Rick Olson

Rick Olson is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, and a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University with a BA in Social Science. Rick subsequently attended Massachusetts School of Law in Andover MA. Rick takes up second amendment issues on Granite Grok, as well as issues surrounding hunting, fishing, trapping and wildlife issues. Rick Olson is a former Police Officer and Deputy Sheriff. He is Past President of the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation, President of the Londonderry Fish & Game Club  Rick is a nationally certified firearms instructor and a Hunter Education Instructor. He can frequently be found teaching Urban Rifle and Defensive Pistol classes as an Instructor with Defensive Strategies in Goffstown, NH.  Rick resides in Manchester with his wife Lisa. He has four children and ten Grandchildren.

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

The RINO of the week is Nottingham House Representative Frank Case. This week features a Republican whose voting record shows frequent opposition to conservative values and resistance to liberty.

Manchester Needs a ‘Full-Time Refugee” Coordinator?

Liberals love to spend money. No doubt about it. Especially when the money they are spending taxpayer money. Despite tough economic times for the rank and file taxpayer, City Hall liberals are still crafting ways to generate new spending in an effort to expand the almighty nanny-feifdom of city government.

Conservatives! Help Romney win! Don’t unite behind Bachmann!

From the Des Moines Register, via today’s Drudge Report (which also includes various stories about the unraveling of America), the latest poll shows Bachmann and Romney in a dead heat. No one else comes close. Sooo…. Bachmann wins in Iowa, taking away Romney’s "next in line" status. Then the conservative movement unites behind her in … Read more

America transforming into a police state? Or are we arleady there?

It appears that it is, in the name of "national security." The article below comes from The American Thinker online.

TSA Now Storming Public Places 8,000 Times a Year

By Tara Servatius 
Americans must decide if, in the name of homeland security, they are willing to allow TSA operatives to storm public places in their communities with no warning, pat them down, and search their bags.  And they better decide quickly.

Bus travelers were shocked when jackbooted TSA officers in black SWAT-style uniforms descended unannounced upon the Tampa Greyhound bus station in April with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and federal bureaucrats in tow….

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I have cancelled my Facebook account. Here’s why…

Former GraniteGrok writer Tom Flaherty wrote and distributed the email below. I find that I agree with him. So as of today I have "deactivated" (you can’t erase it) my Facebook account. When the Facebook Fascists asked why I was leaving, I said "I don’t like your selective political favoritism." In fact, I don’t like their left-wing statism. So screw Facebook. (For an upcoming alternative that will respect privacy and hopefully not use itself as a left-wing political weapon, check out Altly.com.)

Read on….

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John Lynch Vetoes Are A Political Shell Game

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“He is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation…” –Adlai Stevenson

Governor Lynch’s vetoes show him for who he really is: A big government, big spending, social liberal. And not an honest one either. His vetoes of these bills clearly prove that.

Lynch’s veto of HB109 is a slap to working families all across this state. In a time when home values are on a downward spiral and fewer working families can afford to purchase a home, the Governor paves the way for local bureaucrats to impose a costly regulation on working families. “I believe that the decision of whether or not to require fire sprinklers for new or renovated residential development should remain a local one.” This is class warfare by another flair.

How does Lynch assert sensitivity to a working families’ pursuit of purchasing a home by effectively shoving that cost further out of their financial reach? How does Lynch reconcile his class warfare by proxy by putting a regulation in place that clearly and effectively will exclude working families from obtaining a home? His veto effectively and potentially removes some affordable housing from the market. I personally know of several fire chiefs around the state who have been pushing and lobbying for local ordinances requiring sprinkler systems.

Governor Lynch’s veto of HB 218 is demonstrative of the larger mentality that the interests of a few friends should be served so that at some point for rail expansion, the rail authority can pick the pockets of New Hampshire taxpayers. Lynch grossly misrepresents the intent of the bill, implying that its sponsors are anti-rail. Fact is, proponents of rebuilding the rail infrastructure sought to maintain the option of receiving taxpayer funded subsidies and Lynch was more than willing to oblige.

Finally, Lynch’s veto of HB 329, commonly referred to as “Parental Notification,” shows him to be the consummate dishonest politician he truly is.  When he did not support the Granite State’s original parental notification law, he did so under the pretext of its lack of a medical exception.

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When Homeland Security Becomes Racist

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“Every Muslim, the minute he can start differentiating, carries hate towards Americans, Jews, and Christians; this is part of our ideology. Ever since I can recall I felt at war with the Americans and had feelings of animosity and hate toward them…” –Usama Bin Laden, December, 1998 on Al Jazeera

From across the fruited plain come the hues and cries yet again declaring, “racism and bigotry!” Isn’t free speech a real gem?

A former New York State prison official gave testimony Wednesday at a second Homeland Security hearing in Washington asserting that radical Islam is making in-rows into the American penal system. In a report by Fox News, A New York prisons official testified that radical Muslims have made “sustained efforts” to indoctrinate inmates in America, at a second hearing on Islamic radicalization held by Rep. Peter King.

 And as with King’s first hearings held on back in March, Wednesday’s hearing was just as fraught with cacophonous protests and cries of racism. Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi and ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, says, “The threat of terrorism from U.S. converts in prison is ‘small.'” Enter Laura Richardson, a liberal, Kool-Aid drinking Democrat from California who suggested the hearing was “racist,” further asking why Muslims in prisons are being targeted as opposed to other religious or ethnic minorities,” reports Fox News.

 An imam who works as a chaplain in a county jail on Long Island was one such protestor of the King Homeland Security hearing. says this imam, “I have seen no evidence of terrorist recruitment at the jail.” Yet this “peace-loving” imam goes on to tell Fox News, “If we found anyone in our community committing an act of terrorism, by the time the police got there the matter would be settled and there would be one less terrorist,” can you feel the brotherly love?

 So, what did the cops all have to say?

 Patrick Dunleavy, a retired corrections official in New York told the committee that radical Muslims have been trying to convert U.S. inmates to their cause for decades. “Despite appearances, prison walls are porous. Individuals and groups that subscribe to radical Islamic ideology have made sustained efforts to target inmates for indoctrination.”

 Former California federal prosecutor Kevin Smith cited the cases of Kevin James and Levar Washington, who both plead guilty in 2007 to “conspiracy to levy war against the United States through terrorism.”

Smith characterized the actions of both men as a “seditious conspiracy” hatched inside California’s prison system.

 Top Los Angeles Police Department official Michael Downing, described the radical Islamic conversions as a “phenomena of low volume,” but holds “high consequence” considering the sheer size of the U.S. prison population.  “We do have a problem,” he said. “Prisons are communities at risk.” 

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Assault Weapons: A Serious Problem in America?

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“The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.” – Thucydides

 HR 6257 Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act of 2008 was introduced by Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois, and co-sponsored by Republicans, (defeated)Mike Castle of Delaware, Mike Ferguson of New Jersey, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Chris Shays of Connecticut. The Bill was introduced on June 12, 2008 and never became law, having been stalled in subcommittee.  In January, Republican Senator Dick Lugar said he supports a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines.

These Republicans suck. Mark Kirk is a liberal, not to mention a demagogue and panderer. But coming from Illinois not much else is to be expected. Mike Castle of Delaware, also a liberal, was defeated by Christine O’Donnell in the primary. The bearded Marxist Chris Coons went on to beat O’Donnell which is not surprising, given Delaware “Kool-Aid-drinking” constituency. Mike Ferguson was a typical New Jersey anti-gunner who chose not to run for office again in 2008. Thank goodness. The dependable, but squishy Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, notorious for her associations with the “arts and croissants” crowd. and finally, RINO Chris Shays of Connecticut who got crushed in 2008. Two out of five left standing…

 According to Kool-Aid drinking Senator Diane Feinstein’s brochure, an Assault Weapon is, All semi-automatic assault pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and 2 or more “assault” characteristics, (my emphasis added) as well as semiautomatic shotguns with 2 or more such ‘characteristics‘…” “Characteristics…”

char·ac·ter·is·tic  /?kær?kt??r?st?k/ [kar-ik-tuh-ris-tik]

–adjective

 1. Also, char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character  or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive: Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.

–noun

2. a distinguishing feature or quality: Generosity is his chief characteristic.

Who makes this stuff up? Rarely is there ever a name attached to such a falsehood. But, if I have to lay odds it came out of Bloomberg’s camp or from the Brady Bunch. In that vein, the contemporary liars, shrills and demagogues are more dependable than a quarterly IRS Tax bill.

 What is an Assault Weapon? The rational and logical answer is nothing. There is no such thing. The term is a concoction of charlatans, the brainless colloquy bantered about by liberals and gun-banners as a pejorative mischaracterization on those firearms of a compact, utilitarian nature, originally derived from Military use. These so-called “assault weapons” available for sale in gun shops around the nation, generally do not differ in functionality from traditional hunting rifles. What sets these rifles apart are their mere appearance…or their characteristics.

 The definition for Assault Rifle, however, is a, “Light and compact selective-fire automatic rifle firing a cartridge of such power that it can deliver effective fire to a range of about 500 metres, but at the same time will permit the weapon to be fired in the automatic mode from the shoulder,” according to the Greenhill Military Small Arms Databook.  

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ATF’s Project Gun Runner: An Object Lesson In Corruption, Lies And Cover-ups

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“I don’t believe gun owners have rights…”–Sarah Brady, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, October, 1997; “Handguns in America“

What is Project Gun Runner? Project Gun Runner is a program implemented by the ATF for the express purpose of interdicting weapons used by the Mexican drug cartels into Mexico. Mexican drug cartels have emerged as the leading illegal gun traffickers in the U.S. First implemented in 2005 as a pilot project in Laredo Texas, the ATF went national with the program in 2006 with the objective of reducing or eliminating cross-border firearms and drug trafficking, as well as the high level of associative violence occurring on both sides of the border.

Project Gun Runner segued an expansion of the ATF’s eTrace firearm tracing software system to Thirty-two nations, a number of which have a demonstrative track record of police corruption anti-gun biases and overt fraud.  eTrace results provides these nations complete and unfettered access to American gun owner’s identities, names, addresses and personal information. Now, why would some government hack in Guyana have some need to access Rick Olson’s ATF purchase trace data? Most likely, none. But having such infrastructure in place would certainly interface well with the machinations of the future U.N. Treaty on Small Arms.

It has also been found that Project Gun Runner has netted an inverse result to its’ original stated purpose.  Senator Charles Grassley, (R) Iowa, initiated an investigation after he received credible evidence that the ATF had facilitated and allowed for the  sale of over 2,500 firearms, consisting of AK-47 rifles, FN 5.7mm pistols, AK-47 pistols, and .50 caliber rifles in ‘straw purchases. Also determined was the destiny of these guns were Mexico. The Phoenix Field Division of the ATF now only allowed but facilitated the sales, despite objections and discomfort of law-abiding Federally Licensed Firearms dealers enlisted to participate following their reports of suspicious purchases.

On December 14, 2010, Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry was on patrol along a smuggling route in Arizona when a firefight erupted and Agent Terry was killed. In the immediate aftermath, assault rifles were recovered at the scene, one of which was traced back to a gun Shop in Arizona. on February 23rd of this year, Insiders told CBS’s Scott Pelley, “(This incident) surpasses the shoot-out at Ruby Ridge and the deadly siege at Waco.”

Special Agent John Dodson accuses the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly let gun runners walk off with weapons – thousands of them – to see if they’d end up in the hands of the cartels, in an ABC News interview. The Justice Department and ATF have denied it ever happened and Senator Grassley went on to further investigate allegations of Retribution against Dodson as a “whistle-blower.”

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Obama Administration Won’t Ban Your Guns…But The U.N. Will

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“United Nations: Where America feeds the hands that bite it” – Gregory Nunn

The Second Amendment debate is a never-ending and ongoing debate that has taken the argument all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. District of Columbia v. Heller,1 held that the Second Amendment is an individual’s protected right to possess a firearm for lawful purposes in federal enclaves; Purposes such as self-defense within the personal domicile. McDonald v. Chicago,2 was also a landmark Supreme Court decision to determine whether the Second Amendment is applicable to the individual states. Summarily, the Court held an individual’s right to “keep and bear arms” is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and does in fact apply to states.  It is without dispute that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is fundamentally, culturally, and socially a cornerstone of American life, underscoring the natural right of self-defense which is essential to liberty.

As of 1986, thirty-five states had some form of right to carry through licensure. of those thirty-five states, only eight were “shall-issue” states (meaning a license must be issued if no legal reason existed to prohibit such issuance); nineteen of those states were “may-issue” states (meaning the issuing authority could issue or deny upon his or her own discretion) and only one state (Vermont) was unrestricted (meaning no licensure required to carry a firearm concealed or openly). Fifteen states were “no-issue” states.  Meanwhile, Legislatures across the nation acted over the last 25 years.  Presently forty-eight states have some form of right to carry through licensure. Wisconsin and Illinois still do not allow citizens the right to carry guns, nor does the District of Columbia.

A whole lot of people, organizations and groups, have spent time, money and energy to advocate for second amendment issues, pass laws and pave the way for the right to keep and bear arms. Despite this, it totally confounds me why some of our citizens, despite their stated support for the second amendment, still turn around and vote for gun-grabbing liberals like Barack Obama?

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Manchester City Politics and Swimming Pools

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“You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out completely dry.  Most people do…”  –Author Unknown

City pools…the latest whipping boy for the Alderman. Corriveau and Lopez want to charge out-of-towners, not make them go away.  Osborne dismissed it as minutia. Greazo wants to double-dip. Alderman Garth Corriveau said pools are a “luxury.” I would agree, Garth….let’s make this all about the “Haves and  Have nots!” Swimming Pool politics has it all! Apathy, Class warfare, taxing and spending, empire building, and demagoguing. Same old corrupt thinking.

Alderman Phil Greazo proposes to charge all users of city pools. Just one minor problem, Greazo…”WE ALREADY PAY FOR THE STINKING POOLS THROUGH THE TAX BASE!”

The UL reports in the June 1st story, “About 96,800 people who live in Manchester used the city pools in 2010…” That is 88% of this city’s just under 110,000 population. And, according to the data provided by Parks and Recreation only, 1,500 non-residents use the pools. But here is the real problem: these numbers are absolute bunk!

Anecdotally, here is where I think the numbers more accurately live: I think city pool use is more accurately +/- 12-16% of the total city population. With a staff of lifeguards on hand, the conditions prevail where public pools become babysitters by proxy. Here is my math…

(96,800 +/-16% = 15,488)  (15,488 / 2 = 7,744)  (7,744 +/-6 uses = 46,464) (7,744 +/-3 uses  = 23,232) (46,464 + 23,232 = 69,696)

I think non-resident use is DOUBLE despite Manchester Parks and Recreation assertions. Non-resident use most likely accounts for upwards of 25% of use. Heck, Why not? ITS FREE!!!( not Manchester residents)  Based on my own experiences at Livingston Pool, waiting there sometimes 40 minutes or more, the non-resident use is out of hand and isn’t tracked as well as it should be.  Here is what I think…More math…

(3,900 +/-$6 uses = 23,400)

I don’t think three non-residents or 3,000 non residents using the pools matters…until it is you, a city taxpayer, quietly watching and waiting at the fence…outside of the pool… roasting in the hot sun, while non-resident interlopers frolic about in the pool because it is, “free for them.” Under that circumstance, one non-resident swimmer is one-too-many.

Manchester’s Livingston pool is highly attractive. The net result, however has been a constant overflow of guests using that pool, while other pools in the city rarely see capacity use.  The pool clearly exceeds its bathing load because of high demand and the young staff is not equipped to properly manage the demand.

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Can Romney Do It?

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“If you can’t convince them, confuse them.”   -President Harry S. Truman 33rd American President.

 Mitt Romney came to New Hampshire Thursday and formally announced he will seek to unseat President Obama in 2012.  Despite his formal announcement being overshadowed by Governor Sarah Palin’s visit, it’s official: Romney is in for 2012.

Can Romney win the nomination? The former Governor of the People’s Republic of Massachusetts has a very well-documented laundry list of problems. Romney supporters cringe at similarities between the Bay State’s health care program and Obamacare. Romney has shown himself to be a clear and unadulterated flip-flopper on the hot-button issues such as abortion, gun control, immigration, and gay rights.

In his 1994 bid for Senate, Romney said, “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I believe since Roe v. Wade has been the law in this country for 20 years, we should sustain and support it. I sustain that law and the right of a woman to make that choice…” Romney would ultimately go on to proclaim himself to be “pro-life.” The late Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, when campaigning against Romney in 1994, quipped, “(My opponent isn’t pro-choice or anti-choice, he’s multiple choice.”

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Memorial Day: Remembering What We Did…

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Marine Corps Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) Number 2112 “Precision Weapons Repairer. That is what I did. I found this entry on the Marine Corps Community for USMC veterans. I found it worthy of sharing. It took me back to the hard works and labors of my early days as a young Marine serving our country. So on this Memorial day, I not write of my own musings and thoughts, but I defer that to my brother Amorers who have so adeptly described what we do (and did). To them I say…Semper Fi!

The destructive power of a machine gun, mortar or rifle by itself is nothing, but when manned by Marines in combat, it strikes terror into the heart of the enemy.

Armorers in the Marine Corps make sure that each one of these weapons, along with many other small-arms, are secured, maintained and accounted for, until Marines need to put them to use.

Armorers are responsible for every weapon in their charge – 100 percent accountability at all times. 

“Most people don’t realize how much we do on a daily basis,” said Sgt. Clinton Rosemeyer, armory chief, Headquarters and Service Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific. “Between the multiple weapons counts, issuing weapons, maintenance and inspections after recovering weapons – we keep pretty busy.”

The battalion’s armory contains pistols, rifles, machine guns and mortars. Armorers must be able to inspect the weapons to determine if they have malfunctions, need repairs or meet serviceability standards, according to Marine Corps Order P1200.7.

In order to do that, armorers must be able to disassemble and assemble every weapon in their charge, and be able to assess the condition of each piece of the weapon.

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Northern Pass: Still Ignoring the Overarching Reason for Opposition

“The only people who support the use of eminent domain for private development are cities that use it, developers and businesses that benefit from it and planners who plan it. Everyone else hates it.” – Dana Berliner, Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice  Yesterday’s Union Leader featured, Another View of Why New Hampshire should be open … Read more

What Will The Weare NH Police Budget Look Like?

  “It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state.” -Bruce Schneier, American cryptographer, computer security specialist, and writer. Today, the Union Leader’s Dan O’Brien informs us that, Weare Police face more federal lawsuits. Free-stater Carla Gericke is the most recent filing on the heels of a suit filed … Read more

HOUSE BILL 474: THE “NAY’S” AND THE “NO-SHOWS”

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“Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature.” -Samuel Butler

“The absent are never without fault. Nor the present without excuse.”-Michael Caine

HOUSE BILL 474, “An act relative to freedom of choice on whether to join a labor union,” passed out of the house and obtained Senate Concurrence with Amendments. In laymen’s terms, both houses passed the bill.  However, it is important to note that in the House, the bill did not pass with a veto-proof majority. According to the House Bill 474 Roll Call, the Bill passed  225 Yeas and 140 Nays.

How It Breaks down:

DEMOCRATIC

 

  

Yea Vote

 

0

Nay Vote

 

93

Not Voting

 

9
 

 

  

REPUBLICAN

 

  

Yea Vote

 

225

Nay Vote

 

47

Not Voting

 

21

 

 

 

INDEPENDENT

 

 

Yea Vote

 

1

Nay Vote

 

0

Not Voting

 

0

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Throwing Fellow Democrats Under The Bus

“Why do Republicans want to turn New Hampshire into Mississippi?–Ray Buckley, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair  In the Union Leader today, Democratic Chair Ray Buckley opined for State House Bureau Chief Tom Fahey, in a story entitled, “As promised, Lynch vetoes right-to-work”  And as usual, Ray had me scratching my head and chuckling.  In Defense … Read more

THE VETO OF HB 474: “RIGHT TO WORK? NOT SO MUCH…

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“Labor unions would have us believe that they transfer income from rich capitalists to poor workers. In fact, they mostly transfer income from the large number of non-union workers to a small number of relatively well-off union workers…”   –ROBERT E. ANDERSON, Just Get Out of the Way

 

 CONCORD – Governor Lynch, true to his word vetoed HB 474, the right to work Bill recently passed out of the house and Senate.  Passed out of both the house and Senate, the bill has drawn the ire of the Union Hackarama far and wide. All of the pro-unionists came out in force to pontificate about being against the working men and women of this country; About people who will starve and go hungry; and when the rhetoric and false logic had no effect, They crowded hearing rooms and were disruptive with verbal outbursts. Despite all this bad behavior, rank demagoguery and cursing at lawmakers, the bill passed anyway.

Tom Fahey, Statehouse Bureau Chief for the Union Leader  writes, “Unions see the bill as a move funded by out of state interests to undercut their role in the workplace. (Unions) argue that the measure intrudes in labor-management relations,” in this morning’s UL article,GOP goes after right-to-work opponents.

Juxtapose that against Unions bussing in “volunteers” for Carol Shea-Porter’s campaign from, Lord-knows where; And, the Union interests from all around the country pumping big dollars into local campaigns, those hardly qualify as out-of-state interests? Leave it to Union mouthpieces to complain about the very thing that is not only pro forma for them, but done with absolute shameless impunity.

Governor Lynch and his union cronies, with their Machiavellian Template,  redefine the plain and ordinary meaning of words in the furtherance of their subterfuge. In his press release Governor Lynch chastises, “States should not interfere with the rights of businesses and their employees to freely negotiate contracts. That is unless there is a compelling public interest, and there is no compelling public interest in passing this legislation…” They would have us believe that somehow the veto of this bill is was advocacy for freedom.” Lynch would have us believe job seekers have this “freedom” already in place enabling them to be free from the yoke of the Unions. That is untrue, when an employee has to pay an agency fee to the coffers of the Union. That is essentially joining the Union by proxy.

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