Donald Trump has to name a Vice Presidential running mate today. This decision is imperative for many reasons, and I am unsure why he is procrastinating. I realize Trump likes to be the only person on the stage, but the 2024 election is like no other before.

He has to realize this and the importance of a strong person to join him on the ticket to save this country from a Biden/Harris journey to extinction. Let me outline my reasons for calling for Trump’s decision, and then you can decide if my reasoning is valid.

Unprecedented election in modern times: It has been nearly 70 years since we had the same two candidates run in consecutive elections. Sixty-eight years ago. After Eisenhower beat Stevenson in 1952 and won all but nine states, the incumbent president faced Stevenson again four years later and secured an even larger landslide. Whoever wins this election will only have four more years. Many say a vote for Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. The same is true for Trump. He has to generate some excitement for his running mate now.

Trump is the first president ever to be charged with a crime: Trump is tied up in a New York courtroom by DA Alvin Bragg and will be for up to six weeks. Biden is out on the campaign trail, and Trump is threatened with jail time for violating a gag order. He needs a VP candidate who can hit the trail, get the Republican vision to the voters, and hit hard on Harris.

First of many trials: Trump faces 91 indictments, and Biden’s INJustice Department is going to tie Trump up in courtrooms as long as possible. These are not legitimate trials but a mechanism to impact a Presidential Election. This farce has to be reported and repeated often.

Phenomenal group of potential VPs: The Dems are handicapped with Kamala Harris, who has a lower approval rating than Biden. Trump has a plethora of possible candidates who could give Biden a run for his money. Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, Elise Stefanik, and Tulsi Gabbard are just a few. The fact there are so many good options may explain why Trump is having a tough time narrowing the list to one.

Campaign Funds: Elections should not be a fundraising contest, but that is the reality. Trump beat Hillary with far less money, but that will not happen twice. The choice of VP could be a massive influx of cash to the ticket. Money to fund a ground game will be crucial.

There has to be a VP Debate: Trump may never get Biden on a debate stage, but Tump’s VP candidate can get Kamala Harris into a debate. Any of Trump’s options will clean Harris’ clock. It has to happen. Biden is weak today, and Harris must be exposed as a weakness for the future.

The trial in New York City is backfiring on the Democrats. With every ruling by the Judge, the foundation is laid for the appeal should Trump be found guilty by the “Jury of his peers.” The Democrats are involuntarily boosting Trump’s numbers, and RFK Jr is now on the ballot in the toss-up state of Michigan. Losing Michigan alone could cost Biden the election. The mainstream media is salivating at the thought of Trump being found guilty and jailed. The picture of Trump behind bars might be history’s most potent campaign shot. If Trump makes an excellent strategic choice for VP, it may be all he needs to tip the scales in his direction beyond the possible Democrat manipulation of the election. So let’s get it done, Mr. Trump. Make your pick, and let’s rally around your choice.

The post Donald, You Have To Name A VP appeared first on Granite Grok.

So a couple of days ago I got trapped in front of a television and had to endure the supposedly local “news” on WMUR. There was a relatively long segment on ARIZONA … more specifically, a court decision in Arizona that restored an old law that bans most abortions and the Arizona legislature addressing that decision. What does this have to do with New Hampshire? If you answered ABSOLUTELY NOTHING … that’s a bingo, and you are absolutely correct.

Later the ABC “nightly news” or whatever they call that 30-minute pro-Biden/anti-Trump propaganda-dump came on … and virtually the identical segment on ARIZONA. Do you see what is going on bitter-clingers? ABORTION is one of the DemocratsCommunists’ major themes for the 2024 election and their propagandists are out there pushing the issue. But just keep pretending that Adam Sexton and the rest of the grifters at WMUR are “journalists” … that they are informing and not manipulating the electorate, that somehow an Arizona law that has absolutely NO applicability or relevance to New Hampshire is more newsworthy in New Hampshire than, for example, the anti-white racism being taught in public schools under the pretext of making public schools more “diverse, equitable and inclusive.”

 

The post Night Cap: Nobody Covers ARIZONA … Like WMUR Covers ARIZONA appeared first on Granite Grok.

Our world demands a radical shift in approach in the face of an unprecedented global challenge. We no longer have any choice. The threats looming over humanity are no longer confined to local issues, rendering traditional practices inadequate. Now, more than ever, we must unite and leverage our collective resources to combat the complex and debilitating challenges that cast a shadow over our planet.

Our problems are not mere parochial concerns; outdated thinking won’t cut it. In this era of interconnectedness, every ounce of our energy must be directed towards solutions rather than wasted in petty disputes and personal conflicts.

But are we truly ready to acknowledge the urgency of this global call to action? Can we set aside our differences for the greater good?

The magnitude of today’s challenges is unlike anything we’ve encountered recently. Conventional solutions falter in the face of the formidably complex and unique situation that defines our world. To confront these challenges, civil disobedience alone is as futile as fighting off a pack of hungry wolves armed only with toothpicks.

We must keep asking ourselves – what innovative strategies can we employ to tackle challenges that defy conventional solutions? How can we foster a collective mindset that transcends outdated approaches?

The threat posed by the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei and his cronies cannot be underestimated. Their lack of interest in negotiation and compromise is evident as they barrel forward in their quest for nuclear weaponry, aiming to wield power and intimidate not just the region but the entire world.

Mullahs are ruling Iran with rock-solid resolve to carry out their “divine plan” of imposing their brand of Islam on the world with the help of the Bomb is a terrifying thought.

So, how can we effectively address regimes that seem impervious to diplomatic efforts? Is there room for negotiation, or is a more robust approach necessary?

The first step in addressing these issues is to acknowledge the reality of the situation. Iran’s regime has made significant advances in its nuclear program, which is a cause for concern for the international community. The country has been able to reverse engineer and further develop purchased technological advances, and its knowledge is irreversible. This means that any attempt to stop Iran’s regime from developing nuclear weapons could be futile.

The religious fanatics steering the Islamic Republic have a track record marked by deception, dissimulation, betrayal, and violence. These Quran-trained agents of a wrathful Allah can never be trusted. Centuries of perfecting the art of deception, double talk, double-dealing, and deceit have made them master schemers.

Civilized people cherish and celebrate life. The Islamists relish death, as stated in their ideology, and practice daily. Recall what Hassan Nasrullah, the leader of Lebanon Hizbollah, had to say about why his people would prevail in the war with Israel. He said, “Israelis love life. We Muslims love death.” These fanatics firmly believe in an incomparably magnificent pleasure-filled next world that awaits the faithful Muslim. This world is nothing but a heap of dust to them, while the next is a paradise of eternal lust.

What strategies can we deploy to outdo their deception and ensure our collective safety in the face of such cunning adversaries?

The West must dispel the illusion of “happy talk” and recognize the true nature of these cunning players. The dismissive notion that they pose no global destructive capacity must be cast aside. While they may currently be arming factions and sowing chaos in specific regions, the potential for global havoc cannot be underestimated.

Therefore, how can we shift public perception to acknowledge the gravity of the situation? What steps can we take to counter the dangerous underestimation of the threat these cunning adversaries pose?

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I have a starting point. We must understand that we’re dealing with different social factors or individuals than we were three decades ago. Concerted efforts are needed.

The United States finds its best ally in the region in supporting a free Iran. This support is not an act of altruism but a prudent measure of enlightened self-interest. Helping Iranians dislodge the oppressive regime is a strategic move that benefits the U.S. and the global community, in particular, Israel.

How can the international community, led by the United States, contribute strategically to the cause of a Free Iran? In what ways does Iran’s liberation align with the enlightened self-interest of nations globally?

The suicide bombing that maims and kills dozens is often dismissed as an act of aberration by an individual deceived by ruthless, conniving handlers. But, no one would ever contemplate using the nuclear bomb when it entails the certainty of his destruction as well as his country; so goes the deterrence logic.

Logic, what logic? Fanaticism generated by belief defies logic at every bend. The zealot, end-of-the-worlder Shi’a militia has already climbed to a position of great power. The call to action is clear. The time for complacency and wishful thinking has passed. It’s time to unite, strategize, and act decisively in the pursuit of a Free Iran – a beacon of hope in a world threatened by the shadows of tyranny.

A quote from the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the founding father of the Islamic Republic, should suffice since his words are still considered authoritative in Iran: “We do not worship Iran; we worship Allah. Patriotism is another name for paganism. I say let this land [Iran] burn. I say let this land go up in smoke, provided Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world.”

What words do you still believe in: acquiesce, capitulate, surrender, or give up?

I keep pleading that we should immediately help the Iranian democratic opposition and send the death-bearer Mullahs back to their mosques. It is the world’s best and most urgent action.

The post The Case for Toppling Iran’s Mullahs appeared first on Granite Grok.

We welcome another program to our “podcast” lineup. Manch Talk with Tammy Simmons and Caral Gericke.”Will NH Senators Defend the Guard or Cave to The Military Industrial Complex?”

“Tammy is back after a vacation in FL. Carla gets to tell her about the NHGOP Annual Meeting, where several Republicans had their cars keyed by The Unhinged. We discuss the silly and sublime proposals and resolutions and why geoengineering is now, at least symbolically, banned in the Free State.

 



The post Manch Talk: Will NH Senators Defend the Guard or Cave to The Military Industrial Complex? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Biden’s EPA has announced new rules for Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), more commonly known as forever chemicals since they do not break down in the environment and build up in human bodies.

The EPA is implementing drinking water regulations that track only six PFAS, but new industry regulations will require comprehensive reporting by companies that generate or import these forever chemicals. Given that the EPA currently lists 12,034 PFAS, this nearly-impossible compliance will cost billions – and it won’t actually stop a single particle from contaminating the ecosystem.

A Brief History of Forever Chemicals

Humans create thousands of unnatural chemicals annually, but it can take a century to figure out if they are harmful. PFAS have been in widespread use since the 1940s and may linger in the ecosystem for … well, forever. A lot of public money is invested to develop new chemicals and technologies; almost none goes to researching their impact on human and animal health – let alone when combined in a toxic interactive soup of hundreds of thousands of untested compounds in the soil, air, water, and food supplies.

Americans may recall the “amazing” advent of Teflon frying pans, accompanied by scoffers who dismissed any concern that the black peelings consumed with scrambled eggs were of any health concern. As it turns out, the PFAS in Teflon are particularly damaging to young children (like lead paint chips), and ingesting them out of the frying pan and into the fire of a child’s belly was not well-advised. Techno-ignorance is not bliss.

Unfortunately, invisible forever chemicals are far more ubiquitous than frying pans. They’re found in drinking water supplies, food products and food packaging, household products, upholstery, clothing, paints, shampoo, dental floss, cosmetics, fertilizers, lubricants, pizza boxes, carpets, microwave popcorn bags, plastic water bottles, candy wrappers … and the list goes on almost as long as the chemicals themselves. These pollutants are just one category of toxins that are far more harmful to human health than carbon dioxide or other so-called “greenhouse gases,” yet Biden’s campaign to manufacture heat pumps, solar panels, and EVs on the taxpayer tab ensures that the forever chemical spigot will not only remain open for business but will, in fact, spew more environmental carcinogens and endocrine disrupters than have ever been generated before. It is far easier to generate them than to reclaim them from the bodies of trout, cows, or infants: For ending forever chemicals, the Biden plan appears to be never.

The lengthy menu of products and industries contaminated by forever chemicals is paralleled by a frightening list of still-to-be-discovered human health risks, which, according to the EPA, include (thus far): damage to the reproductive system including decreased fertility and high blood pressure in pregnant women; developmental effects in children including low birthweight, accelerated puberty, bone variations, and behavioral changes; elevated risks of certain cancers, including prostate, kidney, and testicular; compromised immune systems, including reduced vaccine response; increased cholesterol levels and obesity; interference with the body’s natural hormones (which could cause “gender fluidity,” but it is politically verboten to consider that as real science). No, this is not an upcoming John Carpenter horror flick – it’s the world we live in, and the air, food, and water Americans consume every day.

Biden’s Bureaucratic Boondoggles

The EPA rules will impose daunting compliance costs on corporations (passed on to consumers) without demanding any pause in the ongoing generation of forever chemicals, let alone in the environmentally apocalyptic but immensely profitable “renewables” manufacturing industry. This is the “complexification” pattern of the bureaucracy-feeding Biden-Harris administration. EPA tailpipe emission standards comprise 1,184 pages; new SEC environmental reporting rules total 886 pages.

The merely 43 pages of PFAS rules will likely impose even more costly compliance costs: The EPA requires “any person that manufactures … PFAS or PFAS-containing articles in any year since January 1, 2011, to electronically report information regarding PFAS uses, production volumes, disposal, exposures, and hazards” within 18-24 months. After the EPA collates the data a few years from now, it will “study” it:

EPA’s researchers and partners across the country are working hard to answer critical questions about PFAS:

• How to better and more efficiently detect and measure PFAS in our air, water, soil, and fish and wildlife
• How much people are exposed to PFAS
• How harmful PFAS are to people and the environment
• How to remove PFAS from drinking water
• How to manage and dispose of PFAS

The EPA is still studying how to remove forever chemicals from drinking water, yet has issued rules requiring public water companies to reduce levels below four parts per trillion with paltry public funding, is issuing no comprehensive “cease and desist” orders against industry culprits, and is investing hundreds of billions of borrowed taxpayer dollars in “public-private partnerships” to turbo-charge the manufacturing and installation of “renewable” energy gizmos that will renew their discharge of forever chemicals (and many other toxic pollutants) at disposal and when replacements are procured in the future.

These PFAS regulations are thus a costly dilly-dallying delay focused on remediation and disposal (someday), not reduced generation of known toxins now. What then of phthalates, BPA, atrazine and other herbicides, neonicotinoids and other (bee-killing) pesticides, microplastics, and glyphosate? The EPA claims it is “protecting people from toxic chemicals” but more resembles a team of Keystone Cops with a firehouse watching Rome burn while all its citizens sleep. This administration has pulled out all stops (often unconstitutionally) to conquer greenhouse gases, halt oil and gas pipelines and drilling, and unscientifically malign cows, but it does nothing about cell phones, flat screen TVs, lawnmowers, downhill skiing, or other recreational pollution. Ditto for PFAS: It is merely “identifying” them – like police listing known pedophiles then letting them roam free.

Human Toxins Versus Carbon Dioxide

In contrast, consider the focus of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running mate Nicole Shanahan, who seeks to prioritize cleaning up chemicals other than harmless watch-the-birdie carbon dioxide:

“We will find the answers to our most pressing health concerns within weeks, not decades if we have access to their databases. It is time to move out of the dark ages of medicine, we can solve the mysteries guarded by corporate influence. We can move from band aid solutions and we can end this chronic disease epidemic once and for all,” she said. “We can figure out what is making us sick, we just have to ask the right questions and apply the right tools. We have to rid science of the corporate bias that contaminates it today.”

This sounds more responsive than Biden’s Kamala-like regulatory word salad, always accompanied by economy-crippling regulations, subsidies for corporations that manufacture “renewables” that spew massive plumes of chemicals (including PFAS) into the environment in the name of saving it, and band aid “studies” that do absolutely less-than-zero to reduce chemical exposures of children, let alone end chronic disease. The federal government under Joe Biden has become too technocratic to accomplish much of anything, let alone retrieve toxins from the ecosystem.

Why isn’t Joe Biden championing net-zero PFAS?

 

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

The post EPA Rules on Forever Chemicals Will Take Forever to Do Anything appeared first on Granite Grok.

This week you will have four opportunities to help pass bills to protect New Hampshire women and children from the serious abuses of the trans cult.

Related: NH Trans Rights Activists are Desperately Fighting to Stop the Tidal Wave of Bills to Protect Women and Children

On Monday, April 22 there will be hearings in the NH House Education Committee for Parental Rights Bill SB341, also known as the Honesty and Transparency in Education Act, at 10 am followed by Save Women’s Sports Bill SB375 at 10:45 am, both in the Legislative Office Building. The committee is scheduled to vote on these bills immediately after the hearings.

Take action TODAY on parental rights and to protect women’s sports.

• Read SB341 here and SB375 here.
• Sign in in support and optionally submit testimony for these bills here. [April 22, House Education, SB341 and SB375, I Support this Bill]
• Come to the Legislative Office Building on Monday at 10 am to testify in person.

On Thursday, April 25 there will be hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee for HB396 at 9 am, to allow the state to segregate by biological sex in prisons, sports, and places of intimate privacy, and HB619 at 9:15 am, to ban genital gender reassignment surgery for kids. Both hearings will be held in Room 100 of the New Hampshire State House.

Take action on women’s rights and to protect children from irreversible genital surgery.

• Read HB396 here and HB619 here.
• Sign in in support of these bills here. [April 25, Senate Judiciary, HB396 and HB619, I Support this Bill]
• Email the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote Ought to Pass: Sharon.Carson@leg.state.nh.us; William.Gannon@leg.state.nh.us; Shannon.Chandley@leg.state.nh.us; Becky.Whitley@leg.state.nh.us; Daryl.Abbas@leg.state.nh.us; matthew.schelzi@leg.state.nh.us
• Come to the State House on Thursday at 9 am to testify in person.

You know how awful it has been for women and children under the tyranny of the trans cult. This is your chance to do something about it!

This Milford mom has had it with transgender supremacy & her story is one of many like it. To protect girls’ safety & innocence, NH institutions must be able to differentiate individuals by biological sex. #HB396 clarifies this right. Show your support: https://t.co/VWcVMNKyJc… pic.twitter.com/q34aymicVP

— Cornerstone Action (@nhcornerstone) April 19, 2024

The post Urgent: Take Action on Four NH Bills to Protect Women and Children From the Trans Cult appeared first on Granite Grok.

Most of us have at least a rudimentary familiarity with yoga, either as a practitioner or someone who knows one.  You can confirm that lots of poses are named after animals.  To all Granite State yogis and yoginis, I present the “Hilliard Position.”  Stay with me here.

In the recent Ortolano vs. City of Nashua et al. RTK case, Attorney Hilliard was the legal big gun hired by Attorney Bolton at nearly $1/2M to do his own job.  Hilliard played “first chair,” and the “Hilliard Position” does indeed involve a chair, but specifically a wooden armchair.  It is the posture that I observed him engaging in for cumulatively countless hours and minutes, laying in wait to say “objection” as many times per minute as a football ref blows the whistle.  He could now probably benefit from an appointment with Tom Lanzara’s father or one of his siblings in their family of Chiropractors, but just humor me with the picture in your mind.  Hilliard has both hands grasping the front ends of the armrests with his elbows pointing at the ceiling and his tush behind a few inches off the seat, and his spine at about a 45-degree angle from the floor.

With that image in mind, I can picture Attorney Lehmann already doing it now because of what I did and the first of two action items I am proposing.  Again, stay with me on this. The Senate Judiciary Committee essentially “gave the Live Free or Die state the finger” in giving the RTK tax (HB 1002) their unanimous OTP blessing.  Shame on them!  My disappointment in Senators Gannon and Abbas and Committee Chair Carson is heartbreaking.  Because of what Attorney Lehmann said on 3/13/24, 91A only applies to government bodies and quorums of them, I emailed him with a new RTK request.  It’s for emails to the Senate Judiciary (and quorums of it) and the whole Senate (and quorums of it) from the following list of senders:

NH Municipal Association, including anyone doing its bidding
City of Nashua, including all current and former staff*
Lobbyists and lobbying groups working for the City of Nashua
Nashua’s 27 state reps plus Rosenwald
All House Judiciary members
Karen Karwocki and Jennifer Foor, both House Judiciary staffers
All sponsors of HB 1002
Governor Sununu and his staff*
AG Formella and his staff*

*Staff includes all elected, appointed and hired positions.

If you, the reader, live in a community “in RTK distress,” please model your own email to Attorney Lehmann after mine, but customized appropriately.  RTK distress would include communities that have reps that voted the wrong way on HB 1002, such as Windham and Rochester.  Yeah, Senator Gray and Regina need to hear from YOU!

While Gannon, Abbas, and “Commander Sharon” need to be shamed and primaried, a separate discussion is in order, but let’s move on to the other action item, which is an all-hands-on-deck one.

It’s to email YOUR senator and get people you know outside of the Grok Faithful to email theirs, no matter who it is.  If it’s one of the Naughty Three mentioned here or Tim Lang (a supporter of this awful bill), politely ask them to change their minds.  If it’s one of the ten members of the enemy camp, remind them that they work for you, especially if it’s Attorney Twitley, who’s now seeking higher office (still wanting to WORK FOR YOU).  That leaves ten other Rs out of the 24.  Be polite and use one or more of the many talking points on why HB 1002 is a bad bill.  Refer to personal experience, if applicable.  If you need help with that, it’s available in the form of many resources, including, but not limited to, older articles, testimonies in committee hearings on January 17 (House Judiciary) and April 9 (Senate Judiciary), or RTK guru Laurie Ortolano’s page.

Laurie was a recent guest on Lumberjack Logic and Speaking with the Senator.

And yes, Kevin is one of the ten other Rs that I referenced, and I’m aware that he is listed as a cosponsor, which he addresses in his show with Laurie.  While I don’t agree with his philosophy on cosponsorship, it is what it is and I’ll leave it at that.

I will finish by providing some more tools for encouraging people outside the echo chamber to use them.  The word “spoonfeeding” has a derogatory sound to it, so let’s call it a “job aid” at NH dot gov.  If people in your sphere of influence don’t know who their senator is, they are to go to NH dot gov and hover over the word GOVERNMENT and click on “who is my legislator?” A map of NH will appear, and they can follow the directions.  If you know where they live, just bookmark this link from the Senate homepage.

A drop-down menu with every town and city will appear, and you can look it up yourself, tell them who it is, and provide their email addresses. If you’re using a phone, you can figure out how to do it that way. I give your intelligence the benefit of the doubt. You are, after all, still reading this.

The post Yoga Humor and RTK Action Items. appeared first on Granite Grok.

On April 17, I testified to the NH Senate HHS Committee in favor of Rep. Jim Kofalt’s bill HB1660 which would ban using Medicaid to pay for gender reassignment surgery for kids. Rep. Kofalt and I were the only two to testify in favor of the bill. Not forcing taxpayers to fund irreversible surgeries for gender-confused kids is the least the NH legislature can do to protect children.

Related: NH Trans Rights Activists are Desperately Fighting to Stop the Tidal Wave of Bills to Protect Women and Children

Here is my testimony.

I am a grandmother from Nashua and I am testifying in support of HB1660 to help protect gender-confused teens from irreversible gender reassignment surgery.

I support this bill because as it says in HB619, “Adolescent genital gender reassignment surgery generally lacks both adequate information for informed consent and involves a high risk of coercion for parental consent when parents believe that they are faced with a choice between their child committing suicide or consenting to their child’s genital gender reassignment surgeries.”

It’s natural for teenagers to want to individuate and make a new path separate from their families and they want to stand out from their peers. Those of us who are neurodiverse have a much tougher time. We have trouble fitting in. We are painfully aware that we aren’t living up to our potential. We are bullied and we are excluded from so much. The LGBTQ groups invite neurodiverse kids in and love-bomb them and make them feel special. Identifying as transgender helps them explain why they are struggling. 

Before their parents realize what is happening, their child is asking for medical transition and threatening to commit suicide if the parents don’t allow it. Parents feel backed into a corner. They don’t want to lose their child so under great duress they may agree to hormones and surgery. 

We know so many parents and kids that have gone through this and in hindsight they realize it was the wrong decision. New Hampshire taxpayers should not be paying for these irreversible procedures. We should be doing everything we can to prevent it and help gender-confused kids and teens get the care they need for their mental health without medical transition. 

Please vote OTP on HB1660 to protect gender-confused kids.

After I testified, Sen. Kevin Avard asked about the bullying I had received from the Trans Rights Activists in the NH State House. Sen. Becky Whitley asked what I thought of reports that bills like this are correlated with increased hate crimes in other states.

Watch my testimony and my exchange with Senators Avard and Whitley.

“Parents feel backed into a corner. They don’t want to lose their child, so under great duress they agree to hormones and surgery.” @BethRS62 testifies for SB1660, which would ban using Medicaid for pediatric sex trait modification surgery. #NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/W94tQbEKuV

— Sidewalk Steve (@Sidewalk_Steve) April 17, 2024

Linds Jakow of 603 Equality, who identifies as “non-binary,” testified that she was glad she had her breasts amputated in her 20s.

“As a young teen, I watched these mini-documentaries where trans men got top surgery, and felt extremely jealous.” Child transing lobbyist Linds Jakows testifies against HB1660, which would ban using Medicaid for gender reassignment surgeries for minors. #NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/XFV8ERf68F

— Sidewalk Steve (@Sidewalk_Steve) April 18, 2024

Dartmouth Health had an unexpected response to the bill.

Undramatic testimony. Last year @DartmouthHealth claimed that child-transing laws would cause suicides. This year media relations head Courtney Tanner is concerned about hypospadias repair. Why tone it down? The lawsuit? The Cass Review? HB1660 would stop Medicaid from paying… pic.twitter.com/X32R3tF7Kd

— Sidewalk Steve (@Sidewalk_Steve) April 19, 2024

The Senate HHS Committee is still accepting testimony on HB1660. Email your testimony in support of the bill to Regina.Birdsell@leg.state.nh.us, Kevin.Avard@leg.state.nh.us, Jeb.Bradley@leg.state.nh.us, Becky.Whitley@leg.state.nh.us, Suzanne.Prentiss@leg.state.nh.us, cameron.lapine@leg.state.nh.us

The post Don’t Force Taxpayers to Fund Irreversible Surgeries for Gender-Confused Kids appeared first on Granite Grok.

First, credit where credit is due. Excellent piece in NH-NeverTrump Journal exposing how broadly and deeply the Left has implanted DEI … that lovely euphemism for anti-white racism that the NHGOP is afraid to call anti-white racism … into public education.

For example, Manchester employs a Tina Philbotte as the Manchester School District’s “Chief Equity Officer” at $120,000/year, TWICE the average salary of a teacher. And to do what? As you can see below, to indoctrinate students in Manchester public schools with anti-white racism:

Perhaps Manchester Mayor Ruais could explain to us what, for example, an “abolitionist educator” is and does? If he knows. According to Wikipedia:

And while you are at it, Mayor Ruais perhaps you could share your thoughts on “microaggressions,” or more generally on Ms. Philibotte NOT treating people as individuals, but instead categorizing them according to their skin-color:

The NH-NeverTrump Journal piece contains other examples of individuals like Tina Philibotte being paid massive salaries to indoctrinate children with CRT, DEI, BLM and whatever other wonderful euphemisms exist for anti-white racism. For example, the Oyster River School District’s analogue to Tina Philibotte:

Blansett’s “academic interests” include “challenging anti-Blackness and colonization ideology and theorizing/implementing accessible and liberatory practices.”

Rachael Blansett

And even before she came to New Hampshire, Blansett was speaking out for what she sees as racial justice. During a school board meeting in 2022, first reported by Granite Grok, it was revealed she recorded podcasts and posted comments on social media featuring messages like, “White people are not OK,” and “White people don’t wash their legs, and can’t dance.”

 

 

 

 

Why has not the NHGOP, which supposedly controls all three branches of State government, not prohibited anti-white racism … whether categorized as DEI, abolitionism, etc., … from being taught in New Hampshire’s public schools? And don’t tell me: LOCAL CONTROL. Jason Osborne and the other imposter-Republican “leaders” in the House are working feverishly to outlaw single family zoning, so they obviously do NOT really believe in local control.

And it is not just local school districts where taxpayers are being forced to subsidize “abolitionist teaching,” etc., etc., etc. … it’s UNH too:

UNH recently underwent a punishing round of layoffs and cuts to save $14 million in the budget. While the university’s art museum and journalism program, which has produced Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters, were affected, there appear to be no cuts to the university’s DEI programs. UNH pays at least $1 million a year in salaries for the DEI program staffers.

Why is the NHGOP funding anti-white racism at UNH, in addition to allowing local school districts to push anti-white racism? Here is why. Its “leaders” either don’t think it is a priority issue or they are afraid to take on the diversity-is-our-strength grifters or, worse, they actually buy into the “diversity-is-our-strength” canard. One such “leader,” Big Jo(k)e Sweeney:

A parental bill-of-rights is not going to get anti-white racism out of public schools … a law prohibiting DEI directors, equity officers, etc., etc., etc. is what is needed. But, apparently, Jo(k)e Sweeney … that self-proclaimed fiscal conservative … either supports or doesn’t have the nuts to take on the exceedingly well compensated “DEI”-bureaucracy.

The post The NHGOP Is Enabling And Funding DEI (That Lovely Euphemism For Anti-White Racism) … WHY? appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you are running for the NH House (or even just thinking about it) and you want help on everything from signs to the mechanics of campaigning in NH, fundraising, door-knocking, what to expect, issues support, and more, you need to sign up for the Free Training offered by The 603 Alliance.

It’s free. It’s one day. They feed you. You learn from people who have run campaigns for the NH House (and won). And there are three opportunities over the next few months to sign up for this immersive one-day class.

If you are a Republican who is running or thinking about running, you should take advantage of any training, but you definitely do not want to miss this one. The 603 Alliance has been training candidates for the NH House for years, many of whom get elected and a few of whom have even joined our Board.

You are not going to get a better grasp of what is needed and expected and how to win your primary (if you have one) and your election in November.

Pick one of these three dates.

Saturday, April 27th, in Manchester, 8:30 AM to 5 PM

Saturday, May 18th, in Concord, 8:30 AM to 5 PM

Saturday, June 22nd, in Concord, 8:30 AM to 5 PM

Email the 603 Alliance and let them know which training you’d like to attend. We still have some space for the April 27th training if that works best for you.

Note: The 603 Alliance is your primary source for candidate campaign training in NH in 2024 (the NHGOP will be offering training for Poll Watchers on May 2).

But Wait—there’s More. Your path to the state house doesn’t end there. You can also attend the Issues Briefing Summit, an evening event (with food) that will help you grasp the things voters are likely to ask you when you engage them and what you’re likely to see coming up in Concord when you win.

Class candidates can also get access to campaign resources and past instruction, as well as invitations to future Zoom calls throughout the campaign season to help with questions and issues or connect you with resources.

You register for the one-day training and get access to experienced candidates and activists all the way to election day.

Email today, and you can still get into the April 27th training in Manchester. Or sign up for a later date.

We look forward to seeing you there and sworn into office for the coming legislative session.

Note: Please share this in your in-person and online local groups and local town committees

Disclosure: I am a long-time member of the board of directors of The 603 Alliance.

The post Running for the NH House (Or thinking about it): This is the Best Candidate Training You Can Get – and It’s Free appeared first on Granite Grok.

Listening to the experts analyze the Israeli attack on Iran on Friday morning, you could hear one common thread, and it was not complimentary of the Biden Administration. The assessment is that Biden has no military or diplomatic acumen, which is also true for his team. Biden has America involved in two wars involving our allies.

There has been no wavering on Ukraine as Biden cannot be more supportive. He has gone back to the well many times for funding for Ukraine, and many will say with conviction that he has a vested interest in Ukraine funding as a percentage is kicked back to him and the Democrats. There is no end in sight for the Ukraine/Russia conflict, nor a quest for more funding.

Israel is a different story for Biden. He initially declared unconditional support for Netanyahu and Israel after the October 7 attack by Hamas. Still, things changed quickly as the political climate in America shifted support to Hamas and Palestine and a break in our longtime support for Israel. The protests on college campuses in support of Hamas and Palestine and against Biden’s support of Israel have forced Biden to make the political shift rather than show a spine and continue support of Israel. Biden would rather turn his back on Israel in exchange for the vote of the young protesters and their supporters.

Israel’s actions this week speak volumes about how they view Joe Biden. Biden has been calling for restraint and no retaliation by Israel against Iran, which attacked Israel last weekend. Netanyahu would make no comment saying he would yield to the American wishes. The Israel attack on Iran Friday was a message to both Iran and America. Israel will defend itself, as she should. The Israel attack was small and strategic. They sent drones into Iran’s nuclear region, telling Iran we can hit you where and when we want. Israel did not notify Biden before the attack.

Biden has announced a new round of sanctions on Iran because of their direct attack on Israel. This is not Iran’s first attack against Israel, as they have been attacking using their proxies, but this attack was the first to emanate from Iranian soil. These sanctions are insignificant and do not negate the favorable actions that Biden took on Day 1 to reverse stringent sanctions placed on Iran by Donald Trump. Trump had put a stranglehold on Iran by freezing Iranian money in American banks and preventing Iran from selling oil to Russia, China, or Iraq. These actions cut off significant sources of cash needed by Iran for its nuclear program and to support terrorism.

Biden restored all of these primarily because they were Trump’s decisions. Biden and Blinken both claim that Trump facilitated Iran’s nuclear program by voiding the Iran Nuclear Agreement. That is an outright lie. Trump shut off the funds and the agreement, which was condoning Iran achieving a nuclear warhead. Biden negated both of those. He has freed billions in a combination of relaxed sanctions and oil income from our adversaries. Biden and Blinken are playing a game of projection and gaslighting. Now, those are two games this administration is proficient.

Sanctions is a powerful but complex word. A political hack like Biden uses it to make an impact, as most people perceive sanctions to cripple a country and its economy. There are many levels of sanctions, and those used by Biden on Iran are minor and will have little impact on the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world.

 

The post Biden Sanctions On Iran Are A Distraction appeared first on Granite Grok.

On Thursday, May 9th, the Hillsborough County DEI Committee will host a professional development workshop, “Unwrapping Implicit Bias,” featuring facilitator Allyson Ryder, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the UNH Cooperative Extension/Hillsborough County, 329 Mast Road, Goffstown, NH.

Unwrapping Implicit Bias (002) (1)

Allyson Ryder currently serves as the Executive Director for NH Civics:

At NH Civics, we envision a New Hampshire that is first in the nation in citizen preparation, and a national leader in civics education. We envision an informed, engaged, civil citizenry that participates in the democratic process, serves New Hampshire’s communities and lives up to our responsibility to vet future leaders of our nation.

A representative from NH Civics is also currently serving on a commission to develop a Civics textbook for New Hampshire Children. But what kind of expertise will they provide for students who need a quality Civics education in our public schools? Given the radicalized political position we see from NH Civics, one has to wonder.

For instance, on NH Civics website, they explain their support for anti-racism which is a different form of racism:

Screenshot

From Newsweek “Antiracism is Racist On Its Own Terms” 

So-called “antiracism” is at the core of the Wokeism that has overtaken much of the federal government, our corporate boardrooms and our schools. Antiracists suggest that one can judge a policy as antiracist by whether such policy contributes to achieving “equity”—and a person as antiracist by whether he actively supports such policy. Get with the Woke program, in other words, or you are “Jim Eagle.” In some ways, then, antiracism might be thought of more as a tactic to bully people into submission to racialist progressivism than it is a true philosophy or worldview.

Now that NH Civics has taken this radicalized political position, they are branching out to host professional development workshops so that you can work on your implicit bias. What will this mean for NH Civics as they continue to try to influence how Civics will be taught in our public school classrooms? That’s a good question.
How will they influence the Civics textbook that is currently being developed for our public schools? That’s another good question.

SEE MORE HERE:
NH Civics Hires Diversity and Equity Community Organizer as Executive Director

NH Civics is at it Again…Now They Want to Promote Group Therapy for Children in Public Schools

NH Civics? A Front for Radical Leftism in the New Hampshire Classrooms?

 

The post Night Cap: Is The Goal of CIVICS Education in NH Public Schools To Focus on Implicit Bias? appeared first on Granite Grok.

This is an attempt to “break out” memes, links, and my commentary about the situation in Israel / the Middle East so as to not overload the standard meme posts that I do.  My last “normal” meme post.  In these Israel-related posts I don’t just have memes such, but lots of informative links as well as hopefully-insightful commentary.

 

 

MAY EVERYONE BE HOME SOON.  CHAG PESAKH SAMEAKH!

 

This Passover has ‘bitter taste,’ says Los Angeles-based author, as Hamas hostage crisis continues | Fox News

 

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

 

Note that this is not meant to be a day-by-day update about what’s going on.  Rather, to highlight uncomfortable truths about the actual nature of the conflict, deep-history background, and so on, as well as to show the at-present immutable nature of Islamic hatred of Jews and why that matters to today’s events.

Also note that these posts generally do not repeat information (e.g., specific links or memes) – so there is a lot of stuff in prior posts.  Please do check them out too if this is a topic of interest to you.  In reverse chronological order:

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Still More Links, Memes, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Ongoing Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Even More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: More Memes, Links, and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Memes and Commentary – Granite Grok

Israel: Memes and Commentary – Granite Grok

With some Israel-related materials here:

Meme Overflow – Granite Grok

Don’t forget my special report on the *cough cough* hardships of pre-Oct 7 “Concentration Camp Gaza”:

Pre-War “Concentration Camp” Gaza – Granite Grok

 

 

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

 

Young girl dances on a Persian subway

First, they have all-women trains / cars?  Imagine the feminist outrage if that happened in any Western country.

Second, watch the body language, smiles, even a couple of women join in subtly – and a couple do openly.  These people want freedom.

Iran Cracks Down on Hijab Law; Police Filmed Attacking Women in the Street – Israel News – Haaretz.com

VIDEO: Iran Police Attacking, Arresting Women Who Resist Hijab Law (legalinsurrection.com)

And our political class lost opportunity after opportunity to help them.

“You don’t speak for us!” (barenakedislam.com)

See the concluding remarks too.  And related to Iran – and critical:

Khamenei’s mythical “nuclear fatwa”, revisited ~ Elder Of Ziyon – Israel News

Iran lies, all the time. And they know that the world will continue to believe the lies.

 

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

 

 

 

There are some serious concerns about why there was an apparent stand-down.

 

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

 

TOP OF THE FOLD

Campus Reform | As American colleges begin cracking down on anti-Semitic events, some California schools let violence go unchecked

”One group of ppl we have easy access to in the US is all these zionist journalists who spread propaganda & misinformation [sic],” Decristo wrote on X. “they have houses w addresses, kids in school.”

”they can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more ”

This will escalate.  And escalate.  And as they get more and more frustrated, their willingness to use violence will grow as well.  More:

Campus Reform | Pro-Palestine students disrupt dinner at home of UC Berkeley law school dean: ‘This is my house!’

—

 

 

Tell me, please… what nation, what people intent on “genocide” repairs a water line that goes to their supposed victims?

 

 

WAR & WHEN WILL IT END?

If Israel Remains Undeterred by American Pressure | Frontpage Mag

Israel’s National Security Matters More Than Its ‘Reputation’ (thefederalist.com)

If the foreign policy blob is allergic to anything, it’s victory; it has steadfastly refused to do what it takes to prosecute a conflict to a successful end over and over again. From Afghanistan and Iraq to Libya and Syria, these leftist elites have been unable to stomach the reputational costs of winning and have failed to achieve any sort of lasting security objective. They would rather sacrifice national interests than fail to gain the plaudits of the international community, a position that is being ostentatiously rejected by Jerusalem. Israel is fighting for its very existence as a nation. Without that basic security, what does “reputation” matter?

I think there are some enormous insights in the above attitude to be found here:

Regurgitating the Apple: How Modern Liberals “Think” | The Heritage Foundation

—

No, There Are No True Moderates In The West Bank Or Gaza (thefederalist.com)

The only path forward is for Israel to dismantle the terrorist group, relentlessly pursuing the remaining Hamas terrorists — and let the critics say whatever they want.

—

Is Hamas winning? | Power Line (powerlineblog.com)

The PR war, certainly.  On that:

Hamas has a secret weapon no one talks about: Western stupidity | Casey Babb | The Blogs (timesofisrael.com)

—

Who the Arabs cheered for in Jerusalem:

Palestinians rally in solidarity with Iran outside of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

This tells you who the Palestinian terrorists ally with.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/palestinians-cheered-iran.mp4

 

—

 

 

F around and find out.

 

 

 

 

ISLAM: PRACTICES, HISTORY, AND MENTALITY

From here:

WATCH: A 1994 video trends on social media of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s son expressing joy over Israeli deaths and his desire to commit Jihad.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joy-over-israeli-deaths.mp4

 

Another video about his father:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/three-kids-dead.mp4

 

I’ve posted video after video of Muslims themselves saying that they yearn for death in jihad.  Remember that, for a Muslim, dying in jihad for Allah is THE HIGHEST HONOR.  So these parents are happy – HAPPY! – that their kids (and at least one grandkid IIRC) were killed by the Israelis.  They’re in paradise.

Understand, to your core, the mentality of the enemy.  The only way to combat it is to show them that their dead will be denied paradise.

How American Soldiers Used Pig’s Blood and Corpses to Fight Muslim Terrorism | Frontpage Mag

—

 

 

 

 

—

Robert Spencer video about “moderate Muslims”

He’s forgotten more about Islam than most ever knew.  See his book:

The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS

Just one of many he’s written.  All worth it.

—

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/history-of-palestinians.mp4

 

Now, all of this is absolutely true.  But here’s the kicker – that identity exists now.  You will not convince a single Arab to abandon an identity they’ve had inculcated into their culture for generations.  I’m not trying to be a downer, but I’m trying to point out the nature of the battle we face.

 

 

 

 

ATROCITIES

New Video Shows Israeli Hostage Yarden Bibas Being Brutally Beaten by Gazan “Civilians” on October 7 (legalinsurrection.com)

More and more, reasonable people can – and I am – concluding that there are precious few actually-innocent Gazans.  And more on Oct. 7 celebrations and abuse of Israelis.  And more:

So-called “innocent” Palestinian civilians involved in the Hamas October 7th massacre.

The truth must be told.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/so-called-innocent-civilians.mp4

 

Another example of “innocent Gazans”:

Never forget. Never forgive.

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Remember_when_the_Gaza_civilians_attacked_the_Jewish_hostages_being-2.mp4

 

The October 7 Rape Denialists – The Atlantic

(Paywall)

—

Glazov Gang: Missing Israeli Hostages – The True Horror of What Hamas Did (jihadwatch.org)

Video.  And another video – gory, be warned.  Note the guy moving, and they shoot him.

 

 

ON INTERSECTIONALITY / LEFTIST SUPPORT

From here:

Chris Helali, International Secretary of the Party of Communists USA: After a Century Under the Banner of Lenin, I Believe that the Next Century Will Be Under the Banner of Fighting Imperialism and Supporting Palestine.

(MEMRI)

 

 

PALLYWOOD & MEDIA DISTORTIONS/LIES IN GENERAL

From here:

The bustling market in Rafah, Gaza, just a few hours ago.
The international media one day will have to pay the price for the mass psychosis they created around the world through the absolutely fake fatality numbers and the false impression that there is hunger in Gaza.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/rafa-market.mp4

 

Related, from here:

The world sends hundreds of free aid trucks daily to Gaza, but Hamas hoards and sells the supplies at extreme prices.

They even throw away food while fabricating drama for sympathy. They have enough; they don’t care about the people’s suffering!

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/throwing-away-food.mp4

 

Another related, from here:

This one bakery in northern Gaza produces about 650,000 pita breads each day. Gaza has more than 23 bakeries producing over 3 million pita breads daily.

I dunno guys. Could it be that the people who report “imminent starvation” are the same people who make up the casualty count figures?

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/pitas-in-northern-gaza.mp4

 

My one question – proof this is happening now?  A date stamp that I don’t see?  I’m not doubting it at all, but for the skeptic and for transparency, that’s important.

—

5 Media Misquotes That Tarnished Israel’s Image During the War | HonestReporting

Understand – no matter how much you hate the media, you don’t hate them enough.

—

 

 

—

From here – about the bombing of the Iranian “embassy”:

Let’s dispense with a few lies you will likely hear in the coming days:

Lie #1: “Israel started this with its airstrike in Damascus.”

False. Iran has been maintaining a constant assault on Israel for decades via its proxies in the region – chief among them Hezbollah, which is wholly funded, armed, and controlled by the Iranian regime. That assault has only intensified since October 7. Hezbollah has fired rockets and missiles into northern Israel on a near-daily basis for more than six months, causing the depopulation of much of northern Israel. Tens of thousands of Israelis have not seen their homes in half a year due to this Iranian-directed assault; many of their homes no longer exist, having been destroyed by Hezbollah’s rockets. The Houthis, another Iranian proxy group based in Yemen, have also fired numerous missiles at southern Israel. Finally, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been funded, armed, and trained by Iran for years and the Iranian regime views the Palestinian terror groups as part of its offensive efforts against Israel. There has not been a single day in the past six months in which Iran, via its various proxies in the region, has not attacked Israel. The airstrike in Damascus targeted individuals directly responsible for Iran’s ongoing assault on the Jewish state.

Lie #2: “The target of Israel’s airstrike in Damascus was a diplomatic facility.”

False. The notion that the target of the Damascus airstrike was a mere “Iranian consulate” is laughable. The building was a local headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of the Iranian military that has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and multiple other countries. Those killed were senior figures in the IRGC, including Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the IRGC’s foreign operations unit who was responsible for liaising with Hezbollah, and his deputy, General Mohammad Hadi Hajriahim. Five other IRGC officers were killed in the airstrike, as were five Iranian-affiliated militiamen, one Hezbollah operative, one Iranian military advisor, and two apparent civilians. The airstrike was aimed at military figures in a military facility and the targets were directly involved in orchestrating attacks on Israel. The fact that the building was adjacent to the Iranian embassy does not change its military character.

Lie #3: “Israel carried out the Damascus airstrike in order to provoke a wider war.”

False. For months, Israel has limited its military response to the ongoing assault by Iranian proxy groups to tit-for-tat airstrikes and artillery fire directly targeting the sources of the attacks. The reality, however, is that large swaths of northern Israel have been uninhabitable due to the ongoing Hezbollah attacks, which are being directed by the group’s patron, Iran. The only way to force Hezbollah to stop its assault on northern Israel and restore calm is to target the Iranian military officials behind the attacks. That is what the Damascus airstrike was intended to do: to end the impunity enjoyed by Iranian military officials as they oversee ongoing attacks targeting the people of Israel.

Lie #4: “Any Israeli response will cause the situation to escalate further.”

False. The unprecedented Iranian assault on Israel, which involved hundreds of missiles and drones, was the escalation. It has been roundly condemned around the world. Israel will respond to this unparalleled act of aggression as any sovereign country would, not least in order to deter the Iranian regime from carrying out further attacks against Israeli territory and send the message that Israel will not tolerate massive attacks on its sovereign territory by a foreign state.

Lie #5: “The relatively limited damage from the Iranian attack means it’s no big deal and Israel should let it go.”

False. The Iranian assault was absolutely unprecedented in its scope and severity.

More, from here:

On April 1st, 2024, Israel targeted the building adjacent to the #Iranian Embassy in Syria, which was being used by top commanders of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a US-designated terror organization responsible for death and destruction across the Middle East and the world.

The Iranian regime misrepresented this counterterrorism event, and used it as an excuse to unleash their first direct attack towards the Jewish State and its people.

Let us be crystal clear:

Iran’s attack on Israel was NOT self-defense. It was an act of terror in which they fired over 300 rockets, ballistic missiles and drones towards the #Jewish state.

This was a declaration of war by the Iranian regime. #Israel has the right and duty to defend itself from the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism: the Iranian regime.

 

 

Douglas Murray: A holy war with Iran is looming | SpectatorTV

 

 

—

From here – Pallywood babies:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/pallywood-babies.mp4

 

—

Taqqiya from Iran:

On the left: Iranian state media claiming this is footage from an Iranian missile which hit Israel.

On the right: the same footage from a fire in Chile in February.

???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????: our defense systems intercepted 99% of their missiles.

 

 

—

Take a look at the “Open Air Prison” that is Gaza (barenakedislam.com)

That’s some genocide!  More on this – video at this link, showing beach events.

—

Hamas conceals casualties casualties, blames Israel for failed launches – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

Remember, lying to fool the enemy is a real thing:

Taqiyya: Deception and Lying in Islam (thereligionofpeace.com)

Flaws.  Uh huh.

Hamas-Run Gaza Health Ministry Admits to Flaws in Casualty Data (fdd.org)

 

 

TERROR COMING HERE?  TO THE WEST?

Brigitte Gabriel on what’s coming to America:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/brigitte-on-whats-coming-to-america.mp4

 

Reprising – you must read her book:

Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America

And also recall this about her youth and the Islamic takeover of Lebanon:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Brigitte-gabriel.mp4

 

And a new one – that America and the West better learn fast.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/brigitte-west-better-learn-fast.mp4

 

Because DEATH TO AMERICA! is here.  Now:

DISGUSTING! Pro-Hamas Muslim thugs burn American flag in midtown Manhattan (barenakedislam.com)

The West must wake. If you tolerate this then your children will be next.

Again, the West is in deep, deep trouble:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/sharia-patrols-in-sweden.mp4

 

—

Majority of young Muslims in UK want Islamic law | World Israel News

As I understand it, a lot in America do too.

—

Imagine, in WWII, someone waving a Nazi flag.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/hezbollah-fan-in-nyc.mp4

 

Or called for DEATH TO AMERICA!

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/pro-hamas-crowd-burns-american-flag.mp4

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/hate-at-columbia.mp4

 

“We are Hamas” shout Jew-hating students at Columbia University (barenakedislam.com)

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/subway-chants.mp4

 

 

 

TREADING ON THE POLITICAL

 

 

Israel: Standing Alone Against Multifaceted Threats, Thanks to the Biden Administration :: Gatestone Institute

The Obama and Biden Administrations’ Betrayal of America’s Closest Ally in the Middle East: Israel :: Gatestone Institute

Israel Under Attack – U.S. Administration Abandoning Its Ally? :: Gatestone Institute

US “ironclad” support for Israel means “we won’t let you fight back.” ~ Elder Of Ziyon – Israel News

Under Biden Administration, Iran’s Mullahs Enjoying Green Light to Go Nuclear :: Gatestone Institute

I don’t trust his assurances America stands with Israel.  And IMHO – and others too – this is why:

Joe Biden Is Now Chasing The ‘Death To America’ Voter (thefederalist.com)

—

Why the left united around hatred of Israel – JNS.org

RTWT.  Related:

Democrat Senator Van Hollen’s Tirade Against Israel | Frontpage Mag

—

 

Screenshot

 

And The Potato’s administration gives a warm welcome to Iran’s Foreign Minister:

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/kisses-for-iran-reps.mp4

 

—

From here:

Meet America’s Senior Director of Intelligence Programs and Special Assistant to President Biden – Maher Bitar.

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/bitar.mp4

 

What’s that expression?  Birds of a feather flock together?

—

Reform rabbi warns Democrats not to take Jewish vote for granted | World Israel News

Too many have TDS, but he might wake up a few.

 

 

—

 

 

 

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS

Intercepting Iranian missiles cost Israel over a billion dollars | World Israel News

It’s an economic thing too.  War is not just munitions flying.  That’s one of the reasons the Arabs light forest fires in Israel.  Fighting large fires is not just damaging to the land, it’s enormously expensive to fight.

—

Aid Worker Security Database | Aid Worker Security Database

Being an aid worker is, IMHO, a noble thing – but it’s a dangerous thing too.  Why only Israel criticized?  Oh, wait… Israeli double-standard time.

???????????????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????, ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ????????????????????????.

Report: Hamas May Have Baited IDF Into Striking WCK Convoy in Error (ampproject.org)

Hamas cannot win militarily.  It can only win through public pressure on Israel.

—

Mohamed Hadid is a refugee.

At least, per UNRWA standards.  Remember, this guy is a multimillionaire.  A “refugee” like his supermodel, jet-set daughters.  And take a look at who else is anti-Israel:

UPS exec’s daughter, other millionaires’ kids busted in Columbia anti-Israel protest (nypost.com)

—

Questions for the Most Important Pro-Israel Blogger You Likely Never Heard Of – The Jewish Link

Very good guy.  Here’s his main site:

Elder Of Ziyon – Israel News

 

 

GIVING SUPPORT TO ISRAEL

 

 

You can’t go wrong with a donation here:

Connections Israel

And please share this post far and wide.  There’s a lot of info here that many people don’t know.  Post it, email it, share widely.

Also, if you’re willing:

Buy Me a Coffee

 

 

A CONCLUDING THOUGHT FOR THIS POST

Grave danger if Israel attacks (and apparently there was something that happened – I’m still trying to sort out what).  But also grave danger if it doesn’t.  Because as long as the Mullahs rule, as long as the IRGC rules, there can never be peace but only constant fear of a massive and likely nuclear attack… plus continued sponsorship of terror and proxy attacks.

I spoke with a good friend in Israel yesterday; he said that Israel is between a rock and a hard place on this.  But with great danger and risk, potentially comes great rewards.  From here:

A day after the Iranian attack and the streets of Iran are filled with graffiti of opponents of the regime with clear messages: “Israel, attack them!” “You will start and we will continue in the streets” and also “bomb the leader’s office”…
Both in Israel and Iran are waiting in anticipation to land a painful blow on the murderous terrorist regime in Iran!

A day after the Iranian attack on Israel the streets of Iran are filled with graffiti by the civilian opponents of the regime with clear messages: “Israel, attack them!” “You will start and we will continue in the streets” and also “bomb the leader’s office”…

Both in Israel and Iran people are waiting in anticipation to land a painful blow on the murderous Islamist terrorist regime in Iran!

 

 

On that note:

‘Israel, free us from the Islamic regime’ – Iranians back the IDF | World Israel News

And from here:

AMAZING: In Paris , following an attack on Israel, Iranians alongside Israeli and Jewish women and men unite in support, chanting ‘Women-Life-Freedom’. Beautiful solidarity!

 

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/israelis-and-persians-in-paris.mp4

 

So the question is not just what damage Israel could do to Iran, how easily they could defend against any further counter, but… whether or not there is a sufficient internal force in Iran to potentially act once an Israeli attack took place.  And while this is funny:

 

 

Never, ever, ever underestimate your enemy.  Print this out.  Email it to anyone in Israel, especially active duty soldiers and officers:

SUCCESS BREEDS CONFIDENCE

CONFIDENCE BREEDS ARROGANCE

ARROGANCE BREEDS COMPLACENCY

COMPLACENCY BREEDS DISTRACTION

AND DISTRACTION MAKES YOU VULNERABLE

—

And to close on a lighter note – this is funny!

 

 

The post Israel: Ongoing Links, Memes, and Commentary appeared first on Granite Grok.

One of the local podcasts we’re thinking of sharing is A. J. Kierstead’s The New England Take. It has decent production values and good sound and offers a lot of local and Concord-centric content, with and without guests.

I’m also looking to add LibertyBlock’s Conservatarian Exchange Podcast and Allison Dyer’s Rumble updates (elections have consequences).

If you’ve got a shareable cable access show or podcast and you’d like us to make it more readily available to this audience, let me know. Platforms other than YouTube are preferable, but that is not a deal breaker.

This is AJs most recent. Stop Masking for no reason. And yes, it is a coincidence that GraniteGrok is cited. It’s just good timing on my part, I guess.

The post The New England Take: Stop Masking for No Reason! appeared first on Granite Grok.

The names and faces may change, but the NHGOP always remains a corrupt, inept, out-of-touch political country club that does NOT represent GOP voters, AND indeed actually loathes and despises actual GOP voters. This is just the latest example.

The NHGOP gagging the Morse campaign: you will NOT talk about Ayotte supporting AMNESTY for ILLEGALS as a U.S. Senator; you will NOT talk about Ayotte voting like a mini-me Jeannie SHAHEENIE during her last year as a U.S. Senator.

The question now becomes whether Morse has an empty nut-sack or there are actually nuts in the nut-sack. The pathetic-pretentious-puppets supposedly running the NHGOP … Ager, etc., etc., etc. … have handed Morse a path to victory: RUN AS THE ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATE. The question is whether the Morse campaign has the brains and the balls to go boldly down that path.

To be clear, I consider both Ayotte and Morse RINOs. This post is a middle-finger to the NHGOP Establishment, the “insiders,” the “consultants,” etc., etc., etc., who couldn’t find their way out of a box-canyon. BUT it is also sound advice to Morse. Embrace the role, Chucky my boy.

The post Nobody Touches Amnesty-Ayotte appeared first on Granite Grok.

I’ll start with a quick review of 30 years ago when Ms. Faulkner disgraced ALL women (real adult females), veterans, and civilians alike by litigating her way into the Citadel and then dropping out. Look it up if you want to learn more, but I’ll get back to her later.

While sitting in the bleachers for Laurie Ortolano’s trial structuring hearing for her New Market Tax Credit misuse case, scheduled for 8/28-8/30, I thought of the court camera footage I noted in my earlier article.

I also thought about Part 1, Article 8, of the NH Constitution, addressing RTK matters, how House Judiciary member Louise Andrus read it aloud to her peers on 2/1/24 in dissent of the committee recommendation favoring the RTK tax (HB 1002), and my desire to write a follow-up piece on Courtroom 3’s camera footage’s inaccessibility being repugnant.

When I got home, I grabbed my copy of the NH Constitution with the intention of copying Part 1, Article 8, word for word, but my copy is from 2019 when the state house was dominated by scum, and I ran into some pictures that I also find repugnant.  Among them were the Damn Emperor, Pignatelli, Cryans, Volinsky, Prescott (who wanted to raise the tolls), Gatsas (though he’s the least repugnant), Shurtleff, Donna Soucy and…  (drum roll)  …Judge Lynn!  I gasped, had to put the book down, and concentrated on avoiding becoming a patient of Dr Sherman.  I also found Part 1, Article 8 is rather lengthy to copy here, so I leave it to the readers to consult it on their own and will offer my own thoughts.

I am a Granite Stater, a Nashua taxpayer, and a member of the public and, therefore, should be entitled to access to court camera footage upon reasonable request. It’s not unreasonable as it is not family court involving the privacy of minor children or battered women.  I’m even willing to work with the keepers of that video regarding the best way to fetch the file during office hours and bring my own thumbnail or CD, whatever suits holding the file best.  Judge Temple’s permission to have access to it should not be required.

Suppose for a moment that I did seek access via litigation and won.  I would then watch the approximately 5 hours of Attorney Bolton’s legal Dream Team facing Attorney Leonard on the stand.  The quality of such footage is not guaranteed nor is there any guarantee that I find any behavior of interest.  If I did, whether Judge Temple overlooked it or ignored it would be another matter.  Then, it would become another issue, which would require reporting lawyers and/or Judge Temple to the appropriate bodies for ethics complaints.  I’ve been told that such entities designed to receive such complaints are as much of a joke as a fox guarding a hen house.  As a nonlawyer and an ordinary commoner, I suspect that all efforts would be in vain, and the result would be one big nothingburger.

So, back to Shannon Faulkner’s answer, the question is, “Why am I doing nothing more on this?” The words Attorney Gens was observed saying to Frank Staples, “Don’t poke the bear,” also come to mind regarding any possible subjective influence on the outcome of Laurie Ortolano’s cases.

If I set out to pursue the acquisition of the footage I rightfully deserve access to, I would be poking the bear, some might argue, thus landing me on another watchlist.

And on a related note to all readers, HB 1002 was unfortunately given a unanimous OTP in committee and is awaiting its day in the senate chamber.

Please email your senator to say it’s a bad bill that needs to die.

The post “I Don’t Want to be Shannon Faulkner” is the Answer, But What is the Question? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Prior to the Trojan Horse event that we politely refer to as the COVID era, vaccine hesitancy was a fringe issue. Citizens who objected to the forced vaccination of children were kooks or extremists, and even those demanding more informed consent got the side-eye from even more liberty-minded Americans. The mRNA injections changed that.

I doubt that was the goal, but an increasing number of people, including those who lined up for at least one shot or booster, have been exposed to a level of public health tyranny on a scale that seemed impossible to imagine. People are just friends, family, and jobs, all in the wake of a propaganda and domestic terror campaign to jab everyone regardless of legitimate objections.

I’m not saying they were red-pilled because there are still plenty of jabbed Republicans and independents who treat the topic like they would abortion. It’s something you avoid like a real plague. The cross-section of the curious has, however, grown significantly. Once reliable demographics were disenfranchised by the mandate experience either as a rights issue or because of personal health complications or similar issues in their near orbit (not safe). Or they had more difficult or more frequent incidents of infection or spread despite the passport mandate rhetoric (not effective).

Ongoing admissions and revelations have compounded all of that as the anti-vaxxers, deniers, and others accused of misinformation for asking questions or sharing alternative news or opinions are proved right about almost everything. It has inculcated a growing number of Americans, including parents, with a curiosity they lacked pre-Covid. It has opened them up to the possibility that neither the government nor pharma is interested in public health and safety. That, along with evidence they would have never considered in the past, suggests that many of the issues with kids, from autism to allergies, that we never had in the past are a product of the ramped-up vaccine regime that precedes their rise and frequency.

And I’m not saying there was no value in inoculation campaigns like those for smallpox. It is about going from a handful of preventatives to dozens of injections and the change in safety and accountability.

The mRNA program exposed many more people to the man doing all the scaremongering behind the public health curtain. His greedy indifference to safety and efficacy suggests a similar position regarding kids and the amped-up vaccine schedule.

They are right to be concerned, and it has had an impact. Childhood vaccination is down. Given that I don’t trust the government much, I have to wonder if that wasn’t the point. The depopulation cult might like the idea of unvaccinated children rubbing elbows with hordes of imported third-world populations carrying diseases we’ve not seen on our shores for generations.

In other words, the problem is not vaccines; it is the unnecessary number of them, their declining quality, and the suspicion that most are no longer administered to prevent the spread of disease but to facilitate it. On those terms, it is unsurprising to hear from groups like the World Council for Health, whose research suggests the current regime is doing more harm than good.

In the current circumstances, the World Council for Health urges parents to consider childhood vaccination very carefully and adopt a common-sense, “Safer to Wait” approach to the vaccination of your boys and girls.

For the sake of all children and a healthy society it is time that we question our blind faith in vaccines, the corporations that produce them, and the regulatory bodies and supranational organisations that enable and profit directly or indirectly through their authorisation.

Some of the bullets they cite include,

• Several research studies now indicate that vaccinated children have far worse health outcomes with higher rates of many chronic diseases than non-vaccinated children.
• Modern society is experiencing unprecedented rates of autism, asthma, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, obesity, depression and more, for which the root cause/s have not been established.
• National regulatory agencies have never done the necessary evaluation to determine whether vaccines given to children alone or together according to the ever-expanding childhood vaccination schedules are associated with poor health outcomes compared with children who are not vaccinated.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its private and state stakeholders have financial and ideological interests in the provision of vaccines and has committed to providing 500 vaccines by 2030.

You can see the entire release here, and here is Dr. Peter McCullough speaking briefly on the topic.

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The post Evidence Suggests That Children Who Get No Vaccines … Have Better Health Outcomes appeared first on Granite Grok.

This was sent to The New Hampshire Department of Education in an effort to conduct an investigation:

Dear, Ms. Fenton,

Please see the two attached files that were provided to me through a 91-a sent to the Windham Superintendent on April 4, 2024.

Students in the district participated in Challenge Day. You can access information on Challenge Day in the file attached to this email.

After a casual conversation with some Windham parents whose children attended Challenge Day, I was surprised to find out that even though the parents signed a permission slip, they were not aware of the personal questions that would be asked of their children.  It appears the questions asked of the students were not provided to the district by the vendor, and then were not available to the parents to read.

I am unable to access the questions that were asked of the students during Challenge Day. When I inquired about the questions asked of students, I was told that this information was included in their response. (See attached screenshot)  I did not see any of these personal questions asked of students included in the files provided by Windham.

For example,  Windham parents were told that students had to “Cross the Line” if:
– they have a family member or friend who wanted to or committed suicide
– they ran away from home or felt like they didn’t belong
– have a family member who was made fun of because they are LBTQ
-if they had ever been abused
-if they had ever felt poor, been poor or been homeless
These questions were not provided to me in the reply from my 91-a request.

This is the kind of example that was presented to the House and Senate Education Committee by those who testified in support of the Non-Academic Survey Law. Legislators listened to testimony from parents who said their children were asked these kinds of questions in a class in front of their peers. This is exactly why this law was passed–to make sure parents understood what would be asked of their children so they could refuse their participation. According to testimony, some of these students were required to move forward or backward based on their answer. The teacher then took photos of the students in the class based on where they stood after they answered these questions.

RSA 186:11 IX-D requires:
––school districts to adopt a policy governing the administration of nonacademic surveys or questionnaires to students. The policy shall require school districts to notify a parent or legal guardian of a non-academic survey or questionnaire and its purpose. The policy shall provide that no student shall be required to volunteer for or submit to a non-academic survey or questionnaire, as defined in this paragraph, without written consent of a parent or legal guardian unless the student is an adult or an emancipated minor. The policy shall include an exception from the consent requirement for the youth risk behavior survey developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The policy shall also allow a parent or legal guardian to opt-out of the youth risk behavior survey developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The school district shall make such surveys or questionnaires available at the school and on the school or school district’s website for review by a student’s parent or legal guardian at least 10 days prior to distribution to students. In this paragraph, “non-academic survey or questionnaire” means surveys, questionnaires, or other documents designed to elicit information about a student’s social behavior, family life, religion, politics, sexual orientation, sexual activity, drug use, or any other information not related to a student’s academics.

It is my understanding that parents have not seen the questions asked of their children when they participated in “Cross the Line.”  The district has also not provided me with these questions after filing the 91-a.

In addition to answering personal and deeply emotional questions about themselves, this activity appears to bring mental health treatment directly to students whose parents never consented to this kind of group therapy in school.

When districts participate in surveying students about their personal lives or provide this kind of group mental health therapy in school, the law should be followed.  In addition to the state law governing non-academic surveys, the federal law PPRA also spells out parental rights governing the administration of a survey, analysis, or evaluation of students in the eight protected areas.

As you know, Every Student Succeeds Act requires parents to consent to mental health assessments or services.

In the discussion with the parents, I was also told that some of the students were in tears during this group therapy session. Looking at the list of individuals who were present, it’s important to note that no Phd level Child Psychologists were present. If children were experiencing any trauma or reliving trauma through this exercise, it does not appear that anyone present has the education or clinical training to deal with those situations.

This kind of group therapy in school has already been criticized by those in the mental health field. SEE Death Education Columbine High School featured on 20/20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbiY6Fz6Few (pay close attention to 6:00 to 10:28)

The Vendor also made sure to relieve themselves of any liability. A licensed Child Psychologist would be accountable through the licensing board if they were treating a child in their private practice. What if a student re-lives trauma during this mental health exercise and begins to self-harm or, worse, takes their own life? This is exactly why these laws were put in place–to give parents the information they need to make an informed decision for their children. Children who may relive trauma, abuse, or suffering during one of these group therapy sessions need the best professional care.

Screenshot

The Vendor also states that :

Screenshot

 

 

—

Ann Marie Banfield 

TRUST REQUIRES TRANSPARENCY

The post Did the Windham School District Break the Law on Challenge Day? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Ten states – and counting – have passed a bill called the “2nd Amendment Financial Privacy Act,” to nullify a gun control surveillance scheme in practice and effect. More on that good news in a moment. First, some background. Would you be surprised to learn that this gun control program has its roots in the IRS?

Same. We weren’t either.

Back in 2004, the IRS launched the use of something called a “Merchant Category Code” or an MCC, as a way to classify different types of businesses and identify the types of goods or services that a company sells.

Companies that accept payments by credit card are categorized with an MCC for their business type.

It was, of course, sold as an improvement for better tax reporting and is still touted, as CNBC put it, as a tool to help “prevent things ranging from fraud to human trafficking.”

But never forget. When the government and its supporters tell you, “It’s for your safety,” they usually mean, “so we can control you.”

Soon, gun-grabbers figured out that a special MCC could be created for a business selling firearms, thus – another de-facto gun registry that the government could easily access. Some of the worst proposals call for using these codes to flat-out ban purchases.

As NRA-ILA points out, the people promoting this are gun control advocates, so we shouldn’t be surprised at how they’ll end up using it in the future:

Those promoting this scheme are proponents of firearm and gun owner registration and advocate against firearm owners’ privacy. Therefore, it should be assumed that the goal of this program is to share all collected firearm retailer MCC data with government authorities and potentially private third parties that may include gun control organizations and anti-gun researchers.

After efforts to create a firearm-related MCC failed in recent years, a number of high-profile politicians sent a high-pressure letter to the major credit card companies in September 2022. Just one week later, the International Organization for Standardization (IOS) approved the creation of a new firearms-based Merchant Category Code.

Unsurprisingly, Everytown was thrilled, “Today’s announcement is a critical first step towards giving banks and credit card companies the tools they need to recognize dangerous firearm purchasing trends.”

First step.

They definitely have more steps planned – and we know some of them. As NRA-ILA writes:

Amalgamated Bank said they intend to create a software algorithm that will use the MCC “to report suspicious activity and illegal gun sales to authorities.”

The New York Times explained how this firearms-specific MCC could interface directly with the federal government:

“Banks could then either allow [the flagged] transactions, or block them and file suspicious activity reports with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which would ideally also create a system to quickly forward that information to local law enforcement and the F.B.I.”

To the gun control supporters, of course, all firearms purchasing trends are dangerous, so we know where this is leading. And while people can still use cash for in-person purchases – or better yet, real money like gold and silver in some situations – neither of these are valid options for online retailers.

An article by Free Range American summed up the danger:

Watchdogs are concerned the banking industry has been recruited by the feds to use the coded transactions to create and maintain a database of gun owners that can then be accessed by the government. Indeed, it has been publicly stated that the purpose of the new code is to track “suspicious activity” related to firearms and mass shootings.   

Within months of the new MCC being announced, a handful of states started considering a bill called the “2nd Amendment Financial Privacy Act,” to ban the use of these merchant codes in a way that distinguishes a firearms retailer from general merchandise retailers or sporting goods retailers.

In other words, these states were seeking to ban the use of the newly-authorized code.

After just a handful of states started moving the legislation forward, the major credit card companies started backing down, one by one. Amex, Visa, MC, and Discover all announced they were putting a “pause” on implementation just because a handful of states were considering and potentially moving forward with a Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act.

A MasterCard spokesman confirmed that the state legislation is the reason for putting this on hold:

“There are bills advancing in several states related to the use of this new code. If passed, the result will be an inconsistency in how this ISO standard could be applied by merchants, issuers, acquirers and networks. It’s for that reason that we have decided to pause work on the implementation of the firearms-specific MCC.”

The 2nd Amendment Financial Privacy Act was signed into law in six states in 2023: Mississippi, Idaho, North Dakota, Montana, Texas, and Florida.

In 2024, even more states have been getting on board – with four more 2nd Amendment Financial Privacy Acts going into effect in the coming months: Utah, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana.

That’s ten on the books – with more likely on the way soon.

This is clearly an early win for the states. Rather than waiting for the entire scheme to get implemented first and then trying to stop it with a lawsuit or legislation later, they found a path forward that creates problems for implementation and put a stop to it, at least for now.

But let’s not overstate the win. This is on PAUSE; they want us to let our guard down so they can regroup and push again. But that should be a huge green light for 15-20 more states to get on board and ban this practice now so it never gets off the ground.

As Samuel Adams so wisely put it,

“Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude and perseverance.”

 

| Michael Boldin

We want to thank The Tenth Amendment Center for being a partner and supporter of Independent Media. You can support The ‘Grok here, or if you prefer to donate by check, email steve@granitegrok com for details.

The post This Gun Control Program has its Roots in the IRS appeared first on Granite Grok.

Columbia is famous for its coffee, and Brazil is renowned for its censorship. At least it is now. And while censorship in some form is not uncommon anywhere in the world, recent events in Brazil, led by Superior Electoral Court (TSE) Justice Alexandre de Moraes, have opened a whole new door.

de Moraes, a self-proclaimed arbiter of truth online, is at war with free speech, targeting everything from social media to reporters and journalists accused of misinformation – on a scale that must have petty despots in the United States jealous of Brazil’s openness and success. Or is that misrepresented pride? According to Michael Shellenberger, there is evidence that Brazil’s Censorhsip Industrial Complex is tan offspring of US and UK collusion.

In many ways, Brazil’s sweeping censorship system is unique to Brazil. Brazil’s Censorship Industrial Complex is located in the judiciary rather than in the executive branch, as it is in Europe, in the European Commission, and the U.S., in the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, National Science Foundation, and other agencies. However, in other ways, Brazil’s censorship simply reflects the most advanced form of the Censorship Industrial Complex vision created by US and UK government officials, particularly ones working for the military and intelligence agencies.

Our work revealed that current and former agents from the US Department of Defense, the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the British Ministry of Defense all developed comprehensive censorship programs. The Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation have been caught funding the creation of censorship tools, including AI-based ones, for Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to engage in mass censorship. Beginning in early 2017, several military and intelligence agencies and agents from the US and UK governments developed similar censorship tactics that Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) was caught using.

Shellenbeger explains in this excerpt how their investigation has uncovered connections between the US and UK governments and third parties funded by both governments that consulted or assisted Brazil on its war with open debate and free speech.

The evidence points to research, AI, and tools used in the US since 2017 and exposed in various reports, such as the Twitter Files.

Brazil doesn’t have a First Amendment to protect its citizens from this very real censorship (as opposed to the fake school library variety echoed by the same liberal monkeys). Still, as I’ve written elsewhere, that isn’t stopping them from trying, and we should accept that Brazil could be another beta test by Western Censorship Assets in preparation for their plans here.

Here’s Michael Schellenberger.

 

Years Of US-UK Military And Intelligence Planning Behind Sweeping Brazil Censorship, Evidence Suggests

_Secret evidence, specialized spy units, and permanent bans on populists were key tactics developed by government operatives_

Late last night, the Judiciary Committee of the… pic.twitter.com/dWRJpwTs6b

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) April 18, 2024

 

The post Is Brazil’s War on Speech a ‘Test’ by US and UK Censorship Assets? appeared first on Granite Grok.