Democrat Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) has proposed legislation to address the issue of non-governmental paramilitary operations or militias (my words, not his). Our previous coverage got a lot of traction and input from readers.

Here’s one example.

10 U.S. Code § 246 – Militia: composition and classes

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are—

(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and

(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

The militia is a state military force, and the National Guard is a sub-military force of the militia…per the above, it’s known as the organized militia.

Those individuals between 17-44 not part of the organized militia…per the above are known as the unorganized militia.

So, federal law recognizes and specifies the individuals comprising the unorganized militia. This causes a problem when trying to impose bans.

In addition, in the Constitution, there is a clause for arming a state militia when called into the actual service of the US by an act of Congress. If you read the debates in the Constitutional Convention on this clause, they said it would give Congress 3 options…it could choose…1-by the federal government…2-by their individual state governments…or…wait for it…3-BY THE INDIVIDUAL MILITIA MEMBERS. This was before the 2nd Amendment. So, there was a right to own a firearm, and since this arming clause has never been changed, it remains. This also means these individuals have the right to purchase one. In fact, because of this, it could be argued they are required to have one. If so-called assault weapons are military-grade weapons, then they could never, by general law, prevent or ban members of the unorganized militia from owning one.

Also, last time I checked, every State has a similar militia break down as the above. This opens up another argument.

You can wade through the debate and comments under my original post here. This time around, I’m sharing something else someone sent me. An article in The Cowboy Daily out of Wyoming had some interesting insight into the contradictions and consequences of Markey’s bill as currently written.

The Preventing Private Paramilitary Act of 2024 could potentially be used to ban just about any gun-related activity, Cody firearms instructor Bill Tallen told Cowboy State Daily.

Tallen cites several issues, including

• “By strict definition, a militia is “maintained and raised by the state, and must answer to the governor,” Tallen said. So, impromptu groups don’t qualify as actual militias.”
• Markey’s bill is vague and wide open to abuse, he said. For example, it would prohibit any group to “publicly patrol, drill or engage in techniques capable of causing bodily injury or death.” – “That could apply to pressing the trigger on any firearm ever invented,” Tallen said.
• It would allow people to take “civil actions” against those they consider to be armed extremists. “If anybody observes you doing anything that they could construe as a violation of this act, they could file a civil action against you,” he said. 
• The bill also would make it unlawful to “interfere with, interrupt or attempt to interfere with or interrupt government operations or a government proceeding.” … “Interrupting” government operations or proceedings is also far too vague, and could be used to trample First Amendment rights, he added.”

He also suggests that tactical training, civilian live fire drills, and perhaps even school skeet shooting programs could become illegal under the legislation as written.

Given how badly this bill is put together, I’m beginning to wonder whether the Feds have some op in place that will result in a timely “militia-like” action (say along the southern border) that is meant to make opponents look bad or catalyze some amended form of Markey’s Bill to advance.

It’s not like that’s never happened before – Project Gun Runner is but one example.

 

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There is a massive gas leak at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The Administration marched out a new surrogate, Ian Sam’s, to meet the Press, and he did more gaslighting than a street light on Beacon Street. He twisted and contorted the Special Counsel Report and made it quite clear Joe Biden is innocent because Joe Biden said so…Full Stop.

I love how the Biden Gang uses the term Full Stop like that gives any argument Presidential Credibility. There is a clear target on Special Counsel Robert Hurr, for he buried Joe Biden with his report. If President Biden plans on a second term, he must drive the Corvette over Hurr.

Since Trump became ensnarled in his Confidential Document case, Biden has been trying to convince us how seriously he takes the handling of Confidential Information and Documents. What he really meant was how he loves to take Confidential Papers. As a Senator or Vice President, Biden never had the authority to remove these documents from their secure locations. We now know he has been doing just that for at least 15 years and knew he was in possession of them seven years ago. To have them was a crime, and to lie about returning them as soon as discovered was a lie. That is the level of credibility we get with this lifelong political hack.

It is wrong to attempt to recap a 400-page report in a blog, but the bottom line is the President was not charged, as Trump was for the same offense, because Hurr recognized that no jury would ever find the aged old man with memory issues guilty of the crimes he should be charged for. The immediate claims of Hurr’s political motives started flying as soon as the gaslighting began, but they forgot one very important fact. Hurr wrote the report, but AG Merrick Garland had to sign off on it before it was released. Hurr might be a Trump appointee two Delaware Democrats recommended, but Garland is in Biden’s back pocket, so what is his political motive?

Last night, the White House made a tragic strategic mistake in letting Biden go to the podium after 8 o’clock unprepared and beyond his mindful hours. The Press was unusually angered, and he allowed them under his skin. His temper flared, and he again confused two countries and leaders. Gaffs? No, his mind is mush, and it is sad and dangerous to watch. One equally dangerous thing, if genuine, is how blind Democrats are to the fact this man is Bernie enjoying a weekend in Rehoboth Beach. But can we really judge the assessments of Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Eric Swalwell, and Gavin Newsome? Absolutely not. These Dems will say anything to get four more years out of Biden, and they have no other options at this point in the race.

This report is a binary situation. Biden should have been charged, or the 25th Amendment should have removed him. He is either guilty or mentally incompetent. Allowing him to remain in office is a threat to our national security. He has to go. And that is a Full Stop.

The post Joe Has Been Breaking The Law For Years, He Just Forgot appeared first on Granite Grok.

Some Pelham residents attended the annual Deliberative Session this week. Residents listened to the details of the school operating budget that will be placed on the ballot in March. Residents will then decide if they want to support the budget as presented or vote it down. If they do not support the budget, the default budget will be the budget that will be used.

During the proceedings, one resident brought forward a motion to reduce the budget by about $17,000.00. This money is used to pay dues to the New Hampshire School Administrators Association. (NHSAA)

 

The NHSAA lobbies the legislature on proposed legislation that could become law. This means that taxpayers are paying for lobbyists to weigh in on legislation in Concord. But is this even fair to taxpayers?

This same week, the New Hampshire Legislative Administration Committee heard testimony on House Bill 1479. This legislation, if passed into law, would regulate the use of public funds for lobbying activities and establish certain additional enforcement mechanisms. Many taxpayers are fed up paying the salaries of lobbyists who offer one-sided political opinions on legislation—especially when they disagree with those one-sided political viewpoints.

A few weeks ago, the NHSAA lobbyist testified against legislation that would prohibit materials that are obscene or harmful to minors in school and create a procedure for removal and cause of action.

Some of the materials available to children in public schools are obscene and pornographic. One parent even testified how the books now include hyperlinks that could put children in danger by connecting them with sexual predators. HB1419 would protect children from accessing this kind of harmful material. When children are assigned Chromebooks in school, the firewall blocks pornographic websites, so why are pornographic books ok for children to access?

Taxpayers are forced to fund these lobbyists with the dues that come out of the school budget. Not only is this unfair, it’s a scam on taxpayers. Teachers have to pay for their lobbyists, why do taxpayers have to pay for the lobbyists working on behalf of school administrators?

This money could be better spent on bonuses for teachers and paraprofessionals and then eventually returned to the taxpayers in the following years.

Chip McGee, Superintendent in Pelham, spoke after this motion was made to stop paying dues to the NHSAA. He attempts to make the audience believe he’s just adding to the discussion by mentioning how the NHSAA also lobbied to change the requirement for families to fill out the FASFA before a student graduates from high school.

There is no need for this lobbying organization to attend these hearings, McGee can send written testimony himself to weigh in on legislation. That would save Pelham $17,000.00, and residents wouldn’t be paying for lobbyists who lobby against their views.

It wasn’t long ago that McGee was in the hot seat when he was working as the Superintendent in Bedford:

Superintendent of Bedford Schools Chip McGee resigned today after public outcry over his decision to authorize a district staffer to testify on behalf of Kristie Torbick, a former Bedford guidance counselor convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student in Exeter.
https://www.nhpr.org/news/2018-07-27/bedford-superintendent-resigns-amid-controversy-over-staffers-testimony-at-sexual-assault-hearing

One would think that after hearing from a resident who has concerns about the NHSAA opposing legislation that prohibits obscenity in public schools, McGee would be a little more empathetic to taxpayers who do not want to pay for this kind of lobbying. Instead, you can see him make a compelling case to keep scamming the taxpayers by sending that money to the NHSAA. Not once does he mention anything about concern for pornographic content that has now seeped into our public schools. He just glosses over that fact and points to the NHSAA’s efforts to lobby for another Bill.

What has happened to the leadership in our public schools? Why are they so callous about sexual predators and obscene materials that are available to children?

Stopitnow.org is an organization dedicated to stopping the sexual abuse of children. They explain on their website that when adults give children pornographic content, that is considered sexual abuse.

A Pelham resident says taxpayers shouldn’t fund lobbyists who oppose prohibiting the practice of sexual abuse, and Superintendent McGee makes the case that this organization did something he agreed with. Is it any wonder that trust in school officials by parents is at an all-time low?

Superintendent Chip McGee was driven out of Bedford by the parents, only to show up in Pelham. Now that he’s in Pelham, it doesn’t appear he’s learned anything from the last fiasco that brought about his resignation.

One thing’s for sure, if they have money to waste on this expenditure, we know that this district isn’t hurting for funding. They claim they need to raise the budget for needed expenses when, in fact, they are wasting money on lobbyists who do not want to protect children in our public schools. Parents and taxpayers are losing trust in their public schools, which doesn’t help public education at all. Check those declining enrollment numbers!
Source NH Dept. of Ed 

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For years people have urged me, including my wife, to write a book. I would usually respond with, “Why write a book when I can promote books already in publication and better than anything I can do.” Back in 2011, we started Camp Constitution Press and reprinted a chapter of a book titled “From Farm Boy to Financier” by Frank Vanderlip.

The chapter concerned the secret meeting at Jekyll Island, Georgia, where the plot to create the Federal Reserve was hatched. Mr. Vanderlip was one of the attendees. Since then, we have reprinted and published a number of books, including Color, Communism, and Common Sense, On the Supposed Change of Temperature in Winter by Noah Webster. (That’s right, Noah Webster refuted global warning back in 1810) and First Scout for General Patton, written by my late friend from Laconia, Bob Kingsbury. However, since my visit to the Harvard Medical School library in January 2020, I need to publish what I discovered and uncovered.

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

It isn’t a massive tome, only 98 pages, and it consists mainly of transcribed letters between Margaret Sanger and Dr. Clarence Gamble with pictures of the originals. It also contains a little-known speech by Martin Luther King titled “Family Planning: A Special and Urgent Concern,” which was read by his wife Coretta in 1966 at Planned Parenthood’s First Annual Margaret Sanger Award Ceremony. King was the first recipient of the award. The Corporate media will not make any mention of how King and many other black leaders collaborated with avowed racist Sanger to promote birth control and later abortion in the black community.

Background to the book:

I learned about Margaret Sanger’s “Negro Project” in the book Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood by George Grant back in the late 1980s. Some years later, while doing some research for an article on Planned Parenthood, I found a copy of the letter written by Sanger to Dr. Gamble dated December 10, 1939, in which Sanger writes about the ‘Negro Project” and the need to elicit the support of black doctors and clergy. She wrote:

Page 2 of Margaret Sanger’s “negro letter.”

“We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”

Her supporters, who are legion in the United States, tell us that this has been taken out of context. But in her book The Pivot of Civilization, Sanger advocated for “the elimination of human weeds” and for “the sterilization of genetically inferior races.” The fact that she had white supremacist and KKK member Lothrop Stoddard and Dr. Ernst Rudin, the Nazi in charge of Germany’s forced sterilization, collaborating with her, belies the claims of her apologists -one of whom is Hillary Clinton.

Get The Book: The Racist Roots of Planned Parenthood and Its Legacy of Death

In 2018, I noticed that the letter address of the letter to Gamble was Adams St in Milton, a mile or so from Lower Mills, in Boston’s Dorchester section. In November of 2018, we sponsored some speaking engagements for Rev. Steve Craft, our camp chaplain in the Boston area. I asked Rev Craft if he would like to be in a video across the street from Gamble’s former home and read the letter with commentary from both of us. And on Friday, November 30, we did so. While recording the video, it dawned on me that George H. W. Bush was born a short distance from the Gamble residence. Prescott Bush-H.W.’s father- was Planned Parenthood’s first treasurer. Interestingly enough, we got word that H.W. died that same day. The video is available on Camp Constitution’s YouTube channel.

I subsequently learned that Dr. Gamble’s papers were housed at the Countway Library, Harvard University’s School of Medicine’s Library, the largest medical school library in the world located in Boston. I visited the library in January of 2020, and while I wasn’t able to find any letters between Bush and Gamble, I did find a batch of letters between Sanger and Gamble.

Who is Dr. Clarence Gamble?

Dr. Gamble was an heir to the Proctor and Gamble fortune. His grandfather was a co-founder of the company. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1920. He, like most of Sanger’s associates, was a supporter of eugenics and forced sterilizations. He was an integral part of both the Negro Project and the Puerto Rican Project-a program that used Puerto Rican women as guinea pigs to test the birth control pill. In 1946, Gamble founded the North Carolina Human Betterment League. In 1957, he founded what is now known as Pathfinder International, which provides “reproductive health” and services in Africa and Asia.

Rev. Steve Craft with the former home of Dr. Gamble in the background.)

The  book also has short biographies of people mentioned in the correspondence, including Albert Lasker, the man who was the primary funder of the Negro Project. Lasker was known as “The Father of Modern Advertising.”  Lasker was a Republican and his wife Mary, a close colleague of Sanger, was a Democrat.  They both lobbied for socialized medicine and federal funding of medical research.   They created the Lasker Foundation.   If you go to the Lasker Foundation’s website, you will find glowing praise of its founders.  I contacted the foundation asking for a statement on its racist roots, but I never heard back.

We were pleased and honored to get many endorsements for the book including actress Stacy Dash who starred in the move “Roe v Wade,” former abortion nurse Julie Wilkinson who played the abortion nurse in the movie ‘UnPlanned:  The Abby Johnson Story, and Ed Martin of the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles.

Dr. Jefferson, with the author, 1995

I dedicated the book to my late friend, Dr Mildren Jefferson, the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School.  In the wake of the infamous but now repealed “Roe v Wade,” Dr. Jefferson said:  I am not willing to turn this great land of ours into just another exclusive reservation where only the perfect, the privileged, and the planned have the right to life.”

Sanger has been successful beyond her wildest dreams.  The black population in the United States is at a steady thirteen percent.  In New York City, almost half of black pregnancies end in abortion, and every single black Democrat in Congress supports abortion. While the founders of the modern Pro-Life Movement were primarily Catholic Democrats,  as of this writing, there is only one Pro-Life Democrat in Congress- Henry Cuellar.  There are many pro-abortion Republicans as well.  The first two states to decriminalize abortion were NY and CA, both led by Republican governors.  We hope that our book helps to shed some much-needed light on this dark chapter in our history, and our earnest prayer is that God will change the hearts and minds of those in the abortion industry.

 

The book is available on Camp Constitution’s website and on Amazon: The Racist Roots of Planned Parenthood and Its Legacy of Death

 

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“I feel like I’ve stepped back in time.” An all-too-common phrase recited by almost every healthcare provider when they start working at the Manchester Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Medical Center after working in the private sector.  We all joke about our period of “VA culture shock,” but when the fog clears, it becomes clear that something is very wrong.

Something systemic that extends far beyond the crumbling walls of the VA.

Recently, the Secretary of VA visited Manchester VA, bringing the same recycled message of “change” that others before him have used, but with the added goal of “restoring trust,” something his predecessors have not delivered.  Veteran organizations have written some glowing reviews of the new secretary, and I hope their optimism isn’t wasted. But, working on the inside, I will say he is only one human being who is far too insulated to know what the experience is on the front lines of VA Healthcare.

This is something that plagues leadership in the VA and something many whistleblowers before me have reported. While high-level managers are insulated, they are reliant on a system of metrics, numbers, and percentages.  With a hyper-focus on metrics, the chain of command looks for ways to improve numbers to make their VA look better.  Inevitably, this leads to the manipulation of data in ways that may not even be noticed at first glance by people who are participating in a system of “we’ve always done it that way.”

In 2015, the Manchester VA produced a group of whistleblowers, mostly doctors, all with chilling tales of malfeasance and poor oversight of VA programs and metrics.  The most serious of these was the story of a doctor who found Veterans had unnecessary spinal cord injuries due to poor care or management of care by the Manchester VA.  In the end, the VA was forced to investigate after the group went public with their allegations.  When the VA reported their findings, they stated that almost all allegations were “unfounded.”  Imagine your doctor telling you that your inability to walk and the fact you wear diapers was because of poor medical care, only to have the VA outright deny this?  Knowing this doctor was one of the more well-respected pain doctors in the area, does this restore trust with the Veteran community?  These doctors blew the whistle the same year a federal court awarded a Manchester VA patient $21M due to poor management of a stroke, leading to a second, more devastating stroke.

What is often missed in reviewing these public stories about the VA is why the whistleblowers decided to go public in the first place.  The group in 2015 hired an attorney to represent them after they had exhausted all internal reporting methods, which are extensive.   Only in the public light did the VA decide to investigate, and members of Congress made promises of more oversight.  More oversight and more layers were added to an already bureaucratic system.

The obvious question at this point is, why aren’t there more whistleblowers?  I’m here to tell you there are many, many more that are swept away under the bureaucratic system of federal oversight.  This system is tasked with oversight of VA systems and investigation of whistleblower complaints.  As VA employees, we have yearly training that encourages us to “report wrongdoing.”  The training lists a myriad of oversight agencies and how to contact them with your concerns.  A new agency called the “Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection” was set up as a response to news reports of whistleblower retaliation in the VA.  Though they have already had their own scandal and accounts of bullying within, some lawmakers question this as an ineffective, redundant agency.

I spent years reporting many issues concerning the care of our nation’s Veterans to multiple levels of management in Manchester and received almost no response on most issues and never any resolution. I recall one meeting I had with a middle manager (the VA has many layers of management) and my surprise at how I only received a medicated-looking stare as I told my observations, including:

• Poor patient care
•  Gender discrimination
• Data manipulation
• Fraudulent documentation in Veteran medical records.
• Unnecessary delays in care and treatment

Any one of these issues should have been addressed and thoroughly investigated, but in a world of mixed messaging, promises were made and not delivered.  Even after all the news stories of issues in the VA, management seemed either unable or uninterested in addressing these issues.  Before I left the Manchester VA, I worked up the courage to file a whistleblower complaint and thought I would finally get some resolution and closure on what I see as a profound injustice.  I was wrong.

In the next installment of this series, we will explore the process whistleblowers experience and how the system is set up against them.  You may be surprised what happened when I informed our elected representatives in Washington DC, of these issues.

 

 

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