Steve MacDonald

Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, an award-winning blogger, and a member of the Board of Directors of The 603 Alliance and the National Heritage Center for Constitutional Studies. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor, Executive Editor, assistant editor, Editor, content curator, and more (yes, there's more) at GraniteGrok.com. Steve is also a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, the Republican Volunteer Coalition, and has worked for or with many state and local campaigns and grassroots groups, and is a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

Out On A Lim

CHristian Cross mp3 playerChaeyoon Lim has published an article in the American Psychological Review that… "substantiates that it is not really going to church and listening to sermons or praying that makes people happier, but making church-based friends and building intimate social networks there.”

So all that stuff about God, that’s just window dressing?

“Our study offers compelling evidence that it is the social aspects of religion, rather than theology or spirituality, that leads to life satisfaction,”

"In particular, we find that friendships built in religious congregation are the secret ingredient in religion that makes people happier.”

This looks like a conclusion looking for research to support it.  But has Chaeyoon really gone out on a Lim? 

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Nickel And Dimed Is Out

Once you get past the misleading headline from this morning’s Union Leader, ‘Nickel and Dimed’ Banned in Bedford, (it was not banned form Bedford, it was removed from the public school finance class curriculum) you will find that while the book is out, some of the stupidity remains.

Batten Down the Hatches

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"Batten Down the Hatches" originated as a nautical phrase – an expression of preparing for trouble, particularly as a storm approaches, to protect oneself in every possible way.  A "batten" is a strip of wood, and a "hatch" is door.  When the hatches are sealed, you are theoretically protected from the outside world.

Across the Nation, Liberals are in this very process now, using the Tucson shooting as an opportunity to predictably (emotionally) push back on our 2nd Amendment rights, under the guise of protecting us all.

I received a copy of a statement that was written by NH State Representative Marcia Moody (Rockingham District 12 – Newmarket).  Marcia is a classic "social justice", "free healthcare for all", global warming fire-breathing Liberal, who was inspired to run for office by none other than Howard Dean. 

In the letter, she mentions the Tucson shooting.  Timing is everything, I suppose.

*Parents Have a Right to Be Informed*

"There was a major event that took place in the NH House this week. The
Rules Committee repealed a rule prohibiting guns in the State House. The
new rule that they passed is to allow deadly weapons, specifically guns,
in all parts of the State House complex. This includes the floor of the
House of Representatives, the anti-chambers, the gallery, the hallways,
and the committee rooms in both the State House and the Legislative
Office Building (LOB). We Democrats made an attempt to amend the rules
by at least prohibiting firearms in the gallery where 27,000 school
children come to observe the workings of their government every year. We
felt that school children especially the 4th grade classes that are
selected for this field trip, did not need to be confronted by adults in
the gallery carrying weapons, whether the weapons were concealed or not.
Anyone wearing a pistol and holster under his or her jacket risks it
being seen by innocent children coming to visit the State House. No one
can bring weapons to a school, the post office, a court house or any
federal building or on an airplane. Yet, the opposition party thinks it
is perfectly all right to bring weapons to the State House where
legislators are only performing their duties carrying out the people’s
business."

"I recommend that schools prepare a parental consent form to be signed by
parents acknowledging the fact that they are aware that when their child
visits the gallery of the State House that there may be armed adults
sitting next to them, and that they do or do not give their consent for
their child to participate in the school sponsored field trip to the
State House. In 2009 a large group of protesters were in the gallery to
witness a vote on a particularly controversial bill and exposed their
weapons when the House voted against the bill. That same year a sponsor
of another controversial bill received death threats and had to have
police protection at his home. The atmosphere in this legislative
session is very toxic and I feel strongly that parents should be made
aware of this fact. The events that just took place in Arizona
emphasizes the volatility of the current thinking among people who wish
to carry weapons to public gatherings."

Sincerely,

State Representative Marcia Moody – District 12

Here’s what I think after reading this reactionary letter, in the days following the shooting in Tucson, AZ, where we see a coordinated, exploitative, Nation-wide attempt by the Left to further their anti-gun agenda:

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What’s All This Then?

Tom has done Yeoman’s work in bringing us examples of the left wing hypocrisy known as ‘real’ hate speech.  But it’s hard to beat the work done by Michelle Malkin, who has what may be one of the most comprehensive examples (and it is somehow still incomplete) of what motivates the progressives. As you scroll … Read more

Mike Farley Uses “The Template”

So is Mike ‘concerned?’ Or is Mr. Farley either the biggest wuss in Manchester (and given the democrat company he likely keeps that is saying something) or is he employing the template of fear, using children as bait, to scare parents into doing his bidding–the work of making guns the thing we should fear, even in the hands of trained law abiding persons?

Brunelle Is A Distraction

My previous post on the pending investigation of Mike Brunelle was to poke fun at the lefts hypocrisy on the influence of money, anticipate the caterwauling, and suggest a course for clarifying the meaning of the text. In the intervening days, it seems obvious that I left some points out, some made by democrats.

Let’s Get Serious

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Yesterday, I posted my response to the left’s exploitation of the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona.  I also showed a number of photos of anti-Bush protestors holding signs with messages of hate and death on them.  This is something that happened over and over again during President Bush’s two terms – with little or no mention from the mainstream (liberally-biased) media.

I also got to thinking about a few other aspects to this blatant capitalization of tragedy (crisis).

1) Violent shootings or attacks on politicians have taken place long before Fox News, the Tea Party, Rush Limbaugh, or Glenn Beck were on the air, or in the news – so they can’t rationally blame them.  Some examples:

  • John Wilkes Booth – President Abraham Lincoln
  • James Earl Ray – Martin Luther King Jr
  • Sirhan Sirhan – Senator Robert F Kennedy
  • Arthur Bremer – George Wallace
  • John Hinckley – President Ronald Reagan
  • Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme – President Gerald Ford 
  • Sara Jane Moore – President Gerald Ford 

2) President Obama, himself, has been guilty of using violent rhetoric to make his point.  Some examples:

  • In Philadelphia, “They Bring a Knife…We Bring a Gun”
  • “Get in Their Faces!”
  • To ACORN: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!”
  • “Hit Back Twice As Hard”
  • “We talk to these folks… so I know whose ass to kick.“
  • Republican victory would mean “hand to hand combat”
  • “It’s time to Fight for it.”
  • “Punish your enemies.”
  • “I’m itching for a fight.

3) Some liberal commentators are improperly calling this a "time of extreme, implicitly violent political rhetoric and imagery".  These writers are either very short-sighted and, as a result unprofessional, or they are invoking one of Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, which says that you should "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it".  Well, I’m going to invoke another of Alinsky’s rules myself:  "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules".

I will admit that this IS a time of increased anger and frustration in the American people; frustration with the Left’s (and the Right’s, to some extent) lack of respect for the US Constitution and of The People’s money.  It cannot be said, with all the history I’ve mentioned, that Sarah Palin’s use of cross-hairs in a political diagram makes it something unique or critical.

So, if Liberals truly feel as though the political tone has gotten violent, they should at least acknowledge that it has been going on a lot longer than the life-span of the Tea Party, Fox News, or Conservative talk radio.  They should also point out similar examples from the Left.

I have no problem with "toning down the rhetoric", because it comes mainly from the Left, not the Right, or the Tea Party.  I will, however, not temper my ongoing, non-violent expression of my anger and frustration at the internal destruction of this country by irresponsible people in Congress.

Plenty of examples after the jump…

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Picture Of The Day 1-9-2011

Some pictures come with stories.  Today’s picture of the day has a story.  But as with all stories it appears to have been embellished. So I have edited out the parts that may not be accurate.  I edited them out because the picture is compelling without them, and they would only serve as a distraction. 

It is a picture taken during surgery on a 21 week old fetus.  It is one of dozens of procedures already performed on unborn babies.  Babies who could spend another 19 weeks in the womb before birth.

It is compelling because this is a surgical procedure in the womb to help a baby.  This is not surgery on a lump of tissue.  It is a tiny person.  The picture is it’s own story.

The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother’s womb.

Little Samuel’s mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner’s remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

Picture on the jump…

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Grant Bosse Drops Out…

I have been told by reliable sources that Grant Bosse is no longer seeking the position of RNC Committeeman. Whether true or not, and while Granite Grok has not yet formally endorsed a choice, I have already made an endorsement as co-director of the NHRVC, and I will do so now here for myself. Jordan … Read more

Kos And Effect

The Boo Hoo Hamster crowd, often cross-posting to or from Daily Kos, might want to ask themselves as they poo poo about this or that, which party was more invested in the demise of Gabrielle Gifford, a Blue Dog Democrat who was apparently hated by the hard left.

Ah Yes…Global Warming

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Watching the news this week, I keep seeing updates on the sailors who are in trouble in the Okhotsk Sea, off eastern Russia, in the Northwest corner of the Pacific ocean. The Sea of Okhotsk is west of the Bering Sea, its southern edge touching the mostly northern islands of Japan.

The crisis is that the sailors are ice-bound – their ships are stuck in the foot-thick ice.  There are multiple stuck ships, with about 500 sailors total.  One of the ships is an icebreaker.  The Sea of Okhotsk is ice-covered from November to June, so ice in this area is not a phenomenon, but this many ships getting stuck is not something that happens very often.

Just the other day, Steve posted a story about "millions of fish dying" in Maryland recently.  The head of Maryland’s environmental agency said it was caused by a "rapid temperature drop" causing "cold water stress".  Well, I’ll be darned.

Yet, even today, scientist and environmentalists are still Quixotically "tilting at windmills" about the Arctic ice melting at alarming rates.  By the way, "Quixotic" is about the best word you could find to describe these people: "Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality".  Problem is, they are trying to shape our political and cultural world to match this flawed nobility.

I found this article from way back in the first days of 2007, when Al Gore was in his glory because parts of the world were seeing higher temperatures, drier weather, and the arctic ice cap was at a low since satellite monitoring had begun in 1979.  In it, NASA Goddard Space Center’s chief enviro-chicken-little James E. Hansen claimed that "unless international efforts are launched within the next 10 years, species will disappear and the Earth will be a vastly less habitable planet by the end of the century."

Famous final words?

Well, I did a little digging, and I found some interesting information, from way back in 2009, no less.  See how this grabs you….

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Lube Job Redux

It’s been fun to watch the Soap Opera unfold after AIDS Services got caught up in a kerfuffle over ‘sex kits’ distributed at Monadnock High School. Everyone went into CYA mode as what seemed like a perfectly normal activity for progreeive thinkers, hiding behind the AIDS quilt to advocate irresponsible underage sex, met the reality of public outrage.

Fish Kill

Maryland’s head of the Department of Environment knows what caused two million fish to die.

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