Tuesday • May 24 • 2022
Vol.XIV • No.XXI
Manchester, N.H.
In this short clip from Dr. Gary Thompson, he explains the severe damage caused to children when they are blamed and shamed. That can happen when Critical Race Theory apologists push that radicalized hate-filled political agenda in the classroom.
It’s vital that parents speak up and stop this sort of pseudo-psychology plaguing many districts throughout this country.
You will see how damaging this kind of teaching can be to children, no matter the topic or intentions.
“No matter what your school board does, you need to make sure it does nothing to increase your child’s anxiety or their level of depression”
The post Is Your Public School Pushing Your Child Toward Suicide? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Credit where credit is due, okay? President Biden is following through on Candidate Biden’s pledge to unify the country. His regime-change, proxy war against Russia has unified most of Congress.
As I previously posted, only 57 Republicans opposed the latest tranche of funding for Biden’s America-Last war in Ukraine.
Mitch McConnell thinks the war … not the Great Replacement via our wide-open Southern border, not ruinous inflation, not the shortage of baby formula … is “the most important thing going on in the world right now”.
And, if you disagree with funding a proxy war for the purpose of generating “regime-change” in nuclear-armed Russia, then Dan McCrenshaw will call you Putin’s puppet:
Still going after that slot on Russia Today huh? https://t.co/WFtgrvTS6m
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) May 11, 2022
Red wave? No thank you, if it means more Mitch McConnells and Dan McCrenshaws.
The post Biden Makes Progress On His Pledge To Unify America … appeared first on Granite Grok.
I mentioned this email by GAC Commish Kiedaisch complaining about GraniteGrok during the last segment of GrokTALK! (YAY! We’re BACK!) that we recorded last Monday (with special guest Rob Russell of 2A Tactical who is also suffering from similar political action in Barrington).
Just wow – but not unexpected from GAC Commish Gary Kiedaisch from my standpoint. Now that the unredacted legal invoices from Devine-Millimet have been published (here) and that his “shove it down their throats” Code of Ethics (think: not about Ethics but a Muzzle) was ruled to be out of bounds (can’t just make stuff up in this Dillon’s Rule, he has to change the political subject.
It has become clear that the walls are closing in and his Power base within the GAC has evaporated as the Belknap County Delegation Reps, for the most part, have turned more Red (Conservative). His only hope in continuing his GAC political career lies with a vote in the NH House on the totally shredded HB1397. Instead of simply extending the term of office of Rockingham elected officials from 2 years to 4, it completely rewrites RSA 399, the 1959 law that created the GAC, how it was to be an appointed board, how Commissioners were appointed by the Belknap County NH State Reps with a public vetting process. And this rewrite is brought to all of us via its Prime Stooges Sponsors NH State Senator Bob Guida and NH State Rep Tim Lang. As “election” of Commissioners then becomes countywide races, he gets to use all his money for such campaigns and reduces the chances of Joe and Jane Sixpack, no matter their experience as skiers goes, to nil. Only the rich, like Kiedaisch, Rusty McLear, and Hayden McLaughlin, can have a decent chance at winning such an office.
So, he decided to pick on moi, yours truly. Smooth move? From my part, SURE! He gets to experience the Streisand Effect (of which he is most likely ignorant of). So he decided to use former Chair Brian Gallagher as a “victim” (even though he refused to resign once he sold his home in the County) or as a proxy and decided to complain about GraniteGrok. And yes, this seems to be making some rounds as this is from a source via “friend of a friend” type of deal. NOTHING is ever secure!
On Sunday, May 8, 2022, 11:04:43 AM EDT, Gary Kiedaisch <garykinusa@gmail.com> wrote:
Peter,I call your attention to an unfortunate current posting on the granitegrok that attacks former Commissioner Gallagher and the GAC.
I’d like to have this posting discussed at the next GAC meeting and put on the agenda.
Meanwhile, I’d encourage you to refer to and be familiar with the November 18, 2020 approved GAC meeting minutes on page 4 under; Miscellaneous.
Thank you,
Gary Kiedaisch
For context, Peter is Peter Ness, the GAC Commissioner that both Kiedasch and Gallagher were trying to throw off the GAC. So, Kiedasich is “reduced” to appealing to the Chair that is his political enemy to “rid me of this meddlesome priest”; that would be me and GraniteGrok (the quote is attributed to King Henry II about Thomas Becket; I like the “pestilent” version better as in “who will rid me of this pestilent priest?”). Yeah, there was a response to that and I nearly laughed myself sick.
At least he got the spelling as one word right. Pretty much, that’s about ALL he gets right. I write stuff and I write about stuff that I really enjoy or that is really irritating because of “politicians” deciding to make “something” their own “political toybox”. Guess which one I’m talking about here! So without him specifically quantifying WHICH post, I’ll pick three of my own AND what might be the teeny-tiny pebble up his butt. And remember that “attacks former Commissioner Gallagher and the GAC” bit as well – I will return to that.
1) 5/3: Gunstock Commish Kiedaisch: My ByLaws Trump State Statutes. Gilford School Board: Brava!
I pretty much just quote his own words and then picked this out of actual GAC Meeting minutes:
When G. Kiedaisch kept referencing the GAC ByLaws, D. Strang (a relatively new Commissioner and former State Rep) stated “Bylaws don’t trump RSAs,” to which G. Kiedaisch replied, “yes, they do”.
Pointing out his own words is “attacking” the GAC?
2) 5/6: Gunstock Area Commission – Non-Public Meeting, Released Billings, a Released Report, and a GAC approved Resolution AGAINST Guida/Lang/Kiedaisch spawned HB1397
I write about HB1397 rewriting RSA 399 and blaming Kiedaisch, Guida, and Lang for doing so – and doing it for political animus and retribution. Again. And this also has the unredacted invoices from Devine-Millimet from which I can only contend is that Kiedaisch (and to a lesser degree, Gallagher) using that firm as a way to wage lawfare against anyone he sees as a political opponent.
Point out his own actions is “attacking” the GAC? And Gallagher?
3) 5/7: Gunstock Area Commission – So Let’s See How Transparent Gary Kiedaisch Will Be about His Emails, Shall We?
While the top part of this post is a reminder of what has been going on with emphasis on the just released document, it’s also a rehash of what a Dillon’s Rule State is and that too few New Hampshire residents are cognizant of it – especially Kiedaisch (really, a GAC ByLaw trumps State Law? The IGNORANCE of that! He’s just all over himself with such a statement!). But this is probably what Kiedaisch thinks is an “attack” on Gallagher:
Sidenote: or maybe Brian did in finally realizing that his gig was up as he had turned into another “GAC seat squatter” like Rusty McLear when he sold his Belknap County home and didn’t resign immediate as he no longer fit the Commissioner requirement of being a “resident property owner in Belknap County”.
And Kiedaisch, unnecessarily, spent $600 of GMR money in what appears to a be a whining effort of “well, I HAVE to keep Brian on the GAC – I’m losing my Power Base!”
The upshot of the above is that Kiedaisch AND Gallagher knew that the latter was no longer fit the requirements of being a GAC Commish: he no longer lived in the County. Kiedaisch knew (see above) and did not do the right thing. Gallagher CERTAINLY knew and did not do the right thing.
Pointing out their actions is attack[ing] former Commissioner Gallagher and the GAC“??? NO, none of this is or was. I didn’t write about the GAC: I didn’t mention Jade Wood. I didn’t mention Doug Lambert. I didn’t mention Dr. Dave Strang. And only Kiedasch mentions Peter Ness.
Nope. I only mentioned two names: Kiedaisch primarily with Gallagher only in a minor support role. Nope, my “current postings” are really only about him. But he’s trying to blow smoke to make it about me (the pestilent priest), a relative nobody in the grand scheme of GAC things, and deflect from his own actions.
Reminder from Kiedaisch’s email: “I’d like to have this posting discussed at the next GAC meeting and put on the agenda”. Good luck with that (even though Kiedaisch has in the past, if you read the GAC Meeting minutes, of reading Op-Eds into the record).
Just remember, that if he wants to discuss this, I’ll be quite happy to oblige him with handouts (and most likely, highly amused) and speak during the Public Comment session.
Chair Ness, much to Kiedaisch’s dismay in trying to make this something other than about himself, applied QUITE the slapdown (I did not know that he was ever in the WWE!). Emphasis mine:
From: Mr Peter Ness
Sent: Sunday, May 8, 2022 10:42 PM
To: ‘david strang’ ; Jade Wood; ‘Douglas Lambert’ ; Gary Kiedaisch <garykinusa@gmail.com>
Cc: ‘Tom Day’ <tday@gunstock.com>; ‘Karen & Brian Gallagher’ <ibelieve121@gmail.com>; ‘Rusty McLear’ <rusty@meredithbaycorp.com>; ‘Rep. Russell Dumais’ <sundeedumais@metrocast.net>
Subject: Re: GAC meeting agendaMr. Kiedaisch,
In response to your email of this morning, I glanced at an article posted in the Granite Grok dated May 7, 2022 regarding some question about your emails. It referenced (a) the report from legal counsel and (b) the Devine Millimet invoices (respectively, the “Report” and the “Invoices”) made public at the special GAC meeting on Friday May 6, 2022. My recollection is that you voted to release and publish the Invoices. The GAC by majority vote reached a decision to publish the Report and Invoices “to the public“. I was the sole “no” vote on releasing the Invoices if you also recall.
I released the Report to GAC members at 4:48 p.m. on May 6, 2022. I also requested that Dr. Strang release the Invoices at 5:17 pm on May 6, 2022.
I have no knowledge of who received the Invoices or the Report after those actions on May 6, 2022. It would appear that the Granite Grok people received those public records by May 7, 2022. If someone is now using part or all of that information which you voted to make public and you don’t care for their words, your dispute is with the Granite Grok.
Likewise, should Mr. Gallagher or any other former commissioner have some issues with third parties, they too should speak with those parties.
I do not find discussing a commissioner’s discontent with third party speech at a GAC meeting a productive use of the commission’s time. Accordingly, I will not add your agenda item to the agenda for the upcoming meeting.
I am copying your original distribution list as a courtesy. I find it peculiar that you are cc’ing former commissioners about agenda items which are not germane to the GAC’s business for an upcoming meetings.
Cordially,
Peter G. Ness, Esq.
Heh!
While Acting Chair, Kiedaisch had the ability to control the meeting agenda and engage in such political histrionics. It seems that a much sober-minded Chair is now in charge.
The post Did Gunstock Area Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch Really Believe That Chair Peter Ness Would Do as He Demanded about GraniteGrok? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Other than Letters of Marque in the US Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 11: To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water”), I can’t remember the IRS putting out such a notice that if you take an enemy’s stuff off the battlefield, you don’t have to report it.
If you have followed some of the more amusing bits of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you’ve heard the stories of Russians abandoning their military equipment even to the point of disabling that gear themselves, breaking down or running out of fuel because of just rotten logistics, and the like. Like the image above!
I’ve held onto this for a while and finally remembered I had it:
Ukraine’s National Agency for the Protection against Corruption (NAPC) has declared that captured Russian tanks and other equipment are not subject to declaration.
“Have you captured a Russian tank or armored personnel carrier and are worried about how to declare it? Keep calm and continue to defend the Motherland! There is no need to declare the captured Russian tanks and other equipment, because the cost of this … does not exceed 100 living wages (UAH 248,100),” NAPC’s press service said.
Also, there is no need in this case to submit reports of significant changes in property status within 10 days.
In other words – have at it – and keep it! Chutzpah, that’s for sure!
The Ukrainians have set up a “redeployment” shop in which such equipment, if turned in, is either fixed up for re-use by the Ukrainians or scavanged for parts and other useful purposes.
Sweet!
(H/T: RedState)
The post Quick Thought: So, Ukrainians Don’t Have to Pay Taxes on Captured Russian Tanks or Such? appeared first on Granite Grok.
If everything is Vladimir Putin’s fault, we might want to consider why he has so much influence over America but only since Joe Biden became president? Any takers? Okay, let’s try something a bit easier.
Biden Inc. just canceled what CBS News calls “one of the most high-profile oil and gas lease opportunities pending before the Interior Department.”
In a statement shared first with CBS News, the Department of the Interior cited a “lack of industry interest in leasing in the area” for the decision to “not move forward” with the Cook Inlet lease sale.
Alaska Senator Murkowski, who might help you move but move a body, knows what butters her bread, and it’s not Green New Deal Voodoo.
“I can say with full certainty, based on conversations as recently as last night, that Alaska’s industry does have interest in lease sales in Cook Inlet. To claim otherwise is simply false, not to mention stunningly short-sighted. The Biden administration needs to recognize how this decision is going to hurt Alaskans, reverse it immediately, and get the federal oil and gas program back on track now.”
So, Biden inc, which can’t tell the truth, has been put on notice by Murkowski, who can be convinced not to tell it. She says there is an interest. He says there is not.
What do we know?Joe flipped a switch on day one and closed the Trump Admin’s open door to oil and gas development; replaced it with foreign sources.
Their policy is that foreign oil (more expensive, less accessible, or reliable) is better for the environment and national security.
We bought from our enemies instead of ourselves, including from Putin’s Russia. They then used Vlad’s Invasion as an excuse to cut off another source of supply.
The Democrats have tried to whitewash the meaning of star-chamber hearings from 2021 into early 2022, pressuring oil and gas executives to increasingly lower output annually. The goal was to cut production.
They have canceled “one of the most high-profile oil and gas lease opportunities pending before the Interior Department.”
Claiming there is a lack of industry interest makes no sense. Making “people” do things is the Democrat motto. “Government Knows Best” is stitched on every pillow. They are the self-proclaimed arbiters of all, Hirito before Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The word and hand of God.
You can make interest happen. Throw billions at it, do it by force, or (hey, how about) through favorable lease rates and tax incentives; more than one way to skin that donkey.
But someone has to want to do that, and most of those people are out here with you and me, not in there with them, knowing better. So, at some point, the Administration will have lean on an old saw to dismiss yet another act demonstrating that their goal is to shift us away from fossil fuels no matter the damage to Americans or the nation.
So, how did Vladimir Putin manage to get the Biden Administration to cancel one of the most high-profile oil and gas lease opportunities pending before the Interior Department.”
And why does that, alongside any of the other things Putin has only been “able to do” to the Biden Administration, justify putting up with another minute with them or their party in charge of anything?
The post How Did Putin Get Biden to Shut Down America’s Largest Domestic Oil and Gas Lease Sale Last Week? appeared first on Granite Grok.
I was recently reminded that I was attacked at a candidates’ event several years ago for telling the truth about the so-called “gender gap.” You can’t just divide the total number of women working by their salary and compare that to the total number of men working divided by theirs.
You have to compare within job types and adjust for work experience.
I dug my hole deeper by saying studies show women on the whole prefer jobs with less travel and more regular hours. Worst of all, I said, women tend to take time off after having a baby and still are mostly the ones to stay home when a child is sick or school closes unexpectedly. Not all do, I added, I was self-employed when I had my daughter and had to work, but it didn’t matter. My words were twisted and I became a sexist who thought “women didn’t work hard,” “women shouldn’t work at all”—and that was the polite stuff.
More studies have since backed up what I said that day.
We want to thank Frances Erlebacher 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.
Indeed, companies don’t just pay women and men basically the same for the same job/experience, the reality is women on the whole cost companies more, especially for larger companies that now offer generous benefits such as family leave (companies have to pay an employee on leave plus a replacement), child care, flexible schedules, and more.
With the recent rebranding of “maternity” leave as “parental” leave, employers sometimes pay for two people not to work for three months or more, even if neither “birthed” anything (our current Transportation Secretary and his hubcap come to mind). Also, some moms want to extend their leave and/or have a reduced work schedule when they return. And we all know women who stay home beyond their paid leave because they don’t want to “miss a moment” of the baby’s first year. Fair enough—but I’ve never heard a man say that.
Small wonder then that large companies are now trying to attract employees who don’t want children by offering a new benefit: paid travel to a neighboring state to abort babies (“Abortion Tourism”).
Five thousand dollars is nothing compared to the costs of parental leave and snow days—employers could pay for both parents and still save a bundle. Anyone who thinks I’m wearing my tinfoil hat should listen to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, a formerly respected economist, who just this week testified that abortions are good for the economy and restricting them will limit women’s career opportunities. She probably thinks abortions are a killer solution for inflation.
So in just a few years, employers went from over-compensating for any remnants of the gender gap to encouraging “birthing people” to take advantage of a funded junket to an abortion hotspot. A win for corporate bottom lines but a big loss for the country—and for the voiceless babies who will never be born.
The post Gender Pay Gap Compromise – a Company Funded Junket to an Abortion Hotspot appeared first on Granite Grok.
Absent the three Ps of property, prices, and profit and loss, individuals will be devoid of the incentives and information required to continually innovate and coordinate their plans to realize the gains from trade and the gains from innovation.
-Peter Boettke (What Should Classical Liberal Political Economists Do?)
The Left (Socialists, Communists, Collectivists) all consider ANYTHING that an Individual does is “Greed” or “Greedy”. Yet, they themselves conduct themselves accordingly in their own self-interest. They never want to admit that anyone acting in commerce is acting for themselves – it is always and only for the “collective good”. Thus, they demonize self-interest as Greed.
In believing that the Collective should direct all activities, especially those in the economic sphere, PROFIT is just as bad and have demonized it as “stealing”. PRICES should only be set to recover actual costs (and often, only those of Labor, heeding back to Marx) with never a thought that without Profit, there can be no making a product better – or even bringing new products to the market (e.g., Bernie Sanders telling us that we don’t “need” 53 different kinds of underarm deoderant even as the Market (that would be us) says “Yes, we want it”.
Oh yeah, these same people are just DYING (or having us die) to limit us to what we NEED versus what we WANT. Control to the max, baby!
And nothing bothers these Collectivist more than Private Property. Which, I have said before, is the foundation of Freedom (along with the Right to Free Speech and Conscionce).
Prof. Don Boudreau adds this (emphasis mine):
This point cannot be repeated too often – the reason being that this point is too often never learned, or it is forgotten or ignored. And those persons who are among the most prone to overlook this point are proponents of industrial policy.
Industrial policy, by its very nature, attenuates property rights, overrides market prices, and distorts signals of profits and losses. With industrial policy, owners of inputs are not allowed to sell their inputs as they choose; owners of production facilities are not allowed to operate their facilities as they choose or in ways guided by market prices and the willingness of investors to invest, or not, their own funds. Income earners are not allowed to spend their own money as they choose.
The particular producers who are somehow (we are never told how) divined by industrial-policy officials to be ‘vital’ are protected from losses, or even have their profits topped off with funds taken from taxpayers. One result is that producers who are deemed not ‘vital’ confront artificial barriers in seeking profits or avoiding losses. After all, resources transferred to ‘vital’ firms must come from somewhere; these resources are drawn away from other, less-favored producers.
Note – didn’t we just live through two years of hell with Government deciding who or what was “Essential” and who or what as not? Again, from their standpoint, just a cog in their machine to do with as they like without any thought of what they were doing to those that were judged to be “valueless”.
And of course industrial-policy officials spend other people’s money. These officials have no claim on whatever residual sums are left to enterprises after the enterprises pay their out-of-pocket expenses. Genuinely plausible efforts to improve efficiency – and also to innovate – are thus muted.
And the most salient point of all: NO personal skin in the game in the case it all goes up in smoke. All risk is someone else’s problem and they just shrug their shoulders and move on to their next victim.
Nor do these officials personally suffer monetary loses if the enterprises they favor fail to perform up to these officials’ expectations. Genuinely wasteful ‘innovation’ – or, depending on the officials’ demeanor, genuinely wasteful stasis – is thus encouraged.
Although I – and, with greater clarity, others – have said so repeatedly, industrial policy will work as promised only if and when officials charged with carrying out industrial policy come to have both the mind and motivation of gods. This fact is why all arguments in support of industrial policy are, at root and through and through, religious arguments.
GOvernment should stay in its own lane and leave the rest of us alone.
(H/T: Cafe Hayek)
The post Notable Quote – So What Do Property, Prices, and Profit Have to Do with Each Other? appeared first on Granite Grok.
Dear Rep. Long: I have been an active parental rights advocate in New Hampshire for about 20 years now. During this time, I have never received a dime in compensation. I advocate on behalf of parents in New Hampshire because it’s the right thing to do.
My focus is on academic excellence in education, and supporting parental rights.
I have helped parents navigate the paid lobbyists and attorneys that line up against them when their children have been assaulted. I’ve given a voice to the good parents who were begging and pleading with the administrators to reopen the schools because their children were suffering academically and emotionally. There are too many examples to provide in this letter, but know that there are many reasons good parents are fighting for what’s best for their children.
Your op-ed condemning parents who want to affirm their rights through legislation is a similar attack on good parents we saw coming through the U.S. Attorney General’s office a short time ago. Your attempt to paint these parents as extremists does not extend any sort of due process they should be receiving from their elected officials.
Not once has a parent contacted me that wasn’t looking out for the best interest of their children. These are not parents who are neglectful or abusive. In fact, they are the parents you want fighting for children.
Parents generally want three things from their local public schools;
1) Academic excellence
2) Safe learning environment
3) Respect for their fundamental rights as parents
When any of those factors are missing, you can expect parents will remove their children from the public school, or attempt to make a change at their local public school. The nerve of their elected official to paint them as extremists, not worthy of recognition or affirmation, is an assault on all good parents residing in your district.
Did you know that in the federal law, Every Student Succeeds Act signed by President Obama, includes a provision on parent engagement? That means that each district should have developed a parent engagement plan. Does Manchester have this plan developed and in place? Did you think to ask them since you represent the parents in this city?
Federal legislators have acknowledged the importance of engaging parents because they know that good parents can help their communities, and public schools thrive.
When their representatives beat back parents, as you are attempting to do, it can cause good parents to remain silent. Or was that your point all along–to silence good parents?
You failed to point to language in the parental rights bill that stood out that put a child in harm’s way, because it doesn’t exist. No one in their right mind would support that. In fact, your charges are false.
During the Senate hearing, that argument was made, but thankfully Mike Donnelly, an attorney from the Home School Legal Defense Association, debunked those claims.
I encourage parents to read the actual legislation that has been proposed. This legislation supports parents if they want to examine the curriculum within the school. Does that sound extreme? The charges put forth by Rep. Long are false and absurd. I’m not sure what happened to the democrat party in New Hampshire, but this is something we should be unified on.
You should also know that when I receive calls from parents, oftentimes those parents work in your school district. The teachers and administrators are parents too. They are not extremists, but loving and concerned parents. Just because they cannot publicly share their experiences, doesn’t mean that those working inside the public schools share your anti-parent views.
I suspect this is more about silencing good parents instead of looking for ways to serve all families. Schools serve a diverse population, and if you are going to preach about an appreciation for diversity and inclusion, then start showing it.
| UL
The post Open Letter to Representative Pat Long (D) Manchester appeared first on Granite Grok.
May 5, 2022 was the Senate hearing on HB1431 – a Parental Bill of Rights
I asked both NH State Reps Paul Terry and Jeffrey Gleeson for comment. Paul Terry sent this commentary in with this link:
Lo and behold, in the article covering Sen. Kahn’s announced retirement from the Senate we have him taking out after our New Hampshire House and Senate passed (different versions, to date) Parents’ Bill of Rights. And what does he say in opposition to our efforts to secure historic natural rights of parents in their children’s educations? That HB 1431 “resembles the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida.” He appears here to have (intentionally?) joined those who have attempted to cleverly mischaracterize the Florida “bill” (uh, Sen. Kahn, I realize you have been very busy but it’s not a bill, it’s Florida law), and then associated it with our HB 1431, in opponents’ efforts to gin up more misinformed opposition to a not yet identical language and acted upon “final” version of our Parents’ Bill of Rights.
I realize we are in the “messy” world of politics, but how low will elected public officials go to destroy legislation necessitated by numerous and widespread abuses committed by those who have been entrusted by parents with their children’s educations? As low, if not even lower than Sen. Kahn’s attack, was the letter (May 11) informing House Members of the Portsmouth City School Board’s “unanimous” opposition to HB 1431. Why? Allegedly and remarkably because of the all the dreadful things it “will” (not “may,” but actually “will”—yet without ANY claimed evidence!) do to children and school personnel, if passed.
I see news accounts almost every week that report on conflicts between reasonable parents and resistant school officials or employees. Who among us is not aware that parents “awoke” all across Virginia, and last November stunningly elected a candidate for Governor of the Commonwealth who promised he would stand with and for parents in their fights for educational transparency and accountability? Add to this countless other examples of parents in New Hampshire and elsewhere uniting to confront school officials (elected and otherwise) who are treating them dismissively and with arrogance, hostility and disdain. There have been (and always will) be disagreements between parents and school personnel, but when we survey the national landscape I believe what we are witnessing is an unmistakable emergence of a pattern of disturbing “concern” (to be measured in my choice of word) that is unprecedented in my lifetime.
By all means let’s keep our heads and wits about us, but it’s high time we acted. HB 1431 is sensible and needed. We want to see it on the May 26 House Calendar with a recommendation to approve it. Let’s get this done. Call and email Speaker Sherm Packard, Majority Leader Jason Osborne and Children and Family Law Committee Chair, Kimberly Rice (contact information available at https://gencourt.state.nh.us/ ), and let them know YOU want this Parents’ Bill of Rights (HB 1431) for all of us!
A Parental Bill of Rights – what a concept! After all, Parents DO need protection from predatory School Boards, like the Gilford School Board, who give themselves the Power to lie to Parents about their children AND force Staff to go along with those lies.
I know, I was lied to (by omission): “So How Did It Feel, Gilford School Board, to Watch Your Principal Lie to Me in Public Because of Your Policy JBAB?”
The post NH Senate Debate – Parental Bill of Rights appeared first on Granite Grok.
At the most recent meeting of the Croydon school board, I was talking to a well-educated journalist — at least, given who she works for, I assume she’s well-educated — who seemed to be unable to grasp the difference between taking something from someone and not giving something to someone.
Suppose every year, Pat turns up at Chris’s house and demands at gunpoint that Chris fork over $1500 to pay for Pat’s kids (and other kids in town) to go to school. Then one year, Chris answers the door with a gun of his own, and declines to give Pat more than $150.
Question: Is Chris taking money away from Pat? Or is Chris not giving money to Pat?
It’s not an academic distinction. If you are a journalist, and you write stories in which you report that Chris (and people like him) are trying to take education away from the children of Pat (and people like him), you’ve identified Chris as a bad person.
And in the current political climate, the only thing that many people feel they need to know in order to make their decisions is: Who are the bad guys here, and who are the good guys?
So you’re effectively saying to people: You don’t have to listen to anything Chris might have to say about why schools shouldn’t cost so much, or why lower-cost alternatives could actually be better for kids, or why certified teachers (who have produced our current 40% proficiency rate) might not be as important as people claim they are, and so on.
That’s all irrelevant. Chris is a bad guy, and that’s all you need to know about him. So if you want to call him names, slander him, or harass his family, instead of addressing the points he’s trying to make, or answering the questions he’s trying to raise, that’s to be encouraged.
After all, as Terry Gross of NPR once pointed out, we don’t have to listen to bad guys. Because we know they’re bad. So anything they might have to say will also be bad.
The main function of journalism has turned into letting us know: Who are the bad guys here, and who are the good guys? Further analysis is not required.
In fact, further analysis is actively discouraged. Because once you know who the bad guys are, they must be defeated at any cost. And if things like civility and rationality and free speech and the rule of law must be tossed aside to secure victory, then as Nancy Pelosi said: ‘If there is some collateral damage for those who don’t share our views, well, so be it‘.
If you’re trying to explain what just happened in Croydon, that’s it, right there. The ‘discussion’ as moderated by journalists was conducted with roughly the same subtlety and depth of analysis as a Tom and Jerry cartoon. And as a result, half the town is now collateral damage.
So be it, right?
The post Why We Can’t Have Substantive Public Discussions appeared first on Granite Grok.
When a Republican changes their mind on any subject, they are said to Flip Flop. Some feel that you should never reassess your position even if new data comes to light.
Democrats are never guilty of Flip Flopping. Democrats say that they evolve. They can diametrically change position and do not require an explanation because they simply evolved, which, of course, is superior to Flip Flop.
Joe Biden is the leader of the Democrat party, not because of talent or effectiveness, but because he is the President of the United States. He was elected to office on the strength of 81 million votes. Like Punxsutawney Phil, they had to pull Joe out of his burrow to break the news on election night. Joe, Dr. Jill is now the First Lady.
Joe has been in Washington since he was elected Senator from Delaware in 1973. You would think that having a career of that length would require solid philosophies. To think that would be wrong. Joe Biden has never been locked in on any policy. He is a man drifting in the wind.
Let’s take a look at some of Joe Biden’s evolutions.
Filibuster: Biden said the filibuster was abused, apparently not recognizing that his party, a minority in the US Senate for the last six years, used it quite liberally during the Trump administration.
He took it a step further and said he agreed with former President Barack Obama that the filibuster was “a relic of the Jim Crow era.” Does he not remember his 2005 Senate speech passionately defending the filibuster?
“I think it may be one of the most important speeches for historical purposes that I will have given in the 32 years since I have been in the Senate,” Biden said. “At its core, the filibuster is not about stopping a nominee or a bill — it’s about compromise and moderation,” he explained.
Defunding the Police: Joe Biden said in July of 2020 that some funding should “absolutely” be redirected from police, amid calls from some in his party to “defund the police” in the wake of the protests across the country.
One month earlier, the Biden campaign said that Biden did not believe police should be defunded. “As his criminal justice proposal made clear months ago, Vice President Biden does not believe that police should be defunded,” Biden campaign Rapid Response Director Andrew Bates said. “He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain.”
Abortion: Joe Biden claims to be a devout Catholic which makes supporting Abortion impossible. Here is the timeline of his philosophical changes:
1973: Biden said Roe v. Wade had gone “too far.”
1974: He said that a woman seeking an abortion should not have the “sole right to say what should happen to her body.”
1976: He votes for the “Hyde Amendment,” which bans federal funding of abortions.
1981: He introduces the “Biden Amendment,” which prohibits foreign-aid funding of biomedical research involving abortion.
1982: He votes for a constitutional amendment allowing states to overturn Roe v. Wade.
1983: He votes against a constitutional amendment allowing states to overturn Roe v. Wade.
1984: He votes for the Mexico City Policy, which bans federal funding for abortion referrals or counseling.
1987: He becomes chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and leads the fight against Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork, who was opposed to Roe v. Wade.
1994: He says, “those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for them.”
1995-2003: He voted six times to ban partial-birth abortion.
2007: He criticizes the Supreme Court decision upholding the ban on partial-birth abortion, calling it “paternalistic.” He also says he “strongly” supports Roe v. Wade.
2012: He says the government does not have “a right to tell other people that women, they can’t control their body.”
2019: He says he is opposed to the “Hyde Amendment,” which bans the federal funding of abortion.
2020: He says he supports abortion “under any circumstance.”
That is a lot to follow but suffice to say, he has evolved from Pro-Life to Pro-Choice.
Vaccine Mandates: Joe Biden vowed that the federal government would not mandate COVID-19 vaccines. That vow was short-lived as Biden enacted sweeping new national vaccine mandates affecting as many as 100 million Americans, sharply denouncing those who have not yet received the shots.
These are just four of dozens of positions on which Biden has “evolved.” The bottom line is Biden has no spine or commitment. He will yield to whatever special-interest group he has to placate. We need to know what our President stands for, and in Biden’s case, we know nothing.
This article was first published on The Liberty Loft thelibertyloft.com
The post Flip Flop on Right Called Evolving on Left appeared first on Granite Grok.
Shot speed: 747 mph. From not seeing the bullet at all, to seeing it traverse the egg, to seeing the rifling applied to the round, can see the shock wavse (leading and trailing), to seeing the impact without the exit immediately. The faster the frame speed, the more details you can see.
Up to 1,000,000 frames per second. From a 9mm round and a bunch of raw eggs.
Looks like that Phantom TMX 7510 they’re using in this vid is worth over $100,000. I always find it dumb when places are cagey about pricing. I know it’s probably part of their sales funnel, but I can only imagine how many tire kickers they get.. who are thinking the camera is probably a few thousand dollars max (because they didn’t even do an ounce of research). The whole “if you have to ask how much, then you can’t afford it” thing is so cringe and tiresome.
And that cost doesn’t cover the cost of the lenses, I’m sure.
(H/T: Every Day No Days Off)
The post Palate Cleanser: shooting an egg at 50 Frames/sec, then 10,000, then 50,000; 100,000 fps; then… appeared first on Granite Grok.
At Wednesday’s school board meeting in Croydon, a former school board member and current math teacher — the latter detail turns out to be important — stood up to say that he is ‘happy to help pay to educate other people’s children.’
Now, this guy pays at most a few thousand dollars each year in school taxes. At the same time, the town pays at least fifty thousand dollars each year towards schooling his three kids.
Put a few thousand in, take fifty thousand out. In what sense is he helping to pay for anything?
To put that a different way, ask yourself: If you put $3 in the poor box, then reach in and take out $50, in what sense are you helping the poor?
Of course, maybe he means he’ll be happy to keep paying even after he’s paid back what he’s taken from the town. When would that start?
Well, $50 thousand a year times thirteen years (K-12) is $650 thousand. If he’s paying $2500 a year in school taxes, he should be able to get around to actually helping in about 250 years.
As Richard Mitchell might say, the really interesting question here is whether this guy understands what he’s saying, or doesn’t understand it. In either case, you can at least be happy that he’s probably not teaching math to your children.
The post Possibly Dumbest Thing I’ve Heard Someone Say, Ever appeared first on Granite Grok.
Capitalism – while this economic system has lifted up more people out of poverty than any other, it has also created almost unimaginable wealth for some. Inequality is part and parcel of it – some perform better than others, some can recognize opportunity faster than others, and others can serve their fellow man far better than others.
While this map shows that billionaires can exist everywhere in the world, the US by far is the most hospitable country for the creation of such wealth.
The key is Economic Freedom – that Government gets out of the way to allow its citizen to “pursue their happiness” with minimal (ok, more than a little bit but still better conditions than most countries).
The problem is, more and more, is that more and more begrudge their success and chalk it up (as to why THEY haven’t achieved the same) theft and cronyism.
(H/T: Pleated Jeans)
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The Daily ‘Grok is our daily eblast that goes out around 7pm (Eastern). It lists the last 24 hours of posts that Groksters and Op-Ed writers have put up on the front page. We do this for those that might not have a lot of time to come to GraniteGrok.com and peruse the site; a quick listing of our posts in daily digest form works for them. Then, if desired, they can click on whatever they want and read it in depth.
We have been using MailChimp for the last couple of years. It was free at first but like a lot of “freemium” subscriptions, the more users, the higher the cost. While we are thrilled about having more subscribers to it, our cost has gone up. That said, we’ve paid it willingly as it shows that people do like what we do here at the ‘Grok. But there is a downside to using MailChimp.
They are Big Tech (and even more so after being bought by Intuit, the humungous software accounting and tax folks). And Big Tech, as we all know, don’t like Conservatives. And some Conservative sites have been dumped by MailChimp. So, before they could dump us…
…we just dumped them. While it will save us a few bucks (the monthly fee isn’t outrageous but is annoying), this is the main reason for the switch. We’ve added a new Plugin to our system that effectively does the same thing – just a bit different in look and feel. We like some, not so much other bits, but both Steve and I are happy to be relying less on Big Tech that could cancel us at a whim.
We’ve moved all of our current subscribers over but like with all changes, “stuff happens”. We’ve tested it internally and all went well so tonite will be the big test.
IF you don’t get it, and you think you should have, email me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com and we’ll get it fixed. If you aren’t on our list, fill in your email address in the above Daily ‘Grok box and get you going.
Note: we do not sell or rent any of your information to anyone. See here, with emphasis on LAZY:
PrivacyYour data is your data. We sell NOTHING to no one. Heck, we don’t have time to look at it ourselves.
If you send us an email – we may still use all or part of it if it amuses us (see above, Email).
What you write on a DISQUS comment is between you and DISQUS for ‘privacy’ – just like emails, we may respond to that DISQUS content you wrote and even post about it but beyond that, we don’t care about the other data associated with it.
If you voluntarily sign up for the Daily ‘Grok (we use MailChimp a WP Plugin), you give us permission to use it and you’ll get our daily eblast and, in the future, perhaps other emails as well – your data is then between you and the MailChimp WP Plugin.
We have also turned on advertising. If you click on those ads, again, your data is between you and them, not us. Ditto anything else we may have on the site for our benefit.
Again, we won’t give, rent, or sell that info or any other data of yours that passes to or through us to anyone else. Period. Get the picture? Don’t like it then don’t click it. See? Easy-peasy! Even a Progressive should be able to grok it.
Mostly because we’re too lazy to bother and we don’t care. We only care that you come to visit and perhaps leave comments. We’d rather be writing about things that amuse us.
And that is the truth – while we look at overall numbers (“Yay – it’s still above zero!”), we’re not interested in your info. Period.
You can trust us (as Howie Carr, NE’s talkmaster always says) – we’re not like the others.
Heh!
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This past Tuesday, WMUR ran a piece about how hard it is to get Daycare for the little ones. I can commiserate as TMEW and I own and ran such a center back in the early ‘naughts. I wanted our own business, TMEW had the degrees, and that meant we could supply our own afterschool care for the Eldest and the Youngest. We took over an all-but-failed center and built it up to be one of the best known in the area. Yes, our waiting list grew in size with our growing reputation.
Now, with COVID, things got a lot worse with respect to open slots and employees; there still is trouble in that industry. However, I’d NEVER try to restart a center nowadays. Not that I didn’t like handling all of the back of house stuff not directly to serving the kids – that’s what TMEW did and it was her forte. The kids (we were licensed for just under 50) all loved her as once she came into the building, they’d all flock to see her (while their teachers went “yep, she did it again”. She just had that magical touch.
But I digress. What caught my ear was someone who is in our situation in raising a grandchild. Her name was given as Nora and both she and her grandchild are much younger than we are which is probably why the piece quotes her saying:
Just ask Nora from Northfield who has Guardianship of her seven month old grandson:
They had waiting lists that were a year plus, one of them was two years. That’s shocking to me.
When we took the Grandson home from the hospital after DCYF pleaded with us to be the “family caregivers” when he was released from the Neonatal ICE. We never had any intention of placing him in a center – WE took on that responsibility. We also had the ability to do so as TMEW was not in the workforce – he became her fulltime job. I am assuming that Nora did not have that same situation and so it IS hard for her and many others.
The difference, like in so many industries, is staffing. They ay have the physical space but not the workforce to cover those slots. Discovery Child Enrichment Center in Portsmouth has the capacity to take in 150 children but because of staffing issues and meeting the adult to children ratio, it can only accept 75.
Crompton was right – there are State mandated staff to child ratios: from 4 to 1 for infants and then wider ratios as the kids get older. But even back then, it was a problem and a BIG problem for smaller centers like ours as when a teacher is not available, it is hard to shift resources/kids around. It CONTINUES to be a Big Bad thing if you are caught being “out of ratio” by the State. It was one thing if a teacher suddenly called in sick five minutes before opening and none of your back-up subs were available – it is another thing to run so deliberately over some length of time but the State didn’t care – you get a violation. Too many, you’re out of business. But in talking about regulations hampering slots, this and the square footage needed per child are impediments opening up new slots.
Now, as they often seem to do, after the initial showing, WMUR edits down what they first show a package and this was no different. Read what was missing in the clip at the link above – I had DVR’d their 5/10 News 9 at 5 as this next part really caught my ear – and flipped my attitude towards “Nora in Northfield”:
…That was shocking to me. You know, childcare really feels like a.., you know, an essential service that needs to be present in communities for people to go about their normal day to day, go to work, and make sure that their families are supported.
I can take that several different ways. The least offensive is that somebody can get to work and feed their family; that I understand.
Sorry, I’m old school – it used to be families that took care of the kids. We’re seeing this, like many other aspects of life, not all that distant in the past, moving from “we shall provide for ourselves” to being “YOU should provide for ME and my needs”.
No, Nora, if your idea of a woman is only that she can do as she pleases and that her finest example of being is in the workplace, I will disagree. I know it is hard if you are a single Mom (and we always such clients a priority over others who just wanted socialization for their children). When you start saying “an essential service”, I hear “Government should do this for me”.
Just like the Democrats and the Teacher Unions keep yammering that Government should be caring for your kids, childcare through pre-K, through K-12, take care of their medical needs, feed them year round, clothing….I think you know where I’m going with this: Whose children are they really? Even if from a de facto standard?
The post Is WMUR willing to lower the cost of your Daycare and make it more available? I didn’t think so… appeared first on Granite Grok.
First, an announcement, and then I’ll turn this thread over to those that rightly own it – YOU ALL! Tomorrow night at the Area 23 Craft Beers and Ciders pub. We’ve been there twice before and the owner, Kevin, is always happy to see us all. The time is 6 pm-8 pm.
Location:
Area 23 Craft Beer and Ciders
254 North State Street Unit H
Concord, NH 03301
6 to 8 pm
Phone at Area 23 is 603-552-0137
Now, as I said here, there’s a bit of a twist:
We have normally charged a cover fee, mostly $5/head depending on the location (sometimes a bit more). But with Bidenflation, everything has gone up in price so we must as well to continue to provide the “light fare” that we’ve always provided. We need to up that cover fee to $10/head/event. But we’re throwing in a new wrinkle!
We DO appreciate that quite a few of you have become monthly supporters/subscribers to help us pay the bills (especially the new server) and we want to say “thank you!” and reward your generosity. So, if you are donating $5 or more per month, the cover fee is waived. Not just for this one but for any GrokMeetups in the future (that’s the plan).
So if you are already donating to help keep the lights on, we want to say thank you in return – just come, be with like-minded folks, yak about what you want, and have a good time.
And now, we return to our regularly scheduled Friday Open Thread – have at it!
The post Friday Open Thread – Remember: GrokMeetup in Concord tomorrow night! appeared first on Granite Grok.
Unfortunately, we live today in a fractured society where people on the fringe feel a need to take things into their own hands. We see too many instances of violence, but we usually see the results of a violent act rather than preventing them.
The leak and leaker at the United States Supreme Court have exposed the Justices as vulnerable and forced us to reassess their safety. This leak involved one of the most volatile and emotional subjects ever considered by the Court. Abortion and Abortion Rights stir passions and rile people to take to the streets. Unfortunately, these protestors do not take the time to read the opinion before breaking the law with their protests.
Protesting is not breaking the law in certain instances. If you want to march on the Court steps, no problem. You want to march on the sidewalk in front of a Justices’ home, and you risk arrest. That is how the law is designed. The problem is that we are not enforcing the law, especially if those being acted upon are Conservatives.
There is already a Federal Law preventing protesting at or near a Justice’s home (18 US Code §1507).
Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Nothing in this section shall interfere with or prevent the exercise by any court of the United States of its power to punish for contempt.
Enforcing it would be a step in the right direction for these Conservative Justices trapped in their homes by pro-abortion protestors.
Two problems are stirring these people to take to the streets. One is they have not read or understood the potential opinion. Overturning Roe V. Wade will not outlaw or ban abortion. It will return the decision to each state where it belonged in the first place. The second is the rhetoric of the Democrat politicians feeding the emotions of the protestors with mistruths and hypothetical possibilities for the future. It is sad, but this is all orchestrated to save the midterm disaster the Democrats know is coming.
Let’s also look at some comments an MSNBC guest made this week about the leaker.
MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin found it hysterical when a guest declared she wanted to “make sweet love” to whoever leaked a draft decision indicating the Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade and “joyfully abort” a future pregnancy.
“I would like to find out who the leaker is. So I can make sweet love to that person because that person is a hero,” guest Laurie Kilmartin said, prompting laughter from the MSNBC host.
“A lot of people are saying the leaker could be a conservative. If the leaker is a Republican, and if I get pregnant during our love making, I will joyfully abort our fetus,” Kilmartin added.
At that point, Mohyeldin continued to laugh and buried his head in his hands.
Kilmartin is a comedian who has performed standup for years and writes for TBS’ “CONAN.”
This diatribe by Miss Kilmartin was not said on The Comedy Network but on a supposed news network, and it was tacky and irresponsible. That is what we have come to expect from MSNBC and CNN.
The Supreme Court Justices deserve protection, especially in this hyper-charged and polarized country. It will take just one person to take protesting too far, and a Justice or member of their family might pay the price.
This government needs to be proactive before we lament and mourn a loss. The first step is to get these protestors out of the Justices’ neighborhoods and then fund the protection they need.
Ray Writes for GraniteGrok.com and the Liberty Loft
The post 18 US Code §1507 appeared first on Granite Grok.
Based on Ann Marie Banfield’s post on the Hampton Falls School Board’s rejection of the NHSBA Policy JBAB due to lawsuits, I called the NH School Board Association yesterday morning and talked with Susan. She told me that the person to talk to was Will Philips, the NHSBA’s Staff Attorney and Director of Policy Services but he was on another phone line at the time. You know, the guy that (I believe) is supposed to make sure that all of the policies that they push out to the local school boards are in compliance with both NH State and Federal Law. Given that there are now three lawsuits (e.g., Gilford, Exeter, and Manchester) going on in NH concerning Policy JBAB (e.g., canceling the Free Speech of others when referring to transgender students and demanding that their staff lie to Parents about the transgender status of their child), I’m really curious about:
And, given that I’ve seen this same verbiage in school board policies all over the nation – WHO was the primary author of this? WHO generated the original version – and then deployed it all over including to New Hampshire? Why didn’t the NHSBA vet this? Did not a light bulb go off and say “In this Dillon’s Rule State, what is the authorizing Statute” (and the same thing in each District)?
I didn’t hear back from Counselor Philips, so I called back around 3:30 pm yesterday after I hadn’t heard back. Susan answered the phone again and said he had left for the day.
So I’ll be calling again today. And then again, if required.
And I just did so (9:28 am); Susan, once again, answered the phone and relayed that he was out of the office again – all day. Perhaps it is time to go up a level.
The post So I called the New Hampshire School Board Association about the Hampton Falls Super saying that JBAB was being pulled by the NHSBA… appeared first on Granite Grok.
Last night the House voted to send $40 billion to Ukraine, on top of the tens of billions already sent … at a time when mothers in the United States are facing shortages of baby formula.
The vast majority of “Republicans” voted in favor of this latest manifestation of endless-war. Here are the America-First Republicans who voted NO:
Full List Of The 57 Republicans That Voted Against The Democrats America Last $40 Billion Foreign Aid Package For Ukraine pic.twitter.com/tkvybRqpqQ
— The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) May 11, 2022
The Republican Party is a DISGRACE. Replacing America-Last Democrats with America-Last Republicans is the equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. ____ your “Red Wave” … we need an America-First wave.
The post Not Even Sixty America-First-Republican-Representatives in Congress appeared first on Granite Grok.