If s/he does want to be referred to as a “he” or a “she”, is this a case of too much watching of “The Munsters”?

Is this the point at which the LGBT<XYZ> movement jumps the shark?  From The Corner (Mark Steyn):

George Leef over at NRO’s PhiBetaCons had a teasing link to this exciting news earlier today:

Harvard has appointed Vanidy “Van” Bailey as the College’s first permanent director of bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer student life. Bailey, the assistant director for education at the University of California, San Diego, will assume the new position on July 16.

Alas, this long overdue shattering of the BGLTQ ceiling was marred by The Harvard Crimson’s grossly insensitive coverage:

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Crybaby Concord Monitor Whines

“Let the other guys do the crybaby stuff…Go for the laughs.” —Rip Torn

Concord Monitor is deleting comments to stories about people who comment there on taxpayer timeYesterday Morning, two Concord Monitor Reporters, Ann Marie Yimmons and Matt Spolar, were excluded (Barred – their word, not mine) from a press conference held by House Speaker Bill O’Brien. The topic “de jour” was a discussion of  reforms to the ebt system in the state.

So what does Felice Belman, Editor of the Monitor do? She makes speculative statements.

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GrokTV Event: CNHT (Coalition of NH Taxpayers) annual

We are here at the Hillsborough American Legion hall for CNHT’s annual “Old Home Day” for Conservative / Libertarian / Right of Center activists.  Full slate of folks will be speaking and we’ll be live streaming as long as no one kicks out the Ethernet wire! Live video from your Android device on Ustream Please … Read more

RINO Reminiscents

“I would rather have a competent extremist than an incompetent moderate.” —Leon Jaworski

Representative Lee Quandt (R)ino

Many of you know Marshall “Lee” Quandt? Rockingham District 13? We here at the Grok fancy him a RINO. Back in January of this year he went after Conservative Commentator Carolyn McKinney where he characterized the New Hampshire Republican Liberty Caucus as, “sickening.”  Aside from grossly mischaracterizing McKinney, he unabashedly defends, supports and coddles the unions.

Make no mistake about it. Lee Quandt is a RINO…But then again Rockingham Districts, “have RINO written all over them.”  So back in April, Quandt has a sit down with Ann Marie Timmons and Matt Spolar, two lib-scribes of the Concord “Fishwrapper” Monitor. Here’s how they play it:

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These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things…Obama Is Responsible For

This is too good not to borrow and re-post.  Dana Loesch–whom we saw at RightOnline this year–reports on the most recent Obama distraction–Romney..something something…and follows with a reminder that most of Obama’s defenders are funded by a guy with way more money (Soros) than Romney.  She then provides a list of links to things about … Read more

UN Calls For Tax on Wealthy to Help Poor – Still Wont Work

The UN want’s more money.  They are after the global wealth tax again, a tax favored by Obama, and the social/environmental justice movements who benefit from it.  But we know that the money will never actually get to the poor, not enough of it.  Nor will it alleviate anything but the misery of some NGO functionary or UN lackey paid to make sure pennies on every dollar end up in the hands of third world dictators.  So perhaps the UN could suggest a policy that will actually help the poor?

Instead of taxing people why not encourage things that actually reduce poverty.  Property rights and rule of law.  People who know that their labor will produce things that will not be seized or stolen by capricious warlords or uncontested acts of theft or intimidation, are more likley to work to improve their lives; because they know that the work may actually…you know…improve their lives.

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I know I’m President, And This is Crazy…

The Song ‘Call me Maybe’ by Carly Rae Jepsen, has created quite a meme following.  I figured I’d add the noise. (Feel free to replace the word ‘Economy’ with any other suitable word.  And you could even change ‘Bush’ to ‘Romney’ depending on the day. I know I’m President And this is Crazy, But the … Read more

Well, it looks like Teachers Unions are starting to lose more and more….

First in Wisconsin and now in Colorado.  In a post at Townhall:

The Douglas County School District, a suburban community south of Denver, Colorado, has decided to part ways with their teachers’ union in the absence of progress on a new contract which expired June 30th, 2012.

“The Board of Education finds and declares that the Collective Bargaining Agreements between the District and the Unions,” said the district on July 3rd in its formal resolution dissolving the bonds between the union and the district, “which had been effective from July 1, 2011 through and including June 30, 2012, are now expired and of no legal effect whatsoever.”

The dissolution between the district and the union is unprecedented  and sources close to the union tell me that unions are pensively watching, worried that other districts around Colorado and the country could take the same action as Douglas County has.

We can only hope.

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For the accident by a few, there will be those that will seek to punish us all

OK, Steve beat me to it here, but I had my own thoughts of the accident in Pelham that I started on last night but as you will read, similar.

There will be those out there that will react in horror to what I am about to write ( “BUT CHILDREN GOT HURT – BADLY!”).  The news is coming out from Pelham that 11 people were hurt when a years long homeowner’s fireworks tradition went awry.  The latest from both NECN (New Englan Cable News) and WMUR says that two children were severely burnt and medflighted to Boston.  Of COURSE this is a tragedy, but I grimaced when I heard the Fire Chief’s pronouncement:

I’m not a fan of fireworks.  This is a perfect example [of] what can go wrong.  Well meaning people trying to have fun and an accident happened and caused a great deal of injuries to children and adults.”

The NECN newscaster said what I expected about Chief Midgley of the Pelham Fire Department:

He wants to work with lawmakers to make sure this never happens again.

Of course he does.  Again, this has been a long standing tradition of this homeowner, and thus far, no news accounts have brought up any earlier accidents.  No one else in Pelham had any reported serious injuries anywhere else in town (not that I’ve looked, but on the idea of “IF 1, then the news will report it as “AND! over here”).  But here it seems, the Chief has decided that it is his business to force all others to comply with his viewpoint and morality, and no longer let people decide for themselves.  Is that the role of an Government employee (no matter how good he is in performing that role)?  Is the purpose of an appointed employee to lobby the Legislature against what many voters want to be able to do?  And do it on TAXPAYER funding (isn’t there a law against that)?

Freedom.    Versus the Safety & Security (the first Commandment of the Nanny-Progressive State)

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Happy “Dependence Day” Seattle – Your City Just Banned Plastic Bags

Nothing says freedom like telling your citizens or local businesses what to do.  But Seattle is not exactly a bastion of Freedom and liberty.  And today is no different.

The Seattle City Council has voted to ban plastic grocery bags.

This is another win by so-called environmental groups that claim the bags fill up landfills or in the case of Seattle, also end up in the water and threaten wildlife.  There is no concrete evidence that if the plastic gets in the water it does any actual harm, but nothing else about being an environmentalist is based on concrete anything (including concrete) so why let that deter the assumptions.  It’s for everyone’s good, right?

Wrong.

Take electric cars.  The process of making the batteries is such a strain on the environment that the average electric car would need to run well beyond its life expectancy for any perceived benefit to outweigh the environmental costs associated with its manufacture.  Wind and Solar farms likewise have costs (and this was before Democrats wasted trillions on failing companies that failed anyway) that seriously challenge the so-called benefits.  So is it any surprise that plastic shopping bag bans are no different?

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RightOnline Bloggers – Write On-Line About Independence Day

RightOnline Bloggers share their Independence day postsThe bloggers of RightOnline 2012–sounds like a bad idea for a calendar–took to the internet yesterday to share some thoughts on the 236th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence.   And some of those shared  posts with each other.  I thought it would be helpful to compile a few here at GraniteGrok.

Where there was more than on post offered I selected a single article to feature here. This does not necessarily mean it was the best of the lot so I encourage you to browse for these and other excellent observations when you visit.  And feel free to add any or all of these folks to your on-line reading list.

Here are their thoughts or observations in particualr order.

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If You Listen Closely You Will Hear The Sound of Creeping Tyranny

Any story like this has to begin with our hopes and prayers for all the injured.  A Fireworks accident at a private residence in Pelham New Hampshire resulted in 11 injuries, 5 of those being children, one as young as 8 month old–according to this morning’s Union Leader.  So please take a moment to offer your thoughts and prayers for their quick recovery.

Now, let us ready ourselves for the sound of creeping tyranny…

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Tyranny Plain and Simple – Public Sector Unions

“Every lazy nation is grave; for those who do not work regard themselves as sovereigns of those who work.” – Montesquieu For those who do not work regard themselves as sovereigns of those who do work.  This could not be more true. It also occurs to me that this also applies to public sector union … Read more

Obamacare – Unleash the IRS – Now it gets personal

Conservatives have often said that Obamacare will fundamentally change the relationship between citizens and their Government.  With it being now declared as Constitutional, we may well no longer be citizens that have a Federal Government; we are now subjects as the Feds with the new regulations decreed by the Progressives and the IRS deemed to be the cop (as I posted here).

And it just bit me in the butt.  And it will change not just the relationship between the Govt and me, but also between me and my son.  And you all had better read this – it may well affect you as well.  In that previous post there were a number of things that individuals will have to cough up and “share”.

Sidenote: yeah, “share”.  Brings up the insinuation that you get to decide to share or not – you know, voluntary.  Just like when Democrats talk about the rich and “asking” them to pay their fair share.  They already are, and there is no “asking” – asking means the willingness to take “no” for an answer.  For the naive, there is no way that Obama, Reid, and Pelosi are “asking” – they are demanding.

I left out some really important information from that post concerning how the IRS would determine if YOU had to pay a penalty, as I thought it really needed it’s own post and an extremely personal touch on my life that it will now place.  From the Fox Biz post (reformatted and emphasis mine):

And it’s the intrusiveness of the health reform law that has raised eyebrows. What does the IRS base your mandate penalty on? This is where it gets nutty.

… that the “IRS will need to determine a taxpayer’s compliance with the individual [insurance] mandate and assess a penalty if coverage is inadequate.”  However, the penalty isn’t based on just your personal net income. The penalty will be based on an entirely different number that is more than just your paycheck earnings — your ‘household income.’  “This determination is based on a concept of ‘household income,’” TAO has said, adding, “this may differ from the income reported on the taxpayer’s return, because it is a composite of all of the income reported by members of a taxpayer’s household — information that may not be readily accessible to the IRS.”

Or me.  Again, the concept of “household income” absolutely turns the former relationship between me and the IRS.  My info was the IRS’s info – they’d look at it, see if I did all the right things, if I paid the right amount of tax,and would let me know if they had decided if I was right or if they were right.  But it was just me and just them – a singly based relationship.

No more:

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Obama: Charging A Penalty For Not Buying Insurance Bad…

The Web is brimming with the bitter bile of Obamhypocrsiy today.  (As it is most days).  But today seems particularly special.  First unpatriotic debt, and now The Divine Mr. O reminds us (Circa 2008) that charging people for not buying insurance is mean.  And he’s not mean like that. Except that he is.  (Are you … Read more

Where’d All The CO2 Go?

This is curious.  Just when the Global Warming Monkeys we’re complaining about how its totally hot, like…as if we were experiencing, like, Global warming, Ok?  OMG! So why is it so damn hot if US CO2 emissions from energy are nearing their lowest since 1991…without cap and trade?   Could it just be the weather?   … Read more

You know, if you’re gonna hold a protest sign…

…you ought to: Know what it says Know what it means Know how to explain it And when a guy with a camera asks you about all three, Know that keeping quiet makes you look stupid. My friend Tony Katz, from AllPatriotsMedia, was riding with the Americans for Prosperity bus tour called “Real Facts. Real … Read more

Fourth of July – celebrate the day that we declared our Independence from a King

Listen to our national anthem by Madison Rising:

We at the ‘Grok are thankful for the blessings that God have given us – indeed, without our Creator who has watched over this nation ’til now, we’d just be yet another country.  But He inspired, I believe, our Founders who laid the foundations of this great nation – and they freely acknowledged that Gift from Him: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  Inalienable Rights.  The radical idea that we were individuals, sovereign citizens, and not subjects.

We also thank those that have served our country in uniform, willing to put their lives on the line for hard work,  no fame and little money.  As a non-veteran (but double Blue Star Dad) I appreciate our veterans here at the ‘Grok more and more for not only their uniformed service:

  • Tim Condon (US Marines)
  • Rick Olsen (US Marines)
  • Mike Rogers (Royal Marines)
  • Don Ewing (Army)

But also for their continued allegiance to their oaths and their continued fight for the sake of Individual Liberty and Freedom.  See a Vet?  Give them a heartful “Thank You” – they have earned it.

We also remember on this Day in those that believed in that Founders Vision and in the principles on which it was grounded enough to give up their all on order to give us this day.

 

A rock version of the music video after the jump

(H/T: The Blaze)

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