Skip

Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

Rape News from Colorado

popcorn at the movie theater / cinemaCan we throw in Whoopie Goldberg’s “rape rape” remark to set the stage?  This may turn out to be “enlightening”.  Earlier today, the University of Colorado (no Righty Ivory Tower, them) put out some guidelines for females for “rape prevention”.  Then a Colorado DEMOCRAT Representative Joe Salazer (not even an old white guy, he) decided to go on a rant (showing that Republicans have no lock on not realizing what they are saying and not realizing how the Lefties and feminists are going to have fun emasculating him pronto.

Or will they?  After all, they gave Clinton a pass for doing more than just talking and lying about it.

First the U of Colorado of precautions:

  1. Be realistic about your ability to protect yourself.
  2. Your instinct may be to scream, go ahead!  It may startle your attacker and give you an opportunity to run away.
  3. Kick off your shoes if you have time and can’t run in them.
  4. Don’t take time to look back; just get away.
  5. If your life is in danger, passive resistance may be your best defense.
  6. Tell your attacker that you have a disease or are menstruating.
  7. Vomiting or urinating may also convince the attacker to leave you alone.
  8. Yelling, hitting or biting may give you a chance to escape, do it!
  9. Understand that some actions on your part might lead to more harm.
  10. Remember, every emergency situation is different.  Only you can decide which action is most appropriate.

(H/T: The Corner)  About the only thing that they left out was “understand how you dress” for completing the nincompoop list.  What the heck does the University mean by “passive resistance may be your best defense“?  Is this simply another way of putting out the phrase that has tripped out so many other mysogenic men saying the extremly Politically Incorrect phrase?  And that deal about the “lead to more harm“?  Who writes this stuff, M. Obvious, Ph.D?

Read more

Obama’s SOTU:“They deserve a vote,”

“They deserve a vote,” he intoned during the obligatory gun control portion of his speech. “They deserve a vote,” he repeated, just in case you missed it the first time. “Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. The families of Newtown deserve a vote. The families of Aurora deserve a vote. The families of Oak Creek and Tucson and Blacksburg and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote.”

(H/T: RightWingNews)

A State of the Union address?  Nay, Narcissist-in-Chief Obama turned it into a political agenda rally. I remembered another time when such politcking was that crass – I tweeted a bit during the State of the Union address this past Tuesday and this is what I said as Obama talked deserving a vote:

He just turned SOTU into the gun equivalent of the Wellstone funeral. Disgusting.

US Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) was one of the most Liberal folks in the Senate at the time of his death (plane crash just before the elections of 2002).

Read more

Want a concrete example of how NHListens is listening to other “Masters” rather than citizens?

Listening – or evangelizing on behalf of other Masters?  Yes, NHListens is tracking the ‘Grok as I pointed out here.  I decided to point it out because it does seem that NHListens and the Carsey Institute (two peas in the Progressive Pod and definitely not organizations exactly loving NH Traditions or the Live Free or Die philosophy) have been upping their activity in “persuading” the public that their citizens believe in certain outcomes.  It is the opinion of many here in NH, especially when one examines their “fellow traveler organizations”, that these groups are merely another manifestation of the outside the State Progressive money pouring into NH to fundamentally change the culture and structure of the independence that we enjoy and ‘guiding us’ to a more collective outlook (and of course, with the Progressive mantra that we all too stupid to figure things out for ourselves, they are the PERFECT people to “guide us”).  Here’s a good example from MathWizards (emphasis mine) of NHListens trying to interject ‘social justice’ into math education:

At the request of a Pittsfield and Winnesquam resident, I attended two community sessions hosted by “Pittsfield Listens and NH Listens”.

Pittsfield Listens asked members of the community to attend a meeting a couple of months ago. They wanted members of the community to discuss some of the changes happening in the local schools. I attended the small meeting with the knowledge of what the Delphi Technique was and how it’s used to manipulate attendees. (http://www.vlrc.org/articles/110.html Delphi explained)

I arrived a little late for the meeting but when I walked in I noticed there was a small number of people in attendance. I’d say roughly 10 people were there to participate. I also noticed that there were a number of people who were there as either members of Pittsfield Listens or from The Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. The head facilitator was Keith Catone: http://annenberginstitute.org/

As the facilitators began the meeting, I noticed a phrase that was used in the presentation called “student centered learning”. Knowing exactly what this meant, I figured it should be defined so the other people in the room would understand. I raised my hand and asked for a definition. The facilitator asked for help from a Pittsfield teacher who was attending the meeting and she gave the audience her version of “student centered learning”.

Read more

HB580 – Moratorium on Windmills

I went up to Skip’s Gun shop on Saturday to conduct some business and as always, Skip and I spent a few moments talking politics and he mentioned that a bill that he is the prime sponsor on is coming up for hearing tomorrow.  This normally would be taking place in one of the usual hearing rooms but given the outcry of people, especially in Grafton County where foreign companies are trying to put up multi-million dollar windmills, the hearing has been shifted to the Hall of Representatives at 1pm (again, tomorrow!).  Several hundred people are expected to attend.

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen

AN ACT establishing moratoriums on wind turbine plants and electric transmission line projects.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Moratoriums; Wind Turbine Plants; Electric Transmission Line Projects. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, there are hereby established moratoriums on the construction of wind turbine plants and electric transmission line projects in the state of New Hampshire until the state issues a comprehensive energy plan. The site evaluation committee, established in RSA 162-H:3, shall issue no certificates for wind turbine plants and electric transmission line projects under RSA 162-H while such moratoriums are in effect.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

Think of this, however; the local community in which they will be built is probably rubbing their hands in glee – ” look at all that new property tax revenue!”.  But what is the downside?  I can think of one, certainly!

Read more

NH Democrat Ken Gidge wants gun owners to pay for the mental health system? HB499

[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.

Yet another bill on the Gun Control system.  Gidge must think that he’s got a winner here – if the mentally ill are the ones using guns to carry out these mass killings, then let the gun owners here in NH pay for mental illness care when they buy their hated, dastardly toys, right?  Yet, he doesn’t even have the political courage to put his intent into the title of his bill ( like “An Act to force those bitter gun schmucks to pay for new hospital beds“).  His goal – PUNISH a class of people within NH that happen to love and love to exercise their Second Amendment Rights by making it more expensive for gun owners (and NEW gun owners) to do their hobby or profession.

Next hearing is tomorrow at 3:15pm at the Legislative Office Building (LOB) Rm 205.

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen

AN ACT establishing a commission to study funding mechanisms for increasing the number of mental health beds statewide.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Chapter; Commission to Study Funding Mechanisms for Increasing the Number of Mental Health Beds Statewide. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 126-V the following new chapter:

Read more

Notable Quote – John Mackey

“Capitalism is ending poverty on planet earth. The problem is not that there is an unequal distribution of wealth in the world. The problem is that there is an unequal distribution of capitalism. – John Mackey, Founder and CEO, Whole Foods

What if we DIDN’T have the genius of Federalism? Magpul is an object lesson

Grokster Steve just put this post up concerning Colorado based Magpul, one of the premier gun magazine manufacturers in the country (along with lots of other accessories – and yes, I have a few of their mags).  Right at the end is this announcement from the CEO, warning Colorado legislators they are not bluffing (emphasis mine):

We’re hearing some rumors that the Gov and the Dem caucus think we are bluffing. Just to clarify for them, then…we’re not a political company. We don[‘]t play political games. We’ve made our position very clear, very publicly. We would not survive lying to our customer base, nor would we ever consider it. If you pass this, we will leave, and you will own it. We’ve already got plans in place to get PMAG manufacturing moved rapidly, and the rest of the company will follow. We will make sure to at least have a small remain-behind operation through the 2014 elections so that we can remind folks why we are gone.

States and provinces (or whatever other terminology works) are invariably mere subdivisions of their respective nations – a top-down command and control system (as town and cities are here in NH).  But our Founders, in their philosophical genius, came up with the idea of Federalism whereby the States retain their Sovereignty within the national system (leaving aside seceding).  Would Magpul be able to pull off this economic and PR threat future promise  if regulatory and taxation policies were “normalized” across the nation?  That basing one’s operations in NH would be no different than in California?  How would this play out if there was only the Federal government and “regional administrators”?

Read more

Maybe the start of a Revolution? Pushback against the faux “freedom” of Progressivism?

This paragraph from Tim’s post on Zero Hedge really caught my eye:

There is no other culture on earth that has the capacity, like Americans currently do, to defeat centralists, defend individual liberty, and end the pursuit of total global power in this lifetime. We are the first and last line. If freedom is undone here, it is undone everywhere for generations to come. This is our responsibility. This is our providence. There can be no complacency. There can be no compromise. There can be no fear. It ends on this ground. One way, or another….

Indeed; if not me, who?  Ronald Reagan’s statement on freedom comes to mind:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

My answer to that is simply read what I write here – I (and the other Groksters) do fight in the arena of ideas every day here at the ‘Grok.  That said, there is no doubt that another incipient pushback beginning against Progressively driven Government that is, more and more, shoving itself into all aspects of our lives.  This morning I learned that Cheaper Than Dirt, Templar Custom, and EFI all have effectively said “if your civilians can’t buy our products, your government can’t either”.

Read more

Data Point – Teenage Jobless Rate vs Minimum Wage increases

Teenage Unemployment vs Minimum Wage increases(H/T: AEIdeas)

For years, I have been saying “where are all the traditional teen-age entry level jobs?” with the stereotypical gas station high school attendants example.  Yes, times have changed and the types of jobs of changed.  Yes, there are some teens that have hit it big in the tech field where meritocracy and innovation can propel some to the top in a single step.  On the other hand, what percentage of teens operate at that level?

Obama said that he wants to move the minimum wage to $9 – a “living wage” that can support a family at or above the poverty line.  There’s a couple of problems with this:

  • Why do we allow, since the New Deal, Government to deny us Economic Liberty and Freedom?  If Government can mandate $9 now, why not $15 next year (“we have established what you are – now we are only haggling over the price”)?
  • Why do we let Government continue to “fundamentally transform” the economics of America by Government fiat?  Fascism (the true meaning) is so much Government control over the means of production that actually owning it is no longer needed; that was used in both Italy by Mussolini and in Germany by Hitler (and no breaching of Godwin’s Law here).

Read more

A use of the Fifth Amendment to protect the Second

Commerce Claws the rest of the Constitution?US Senator Diane Feinstein and NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo have infamously said that they would be fine with an outright confiscation of citizens firearms.  We do see talk of Government officials, via either official or de facto gun registration databases, coming to demand peoples’s guns.  Some have mentioned voluntary gun buybacks (which I would be fine with from the owners standpoint (not so much using my tax money to do so, however).  Some, however have declared that such should be mandatory.  Which then triggers the Fifth Amendment:

“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Already there is talk that the NY SAFE gun ban may well be unconstitutional as it mandates that gun owners must get rid of their arms and standard capacity magazines (no, they are NOT high capacity magazines with 10-15 rounds for a handgun and 30 rounds for a modern sporting rifle as those have been sold for years for time and in the millions for quantity of sales). In essence, to this non-lawyer (oh, Grokster Tim?  Weigh in here if you can!), it seem that the State is “taking” a person’s personal property away without recompense (and in fact, declaring them to be a felon).  So would simply paying the owners $50 a pop for mags sufficient?  Hmmm, Lars Larson, a talk show host that I listen to in the early evenings if I am out and about has an interesting theory that simply paying for them is insufficient to satisfy the Fifth (and thus, protecting the Second):

Read more

Madam Pelosi, a job’s “dignity” comes from doing it right.

 

NH Democrats have Nancy Pelosi Values - and they used to be proud of that.
NH Democrats have Nancy Pelosi Values – and they used to be proud of that.

Rasmussen:

Even after going along with President Obama and compromising on a deal to avoid the end-of-the-year “fiscal cliff,” Congress receives good or excellent marks for its job performance from just nine percent (9%) of Likely U.S. Voters. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 64% give the nation’s legislators poor marks.

The Hill:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she opposes a cut in congressional pay because it would diminish the dignity of lawmakers’ jobs.

“I don’t think we should do it; I think we should respect the work we do,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “I think it’s necessary for us to have the dignity of the job that we have rewarded.”

As we in the private sector know, the amount of dignity comes not from what you do, but how well you do it.  Not everyone can hold the “prestige” jobs even if they have the ability to do so.  Dignity is not an attribute that is accorded to you just on your say so, Nancy Pelosi.  If the level of pay (approx $174,000 / year) is the true measure of “dignity”, our Representatives have accorded themselves quite the allotment of dignity all to themselves by themselves.  Dignity comes from a job well done – not mere words.  Can she really think that the job being done right now is exemplary of the full definition of dignity?

My Christmas present from the Youngest came in just in time for Saturday

Molon Labe - AR-15

The Youngest gave me a slim envelope yesterday and in it was an accessory for my AR-15: Molon Labe (“Come and get them”).

Molon Labe with a Gadsden Flag twist (close up after the jump)!  And just in time, for this Saturday (2/23) there is a 223 Day of Resistance rally at the NH State house being held in conjunction with rallys all over the country by other like minded folks

.223 Day of Resistance Header

Susan Olsen (who writes here at GraniteGrok)  is the organizer for the Concord rally – details here:

Concord, NH Day of Resistance Rally
Location: State Capital Steps
Time: 12 noon – 2 pm
Sponsoring Organization: Molon Labe New Hampshire
Organizer Contact: Susan Olsen MolonLabeNewHampshire@hotmail.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/495242900522432/

If coming to Concord is a bit too far, I would be remiss in letting you know that our friends in the Free State Project are

Read more

Guest Post by NH State Rep. Jane Cormier – “ICLEI is ICKY!”

ICLEI is ICKY!

Okay, if you haven’t heard anything about the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) also known as Agenda 21, then you may have been living in a cave. ICLEI is a United Nations sponsored organization (that should tell us something right there) which helps promote “sustainability, climate protection, and clean energy initiative for towns, cities, and counties”. ICLEI supports (usually with GIANT federal tentacles) local governments by providing technical assistance and training opportunities to communities seeking its services. Sounds good doesn’t it? Actually, ICLEI is a lobbying and policy group that is designed to influence and change local governmental policies related to all aspects of human life. ICLEI/Agenda 21 is dedicated to changing the ideal of our inalienable rights which include life, liberty, and property. How does this happen?

Through legislation of course.

Read more

“Defend our Liberty Day” at the NH State House – 2/21/2013

Updated and bumped with additional info ‘Grok friend NH State Rep JR Hoell sends along this notice concerning a number of NH bills related to the Second Amendment to those that might be able to come to the hearings on Thursday, 2/21/13 “Defend our Liberty Day” A GUN Ban to OPPOSE, A study committee meeting … Read more

Maybe the start of a Revolution? Another firearms company to leave NY Govt to its own firearm devices (or not)

LaRue Tactical.  Olympic Arms.  Now a third firearms company, York Arms,  is saying that what is bad for civilians is going to be bad for Government entities and Law Enforcement agencies in New York due to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new law (hey, he was all but frothing at the mouth to get this, so let him own it!)  that all but eliminates gun usage / ownership (when there are no mags that fit the law AND the guns in New York, you have effectively killed the Second Amendment in NY – for now).  The Press Release:

Buxton, ME –(Ammoland.com)- Based on the recent legislation in New York, we are prohibited from selling rifles and receivers to residents of New York.

We have chosen to extend that prohibition to all governmental agencies associated with or located within New York.

As a result we have halted sales of rifles, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, machine guns, and silencers to New York governmental agencies.

This part was GREAT:

Read more

Progressive – “Misallocation of wealth”

We’ve oft heard the plaint  of folks that say “How can this be?  We are the richest nation in the world!” and rush to spend others people money to make themselves feel like they are “doing something”.  Yup, we used to be able say that: we were the richest nation in the world – the richest in history.   Still are on a national level – but not on a governmental level with the official debt at about $16.5 Trillion (over 100% of our yearly GDP) and an off the books unofficial of over $100 Trillion in unmet promises for future entitlement payments (what, you really think that the Government would hold itself to the same accounting standard as it does to corporations?) thanks to chuckleheads like those in DC.

Obama said as much this last State of the Union – and conservatives immediately  started pocking holes.  Progressives like Nancy Pelosi and her second in command, Steny Hoyer have made utterances to say similar things.  Add to that, retiring US Senator Tom Harkin – same tired “richest” and same tired “fair share”.  Problem is, though, he lets the Progressive cat out of the bag at the end of the video:

I hear him say this on tonite’s Special Report on Fox and could not believe my ears at first, and then went “yeah, this is how they actually DO think about “the richest nation in history” from what he said at the very end of the video:

Read more

First do no harm? Guess who is watching.very.closely

We all thought that individuals were going to be the first that were going to get snake-bit by Obamacare as for the first time in history, the Federal Government (under the control of Progressives) are going to force individuals to purchase a product from private company simply for breathing.  Yet, as Steve pointed out yesterday, … Read more

Biden:”If it only saves one life!” — Oh wait!

When Government is going to do something, and that something has a drastic impact on a lot of citizens lives and freedoms, isn’t there a moral obligation on the part of those making the decisions to ensure that those actions would actually accomplish a purpose (rather than being just for show – substance over surface)? … Read more

Share to...
BufferCopyFlipboardHacker NewsLineLinkedInMastodonMessengerMixPinterestPrintRedditSMSTelegramTumblrVKWhatsAppXingYummly