No matter how much you are involved with technology, nearly everyone who uses computers and the internet should be protecting themselves. It is even more important for businesses, but the reality is that everyone is vulnerable online.

Don’t worry, there’s good news. As more threats have arisen in the digital world, there are new solutions to respond to them. Whether you are an individual or the leader of a large company, below are five cyber security solutions that everyone should know about.

Firewall, Anti-Malware, Anti-Ransomware

The first solution is likely something you already know about. What do you typically do when you buy a new computer? You load it up with protective software. Every device in your network should have a firewall, which stops viruses and other malicious attacks from getting onto your computer. 

They should also have anti-malware and anti-ransomware measures. These effective programs stop harmful software from being downloaded on an attachment or by clicking on a link. Making sure your devices have these protections is imperative.

Encryption

Encryption is one of the most important cyber security solutions in general. Encryption is the intentional hiding of online content and metadata. It scrambles the data to make it appear random and difficult to decipher. This means that your online interactions, information that is inputted, where you were when you were online, and the messages that you send will be protected by the scrambling of the information tied to each data point.

There are all kinds of different encrypted channels. You can use encrypted web browsers—not the private or incognito mode. You can use encrypted messaging apps. You can encrypt your email. Just about everything can be protected with encryption. It’s even how cryptocurrency is protected.

Third Party Transaction Risk Assessment

When you’re in charge of running a business, there are a lot of transactions you need to keep track of. Nearly every single transaction is digital these days. Dealing with the ins and outs of digital transactions may not be your strong suit. That’s why you should work with third party risk assessors and managers. A company like RiskRecon can provide the third-party guidance that you need.

Not only will they alert you of possible holes in your security, but they will also provide solutions for tightening it up, preventing breaches, and what to do when there has been transactional fraud or hacking. Doing business with a risk assessment company will provide peace of mind and problem-solving initiatives.

AI-Protected Cloud Storage

Depending on the computer and the size of your overall operation, you are likely gathering data. Data is an extremely valuable asset for any business. The more information you have about the customers and their lifestyle, wants, needs, and behavior, you can better satisfy various demographics. Cloud storage is essential to keeping track of data, organizing, and analyzing it. There are multiple options to protect all this information.

One way is to use off-site services that separate your Cloud storage from your network and servers, making it difficult for hackers to get into it. Another solution is to use artificial intelligence (AI). AI is capable of organizing, protecting, and analyzing data faster than any human could. It can also protect it by identifying holes in your cyber security. AI can get the most out of your data, including keeping it safe.

Password Scramblers

Finally, another basic solution is to use password scramblers. It is difficult to come up with complicated, unique passwords for every different account you have. It’s impossible to remember them all. That’s why you should use a password generator, scrambler, and encrypted storage. These apps and services provide an easy way to come up with unique passwords that aren’t tied to your personal life. You should never use passwords for multiple accounts. If you keep them stored, encrypted, and generated randomly, you will be a lot better off.

Cyber security is the name of the game. With so many threats come an equal number of responses. Whether you’re a finance company, a consulting firm, or technological innovators, everyone needs to put in the effort to protect themselves and their work. Start with these five cyber security solutions but don’t stop here, there are plenty more ways to strengthen your devices, network, and servers against attacks. 

 

The post Five Cyber Security Solutions You Should Know About appeared first on Granite Grok.

Dropping dead is all the rage. You’re just minding you’re own damn business, and your heart stops working the way it has since birth. Or, maybe, you have a severe stroke ‘cuz reasons!

Related: The Myocarditis/Pericarditis Pandemic – Who Has to Die before You Believe?

Finding news stories published by the actual self-proclaimed actual media is easy. All you have to do is look. Search died suddenly or Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) or all-cause mortality, and you’ll find your lap (top) full. Connecting them to the most obvious common denominator preceding this “epidemic” shuffling off of mortal coils is crazy talk.

Another conspiracy theory lined up to become next year’s truth. And while we wait, young, healthy people are dropping dead.

I’ve never heard of this guy, and I’m not gay or a gal, so I couldn’t speculate, but this guy (Jeremy Ruehlemann) is supposed to be a male supermodel. He was 27 years old.

 

CONFIRMED: 27 Year old model Jeremy Ruehlemann, who #diedsuddenly over the weekend, was CONFIRMED vaccinated https://t.co/p8Szw0Z0Zr pic.twitter.com/pBXuckS3CV

— DiedSuddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) January 24, 2023

 

Now he is part of history and gone way before his time. Look at this guy. He looks healthy to me. So, why is he dead? His father speculates that it was an accidental drug overdose. There was a history of prescription drug abuse, but the father admits he does not know.

We know he was a Jabbasaurus. We also know that the COVID-19 injections have some history of taking out young, healthy people. We do not know if using any other drugs complicates the relationship or the odds. We know very little, and it may be decades before all the consequences of this human test trial on billion of people are known.

Jeremy Ruehlemann is dead, and we can expect the game of “no, he didn’t die from the vaccine*” to begin or continue in much the same way the vaccine is safe and effective crowd lied, knowingly or not, to get people Jabbed in the first place. The way death with COVID was peddled as death from COVID, and so on.

Closer to home (as in, the more ordinary, average sort of lifestyle) is the loss of Jacob Sanchez. This Texas Middle-School teacher died of a sudden heart attack, collapsing in front of a room full of students.

 

Devine Middle School posted a tribute to Sanchez on its Facebook account.

“We lost a friend, colleague, and just a good man today. Jacob was the kind of person who would do anything to help out others. He was a kids’ teacher. He worked hard to connect with all of our kids not just our athletes. Our kids are going to have a tough time, but our DMS family will be there to help our kids as well as each other,” Darnell posted.

 

I’m sure the grief counselors were Joan/Johnny/Ze on the spot to help the tweeners come to terms with the sudden death of their teacher, and it is indeed tragic. He was only 35 years old and appears to have been in decent shape. That’s a very odd age for this cause of death. I wonder if there is any evidence of …

 

Im going to add this so everyone can know his vaccines status, since many are asking. pic.twitter.com/HQGNNutvOs

— Lisa Marie (@Lisamarie1577) January 23, 2023

 

There is, but as Jennifer Rosenberg notes in her reply, “We don’t know what could have caused it, only that it definitely wasn’t that thing.” And the band played on, which brings me back to the Related link above from November of 2021 – a few short months into the SADS Era, who has to die?

 

What will it take?

If I had to guess, a healthy child of yours dropping dead. I wish it didn’t have to come to that. Healthy kids have nothing to fear from COVID19 and should have a palpable fear of politicians, pharmaceutical companies (teachers unions, the medical-industrial complex), their narratives, and The Jab.

 

But healthy kids have died and are dying. We reported on a two-year-old who died within twenty-four hours of receiving a dose.

At what point is the number of deaths more weight than even the media can hold back?

 

 

The post Male Model Dies Suddenly, Middle School Teacher Drops Dead in Front of His Class appeared first on Granite Grok.

As promised in the last Monday Memes, I have an overflow. My meme cup runneth over.  Certain about a Friday Overflow-Overflow.

Also, for those prepper-minded… you are prepping, aren’t you???… my last two Survival Sundays:

Survival Sunday – Sunday PREP Edition – Granite Grok

Survival Sunday – Thursday SITREP Edition – Granite Grok

Now, let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:

 

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

 

 

Or those who revere them…

“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.”

― Voltaire

 

If you grab a meme for your blog, or an email, or post on some SM, please do include a link to this post.  It helps Grok traffic, and gets me more infamy attention.

 

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

 

 

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“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out… without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.”

– H. L. Mencken

 

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“We are in a debt trap” – Nouriel Roubini on 10 ‘megathreats’ to our world and how to stop them

 

 

The world has created – from thin air – so much money, and so much parallel debt, that we could strip-mine the planet down to the MoHo and not repay it.

When it truly crashes, and I fear it’s coming soon, the entire world economy will grind to a halt.

 

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One of the books I really wanted the kids to read – they haven’t because it’s boooooooring  (* me fuming*) – is Aesop’s Fables.  One such fable is this one, that echoes the above image:

Aesop’s Fable: The House Dog and the Wolf (aesopsfables.org)

 

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I sign the pads for routine doctor visits – after all, I can always refuse anything.  But every time, now, when I’ve gone to the ER (or taken the kids to the ER) I have them print out the forms and explicitly state, sign, and date that I DO NOT CONSENT TO ANY VACCINATION; THIS NOTICE SUPERCEDES ANY TEXT IN THE ABOVE.

I then have them scan it in and attach it to my file, take the original, and take a picture and email it to myself.  Not PERFECT, but at least I have some way of recourse to show I refused it proactively.

 

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Things have massively – and very abruptly – slowed down in my business’ revenue.  Not that I have any serious expectations of making up the difference with zazzle sales (unless one of these truly goes viral), but please do seriously consider a bumper sticker or mug… or three, as gifts.  Note – you may need to adjust age filter requirements to see them.  (No NSFW materials, never fear!)

 

Bumper stickers

On trusting Democrats Bumper Sticker | Zazzle

Show why you own guns! They’re TYRANT VACCINE. Bumper Sticker | Zazzle

Build Back Better – the hidden message Bumper Sticker | Zazzle

 

Or mugs

Free Judea Coffee Mug | Zazzle

Back off… we’re scientists coffee mug | Zazzle

 

Or T-shirts

Throughout History, Free Men Resist T-Shirt | Zazzle

Democrats: The Alien Within T-Shirt | Zazzle

 

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The Taliban may not be educated to our own criteria, but don’t mistake a the lack of a formal Ivy-league education with a lack of shrewdness (and the above image is master-level mockery).  Not for nothing is there an old, old saying: When you shake hands in a Persian souk, count your fingers afterwards.

Speaking of nukes and such:

The 2nd Amendment is Obsolete, Says Congressman Who Wants To Nuke Omaha | Monster Hunter Nation

 

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Pick of the post:

 

 

There is some controversy over how genuine this is (e.g., note the date).  But – channeling the late Maha-Rushie – do not doubt me on this: this will soon come to be the way of thinking of the Jabbed.  As the truth goes through the conceptual one-way diode and more and more people understand what the Jab has done to them… to their children… they’ll turn on someone to blame.  Some will, rightfully, blame the pharma companies and governments and such.  But I suspect many will be driven by white-hot fury at US, the Purebloods, the people they disdained as ENEMIES and ANTI-SCIENCE and so on who will now be understood to have been more informed and perceptive than their uber-intellectual / educated selves.  Channeling Sowell:

“People will forgive you for being wrong, but they will never forgive you for being right—especially if events prove you right while proving them wrong.”

In particular, when they’re being proven wrong by people who they derided and disdained as inferiors.

 

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Carl Sagan On The Importance Of Free Speech And Skepticism

 

 

 

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Palate cleansers:

 

 

More times than you can easily imagine.

—

 

I feel this some days.

—

The post Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

Nashua officials selling projects to the elected leaders have mastered the art of the ambush. All too often, City officials are presenting information to Boards and requesting immediate approval for the project.

The elected officials are caving to the demands for immediate responses rather than reflect, contemplate, and verify data. This elevates the project risk.

Two new city projects on the horizon are the redevelopment of the Elm Street Middle School property and the EPA Superfund Mohawk Tannery property.

At the August 19, 2022 Nashua Housing and Redevelopment Authority (NHRA) meeting, Director Cummings and Director Sullivan presented a plan for the redevelopment of the Mohawk Tannery property that would create over 500+ housing units for the City. The City would be partially waiving the regulations for the newly adopted affordable housing act as the developer could not meet those requirements and maintain profitability. This project involves a complex and rarely executed funding deal.

The minutes reflect;

Mr. Tollner asked within what timeframe the City of Nashua would need a decision from NHRA. Mr. Cummings said he would like at least a consensus now that NHRA is on board as he wants to be able to represent it publicly to the Board of Alderman.

The NHRA gave consensus for the project.

On January 10, 2023, Director Cummings and the Mohawk project team presented to the Board of Alderman. The cache of materials was not provided to the members prior to the meeting. Director Cummings tries to deflect that he is looking for approval from the Board, but states:

We will not be looking for any type of approvals, we just want to get an indication as to whether we’re going in the right direction…

At a December 6, 2022, Joint Planning & Economic Development Meeting

Director Cummings and Mayor Donchess presented a plan to the Board of Alderman for the development of the Elm Street Middle School property. Once again, the presentation material was not provided to the Board in their packet, nor available to the public.

Director Cummings stated;

I’m looking to get some sort of go no-go direction on the city developing a strategic partnership with Riviera where we affirmatively go out to the marketplace and we speak with confidence that yes we do want two ranks on this we understand that there’s some trade-offs here one of them being is we’re looking at like a 50-year lease type conversation…”

The PEDC committee voted 7-2 to move forward with the project. Two members believed it was unfair to request an approval when a project of this magnitude was under a first review.

Nashua has many projects on its plate. Elected officials should not succumb to pressures from the Mayor and Directors for immediate approval. Please exercise the due diligence that your constituents expect and remember that it’s not your money. It’s taxpayer money.

 

The post Racing to Uninformed Decisions appeared first on Granite Grok.

As a citizen-legislator, I know very well how hard it is to pass a law. It shouldn’t be easy, but gosh, I sometimes wonder why it’s often so difficult. Still, it’s very rewarding to finally get a bill over the “goal line” and into statute.

Likewise, for rules. Rules are everywhere. Every organization has them, as do most families. My dad had a few rules, for instance. But he could change them as he wished—without a hearing, vote, study committee, amendment, or quorum.

Most organizations have rules which can usually be changed by processes somewhat more involved than those that governed my dad’s rulemaking—including the National Football League.

This brings us to football icon John Madden. While the late Hall-of-Fame coach is well known for the video gridiron game that bears his name, he also co-authored (with Dave Anderson) a best-selling book entitled One Knee Equals Two Feet (and Everything Else You Need To Know About Football).

The title referred to what constituted an NFL player being inbounds after making a catch. If one knee hit inbounds after a reception, then it was a catch. But each of a receiver’s two feet had to step inbounds for a reception to be a catch.

In college football, only a single foot needs to be inbounds for a good catch. That’s a much better rule.

The NFL requirement results in countless video reviews to determine whether or not both feet are inbounds. It takes up time in almost every game. It’s exhausting and unnecessary. Just adopt the college rule.

But nooooooo! (As John Belushi would say.) The NFL continues to stick with the One Knee Equals Two Feet rule. Adopting the college rule would result in more completions, fewer video reviews, and more scoring. But the NFL’s Grand Poobahs won’t “change the rule!”

(I don’t exactly know who these Grand Poobahs are, but they remind me of the ne’er-do-wells who sabotage the bills that I try to move through the New Hampshire House of Representatives!)

Anyway, as if things weren’t already bad enough, NFL officials sometimes STILL get it wrong after exhaustive video reviews—as when the Cincinnati Bengals were screwed out of a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs. Millions of fans watching replays on TV saw that Ja’Marr Chase clearly made an endzone catch for a TD that was overturned.

Even worse, think back to the Patriots’ epic loss to the Raiders in Las Vegas on December 18. (I know some of you have blotted it out of your memory. Sorry.) With the Pats leading the Raiders 24-17 with 32 seconds left, Las Vegas QB Derek Carr hit Keelan Cole in the back of the endzone for a TD. But upon further review, it was clear that Cole got neither a knee nor two feet inbounds after receiving the ball. While that was obvious to the millions watching on TV, the replay geniuses still ruled it a TD and the game was tied.

This, of course, set the stage for the zaniest ending in NFL history, when, with the clock already having run out, Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers tried to throw the football back to QB Mac Jones. It was picked off by Chandler Jones who ran it 40 yards into the endzone for a 30-24 Vegas victory.

Anyway. Non-ne’er-do-well readers surely get my point. Enough with the One Knee Equals Two Feet NFL nonsense. Adopt the college one foot standard.

This change has been proposed year after year after year after year to the Grand Poobahs. But the rule stays the same.

Happy Ground Hog Day!

The post One Knee Equals Two Feet—and Football Rule Changes appeared first on Granite Grok.

I have a question for those who adopted the terms vaccine-hesitant or anti-vaxxer. It won’t be many of our readers, but they may know folks or interact with them. Legislators and activists will have met a few.

When someone uses either term, you should be able to ask to see their vaccine card. You know, the passport (to them, it’s not protected or private medical information, right?).

If you got the Jab, you’ve got agency and shared experience. If not, you can still play along. The goal is not ridicule but coalition building. I’m serious, so hang in there a moment.

Ask if they got both shots. Which ones? How about a booster? Did they get one, two, three, or more injections, and how about the new bivalent? Any side effects? Many of the wielders of these terms will have had one booster, maybe two, rarely three. Very few got the bivalent. Uptake is very low.

Do they plan to get it, and if not, why did they change their mind?

If they say it’s because they got the other vaccines, you could say well (if you are the anti-vaxxer), I got other vaccines. Like, all of them from my childhood up to and maybe including flu and pneumonia shots as you age – assuming that’s true. Don’t lie.

You may have even got one or two of the mRNA things when it was all the rage or to keep a job (etc.). But then something changed for you. You decided that was enough. What changed your mind?

If they stopped at two or three, what changed theirs?

Isn’t that vaccine-hesitant?

The FDA has just announced everyone needs a COVID shot annually. If getting the thing is the morally responsible act for the community, and the powers that decide what that means said you need boosters and now the bivalent, and at least one every year, are you on board or not interested?

If you need help, the New York Times and the Washington Post have cracked this Seventh Seal. Doubt and mistrust about the vaccine messaging and the messengers are no longer verboten. The experts lied, which is an opportunity to establish common ground, build alliances, and address the greater threat.

They lied about many things, and it is okay to be hesitant now. You just took a bit longer to build your suspicions.

A government and public health cabal abandoned its responsibility to protect its citizens. It ignored what was before its eyes in favor of the approved response. It suppressed or even shouted down those who dared to stand up and question anything or everything.

Maybe you believed them, but now you don’t.

Anyone who stopped buying in or is no longer on board with bivalents or annual boosters must have a reason. They might be a potential advocate for the cause of transparency. Maybe they will listen to other experts?

And maybe they could use someone to listen to their story, help them find resources, and perhaps that person is you.

Or they might be the women on The View, in which case, ridicule the crap out of them. They earned it.

 

 

The post Doesn’t Stopping After The Second COVID Shot or the First Booster Make You Vaccine Hesitant? appeared first on Granite Grok.

It has been nearly three months since the first batch of classified documents was uncovered in the Penn-Biden Center. When the Biden lawyers came upon the documents and why the lawyers were there is a story unto itself, they did not notify the FBI or the DOJ. No, they called the National Archives, and they called the authorities. We have heard ad nauseam that the President takes the handling of Classified materials very seriously. If KJO uses that term more often, the American public may buy the concept. It is evident that Joe Biden disregards the idea of top-secret document control. How else can you explain him having documents from his time as a Senator? No Senator should ever have classified documents outside of a SCIF, let alone in his garage next to his Corvette.

Since the first week in November, four more sets of documents have been found. These docs were found in the Biden garage, home office, and the beach house. Some of these classified docs are at least 15 years old, which is how long Biden has been out of the Senate. We do not know what is on these papers, but we do know that it does not matter. If you have them, you have broken the law.

Over 1,500 boxes of materials from the Obama years are in storage at the University of Delaware for the Vice President Biden Library. Why have these not been investigated? Joe, his family, and any invited visitors have free reign of Biden’s properties while documents are still found. Where is the security here? How can we ever feel confident that documents are not being destroyed rather than turned over to authorities? We cannot.

We do not know how this will end, but we know that Biden’s plans for a re-election bid are deteriorating with each new discovery or press briefing. When KJP takes to the podium and avoids or deflects questions, Biden’s approval takes a hit. Nearly 70% of those polled believe that the White House is not handling this matter well. I think it is vintage Biden. He is averse to the truth and cannot accept accountability. The questions are getting more pointed daily., And the tone went dark today when Karine was asked if Joe Biden was involved in a cover-up. This situation has evolved from a Biden miscue to a potential criminal event. Not the story to build a campaign on for 2024.

The way the Democrats, politicians, and media supporters are lashing out at Biden is quite obvious. They must do this to distance themselves from a pending epicenter and preserve some semblance of credibility. Biden has been delaying his re-election announcement because he cannot catch a favorable day to declare. They may be best served by taking a break from the briefings. Some will claim they are hiding from the story, but if you march Karine Jean-Pierre to the podium not to answer questions, which is worse? This Doc-Gate also creates an eerie dark cloud that will take the wind out of the upcoming State of the Union.

There will also be questions about the untimely resignation of Chief of Staff Ron Klain. Is it a coincidence or tied to the growing scandal? You can be sure if Karine is asked, she will deflect.

The post Who is Checking the Trash, Shredded, Heck, Even the Ocean appeared first on Granite Grok.

As a long-standing NHGOP volunteer who has held multiple positions in the state party and knows a great deal about the party’s history with the multitude of its stakeholders, I am providing the insight I KNOW concerning the NHGOP election on January 28th.

While some might say the Republican party in NH is in “a good place,” others have a very different view and perspective. Over the past few election cycles, I’ve seen a decline in people’s faith in the NHGOP and its leadership. This decline is not just happening in NH; it is occurring across this great nation, many of which are described as “uniparty” nationally.

Having had hundreds of conversations with people over the last four years, I can conclusively state that the NHGOP is failing on many fronts and desperately needs fundamental change that doesn’t include doing the same old thing with the same old people (a.k.a. going along to get along.) If you don’t believe there are issues, you are NOT listening (as was the case in the Londonderry local Republican committee.) Undoubtedly, taking the time to listen to people to understand their views has been remiss in the state party leadership.

With the election less than a week away, it is time to think about the role the NHGOP plays and what is needed to ensure communication, messaging, trust, restore belief, party growth, fundraising, and unity. YES, REAL UNITY! The NH Republican party is split and broken, so it will take a group of remarkable individuals who stay true to the party’s platform (principles) to unite and find a way to reach common ground.

There are currently two individuals running for party chair with different backgrounds, skill sets, and motivating factors. Will Chris Ager or Lou Gargiulo be able to restore faith and belief in the party, bring in new people (which would include young people which the Dems have the corner on), and donors? While I respect both men, there is a difference to note on the path taken to run for the position of NHGOP chair. Chris ran for NH National Committeeman two years ago, knowing it was a four-year term. With two years left of the four Chris decided to run for the chair to eliminate Steve Stepanek (he said), who is the current NHGOP Chair.

When Steve announced he was not running again, what was Chris’s motivation to continue?

On the other side is Lou Gargiulo. As early as late last summer, Lou got approached by many grassroots patriots to run for the position of chair. Lou was very thoughtful with his approach and decision-making. He thought about it and talked to many of his volunteers, supporters, and newly elected representatives. While still deciding, he told me he needed to know he had the “Live Free or Die” people behind him. (This was after experiencing a grueling NH Senate run in a district the 2021-2022 Senate/Legislature re-districted him out of, and the NHGOP wrote off as “unwinnable.”)

Lou is a former state representative, was the state chair for candidate Donald Trump, is a current selectman, and is a successful CEO of his own company. Lou listens and works to find solutions with people; he is thoughtful, resourceful, filled with ideas, easy to work with, and always willing to talk with anyone. During his run for the state senate (primarily self-funded), he built an incredible team of volunteers, a united, motivated, and cohesive group that worked on his campaign and stood alongside him. In contrast, Chris is retired but has held various positions within his community and the NHGOP structure.

The most significant distinction between the two candidates I see is discernment and possessing sound judgment. As a leader, one should never disparage others, especially those with different abilities (for example, people with support animals). Doing so once can be excused; doing so throughout two election cycles shows a lack of judgment and discernment. Leaders have to lead by example. I finally heard too much from folks on this issue and called the person leading the charge with these statements. Unfortunately, the person I needed to confront was the sitting national committeeman.

Good leaders have a strong sense of self-awareness and humility. The best leaders are humble and understand their own personal shortcomings because it motivates them to have things to work on, work towards, and do better.

It is no hidden secret how much money the Democrats can raise. For the NHGOP to operate at an optimal capacity and level, lots of cash is needed. (I sat on the NHGOP executive board when we faced real financial hardships and had to make some difficult decisions.) As an entrepreneur, Lou has built a very successful business. Lou has established relationships, contacts, and connections within NH and well outside of NH to be a highly successful fundraiser. As National Committeeman, Chris has met with folks outside of NH, but will those other state committee folks be willing to help NH raise money? Does he have a proven track record of fundraising like Lou has?

While many want to line pockets from playing politics, the state parties must have money to operate and to see real change in NH; we need to step up our game and strategy big-ly! What concrete plans does each candidate have? This question needs firm answers because it is a crucial element of the role of the chair. The chair is eligible to be compensated. One man, Lou, has stated he will forgo any compensation. Will Chris do the same? A million dollars in fundraising equals a $100,000 payment to the chair.

Both Chris and Lou are good men, but they have different paths for deciding to run and different qualities to bring to the leadership role of party chair. One man is firm in his convictions, and the other frequently plays the typical politician role. The party has changed, and a new type of leader is needed. Questions (many hard ones) need asking, and those questions should not vary based on the audience or person the candidate is facing.

Will the state committee members elect more of the same on January 28th? Will the choice be to go with a new leader that will be strong and able to lead the state in a much-needed new direction? Are you ready to see some real Republican change for NH?

I really hope NH puts an end to the same ol’ same ol’ from the Grand Old Party.

 

The post What Will the Future of the NHGOP Hold? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Here we go again. A detailed complaint against Windham election officials was filed with the NH Attorney General’s office in December regarding the September 13, 2022, Primary Election.

The 2022 Primary Election complaint identifies ongoing issues and inconsistencies with NH election laws and procedures. That election is now the second federal election in a row where there appear to be continuing, disturbing failures by Windham election officials to follow simple election laws and procedures – AND wildly inaccurate reported numbers on election night.

The first time was Windham’s 2020 General Election, which produced the largest numerical discrepancy in the history of New Hampshire between election day results and a hand recount of the Windham State Representative race. That led to a forensic audit to determine the cause of the discrepancy.

Eight months after the 2020 General Election audit was completed, the NH Attorney General and Secretary of State delivered a joint letter to Windham officials. That letter identified over 130 violations of election laws and procedures during the 2020 General Election and informed Windham officials that an election monitor would be appointed to oversee Windham’s next election during the September 13, 2022, Primary. A rare occurrence.

But even with an election monitor present during the September 13th primary, it appears nothing has changed. The complaint regarding the September Primary Election outlines 33 additional concerns in detail (and there were more). It includes over 70 hyperlinks to official election documents that provide specific details for those concerns. With the detailed information provided on a silver platter within the complaint, the AG’s investigation should be simple and straight forward.

Assigning an Election Monitor for the September 2022 Primary did not produce the desired result.

To put it another way… how much longer will Windham’s election officials be permitted to do the same thing over and over again before the AG puts permanent corrective measures in place to ensure that Windham’s elections follow election laws and procedures?

More info to come regarding issues related to the Windham 2022 General Election…

 

The post Do Windham Election Officials Represent Einstein’s Definition of Insanity? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Ding! Ding! Ding!  We have WINNAHS as they know the answer to the question: Which of these Marketplaces has Government inserting itself?

Hospital Services? Think Medicare and Medicaid subsidies.

College Tuition?  Think Government “loan” subsidies.  And College textbooks are in that as well (but they’ve always been expensive).

Childcare & nursery school? Think Headstart (whose “benefits” disappear shortly after kids enter elementary school (itself subsidized).

And compare those to those things where government has a much smaller footprint relative to pricing (“Obama Phones” running contrary to that).

Anyone want to take my bet (remember, I am NOT a “betting guy”!) that if all of Government’s machinations relative to “higher education” costs went away, costs would plummet. After all, all those administrators may be Woke but they ain’t stupid when it comes to truckloads of bucks driving by…

(H/T” PostImage)

The post Data Point – Notice which Price Changes Can Be Associated with Government Meddling in that Marketplace? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Given the scope and history of using government schools to “teach” sex ed, the idea that they’d get this wrong, too, makes sense. What do I mean?

I think I summed it up nicely last February.

 

The Public Schools have been “teaching” sex-ed for (at least) five decades, and look where we are as a result? Unwanted pregnancy, single-parent families, sexually transmitted disease (STD), rape culture, mental health, the sexual assault of children, and suicide tied to sexual-related dysphoria.

Complete failure would be my diagnosis unless that was the plan, and plenty of folks would say yes, that was the plan.

 

Government-school-inflicted gender dysphoria is the newest normal for the Education Industrial Complex. In the course of abandoning academics, they’ve fostered a false culture of equity and diversity whose sole function is to destabilize families and future generations.

Mandating education at taxpayer expense that turns kids against parents (if they are lucky enough to have more than one at home if they are ever home) is genius if you mean evil genius.

Remember, families, are the enemy of Marxists. One-parent families make it easier for the government to declare itself the faithful guardian (which it has). And we know that with few exceptions, the atmosphere is hostile to ideas outside those approved by the Left, even when it kills the kids. And it kills them.

We’ve known for years that kids who grow up on the LGBT spectrum have higher rates of suicidal ideation.

 

Puberty blockers, for example, can kill kids. Transed kids are more likely to experience anxiety and attempt and succeed at suicide. Even in the most caring communities, they are more likely to smoke and abuse drugs and alcohol. These issues are endemic…

 

They blame you and your cisgender privileged culture, but new research adds meat to the bones of at least one part of the problem.

 

“Our behavioral and neurobiological characterization reveals for the first time that chronic leuprolide treatment, starting after the onset of puberty, exerts sex-specific effects on social preference, despair-like behavior and hyponeophagia, neuroendocrine responses to mild stress, and hyperactivity of the [dentate gyrus], a crucial neurobiological regulator of stress responses in mice,” the paper reads.

 

Add that to the results of this  2019 study.

 

Approximately 58% of transgender patients had at least one DSM-5 diagnosis compared with 13.6% of cisgender patients (p<0.0005). Transgender patients had increased prevalence for all psychiatric diagnoses queried (Table 1), with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder being the most common diagnoses (31% and 12%, respectively).

 

Anxiety and depression are leading causes of suicide. A majority of transgenders exhibit these conditions. They have an increased incidence of suicide or attempted suicide. Science suggests it is a side effect of puberty blockers.

It might be the drugs.

If you are an adult and have fully informed consent and continue with this form of treatment knowing the risks, more power to you. None of my business unless it’s taxpayer-funded. If you are not an adult and not the legal guardian, all sorts of problems arise, not the least of which is that minors cannot typically (legally) give informed consent.

I doubt any of these details are included before the treatment starts. Certainly not to children or their parents (if they are the woke sort who go along with it). So, little or no information at all, even though it is well-known that puberty blockers can chemically kill kids long before the psychological side effects nudge them toward suicidal ideation. Or, if you’re in Canada, well – they have a coloring book that normalizes asking the state to help you kill yourself.

It can’t all be a coincidence.

 

 

HT | Daily Wire

The post New Research Suggests Puberty Blockers May Make Your Kids Suicidal appeared first on Granite Grok.

We have had the good fortune of a warmer winter. It has been wet (very wet), but mostly rain and not snow in the southern part of New Hampshire. That has changed as it must. Winter always comes calling, and it often asks for a heavy price.

Successive snow storms, numerous power outages, the hum of generators, and the beep of utility and plow trucks as they back up. The meteorologists speak of winter travel conditions, meaning snowy or icy roads, but there are others. Downed trees, branches, and vehicles stuck trying to climb icy hills or other obstructions.

I passed a dozen places today where trees had been removed from the road and at least four where trees rested across the road leaning on power lines supporting them above the street.

It was a 12-minute trip.

A few hundred feet up the road from my home, a tree brought down the power lines early Monday morning by snapping the top off the utility pole to which they were still attached. It was an impressive sight, and it took work crews a while to get that addressed.

It is a busy road, so it got some priority.

We lost power for about  18 hours (+/-) and had no internet for at least 8 of that. The internet was down again this morning, but the power is still up.

It’s not the worst we’ve seen or the worst from this storm. But it comes with the territory. Lots of snow, mostly wet and heavy. White pines are everywhere and in abundance. That weighted snow has a way of bringing them (or parts of them) down, and they don’t always miss the infrastructure.

 

 

 

Or the phallic-shaped genderless snow figures.

That shot was taken around the corner from my home on a neighboring street. I was walking the dog and spent a good deal of time “watching my overhead,” as we used to say at UPS.

Beautiful but sobering. A loud crack sends you scurrying, but on slick pavement, that’s not so easy to do. The same applies to driving. If you are on tree-lined streets, you pay attention to the road and everything dropping or hanging over the road.

New Hampshire has hundreds of thousands (still) without power.

There will be people without power for days or even weeks, but it’s not extreme weather. We get this every year, and every few years, we get smacked around repeatedly in succession.

We’ve got another storm heading in Wednesday to Thursday.

Downstate, the flatlanders are getting some snow but mostly rain. That will be sloppy, but it will get the snow off the trees, providing some relief.

At least until the next hard freeze or snowstorm. They seem to be lining up as we creep toward February. Also not unusual.

I can’t tell you how glad I am that we got our generator wired into the house a few years back. It is worth the expense if you’ve not considered it – assuming you’ve got a generator. If not, buy one this summer when they are cheaper unless you can’t do without it now – but best of luck finding one.

Let us know how you fared, or are faring, in the comments.

The post Hello, Winter! appeared first on Granite Grok.

In my senior moment musings, I relive my childhood fascination with the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson and the Grimm Brothers. As a child these fairy tales provided endless amusement and incentivized me to learn to read.

Of course, age has provided me with a different perspective on the meaning and significance of these amazing tales. In my old age, I now realize the incisive political commentary of these geniuses, who were handcuffed by their governments from critical social commentary. So these brilliant minds crafted parables that immunized them from political persecution.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is an ageless commentary on the inanity of humankind. The Pied Piper conned the entire village by musically luring the rats out of Hamelin. Then he enticed the children away from their parents and, in some versions, the children drowned or disappeared forever.

We want to thank Charles Bradley HERE for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you would like us to consider, please submit it to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

Historically, there has been any number of Pied Pipers. Today, the Pied Pipers are dressed in many cloaks: Joe Biden, Klaus Schwab, the Obamas, and Bilary. These Pipers have mired a generation of children, known as Generation Z, in massive political myopia, which endangers our country.

Let’s take a look at the Pied Piper Biden’s catastrophic disasters of 2021 and 2022:

1. Afghanistan: Created a Taliban army, gave China Bagram Air Force Base, and left 10,000 Americans at the mercy of the Taliban.
2. Bidenflation: Despite denials, the poor and the middle class suffer from massive inflation in energy and food, not to mention the spiraling interest rates, which will probably lead to hyperinflation in 2023. Check the massive layoffs across the economy.
3. Southern Border invasion of millions of illegal aliens.
4. Weaponization of the DOJ, the FBI, and the CIA against the parents of school children, political opponents, and President Trump.
5. Sabotaging our energy independence on his first day in office and depletion of our National Oil Reserves for obvious political benefit in 2022 mid-terms
6. Appeasement of the CCP by accepting multi-millions of dollars, which I consider bribery
7. Blatant disregard of our national security classified documents over a thirty-year period and a cover-up of this abuse.

Luckily, for the children of Hamelin, the Pied Piper is a fairy tale. We must live with the catastrophic Presidency of Demolitioncrat Biden or, God forbid, worse. The question arises, “ Are We On The Eve Of Destruction?”

The post Biden Is the Pied Piper appeared first on Granite Grok.

Let’s cut to the chase:

The company’s environmental impact goals consist of “being a carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste company by 2030.”

Fair enough – if you wish to change your operations in support of your internal goals (er, what the heck is “water positive”??), have at it. Train your employees, give them the tools, incentivize them – but forcing this on your customers regardless of what THEY think they bought?

Microsoft announced in a recent news post that it will force gamers into powering down their Xbox consoles in order to fight climate change as part of the company’s campaign for “building a more sustainable future of gaming.”

The company announced its intention to become a “zero waste” company by automatically switching gamers into “shutdown mode” to conserve energy. Microsoft also claims that if two gamers use their proposed power-saving method for a year, it is the equivalent to planting one tree.

And WAIT, there’s MORE Nannyism at play

The gaming console will also schedule updates and maintenance at specific times that the company claims “may” help reduce carbon emissions. “Your console will wake up at a time when it can use the most renewable energy in your local energy grid,” the post claims, adding that soon all gamers will be able to update their systems so that the “Xbox console is carbon aware.”

What, to meet its INTERNAL goals, it’s going to be monitoring where that console lives (YOUR house?), ferret out which electrical company you use,and start running analysis on your gaming and costs.  Are you down with that – have you GIVEN them that information?

You BOUGHT your XBox, right?

Yes, there are some parallels as to when they do Windows updates. Sometimes they ask and sometimes they jam something down your throat (figuratively speaking).

I’m not a gamer so I don’t know – are Microsoft’s competitors doing the same thing? Or are they going to use this against Microsoft with a “we’re hands off and respect your property – you can trust us because we’re not like that other guy”?

 

(H/T: The Blaze)

The post And Microsoft Will Become “This” by Dragging All You XBox Customers with Them – Like It or Not? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Here are some of the best places residents of New Hampshire can visit to watch live soccer matches from some of the major soccer leagues around the world.

The following sports bars are all licensed to show certain live matches in Concord, Manchester, Portsmouth, Dover, and Nashua, to name just a few major cities in New Hampshire.

Where can I go to watch live soccer if I live in New Hampshire?

Some of the following licensed bars are more reliable than others when it comes to live soccer, so it’s just a case of trying out as many of these sports bars as possible until you find a good one with uninterrupted soccer action that you like the most.

For example, some bars have much bigger screens than others and may have a specific area for watching football. The best bars showing live soccer will also have the commentary volume turned up instead of playing music as the action unfolds.

Some of the other annoying things that can happen at the worst bars with live soccer are things like not turning the match on until after it has started or, worse, switching the game off before it has ended.

Top bars to watch live soccer in New Hampshire

Here are some great venues to visit if you live in New Hampshire, especially if you’re looking to watch live games and highlights from the MLS, the English Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, France’s Ligue 1, and Italy’s Serie A, to name just a few top-flight leagues.

 

• Dover, New Hampshire – a great sports bar with live soccer and other sports is The June Cork Pub
• Concord, New Hampshire – a popular venue to visit here with lots of flat-screen TVs is The Draft Sports Bar & Grill
• Nashua, New Hampshire – a top place with plenty of live sports in Nashua is O’Brien’s Sports Bat

 

Top sports betting sites for soccer betting

Whether you’re looking for sports betting in Tanzania, Norfolk in England or New Hampshire in the USA, one of the most trusted sites you can turn to for the latest soccer betting markets with competitive odds is 10bet Africa. It’s free to sign up to, and you can download the free 10bet sports betting app on your Android or iOS smartphone in just seconds.

Apart from soccer betting, you can also place wagers on the NFL, NHL, UFC, MMA, boxing, tennis, cricket, baseball, basketball, volleyball, rugby league, rugby union, motor racing (Formula 1), and table tennis, to name just a few major sports.

More great places to visit in New Hampshire

If you’re based in Manchester, New Hampshire, and fancy kicking back in a sports bar to watch your favourite soccer teams, you may want to start by going to The Red Barn Diner. You also have Charlie’s Homestyle Diner, the Backyard Brewery, The Wild Rover, and the River Road Tavern.

If that’s not enough to keep you going, then you also need to check out several other popular spots, such as the Strange Brew Tavern, The Pint Publik House, The Stumble Inn Grill & Bar, and Murphy’s Taproom & Carriage House.

If you live in Concord, you have The Red Blazer Restaurant & Pub, The Penuche’s Ale House, and Buffalo Wild Wings to visit. Some of the highest-rated sports bars worth checking out in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, are the Throwback Brewery, the BRGR Bar, the Cisco Brewers, and Paddy’s American Grille.

The options to choose from in Dover, New Hampshire, are Andy’s Old Port Pub, and Ri Ra. Many of these venues also have live music, quizzes, and other entertainment. While you’re waiting for the new 2023 Major League Soccer season to begin on February 25th, why not catch the latest action from some of the world’s other top leagues?

How old must I be to gamble online in New Hampshire?

To place a real money wager at a licensed gambling site, such as 10bet, you must be at least 18 years old. However, it’s 21 for race tracks, in-person sports betting, casino games, and poker.

If you are going to gamble for real money, always remember to gamble responsibly. Don’t chase your losses, and if the website allows you to, remember to set things like deposit limits, spending limits, or session time limits.

These are great bankroll management tools that can help you stay in much better control of your spending. It’s also a good idea to try and set a budget and then try your hardest not to go over budget.

 

The post Where Can Residents of New Hampshire Head to Watch Soccer Live? appeared first on Granite Grok.

This is not a video from 2016. This is the real-time reaction of one of the “veteran GOP strategists” quoted in NH-NeverTrump Journal … you know, those supposed high-level “strategists,” “insiders,” “consultants,” etc., that Mikey Graham quotes, but never names … to the news that President Trump will be keynoting the NHGOP annual meeting.

What’s that you say? You saw this video back in 2016? My response to that is that you are a racist, vaccine-denier, climate-denier, semi-fascist, ultra-MAGA, tool-of-Putin moron, who probably killed thousands by not wearing a mask and who bears full responsibility for my COVID-vaccine not working because you didn’t shoot up with an experimental drug like I did.

The post BREAKING!!!!! … Exclusive “Footage” Of NH-NeverTrump Reaction To News That Trump To Keynote NHGOP Annual Meeting appeared first on Granite Grok.

Hello, my name is Randall Kelley. I am a resident of Bristol and part of the great north… Grafton County. I am formally announcing and introducing my campaign for the NHGOP Vice Chair position.

About 15 yrs ago, I decided I had enough with the direction I witnessed the NHGOP and the Republican Party headed. At the time, I decided to become involved in my community. The most important aspect of the Vice Chair position is getting Republicans involved and running for local offices. I came out of the gate and campaigned for the town council, followed by a multi-year commitment to the zoning board, local activities, festivals, the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and other associations. My involvement facilitated more local participation and success, fueled by numerous suggestions before my departure. I met my beautiful wife of two years, bringing me to the fantastic community (Bristol) where we now own a business and reside.

We want to thank Randall Kelly for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you would like us to consider, please submit it to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

The last few years also brought something to our plate we couldn’t have ever expected. We are now the guardians of my wife’s three grandchildren, 8, 13, and 14, respectively. This drastic life change made us make some serious adjustments to our existence. First of which was my retirement. I say retirement, yet I’m not eligible for any compensation. Second, I am now a dad full-time. After taking on this blessing, it wasn’t long before we felt the schools’ inadequacies and burdensome overreach/mandates during Covid. We realized that the only choice was to remove the children from these public schools, a.k.a. indoctrination centers, because we were disgusted with what was occurring, which was getting worse by the day. Thankfully, our children now attend a private Christian school and have for over a year. The results are mind-boggling, and the positive effects are like night and day compared to their previous education. We are excited to see changes in their lives each day, from increased grades and attitudes to increased progress.

Getting involved in our local communities and educating our elected officials is super important. In addition, educating those who wish to seek political office on the importance of participation in their communities is just as important. Unfortunately, the NHGOP doesn’t seem to list that critical information at the forefront of its recruitment platform. The Party over the past several years appears to be more of a determent for involvement than promoting candidates who align themselves with the Party at the local level. This sentiment has troubled me and will be my utmost priority if elected vice chair. Local politics has always represented the roots of future endeavors politically. Why do we naively believe it’s a nonpartisan format? Because party affiliations are not promoted or broadcast? This is where we have to make some drastic changes and be bold and truthful about what the Republican Party stands for.

Many individuals who support the Party have let themselves escape the Party’s conservative, constitutionally driven intents. The Party became about Party preservation, not its integrity. I will spend every day as your Vice Chair to change that. We need to start being the Party of following our God-given natural rights, showing that we align with a fiscally responsible limited government, education and health freedom, fair and honest elections, parental rights, constitutional rights, and more.

I think integrity is a huge aspect that is missing from the NHGOP platform. In addition to the others mentioned previously, my priority will be making sure the people’s needs again reflect as a Party priority. I believe (and hope) the Party participation would increase, and maybe, just maybe, we could get some of those estimated 50+% NH undeclared to come back aboard to help make NH RED again.

By participating in our community, I reference the numerous boards and committees with open seats. The ones we need our perspective candidates or elected to join in.

People ask… how have democrats infiltrated every aspect of our municipalities and voting process?

My simple answer is…

• Democrats are never “busy.”
• They never find more excuses not to participate rather than to participate.

Republicans believe people are doing what needs to be done for them. Yes, and it has been done… BY THE DEMOCRATS! The result is the discontent and discourse we all experience daily.

When people tell me they are “too” busy, I reference my present commitments:

• I am the Vice Chairman of the Bristol Planning Board.
• I am the Chairperson of the Bristol CIP Committee.
• I am a member of the Bristol Downtown Committee.
• I am a member of the Emergency Management Committee.
• Our children and I volunteer and participate in many of Bristol’s happenings.
• I will run for the Bristol School Board in just a few weeks.
• Never mind my wife Janice’s volunteer and financial contributions.

Getting involved is how we can change things from the inside!

I have always spoken up against all that is occurring negatively. To, unfortunately, have establishment Republicans make statements such as… “Let them have their fun, Randall,” to “what harm can they do working the polls; it is all secure, Randall.”

The passive-fickle nature and constant lack of involvement and recruitment goals of the Party are incredibly disappointing. This has brought a party peppered with RINOs and/or folks who are not in the Party’s best interests. Going along to get along is not an option any longer. Internal accountability must be adhered to vigorously to keep the Republican Party from becoming the sinking ship that it now represents.

My goal as Vice Chair is to bring leadership back into leadership. I am concerned that we are 0-11 sending any candidates to Washington. All liberty groups and first-time candidates are alienated or left out in the cold. I will help ensure they no longer feel this way. Leadership is desperately needed now, and we need to be the wall that stops all this insanity from happening. We must protect our children, and we cannot afford to fail them. We must stop turning our backs on our forefathers by NOT using the application of the law and constitution as intended. I have an extremely strong personal interest in NOT seeing any failure through for my God, my wife, my family, my community, and my country.

Please consider a vote to preserve the Party as we once knew it to be on January 28, 2023. Your vote can be for someone hand-picked by the establishment, one who will only do what they are told, -OR- you can vote to help protect and preserve all our futures by casting a vote for me, Randall Kelley.

Thank you, God bless NH and may God bless America

The post Another Candidate Running for NH GOP Vice Chair: Randall Kelly appeared first on Granite Grok.

I was flabbergasted at how large that overhead number really is (emphasis mine). “HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: More Employees Than Students at Stanford: Give Each Student a Concierge!

 

“Specifically, there were 15,750 administrators, 2,288 faculty members, and 16,937 students. The paid help of 18,038 (administrators plus faculty) outnumbered the customers (students) by 1,101. That gave me an idea for a stunning administrative reorganization: give each student a paid concierge—an academic butler, if you will—to help navigate the pain of collegiate living in Palo Alto.”

Faculty members would be DIRECT labor – they actually DO what higher education is supposed to do: knowledge transfer.  That’s it – that’s its main purpose. Sure, there is research, and some of that is profitable, but that can and does translate to the next generation of knowledge transfers (or academic “spinoffs” in terms of startup incubators).

15,750 / 2288 = 7.9.  Impressive overhead.  Thanks, Mom & Dad.

 

The post Quick Thought – Why Haven’t the Stanford Trustees Asked This Simple Question … appeared first on Granite Grok.

So here is a tweet from some NH-Democrat State Rep demanding “gun control” in response to the Monterey shooting. Needless to say, the gun in question is already illegal in California. So either this Staes Rep is ignorant or dishonest. It really doesn’t matter which. Whether it is ignorance or dishonesty, this State Rep has no business being a State Rep or serving elected or unelected in any government position.

The voters would be to blame … except this person represents Durham. So it is New Hampshire’s rigged election scheme, which allows out-of-State college students to vote in New Hampshire, that is to blame. And UNH, which like the rest of so-called “higher education” has as its mission the grooming of students to be America-hating Communists, is to blame.

If only we could elect a Republican Governor and Republican legislature to defund UNH and end the grooming of students to be America-hating Communists. Oh wait … we do have, or supposedly do have, a Republican Governor and Republican legislature. So it’s their fault too that someone like this is a State Rep.

And, by the way, this person’s Twitter-bio says she is a former teacher:

Safe bet that her idea of “teaching” is grooming America-hating Communists.

It is an embarrassment and a disgrace that someone like this serves in State government. New Hampshire absolutely deserves to lose FITN.

The post Ignorant or Dishonest … Does It Really Matter? appeared first on Granite Grok.

The actual LtE title: Patrick H. Wood: Affordable housing should be a right, not a privilege

Sometimes I hang onto things far too long. Like I’ve said in the past, when  GraniteGrok first opened up, there were FAR fewer “things” to write about as the pace of such things were:

• Much slower than they are now
• More people, especially with social media and bloggers, are reporting on things. Couple of orders magnitude more

More folks like me end up with “FOMO” – Fear Of Missing Out.  And for me, it’s a constant reading of posts/articles on the idea of “THIS is interesting but should the NEXT one have precedence over it?” – and I don end up writing about what caught my attention. So right now, I have about 400 tabs open in my browser of stuff “I want to write about” – not writer’s block but “priority failure”.

But this one I kept and it’s time to unload it (or is it “unload ON it?”). Now, Wood and I have known of each other since the early 2000s. We’re not friends nor acquaintances – we just know each other (barely?).  And he’s a lawyer so I hold him to a higher standard in what his “I’m running for State Rep” letter than what I would someone “just off the street”.  So, a bit of a fisking as while the House bit caught my attention, there are a couple more:

I am running for state representative from Laconia. This decision was not easily made as I am really enjoying retirement.

Actually, if one is retired and not doing anything else in particular, it would be an easy choice. It IS great to be able to decide, within some boundaries, what one is going to do that day unencumbered by other responsibilities – job, kids, other hobbies. But serving as a rep IS a HUGE time suck, so there’s that.

However, after the mass killing in Uvalde, Texas, I could no longer be only an observer. I believe safe gun ownership is a civic responsibility, not an infringement on rights.

And right off the bat, this lawyer (who should know FAR better) gets it absolutely wrong.  The Right to keep and bear arms (noting that the Second Amendment NEVER talks about what KINDS of guns which the Left is always harping over) is a Constitutional Right that SHOULD be beyond Legislative attempts to restrict it. Heller and now Bruen have made it clear that the Left (and Wood is a hard Democrat) have been wrong about this for years. No longer a “secondary” Right, the courts are now recognizing it as a first rank Right along with all the others.

Sure, keeping your arms safe is a responsibility but one that is personal. As we are raising the Grandson, I take the time to make them secure – he’s too curious and too willing to “experiment” on his own. But that is on ME – it is NOT a “Civic” responsibility that I “owe” to anyone else outside of my home.

And any legislation to the contrary (as many Democrat-run cities and States are finding out) means getting sued.

As a member of the Laconia Housing Authority, I am acutely aware of the need for more places to live for the people who live and work here. Affordable housing should be a right, not a privilege.

Good for you for getting involved. However, as a lawyer, you KNOW what a Right is based on the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. A Right is an inviolate part of someone simply for being human.  I have the Right to Free Speech – Government can’t stop me and it doesn’t mean YOU have to listen to me, but I can speak, write, create a video or a poster and express my thoughts.  It costs you NOTHING.

I have the right to my own religious beliefs and Government is restrained from forcing me to believe what it “allows” (a national church, for instance, although the Left, via Government, is trying hard to institute “the National Church of Secular Humanism, IMHO).  My beliefs do not mean that you must also accept my beliefs. My free expression of my beliefs cost you NOTHING.

So, going back to the definition of an inalienable Right (as opposed to a “legal right”) as recognized by our Founders:

Inalienable rights, or “natural rights,” are those rights that humans can innately enjoy. These are rights that cannot be taken away through laws created by man. Inalienable rights are different from legal rights, which are rights provided to an individual by the legal system, such as the right to an attorney and the right to remain silent.

They are a part of you, as I said, just for being human. And these Rights do not affect others with respect to exercising them.

So, how does “Housing” fit that as a Right?  Are we born having a Right as an innate part of being human?  No.  Is it a Constitutional Right?  No – there is no mention of it.

Someone has to create that Housing.  Someone has to expend time, talent, and expense to “give you” a “Right to Housing”?  I don’t think so and Wood should know better.  Remember, a Right places no obligation upon anyone else to provide ANYTHING for you to exercise an inalienable Right.  Again, the Right to Assembly is also counterbalanced with the Right to NOT assemble with others with whom one does not wish to associate with.  You cannot force me to attend either a KKK meeting or an Antifa/BLM meeting or those that cavort over abortions.

Making Housing a Right means that someone else must be involved – and that’s not part of a Right.  I cannot proclaim that Grokster Steve and Ann Marie (to pick on two Groksters) MUST build me a house.

Neither can Patrick Wood. And the adjective “affordable” makes it even worse.  And I’ll go to that next step – I don’t believe that Government should be taking my private property (via taxes) simply to give it to someone else.

Now, if Counselor Wood wants to make “Affordable Housing” a reality, he should stop being lazy. Get off that quasi-Government agency called the Laconia House Authority and either join up with Habitat for Humanity (certainly Wood is of the age to remember Jimmy Carter) and work in the charity space to raise the private funds to create the housing he believes everyone should have.  Or start his own charity (note that I’m not calling it a non-government organization – they are ALWAYS looking for Government provided money).

But alas, I doubt that’s his mindset – for the Left, ONLY Government can do good works.  Even if it shouldn’t be doing it.

Not only that, how often do you hear the Left saying that “THIS is a Right and THAT is a Right and that thing over there is a Right” and you go “I don’t remember that in our Constitution(s)”?  It’s deliberate – the Left has shown, over time, that ANY thing should be a right AND that Government will provide it to you.

Which isn’t, then, a Right at all.

Like Thomas Jefferson, I believe a robust public education system is essential for the preservation of our democracy. Having served on the Laconia School Board I learned that teaching is not only one of the most important jobs, but it is also one of the hardest. The schools need our support, not our political interference.

And a quick rebuttal: public education MONEY should follow the child, under the guidance of their parents, in providing publicly funded education.  A building, or a set of buildings, in a given zip code, should not be entitled to that public education funding.

Let them earn and compete for that money. But that’s not how the Left works either (especially where teachers’ unions give quite a lot of that “money transfer” back to Democrat elected officials.

I would greatly appreciate your support and your vote in November.
Patrick H. Wood
Laconia

And no, he didn’t make it.

Thankfully.

Now, if someone tells him about this post, tell him he’s welcome to write a rebuttal.

 

The post This Has Bothered Me For A While: NO, Patrick H. Wood, “Housing Is Not a Right” appeared first on Granite Grok.