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Having come from a family background where my father was a Captain of deep sea tuna boat out of Cohassett, MA, I have always loved boat (sadly, not so much TMEW; I have yet to obtain one living within a few (ok, many more than a few) stone throws from the Big Lake).  So when big beautiful boats come up for viewing, I love it.  Sure, they cost from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions and I’ll never afford a single one of them.  But I can appreciate them – and without a single twitch of envy that I can’t.  So when CNN had this story about the BIGGEST superyacht EVAH, I was intrigued.  Then got depressed because, well, no pictures.  Nothing to oogle and ah about.  But one thing caught my eye (reformatted, emphasis mine):

Yet in a global climate of “haves and have-nots,” is it morally justifiable to spend $1 billion on a private yacht catering for 36 guests?

“To be honest, what ordinary mortals think is ‘moral,’ is not actually relevant to these people,” said Kampfner.

“You have to understand that we’re not talking about the top 1% — in this instance we’re talking about the 0.01%. This is a tiny group who live in their own bubble, they mix only among themselves.”

Now, if you didn’t know it, CNN is rather Leftist and certainly Sheena McKenzie let it show, didn’t she…

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Or why Executive Orders are such a bad idea (although this whole scenario is rather amusing; reformatted, emphasis mine):

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, ignoring prospective critics arguing for the LGBT movement, rescinded an executive order issued in 2007 by former Governor Kathleen Sebelius that expanded laws specifically protecting LGBT state workers. Brownback’s executive order was simple enough; his office released a statement saying the order “reaffirms the commitment of the State of Kansas to employment practices which do not discriminate based on race, color, gender, religion, national origin, ancestry or age. It further establishes that state entities will implement employment management practices for veterans and disabled individuals that include outreach, hiring, support, mentoring, development, rewards and recognition for achievement.”

The order from Sebelius, on the other hand, required “agencies under the governor’s direct control to ensure they have programs to prevent harassment against gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and people who have had surgery for sex changes,” according to the New York Times.

And this is the absolute right thing to have done.  Period.  And those that depend on such E.O.s

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Press Release

Senator Andrew Hosmer’s Response to a League Leader

Yesterday Susan Olsen, former Chair of the Women’s Defense League and current Legislative Director, sent an email to the entire NH Senate in support of SB 116.  Ms. Olsen sent the email as a New Hampshire resident, not as a representative of The League but the response from Senator Andrew Hosmer requires a comment.

Below is the email exchange in case you have not yet seen it:

Date: Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 8:08 AM
Subject: Support Women’s Rights – Support SB 116

Senator,

SB 116 will allow women who are legally able to defend themselves and their children INSIDE their homes to legally defend themselves and their children OUTSIDE their homes without seeking the permission of the legislature and local law enforcement.

For a woman who has been the victim of domestic abuse or of stalking, the legislature and current law forces her to cower behind closed doors and drawn draperies for as long a 14 days while waiting for her local police chief to determine whether he believes she is “suitable” and, thus, able to defend herself while she drives her children to the pediatrician or, simply and as importantly, drive to work so she may earn a living to support those children.

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NH State Rep Leigh Webb (D): “The role of government is to legislate behavior“

And yes, when Government legislates that YOU will give to SOMEONE ELSE your money, of course they’ll be happy!  But is it FAIR that a few benefit from the many?   Instead of paying for something themselves?  Why should Government be creating an environment where its citizens must use game theory against each other?  From the Union Leader (reformatted, emphasis mine):

HANOVER — Solarize Hanover plans to begin work on 62 installations soon, which is the equivalent of permanently removing 65 cars from the road, Town Manager Julia N. Griffin said Thursday.  Launched in October, Solarize Hanover’s goal is to dramatically increase the solar-electric or photovoltaic residential and small-business installations in Hanover by offering a group purchasing plan to obtain volume-based price reductions and unique networking opportunities to simplify the process of installing a solar system.   It is part of a larger solar project, Solarize Upper Valley, which is coordinated by local nonprofit Vital Communities.

Non-profit, yes?  So they actively went out to the Hanover community to get private pledges to get this done, eh?  THAT’S the NH spirit – local activism, local resources, local “sustainability”.  So what is this all about – and where did the money come from? From private donations, you say?  No???

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And one wonder’s why Conservatives are so anti-UN?

UN Climate Chief Announces “We Are Remaking The World Economy”

The United Nation’s climate chief says that reordering the global economy to fight climate change is the “most difficult” task the international body has ever undertaken. Christiana Figueres, who heads up the U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, told reporters, “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model, for the first time in human history.” Figueres continued, “This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years–since the industrial revolution.”

And I will add, the one that has boosted more people out of abject poverty than any other in the world’s history.  But, like all Smart People, she believes she and a handpicked few others can

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[Art.] 2-a. [The Bearing of Arms.] All persons have the right to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves, their families, their property and the state.

Based on MY Senator’s (that would be Andrew Hosmer) response to Susan’s request to support SB116 which seeks to implement “Constitutional Carry” here in NH (just as they have had in Vermont for years with NO ill effect in that safest of safe states), I just sent email to him:

From: Skip@GraniteGrok.com
To: SenHosmer@gmail.com
Sent: 2/9/2015 6:50:35 PM
Subject: Your “half baked” response to Susan Olsen’s email to you.

Senator Hosmer,

Really, that was a proper response to Mrs. Olsen’s politely worded  email to you – “half baked”?  This seems akin to the School of Carol Shea-Porter Political Civility who, when asked a question by a Republican lady several years ago who lived in her District, snarkily dismissed her as “No, you’re not being one of my constituents” simply for being on the other side of the political aisle.

For a number of years I’ve heard the Democrats throw out the Democrat meme #WarOnWomen for many sundry reasons the last few years at those that seem to be opposed to them – using Political Correctness in a politically weaponized manner any time a Republican of any measure was deemed out of line in a sexist fashion.  But then you, a high ranking Democrat in NH, have the temerity to completely dismiss Mrs. Olsen (yes, a dear friend of mine) in such a off-handed way?  Such a fine and upstanding example of “political civility” this is not!  Or was your response, like that hashtag meme, simply the new political expediency (seeing that the Democrat #WarOnWomen has run its course and only fit to be tossed into the heap pile)?

Unlike Mrs. Olsen, I AM one of your constituents. 

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In the Texas Tribune, former Texas Governor Rick Perry took a shot at his fellow Texan, US Senator Ted Cruz, who may be vying with him in the 2016 Presidential Primary:

“It’s one of the selling points, if you will, to the American people as they decide who’s going to follow Barack Obama,” he said. “I think they’re going to make a rather radical shift, away from a young, untested United States senator whose policies have really failed.”

And then he shot himself in the foot, as far as I’m concerned, because it goes against one of his fundamental lines that had me giving him an approving eye the last time around (““My goal is to make Washington as inconsequential to your daily life as possible”):

Perry said he was “not necessarily all that fond of this open carry concept,” adding that those who carry guns ought to be “appropriately backgrounded, appropriately vetted, appropriately trained.”

“We license people to drive on our highways,” he said. “We give them that privilege. The same is true with our concealed handguns.”

So he’s not hep with the idea of open carry (and I don’t disagree with as there is the notion of “shoot me first”) but likes that Government must be asked FIRST before being able to exercise one’s Constitutional Right?  When that happens, he’s right – the ability to own and bear (either openly or carried) arms becomes a mere privilege

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From the UL (reformatted, emphasis mine) comes this news from the Federal Govenrment’s Ambassador to NH Shaheen in dragooning two other Government employees into saying “ONLY GOVERNMENT CAN SAVE US ALL!”.  Translation: All hail the Sacred Government!

The showdown over Homeland Security funding could affect first responders, right down to local firefighters, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said Thursday. Shaheen held a conference call with David Lang, president of the Professional Firefighters of New Hampshire, and Laconia Fire Chief Kenneth Erickson, to highlight what she says is at stake.
Funding for the federal Department of Homeland Security runs out by month’s end. The debate in Congress is complicated as Republicans consider amendments to nullify President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration reform.  Democrats accused Republicans of putting politics above security.

Could? Politics?  Methinks the second is driving the first.  Politics – in Government? I’m SHOCKED, I tell you, SHOCKED! Especially coming from one that can dole out other peoples’

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It is certainly is a topic that I’ve blogged about before – a side transformation of American life and putting a stake in the heart in the American love of that big throaty roar of a well-tuned big block V8.  Instead, we’d be transformed to go down that Electric Avenue.  Unfortunately, other than he, the anti-live-where-you-want crowds, the eco-obsessed, most of the American public have gone for the bigger vehicles: pickups and SUVs.  The idea of a “tin can and a 9 volt” just has not caught on even with massive subsidies from the Government to the car companies and to consumers (and yes, one of the “side reasons” for the failed Cash for Clunkers program).  Thus, this at CNSNews (reformatted, emphasis mine):

 In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama predicted that the U.S. would have “a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.”The president backed up his prediction with $2.4 billion in federal grants to companies producing lithium-ion batteries for plug-in cars.  But reality hasn’t even come close.  Despite massive federal spending on electric vehicles, which is expected to total $7.9 billion through 2019, there are currently just 286,390 plug-in vehicles on the nation’s roads today, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA).

That’s 72 percent lower than the million electric vehicles the president predicted four years ago. And with gasoline prices

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…then maybe, just MAYBE, you shoulda listened to that little angel on your shoulder going “er, wanna rethink that decision”?

As the nation’s moviegoers ready for the Valentines Day release of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” sensation, actress Dakota Johnson Friday told a national TV audience that it’s so racy that she won’t let her parents watch. In an early preview of the sex-filled film for a “Today” show audience, the daughter of actor Don Johnson and actress Melanie Griffith nervously said, “I don’t want my parents to see it.” Asked who could, Johnson said, “maybe my friends, maybe my sisters.”

The cognitive dissonance hurts…

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