Tuesday • April 28 • 2026
Vol.XVIII • No.XVIII
Manchester, N.H.
It is time, once again, to see which of the following seven comments and their commenter will accumulate enough votes to be this week’s comment of the week winner.
The poll will remain open until 8 pm Tuesday evening. Please encourage other commenters and readers to vote. Comments are published in total; please review and select the author’s name in the poll below.
Please note that while many comments were worthy, only one is chosen each day and you will choose the winner.
Post name
Commenter name
Comment
Oppose HB1283 – The So-Called “End of Life Options” Bill Commenter: Ken Goodall
My Mother suffered with Spina Bifida and my grandparents were told she would not survive a year after her birth. Then it was three, then six, then her teens, and finally they gave up.
After suffering multiple different medical issues through out her lifetime along with the spina bifida, she lived to be 89 years old.
Not getting into the whole deal, I believe the Medical industry blew it. After speaking to several people and a lawyer, most commented on her age. I told them all, my mother was a fighter since birth. I had just installed a new deck with a ramp to make it easier for her, I had contacted the local Dialysis treatment center, so even if I could have had only a couple years living with her, that time would have been a treasure.
Congress Is A Disgrace Commenter: Old Matelots Whatever the platform and wherever the location, both of the ‘Legacy’ Political Parties have slowly but surely contributed to the rapid decline of the Nation since the 1960’s. Whether it is their ‘turn’ either in or out of power, both groups are heavily populated with individuals who could never have been elected were they to have faced a moderately well-educated, reasonably well-informed and somewhat civically engaged electorate. Sadly, in the 21st Century, such a constituency has become impossible to assemble.
Oppose HB1283 – The So-Called “End of Life Options” Bill Commenter: Live From OBidens Earpiece
Agree with you to a point. The position you are taking is similar to the Libertarian view. It may seem simpler to just let people do what they want within the scope they have. However, there are always unintended consequences, connections we weren’t aware of. We don’t live in vacuums. We just can’t decide to drive the way we want, while others follow the rules of the road. Similar to Oregon’s decriminalization of possession of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs. It had an effect on the users, but also a negative impact on the cities and people connected to the users.
That said, we do need to find middle ground which allows a person to die, in their own time, with dignity. Some still hold to the idea that suicide is a mortal sin while others worry our feral government will look to adopt laws to end our lives quicker especially for those deemed “unproductive”; warehoused in senior living, or those unwanted or who inconvenience society (abortion is an example).
Sadly, we treat our pets better. Somehow we have been able to reach a balance between the Vet, the owners needs and the pet’s best interest without the ham hands of government being overly involved. Not in all cases of course, but like life, nothing is perfect.
Last Chance to Save the Soul of the Nation Commenter: pfrcav717
Just a couple of things I would like to add to this excellent article is that no matter how many people come out and vote against Commie Joe Biden, The Democrat fraud machine will be able to halt the vote counting in key areas and bring in the ballots they need. Thanks to mail in voting the Democrats have been able to devise and test a system that all but guarantees victory in every single election. 2020 was the test.
The Republicans at the federal and state levels turned a blind eye; the courts lacked the courage and the integrity to address the issue which was clear cut. And our federal and state law enforcement agencies found themselves inept at even starting an investigation into voter fraud. But, then again, B Hussein Obama initiated that change in federal law enforcement as well as the federal judiciary, again, with full Republican support. We can even look at the Supreme Court and see the lack of courage and integrity due to politics.
The country we knew and loved, and many of us fought for, is in dire straits right now. And I don’t see anyone on the federal or state level that is willing or able to take on this level of corruption.
One last thing: Even if Donald Trump is elected, will he be able to do anything? As one commenter already said, he had the White House and both the House and Senate, and his own party fought him. The swamp is deep, deeper than any of us could possibly have imagined.
We will have to see what happens, but I fear what must happen to correct this destruction of America.
Comment of the Week Winner: Ian Underwood Commenter: James 51% using the other 49% as an ATM is terrible, but magnitudes worse is that we are entering a world where the 51% can **** your children, and unless you gleefully go along with it (not just accept it, but slobber gleefully at the prospect) you will be lined up and the Republicans will stand there and make a great speech about how they totally do not accept this, this is terrible what they are doing to you, but in the end they will do nothing to stop it, they are there to hold your head still, stop you from getting upset.
Transgender Surgery Is the Lobotomy of the 21st Century
Commenter: Houmid
Robert Heinlein in his Address to Annapolis cadets defined morality as behavior, “that tends toward survival.” All LGBTQ+ behavior leads to lower than replacement level birthrates, which is why historically, religions condemned such behavior; because it’s anti-life. Transgender surgery removes the capacity for creating and gestating new life, which is about at immoral as you can get short of murder or suicide.
Why are we continuing to parrot this false claim that flies in the face of basic math and the reality of our electoral system?
Look, support the EC on the basis of history, principle, whatever that’s fine but stop lying that it protects the small states from the big states. If that was the point it fails spectacularly.
At the moment every state is beholden to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona
What the electoral college does do is disenfranchise the Republican voters in California that outnumber those in Texas, and the Democrat voters in Texas that outnumber those in New York etc…
Also on the list of sins is the number of electors we have completely distort the representation of the states(along with the entire House of Representatives) and until we see the repeal of the 1929 Permanent Apportionment Act we aren’t even seeing the EC working as it should be
Poll!
Pick one Commenter as This Weeks WinnerThe post Vote for Comment of the Week appeared first on Granite Grok.
So here is DemocratWoke-Communist Leader Matt Wilhelm engaging in some political self-promotion. While all politicians engage in self-promotion, how and where one chooses to self-promote matters.
More specifically, what does it say about Wilhelm that he chose to self-promote on an MSNBC show hosted by an apologist for Hamas?
And, just a reminder because the Biden-Regime and the DemocratParty have forgotten them … Hamas took Americans hostage on October 7th and continues to hold some Americans hostage.
Wilhelm does NOT view a pro-Hamas, apologist-for-anti-semitic-terrorism as an extremist. No … he views Trump-voters as the extremists. Wilhelm is truly disgusting and truly dangerous.
The post The Rancid Company That Matt Wilhelm Keeps appeared first on Granite Grok.
For the past few years, Ukrainian tech companies find themselves in a challenging position. While contributing significantly to the nation’s economy, they also face heightened cybersecurity risks: due to Russia’s war on the country, many international companies are wary of starting their collaborations with local companies. However, many existing clients remain loyal and prove that, amid military invasion, the companies successfully operate and produce the expected results.
This article discusses the current situation in the cybersecurity landscape in the Ukrainian software sector and how local companies protect their assets and maintain stability in the face of the ongoing war.
Cybersecurity MeasuresFor Ukrainian software development companies, in particular, implementing strong cybersecurity measures is not a luxury but a necessity. Secure systems can prevent unauthorized access to confidential data, protecting intellectual property, customer information, and financial records. Data breaches and ransomware attacks also can lead to huge financial losses as well as significantly damage a company’s reputation which can result in losing customer trust and market share. Therefore, investing in cybersecurity fosters a secure environment for innovation and growth.
Trends in Ukrainian Cybersecurity LandscapeUkrainian tech companies learn to benefit from adopting cutting-edge technologies and best practices to protect their clients’ data. Among the major trends that shape the Ukrainian cybersecurity landscape are
Additionally, many local tech companies have moved their data to the EU territory, which also minimizes the risks of data breaches.
Regulatory Framework and ComplianceInternational regulations and industry standards play a pivotal role in ensuring cybersecurity compliance. Ukrainian tech companies follow the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ISO 27001 to enhance their cybersecurity practices. These are just a few regulatory measures taken to provide strong data security, access control, and incident response procedures. By aligning with these policies, Ukrainian companies demonstrate their commitment to protecting user data and meeting international compliance standards, potentially opening doors to new business opportunities.
Never Forget About the Human FactorThe human factor is one of the main sources that contribute to poor cybersecurity. Even the most sophisticated security systems can be compromised by human error or a lack of awareness. That is why it is so important to invest time and effort in employee training to raise awareness regarding cybersecurity. Among the most spread policies are various security training events including phishing simulations. This allows companies to check how their employees adhere to security measures and prevent data breaches.
The Future of Ukrainian CybersecurityThe Ukrainian tech industry is demonstrating remarkable resilience and innovation in the face of challenges caused by the active war and heightened risks of cyber-attacks from Russia. As the cybersecurity landscape continues to change, local tech companies easily adapt and remain competitive in the international arena. As to the future, current industry players shift their attention to
Automating routine security tasks and centralizing security management will further enhance efficiency and reduce human error.
Integrating security practices within DevOps will allow for a more proactive approach to identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities in applications.
Continuous monitoring and threat hunting will become increasingly important to identify and neutralize emerging threats before they can cause damage.
SummaryUkrainian tech companies are playing a vital role in driving innovation and economic growth for the country, especially during the hard times because of the ongoing war. By introducing a proactive approach to implementing best cybersecurity practices, they can continue to grow in global IT, ensuring a secure and prosperous future for the Ukrainian tech industry. The local talent pool is vast and has always been a competitive force in the international arena owing to their dedication, professionalism, and high standards when it comes to job performance
The post How Ukrainian Tech Companies Protect Their Data Amid War appeared first on Granite Grok.
I gave testimony this week in opposition to New Hampshire bill HB1633 to legalize recreational marijuana. This is my testimony.
I post frequently on Facebook about my concerns with the efforts to make recreational marijuana legal in New Hampshire and I get a lot of pushback from people who believe marijuana is completely harmless. I have warned them repeatedly about the studies that show that marijuana is linked to psychosis and an addiction expert who says that 1 in 20 daily cannabis users will develop schizophrenia. I worry a lot about these people and I hope against hope that my words will wake them up from their complacency.
Last year, a long-time acquaintance of mine insisted over and over in his comments on my Facebook post that cannabis does not harm anyone’s brain and as a daily user he functions at a high level. He accused me of spreading propaganda. Sadly, within three days of posting those comments he died by suicide. He left behind a wife and two small children. I was not able to wake him up to the serious harm he was doing to himself and his family with his daily use of marijuana and it breaks my heart.
Also last year, a young man was accused of shooting his uncle to death in Derry. He was reportedly motivated by a paranoid belief that his mother and others were trying to kill him and his father. This has all the hallmarks of cannabis psychosis. Living in southern New Hampshire, he would have had easy access to high-potency recreational marijuana just across the border in Massachusetts. We will see many more such crimes as marijuana floods across our borders from all sides.
Recently, when I was with a group of young people holding signs with messages in opposition to this bill outside Reps Hall, Jim Riddle, an advisor for the New Hampshire Cannabis Association verbally abused the teens and one of them started crying. I stood between him and them. He was very angry but I insisted that he back off. This is not normal behavior for a grown man. Marijuana is not good for anyone’s brain.
From Alex Berenson’s 2019 book “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence.”
Dozens of well-designed studies have linked marijuana with psychosis and schizophrenia. Researchers have found marijuana users are much more likely to develop schizophrenia. People with the disease suffer more frequent and severe relapses if they smoke.
Most people will never have a psychotic episode while using marijuana. Some will have temporary breaks from reality. But an unlucky minority of users will develop full-blown schizophrenia. At this point, doctors have no way of predicting who they will be.
We should not add to the supply of dangerous addicting, mind-destroying high-potency recreational marijuana by legalizing it in our state.
Related: Marijuana Legalization is NOT Inevitable
Contact the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote ITL on HB1633, “relative to the legalization and regulation of cannabis and making appropriations therefor” at 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
The post Night Cap: 1 in 20 Daily Cannabis Users Will Develop Schizophrenia appeared first on Granite Grok.
Democrats in Vermont are like Democrats in New Hampshire, New York, California, and the District of Catastrophe (DC). There’s no such thing as too much spending or too much taxation but for sh! ts and giggles, they like to call it things like tax relief. As in, we’d like to relieve you of more of your income with more taxes.
If you’ve followed VermontGrok, you’ll know a few things about this, and we encourage everyone to get themselves educated, especially if your local Dems have ever suggested support for property tax relief. We’ve got those here in the Granite State, and for years, I’ve been warning people that 1) They are still (always) looking to raise more “revenue” to spend on schools, government programs, and handouts. More of everything. And (2) that means taking more of your money, not less, so taxes can’t go down. Whatever they are claiming is a massive bait and switch to swindle you and destroy New Hampshire’s unique place in New England, raising revenue by lowering taxes.
Vermont, our poster child for why we should not let Democrats get control of anything, has been spiraling for many years, but in recent sessions, the Democrat super-majority elected (presumably) by Vermonters has been showing us why (with Maine working hard to catch them). The Green Mountain State has a spending problem (all Dem States do, and it never goes away – look at California). To address this, we get news of a “crucial milestone for Vermont’s public education system.” The headline at Vermont Biz is “House passes property tax ‘yield bill’ with 15% increase.”
This week marked a crucial milestone for Vermont’s public education system as the House passed the annual yield bill, H.887, which aims to provide relief to property taxpayers and sets a clear path forward for education finance and taxation. It passed out of the House Wednesday on a vote of 101- 39, which, as is, would be sufficient to override a gubernatorial veto if it were to come to that. Governor Phil Scott has frequently made the point that Vermonters are already overtaxed, and this plan would raise property taxes by an average of 15%.
A bill aimed at property tax relief raises those taxes by 15%. That means people want or need more, and they’ll find it elsewhere, so your property taxes go up 15% instead of 20% or more. No one is cutting spending to provide relief – the same abovementioned lesson.
• Section 2 sets the property dollar equivalent yield, income dollar equivalent yield, and nonhomestead property tax rate for fiscal year 2025. JFO estimates that these yields and rates would correspond to an average increase of approximately 14.97% for homestead property tax bills and income education tax bills, and an average increase of 17.99% for nonhomestead property tax bills. The section also includes a one-time increase of 14.97% to each claimant’s property tax credit for fiscal year 2025.
• Sections 3 and 4 repeal the sales tax exemption for prewritten software accessed remotely. JFO estimates this change would generate $20.4 million in additional revenue for the Education Fund in fiscal year 2025.
• Section 5 imposes a 1.5% surcharge on short-term rentals and dedicates the revenue to the Education Fund. JFO estimates this surcharge would generate $6.5 million for the Education Fund in fiscal year 2025.
There are many other notes, but the cost of property tax relief, summarized, is a 15% rise in property taxes and 27 million in taxes by other means. And the beatings will continue until you stop electing Democrats (and those outside that party who enable them).
The post Property ‘Tax Relief’ Means Property Taxes Will Go Up But Less Than They’d Like appeared first on Granite Grok.
There is a word that describes someone who thinks males should get to spike volleyballs at females … should get to set a pick on females … should get to rewrite the records for girls’ school sports, essentially erasing female athletes. That word is misogynist.
Angela Brennan, DemocratCommunist candidate for Senate District 15 is a misogynist.
Stop the gaslighting, Angie. The students in question are not girls. They are males. They will never have ovaries … there is no gender-affirming surgery that lets men produce eggs. And, because they are males, they, in general, enjoy inherent physical advantages over females that make their participation in girls’ sports both unfair and dangerous.
The bill, SB 375, recognizes and affirms that girls’ sports is about girls competing with and against other girls … not about girls being forced into competing with and against males in order to accommodate males who identify as females. To the extent that you want to use terminology such as “targeting,” Angie … it is you and other Woke-Communists who are doing the targeting … targeting girls who want to compete with and against other girls, not with and against males who identify as females.
An excellent post on X by J.K. Rowling rejecting and refuting the claim of Woke-Communists like Angie Brennan that being female is nothing more than a state of mind:
You’ve asked me several questions on this thread and accused me of avoiding answering, so here goes.
I believe a woman is a human being who belongs to the sex class that produces large gametes. It’s irrelevant whether or not her gametes have ever been fertilised, whether or not… pic.twitter.com/X6mbdJ0YVm
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 6, 2024
And if you want to learn more about Angie Brennan, my post: Angela Brennan (Candidate For Senate District 15) … Constitutional Know-Nothing, Or A Liar?
The post Angela Brennan (Candidate For Senate District 15) … A Misogynist appeared first on Granite Grok.
I was never a fan of Howard Stern or any “shock-jock,” for that matter, but at one time, Stern was considered an effective interviewer. That was years ago when Stern still had a fastball. Today, it is purely slow-pitch softball for Howard.
He was one of the heavy hitters who jumped from terrestrial radio to satellite in 2006 when he was 52 and in his prime. Like our President, Howard’s prime is in his rearview mirror. That is conceding Biden had a prime.
While Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate, is mired in a courtroom, the victim of Biden’s DOJ attack on a free election, Biden sat down with Howard Stern for a fully orchestrated interview. As we learned from ESPN, the questions and answers for both parties are provided, and there are no deviations or follow-ups. In Biden’s world, the interviewer is irrelevant and simply a tool in the President’s effort to secure reelection. This is one of Biden’s series of fluff interviews. We will know he is serious when he sits down with FOX News or, even better, SKY News. That has been brutally honest in their assessment of Joe Biden.
One of the only new points of interest is Biden saying he would debate Trump at some point if Trump could behave. Whatever does that mean? I think it would be beneficial to have immediate fact-checkers handing out Pinocchios, especially when Biden starts talking about his uncle being eaten by cannibals in New Guinea.
There is no way Biden’s minions will allow Biden to get up on a debate stage with Trump or Kennedy. It would not be pretty, and Trump would clean Biden’s clock. The better debate might be between Kamala Harris and whoever is Trump’s VP pick. With this being an election for a one-term President, there is keen interest in the person who would be the next Chief Executive. That is why I believe Trump must name his choice quickly. The chosen person must contrast greatly with Kamala and start hammering Harris on her failures that have been integral to the worst Presidency in our history.
There are several ways to ascertain a debate performance’s impact on the race, but first, Biden’s committing to a debate is meaningless. Biden says many things, and his staff either negates or modifies Biden’s statements. There is also the John Fetterman debate from the 2020 Pennsylvania Senate race. Fetterman was recovering from a stroke, was incoherent, and gave no indication he could perform the tasks of office. He won. Sometimes, the result is baked in, and actions and debates have little impact.
Biden is on the campaign trail daily, producing at least one gaffe per event. Then Karine Jean-Pierre tries in vain to backtrack. Often, she makes the initial faux pais worse. We are all to blame for this horrific situation involving a Presidential election. We do not vet candidates. We allow incumbents to skate to reelection regardless of performance. We need to do a better job of voting before we critique the field of candidates. Shame on us if we let Biden/Harris spend four more years in Washington. There is not a single aspect of their policy portfolio that has not or will not do long-lasting harm to America.
The post Howard And Joe, Two Irrelevant Relics appeared first on Granite Grok.
Vermont taxpayers are desperate for relief, especially in regard to funding public education. The only way to provide that relief is to return spending levels on Pre-K to 12th to something resembling normal pre-Covid levels.
The obstacle to this necessity is the politically powerful VTNEA, Superintendents’ Association, Principals’ Association, etc. (aka The Blob) are violently opposed to any reform of the system that impinges on the ever-increasing flow of money from Vermont taxpayers’ wallets into their own. And, conveniently for them, just as firmly ensconced in their pocket as $2.5 billion and growing of our hard-earned money is the Democrat Supermajority.
Taxpayers beg for relief; union special interests demand more cash, not less. Guess who the Democrats are doing the bidding of? Spoiler alert: not you!
We saw this in bald terms when Rep. Nelson Brownell (D-Pownal) explained that the education finance “reform” bill being proposed today is about “look[ing] at costs, but not in a containment way (emphasis added).” Just yesterday, House Ways & Means Chair Emilie Kornheiser (D-Brattleboro) snapped at Republicans offering an amendment to the property tax bill that would lower taxes, “There’s no decision on no taxes here. That’s just not an option.” Translation, “VTNEA et al, keep telling us how much you want to spend, and we’ll keep hitting up the taxpayers with more and higher taxes to pay for it.”
Here’s the reform reality we need to embrace: Vermont independent schools that participate in the Vermont’s 150-year-old town tuitioning system very generally speaking do a better job of educating our children for far less money. It’s a win/win for everyone who should matter.
We need more of this – lots more of this — not less.
Now, when opponents of this cost-effective, highly popular form educating our children howl – as they are certainly doing at this point in the story – that independent schools are only able to achieve these stellar results because they discriminate, no they don’t. That’s a lie. Every school, public or independent, in Vermont that accepts state dollars is subject to the same state and federal non-discrimination laws and regulations. Period.
The taxpayer funded per pupil costs for independent tuitioning schools are capped at $16,756 for elementary students, and $18,266 for middle and high school students. That’s 30 percent less than the official, weighted per-pupil average of $23,586 spent by the government run public schools. And, if one simply takes the $2.5 billion education budget and divides it by the 80,000 actual living, breathing student bodies in the classrooms, that number goes up to over $30,000 per kid.
So, using the most conservative numbers here, if every Vermont student were in the tuitioning system with a capped per-pupil spending rate, Vermont taxpayers could save around $750,000,000. And we’d still be spending 15 percent more per child than the national per-pupil average! And we’d more than likely be achieving better student outcomes.
Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it!
There are some communities that are coming to this conclusion. Parents of children in the Windham Elementary School, for example, just won a school choice petition battle – taking on the Blob as well as a hostile local school board – by an overwhelming vote of 82-45 to close the school and give the kids choice. As the Brattleboro Reformer reports:
“Windham families spoke up forcefully at the town meeting, giving several reasons for their fear and dislike of the Windham Elementary School, which is currently closed. They particularly cited the school board’s inability to affirm that the school would be improved in the immediate future, given lack of staff and serious deficiencies in the school plant,” the Windham Committee for School Choice said in an announcement. “The resounding victory for the solid majority of parents who wanted school choice was unexpected, and suggested that some pro-school voters at town meeting changed their minds on the basis of what they learned from the unhappy parents.”
That last point is key. Parents and taxpayers need to speak up, speak out, and make the case for school choice. Forcefully. It’s a winning issue.
National and state polling data tracked by the American Federation for Children shows public support for school choice at landslide levels between 65 and 75 percent. And for all you wokester social justice warriors out there, demographically that support is highest among Black respondents at 73 percent. (Or is your real attitude, “Black lives matter, but their opinions not so much”?) Hispanic support is at 71 percent.
Really, the only segment of the population that doesn’t support school choice is the special interests that profit mightily from the public school monopoly system. Breaking up that monopoly is the reform we need for the benefit of both as taxpayers and students. The system we have now, with rising cost and falling test scores is failing both. And so are the Democrats in Montpelier who are placing the demands of special interests above those of their constituents.
Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics, including three years of service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free-market think tank. He is also a regular contributor to VermontGrok.
The post More Independent Schools and More Choice Are the Property Tax Solution appeared first on Granite Grok.
I gave testimony this week in support of New Hampshire bill HB396 to protect women’s spaces and sports. This is my testimony.
Related: Take Action to Save Women’s Sports in New Hampshire
This is the Live Free or Die state and Governor Sununu made a terrible mistake in 2018 when he signed HB1319, “prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity” into law. He thought he was integrating lunch counters in the deep south but what he was really doing was stripping away the privacy and safety of women and girls.
An estimated 91% of victims of rape and sexual assault are female and 9% male. Nearly 99% of perpetrators are male.
In a Swedish study on a population of individuals who had undergone sex reassignment, the researchers state: “male-to-females . . . retained a male pattern regarding criminality. The same was true regarding violent crime.”
A large percentage of trans-identifying males, also known as “transwomen” are sexually attracted to women. They transition because they have a sexual fetish called autogynephilia. If a person has one sexual fetish they are very likely to have other sexual fetishes.
Here in Nashua, we had a male state rep, Stacie Laughton, who identified as a woman, was sexually attracted to women, and who was charged with soliciting pornographic pictures of local toddlers. Thankfully, he is being housed in a men’s prison.
Should men with autogynephilia and other sexual fetishes be given access to women’s and girls’ spaces of intimate privacy or women’s prisons? Segregation by biological sex can be a good and necessary thing. It’s not like racial segregation.
The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire officially supported HB1319 in 2018. They thought they were giving freedom to trans-identified people but they were really taking away the freedom from businesses and organizations to choose whether or not to allow men to access their women’s restrooms and locker rooms.
Let Planet Fitness choose to allow men into their women’s locker rooms. Women can choose whether or not to join that gym and risk seeing a man undressing or a man watching them undress. Or they can join a gym that respects their need for privacy and safety.
My testimony against HB1319 has been immortalized in the Hulu documentary “Changing the Game” and it is still relevant today.
Do you trust women to use their own intuition about who is safe to be in a women’s restroom or locker room? Do you respect a woman’s right to privacy? Do you respect a woman’s right to protect herself? Do you want to see women left vulnerable in restrooms or locker rooms to sexual assault, especially young girls?
Contact the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote OTP on HB396, “permitting classification of individuals based on biological sex under certain limited circumstances” at 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
“Governor Sununu… thought he was integrating lunch counters in the deep south but what he was really doing was stripping away the privacy and safety of women and girls.” HB396 would allow Granite Staters to acknowledge the reality of sex @BethRS62 #NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/0kf6SxsOIl
— Sidewalk Steve (@Sidewalk_Steve) April 25, 2024
The post Sununu Thought He Was Integrating Lunch Counters but He Was Stripping Away the Privacy and Safety of Women appeared first on Granite Grok.
What the hell is the matter with Goffstown? The latest: A DemocratCommunist State Rep, Judi Lanza, arguably attempting to commit multiple crimes because, apparently, she thinks her position as a State Rep entitles her to shake down local businesses.
And … you can’t make this stuff up … Lanza apparently actually used the “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM” line when called out for her thuggery:
Don't you dare get in between Rep. Lanza (D-Goffstown) and her scam of getting a drink and not paying for it!
She will quickly let you know who she is and why she is entitled to free stuff from Panera.
She won by 7 votes in 2022.#nhpolitics pic.twitter.com/8dWR8a0qcb
— Committee to Elect House Republicans (@CTEHR) April 26, 2024
Arguably, Lanza attempted to engage in Theft By Extortion, Theft By Deception, and Official Oppression. So I ask again: WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH GOFFSTOWN?????
The post “Do You Know Who I Am” … Yes, Goffstown State Rep Judi Lanza: You Are A Thug appeared first on Granite Grok.
The New Hampshire Republican Party held its annual meeting in Concord two weeks ago. That was probably a mistake, but the State House is there, so I can guess why they’d think it would be safe. Concord is a city filled with lefties and a few Libertarians, but it is not like there weren’t a bunch of armed citizens present inside at the event.
But they were all indoors.
While they were in their biannual “meeting” (discussing party business), some deranged proglodyte keyed a bunch of cars in the parking lot. Vehicles were reportedly tagged based not on a shadow of a penumbra but Republican-supporting bumper stickers or cars with State Rep. plates. You know, obvious GOP types. I hear there were a few there (snark!).
That sounds like an actual hate crime to me. Tony Schinella at Patch has the best reporting so far.
Lawrence Anthony Dunlap, 37, of South Spring Street in Concord, was arrested on Friday on 11 felony counts of criminal mischief. He was charged after a nearly two week investigation into close to a dozen vehicles that were keyed and damaged around Concord High School during the New Hampshire GOP convention at the school. The party rented the Christa McAuliffe Auditorium and the Main Street corridor for the function. In the early afternoon, when attendees began to leave, many with political license plates, including state representative registrations and political stickers, called police after seeing their vehicles damages.
Soms investigating by City Police, a warrant, and a search of Dunlap’s Residence later “yielded firearms, a manifesto, suicide notes, and a bag containing zip ties, masks, and gloves.” Isn’t this standard junk drawer fare for the average Concord Democrat? Maybe not firearms, but this is the Live Free or Die State, and the Constitution is silent on the right to carry gloves and zip ties, while suicide notes are clearly an act of free speech. I do have to ask. Were the Dunlap scribblings early drafts for shuffling off his own mortal coil, or was he pretending to be Xerox and making copies for others?
That might look bad. A local progressive who was outside (party meeting) was found in possession of abduction paraphernalia and firearms. Imagine the rising din were the report to suggest the opposite. They hated Obama (even Democrats hate Biden) and keyed Democrat cars. Found in possession of abduction material. That’d be a hate crime. The National media would pick that up, “discover” he was Christian for five seconds, and link him to everyone with name recognition in the GOP.
We’d have CNN and MSNBC holding panels and sticking microphones and cameras into politicians’ faces, many of whom would sputter pablum-filled apologies and denounce the dude.
That’s not what happened. The story got covered locally by Patch and NH Journal (and now here), but the only “corporate coverage” of the suspect and the arrest was a paltry 105 or so words from the local ABC affiliate (WMUR) with no mention of a partisan or (even potential) politically driven animus.
I guess that’s what the corporate media meant by unity.
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Many of us have been watching the images of the protests on the Columbia, Yale, and NYU campuses and listening to the alarming stories of Jewish students being harassed or confined to their dorm rooms for safety. The images could be of mass protests in Gaza if the crawler didn’t identify it as Harvard.
It is unnerving to think that our country has sunk to such a low level that antisemitism is spreading faster than COVID. But we were given words of hope and encouragement yesterday as Congresswoman Cortez (D-NY) praised the “peaceful” protests and the brave students exercising their right to gather and protest. Cortez is a buffoon, and the fact that President Biden commended her for her words of clarity is an example that Joe Biden cannot be of sound mind.
The protests against Israel and for Palestinians and Hamas are far from peaceful, and for anyone to say so is a fool. Police are being taunted. Jewish students are harassed, threatened, and told to go home. Illegal encampments have been set up on university real estate, and classes are disrupted, with Jewish students having to attend class via live stream. The irony is when one Jewish student was walking by the demonstration area, they were threatened with inciting violence. That is like saying the person with the black eye is guilty of being in the path of a punch. We have lost our collective minds.
Twenty-two of the top fifty universities in the country have active protests on their campuses. Some administrators have asked police to come onto the campus property to restore peace. Student protestors have been arrested, and non-student agitators are found mingling with the students and trespassing onto school property to join and bolster the pro-Palestinian actions. Some graduations have been canceled because the campuses are not safe. Some members of Congress are calling for presidents of the institutions with protests to resign if they are unable to bring order to their communities and assure safety for the Jewish students. President Biden has yet to make an official statement on the protests. He has given flip answers to media members yelling questions at him but no specific comments during his public appearances. It appears that Biden is hoping to lay low and hope this situation will burn out before he must address it.
Our President’s silence is as complicit to the anti-Israel sentiment as TikTok, `which is calling for violence if changes are not seen in America’s stance on Israel and Palestine.
These protests go well beyond free speech. When students and activists are threatening the safety and well-being of others and screaming, “We are Hamas,” they have lost their rights and should be arrested. Over 200 individuals were taken into custody at Columbia. None of them were booked, photographed, or fingerprinted. They were treated as if their parking meter had expired. We have lost control, and the inmates are running the asylum.
This article came together very quickly. Sadly, I wrote it with frustration and anger at the lack of leadership in our country and the absence of common sense. It is obvious this is a concerted effort across the country to promote hate and antisemitism towards Jewish people. Biden said on Monday that there are good people on both sides of this complex issue. That is exactly the comment that Donald Trump made about Charlottesville that Biden condemned Trump for. What short memory does our President have, or does he not have one at all? We now condemn him for his lack of fortitude to shut these protests down, call them out as hate crimes, and restore peace to these campuses and safety to all students. Maybe he can funnel some of the effort into locking up the January 6 protestors and direct them to find who is responsible for these insurrections.
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This week, my committee met twice on Senate bills. Tuesday we voted on six of them. SB 439, prohibiting boycotts of Israel in state procurement, was the most divisive. I moved to kill the bill, since the committee has long opposed using the state procurement system to make political statements.
After some discussion, the vote was 14-6, with the six not wanting to seem unsupportive of Israel or anti-Semitic. All our other votes were unanimous.
SB 480, on regulation of real estate practice, was amended, as planned, to delete unnecessary sections and passed. SB 437, on local authority to amend the building code, passed without amendment. SB 372, on plumbing apprentices, had the House clarifying amendment to go to two apprentices per master plumber. SB 369, on public notice for professional board meetings, had a committee amendment to only extend the notice period for written comment, then passed. SB 306, on manufactured housing rulemaking authority, was amended to insert the necessary definition of dispute resolution.
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We also discussed SB 485, which would require digital licenses, and realized that it was more complicated than we’d thought. Also, the testimony in favor was from a company that sells such a system, and it wasn’t clear that the interface with other states protected privacy well enough. So we recessed the executive session to prepare an amendment to cut out the digital licenses and just leave the boards’ responsibility to consider and evaluate military training and experience.
Wednesday, we started with SB 481, establishing Juneteenth as an official holiday, not just a proclaimed day. This was a concern to many members, as June 19 is pretty late for many schools, and we were not supportive of interrupting exams. Having an official holiday raised questions of time off (at taxpayer expense) for municipal workers, and how having government workers off when many private sector workers wouldn’t get a holiday was also questionable. We voted unanimously to not pass the bill.
SB 373, on the state building code, had been amended by the Senate to simply require the building code specify that leakage not exceed five air changes per hour. This number has changed several times recently, from seven to three in the 2018 energy code. The 2021 energy code (which we did not recommend) goes back to five; experience with buildings made to three air changes has shown that they build up moisture, favoring mold; chemicals from building materials and cleaning products; and tend to keep pollutants and allergens inside. From testimony, it seems the building code review board didn’t fully evaluate this specification by itself, but only as an element of the energy code; the home builders, who were pushing for the change, had also done a very poor job of presenting it as a stand-alone amendment. We ran out of time to vote on it, but I’m leaning in favor of the change.
Then we spent 3.5 hours hearing SB 440, on the board of optometry. Nationwide, optometrists are working to regularize the profession and increase their scope of practice; the opposition, here as well as elsewhere, comes from the ophthalmologists (eye surgeons.) We had testimony on the training and skills of optometrists, as well as their greater numbers and easier access – New Hampshire has 333 optometrists versus 77 ophthalmologists.
Some of the more important issues I heard were that only some of the optometrists are trained in the procedures they wish to add to their scope of practice – it’s a fairly recent addition, and only 2 of 24 optometry schools in the country are in states that allow optometrists to perform them (and so, get enough practice to actually qualify as trained.) The ophthalmologists report that approximately 13% of these procedures develop complications, and optometrists are not trained in treating these complications (per the ophthalmologists.) The bill is also rather badly written, with a long list of procedures they won’t do and no definition of the ones they want to add to their repertoire. So, off to subcommittee it went!
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