The left ‘hates’ fossil fuels the same way they ‘hate’ guns. They need them, you don’t. Fracking was a logical target because it produces the energy we need at prices everyone can afford. Killing it was a priority, and kill it they did, but new research suggests it might be a critical part of the supposed green energy transition.

It turns out that the Marcellus Shale —  a long swath of sedimentary rock in the northeastern United States that holds huge amounts of frackable gas — holds huge quantities of lithium too. Justin Mackey and other researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pennsylvania were pleasantly surprise when they studied the contents of wastewater dredged up in the fracking process at 515 sites in the Keystone State, reports Science Alert. …

When they analyzed the wastewater data, they were stunned by the volume of lithium. The shale “has the capacity to provide significant lithium yields for the foreseeable future” he says. Their detailed findings were published in Scientific Reports.

No one is concluding that all frackable shale despots will likewise result in a commensurate connection to lithium, but how amusing would that be? The Marcellus deposits, if continuously developed, address a pressing need of the climate cult and its energy transition. Lithium is essential and we don’t have much capacity. There is a goal to develop US capacity as a drunken nod to the notion of domestic lithium independence. And it turns out that getting there from here – aside form being totally unnecessary for the scores of reasons we’ve covered elsewhere – might require the tin-foil-hat-left to support fracking.

The Thacker Pass mine in northern Nevada, which is supposed to be the nation’s largest open-pit lithium mine. Indian tribes sued, claiming the mine is too close to the site of an 1865 massacre.  Environmentalists sued, saying the mining process will destroy animal habitats and harm groundwater. Now the federal Fish and Wildlife Service is doing a year-long study on the potential impact to a tiny snail.

The Frackers are already established and operational. The physical footprint of oil and gas installations if tiny compared to traditional lithium extraction. It is a solution to a non-problem they’ll have to swallow their pride and ignorance to embrace but they may have no choice.

How amusing is that?

 

The post What Fracking and Lithium Have In Common (Enviros Will Hate This) appeared first on Granite Grok.

A recent survey shows police departments hired more new officers in 2023 than in the previous four years. This news is particularly encouraging for major cities suffering upheaval and increased crime. Americans are concerned about upholding law and order, an issue that will doubtlessly feature prominently in the 2024 elections. However, the ongoing decriminalization ideology embraced by many prosecutors may undermine these positive gains: Many crimes charged by the police simply aren’t being prosecuted.

The study by the Police Executive Research Forum reflected increased hiring for 2023, but also a drop in police officer retirements and resignations. This is encouraging news for law and order following an exodus of experienced officers following the controversial death of George Floyd in 2020 and the ensuing BLM fad. Bold attacks on police, initiatives to defund departments, and reduced personnel from resignations and lower applications created a vicious cycle of demoralization that has not fully abated – some inner-city departments still struggle with recruitment despite six-figure starting salaries.

Police Killings

It is understandable that police officers would resign or retire, and that new recruits may hesitate to serve on the streets. The hateful attacks against US police officers extend beyond mere shaming or political criticism – murders of police officers rose nearly 60% in 2021, a number that included numerous targeted assassinations. A total of 346 officers were shot in 271 separate incidents, according to the Fraternal Order of Police, and  103 of those shootings were “ambush-style attacks.” The number dipped slightly in 2022 to 331, but then rose again to 378 in 2023. Surely such statistics motivate police officers and their loved ones to consider alternative professions.

A recent poll by the Pew Research Center suggests the issue of law enforcement may feature highly in 2024 election races, as 58% of US adults say “reducing crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress to address this year,” up from 47% at the beginning of the Biden presidency in 2021. Overall crime rates are allegedly down for violent offenses but have increased substantially for property crimes. Additionally, high-profile disruptions in America’s largest cities have fueled public perceptions, including brazen assaults by illegal immigrants against both citizens and police, and controversial episodes of squatting, shoplifting, and carjacking.

Prosecutorial Support for Law Enforcement

Voter concerns may shift public sentiment toward police support – many cities that embraced Defund the Police policies are now scrambling to restore public safety. But supporting the police also means supporting prosecutions of those the police arrest and charge, a growing problem across the country as left-wing prosecutors who more resemble defense attorneys decline to press charges for drug dealing and many theft crimes, eliminate cash bond, decline to charge juveniles as adults, and advocate minimal or suspended sentences for many dangerous offenders.

Such lax support of America’s police does not bode well for future hires, public safety, or the political fortunes of liberal Democrats. Following the spike in murders of police in 2021, FBI Director Christopher Wray ominously hinted at this problem:

“We’re seeing more and more juveniles committing violent crime, and that’s certainly an issue. We’re seeing a certain amount of interstate gun trafficking. That’s part of it. And we’re seeing an alarming frequency of some of the worst of the worst getting back out on the streets.”

Prosecutors in many roiling inner cities refuse to pursue sentencing enhancements for repeat offenses, aggravated circumstances, or gang affiliation. This ensures more violent, mentally ill, or criminally organized defendants will “slip through the cracks” of lax prosecutorial worldviews and be released to commit more crimes, including targeted murders of on-duty police officers.

The Path to Law and Order

The rise in police hiring is a hopeful indication that Americans and their families will be better protected in the future. But lax prosecution will continue to put both police and the citizenry at greater risk of violent crime and diminish police morale and future hiring. Police officers working without prosecutorial backup are hog-tied from accomplishing the fundamental purpose of their profession, no matter how many new cops are hired.

Law and order is a high priority for many voters going into the 2024 elections. Their focus may turn to policies that hold prosecutors accountable for enforcing the laws, That outcome might – and perhaps should – be preferable to ignoring their commissions in favor of dangerous political ideologies that place law-abiding citizens and honest police at unnecessary risk.

 

 

 

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

The post Police Forces Finally See a Post-Floyd Rebound appeared first on Granite Grok.

The New Hampshire State Senate just passed (and I mean Just!) HB1093 AN ACT  prohibiting mandatory mask policies in schools. “This bill prohibits school boards and other public education agencies from adopting, enforcing, or implementing a policy that requires students or members of the public to wear a facial covering.”

189:75  Facial Covering Policy for Schools.  The school board of a school district or the chief executive officer of a chartered public school or public academy shall not adopt, enforce, or implement a policy that requires students or members of the public to wear a facial covering for any purpose while on the school’s property unless the facial covering is necessary for a specific extracurricular or instructional purpose, or is required by some other section of the law. In this section, “facial covering” means any item worn on the face which covers a student’s mouth, nose, or both.

It’s a short and sweet statement that you shall not mandate face coverings in schools—full stop. This means they are optional—there is no law preventing individuals from adopting them or anyone discussing any harm or benefit. It does, however—because you know how “They” get—include some clarifications.

This provision shall not prohibit any public school board or governing person or body of a school from requiring participating students to wear athletic gear intended to protect against concussive or similar sports-related physical damage, or to wear protective equipment while handling chemicals, fire, or other similar hazardous elements for scientific or similar educational purposes.  Further, this provision shall not prohibit policies that may require facial coverings as part of a student’s individualized education program pursuant to RSA 186-C or accommodation plan pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq).  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

No one is banning helmets in football, and so on. It is sad that you have to make that clarification, but that’s not the problem; Sununu is.

Governor Sununu has been known to ignore his Executive Order Spree on the subject of COVID-inspired statewide overreach and selectively play the local control card. (He vetoed HB1131 the 2022 bill preventing school mask mandates). You know, let the locals decide, except when he doesn’t think that’s a good idea. But both chambers, through investigation and debate, have again discovered that mask mandates are not what many claim and may indeed cause harm. Industrial hygienist Stephen Petty came back to New Hampshire again to try and help pass this bill (he was also here for round one in 2022).

He might need to visit the governor personally over a long lunch because this isn’t our first rodeo with protecting kids and education staff from these mandates.

Has Sununu seen more now that he feels comfortable saying yes this time? It’s his last term, and he doesn’t have to run on it, so it could go either way. He could also allow it to become law without his signature.

We’d be good with any of that but we’re not holding our breath.

Please politely encourage the governor to sign HB1093.

 

 

The post Law Prohibiting Local School Mask Mandates Heads to NH Governor’s Desk (Again!) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Ken and Tom founded the Government Integrity Project a number of years ago. Their mission, along with their supporters, is to find out where Government is not playing with a straight deck. We’ve all known about the “Good ole’ boys” networks that can run small towns, the larger cities with their Tammany Hall political machines, and individuals (often drawing government-signed paychecks) not always believing that they are merely public servants but become enamored with the Power that Government can wield.

A few weeks ago, I was asked by Tom and Ken if I’d participate in an interview with another person for a documentary on Government Corruption that will be coming out somewhere down the road. Hey, while Ken often sends in submissions as a Grokster, both read GraniteGrok as regular readers so they know about the goings on here in NH. So of COURSE, I said yes and spent a few hours with them and their crew.

And when we had run out of time (the Library wanted their room back but certainly we didn’t run out of things to talk about!), I turned the tables on them – I brought my camera out and had them sit together. I’ve split the 20 minute interview into 3 parts.

This is Part 1:

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Rumble("play", {"video":"v4txjcc","div":"rumble_v4txjcc"});

The post “Why Do You Do This Stuff?” – With Ken Eyring and Tom Murray Part 1/3 appeared first on Granite Grok.

It’s another Wednesday running cover for our meme-master –  trying to do a good enough job to keep his audience entertained until he can pick the day up again.

Remember, these are memes. It’s just a bunch of memes, including dead Iranian president memes (and a video of Putin and someone who is supposed to be Biden).

As always, apologies for duplicates from past meme posts.

Here we go.

 

 

 

 

 

June is coming…

 

 

 

Poetry corner…

I’m not sure what the hell this is, but leave the volume off. Trust me.

WHO DID THIS?? pic.twitter.com/aAUuBKpDx1

— TONY (@TONYxTWO) May 20, 2024

 

How about a Few Dead Iranian President Memes?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hair is an anti-hijab reference in Iran.

 

 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled memes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What the..?

 

Just because…

 

 

 

The post Midweek Memes – Still Not to Be Confused With … appeared first on Granite Grok.