In one of the last rulings of the 2023 session, the Supreme Court of the United States decided that Joe Biden’s attempt to forgive up to $20,000 of current balances of student loans was unconstitutional.

By a vote of 6-3, the justices ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority last year when it announced that it would cancel up to $400 billion in student loans. The Biden administration had said that as many as 43 million Americans would have benefitted from the loan forgiveness program; almost half of those borrowers would have had all of their student loans forgiven.

When proposed in 2022, Joe Biden knew, and then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi declared, that the President did not have the authority to forgive or cancel student loans. Forgiveness of the loans was never the intent of the proposal. The goal was to buy the votes of young voters for Democrat candidates in the 2022 midterms by dangling a $20,000 check in front of them. It worked, and the ruse did secure that voting block for the Dems, proving that empty promises are more important to younger voters than effective government. The Red Tsunami predicted for the 2022 midterms never happened because of a major Con by President Joe Biden.

Within minutes of the High Court’s announcement, Biden stepped to the microphone and blasted the MAGA radical Supreme Court for abandoning college students and graduates of America burdened with high-balance loans preventing them from enjoying the fruits of their college degrees. Biden used this ruling as an example of how out of touch the Supreme Court had become and why the makeup needs to be revised by adding more justices to balance the ideology of the Court. Biden’s belief was echoed by most politicians and media from the Left.

But this decision will not stop Joe Biden from benefiting from his original proposal. He promised his team would get to work and find ways to circumvent the High Court and get relief for current holders of student loans. The Con continues, and will, right up to the 2024 general election. There are votes to be bought, and damn it, the Democrats are buying.

Within days, Biden was back to the podium to announce step one of his effort to overturn the crushing defeat of his plan by the Supreme Court. His plan is to forgive the loan of any college graduate who has been making payments on their student loans for at least twenty years. Biden’s plan will not impact young recent graduates but rather graduates already in their 40s and in the major earning years of their lives.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona immediately praised the Biden proposal and said it was about time we leveled the playing field for college graduates burdened by high-balance student loans. Why is there a need to level the field? College graduates earn an average of $1.2 Million more in their lifetime than non-college graduates. Why, then, should people who did not attend college, paid for their children’s education out of pocket, or went into a trade have to dip into their pockets to pay the loan of a 40-year-old attorney? They absolutely should not, and that is what the Supreme Court ruled.

Biden’s team will continue their creative attempts to get the student loan forgiveness bill passed or the Court ruling circumvented. A check will never be written, but that does not concern Joe. Joe is concerned with how many votes he can secure with a political scam. Loan holders should be apoplectic at how they are being used. Instead, they continue to pull the lever on the Left, proving they learned nothing in college while racking up loans.

 

 

The post SCOTUS Says No, Joe Says Yes! appeared first on Granite Grok.

A black woman decided she could no longer affiliate herself with the priorities of the Democrat party. Her reward for switching sides was an onslaught of – no, not well wishes or even good riddance – but epic hate rants—nasty, racist epithets or exactly what you’d expect from Democrats.

First.

 

Georgia Stae Rep. Mesha Mainor made headlines when she announced last week that she was leaving the Democratic Party — and in the days since, she has received a virtual tidal wave of hate mail, much of it overtly racist and profane.

 

Language Warning.

 

Dear Democrat,
Sorry you feel this way. pic.twitter.com/wH0zBNp7jy

— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 16, 2023

 

There are many, and you can review them here or here, but I’ll offer one more again for context (feeling, impact) and, again, language warning.

 

Dear Democrat,
I’m sorry you feel this way. pic.twitter.com/IYIyukVw1W

— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 16, 2023

 

These Democrats seem to have forgotten that they are the party of peace and civility – especially when it comes to women of color. Maybe Ann Kuster can loan some of those Dems her duct tape.

 

 

 

That is, after all, the best and perhaps the only way to keep a Democrat from spewing hate.

Exit question: Do any NH Dems want to step up and denounce this sort of thing, or are you gonna let this actual hate against a black woman slide because it’s your people doing it, and (maybe, just maybe) you agree with them?

We’ll be waiting …

 

The post Party of Civility™ Unloads Racist Hate on Black Lawmaker After She Leaves the Democrat Party appeared first on Granite Grok.

Given the Democrat party’s affinity for incrementalism, what appears to be a gimme to teenagers struggling with gender dysphoria is more likely the threshold to denying parental rights to younger children.

The gateway drug for this journey is HP 340. LifeSite News reports that,

 

Despite strenuous Republican pushback, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed the new measure on Tuesday. 

Maine Public reported the law will allow 16- and 17-year-olds in the Pine Tree State to receive cross-sex hormones “if they have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, have received counseling, are experiencing harm from not receiving care, and have parents that refuse to support treatment.”

The law also requires teens to “receive counseling on the benefits and potential consequences of hormone therapy,” according to the outlet.

 

The legislators added a lot of if-thens, which is nice, but those will be the first to go if they are not meaningless already. In New Hampshire, for example, if you have gender dysphoria but want to live as your biological sex, you can’t find counseling that will help. They can only encourage you to change genders. It is a violation of state law to promote any other choice.

These sorts of caveats, if not present, will appear as future legislatures push to lower the age and further rob parents of influence over their children. That is, after all, the true goal. Democrats don’t give a rat’s ass about your gender rights; ask anyone claiming residency in any one of the LGBTQ+ family of characters who supports Republicans or, say, Donald Trump. You might as well be Clarence Thomas, whose race and rise from poverty affords no protection from the hate. Or JK Rowling, an otherwise reliable liberal with the wrong ideas about “women.” Rr Tara Reade – a lifelong Democrat excommunicated for daring to say something about Senator Joseph Biden ‘raping her.

No black man will ever get the same deference for drug use or possession as his son Hunter, nor would anyone who violates firearms law in Biden’s America.

The Socialists must control the kids to achieve ideological victory. It is inevitable. And if you do not push back while you still can, that end will arrive sooner rather than later instead of not at all.

 

 

 

The post Maine Robs Parents of Their Rights – “Kids” can Get Gender Drugs Without Parental Consent appeared first on Granite Grok.

The momentum is growing within the Left to push Joe Biden aside for 2024. These people are either seeing the signs we have for three years or are moving past their directive to ignore them. Since the campaign for the 2020 election, the Party and media have been in unison telling the American people not to believe their eyes but the storyline they were being fed. Anyone with a modicum of sense could see the play, but the Left was willing to destroy their credibility to muster support for their Manchurian President. As the election season is gaining speed, they realize Joe Biden cannot play his part in this ruse on America. This is not a game but the future and existence of the United States.

That last sentence is not hyperbole. Joe Biden wants a second term to “finish the job.” That is an ominous statement considering the damage he has inflicted in his first two years. To finish the job means to complete the promise of Barack Obama to transform America into a Socialist country. That disgusts and threatens those who love this country as it has always been. Biden also needs a second term for the financial well-being of the Biden Crime Family. He knows the money train derails the day he leaves office, and he is no longer in a position of power to attract money from unscrupulous foreign sources. He and his family need the time to fill their coffers at the expense of embarrassing this aging man and endangering the country.

This week, there were reports of secret emails sent to prospective candidates to prepare in case the Party moves on Joe. Newsom, Whitmer, and Buttigieg, but not Harris, were supposedly notified to prepare their teams and supporters for a potential run. With the slow pace of Biden to raise money and get his campaign team in place, a decision would have to be made by the Fall by the DNC for the direction to take. This action will not sit well with Biden and Harris, who feel the run for a second term is their right and not the Party’s decision. This is where the danger lives.

Biden, and his family, are addicted to the power they have enjoyed for the last fifty years. They have corrupted the system, and their financial lives depend on the continuation of that corruption. To pull the plug on their scheme would be tantamount to cornering a wounded animal. These people will do anything to survive, and those actions will not benefit Americans.

Biden has been erratic in his governance and has opted to use the pen rather than legislation to accomplish his goals. He has also shown disdain for the Supreme Court and often disrespected them when disagreeing with their rulings. This week included two such situations. In his continued support of Ukraine, he pledged cluster bombs and money. There appears to be no limit to the amount of aid and no accountability for the taxpayer dollars transferred to Zelenskyy. SCOTUS had ruled the President had no authority to forgive Student Loans. That ruling does not stop Joe Biden. He announced his first step in a multi-step process to forgive debt and buy votes for 2024.

If Biden’s future aspirations are cut off, there will be no limit to what he tries to accomplish before he rides off to Delaware. With no concern for how his decisions will impact his standing with voters, he will be reckless, fearless, and unAmerican. His moves will not be for America but for a new version of socialized America. This will be an extremely stressful year ahead and will be sealed in the next few months.

The post What If Dems Decide Joe’s Gotta Go? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Today marks the first full day of Camp Constitution’s 15th Annual Family Camp, which is being held at the Singing Hills Christian Camp in Plainfield, NH.  “This is our fourth year at this beautiful facility,” said Hal Shurtleff, the camp’s co-founder and director.

“Families as far as Florida, Texas, and Michigan made the drive to participate in this unique camp program.”

In addition to camp activities such as swimming, hiking, marksmanship, and campfires, adults and older teenagers take in presentations by some of the nation’s leading experts on history, the U.S. Constitution, and education, which include author Alex Newman, Professor Willie Soon, and Pastor David Whitney of the Institute on the Constitution.   Valery McDonnell, the youngest elected official in the United States, will conduct a class on how to get elected and on Thursday. Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy will give a class titled “The American Dream.”

 

 

Mrs. Edith Craft runs the program for campers ages 5-12, where they learn American history, its founding documents, and Christian history.   Classes are videotaped and will be available on the Camp’s YouTube and Rumble channels.

 

 

In the fall, Camp Constitution will host a weekend family camp in Tuftonboro, NH. For more information, please visit our website http://www.campconstitution.net

 

News Release                                                       Contact:  Hal Shurtleff

For Immediate Release                                       (857) 498-1309

The post First Day at Camp Constitution’s 15th Annual Family Camp appeared first on Granite Grok.

There was much ado when UNH was finally forced to shut down its Confucius Institute. A partnership with the government of China that the Feds had long warned was likely a cover for intelligence gathering and the theft of intellectual property by the CCP.

The #wokesters in the Commie Campus systems of America have no objection to such things, and institutes are not the only way to buy a #woke anti-American universities heart. Large cash gifts will purchase plenty of loyalty, and they are not exactly illegal. Anyone can donate to a college or University.

China donates a lot!

The last large dollar exchange between China and UNH appears to have been for a contract worth $738,000, starting June 2020. In July 2021, UNH officially ended its Confucius Institute relationship, but the contract above keeps funds from Communist China rolling into  UNH until June 2024.

They are still doing business with China, just not as openly.

Dartmouth College is also well endowed with Communist Cash. It has accepted nearly 2.8 million in cash gifts from China or Hong Kong (still China) since 2020. No legacy data or details are attached to the gifts, so these are not likely from appreciative Asian Alumni. And (oddly) there were no donations to Dartmouth from China in this Database before COVID.

Is that suspicious?

Dartmouth Medical and Dartmouth Hitchcock have both been eager, if not zealous, supporters of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global COVID response, including masks, lockdowns, distancing, the ventilate and Remdesvir till death protocol, the alleged efficacy and need for mRNA vaccines and boosters (safe and effective), jabbing hospital staff or bust policies, as well as nearly every other fool idea peddled as necessary to “prevent the spread.”

China has a good deal of influence over the WHO and BioNTech.

Is any or all of that million COVID blood money, or are they also encouraging the sterilization of future generations via Dartmouth’s ardent passion for hormone blockers and childhood mutilation surgery?

Both?

I know someone will ask, so I checked. Many other IVY league schools (scores of US colleges and universities) are swimming in cash CCP gifts.

 

• Cornell received 440.000 from China in 2021.
• Columbia has received nearly 63 million since 2020.
• The University of Pennsylvania, close to 20 million in the same period.

 

I’d expect much the same at the rest of them; awash in Chinese influence. And before you scoff, you need to understand something. China doesn’t let anyone come to America without expecting them to gather intelligence. Everyone’s family back home is assumed to be a hostage if anyone dares to refuse. China also does not give gifts without some expectation of something in return. We can debate what that is without hard evidence, but the CCP is highly invested in influence peddling in America. The President and his son are but two high-profile examples.

And while the Dartmouth money looks like a pittance compared to Columbia, Dartmouth has about 6700 students. Columbia has nearly 20,000.

2.8 million buys a lot of influence at a small rural college, even an Ivy League one. So what, exactly, did they buy?

 

The post Since COVID, Dartmouth College Has Accepted 2.8 Million Dollars From China … For What? appeared first on Granite Grok.

The idea behind voir dire  (which is French for jury tampering) is that a jury should be ‘impartial.’

An impartial jury is one that hasn’t already made up its mind, one that will be able to judge the facts of the case without having already pre-judged them.

Sounds good, right?  But judging the facts in a case is only half — less than half, really — of the job that a jury is supposed to do.  The more important job is judging the law as it applies to the case.

But jurors who might disagree with the law — who might be willing to nullify the law — are routinely excused from serving on juries.  The voir dire process exists, in large part, to weed them out.

This undermines — destroys, really — the ability of a randomly selected jury to do something that no judge, however wise and however well-versed in the law and the rules of evidence and procedure, can ever do:  Represent a cross-section of the beliefs and values of a community.

That’s really the only necessary function of a jury. Everything else could be handled by judges.

So ironically, the government says an ‘impartial’ jury is one that hasn’t pre-judged the facts but has pre-judged the law.  It’s completely ass-backward.

And it is how juries have been transformed from a tool designed to check government overreach from the outside — the closest thing we’ve ever had to requiring the consent of the governed ¹ — into a tool that is used to promote government overreach from the inside.

 

 

¹  Suppose that 10% of the people in a community believe that a law is bad — that it exceeds or abuses the authority delegated to the government.

If you randomly select members of that community for jury duty, getting a jury that will convict someone of breaking that law is like rolling a 10-sided die 12 times, and never seeing a 1.

How likely is that?

The probability of pulling that off is

(1 — 0.10)12 = 0.28

So there is only a little more than a 1 in 4 chance of being able to convict someone, even if he’s guilty.

If the number of people who oppose the law increases to 20%, that probability drops to

(1 — 0.20)12 = 0.07

or about 1 in 15.

If 60% of the people have used ‘democracy’ to force something on the other 40%, their chances of enforcing it drop to

(1 — 0.40)12 = 0.002

or about 1 in 500.

And setting aside probabilities for a moment, consider that — like David standing up to Goliath — a single juror, standing alone against an entire government, can derail a miscarriage of justice.

Randomly selected juries are the best mechanism ever invented for protecting the rights of the minority from the will of the majority.

They are the nearest thing we have to requiring the consent of the governed (one of two principles from the Declaration of Independence that the Republican Party was created to protect).

Nothing else even comes close.

 

The post ‘Impartial’ Means You Agree With the Government appeared first on Granite Grok.

Something happened that I haven’t seen in a long time was a moderator that’s more Conservative than Progressive, and now Tucker Carlson has come and filled that need by interviewing the major Republican candidates at the Family Leader Leadership Summit in Iowa.

Republicans have, for too long, adjusted their debate spiels to counter Progressive journalists. In reviewing some of the videos from the event, Tucker had all of their numbers – they just were not prepped for Tucker properly.

While Asa Hutchins (again: “WHY?” was the operative question by most when he announced he was running) got severely pummeled (to the point of “WHY do you think you should continue after that?”), what everyone seems to be talking about is this.

 “I know you’re running for president. You are distressed the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks. Every city in the United States has become much worse over the past three years. Drive around. There is not one city that has gotten better in the United States. And it’s visible. And yet you’re concern is that the Ukrainians, a country that most people can’t find on a map, who have received tens of billions of U.S. tax dollars, don’t have enough tanks, I think it’s fair to ask, where’s the concern for the United States in that?”

“Well, it’s not my concern,” starting at 00.46 when Tucker starts his run up and asks the question that GOPe Pence hadn’t wargamed:

 

 



 

Wow, just wow. But it fits. Out of touch, dying to be a “World Stage Leader” instead of being an American Leader? Look, I’ve been honest about my outlook on Pence since the time he went belly up like a beaten dog when and gave into the corporate pressure to defenestrate the just passed Indiana defense of marriage bill. He made a huge deal of it in the bill’s run-up when it was signed and then, in fear of his political life, caved.

This answer to Tucker, in all truth, should end any of his aspirations to be in the Oval Office. “Not my concern” is his attitude towards American cities. Yes, I know – they are all Democrat-run and have been for decades; I have no problem with letting them fail on their own if for no other reason than to let the city electorates learn the lesson to stop voting stupidly. Vote for the wrong people and policies, and, of COURSE, your city is going to turn into a third-world hellhole. We’re watching it happen in real time.

However, I’m looking at his answer from the viewpoint of the REST of us. We love this country, see that it’s in bad shape, we’re looking for a fighter that is going to come along and protect OUR values, and he says THAT?  That Ukraine is a higher priority? And then followed by a litany of talking points.

Now, I have no idea who the guy at the end is, and I haven’t decided who I’ll support (I have three in mind). But to say Ukraine first and America isn’t his top priority? That’s just nuts. Even Tyler Durdan over at ZeroHedge said:

Tucker Carlson utterly dismantled the necon talking points of Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, during an on-stage interview before a large audience of the FAMiLY Leadership Summit in Iowa on Friday”

“American cities aren’t my concern.”

HT | Conservative Treehouse

 

 

 

The post A Few Thoughts On Candidate Mike Pence and His Lack of Concern for the United States appeared first on Granite Grok.

Another Monday has rounded the calendar corner, which means it is time for another edition of Monday Memes – an ambitious imposter edition – doing my part to keep the meme alive until Nitzakhon returns from “special assignment.”

Nitzakhon is due to take the helm back beginning next Monday, so yippee for that, and he assures me he will have some on-the-ground reporting from his adventure overseas, which he will share with our readers upon his return.

While we wait –  I’d like to thank the numerous meme curators at Minds for most of this week’s cache.

And yes, there are at least a few that are bound to offend, so please scroll responsibly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Monday Memes – The Last Ambitious Imposter Edition appeared first on Granite Grok.

The headline in VT Digger read, “Officials issue warnings about flood-related scams,” and, “Natural disasters make people more vulnerable to scams.” Surely, they do, and Vermonters should indeed be on the lookout for those praying on people’s fears and emotions in the wake of the tragic flooding so many areas of our state are experiencing.

But, ironically, the biggest scam artists of them all are those same officials telling us that if we just send them a few billion or so of our tax dollars over the next couple of years, they can change the weather and stop things like this from happening again in the future. Watch out for these scammers to double down in the days to come!

After Tropical Storm Irene, Vermont legislators had a choice to make. Should our policy be primarily geared toward preparing for the next extreme weather event by investing our limited resources in strengthening our infrastructure and disaster response capacity? Or should we instead put the overwhelming bulk of our efforts into stopping the next storm from occurring by lowering our carbon footprint? They chose the latter. How’s it working out?

This criticism isn’t hindsight or Monday morning quarterbacking. A look back at the September 7, 2021, meeting of the Vermont Climate Council highlights the issue and the problem with the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), passed by our Democrat-controlled legislature over the veto of Governor Scott in 2020. During a discussion about how much “resilience and adaptation” the Climate Action Plan should incorporate (the terms in this context meaning preparations for weather-related events, such as floods), several members noted that the GWSA is very clear that its priority is greenhouse gas reduction, not adaptation.

 

 

As Council member Jared Duval reminded his colleagues, “I just don’t want to overstep our bounds when we know that the initial target for this plan is most focused on for 2025 and 2030 are about gross emissions reductions…. I want to make sure that in our attempt and responsibility to address adaptation and resilience that that does not become a way that we take our attention away from what is in the Act [GWSA], the very first thing listed,… the most present, legally binding requirement, which is this has to add up to a plan the meets the gross emission requirements.”

And, in the ensuing two years, they most certainly did not get distracted by addressing adaptation and resilience. At all.

Asked to respond to Duval, Chris Campany, one of the few voices of common sense on the Council and there to represent municipal governments (you know, the folks now dealing with flooded downtowns, washed out roads, etc.) was clearly frustrated. “Maybe the work of adaptation and building resilience is something they need to do in the legislature next session. Chairman [Tim] Briglan [of the House Energy & Technology Committee] actually offered a mea culpa that it [adaptation and resilience] wasn’t given equal billing in the original act.”

But the legislature did not take up adaptation and resilience in 2022 or 2023, instead putting their efforts into passing an estimated $2 billion over four years Clean Heat Standard “Rube Goldberg” carbon tax scheme on home heating fuels in order to reduce Vermont’s already minuscule carbon footprint.

Campany went on to issue the warning, “I can tell you in my work here [as a municipal planner] having gone through our biggest disaster since Irene on July 29th [2021], then dodging three potential direct hits from three other tropical storms…, in my world we can go negative emissions tomorrow and for everybody living in Vermont we’re still going to be dealing with the same issues…. I’m going to keep beating that drum [for adaptation and resilience] because of fundamental life and safety issues, whether we reduce greenhouse gas emissions or not.”

And here we are, more than three years after passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act, dealing with the same fundamental life and safety issues associated with extreme weather events.

We could have been spending our taxpayer dollars on things like shoring up our roads and bridges, strengthening our culverts, upgrading our sewage treatment facilities, investing in first responders and emergency equipment, and, where possible, relocating houses and buildings out of floodplains. They might have started on that last project by moving the Vermont Emergency Operations Center somewhere uphill from the banks of Winooski River in Waterbury, but no…. And it was one of the first places that needed to be evacuated during the storm. Brilliant minds at work!

Instead, our legislators decided to use that time, money, and effort mostly for subsidizing heat pump installations and electric vehicle purchases and building a bunch of EV charging stations – many of which are now underwater. Still waiting for the stories about the heroic role electric vehicles played in rescue operations. And I wonder how all of those solar panels have been performing under a month of rainclouds.

If we are expecting more frequent extreme weather events in our future, there are practical actions we can take to make sure future damages are limited. Unfortunately, the people we have elected to make these decisions would rather virtue signal to most radical activists, pouring our tax money down a rat hole that they privately (and some publicly) will admit won’t do a darn thing to affect climate change — or, as we just witnessed, prepare for it. We’ve been scammed. What a shame.

 

Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics, including three years service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free-market think tank.

The post Biggest Flood Related Scam: The Global Warming Solutions Act appeared first on Granite Grok.

The thread that streams from one generation to the next is that the next generation are complete dunderheads. While there are more than a sufficient number in any generation that behaves in such ways to keep this saying around, this satirical (and hysterical!) video from Live Action offers proof.

“Now that Roe v. Wade is overturned, a woman can get pregnant just from having sex.”

Gosh, even at my now-advancing age, I never would have known that something that was never found in a document could magically make cavorting couples create something. And I have thought, for my entire marriage, all that was needed was that special nod, the shy smile, and a raised eyebrow asking that question.

 

 

 

Heh! The “dangerous path of abstinence”?

 

“The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” the opinion states.

 

Sorry, this did NOT remove a Right; it did give back the freedom (and responsibility) for each State’s people to decide for themselves whether to allow it or not instead of nine black-robed Justices.

It also makes fun of people that refuse to take responsibility for themselves – as it should.

And that does seem to be a generational issue.

HT | The Blaze

The post “Now That Roe v. Wade Is Overturned, a Woman Can Get Pregnant Just From Having Sex.” appeared first on Granite Grok.

Boston, Massachusetts, mayor Michelle Wu has done a decent job of making enemies on both sides of the aisle. The Democrat Mayor is often subject to disruptive first amendment exercises, which have become a list of names.

According to reports, the Boston Police Department requested a list of those names from the Mayor’s office. You could assume (true or not) that they intended to determine if any of them presented any real threat to the Mayor. And while that sounds like something the police are supposed to do, if the list reads like a who’s who of your political opposition on either side of the aisle, as Mayor, your first response should be to stop the list from leaving your office.

The optics are terrible.

Walking along a parade route with a bullhorn shouting at you for 90 minutes is annoying but protected speech. Business owners who objected to targeted taxes directed at them are also among the names, according to Fox News, and why would you even mention them? There are even political opponents who oppose vaccine mandates, which looks petty.

It happened, and now Mayor Wu’s enemies list is national news.

But that’s not what got my attention.

The report invokes Nixon’s name several times, but that story is fifty years old. Why reach that far back when there are examples nearer to our own that were more devious or sinister and – given Wu’s party affiliation, Democrat?

Hillary Clinton had stacks of FBI files on her husband’s “enemies” and used to build dossiers for future use when needed. Rumor has it Obama did the same thing.

Obama is credited with the partisan weaponization of the intelligence and surveillance states against his citizens and (more famously) used the IRS to infringe on the rights of non-profit groups to engage in opposition speech before the 2012 Election with no cries of interference from the Left. The IRS stonewalled and delayed applications for non-profit status, demanding unnecessary details not required from left-wing groups. There were threats of audits against organizers, lawfare, and other forms of intimidation.

That same administration later targeted and spied on a presidential candidate, using the weaponized FBI to target the same man as President, along with his campaign and White House Staff.

Again and again, the Left has shown their inclination to develop and work enemies lists, including – more recently, the railroading of J6 protesters incarcerated without due process rights and parents who spoke out at school board meetings.

By comparison, Nixon’s list looks like a love letter, so why pick him? He was a Republican. Better to remind us of that than the more egregious violations perpetrated by more recent Democrat administrations. All of which begs another question. Who asked the Boston Police to ask the Mayor’s office for a list?

That might be the best story of all.

 

HT | Gateway Pundit

The post Is Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s “Enemies List” the Story or is There a Better One? appeared first on Granite Grok.

For years we’ve been told that Renewables are THE answer to all the Greenie prayers (who or what they’re praying to or for remains a mystery). All we have to do is spend TRILLIONS of dollars to buy all this stuff from the Chinese, and then we’ll be all set…oh wait.

Germany has done that – their electrical prices have shot sky-high, and energy was rationed. Now, “Confronted by a toxic cocktail of high energy costs, worker shortages, and reams of red tape,” German companies are starting to head to the exits.

This, too: “They replaced decarbonization with deindustrialization.”

And then there’s California:

We’re finally having a summer heat wave out in California, after, it should be noted, an extremely cold summer so far, but that won’t slow down the climatistas. The chart below of California electricity sources as of 7:30 pm this evening is a little hard to de-cypher, but if you study it a bit you can see how crazy California’s fetish for wind and solar power is.

First, the inverted u-shape curve is wind and solar power, which spikes huge in the middle of the day. So much so, in fact, that we have a surplus of power that we export to other states (and may even pay them to take, though perhaps not on a region-wide hot day like today). See the red line at the bottom which is labeled “imports,” and you’ll see it goes negative mid-day, but we start importing power from other states again in the evening. If tonight is like last night, overnight we’ll be importing ~5 GW from other states.

…Natural gas (the orange line) has to double output to fill the gap, which means that wind and solar power actually have the real world effect of locking in natural gas production. This the greenies refuse to grasp.

I would prefer to say that last bit as “they don’t want to admit it or let you know this ‘issue'” exists.” They will not be so inclined to say, “Yep, NatGas saved our collective butts yet again.” It can happen – REs capacity rose in Texas, and their heat wave, REs made a significant difference – as long as the Sun was out.

Everything is always roses and unicorns with them – like the transgenders, there can be no dissent from their Narrative. But, there it is – actual data laying out exactly what most of us that follow this even superficially know – we’re rushing headlong into a wall of their making. The problem is, WE will be paying the price for their follies and overarching ideology.

Long term, does it make sense? Probably. Collapsing the time frame – a disaster in the making. We, as voters, need to make it clear to our elected representatives AND employees (re: the Administrative State) that we should be making that time frame determination for ourselves.

In the private sector – not the Government sector.

 

HT | Powerline

 

The post What the ‘Greenies’ Refuse to Grasp is a Gas! Gas! Gas! appeared first on Granite Grok.

The art of bedroom design entails combining a variety of components that individually add to the space’s comfort, elegance, and ambience. Lighting is one such important component that is frequently ignored. Lighting is a potent instrument that may change the mood and improve the aesthetic appeal of your space. It is not just a practical aspect. A bedroom that has been expertly lit can be transformed into a private haven that exudes class and elegance.

Exploring personalised solutions

You can seamlessly integrate lighting and storage in room design with a variety of stylish lighting options that not only illuminate the space but also enhance the functionality of storage areas. By strategically placing lights within wardrobes and shelving units, every corner is well-lit, making it easier to find and access stored items. This thoughtful combination of lighting and storage solutions creates a harmonious and efficient environment for individuals, optimising both aesthetics and practicality. Consider partnering with experts like those at myfittedbedroom.com for a professional finish.

Strategic light placement for accentuation

Deploying several light sources at different levels throughout the room is essential to creating a smart lighting strategy. Aside from the primary overhead lighting, think about adding accent lights to draw attention to artwork or architectural details and task lighting for dressing rooms or closets. Lights can be strategically positioned to create eye-catching focal points and to give your bedroom a cosy, welcoming atmosphere.By incorporating both natural and artificial sources, it is worthwhile to investigate the dynamic range of lighting as an extension of this method. During the day, natural light is a great advantage since it gives your bedroom a light and airy impression. The mood and vitality of the space can be improved by utilising large windows, skylights, or glass doors to take advantage of daylight.

Employing dimmers and understanding colour temperatures

The ability to adjust light levels can significantly improve the functionality of your bedroom. Dimmer switches ensure a seamless change in your room’s atmosphere depending on the time of day or activities. Additionally, it is crucial to understand colour temperature. Warm (yellow) or cold (blue) tones can be seen in lights. Warm lights create a calm and cosy ambience that is ideal for relaxing, whilst cold lights are appropriate for tasks that need attention to detail.

Merging style and functionality

Lighting serves as both a functional necessity and an accessory that gives your space a touch of elegance. A glitzy chandelier may add a touch of luxury to your bedroom, while modern pendant lights can give it a feel. Even a beautifully crafted table lamp can enhance the aesthetic appeal of your space. For a unified aesthetic, take into account how your lighting choices will work with the colour scheme, furniture type, and general theme of your bedroom.

Conclusion

More than just ensuring visibility is involved in creating a well-lit bedroom. The ambience, tone, and feel of your space can be greatly influenced by the right lighting, displaying your own taste and refinement. You can choose lighting fixtures from businesses like myfittedbedroom.com that not only illuminate your space but also exactly match the colour of your chosen wardrobe, giving it the finest potential appearance. Your bedroom is, after all, your sanctuary, and with the correct illumination, it can truly exude style and charm.

 

 

The post Illuminating Your Bedroom with Style and Elegance appeared first on Granite Grok.

There is no candidate more perfectly suited for the U.S. presidency in 2024 than Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

If anything, the United States of America as a country owes the Kennedy family for continuously allowing its members to be killed on U.S. soil and in U.S. airspace. That is a tragedy that too many are willing to sweep under the rug, for whatever reason. Mostly due to negligence for duty to nation and country. 

That is the primary plague sweeping the world right now. Too many people are distracted by screens, by false narratives in major media channels, and by their own state of spiritual and financial poverty to stand up and push back against the powers-that-be. 

There is a serious power problem on the planet today. A small group of entrenched corporations and wealthy individuals are shoving a disastrous and destructive agenda onto the entire planet. Rather than build a global society focused on developing a wealthier, healthier, and stronger planet, these corporations and select individuals are hell bent on forcing poverty, illness, and weakness onto as many populations as possible. 

RFK Jr. epitomizes the fight against that corporate fascism and will be the most effective champion of freedom, liberty, and prosperity to combat its pernicious influences. 

In order to elect RFK, the People of the United States must do one thing– speak to each other and spread his messages of intelligent skepticism, informed opposition to vulture capitalist corporatism, and democratically enforced global peace. Everyone in Washington, the globalist-corporatist leftist syndicated media, and what is called the U.S. deep state will push back against RFK’s messages. 

This pushback has already started. The U.S. Democrat Party attempted to stem RFK’s campaign by announcing that there will be no debates. What kind of party calling itself a supported of democracy refuses to hold debates? One that is essentially based on a lie. The name of the party itself has become a misnomer. This Democrat Party today is a party of thieves, criminals, communists, socialists, and totalitarians. Precisely the wrong lot to be anywhere near seats of power in the USA.

The current structure of the Internet has already been sown against RFK Jr. Due to Google, and its parent company Alphabet, internal corporate policy, most every search result is a hit piece on RFK calling him a conspiracy theorist, an anti-vaxxer, or some other trendy slur or smear. These are designed to trigger sheepish U.S. leftists into immediately rejecting RFK’s legitimacy as a candidate. 

Google’s complicity with globalist-corporatist fascism is another reason why speaking to each other in person is key. We must detangle ourselves from the Silicon Valley tech overlords in order to reclaim our sovereignty as individuals. This is part of RFK’s message as well, but it is implied. We must be able to live our lives without carrying a smartphone on our bodies. RFK has also spoken about the dangers of 5G technology and wireless frequencies. Indeed, there is key truth to this, and it resounds in RFK’s message of protecting and strengthening human health and individual sovereignty. 

Beyond speaking about RFK, the People of the United States must go out and make every effort to ensure that the U.S. Democrat Party does not commit egregious election fraud again in 2024. The field is already being prepared for fraud perpetrated by a widespread network of illegal immigrants and ultra-left brownshirts for the Democrat totalitarians. 2024 must be an election of integrity, and real democracy must prevail over the U.S. Democrat Party’s brand of totalitarianism.

Spread the word about RFK. By the best avenue for communication possible- word of mouth!

The post Why RFK is a Shoo-in for 2024 appeared first on Granite Grok.

Most folks know what the NHSBA stands for – The NH School Board Association. Frankly, it is the epitome of the Education Establishment. They know best. They will do what they want, and while they’d like “involved parents,” They don’t brook too much dissent.

Think of it as one of the Political Parties here in NH. They are the Elite that believe they should be running stuff.  There’s a reason why NHSBA belonged to the NSBA – the National School Board Association. You remember them – they worked with the FBI and other entities in the Biden Administration to label a lot of Parents as “Domestic Terrorists.”

The School District Governance Association of NH is different:

Giving voters a voice by empowering elected school district officials to reclaim control over budgets and curriculum.

The NHSBA caters to the insiders – the SDGANH caters to parents and folks that understand one thing: that Government schools are for the good of Parents and voters – they work for us instead of the other way around.

So here’s the starting point:

 

Ian wrote an article addressing the question as it relates to this: RSA 193-H:2 says flat out that: Schools shall ensure that all pupils are performing at the proficient level or above on the statewide assessment as established in RSA 193-C.

Read the article and consider whether his suggestion should be put into law. Perhaps as a bill next year.

 

With that as a background, an interesting conversation arose in the email group that I thought should get a wider audience and permission was granted. So…

 

Sidenote: You can get in on this Members only group – and yes, we (I’m a Lifetime member) cater to Individuals and not School Boards. Our own pockets – not School Board tax monies. Go here and Join us!

 

…NH State REp Kevin Verville rolled the ball faster (emphasis mine):

 

What *does* “shall ensure” mean?

There are two things that are difficult to reconcile:  Desire, and reality.  We desire that all students perform at some common minimum level by age.  We do not specify the age anywhere, except that we refer to it as grade level, which is also inaccurate, as we “socially promote” almost all students every year, so grade more often than not, refers to number of years attending school.

So I just stated the quiet part out loud, and revealed the decoder ring.  We socially promote students based on age, not based upon academic ability.  Why?  Because we do not want to commingle students across broad age ranges…such as having 10 year olds in the same class as 16 year olds.  OK, fair enough.

Except that when we promote on age, then we need to instruct at many different levels in each grade.  We used to “track,” group students by academic ability by grade.  We, far and large, no longer do that.  Now we “mainstream” students.  That is to say we work to ensure that this is a mixture of academic ability in each classroom, in each grade…almost always with one teacher per classroom.  If your gut tells you that this is a recipe for disaster in the traditional American public school, then you have good instincts.  The reality is that this “mainstreaming” system results, more often than not, in a race to the bottom.

The other elephant in the room is how American public schools deal (actually fail to deal) with discipline.  This is a topic for another day.

Unless we are willing to return to tracking, providing classrooms for students of particular academic abilities by grade, then we cannot improve the system.  An issue with tracking is that it provides an obvious, and accessible path of least resistance for “lazy” students.  That is to say, many students “self track” for the academic easy life.

Assessments were demanded as a vehicle for academic accountability.  We got the assessments, but not the accountability.  There are no easy answers…  Well, there is one “easy” answer.  That is expanded school choice.  When students and families can select the school, then there is competition, and the product will improve.  As long as the American public education system remains a monopoly we will get more of the same…no matter what.

Just a few thoughts to start the day!

 

And right on queue, the NHSBA, the NH Superintendents Association, the NH Principals Association, the NH teachers unions just had a cow! What, choice – and lose our stranglehold? What, tracking – and show that Individuals matter over our warehouse system? And ALL Unions went – competition?? With US?  NOOOOOoooooo!

And I responded, kicking off a line of Kevin’s (with a bit of editing):

 

We socially promote students based on age, not based upon academic ability

To your point – my two granddaughters.  One is autistic with a measured IQ of 42. She lives in her own little world but is nice, sociable (within her limitations) and generally happy. Can barely do the rudimentary academics required of her age (13). Yet, they continue to promote her and I made it clear to the staff (that were not happy with me) when her parents invited me to an IEP meeting,   that soon her peers will either start treating her either like a pet or be ignored completely [as being irrelevant] to their maturing lifestyles]. My prediction has come true.

I am now “DCYF entangled” again and may have our 11 year old granddaughter with us for a year [I think]. She operates, going into 6th grade, at a 3rd grade level – mostly not well.

I understand why the “mainstreaming” was tried – yet another “of the Left” experiment to wipe out more the “traditional stigma” set. I could go along with it as the intellectual deficits are not of the child’s own making. I do have problems in staff proclaiming “well, they ARE learning – but to the equivalent of the others? Especially those that could be learning more and faster and end up with Ian’s favorite phrase in concentrating (finally!) on academic achievement?

Who is being helped by this? When I visit the Grandson’s elementary school, I see, sorrowfully, kids in wheelchairs highly disabled: some deaf, some mute, and of extremely limited capacity. One is in the Grandson’s class. Even with a para-professional by her side, there are those staff members, on the QT, admit that there is little to no learning happening.

Before I get excoriated soundly, I sometimes think that the older manner, where we did divide kids into academic levels (for my time: basic, standard, honors, and advanced classes) was better for most but also had these kinds of kids that are now socially promoted without learning the academics, gathered together for more intensive and specialized helps for them. No, I didn’t care hearing about the worst treatment (“warehousing”) that that happened to some and the regular students joking about “the short bus” and “Room 101”. But is this working?

This social promotion of those ill-fitted to the normal system is like the homeless problem. While some choose it as a lifestyle, MANY shouldn’t be out there due to mental illnesses – the result of the mandated removal of asylums (and yes, that many rightfully had really disgusting conditions and maltreatment) for them. Now, to remove the “stigma” of being in one, we now have open air ones in major cities in the country – with little help at all and put many citizens at risk because of the crime behavior they exhibit.

In both cases, the babies were thrown out with the bath water; the pendulum went too far and now should swing back. There does seem to be movement for the adult homeless where even the Left is realizing that mistakes were made in the call for better treatment – but many of those turned out worse than the original problem.

So, too, with social promotion, IMHO.

 

While mainstreaming attempted to remove stigma, it created a worse problem – that the kids were only known by their grouped age and not about their capabilities (either intellectually or motivationally, which either (or both) was applicable.  People and kids are different. They think differently, behave differently, emote differently – they are just different. Mainstreaming just wipes that all out. It also started the process of wiping out of the idea of meritocracy in govt schooling (remember participation trophies and the self-esteem movement? Neither of those worked – just yet more education fads that blow in and then blown out).

Those that can’t keep up have their own niche in which they can excel at their own rate. Those of much higher capability get to do the same (and without being constrained by those of lesser capability) – faster and more information. Why is this a bad thing?

In both cases, I would like to think we’ve learned lessons to curb the excess in each area, both at the lower end and at the higher one. But does the Educational Establishment willing to do this? No, for if you read this, they are more apt to protect their Failure because of Power and Institutional Inertia. Oh, and money (emphasis mine, reformated):

 

For starters, schools have failed abysmally in their fundamental task — teaching basic academic skills — despite spending staggering sums. In 2019, annual expenditures for K–12 public schools totaled almost $800 billion, but, according to the Nation’s Report Card, barely one-third of public school students were “proficient” in math and reading pre-COVID, a dismal track record that worsened significantly post-COVID.

Nationally, just 26 percent of eighth graders are proficient in math, with 31 percent proficient in reading.

 

Which means 74% and 69% aren’t meeting what we expect them to. Or, as standards have been lowered (in part due to “Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, Preferred Pronoun mandates, and Social Emotion Learning” fluff), reaching those standards has spiraled even more downward.

 

In Detroit, only 3 percent of fourth graders are mathematically proficient…

…while twenty-three Baltimore public schools reported exactly zero math-proficient students. Government schools, which enroll almost nine out of ten American children, repeatedly fail to deliver on their promises but are rewarded with big budgets and near-monopolistic power.

In government, failure is generally rewarded, which is why there’s so much of it.

 

This will continue as long as Parents stay ignorant of what is going on and are assuaged by seeing A’s and B’s on their kids’ report cards, never knowing it’s like the old-time wild, wild West facade main street buildings.

Anyways, there’s more to come in this conversation – Grokster Ian is up next!

 

The post A Conversation I Think That The Education Establishment Will Abhor appeared first on Granite Grok.

When President George W. Bush used the term “Islamic Fascism” in a speech, the Bush-bashers, Islamic propaganda organizations and the rabid left unleashed a campaign of assault on the President for insulting the Muslims and sullying the sanctified religion of Islam by linking its name with fascism.

Opportunistic Democrats were just too happy to lead the attack on the President. An aspirant for the presidency, to the left of the [left] Democratic Senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold, was so indignant by this “horrific” slander of the President smearing the stainless name of Islam that he found it his solemn duty to write a letter to the President lecturing him on his unacceptable use of the terms. Did the President slander Islam, or are people like Feingold Bush-bashers who, for their reasons, would never miss an opportunity to berate President Bush and those who support him?

Let the facts decide. “Fascism is a radical political ideology that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism, and anti-liberalism.” –Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. Let us examine each characteristic of fascism, one at a time, and see if the President was justified or did he indeed misspeak.

Radical: Islam is so radical that even the term “radical” does not adequately depict its true character. The founder of Islam, Muhammad, behaved in extreme ways whenever he could. Early on, in Mecca, among his tribe of Quraysh, he was ridiculed as a Crazed Poet. Ordinary residents of Mecca scorned him in their habitual way of treating the mentally deranged. What did Muhammad do? He personified meekness itself. He faced extreme indignities, did not fight back, and suffered abuses. Time was on Muhammad’s side. Before long, he attracted followers, some of whom were men of power and influence, such as Omar, Osman, and Abu Bakr. Then the pendulum swung.

The long-suffering meek became the tyrannical avenger. He ordered all the idols in the idolatry of Mecca destroyed, including the one called Allah. Yet, he selected the same name for a non-corporeal deity who commissioned him as his messenger. Then Allah’s messenger Muhammad set out to systematically exterminate people he perceived as his tormentors and enemies—Jews of Medina, among others. As for the teachings of Islam, “radical” is the most fitting term. The Quran is full of black and white, right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable. Men who didn’t convert to Islam were labeled infidels and slaughtered; their women and children were taken with all their belongings as booty. It was either Islam’s-way or the highway. This radicalism is very much in action today.

Political Ideology: Islam is and has always been political, in the form of Imamate, Caliphate, or by proxy, where Islam, through religious divines, controlled the state. Saudi Arabia, for instance, does not even have a constitution. The Quran is the constitution. The country has a king. Yet, the king is the supreme enforcer of the laws dictated by Islam. In another Islamic country, Iran, where the mullahs rule the mullahs, the constitution is squarely based on the Quran. Many regulations are strictly drawn from the Shariah. The mosque is the state, and no competing political ideology is permitted.

Authoritarianism: Islam is theocracy, the rule of the clerics. The dictatorship runs from the top to the bottom in a strict hierarchy, with Allah at the top, his Prophet, the Caliphs or the Imams, and the lesser men of cloth along the chain of command. No one is allowed to contest or dispute the word and actions of the authorities. Islam and democracy, therefore, are inherently irreconcilable. In some Islamic circles, Muslims speak of Islamic Democracy—an oxymoron.

Nationalism: To Islam, there is only one worldwide nation, the Islamic Ummah. To Islam, the earth is Allah’s, political boundaries are arbitrary, and there is only one legitimate nation—the nation of Islam. The idea of one world, one country, is not new to Islam. A number of secular rules, rulers, and movements had aimed for the same objective. Alexander the Great, for instance, strived toward this goal, and so did Communism, and the World Federalists still held the vision of world unification.

Militarism: Jihadists are the army of Allah. The use of violence as an instrument of policy has been and continues to be central to Islam. Muslims war under the firmly-believed and widely-cherished set of rabidly militaristic ideas. “No matter which side is killed, Islam is the victor,” and “You kill them, you go to paradise; you get killed, you go to paradise” are two examples of exhortation to jihadism and war.

Anti-anarchism: Islam does not even tolerate the basic rudiments of liberty. Anarchism can be considered as liberty gone amuck. So, Islam is anti-anarchist as a matter of course. Furthermore, the very name of Islam means “submission.” And anarchism is 180 degrees from submission—Islam is the absolute rule—anarchism is the rule of no rules.

Anti-communism: Islam is based on believing in a supreme being, Allah. This fundamental precept makes it incompatible with any materialistic philosophy, including communism. Islam, furthermore, places great importance on the rewards and punishment of the next life and denigrates the value of material existence—ideals disharmonious with the central tenets of materialistic Communism.

Anti-liberalism: Islam contends that it has the perfect divine prescription of life, brought to mankind as its eternal charter. Hence, human interventions and inventions are unacceptable and detrimental to implementing the ideal edicts. Liberal ideas trigger change. To Islam, any change from the perfect design of Allah necessarily is in error and must not be allowed. Islam fully meets each of the eight distinctive features of fascism. “If the shoe fits, wear it,” as the saying goes. Islam is fascist. Muslims and their apologists are guilty of denial and dishonesty. They have no grounds for objecting to the contention that Islam is fascism. President George W. Bush did not misspeak. If Muslims find fascism repugnant, then they should reconsider being Muslims.

 

Originally published in 2002 but has aged nicely.

The post ICYMI – Is Islamic Fascism a Slur? appeared first on Granite Grok.

One of the pillars of the Democrat party is ending the lives of children: abortion, mutilation, and pharmacological transitions, which lead to more suicides. I don’t think Democrats like kids unless, by that, you mean standing on their bodies or their graves to accumulate campaign wealth and political power.

They love that—case in point.

A popular topic among disarmament Dems is gun deaths. Using flawed CDC data, they claim things like,

 

Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the numbers are rising.

What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their kids walk out the door to school, the movie theater, or to the park?

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 17, 2023

 

Children can attend most events without fear unless you happen to be there, Joe – or your son Hunter ‘What Gun Law’ Biden, but let’s not derail the current train of thought.

 

[T]he CDC figures used by Biden count 18 and 19-year-olds–i.e., people of voting age–as children. When the CDC figures are adjusted to count only ages 0-17 it is immediately evident that motor vehicle deaths surpass gun deaths.

And Crime Prevention Research Center’s John Lott used a recent Real Clear Politics column to draw attention to the fact that children age 0-17 also die more frequently from accidental suffocation than from accidental gun deaths.

Lott, who points out the problem that 17-year-olds pose via their prime age for gang affiliation, noted, “Even if we are counting 17-year-old gang members as ‘children,’ the White House’s claim is incorrect. In 2019 and 2020, more minors died from suffocation.”

 

If you are old enough to vote, you’re not a kid; ask Brattleboro, Vermont, where those ages can vote legally as soon as this year. We may also want to make adjustments for other adulting-like activities like getting the aforementioned abortions (age 13), legal surgical or pharmacological mutilation, and emancipation is a thing in most states by the age of 16.

Childhood is a diminishing feature in progressive America, partly thanks to gangs recruiting kids in cities controlled by Democrats up to their eyeballs in progressive anti-gun laws.

 

 

 

We don’t have a gun violence problem; we have a Democrat problem. Maybe the CDC should look into that public health menace.

The post Sorry Joe, Guns are Not the Leading Cause of Death among Children appeared first on Granite Grok.

A recent poll shows 34% of Americans approve of our economic “leadership.”  This assessment coincides with the President’s ‘Bidenomics’ plan. The talking points claim to be a vision of prosperity. It actually is a drug-induced nightmare that would have you believe fair taxes on the rich will always fund dependable government investment in the economy; writ large, Nirvana. And we all know Nirvana ended Kurt Cobain.

We want to thank Marc Abear for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.

Do you believe your economic situation has worsened under the leftists in office today? Biden has placed the highest financial burden on Americans going back to the last financial meltdown.  Government regulation is a significant added cost attached to every transaction in the economy.

The added costs from Biden era rules, including both their current and future costs, amount to almost $10,000 per household this term.  Allowing this insanity to continue means Biden’s rulemaking, assuming a second term, almost reaches $60,000 per household.

Failing economies and consumer pain are hallmarks of Democrat leadership. Under Obama, household costs rose by $4,000 annually.  Biden continues to look for ways to increase that pain through limitless regulations from myriad federal agencies.

We are facing regulations imposed on the automobile industry, particularly concerning fuel economy and emission standards.  They threaten national mobility. The loss of the ability to get to work will stop the economy. They are requiring EVs with no way to produce them, insufficient electricity to power them, and no grid to deliver the electricity even if we had enough… which we do not.

Then there are gas prices. Biden dumped the SPR on the international market to mitigate prices last time they rose.  What are we going to do this time? Meanwhile, OPEC is cutting production to drive up prices.  And still, in certain regions, consumers continue to face gas prices approaching $5.00/gal.

Regulations implemented in the areas of health, labor, telecommunications, and consumer finance are costing you. Can you name any benefits? These regulations account for about two-thirds of the overall rise in costs experienced by Americans.

And don’t forget, a portion of our financial strain is from inflation. Inflation only affects food, rent, and transportation… Biden is claiming “victory” over the economy. What do you think? Is Biden the winner? What did he win for you?

Biden does excel at one thing: Hurting Americans financially.

 

The post Biden Does Excel at One Thing: Hurting Americans Financially. appeared first on Granite Grok.

The Hollywood writers have been on strike since May, and nobody noticed. This week, the actors and actresses joined the writers; again, nobody noticed. The actors and actresses in Hollywood are the most narcissistic people on earth and survive from self-aggrandizing under the watchful eyes of most Liberals. Some of the more fortunate land million dollars contracts while some hope to just squeeze by, from role to role. They claim this strike is about the impact of AI on the Hollywood community. It is about preserving their power and residuals.

Fran Drescher is the SAG-AFTRA President and is best known for her role in the sitcom, The Nanny. She is the equivalent of a one-hit wonder in the sitcom world. That one hit has parlayed her net worth to $25 Million. She has no conception of what it is like for Americans to work hard to develop a lifestyle that is also good for the future. We are to feel bad for her and her colleagues who have been rewarded with fortunes for portraying someone else. Since they live in a different world, reality is a difficult concept.

The writers have been on strike since May. Reruns have filled the prime time, and the nightly talk shows were rated so poorly that they fell behind Gutfeld on FOXNews. That is embarrassing enough. They should take some time off for reflection. It may not be the fault of the writers but a lack of talent. Or, could it be that WOKE thinking is not as popular as New York and Los Angeles.

These self-centered individuals have no consideration for the ancillary industries that support the TV and Film world. The stage crews, wardrobe, lighting, and camera crews are all out of work, and pay, until the egomaniacs resolve their contract disputes with management. How about limo drivers, restaurant owners, and shop owners? Will they recoup their losses as millionaires quibble. There is no union for these people who rely on their weekly pay to support themselves and their families.

The issue that is the primary concern of the actors and writers is AI. This is very shallow and a mask for the real reason. The concern is AI will replace either the writers or actors. AI has been around for years. Granted, it has become more sophisticated, but there is little chance that a computer and hologram will replace a leading man or woman in upcoming episodes of your favorite weekly shows. This argument is convenient because AI is a hot topic and a mask for the real concerns of money and power.

TV and films have lost their relevance. They are not producing any new content. Blockbuster shows are typically rehashes of old material, and the budgets are so large they cannot be profitable. Studios like Disney want to be part of the political narrative. Rather than staying neutral and entertaining the entire spectrum of audiences, they want to control the culture, and their stock prices and investors are the losers in this game.

The post Hollywood Is On Strike. Who Cares appeared first on Granite Grok.