On Friday (see email below), Adam Steel, Business Administrator for the Windham School District, alerted the school board that Cenergistic has withdrawn their proposal. The day before, the superintendent of Rochester Schools sent a letter alerting Cenergistic that they are withdrawing from their contract as well. Apparently the Rochester School Board pushed through the same type of contract that the Windham School Board was trying to push through – little public input; not in the budget; no research done on the company and no one on the school board reviewed the contract before they were being asked to vote on it.

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Any woman in Vermont legally allowed to carry a firearm under federal law can carry concealed without a permit.  This means that no man ever really knows if she is armed.

Does that matter?  It does to women in Vermont.

Since the year 2000 there are an average of 68% fewer rapes per 100,000 citizens in Vermont than in New Hampshire.

Democrats like the mad moms for more violence, the pro-crime out-of state funded lobbyists at Granite State Progress, NH Police chiefs, the New Castle promises more rapes folks, and NH State Senator David Pierce, are all opposed to allowing women in New Hampshire the same rights as women in Vermont.   Women who can carry concealed without a permit and are safer than women in New Hampshire.

Is such opposition a result of their devotion to their blind and ignorant ideology?  Maybe, but what if it is just about  money?

If Susan Bruce is speaking for all the NH Democrats then leaving 68% more women at risk for rape in the Granite State is a fair trade for $900,000.00.

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Guest post by Michelle Levell.

On the surface, SB 157 is reasonable. It would require a civics test as a condition for high school graduation. Many liberty and conservative leaning people would agree that our students should know the US Constitution and NH Constitution. However, the issue is more complicated than good intentions.

Although the sponsors have an amendment that would remove the requirement for home-schoolers and special education students, many of the flaws remain.

Regardless of the subject matter or intent, the legislature should not be involved in telling school districts what should be required for graduation or taught in the schools. Any New Hampshire school district could require a similar civics class or test, but coming from the legislature, it becomes an unfunded mandate, against Part 1 Article 28-A of the NH Constitution.

The body authorized for setting graduation requirements is the local school boards. They may determine what is appropriate for their districts. It should not be dictated by the state, whether it is the Department of Education, the Board of Education, or the legislature.

What else is wrong with this bill…?

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There is an overlooked paragraph in president Obama’s 2016 budget fact sheet that might actually prove useful to real people trying to find work in the real world.

Reducing Unnecessary Occupational Licensing. The Budget seeks to reduce occupational licensing barriers that keep people from doing the jobs they have the skills to do by putting in place unnecessary training and high fees.

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From the UL (reformatted, emphasis mine) comes this news from the Federal Govenrment’s Ambassador to NH Shaheen in dragooning two other Government employees into saying “ONLY GOVERNMENT CAN SAVE US ALL!”.  Translation: All hail the Sacred Government!

The showdown over Homeland Security funding could affect first responders, right down to local firefighters, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said Thursday. Shaheen held a conference call with David Lang, president of the Professional Firefighters of New Hampshire, and Laconia Fire Chief Kenneth Erickson, to highlight what she says is at stake.
Funding for the federal Department of Homeland Security runs out by month’s end. The debate in Congress is complicated as Republicans consider amendments to nullify President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration reform.  Democrats accused Republicans of putting politics above security.

Could? Politics?  Methinks the second is driving the first.  Politics – in Government? I’m SHOCKED, I tell you, SHOCKED! Especially coming from one that can dole out other peoples’

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It is certainly is a topic that I’ve blogged about before – a side transformation of American life and putting a stake in the heart in the American love of that big throaty roar of a well-tuned big block V8.  Instead, we’d be transformed to go down that Electric Avenue.  Unfortunately, other than he, the anti-live-where-you-want crowds, the eco-obsessed, most of the American public have gone for the bigger vehicles: pickups and SUVs.  The idea of a “tin can and a 9 volt” just has not caught on even with massive subsidies from the Government to the car companies and to consumers (and yes, one of the “side reasons” for the failed Cash for Clunkers program).  Thus, this at CNSNews (reformatted, emphasis mine):

 In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama predicted that the U.S. would have “a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.”The president backed up his prediction with $2.4 billion in federal grants to companies producing lithium-ion batteries for plug-in cars.  But reality hasn’t even come close.  Despite massive federal spending on electric vehicles, which is expected to total $7.9 billion through 2019, there are currently just 286,390 plug-in vehicles on the nation’s roads today, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA).

That’s 72 percent lower than the million electric vehicles the president predicted four years ago. And with gasoline prices

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…then maybe, just MAYBE, you shoulda listened to that little angel on your shoulder going “er, wanna rethink that decision”?

As the nation’s moviegoers ready for the Valentines Day release of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” sensation, actress Dakota Johnson Friday told a national TV audience that it’s so racy that she won’t let her parents watch. In an early preview of the sex-filled film for a “Today” show audience, the daughter of actor Don Johnson and actress Melanie Griffith nervously said, “I don’t want my parents to see it.” Asked who could, Johnson said, “maybe my friends, maybe my sisters.”

The cognitive dissonance hurts…

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From TechDirt comes this intrusion from unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats that believe THEY own your privacy (reformatted, emphasis mine):

To Enforce Emissions Standards, State Governments Are Looking To Ride Shotgun In Constituents’ Vehicles

Californians may find their cars being converted to government informants at some point in the future, thanks to the state’s push to curb emissions. As always, a trip to the land of Unintended Consequences begins at the Port of Good Intentions. Cleaner air and vehicles will come at a cost, and that cost may include an extensive collection of driving data. (via Cato).  The On Board Diagnostics computer systems on all of our late-model cars now collect a wide range of information mostly related to a car’s emissions. When something is amiss, your dashboard flashes with a “check engine” light and you head to a repair shop to fix it. The goal is to assure cars aren’t polluting the air.  But now the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is proposing regulations(for a May board hearing) requiring manufacturers to significantly expand the kind of information on-board computer software collects about our driving habits.

The software could track miles per gallon, driving distances, how often one stops and starts the car, and how fast one drives. Newer cars already tell us most of this information on those nifty trip computers in the dashboard. The difference, of course, is the regulations would require our cars to also tell government officials the information.

And if you play chess and think out a few moves, you can see where this COULD go.  Especially when you start linking in such “benign” sustainability Government programs like the EPA  HUD / DOT Sustainable Communities Initiative.

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