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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.

Ha! And you thought the only “costs” of Government of taxes, fees, and fines

LA Times in 2011: “The White House said those changes alone would eliminate more than 1.9 million annual hours of “redundant reporting requirements” for employers, saving more than $40 million a year in costs.” As if that really is a big solution.Most assuredly, the Leviathan (Government) has grown larger and larger; the 2012 version of … Read more

HB 1704 – Republicans doing the dirty work by resurrecting HassanSpeech? Part 2

OK, Part 1 is here – which simply pulled out a couple of nuggets from the proposed HB 1704 as found at  NH.GOV. While there was enough uproar to have the NH Senate table it last week, it is supposedly coming back from the dead.  I have already made the pitch that the bill needs to be amended so that donors / contributors / supporters no longer be listed.  The reason for that as the Progressives have pushed politics into ever more parts of Society at large (instead of keeping it simply in the Governmental / Political sphere), they are coming up against The Law of Diminishing Returns which states that the next incremental “gain” for them (which I consider a loss when compared to traditional Western Liberalism / Constitutionalism) costs more and requires more.  Thus, the new tactic now in wide deploy of finding and deliberately creating damage to their political opposition; no, not just in the political realm but in and to their personal lives and families.  Their scorched earth mentality is to so punish ordinary citizens (often, whose only “political crime” is to defend traditional American values) that these folks will either remain silent or destitute on the street (after all, they are just following Obama’s lead in intending to bankrupt the coal industry and from EPA Regional Administrator whose “leadership style concerning energy companies was to “crucify the first five to pacify the rest” and by that, silence dissent.

I have to admit, the person that titled this amendment to HB 1704 is out to:

  • Protect the Political Class (and yes, Establishment Republicans are certainly often part of this Class)
  • Silence the opposition to their rule

I hate to have to keep repeating it, but when our Political Class is either seemingly incapable of remembering this or willfully wish to disregard it, I feel like I have to be an elementary school teacher and repeat, repeat, and repeat some more:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So, here be the beginning of the fisking of the “Protect the Politicans’ Ass Amendment” (full text later in this post).

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GrokTV Special Interview: Rep. John Hikel for NH Senate – Question 10 – Contrast yourself with the incumbent, Senator Lou D’Allesandro?

And the last question in our series of spotlighting John Hikel – If current NH State Senator Lou D’Allesandro is your opponent in the General election, how would you contrast yourself with him? Previous Questions: Question 1– Has it been everything you thought in the House?  glad you put the time in?  Best part of … Read more

Guess I’m not exactly Mr. Perfect…

Well, MSN Living passes on the results of a poll by Austin Reed (upscale UK clothier); I got the link from somewhere and curiosity, in a morbid way, got the better of me.  So, I clicked….and got miserable.  Silly me – I should stick to politics.

  1. I’ d miss this even if I could stop hunching over a keyboard
  2. Ha!  Many years and many pounds ago…maybe
  3. Nope
  4. Blue, and the length varies with my procrastination tendencies
  5. When I had to visit my clients in the real world, yeah, I did.
  6. Mt. Dew a reasonable substitute?
  7. YAY!  I finally is one!
  8. Nope – Rick Santorum comes close though…
  9. For what?
  10. See #5.  Now?  I could care less.
  11. Have one – 2 for 11!
  12. OK, I beat this – 3 for 12.
  13. ONLY when I know what I want, where it is, and I can spend the absolute minimal time getting it and getting home.  Oh wait, that’s not the definition preferred by many women, who, you know, like doing this activity.
  14. Prime Rib and chili dogs – sometimes at the same time!  4 for 14.  Am I in trouble?
  15. Used to have a large handlebar mustache…lost that when I started dating TMEW.  First time I shaved it off, she sternly told me to knock off the stupid stuff.  The second time, when the Youngest was, well, young….he ran away from me crying and screaming.  Stupidly, I tried it about four years ago….TMEW repeated her admonition – I think I’ve learned this lesson now.  No, I flunk this one
  16. Er, no.
  17. Nope!  Besides, didn’t they all get cancelled a few years ago?
  18. Patriots! 5 for 18…not looking good for a passing grade
  19. Saab…miss the Suburban
  20. Finally, I’m an overachiever here. 6 for 20.
  21. Yes. Gee, two in a row!
  22. Uh-oh…3 in a row…am I becoming a UK dandy?
  23. I’m not sure that “sensitive” is the word…..”fearful” could describe (ONLY KIDDING!)
  24. After 32 years of being married to TMEW, I have realized that being able to say it when I’m NOT feeling that love is a VERY good attribute to have.
  25. Are flipping crazy?
  26. Have never understood why a man would not.  Wished I’da gotten my private pilot’s though…9 for 26.
  27. Able to….used to be MUCH better, but I pass this test question. 10 for….why am I kidding myself.
  28. I’m betting it would be a bit wobbly at first.
  29. 10-4
  30. No

Guess I’m not perfect.  ‘Course, I’m thinking the dude that is would be a bore (really, soaps?).  The real answers after the jump.

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So ask yourself – do ALL these occupations really require a license?

Yes, in a number of cases, I think that this list compiled by the Institute of Justice for New Hampshire, shows that it isn’t always necessary that the State needs to be involved.  Really?  That a Sign Language Interpreter has to be officially licensed in order to be good?

Anyone who reads the ‘Grok knows that, to the extent that we think possible, we elevate the Person over the State, the Individual over the Collective.  That we believe that people should be self-responsible which also means and includes being able to be responsible and independent (unlike Obama’s dependent Julia, who Carol Shea-Porter utterly believes is true – that one cannot be successful without the State) and that includes providing for themselves and their family.

Really, 731 day to be able to install a mobile home?  Two years to drive a bus?  And more days to learn (35) to shampoo somebody’s hair than to save their life (26)?

Really, what person truly believes that some of these standards are TRULY needed?  That is,  except for those already in those businesses that wish to use “safety” as a barrier to newcomers – with the Government bureaucracy standing right behind them to guard the gates to the Marketplace.

Number of Education
Burden States that Experience Minimum Minimum
Rank Occupation License Fees (Days) Exams Grade Age
1 Preschool Teacher 49 $130 1825 2 0 0
2 Athletic Trainer 46 $450 1460 1 0 0
3 Earth Driller 47 $260 1095 1 0 0
4 Midwife 29 $920 730 3 12 0
5 School Bus Driver 51 $80 732 6 0 18
6 Mobile Home Installer 39 $75 731 0 0 18
7 Cosmetologist 51 $124 350 2 12 0
8 Barber 50 $124 187 2 12 16
9 Massage Therapist 39 $125 175 2 12 0
10 Makeup Artist 36 $154 140 3 12 0
10 Skin Care Specialist 50 $154 140 3 12 0
12 Manicurist 50 $119 70 2 12 0
13 Sign Language Interpreter 16 $860 2 3 0 18
14 Cathodic Protection Tester 16 $1,500 8 2 0 0

More after the jump

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Problem is, Obama wishes to put everyone on the Government teat

You know, Grokster Tim is gonna give me SUCH a hard time over this image – time after time I have repeated my one inviolate rule for Groksters about strictures in posts (“Adult themes, kid friendly”) when he (deliberately, and with a smirk on his face – heh!) puts up something that pushes my buttons.  And while he claims some ulterior reason, I know he likes to push my prudish (in his eyes) buttons – and then all the other Groksters smile in that he’s giving me a hard time.  Again. So, it’s after the jump.

The cover of Time magazine is that of a Mom that believes in extended nursing – her three year old son is “latched on” and she defends her decision for delaying the  weaning process.  Fine.  Her decision and that is up to her an her family.  Our two sons were also breast fed but for a far less period of time than this “cover model” has already done.

Well, there are parallels in the political world and Rush has it dead nuts right – Obama believes that Govt is that Mom and we all are that kid.  The message is from Obama is that hanging onto Govt for your daily sustenance is a good thing:

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HB 1704 – Republicans doing the dirty work by resurrecting HassanSpeech? Part 1

Free Speech Flag

Steve has written about this already, and I did as well, but in the time that the NH Senate decided table the bill last week, word is (Jeb Bradley from the Senate floor, from what I’m told) that this bill is going to be brought up AGAIN an voted upon on Wednesday.  Why are we bringing this up?  Once again, simple words that should be taken literally by ALL politicians are these words by the Founders:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Freedom of Speech; and the type of Speech with which they were most concerned with was Political Speech, which this bill addresses and not in a flattering way – in fact, in a really BAD way.  Political Speech – that category of speaking (be it audio, written, video, or other) that criticizes or upholds the actions of the Government pertaining to the issues of the day.  They KNEW that this was a pillar holding up our new country – putting any strictures on it in the political realm would be tantamount to opening the door to bad cronyistic government at best and tyranny at worst. And if the Amendments that I know about, if some of the wording that has already made it into the bill stays, I have two questions for the Senate Republicans:

Yo, chuckleheads!  What part of “abridging the freedom of speech” do you not get?  And WHY, in this time where many of you were put into office by folks who, more and more are Constitutionally minded, you think that your hides are more valuable than our ability to speak our minds freely to rip your hides to shreds (having earned such treatment or not) and therefore, wish to act contrary to that Constitutional philosophy??

In a lot of ways, what the Republicans are about to do is pass the hated HassanSpeech simply because THEY don’t want to be criticized by others.  Simpletons all – you all put yourselves out there voluntarily, and if what you think that the “incoming” is bad now, go read your political history again and see the stuff that was passed around in the late 1700s and early 1800s for electioneering.  Whether you think it “civil” or not is not the point and to be blunt, should matter not a whit.  Anyone should be able to say what ever they want in the political sphere (calling for violence and the like is obviously not in the political realm and remains defenseless and vile). I maintain that the real damage is NOT allowing politicians to pass laws to protect themselves but that this law will codify bullying of private citizens by forcing those engaging in political speech to list their Donor records.

Either reason is enough to kill this bill off as soon as possible (although Sean Doherty is right in trying to clarify how much can be collected for races – except I would raise the amounts much higher).  That said, let’s first start with identifying the bad parts of the bill as shown at NH.GOV as well as the three amendments that I know of are bad for political speech.  Also, there are parts of the current RSA that are NOT amended – and our Chuckleheads should be brought to account for not reviewing those given the current political retributions now taking place across the country (and, to be blunt, by the Obama campaign’s example).

Subsequent posts will fisk the amendments, which are FAR, FAR worse than what is listed below

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2012 Presidential Campaign: Buddy has the right idea – will Paul or Johnson?

We interviewed Buddy Roemer a lot during this primary season; he was a hoot to talk to and did have some interesting ideas.  But given that he is the former Governor of LA as well as one of its former Congressman (and building a billion dollar bank is no small feat), I always scratched my head wondering why he didn’t get even a wee bit more traction in the Republican field.  Then he decided to switch to that online “Party”, Americans Elect, and he kinda dropped off the radar screen.  But apparently, he kept us on his email list (emphasis mine):

Roemer Refuses to Play Spoiler

Baton Rouge, LA – Governor Buddy Roemer issued the following statement in regard to speculation of him being a “spoiler” for Governor Romney and/or President Obama:

…I run to win. I am not a single-issue candidate or someone who is merely trying to make a statement. I am not Ralph Nader. I am a former Governor of a corrupt state that I helped clean up; I am former four-term Congressman who worked closely with President Reagan to help our country; and for the last twenty years I have been a successful businessman creating jobs.

I am currently polling at 7% in the most recent national survey and I am confident once I receive the Americans Elect nomination that I can attain 15% standing which will then qualify me to participate in the national debates this fall. Obama, Romney and Roemer. Again, I run to win.

If, during the last month of the campaign I discover I have no realistic chance of winning, I will ask my supporters to vote their conscience or for their second choice so the issue of spoiler can be dropped once and for all.

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Heh! I’ve been saying the same thing to TMEW this whole week….

Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals #5:

RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon

I also ran across this:

“Our job is a much simpler one: Point and laugh at all of it. The contortions, the spins, the lies — they’re all so pathetically and rib-achingly funny. In three-plus decades of watching politics, I’ve never witnessed anything so desperately, hysterically funny.”

TMEW (The Most Esteemed Wife) has had to put up with peals of hilarity all week long as I have watched one attempt after another by the Obama campaign to gain traction.  My take has been “This isn’t even the Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight”, these guys are the “Guys Who Can’t Even Pick Up the Gun”.

At every turn of trying to demonize Romney and the Right (after all, that is what Community Organizers do – they can’t build themselves up, they can only tear down others) with what Romney may have done wrong, the Right has been able to rebut the argument with something even worse (e.g., Romney cut some kid’s hair in high school – Obama admits do doing cocaine).  Set up a Twitter hashtag?  Watch conservatives hijack it.  Watch the political event like North Carolina voting for a Constitutional amendment affirming traditional marriage?  Just hold up a mirror to the real haters on the Left as they drop their “tolerance” masks.

As good as the Obama campaign was in 2008 with him as the unpainted canvas on which to be painted everybody’s Hope, this one is as bad.  This is the result of when you outsource your own Presidency actions to others (i.e., let Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and the other Democrat Socialists put together Obamacare for universal healthcare, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd to hamstring the financial sector, and the Green Environmentalists who wish to destroy the US Energy industry).

The other part of that above quote is after the jump:

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GrokTV Special Interview: Rep. John Hikel for NH Senate – Question 8 – Created in the House but what happened in the Senate?

One of the very puzzling (and often, very frustating) things that has happened this session between the NH House and the NH Senate is the amount of bills passed by overwhelmingly by the supermajority of Republican in the House getting tabled or voted down by the supermajority of Republicans in the NH Senate.  GraniteGrok asked … Read more

Notable Quote – Dr. Arthur Brooks

In America, the road to serfdom doesn’t come from a knock in the night and a jackbooted thug. It comes from making one little compromise to the free market system after another. Each sounds sort of appealing. No single one is enough to bring down the system. But add them all up and here we … Read more

GrokTV Event: Rye RepublicanTown Committee Gala Reception for 2012 GOP Candidates – Ovide Lamontagne, Kevin Smith

Political event?  Politicians!  And politicians generally mean elections which means candidates – and from the Rye Republican Town Committee event that we live streamed, we had two more we wish to bring to your attention: Ovide Lamontagne and Kevin Smith – both are running to become the NH GOP’s nominee for NH Governor.  Each has their own style and stances.  Take a listen, ya hear?

Ovide Lamontagne:

Kevin Smith:

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GrokTV Special Interview: Rep. John Hikel for NH Senate – Question 7 – Contrast the Occupy Wall Street movement with the TEA Party movement

Certainly two of the most talked about political movements of the last three years are Occupy Wall Street and TEA Party.  Pretty much the only thing that they agree upon is that the conflation of Big Government and Big Business has resulted is Crony Capitalism / State Corporatism – and vehemently disagree with the remedy.  … Read more

GrokTV Event: NHCC’s seminar on NH Constitution-Article 73A “Judicial Tyranny?” – Question and Answer

At the end of the event sponsored by the National Heritage Center for Constitutional Studies on the NH Constitution:

Seminar and Panel Discussion on “Coming to terms with the rulemaking power of the Judicial Branch and its impact on personal liberty: Article 73-A.

was a Question and Answer period moderated by the M.C. for the evening, Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear.  Questions were taken from the well attended crowd and it lasted about 45 minutes (which I have split into 3 parts, with parts 2 & 3 after the jump).

Part 1:

Previous posts:

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Yawn – Mainstream Media Reporter(s) lazily gets it wrong

Updated and bumped:  Well, another loyal reader caught another Union Leader reporter, Paul Feely, making the same lazy mistake (emphasis mine): The video shows what appears to be New Hampshire election officials handing ballots to unidentified men, who videotaped the exchanges with hidden cameras at polls in Manchester and Nashua. Plural: ballots, men.  I watched … Read more

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