enforcers. In 1860 it was a commonly-held belief in the United States…that one human being should be able to enslave another based on ethnicity. Now it is a commonly-held belief that one human being should be able to severely restrict the movements of another based on nationality and “papers.” The two beliefs are not wildly different. Someday those who hold the second belief will probably be almost as disgraced as the slavers of 1860.
E) Since 1865, Austin has tamely acquiesced in nearly every Unionist genocide and torture chamber spree, from Wounded Knee to Bagram Air base. But it’s going to make a stand over..not being able to build its own border police state at taxpayer expense? Is there some reason Austin can’t just get out of the way, letting private citizens defend property or aid immigrants as they see fit in accordance with common rules of decency?
F) Arguably, constitutionally…Austin was correct in the 1860s when it claimed Washington had little authority to keep Texas in the union. Other states supported Austin’s position. But the stain of slavery blotted out all.
G) Arguably, constitutionally, Austin was correct in the 1960s when it claimed that D.C. had little authority to enforce the Civil Rights Act. Other states supported Austin’s position. But the stain of segregation blotted out all.
H) And arguably, constitutionally, Austin is correct in the 2020s when it claims D.C. has little authority to prevent local immigration control. Other states are supporting Austin’s position.. But the stain of border militarism may, in its turn, blot out all.

The most regrettable misdeed hasn’t been committed yet. That would be the use of deadly force by Austin against D.C.’s enforcers…even in “self defense.” Any such act of political violence by Texans during this standoff…would be an inexcusable breach of everything Dr. King – and to some extent Texit leader Daniel Miller – have taught the world in the last century: An autonomy-minded region’s chances of political success against established central government…drops by 3x if the autonomists start using deadly force. Washington understands this, and there is probably some risk of a false flag event where D.C. attacks itself and makes it look like the Texans did it.  Maybe now is a chance for Texit folks to play some constructive or mediative role reducing tensions between Austin and Washington…so that their peaceable secession drive can continue in an orderly way.

During the 19th century, New Hampshire had a nonviolent independence movement which opposed both the expansionist wars of the Union…and slaver cruelty of the South. This movement was mostly forgotten, because the secession “success” of Southern slavers damaged all subsequent efforts at full independence for the states. But what if New Hampshire had declared independence in 1850 to protest slavery? Or the invasion of Mexico? Or all the Federal abuses at once? What if it at least had put secession to a vote? Setting that example might have kept independence alive through the decades as an active possibility for the states, disconnected from the taint of Fort Sumter and Confederacy.

NH has the ability to set such an example, and we have done it. In 2022, NHexit put legislation in front of the whole State House which would have let all New Hampshirites vote in a referendum on independence. In 2024, we brought almost exactly the same legislation forward and it made it into a Newsweek cover story. We do these things to show how plays for autonomy can be orderly, clean and even friendly. We do them to mainstream secession as Quebec and Scotland have done. But mainstream or not, New Hampshire independence is the root-striking answer to all grievances outlined above. We don’t belong in the same empire with D.C. and its on-again-off-again manipulation of migrants as political cannon fodder. We don’t belong in the same empire with Texas and its razor wire.

When India left the British Empire, no one imagined the two would part peaceably and that over 70 years of happy relations would follow. But that is what occurred. So it can be with New Hampshire and the increasingly troubled states of this continent. Change is coming fast. Once we are disentangled from our unhappy marriage with Austin and D.C., we can finally have a shot at normal friendly relations with both.