GraniteGrok

Does your New Hampshire town list the names of all town & school employees with salaries and benefits in your Annual Report?

Posted by Doug at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Doug's post inspired one of our readers to send this as an indication of his handy work here in NH:

Alas, I never got past intermediate stick figures in Art class....

And then I was sent an additional verbal commentary from the NH National Committeeman, Sean Mahoney (who did NOT send the above).  Click here to listen.

Scary thought....even before Halloween!  Or after the election..... 

Posted by Skip at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Scary, eh? If the elections go wrong in '08, EVERY day will be Halloween...

Posted by Doug at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

VETERANS day WEEKEND 3 GUN benefit SHOOT
Co-hosted by Major Waldron Sportsmen’s Association and
Pioneer Sportsmen Club
HELP US SUPPORT
New Hampshire Military and Their Families
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE CHAPLAIN EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

• SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – action SHOTGUN AND RIFLE competition
  MAJOR WALDRON Sportsmen’s ASSOCIATION BARRINGTON, nh

• SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – idpa/steels handgun competition
  Pioneer sportsmen Club, Dunbarton, NH

It remains as shocking today as when I first learned that when our National Guard and Reserve members are activated for deployment their families are often forced into the additional sacrifice of trying to maintain their daily routines but on the significantly lower income of military pay.  Increased heating cost, emergency repairs for homes or autos - handling such issues alone, absent the support of a deployed spouse is one thing.  Attempting to manage on significantly less income because the spouse is fulfilling their military service obligation to our country is a sacrifice our service families should not have to make.  It is unconscionable that no form of relief exists except for private donations through private charitable organizations such as the CHAPLAIN EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND. 

The CHAPLAIN EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND (CERF) was created to provide quick, temporary financial help for military members and their families facing financial need. The CHAPLAIN EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND is managed by volunteer trustees, all New Hampshire Army or Air National Guard Chaplains.  Because it is administered directly by the Chaplains, expenses are minimal (stationary, stamps, annual filing fees) allowing at least 99.5% of all monies received to go directly to families for emergency assistance for items such as rent, mortgage, home heating fuel, utilities, etc.  CERF is a private, not for profit fund registered with the IRS as Tax-Exempt under 501c3 (ID# 02-0445602).   Again, CERF operates with minimal overhead – no trustee or administrative salaries, no dedicated offices, no places for donations to be diverted from their intended purpose.

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To assist CERF’s necessary mission, members of Major Waldron’s Sportsmen’s Association  and of the Pioneer Sportsmen Club (Barrington and Dunbarton, NH, respectively) are joining together to host a fund-raiser on Veteran’s Day weekend (hence, Task Force 11-11).  Both organizations enjoy in their respective membership many veterans as well as current Reserve and Guard people, and   both associations believe there is no more important effort at hand than to send a strong message in support of our own troops and their families.  ALL proceeds go to CERF and, again, at least 99.5% of the funds CERF receives end up in the hands of the service families who need our help. We are asking for you to show your support for them by supporting CERF. 

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The Pease-based 157th Air Refueling Wing is a most visible reminder of the commitment of the New Hampshire Guard to all Americans.  Their mission is ongoing and they provide refueling operations in the North Atlantic corridor servicing the fighter wings engaged in fly-over security for Boston, New York City and the northeast.  They help keep your airspace safe.  Additionally, the 157th’s ground security element has experienced multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Posted by Doug at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Check it out! Skip will be joining me from 8:50-9:00 am on 99.7 wntk morning show that I'm co-hosting this week. If you're out of range, go to wntk.com for a live stream of the broadcast.

We'll be talking about the educational system.

Posted by Judy at 4:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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I was wondering when the “Bush Caused the Wildfires” mantra would start. I just didn’t think it would start in my Granite State of New Hampshire and that it would come out of the mouth of former New Hampshire Governor and current Democratic Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen, who is normally very disciplined and not prone to saying silly things.

Nevertheless:

Speaking to an audience of committee members and elected officials, Shaheen and Buckey discussed their qualifications for the Senate and their stance on global warming, the economy, and the health care system.

Buckey said he would focus on decreasing America’s dependence on petroleum and increasing research on renewable energy technologies. He said it’s an issue that’s vital to both national security and the economy.

“If we don’t take action, we are going to lose control of America’s future,” Buckey said. “Ten years from now, do we want to be importing solar-powered systems and other technologies from elsewhere or do we want to be building them here?”

Shaheen agreed with many of Buckey’s points, but criticized the Bush administration on everything from the war in Iraq to health care. Shaheen also blamed Bush for the wildfires in California.

“Those wildfires are the direct result of the failure of this administration to do something about global warming,” she said.

This is a pretty remarkable and irresponsible statement on Shaheen’s part, for as even the MSM has acknowledged by now: “Authorities in Southern California said they believe two of the fires that recently ravaged the area were intentionally started.”

As readers no doubt know, Shaheen is running against Sen. John Sununu, whom you can contribute to through the Rightroots contribution interface HERE.

UPDATE: More than a few readers have e-mailed to say that Gov. Shaheen’s gaffe is the consequence of a major party going loopy–otherwise smart, rational people start saying loopy things just to win their approval. Sigh. I suppose so.

This, of course, follows a similar pattern demonstrated by none other than Bill Clinton. Remember when he blamed "right wing talk radio" (Rush Limbaugh- Clinton's number one detractor) for the OKC bombing?  Long a New Hampshire version of the "triangulator" Bill Clinton, it is no surprise that Ms. Shaheen would choose this path of thoughtless demagoguery as she seeks to curry favor with the left wing loons of her party.

Those following the career of Jeanne Shaheen know that this wouldn't be the first time Ms. Shaheen said or did something loopy in the process of seeking approval. Let's review one incident in particular...

As we experience near drought conditions this summer here in NH, it is refreshing to recall Gov. Shaheen’s famous canoe trip with Al Gore- you remember that, don’t you? Billions of gallons of North Country water was released to safely accommodate Shaheen and Gore for a photo-op.  Hopefully this river excursion will be remembered often, should she decide to run for the Senate. Perhaps some intrepid reporter, recalling her and Al’s voyage, will ask the Gov.’s opinion of the denial of water to Klamath Falls farmers due to the Endangered Species Act’s protection of the Suckerfish. …

My neighbour, Adair, is director of the Connecticut River Joint Commission and, when Mr Gore and New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen, decided to stage a canoeing photo-op on the river, Adair and her pals at the CRJC mulled it over and thought they'd do their guests a favour. The water looked a little low - much of America is undergoing a severe drought at the moment - so they asked the electric company to open the floodgates of the Wilder dam, to make sure Al's canoe didn't run aground. As usual, the photo-op lasted just long enough for the press to get their photos, at which point Al stopped pretending to be a canoeist and got out of the river. It then emerged that 4 billion gallons of water had been released in order to ensure that Mr Environmentalist could float his boat. Vermont's natural resources director, a Democrat, grumbled, `They won't release water for the fish when we ask them to, but somehow they find themselves able to release it for a politician.'

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The Gore office then did their usual trick of keeping the story alive by quibbling. It wasn't 4 billion gallons, or 180,000 gallons per second, they said. It was 'only' 97 million gallons, or 'just' 27,000 per second. The electric company, whose statements have been almost as unreliable as Mr Gore's, countered with their own figure: half a billion gallons. While the VicePresident, his obliging dam owners and the press were arguing about precisely how much water he'd wasted, Bill Clinton declared drought emergencies in five midAtlantic states.

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Most other politicians could have got away with it, but Mr Gore is not a man who can afford to blow even a mere 97 million gallons. He's been the most enthusiastic proponent, for example, of Federal toilet regulations, which restrict the amount of water you can use to flush and which has led to a roaring trade in toilet smuggling from Canada. Big Brother is watching your big cistern because on the environment, we were told, the Vice-President knew best. It wasn't long before the American press were producing statistics, in this parched summer, showing that an average homeowner would have to water his lawn 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for 75 years to use as much water as Mr Gore did on the Connecticut. It would certainly seem to be at odds with his book Earth in the Balance in which he quotes approvingly the 12th-century Sri Lankan king, Parakrama Bahu: `Let not a single drop of water that falls on the land go into the sea without serving the people.'

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Unlike Mr Gore's earlier stumbles claiming to be a dirt-poor Tennessee farmer and inventor of the Internet -'Floodgate' (as it's known) would also seem to be illegal: `It would have cost New Englanders up to $7 million to use the same amount of water that was used to float Vice-President Gore's boat,' said Steve Duprey, chairman of New Hampshire's Republican party, announcing that he was asking the Federal Elections Commission to investigate this `illegal campaign contribution'.

Posted by Doug at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

If you want the Executive Sumary for this post, try this:

"I'd be ticked," Madore said. "They're telling you what to do with your kid."

No, not the teachers - the School Board. I still cannot believe the chutzpah! 

My outlook is that government functions for the people and not the other way around.  Lincoln had it right in his Gettysburg address "...government of the people, by the people, for the people..."  Too often, we find ourselves in the situation where we, the people, end up having to fight our government because there are those in government believe they know better than we and wish us to behave the way they wish us to (and mostly, Democratic Liberals).  This is a real basic reason to change the law to yank the ability to change tax policy away from politicians (think FairTax).

They have forgotten that they, elected and appointed officials and all they that make government work, should all serve at the pleasure of the taxpayers and citizens.

Instead, we get this (bold emphasis is mine):

Parents in Connecticut might be the ones getting the report cards if a proposed plan makes the grade at a Manchester public school district.

Steven Edwards, a Republican member of the Manchester (CT) Board of Education who’s up for re-election Nov. 6, wants parents to be evaluated on a handful of what he says are objective measures — including whether their children have done the homework and eaten a good breakfast.

"I tried to design something modest [measuring] things that virtually everybody would agree parents should do to help their kids," Edwards said. "We don't have our staff making any subjective evaluations."

The idea has angered parents, and the local PTA vows to fight the plan.

"People are going to be extremely offended by it," said Jackie Madore, president of the Manchester Parent Teacher Association Town Council. "I don't feel the report cards on parental skills is the way to go. ... It's going to be the parents against the Board of Education, basically."

Heh!

I blogged about the brouhaha when Senate Majority Leader Reid falsely accused Rush Limbaugh of slandering the troops.  Well, Rush's reaction was appropriate, rightous indignation, especially when 41 Senators, our government, wrote "an official government Letter" in an attempt to persuade his syndication company to ditch him.

His response - eBay the Letter.  Thus, turning a lemon into 4 million gallons of lemonade for the Marine Corp - Law Enforcement Foundation.  

Well, another attempt at pure partisanship has just happened here in NH is along the same lines (and Doug blogged it here).  Jeanne Sheheen is making the claim:

“These Wildfires Are A Direct Result Of This Administration's Failure To Do Something About Global Warming.” 

You know, lots of stupid things get said and done as one tries to get elected - Doug points out her boneheaded attempt with Mr. Global Warming himself - Al Gore.

Well, Fergus Cullen, the Chair of the NH Republicans is repeating that lesson of liberals not getting it right:

Jeanne Shaheen should be ashamed of herself for politicizing such a historic catastrophe. Here in New Hampshire we have had our share of natural disasters in recent years, specifically flooding.  It is an act of hyper-partisanship to blame President Bush for accidents and arson-driven natural disasters.

This is not the time for finding partisan blame.  The victims of this tragedy in California deserve better than political rhetoric.  They need our help.  New Hampshire Republicans encourage New Hampshire residents to keep the people affected by the California wildfires, and the brave first responders who are fighting them, in your thoughts and prayers.

If you would like to take further action, we encourage you to support the American Red Cross in their disaster relief efforts, you can contribute at www.redcross.org.

On this, I will agree with Doug and Fergus.  I have to wonder if Shaheen got some bad advice to go negative so quickly on this topic.  I realize that this is the season to bash Bush, but even as people are still out of their homes (and some of my co-workers in San Diego were evacuated and are just returning to their homes), this goes over like a lead ballon.

Plus...

...in a way, continuing that ill fated and ill advised canoe ride with AlGore and making this slam from that aspect shows an ignorance that one has to comtemplate as we choose a person for Senator.

My take is that while the world is warming up, it is due to natural cycles (one only has to review actual history to know that the Earth has warmed and cooled over the epochs all by itself without the need for humans to do so).  Whether or not we are adding to it and making it worse really is under discussion, and there is no "consensus" - no matter those that call we who disagree "deniers" as if it were a curse worse than death.

Like I care!

Here's just two points that have to be considered:

• AlGore's movie has been proved wrong in a British court and now requires a notification before it can be shown to students (sorta like our law that requires packs of cigarettes to be labeled - ha!)
• The models that are showing doom and gloom may not be all that accurate

To blame the California fires and the devastation they caused on a natural process that has raised, perhaps, a degree and a half over the last 100 years on an Administration that has been there just 6 years is inane from a scientific, rational basis. As NRO pointed out, what about the fires in 2003 and earlier?

This was done strictly as a partisan poke....nothing rational at all in this (as I am rapidly learning). 

Posted by Skip at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Last year, the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights declared that international human rights law requires all nations to adopt strict gun control laws. These “minimum” provisions are much more restrictive than any of those on the books anywhere in the U.S. and would almost certainly violate the Second Amendment of our Constitution.

Throughout modern history, the forced disarmament of people by its government has often been accompanied or followed by that government’s commission of often massive human rights abuses. In fact, no genocide in the 20th century occurred when the victim population still possessed small arms, legally or illegally, with which to defend themselves.

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So now the UN wants to disarm civilians? Where was the UN when the massacres in Rwanda occurred? What did the UN do to protect the victims of ethnic massacres in Bosnia? Disarming civilians under the guise of international human rights law will only lead to more such genocides by ensuring that civilians can never defend themselves! It would be funny if it weren’t so perverse.

Posted by Doug at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Since I'm substitute co-hosting the wntk morning show this week on 99.7 FM (wntk.com for live steam), I asked Doug to join me starting at 6:15 am Tues. to discuss various subjects including Prez politics, the toll issue, blogging in general, the loss of the NH advantage and possibly other subjects as time allows.

Since it's talk radio, please feel free to call in on the toll free line 888-299-3151.

We should have alot of fun not to mention, I'm sure, an interesting discussion on some important issues that affect all of us. Lady Radio signing off...

Posted by Judy at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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looking at the latest NHGOP signs plastered along roads after the toll increase (for verification that these are the work of the Republican State Committee, view a close-up shot), I'm stumped on which of the two frauds being perpetrated here is more egregious.

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The fact that the toll increase garnered the support of two Republican Executive Counciliors (including one, who, now realizing he just ruined the state elephant's theme song against Lynch, is pretending to claim that he has no idea why he voted the way he did and wants a do-over)?

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Or the fact that the signs, by their design, color, and font, are meant to trick unsuspecting folks into thinking that "higher taxes" is Lynch's new campaign motto?

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Both deceptions rely on the ignorance of potential voters in order to be effective.

Posted by Doug at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Congress had the power to specifically outlaw “waterboarding” and they didn’t do it.  Why?  Because they know that in some cases it works.  That’s not to say it’s always an effective technique. In fact, most experts say that it’s not.

But in some cases it might be, and to declare it “torture” takes away the option, which in some cases might be the best way to get information.  But of course the Democrats, and some Republicans, don’t want to do it directly, because then they might actually have to answer to people in case something horrible happens in the future and it turns out that our intelligence services didn’t have all the tools at their disposal to stop it.

Folks, this quote by our buddy Lindsey Graham pretty much sums up a good bit of our problem in fighting the war on terror:

I am convinced as an individual senator, as a military lawyer for 25 years, that waterboarding … does violate the Geneva Convention, does violate our war crimes statute, and is clearly illegal,” Graham told “Face the Nation.”

The first problem - Graham’s a lawyer.  We need to keep the lawyers as far away as possible from deciding how best to fight this war, especially as it pertains to illegal combatants and terrorists. And that’s what people like KSM and many of those at Gitmo are - terrorists.

I agree. Dress them in ladies underwear. Let them get frightened by snapping, snarling German Shepherds, too. Flush their Korans down the toilet. Stuff their heads in the toilet, for all I care. Just get the information...

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Posted by Doug at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Doug at 7:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

[I]t is said that if the Republican Party wants to be competitive in California in presidential politics, it must nominate a pro-choice candidate, of which there is only one -- Rudy Giuliani. This is almost certainly true. It certainly is irrational because pro-choice Californians have next to nothing to fear -- just as pro-life Californians have next to nothing to hope for -- from a right-to-life President. The practical consequences of such a President concerning abortion would not differ significantly from Giuliani's consequences. Here is why.

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Abortion policy is almost entirely in the custody of the U.S. Supreme Court, and will remain so unless or until the court decides to restore moral federalism regarding the issue.

in 2007 we have, by any reasonable historical standard, a fine Republican field: One of the great big-city mayors of the last century; a former governor of extraordinary executive talent; a war hero, highly principled and deeply schooled in national security; and a former senator with impeccable conservative credentials.

Posted by Doug at 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was talking with TMEW about the San Diego fires (I have co-workers in that area - some were under mandatory evacuation.  Fortunately, they have all been able to return to their homes, and had homes to return to).  My question to her was "Gee, I wonder who [what nation] is going to offer to assist us?" thinking that the answer would be, as usual "no one".

Very few times do I see other nations, even our closes allies and friends, offer the kind of assistance that we offer to them.  Even to our "enemies', we are generally quick and with lots to offer.  Even today, I've not heard of any of them offer anything (at least, anything I have seen in the MSM).

Until this over at StopTheACLU:

Iraqi Army in Besmaya collected a donation for the San Diego, Calif., fire victims

Iraqi men that are risking their lives everyday and barely have the money to feed their own families are donating to the fire victims of San Diego.

Where is the MSM?

From OpFor, via memeorandum featured posts.

We hear so much of what goes on in Iraq, unless of course it is good news. Then the silence is deafening.

What we do not hear is the generosity of the Iraqi’s towards Americans, their gratitude, their acts of incredible kindness.

Thanks to OPFOR for making sure this story gets some attention.

It may not be much - it might be hardly a pittance in our eyes.  I bet that it is not for them.  Here's what I found over at OpFor (a milblog I read every day):

Iraqi Army Col. Abbass, the commander of the complex, presented a gift of $1,000 to U.S. Army Col. Darel Maxfield, Besmaya Range Complex officer in charge, Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq, to send to the fire victims in California.

The money was collected from Iraqi officers and enlisted soldiers in Besmaya. In a speech given during the presentation, Col. Abbass stated that he and the Iraqi soldiers were connected with the American people in many ways, and they will not forget the help that the American government has given the Iraqi people. Abbass was honored to participate by sending a simple fund of $1,000 to the American people in San Diego, to lower the suffering felt by the tragedy.

Often, however, that is the best thanks.  And often, that's all we Americans want to hear - a heartfelt thanks.

From this Dad of a now discharged Iraq deployed Marine - thank you.  We appreciate it.

Posted by Skip at 6:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

.....

       ..Pat Hynes                                           Skip Murphy              Doug Lambert

***LIVESTREAM IS WORKING!!!!***

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• Vern Wuensche is from Texas and he's running for president. He's a self-made man that has made his living as a small businessman for thirty one years. I challenge any real conservative to review Mr. Wuensche's positions on the issues and find something you disagree with. His main issue is the judicial system and its impact on small businesses. There are many people other than those at the top that run for President every cycle that we often never hear about, but they're there. We'll find out what motivates someone to pursue something that is without a doubt, the longest of long shots. Says Vern: "Skill in achieving a result is a practiced art. An American leader must clearly picture the desired result and then each day exercise discipline and determination to be certain he or she is moving toward it." This is his second appearance on MTNP. He'll report on his activities this week as he officially filed for the NH primary and visited Laconia and the surrounding locales.
• All Politics are local... Doug & Skip talk about why the salaries of the town and school employees should be printed in the annual report. The Gilford Budget Committee has raised the issue and might ask the Selectmen and School Board to do so. Are there any other towns out there in NH that do this? Phone in and let us know, or drop us an email. Belmont denied funding to one of those so-called "outside agencies." This is a debate that is happening in many towns and cities lately.
• Liz Mair, our favorite "progressive" Republican joins us to talk about her latest piece in the American Spectator where she floats the possibility that McCain is "Running Interference for Rudy." We'll also chat about private equity and carried interest. We'll ask her what she thinks about the Democrats' Mother of all Tax Hikes. Bloomberg reports: "The House will approve a bill raising taxes for buyout firms and hedge-fund managers next month, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said." I don't like the sound of that. Liz will explain why we should be concerned. She'll also bring us up to date on the state of RomneyCare in Massachusetts.
• Charlie Arlinghaus of the Josiah Bartlett Center checks in. The big news for him this week was the announcement he's joined the Fred Thompson campaign as a "senior advisor" (unpaid). As noted in this post, this is a significant catch for Mr. Thompson. We'll find out why Charlie chose Fred. Says Charlie, "The burning issue isn't Fred or an [education funding] amendment or tolls but the emerging fiscal disaster the state faces." He'll let the listeners know why he's still sounding the alarm. Is it the end of the "NH Advantage?" We'll touch on the Swiss elections if we have time.
• William Blake is the Press Secretary for The Interfaith Alliance & The Interfaith Alliance Foundation. They don't want religion to be part of the presidential campaign. We'll have a discussion about the value of religion in the public square. (Hint: the Interfaith Alliance might not be in agreement with the MTNP gang on this) "Separation of Church and State?"

Posted by Doug at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I attended both forums on the Dover Tax Cap initiative. In the first one moderated by Councilor David Scott, he laid out the ground rules and how it was an information gathering event for citizens paneled by: himself, three Dover city employees and four guests from Franklin and Laconia (including two mayors), who had experience of a tax cap in their communities. It was therefore balanced with those from the private sector who pay taxes to government and those from municipal government who increase their ranks and compensation through tax hikes and whose earnings are the result of taxes. Two of the first people to break the ground rules and start the ball rolling toward mild anarchy were the tax and spend liberals Betsey Andrews Parker and Mr. Glenn Grasso himself, who felt that they should grandstand rather than ask questions. And no cap opponents asked a question of the Dover staff. The audience was packed with Dover city union employees, some of whom also threw their rhetorical weight around with great melodrama, and warnings of doom, generating far more heat than light.

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The second, calmer forum, run by unlimited spending advocate Mayor Scott Myers had six panelists all from state agencies and local government; people whose compensation increases and whose jobs are more secure when taxes go up not down. This is objectivity he says, not stacking the deck to achieve a desired outcome. There were no private sector representatives and no one who'd personally experienced first-hand a tax cap…how helpful.  He then coached the panelists how to respond when he felt the need.

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On the same day that Foster's ran its editorial against the tax cap, the Union Leader editorialized in favor of it. On Thursday, Foster’s editor publishes an unhinged, "infuriated" diatribe playin